SneaksieDave on 24/11/2004 at 04:32
Whoa... Deiyen, regarding Shany:
[SPOILER]The demon is linked to Shany? Every time I tried to go to the altar room (at that time, I didn't know she was supposed to be there), I only came across the priests, and they were being attacked by a demon. The demon comes from Shany? Perhaps I was seconds too late?[/SPOILER]
For storage, I use the torture chamber. Anvil, water, fire, a barrel, table, and lots of room. Can't beat it! :)
Seriously considering going Thief/mage route this time.
twisty on 24/11/2004 at 09:35
Yeah, you got there too late buddy :p.
Lytha on 24/11/2004 at 14:07
Then maybe I should boost my intelligence now. I have so far: Str = 8, Con = 8, and Dex = 17, and probably still a few points to distribute, because I did not dare to put them all into a stat before I know what I need next.
I stole the key and the goodies from the female shopkeeper by confusing her. That happened accidentally... I wanted to Bless me for some more pickpocket attempts at the civilians of Arx, and casted a Confuse spell instead. So I tested what would happen. :D But I do now know which door her key opens. :(
I am a packrat, yes. :) 3 rows in the inventory - I can fill them in no time. Must... grab... everything... ;)
About the tools, well yes. I have quite a nice pile of them already in my favourite barrel in the cystal caves, though I ruined a couple of them... and I took not even all the tools with me that I found while roaming around. I am still trying to figure out if his/my comments on a failed lockpick attempt give me hints if a lock can't be picked at all (as in Jagged Alliance 2 ;) ). So far, I think that "impossible" means that I need a key, while "Uhm, I broke my tools" or "Not a very successful attempt" means that it would be possible with more mechanical skill. I experimented a bit with Bless, but a ring of +10% mechanical skill would be very nice.
The rewards in the chests so far were a bit disappointing though, that's right. Some swords (which I cannot use or don't want to use) in the Outpost, several goodies in Arx, a broken Crypt door (it would not open!), and a great treasury in the troll mine (12gp and a gem). But I know that there are more locked chests around that I must open. ;)
While exploring (I love Levitate), I found a weird ice cave, next to Grewp. Because I could not achieve much more in there than to look perplexed around, I just killed the rats, looted the skeletons, and left again. Somehow, I don't think I am supposed to levitate around so much just yet, as these areas are all a bit weird (hostile Snakewomen, empty Ice cave.)
And I would really love to find the matching leggins for the rest of my outfit... though that stealth armor is really not very good for the armor class, it just looks so sweet. ;)
SneaksieDave on 24/11/2004 at 15:53
Quote Posted by twisty
Yeah, you got there too late buddy :p.
Damn... poor girl. I'm unsure how I could've gotten there earlier though, because as I walked up to it (passing the stairwell up) I heard the conjuring sounds and then the fight break out. Hrm, maybe because I had been there previously? Ah well. Better luck next time, Shany.
Quote Posted by Lytha
While exploring (I love Levitate), I found a weird ice cave
Go back. ;)
That's one of my favorite places in the whole game.
Lytha on 24/11/2004 at 16:58
Well, I saved Shany according to the instructions from a walkthrough. I went to the room with the "serpent pillar" in the mine-section, walked around that pillar a bit, until a cutscene started (4 guys in robes walked past the pillar), then I chased these evil guys in good old Assassins-manner, engaged actually some of them in combat, shortly before they entered the room.
Their high priest (the only spellcaster among them) was already waving a sacrificing dagger around when I entered the room... but he abandoned the murder of Shany because he thought it would be more fun to attack me.
I found the stealth leggins now (current stealth: 87%). :)
And I have now the spell "enchantment" in my spellbook. However, if I try to use some bone powder or garlick or one of these rocks on my weapon, he only tells me that this is not a good idea. :(
The only thing that worked was garlick on my wooden shield. It turned green - but I noticed no other improvement. o.O I guess that's something I want to figure out quickly, so that I can use up my pile of improvement stuff... or perhaps I am still too unskilled for that.
SneaksieDave on 24/11/2004 at 18:23
Quote Posted by Lytha
I went to the room with the "serpent pillar" in the mine-section, walked around that pillar a bit, until a cutscene started (4 guys in robes walked past the pillar), then I chased these evil guys in good old
Assassins-manner, engaged actually some of them in combat, shortly before they entered the room.
Ah, I think I see what I did "wrong". I did get there too late. I killed a guy or two from the group heading to that room, but then... I can't remember - I either got sidetracked, or went down the stairway they came up, to see if there was anything to see there. I guess poor Shany was already sacrificed by the time I got there.
Quote:
And I have now the spell "enchantment" in my spellbook. However, if I try to use some bone powder or garlick or one of these rocks on my weapon, he only tells me that this is not a good idea. :(
Right. :( Unfortunately, much of the enchanting in Arx is very limited. Like, armor can only be enchanted with Amikar's rock. I thought it would have been nice to have an armor with +1 STR. Also, once something is magic in one way, that's it - no more enchantments on it. It would have allowed for some nice possibilities if they didn't do this.
Quote:
The only thing that worked was garlick on my wooden shield. It turned green - but I noticed no other improvement. o.O I guess that's something I want to figure out quickly, so that I can use up my pile of improvement stuff... or perhaps I am still too unskilled for that.
This is a common question (I had it too) so I'll spoil if you want:
[SPOILER]The item used (amikar's rock, garlic, bone dust, golem heart...) merely gets the weapon or armor "ready to be enchanted." At that point, you cast the enchant spell on the object (lay it on the ground for ease).[/SPOILER]
Lytha on 25/11/2004 at 00:14
Rotfl, I just made it to the inhabitant of the ice cave, chatted with her for a while (it seemed as if I was supposed to have met her already before: she knew my name and the task)... then I grabbed one of the eggs, and she went berzerk.
However, she was unable to kill me because I had run right "into" her. I basically stood either on her back or below her tummy, I guess, so the frost attacks mostly missed.
I almost ruined my dagger, then I switched to Incinerates, and she dropped quite fast then... erm.
Because of that cutscene I am thinking now though that I was perhaps not supposed to kill her (yet).... so I reloaded. *g*
Brad Schoonmaker on 25/11/2004 at 05:53
Interesting reading. Haven't played Arx in a long time, but the Ice Cave was the most memorable bit for me.
This game leaves it all up to the player to figure out so if you second guess yourself on something, it's likely doing something else is just as good. There are plenty of great aspects to this game, but I think you'll find being a packrat in it is just a painful leason in planning for something not gonna happen. Someone else on another thread spelled it out clearly so I won't repeat it. I know it meself since I play that way, too.
IMO, this game is too hard for first timers as anything but a warrior mage, but hope it works out for ya. :)
Deiyen on 25/11/2004 at 07:27
Quote Posted by Lytha
So far, I think that "impossible" means that I need a key, while "Uhm, I broke my tools" or "Not a very successful attempt" means that it would be possible with more mechanical skill.
Yep. You got it.
Killing the Ice Caves inhabitant doesn't really make <i>that</i> much of a difference. All you need is the egg really. But you miss a couple conversations.
And the enchant really confuses me. That's one part I never really got down. I think different items can be enchanted with different things, while some things can't be enchanted at all. After combining the objects, you need to put the item on the ground before enchanting it. If you equip it again, you should see a stats improvement, but it won't be listed in the description. I'm only about 30% sure about all that though, so don't quote me or anything. :erg:
Lytha on 25/11/2004 at 12:05
Well, when I tried to enchant my wooden shield, I doubleclicked on the garlic, then on the shield. I heard a "now that looks interesting". I dropped the shield on the ground and casted the spell on it, and I heard yet another positive oneliner from myself.
The thing is though that I noticed no difference in the shield's stats. No "+1 Dex" (garlic means a dex bonus, right?) or somesuch. It only had turned green, just like my assassin's dagger (but I always presumed that one was green because it has a chance to poison the target.)
My attention span is short, so I did not walk around some more with my green wooden shield on the search for another one, so that I could compare their stats.
Well, anyway. I think I am now infront of a frustrating task: either the return to the Akbaa-Temple, or some more roaming around in the deep levels. In the temple, I already got killed once (he just ignored my frost wall and whoa, was he fast... :( ); in the deep levels, I was freaked out by the uninviting landscape (giant round things with teeth/spikes? Hanging corpses?)
Hm... if I only need an egg (or two - yes, I looked at the walkthrough again), and only miss a couple of conversations... then perhaps I should just go and kill the lady in the ice cave. Some more XP might help me against the fast guys in heavy armor.
