Various Thoughts

The third and final game in the remade first Avernum trilogy once again improves on the formula found in the prequels.

Here the action moves to the surface, and that means the addition of a day/night cycle (with a bit of weather even). The progress of time actually has an in-game effect in that the devastation from the various monster plagues will start causing parts of towns to get destroyed if you take too long to solve them. It’s a very generous time limit though (I finished the game at ~100 days; the last two plagues don’t start affecting things until 101 and 141 days), and you can of course still complete the game even if you let things deteriorate.

The soft level cap has been increased to 35 (though you’re unlikely to hit it in normal play), the combat interface has been upgraded to actually show movement distances, several new ground-hazard spells have been added, and there’s even an optional ‘main’ quest that can be completely missed unless you waste a bunch of time (I think it’s supposed to trigger at 160+ days).

I did indeed end up going with an all-archer party and archery is pretty powerful with maxed out Sharpshooter/Sniper (200+ damage on a critical). Enemies only having a 5% chance to hit me was also quite nice:

Ranger
Dex; End on levels 4/8/12/16/20/24/28/32
Melee/Bows 8, Priest 17; Hardiness/Parry/Gymnastics 10; Sharpshooter 10, Sniper/Lethal Blow 4
Bows+Melee/Hardiness/Parry x6 -> Priest+Melee/Hardiness/Parry x15 -> Melee+Gymnastics -> Gymnastics+Hardiness/Parry/Sharpshooter x9 -> Sharpshooter+Sniper/Lethal Blow
XP x2, Nimble Fingers x2, Negotiator, Sage Lore, Parry x2, Improved Dex x5, Sure Aim x3

Sharpshooter
Dex; End on levels 4/8/12/16/20/24/28/32
Bows 8, Sharpshooter/Sniper/Lethal Blow/Gymnastics 10; Tool Use/First Aid 10, Luck 5
Bows+Tools/Sharpshooter/Sniper x6 -> Sharpshooter+Tools/Sniper x7 -> Sniper+Tools x3 -> Sniper+Luck -> Lethal Blow+Gymnastics x7 -> First Aid+Luck/Lethal Blow/Gymnastics x10
XP x2, Nimble Fingers x2, Negotiator, Sage Lore, Sure Aim x3, Improved Dex x5, Luck x2

Arcane Archer x2
Dex; Int on levels 3/6/9/12/15/18/21/24/27/30/33
Bows 8, Mage 16; Spellcraft/Resistance/Sharpshooter/Sniper 10; Arcane||Nature Lore 9
Mage+Bows/Spellcraft/Lore x15 -> Bows+Lore x2 -> Spellcraft+Resistance x4 -> Resistance+Sharpshooter/Sniper x6 -> Sharpshooter+Sniper x7
XP x2, Nimble Fingers x2, Negotiator, Sage Lore, Elemental Focus x5, Improved Int x5, Sure Aim x3, Improved Dex x5

The first two were Nephilim, and there are several places in the game where having non-human party members can be a problem. Most notably around the two towns in the far east which are patrolled by guards that will attack you, and if you kill them those towns will end up permanently hostile (locking you out of two minor quests).

Of particular note is that this game returns to the style of the first in being extremely open-world. Fortunately though there aren’t really any obstacles that require backtracking for doing things in the ‘wrong’ order. I actually ended up clearing most of Upper Avernum out before heading to the surface, and as a result was so overleveled for the slimes that I went and stopped the roaches first. This turned out to be a fortuitous chain of events though, as that let me get into Sharimik & Gale quite early to fill out my spellbooks.

That said, it’s weird you can find Demonslayer in the final dungeon when (unlike the prequels) the game ends after the final dungeon. You can’t keep playing, and the only quest it would be useful in you may not even trigger… so that was annoying. Some other annoyances would be the proliferation of laser/mirror puzzles and the return of the hack&slash-heavy finale. Those relatively minor issues aside it ends up a fairly enjoyable and fitting conclusion to the trilogy overall.

The followup to Escape from the Pit improves upon just about everything.

The GUI is a bit slicker, the environmental textures are a bit more varied, it starts off somewhat linear to ease you into the game, some puzzles/traps get introduced that trigger off of careless movement, there’s a lot more loot to sell, the ending quests aren’t as mindlessly hack & slashy, and there’s even a sidequest that has multiple outcomes (though neither actually affects anything).

There wasn’t any dedicated walkthrough for it though, so I had to do some searching to compile an effective assortment of skills and efficient initial location order. I ended up with:

Paladin
Int; End on levels 3/6/9/12/15/18/21/24/27/30
Melee 8, Priest 14; Hardiness/Parry/Spellcraft/Resistance 10; Tool Use 1
Melee+Hardiness/Parry x7 -> Priest+Hardiness/Parry x7 -> Priest+Spellcraft/Resistance x6 -> Spellcraft/Resistance x7 -> Hardiness/Parry x2
Nimble Fingers, Negotiator, XP x2, Parry Master x2, Elemental Focus x5, Improved Int x5, Health x3, Luck x2, Improved End x3

Warmage
Int; End on levels 3/6/9/12/15/18/21/24/27/30
Pole 8, Mage 16; Spellcraft/Hardiness/Resistance 10, Luck 3; Tool Use 5, Cave Lore 1
Mage+Spellcraft/Resistance/Tool Use x12 -> Pole+Mage/Hardiness x6 -> Pole+Spellcraft -> Spellcraft+Hardiness/Resistance x5 -> Luck+Hardiness/Resistance x5
Nimble Fingers x2, Negotiator, Sage Lore, XP x2, Elemental Focus x5, Improved Int x5, Luck x2, Blessing Focus x5, Health

Mystic Theurge x2
Int; Dex on levels 4/8/12/16/20/24/28
Bow/Priest 8, Mage 16; Spellcraft/Resistance 10; Tool Use 2, Arcane Lore 1, First Aid 8
Mage+Spellcraft/Resistance x15 -> Bow+Tool Use -> Bow+Spellcraft/Resistance x4 -> Bow+Priest/First Aid x2 -> Priest+First Aid/Resistance
Nimble Fingers, Negotiator, Sage Lore, XP x2, Elemental Focus x5, Improved Int x5, Luck x2, Health x3, Improved Dex x4

All human, since it’s hard to argue with eight free traits. I went with a full magic party this time and only regretted it a little in the final assassination mission with all those warded enemies that had to be physically hit before they could be damaged. Initial order for Chapter 4 was:

– Move Mountains 2 (Formello)
– Buy/Upgrade Spells (Various)
– Blessed Athame (Totem Tunnels -> Halls of Chaos)
– Move Mountains 3 (Serpent Cult)
– Dispel Barrier 2 (Kill Limoncelli)
– Deciphering Lens (Magi Clearance -> Patrick’s Tower)
– Dispel Barrier 3 (Magi Clearance -> Barrier Tower)
– Orb of Thralni (Secret Empire Fort -> Kothtar)

This worked out extremely well and resulted in being able to systematically clear every area afterward without any need for backtracking (besides when destroying the portal, as I forgot to pick up the Scepter first). It was a much more enjoyable experience overall than the prequel, though I think for the next game in the series I’m going to actually try and use an all-archery party (with magic backup). Hopefully it won’t turn into a depressing grind.

Just cleared all three main quests, and all in all I’d say that was an enjoyable experience. Hopefully the two follow-ups will be comparable.

There were a number of oddities/annoyances though. For instance:
– Graphically it’s weird Icy Rain looks like fire.
– Attacks that miss will often still apply their secondary effects (like knockback).
– It’s often difficult to target a particular square with an AoE spell.
– Clicking to attack something you can’t directly reach will often send the character running away along some sidepath to get there.
– Movement in general is finicky.
– There are far, far too many worthless items.
– Gold caps out at 30k.

Cave Lore ended up indeed pretty worthless; technically it pays for itself, but only if you uncover all hidden caches (I found 25 of 40) and/or grind herb patches. The 3rd level of Dispel Barrier is also pretty worthless as only the one in Gremlin’s Gold protects anything useful (a +1 Luck bonus). Most abilities/spells end up superfluous as well. You basically just need to buy Icy Rain/Call Storm, Fireblast/Divine Fire, Arcane Blow/Divine Retribution, and Cloak of the Arcane/Ward of Elements. Maxed out Haste and Protection are nice though and Divine Restoration is a solid ‘panic button’.

Skill-wise First Aid actually ended up being quite useful for those ending quest enemy gauntlets, and it’s not like there’s much else of use for a spellcaster to buy once they max out Spellcraft. Riposte was indeed utterly useless (it’s weaker than Spine Shield), though ranged attacks often ended up a fine alternative to wasting spells on weak enemies.

At the end of the day… the game’s a somewhat bizarre combination of modern ease of use (e.g. unlimited carry weight) and classic fuckovers (unworkable character builds). Worth playing, but not worth playing without any foreknowledge of what to expect.

Now having just reached Kyass at level 19 with ~50% or so of the map cleared, it seems like a good a place as any to mark as a midpoint for an open-world game.

That second boss fight turned out to not be indicative of later ones, except in that ‘enemy summons help behind you’ is a re-occurring theme. Money also turned out to be not as much of an issue as I thought it would, as you can get by just fine spamming maxed out Icy Rains and have little need to buy any other early spells besides healing-related ones. Of course, I’ve specifically avoided buying weapons training from the early trainers since later ones are cheaper. If you just buy stuff from whomever I could definitely see it running out fast.

There were conflicting reports regarding the usefulness of Cave Lore, and as of now I’m firmly in the “It’s not worth bothering with.” camp. Starting out with a Tool Use of 8 and getting it up to 11 by 10th level turned out to be a solid plan, as did having 12 Arcane Lore by the same point (Sage Lore and Arcane Lore 1 on each spellcaster). Relatively little backtracking so far has been required and progress has been smooth.

I did end up having to revise my leveling plan though:

Fighter
Attributes: Str; End at level 4/7/10/13/16/19/22/25/28
Skills: Melee+Blademaster/Hardiness/Parry x9; Priest+Tools; Blademaster+Hardiness/Parry x5; Spellcraft+Resistance; Hardiness/Parry/Luck/Whatever
Traits: Improved Str, Mighty Blows, Ambidex, Negotiator, Health, Improved Str x4, Parry x2, Dual Blade, Mighty Blows x2, Health

Priest
Attributes: Int; End at level 5/9/13/17/21/25/29
Skills: Priest+Spellcraft/Resistance x3, Priest+Tools x2; Priest+Spellcraft/Resistance x6; Priest+Melee; Priest+Spellcraft/Resistance x2; Spellcraft/Resistance x4; Luck/Whatever
Traits: Health, Elemental Focus/Improved Int x2, Negotiator, Elemental Focus, Sage Lore, Elemental Focus x3, Improved Int x4, Health x2

Mage x2
Attributes: Int; Dex at level 5/9/13/17/21/25/29
Skills: Mage+Spellcraft/Resistance x9; Mage+Tools; Mage+Weapon x4; Mage+Spellcraft/Resistance x2; Priest+Spellcraft/Resistance/Luck x8; Whatever
Traits: Elemental Focus/Improved Int x3, Negotiator, Health, Sage Lore, Elemental Focus x3, Improved Int x4, Health x2