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Poil posted:Shamans are really good. But I think there are some really obnoxious goblins (and shamans) in the later game that are just a pain to fight against. Yeah, the entire set of Orcish units gets kinda nuts in the second game, due to the addition of a new mechanic just for them, and a few extra units. And ordinarily, I would definitely have fought Devis. But my army was super depleted by the previous fights, like easily below half strength, and now there is no option to fight him.
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Apr 21, 2017 02:13
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| # ? Apr 29, 2024 13:32 |
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I don't know why "Bob Devis" as a name strikes me as so funny, when neither "Bob" nor "Devis" really do it for me.
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Apr 25, 2017 02:56
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Update 25: Circumnavigation Last time, we completed the inland paths of the major island in this region. We have no choice but to board a ship and sail these pirate-infested waters if we want to explore the Islands any further.  Yarrr! Avast ye mateys, Bill be a pirate now! *cough* Okay, I think that's enough pirate-speak for one day.  Man, Bill Murray's looking rough these days. But yeah, the seas around the Freedom Islands are full of pirate ships, each captained by an enemy hero. However, these guys are not hostile by default. Even if we sail right next to them, they won't chase us down. We need to talk to them if we want to initiate combat. I'm going to put that off for now, since these guys are decently threatening. We will be back to clean the seas in the near future.  We start our tour of the coast by sailing counter-clockwise around the island. Our first stop is a set of banners guarded by some Archmages.  Diplomacy lets us steal a few Goblins away, which is nice since Goblins are in limited supply right now.  Thanks for the Goblins, hope you don't mind if I ask the rest to... chill out?  The Shamans Dancing Axes don't do a great job against Magic resistant troops like these Archmages.  In my goal of trying to show off every spell at some point or other, let's see Healing in action. Healing has two main uses: preserving rare Level 5 units, and damaging Undead. The second is probably the better use of it, and can actually be really good if you are a Paladin focusing on Order magic. Unlike other spells, the Mana cost decreases with level, so Level 3 Healing only costs a single mana, making it one of the most efficient damage spells in the game (at least against Undead). Of course as a Mage, I will generally have far better options.  We fry a number of Skeleton Archers with the holy light.  The two sides have a showdown around an explosive barrel. The Totem of Death means neither enemy stack can reach any of my troops.  As the enemy troops move around the barrel, I find an opening to get a double slash in... forgetting that the barrel itself counts as an enemy. The Sea Dogs cutlass smashes into the barrel. There's a brief pause, in which a faint sizzling sound can be heard...  KA-BOOM! The barrel explodes, delivering shrapnel into every hex around it. Of course, the only thing around are my own troops.  These casualties are pretty much my fault.  We grab our reward banners. There are a ton of these dotted around the islands.  Further down the coast, we find Captain Hook's tavern. I guess opening a bar is a decent retirement for a famous pirate... hopefully he'll be safe from the crocodile here. His shop sells nothing special. Knights are cool, but we need to find way more than that.  Next stop is this small island with some Inquisitors guarding a small pile of gold.  Thinning numbers down...  Smashing Sword is still great...  And victory comes quickly. Some of these fights I don't have much to say about.  A buried chest gives out a good chunk of change. I also love this pirate flag.  The eastern side of the map is lined with sharp rocks, but a single open passage will lead us to the Eastern Islands. We won't be going there quite yet, though.  A lighthouse lies near the seaway to guide ships coming from the Eastern Islands. The island is undefended, so we snag this Mind Rune and banner before continuing on.  A small beach has a few Cannoneers working on their tan.  Just trying to save them from heatstroke here.  I tend to use Dancing Axes to clean-up remaining ranged stacks after my spells do their work.  I've never used Sea Dogs as much as I have in this LP, and they've been doing fantastic. Of course, that's partly due to their bonus speed right now.  We haven't seen a flawless victory in a while.  This fight pushes us over into a level up. I don't like having to give up an Intellect bonus, but Leadership is a must when it is offered from now on.  I use the additional runes to buy Level 2 Distortion Magic. Primarily this is for enhancing Slow, but there are a large number of really good Distortion spells later on too. After this, I will likely be leveling up a few Mana/Mana-regen skills, and maybe a level in Alchemy before going for Level 3 Chaos.  A long spit of land lies near the north end of the map. On this half lie a few treasures, including a Magic Rune and another banner. The rock in the middle blocks the Archmages from coming this way. That side will be for later.  We turn down a small inlet and sail by another pirate castle. Just passing by right now.  Instead we turn into this protected cove, where a pirate hangout awaits.  A buried chest finally holds something other than gold, in this case it was 3 Magic Crystals.  I remember to check on my equipment, and find my Jackboots are in a terrible state of repair. Right now, their bonus no longer functions. We need to suppress the Keepers if we want to continue using them.  The Jackboot Keepers aren't very powerful, luckily.  As a Mage, I classify any Keeper fight where I can take out the towers in a single spell as "relatively easy", especially with Higher Magic purchased.  By the second round, the Sea Dogs have pushed up the side to double-strike these Pirates and the remaining Gremlin Tower.  The Shamans rush forward to headbutt the last remaining enemies.  You can get a bit of extra experience by deliberately wearing out items with morale and then fighting the Keepers. It's probably not worth it.  After suppression, the item morale is returned to a high level. I think each item has a different default morale, although that is not indicated anywhere. With a morale of 90, these boots should last a good while.  Back to the main business...  The Governor of the Islands has already given us a contract to kill Thorny Dog here. But he doesn't know that, so let's see what else is going on here before we remove him for good.  : I'm just traveling and looking for a crew and various goods. : That's good. Do you want to have a look at what I have?: Sure, show me. Just a bunch of pirates. This is useful, though, since right now my only source of Pirates is back in Darion.  I empty Thorny Dog's stock out and move them to my Reserve slot. That done, we have no further use of him. : I came to you from the Governor. I have a contract, you see. Sorry, nothing personal. (Attack the pirate.) Once again, the bounty refuses to lead his band into battle. Thorny's gang has a surprising lack of Pirates, considered we bought a few hundred from him. Thinking about it, that could explain why he has a lack of Pirates in his army, since he sold them all to us.  The usual rain of magical destruction occurs, taking a stack of Inquisitors and most of the Beholders out.  It's gotta suck having a huge glob of swamp poison spat at you when your body largely consists of eyeball.  Although my Pirates are kind of fragile, they still rock on the damage-dealing end.  We only lose a few Pirates, which are quickly replaced from my healthy stock.  Sleem reaches his next level. I'll continue leveling Evil Shoal, though the price is starting to creep up a little high for my taste.  The coastal tour continues, and we grab this floating chest (more gold) and banner.  Nearing the end of the circle around the large island, this smaller island holds a good trove of treasure, guarded by Elves.  Islands are one of my favourite environments to fight in.  These Dragonflies are never that threatening, since they love charging far ahead unsupported.  This is why I like island maps. The AI always has trouble with these chokepoints, making it pretty easy to pick away at enemies.  Here's a good example of the AI being screwed with by Totems. These Pirates turn away from my army, and run back around the palm grove towards the totem.  And the Devilfish do the same.  They pay for their indecision.  Another easy win.  The island's treasures get vacuumed up (gold, a banner, and a Magic Crystal).  More banners!  And again!  Final small island (for this update)!  A legion of Devilfish await.  The geometry again helps me out here, as does the freeze caused by Ice Snake. This separates the hordes into more manageable chunks.  A Totem serves to further distract and defang these fish.  I think we will be eating sushi for a while now. Having made a full circle of the island, we return to the Governor's castle.  : Glad to see you, Bill Gilbert. Anything interesting to report?: Good news, Governor! I've settled the matter with Thorny Dog.: You did your job just fine, Bill Gilbert. I see that King Mark has brave and industrious people. Maybe you'd be interested in working for me? (Reward: Snake Boots, 2900 Gold): Thank you for the reward. But the service for the King suits me well enough, and my life is full of adventures - and I can also serve my country. Cha-ching! Snake Boots are a fantastic reward! I'll keep the Jackboots on for now, since it's required for Pirates/Sea Dogs to be useful, but I think the Snake Boots will be quite handy in the future.  We made very little progress plot-wise, but this island is now clear, and Bill's gotten quite a bit of treasure. Notably, we got about 800 Leadership between the level and all the banners, so his army will be significantly stronger. Next update, we will explore the remaining islands in the region, and acquire a couple of new job titles to add to Royal Treasure Searcher. ---------------------------------- Bonus Material Learning Lore Marking the Map  Hopefully this poorly drawn line helps illustrate our meanderings in this update. Talkin' 'bout Troops Devilfish  Resistances: 30% Fire Critical Hit %: 30 Defense Bonus: 1 Talents: None Abilities Marine: During naval battles, Morale is increased. Fire Resistance Night Sight: During nighttime and underground combat, Attack is increased by 50%. Terrible: When attacking, the creature tries to frighten the opponent. Terrified enemies cannot retaliate. Critical Attack: Chance to make a Critical Attack is very high. Gully's opinion: Devilfish are surprisingly powerful for their cost. They have pretty good base stats for a Level 1 unit, and are both very mobile and have very high Initiative, so they are good at getting the first attack in. Their high Critical chance is especially good considering their wide damage range. Their best feature, beyond their base stats, is the Terrible ability, which often removes the chance to retaliate (I believe it activates more often on enemies of low Level). Devilfish also get bonuses in a variety of environments, although like all Level 1 units, these percentage bonuses aren't as good since they have lower base stats to modify. Still, Devilfish can really take a bite out of enemies. Fighting them: One of the more dangerous low-level enemies, since they have decent speed and good damage, and aren't quite as fragile. Fire spells aren't as effective, so use other spells to damage them. Still, they will go down quickly against quality troops, just get the first attacks in to reduce their numbers. Terrible can be annoying, since it acts like a Fear spell on the affected unit (so your affected stack will be uncontrollable for a couple turns). Spells Seen Healing  The Healing spell recovers the health of the selected friendly target. Causes damage to the undead. Does not affect demons. Crystal Cost: 1 / 2 / 3 Mana Cost: 3 / 2 / 1 Level 1: Healing/Damage: 50 Level 2: Healing/Damage: 150 Level 3: Healing/Damage: 250; Removes Poison, Weakness, and Plague Gully's opinion: Healing is an interesting Order spell, mostly because I find it less useful for the actual healing as for the damage. The healing aspect is really only good for units with a lot of Health (Level 5 units, mostly), where it can be ok for keeping an expensive, rare unit alive, especially in the early game. At Level 3, the ability to remove certain negative buffs can be useful, but only on rare occasions. On the other hand, the damage aspect is actually quite good, if you are focusing on Order over other schools. In these cases, it can be very effective against Undead units (which are some of the most common and difficult enemies in the game). Since the crystal cost is so small, you might as well invest in this spell if you have the Order levels. Skills Shown Items Identified Snake Boots  Description: High boots made of snake skin. Effects: +1 to Defense, +1 to the Initiative and Speed of snakes. Type: Boots Race: Elves Cost: 6000 Info: These waterproof boots were created by elven craftsmen specially for navigating through swamps. They are especially popular among snake catchers.
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Apr 29, 2017 22:45
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Snake Boots! They go perfect with a huge mass of powerful snakes who are definitely not the slightest bit upset that you're wearing the skin of their families.Gully Foyle posted:
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Apr 29, 2017 22:59
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Aaaa fangs aaaaaa I like the Devilfish. 
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Apr 30, 2017 09:11
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Glad to see you're powering through! I don't have much more to add, except that I absolutely love the atmosphere of the Islands. Together with the music (and the treasure!), it all really feels... pirate-y. I hesitate to ask, but... you do know about how to get the quest from the old orc in the first picture in Update 24, don't you? (The one standing next to the Orc Embassy)? I'm only asking because it took me several games to discover it, and many walkthroughs don't mention it, especially since it doesn't go into your official quest log, so, for the longest time, I thought it was a broken quest. Just in case, if you don't: You have to return to the Islands after you free the mind of the Elven Queen and learn what happened on the elf continent. (Best way to do it is by returning to the dwarves - you can take the submarine to the Islands from the place where you give the water from the water fairy to the frozen creek.) Things have changed in the Orc Embassy in the meantime!
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Apr 30, 2017 18:04
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meristem posted:I hesitate to ask, but... you do know about how to get the quest from the old orc in the first picture in Update 24, don't you? (The one standing next to the Orc Embassy)? I'm only asking because it took me several games to discover it, and many walkthroughs don't mention it, especially since it doesn't go into your official quest log, so, for the longest time, I thought it was a broken quest. Yep, I know about that one. Usually because I come back to get more Shamans :p. Picayune posted:Aaaa fangs aaaaaa I like the Devilfish. I think they'll be getting at least a brief showing in my army sometime in the next few updates.
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Apr 30, 2017 18:11
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I'm curious about how exactly that devilfish fear ability works. You're just asking to get slaughtered if you point it at something strong, after all.
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May 1, 2017 04:59
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Update 26a: I'm gonna be a pirate (on the River Saskatchewan) Title explanation for those of you less familiar with Canadian comedy music from the nineties So it turns out that my planned update was way too long, so I'm chopping Update 26 into two parts. The second half won't take long to come up, since it's all recorded. Last update, we finished the exploration of the main island in the region. After a break restocking on troops, it's time to explore the other areas in the Western Freedom Islands.  Our next leg of the adventure begins at Castle Exail. We passed by this castle last time, let's see what they've got going on.  Nothing exciting troop-wise, since we have plenty of Pirates for the moment. The weapon, on the other hand, is something I'm going to pick up. The Silver Rapier is a specialized piece of equipment that gives your troops +30% Attack against Undead, which is a huge boost. We may never use it, but it's nice to have for some tough battles later. That done, let's chat with the owner.  Well, that's boring.  Moving along the shoreline, some Inquisitors stand guard over a chest.  Our armies gotten another change of units. The Goblins weren't a bad unit, but the Orc Embassy had only a small stockpile and our losses outpaced our ability to keep them full strength. Our rotating ranged unit slot will now be filled by Beholders, at least for a bit.  This battle didn't provide a good showcase for them. Instead, here's some enemy Sea Dogs cutting down a defenseless Totem.  Turns out that attacking things that aren't my units is not a winning strategy.  At last! Zerock finally gives me the chance to pick up his last ability, Underground Blades. This ability is pretty great, but also pretty expensive to use. Still, it's a good ability for Warriors to replace spell damage.   The guarded chest is joined by a buried chest, more than covering the costs of my impulsive purchase of that Silver Rapier.  We saw these Archmages wandering in the background last update, time to say hello.  Hi!  Stockpiling crystals is pretty important for a Mage. In the not too distant future, I will be upgrading to Level 3 Chaos Magic, and the costs for those upgrades can be extravagant. I'm always glad to find extra in battles.  The eye lasers melt the face off some Priests. The Beholders have a wide damage range (5-12), so they can be a bit inconsistent in their damage output. Critical hits solve that, at least.  After the battle, we pick up the small piles of gold on that strand, and move on.  This village looks like a more promising and interesting place.  First order of business is to dig up some treasure and pick up the spare Mind Rune, and then talk to the guy standing on the beach.  : What is the Brotherhood? : Times are difficult nowadays, the way of the pirate is already difficult, and the Governor is being especially ferocious with his codes and courts. It's hard for a pirate to just get by. So we decided to create a union, the Brotherhood. For our brothers we have better goods, and sell them at better prices. And we always help out when trouble comes.: It sounds alluring! Could I become one of you? I'd like to join the brotherhood.: You have to talk to Tex Viscous about that. He deals with novices and decides who is worthy to join the Brotherhood. There in the center of the settlement is his residence.: Thank you for help, Mastrello.Next to the house that Mastrello points too, another shanty shack sits.  : Sorry. I'll be off then.Man, I guess we really need to join this Brotherhood. Before we reach the next home over...  We get interrupted by a army wandering around the village.  Lots o' guns here. Ice Snake cuts almost all of them out.  We've also finally built up enough Rage to use Underground Blades.  Zerock smashes his rocky limbs onto the ground, bringing spires of rock piercing up from the ground into our enemies, hitting every enemy unit no matter where on the battlefield they are.  Plumes of fire join the rock, scorching the troops (this is just a graphical effect, the damage is entirely physical). Underground Blades is great, at least for Warriors though. 26 Rage is a lot for a Mage to acquire, and that's before any additional leveling of the ability. Like all of Zerock's abilities, it does double damage to any mage-type unit as well. It is nice to have an AoE effect that you can use even when your own units are engaged with the enemy.  Back in the battle, we get an even better prize from a battle chest.  This is what makes the Beholders great. Any time they hit an enemy unit, there is a chance that the enemy unit is sent into a dream state, missing their next turn. The lower the Level of the target unit, the more likely the sleep effect is to trigger. Level 1/2 units will almost always be affected (unless they are immune, like Undead and certain other units).  A unit with the Dream status will be woken up if damaged, or after the effect wears off. One turn of sleep isn't much, but...  For low Level units, Beholders can often chain the sleep effect turn after turn, essentially locking down the targeted stack while also reducing their number. This lets other units focus on more immediate threats, and then attack the sleeping unit when the time is right.  I'm not really concerned about Pirate losses now, since I've got a healthy reserve and can buy as many as I need.  With the Runes we've picked up, I purchase the Trophies skill. This Mind skill increases the gold we get from combat. This can be useful on higher difficulties (where Gold can be tight), but isn't much help on Normal. Instead, I'd buy it only if you want to get to one of the best Mind skills, Tolerance.  The army was walking on top of some buried crystals, which I add to the stash.  Hopefully we can find some answers regarding this Brotherhood here.  : I'm the royal Treasure Searcher. I need some desperate mercenaries. And foreign goods are interesting for me as well. : Sorry, but our shops are opened only to members of the Brotherhood.: I'd like to know more about the Brotherhood. Can you tell me?: The Coastal Brotherhood is a brotherhood of pirates. The main goal of the Brotherhood is to provide a network of support for pirates across the islands. Mercenaries, weapons, rare goods - all these things are available only for member of the Brotherhood. And also we like to persuade young desperate men to choose our way of life. Lately people always want to become tradesmen or go into government service. Instead, we want to revive old pirate traditions.: How can I become a member of your Brotherhood?: There are two ways to become a member of the Brotherhood: First way - pay the entrance fee. For that you have to pay to the treasury of the Brotherhood twenty thousand gold coins. Second way - pass the Bravery Test. Go down into the Cursed Underground that belongs to the Coastal Brotherhood, and make it out alive. To be honest, I would advise the first way. Many good pirates tried to save themselves the money, only to remain in the Underground forever.So yeah, we could just pay our way in... but that's just boring, and we'd lose a chance to meet one of my favourite NPCs in the game. : Bravery Test? That's just my kind of thing!: The password for entering the Cursed Underground is: "Karamba." Once you get inside, you won't be able to get out right away. You'll have to make your way through it, and only after that will the exit be opened. It's a dangerous test, but if you pass it you'll become a worthy member of the Coastal Brotherhood.: Fine. I'll pass through your Cursed Underground and become the member of the Brotherhood. After agreeing to pass the test, the cave next to Tex's house begins to glow.   Descending a spiral staircase, which isn't easy on horseback, we enter the Cursed Unde... oh, come on game, is it Cursed Underground or Underground of Brotherhood? Make up your mind!  Whichever it is, a pirate waits for us next to a smashed-up cannon.  : It's me, Bill Gilbert. I'm passing the bravery test to become a member of the Coastal Brotherhood. And who are you? : We also wanted to become members of the Brotherhood. But our leader got killed... We've been wandering here for a long time, but we can't get out.: Why can't you do that?: We can't open the door... And also this Army of the Dawn and Blind Hugh... These bastards killed a lot of us!: And who are they?: You'll meet them there up ahead. Blind Hugh is the son of a pirate. When he was a little boy, pirates killed his parents and pulled Hugh's eyes out. When Hugh grew up, he swore revenge upon pirates and attempted to blow up one of their ships, but he was caught and buried alive on one of the islands. The undead creatures took him in, and one day he became their leader... Look, friend, can you take us with you? We'll have better chances to get of here if we work together!: Let me see if I have any space in my army... Sweet, free troops!  Turns out we don't actually have the space for these Pirates. If your army exceeds your Leadership value, the unit will show this red crown icon. If you try to go into battle, you will not be able to control the troop at all (and not in the Berserker sense where it still attacks your enemies). Since we have Pirates in our Reserve slot, we can just put any excess Pirates away. If not, we would want to dismiss any excess dudes.  Bolstered by these new pirates, we continue into the darkened passages. Along an underground lake, a gruesome undead army shambles along.  : No,no, I'm not a pirate!: Not yet, at least: I'm in the royal service; I serve for the welfare of Darion and our king. : Darion? I've never been there. Tell me about Darion.: Darion is a very beautiful country. There are marshes, forests and wonderful lakes there. There's even an island where Griffins live. The capital of the Darion - Kronberg - is beautiful in the rays of the sunset...: Forests, you say... and how do you like our Islands, as a guest from Darion?I want to goad Hugh into fighting me here. There is an option with no battle, which is shown off in the bonus section. It's not ideal from a game-play standpoint - you miss both experience from the battle and lose a whole bunch of gold. : You have the ocean, it's beautiful! And for a pirate, it's pure freedom, no strict laws, no problems with the authorities. It's a real paradise for those who know what they want and how to get it. I'd like to live here.: I see that in your heart you're pirate. Do you know who killed my relatives and tore out my eyes? Do you know that pirates buried me alive when I was just a boy? You're just like them, just like these bastards! And now you will die. Just like all those others who came down into this underground before.: We will see which of us is a dead man! (Attack the pirate...) Hugh's army is numerous and toughened by his good Attack and decent Defense (and by being underground). However, the composition isn't very threatening, consisting entirely of slow-ish melee units.  However, Hugh is able to cast certain Level 2 Distortion spells. He casts Haste on one stack of zombies who then rush across the battlefield in a single turn, smacking my surprised Sea Dogs in the face with their axe.  While most of my troops deal with the fast zombies, my Pirates move to block the upper path. I back them up by using Glot's Armor on them. Since the enemy up there can't reach other units, they will waste their time attacking the shielded troop.  To keep the other units back, the Shamans throw down a Totem of Death to slow down the units that haven't come up as far.  Hugh decides to Pygmy my Pirates, and I couldn't care less. Glot's Armor shrinks right with them, and they'll still serve as a blocking unit.  My units finally chop down the last of the undead.  Thanks to Glot's Armor, my Pirates escape unscathed, and my only losses come from the surprise fast Zombie assault.  Moving past the fallen army, we pick up a banner and a Might Rune, and proceed down the cave.  The tunnel leads us to a... well. Huh. Can't say I was expecting that.  I love this shifty looking door.  : Obviously - I want you to open up. : Actually the key means nothing. It is only I who decides whom to let in or let out. If this key was really given to you by Hugh, then let him come here and open me himself.What? What key? We've heard nothing about a key before, and Hugh didn't drop one. (The alternate route makes this clearer.) : Look, you... talkative door! Either you're opening up right now, or I'll have to break you down! And I'll kick you in the most talkative places! And neither the key nor your Hugh will matter! You'd better open up and be friendly about it.: Oh, what a angry man! I will open up now. They are taking the rudest people into their Brotherhood these days!: Now you're talking. The door reluctantly swings open. So, do we just walk on the inside of his face? : Keep moving. Do you think I like standing here like this? I much prefer to be closed.: You're a very talkative door. Well, goodbye.I guess so.  A second spiral stair lies beyond the Door.  We emerge...exactly where we came in. Ok, this is some Doctor Who poo poo, since we clearly walked a decent distance underground. Anyways, let's see what Tex has to say about this Bravery test now. : You have returned? Alive? Well... This means you certainly deserve to become one of us. Come on; tell me, did you meet anybody else down there?: Yes, I did. Blind Hugh and his mob of dead men. He called them "The Army of the Dawn." Seemed like he had been waiting for everybody who went down there to pass the test.: So how's he doing down there? He was a good guy. It's a shame that the destiny played such a cruel joke on him.: Hmm, he didn't look so good, so I sent him to a better world.: Fine, fine! You truly deserve to become a member of our Brotherhood. Welcome, brother.: Thank you, uhh... brother.If we talk to Tex Viscous again: : Hello, Brother! What can we do for you?: I'd like to have a look at your goods and mercenaries. Officially a pirate now, we are allowed to shop at Brotherhood stores. Tex will sell us infinite Pirates, definitely don't need to worry about those dudes running out now. He also sells a Snake Belt. Rather less exciting than the Snake Ring or Snake Boots, the Snake Belt just gives +5 Mana. The other item is a piece of Regalia which boosts the Peacefulness spell, which I never use. To round out our Brotherhood shopping, let's go back to Bare Hornet.  : Well, hello brother. Do you want me to show you my goods?: Yes, I came precisely for that. Well, that's useless. That's it for this (half) update. The other half will bring us a quest for the Brotherhood, and a crucial decision point (note: actually not cruical at all). ---------------------------------- Bonus Material Learning Lore Let's take a look at the alternate path through the Bravery Test, for the pacifist-minded. We start from Hugh's second dialogue option. : Forests, you say... and how do you like our Islands, as a guest from Darion?: You know, I don't understand how you can live here. Darion is much better for me. And as for the pirates, our patrol ships sing them without warning, unlike this place. In Darion we have order.: You're a good man. That's why I'll help you to get out of here. At the end of the way, there's a closed door waiting for you. I have the key for that door. I'll give it to you, but only if you promise me to do a little errand for me.: Speak up, what kind of errand?: You were sent to this place by the head of the Brotherhood - Tex Viscous. It was him who killed my parents. Him who blinded me. And I want the same for him. He must be blinded. Pull out his eyes for me.Huh, that seems a bit dark for this game. But hey, let's do it! : Ok, no problem. Give me the key and I'll do as you ask.: I see that in your heart you're pirate. Do you know who killed my relatives and tore out my eyes? Do you know that pirates buried me alive when I was just a boy? You're just like them, just like these bastards! And now you will die. Just like all those others who came down into this underground before.: We will see which of us is a dead man! (Attack the pirate...)Or not! Doing anything that makes you seem pirate-like is a road to fight Hugh. Instead, let's refuse his gruesome request. : Hmm. That's very cruel. You should forgive and forget those murderers. I disagree!: You've refused! It's amazing! You are the first who refused to help me. This means you really are a good man. And so I can give you the key.: Thank you Hugh. Good luck.Off to the door... : Do you have the key? What do you want from me?: Obviously - I want you to open up.: Actually the key means nothing. It is only I who decides whom to let in or let out. If this key was really given to you by Hugh, then let him come here and open me himself.Now this dialogue about the key makes a lot more sense. : You want me to bring Hugh here. Why do you need him?: I'll open up only if you bring Hugh here.: Oh, gods of Endoria, why have you sent me this punishment? Ok, I'll go get Hugh.One trek back to Hugh... : Why have you come back?: Look, the point is that... This door - it says that the key is not the important part. It says it wants you to come and open it yourself.: This damned door... It's very strong-willed. Well then: the most important thing is to intimidate it. Say that you'll knock it out if it gets stubborn. Give it no quarter; show it who is stronger! It'll back down, I warrant. Always works.: Fine, thank you. Goodbye.And back to Door... : So, where's Hugh? I don't see him.: Look, you talkative door! Do you know what Hugh said? He said "Break it in half, then it'll learn to behave.": Oh, what a angry man! I will open up now. They are taking the rudest people into their Brotherhood these days!: Now you're talking.Now when we return to Tex... : You have returned? Alive? Well... This means you certainly deserve to become one of us. Come on; tell me, did you meet anybody else down there?: Yes, I did. Blind Hugh and his mob of dead men. He called them "The Army of the Dawn." Seemed like he had been waiting for everybody who went down there to pass the test.: So how's he doing down there? He was a good guy. It's a shame that the destiny played such a cruel joke on him.: He's doing well, getting plenty of exercise, and he's a pretty smart guy too. We talked about my motherland.: So what? You didn't kill him?: Why? He's sitting in his cave, not disturbing anybody. I don't like senseless violence.: Uhh... So you talked to him nicely, and didn't fight? You have a strange view on violence. Under the circumstances, we'll say your task was half done. So you'll pay half of the fee - ten thousand gold coins - and I'll turn a blind eye to these strange things.: No problem, I agree to pay half.So going the pacifist route, we still need to pay a good amount, and lose out on the experience for fighting Hugh. Skills Shown Trophies This skill increases the amount of gold received by the hero after combat. Mind, Tier 3 Prerequisites: Scouting, Glory  Level 1: Gold +10%. Cost: 1/3/1 Level 2: Gold +20%. Cost: 1/5/1 Level 3: Gold +30%. Cost: 1/7/1Gully's opinion: This skill is of minimal use, at least in Normal difficulty. Gold is not hard to come by, and even then this only affects gold from combat, not chests, quests, or selling items. Gold is much rarer on higher difficulties, so perhaps then it might be ok to invest in this skill. I only recommend one level so you can advance further down in the Mind tree to the Tolerance skill. Items Identified Silver Rapier  Description: The long narrow sword with silver blade, covered with engraved ornamentation. Effects: +30% to Attack against Undead creatures Type: Weapon Race: Humans Cost: 10000 Info: An elegant rapier, decorated with engravings and jewels, is more the symbol of nobleman than it is a combat weapon. However, its silver blade makes the rapier an excellent weapon against the undead. Snake Belt  Description: A belt made of dressed snake skin. Effects: +5 to Mana Type: Belt Race: Neutral Cost: 5000 Info: Snake skin holds magic well, and due to this useful property it is often used in the construction of magical items. This belt increases the magic reserves of its owner. Sign of the Diplomat  Description: A badge in the form of a pigeon. Effects: +200 Leadership, +10% to the Power of "Peacefulness" Scrolls: Peacefulness Quantity: 1 Type: Regalia Race: Humans Morale: Normal (50) Cost: 7500 Info: The royal sign of diplomatic service arouses an unaccountable sympathy for its bearer. Gully Foyle fucked around with this message at 15:33 on May 11, 2017 |
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May 10, 2017 18:45
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drat useless shops everywhere!  But beholders are pretty nice units. At least against weak enemies like you said.
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May 10, 2017 19:40
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Wait, so is your favorite NPC Blind Hugh, or the door? 
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May 10, 2017 21:48
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Wait, so is your favorite NPC Blind Hugh, or the door? The door, clearly. I just love his shifty-looking animation.
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May 10, 2017 21:51
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'Tex Viscous' is my new favorite NPC name.
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May 10, 2017 21:59
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I like that the pacifist path doesn't particularly endear you to the pirates.
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May 11, 2017 03:31
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Gully Foyle posted:
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May 11, 2017 11:05
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Update 26b: Prison Break Last time, we joined the Brotherhood of Pirates after passing their test of bravery, and gained access to their merchants. This time, our first order of business is to see if there are any quests we can get from our new Brothers. : Maybe the Brotherhood needs my help.: Well then, here it is. The richest member of the Coastal Brotherhood, a man called Hoarse, was put in the Governor's prison. It is our duty to the Brotherhood to help Old Hoarse escape. Of course, I'm not asking you to do it for nothing - of course you'll be rewarded; the Brotherhood is not short on coin. (Reward: 120 Experience, Scroll "Hell Breath", 2900 Gold): Yes, I'll help Hoarse. But where can I find the prison?: What do you mean "where"? By the Governor's Castle, where else could the prison be?: I got it; I'll try to let him out.We didn't really need directions to the prison, we've swung by there before (see Update 24).  On the way back, I notice these Hyenas standing on the beach by a scroll. Might as well clean up while we are here.  This army is a bit weird. It's extremely weak compared to the other ones we've been facing. The only stacks of any note are the Thorn-Hunters.  Fire doing double damage means plant-types are rarely a threat.  The other tiny stacks fall quickly.  That distraction dealt with (and a spare Healing scroll found), we sail around back to the prison. Now we have business with this guard.  : Look, buddy... The point is... I need to get in. : It's as easy as a pie. When I see you chained in manacles and under the Governor's guard, I'll let you in gladly, for free.: Hey-hey, I'm not going to wear any manacles. But I really do need to get inside!: I'm tired of repeating myself. The answer is no!: You are so stubborn! Let's do this way: I'll give you 5000 gold coins, and you let me in.: This is the last warning. If you don't get out of here, I'll have to place you under arrest, and you'll get inside for sure - only in manacles.I'll take the "nice" path here, and offer a bigger bribe. See the bonus for what happens if we don't. : The last, you say? Ok, I don't like to be threatened with prison... Please, just take the 7000 gold coins and let me in.: 7000 gold coins? Alright, give the money and I'll let you in.: Take it! The Prison is essentially one large room, with smaller side areas protruding from the main area. Two guard stacks patrol the main area. You can totally Solid Snake your way around in here, avoiding any conflict...  ...but did you think I was going to?  The first wandering group is an entirely ranged army of Bowmen and Priests.  Some magic damage to reduce their numbers, and a Totem of Death is thrown down to block three stacks from doing any ranged attacks while my melee units rush forward. No point hanging back like I normally would.  Time to make use of Level 2 Distortion magic upgrades. Level 2 Haste is a nice one, since +2 Speed is pretty massive for the smallish battlefields in this game.  This lets my Royal Snakes easily reach the opposite side on Turn 2.  My Sea Dogs join the party, getting a rare triple-strike, triple stack-kill. Feels good, man.  Pure ranged armies make for easy fights and easy strategy - rush forward, crush them.  The other prison army is a much tougher fight, with a moving wall of armored men.  I want to slow as many of these stacks down as I can, so I can pick away at them without being surrounded. Getting Freeze on both of the Guardsman stacks is really nice here.  Sweet, more crystals from in battle.  Speaking of crystals, I spend a few at this point to bring Slow to Level 2. Level 2 Slow is very key in this game, one of the best spells. This especially true for non-Mages. The vast majority of units in the game are 2 or 3 Speed, and now we have the tool to bring those units to a crawl. I don't think Level 3 is really worth it to invest in, even if you do have Distortion Magic Level 3.  We throw our new Level 2 slow on the northern large stack of Swordsmen, so they won't be participating while we murder their compatriots.  The Beholders contribute to the crowd control, getting a rare trigger on a Level 3 stack.  As we pick the soldiers apart, a Totem of Death throws its weight in to the fight as well.   With the central area clear, we can explore the side rooms. There are 5 rooms in total. If you take north as the direction you face when you come into the prison, the room to the east has nothing, while the room in the north-east holds this Might Rune.  In the Northern chamber, a friendly group of Berserkers is locked up, but we have no room to take them with us.  In the West, we find a stack of friendly Pirates, who we do have room for, so I chuck them into my reserves.  The North-West cell is the one we are looking for, where Old Hoarse is waiting.  : Yes, right. I'm from Tex Viscous. : Oh, at last! I'll tell Tex about what you did for me, and he will repay your kindness. Oh, no, I better repay your kindness myself. If ever you happen to be in the village of the Brotherhood, come to my house. You'll always be my welcome guest. I'll find some way to repay you.: Fine, thank you. With the prison cleared, we head back to the Brotherhood village and report in with Tex. : Hello, brother Bill Gilbert. What do you have to say about the liberation of the Hoarse?: Everything is ok, Hoarse is free.: Yes, yes, so I heard. Good job, brother. I believed in you and I'm glad I was right. If we had more guys like you in our Brotherhood, we would show them all!: I was glad to help. See you later. Old Hoarse's house lies very close by. Before now, we would just have gotten a message telling us that no one was home. : Oh, brother! I'm so glad to see you! My savior! If it weren't for you, I would have rotted away in the governor's prison. What can I do to thank you?: Maybe you could let me buy something from you. More Pirates, more Devilfish as usual. And some scrolls for spells we already have. This shop is highly disappointing. Come on, Hoarse, you've got to give us something more than that! : Maybe you could amuse me with an interesting story.: Ok, sounds good. Listen now to the legend of the Mask of Youth. I heard this story from one orc when we were in prison together! Among the many gods and goddesses, some strong and others weak, is the goddess Vakrista, the mistress of sand-storms and droughts. She is famous for her bad temper and ugliness! Envying the beauty of the other goddesses, Vakrista decided to bathe in the Golden Spring, in order that she might become young and beautiful! But this magic spring, which runs near the center of the heavens, is guarded by the Master of the Spring, an eternal and vigilant guard. Only those who give him lavish gifts can go to the miraculous stream, the waters of which are like melting gold.: But Vakrista wouldn't be herself if she didn't try to outwit the Master. Instead of gifts, she gave the guard phony treasures made of smoke and magic. It turned out that it wasn't so easy to fool the Master, and he cruelly punished the greedy goddess! Hardly had she dipped her face into the spring, but the water turned into a golden mask. Howling with pain, she tore off the mask together with her skin, and threw it away... This very mark was found in Endoria. And the properties of the magic water from the spring even now make this mask an artifact of unusual power. Those who put on that mask are ensured a long life and good health.: An amazing story, and very interesting! And how does the orc know this legend? I can imagine the language he used to tell it: "One time angry and ugly goddess want make pretty goldface..." Ha ha.: Ha ha ha! You know how to do a good orc impression! Yes, that's very similar to how he told it. As I understood, the mask is now here on the islands, in the embassy of the orcs. I don't know if any of this is true, or how they got it, but it seems they are pretty convinced by the story and the value of that Mask.: Fine, I'll drop in to their embassy, maybe ask around.Well then, that'll do. A pretty long story, but maybe we can find this Mask of Youth. You know, if we want to wear a mask coated with the torn-off face of a goddess.  The last island in the region is the actually a group of connected islands in the north-west. The beach to access them lies close to the Brotherhood.  This island seems a bit more civilized, with fewer run-down shanty shacks. We grab a Magic Rune on the way off the beach.  As we come to a cottage with a small vegetable garden, a Beholder spots us and rushes in. So the islands aren't entirely civilized.  We set to work with spells and Beholder rays.  My Beholders can beat up your Beholders!  Not a difficult fight.  Before we talk to the owner of the cottage, the nearby beach holds another Mind Rune for us.  Combined with the Mind Rune, this gives me enough to get the next level of Meditation. This is basically for convenience, and means less waiting around for mana to regenerate. In a normal playthrough, it's not that useful, since you can usually just wait as much as you want between fights (although you will lose more Rage in between fights that way). I'm getting this largely so that I need to wait less while recording.  Back to the cottage.  : I'm Bill Gilbert, from Darion, I'm in the royal service. I thought maybe you could use my help? : There's no more wind in my chest, and strength in my heart is failing. You, Bill Gilbert from Darion, can you really help an old man? The candle of my life will soon be burned out, but I cannot decide who of my sons should be the head of our family. I have three sons, all of them are good, but only one of them may be the head of the Cook's family. You are a stranger; you would not be looking to benefit yourself. I ask you to choose impartially, to name my most worthy son, the man who will make his pirate father proud in the better world. Give him his father's bandanna - the symbol of our family.: Ok, I can't refuse such request. Give me your bandanna and I'll speak to your sons. Quite the heirloom. Let's see what these sons have to say, if we have to choose a successor for this mighty piece of cloth.  We find the home of the first son nearby across a bridge.  : Just tell about yourself. Persuade me that you are to become heir. : As you know, I have two brothers. The elder, John - he's just a dolt; there's no point giving power to a person like him. And my younger brother is just a dreamer. There's nothing good in his future, believe me. If I become the head, I'll have to kill both of them. John is out of control, and Brendon is useless. There's nothing good from him; he's just a liability. And he always gets into trouble.: If I give the bandanna to you, what will I get in return?: I'll pay you, of course. And it's lot of money, Bill Gilbert. You're the Treasure Searcher, so I know the thirst for gold is in your blood. I see it in you - you're just like me. We are very much alike, actually.: I'll think about it. I'm afraid John will be angry, and I have no idea what Brendon will do... Continuing along, we come across another hut with a pair of windmills powering nothing.  : Exactly. Tell me about yourself and I will decide if you are worthy of becoming his heir. : The power of our family was always based on strength. I'm the strongest of the brothers, the most skilled warrior. Father must choose me to be the head of our family, or the clan won't last. It will be crushed and squeezed by people who are strong.: If I give the bandanna to you, what will I get in return?: I will make sure you live, Bill Gilbert. You think that will be enough? I will become the head of the family. My brothers are cowards, they won't have courage to speak against me. They won't even do anything without my permission.: I see. So, you thing you can convince your brothers not to bear a grudge against me... Well, that's encouraging. I'll think about it. Outside John's house, a Ghost enemy hero waits across a bridge.  Egirra here has a pretty mixed force. She has a strong ranged/magic component, with plenty of Bowmen and Druids. Her melee units are pretty weak though, mostly concentrated in a huge stack of Miners. Egirra herself is a pretty balanced hero. She will tend to cast things like Plague and Fear.  We start by using spells to reduce the ranged units, and using a Totem to prevent Egirra's ranged units from hitting us. The Ghosts fly up quickly, but I'm not worried about their small numbers.  The Druids have the ability to summon Bears and Ancient Bears. With the small stacks they have left, the summoned stacks are pretty minuscule.  Meanwhile, we can nullify these Miners with a Slow.  The Druids have an AoE ranged attack like Necromancers. Annoying, but not threatening.  With the Miners slowed, I can easily get my Sea Dogs up past them to the fragile ranged/mage units.  While my Snakes pick away at them, the Miners decide that the best use of their attack is to go after a Totem.  The enemy composition here was too mixed to be much of a threat.  The last Cook cottage lies past the army we fought.  : Yes, that's right. And what can you tell me about yourself. : You know, maybe I'm as strong as my eldest brother, or as smart as my elder brother. But I'm the youngest! And if you think of the greatest pirates, you'll notice that almost all of them were the youngest in the family. I dreaming of the becoming a great traveler, and discover amazing places, full of treasures!: If I give you the bandanna, what will I get in return?: I'll give you a map. The map marks the spot where the diamond "Pure Eye" is hidden. It is an 87 karat diamond!: A map - that's good! But your brothers will be unhappy with my decision... I'll have to think it over. A final wandering army comes in when we've finished speaking with Brendon.  A huge stack of Pirates, and an varied mix of much smaller stacks.  The smaller stacks suffer badly to our magic, and the Pirates are neutered by a cast of Slow. I love this spell.  Repeated attacks by my Snakes quickly decimate the enemy Pirates.   The final item of importance on these islands is this Obelisk. With that, our adventures for this update come to a close. However, we have a decision to make: Vote Time We've been asked to bestow the Red Bandanna on one of the brothers, and with it the right to head the Cook family. Each brother has promised us a reward. Who should we pick to be the heir? : John Cook is the eldest brother, and claims that his strength means he should inherit the Bandanna. He has promised that if we choose him, he will prevent his brothers from taking any action against us.: Harry Cook is the middle brother, and thinks his two brothers are too stupid and too useless. He appeals to our greed, promising a reward of an unnamed quantity of gold.: Brendon Cook is the youngest brother, and wants the bandanna so that he can become a great adventurer. He has promised us a map to the 87-karat diamond "Pure Eye".Next time, we will choose the proper heir (that you guys pick), see if the rumors of the Mask of Youth have any validity, and take a gander at the Eastern Freedom Islands.  ---------------------------------- Bonus Material Learning Lore If we refuse to increase our bribe to the prison guard, and remain adamant: : 5000 gold coins and open the doors. The guard does not take kindly to our repeated attempts to bribe him, and attacks. Too bad he has a really, really tiny army.  Post-spells, it's even tinier.  Start of Turn 2 is all it takes.  Yeah, no way to make any sort of drama out of this fight. Marking the Map  Talkin' 'bout Troops Guardsman  Resistances: 20% Physical Critical Hit %: 12 Defense Bonus: 5 Talents  Smashing Blow: (Only if the Training skill is purchased) Attacks the enemy fiercely, inflicting 9-12 points of damage. (Reload: 2)Abilities Armor: Good Physical Damage Resistances Commander: Increases the Morale of Bowmen and Swordsmen by 1 Gully's opinion: Guardsmen are a significantly stronger version of Swordsmen, at a small extra Leadership cost. They are just about as tanky as Swordsmen, but their offense is much better (with +5 Attack, and +2-3 damage). One of their strengths is also a sort of weakness, though. The Commander ability is great, giving a bonus to Morale for Bowmen and Swordsmen. Higher Attack, Defense, and Criticals for those units is great... but then you are using 3 of your army slots. Because of this, I don't use Guardsmen that often. However, if you go all in on Human units, these guys are key (along with a few items that give boosts). Fighting them: Essentially the same as fighting Swordsmen. Slowing/freezing if their stack is too large, non-physical damage to get past their resistance. Just keep in mind they are slightly more threatening than Swordsmen on attack. Items Identified Red Bandanna  Description: The red pirate bandanna is the heirloom of the Cooks' family. Type: Quest Info: Only the head of the Cooks' family can wear this bandanna, which is the symbol of the head of the family.
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May 12, 2017 04:09
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Let's go for Harry, mostly because I like his hair the most. But also because gold is nice and assured, unlike "protection" and "map"
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May 12, 2017 04:48
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Give it to the youngest, then beat up the other two sons and take their stuff. If I'm reading them right, you get literally nothing for giving the oldest the bandanna, and if you give it to the middle kid you'll get a pittance of money and have to fight the other two anyway. The map might be a dud but I suspect it's more reliable than the gold.
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May 12, 2017 04:55
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Yeah, I vote for Brendon as well. That way we get a map that might be useful and we get to beat up both his brothers for their loot in the bargain!
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May 12, 2017 05:12
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Brendon. We're the Treasure Searcher, let's get ourselves bribed properly, with something that fits our job description. Also, please beat up the middle brother for being generally unpleasant. The oldest one, too, just in case.
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May 12, 2017 06:56
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Brendon. If the other brothers are more powerful that means they'll have larger armies and we'll get more xp for fighting them. Also that treasure map sounds interesting.
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May 12, 2017 08:28
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Gully Foyle posted:
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May 12, 2017 09:16
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Brendon because Real Treasure Searchers (tm) would not be motivated by avoiding battle, nor by something as common as gold.
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May 12, 2017 12:45
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Fight XP for the XP god (Brendon)
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May 12, 2017 14:14
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Bill Gilbert's really up to some shady doings. I hope the King doesn't find out! ...or maybe that the King doesn't care? That might work too.
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May 13, 2017 02:44
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For those who might be interested in playing along, the Humble Store's currently selling a King's Bounty collection (every game but Dark Side) for $7.50, and Dark Side for another $5. It's a good series! At least, this and Armored Princess are good, and Dark Side is debatably good. I liked it. https://www.humblebundle.com/store/kings-bounty-collectors-pack https://www.humblebundle.com/store/kings-bounty-dark-side-premium-edition
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May 13, 2017 21:21
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Side with the middle child. The youngest is a dreamer who has no idea what he'd do with it. The eldest is an rear end in a top hat who'll fight you (therefore XP + loot) and the middle child is an rear end in a top hat, but he's smart and he'll give you money.
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May 14, 2017 06:07
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Update 27: The Red Devil Last time, the thread voted by a significant majority to pass the Red Bandanna on to the youngest brother, Brendon Cook. As you guys wisely deduced, Brendon is by far the best choice from a gameplay standpoint, as you will see.  We're right here, so let's give him his inheritance. : So what? Have you decided to give me the bandanna?: Yes! I believe in you! You'll become a great pirate!: Thank you, Bill Gilbert! I promise that I won't forget you when I become the greatest pirate on the seas!: I'll be rooting for you. And now I'd like to get that promised map! With Brendon on our side, he gives us access to his shop. It's not very good.  As he promised, Brendon gave us his map to the location of the diamond "Pure Eye"/"Clear Eye" (the game isn't very consistent on the name). It's a pretty well drawn map, but we haven't seen an island that looks like this yet. We will just have to keep this shape in mind as we explore further.  The third prize we get is the ability to fight the other two brothers. At least, I think that counts as a prize. If you don't like the combat in these games, well... there's not much of a reason to play. Both of the brothers appear outside their houses, and don't move. They also won't aggro on to you, so you don't need to combat them now if you aren't ready (or ever, really). But our army is fresh and full, so let's get to our bloody work, starting with John here. : Hundreds of sharks at your throat! How could you dare not choose me as the head of the family? Ok, now I'll have to take by force what was mine by right. But first I'll get even with you.: Well, you can try at least. (Attack the pirate...) John's army isn't that impressive by numbers, but it's tougher than it looks.  A clue to this is in the damage numbers from my Ice Snake... don't I usually do like 1100+? Indeed, John gives all of his troops +20% Physical Damage resistance. Less directly noticeable than that is that all of John's troop also get +20% Health. So they are far harder to kill than normal troops, and John's stats stack on top of that.  I do get lucky with my slow/sleep effects. Even though John has hasted his Pirates, none of his troops can reach my Totem (and the Priests have been sent to dreamland).  The battle quickly turns into a brawl, but my ability to control the field is much better than John's.  Once we break through his melee troops, the Priests are easy prey.   Well, duh. We just killed the owner.  Harry's ugly mug waits for us outside his hut. : You have barred me from becoming head of the family. Why? I promised you much, did I not? But I'll make you regret it - the seagulls will peck your guts out and your head will hang on the gates of the castle - and I'll make a chair of your bones, and of your...: And I'll make you a plain old ordinary corpse! (Attack the pirate...) Harry has a bit more going on spell-wise, but his troops don't get any inherent bonuses (as far as I can tell).  His plants definitely still burn very easily.  The melee units get separated out by control effects, making them easy to pick off.  A Totem saves my Pirates and Sea Dogs here.  Haste Level 2 in action on my Royal Snakes. With that and the Lunge, these guys can reach nearly the entire battlefield.  The second brother falls, leaving the island inhabited only by Brendon. Hope he is happy being alone here.  Our next order of business is to check out the rumor of the Mask of Youth. Old Hoarse told us that the Orc Embassy might have an idea.  : What you want?: I want to fight with the dragon. Let me into the underground.One nice thing about dealing with orcs is that we get right to the point, with no unnecessary conversation. Galdyn simply lets us in when we ask, no fuss. It does feel like there's missing conversation somewhere, because I don't think a dragon came up in our talk with Old Hoarse. Oh well, who doesn't want to challenge a dragon?  Another name in the long list of very self-descriptive areas.  More than just dragons down here, we collect our usual crop of Crystals.  Yep, there is in fact a dragon, alongside the usual hoard.  : I'm not just a human; I'm the Royal Treasure Searcher! : You think I'm interested in who you are? Such humans like you have come to me several times, in hopes to steal my treasures. And my, they were delicious! But their armor was strong; I might have broken a tooth... The fools! Think about it - why would a dragon need gold if he can't buy anything with it? And even if the dragon wanted to buy something, wouldn't it be easier to simply scare the trader, or take away everything by force!We get three dialogue options here: : How should I know, why? Maybe, you like to scratch your belly with the gold coins?: Perhaps you want to buy nice dresses for the princesses you kidnap?: Maybe you are like magpies, and just enjoy collecting shining things?It doesn't matter which we pick, they all lead to the same end: : Ha ha! Almost funny. Dragons need princesses and gold, so that brave men as you and orcs will come to our dens. The food walks right into your mouth by itself - isn't it wonderful? But gold is better than princesses. Gold doesn't yell, it doesn't demand new dresses, and there's no need to feed them. Do you know how bad it smells when a princess dies of hunger? However, more brave men come to save them, and among them are many tasty noblemen... Yum-yum...You know, I like the idea that the dragon hoard is more bait than anything else. : Hmm, so it is - the severe truth of life. And why do you need the Mask of Youth, you pot-bellied lizard?: You are a very impudent and silly human, especially for food! You shouldn't ask a girl about her age, even if she is a dragon! No, I won't give you the Mask. It attracts orcs too well. And besides, I'll admit it's nice to become a couple of hundred years younger...: It isn't like me to offend women, but nevertheless, lady-dragon, for your sake I'm ready to give up my principles. I'm sorry... Defend yourself, you fat, lazy lizard! (Attack the dragon...) Krordge's (that's a mouthful of a name, by the way) army is pretty interesting: 1 Red Dragon, and a bazillion Fire Dragonflies.  Let's get rid of the bigger threat. One Ice Snake does the solo Red Dragon in. Don't worry, we will see plenty of them later in the game.   Krordge retaliates with an Ice Snake of her own, but the damage is far lower than our own, so we only lose a few troops.  The small Dragonfly stack falls easily, but this one is actually pretty dangerous. A Slow spell cuts that danger down significantly.  Time to break out Doom again. This is the ideal situation - a single, huge, low-level stack that I can focus on.    An endless stream of critical hits slash the hapless insects to pieces.  The one spell Krordge got off took a few snakes down, but that's pretty much it. For our trouble, we pick up the Mask of Youth.  The Mask of Youth gives our units a little bit more Health. This bonus is pretty good. It's probably comparable to +2 Defense or so, but also helps against spell damage. We have a spare Helmet slot, so on it goes. It will likely be replaced eventually.  We finish off by looting the chamber. Unfortunately, the gold on the ground is largely decorative, apart from a few small piles we can loot. Since we are in the neighbourhood, let's check in with the Governor. : I'm glad that you managed to find some time to visit this old grumbler. What can I do for the envoy of the king?: I worked out one problem. But maybe you have another errand for me?: Thorny Dog has a stepbrother named Mano Riveres. Maybe you even know him. His Castle Exile (note: actually Castle Exail in game) is situated to the north. Mano always was a good pirate, and follows the code of the Islands of Freedom. But I'm afraid that after killing his brother, Mano might do something stupid. I want you to go to the Mano's Castle and negotiate with him as my representative. Persuade him to swear fealty to me, and swear off revenge. And if you can't do it, then the Wild Duke will; his troop of cutthroats is already headed that way. These guys ask for a lot of money for their mercenary services. But they know the job, and they're loyal to me.: Ok, I'll speak to him, but I hope you men don't hinder me.: Don't worry about my people. They won't engage before you have a chance to settle things, I would prefer to solve this problem peacefully.: Ok, I'll solve this problem peacefully, if that's possible. Indeed, Wild Duke has beat us to the castle, but haven't taken action yet. Looks like a charming dude.  : Thank you for your kind words.His manners are impeccable. On to the castle, now that we have something to actually talk to Mano about. After barging in to the audience chamber, we confront him. : Yes, well actually, I came to you in particular for a reason... : Really? I don't remember me having any affairs with the people of your king. What do you want?: I'm from the Governor Thompson. Your stepbrother, Thorny Dog, has died at my hand by his order. The Governor wants to be sure that he won't have problems with you because of it.: Oh, don't worry. I understand everything. Thorny Dog was a trouble, it be true. Aye, and our governor suffered him for a long time. This rascal should have been put out of his misery a long time ago! So aye, everything is fine. I don't have anything against Thompson.Hey, peaceful solution achieved! Time to get out of here... : Fine! So, can I tell the Governor that he should not worry?: Aye, sure. But you know what I don't like about it?: What?: I don't like that the troop of the Wild Duke is standing by the walls of my castle. I understand the Governor's worry, but he has hired you and him both. And the duke - he'll attack me the minute you're gone. I can't let you go, don't you see? You have to decide whose side you're on... Either you kill me now or save me from the duke. But I can't just let you walk away.Mano isn't lying, we can't leave this conversation without a battle. But thanks to the magic of the "saved game", we will be able to fight this battle in the future... that is, after you guys have made your choice! Vote Time How do we get out of this caslte? We have to fight somebody... Attack Mano : Well, fine, you've asked for this trouble yourself, and I have nothing against duke. (Attack Mano...)Well, we were asked to make sure Mano wouldn't cause trouble. I mean, he is the one not letting us leave, and we are supposed to be on the Governor's side... Attack Wild Duke : You know what? I see you are a brave and honourable man. I'll help you and kill the Wild Duke's people. (Attack the governor's people...)The Wild Duke definitely wasn't friendly. He may be loyal to the Governor, but he is also just a mercenary. Will the Governor care that much, since defeating the Duke will allow us to fulfill our mission?  While you guys are considering our future decisions, Bill sets sail for the Eastern Islands.  When we reach the Eastern Islands, a small village lies directly ahead of us, quest markers and all.  Is that really a necessary description?  : A thousand dragons! What a beauty! Your beauty fills my sails with the winds of love. : Ha-ha! Just look at him! What words you've picked up here. But I can see at once that you are not used to talking like this. Aren't you afraid you'll damage your tongue, stranger?: Oh, yes, sorry that I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Bill Gilbert. I'm the Royal Treasure Searcher.: Come on! Can you be a real Treasure Searcher? Don't make me laugh, boy. Everyone here searches for treasures, and every other man is searching for royal ones. What makes you any different? That your teeth haven't been touched by scurvy and that your arms and legs are still intact? That won't take much time to correct, may the rum strike me dead.: You probably meant to say "may lightning strike me.": Oh, we've got ourselves a clever boy, don't we! You must be wearing that helmet so's your brains don't come out your cute little ears. Lightning is a flash and a bang in the sky. Rum is fire in the throat, a cheery song, a loud fight and empty pockets and an aching head in the morning. What's worse, do you think? Oh, yes, I forgot my good manners. And where in fact, should I get them from? My name is Mirabella... Captain Mirabella for the crew and just plain Mirabella for friends. For enemies - curse them dead - the Red Devil. And for love... Though I've already told you too much for a shore loafer.: I heard Lucky James courts you.: No, I can't say that he courts me. I'll be damned, but he is my husband-to-be, the scoundrel! I lost my freedom in a wager to him, and now I'm his fiancee. I know that I shouldn't have bet with him, because I knew that he's very lucky. But if he tried to come closer to me than the length of my knife, we'll show everyone what color are the guts of the luckiest pirate on the islands.: Do you know where I can find James?: Do you imagine you're the first to ask me? I may be this fiancee, but I'm not his nurse! And anyway, I don't know you; for all I know you're planning to kill him! Of course, I don't care about that, but he is my husband-to-be, you know. And the owner of the mines and a couple of ships.We can try to bribe Mirabella here, or try to persuade her that we just want to talk to James peacefully. However, she's not being exactly subtle here. I don't think she'd mind if he ends up dead, at least once she's in line to inherit. So: : I'm not going to kill him. Not yet.: Look at him, such a dashing boy. James will just chew you up. He has the most ferocious crew on the Islands - even the governor is afraid to quarrel with him. My suitor is one tough guy, you know.: If he tries to chew on me, my guts will stick in his throat.: Ok, look. I don't know if you know this or not, but here on the Islands, James has some mines. Old mines filled with precious stones, the lucky bastard. There he has built his secret refuge. A real hideout, you understand - weapons and food stocks, secret passages and so on. He's hiding there right now, like a more. But be careful - if you talk too loud about this refuge, I'll take this anchor with these very hands, and I'll stick it where... well, let's just say you'll never be able to ride a horse again. You got that?: Thanks, you're a dream. Behind Mirabella, the Beauty Jolly (is that the name of the shop or the shopkeeper?) will sell us even more Devilfish if we want them.  Just to the side, another pirate home is waiting for us to investigate.  : Excellent! But show me your goods first... Another shop, another set of nothing much. At least we can pick up replacement Sea Dogs here, so that's useful.  : Yo ho ho! Old friend! Come in, let's have a drink! Have a chat! Ryazanka, we have guests. Fill the tankards!: Look, maybe you have problems? I can solve them for you!: By a thousand cuttlefish! My problem is of another kind. I'm sorry... I'm a man of peace...: You didn't understand me. I'm not going to fight anybody. I just wonder if I could help. Come on, tell me what's the matter.: Well, 10 years ago I married Cheery Ryazanka, a young girl from the Coastal Brotherhood. Back then I was a young and beggarly sailor, and couldn't give her father a 48 kilo gold bar - that's what my bride weighed - according to tradition... But I'm an honest pirate! And now I finally have the money. It is time that I pay my debt to the bride's father, Bare Hornet! So my request is that you deliver my debt to Hornet. I don't want to show my face there. I'm not a welcome guest in the Coastal Brotherhood.: To the Coastal Brotherhood? Ok, I'll deliver it, why not? These pirates are much more trusting than you'd ever expect. 48 kilos of pure gold (current market value: roughly 2 million US dollars), given to a random stranger offering to "help". I guess we are part of the Brotherhood now, so we should try to solve this. I'm sure our new brother Bare Hornet would appreciate 48 kilos of gold.  Before we go back, though, let's check out the local environs. It's easy to miss this Crystal hiding behind the Beauty Jolly if you don't rotate the camera.  Down the beach from the village, a path leads inland, but is guarded by this army.  It's a good-sized troop too, especially their Sea Dogs and Devilfish.  As usual, our Beholders are given the task of keeping the Devilfish asleep for as long as possible.  As my troops move up, I'm forced to cast Dispel on my Pirates to remove Fear. I didn't want them getting attacked by the Sea Dogs moving up.  The Totem's bolts of destruction rain down, finishing the small stack of Wolves off.  A tough fight in the end, even with controlling the Devilfish effectively.  We reach Level 12 off of the battle. I swear we've seen these choices before. I'm picking up Rage, so that my pool will be large enough for some later abilities, and to enhance the rate at which we get Rage during battle.  An Experience statue lies on the path from the beach. It provides about 1 battle worth of experience, which isn't that great.  Continuing along, more goodies line the path.  This gives me enough Runes to pick up the Frenzy skill. This Might skill gives our troops bonus Attack as they kill stacks in combat. The benefit is relatively minor, and depends highly on the battle. Some fights have a huge number of stacks, so you can get multiple boosts. In the regular, 5-stack fight, it's less useful.  The bridge to the next island is washed out. Looks like we will have to use our boat to get there. You may also have noticed the obelisk poking into frame there.  It's hard to tell what cult Fandor is referring to here. Maybe we can find more clues elsewhere.  A side branch leads to a single chest. I won't turn down this pile of gold, no sir.  Since the bridge is out, the only other way to go leads us down to a small hill poking out into the central bay of the region.  Of course, there are wandering troops in our way.  Nothing too threatening here.  Here's how the Frenzy skill shows up in combat. Anytime one of your stacks kills another, this red/blue swirly appears briefly. The buff doesn't show up in the unit card (other than as boosted attack), so you can't easily see how many stacks of Frenzy a unit has going.  Easy combat here.  Seems like this gold should have been washed away by the tides. At least gold won't rust.   On the other side of the beach, we get access to a new spell, Resurrection. The Paladin starts with this spell automatically. Resurrection is just like the name says - it recovers a certain amount of health, restoring troop numbers (up to the number at the start of combat). It's good for no-loss runs, and if you are a Paladin, you are likely to have good Order magic. I may not use it for a while, as the crystal investment is a little high.  A wooden bridge leads up the hill.  A pretty big army awaits us, at least in number of stacks, with lots of ranged units.  We haven't seen Evil Shoal in a while. Now that my Rage is creeping up, I'll be able to use it more often. It works really well on armies like these.  You can see the number we've done to the ranged stacks already. This doesn't stop these Dragonflies from stealing MY treasure . A fireball helps finish off the Goblins, while my Sea Dogs face down some Pirates.   Another pile of gold inside the chest at the top of the hill.  We've exhausted the inland paths, but I noticed this island had one more beach we could sail to. We might as well finish this area off.  Nothing scary here. We've dealt with much larger stacks of Devilfish, and we know that smallish Dragonfly stacks fall apart so easily.  There's not much to say about this battle. Use spells to kill the ranged units, isolate the melee units using their own speed difference and Totems, and mutilate them.   The beach contains just gold (and the banner from earlier).  On the way back to the Western Islands, we find a floating chest containing a scroll of Invisibility. This is an interesting utility spell. It turns a unit invisible (duh), so enemy units will ignore them completely, although attacking will dispel the invisibility. It can be useful to get a unit out of a dangerous corner, and is one part of an extremely cheesy tactic I will likely not be using. Anyways, we head back to the Western Islands. We have to take care of this gold delivery to Bare Hornet. : You're here on business? What kind of business?: Do you remember the Pirate Scott Morrison?: Of course! This rascal got married to my daughter, Ryazanka ten years ago, and hasn't paid me anything. I should have cut his throat for such a thing a long time ago, but I shouldn't go and do that, now, should I? He's a relative anyway, may the anchor get laced around his throat.: Well. That's why I'm here. Morrison asked me to give you 48 kilos of gold, exactly the weight of his wife.: Oh! He paid me the debt nevertheless! But something is not right. He pays me the debt now, but that's according to the weight Ryazanka was 10 years ago. Don't you think there's something wrong with that?: Actually, I really don't care.: But I do! Of course I'll take the gold, but I need to have Ryazanka weighed again. If she weighs more now than before, Morrison will be obliged to pay me more.: Ok, alright. I'll tell everything to Morrison.Sigh... Bill really speaks to me when he says he doesn't care. Back to Scott Morrison we go... : By a thousand imps, you're back! Have you seen Hornet?: You are probably scared that I might run away with your gold? I've seen Hornet. I gave him the gold. But he asked me to do one more thing...: So what did he ask you to do?: He asked me to find out how much your wife weighs now.: Ryazanka! Bring the wine.. uh, I mean, come here. I'm a practiced hand at weighing any goods... Ok, let's lift you... Ah.. You've put on weight, darling, I must say! Well, my woman is the real deal - all 108 kilos of her! I even had to widen the doors to her cabin! The ship rocks like crazy when shoe boards it! So... what's the matter?: I'm glad for you. But Hornet has asked me to tell you that since you're paying the dowry now, you need to pay according to her present weight. Otherwise, you'll have to return Ryazanka to her father, Bare Hornet!: Hairy oyster! I knew this old fox will think of something clever! Look, let's do it this way: I'll trade an old family treasure - the enchanted "Jolly Roger" for my debt. You pay off my debt to Hornet, and I'll give you the flag.A magic flag worth 60 kilos of gold? That sounds pretty sweet. Let's go for it! (see the bonus material for alternate ends of this quest). : A magic flag? It's a deal! I'll tell Hornet that from now I should pay your debts. Give me your "Roger." The "Jolly Roger" is yet another booster to the Pirate/Robber group, but it's not that great. I'd stick with other Regalia, even if you are using Pirates. Now we have a 60-kilos-of-gold debt, just for this flag... : Hi! Have you visited Morrison?: Yes, I've visited him. Morrison has weighed his wife and found she weighs 108 kilos.: So, where is my money? This rascal Morrison owes me 60 kilograms more!: You know, I took over his debt. You can ask me for the money now.: You mean that you're gonna pay his debt? Well, I can take the money, that's... see... that's 60 kilos of gold bullion... sixty thousand gold coins! Or you can do me a little errand instead.We could just pay him the 60K, but that is way too much for just a kinda not great flag. : Spit it out, what's the task?: Every captain wants his ship to be the best, and everybody keeps their own secrets. But I know one secret, about how to make the sail hold the wind better and the rigging not to tear. On my travels, I discovered a plant, from which I can make very good ropes. I dug this plant out and planted it in a secret grotto. I want to ask you to bring me five of these shrubs. Then you may consider your debt paid.: Five shrubs? Well. A debt is a debt, I guess. So tell me, where can I find your cave?: I planted them on an uninhabited island on the Eastern Islands. There's a secret cave there. On that island there's a big cross a little skull nearby. If you push this skull you'll get to my secret refuge. If you bring me five shrubs of that herb, I'll forgive yu the debt, and I'll even throw in a little extra for you. (Reward: 5600 Gold, 300 Exp).: Ok, I'll make good on the debt. I'll gather the herb from the secret refuge for you.Just agreeing to this quest (or paying the 60K gold) finishes the whole dowry quest, and we get 8200 Gold and 2 Might Runes(!) for the trouble of going back and forth. Not a bad reward at all! We haven't seen that island with the skull yet, so that will go into the to-do stack.  Well, that will do it for this update. Next time, we will be changing our army up a little bit. You can see that my Jackboots are worn out again. I could just suppress them, but we also have some fancy new Snake Boots. Instead of continuing to explore the Islands, we are heading back to Darion. We have some unfinished areas there that should now be doable. Don't forget to vote for how we are going to deal with Mano/Wild Duke. ---------------------------------- Bonus Material Learning Lore Cook Family Troubles What might have happened with the Cook family saga if we had chosen differently? If we had chosen John Cook: : Oh, at last! What is your decision? Who will be the heir?: You, John. You are worthy of taking the place of your father. Take the bandanna!: Crikey! Well, you made a right decision. My shop and the shops of my brothers are always at your service.: Thank you, John.Our "reward" is that we don't get to fight anyone, and we have access to three stores, instead of one. But the stores are... well, not impressive.   So how about if we went with Harry? : Have you already made the decision?: Yes. I have decided to give the bandanna to you, Harry.: Karramba! I knew that you would do right by me! Did I promise gold to you? It's yours, my friend! Here are ten thousand gold coins.: This money is not quite enough, Harry. I thought you might be more generous.Even the game knows that 10K gold is fairly peanuts by now. I guess that's what Bill gets for not getting a number before handing the bandanna over. As with giving it to Brendon, John will get angry, and we can still fight him. However, Brendon is too passive to fight, so we are able to access his shop as well as Harry's. Scott Morrison's debt Rather than taking the flag, we have a couple of options to finish this quest. First, we can simply tell Scott to do his own work: : Look, I'm fed up with you and your father-in-law. Settle your problems yourself! I've done my job!With that, the quest completes. We get 5800 gold for our trouble. If we go back to Bare Hornet afterwards: : So how's it going, have you weighed my daughter yet?: Yes, we've done it. She weighs now 108 kilograms. But I haven't brought you the money. This matter is between you two, and I have no time to deal with it right now anyway.Alternately, we can just get Scott to give us the remaining debt: : You know, you'd better just give me the other 60 kilos of gold, and I'll deliver it to Hornet. As for the flag, keep it for yourself. It might be useful to protect yourself from the rain.Heading over to Bare Hornet to deliver the gold: : Hi! Have you visited Morrison?: Yes, I've visited him. Morrison has weighed his wife and found she weighs 108 kilos.: So, where is my money? This rascal Morrison owes me 60 kilograms more!: Here they are. Morrison produced the money for you without any argument.: Fine! You must admit, this Morrison is a good guy, and I'm a good father. I raised a good daughter.: Ok, take the money, I have to go.If we do it this way, our quest reward is now 9000 Gold and 1 Mind Rune. Marking the Map  Skills Shown Frenzy During combat, the hero's troops become frenzied and receive an increasing Attack bonus. Prerequisites: Combat Readiness, Rage Control Might, Tier 3  Level 1: Attack +2 Level 2: Attack +4 Level 3: Attack +6Gully's opinion: This Might skill is not bad. Bonus Attack is nice, and will really boost your units in longer battles. The main issue is in most of the battles in the game, there are only 5 enemy stacks. By the time you are killing them off, the battle tends to be nearly over. Further, any stacks killed by spells or Rage abilities don't activate this skill. The tough battles are the ones that it tends to help the most in, which is good. I usually just get one level here, unless I have excess Might runes. Items Identified Pirate's Flag  Description: The pirate's banner cast fears into the hearts of merchant sailors. Effects: +3 to the Attack of Pirates and Robbers Type: Regalia Race: Humans Cost: 7500 Info: By raising this flag, you risk the repute of a pirate. However, all criminals will be happy to see the old "Jolly Roger." Mask of Youth  Description: A magical mask, made of gold and silver. Effects: +7% to the Health to creatures level 1-3 Type: Helmet Race: Neutral Cost: 27000 Info: An amazing find - the mask of the goddess Vakrista, grotesque mistress of sandstorms and droughts. Envying a far more beautiful goddesses, and hoping to change her appearance, Vakrista decided to bathe in the Golden Spring, though she had not paid full tribute to its owner. Hardly had she dipped her face into the spring, but the water turned her face into a golden mask. Howling with pain she ripped off the mask - together with her skin - and threw it to Endoria. This mask still contains the magical properties of the Golden Spring water. Bullion  Description: A heavy bar of gold. Type: Quest Info: A huge bar of gold, intended as payment for the pirate's wife. Treasure Map  Description: An old map on a piece of yellowed paper. Type: Quest Info: The map marks the exact place where the huge diamond "Clear Eye" may be hidden.
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May 20, 2017 01:47
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60kg in 10 years? That's fairly dedicated.
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May 20, 2017 08:42
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We should kill the Wild Duke because he's rude. 
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May 20, 2017 09:22
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Our mission was to persuade Mano to swear fealty and forgo revenge. No mention was made of keeping the Wild Duke alive. Therefore, in order to fulfill our orders, we must kill the Wild Duke - attacking Mano would be just straight up disobedience. Also, I'd like to see that cheese Invisibility strategy at some point. I'm always a fan of abusing AI.
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May 20, 2017 16:31
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MagusofStars posted:Our mission was to persuade Mano to swear fealty and forgo revenge. No mention was made of keeping the Wild Duke alive. Therefore, in order to fulfill our orders, we must kill the Wild Duke - attacking Mano would be just straight up disobedience. quote:Also, I'd like to see that cheese Invisibility strategy at some point. I'm always a fan of abusing AI.
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May 20, 2017 18:27
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Kill the Wild Duke Obviosly, mercenaries are breaking order and are willing to lie to governor that Mano haven't agreed, so they get loot from his castle and money from governor.
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May 20, 2017 20:40
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Kill Wild Duke, pirate madness is no excuse for pirate rudeness.
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May 20, 2017 20:45
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Attack Mano. He's the cause of this non-problem by forcing our hand. Wild Duke just wants an honest paycheck
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May 20, 2017 21:31
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Interesting custom, these pirates. How many pirates can you hire for even 1000 gold?
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May 21, 2017 03:01
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Fight Wild Duke Like was mentioned before, we fulfilled our promise about Mano, but there was nothing that said we couldn't fight anybody else.
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Jun 3, 2017 23:08
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Update 28: Taking Care of Business Long time no update, I know. Anyways: last update, we finished exploring the Western Freedom Isles before ducking briefly to see the Eastern ones.  Returning back to the Western Isles, Bill has decided to support Mano Riveres (in a not too surprising vote). Mano's promised to have no grudge for the death of his step-brother, and in return he wants us to kill the Wild Duke hanging around outside his castle. : You know what? I see you are a brave and honourable man. I'll help you and kill the Wild Duke's people. (Attack the governor's people...) Oh man, a Thug with a capital T! How will we ever deal with this? Wild Duke's army isn't that creative, just boatloads of Sea Dogs. All of Wild Duke's army gets +2 base damage, so these Sea Dogs are a lot more threatening than they appear at first. If you just advance up and let them do their Fury Attack on multiple stacks, you might take a lot of losses here.  We start out lucky, though, by frosting up 4 of his 5 Sea Dog stacks. This reduces them to only 1 base move, so it'll take them a while to get across the battlefield.  Wild Duke does like to use Haste, which brings one stack out ahead of the others. I deliberately take some damage on my Pirates, since this is the last battle they will be fighting with us for the near future.  The separated Sea Dogs are easier to deal with, and soon the field is littered with their bodies. The last stack has been stuck in the back row by the Beholder sleep effect.  We soon overwhelm the last troops. I don't really care about these losses. As I said, my Jackboots have broken again, and I think it's time for a change in the army. First, though, let's see if Mano is thankful for our help. : Thank ye kindly for the help. Tell the Governor that I swear fealty to him - and I won't cause him any troubles.: Ok, I'll tell him. See you later. Turns out he is! We don't get a reward here, but Mano will now be a source of infinite Pirates/Sea Dogs, if we want a return to a seafaring army (he also stocks a few more spells, but nothing new to us). To get the quest reward, we need to return to Governor Thompson. : Have you spoken to Mano? I hope you have explained to him that any attempt at revenge will only end in his own death.: Yes. Everything's fine. Mano swore fealty to you, and he has sworn off revenge. However... the duke's people got out of control and I had to kill him.: Well... the duke was a reliable man, trustworthy when a situation got dangerous. But I know he was very hot-tempered, and I am sorry that he hindered you. In any case, you have earned your reward! (Reward: 4800 Gold, 110 Experience): Thank you, Governor, I was glad to help you! That dealt with, we can now turn back to our adventures... except that I am going to take this opportunity to head back to Darion to deal with a small stack of things we left on our to-do list. From a gameplay point of view, I don't want to outlevel content so much so that there is no challenge left.  Order of Business #1: New army time! You might recall that we received the Snake Boots from Governor Thompson as a reward for a prior quest. These give +1 Speed/Initiative to any snake units. We also have the Ring of the Snake King, adding +3 poison damage to their base attacks. So why not maximize our benefit and go for the full rainbow of snakes? The Snake Boots are really the key, as both Swamp Snakes and Snakes (green/red respectively) only have 2 base move, which is painfully slow, while 3 move is far more acceptable.  Order of Business #2: Richard's Tournament. I want to try to take these battles on before I outlevel them too much, so this is a good time to come back and fight the Gorgon Medusa.  The Medusa's army is quite the varied bunch. She has a strong ranged component (Evil Beholders, Alchemists, Archmages, Cyclops), and quick melee movers (Griffins and Royal Snakes). Combined, this is a pretty threatening army on the face of it.  I chugged down a Rage potion before we fought, so we can start the fight with an Evil Shoal. It is so good when the opponent has so many stacks.  Of course, we get to use spells to thin the enemy down as well. I focus on killing the Evil Beholders (her strongest ranged component) and whittling down the Griffins (since they will be in my face by Turn 2).  The Medusa is no slouch on the magic herself, however, She calls down a Level 2 Lightning spell, doing huge damage to my Shamans before the bolt jumps to fry the Snakes.  Not only doing damage, the Shock effect of the lightning prevents my Royal Snakes from participating in the first round of combat.  Before long, the front lines devolve into a mess of units as the Medusa's Snakes and Griffins rush in. The Griffins take heavy losses, but not before tearing away at my Swamp Snakes.  A turn or two later, only her Cyclops remain standing. This isn't the case for long when the Medusa decides to send a bolt ripping down onto my placed Totem, and one stray bounce blasts the Cyclops to oblivion.  Not a bad purse of gold for the fight, in addition to the experience. I do regret losing 4 Shamans though, since there's not too many of those available.  : Well done, Bill Gilbert! You have passed this stage. I'm sure that further successes await. I hope that a fight with experienced opponent did not only help you to show what you are capable of, but also helped you learn something about battle tactics... (You've obtained 2 Might Runes!): Thank you!Two more Might Runes in the pocket, Bill heads to the next item on the list.  Order of Business #3: The Wizard Tower and the Staff of Destruction. Over in Arlania, we didn't approach this wizard tower our first time around (you will see why not).  Before we try entering that tower, let's deal with that wandering army. We probably could have taken these guys on the first time through the area, so they aren't much of a threat, and there's not much point showing off the fight.  I'm actually ashamed of losing even one Swamp Snake in this fight.  Once again, our attention-starved wife turns back into a frog. This is fantastic timing! We glossed over this before, but Frog Feanora's bonus is +100% Attack to all Snake/Spider troops. That's +18 Attack for our Royal Snakes alone! With a triple Snake army, this bonus is amazing, especially stacked on the bonuses we are getting from the Snake Boots/Ring of the Snake King. Powered-up snakes in hand, we knock on the tower door.  : What's the matter? : I'm locked in my tower and can't get out. Terrible monsters have filled all the rooms and won't let me escape.: What's the problem? You are an Archmage, aren't you?: Just because I'm an Archmage doesn't mean I can incinerate armies with a twitch of my eyebrows. Sure I might be able to battle them, but my new Staff of Destruction won't let me do it. It just sits there, watching my every movement. It just sits there, watching my every movement. This damned staff! In spite of the fact that is was made especially for me, it turns out to be stronger than I am and I can't manage it. The staff has summoned magical monsters that are ruining my magic storerooms and destroying my research.: Well, how can I help you? Your tower is sealed and it's impossible to get in.: I'll open the entrance to the tower. I locked it to prevent the monster from getting out. Help me and I'll pay you. (Reward: 8200 Gold, 300 Experience): It's open, I'm ready. We are immediately attacked, even before we get to enjoy the view of the nice-looking pool in the atrium.  Ok, this army is pretty pathetic for our current strength. Much like the army wandering outside, the initial content in this tower would be doable for a much lower level.  Yeah, that damage stacking on the Snakes is amazing - easily passing 2k+ damage without even a critical. Of course, that is against the lowest possible Defense in the game.    The second army on the floor is no tougher. Once the Priests are gone, my snakes can chew apart Peasants with ease.   The first floor of the tower does give us a Magic Rune and a few Crystals, always nice to have. Onward and upwards!  Two more armies of very similar composition stroll around the second floor.  This army is about twice as large as the last. Still not much of a threat, but if we had tried the tower the first time we were in the area, these armies would have been really tough.  As it is, we can now eat these Peasant stacks in one attack.   The final wandering army is even larger, to the point where I can't reliably destroy the Priest stacks without using expensive magic (which I wanted to avoid doing).  Peasants - still never a problem.  We do lose a couple of Swamp Snakes from a blast of Archmage lightning.   The loot on floor 2 is pretty nice. One more Mind Rune, and we finally get a proper helmet! The Horned Helmet gives a plain +2 to Defense. Before we picked up that Mask of Youth, I'd gladly take this. As it is, I think it will stay in the backpack. If I wasn't a Mage, this would be a solid helmet for the early game. With the floor picked clean, we head up to the next (and final) floor.  No wandering armies up here, just a small room with a few Crystals and a very odd-looking staff. This staff is a crazy bump in difficulty compared to the rest of the tower. Trying this fight too early is a death sentence, no questions asked.  You see, the Staff of Destruction is both a Hero battle and a Keepers battle combined. We have to deal with 5 tough Gremlin towers casting spells each turn, in addition to the Staff's casting (and the Staff is a potent Mage). Combined, they will mess you up. This fight can also be very luck dependent. If the towers decide to cast Slow or Pygmy, that's not so bad. Or they might cast strong Lightning spells every turn. Or, worst of all, they might decide to turn most of your units into Sheep. The one saving grace is that the enemy stacks themselves aren't too threatening.  I saved up Rage during the ascent of the tower so I can start with an Evil Shoal to hit these three towers.  The Evil Shoal damage + Ice Snake is just enough to take the two Evil Gremlin towers out. This makes the rest of the fight significantly easier. If you can't start taking towers out ASAP, this fight will be very rough.  By the start of the second turn, my pygmy-fied Royal Snakes eat another tower.  I don't remember if this was from a Gremlin tower or from the Staff itself, but my Shamans eat another faceful of lightning.  Once most of the towers are gone, the fight is much simpler. Not easy, since the Staff will still be casting spells.  This was definitely the Staff. Again, the AI decided to target my Totem rather than valuable troops, and blasted his own Druids in the process. My Beholders and Swamp Snakes do take a solid hit though.  Finally, the last Druid falls to the fangs of the Swamp Snakes.  In the final tally, we come off alright. The most annoying loss is the Shamans, since our only source is far away and in limited supply. In the short term, the Beholders have been reduced to the point where I really need to replace them. But hey, we beat the Staff and looks like we get to use it! That should be perfect for our Mage.  Zerock levels up as well. The Stone Wall bonus is basically useless, so I'll grab the damage upgrade for Underground Blades. It's only a small increase in Rage cost for decent increase in damage. : You did it! You managed to suppress this drat artifact! Thank you so much! I'll always be glad to see you in my tower. You know, I make my living creating and selling magic scrolls and items. I'll be glad, if anything from my stocks may be useful for you.: Can I keep this Staff?: Of course not! You can't manage it! It's a personal artifact, and serves only the person for whom it was created. However, I can't manage it either. The artifacts' creators have overdone it, made it too strong for even me. I wasn't ready for this! But I know what must be done with this Staff... As for you, I'll gladly pay you.: Couldn't hurt to ask. Money works too.drat it, game! Why did you taunt me with that image of the Staff as an item, only to take it way immediately?  In addition to the experience/gold, we get access to Archmage Rezo as a shop. His troops are nothing special, but those boots are a nice find. These are the Twinkling Boots, and they give a solid +15% Physical Damage Resistance to your troops. I think these are probably the best boots in the game for a generic army. Physical Damage Resist is great, and many units have some inherent amount, and this bonus will stack on top. For now, the Snake Boots are better suited for my current army.  Order of Business #4: Castle Karmag. Our next stop brings us back to the Marshan Swamp cemetery. Way back in Update 16, we were given a task to kill the vampire child Enemen, who had conquered the Castle Karmag and taken on the local Undead for his army. Non-canonically, we tried to finish this quest back in the bonus bits of Update 18, and got crushed. But now we're back and ready to rumble!  Castle Karmag doesn't have much to offer besides a number of Vampires. Useful if you are using Undead in the early game, I suppose.  : Well, I was just passing by, and I noticed the castle, so I decided to come for a visit. : Go away! I do not see Karador's sign on you. This is no place for the likes of you. Go away!: What is this "Karador's sign"?: Karador is a great warrior, a great general! His army will soon conquer Ellinia, and then he will turn to Darion. Darkness will come to these lands, King Mark will be deposed and I, Enemen, will become the sovereign of Darion! This was promised to me...: Yes, yes, I heard the story about the grave of Karador and the orcs. By the way, how do the orcs fit into your story?: This is neither your affair nor even mine. Why are you still here? I have ordered you to leave my castle.: I haven't finished yet, so please tolerate my presence for a little while longer. The monks have asked that you to turn to the Light and reject the Darkness which has swallowed your mind and is devouring your soul. Look at you! You are malnourished and paranoid. Why do you want to be a king, anyway? It is much better to be a happy man.: Again! Have these fools understood nothing? I have sent them the heads of their brothers, and then the heads of those wretched knights who volunteered to help the Temple priests. Was this not enough for them? This time I will send them not only your head, but your entrails as well! Ha-ha! Are you ready to die?: How rude. This is very rude, boy. You should not speak this way to an adult - especially not one so dangerous as me. Well then, go on, raise your zombies, and I'll cut them down. (Attack the castle...) Tons of Skeleton Archers, Vampires/Ancient Vampires, and Cursed Ghosts await us at the castle gates. The most dangerous part of this army are the Archers, despite the large number of melee stacks... rather, because of the large number of melee stacks, as you will see. To combat the undead, I've hired back a full stack of Priests to replace the weakened Beholders.  Evil Shoal's physical damage doesn't do much to the non-corporeal ghosts, but every bit helps.  Fireballs are much better at that. I know I said that the archer stacks are more dangerous, but it's a good idea to reduce Ghost stacks initially, since their ability to suck health out and create new ghosts is directly dependent on how much damage they do.   I didn't get to show off the Snake Boots effect in action yet, but this highlights how good extra move is on Royal Snakes in particular. Getting a first strike in takes out nearly half the stack of Skeleton Archers before they can act. Additionally, our Royal Snakes are now sitting on an Initiative of 8, higher than any base unit in the entire game. So we will always be going first every turn, unless some sort of magic or hero buff comes into play.  What we really want to do is to use our high-initiative Snake trio to block this narrow passage, making a wall of fangs and venom. Now it doesn't matter that there are like 8+ enemy melee stacks, as only three can approach at a time, and my boosted snakes will be more than a match for them.  The Shamans use their Totem to prevent the huge stack of Archers from firing, at least for one turn. Meanwhile, the vampires just sort of shuffle around uselessly.  The Cursed Ghosts attempt to push through the snake wall with their Scream talent. Although it pushes the snakes back, the wall formation holds. No getting through to my juicier units for you!  That doesn't save my Priests from eating some very damaging arrows.  Before long, the snake wall has banished most of the Ghosts to the ether, and destroyed the variety of Vampires.  With the melee undead out of the way, the remaining Skeletons crumble very quickly indeed.  The Priests take huge losses... but I was going to dump them off before the end of this update as it was. We will need to restock on Snakes as well. Luckily, we are already in the swamp.  Sleem also picks up a level. I've been hoping to see this option come up! Reduced summoning cost is very nice for an ability like Evil Shoal, especially for a Mage. This makes it a lot easier to start any fight with an Evil Shoal.  With Enemen out of the way, a local priest named Pavel moves in to Castle Karmag, along with a band of Priest and... Robbers? Well, whatever. More importantly, we are definitely grabbing that multi-coloured cloak. At last, we have found a piece of Chest armor to wear! That empty item slot has been mocking me every time I look at the hero screen. This is the Cloak of Wizardry, and offers us +5 Mana and +10% Magic Resistance. Magic Resistance isn't that great, but it does help against units like Beholders, Archmages, Priests/Inquisitors, and so on. It will also help if we get assaulted by Lighting spells again. Even better, the Cloak is only the first form of three for this item. It can be upgraded into the Cape, and then finally the Mantle of Wizardry. We also need to get our reward from Father Pavel.  : I'm glad to know there is one less evil in the world! : We will always be glad to see you in the Karmag castle or in the Temple of Deceased Souls. We can cure your body and aid you with some troops.: This is excellent news! Before we head to our final destination for this update, we need to replace the mauled Priests. For now, we are going to go back to good old Bowmen for our ranged needs. To that end, we also pick up the Bowmen Commander skill in the Might tree. This reduces the Leadership cost for certain archer units. However, it basically only applies to arrow-wielding troops. Ranged stacks like the Goblins or Beholders don't benefit. Still, it's both a relatively cheap skill and required for one of the best Might skills. I almost always grab one level, and sometimes a second if I have a few runes to spare.  Voila, a fresh stack of 100 Bowmen join our forces.  Order of Business #5: The Knight's Tent. This colorful pavilion sits just off the road that runs between the capital and Arlania. Literally the first quest in the game (the Plugen collecting) takes you to the start of the path that runs to this tent. However, the tent sits guarded by a pretty strong group of Human units. Taking these guys on would have been a bad idea until now. Hopefully there's something really good here!  The army is no slouch, with both strong melee and strong ranged stacks. The 50 Horsemen are of particular concern, since they can be quite speedy.  This time, the AI decided to keep the Horsemen on the back line to defend the ranged stacks. That's fine with me. It may seem foolhardy to send my Royal Snakes in like this, but there's a method to the madness.  Not only does it let me take out a good number of Horsemen with a first attack, the Royal Snakes will also block those Priests from their ranged attack, and Glot's Armor will protect them from the Horsemen.  That doesn't mean zero losses, but before long the Horsemen are down and out, and the rest of my troops have been able to move up to support the forward advance.  The Snakes snack on the a holy meal, and the battle is over.   So what's the prize? Well, we get one crappy banner...  And access to a kind of bad shop! Well, the troop selection is bad at least. It's the first Horsemen we've seen for hire, but there's way too few of them, even for a Mage. The weapon there is actually pretty good though, for a non-Mage. The Spear of Rage gives +2 Attack and +20% increased Rage intake. With that, our return tour to Darion comes to a close. We still haven't finished everything here, but I think that cleans up the place nicely. Next time, we will bring our snake horde back to the Freedom Isles and continue looking for Lucky James. ---------------------------------- Bonus Material Learning Lore Mano a Mano In an alternate reality, maybe we want to take on Mano Riveres instead of the Wild Duke. : Well, fine, you've asked for this trouble yourself, and I have nothing against duke. (Attack Mano...) Mano's army is a lot more varied than Wild Duke's was. But it is also significantly weaker, since Mano doesn't give his troops any special bonus. Mano also doesn't cast any magic (he only has 5 Mana), so his 5 Intellect is pretty useless.   Also, closely-packed stacks like this are easy pickings for a Mage.  We can sit back and let most of his troops come to us, making for easy pickings and a trail of corpses.   : Fine, I'm from the Coastal Brotherhood too. With Wild Duke's ugly mug in charge of Castle Exail, he will sell us Sea Dogs to us as a fellow member of the Coastal Brotherhood. He will also sell us another Steel Strip belt (though we are already wearing the upgraded version). Let's go tell Governor Thompson the news of Mano's death. : Have you spoken to Mano? I hope you have explained to him that any attempt at revenge will only end in his own death.: I tried to persuade him, but the presence of the duke's cutthroats spoiled everything. Mano became nervous, and I ended up having to kill him.: It's a pity, a real pity. Mano Riveres was a darn good pirate and a fine fellow! And I fear that Wild Duke, having won this remarkable castle, someday may even feel strong enough that he will go against me. But you did a good job anyway, and you have earned the reward. (Reward: 4800 Gold, 110 Experience)Same reward, and no real punishment for killing Mano.  Additionally, the Governor here will be the one with infinite Pirates/Sea Dogs for hire instead of Mano, which is a little more convenient to access (since his castle is right next to the drop-off point for the boat to the Isles). Skills Shown Bowmen Commander This skill decreases the Leadership requirements when the hero is hiring archers, be they elves, humans, or the undead. Might, Tier 3 Prerequisites: Combat Readiness  Level 1: Leadership requirements reduced by 10%. Cost: 3/0/0 Level 2: Leadership requirements reduced by 15%. Cost: 4/1/0 Level 3: Leadership requirements reduced by 20%. Cost: 5/2/0Gully's opinion: Bowmen Commander is another skill that you almost certainly want one level in, mostly to go further down the tree. As a skill, it's pretty useful to have some extra ranged units. Remember that it only applies to 4 units in the game (Bowmen, Elves, Hunters, and Skeleton Archers), not all ranged stacks. Still, I will almost always have one of those stacks in my army, and the first level is very cheap. Sometimes I will throw a second level in if I'm using multiple archery stacks. Items Identified Cloak of Wizardry  Description: A many-colored magic cloak. Effects: +5 to Mana, +10% to Magic Resistance Type: Armor Race: Neutral Morale: Normal (50) Cost: 6000 Upgraded To: Cape of Wizardry Info: Such a cloak, along with the Mage's Staff, is an essential item of every self-respecting mage. The cloak provides Magic Resistance and increases the magic reserves of its wearer. Horned Helmet  Description: An ordinary metal helmet - with horns. Effects: +2 to Defense Type: Helmet Race: Neutral Cost: 7000 Info: Barbarians make such helmets and decorate them with horns to frighten their enemies. Spear of Rage  Description: A spear with a jagged head of blood-red color. Effects: +2 to Attack, +20% to Rage increase during combat Type: Weapon Race: Humans Cost: 8000 Info: This spear is enchanted by a special spell which brings its owner into a battle trance, making him very dangerous opponent, insusceptible to pain and fear. The set includes the Spear of Rage, Rage Sign and Rage Predator, and gives +10 to Rage. Twinkling Boots  Description: Light boots made of the scales from a deep-sea fish. Effects: +15% Physical Damage Resistance Type: Boots Race: Neutral Cost: 21000 Info: These boots are sewn from the twinkling scales of a deep-sea fish. These scales are very slippery and strong.
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Jun 19, 2017 02:54
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Robbers, huh? I don't trust this Father Pavel. 
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Jun 19, 2017 09:22
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Picayune posted:Robbers, huh? I don't trust this Father Pavel. He's stealing.... Stealing souls for God 
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Jun 19, 2017 12:09
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