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#350171 17/03/08 05:12 PM
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Am I in trouble?

Just started this game for the first time, and he asked me to find some herbs for me, and started to show me the one he had left. I'm a bit confused about moving in this game, so I clicked _on_ the herb to walk to it, and that pickedc it up! He called me a thief, and chased me out of the store.
Now he want talk to me.

Am I stuck with whatever weapons/armor I can find?

#350172 17/03/08 05:50 PM
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Sounds like George in the town you start in (Aleroth) you're talking about, not Geoff (In Ars Magicana of Rivertown).

As for breaking your game, you just broke a small side-quest. There will be other merchants with much better equipment, potions, etc. Also, George would have eventually stopped trading with you anyways. (And you still should be able to find and complete the quest to find out about that)

Might be a bit harder, but bear in mind you should still be able to trade with the various healers of Aleroth by clicking the "Trade" button when you're talking with them. I'm unsure if any of them can repair your equipment.

Also, welcome to the forums. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />

#350173 17/03/08 08:47 PM
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You don't have a recent save you can reload? I did the same thing the first time I played, but had saved before entering the shop. Actually that worked out a little better, because the second time I didn't follow him right away, but did some looting after he entered his other room.

Have you done many of the other quests in town, like curing the two sick soldiers? That quest will raise your reputation, which may be enough for George to start talking to you again. There are other quests outside Aleroth that can raise your reputation, but I'm not sure it would be worth the diversion (if you are strong enough to do the other quests, you don't need what George has to offer and have access to better merchants).

I didn't really get much from George, other than what I looted. I bought a small shield from him, but upgraded it with a found one a level or 2 into the catacombs. He may have had another 1 or 2 minor upgrades for equipment, but most what I used was found.


The dwarf Otho can repair equipment (he also gets cranky about people touching his stuff), but having at least a skill point in Repair yourself is handy so you don't have to head back to a merchant whenever your equipment gets damaged. Full durability equipment sells for more, as well. That will not matter until you get to better traders, though. In Aleroth you should be able to find more than enough broken, crappy or full durability items to sell or trade for potions or the odd equipment upgrade.


You can click and hold the mouse button down to move your character in the direction of the cursor, rather than repeatedly clicking on the ground.


Early Starter Tips (NON-Spoiler Version)

#350174 18/03/08 06:06 AM
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Follow Raze's advice, he's one of the coolest people on the forum! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" /> Ragnar Iceblood is a cool name for a Scandanavian Warrior! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />


"Oh Lord, how long will the search go on?"
#350175 18/03/08 12:15 PM
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Follow Raze's advice, he's one of the coolest people on the forum! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" /> Ragnar Iceblood is a cool name for a Scandanavian Warrior! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />



hehe thanks mate, pretty old name, used it in UO (Europe server) for instance.

Anyhow, George, not Geofrey was suddenly murdered, so I got some free items <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
Yes I put a skill point in repair, so weapons aint an issue anymore. Playing a survivor on hard is really though. Haven't found a single good dagger yet, and all the swords require 30-35 in STR, which I've yet to accomplish (now at lvl 6).

I've venture outside the village now, and a whole slew of quests suddenly popped up. However I get chased _a lot_ by hordes of monsters. Found a bow which I'm using now, but its not terrible fast.

Any tips on playing a survivor?

I really like this game for the atmosphere (music, story), and the incredible funny quests and things that happen.

The necromancer...
<span class='standouttext'>Spoiler : </span><span class='spoiler'> ..who are brought back to life, just to suddenly hate it, and asks you to kill him? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Took a long time for me to kill all the monsters going after me, but it was worth it XP wise. (yes i know I could have run just north, and get all the monsters auto-killed) </span>

or

the 2 skeletons ...

<span class='standouttext'>Spoiler : </span><span class='spoiler'> ...discussing how on earth they can talk, or even MOVE! just to drop dead in front of you? </span>

anyhow, I got a whole camp of NPC soldiers mat at me, they got

<span class='standouttext'>Spoiler : </span><span class='spoiler'>...charmed by some guys, and now they all are trying to murder me. How to I find the magician who charmed them? I dont wanna kill the good guys! </span>

Hope I'm using the spoilers correctly!

#350176 18/03/08 07:52 PM
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Are you sure you are only at level 6? My first game, playing a warrior on normal, I was level 9 when I meet Zandalor for the first time (after finishing the catacombs and leaving Aleroth).
Playing a survivor on hard, I was level 4 before I entered the catacombs, without leaving Aleroth. At level 1, if you defeat the zombie Jake (the graveyard would be easiest), you will get enough experience points to bring you up to level 3. This requires a lot of hit and run with a bow, or a moderate amount using Meteorstrike. Defeat him a second time (in his cellar) and you get to level 4.


[color:"orange"]Any tips on playing a survivor?[/color]

Use poison Weapon on your Bow / dagger.

The warrior's 'path of the specialist' skill Bow Expertise can help with your recuperation time.

I found a training sword looting Lanilor's house that I used for most of the catacombs, and there are a couple other types of swords with relatively low requirements (don't recall the damages on them, though).

If you find a sword you want to use, there is a bonus (or maybe a bug) with the Sword Expertise skill, as well as Augment Damage. If you have level 1 of either skill and save and reload the game, you will have level 2. The male warrior starts off with these skills, but other characters need to put the first skill point in themselves to get the extra level for each.


You may have seen these already, but;

sorta new, got a quick question

Best Dagger?


You can avoid the camp of mind controlled soldiers; there is nothing there either required or of any particular value (other than the experience points if you were to kill them). You will meet one of the 3 mages later in the game (part of the main plot), after which the spell will be broken.

#350177 19/03/08 02:20 AM
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I found out those tricks only the second time I played, (as a survivor, IN HARD <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />, I ALWAYS play in hard! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />) but the first time I played, I was a warrior, and I
messed up quite a bit, (even missing the catacombs in Aleroth) so I ended up in Stormfist Castle at level 7! (not to mention playing in hard!) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ROFL.gif" alt="" /> But I still managed, and in spite of messing up about 10-15 side quests, still ended the game at level 49! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> The main reason for my messing up was my graphics card, (everything surrounded by black squares) which was a problem I fixed by changing the graphics options to "using alpha bit mode", only the second time I played! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/memad.gif" alt="" /> Oh well, at least I did a pretty good job considering the circumstances... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />


"Oh Lord, how long will the search go on?"
#350178 19/03/08 05:01 AM
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[color:"orange"]I ended up in Stormfist Castle at level 7![/color]

That's pretty impressive. In a game trying for the lowest possible character level finish, Areana entered the castle about level 5, cleared the council hall about level 6, eventually doing the blessing ceremony at level 12, to end up in the wastelands at level 17.

#350179 19/03/08 05:34 AM
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Impressive! Was Areana playing in hard? Was it his/her first time? How old was Areana? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> 'cause if he/she was playing in hard, for the first time, at the age of
14, then I've been FULLY beaten. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> If not, then I still have some records there! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ROFL.gif" alt="" />


"Oh Lord, how long will the search go on?"
#350180 19/03/08 06:17 AM
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I don't recall if Areana was playing on normal or hard difficulty (I think hard). I do not know how old she was at the time, but she had previously completed the game (a couple times, IIRC).

#350181 19/03/08 11:33 AM
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I don't recall if Areana was playing on normal or hard difficulty (I think hard). I do not know how old she was at the time, but she had previously completed the game (a couple times, IIRC).

AH... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ROFL.gif" alt="" /> Also, (I forgot to mention) I did it without ANY help from ANY source! (you know, the Forum, magazines, older siblings, friends, etc.) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/badsmile2.gif" alt="" />


"Oh Lord, how long will the search go on?"
#350182 19/03/08 12:35 PM
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[color:"orange"]I ended up in Stormfist Castle at level 7![/color]

That's pretty impressive. In a game trying for the lowest possible character level finish, Areana entered the castle about level 5, cleared the council hall about level 6, eventually doing the blessing ceremony at level 12, to end up in the wastelands at level 17.



Thats low charactor levels. The 1st time I Played I didn't know which quests were part of the main story line(Or mandatory) and which were optional. To finish at that level must mean only doing the main story line and even then running past the monsters or using fade from sight and shadow potions.

The 1st time I played I tried staying in Rivertown as long as possible. I didn't care for the wastelands. The Orcs were my favorite enemy to fight and never saw any in the wastelands. Though I went didn't clear the entire map there.

I wonder how may levels Areana got in the wastelands. Because killing 4 monsters there at level 17 would probably level you. I get the feeling that this involves using scorpians and fighting invisible a lot, either that or tons of potions. But I don't see how you could afford to buy enough potions unless early on you had some charms drop that you could use to trade for them.

I net Areana killed every rabbit, chicken and cow on the map. Great substitute for potions and will only give 50xp for rabbits and chickens. Cows might be slightly more, not sure.

Edited to fix typos


Last edited by red_green; 19/03/08 12:39 PM.
#350183 19/03/08 01:51 PM
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I think its possible to enter Stormfist Castle by level 3. If all you do is do the Orc quests without killing anything. What I'd like to know is if you never cure Madarious (sp?) well he show up cured in the later quests or won't he show up until he is cured?

My level 2 charactor got an Elemental Hail book which is a level 24 spell that would deal with just about anything in Rivertown, just a matter of having enough mana. So I can see where you could fly through the game with that, but not sure I see the point of it.

#350184 19/03/08 03:49 PM
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[color:"orange"]To finish at that level must mean only doing the main story line[/color]

Yes, she only fought when absolutely necessary (using a survivor for the Sneak ability), completed as few quests as possible. She did get go through the catacombs and cure Mardaneus, part of the main plot, but which people have since discovered will not break anything critical if skipped.

She could not use scorpions (etc) most of the time, because she could not control what they attacked. Fights could be quite long and tedious, due to having a much lower level than the bosses she had to fight (low stats and poor equipment). Fighting the succubus at level 5 or 6, her chance to hit was small enough that she would save after getting a successful hit, so she wouldn't loose that progress if she got killed (she missed something like 4 out of 5 times, or more, and could be killed in 1 or 2 hits).

Once Areana got to the wastelands she quit. By then she had proved her point, so to speak, and set a record. Finishing the game would have meant more tedious fights with Black Ring members she had already fought once.

I do not recall if Areana went after animals for the meat, or avoided them for the unnecessary experience (though after you go up a couple levels the experience you get for them starts dropping). She certainly took advantage of any bread and meat she came across, though.


Arena confirmed that character level influences stats of equipment. The higher your character level, the better the chance stats will be in the upper range of what is possible for any particular piece of equipment. She tried the holy item quest at level 5, hoping to get a Frost sword, but gave up reloading after a fair bit of time. Coming back to this quest around level 8 or 10, she found it much easier to get acceptable stats on the holy sword (though she didn't get Frost).


[color:"orange"]if you never cure Madarious (sp?) well he show up cured in the later quests or won't he show up until he is cured?[/color]

When you scry for the human council member and leave the council hall, Aleroth gets reset for the orc invasion. Mardaneus' house is locked, the ladder in his cellar removed, and if he had not been cured yet, Demona apparently knocks some sense into him. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Once person who had not entered the catacombs experienced problems after scrying for the human council member; once they left the council hall, they could no longer save. Opening the catacombs before scrying avoided this problem, however.

#350185 19/03/08 04:35 PM
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[color:"orange"]To finish at that level must mean only doing the main story line[/color]

Yes, she only fought when absolutely necessary (using a survivor for the Sneak ability), completed as few quests as possible. She did get go through the catacombs and cure Mardaneus, part of the main plot, but which people have since discovered will not break anything critical if skipped.

She could not use scorpions (etc) most of the time, because she could not control what they attacked. Fights could be quite long and tedious, due to having a much lower level than the bosses she had to fight (low stats and poor equipment). Fighting the succubus at level 5 or 6, her chance to hit was small enough that she would save after getting a successful hit, so she wouldn't loose that progress if she got killed (she missed something like 4 out of 5 times, or more, and could be killed in 1 or 2 hits).

Once Areana got to the wastelands she quit. By then she had proved her point, so to speak, and set a record. Finishing the game would have meant more tedious fights with Black Ring members she had already fought once.

I do not recall if Areana went after animals for the meat, or avoided them for the unnecessary experience (though after you go up a couple levels the experience you get for them starts dropping). She certainly took advantage of any bread and meat she came across, though.


Arena confirmed that character level influences stats of equipment. The higher your character level, the better the chance stats will be in the upper range of what is possible for any particular piece of equipment. She tried the holy item quest at level 5, hoping to get a Frost sword, but gave up reloading after a fair bit of time. Coming back to this quest around level 8 or 10, she found it much easier to get acceptable stats on the holy sword (though she didn't get Frost).




It would get really tough in the wastelands at level 17 since even a higher charactor should have about 75% in resists. I want to get a charactor to the wastelands earlier than my last one. I'm thinking that level 24-27 would be stong enough to take out the weaker units there without dieing too often. The drops and items you can buy are much nicer in the wastelands, so if I arrived with poor equipment I could upgrade it fairly quickly.

Unique drops can be funny. I reloaded the dragon gloves about 12 times to get really nice ones. One of the reloads had no mods at all on it and was worth only 4 gold. So it went the whole range. I don't like reloading anymore, was alright for 1st time through. Playing with what you get is more of a challenge and mskes the other drops more valuable. Though I can see reloading a dagger for an assassin because there is little opportunity to get a good one.

The warrior has a good potential for finishing early with fade from sight and swirl combo. I know fade from sight is a level 24 spell but in about 1/3rd of my games I get that spell book around level 5 or so.

#350186 20/03/08 01:11 AM
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[color:"orange"]The warrior has a good potential for finishing early with fade from sight and swirl combo.[/color]

Shadow potions also work, though that exploit removes any challenge from the game.

#350187 20/03/08 01:16 PM
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[color:"orange"]The warrior has a good potential for fishing early with fade from sight and swirl combo.[/color]


Nice feats to use for fishing ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />


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#350188 20/03/08 03:11 PM
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I brought that up not as a way to make the game easier but as a way to get to the wastelands earlier. Then not using it after that and trying to level up from a low level in the wastelands. When I 1st went to the wastlands I was level 43 so everything was a cake walk. I finished the gam but am playing an earlier reload. I am currently massing the toughest monsters at the island that has the entrance to the dungeons, then by using my 3rd rate weapon and not having more than 40 in resists I can still make challenging battles.

I tried getting a level 3 charactor out of the levels below stormfist castle. Without having about 24 shadow potions 24 mana potions and using a map its near impossible with scorpians chasing you. I do not see how fighting through Rivertown without killing extra enemies to get gold to buy potions, anyone would have enough potions to fight a battle with a boss that might last over 20 minutes at very low level when 2 hits can kill you. And always using shadow potions to get out of areas like this without a fight is kinda an exploit also.

In practice a level 3 charactor would not have enough stanina to maintain visibility for more than about 3-4 seconds. Not using any cheats, such as duping gold or potions, there is no way to afford enough potions that early in the game either. So as easy as it might sound, you can't rely on these potions till you get enough gold and like I said, If you avoided all unnessacery fights, where will the gold come from?

I think no matter how you play, if your goal is to get the the wastlands as soon as possible it would mean dying a lot and lots of reloads. I think I am contant to play my higher level with a handicap. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

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As far as money for potions goes, you can collect all the axes in the catacombs for some pretty decent cash, though finding someone in Aleroth who can afford to buy them is another story. On my latest game, I got my invitation to Stormfist at lvl 7, though I hadn't thought about trying to get there at the lowest level possible. I was almost lvl 5 when I entered the catacombs and even then a few hits from the bigger monsters was pretty deadly. I pumped up my agility quite a bit and still got hit a lot.

I don't know though, it seems like if you skipped the catacombs altogether, got your one free point in restoration, then went straight to do the two army quests, it seems possible (maybe not easy) to get an invitation pretty darn early. Beyond that would get pretty tough. As I recall, Iona's dungeon has a few spots with lots of scorpions, that would pose a major problem to someone who relies on sneak a lot. Though a minor shadow potion would help with that.

Which reminds me, I'll need a few of those at the council hall, since both mummies and ghosts are quite speedy. I can probably round all the main room ones up into one of the other rooms then sneak out of there, then sneak straight for the boss.

Something else I thought of as far as early gold goes, Spoiler?
when George goes to show you his plant, you can loot his stuff, in my game his giant sword was worth over 1,000 gold. That could buy a good ammount of minor potions at the right price.
But yeah, on my way to Ars Magicana I fought the main bully guy you meet on the road just to see if I could, I burned through all like 6 of my minor restorations just to (barely) do it. Then I reloaded deciding it wasn't worth it. So yeah, at low levels, fighting "boss" types that can hit you hard, and that you only rarely hit, that's a major obstacle.

EDIT:

Well I had to give it a try, I made it to Stormfist (with invitation) at lvl 3, but immediately got pushed to lvl 4 when I got the XP for becoming Lord Protector. And by some small miracle (and two minor restoration potions and all five of my minor Shadows) I managed a mad blind dash out of Iona's dungeon lol. Scorpions are a killer. Fire arrows will also take you down pretty quickly. It sucks because you can't use Shadows potions for long due to all the doors and levers. You CAN stand there and regain your stamina though, which is good. I thought I'd have to spend a point on Alchemy to mix up more minor shadows, but it turns out I had just enough (thanks to the magicians overturned cart).

I managed to pick up the "mystery spice" even though I never talked to the cook at Stormfist. Also, if you do Stormfist before curing Mardaneus, apparently George simply disappears without getting murdered.

Last edited by Smashy; 12/04/08 02:38 PM.
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I know this is still way off topic, but I do want to try this again tomorrow. I think it will be tough to get out of Stormfist under level 3, the only thing I can think of is to skip all of the Aleroth quests except healing two patients (for a point in restoration) and rescuing Lanilor (I need his more affordable potions). I might even skip finding an escort for the healers, though I don't want to. I'm thinking I need to get at least level 2 at some point so I can mix up shadow potions if needed. I didn't use any skill points on the last round, I will likely need to if trying to do it at a lower level hehee.

Trouble of course is, if I do manage to escape Castle Stormfist and Iona's dungeon at lvl 2-3, what then? It seems like I'd hit a major roadblock at that point. There's no way I could face off against the Succubus at that level, not without getting lucky and finding a Poison Weapon +1 item. Hmm that's a dilema for sure.

Last edited by Smashy; 12/04/08 11:15 PM.

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