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First Aid and Herbcraft stats in Nethergate
Grindstone
Apprentice
Member # 14629
 written Monday, April 7 2008 23:38 Profile #0
is there an 'invisible' basis for the first aid and herbcraft skills? I've read that the basis for Tool Use is calculated from Dex and Int. In the Avernum games First Aid and Potion Making relied on Intelligence, is this also true for Nethergate?

[ Monday, April 07, 2008 23:38: Message edited by: Grindstone ]
Posts: 9 | Registered: Wednesday, February 27 2008 08:00
Exile 3 or Avernum3 in The Avernum Trilogy
Grindstone
Apprentice
Member # 14629
 written Monday, April 7 2008 23:36 Profile #23
quote:
Near one year topic necromancy!
I do not see the point in not reviving topics in a forum that has as little activity as this one

As for difficulty levels changing physical resistance, I have definitely seen it happen in A1 and A2. In A3 this may be different, I wouldn't know because I have played that game on Torment only. I did notice that in A3 Torment I was dishing out significantly more damage with my level 1 characters than in the previous games, so this might have changed. Anyway, while on normal difficulty I favored melee combat too, I rely heavily on magic on Torment because it does significantly more damage. If the enemies' physical resistance is higher, or your characters' damage is toned down I don't know, but I can't imagine the latter
Posts: 9 | Registered: Wednesday, February 27 2008 08:00
Exile 3 or Avernum3 in The Avernum Trilogy
Grindstone
Apprentice
Member # 14629
 written Saturday, April 5 2008 14:30 Profile #21
quote:
I haven't actually played E3, per say(after dieing from fighting 3 goblins in E1 I kinda quit), but in A3 melee is ridiculously powerful.
is the damage cap the same as in A1 and A2? Around 200 points if IIRC? At least on Torment, magic takes the cake any day as the enemies' magic resistances seem to increase only slightly, whereas they are significantly more resistant to physical damage as on Normal
Posts: 9 | Registered: Wednesday, February 27 2008 08:00
Exile 3 or Avernum3 in The Avernum Trilogy
Grindstone
Apprentice
Member # 14629
 written Saturday, April 5 2008 08:02 Profile #19
quote:
However, E3 is probably better than A3. It has a much more polished engine than the first two Exiles, has a lot more spells than A3, and is much better balanced than A3.
uhm more balanced? How so?

If at all, one thing I like about the Avernum games is that they're more balanced than the Exile games, in part due to the reduction of spells
Posts: 9 | Registered: Wednesday, February 27 2008 08:00
A2 Page from Garzahds tower. in The Avernum Trilogy
Grindstone
Apprentice
Member # 14629
 written Monday, March 10 2008 00:21 Profile #12
quote:
Or if you have a mage with really high tool use and Unlock Doors, you can just open the door it's behind and take it. That's what i did.
was it handled like that in the trilogy too (that the Unlock spell and Tool Use skill stack)? I only knew this to be true in A4 and A5

[ Monday, March 10, 2008 00:22: Message edited by: Grindstone ]
Posts: 9 | Registered: Wednesday, February 27 2008 08:00
Tactics - What Works For You? in Avernum 4
Grindstone
Apprentice
Member # 14629
 written Wednesday, February 27 2008 08:39 Profile #15
ME does have huge effects for me, and that's without me putting any points into it (NM and PS bump this skill on their own). You have to cast a lot of inexpensive spells like fire bolt to see the effect though, even Icy Rain is too expensive right now to utilize this tactic, that will change once I get more spell energy / higher ME though. It's definitely worth having on a pure mage who uses his energy wisely.

edit: and isn't the Slith resistance bonus 30%?

[ Wednesday, February 27, 2008 08:40: Message edited by: Grindstone ]
Posts: 9 | Registered: Wednesday, February 27 2008 08:00
Avervnum story line in Avernum 4
Grindstone
Apprentice
Member # 14629
 written Wednesday, February 27 2008 04:38 Profile #0
to all you who've played the whole Avernum series (or part of it), do you have the feeling that you're playing on ongoing series of games/events/ is there a sense of continuity? Also, do you think that's a reason to play the whole saga in the original order(A1-A5)?
Posts: 9 | Registered: Wednesday, February 27 2008 08:00
Tactics - What Works For You? in Avernum 4
Grindstone
Apprentice
Member # 14629
 written Wednesday, February 27 2008 04:09 Profile #13
My current party is doing so well on Torment it surprises me. They're basically breezing through the game.

first character: Nephil, traits: Fast on Feet, Elite Warrior. This is the workhorse of the party; with Dex, Gymnastics, and Parry he is hard to hit, always goes first, and usually hits on both swings. Higher Blademaster levels, Riposte and Lethal Blow should come naturally to this guy. Also I found melee weapons to be rather effective, but just on a straight dedicated figher.

second character: Slith, traits: Pure Spirit, Divinely Touched. Priest / fighter hybrid (actually the party's main priest), doing even higher damage than the Nephil, while able to take a beating. I've always found hardiness more useful/interesting on a Slith than defense, mostly because you can make him almost immune to fire damage.

third character: Human, traits: Deadeye, Natural Mage. This character is a dedicated archer/secondary caster who can swing a pole and get up to an enemy too. I actually raise both mage and priest spells on this one to some extent so he can fill the gaps in combat.

fourth character: Human, traits: Natural Mage, Pure Spirit. Main caster of the party (no weapon skills). Since both NM and PS boost your Magical Efficiency, you almost never run out of spell points, and you can cast easy spells like Fire Bolt basically for free early on. This one gets the Tool Use skill too since he has some points to spare.

First Aid is a big plus with this party since you will need your spell points.

Note that this party does NOT abuse special skills and right now I'm never using potions or wands, though that might change later.

As far as tactics go, it's all about choosing your ground and abusing the dumbness of the AI, i.e. make enemies run up to you and waste their action points. Also, on Torment, fighting without buffs is a no go (except if monsters really are much weaker), as is splitting your party. A lone character is prone to getting slaughtered in a single round. It's also nice to 'fight for spell energy'. Since First Aid will restore some pell points whenever you killed someone, if you're low on spell points, just take on some monsters without casting spells, and you will come up the better for it.

[ Wednesday, February 27, 2008 04:12: Message edited by: Grindstone ]
Posts: 9 | Registered: Wednesday, February 27 2008 08:00