Avernum Crystal Souls 11: Clearing up Old Missions

So, back in Avernum, I traveled to the Castle, but still haven't done enough to get a higher clearance. Well, at this point in the game I've just got to find the appropriately easyish areas to build up my strength and might. I haven't found the portal guy yet, so I have to traipse around the landscape rather than teleporting from town to town.

Now that I have the Ritual of Sanctification, and it works, I decided just to go back to Formello and finish up that peevish quest. Along the way I stopped in Mertis and Silvar and Fort Duvno. Plenty of quests to do, one of which is the spiral cave with the undead. I think I'll try that next, as it's in an area that ought to be easy enough to do. After that there are slith brigands and an Empire fort on an island. Those, I think, are probably going to be at a higher difficulty level.

But, I have Divine Fire now. The problem is that I finally ran out of money. I've taken to selling some of the magical items I'm not using. But I need to raid somewhere to store up the loot. There are good spells I can't afford. 

Once I get my spellcasters up to the max in their spells, I'll concentrate giving them some battle skills so they can get battle disciplines. These are quite nice, and the final one, if I recall correctly, is adrenaline rush--you get three attacks in one turn. Nifty for devastating attack spells! But you have to get battle skills to acquire those.

I finally got Maximillian and Aldous up to the blade sweep discipline. In that one you hit all the enemies in a small area with one swoop. Doesn't take 'em out, but it weakens 'em a bit.

I'm finding some nifty items, but I haven't yet ventured into the Honeycomb. That is the maze-like section near Mertis, full of twisty little tunnels, all alike. (Not really--but it's a bit of a challenge to navigate.) There's a brigand fort in there somewhere and I have a mission to knock it out. Plus there is a secret Empire fort in the valley between the Castle and the Tower of Magi. The prize there is a "grey pass" and I remember that area. It's a toughie and can be really frustrating. Full of different levels with monsters firing at you all the time. Then when you get to the top it's a real challenge. The only fight in Avernum I really don't like, and it's in most of the games.

I can't remember the old Avernum 2 game all that much. This one is the rewrite. Jeff certainly has remade the Castle and the Tower of Magi, and basically all the towns. Some folks I remember, so I doubt the script has changed all that much, but it's mostly new to me now!

So tomorrow I will go back to the Tower, but I'll spend time in the Cotra-Silvar area and see what I can accomplish there.

Then we'll see what happens next!

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Avernum Crystal Souls 10: Back to Avernum!

OK! I trekked out to the western Vahnatai lands and found, as I expected, it's going to be too tough a fight for me. So, I went back to the Council and presented my evidence. They said it's time to go back to Avernum and I can come back to Vahnatai lands later. Fine. So I did.

The portal took me to the Tower of Magi, and I have located the return portal. Also bought some more spells and finally am running out of money. The Spiderweb Forum says there is plenty of cash in this game (whew! people must have complained) so no doubt I'll rack it up again. I made a mistake and gave a point of mage skills to Cordelia, thinking she could use the bolt of fire spell. Then, of course, I realized she's wearing too much armor to do that. So I wasted a point. I could give her a swordmage trait, but I don't want to waste a trait on that. She'll have divine fire eventually, and that's a really powerful fire spell.

Of course, Jeff made the Tower of Magi difficult to traverse, but I finally found my way. He's blocked the northern passage, so you have to go around. Still, I found everything. (Part of the gameplay! It's a puzzle!)

Mostly I just bought some spells and talked to everybody. I have some nice new missions, some big and some small. Next I'm going to tackle the snake cult, a bunch of slitherzikai who I don't think are going to be too tough. I just slaughtered a random bunch of them. That cave ought to yield some decent loot. After that I'll trek down to the Castle and get Magi clearance so X can teach me more spells. No doubt there will be fun adventures along the way!

Till then!

Update:  Cleared out the snake cult slith cave. Not terribly difficult with my newfound spells. Finally am using my spells, however, and realized that I'll need energy elixir rather than just the potion. The potion doesn't even restore half of the spell points. And you can't always just run out to a friendly town, restore your strength and go back to the fight. In this area you wind up stuck downstairs until you fight your way out--and this fight included the one against the boss. Still, it wasn't terribly difficult. Fun!

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Avernum Crystal Souls 9: Exploring the REALLY DEEP Underworld

Wow! Well that was quite a time in the Vahnatai lands! Whew!

I did all three of the tests and got almost all of the goodies. I had to leave a couple of minor items behind in the speed test, because quickfire chases you through that one. 

I also got lotsa points by tackling ALL the hellhounds and ice lizards in the cave where you try to awaken more Vahnatai. Naturally, after I finished it, I found the way to avoid that fight. However, I did it and got lotsa loot.

I started to go west, but it looked too tough. I talked to the Council and now have access to the portal to take me back to the Avernum caves, but I decided to do some more exploring in the Vahnatai area before I did that. 

And whew! I tried to go north through the maze of cliffs to get to the lava dome, but that clearly was going to be too tough (the game does warn you about that). I kept saving to be sure I didn't get myself in too deep. Decided not to do the lava dome just yet (although I do have the similaricum spell and it would be nice to grab a demon for it). Then I tried the Vahnatai bandits and managed to do about half of that. But by the time I met the leader of the pack, I was pretty sure I didn't have quite enough oomph left to truly tackle that fight.

So I sneaked back around the way I came, but on the way I found evidence of who really took the crystal souls, and also a nifty spell that added to my resistance. Thought I could just sneak back out the way I snuck in, but met a band of warriors and a mage, and had to fight them to get out. I was in a good spot to just put poor Aldous in the forward position. They only attacked him, allowing me to use range attacks on the pack of enemies while I kept healing Aldous. Managed to get by them that way, and it wasn't really even that tough.

I've had to use up my return life scrolls. No doubt I will find more, but sheesh! Some of those fights were tough. And of course, that's the way it should be. Doable, but tough, therefore fun. And I know enough about these games that I know I can return to the bandit fort and clean it out when I'm stronger.

I'm really enjoying the Vahnatai lands. I remember lots of it, but some of it has to be new. The best thing about it is that Jeff has just poured lots of humor into these alien types. When you first meet them they struggle to speak English, but later on they get fluent and wry. Lots of hilarity.

For tomorrow, I think I'll go see what that western area has to offer, and if it's too tough for now, I'll go present the damning evidence to the Vahnatai council and portal up back to Avernum. There should be plenty to do because the Vahnatai took down the barriers, so I have access to the rest of the game area (including the main cave, with the Castle and the Tower of Magi and Patrick's Tower. Those things never change--well, one does, but I'm not gonna spoil it!)

But that was a truly productive playing session! W00T!

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Avernum Crystal Souls 8: Navigating the Dark Waters

Started the day thinking I could spend most of the time playing, then got caught up in errands driven by whim, and wound up not starting the game until the evening.

Still, I managed to finish the journey to the Vahnatai lands, which is quite a trek through their so-called Dark Waters. These consist of a series of waterfalls that drown all your food (not really a problem, as the stuff only helps a little with healing). But there were some really fun puzzles and fights along the way. And Jeff has provided us with camping areas where we can rest and restore all our action and spell points, because there are no friendly towns to enter. Also, once or twice you find basins of magical water that restore points. So, you can use your spellcasters without worry.

The Vahnatai, starting with this game in the Avernum series of six games, become major characters in the series. They are a strange race of (mostly) wise alien-types who have always lived in the deep caves. When the prisoners got sent down to Avernum and set up their own civilization there, they began to deplete the precious resources of the Vahnatai. Hence, there is tension. Sometimes they are allies and sometimes they are enemies. This game sets it all up.

Beginning Chapter 2, the Voyage to the Vahnati Lands

(Click to embiggen)

Almost got stopped at the beginning. I remember this from the earlier games. Sometimes Jeff throws in a really good puzzle to solve. You have to row through a narrow passageway that is guarded by two locked gates. You can only get out of the boat on one side of the island. There you have a pretty good fight, and find some bent hexagonal bars. Problem is, these don't work in the mechanism that you need to operate to raise the gate, and there is no straight hexagonal bar anywhere--I mean anywhere--on that island. The only solution is to go somewhere else and look.

Then I faced a real problem. In order to get into the place with the mechanism, you have to shatter a wall. But when you leave, the wall goes back to normal (just as all gates and doors revert to shut when you leave an area and come back). I had a stone shatter scroll, and Jeff thoughtfully placed another one in the fighting area for you to pick up. However, I used that looking around that island. Ergo, when I found my hexagonal bar and returned, I couldn't get in. I'd used up both my scrolls. BUT! Before I left Formello, I had bought Cordelia (my priest) all the available spells. I looked in them to see just how many more levels I needed to get "move mountains," and saw that I had it! Hah! It was one of the last two spells I'd bought. So all was well. (Notice how well the game is planned. If you finish the demo area, you will have the spell you need. Plus, I think that you can still get back to Formello from that island, a trip that becomes impossible once you go down all the waterfalls later on. So you ought to be able to get back and build up your strength if you choose to enter this phase of the game too soon. Update: oh deary me, no you can't. Once you hit that first waterfall there's no going back, and there are several waterfalls before you reach this area. Players who get on that boat too soon could easily get stuck and will have to revert to an earlier saved game.)

Of course, after you get through the first half of the puzzle, you have to go over to the other side of the island for more fights to raise the second gate. Plenty of good loot there too!

So far my fears that I didn't have enough skills to deal with the "normal" level have proven to be unfounded. I can fight just fine. Now I'm concentrating on beefing up my fighting skills, and of course, increasing the magic levels for my spellcasters. I must say that the "normal" level is significantly more challenging but actually more fun. I haven't been overwhelmed yet, but have had some tough fights. And, for the first time in my RPG experience, I'm starting to use my consumables. It's one of my major failings as a player. Now that I'm using them, I'm having even more fun. 

One of the puzzles in the journey was figuring out how to operate another mechanism on another island. Jeff gives you the bottom half of a scroll that describes it, and you have to win a major battle against chitrachs (nasty insects that infect all his games) to get to the top half. Included in the fight are a bunch of greater shades, which normally are pretty tough. That's where I used a buncha fire wands, and to good effect. 

So far this game seems a bit easier than Escape from the Pit (its predecessor). Jeff has piled loot all over the place, and I love love love finding loot! When I sent Aldous alone into a portal to navigate the "test" of a dead Vahnatai, he did fine. But that's because Jeff scattered a buncha healing potions and curing potions around. At the very last I looted a fantastic chest with some fabulous stuff, but I had to fight a "revenant," and I couldn't make a dent in him. No way could I have killed it. Finally I just grabbed the loot during three or four combat turns and then gulped down a speed potion. I was able to outrun the thing and got back to the portal with all the loot intact. Most satisfying.

So I have at last reached the Vahnatai town that was the original goal of the trip. I saved just before I had to start three tests that will enable me to see the Vahnatai Council and convince them not to slaughter all the Avernites. I know that I will accomplish these tasks, but not tonight!

Fun!

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Avernum Crystal Souls 7: Out into the World at Last!

At last I have really finished the demo area (for the second time). And, despite playing it on "casual," my party actually has a little bit higher level than the first one did! They're all at level 10. I think it's because I was able to use boats this time, because I've got the full game, and that allowed me into a few areas I couldn't reach before, so I racked up just a bit more experience (or, my all-human party really does advance faster). I've also got all the lock pick skills and cave lore I need. So now I just need to beef up on arcane lore and after that I can concentrate on skills (with a bit of luck and first aid thrown in occasionally). Ergo, it isn't necessary to use the character editor. 

I have reset the game to "normal." Already had one fight and it was indeed tougher than the same stuff on "casual." I have entered the Vahnatai lands and am about to row out into this strange new world. 

I did run into one bit of difficulty, and went to the Spiderweb Forum to get an answer (somebody responded within minutes). I had cleaned out the Blasted Ruins, where some Nephilim were creating undead to harass Formello, and found a altar. There is a quest to perform a Ritual of Sanctification on it to cleanse it permanently. OK, I found the tome with the Ritual, and the game said I knew it. I even returned, clicked on it again, and the game said my knowledge had improved.

But when I went to the altar (and I'm sure it's the right one), I never got the option to do the Ritual. 

But the forum is most helpful! Turns out my priest doesn't have a high enough level yet. Although you can't buy a spell unless you have the right level for it, apparently when you find one in a tome, you can learn it. You just can't use it until you hit the right level. I've got a ways to go on this one. Although I'm at character level 10, I'm only at priest level 6, because I've been spending my points on lock and cave and arcane skills. (More thoughtful game planning from Jeff: you can go back to a teacher to buy skills so it's OK to deny them if your level isn't high enough, but when you find a tome out there in the wild you'd have to backtrack to get it later, so this makes sense.)

That choice may bite me for awhile. But at least I've eliminated the backtracking I would have to do when I come across a lock I can't open or a cache I can't dig up. Having to backtrack like that is a good way to miss important stuff. I remember in the original, early versions of these games you almost never had to backtrack. Jeff had balanced the skill levels with the areas you could enter so well that by the time you got to a new area, you had the skills to conquer it.

So I'm entering the Vahnatai lands with lots of special skills, but limited fighting and magic. Because of this I choose to do every optional battle I find. Every point you get counts.

Tomorrow, I really get to enter the full game! I already have a pretty good idea of where I'll go, but in this new version, what will I find?

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Avernum Crystal Souls 6: Getting Along!

Ah! I'm really charging along. I'd forgotten just how much there is to do in the demo area. Of course, I've still got the game set on "casual" which makes it far too easy, but I am charging through this area.

Right now I'm just concentrating on getting my lock pick, cave lore, arcane knowledge and luck skills up. Because combat is so easy on "casual" I've been getting along quite nicely on just the barest minimum of combat skills. But it's frustrating to have to leave locked doors and chests and to miss out on things because my skill levels aren't high enough yet. This way prevents a lot of backtracking.

In fact, I even was able to take out the spore trees guarding the main treasure room in the back of the Nephil fort. I had to go back for that numerous times with my first party back in January. The only thing I neglected was my arcane knowledge, but I was able to bump that up quickly enough that not too much backtracking was required. 

I don't know if this easy setting will diminish the experience points I earn, but so far they seem to be racking up pretty quickly. I figure that I can check my first party to see where they were when I had to stop, and compare with this one. If I have less experience this time I won't feel badly about using the character editor to bump them up to the level I originally earned. All I'm trying to do here is get through this demo area quickly so I can get on with the game (on "normal," of course). 

I've left the friendly spiders for later. They indeed are annoying, as the all look alike and all have the same name, and I already know the joke, thank you very much (new players will adore them! How not?) However, I know where they are and where the quest is. I suppose I ought to take care of it, but right now I've entered the old Nephil fort on the river that was a major dungeon in the first game. Now it appears to be populated by ghosts. I just took out three basilisks with a nifty fire wand and got major goodies. I left the party there.

More Tips for New Players:  When you finish combat out in the open, use the "get" action to pick up goodies dropped by the enemies before you end combat. Lots of loot there, and it will disappear if you don't get it before you hit the peace button. This only applies to outside fights. Inside loot will stay there until you pick it up. You can leave and come back and get it (in fact, that's what I used to do before the innovation of the junk bag). Put stuff in the junk bag as you find it.

However, do NOT put in the junk bag loot that has been asked for in a quest, such as iron bars and basalt. You don't want to sell those to just any merchant, but only to the character that asked for them. You'll always get a good price and there is never a limit to how much they'll buy.

Remember, money has been tight in recent Spiderweb games, and money buys spells and skills, all of which are essential to finishing the game (although you probably won't be able to afford just everything).

Another thing that's different (and was the same in the previous game, Escape from the Pit) is that you don't regenerate spell energy as you move around. Used to be you could just run around and get all charged up again, but not any more. Now, if you leave a town and use spell energy, you'll have to drink an energy potion or return to a town to get it back (or, I think but am not sure, that leveling up restores it too). That means I'm using my bows on my spellcasters as their usual attack mode. I don't use spells unless I need them.

Plus, be smart (as I wasn't for a ridiculously long time). When you get a "group heal" or a "return life" scroll, don't give all those to your cleric. Your cleric might get killed, and they they're not accessible. Spread those out to folks who don't have the spells.

Anyway, I'm having a real blast! Casual is fun! It isn't really the game though, and I'll be happy to get this demo area out of the way. Casual was the right choice for now, however, as I've already truly cleared the whole area on "normal." 

Tomorrow I'm going to the San Diego Zoo (I'm a member so I go when the weather is cool). Maybe more playing tomorrow night? Probably won't be able to stay away!

Update:  Ha ha. Started to watch a movie and came back to the game. Yup. This is what Spiderweb games do to ya. Obsessive, especially Avernum. So I went ahead and did the quest for the friendly spiders, and was pleased to see that Jeff has added a joke. Taking down the Areana queen was a cinch. On "casual," this is just too easy, but it's serving my purpose of getting through the demo area. I also did the old Nephil fort, which did in fact still have a few Nephil in it. There is a door I can't open, despite having slaughtered the local boss (normally that gets you the key) and even taking down some demons and finding a little key in their chest. It wasn't the right key, however (and I should never have been able to do that--it was the only fight so far in the game that I found difficult on "casual." 

Now that I have a boat I can do more than I could in the demo. I went to Solberg's tower, but it's guarded by demons. Until I go to the Castle or to the Tower of Magi I won't be able to get in. 

So I went to Formello in the boat. I actually paid five coins to rent a room, and saved for the night. Verisimilitude, doncha know.

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Avernum Crystal Souls 5: Starting Over (again)

And so, at last, I have managed to purchase the full copy of Avernum 2: Crystal Souls. Excess expenses have prevented me from spending the measly $20 for four months. Also, my precious Emerald Cat, the blog's official mascot, has passed away far too soon. I just stopped my life for a month when I found out she couldn't be saved, and spent every second I could with her. 

It's been so long since I started this that I decided to just begin again. This time, however, there are no restrictions, no shareware demons, and I can buy boats. Also, with my purchase of the game from Spiderweb's own store (let's keep Jeff in business, shall we?) I got a Steam key for it. Nice touch!

I grabbed a couple of screenshots from the beginning of the game. When you get out of your original location and venture out into the wilderness, you find this nice graphic: 

Click to embiggen

I started again with a human party and until I refinish the demo area, I'm playing on "casual." I've never done that before with a Spiderweb game, but hey, I did this whole area before on "normal" and I just want to get through it again and get on with the game. When I enter the area beyond the demo I'll switch back to "normal." I tried a human party on "hard" a month or so ago and found that it really was quite hard. Too hard, in fact, to really have fun. The casual setting is far too easy, of course. My enemies drop when I almost blow on them. Plus, I just ventured out (in my new boat that I couldn't get before) and found a swampy cave with what looked like a Titan in it, and after quite a battle, I slew the guy. I should never have been able to do that at this stage of the game. I can't even access his treasure, because I don't have the lock picking skills I ought to have at that point in the game. 

So I'll go back to doing the game in the order I ought to be doing it in. I'm supposed to attack the Nephil fort, and I left it there.

And here's the game's description of what we'll find:

Click to embiggen

Why humans? I read on the Spiderweb Forum that for whatever reason, a full human party advances faster. That's never been the case before, but they say it's so. I originally started with two humans, a slith and a nephil. I always wanted to try one of the kitties because they're supposed to be superior archers. However, I really didn't notice much difference. 


I stubbornly keep with my old party names and positions. These are the ones I started with in the original Avernum games from more than a decade ago (we're on the third iteration now), and I'm just used to them. So, Aldous remains my lead soldier--that hasn't changed in the new games. I have a rebel I've named Maximillian, just because the name popped into my head. And, I have Cordelia as a priest, because that's what she used to be, and Mycroft as my sorcerer bringing up the rear. Those, except for Max, are the original party members the original games gave you as a starter party. I like 'em, and I'm keeping them. (Of course, you can custom make your parties any way you like. I'm just used to accepting the nicely balanced parties the game starts with--hence, I've custom made my party into the original standard party.)

Tips for new players: as always in all adventures and RPGs, search everywhere and take everything that isn't nailed down, even from poor peasants (they are computer people; they are not real). Sadly, we can't close doors anymore to steal stuff, but there's plenty there to steal if you watch for characters to wander away. Many do. Always explore the entire perimeters of all towns in the game; Jeff always hides something there to pick up. Sometimes there will be enemies there too. Click on every barrel, crate, cabinet and door. Click on the intact coffins in tomb areas--these very often have nice goodies in them. Click on fireplaces and nests--you'll usually find loot. Click on piles of skulls. Most won't have anything but skulls in them, but Jeff likes to hide some really nice stuff in the occasional pile of skulls. Later we'll be on the lookout for little piles of "dirt," which often contain really nice items. Put everything of value (mouse over the item and the game will give you a value, or not) into your junk bag and sell it all, even crude daggers and vases are worth 20 coins and you'll get five for 'em. Of late, Spiderweb games have had far less available money than they used to have, so you'll need every coin. Spells, especially, are expensive.

Be sure to click on all dead bodies that you find. These almost always have loot, sometimes really major stuff. Careful, often you can't see them very well. Plus, Jeff likes to hide things behind walls that obscure your view. These walls become transparent if you stand in the right area, and you can find loot there. It isn't a mistake--it's part of the Spiderweb gameplay.

And come back to places with areas that you can't access when you get your skills up. There are always goodies in those places.

So I left my little party at the beginning of the Nephil fort. It'll be an easy fight, but I want to get going in this game, finally! 

(And eventually I really will finish Baldur's Gate, if I can. If not, well, I'll want to replay it sometime anyway. For now though, I've waited long enough for Crystal Souls!)

Onward!

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