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Having worked with seniors before, I can say I'd prefer a nice lunatic than a sane jerk.
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Jan 30, 2014 00:33
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berryjon posted:
Touché, jon - Peregrine is indeed not an arsehole... condescending megalomaniacal power-hungry ponce, yes, but arsehole no.
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Jan 30, 2014 01:02
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: "HELLO?!?!?!?"
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Well, recorded the next update. Remind me again why having Basilisks and Demons in the opening Chapter was a good thing again? So... much... save scumming....
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Feb 2, 2014 06:55
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Once again, for those playing along, Exile 2 has an extremely unhealthy fixation with basilisks; it's one of the most serious strikes against its overall design. Something like a third of all the random, piss-easy no-name monster hole dungeons have a random basilisk, because everyone loves turning a corner and having two people instantly drop dead of stoning. Hey, man, you know what makes a good boss in this low-level dungeon? Save-or-die monster in a dark corridor! Gee, you know what would be fun? A fight with SIX or more basilisks/upgraded-basilisk-equivalents-with-even-higher-instant-death-chance! An idea so good it shows up in at least two mandatory locations, to say nothing of all the optional ones. Being a very open game, it's also entirely possible to blunder into an area WAY out of your league with no clear indication, instant-death monsters aside. There's an easter egg involving holding shift or alt, I can't recall which, and hitting the number keys; the advice thus spelled out basically says to save all the goddamned time, with backups, and it's not kidding.
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Feb 2, 2014 07:12
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Shady Amish Terror posted:Once again, for those playing along, Exile 2 has an extremely unhealthy fixation with basilisks; Well, to be fair, as you'll see one everything is written up, the Demon requires effort to get to, and you have time to undo your mistake. The Basilisk? It can open DOORS.
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Feb 2, 2014 07:42
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Shady Amish Terror posted:Once again, for those playing along, Exile 2 has an extremely unhealthy fixation with basilisks; it's one of the most serious strikes against its overall design. Something like a third of all the random, piss-easy no-name monster hole dungeons have a random basilisk, because everyone loves turning a corner and having two people instantly drop dead of stoning. Hey, man, you know what makes a good boss in this low-level dungeon? Save-or-die monster in a dark corridor! Gee, you know what would be fun? A fight with SIX or more basilisks/upgraded-basilisk-equivalents-with-even-higher-instant-death-chance! An idea so good it shows up in at least two mandatory locations, to say nothing of all the optional ones. Being a very open game, it's also entirely possible to blunder into an area WAY out of your league with no clear indication, instant-death monsters aside. Funnily enough there are people who refuse to ever save-scum in Exile games (Exile 3 spoilers). To be fair, having a PC get stoned isn't game over since you can lug their stuff back to a healer. Still, that would be one hell of an endurance run. These are loving long games to never lose at, no matter how good you are.
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Feb 2, 2014 15:47
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Shady Amish Terror posted:Once again, for those playing along, Exile 2 has an extremely unhealthy fixation with basilisks; it's one of the most serious strikes against its overall design. Thankfully in 3 they seem to be limited to one main area, though that place is loving crawling with them. The new sprite in 3 is also kind of cool.
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Feb 2, 2014 15:59
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A basilisk getting a party member isn't the end of the world, no. But goddamn is it an unfun mechanic to spring them on you without warning, and even when you ARE forewarned (heavily so, if we're talking about the same Chapter 1 basilisk), Exile 2 has precious few ways to attack something out of line of sight, or to even CONTROL line of sight. Why, you'd need something goofy like a spell that obstructs LOS with webs, and/or an attack spell with an AoE, like a wall or a fireball or something. Hint: The game REALLY wants you to have Mage 3. I'll try not to get ahead of things, but the warning about basilisks is a totally fair one. They're assholes.
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Feb 3, 2014 03:48
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You can also explore in fight mode, sending your point man two spaces out to check LOS, and then walking them back into cover. It's a horribly dull way to play, but pretty safe.
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Feb 3, 2014 16:04
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It's not a bad strategy, but you've got to be careful where and how you use it; fight mode breaks some scripted events, if memory serves.
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Feb 4, 2014 05:37
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So what you're saying is that Art will have no mana left after using the ritual. But hey, it's called the Ritual of Sanctification, what could be left afterward?
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Feb 7, 2014 14:09
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Next update is in the works. Just priorities are getting in the way, you know.Glazius posted:So what you're saying is that Art will have no mana left after using the ritual. Exile 2 is an escort quest in many ways now. Art is the one to be escorted.
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Feb 12, 2014 04:28
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Update 007 – The Blasted Ruins “You! Adventurers! Come to my office! Now!” “You know thesse creaturesss?” “Come on, not in the open.”The mayor of Formello was a balding man in his fifties who introduced himself as the honoured ruled of Formello, more a formal title than anything else. He was very tense as the rest of Art's troupe of trainees joined her in the public square. Eyeing Kai-lyss and Aaarth-Tss the most, he gestured back toward the small building set into the rock wall that backed Formello. “Come, come! No time to waste!” “Where are we going, Mayor Amtar?” Chester hid his emotions well, though worry shone through quite clear. The Empire and Monster attacks were one thing, but this? This was... different. And unexpected. “My office. I'm sorry, but with what we just saw, it's the most secure place.” The older man ran ahead to unlock the doors leading into his office, and gestured for the rest to hurry up. Dmurr and Marianna took the invitation while the rest stayed with Art as she strolled quietly. “Why do we not russsh?” the young Aaarth-Tss asked in a whispered hiss. “Eventsss like thisss...?” “<We do not, as haste breeds concern and worry in the civilian population,>” Kai-Lyss responded. “By not russshing, Art projectsss the idea that nothing iss wrong.” “Pretty much. Unspecified Services deals with too much weird stuff to be bothered by this level of events.” Art replied as nonchalantly as she could, though inside, she fretted. “And besides, I've been to this office before. It's close, so running isn't required.” True to her word, the six of them were able to join the Mayor in his office, where he closed the door with a thud, and took his seat at the head of the table. “HELP!”  “Art, Unspecified Services, sir. This is my training group, and we are at your service.” Art gave a very professional greeting as Mayor Amtar tried to get his breathing under control. “Yes, we saw that event.” “First the Barrier, now this! What is happening to us?” the Mayor didn't seem to react to her calm statements, his own mind focused on other troubles. “You have to help us!” “We will, sir.” Art replied again, inwardly sighing at the excitable and tense man. “The second issue first. These 'Vhanatai'. They are not totally unknown.” “They aren't?” Chester asked, surprised. “I've never seen anything like them before.” “Indeed! Such creatures are not native to the Caves!” Dmurr added quickly, hands on the rough-hewn table. “Not truth.” Kai-Lyss interjected, bringing leaning slightly over the table to face Art across from him. “But what do the humansss know first?” The offer was clear, and Art accepted. “Alright,” she paused to get her thoughts and memories in order. “The Vhanatai are a species native to the caves of Exile and elsewhere. While certain out-of-place-artifacts discovered previously are now attributed to them, the first official report of their existence as a species was made by the First Exile Escape Committee during the Slith War,” she nodded at the two lizards at the table. “The EEC, after assassinating Sss-Thss, was getting information on Grah-Hoth. As part of that, they raided a Slith Temple where one of the pieces of the Demonslayer blade was located. Information there led them to a hidden cavern near Sss-Thss' castle. It was home to a Lich, which they destroyed. But one of the undead maintained its sentience as a spirit and identified itself as Brethis, of the Vhanatai. It could not say much about who or what it was in life, and a later attempt to return to that cavern revealed that the shade had moved on.” “I know of the place you ssspeak.” Kai-Lyss said. “It isss... wasss a place to tessst warriorsss. No longer.” “Anyways, the second known location is the former Crypt of Drath. Oddly enough, there was another piece of the Demonslayer piece at the bottom of the Crypt. But the actual presence of the Vhanatai was in the crypts there. Like the cave in Slith waters, this one held an ancient undead that raised some of their bodies for its own purposes. And like the previous Lich, Drath was destroyed by the EEC.” “I don't believe for one minute that both events were orchestrated by the same people, Art dahling.” Marianna raised her objection to the information Art was dispensing, while the others seemed to want to wait for their leader to finish before speaking. “And that leads me to the third location.” Art stood up for a moment, and drew her snake-curved blade. “This, we found in a cavern north of Erika Redmark's Tower, about a third of the way to Grah-Hoth's fort. In it was a paired set of barriers designed to keep everything in and out. Our magus, Peregrine, was able to crack the barrier a little bit and I retrieved this weapon in the process. Tests conducted later by Boutell and Patrick indicate that this blade was forged between 3 and 5 thousand years ago. In the five years since I took it, it hasn't nicked, bent, broken, blemished or otherwise shown any signs of its age and origin. What we do know from its location was that it is of the Vhanatai style of weapon, though if it had some greater purpose, was exceptional or normal for them we do not know.” She put the Alien Blade down on the table, letting everyone else take new stock of the weapon she had carried since they had met her. And a new appreciation. “What else do we know?” the Mayor asked, prodding her to continue her report. “Nothing.” Art said simply. “Nothing at all. No undesecrated bodies, no translations of their words, no art, no clothes, just the occasional weapon or scrap of something we can't identify.” She looked expectantly at Kai-Lyss. “Your turn.” “Indeed.” Kai-lyss put one claw to the ancient blade. “There are talesss come to uss from Bahssikava. Know that the Slithzerikai you know are not a people native to these cavess as well, but exilesss rear end well from our home for the crimesss of Demon Worshipping. From there, there are taless of an even more ancient and deeper ssspeciesss, one rich in lore and magics.” He paused for breath, trying to recall memories from his childhood. “There isss no name, save a word that becomesss 'Crystal Soul' in Human.” “The shade mentioned that!” Chester said first and loudly, proud of his connection. “It said we stole one of them!” The weight of his words fell on to him. “Wait. Did we? Really?” “I couldn't tell you,” Art replied sadly. “I know some people who would gladly do that if it meant power or stuff like that. And this Vhanatai was quite adamant that it was us who took them.” The Mayor fretted. “Then you must do something! I'm ordering you to go down into that cavern and resolve this crisis!” “No.” Art shot back, short and angry. “Unspecified Services does not answer to the Council. Never have, never will. We co-operate with the Army, and report to the King. You can't give me orders.” “You have to! It's your job! These creatures have ATTACKED EXILE and we must respond!” “MY JOB” Art roared, driving back the others with the force of her voice, “is to secure the safety of Exile and her people from threats that conventional responses cannot deal with!” She toned back her voice to merely indignant after that. “Does this qualify? Yes, it most certainly does. Have you looked at other options yet? I can tell you that you haven't. When we step out of the door, the first thing you are going to do is use that magic necklace of yours to contact the other Mayors and the King and tell them about the Barriers and this ultimatum. Understood?” “Yes, Ma'am.” The Mayor seems partly cowed, partly in fear of Art as she snatched the Vhanatai weapon off the table. “Now, your little trouble has been added to my list of things to do. It's somewhere around 'Yes' and 'Eventually'. You don't get to set my priorities, and right now, they are set to assuring that when I go down there to beat some sense into the Vhanatai, I plan on making sure that my rear, everything I can check out, is still safe and secure. And that means, at the very least, going back and finishing wiping out the Nephil Fort over by Ganrick.” “Ma'am, Sir?” Chester raised on hand for permission to speak. “Yes?” “The captain of the local militia also asked that we investigate some place to the West, Ma'am Sir. There are reports of Undead coming from the area of an old castle.” Chester relayed the basics of the talk he had earlier. “Is that what you're talking about.” “Ooooh! And the Spiders were also asking for help too!” Dmurr raised up another point, taking glee in the caustic look Art fired back at him across the table. “Fine!” She returned her attention to the Mayor. “These things need to be looked at. I'll even try poking the Spiders as much as I hate them.” Art stood. “This meeting is over. I have my job. You have yours.”  As you can tell, this isn't how the actual conversation goes down. In fact, Exile 2 makes no overt mention of the previous encounters with the Vhanatai before Chapter 4! This is in part due to the nature of the plot – there is no connection between the PCs in each game of the Trilogy, so each has to start with a fresh slate of information. The Vhanatai as supposed to be mysterious at this point, and the lack of information is deliberate. Anyways, the actual conversation with the Mayor goes something like this:Look: You meet a man in his fifties, easily. He is very tense - his body seems about to tear itself apart. In addition to the traditional mayor's sash, he wears a large gold necklace. Name: He nods. "I am Amtar. Mayor Amtar, honored ruler of the city of Formello." Job: He shakes his head. "So many troubles, and even my secretary has gone off to fight. I'm glad to see adventurers here. At this point, we need all the assistance we can get." Secretary: "His name is Foley. He's a captain now. If you meet him, be sure to mention my name to him." Adventurers, Assistance: "Well, we all heard what that shade said and saw the crevice appear. Exile needs someone to go down into it. It may be our only hope to get rid that cursed barrier. You are the only adventurers around here. You may be the only people who can save us." Anyways, on with the LP! “Was that hostility really necessary?” “You did seem quite annoyed there, Sir Ma'am.” “I thought I told... you... Never mind. Look, was I hostile? Yes. Was it deserved? The moment he demanded I do something, yes.” “Perhaps a distraction then? Let us look at this passage.”  “I do not wisssh to enter that plase.” “You sssense it too.” “Dear, I think everyone gets a feeling of foreboding from there.” “That's just the cold wind. It's still dusty from its creation.” “What's back there anyways?” “The spring that feeds Formello.” “No wonder the mayor is so panicky.” “Having your water supply compromised? That can do that to a man.” There are two NPCs in the area that I got conversations for, but I couldn't work them into the narrative. The first hangs out around the Mayor's office and is dressed in pink LOOK: A young woman with a haversack paces around Formello, looking at the sights. She doesn't seem very enthusiastic about it. NAME: "Oh, you stuck here too? I'm Rose." JOB: "Well, I was heading south to Silvar to visit my family. Was." SILVAR, FAMILY, BARRIER "Was. I was just leaving here when I heard about the barrier. You know, the one that cut us off from anywhere else? Now I'm just doing odd jobs, waiting to get away." The other one is located to the south, in the large empty area in Formello. He's actually pretty good for building up the nature of Formello, though due to his position, you can't get to him without triggering the Vhanatai event. LOOK: A taciturn man in moss-stained clothes stalks about. NAME: He grunts. "Tybalt." JOB: "I'm a farmer." FARMER: "Yeah. I grow the mushrooms in the corner of town. Don't touch 'em, or you're nicked!" MUSHROOMS: "Yeah. They're emergency crops, in case we get sieged! And I'm in charge of em! Touch 'em, and you might get in serious trouble, if you live past what I do ta' ya'!" I'll try harder to include such NPCs in the future, but this particular sequence of events didn't lead well to that level of exploration and conversation. “Divulge?” "..." “Of course she'd change the password.” “Alright, list of priorities. Go south to find the Barrier, then circle back West to investigate the former fortress of Anastasia, then back north to Draco, buy a boat, and swing back around to talk to Solberg, if he's home.” “Why that order? Would it not be better to sspeak to Sssol-berg fisst?” “Need to get a boat first. Not everyone in this merry band of misfits can swim!” “I thought mammalssss could ssswim?” “We can, but not far enough.”  Another map who isn't accurate. Silvar is at most, 100 tiles south of here (though I won't be able to check until Chapter 4), while the distances to Formello and Fort Draco are relatively accurate. “Someone really needs to fix these signs. General Karmas worked really hard to get this road system built.” “...” “I have never ssseen this like before.” “Over here! Some people tried to dig around, but this thing extends into the ground as well.” “Probably goes to the gutrock.” “Right, no way we can take these out here and now. Let's go back.” “You are giving up?” “No, merely recognizing that I don't have the resources to take care of this. If I had Peregrine, I'd be willing to let him take a crack at this, but I don't, so it's time to go back to my plan.” “Are you sure this is safe, Sir Ma'am?” “What do you mean?” “I mean, going off the roads like this.” “It's either this, or we take the long way around.” “Truth.” “They did a very good job of covering up their campsssite.” “And it's not that cold either. Perhaps they're nearby?” “Oh.” I always get a giggle out of that comment. It's pretty true, all things considered. “REALLY?” “Why would they go out of their way to ambush travellers here? Why do it anyways? There are far more safe means to live.” “I'm more wondering why they're here, out of the way of the roads.” “The roadsss are patrolled by the Army?” “That still doesn't make any sense! If they have the skill and drive to ambush people, why don't they offer their services to the Army?” “Dessserterss?” “No, I didn't see any marks like that on them.” “Can we stop this discussion now? It is... not the best.” “Now to get to the other side of the river.” “Ssswiming?” “No, there's a bridge to the west. Over there is a backdoor to the old castle. It should still be there.” “How do you know this?” “I thought I told you that I helped hit this place five years ago? A woman named Anastasia was manipulating the local Nephil and Nephar tribes into a powerbase for herself, even got so far as to steal an artifact from the Mayor of Formello at the time.” “Never heard of that event.” “I have.”  “Oh come on!” “Huh. Another one.” “Can we go sssouth at all?” “Perhapsss. There isss a river to the wessst.” “We can check that out later.” “Extreme Military Disaster”. I know the First EEC was a wrecking crew, but as you're going to see, they didn't do this. “I thought you said we were going in the back.” “We are.”   “Undead. Great.” “What did you expect? A welcome party? We were told about this!” Oh, Undead. Returning from the first game are Zombies, Ghasts and Skeletons. They are not that much of a threat at lover levels, except for the Ghast, which can hit pretty hard, and whose attacks can slow the poor character, which can in turn cause them to be over run before they can get off the front lines. “Oh hells, Cultists!” “Interlopers! Brothers, to arms!” I had a lot of trouble with this fight. Because I came in the back way, I'm dealing with all the powerful undead that would normally come at the end of the dungeon first. You see, the back entrance is something of a bonus for people who applied the lesson from the Nephar Castle, and looked for the back door, or played the first game and knew it was there. “Come forth, our new creations!”  Here is the first real source of Trouble. The Quickghast. Doesn't look like much from the record, right? No? IT ATTACKS THREE TIMES FOR THREE HITS EACH. This is a massive threat, especially as this gives it multiple chances to Slow its target, making them easier pickings for everyone else. But the  Reload! About a half-dozen times. And here's the other new form of Undead. Once that I love and adore beyond all reason. The Ruby Skeleton. What is it? Oh, just a Skeleton that can cast Fireball and has a ranged Fire attack that can do about 15-20 damage on a good hit, and can attack twice a round with its Heat Ray. When I've done tabletop DM'ing, I've always included versions of these guys in my undead when possible. “Is that it?” “I should hope so!” “Clear! My, what a mess we've caused.” “This must be the Altar I was told about, Sir Ma'am.” Seriously, don't lay in the depression. I was annoyed enough with the reloading at this point to not do it once more to undo killing one of my own guys. Let's destroy it! “RRAAGH!” “Or notss.” “huuhrrr” “We can come back to this later!” These guys were trapped behind a curve of the walls. After this push, I've wiped out most of the enemies on the map, except for a couple specific foes we'll encounter later. After this fight, I head back outside and rest up. “Come on, I have an idea.” “Oh?” “Yes.”   “Let's do this.” “ugh... so tired...” “Sir? Are you alright?” “Ssuch power... Art ssufferss from mana drainage. She needs to rest.” This is why I saved up Art's skill points for 50 SP. Not only because you need that much for the casting of the one spell, but in general, the increased SP costs of spells across the board mean that running around with 35SP like Peregrine did last LP is no longer viable. That, and it's a reminder to me to use Art's priest spells more often. “No, I'm alright. Let's make sure everything else is done with.”  “Nothing here.” “Look again, boy!” “Can we get it open?” “... Don't say a thing.” “This place seems to have been much larger in the past.” “Yes. Who attacked this place, I wonder? There used to be stairs here, and the whole castle was three floors top to bottom.” “The Army?” “It wasss not usss.” “Does it really matter?” “No. No it doesn't.” “Oh, I don't suppose you all want to walk away now? We kinda destroyed your altar.” “DIE!”   “Before we leave, there's something I want to try.” “Oh?”  “That is an amazing spell, Sir Ma'am. Can it be weaponized?” “It's called Shockwave.” “I'm beginning to see why you dislike Spiders so much, Art.” “Humph.” A shot of my putting Fireball to use, including the targeting reticule and the area the spell affects. “What did they do to you to caussse sssuch animossity, Art-Thsss?” “You really don't want to know.” “This looks like the front door. Or what remains of it.” “Close enough. Actually, the front is over there.”  “...” “This is....” “<Why?>” “We need to set these people to rest.” “Give me a minute.” “....” “I'm sorry.” “I <sense> power from beyond here.”  “Hello!” “RUN!” This completely random Demon is sitting on top of the Runed Key, which is a plot-key for later. At this point, if I tried to fight it, I would lose. No doubt about it. If I really wanted the key though, I could haste up to 12 someone like Art, Aaarth-Tsss, or Chester, run in, grab it, and run out, taking the attack of opportunity. The demon can't move (thankfully), so I could do it. But it would be far too cheesy. So instead, it's run away time! Or else this happens: “Come back! I only want to talk!” “No one likes me....” Anyways, I was doing the last bit of exploration when this happens: As was mentioned in this thread, Exile 2 has a thing where there will be a random Basilisk in a dungeon, just waiting to ambush your party. In honour of that comment, I present to you this:Random Basilisk Count posted: It won't be so bad, except this particular version of this lizard can open doors. They're worse than raptors! After reloading, I find it over in the south-west corner, And then I kill the damnedable thing.  “I think we've pushed our luck enough.” “Shall we go back to report our success?” “We'll get to it eventually. Northward ho!” “<So strange.>” Time to catch up on my maps! It will be a while before I can get into the blocked off section of Motrax's lair. Stupid Mages. Formello really benefits from the larger map sizes, now feeling like it's an actual city. I really enjoy the fact that this place was built up against a natural spring, with farms inside the walls. It shows it's ready for a siege. The Blasted Ruin has seen better days. I need to come back here eventually to deal with the last couple of locked doors and to get that Key. There is no overworld map at this point as it's pretty much a straight line between locations at this point, and I want to do some more exploration first.
berryjon fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Aug 9, 2014 |
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Feb 15, 2014 01:47
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That trap did like 10 damage 
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Feb 15, 2014 02:31
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They can't all be winners.
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Feb 15, 2014 02:55
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So can you break the altars afterwards, or does sanctifying it essentially "break" them?
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Feb 15, 2014 03:10
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Sanctification breaks them on a plot level. Remember all those Altars I broke back in Exile 1? The Ritual is designed to overcome the demon-summoning that comes with that, as well as other factors.
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Feb 15, 2014 03:19
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Put another way, most altars in E2 will have interactions of "play along with the evil religion", "try and fail to destroy the altar, probably releasing demons in the process", and "Sanctify the altar, possibly releasing demons in the process, but the altar will be destroyed". Either that, or they aren't magical to begin with and you just ignore them.
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Feb 15, 2014 06:02
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So, what happens if you do lie down in the depression?
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Feb 15, 2014 15:09
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Pierzak posted:So, what happens if you do lie down in the depression? That party member dies, and you can try again with another.
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Feb 15, 2014 15:11
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Got the next update all sceencapped out. Why is the Verdant Valley supposed to be easy again, and the dungeon *before* the Nehpar Castle?
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Feb 16, 2014 08:32
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Pierzak posted:So, what happens if you do lie down in the depression? As stated, pretty much exactly what you'd expect, and since your party isn't a bunch of necromantic cultists, you don't even get a cool zombie out of the deal. Pretty hilarious that you can feed multiple people to it, but I don't think you even get any special messages for doing so. Not EVERY evil altar you encounter will be quite so obviously lethal, but it's still a poor idea to interact with several of them regardless. Some altars won't even be particularly evil, at least not obviously so, but there's a surprising number of them scattered throughout Exile 2 regardless. Also, before you waste time, mana, and effort trying, probably half or more of all the evil altars in the game are not actually particularly magical or anything, and the Ritual of Sanctification will do nothing to them. If you get a bunch of text about how the altar/location/whatever is glowing with malevolent evil, or some poor sod has sent you on a mission to deal with said altar, THEN you can probably blast it. berryjon posted:Got the next update all sceencapped out. I'm actually convinced the Verdant Valley is a trap and intended to teach you the virtues of non-linear exploration, myself; like a lot of early areas, it is WAY beyond the capabilities of a starting team. The enemies may be mostly weak and crap, but weak and crap that outnumbers you by more than your collective party hp, and which have some...particularly rear end in a top hat-ish tricks, is more than enough to seal your fate. That's not even counting the traps which I hope you'll show off, just because gently caress VERDANT VALLEY HOLY poo poo E2: Actually, that's something worth pointing out: Exile 2 has tons of small diversions, side-rooms, and sub-quests that aren't intended to be tackled in the order that you reach those areas in, and expect you to backtrack for them. The demon sitting on a key is an extremely good example of this, as is the back area of Motrax's Lair, but most of the Chapter 1 dungeons and locations have them, as do a few (notable, dickish) Chapter 2 locations. Technically, I think the bandits hiding under the coal piles with musk rats isn't intended to be taken on right away either; a starting party can manage it, but it's a stiff challenge for a fresh group. The Basilisk, I am INCREDIBLY CERTAIN, is intended to be another out-of-depth fight, because it's locked back in a little room all on its own surrounded by SUSPICIOUS STATUES with lots of text to warn you away. The problem is that, as stated, Basilisks can open doors for some loving reason, and a person might not be aware that the light spells, while incredibly useful, also aggro the gently caress out of enemies. Combine this with the fact that resting enemies on a map often like to wander or aggro on their own after a few dozen turns, and poo poo gets ugly. Shady Amish Terror fucked around with this message at 09:23 on Feb 16, 2014 |
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Feb 16, 2014 09:12
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The only, ONLY, good thing about the verdant valley is how easy it is to get the enemies pathing to get stuck on the terrain there. I probably spent more time using long waits there than I did fighting anything. I think the demon back there is actually fairly handleable if you do a bit of curse/slowing on it since it can't move, and the Basilisk isn't supposed to be a surprise with all the statues and stones around, except that it does move for some reason. I'm the kind of player who tries to do everything in the area, even if its obviously over leveled, but there are definitely some areas you just Can't do at this point. I'm looking at you Formello Treasury  quote:
Seriously. The spider stuff in chapter 1 was so annoying I ended up leaving it and never coming back.
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Feb 16, 2014 12:20
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Yeah, the basilisk isn't penned in like the demon, so after a few turns of Long Light burning or a couple of long Waits it starts meandering; seems like an oversight to me. As for the spiders, I actually really like them and their area, at least as far as anything that's not combat is concerned. Just be aware that that entire area will kick you directly in the genitals, repeatedly. It is ALSO another place not meant to be visited right away, and it has a couple of small optional challenges on top of the incredible combat slog.
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Feb 16, 2014 13:14
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Is it me or are you using Peregrins picture in place of someone else?
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Feb 16, 2014 17:42
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Kinfolk910 posted:Is it me or are you using Peregrins picture in place of someone else? It's just you. Peregrine has only shown up as an Out-of-narrative moment when talking about Mages on the last page. Now, Chester has a similar appearance (talking head picture) to him, which may be causing some confusion. And will be remarked upon when the party meets him.
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Feb 16, 2014 17:58
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I think I'm going to love D'murr's reaction to the gifts. She'd love them, especially if adequately sloshed.
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Feb 16, 2014 18:49
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Oh, that reminds me.quote:“Ooooh! And the Spiders were also asking for help too!” Dmurr raised up another point, taking glee in the caustic look Art fired back at him across the table. Even the narration is getting D'murr's gender mixed up.
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Feb 17, 2014 07:13
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Shady Amish Terror posted:Even the narration is getting D'murr's gender mixed up. Don't remind me. I'm going to have to go back over everything with a fine toothed comb to sort out all the wrong pronouns.
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Feb 17, 2014 08:44
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At the risk of sounding like "that guy," isn't it supposed to be spelled Vahnatai? That said, I'm not sure if I spoke up in the last LP, but I read it from start to finish and I'm loving this one too. Keep doin' what you're doin'!
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Feb 17, 2014 17:41
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Do you get a boatload of experience for using Sanctification to break altars, or is it just expensive yet satisfying?
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Feb 21, 2014 13:52
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Glazius posted:Do you get a boatload of experience for using Sanctification to break altars, or is it just expensive yet satisfying? Both Art and Dmurr gained enough plot-experience to level. Although I forgot to check exactly how much that was at the time. Probably something on the order of 100.
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Feb 21, 2014 20:06
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Update 008 – The Verdant Valley “...” “Something on your mind, dahling?” “I do.. not have the wordsss. I mussst think.” “Surely, you must be able to speak?” “Hey, don't push the Lizard! She doesn't want to speak, then let her not speak!” “I didn't ask for your input, cat!” “Let's cool our heads here. Not everything running around in people's heads needs to come out, you know? Some people like to be alone with their thoughts.” “Oh, hey, some bandits!”  “Kill the assassins!” “Really? I've been called that so many times, I should start introducing myself like that. Art the Assassin. Discounts on tyrants, petty kings, demon lords, dragons and rude people!”  “I think they came from heeereee.” “Ew.” “Thissss isss no home...” “Seems like after they got kicked out of the castle down south” “They stayed here for a while before establishing their new place up north?” “Pretty much.” “What's that?” “It looksss like ressent rocksss moved...” “Let's check it out then!” “Art, dahling, should we be doing such things?” “As I understand, poking our nose into random corners is part of the job description.” “And besides, I see a trail here. Someone has been coming in and out of here on a regular basis. Perhaps a friendly visit is in order?” “It couldn't... hurt.” “Hello? Anyone home?” Welcome to the Verdant Valley. This is supposed to be the next dungeon after the bandit fort under Fort Draco, but as you're about to see, this is not the case. In many ways, the dungeons here in the opening section of the game are very steep on the learning curve. I suppose one thing that's good about this place is that it is very easy to get in and out of, so if you're even in danger, retreat to the outside is always an option. “I thought I saw movement over there, Sir Ma'am.” “Hello?” “HEHEHEHE!” “KILLKILLKILL!” Those of you who haven't read my Exile 1 LP (and why haven't you?) will not know my spite of the Gremlins. They are evasive little monsters that do the single most horrific thing they can do to the party. THEY CAN STEAL FOOD. Naturally I exterminate with extreme prejudice. “That wassss... unusssualll for you, Art.” “Hate them. Hate. Hate. HATE!” “Take some deep breaths, Sir Ma'am. Please?” “Yes dear. You are scaring the poor children.” “<I am no child!>” “Care to say that in Standard?” “Not! Child!” “Hey, look! A distraction! There's a spring here!” “Yes?” “And it leads over to this place.” “A storehouse? Hello?!?!” “No answer. Maybe no one is here right now?” “Probably.” “We can alsssso leave here.” Part of the accessibility of this place is that there are three distinct ways in and out, depending on which direction you approach the dungeon. “A Slithzerikai died here.” “Yess.” “You guys want a moment to do anything?” “No, not now.” “Then I will.” “....” “That's it?” “Very.... Slith.” “I don't get it.” “Neither do I!” “And I do not exxccpect you too.” “We just did one full loop around the outside of this place, and we're back to the north end.” “Oh! Hello! We're...!” “Intruders!” “Why are you attacking?!?!?!” “Oh, get used to it.” “I did not have random people attacking me all the time before I joined the army!” “You joined Unsssspecified Ssservicess.” “Technical differences.” “And here's another lesson for you. Where there's a look out, there's always people being looked out for.” “How did you find us!?!?” “We followed the tracks, and came by to say hello?” “You lie!” Not seen properly, but this is a glorious set up for the use of the Fireball spell. I'm going to use Fireball. A lot. And this picture exists to show you can push crates around in combat as well, in addition to allowing them to go through doors. Why? Because it's fun, that's why! “Don't pick those up. They'll only poison you as you wear them.” Please ignore the random poisonings in future screen shots. I though these randomly added poison to the weapon, not the wearer.  “Up?” “Not yet.” I go out and rest up to restore SP/HP on everyone. “Now we go up.” “It should be clear.” “You'd be surprised at how few times people will go downstairs. Either that, or the sounds of combat are so common they ignore it.” “I know you!” “Huh?” “You know these people, Sir Ma'am?” “It would not be pleassent, I think.” “You! Despoiler! You stopped the ascension of our lord those years ago! We shall have our revenge!” “You're going to have to be more specific than that.” “Sir, Ma'am?” “You and your band of heathens came unto our fortress, interrupted our ceremony, and slew the lesser servants of our lord!” “Still not getting you.” “It was near here, to the south!” “I'm sorry. I don't remember.” “YOU DON'T REMEMBER?” “Look, the day I came to you, it was obviously the worst day of your existence. Your plans ruined, your patron slain – at best. Everything you held dear, destroyed by a random woman and her motley band of friends.” “For me? It was Tuesday.” “KILL HER!” “There are many of them!” “Eh.”  “Give me a moment.” “You truly know nothing, Aaart?” “About what?” “Thesssse peoplesss?” “What? Oh, no! They were a group of demon worshippers who had a fort on a small lave to the south and east of here. The First EEC stopped by to ask directions to Fort Draco and we interrupted one of their ceremonies. We put them down, and raided their library. Some interesting reading. Nothing major. Came back later to make sure that their altar was properly destroyed.” “Then... why lie?” “Anger makesss missstakesss.” “Still seems cruel.” “Nothing of interest here.” “This should be easy.” “Let me clear that right up.” “Looks like they moved their library.” “Nothing worth reading.” “Or perhaps not...” As mentioned in the Spells update, Wall of Force isn't the best, but it does have some uses in tight quarters later on. “You mentioned demons?” “Fall back!” Hordlings are lesser Imps. Not a serious threat by themselves, and only in numbers. A good choke-point will deal with them. Like this one!  “Clear!” “...” “Even I can tell these are horrible.” “<Killing them would be a benefit to us all.>” “Nothing. This place is clear, let's go.” “AAAAARRRRRGHHHH!” I took the time to go up to Fort Draco, sell off the loot, buy some more arrows and train people up. Dmurr now has 155 arrows going back into the Valley. Have I mentioned lately how much stacking ammo makes me love Archers more? I get three more intelligence. As the primary Priest caster in the party, I'll need that stat higher. Just improving my Strength and Dexterity. Same. More intelligence, more SP. The latter is needed far more at the moment. More dexterity for me, as well as a point in strength. Item Lore, Lockpicking and Traps. “I hear something from this way...” “Are we not supposed to head back to the Valley?” “Yes, but this may be important.” “<You will let this hatchling lead?>” “<Yes.>” “COME ON!”  “Fight!” “<Needs temperment.>” “Yes.” This is a decent fight, one where you are seriously outnumbered, but have allies on your side. Like the battle in Fort Ganrick, this will be a theme of Exile 2. You and friends against a foe that could wipe out both of your factions individually. Of course, you can't actually control the AI partners. “That was nice of him.” “Yesss, it wasss.” “Back to the Valley!” “This time, up the spire in the middle, I think.”     “Or... not.” “Allow me.”          “I think I see something at the top of the mount!” “How about focusing on what's in front of us first?” “Oh, fine.” “Oh!” The joys of being able to trigger 'hidden' event flags in combat more. The party is supposed to be teleported two tiles in front of where Marianna is now, with the intervening tile removed. However, due to combat mode, I get the notice, but not the actions triggered. I promise (again) not to abuse this too much. “Marianna! Don't worry! I'm coming to help!” “Az are usss.” “You guys do realize that all of us over here has sort of trapped us right?” Guess what? The terrain change happened when I made my first foray over, but didn't actually take effect until I turned off Combat Mode.  “There is something here...” “Hot...” “Nothing behind. Go forward?” “I do hope you know what you're doing.” This sub-dungeon has an interesting gimmick. In that every move, random tiles will flare up like someone cast Conflagration on them, damaging anything on the tile. Including enemies. You'll see a lot of these messages down here, but intelligent movement can save you from the worst of the problems. “Nothing here.” “I... I....” “RICH!”  “No, not leaving yet.”  “OW! Ow! Ow!” “Die!” “Didn't even try to talk?” “Imp. Very... territorial.” “Ugh.” “Rest in peace.” “Let's get out of here.” “Now what?” “We see what was so interesting at the top of the spire in the middle.”     “SERIOUSLY?” “Another Vahnatai?” “This makes... five now? Encounters that is.” “And now I am very confused.” Still no over-world maps yet. Lots of little places with nothing in them to poke at. In the mean time, have the Verdant Valley!  
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Mar 1, 2014 01:20
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Woohoo! Did you have art do anything mechanically when she was giving the dead sliths their RIPs, or was that just swapping a rock pile icon for the corpse one?
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Mar 1, 2014 02:08
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GetWellGamers posted:Did you have art do anything mechanically when she was giving the dead sliths their RIPs, or was that just swapping a rock pile icon for the corpse one? Looks like she also gave Aaar-thss or however you spell it the dead slith's gear. I always forget how freakin' huge the Verdant Valley is. It's like they had ideas for three mini-dungeons (brigands, lava cave, and slime/bat ambushes) and tied them all together with a bunch of winding corridors and gremlins.
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Mar 1, 2014 02:25
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I like to think the asp gloves are a pair of live snakes or something equally silly.
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Mar 1, 2014 02:34
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GetWellGamers posted:Did you have art do anything mechanically when she was giving the dead sliths their RIPs, or was that just swapping a rock pile icon for the corpse one? Nope. The bones were covered by the spear and shield, so I just picked those up, leaving the bones behind. Then I took a poignant screenshot or two.
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Mar 1, 2014 02:42
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That last screenshot mentioned a scepter in the skeleton's hand, do you get to steal that? And is it anywhere near as badass as the knife?
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Mar 1, 2014 15:06
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Captain Bravo posted:That last screenshot mentioned a scepter in the skeleton's hand, do you get to steal that? Yes I grabbed it. I'll be looking at it in the next update. And you're talking about the Ravage Knife, right?
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Mar 1, 2014 17:25
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berryjon posted:Yes I grabbed it. I'll be looking at it in the next update. And you're talking about the Ravage Knife, right? One thing that I've enjoyed about Exile in this LP and the previous (which I'm rereading right now in the archives) is that really powerful weapons are very rare and/or require a lot of bother to get - I appreciate that. As much as I love, say, the Infinity Engine games, they do kind of throw piles of such things at you.
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Mar 1, 2014 19:01
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