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Tactics - What Works For You? in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Monday, November 12 2007 02:55 Profile #9
quote:
Originally written by Cryfenril:

Even my magic-user (who is so wimpy it's silly) can do a few points of damage, and if I give him a nice stunning bow it gives me some breathing room for heavy hitters.
Until you get a nice bow, your magic-users should be casting firebolt or smite. They will do more damage than a bow, hit more reliably, and have a barely noticeable effect on your spell points. Indeed, even with a nice bow, you probably have a spell that is better. So you would only be using the bow when you need to conserve spell points on a minor monster that can't really hurt you anyway.

Other tactics:
* Always use augmentation and enduring shield/armour once you get them
* Cast bless, shield, haste at the first sign of trouble
* Concentrate your firepower, an almost dead monster does just as much damage as a perfectly healthy one
* For the most part, just wade in and start hacking away
* All monsters have some weakness - if you aren't doing much damage try a different type of attack
* Remember to use daze or slow if they outnumber you
* Save often
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
basics stats, how much u got? in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Sunday, November 11 2007 23:52 Profile #10
quote:
Originally written by Dreadknight:

Another pointer about customs, if you have Pure Spirit/Natural Mage you will only spend 13/16 points for the starting spells, respectively. That's 62 extra points for Priests and 59 for Magi (or whatever you call your spellcasters).
You get those bonuses with the pre-made characters as well.
Pure Spirit/Natural Mage Hedge Wizard wastes 5 points on Melee Weapons and Quick Action - which is precisely the extra you get above going Custom. I hate to leave those on the table even if they might be marginal points.

Also, the early game isn't hard (it's designed that way) so aiming for a better mid- to late-game character seems better to me. You don't need an optimised character at the start.

But, certainly there are certain classes that don't make sense. My list of acceptable classes include Rogue, Hedge Wizard and Berzerker. I use the Rogue as the Archer base, Berzerker as the Melee base and Hedge Wizard as the Combo spellcaster base.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Save files?! in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Friday, November 9 2007 21:19 Profile #9
Have you saved games within the game that work properly?
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Save files?! in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Friday, November 9 2007 19:26 Profile #6
On the Mac they are stored in folders called "Save0" through "Save19" with individual files called things like "data", "header", "items" and "journal".

These files reside in the "Avernum 4 Files" folder which is in the same place as the application.

Maybe that will help you with tracking it down on "the other platform".
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
basics stats, how much u got? in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Wednesday, November 7 2007 23:49 Profile #2
quote:
Originally written by Zer0:

... and most people here use all Custom.
Which is odd given that it is like throwing away skill points. Depending on the class, you get from 3 to 11 extra points by using a pre-made class rather than custom. Practically none of those extra points are wasted by the mid- to end-game.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Avernum 4 Observations in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Monday, October 8 2007 00:33 Profile #41
While not strictly a race comparison - I've always preferred Elite Warrior to Slith as pure 'traits'. The XP cost of Elite Warrior is lower and, all other things being equal, a Human Elite Warrior will last much longer in a fight than a Slith (parry is great). The Slith can dish it out with a pole weapon, but he just can't take it. And, at the end of the day, a Slith is no use if he is dead because he got beat on and couldn't avoid all that damage. Nephil Elite Warrior - great; Nephil, Fast on Feet, Elite Warrior - even better.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Trakovite Ending in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Wednesday, December 20 2006 23:04 Profile #5
quote:
Originally written by Kyrek:

So I have to be a Shaper and then release half the Unbound?
The key to the Trakovite ending is whether the Drakons can make any more of the Unbound after the first batch.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
House Unshaperlike Activities Committee in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Thursday, December 14 2006 00:41 Profile #3
I thought the Trakovite ending was actually the most satisfying. (Although I have yet to experience the loyal Shaper endings.)

Frankly, you can think of Shaping like nuclear weapons, or biological weapons, or any of the other things that are generally considered to be too heinous to use in the real world.

But, it's a game, and I steal things and kill people for the hell of it and treat loyal followers like so much cannon fodder. Morality is, perhaps, completely underrated in these sorts of games. Although Ultima IV wasn't too bad on that front...
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Servile cursing monsters in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Tuesday, December 12 2006 10:42 Profile #3
Further thoughts - maybe it is associated with the death of the servile tender in the Forsaken Docks. My messages go:

Servile Tender takes 47 points of damage.
You receive experience. (9)
Fyora is cursed.
Fyora is weakened.
Istvan parries the attack. (%4)
Starting new round.

Could that be it?
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Servile cursing monsters in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Monday, December 11 2006 23:56 Profile #0
I am playing as a servile and every so often a creation gets cursed and weakened when I parry their blow. (At least that seems to be what is going on.) I don't have any special equipment as I'm just at the forsaken docks.

Has anyone else seen this? Is this a bug or a feature?
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Is the Shaper Camp unbeatable? in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Monday, December 11 2006 22:26 Profile #10
quote:
Originally written by Randomizer:

... and torrent gems to kill the Vlish when they come enmass.
Or an eyebeast.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Suggestions for a nOOb? in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Sunday, December 10 2006 23:02 Profile #6
Actually, I think the most important thing is for you to try everything yourself. It is all fun and you can appreciate the good better if you have experienced the bad. You miss out on something if you just follow the advice of everyone else and artificially circumscribe your choices and you should be able to finish the game regardless of the choices you make.

Notwithstanding that:
It's Geneforge so I would recommend sticking with the lifecrafter for now - it is the most authentic experience.Also, for your first game - use canisters like they were candy. As a lifecrafter you need both shaping and magic skills so they are all useful. Later on you can worry about minimising your canister usage to experience different outcomes.You don't really need an 'army' of creations and you will be more effective if you have a reserve of essence to bless them heavily (see next point). I played through as a lifecrafter never having more than three creations. (I took the über-difficult 'secret' level using only two - an eyebeast and a drakon admittedly - but still only two creations.)As a lifecrafter the priority order in spell categories is blessing, then healing and mental (especially daze for the early levels) then, last of all, battle spells. Buff your creations with as many blessing spells as you can manage before every fight, daze the enemy and then hack them to pieces. (After a while daze doesn't work so well - but essence shackles is kind of nifty...)Also, as suggested earlier, battle creations are only so-so. Eyebeasts rock and drakons aren't half bad either. So that would suggest an early focus on fire creations and then an investment in magic creations starting around mid-game.

[ Monday, December 11, 2006 00:06: Message edited by: Skippy the bush kangaroo ]
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Blm Crsts Alpha in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Friday, December 8 2006 10:10 Profile #3
I guess I didn't talk to the right people.

I talked to Shorass and all that was achieved with the east panel... but I've yet to see any discernible effect on any of the endings from adjusting those settings on the west panel.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Blm Crsts Alpha in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Friday, December 8 2006 01:45 Profile #0
...and Lft Lt Intensity

Anyone worked out if these have any effect?
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Moseh's Permanent Strength Drain in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Thursday, November 30 2006 22:11 Profile #3
I got strength and leadership drained.

Maybe I should abandon any pretence at loyalty and become the double-crossing back-stabbing bastard that we all know that role-playing games are designed for.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Is it intentional? in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Monday, November 27 2006 23:11 Profile #12
quote:
Originally written by Eigenvalue:

1. I remember that there was a discussion that with 11+ action points you should be able to attack, move, and attack again. I am even sure that I have managed to do this previously. However, now I am getting a message that "you cannot move after attacking". Where's the old hit-and-run tactic?
This is a change from previous Geneforges. To answer the thread question. Yes, it is intentional.

But you can now attack with less than 5AP. Thus, you can move 7AP and then attack. The no move after attack restriction is the quid pro quo for being able to attack with 1AP rather than requiring the full 5AP as in previous Geneforge's. No more hit and run but think about the possibilities using gems and pods... a lot more attacks in a turn are now possible.

[ Monday, November 27, 2006 23:11: Message edited by: Skippy the bush kangaroo ]
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
G4 Beta testing stories (SPOILERS) in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Thursday, November 23 2006 21:40 Profile #38
Well - I figured out one other aspect of 'the change' that killed my first character. Experience. I seem to remember a lot of tweaks to that.

Playing through as a lifecrafter from the beginning I'm already up to level 23 and I've just hit the Fens. My original 'agent' was at Quess-Uss and level 25. No wonder it was treating me so badly. Looks like the experience tweaks really accelerated advancement (especially since my lifecrafter typically has three creations and the 'agent' was always solo.)

So, what sort of levels were people when they hit Chapter 4 or Quess-Uss or thereabouts?
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
G4 Beta testing stories (SPOILERS) in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Tuesday, November 21 2006 00:49 Profile #7
I still haven't finished it.

I got sidelined right after 10.4.8 came out because the game crawled to a halt on my Intel Mac until the universal version came out. That took a good three weeks out of testing. I had finished chapter 3 and had just started chapter 4.

Until then my 'agent' had been kicking serious butt (the gruesome charm is great because you can offset its effects with augmentation and still have extra essence into the bargain). Then came 'the change'. I struggled to make it to Quess'Uss after that but as a singleton I just didn't have the staying power because my energy was depleted in 4 or 5 attacks (2-3 turns basically and I thought having 500 energy should be enough for anyone). To get through any meaningful fight I had to pop essence pods like candy and nibble away at everyone with frequent trips back to town. I pretty much gave up because it was so tedious and my character was messed up for the new balance.

I started up a lifecrafter and there I stand.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Fort Monastery - iron bar quest in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Thursday, February 2 2006 19:13 Profile #14
Well, I suppose the equivalent trick would be to kill Starrus (or have him die) and not die yourself. Is there any loophole in the script? Is the script location specific? What if you aren't actually in the castle when he dies? (Either draw him away from the castle or poison/acid him and run.)

Enquiring minds want to know. Well, that and I can't get to my home computer to try it out myself.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Fort Monastery - iron bar quest in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Thursday, February 2 2006 16:37 Profile #10
quote:
Originally written by VCH:

Yes what a nice feature murder is. The king and Solberg died on my sword. Scratch that apparently King Strattus has too many guards so I loose. :(
Ahh. Lord British, wither didst thou go? There is honour of a sort not easily comprehended in killing the king.

(Is Starrus actually unkillable or just well guarded?)
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Terella Venia where the heck? in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Sunday, January 22 2006 14:30 Profile #10
quote:
Originally written by *i:

quote:
You forget that Terella is unlikely to have been annointed by the Avernum crown to use such ultra-secret technology.
I do not forget a thing. She was working for Avernum and I would hardly call the teleporter ultra-secret as it seems there are plenty of agents from Avernum who use it. I just assumed being one of Avernum's agents with an important mission to watch the Giants, she would be allowed to use it.
OK.

Maybe I need to read the text more closely. I remembered her explorations being more a function of her religious order than Avernum government related (but that is probably just the conversation thread that leads to the information rather than the information itself). The two are obviously not mutually exclusive.

The one other example of an Avernum agent I can think of is whosiwhatsit in Mertis - and she most definitely walked because she had to sneak through Almaria. If she used the pylon it would have been easier to pylon to Fort Avernum (as all users must) and then walk or pylon to Mertis.

But, after all, it's only a game. And such details may not ultimately determine the fate of the free world, which the amount of text I am spending on it might otherwise indicate.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Terella Venia where the heck? in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Sunday, January 22 2006 12:54 Profile #8
quote:
Originally written by *i:

Just assumed pylons to Fort Monastery and then south would be a lot less treacherous than the trek through Slith lands and Nicoduas' tunnel.
You forget that Terella is unlikely to have been annointed by the Avernum crown to use such ultra-secret technology.

And if the possibility of ending up encased in granite doesn't fill you with dread then you are clearly in the wrong business. Not only that, but the magic involved in those pylons warps animals in ways that make the Threshold mutations look tame.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
The Vahnati Envoy's "Needs" in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Sunday, January 22 2006 12:49 Profile #6
quote:
Originally written by *i:

I believe the Vahnatai Myrmidons have a chance of dropping a fine waveblade also. I seem to remember find one early on also.
Yes they can drop one. (And knowing that, it does encourage savefile abuse to ensure you get one.)
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Vahnati Allies in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Thursday, January 19 2006 02:37 Profile #1
quote:
Originally written by Wanderer:

I don't have a saved version that I could resurrect.
You sure they are meant to be your allies? There are hostile vahnatai out there too. Indeed, I think the group immediately out from Fort Remote are hostile.

Other than that:
You saved in the middle of or after a fight with them ?!
You don't even have a quicksave or autosave from before the fight ?!

Suck it up and chalk it up to experience. No use getting all worked up over something you can't change.

You've got twenty save slots - you should at least use a couple of them if not all twenty.

[ Thursday, January 19, 2006 02:40: Message edited by: Skippy the bush kangaroo ]
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00
Trainer skill listing in Avernum 4
Skippy the bush kangaroo
Warrior
Member # 5268
 written Wednesday, January 18 2006 17:44 Profile #25
quote:
Originally written by Xeno's Paragua:

It's interesting how many skills are for sale in Almaria for prices much higher than are available in places that you reach sooner. Who would buy anything there?

—Alorael, who also can't imagine getting to Almaria without putting enough points into Tool Use that you can't buy even that in Almaria.
I buy Quick Action there because it is the first place you can buy it. You can not buy it from Captain Call until much later. By which time it should really be moot - your characters are already going to be buff enough to deal with anything left in the game.

If you think about the time value of money, it is really much cheaper to get it in Almaria than to wait until after you have dealt with the shade in Silvar (which I never did anyway in my first game). I'd much rather have two points of Quick Action for all points between Almaria and getting rid of the shade than a measly 600 gold.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Tuesday, December 7 2004 08:00

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