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One piece of information the game really should dole out in a simple-to-reference format is the resource-building uniques each race has. Like how Pumpkins are just +Food+Mana to every race minus monsters, which have the option of building a different building that gets them a handful of unit upgrades. When I'm playing the game I really want to exploit extra resources for upgrades via converted city settlers but I've got no each way to check this information.
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Aug 31, 2014 13:24
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You know what's worse than prismatic and chromatic dragons? Klizmatic dragons! Here, a joke for my Lithuanian readers Also, the most shameless of self bumps I consider to have worked fairly hard on this, all to fall on deaf ears and blind eyes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zySu1w3wUe8 Chapter 13: Old Friends Redux  Knowledge in the hands of the masses is dangerous to everyone, up to and including the masses themselves. They never have the necessary magical training and experience to use the arcane secrets, and as for mundane ones... well, it's really hard to rebel against a lord who can kill half of your revolution with a fireball, then raise them as undead troops to crush the other half. That's why the new Book palace was placed in a mostly isolated location, well, away from the people and their excesses (usually drunken brawls and fires). Keen eyed guards patrolled the perimeter, always walking in threes, trained in proper “is someone there” drills and ready to strike down any luscious woman or friendly drunk that might approach them. Inside the stone walls, Svarts studied various books and scrolls that troops brought back from their conquest. Reading, writing, debating findings and research – all was done inside the palace. These Svarts, of course, lacked for nothing, from axe training range to a still that made pumpkin shine.  The Military academy was placed in a place much more different. Bleak, burnt fields surrounded the tall structure where military minded Svarts were drilled in all matter of military arts. From logistics and fletching to working in concert with mages, everything that had anything to do with going places and killing people was taught in the academy. And considering the amount of fireballs hurled in training, having a pre-burnt area helped.  All that training and knowledge would prove invaluable if Krel proved (again) to be less than trustworthy. While individual companies of men were poorly equipped and trained, the sheer mass of them could prove disastrous, especially if mages regained Krel's confidence.  "As I've already mentioned, the Dragons of Ardania were believed to have been extinct until, during the reign of the last Great King, elves started summoning other dragons from the world of Illis. As I said before, there were two types of these dragons - red and golden. Now, look at the board. "What do we know about Red Dragons? Write this down: the red variety is, as a rule, a little smaller and significantly more aggressive than their gold counterparts. They boast a hide of crimson color, scaly wings and a rather large... "Ok, this isn't funny. Who's drawn this filth on the board?" (From the lecture notes of Professor Fostus the Reader) Sir Hugue was in pursuit of another Demonwood. Naturally, few knights thought that their adventures would include fighting malicious trees, but nothing was certain in Ardania. And plantlife was probably the only aspect of reality that lacked readily available monsters, so whoever fell a demonwood could boast to have killed not only beasts, undead and embodiments of elements, but plants, too. However, not all was well in the hunt. Sir Hugue had just crossed a small clearing while chasing the vicious tree when said clearing burst into flames. A follow up roar announced the culprit: a red dragon! This was turning out to be the best hunt of Sir Hugues life.  Even if it involved rescuing a trapped tax collector. As far as nightly rescues went, tax collectors were at the opposite side of the scale desirability than maiden princesses under a curse.   “Come fight me on the ground, you overgrown flying newt!”But dragons in Ardania (and other worlds) were usually too smart to fight fair, so the red dragon wordlessly declined the invitation.  In return (and out of spite) Sir Hugue destroyed the dragon's nest. Ugly places, those were, always worthy of torch and pitchfork. Usually filled with treasure, too. This one also contained one Chandler von Chauntleroy, a Chanter from Chantry who only spoke in chant. About the only good thing about him was that he had a Wand of Helia.   “Maybe the old bag of bones has a point after all, with that necromancy…” “Haha, you flying fiend! How do you like this? I have conquered thine home and I have conquered the skies! Truly you are no match for my skill and valor!”And so there was one less dragon in the world.  “Noble steed, don’t you think that those sea serpents look dragon-like? Indeed, I think they do, and they might be in league with dragons! We should despatch them post haste!  "Rune Seers. Priestesses who have reached the highest level in creating runes and using their energies. Nothing is impossible for them." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran)  “They say that time in the jungle changed some rune witches. Like they’re not themselves anymore. Odd, you know?” “That’s jungle for you. Hot and damp all the time, not a right place for a Svart. I would go crazy if they stationed me there” “And being on a shard of a dead world is better?” “Well, for one thing, a lot of the new deaders here are me own doing!” Svarts, after some teleportation shenanigans, managed to get to the other side of the mountains. And there they met no one else, but lizardmen!  "Although Koatl Spears are creatures of the lowest rank, they are the backbone of the koatl army. They are perfectly trained to use shields and spears, and their weapons are tipped with obsidian spearheads. Their natural cold and calculating caracter, combined with their total disregard for their own safety, make them very dangerous opponants." -From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate Even if one Koatl had been in King Lich’s service way back when, these were independent Koatls (they rarely kept any contact between villages anyway) and they didn’t know better.   “This… this is the last time. Break your word again and mark my word, I will burn Fading to the ground. I’m not going to take cities and I’m not going to resettle. Desert, as far and wide as eye can see”.  “Huh... treason? No, no… never…” Simple Koatl spearmen were no match for Svart elite (and rainbow dragon), and the lizardmen died, with their temple falling our around them. However, out of the cellars emerged… a miracle.  "Those of us who have dedicated their lives to serving the goddess of the Sun deserve nothing but praise and admiration. I know perfectly well from my own experience how painful the flame's touch can be, and how torturous its bright light. A werewolf must possess truly inhuman courage and resolution to pass the goddess' test and become a Wolf of Helia. Wolves of Helia are creatures of a transcendental order. The price for losing all humanity seems negligible in comparison to their newly obtained powers." (From "Howling at the Sun", an article by the noble werewolf Wolfus de Crunch.)  “Don’t worry, Svart, we serve the same lord, you and I… And I have served him a lifetime ago” “Oh yea? What does the lord hate the most in the world?” “Goblins” “Eh, you seem to be who you say you are. Tag around until we can get his attentions. He’s right busy as of late” Meanwhile, the dragon, taking in his current surroundings, admired just how clear the air was and how he could see for so far.  “Might permanently ground us, that one” “making GBS threads on statues and pecking eyes out of corpses ain’t that bad, Talon, or have you forgotten?” With his newfound sight, the dragon spotted two sets of gates, close together like twins. This was sure to be major trade intersection in the future, provided those weren’t dead crystal worlds were acid rained from the sky or some such nonsense.  Nonsense, however, presented itself in the shape of several well dressed - suspiciously well dressed - bandits who aimed their bow at the dragon and demanded money. They looked quite lordly and the dragon decided to defer to his leadership, just in case.   “I dannae why we’re sparing you louts, but orders are orders” “I’m sorry, m’lord, it’s just… well, we have been robbed, all of us, and we got desperate… the man in the green hood” “Man in a green hood? Interesting” With a mighty kick, the door of the hall in Lichgrad flew open.  “What in Krolm’s name…” “THIS IN KROLM’S NAME! In his name, you will find these foul goblins and kill them! Or have you forgotten who is your god?”With that said, the barbarian woman turned on the spot and left. “I wonder how often that happens” "These goblins are real professionals. The arrows they shoot always fly like the wind, and always strike their targets. Often enough it's even the target that the Champions were aiming at!" - From the collected works of His Majesty's Advisor But the truth of the matter was that there were goblins infesting the lands, goblins of the most horrible kind: archers devoted to Grum-gog. Like as not, they were here to check out what had happened to the swamps, as Grum-gog favored bog, marshes, and other such foul places. And wherever there’s a foul place, goblins are sure to follow, because only there are they at least marginally accepted.  That would probably explain the location of Stoneclaw. A city in the jungle and nearing some marches, it was a prime spot to be overlooked for settlement. The two neighboring gate were probably how the goblins got there while fleeing places where they weren’t wanted. Having goblins in mind, those places were many.  At the same time, Sir Hugue was checking out the singular gate he had discovered some time ago. The flight spell still held, so he swooped in majestically… “What the stinking hell is this?”...and swooped back in almost as majestically, with sir knight promising himself to explore some other world.  Knowing that the alliance is probably not going to last long, the spies in the employ of mysterious spymasters were quick to piece together an updated picture of Krel’s realm. It seemed that it had been touched, somewhat, by Elspritster’s magic. Other than that, the ground was covered with warcamps, all evies from the people displaced by magical disasters. Without a home to return, they needed a reason to go on, and pulling them into the military was the solution… provided there was no war where they would get slaughtered. The only worrying thing about it all was the one ghost ship.  The city of Stoneclaw was apparently ruled by a mysterious swarms of mosquitoes that buzzed their orders and asked for sacrifices from time to time (Sheimus, the fattest gnome in the city, had already been offered three times and survived each of them, something that could not be said about some of the mosquitoes). Not a pleasant place. Especially considering that there were sea serpents, life elementals and…  a Greater Fire elemental nearby. Well, of course there had to be a greater fire elemental. How would we do without them. In light of such developments, sir Hugue decided to check out another world.  It proved to be a lot more tolerable.  So tolerable that there was even a small, easily wreckable monster lair nearby. Spilling blood of the not-innocent improved sir Hugue’s mood.  Sir Hugue might have been riding around in a pleasant new world, but there was work still to be done in Long Shores. To that end, Wolves and Svarts had been teleported on the coast and were clearing out hostile inhabitants to the north of the continent while the dragon was doing the same with the sea monsters.  Back in Howling Sorrow, the last of the goblins had been beheaded and had his noggin tarred and put on a stick (it was said to ward off spirits - all of them, not just evil ones - since goblins were too stupid for “wardings”). This pleased Krolm mightily and beer was said to be extremely strong that day.  And even if he wasn’t affected by the divine beer, sir Hugue was having fun chasing down bears.   “Yes! Burn, you miserable sea wretches! Nothing can stand against the power of the runes!” That day, mysterious, haunting pouding of hammers could have been heard in the mountains. Some people said that it was the crew of the ghost ship fixing their ghastly vessel and affixing armor - armor of HATE!  But all that paled against the importance of one spell…  One spell that had to bring back those, who had been lost in service to the Lich Crown.  “Welcome back, my loyal subjects, to the land of the living!”
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Aug 31, 2014 14:56
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Resurrection and Wolves of Helia? It's a good day to be king.
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Aug 31, 2014 15:54
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It's actually in-character for King Lich VI to revive his subjects as living beings and not undead, as strange as it may sound at first. I love your characterization of him. That lava world looks even less hospitable than the dead world.
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Aug 31, 2014 16:07
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Torrannor posted:That lava world looks even less hospitable than the dead world. Yup. At least in the dead world, undead prosper (mana-bonuses AND undead-healing squares? Dead land is to undead what living land is to living things, essentially (especially food-heavy races like monsters)) I think there are no benefits to a lava world, beyond getting to fight something other than giant turtles and normal-sized skeletons.
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Aug 31, 2014 20:05
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aerion111 posted:Yup. The benefit is that it looks bitchin' as hell.
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Aug 31, 2014 22:47
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OwlFancier posted:The benefit is that it looks bitchin' as hell. And this is very important. We should have at least one fortress on lavaworld, which new recruits are rotated through so they can learn to be properly Metal.
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Sep 1, 2014 00:14
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The Lone Badger posted:And this is very important. That, and everyone knows the best dwarf-forges are fueled by the heat of magma and/or lava (I'm not sure exactly when they change from one to the other. Is it enough to be exposed to a big cave like most DF Magma-lakes? Does the roof need a hole? If so, how big? Does it need to be entirely outside the volcano?)
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Sep 1, 2014 00:28
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That's an interesting way to close a gate. Irritated nobles. I guess you get unrest from throwing them in jail?
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Sep 1, 2014 00:51
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Ah, your characterisation of Sir Hugue is... Well, I can almost hear his voice, especially when he says "CHEE-HARRRRRGE!" Loving the LP 
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Sep 1, 2014 01:44
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So I bought and started playing Warlock 2 due to this thread, and am really really enjoying it. I've been having a blast in my playthrough to date, but have run into a bit of a snag. I've gone through 3 worlds so far, but now only have 1 gate left to progress forwards. It takes me through a Dremer world... Needless to say, it's pretty drat inhospitable, and to make matters worse, there's some neutral Dremer units basically camped out by the portal door that proceed to smash me with ranged attacks whenever I try and come through, while the terrain continues to wear down my troops... I figured I could at least try and change the terrain around the gate so that I could get a launching area that was semi-safe, but the spell won't seem to cast on the Dremer terrain. Does anyone have any recommendations on what the hell I'm supposed to do that won't get all my units destroyed? PotatoManJack fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Sep 1, 2014 |
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Sep 1, 2014 01:47
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There's a saying about how you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. In Warlock, it's the opposite. Buff one dude to gigantic heights and then throw him into the mix. What makes a good beastick? It's a combination of a variety of things. 1) Offensive power. Kind of obvious. You increase this with a variety of spells and buffs, basically anything that adds damage or power. When you level, choose perks that add "+% damage" and "+% power", especially if it adds a percentage of damage of a different type (like the Frost Weapon, Fire Weapon, Life Weapon and Vampiric Weapon spells, or the Warrior's Spirit perk) since adding extra damage types is a good way to bypass heavy resistances. Meanwhile, raw power upgrades boost everything and they multiply instead of add, which is great. 2) Offensive power in AoE format. Only thing radder than killing a dude each turn is killing several dudes each turn. This lets you scythe through armies faster and prevents you from getting bogged down in a treadmill where cities are popping out dudes as fast as you can kill them. There are generally four different forms of unit attack AoEs- a line of the target and the thing behind it (such as with dragon breath weapons), the target plus one adjacent hex on each side (used by many forms of cleaving attacks), all hexes surrounding the caster (some burst powers), and all hexes surrounding the target at range (some big rear end fireball powers). Of note is that when your unit has multiple attacks, some of them might reject damage bonuses of a certain type (so your sword bonuses won't help you with your fire breath or whatever). Due to the weird way that damage is calculated in Warlock, when bonuses are rejected by your secondary attacks, they're added back into your primary attack damage, thus allowing you to get a truly hilariously high primary attack. 3) Defensive Power. All the punch in the world won't help you if your unit blows over in a stiff breeze. Generally speaking, just get as many perks as you can to push your resistances up over 100 or higher- this won't actually make you immune, but it does help slash enemy damage by a huge amount. Immunities are even better, since they completely block damage of a certain type. Spirit damage is the one that's blocked the least for most creatures, especially Dremer, so any resistance you can find helps (as can slapping spirit damage onto your own units). 4) Staying Power. Boosting your defense is good, but in most cases you're probably going to be taking at least a small amount of chip damage in every fight, so you need a way to recover from that so you can keep going. Regeneration is nice, whether it be native to the unit, picked up via perks (Hill O' Win/Power of Herbs) or spell (Elemental Regeneration), but Vampirism is also a great cure for what ails you, especially from Vampiric Weapon- with Vampirism and a solid enough beatstick you should be able to keep yourself topped off, but regeneration can still help you if you're being swarmed with chip damage or ranged units. 5) Mobility. Get into the fight. Easy enough, just boost your movement points with things like Haste and the like. Also be sure you can bypass terrain- Levitation is your best bet, but if you can't get flight on your guys just get good pathfinding abilities (Windwalk/water walk) or just give up and teleport them into the fight (this does cut down on your ability to help in a fight if you're always casting something to haul them around). Flight is the best though, since it also lets you kick dragons in the face. Warlock 2 made it so that certain perk buildings only offer perks to a certain amount of units, but that doesn't stop you from grabbing a handful of the biggest and toughest units you can find and then making them even stronger. Lords are the first dudes you should look towards because they tend to have the most opportunities to gain perks through leveling, plus they can equip artifacts to get stronger. After that, you go for temple units and unique units you pick up through raiding monster lairs, and after that it's down to a handful of promoted elite units that might still be worth using from your normal units if they have something unique they bring to the table (example: Court Werewolves have +50% spirit damage to their attacks, regeneration and an AoE cleave attack, meaning they're still excellent units even if you don't have Wolves of Helia). Don't bring unpromoted units into the battlefield against late foes, they'll just die off too quickly. Even if you don't have the show-stopping power of some of the late-game heroes that cost 2k gp to recruit, you can still make a good show of things with a combined arms force of elite/temple units by having some dudes tank and other dudes shoot overhead. Just make sure that everyone has what it takes to survive on Dremer land. To deal with Dremer land requires terramorphing spells, so you should be fine. It does depend on what the land type is- Contaminated lands can be treated with just about any terramorphing spell, while destroyed lands can only be fixed with Clean the Land and various divine spells (though I don't know how this was changed in Warlock 2). And regarding the conversation earlier about using Raise/Lower lands to screw with the enemy- it doesn't actually kill the unit, but it might prevent them from moving. So you can raise the land under a kraken or lower the land under a donkey knight or whatever. Not super useful, but can be fun if you want some other unit to be able to stab a sea creature and you're not springing for flight/water walk.
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Sep 1, 2014 06:04
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Most terraforming spells don't work on Dremer land, but there are a few that do. Clean the Land reverts a single tile to plains, while Desertification and Lands of Order convert Dremer land into desert/ice respectively. There might be a few more god spells that work, I don't remember. Unitwise, the best solution is probably to get a few mages and any heroes you have, buff them up via armor/spells, focus fire on the biggest threats, and hope for the best. That said, there probably is a gate somewhere that you missed; aside from starting worlds most shards connect to multiple others, and gates frequently spawn in out-of-the-way locations.
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Sep 1, 2014 06:21
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aerion111 posted:Yup. Reptile units get a bonus on lava (and swamp) terrain, they're still an overall disadvantage but they're at less of a disadvantage on lava terrain than any non-reptiles would be on lava terrain. The main advantage of lava shards is they tend to have lots of very valuable resources to snaffle.
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Sep 1, 2014 06:51
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Neruz posted:Reptile units get a bonus on lava (and swamp) terrain, they're still an overall disadvantage but they're at less of a disadvantage on lava terrain than any non-reptiles would be on lava terrain. The main advantage of lava shards is they tend to have lots of very valuable resources to snaffle. Dunno if it's still the case in warlock 2, but in warlock 1 at least one race could build a +40 gold building on one of the resources that only spawned in volcanic shards/planes/whatever they were called then. I got three in one city once.
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Sep 1, 2014 12:06
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King Doom posted:Dunno if it's still the case in warlock 2, but in warlock 1 at least one race could build a +40 gold building on one of the resources that only spawned in volcanic shards/planes/whatever they were called then. I got three in one city once. As far as I am aware nothing has changed between games, Warlock 2 is more of an expansion pack than an actual sequel. If something was true for the original, it's probably still true for Warlock 2.
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Sep 1, 2014 12:36
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The biggest difference is that you no longer get infinite upgrades out of a single building, so you can't just give regeneration to every runit via power of herbs or, for the megarich, upgrade every unit into a super combatant with silvered weapons and adamantine armor just from 1 special resource hex per upgrade.
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Sep 1, 2014 13:27
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Psykmoe posted:The biggest difference is that you no longer get infinite upgrades out of a single building, so you can't just give regeneration to every runit via power of herbs or, for the megarich, upgrade every unit into a super combatant with silvered weapons and adamantine armor just from 1 special resource hex per upgrade. Yup, game mechanics got tweaked, some new things were added but afaik nothing was removed. Even Dremagor is actually still in the game files, though totally unused.
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Sep 1, 2014 13:34
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As much as one can have(deserved or not)hate for DLC and patching and nickle-and-diming and pay-to-win and etc, this is how things happened in the old days. New games weren't always new, but the old one with a coat of paint and fixes applied, or a map disc, or... In many ways things have changed, in many they haven't.
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Sep 1, 2014 14:39
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Well, like I claimed in the OP, Warlock 2 is as much of a sequel as Dark Crusade was, which was released as a stand-alone game: same engine, includes stuff from previous expansions, new campaign, two new factions, etc. But DC was billed as "stand alone expansion pack" since Relic wanted that MP player money (how else would you make them pay for playing the original 5 races?). But that's just my two cents. Chapter 14: Claiming The Shores  With the resurrection spell secure, King Lich VI could once again turn to the governance of the realm. One thing was readily apparent. “Krel still seems to be crazy. Might be something with these human mages. First Miralbus, now this...” And then there were food riots. Food riots happened because of starvation, and starvation was caused by regular riots in Uglin, the breadbasket of the empire. It was unclear what was it exactly that made Svarts riot and what could be done to appease them. So in the mean time, a temporary solution would do: the newly resurrected Rurik's Men would garrison the city.  "One day an Ordained Shaman known as Muzzgol the Seeker paid a visit to Oozegak the Omnivorous and asked him: "If you saw a Monster-Eating Spider in your way, what would you do?" "I eat it", said Oozegak. "What if next you came across a troop of Paladins of Dauros?" "I eat them", was his swift reply. "But what if a Great Mage himself appeared before you?" "I'll bow before him, then gobble him up". Upon hearing these words, Muzzgol cried out: "Truly, you are the Ordained Shaman, not me!"" From "101 conversations with Ordained Shamans". Situation wasn't helped by the fact that troops in Long Shores made a horrible discovery.  “*buuuurp* Hullo! We herd or lord survived, so we traveled, and traveled. Got caught for eating Koatl young. *riiiip* So, thenk you, we are ready to serve” “Why is it that goblins always survive everything, and not the more useful men...”Still, there was a little bit of cosolation in the fact that his Wolves of Helia were back and fighting the good fight. At least someone sensible from the old world!  Speaking of gods and temple warriors, said Wolves uncovered a temple ground in mangroves to the north of Long Shore shards. This proved to be a problem of a dimension previously unknown to King Lich VI: administration. Unlike undead (who only ever needed one human scribe per city to tally skeletons and occasionally feed the bats) and monster kingdoms who existed in a state of somewhat controlled (by strongweremen)chaos, Svarts needed laws, documentation and other things that ate paper and produced headaches. And that administrative issue was made even worse by Planestriders, less pretentious humans and elves, who, without an existing werewolf nobility to scare (and scar) them into submission, where bringing up customs, court decisions and various other conflicts of interest that got in the way of solving the Great Mage conflicts of interest.  Sir Hugue, however, was far removed from such mundane trifles. He was engaged in the high art of crumpling bears and skewering life elementals. “Haha, now this is how a questing knight should live!” “Come one, come all, dragons, come and taste my blade!” “Public opinion manipulation or the high art of telling serfs to serve and peasants to toil because reasons for doing so are many and varied, and better know by you, penned by Master Kefkus von Zema” “This might be of use to my lord, Dauros knows those peasants are always up to no good” “But now... en garde, dragons!” However, he wasn't faced by just dragons...  There were life elementals, and arrows coming from a city, and some wild werewolves, too. Individually, they weren't big threats. But all together, they were too much for sir knight to handle. And so sir Hugue Dry Branch, Grand Stubborn Master, under orders of his distant liege to expand the realm, died fighting monsters in a shard he didn't know the name of. He couldn't have died happier than that.  Svart ships are made using unprecedented technology. Svarts do not use sails, so they build special machines to move oars. Such rowing engines allow their ships to ignore changeable winds, and slowly and steadily approach the target in any weather. Boats, salvaged from the sands of former lake Deadlin, where transported over to long shores, where they were restored in the large dock facilities and put to good use. Like ferrying Svarts from one jungle hell hole to another.  The dockworkers had to hide, however, as rebellious Svarts peppered the docks with bolts before disappearing into the hills.  “Death to the tyrant!” They even engaged the first of Krel's troops to enter Long Shores.  Any sort of help was far far away, as the elite units were engaging, among other things, swarms of giant murderous mosquitoes. “I regret ever wanting to cut a mosquito with me axe!” “Skeletons AGAIN? I thought we were out of Howling Sorrow!”  “M'lord, we have come to a conclusion” “Spiders are bad” “They really are, especially the giant ones” “And there's even bigger ones... and ones that live in cold climated... and mucosas...” “Yes, they are all very bad. You should kill them. That would make us – US – all very happy” Friendship with Helia was proving to be more and profitable. Wolves of Helia were very welcome and very useful in the fight against, well, everything, but the goddess also had spells that improved the crop growth, something that was of great interest to the starving subjects of King Lich VI.  Meanwhile, giant spiders were engaged by mages of Krel. Apparently, everybody hated spiders, no matter who their were or where they came from.  “Razor-1 to Lichtower. Entering Ashewind Dale. Temperature is critical, we won't be able to remain airborne for long. Transmiting what we can before RTB” “There is a sizeable volcano near the gate, Lichtower, no way to make beachhead. I'm spotting some “double dome” up north.  “Seems to be a friendly city up north...” “Scratch that, Lichtower. Seeing a hostile circling over the city. Attempting to read...” "Now, where was I, before I was interrupted by that obscene drawing on the board? Ah, yes.. Gold Dragons. Like the aforementioned Red Dragons, they arrived from another world, but adapted themselves to this one and ultimately spread out all over Ardania. "Gold Dragons are more intelligent and better educated than the red variety. Among their species one may find plenty of philosophers, poets and brilliant scientists. For this reason it is not wise to regard Red Dragons solely as warrior-beasts, a point of view sadly but widely held by our thick-headed military. "Yes, Perkins? Has the bell rung yet? I'm sorry, I was engrossed in the lecture. Just to remind you, the test on Hymenoptera is tomorrow. Don't be late." (From the lecture notes of Professor Fostus the Reader) “It's a 'golden boy', tower, 'golden boy'! Didn't know any of them remained in Ardania” “This ain't Ardania, boys. Keep your distance, continue sweep”  “Lichtower, I don't know what I'm seeing...” “By Fervus...” “Unidentified hostiles on our twelve... Razor flight is bugging out!” Meanwhile, back in Long Shores, King Lich VI decided to see what the runes could do. Runes of Protection didn't do much, but whenever a nearby warrior was attacked, some part of the damage was reflected by a faint golden glow.   “Eating is the best a man can do, and to eat more, they have to be healthy! Heel, my pretties, heel!” Somewhere, a giant spider laid in its own ichor as a pile of crumpled chitin. And in Lichgrad, fireworks soared as concerned citizens awarded King Lich VI for his triumph against nature's horrible mistakes. Ale and firework helped people forget that while food production was on the up and up, there still wasn't enough to feed all of them.   “M'lord, Silver Silks were the hardest hit by the starvation, as you see. Frozen lands, deserts, dead plains... not the best place to find food. And the fish in the river haven't come any more alive either” “That's why we had to see what buildings needed manning the most” “The undergound storage, for example, is very important. Many people want to keep their items safely locked away. Some of them are quite vile, but I only know that from glimpses. Our contract doesn't let us look” “Regardless, this is why we needed all the hands we have to walk the halls, check the records, all that important stuff” “That why the Jewelry plant is down?” “'fraid so, m'lord. Jewel sprockets, gold automatons... All that is very precise equipment, needs a lot tending and care. Still more profitable than actual craftmen – though we do have a few of those, masters to the last – but constant overwatch, m'lord, we need it” “I see. Well, the food problems will be solved, soon. We have found the riot instigators and they have been tried. Now we're looking for a certain man in a cloak...” The rainbow dragon was graceful. So graceful that he could weave his way around the shots fired by the ghost ship. So nible, so beautiful in flight, so not like the kraken that they were fighting.  “Helia giveth, Helia taketh away. And if Krel crosses me one more time... Well, fading will be more of a desert world than burnouts, I'll see to that”.    And to give Krel an outlet for his energy (and manpower) landbridges were raised from the sea and spells were prepared to lower hills along the way. Hopefully, Krel would funnel his people in Ashewind Dale, and whatever happened there, well...  “Lichtower, this is Talon-1. Spotting another 'double dome'. Also, applying to get this shard to be declared 'the worst shard of all time', over” “I don't think I want a population boom so soon after a major famine... Still, it might come in useful in the future.” “Now, to find that green-clad troublemaker, wherever he is” But before that, there was a new trouble: a freshly captured city full of goblins and gnomes, with no werewolves to speak off and no ingrown fear of King Lich that had been fostered on a long sea voyage. A horrible mess, in other words. “Oh no, I am not going to deal with this illiterate mess again” “Fort Gobbo! Here you will stand and if necessary die in the defense of the realm from invaders of other shards!” “And probably guard the seas. I think that's the only reason why you built defensive walls in the bay” “Well, best of luck. I have cities full of subjects that would understand if I was sending them to death... and wouldn't be sent to death in the first place”  "Veterans are glorious warriors, hardened by dozens of battles. Their distinguished status is only given by those who can make mincemeat of a minotaur in a one-on-one fight -- and devour the entire spit-roasted pig in the merry revelry that follows. A squad of these true-hearted men can take down a dragon, especially if it has been rubbed with Lormidian spices and baked until its scales are glazed." (From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate) “Hmpf. I don't like these news. These veterans might spell something bad” “So far, there's only one company and I don't know Krel is paying them” “There might always be more” “Well, we have more and better soldiers. And ours don't stay dead” Speaking of the dead...  “NOT AGAIN! NOOO!”
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Sep 2, 2014 16:25
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For its price Warlock 2 is a perfectly acceptible game, its just easier to think of it as a standalone xpak rather than an actual new game because it's not really a new game; it's the old game with new stuff. e: Hooo boy Tormentors, that is going to be a fun shard 
Neruz fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Sep 2, 2014 |
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Sep 2, 2014 16:33
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These problems are why I like playing Undead, who eat mana instead of food. You can stockpile mana, but you can't stockpile food. A mana deficit isn't a problem unless you're also out of mana. A food deficit is always a problem. And Svarts aren't quite as capable as humans or monsters of feeding an empire out of a single breadbasket city. It seems like every race is built to have a mid-game hump that you have to scrabble over with some difficulty - food for Svarts and Elves and Planestriders, gold for Undead, mana for Humans and Monsters. Edit: And actually building an empire at all if you're playing as dragonman 
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Sep 2, 2014 16:42
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Tehan posted:
As who?
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Sep 2, 2014 16:48
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Bloodly posted:As who? One of the DLC or pre-order bonuses lets you play as a big giant Dragon instead of a Great Mage. You have to capture neutral cities you find because you only start with, well, your dragon self and no city. Once you have them, it plays fairly normal except you have a free dragon.
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Sep 2, 2014 17:08
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It's hilariously inefficient since you spend about 50 turns munching your way through wild animals and trying to bootstrap the first neutral city you find past your dragonman's appetite of -5 food a turn where any other Great Mage choice would have been buildling an empire, plus dragonman has no default race so every city he'll ever rule will have the production and population growth maluses. But on the other hand, his answer to literally every problem that can possibly occur is 'gently caress you, I'm a dragon'. If the problem can't be solved by eating it, it can probably be solved by eating someone else and taking their gold to pay for solving the problem. If you're diligent about keeping him fully enchanted and equipped and pick the right level-up he'll stay a major force on the battlefield for the entire game.
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Sep 2, 2014 17:14
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However the Dragon capitol has a ton of unique upgrades and can easily turn into an unstoppable murder-machine with a bit of experience; experience he is going to get because if hes not killing things constantly you're doing it rong.
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Sep 2, 2014 17:16
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It seems easy to get a pretty lovely start as the dragon but occasionally you also get lucky and score a cool unit out of a monster den which really helps. I've not yet seen a regeneration upgrade on the dragon so getting some Old Trolls that have effectively no downtime while the dragon occasionally has to rest (or eat up mana getting healed) is pretty drat useful. Additionally the Dragon actually seems to do pretty mediocre damage against cities once they're beyond a certain size so having a siege unit along is expedient. Also if you're playing the dragon in exile mode or general shard mode you never have a neutral city on your starting shard so you can get pretty drat unlucky in terms of how long until you find a town to take, this is probably easier in regular sandbox mode. Psykmoe fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Sep 2, 2014 |
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Sep 2, 2014 18:43
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Another dead shard? I'd think King Lich wouldn't mind those too much.
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Sep 2, 2014 23:32
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Built right there is nothing much that can stop the dragon, but if the dragon dies you lose (since you are kinda the dragon and now dead.) also No the realy problem is fukken elspirister because your empire is a lot less capable when he starts DICKING AROUND, unless you get some lucky gold, but thats anyone.
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Sep 3, 2014 01:47
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The price scheme is strange. Buy Base game=£24.99. Buy game with all gubbins=£44.99. Upgrade base game to all gubbins version=£15 for total spent of 39.99. Then again, it's unclear whether you can buy the in-game stuff(like dragon mode) separately.
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Sep 3, 2014 03:09
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I bet it can be modded that instead of dragon, you'd start with one of the flying ships or Flycraft of Order and with the ability (cooldown: 20 turns) to spawn settlers. And heads up: Going to Nagasaki on Monday, so next week might be a little sparse on updates. Saturday will get one and there might be (unlikely) one on Monday, but then I wouldn't post anything till Friday or so. Chapter 15: Ancient Secrets, Not So Ancient Foes  “I hate many foul creatures: thieves, murderers, traitors, mutants, heretics, archers, goblins… But there’s one thing that I hate above them all” “And what is that?” “Flying cravens! I’d wring whatever they have for neck if I could reach them!” On a neighboring world, Krel’s archers were dealing with another universally (as in, in the whole universe) hated threat: sea serpents.   “So that is how it feels to be on the receiving end of a fireball… interesting…” Two newly resurrected prospectors were brawling on the floor in King Lich’s study while the rest of them looked on. “I think I need new army regulations about gambling in antechambers of afterlife” “Alright, you lot, split up, I need to you to garrison cities. Your crossbows and crows will be useful in sniffing out rioters and their ringleaders” One of the greatest mysteries of the universe was the proliferation of leviathans, krakens and other sea borne nasties, as nobody quite understood how they ended up in any source of water bigger than a river. Still, it was an amusing day for garrison archers everywhere. But not in Regret. Nothing was ever amusing in Regret.  “Step aside, noble warriors! Our runes will blast the windbags out of the sky! Taste fire and fury!” “Oh bloody hell, there’s more! Signal the mages! And get the ghost ship here, no way am I putting a boat in untested waters” “Only the dead and the elf stay in this place… truly it is damned!” “And zombies leave the most horrid taste in the mouth” Greater Fire Elemental, great and flaming, loomed in the center of the gently pulsing blue portal. Loomed for a spell… before launching a fireball at the Fort Gobbo and incinerating a few barrack buildings. “In the end of the day, it all comes down to the Elite Guard and his axe” “Ah, meta-teleportation. Rurik, have you ever been teleported?” “Can’t say I have, my lord” “Me neither. Well, not exactly in person… Anyways, it is a wondrous thing, meta-teleportation. Piercing the veil through magic and flinging a company of men, all through strength of will and sharpness of mind” “And some horribly complex incantations, of course” “Wonder what they want with Baytown?” “Relatives? Volcano? Why did Ol’Bones leave it there?” “To spite Regret. Or to have an interesting landmark” “Svarts! By the blessing of Helia, we are protected from all sort of elemental harm! This includes the fiery ravages of Ashwind Dale! We will lead the way and deal with the fiercest enemies!” “And what are we to do?” “You will follow and walk in the green grass that will sprout from lava. I know our lord and I have seen him tame lands far more fierce than this!” “Hold your staves high! Align the runes! Hum the tunes! And whoever misses will get a lashing!” “Yay!” “Don’t think I didn’t hear that, Morrigan, you freak!” “Apparently we’ll need our lord’s help sooner than I expected. Meditate on Helia’s wisdom until the mountain breaks apart as from a miracle” “Our lord is ever hasty and helpful! Charge, my brethren, charge!” Wolves of Helia, no longer truly wolfmen, surged over the broken burning ground, ignoring all the heat like it wasn’t there. In great bounds and leaps did they travel, stopping only to kick apart an imp portal.  “Now, m’lord, I’d wager a guess that your prior subjects were more pliable… or expendable. However, a Svart is no goblin…” “…a fact for which I thank Krolm daily…” “…well, yes. But as you noticed, that comes with certain problems, as thinking subject tend to think for themselves. Useful in a raid, but not that good in running a state” “Es Kaliborn learned that, he did” “Yes, and you were one of the many that taught him that lesson. All we’re saying is that we have compiled a scroll of common ways to endear yourself to your Svart subjects, lord” “A Svart is tought as Adamantium, so you have to beat him as such…” “Yes... No! That’s a not how…”  “Alright, lads, keep your eyes peeled! If someone moves outside the walls after curfew – pin them. If you hear a small rock fall after dark – shoot at the opposite side.” “And keep crows circling all day, in groups of three and fire, always within visual distance of each group” “All wings, TAC-A reporting sunrise, I repeat, sunrise. Good snooping, boys” Life elementals might be lively buggers, but they were no match against the rune magic of the Seers. The swirling grey twisters stumbled and disintegrated, only to coalesce somewhere else in a health potion. And so the great wheel of life (elementals) turns again…  Ordained Shamans appeared to be able to weather any storm that raged in their bellies. Somewhat paradoxically, it also translated into an ability to weather actual storms. Or magical storms. This, in turn, made everyone sad, for it was now very unlikely that the Shamans would be blown away by wind, never to be seen (or more importantly, smelled or heard) ever again.  “At least it’s not a crow with a cheese. We’ll wait it out to attack” Archives of Tradition was a place where all the information pertaining to Svart traditions was held. Indexed and well guarded against misguided youths with notions of change and rebellions, it was a very important place that kept Svarts Svart-y and held back the decay of their culture. People employed here did their best to ensure that all the royal subjects were impressed with the importance – and meaning – of all traditions. And, in certain times, they convened to strike out certain traiditions that no longer applied (rarely ever happened) or to enshrine new ones. But even the obsolete ones didn’t disappear, as the notes pertaining to them would be held in deep, secure vaults, and a certain group of attendants would play them out to Svarts of historical inclinations or too young an age to say “no” to their parents.   While ground didn’t shake with King Lich’s every step, it did have to bend to his whim and magical prowess. And at this point, turning a patch of inhospitable, nay, deadly terrain into pleasant meadows was basically routine work.  “Oh no, no more goblins. Tell him to sod off” “Ffffire... my maties…” “I hate ‘double domes’” “Beats flying Wild Weasel runs, Razor-4. That’s how I lost my original wingcrow…”  "Rune Forewomen enjoy great respect among the Svarts, and not only as experienced warriors. They are also known for the fact that their abilities to control the runes are initially not so good, but later grow to be equal to those of Rune Witches. Sometimes the axes and armour of Rune Forewomen are decorated with dozens of runes that they use as virtuously as their weapons." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran)  “Nobody crosses the gate, you vagabonds. Or else” “Our master might find a use for corpses, even if they are so badly burnt” “Hold your shield steady, lads. Everybody knows that dragon blasts are deflected harmlessly around those who do so” “Only fools caught with their shield down perish… Onundr, what did I just say, you oaf?!”  “Another wyrm pays for its arrogance. Loot the nest and burn it”Wordlessly, the wolves obeyed.  There were some strange, remarkable treasures in the find. A powerful, magical ring and a spell… “This is almost too dangerous… But Helia’s will is my will“ It wasn’t easy, to coat weapons in ‘life’, but it was possible, especially when incantations were helped by Chepleve pictures of intertwining wines. Unfortunately, no such preparatory work could be done on the rainbow dragon, who was the first one to achieve such blessings.  “Strike lightning and slay the beast!” “Into the pot of death I cast thee!” The dragon, battered, burned, bruised and bloodied barely hung in the air.  The last straw was when Elite Guard attacked a group of bears. One of the men struck a bear in the heck, but his grip wasn’t tight while the blow was mighty indeed, which sent the axe flying straight at the dragon’s head. And so it died.  “I am… alive?” “I’m as surprised as you are. Heroes usually get taken away instantly, unless there’s a prophecy or something like that” “Interesting. Well, you have my thanks and I promise to keep the secret of how you got here”King Lich wished ever so badly that he had an eyebrow to raise. “How did I get there?” “You sent vampires and a band of skeletons with your skeleton – I have no idea how one can have ‘spares’ – on a journey through pocket dimensions. One of the vampires was a mage and they found a way into the shards. And they traveled, traveled for a long, sealing gates with spells, before they ended up in Burnouts and placed you in a cave” “They then returned to Howling Sorrow, where they took over a city and called it Vampirium, flying your flag all the while”. “The lead vampire set up spells to raise the dead while others convened on how to deal with lack of food… so they preyed on planestriders, goblins and others.” “That worked until there was a clash over love, longing for home and, again, sustenance. Everyone died in an orgy of violence” “I found all of it in journal that survived in their villa. The last entry read ‘…I hope this meeting put an end to this strife. It is unbefitting of the chosen of King Lich himself’” “Apparently, the spells continued work even after their deaths and some skeletons eventually wondered their way to Alexiri and attacked locals, who saw your banner and assumed all of the dead were in league” “That is… sad. Callorun was a friend, as much as a vampire could be one. It seems that I forgot more than spells in death. I thank you for the story, but please, be silent about the ‘spares’. It’s but one of many methods, and one of many that have not occurred to my… colleagues”  “Speak of undead matters…” “Best ship them back to ser Hugue. Must miss these things somewhat fierce” “Well, as long as WE don’t need to be resurrected…” “Another drake bites the dust! We will conquer this shard, no matter what!” “Aaaaaayeeeeeeeeeeaaa...” “What... What are those things?!” And quick like that, a spell that would eventually help Wolves of Helia hunt down Tormentors was researched. It seemed that they would spend quite a lot of time and effort in this plane.  Barbarians of Krolm, not paying attention to any monsters on the shard, managed to build a temple city in the least hospitable place of the plane. When asked how they got to the free floating piece of shard, they answered:  “We jumped”And nobody asked anything else.  “I wonder where the serpent from that nest went… have to check it out” “Shields of copper and men of clay… I almost wish for Krel to betray us. Oh the disgrace, to be delayed because these so called ‘warriors’ can’t arrange in one file to get to the gate” With wild werewolves dead (and Hugue’s death both avenged and reversed), a dragon felled, and a sea serpent chased away, little remained in the way to stop conquest of Plaguedell.  King Lich VI cracked opened the spell of the mind of the Ancients. Wisdom old beyond measure, collected when magic was young and the world was younger, filled him.  Surges of light shot into his eyeholes, burning bright the knowledge and understanding of spellcasting.  “Yes, this rune is superfluous… This gesture is all wrong… This part is just rubbish, skip that… This all seems so clear, so easy know” “What can stand against this feeling of knowing?” “Terrorizing elves, I see!” “Wait, do those elves actually have… banners?” “WHAT IN KROLM’S NAME”
JcDent fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Sep 4, 2014 |
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Sep 4, 2014 16:36
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Didn't... we kill him in the first game? I hope he is a better neighbor this time. Also, if I were you, I would declare war on Krel, wipe out his forces and then kill every unit he sends from his home shard to our lands.
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Sep 4, 2014 19:40
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Hey whatup Amberon! Amberon is a bro now, in normal canon he tried to fight the United One alongside Krel and Sol de Torvega and suffered defeat. Amberon was captured and the elves fled with the Dragon Queen, then suddenly Amberon shows up months later. Except its not the Amberon we all remember, he is now gentle and peaceful and kind and loving and not a trace of his former anger and hatred is to be found. Nobody has the faintest clue what happened. We will find out though...
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Sep 4, 2014 19:52
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Mind of the Ancients  So good. With all three casting speed increases up, it's possible to get Elemental Resurrection and Meta-Teleport down to under half a turn's casting speed, letting you resurrect and send a unit back into the fight every single turn. Add in a few speed runes, and you can get them down to under a quarter!
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Sep 4, 2014 23:42
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I always find it very, very difficult to not take Archmage, because if you're lucky enough to get Chanter and Mind of the Ancients, once you research and cast the two regular casting speed spells things get utterly ridiculous - I think the maximum possible is over 300% casting speed, without even taking into account timestones.
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Sep 5, 2014 01:49
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Really love this LP - keep up the great work JCDent! I've been playing this a fair bit recently, and was just wondering if there's anyway to effect things like # of special resources that occur or frequency of quests? I like it when there are lots of fun bits to play with. Also, really wish that they had an in game display of what buildings lead to what enhancements / units / other buildings as it's kinda hard to look at the longer term planning of the city without referencing a wiki.
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Sep 5, 2014 02:54
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Tehan posted:I always find it very, very difficult to not take Archmage, because if you're lucky enough to get Chanter and Mind of the Ancients, once you research and cast the two regular casting speed spells things get utterly ridiculous - I think the maximum possible is over 300% casting speed, without even taking into account timestones. Aren't those additive rather than multiplicative? So it'd be 100% Base + 20% Archmage + 30% Chanter + 100% Mind of the Ancients= 250% casting speed. Which is still pretty rad. Archmage is a great perk though, since casting speed boosts are incredibly rare and you can't otherwise make up for it in-game.
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Sep 5, 2014 03:39
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LightWarden posted:Aren't those additive rather than multiplicative? So it'd be 100% Base + 20% Archmage + 30% Chanter + 100% Mind of the Ancients= 250% casting speed. Which is still pretty rad. Archmage is a great perk though, since casting speed boosts are incredibly rare and you can't otherwise make up for it in-game. Plus Experienced Mind and Agile Mind. The Warlock wikia tells me they're +30% and +100% respectively.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:07
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Oh yeah, that would definitely do it then. Sorry, I got confused- I just remember using two casting speed boosters (looking at the wiki they're Experienced Mind (+30%) and Agile Mind (+100%), Mind of the Ancients is +150%), so it looks like I missed a bunch. So yeah, 400% casting speed or more is possible with just Archmage plus the Warlock 1 spells. What does Chanter do?
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Sep 5, 2014 05:24
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Chanter gives +10% I think. It's a fairly rare drop from some of the tougher critter spawners, though not nearly so rare as Mind of the Ancients - I've never actually had MotA drop for me and I've got a lot of hours logged.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:34
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