Profile for Synergy
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Synergy |
| Member number | 6292 |
| Title | Shaper |
| Postcount | 2009 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
Recent posts
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| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| A4 Hidden Skills [SPOILERS] in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Monday, December 12 2005 14:16
Profile
Good link, Kel, thanks. Resistance: Dex 10, Endurance 11, Hardiness 8 Crikey! Who wants to dump those kinds of points into either Endurance or Hardiness to get Resistance? Fortunately, there are alternate ways to wind up with each of the hidden skills than merely "qualifying". EDIT ADDON: These 8's are probably sixes for A4... Blademaster: Melee 6 Pole 6 Strength 8 Riposte: Parry 8 Blademaster 6 But, man, I have to have 6 in Pole training to get Blademaster, and therefore to get Riposte? That blows. I should be able to get Riposte without having to know how to use a pole weapon. I'm just really good with my sword! 6 pole weapon is a lot of wasted skill points for a melee fighter. Disappointed. [ Monday, December 12, 2005 23:09: Message edited by: Synergy67 ] -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • N:R Items • The Lonely Celt • A5 Items • A5 Map Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Some Simple Suggestions for not Sucking at A4 in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Monday, December 12 2005 14:04
Profile
Hmm, interesting discovery, Vlish, on the separation of Dexterity from Tool Use in A4. Unlock Doors by mage does seem minimally useful, unless you never bothered to give anyone Tool Use of over 15 which I didn't. See the end part for what my mage WAS able to accomplish with Unlock Doors. Jeff told me there are some doors never meant to be opened in this game, and some doors (the ones that say they are too intricate to be picked and you don't have a key) probably only open by key or quest reward. I can think of at least two doors I couldn't open which he probably meant never to open, and they are both in the same room nearby rubble which may imply the doors go nowhere anyway and are blocked. There is a door in Patrick's Tower I can't open (L35) and a door upstairs in the Castle that never opens or seems openable—if it does open, I think only a quest could do it, but I didn't miss any, even after having read the hint book. There is a door in a hideout near the end of the game with L28 which I couldn't quite get to open, and I am guessing it houses a spellbook. Athron's door opens with a key you acquire somewhere. Feel free to email me if you want to know what you missed specifically. You weren't the only one who did, by the way. It's a little roundabout happening on the means to getting that key. You WANT what is to be had in Athron's Lair though, trust me. It's worth the bother, and it is a bother once you get in the door too. ;) HINT/MINOR SPOILER: There are two magical items which when combined can boost your Tool Use by +3 later in the game. If you can get your TU to 25, you can open the L28 door. This is achievable. I know Ephesos was nearly there, but he didn't have both magical items to quite do it either. I don't know if the L35 door is possible. You'd have to get TU to 32. I have had my mage near the end of the game able to open doors of level 25 with magic, though it took more than one try. His stats with which he did it are below, and are essentially his ending stats in the game: POSSIBLE ENDING STATS FOR MAGE SPOILER: Tool Use 0 Dexterity 5 Intelligence 12 Spellcraft 7 Magery 11 Magical Efficiency 9 -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Some Simple Suggestions for not Sucking at A4 in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Monday, December 12 2005 13:13
Profile
Woo hoo! So far, the Mac users have full crack at Avernum IV at last, and I know many of you are quick out the gate to give it a whirl. Do buy the game if you like the demo...it’s well worth it, and the game is huge. Help put little poo-bomb Princess Cordelia Krizsan Vogel’s next meal on the table. There are no significant spoilers in this post, but some HINTS/MILD SPOILERS have been bulleted off if you want to avoid them (••). SOME OF SYNERGY’S SIMPLE SUGGESTIONS FOR NOT SUCKING AT AVERNUM IV I've fully played the game twice now, and partially several more times, so I thought someone trying to get used to all the changes in Avernum IV might appreciate a few tips from some testers to get off on a decent foot. Here are some of my tips and observations so far. PARTY SIZES: Forget playing as a SINGLETON. I doubt it's possible to win a game with one unless you are a serious glutton for punishment, mind-numbing tedium, multiple reloads, and crippled leveling up early on leaving your singleton way behind the level-up curve. Jeff designed A4 for a party of four in particular. Jeff’s word on this matter was that playing A4 as a singleton should be like playing Civilization campaigns with nothing but phalanxes. This challenge of course will only prompt someone to prove that it can be done. More power to you. Let’s hear how you did it when you pull it off......you deranged lunatic. If you are going to try it, a Divinely Touched slith with Natural Mage is probably the way to go. Invulnerability potions no longer protect you 100% from damage...more like 90% now, so you can still get poisoned and whittled away at while "invulnerable". This will add up quickly if you are surrounded by nasty foes as a singleton hitting you for 7-10 points damage each once to three times per turn, and perhaps poisoning you at the same time. A party of THREE should be readily doable for skilled players, but it wll start becoming very tough with only TWO. One reason for this is a plethora of very tough foes and the threat of being frozen, terrified, or charmed at various points. Another reason is that to get in many doors or past traps you need high enough Tool Use, which is hard to afford with only a couple PC’s to consider. You really need a pooling of strong and diverse skills in your party to meet the varied challenges throughout the game successfully. Kind of like real life. PC SPECIALIZATION: Yes, do yourself a big favor and specialize specialize specialize your PC’s. Your available skill points are going to feel much more miserly in Avernum IV, and not just because you only get five more to work with per level up. You will really have to focus skills on each PC to be effective, rather than making them broadly but shallowly skilled. For your fighters, focus weapons skills, Strength, and Quick Action, the latter of which begins to become very useful at around level 4 or higher for getting frequent second blows. Don’t have hopes of winding up with priests or mages with full carrying strength of 10 by the end of this game. You might never get your magicians past 2-5 strength if you want to make them properly effective. Specialization does mean sacrifice. Do make your mages and priests powerful with Intelligence and Spellcraft. Start your mages and priests off with at least 5 in their respective magic levels. There are some good non-encumbering armors and garments to put on your magicians to spare weight or spellcasting interference for mages—even with Natural Mage, you will hit encumbrance issues if you don’t level up appropriate skills to counter encumbrance. •• [MILD SPOILER] When you get the special skills Magery and Magical Effficiency boost these instead of Intelligence, and perhaps Magery instead of Spellcraft. I think Spellcraft and Magery are more effective at boosting spell strength than spending too many points on Intelligence in the long run. You can probably stop adding intelligence anywhere from 8-12 and focus on the other skills. •• TRAITS: Don’t be afraid to select positive traits and pile them on sliths or nephils. My first game I balanced my human mage and priest with Brittle Bones along with Natural Mage and Pure Spirit respectively, which effectively gave them a penalty/bonus of 0%. But without level up penalties, you will actually much earlier hit monster kill Experience Point washout in your party, even in a party of four. If you have 30-45% or even higher penalties due to sliths, nephils, and positive traits throughout your party, don’t worry that it will put you too much behind. You will be getting more experience points from monsters a bit into the game to balance out the difference. Load ‘em up to your satisfaction. Elite Warrior and Divinely Touched both give a great bundle of advantages and special traits, especially useful if you are playing with less than four PC’s. I like a Elite Warrior slith with a pole and Strong Will for my front meat shield fighter. Also, I find almost none of the negative traits worth the drawbacks or sacrifice of choosing positive traits in A4, personally. POLE WEAPONS: Pole weapons rock in A4, and there are several great ones to wind up with ultimately, including at least one familiar old friend. Don’t hesitate to make two or three pole fighters in your troupe if you especially enjoy creating carnage while speaking softly and carrying a big stick. Poles are throughout the entire game more powerful than any melee weapons you will get your hands on, but there are none you can wield with a shield in hand, and there are some impressive shields to be had eventually. Impressive armor can make up for the lack of relatively minor shield help however. •• [HINT/MILD SPOILER]: If you want to find iron spears early on, there are two to be had near Fort Monastery. There is one south of the goblin caves near the fisherman by the river. It is in a sinkhole by a body you will find in that pit. Be sure to examine that body and do what seems obvious. It will be significant in some way later on. You will have to fight past goblins, rats, and bats (oh my!) to get all the way down there, but nothing you can’t handle, you big powerful brute, right? A second iron spear can be found on another body in another pit, this one in the nephil camp just to the NE across the bridge from Fort Monastery. You will have to fight some nephils to get to it, and then something even more nasty down in the pit, so be prepared to hack your way to this one. It’s quite doable right out the gate of Fort Monastery if you constructed your party well, and the quickest one to get to, especially if you don’t want to buy bronze spears at the Fort. These two iron spears are the best weapons by far anyone will have in your party for a while. •• MELEE WEAPONS: You are going to have to really focus strength and melee skills on a melee fighter to make him powerful. This is harder than for a pole wielder, especially a slith. But there is good use for at least one melee fighter in any party. There are a diversity of very cool melee weapons throughout the game, many of which will add traits and bonuses to your PC not necessarily useful just for inflicting damage offensively. •• [HINT/MILD SPOILER]: Pay attention to the knife you pick up at the goblin altar near Fort Monastery. It is easy to carelessly sell off if you aren’t paying attention, and I think your Priest or Mage might really enjoy having it. It may seem like quite some time before you really begin to find any great melee weapons. You’re going to only have bronze and iron swords for a while, so get used to feeling wimpy with a sword early on. •• ARCHERY: It’s very useful in this game, really! Bows for everyone are well worthwhile. There are numerous highly worthy bows to be acquired in time, and not necessarily just because of the direct physical damage they will inflict. There is no more bother of buying and carrying around arrows...your bows are always happily loaded and ready to deliver for you. The difference in bow damage is caused by the type of bow itself and your Strength, Dexterity, Bow skill level, and whether you have Sharpshooter skill. The trait Deadeye gives you Sharpshooter from the get-go, and is of course ideal to give an archer, but can also be fun to give a mage or priest. Make your archer powerful if you have one designated. A strong archer can do very effective damage and there are many times in this game where you will want or need to do ranged assaults, and—mind you—sometimes only physical damage will prevail in a fight, and additionally, at times you’d rather not touch someone you want to kill. I give all four of my PC’s around 4-5 Bow skills fairly early on, which is plenty to make even a glass cannon priest helpful at contributing some decent bow damage from a distance. Even bow skills of 2-3 seem to make a mage or priest able to hit most of the time. I sometimes like to make a good archer/thief nephil PC with Nimble Fingers and Deadeye traits to capitalize on his native Dexterity. •• [HINT/MILD SPOILER] Speaking of thieves and archers, the first and only Yew Bow you will see early on can be stolen from a house SE of Fort Monastery by the swamp. It is well worth equipping your archer with this right off the bat as there is virtually nothing standing between you and it except your flimsy conscience, you shamelessly sneaky mercenary, you. •• THIEVES/ROGUES: Hooray! No more pesky lockpicks to worry about, just your Tool Use best we can tell so far. It is very useful, and all but necessary at times, really, to have a good thief/rogue of some kind in your party. You are not going to be able to unlock doors magically for some time, and there are doors and traps of difficulty 7-10 in the beginning area of the game, which are well worth your bother getting past. Unless you want to come back to get items and loot of diminished value much later in the game, starting one PC with Tool Use of 7-8 and bumping it up to 10 quickly is very helpful. You’ll need Tool Use of 15 total for traps ultimately. There are some doors with difficulty levels of 25-35, two of which I have never yet been able to get open, even with a fairly powerul mage with Unlock Doors level 3 spells. Note also that a mage’s ability to magically unlock doors is actually improved by the mage possessing Tool Use skill. Has someone found a way to pump up some combination of Tool Use, Dexterity(??), and spell abilities to open that level 35 door? If so, do tell. Also, you thieves might take note that in any zone or town you can actually steal some number of times right in front of anyone’s eyes before they will turn on you and string you up. Generally, to the minor degree I have pushed this envelope, it appears to be that typically three strikes and you are out, but it varies depending on how friendly and forgiving the environment is to begin with. Experiment at your own peril. But this means when you see something in someone’s lockbox you just can’t live without, and that person is standing behind you, you can probably steal it and no one will stop you. So choose carefully what you covet most in each area before committing to committing a crime. MAGES: It will be difficult to play A4 through with no mages due to the need to dispel barriers, though there are a scattering of piercing crystals throughout the game. Has anyone successfully played a game with only priest spells? Early in the game, and for quite some time magically, Icy Rain rules as a frequently very effective area spell (yay, area spells!). Your priest will not have any damaging area spells until he acquires Divine Fire a long way down the road. If you make a mage strong enough early on, say with 6-8 level Mage Spells and one or two Spellcraft and 4-5 Intelligence, he alone will make mincemeat of goblins and nephils from the start. If you have two mages with Icy Rain at the start, you are going to kick ass for a while. A party of all magic users could be a fun challenge too, because there are foes that basically require physical damage to beat, especially later on. You may want to add some pole, melee or strong archer ability (cheapest) to your magicians later on, if you have lots of them. PRIESTS: Note the cheaper priest spells than mage spells. Be sure not to overlook the new Pure Spirit trait designed just for your priest. A strong priest is your best friend to bring along to the party. Don’t neglect your Repel Spirit skills. There seem to be plenty of nasty undead variants lurking around, and I’m not talking about hordes of simple mindless zombies to dispatch. Note also that Repel Spirit is NOT an area spell at any level. Two PC’s with priest abilities can be very useful in a party. I usually give my meat shield fighter one level of priest skills so he can heal, cure, or bless himself a bit. Hold on to all your herbs collected. They are light and eventually most of them will be useful in one way or another. It is quite possible to do just fine without using any wands or scrolls and most potions. You can afford more spells and special gear if you sell off things like wands and scrolls instead of hoarding them all. This concludes Some of Synergy’s Simple Suggestions for not Sucking at Avernum IV at this time. I am sure other players will have plenty to offer, modify, or correct hereafter, including myself, as there is much more that can be said. EDIT: Fixed my “Divine Warrior” to “Elite Warrior.” [ Tuesday, December 13, 2005 14:45: Message edited by: Synergy67 ] -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| First Mac version released in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Monday, December 12 2005 10:57
Profile
Spiderweb games and the Marathon games are the only times in all my gaming history I remember being able to enjoy a good game before the Windoze people got their mitts on it. Let us minority Mac users enjoy our rare privilege. I'm patiently waiting for Civilization IV for Mac right now (tap...tap...tap). -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Cheats ? in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Monday, December 12 2005 10:52
Profile
You shouldn't need cheats, really. I had few clues and no cheats while playing through the beta twice+ and was able to finish every quest but one (thanks Alo for the tip on the one) and win the game with no real need to modify anything. I'm not an expert player, though I have played all the previous Avernums. Because there are no secret areas in which to hide spellbooks and magical items, going about acquiring and finishing things is more straightforward. Because you never truly die, but can revive three out of four of your party for no cost if one member survives, there is less need for reloading or fixing things. I'll post my general advice for playing and constructing a party to give an idea what may work or be helpful to keep in mind for A4. -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| A4 Hidden Skills [SPOILERS] in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Monday, December 12 2005 10:46
Profile
I'm working on figuring out what triggers the special skills, of which there are many in A4. This would be ten times easier if I had a character editor instead of having to type in "iwanttobestronger" dozens of times to get the skill points to experiment. Anyway, following is what I have determined so far. When you achieve one of these special skills this way, instead of through special armor or other artifacts, they become trainable. 6 Dexterity + 6 Defense = Parry 6 Dexterity + 6 Melee = Quick Strike 6 Strength + 8 Dexterity = Gymnastics 8 Intelligence + 6 Priest or Mage spells = Magery I haven't been able to find Riposte yet, but I think it is going to be based on some combination of Parry + ? (Strength/Quick Action/Quick Strike/Gymnastics/Blademaster). I haven't been able to find Blademaster yet either, but perhaps it is Melee +Strength...+ ? Anyone else figure one out, please post it here. [ Tuesday, December 13, 2005 12:08: Message edited by: Synergy67 ] -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • N:R Items • The Lonely Celt • A5 Items • A5 Map Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Just hit the registration barrier. in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Sunday, December 11 2005 22:08
Profile
quote:You can finish the rat hunt (try revisiting somewhere you already found rats) and the graymold quests, but the latter only if you are willing to steal out from under someone's nose. Not sure how many players have noticed, but you CAN steal openly (seen) a certain number of times in any town or area before the locals will get up in arms against you. If you are going to be a shameless thief, choose your targets carefully. [ Sunday, December 11, 2005 22:13: Message edited by: Synergy67 ] -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Just hit the registration barrier. in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Sunday, December 11 2005 18:35
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I believe he means the "mines" in the Formello area. Some of those quest payoffs are crippled as part of the registration barrier evidently. As I was saying, no way is this demo 1/5 of the game. I'd say it covers about 1/6 the area (max) and maybe 1/10-1/15 the time required to play it doing all the quests. The game is as big or bigger than any previous Avernum, though it's a bit hard to gauge in the same way due to all terrain being continuous "outdoors". It takes longer to get places as often as not. -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Just hit the registration barrier. in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Sunday, December 11 2005 16:18
Profile
Anything after Formello. EDIT: Which Jeff says is 1/5 of the game, but it sure isn't timewise (the game is bigger), though it could be areawise, and it is a fair bit of play. [ Sunday, December 11, 2005 16:19: Message edited by: Synergy67 ] -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Just hit the registration barrier. in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Sunday, December 11 2005 16:13
Profile
This utterly fascinating fact brought to you by our resident cryptician and provocateur. My mind reels with witty and unprintable replies. -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Are there secret passages? in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Sunday, December 11 2005 16:08
Profile
It's an odd thing. It's a great relief to no longer have the burden of having to push against all possible walls to look for secret areas in A4. Yet, I miss the thrill of finding them that way. My idea of how secret areas might ideally work is first having enough luck and dexterity or tool use to find them (goes up as the difficulty area goes up), and also there will be clues they are there: pathways going into a wall and ending...discolorations, something on the ground in front of one or a mark on a wall or rock in front of one. You'd have to pay attention to logical clues AND have the right skills to get in. But no more random looking, for sure. -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Are there secret passages? in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Sunday, December 11 2005 15:29
Profile
How much luck did it take, Vlish? I never had that happen, but then again, I never gave anyone more than 2 luck or so. It is interesting to note that the description for Luck says it actually improves everything you do a little. It might be a better investment than previously.. -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| INTJ? ESFP? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Thursday, December 8 2005 16:13
Profile
Good ol' Jungian personality typing. I test again as an ENFJ. Kingy, we might get along splendidly. NF's in general "get" each other. I'm strong on the N and F much moreso than the E and J, and on F most of all (50). Percentages do matter. Being mild or close to center on the scale can be very different from being extreme on it. The idea is that you can/want to move along these scales through your life closer to the centers and to become more balanced and versatile in time. A fellow student in my psych program was in her 60's and had successfully done this in her life, having shifted significantly in her test results over the decades. Other ENFJ's: King David (I wonder how they figured that out, but I like it), Abraham Lincoln, Sean Connery (yay!), Johnny Depp (yay!). Having less than two letters in common with someone means you will likely have extra challenge in the relationship—not that it is not possible, but it will take more work on both person's part to make it work. P.S. - I'm looking forward to what you have to say about it, Alex. P.P.S. - This must explain why I like to get so "teachy". I'm a mild E though, so my pursuit of being a therapist is closely related. [ Thursday, December 08, 2005 16:24: Message edited by: Synergy67 ] -------------------- A4 Item Locations A4 Singleton G4 Items List G4 Forging List The Insidious Infiltrator Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Important People in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Wednesday, December 7 2005 09:48
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quote:His mom is everywhere at the same time? [ Wednesday, December 07, 2005 09:49: Message edited by: Synergy67 ] -------------------- A4 Items List A4 Singleton G4 Items List G4 Forging List G4 Insidious Infiltrator NR Items List Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| whats this?! in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Wednesday, December 7 2005 09:44
Profile
Hey, Juneau what the capital of Alaska is? Al-askya later. -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Beta Testing Testing One Two Three Four in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Sunday, December 4 2005 20:14
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I'm using a party of four with zero to 35% level-up handicaps due to net positive traits. Oddly enough, the level-up lag has hit nearly as bad as with a singleton, but further on than you've hit it with two. Somewhere in the mid-teens level-wise and half-way through the game, they are really dragging at leveling up any further. It seems to be paced so my priests and mages can just keep up with available spells, putting most of their skill points all along into intelligence and magic skills. I didn't remember having this issue in my first full game, but probably did. I'll have to pay attention and see whether they pick up the pace again at some point, or if once you hit it, you're stuck with it. Anyone else noticing this happening? [ Sunday, December 04, 2005 20:17: Message edited by: Synergy67 ] -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| New Forum in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Saturday, December 3 2005 01:03
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It was just a statement that he might address in A5 something technical I was asking him about, rather than change it for A4. A4 does certainly invite a sequel. Of that I will say no more. -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Numbers in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Friday, December 2 2005 21:16
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Tbi Ruccki, Alo, provilno? ya eto ne znal. Tbi govorish po-ruccki? Dobriy Veychir, i do ckorova. -------------------- A4 Items List A4 Singleton G4 Items List G4 Forging List G4 Insidious Infiltrator NR Items List Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| New Forum in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Friday, December 2 2005 19:33
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Trippy....the birth of a new SW forum. Maybe the "beta testing" and "Avernum 4: Geneforge?" threads should be moved over here by whomever has the power to do it, as there is ongoing dialog about A4 in those already. Jeff actually alluded to an Avernum 5 yesterday, for whatever that is worth. EDIT: In an email about modifying features in A4. [ Saturday, December 03, 2005 00:00: Message edited by: Synergy67 ] -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Beta Testing Testing One Two Three Four in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Friday, December 2 2005 12:29
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Thanks, Alo...I missed that one, but knew there had to be a way in there. The door I mentioned is actually a bit to the NW of the city, but you meant what I knew. Check your SW email for a reply. As often as my main fighter normally got charmed, terrified, or confused, I think Strong Will might be a decent investment. I'm trying it with my melee man this time around. I gave up on my singleton game. It really doesn't work. Those brave and patient souls who are dead set on playing one through that way will have to endure a real lag in leveling up early on, and it may last quite a while, leaving you increasingly weak in the face of more and more powerful adversaries. -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Numbers in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Thursday, December 1 2005 23:43
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Well, now you got me curious, Alo...what are your ethnic heritages? -------------------- A4 Items List A4 Singleton G4 Items List G4 Forging List G4 Insidious Infiltrator NR Items List Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Presto Change-o Disappear-o in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Thursday, December 1 2005 22:17
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When the cat's away, the mice may play, but when the cat comes back, the naughty mice get swatted into unconsciousness and duly devoured. The naughty mice are on time-delay camera after all. -------------------- A4 Items List A4 Singleton G4 Items List G4 Forging List G4 Insidious Infiltrator NR Items List Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Beta Testing Testing One Two Three Four in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Thursday, December 1 2005 22:11
Profile
I have played a game as a singleton human with Divinely Touched and Natural Mage up to the Ft. Draco area at this point. This is a 45% XP penalty combined based on those traits, but since I have one greedy little PC getting four times the XP of a party of four, he should be leveling up at approximately twice the typical rate of a non-advantaged party of four. Well, at first he flew up for a few levels. I have done all possible missions along the way to keep him leveling up as much as possible. I gave him both priest and mage skills and enough tool use for the early part of the game, enough nature lore to expose caches (barely) and enough pole fighting power and a tiny bit of archery to do decent damage without magic when necessary. Now, he is killing undead for 1 XP point each at level ten. Not good. The game appears to consider his experience level of ten well beyond the monster level he is facing, and it is now a severe penalty being a singleton. This is an imbalance and I have asked Jeff if there is anything to be done to fix this, or I belive he will wind up way behind in needed XP to match the game level he will be facing. He is falling behind now in Tool Use and Priest Levels because I'm not getting any decent XP points any more. I had the thought that I'd like the option to assign a sum total of XP to whatever number of PC's I choose. If I choose a singleton, I am behind 3x ~65 XP total for my "party". This is not the challenge I want from being a singleton, being handicapped by being behind in XP, but "ahead" in level according to how the game looks at him. I like the challenge of having one PC find a way to manage through all situations, but on a par total level of ability as a party of four. This means I'd like to have 260 XP to assign to him at the beginning, heh. Or maybe at least double the usually amount for just one PC. I have done this with the character editor in previous Avernums sometimes. It depends what kind of challenge and experience you want from a singleton. Tool use of 8 is perfect to start the game with, and 10 a bit in does well for some time. After that, my magic users opened doors, which often appeared at level 15 or 18-30. By the way, there is a (key-locked?) door just SW of Formello I have never found a way to open. Someone email me if you figured out how to get in there? That was the only known thing in the game I was never able to accomplish. EDIT: I've just been informed that our Beloved Designer intends playing as a singleton to be brutally difficult, unlike previous games, so he was happy to hear of my woes. [ Thursday, December 01, 2005 22:24: Message edited by: Synergy67 ] -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| A4 - The New Geneforge? in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Thursday, December 1 2005 18:26
Profile
My first party was a melee fighter, a pole fighter, a mage, and a priest, with one specializing in tool use and one in archery. All had competent levels of archery which is fairly easy to achieve. Significant amounts of ranged attacking is useful to essential in A4. Melee combat does feel much more challenging. I remember at the end of A3, my pole fighter alone could take out an alien beast with one or two strikes and same with my swordsman. At no point in A4 did anyone feel overpowered. Quite the opposite in fact. You will have to highly specialize hand-fighters to really make them powerful fighters. It will require a sacrifice of other stats you might not want to skimp on normally. -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
| Beta Testing Testing One Two Three Four in Avernum 4 | |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Thursday, December 1 2005 18:19
Profile
I finally finished (the end bug is fixed) and have played a couple partial games with experimental parties (all spell-casters/archers was one—very effective, but boring) and now am trying again as a singleton...a real challenge. In fact, I'm thinkiing it will be darn near imossible in A4 to play through as a singleton. I'm digging some of the improved sound effects...the owls or nightscreeches are spooky. -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |