Nethergate Resurrection 7: Annihilating the Fomorians

Well it's been a busy couple of weeks, but at last I got back to the game. It was time for Goagh-Nar, time to annihilate the Fomorians.

This time I was ready. I'm at least twice as strong as I was the first time I attempted this dungeon, and I have all six of Sylak's magic keys, so I can open every possible chest, and the magic keys always hide very very nice items.

My difficulty was how to get the loot out of the castle. Apparently the portcullis does not open for the Celts, and there is no way to open it. That means we have to trek back and forth in the underground, finding the proper stairs to climb each time. It's doable, but only if you remember which way you got in at the very first. At last I remembered that I entered the underground throne room almost immediately, so by finding that each time I was able to find the way out. 

Entry to the Upper Fort. The portcullis does not open for Celts.

I saved a special game just to be sure that I didn't get trapped somewhere and have to do the whole thing again. I was able to defeat the sprites this time, but although I looked everywhere, I never found the special spear that does extra damage to Formorians. Actually, I didn't need it. I'm quite strong enough now to dispatch the giants. There is one huge Formorian that you meet in the hallway if you stay to slaughter everyone and loot the place. He took two heartshock spells and still didn't go down, but it was enough to weaken him into normal status. And from him I got the Shield of Khar! Wow! (actually it's a really good shield that increases melee damage and endurance. nifty.)

So I was able to do the slaughter-and-loot mission after all.

This is one of Jeff's humorous spots. The lower Formorians have adopted an aggressively peaceful, self-sacrificing lifestyle. The also speak with ridiculously flowery language. Nice comic relief.

The throne room for the lower Formorians.

After all this I checked my old hint book and learned that I'd missed a spell I really need: Hero of Old. Apparently you buy  it and and a couple of others from the nasty proprietor of the Vale of the Sould. I have, however, already slaughtered him. Apparently there is no other source for the spell, so I confess that I used the character editor to give it to myself. Yeah, I cheated. But there ought to be a second source for that spell. I'm sure lots of players slaughter the guy. I also probably should have bought a soul from him, but there's no way to remedy that now.

So the game progresses! My next mission is Castle Aethdoc. I know where it is, so the next time I get a chance to play (maybe tomorrow, we'll see) I will go there! Also, there are some major areas I haven't tried yet, so there's still lots and lots to do in the game! Yay!

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Nethergate Resurrection 6: Continuing On!

I have completed everything I can do before Goagh-Nar, outside of random outdoor encounters. Did quite a lot of quests, beyond just the Vale of the Sould, which is actually quite nicely challenging. 

You start by meeting the master of the business, which is giving people their requests at the cost of their souls and then renting the souls out to paying customers.

An interview

He gives you a quick, easy quest which resolves the quest you got from the Briganntine Temple. But the Bazaar Master wants ten soul jars smashed to release the imprisoned souls. That entails fighting your way through the dungeon and finding ten of them. There's an area in there that I didn't figure out how to reach, because it has two locked gates and I couldn't find the wheel that opens them. Might try going back, but I did get the Nether spell from the place, so I think, judging from what I can see with piercing sight, that it's just a few more jars. Still! I like to find everything!

Here's a jar that looks just like the ordinary soul jars, but makes a nicer picture. Careful of the jars you break! Not all are friendly!

Read the signs!

The tough part of the dungeon is that there's an area that goes completely dark and is full of hostile spiders and the beasts they create. There's where my trick of giving all my fighters one point of druidism really came in handy. I was able to preserve the magical energy of my spellcasters and let the fighters do their own healing.

After that the Bazaar Master had a couple of other quests, the most difficult of which involved killing the Widow Queen to steal her eggs. I'd already cleared out the whole maze, so it really wasn't that tough. She just looks big. Then again, I'm about halfway through the game now, so I'm getting stronger. There's a chest on a raised platform in that maze that I didn't figure out how to get to. There should have been a way. Will have to research that on the Spiderweb Forum.

The Bazaar Master also had me go fetch some black wolf fangs. My experience with the game helped me there. Got some very nice rewards from the Master, including the "beastskin" spell. 

I also found some more Sylak items. Won't get the pants of power, because that requires killing the Bazaar Master, and I'm not going to do that. Jeff likes to put these moral choices into his games.

So I'm now outside Goagh-Nar, ready to go after that again, but twice as powerful this time. I ought to be able to clear the place out and get all that loot this time! 

Onward!

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Nethergate Resurrection 5: Witches and Wolves and SPIDERS Oh My!

I've actually been playing every day for the past few days, but finally I got to play nearly all day today! I have made great progress, all without going to Goagh-Nar, the Formorian major quest.

I've gained quite a bit of strength. Enough, anyway, to slay the formorians on the bridge, which is the real test of whether you're ready for the fight or not. I've found some good items, although none of the major weapons that will come my way in the later part of the game. I've still got lots and lots of spells to learn and earn, but I have already found two of the five Nether spells. Can't cast them yet, but when I gain the strength I'll have 'em.

I have found all six of Sylak's magical keys, and that's really necessary to get as soon as possible. That meant that I had to tackle the Hagfen dungeon, which has some tough monsters for an early party. But I had scrolls of Hero of Old, an invulnerability potion, and some nice items that I used to beat the odds. 

My major weakness in these games is that I hoard items instead of using them. I've really got to start working through the stack of stuff I have. I've decided to tackle the Vale of the Sould quest next. It's fairly tough, so I'm sure I'll be able to use my stuff.

I did one really smart thing: I gave all my fighters one point of Druidism. That allows them to cast the minor heal spell, and it saves me from using up all the spell energy of my druids. It's really handy! Also, I'm glad I chose the Roman fighter as my fifth character. He was able to unlock some dangerous chests with his tool use, after I had found some instruction on that in the Brigantine Temple.

I've found the Shadow Wolf, completely by accident, which actually is how you're expected to find it. I have done everything I need to do in Hagfen, and I'm going to not do the nasty quest that the witches want: to kill the Selkie king. Turns out you can get what they offer as a reward elsewhere, so I'll do that. I've done much in Hollow Hills, although of course, that and the Brigantine Temple are friendly to my Celt party. Finally I decided that it was time to go visit the Widow Queen and her maze of spiders. 

The Queen of Spiders is impressive

Visiting a store in the Hollow Hills

It's easy to make a mistake with the spiders. Both the Widow Queen and the Chief Spider of the friendly spiders want the same item. Turns out that the Chief gives a much better reward. I first gave the item to the queen, but then read my old hint book. I had a saved game just before I entered the spider maze, and I though it was worth it to go back and redo that section. It worked! I got the really good Sylak's Wisdom Amber, which gives you spell points every day. Then I returned to the Widow's lair and cleared out the whole maze, which has quite a lot of really good items!

I'm going to do the Vale of the Sould next. Get that over with, and gain more strength, and then tackle Goagh-Nar. 

Still having huge fun with the game!

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