Avernum Crystal Souls 23: Smashing the Portal

And I have completed the second of the three great quests: I have destroyed the Empire Portal, which, had I not been so intrepid, eventually would have teleported thousands of Empire troops down to Avernum to crush all my friends and neighbors.

It turned out that the next two gates were just puzzles. One had a couple of doomguards, but those are much easier in this game than in previous ones. It was just a matter of finding switches to throw. The third gate was more of a puzzler. If you did it wrong you got to fight endless enemies. But, notice that there is a clear path from the front of a trapped room to the back, and you can completely avoid that fight. I fought a few but then reverted to a saved game and got through easily.

Even the actual fight at the portal itself wasn't all that bad. The enemies come in clumps and they're really not that tough until you get to the control room on the second floor. Just systematically take 'em all down, collecting loot along the way, of course, and then you're faced with another puzzle. But it's fairly easy to just bulldog your way through that one. I kept wondering where the Onyx Scepter was going to come in, but follow all the clues and smash what you can smash, and it eventually becomes fairly obvious what to do.

The Empire Portal Explodes!

Now then. I've still got massive numbers of wisdom crystals, and probably have enough herbs to make more. So the next trip will be to Patrick's Tower, where the gardner can craft the things. Then I will gulp 'em all down and see if I can get my spellcasters up to Adrenaline Rush in the battle skills: that gives you three rounds of action per turn. It's really difficult to get to that with the spellcasters however. I think next time I'll forgo trying to do that and just choose the Swordmage trait for my cleric and try to get 'em both up to full strength in Priest and Mage skills. (I have found it useful to give one point of Priest skill to everybody, including my two fighters. Sometimes it's helpful for them to cast minor heal.) Really I think getting both spellcasters up to full wizard/priest status would be more useful than Adrenaline Rush.

After that I've got to visit every trainer in the game to be sure I've used up all the possible skills. 

And then, it will be time to chase down Garzhad, the game's final quest. 

Sigh.

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Avernum Crystal Souls 22: BOOM!!

So that was a fight! I have completed one of the three game-winning quests of Avernum 2: I have returned all three Crystal Souls to the Vahnatai. 

First, I went back to Pyrog's cave and slaughtered all the Empire troops there. Got some nice loot. I must say, Jeff made the Empire troops fairly tough, and I know they'll get tougher. But it was good to clean that place out completely.

Also, I found Sulfras the dragon and got the Onyx Scepter, which I will need to destroy the Empire Portal, the second game-winning quest. I think I'll do that one next, and leave killing Garzhad for last.

But the fortress where they had the last Crystal Soul was quite a battle. First, you're thrown into an arena, where you have to fight wave after wave of monsters. The worst are the eyebeasts, and if you don't get 'em fairly quickly they will heal up the other enemies and prolong the fight.

I had to protect my spellcasters with invulnerability potions and armor potions. Nice to use those. Then I made sure I was at battle frenzy the whole time. I had some battle crystals (still have one) that came in useful. On the forum, folks were complaining mightily about that arena fight, and I don't blame 'em. I think there are about five waves of enemies. Every time you think you're done and can loot the place, another batch appears. Goes from hellhounds to the eyebeasts to ghosts to constructs (with a demon) and then to altered giants. 

However, I have massive amounts of energy elixirs, and one of those fully restores all spell points. Plus, I've still got those wisdom crystals, and I used a few of those to replenish my spell points. Have plenty more. Mycroft is now at level 35!

After the arena you deal with separate groups of major enemies, but none of them are too tough. The last one is the lich, who indeed was the toughest. It turns out that you don't have to fight her. I had already found the key I needed. However, I went ahead and took her on and got a Robe of the Magi out of it! Wow! I put that on Cordelia, because Mycroft already had a really good robe. 

The interesting part of this was that in order to save the Crystal Soul, you have to break a Phoenix Egg and start quickfire. Then, of course, you can't get to the chest with the Soul. Plus, the quickfire doesn't burn out while you stay in the fortress. You actually have to figure out how to leave the fortress and then come back in order to get the Crystal Soul. After that things are fairly easy. 

The Vahnatai are Happy

One interesting note: I thought I had finished a minor quest of getting something for the "barbaric sliths" at the entrance to the Waterfall Warren. However, the quest is still showing in my list. Maybe they want a series of things. They're building houses. I already gave them a hammer. Perhaps they need more things, like a saw and some planks, or whatever else I can find. I'll start with that next time! Update: Yes, I had done the quest, but apparently I reverted to a different saved game just afterward. So, I did it again, and this time it's off the list.

Then I have to fight my way through some gates to get to the Empire Portal. I've already done the first one and it was a major battle. Tough enemies. Even the archers don't go down easily. So that's ahead, but not tonight!

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Avernum Crystal Souls 21: The Laugh's on Me

Stoopy hooman. So I thought the game had a bug and wouldn't let me get the third Giant statue? I posted a thread asking about it on the Spiderweb Forum, and nobody replied. That just does not happen on that forum. 

So today, just to check, I went back to the Giant Fort, and I checked all the areas where there was an exclamation point on the automap of it. I went to one section, and clicked on a thingy there. I thought I'd lost it eternally because I destroyed the altar, but the statue wasn't at the altar, it was somewhere else.

I had just missed it. I also missed a secret button in a nearby area. I'll bet it was because I was in a fight, so I just moved on with the fight.

But it would have been a real problem that would have ruined this quest for many players. You don't place a quest item where a player can inadvertently destroy it, and Jeff didn't do that.

I just missed it. My bad. The laugh's on me! Got a very nice reward for finally finishing the quest, too. Could'a used that earlier!

Well I really am approaching the final part of the game now. I am over Level 30, and will only receive points every five levels from now on. I still have a ton of wisdom crystals, which turn out to be plentiful in this game, because you can get the gardner in Patrick's Tower to craft them for you.

I have been to the Northern Isles and found two black drake fangs. Turns out there there is another one somewhere, so there is no delimna about who to give the fangs to. We can satisfy all three quests. 

I have started to get into the main fort in the Northern Isles where I'm pretty sure the third Crystal Soul is, but pulled back after conquering the first gate into it. And that really was a pretty tough fight! I was never in any actual danger of getting killed, but I really did have to use my spells, and they didn't just devastate all the enemies in one blow. These guys are much tougher. As I recall, there are more gates to get through.

I have Demonslayer, but so far I'm only using it on demons. The fire and ice swords are nice to use on various hot or cold enemies. Last night I spent time finally getting the "Find Sixus" quest done. I had missed his first tower and found my self unable to get into one that turned out to be the second tower. Luckily, I chose the right conversation item when I talked to him and he survived.  However, the fight through the first tower was simple easy. Clearly, it was a quest meant to be completed much earlier in the game.

So now I have to go back to Motrax's cave and talk to a couple of wizards there. I also have to fetch the Onxy Scepter from Sulfras's cave. Haven't gone there yet. I don't think I've visited Pyrog's cave either.

So those things need to be done before I can then set out on the three major quests: Find the last Crystal Soul, destroy the Empire portal, and kill Garzhad. 

I always do all three. I want to find everything in these games, and also, stretch out my fun playing time!

It will probably take me several more days to do all of this, so that's good. But alas, the endgame looms before me. Sigh.

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Avernum Crystal Souls 20: Taking Charge!

Well I am taking charge of the game now. Sadly, I fear that means I'm way more than half done. I've now got the Blessed Athame, and the Orb of Thralni, which is coming in quite useful. I have just returned my second Crystal Soul, so I have earned Demonslayer. I left off in the middle of fetching that.

I trekked up to Empire lands, and visited Harston. Along the way I slew Elderan in his tower, which was kinda fun. Bit of a puzzle there but not too difficult. Found Harston and spent the night there, then, because I was so close, I explored further.

Found a nice boat to get me to the Northern Islands and into the Empire Records Archive. I remember this from the earlier incarnation of the game. You have quite a few fights, but eventually you get around into the whole area. So now I have the information I need to destroy the Empire Portal, which is one of the three major quests of the game. I will need to get the Onyx Scepter for that, however. It's the only major item I don't have yet.

But before I get into endgame stuff, I want to clear out my quest list. Plus, I have one more Crystal Soul to save.

I have discovered a bug. There is a quest to fetch three statues from the giants. I know for certain that I got all three, but the game is only giving me credit for two. I went to the Spiderweb Forum and looked it up, and yup, I got all of 'em. Sadly, I also destroyed all the altars. So, apparently, I won't be able to get the reward for that quest. I think I'll mention it on the Forum. When I grabbed the last statue it was during a fight, and somehow the thing just didn't register.

I have reached Level 30. I'm not getting any more training points, but I do believe that another task will be to go to all the trainers and spend my cash on trying to get my spellcasters more battle disciplines. Plus, I've got a stash of wisdom crystals I haven't used yet. Probably silly of me, but they would only have hastened my arrival at Level 30, and I really didn't need 'em. However, I did notice that Aldous is at Level 31. I think what might happen is that you still can accumulate points, but only every five levels or so.

I've got both my fighters up to all the battle disciplines, and those can be quite useful. 

So I'm pretty strong now. I cleared out several drake areas in the Islands and I have two black drake fangs. However, I have three characters who want them, so I'm going to have to choose. Jeff likes to give players little dilemmas like that.

Anyway, sadly, although I'm having massive amounts of fun, I fear it will end soon. This really is the best game of the six, I think. The humor keeps up all the way through, and the puzzles are nifty.

Till next time!

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Avernum Crystal Souls 19: Finally, a Tough Fight!

I've finally found a fight I'm going to have serious trouble winning.

First, I did the Lava Dome quest in Vahnatai lands. That got me a Phoenix Egg from the main Vahnatai mage, and plus, it was the most fun quest so far in the game. Mostly humor. But you need the Dispel Barrier spell to do it.

Then I went back and slaughtered all the mages in the Ziggaurat. By this time it was easy peasy. At the time I was at about level 28-29, and I've been finding some really nice gear. The stuff that sparkles is the best. And finally, when I find something better than a good thing I already have, I'm selling the weaker object. Lotsa cash in those things.

I also got the demented crystal soul at the entrance to the volcanic lands in the Vahnatai area. That was a fun kinda puzzle fight. 

And plus, I did a few of the more minor quests. I found Thompson, and that one about made me quit the game, until I realized that it was just a fight. You have to step on some runes to open a gate, but absolutely no matter how you step on 'em it doesn't work. Finally I realized that the runes were changing to colored squares. Once you got all four stepped on, you were surrounded by spore beasts. However, I did notice that the gate opened! So, it wasn't a puzzle per se, just a fight. Beat the spore beasts and you're in.

Also, I'm tracking down the spy in Blosk. I know who it is, but I'll have to find some way to read a burned paper before I can prove it.

I went to the Scree Pits and the half-finished fort and nabbed the blue pass. Now I have all three. Used that to get to Kothar, where the Orb of Thralni is stored.

And this turns out to be the toughest fight of the game so far. I'm at level 30. I'm stronger than overcooked lizard meat. I've beaten everybody in that fort, including a lich and all the Empire wizards, who are fond of charming my stupider meat shield characters.

But I have found the chamber that holds the Orb. As far as I can tell, there is no way to get to it without triggering a fight so massive that it really seems impossible to beat.

Which means . . . there must be another way in. I found clues in books, things like "press the right eye of the gargoyle," and so far I haven't found any gargoyles. 

That means there's another way in. OK! (thinking as I type, here). Next time I will continue to search the fort, observe the map, and try to find the secret.

One good thing: I have gathered up some fabulous loot in this place! And of course, you need the Orb, which lets your party fly for short distances, to get to otherwise inaccessible places.

So now I've got the Blessed Athame. I'm gonna figure out how to get the Orb. Then I need to rescue one more Crystal Soul and I'll get Demonslayer. 

Yep! There's still a lotta game left to play! WooHoo!

Update:  Ha ha. OK, there is no other way in, but when I was trying to exit, I finally triggered that gargoyle eye. All that did was keep me from falling into a pit--something I'd avoided earlier by using Move Mountains. I thought that would turn off the defenses in the Orb chamber, but no. However, I defeated it pretty easily. The trick is to not try to defeat the defenses, just run in, grab the orb and run out while your meat shields keep the golems and eyebeasts away from  the door. I gave Mycroft an invulnerability elixir and hasted him and went into combat mode before I entered the chamber. Aldous kicked off the defenses, but I was able to run in and grab the orb, and got outta there before I got killed. (Well, Max got killed, but I used Return Life so that was no problem.) And I've already used the Orb, and it works!

(Another way to do this that ought to work: just shield and haste one character and get him to where he can take the Orb. Everybody else stays outside. If he gets killed, no matter. Just Return Life and he ought to have the merchandise in his inventory.)

Ha ha.

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Avernum Crystal Souls 18: Finding the Blessed Athame

Wow! Some fun today! Actually, I really did do a lot of backtracking. I'm really finished with the whole demo area, except of one final trip to the Lair of Motrax sometime later. (I love Motrax. I hate what they did to him. Poor dear old dragon.)

Anyway, I really did find quite a lot of stuff that I'd overlooked. What I've done is press the "U" key everywhere I go in a dungeon. That finds stuff you can't see too well. 

First I had some trouble in the Giant Fort. I did the quest there and got everything, but I could see a barrier behind a fence and some rocks in the kennels. Couldn't manage to get to it. Pressed a hidden switch and I could see that a passage opened up behind the barrier, but how to get there? It took a trip to the Spiderweb Forum, but I learned that I had to use the Move Mountains spell several times and press more switches to get to the passage. Did all that and got the loot. It was most odd, because Jeff virtually always indicates when to use Move Moutains by showing cracks in the walls. There were no cracks here. I guess that puzzle was there for the more intrepid players, or those of us willing to go to the Forum for answers.

As I was doing my backtracking, I realized that I didn't have Move Mountains at level 3. I found out where that was, but I needed a very sharp knife to get to the spell book, and I didn't have one. Well HA! I know what that is! It's the fabled Blessed Athame! This time there was no quest for it. It's in the Waterfall Warren, and I already have a couple of different quests for that. 

So, I set aside my backtracking to go do that. What fun! The thing has plenty of combat against hellhounes, ghosts, a few giants and even eyebeasts (which go down with fire), but mostly it's a giant puzzle. You go in one building and make your way through it to get clues for later in the puzzle. Example: you find three empty chests. They have lists. One wants an abacus, another an hourglass, and another a fishing pole. We do not of course have any of these items on us at the moment, and it'll take a freaking long time to go and get them. But never fear. Jeff knows that. I was certain he would plant those very items around the area. And of course he did. When you place the items properly and throw the switch, you get a clue. Without those clues you cannot finish the puzzle.

In the next building we get two keys. One comes from one side, the gate of which opens pretty easily. Opening the gate on the other side turns out to be more challenging, but at last I got it.

The we see enticing chests in another building, but there is no access to the place. However, we can see trap doors in the floors. Ergo, we're going to be climbing up to these areas.

And that happens in the next building. Got some major fights there! Especially, and I remember this from the earliest incarnation of the Avernum game: a doomguard. These are mechanical monsters that hit you, but when you hit them they take damage but split in two. Usually, every time you hit them they split. So you either have to kill them outright (impossible) or just keep at it. The trick is that they get weaker and weaker as you hit 'em. Eventually I had a good dozen of them, but they were close to death. Hit 'em with some good area spells and you can take 'em out. Interestingly, this time Jeff didn't have them split until the end of your round, instead of each time they were hit. I remember this fight from the first game--one of the toughest in the game! This time it's easier.

Of course I ran out of spell energy, but Mycroft leveled up, which restores all the energy. Then Cordelia was close to leveling up, so I gave her a wisdom crystal and got her energy up again as well. That was quite nice for fighting the eyebeasts. Plus, I have a pretty good store of energy elixirs, so I knew I'd be OK. 

But that was a fun fun puzzle! I wound up playing most of the day. I'd just finished a lotta work, so I gave myself a Sunday off.

Tomorrow I will continue with my backtracking. Gonna suck the marrow from this game!

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Avernum Crystal Souls 17: FINALLY got Dispel Barrier!

Finally! At last I managed to find the Empire General and kill him, so I could get the spell Dispel Barrier as a reward. Interestingly, they don't charge you much for the first and second levels of it. I knew where the third level was, and went there. Took me awhile to find the secret button to get into the hidden area and find the spell book, but once there, aha! Lovely reading!

The fight in the fort wasn't really that tough. Clearly, I was meant to get this just a bit earlier. However, first thing, I went to the spiral pit to clear that out, and it's quite obvious that this one is a higher level quest. Interesting, because the spiral pit used to be one of the earlier, easier quests. And you can get through it earlier, but until you have Dispel Barrier at level three, you can't get into the boss fight. That one is pretty good.

Anyway. What a relief. I putzed around looking for the right fort, and cleared out the black cube, which was much easier. I also found the cave with the lich, but I decided to go back for that. My main reason for playing tonight was to get Dispel Barrier.

And, I went back to the Tower of Magi and sought out "X," who finally taught me the last three mage spells. Sheesh. Finally I've got all the mage spells.

But I'm still missing the last three priest spells. Actually, I think I might be able to get those in Dharmon, now that I'm at a higher level. I'm in the upper 20s now. I did get some good and fairly cheap  archery training from a band of Nephils that like me because I healed their friends. It's especially smart to buy combat skills for your spellcasters. You don't want to use up too many of their skill points on combat, but they need some combat to get battle disciplines. Best to just buy those. Once I've paid for three more spells, I can spend my money on skill training. It would be lovely to get everybody up to "Adrenaline Rush," which gives you three hits for one turn.

I'm also starting to accumulate some pretty nice gear. Everybody's got a named sword, and I found some great boots at the Spiral Pit. I'm noticing that this time, the better swords and stuff aren't always the highest priced ones. I figure if they give you magical stuff, such as 3 points to Quick Action, that's better than a higher level hit.

There are still plenty of things to do. I've got to rescue two more Crystal Souls. I've got to get the Onyx Scepter, the Orb of Thralni, Demonslayer (a sword that does extra damage to demons, and btw, to certain individuals who might have some demon blood) and the Blessed Athame (don't even have the quest for that one yet). Haven't been through the Waterfall Warren yet, although I found it tonight.

I also went to Erika's Tower, which required a huge fight. The Empire is trying to take the tower, but Erika has massive traps for them to traverse. Sadly, we have to traverse them as well, and it ain't easy. Now that I've made it to her chamber, however, I can use the portal to come back.

And after all that, she wouldn't teach me any spells! So I got 'em from "X."

But my next playing session will be backtracking: going over known territory, looking for barriers to dispel. Along the way maybe I can clear up some more minor quests. Probably I'll find some chests and doors I couldn't unlock earlier. I always try to do ALL the quests, and find ALL the stuff (if possible, usually isn't) and do all three major endings. I want to play the whole game, not just part of it.

So. Lots of doubling back next time. Might take a couple of days, actually. Well, it always did take me a good three weeks to play these games, and that was with playing virtually full time. I'm only getting a couple of hours a day, if that, this time. 

Oh. One other thing. I was lurking around on the Spiderweb Forum today and learned that you can put items straight into the junk bag by control-clicking. I've been playing these games for years, and I never knew that. What a timesaver!

Lots of fun ahead! 

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