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 Age of Decadence has been in development by Iron Tower Studio since March 2004, unlike many games stuck in such a long development cycle it managed to actually be released almost a decade later, being officially released in October 2015 after surviving the early access hell known as steam green-light. The game uses the Torque engine which dates back to 2001 and Tribes 2. However graphics are not important to Age of Decadence and honestly are comparable to other CRPG's currently on the market, instead the real meat of the game is in its unique setting and numerous play through possibilities. Setting Overview According to the Imperial Scrolls, the wicked kingdom of Q'antaar and the Empire were locked in a bloody magical war that devastated much of the known world. Each side called upon powers both arcane and divine, summoning Gods and other beings of immense power, whose contest ultimately destroyed both sides. Cities of the once glorious Empire lay in ruin, and bodies of the dead were strewn across the land. Centuries later, the world still suffers from the shadow of civilization's collapse. Where there once was unity, there are now factions struggling for dominance in the ruined world. Where there was once knowledge, there is ignorance of both science and magic. Where there was once chivalry and honor, there is only pettiness and betrayal. The Age of Decadence is set after the traditional RPG story, the great battle for the fate of the world has already been fought... and lost or even if it was a victory it was Pyrrhic at best. What has been left behind is a world slowly dying, with the collapse of the Empire and to an extent civilization all that is left is a handful of city states and villages slowly collapsing ever further into despair. With the fall of the Empire so did all of Magic and most of technology disappear from the world, the glories of the past are left buried under shifting deserts or lost in the forests and mountains at the edge of the world. Historians dig through the dust and scrolls to piece together fragments of the worlds once great technologies. Meanwhile the remnants of the Empire and its Great Houses futilely squabble to re-unite this broken world and restore the glories of the past that may never be recovered. Over the course of the game you can piece together the knowledge of what actually happened to the world that was, and potentially changing the fate of the world through your actions. You will not get the full story in any one play through just like in the Witcher 2 this game diverges alot based on what your doing. Factions Age of Decadence posted:
There are 8 Different Backgrounds to choose from each providing their own challenges and shaking up the game-play offered dramatically. Age of Decadence posted:
All of these guys play differently, if doing a first playthrough don't be a Praetor like I did its fun, but I tried to diversify too much and made the last part of the game a brutal slog to get through because I was decent at fighting and decent at talking, but I spread my points thinner than I should have so I missed a chunk of content. For first time it is recommended to go Mercenary - If you want to kill poo poo Merchant - You want to chat poo poo To break it down Merchants/Thieves/Lore masters are more non-combat, Assassins, Praetors, and Mercenaries are more combat classes Beginners Guide A Person named Squee wrote a really excellent beginners guide on Steam which should be read before you start the game http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=531086530 Feel free to discuss, also any improvements to be made to the OP I will be happy to add them I thought this game deserved a thread since I had a surprising amount of fun in my first play through. Jack2142 fucked around with this message at 06:50 on Aug 18, 2016 |
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Dec 29, 2015 13:50
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- When hostilities threaten after even the most erudite diplomats have failed, assassination is often the only recourse. Long respected for their ability to resolve disputes, either by blade in the night or inexplicable misadventure, an assassin's skills are in high demand amongst all strata of society. Blood is blood, whether it's drawn from a petty dispute or a matter of state.
- In a world rife with conflict, those with martial skills are never idle for long. Occasionally embroiled in the greater machinations of the Noble Houses, most Mercenaries take on personal contracts with individual clients. Their allegiances are open, determined by gold.
- Always looking for promising individuals to serve the House's interests, Praetors have a varied and diverse set of skills. Although most possess some Martial training, patiently waiting for the spoils and glory of bloodshed, others favor the gentler arts of diplomacy, taking a discrete, yet active role in the courts of nobles. As a representative of the House, Praetor's conduct and loyalty is under constant scrutiny.
- Preserving and understanding pre-war knowledge and technology is a booming business. An increasing number of people see their salvation in the ashes of the past and the market is becoming saturated with icons and objects from the old empire, most without any real value. Loremasters are at the front line of this trade, cataloguing and appraising items, always on the lookout for something of real worth.
- Regardless of the social fabric, there will always be those that prefer to live outside the law, by their own code of conduct. To a thief, a world in ruins is a world of opportunity. While those that covet power are consumed in deceit and subterfuge, the Thieves are turning a tidy profit on their neglected wealth.
- Respected and feared, behind every Noble's power, behind every struggle for territory, is a merchant's gold. More than mere traders, Merchants manipulate entire markets and those that depend upon them. People, information and favour all have a price, but only the merchants know their true worth.
- While most thieves prefer to form gangs and act under the cover of darkness, grifters see no reason to trade the laws of society for the laws of a guild. Preying upon the gullible with a combination of personal magnetism and persuasion, the grifter's art is rarely noticed.
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Here's a list of reasons you might not like this game: - You don't like these sorts of games. - You weren't patient enough/couldn't dedicate enough time to learn the combat - You can't handle not doing everything in a single playthrough. Not judging if any of those apply to you, but if they don't then I can't recommend this game enough. It manages to absolutely nail all of the notes it's going for. I've played through this game I think six times so far and each time, excluding the first town, has been really quite different. Not so much because of my initial class choice but far more because of the meta knowledge, both mechanical and lore wise, that allows each new character to do so much more crazy bullshit things.
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Dec 30, 2015 05:51
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I like how there are a few select ways to correctly play this game, and all other ways are wrong and you will die.
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Dec 30, 2015 06:03
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SweetBro posted:I like how there are a few select ways to correctly play this game, and all other ways are wrong and you will die. This was my problem Like reading the main FAQ the guys wrote, they wanted to make a fully immersive RPG, that finally gave noncombat options just as much weight as the combat options. And made it so that combat was suitably frighting as it would be in the real world. So I figured ok, I'll make an utter murder savant. Someone with zero points in anything diplomatic/talking at all, and every single point possible in combat skills/attributes. 100% weighted towards fighting at the detriment of everything else. Just to test it. And I got iced in the first combat encounter without killing a single guy. So I said well maybe I need more gear. So I played the down-low can't help you guy until I could get enough money together to buy more gear/get a few more points that went directly into combat skills. And then I jumped back into trying to fight guys....and instantly died in pretty much every 1v2 encounter I started, including fights against beggars.' Like I can respect and appreciate games that change things up, especially in the RPG format. If they made it so your fresh of the street jack of all trades is going to get iced in a 1v2, sure! If your scholarly diplomat can't hold his own in a 1v1, sure! But if I've put literally everything into stabbing dudes, have my stabbing dudes skill at "pretty good for a stabber", and get into a 1v2 and get merced before I even kill one of the guys. Well then what's the point in putting any points into stabbing dudes at all? If they wanted to make a talking sim where fighting was just a means of you losing resources, at least be nice enough to tell me that upfront. Maybe it's changed though?
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Dec 30, 2015 06:33
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Rookersh posted:Maybe it's changed though? Never played this but looked at some youtube videos and they have an axe + shield build that owns everything even 1v6 basically right from the outset (after couple of quests to buy gear). A lot of gamy strategy though to funnel enemies and not get surrounded but hey, you are basically a murder machine at that point.
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Dec 30, 2015 07:19
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SweetBro posted:I like how there are a few select ways to correctly play this game, and all other ways are wrong and you will die. Realistically like most games to start out your best off being specialized, I managed to make my way through the game as a sub-optimal Praetor build, and while I missed alot of side stuff I got through the main game fairly reasonably. Also it was fun playing a political bully who could murder the poo poo out of peasants, merchants and other lightly armed guys, but put me up against mercenaries I would get pasted. I feel the game would have been better with a more improved combat engine like people mentioned and some variability in skill checks would be more enjoyable rather than automatic pass/fail it might be nice to sometimes have a "lucky success or unlucky failure" in dialogue. While making combat less of a you get surrounded by 3 enemies and you block most of their attacks and whittle them down or you just die horribly potentially entirely due to random loving dice rolls. The best thing I can say about the RNG is the game gives plenty of auto-saves before fights so losing isn't as horrible as it could be. Honestly though for $25 it was alot of fun, the setting definitely is interesting enough to get people engaged. Also in general I just started rolling with failure it is more fun if you try poo poo and it doesn't work than meta gaming yourself into an unstoppable bad rear end. Rookersh posted:This was my problem Yeah... the game can kinda be bullshit with the RNG and I had several seriously wtf reloads. Depending on how you equip yourself heavy armor with shields seems the best rather than trying to dodge everything. With legionary armor and shields which aren't to difficult to obtain you are fairly strong. Also don't try to multi-task weapons its a bad idea pick whatever weapon your going to use and learn to be lethal with it rather than be okay at multiple weapons. Jack2142 fucked around with this message at 07:39 on Dec 30, 2015 |
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Dec 30, 2015 07:30
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Rookersh posted:Like I can respect and appreciate games that change things up, especially in the RPG format. If they made it so your fresh of the street jack of all trades is going to get iced in a 1v2, sure! If your scholarly diplomat can't hold his own in a 1v1, sure! But if I've put literally everything into stabbing dudes, have my stabbing dudes skill at "pretty good for a stabber", and get into a 1v2 and get merced before I even kill one of the guys. Well then what's the point in putting any points into stabbing dudes at all? If they wanted to make a talking sim where fighting was just a means of you losing resources, at least be nice enough to tell me that upfront. Fighting was a legitimate way to get fame fortune and an ending at launch, but they didn't make it easy. Even after reading the in depth FAQ I still needed a lot of practice in the arena module to make a successful combat character. I ended up finding it very satisfying, but the time investment required to not suck eggs it is a fair complaint. Gentleman Baller fucked around with this message at 08:51 on Dec 30, 2015 |
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Dec 30, 2015 08:14
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Rookersh posted:This was my problem but the tutorial even says that a combat character is probably going to get murdered if you're against a group naturally i had no problems in combat with my evasion tank dagger crit build assassin. 
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Dec 30, 2015 08:21
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A quest question: In regards to the Monastery, is the elixir actually important for some future quest, beyond what you can use it itself for, and what is the result of lying about it to the questgiver?
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Dec 30, 2015 11:18
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Gentleman Baller posted:Here's a list of reasons you might not like this game: - Not liking almost certainly not being able to complete the game your first time over - Not liking going through the Teron every time you want to try something new. - The sheer amount of meta-knowledge, where your choice is to kill the game's tension by looking it up online to see what you missed, or lose a bunch of content. - The lack of modern features like NPC naming over NPC heads which aren't really ~Hardcore~ since it's not like they move between playthroughs, but is just annoying when you're (for example) in some giant marketplace looking for a specific merchant behind mostly-identical stalls. - Not liking how RNG based the combat is, where even if you've worked out how the mechanics interact, and your character is skilled in combat, you can still lose fights in a really lame, attritional way where you know at a certain point in a fight you're probably going to have to reload and fight again. Maybe a few times. - It's pretty buggy and I've had CTDs in tyool 2015 which is shameful. I somewhat liked this game, and especially like how, starting as a Grifter and winding up employed by the Commercium, I eventually got to the point where my just-passable-enough-to-bullshit levels of Loremastery steadily turned into very useful knowledge about how the world used to work. Nice character development. On the other hand, the pretend difficulty aspect where you pretty much have to keep your XP in reserve to maybe get through some bullshit skill check or other you have no idea is coming is grating, and ending a character run multiple hours in because you locked yourself out of progress isn't enjoyable, since playing a similar character to make use of your new knowledge directly means doing the same poo poo you just did for hours all over again.
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Dec 30, 2015 20:27
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evilmiera posted:A quest question: In regards to the Monastery, is the elixir actually important for some future quest, beyond what you can use it itself for, and what is the result of lying about it to the questgiver? I don't think so, the elixer itself I think it lets you regenerate health in combat
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Dec 30, 2015 21:03
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if you are getting sick of running through combats multiple times because you got bullshit crit or something, hit ` and type this: $pref::Video::animationSpeed = "3"; (or 4, 5, whatever) enjoy
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Jan 6, 2016 09:47
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This game looks really interesting. Are there enough skill points to spread between combat and non combat skills or do you really have to choose one style of play? I don't expect to be able to max everything but I'd like to fight and have maybe one or two effective non combat skills.
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Jan 6, 2016 10:09
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Rookersh posted:This was my problem Git gud. I think on my mercenary run I had like what, 220 kills before I finished? This is how you combat build: -Skill only one weapon type. -Skill either Block or Dodge, but skill one. -If you skill Dodge focus on high dex (you still want high con/str [none of these should be less than 7]). -If you skill Block focus on high str. -If you wanna use 2 handed weapons skill Dodge and have STR/DEX as either 8 or 9. -Whatever best metal armor you can that's at your max AP. -Invest in crafting, because crafted armor/weapons are the best in the game, and you will have lots of poo poo to melt down from everyone you meet. -Invest in Bolas/Nets. These let you tackle fights you would normally have no chance of winning. Alchemical items are also super useful. -Always be able to perform at least 2 quick attacks with your primary weapon from a full AP pool. -Save scum fights because a bad crit can gently caress your day. -Don't neglect Critical Strike, it allows you to trigger your weapon's special abilities. Also useful for taking out usually the strongest enemy before a fight starts. Especially poo poo with called shots, being able to disarm some fucker swinging a 2 handed axe at you is never not a good idea. -Choke points. Choke points. Choke points. Most areas on the map have some sort of choke points that you can retreat too so that you only have to fight 1 or 2 enemies at at time. As a reminder, 2 handed weapons can hit diagonally. One handed weapons cannot. -Some fights are really hard for obvious reasons. Taking on a full bandit camp by yourself is hard. Especially if you wander in there, and tell their leader you're going to kill em. Instead of walking up to one of the archers outside, and before they have a chance to respond, activating combat mode and cleaving him in two. -Keep your armor and weapons repaired. Hurr. Durr. -Always be at full HP.
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Jan 6, 2016 13:24
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axe/shield is the popular very strong combat build and it was pretty satisfying using a build of 10-8-10-4-4-4 to smash all the smart guys' brains in, but honestly im having more fun picking apart fights with a dex sword dodge 6-8-6 build because it gives me way more SP and there are more quests to do note that if you get a good choke point and you have good aim, arm and leg shots are very powerful. if i can get them funneling one by one i can just armshot a guy's hit chance to 0 very quickly alchemy is also pretty good if you just want to kill things. level 2 poison is good against thugs and level 5 gets you better poison, bombs and fire to create your own choke point you can use a poisoned bow to thin people's health as you retreat to a corner
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Jan 6, 2016 21:33
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well after beating this game a few times i could probably make a barebones 'walkthrough' that will let someone experience most of the content in the game + beat up all the bad guys (but not easily) if anyone was interested. it wouldnt have every answer spelled out exactly, but rather a kind of guide from place to place
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Jan 11, 2016 04:51
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I've been eyeballing this in Steam for a while. I usually dig story-driven RPGs. Is this one wort spending $30 on?
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Apr 13, 2016 21:44
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It's basically a text adventure with brutally hard turn-based combat tacked on. All non-combat skill checks are gated and you need to hoard skill-points or savescum to avoid being locked out of content. The writing's pretty decent and you can be a machiavellian shitlord if you know what you're doing. The setting's pretty interesting and unique too. Probably not $30-worthy, but grab it if it still interests you and you see it on sale imo.
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Apr 14, 2016 08:42
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There's a lot of cool poo poo you can do as a loremaster, like get 5 different artifacts and think you're doing swell but realize it's not actually what you thought they were at all because you unlock the achivement for having a bunch of artifacts and not knowing what they are. The enough-lore-to-conjecture-but-not-understand levels have freaking hilarious item descriptions
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Apr 14, 2016 09:22
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This game has been pretty fun-I think I sunk like 15 hours into it before I even felt halfway competent. I think I've got a decent build going after rolling my 3rd character, and I'm just a couple of quests into the big city. I had some questions: How easy is it to lock myself out of an ending? Is there enough content to make it worthwhile to play as every background, or is just 3-4 playthroughs enough? Does a non-combat character need to put any skill points into combat skills? If so, which ones? Edit: I just wanted to add that I wholeheartedly recommend this game at the current $15 price. The gameplay/plot has choices and consequences that remind me of the best parts of Fallout 1 and New Vegas, though the settings couldn't be more different. The setting feels adult and mature without being either grimdark or humorless. El_Elegante fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Jul 8, 2016 |
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Jul 8, 2016 04:48
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I played around with this while it was in early access and enjoyed it a lot. It is pretty punishing with the builds though.
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Jul 19, 2016 14:14
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El_Elegante posted:This game has been pretty fun-I think I sunk like 15 hours into it before I even felt halfway competent. I think I've got a decent build going after rolling my 3rd character, and I'm just a couple of quests into the big city. I had some questions: Not sure about the endings. The backgrounds themselves are not the dramatic change (depends more on which guild you decide to go through the game with), it depends on how you play. But I think 3-4 playthroughs are enough to see the truly big changes in the game but there are like a million smaller differences to make it replayable at later a date if you decide to pick it up again. And you can play the game with a completely non-combat character. I believe the Merchant Guild questline is the best for this. Later on, when you've explored the game some, it's easier to see what you might need for a good "hybrid" build. Glad to see more people enjoying the game. I think the choices go far beyond any RPGs I've played in terms of unique content for each playthrough.
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Jul 19, 2016 15:34
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