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Glazius posted:They're getting pretty serious with the slime thing. I suppose it's the first major surface plotline and Exile is where the real newbie stuff happens? Yes. Most of Upper Exile random encounters and dungeons are just for gaining a bit of power before heading to the surface, though there are a few important events and long-term useful things scattered around Upper Exile. There is one newbie dungeon right outside Fort Emergence though, in case you wanted to head straight to the surface. It's also worth noting that if you wander around a bit rather than making a beeline to Kriszan then to Jordan's Tower, you'll find some really wimpy low level wandering monsters. So it is completely feasible (and not really that big of a difficulty jump, honestly) to completely ignore the Upper Exile newbie areas and jump into the major plotlines immediately.
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Apr 2, 2016 02:20
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If you're finding Chronic Disease to be too much of a hassle, I for one wouldn't complain if you just shoved some Graymold Salve down Matthias' throat and replaced that defect with something less irritating, like Bad Back + Frail.
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Apr 2, 2016 03:14
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:If you're finding Chronic Disease to be too much of a hassle, I for one wouldn't complain if you just shoved some Graymold Salve down Matthias' throat and replaced that defect with something less irritating, like Bad Back + Frail. I may be a cheating cheater who cheats, but I have better plans for this than that!
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Apr 2, 2016 04:18
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Ah, I see you managed to nab Jordan's stats. As an interesting thing to note, he is ALMOST the same as a regular Mage enemy, with the following exceptions: *Jordan has about twice as many spell points (which is about 3x as much as anyone in the party will ever have) *Mage has slightly more speed *Jordan is immune to fire - Mages are only resistant. Oh, and gently caress Spiny Worms. Those things can go right to hell. You mentioned the crapload of damage they do, right? Well they can also throw their spines at you. For the same amount of damage. I've been killed in early playthroughs by one contained in a holding pen. berryjon posted:Upper Exile has... four plot events to deal with over the course of the game. The one least related to the overall plot is a Murder Mystery in one of the towns. Wait, four plot events? I only remember two, and one of them doesn't happen until long into the game - so long that I completed the game before it happened. And I'm pretty sure that the Murder Mystery is more relevant to the plot than what you've implied.
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Apr 2, 2016 04:33
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Oh, that room leading up to the Jordan fight is a pain in the rear end, too. It's a zigzag corridor of columns, with some Mauve Slimes (the magic type) in the back slinging spells at you. And to make matters worse, if I recall correctly, you periodically get zapped for damage while walking through the room. The icing on the cake is that I basically never have Move Mountains when I take this dungeon on. 
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Apr 2, 2016 04:41
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LuffyVeggies posted:Wait, four plot events? I only remember two, and one of them doesn't happen until long into the game - so long that I completed the game before it happened. And I'm pretty sure that the Murder Mystery is more relevant to the plot than what you've implied. Tower, Murder, Cult of Artifacts, Ghrika. Hrm, going to have to find time to explore Upper Exile a bit as well.
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Apr 2, 2016 05:30
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berryjon posted:Tower, Murder, Cult of Artifacts, Ghrika. Hrm, going to have to find time to explore Upper Exile a bit as well. Oops. I completely forgot about those last two. Hope I haven't been a pain in the rear end because of my questioning/forgetfulness.
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Apr 2, 2016 06:13
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I vaguely remember the demo for this, but it's been more computers than I can recall. Forgot about Jordan's Tower completely - is that skippable? I feel like I might have skipped it, or maybe my memory is just fuzzy. I kind of remember the second plague more anyway. Especially the egg. Also, bandits. Yet more bandits. Since I never finished it - Exile 1 and 2 both had three 'win' conditions, but where E1 kind of had them in any order - difficulty curves aside - E2 had a somewhat more strict ordering. (Crystal Souls before Garzy, and I'm not sure if the portal's also a requirement or not...) With that in mind - does E3 tend more toward the E1 model of Major Things To Accomplish, or E2's model of It All Leads Up To This? ...if it's possible to answer that without drastic spoilers, just a general sense.
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Apr 3, 2016 06:07
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Here is the best response I can give: You can move along any of the purple lines, although you tend to move upwards as the story progresses.
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Apr 3, 2016 06:33
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Works for me as an answer.
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Apr 3, 2016 06:35
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Appropriate for an RPG plot to be the Sephirot.
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Apr 3, 2016 07:31
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Now that we've seen sleep clouds (the ones spawned by the slime pit), it's a good time to note that we can make our own! Sleep Cloud is a spell for just slightly higher than the cost of fireball and makes a 2x2 cloud that can put monsters to sleep. When asleep, monsters don't attack, and take boatloads of damage. You'd be surprised just what it can work on, too. I've bypassed annoying casters, that spiny worm we saw earlier, and even random basilisks on a good roll of sleep cloud. Great spell on anything annoying you can't kill this turn (and anything standing next to it).
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Apr 3, 2016 13:53
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And relatedly, some monsters can spam sleep clouds at the party, and that "boatloads of damage" thing applies just fine in the other direction.
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Apr 3, 2016 14:59
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Gullwhacker posted:Since I never finished it - Exile 1 and 2 both had three 'win' conditions, but where E1 kind of had them in any order - difficulty curves aside - E2 had a somewhat more strict ordering. (Crystal Souls before Garzy, and I'm not sure if the portal's also a requirement or not...) With that in mind - does E3 tend more toward the E1 model of Major Things To Accomplish, or E2's model of It All Leads Up To This? ...if it's possible to answer that without drastic spoilers, just a general sense. As a note, Exile 2's final win conditions aren't actually in an exact order. There were a couple SPECIFIC requirements that overlapped, but you didn't need to the entire quest chain for any of them. I might be forgetting something here or there, but the overall gist of it is as follows: >Jekknol and Caffron can only be recovered after getting the relevant piece of evidence for each. Otherwise you're blocked by Magic Invisible Plot doors (Jekknol) or an entire frickin' army (Caffron). Jekknol also requires a couple Empire passes. >Vyvnas-Bok is an entirely self-contained objective which doesn't require any other quests, nor impacts any other quests. Only requirement is knowing the password and having Magi Clearance for the teleporter. >The Mass Teleporter quest is stand-alone like Vyvnas. It's an extended quest chain (Elderan's Tower, northern island Archives, teleporter itself), but the only requirement outside the quests themselves is the Orb of Thralni and a couple passes. >You cannot kill Garzahd without (1) Magi Clearance, (2) recovering Caffron-Bok, and (3) talking to Rentar-Ihrno. The Blessed Athame is also a de facto requirement due to all the runes on the way, but I think you could theoretically skip it if you brought a crapton of healing. Recovering two Crystal Souls for Demonslayer helps a lot in the dungeon, but isn't actually required. Also, as a general note, very little of the above can be done effectively without first getting Dispel Barrier (most likely from Limoncelli's Fort where you'd presumably grab Jekknol's evidence as you walk by, though you can also get Dispel Barrier up in the northern islands IIRC).
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Apr 3, 2016 16:50
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MagusofStars posted:though you can also get Dispel Barrier up in the northern islands IIRC). Dispel Barrier can only be gained in E2 through completing the Fort Emerald Quest and killing the guy with the Boots of Speed, there is no alternate location to get it.
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Apr 3, 2016 16:58
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Ah yes, that flowchart seems correct. And it's also true - technically, the slimes are actually optional. You can skip them if you want. However, you have to complete either the slimes or Redacted of Redacted in order to even be given access to the other main quests, and I believe virtually all of the others are mandatory. I also remember: 1) Serious Stuff in a Place is optional, time-based, and it's completely possible you can finish the game before you're even given the option to try it (I did on my first complete playthrough), 2) Really Bad Stuff Far, Far Away is very, very hard for many reasons that I am not authorized to explain at the moment.
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Apr 3, 2016 18:46
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Of the "Sidequest Stuff that can be done as we get to them", will most of it get done for completion's sake, or only if it fits in the narrative? There are some fairly remote corners of Valorim that could easily be missed, but I'm mainly thinking the major artifact quest in each province.
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Apr 3, 2016 19:19
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Colmface posted:Of the "Sidequest Stuff that can be done as we get to them", will most of it get done for completion's sake, or only if it fits in the narrative? There are some fairly remote corners of Valorim that could easily be missed, but I'm mainly thinking the major artifact quest in each province. Don't worry, I'll be getting all those. Sass needs his Jade Halberd! The nice thing about the quests is that once you're onto them, you can wrap them up in 3-5 days, and they're spaced enough apart - temporally - that you can explore, do sidequests et al between then. Right now, the plan is to finish the Slimes, then swing west and north doing exploration before hitting [REDACTED of Redacted].
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Apr 3, 2016 20:25
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berryjon posted:Don't worry, I'll be getting all those. Sass needs his Jade Halberd! Holy poo poo, the dungeon that's located in... have fun with that! The Halberd is completely worth it through. Especially since it's prime contention for the best weapon in the game, seeing as how I believe the previous title holder can only be gotten through cheating. Actually, speaking of that, when I went to get that in my last playthrough, I stopped in Erox just before. The town caught me completely off-guard because not a single online walkthrough even mentions it, and even the official hint booklet only briefly mentions it and you can easily miss it. It's good preparation/foreshadowing for the above, though. As for the other artifacts... I actually can't say anything because I've completely forgotten what most of them do, with one exception and that exception isn't actually an item. The one mentioned above is probably either the most or the 2nd most memorable, with it's only contention being the other one I remember.
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Apr 3, 2016 21:37
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berryjon posted:Dispel Barrier can only be gained in E2 through completing the Fort Emerald Quest and killing the guy with the Boots of Speed, there is no alternate location to get it. I think I was confusing it with the newer ones - In Avernum 2 and the re-remake, Aimee teaches Dispel Barrier for free simply for finding her in the northern islands. Presumably added to give the player more flexibility, rather than being forced into doing Limoncelli's Fort early solely to get Dispel Barrier.
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Apr 3, 2016 22:06
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Cripes guys, slow down with the spoilers already. This is turning into a CIA document.
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Apr 3, 2016 22:53
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I'm not sure how I didn't catch this before, but I just reread the last update and I think there's a problem. You used the same image (the one demonstrating element immunity) twice, once for the actual demonstration and once when Blue died. Just to let you know for future cleanup.
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Apr 4, 2016 23:50
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LuffyVeggies posted:I'm not sure how I didn't catch this before, but I just reread the last update and I think there's a problem. You used the same image (the one demonstrating element immunity) twice, once for the actual demonstration and once when Blue died. Just to let you know for future cleanup. Fixed, thank you.
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Apr 4, 2016 23:54
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I'm suddenly wondering if I still have my old saves kicking around - I wonder what party I made, way back when. (Probably not a good one.)
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Apr 9, 2016 01:54
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Chapter 08 – Delan and Silvar Lots of talking this update as I hit up two towns. Not much in the way of plot though – the next two dungeons are going to deal with that a bit more. I... also seem to have screwed up the clipping of the images in this update. I apologize for that I as I am used to my workflow, and assumed that everything was working properly. Fortunately, nothing of value was lost, unless you wanted to see the place names in their full glory.  “Hey, Bronwyn, a moment please.” “Yes?” “Been here before?” “Long time ago. So much could have changed.” “Alright. Let me know if we run into anything that's... relevant to you. I will help deal with it as appropriate.” “We'll see.” Another 'null' townsperson. We're actually going to get an explanation for that this update! “Alright, everyone split up and look around. Talk to people, and if you find the person in charge – mayor or captain of the guard, let me know so I can report on Jordan and his tower.” “Understood. Is there anything else we should know?” “Don't start a fight!” “Hey! That was my line.” “Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll steal some of her lines in the future.” “Hey! What are you?” You approach the sheep. It looks at you. You look at it. The air is thick with tension. "Baaaa," it says. “Um... I don't speak that language. Just Human Imperial and Slithzerikai.” "Baaaa! Baaa." “Baaa?” "Baaaa?" you say. "Baaaaa!" it retorts. This goes on for some time. Once again, random animal gets a conversation tree but townsfolk don't? Well, at least every Sheep does the same thing. What? You think I'm kidding?  “No one should know me, but checking out what people wear is never a bad idea.” “Hello.” The town tailor sits at a wide table, pins in her mouth, hemming a long dress.[/i] “I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name.” She says something, but the pins in her mouth keep you from understanding. She starts saying something about what she does and what she has for sale, but the pin in her mouth make it very hard to understand. You do make out the word "sale". “Uh... alright.” Allow me to introduce you to the first generic Shopkeeper. In a few towns, you'll just get an NPC whose name is “Tailor” or “Fletcher” or whatever their job is. They are generic NPCs who sell things, and I have no desire to transcribe their vague answers. “Pants and Shirts. How... generic.” And why do shirts block damage, but pants don't?    This guy is the Fletcher. He sells arrows and bows, but no Bolts for the crossbow. I stock up for Delilah, but run into the weight limit. I should do something about that short sword, but for now 70 arrows should hold Delilah for the next couple dungeons. “What are you?” I will talk about horses when we get one. They are awesome, and utterly vital for a few side quests and delivery jobs. No stealing Horses either.   This guys sells food, including one of the most cost-efficient sources of it I've seen. Travelling Rations – 28 Food for 16 Gold? Not as good as Mertis back in Exile 1/2, but still very good.  You meet a quiet, young woman in loose, flowing black clothes. She moves silently through the town, looking for someone. “Greetings, traveller. I am Mattias. Who might you be?” She turns to you. "I do not say my name, except to those who fully have my trust. That is a teaching of the wise man I seek." “Curious. Is that what you're doing?” “Yes. I seek the teacher.” “Interesting. Who is he then, this teacher of yours?” "I know not his name. Nobody does. He is said to have great wisdom, and great knowledge." She sighs sadly. "He is also difficult to find." “hah! Surely he isn't that difficult to locate?” "I have heard he travels between Krizsan and Delan, and sometimes goes to to oher towns around here as well. I do so wish I could locate him. Alas, I am lacking in wisdom." “Surely your wisdom is not at fault here? Why would you believe that?” "He is a wizard, but his magical arts are second to his mind. He says things that at first make no sense, but then provide learning later on." “And what do you expect to learn from him?” “Why, the act of learning itself! Is that not wondrous?" Her eyes flash with excitement. "If only I could locate him." The real thing to take from this conversation is that there are NPCs that travel from town to town depending on what day it is, and other considerations. I haven't the patience to hunt down this particular NPC at the moment as I'm running against the clock for the Slimes quest. I also wanted to show you the worst 'fixer-upper' in terms of dialogue I've had so far. The vast majority of the time, I'm tweaking the conversation to have a better flow, or to add LP-relevant discussions in (I'm going to be doing that at the end of this update actually!). However, in this case, I had to also fix spelling, and insert a quotation mark. And honestly, given how much dialogue is in this game, and how few people worked for Vogel when this game was in development, I'm very glad that this is the worst of it. “I wonder how long it takes before she thinks that I'm the one she was looking for?”  “I feel no need to enter these private rooms.”  “Why are you looking at me like that?” “I was totally looking at the docks, and the lack of boats or ships at them.” “It's not like anyone would find this missing.” Alright, time to address “Not Yours”. Sometimes, when you try to pick something up, you'll be told that it's “Not yours.” If you grab them when in sight of an NPC, they will turn the town hostile, and the guards will pound you into the dirt. That reminds me – Scry Monster on all the NPCs in a town in a future update. “Hello, innkeep!” At the sight of your well-traveled band, the innkeeper starts getting bottles of mead ready. Nobody else in the bar gives you much notice. "I'm Churdan. You look thirsty." “Am I that obvious? Well, before I get down to important things, what's the business here going to cost?” "Well, our main business here is thirst management - we make the finest mead in Krizsan. You can also get a room if you want - only 5 gold." “And if I wanted to quench my thirst? "A round of mead for your and your band is only 2 gold, and believe me, it'll get ya' where you're goin'. Just as for a drink when you're ready. Of course, you should be careful. Some folks have been sorta' affected by the stuff." “Um... 'too much' affected or 'too strong'?” "Some of my more, um, frequent customers said they saw a sprite north of town. What a bunch of goofs!" “Curious. If my boss' reputation is anything like reality, she'll want to look into that later. Anyway, hit me with a drink!”  Mead is a wine-like drink made from honey. Their mead is, indeed, excellent. When you're through, the inkeeper says "By the way, want some advice?" “Sure! Always glad to lend an ear!” "People in the small towns keep to themselves. Most of them won't wanna' talk to you. Always be sure to talk to the innkeepers though. They'll know what's goin' on!" That Sprite I'll deal with after the Slimes, and that's the promised explanation as to why town NPCs won't talk to us. Because we're strangers. “Wow! That hit the spot. Say, handsome, got room for me here?”  You meet a seedy looking archer from the Empire Army. He's low on arrows, has dirty armor, and is clearly on one of his later glasses of mead. He scoots over to make room for you as you approach. "My pals call me Feral." You aren't surprised. “I'm Delight! Or Delilah, depending on how official you want me to be. Whatcha doin'?” "Well, I'm waiting here for my unit to get me, so we can go hunting slimes. I'm really looking forward to it." He rolls his eyes. "I got a lot out of my last patrol, but don't want to try to repeat the experience." “Wait. A repeat? Something bad happened?” "Yeah, the last time I was on patrol, we found a bunch of escaped horses. We split'em up among us and then I won a few playin' cards. It was great! Horses are really rare now. The slimes love to eat them." “Uh... horses? Really?” He grins. "Horses are really valuable these days. If you're interested, though, you might be able to obtain some." “Obtain? How much?” He grins. "Well, I need those 'ol chargers a lot, but not so much that I couldn't spare them for a band of adventurers. They're only 1000 gold. A bit steep, but there's a shortage at the moment. Let me know when you'd like to make the purchase." He's not kidding. I think there's free horses much later, but for now I'm seriously considering getting them off him in the future, after dealing with the Slimes. “IS THERE NO ONE IN CHARGE AROUND HERE?” “Fine. Collect everyone, head west. Town called Silvar. Maybe there will be someone there I can report to that isn't the Mayor of Krizsan. I don't want to go back to him until this whole thing is finished.”  “Art, we should stop my Krizsan, and sell off a few of the things we aren't using, and don't need.” “Good idea. You and Bronwyn handle that.” I'm paying a lot more attention to the flavor text in this game, there seem to be some real gems in there. Here are the two weapons that Bronwn can choose – I go with the Steel Short Sword for weighing less, and having a better average damage (d6+3 vs d9+1) than the Broadsword.  I was also poking around, and found I couldn't get into the nor'east corner of Krizsan from the outside due to trees in the way. So I went around from the inside.  “I'm gonna squish them first!”  “Hey, Bronwyn?” “Yes?” “Didn't you say you were from Silvar?” “Not this one.” “Ah! The one in Exile then!”  “There are multiple Silvar's you know. The town here, the city down there. It's a play on the word 'Silver', and I think the first was the major Silver mining town up near the Imperial Capital.” “Didn't those mines go bust decades ago?” “I think so. It's become something of a 'High Class' town now, a home near the capital for those rich enough to afford it.” “What.” “A curious case of gentrification.” “I repeat. What?” “Rich and powerful people doing rich and powerful things.”  “Hey! You!” “Uh.. hello.” “Look, just giving you guys a heads up. We got official word from Krizsan that you're not to be bothered unless you start anything, but there's a Dervish in town. Be careful. They don't respect local laws.” “... I'll deal with the Dervish.” “Ma'am? Are you sure?” “Look, we took out the tower of a Mage named Jordan. He was artificially growing Slimes to the west of Krizsan, but information we found there,” she produces the map that Jordan drew and showed it to the guards, “indicates that there is a source pool to the south-east. We're on our way there to take care of it – Dervish or not.” “He's in the inn, Ma'am.” “Thank you.” “I won't say that until these Slimes are gone.” “You let me worry about that. Until then, keep doing good job - you're doing good at it.” “Can we leave now?” “We just got here!” “Yeah! So many new people to meet!” “There's a DERVISH in town!” “And I'll handle him. You don't have to worry.” “Ma'am, not to be disparaging of you, but the Empire Dervishes are the best of the best.” “I know that.” “And you think you can just... handle one of them?” “Yes.” “How?” “That's a secret.” “Oh great. Where's Sass?”  “I am not going to break into people's homes! That's rude!” “Hey there!” The toolsmith looks up from a rather intricate repair job. You can't help but feel the smith's face is familiar somehow. "I am known as Merry. Welcome to my shop." “Hey Merry! I'm Sass.” “So I hear. Welcome to Valorim. I and my siblings run shops such as this all over Valorim. I have a host of fine tools you can purchase. Also, I deal in used goods. Any supplies you no longer want, you can sell to me." “I think we dealt with all that back in Krizsan. But I'm certain we'll have more in the future. You said you have siblings? I got lots myself!” "Yes! My parents were well blessed with children, and taught us well the toolsmithing trade. We have since then left hom and spread all over Valorim, opening shops and plying our trade. You may have visited one of my brother's or sister's shops. You will be able to tell because of our unfortunate naming situation." “What's it like to have parents? Sliths are more communal than that.” “I'm cot certain I can describe that to one such as yourself. They brought many of us into the world, and taught us well. However, when it came to naming us, it was an unfortunate situation." “And what would that be?” "My parents were somewhat uncreative, and gave us all the same name. King people, our parents. Talented with their hands. But dumb as posts." Many towns will have a Merry in them, who offers the same services. And this time, the repeating NPC has a reason, and it's kinda funny. I could have sworn Merry sold lockpocks in this location. Guess not.  “SASS! Where are you?” “How do you misplace a seven-foot tall lizard?” “...” “Um, hello? Have you seen a Slithzerikai around here?” You meet a priest, wandering the streets of the city. He wears rough, woolen clothes, which look like they've been worn through muddy swamps from one end of the continet to the other. Only a small wooden Ankh marks him as a holy man. He extends a calloused hand to you. "I am Gardner, and no, I have not." “Well, thanks. If you don't mind me asking, what sect are you from?” “I don't really have one.” He fingers his ankh. "I've been wandering the lands, trying to help people deal with the monsters that plague us." “If it's about the Slimes...” "In my wanderings, I have heard the slimes attacking Krizsan are actually rather benign. Some cities have been attacked by giants, other by troglodytes. I have heard rumors of golems and bizare furred beasts." "Most unnerving of all, Shayder has encountered a truly bizarre horror." “What's happening in Shayder?” “The Isle of Bigail... Shayder has been attacked by waves of gigantic cockroaches." He shudders. "Hard to believe." “Thank you for your time. May you bring Joy wherever you go.” “And to you.” “Art needs to know about this. She'll need to know what to do.” And there you have it. The Six Plagues of Valorim, one of which is currently without a name. Rest assured, they're all getting crushed. “There's that Dervish. Where's Art?”  “Except Delilah is already full up. No need for more now.”  “That is a queer name for a temple.” This man is fastidiously cleaning, counting, stacking and restacking large piles of coins on the top of the altar. The coins are all shapes and sizes, and from all over. The man turns and flashes an unctuous smile. "I'm Kilborn. Welcome to the temple of the Divine Lucre." Unctuous. Second time in this trilogy I had to look up a word. Go back to Exile 1 for the first. “A curious thing, this place. What is it that you offer here as a place of worship?” "Information is power. Power costs. I will tell you our philosophy for a single gold, and the services we offer for only 5." “I can afford the costs.” “Philosophy: We believe that the making of money helps all of us. Ambition lifts the poor from the gutter, and profit is the surest path to a happy life. And in the endeavours of money-making, we lead by example." “What example do you set for your flock?” "It is fitting that a priest of the faith of monetary gain would be the richest among it's flock, is it not?" “I see the logic in that. And your services?” "Well, we no longer offer healing, I'm afraid. Not cost effective. I do, however, have several spells I can teach very efficiently."  YES! I was thinking that I would need to go to Peregles before my Food problems went away, but it seems like I lucked out! With three casters at L3 Priest, they can spend 10SP each to make food, and then I can sleep them back to full for a net gain! Well, aside from the time factor, that is - I'll have to ration myself regarding that. I also grab Light Heal All and Smite for Art. I still have to train her, but I think I can balance her development out. “Hello.” The innkeeper is a rotound woman with long dark hair. She is reading a book when you approach the bar. You have to clear your throat to get her attention. “I'm Kelda. Welcome to my inn." “What's up?” "Not too much. Not much business, what with all the slimes. I'll give you a good room for only three gold, and wine for 1." “Ugh, the Slimes are just making everything worse.” "Ever since the slimes started appearing, it's been nothing but constant attacks. Oh well. At least we didn't end up like Colchis." “I'm from the west. Isn't Colchis further east?” "The poor village was only twenty miles to the east. I say 'was'. They were hit by even more slime attacks than us. The humans abandoned the place, and the slimes took over. Nothing but ruins there now." “The village is in ruins? What happened?” "Not sure why they got attacked more than us. One thing I've heard though ... the farther west from here you go, the less slimes there are." “Yeah, apparently some mage named Jordan was making more of them, but some individuals banded together and put a stop to that.” “That's good, but what about the east?” “You leave that to me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll try not to destroy your inn in the next few minutes.” “What are you..!” “What are you doing here, boy?” This man's plate armor, vicious greatsword, and epic muscles mark him as one not ot be trifled with. Markings on his breastplate mmark him as an Empire Dervish, a member of the Empire's elite shock troops. “Don't call me boy, Grandma. I am Vorgar," he looks at you with suspicion. “That's cute. What are you doing here?” "I have been placed here to fend off the slimes. It is one of my easier assignments." “Oh? I suppose that's why you're here, drinking swill?” “You certainly got a tongue on you, grandma. They wanted to send two dervishes. I told them that would be overreacting. At any rate, there are a few of us in Krizsan." “Even Dervishes operate with support staff. They're the tip of the spear, not the whole of it.” He grunts. "The Empire has placed little of its strength in Krizsan. I know not why, but it is not my place to question the wisdom of my benevolent masters." “How typical. So, if this is an easy assignment, what's your definition of a hard one?” He frowns. "I served in Exile. I was part of a patrol that was ambushed by a Vahnatai and worm patrol." (Worms were what the Empire Troops called the Exiles.) The 'Worms' comment was in the original text. I debated moving it to here, but then though this was a better option. “You got your rear end handed to you by the Vahnatai. You and a lot of other people.” "Only I and one other survived. The Vahnatai even slew the wounded. I made an oath." “War is war, and for adults. Not children.” “Shut it, grandma. When all this business with the slimes is done, I will go back down there, alone or with others, and all you worms will pay. Count on it." He clearly recognizes you as exiles. Considering the paleness of your skin, it's not too surprising. “No. You won't. Stay here. Drink down your stipend. You're an embarrassment.” She turns to walk away. “And I'm not your grandmother, thank the Mother-of-us-all. I'm Art.” “Hah! You don't know what you're talking about!” “A sword to serve.” “What was that, Grandma?” “Nothing. Just.. go back to your drink. I have a job to go to.”* * *  “That was fun! A slime tried to sneak in, but the guards destroyed it in two blows!” “Where were you?” “Talking to Merry about family!” “Enough about that. Art, the problem is bigger than we thought. The Slime's aren't the only monsters running around Valorim. Giant Insects. Golems. Giants. Troglodytes, and something even worse are out there.” “... Alright. We deal with the Slimes, report back to the Mayor and Anaximander, then we'll see what comes next. We may have to help them, we may not. Until then, focus on the job in front of us, alright?” “I know what you mean, but what's happening? Why is there so many monsters? Enough to call them plagues?” “I don't know. But Art is right. We can't worry about everything all at once. One problem at a time.” “Next stop, the town of Colchis. Let's see what's so important here that the Slimes had to destroy this place before anything else?” “Aside from proximity, you mean?”* * * Found a book in Silvar I haven't screencapped before. Here it is. “Stupid grandmothers. Should go take up knitting and all that. What did she say her name was again? I'll pay her a nice visit when I go back there.” “A sword that serves? Hrm, how did she know about that? Hrm... Art, I think?” “oh no. I have to tell Blackcrag.” “She's alive.”
berryjon fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Apr 10, 2016 |
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Apr 9, 2016 04:20
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I remember that guy. He's fairly tough, BUT he's alone and makes one (powerful) attack per round with no lingering dot. If you recall player characters cannot be killed in one attack at positive hitpoints - they get knocked to 0hp by the first attack but don't die until they take more damage. That meant that as long as i cast one healing spell per round, no matter how weak, he could never kill anyone. While i slowly ground down his HP and killed him. Then looted the corpse. (This was in Avernum 3, but i believe Exile 3 is the same in this)
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Apr 9, 2016 06:18
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The Lone Badger posted:I remember that guy. If this wasn't for the LP, there would most definitely be a dead Spined Worm there. But the narrative of the story has it's own needs which take precedent over exploiting the AI, geometry and engine.
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Apr 9, 2016 06:54
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This was a fun update. So with 'stealing' items, is the key to just not be caught? Also time for the Empite to start panicking. She's back.
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Apr 9, 2016 14:09
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I never figured out all the specifics to stealing, but I'm pretty sure it was just line of sight. Close the door and wait for the room to empty, and steal away. Anything in a crate can be moved to a remote corner and you're good to go. I don't know what, if anything, affects line of sight. Most likely, if they're still on screen then they'll catch you. Certain areas have posted unmoving guards and I legitimately don't think those items can be stolen (at least not hassle-free). Never tried fooling around with Stealth, but I'm guessing it does nothing. Oh, and pretty sure stealing from fort emergence is an insta party kill.
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Apr 9, 2016 14:24
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Stealing is very simple - Can you see any other person or creature? If yes, you're getting caught. If no, you're good. Ways to keep people from seeing you: 1. Close the door you walked in through. Some areas put guards inside storerooms to prevent this, but this works a shockingly large percent of the time. 2. Block LOS with a Barrier. Fire Barrier works fine and is probably smarter so you can leave. 3. Block LOS with two adjacent spider webs. The Mage spell Web is perfect for this. Also, while you could theoretically kill all witnesses before stealing, that defeats the purpose.
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Apr 9, 2016 15:25
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Right! I keep forgetting about barriers, and especially about web. Since you start with web on a typical mage, that's probably the go-to on a steal everything run. Does web count as a hostile spell? If you use it and it hits a guard, is that bad news or do they not care?
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Apr 9, 2016 15:56
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My first experience with this game was picking up everything I could without knowing how stealing worked. I had only been playing 5-10 minutes before someone saw me stealing something in Fort Emergence which gives you an instant game over.
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Apr 9, 2016 17:46
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berryjon, I found some potential errors/typos:quote:[narrator] I will talk about horses when we get one. They are awesome, and utterly vital for a few side quests and delivery jobs. Mis-set tag, I presume quote:That Spite I'll deal with after the Slimes, and that's the promised explanation as to why town NPCs won't talk to us. Because we're strangers. "Sprite" instead of "Spite"? quote:“You let me worry about that. Until then, keep doing the good job.” "the good job" is odd phrasing. Deliberate or not? quote:“You certainly got a tongue on you, grandma. They wanted to send two dervishes. I told them that would be overreacting. At any rater, there are a few of us in Krizsan." "rate" instead of "rater"?
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Apr 9, 2016 17:52
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JustJeff88 posted:Mis-set tag, I presume quote:"the good job" is odd phrasing. Deliberate or not? Changed to: “You let me worry about that. Until then, keep doing good job - you're doing good at it.”The others were fixed as you suggested.
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Apr 9, 2016 18:12
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Random_Username posted:Does web count as a hostile spell? If you use it and it hits a guard, is that bad news or do they not care? I'm pretty sure, but not 100% positive, that friendlies only care if you directly deal damage to them. But there's precious few ways to mess with friendlies without hurting them. Amusingly, I'm pretty sure dumping Quickfire in a town is not considered a hostile act so long as the initial tile is not on a friendly creature.
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Apr 9, 2016 18:25
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:I'm pretty sure, but not 100% positive, that friendlies only care if you directly deal damage to them. But there's precious few ways to mess with friendlies without hurting them. Amusingly, I'm pretty sure dumping Quickfire in a town is not considered a hostile act so long as the initial tile is not on a friendly creature. This is correct - I did Quickfire the Empire Town back in E2, and it wasn't considered a Hostile act, even as guards and civilians were dropping dead.
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Apr 9, 2016 19:01
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:I'm pretty sure, but not 100% positive, that friendlies only care if you directly deal damage to them. But there's precious few ways to mess with friendlies without hurting them. Amusingly, I'm pretty sure dumping Quickfire in a town is not considered a hostile act so long as the initial tile is not on a friendly creature. Note that dropping a Fire/Force Barrier directly on someone DOES do damage, so it does count as an attack. Instead, the proper way to block vision is to drop it on the square directly in front of them. Casting Web doesn't do damage, so it's fine, even if one of the squares in the big cross gets them in sticky spiderwebs. Edit: As a corollary, since Quickfire doesn't count as an attack, you can rob guarded storage rooms by (1) put a Fire Barrier on the entrance (2) cast Quickfire inside room, (3) wait a bunch of turns until the guards are dead, (4) loot the now-unguarded room. Of course, this is a LOT of spell points and a level 7 spell so it's fairly limited in usefulness - by the time you can do this, you'll have much easier ways to get money. MagusofStars fucked around with this message at 19:35 on Apr 9, 2016 |
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Apr 9, 2016 19:29
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berryjon posted:
Yeah, they're so silly. They don't even realize that they're sprites too. Art and company are sprites. The town is sprites. Everything is sprites.
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Apr 9, 2016 19:57
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berryjon posted:This is correct - I did Quickfire the Empire Town back in E2, and it wasn't considered a Hostile act, even as guards and civilians were dropping dead. I may or may not have occasionally stolen some well-guarded stuff from Fort Emergence with judicious use of character editor-added Quickfire and Fire Barrier.
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Apr 9, 2016 20:42
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berryjon posted:If this wasn't for the LP, there would most definitely be a dead Spined Worm there. But the narrative of the story has it's own needs which take precedent over exploiting the AI, geometry and engine.
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Apr 10, 2016 04:07
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