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ManxomeBromide posted:Is that just that they heal a fixed number of HP, so as our HP levels up it takes more to top us off? This was my theory, since the healing crystals do (in my limited playtime) only heal a fixed amount. I rather liked the reference.
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Jan 5, 2017 20:35
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Souls Freed From Vice “Then the soul, freed from vice, purged by studies of true philosophy, versed in spiritual life, and practiced in matters of the intellect, devoted to the contemplation of her own substance, as if awakened from deepest sleep, opens those eyes which all possess but few use, and sees in herself a ray of that light which is the true image of the angelic beauty communicated to her, and of which she then communicates a faint shadow to the body," from Baldassare Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier.   This river valley is shrouded in deep shadow. Cold winds blow in from the ocean, howling through the tunnels bored into the cliff on your right. Your creations dart looks this way and that, spooking easily thanks to the tension permeating this lonely stretch of road.  Game Text posted:The people who once inhabited this island left a number of these pylons around. You aren't sure what they were for.  Upon reaching this northern exit, Icy Tunnels is considered "cleared." However, Solution still has much left to do here.  You meet one of the outsider humans, the leader of the small group guarding this narrow pass. She points at herself and says, "Avdotya of the Sholai." She looks very confused and nervous. She clearly didn't expect to see you. "Do you understand me?" You respond that you speak a little bit of her tongue. She nods. 'You must go back. You cannot pass here." Your understanding of her speech is imperfect, but adequate. "Why can't I pass here?" you ask, crossing your arms. "These are orders of Trajkov. He says no Shapers can pass beyond," Avdotya replies. "Who is Trajkov?" "Trajkov is the leader. He says who may pass our post, and who may return. If you want to pass us, you must see Trajkov. He is north, in big mountain. He wants to see you." She starts to look over her shoulder, but stops herself. "What is past here?" you demand. "I cannot say." She braces herself. You oblige her expectations. "I am a Shaper. Let me pass. If you do not, I will destroy you." "We have our orders. Step forward and we slay you. The young Shaper is to be brought to Trajkov." "And if you slay me, I can never be brought to Trajkov. Let me pass, and I promise I will return to see him." You're worried, but not so worried that you won't try to bluff your way past. If they're so interested in restricting this area, that means one of two things: either another route to the rebel Sholai lies beyond, or... the docks are near. You can smell the sea. You can almost hear it. It is difficult but you manage to convince Avdotya of your sincerity. "We let you pass, but be warned. There are the guards further on, and they will not let you go all the way to the ship docks. If you not get permission from Trajkov, they attack on sight." A ship! You could almost sing for joy.    Game Text posted:You enter an isolated, grassy cove. It is green and pleasant. To the east, the ground slopes gently downward to a crumbling cluster of buildings on the shore.  You don't have nearly enough spore batons to get through this mess. Snarling to yourself, you turn back. You will return, and the Sholai and Takers who laid these mines will be sorry that they ever placed themselves between you and the sea.  On your way back through the small Sholai guard post, you discover the Sholai's barracks. They have patched up an old Shaper building that was once likely used for the same purpose. There's nothing of interest in their cabinets, though.  Game Text posted:These tunnels are extremely old, dug out of the hillside long ago by crude tools. These warrens clearly predate the Shaper settlements here by some centuries. They were probably made by the tribes who lived on this island long ago.  Inside you find more crystal lattices. Perhaps they occur naturally on Sucia Island, and the experiment you found in the warrens was someone's attempt to reproduce them and deliberately cultivate them. There are even more of those pylons inside here. Many are thickly coated with minerals thanks to the long, slow drip of condensation from the ceiling over the years... But you don't hear any dripping now. These pylons must have been frozen in time long before the tunnels themselves froze over.  When you venture deeper into the tunnels, you're confronted by a specter. Like Clockwork disposes of it quickly enough, as the rest of your creations are bottled up with you in the tight little passageway between caves. Being trapped like this makes you nervous, though.  The specter dropped a gauzy pair of gloves when it vanished. You snatch them up. The enchantment isn't your style, but you know several merchants who will happily fork over substantial gold for them. The various specters here have low drop chances for specter gloves, specter robes, and specter boots.  Another ghost, in slightly fancier phantom wear, confronts you as you wend this corner. Your team has more room to maneuver, though, and it goes down just as quickly as the gloved specter did.  The spectral sage was guarding another pylon surrounded by bones and baskets. The baskets are full of rubbish -- the years didn't treat their contents kindly.  These tunnels honeycomb the entire cliff. The wind is loud enough to muffle your footsteps, and the multiple approaches to each chamber leave you vulnerable to ambushes. One such strikes as you walk through still another pylon chamber. The spectral trio melts away before the combined strength of your creations, but you don't let your guard down. Despite the ghosts and the cold, though, these tunnels are beautiful in their own way, and the pylons are fascinating. Someone long ago poured heart and soul into making them, into carving those mysterious designs, and they were clearly meaningful to those long-lost people. Maybe the pylons served the same purpose to the former inhabitants that the Shapers' statuary serves -- a reminder not just of common values, but also of authority. The pylons aren't very imposing, though, so you're not sure that's right... Even the specters have their own sort of ephemeral beauty. Their features have faded with age, leaving only the impression of human bodies that flow artfully, shivering in the currents of the cave wind. The shades' bodies shimmer with phosphorescence that scintillates between the greenish bioluminescence of cavern fungi and the gold of crystal lamps, pulsing with failing but still stubborn will. If you ever become a ghost, you hope that you might hold on to your duty as well as these ancient specters have -- though you can't yet guess at what this haunting is for.   It's just as well, because another ambush strikes as you pass through a chamber you thought you'd already cleared. You don't remember that little side room, either, but you don't have time to puzzle the issue out. You have to send these specters back to their rest.  Game Text posted:You find the body of one of the outsider humans. It is frozen completely solid. His final facial expression clearly communicates pure terror.  This place is another seriously large maze. I've excluded most of the encounters here. Almost every chamber has 1 - 2 specters waiting inside, and you will be constantly ambushed from behind.  This wall was definitely solid when you passed through before, but now it's gone, revealing an alcove full of bones and lattices. You crush a green one and let it refill your essence. Something strange is certainly happening here, above and beyond the haunting...  You find another lattice alcove on your way out. You search it extensively, but you don't find any hidden triggers or indeed anything stranger than the crystal. The cold is getting to you, though, so you are relieved to exit the icy tunnels for now.   Game Text posted:You enter a large, ruined complex. There has been a lot of fighting here recently. There are lots of broken weapons and bloodstains on the floor. It looks like the serviles of Kazg have been sending warriors into here, but they've met strong resistance. The nearby obelisk reads "Servile Maintenance Hall, Control Three." You hope that Control Three is still alive, but given the horrid condition of this foyer, you expect to be disappointed. At least the water source is still clean-looking. As long as nothing toxic has leached in or been dumped in, you'll be able to refresh yourself here during your explorations. Your planning is interrupted by the sound of footsteps. You turn.  You meet a small servile. His skin has a fresh, waxy look, and he has a vacant expression. He actually looks like a new creation! He certainly doesn't have any of the presence of mind common to serviles on this island. He starts to speak to you, slowly and carefully. "Shaper. I have Shaper instruction. I am Greeter." "What is this place?" "This is servile warren, where serviles made and taught, by Control Three. But defended. I here to warn, but not expect Shaper," Greeter says. It's a poor excuse for a name, but descriptive, at least. "You said you have special instructions if a Shaper comes?" you prompt him. "Control Three defends. Fills with creations to protect place from rogues. But Control Three has become weak, and creations attack all. Beware." This is all said with the same passion as a bookkeeper reciting rote figures from the last year. "They will even attack me?" "Creations attack all. There to defend this place." "Can anything be done to restore Control Three?" you ask. If this servile was assigned to warn trespassers, where are the serviles assigned to care for the control mind? "It says it is hungry. I don't know what to do about it," Greeter says. "Who made those creations? And who made you?" "Control Three. Even weak, it can command powers here. It makes new creations. They fight rogues who come in. Many rogues come in. Bad serviles. They killed." Greeter looks up at you, intelligence and comprehension failing to penetrate his features. This is much more like the servile behavior you are used to. "What do you think of what is going on outside this place?" you ask. "What is Outside?" You briefly explain the concept. The servile looks scared. "I have never been Outside." You look back towards the entryway. This servile has never taken the couple dozen steps needed to leave this place. Nothing other than Control Three's scanty instructions has bound it here all this time. You wonder if the Takers have met this servile. You suspect not -- they would have almost certainly killed him. Perhaps he had a predecessor that met that fate.  A servile body lies curled and putrid in the corner here. Greeter has been using this small room as a living space -- living with a dead member of his kind. You struggle to contain how repulsive this is. Greeter is likely cut off from Control Three by the rogues he described, but it takes a special sort of obstinate stupidity to share your quarters with a rotting corpse. The sort of stupidity an untutored, loyal servile might show. No one told him to do anything with the dead body, so of course he left it alone. You check the nearby logbook. Game Text posted:When a servile completed its growth and training and a Shaper took it away, the servile was signed out in this book. The task the servile was trained in is listed, alongside the date and the name.  As you read, RickVoid shrills an alarm. Greeter stands in your path, looking blankly at nothing. A blue roamer of the same sort you saw at the southeastern docks menaces your artilas, who haven't yet re-oriented themselves to meet this threat. But a lone, rogue roamer is not an effective defense against you anymore. The roamer screeches its last and crumples, charred and bloody, as your fyoras finish it off.    The wide corridor and dining hall are full of trash and rubble. This facility must have been wrecked even before time took its toll. You kneel to examine a Taker's corpse when you catch a blue blur in your peripheral vision. It shrieks when it notices you, and then flees.    More rogues attack from the southwestern hall, drawn in by their packmate's alarm. They pour in faster than your creations can kill them, but the guardian roamers can barely keep up, let alone land serious wounds.  You've slain almost a dozen by the time the dining hall quiets again. Patrolling roamers kept blundering into the fight, screaming for help, and fleeing just as it arrived; the effort of putting them all down cost you some reserves, but no terrible injuries. Of course, your creations shriek when still another rogue tries to attack you from behind.   As soon as you whip around to face it, the roamer screams and flees.  Then you notice another from the northwest. You fear you'll have to kill your way through all of Control Three's defenses to reach it, and then it won't be able to replenish them fast enough to fend off the Takers. You know what the Takers will do to a defenseless servant mind. It won't be a clean death.  Game Text posted:This is a servile hospital. Sick serviles are carefully cared for by the Shapers, both for humane reasons and because they are difficult to create.  A lever in the surgery unlocks the nearby office. You sift through the useless records, then pull still another lever. The odd arrangement doesn't make much sense to you. Game Text posted:This journal was a record of all of the serviles who were brought here for medical assistance. Most of the problems were simple diseases and pregnancies, although there are few accidental injuries scattered here and there.  That lever unlocked the storage room, though, and you stock up on more spore pods.   The serviles' old sleeping chambers have been ripped up by the rogues to make foul-smelling nests. You find another dead, gnawed-on servile in one. You can't estimate when it died or what exactly killed it.  The Takers fought a fierce battle here not that long ago. Swords and javelins are mixed in with thorns, bones, and rubbish. You're about to sift through to find salvageable materials when another guardian roamer wanders into your sight. Your artilas slay it before it can even cry out.  A pair of locked doors without exterior levers taunts you. An obelisk nearby reads "Discipline Chambers." You're pretty sure it's labeling whatever's beyond the narrow corridor there...  You follow the tight hallway around and into the main chamber. Game Text posted:These chambers are where rebellious serviles were brought to have their behaviors modified. You have never seen a place like this before. Most Shapers tend to avoid them, since they can be very unpleasant. Before you can even make it out in the dark, a turret fires. Like Clockwork yelps, but you can't reach it to heal the wound -- your path is blocked by the artilas and idhrendur.  Like Clockwork endures. The first turret falls and you close on Like Clockwork as your other creations race ahead. They mark a second turret and it falls even faster than the first.  The first lever unlocks a holding cell. There's a skeletal servile corpse here. You shudder to think of how this creature spent its last days, locked up and dying of thirst in this cell with no one to hear its cries.  Scattered bones remain here amid piles of garbage and bedding. The smell of ancient rot and ordure, kept fragrant by the dank conditions, drives you out. You check the tome between the cells. Game Text posted:This journal was a record of all of the serviles who required discipline, the punishments given, and the results. The vast majority of servile problems were settled with 'isolation'.  You pass whipping posts and rusting shackles. There are whips on the tiled floor, decayed to the point that they crumble under your heel. The sole cabinet here is packed with ruined implements of pain.  Two rogue roamers await your team as you leave the discipline chambers. Like Clockwork snaps at one, but the other rogue lunges in to take advantage of your roamer's exposed throat. Even as Like Clockwork's prey rolls in its death throes, Like Clockwork itself dangles limp and twitching from the guardian roamer's thickly muscled jaws. Enraged, you scream at your artilas to turn the rogue into the protein slime from which it came.  Once again, there are only five of you left standing. The roamers weren't your match. Like Clockwork didn't have to die. You let your distraction with your surroundings steal your attention from the roamer's injuries. Your neglect strikes again.  Even as you grieve, you are determined to do better. This time, you can make something harder. Better. Faster. Stronger.  The terror vlish doesn't have eyes, but it doesn't need such apparatus to direct your creations and punish rogues. MagusofStars has literally been born ready. There will be no more surprises.  None of the rogues can withstand the mental pressure even a newly-made terror vlish exerts. They fall swiftly and in agonizing fear.  You've found very few supplies to justify exploring this place, but knowing that there's a servant mind in dire peril is enough to keep you moving ever deeper into the complex.   Game Text posted:These bare chambers were used as recreation halls for young serviles. Serviles can be playful creatures, enjoying games, sports, and swimming. Of course, if Dayna's hypothesis is correct, then very little except some meddling separates you from a servile. Of course a human being, even a Shaper, would be upset and exhausted by ceaseless toil... Humans and serviles are social beings with higher cognitive functions, and that means you need leisure. You could use some leisure, you think.   The turrets guarding the spring-fed pool prove no obstacle for MagusofStars. The turrets fold in on themselves and wither into nothing but ooze and thorns.  Game Text posted:You must be close to a shaping hall. This is an antechamber, where Shapers leave their dirty robes, boots, books, and supplies. You haven't had that luxury.  Before you go further, you check out the sitting room by the antechamber to ensure no more roamers are waiting to attack from the rear. There's another automatic door here stuck fast in place. With nothing else to do, you move on.  Game Text posted:This is a large, abandoned shaping hall. This is where skilled Shapers could actually form, using nothing but care and essence, new serviles, ornks, and other creations. A spectral vlish waits in the Shaping chamber, hovering amid the empty essence pools. It turns its quivering antennae toward you. You feel its weighty mind seeking to impose its will over your own, but you throw it off. The effort to try and control you leaves the spectral vlish rogue vulnerable to your creations, and in short order, they cripple it and burse its air bladder. The dying rogue forms a puddle on the tiles and you step over it and into the short access corridor.   MagusofStars trembles as you approach the mind. You quickly realize why. Tucked into the blind spots on either side is a pair of turrets. They were positioned to flank intruders. Fortunately, MagusofStars was at least able to warn you that something was wrong, and the turrets are destroyed before they can harm anything.  Game Text posted:There is an energy spiral in this alcove. Part stone, part organic material, partly charged solution, these devices can generate magical energy for many years without upkeep. They are a remarkable invention.  A cold thrill races up your spine at the sight of not one but two canisters in this spiral alcove. The first improves your ability to dominate beings and the second quickens you not just physically, but mentally. Finally, some reward for slogging through this boringly laid out hellhole.  Three crystal spires pour out their power here. You can hear the deep rumble of hidden machinery, not too different from the other Shaper compounds you've visited outside of the sects' fortresses. You approach Control Three, who ought to be able to explain just what's happening here. Game Text posted:You meet a servant mind. It is still alive. However, it is extremely weak. Worse, it is surrounded by a thin shield of magical energy. Though it was obviously placed here to protect it, it is preventing you from touching it or speaking with it. Game Text posted:You attempt to break the shield, but it's just too powerful. It's being powered from elsewhere. You must deactivate the crystal spires, which is bad news. But, to your great relief, the spire controls aren't that complex, and despite their great age, the spires obediently power down after you tinker with each of them. The servant mind gasps, "Shaper. At last. I am Control Three. I require nutrients. Please." You're almost loathe to part with it, but you unseal your last jar of mind nutrients. "Here is some nutrient fluid," you say. You could order it to die, which is a possible Taker quest. "You... Shaper. You are... wise. Thank... you." You carefully scoop the nutrient goo into the creature's mouth. Soon, it regains its strength. "Thank you, Shaper. I am restored. Give me some time to restore my mental thoughts, and I will be able to help you." As you wait for Control Three to recover a little, you reorganize your supplies and tools. You've gained quite the arsenal and your pockets are heavy with coin. Still, the selection is very narrow and tailored mostly towards killing and robbery. Living tools and reaper batons are not what you expected from your new life as a Shaper apprentice. When you turn back to Control Three, it is still alive and much healthier. "Shaper, I am eager to serve you. What would you wish of me?" "What is your purpose here?" you ask. "I am the master of the serviles in Kazg, though they have gone completely rogue. I am sorry, Shaper. I lost control of all of them. I also control this complex, though I know little about it anymore. The years and the rogues have damaged it. For this, too, I am sorry." You wave the apologies away. Control Three isn't responsible for Sucia Island's troubles, and you're not going to interrogate it about the Takers. "What can you control in this complex?" "I... I..." It thinks. "There is still one door I can control. It closes its eyes for a moment. "It was locked. Now it is not." "What is this place?" "This was where new serviles were created, bred, and trained. They were made to serve the many tasks needed on Sucia Island. It was difficult. Many of the tasks were complicated," Control Three replies. "What sort of tasks did you teach?" "I taught serviles how to maintain, repair, care for records, all of the typical servile tasks. I also taught them how to do jobs specific to research on the Geneforge." Now that is a much more interesting avenue of inquiry. "What is the Geneforge?" "I do not know. When the Shapers left, they told me to forget all I knew of the Geneforge. I only know that it was powerful and dangerous and difficult to control. And I think it still exists." Why was this the only thing the Shapers were thorough about? It would have been easy for you not to learn about the Geneforge at all. You might have stumbled into Trajkov's clutches completely blind. "Can you control the creations here?" you ask. You don't want even one more guardian roamer crossing your path. "I could. I made them, using mechanisms left by the Shapers for me. But I have been weak for so long that they have grown completely rogue. Now that I am restored, I will use my energy to make creations to battle rogues everywhere." You sigh. "I'm done with you for now," you say. Control Mind Three wobbles a little. "Thank you, Shaper. I will return to my purpose. I will control the rogues as much as I can." Thanks to talking with Control Three, we can now freely cross the Servile Warren. It's not really important, since this zone only has one exit. Shutting the mind down has the same effect. The hidden machines are silent now that the spires have completely shut down. You check the door by the western alcove, but it's evidently not the door Control Three unlocked for you.  The unlocked room is actually to the south, and contains another canister and a dead servile. The servile must have been locked in with the canisters. Three are broken. You wonder if the servile did that or if the rubble that fell from the ceiling is responsible. The mass restore spell the canister grants you is welcome recompense for all your troubles here. Next Time: The Little Things POOL IS CLOSED fucked around with this message at 16:05 on Jan 9, 2017 |
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Jan 5, 2017 22:44
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I remember those ghost tunnels as remarkably frustrating, barely two steps before BOOP, MORE GHOSTS. And even when you'd cleaned out all the ghosts, BAM, ghosts coming out of hidden places in the walls! I forget whether Geneforge 1 has any locations with infinite enemies, but that place definitely FELT like it had them.
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Jan 5, 2017 22:55
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PurpleXVI posted:I remember those ghost tunnels as remarkably frustrating, barely two steps before BOOP, MORE GHOSTS. And even when you'd cleaned out all the ghosts, BAM, ghosts coming out of hidden places in the walls! It really does! We'll be returning to Icy Tunnels probably within the next update; it's just such an amazingly annoying area (and my inventory needed sold) that I buggered off to the Servile Warrens instead. That said, Icy Tunnels is pretty profitable in terms of enemy drops and vendor trash, plus some stuff we should see next time. If that map had mines, it would be top the list of annoying areas in this game.
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Jan 5, 2017 23:03
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How many servant minds have we met then?
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Jan 5, 2017 23:31
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Deceitful Penguin posted:How many servant minds have we met then? Several! There was the one at the abandoned vale. He let us into the main island. There's another at the ruined school, guarded by Rawbone. We found a dead one in Ellhrah's keep. Control Four, who Ellhrah's asked us to kill, is in the spiral burrow; Control Four was guarded by Warp the vlish. We eventually fed Four. There's a mind in the Hills of Jars warren. There's another dead mind in Freeplace. We fed a servant mind in Buried Cells. There's a dead mind in Kazg. We just met Control Three in the warren and fed it. We met another mind in Holding 2; since it was never fully trained, we were easily able to con it into thinking we were its master, Veet. We met a particularly stupid mind at the dock ruins in the southeast. We met a vending servant mind at the Underground River. We met another at the Mine Core and fed it, too. I believe those are all the minds we've encountered.
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Jan 5, 2017 23:44
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So did we just pave the way for Control Three to go on the offensive against Kazg?  He said he'd send his creation to go fight rogues elsewhere.
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Jan 6, 2017 01:10
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Galaga Galaxian posted:So did we just pave the way for Control Three to go on the offensive against Kazg? We sure did! But what the Takers don't know won't hurt them. Well, it will, but it won't hurt Solution and that's what's important.
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Jan 6, 2017 01:20
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I'd figure the Takers would be kind of low on the totem pole since they're capable of not stabbing things on sight, but I suppose to Control Three that's just advanced insidiousness.
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Jan 6, 2017 02:55
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You have an img tag closed with a [/quote], which prevents the image from displaying properly. Too bad about our Roamer. I get the impression the party is now basically a balls-out, all-offense-no-defense glass cannon?
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Jan 6, 2017 03:43
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Sure seems like it. The two fyoras especially are surely way behind the HP curve at this point
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Jan 6, 2017 04:37
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:You have an img tag closed with a [ /quote ], which prevents the image from displaying properly. The full image is http://lpix.org/2656004/2016-12-21%2018_51_32-Greenshot.png which may be easier to search for. Also here it is:
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Jan 6, 2017 06:06
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That Robert Frost parody was a thing of beauty, and it's interesting to see how Solution's viewpoint does (and does not) change over time. It's interesting in particular that she often seems to feel more empathy for dead serviles than live ones, whom she seems to treat as little more than nuisance obstacles or incidental assistance. (I guess the servile sages have been the exception thus far.)
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Jan 6, 2017 18:34
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Too bad about our Roamer. I get the impression the party is now basically a balls-out, all-offense-no-defense glass cannon? Vlish are actually oddly sturdy. They aren't necessarily tanks per se, but they can handle a decent amount of punishment. They're actually completely feasible to use in the end game if you get them a few levels. The artilas do meet the glass cannon description, though plated artilas do have a decent amount of health. Really it's the Fyoras that are the real issue - if this wasn't a story LP, they would have been replaced long ago. They're probably one-shottable at this point, or at least close to it.
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Jan 6, 2017 22:59
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rip roamer-Like Clockwork, it never scored Now I need to actually draw that scene of it and the fyoras playing catch before the end of the LP, it's hard for a corpse to do cuter things. 
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Jan 6, 2017 23:57
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MagusofStars posted:Vlish are actually oddly sturdy. They aren't necessarily tanks per se, but they can handle a decent amount of punishment. They're actually completely feasible to use in the end game if you get them a few levels. The biggest problem is actually the stat formula for leveling vs. creating anew. A newly created level X fyora and a newly created level X vlish actually have almost exactly the same max HP. All creations have a base level - Fyoras start at L0, Artila start at L2 or so, and the most powerful creations start around level 10. When you create a new creation, you add (Base Level+ Relevant Shaping Skill + Number of Canisters of Create X You've Used) to determine the level at creation. All of a creation's stats (STR/DEX/INT/END) start out equal to their level at creation. A shaper with endgame stats could freshly create a Level 13-15 Fyora with 150-200 HP, which would only be oneshot by the very toughest enemies in the game. HOWEVER, when creations level up through gaining experience, they only get half the stat points from the levels gained via experience that they would gain from being newly created at that level. So while a newly-created L13 Fyora would have 13s in all stats (unless you raised them further), a Fyora created at L3 and leveled up to L13 in play would only have 8s in all of its stats, unless you poured EXTRA essence into it. And the stronger, newly created Fyora would only cost 8 essence (11-ish with 2 int), while the other one would cost a lot more essence to have the same stats. This means that when your shaping skills and abilities increase substantially, it's usually better to remake your creations, even if you want to use the same type of creation you currently have. In later games, the choice of remaking vs. making anew is made much less straightforward by changes to many of the game's formulas. The stats (Str/Dex/Int/End) and the level are the biggest determinants of a creation's overall power, though there are some other differences. Battle Creations have different formulas for calculating their HP which make them more durable than other types with the same stats. (A Fyora or Vlish with 13 endurance at level 13 has about 170 HP, a Battle Alpha at level 13 with 13 endurance has about 270.) Magic Creations always inflict some sort of status effect when they hit the enemy, etc. Creations also have some weird hidden stats that help make things more idiosyncratic in practice and encourage you to try out the different types. There are hidden creation stats fixed by creation type which are roughly equivalent to the PC's "missile weapons" or "melee weapons" attack skills, affecting accuracy and damage for ranged and melee respectively. There are hidden stats of ranged and melee "damage dice" (a big part of why artilas can punch above their weight). The damage type of an attack also determines its base to-hit chance (% likelihood of actually hitting an enemy) - non-physical attacks generally have higher base to-hit chances. MiltonSlavemasta fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Jan 7, 2017 |
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Jan 7, 2017 00:36
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Looks like I got hit with the post-holiday crud really late this year. I think I'll have an update ready for late afternoon EST.TooMuchAbstraction posted:You have an img tag closed with a /quote], which prevents the image from displaying properly. ManxomeBromide posted:The full image is http://lpix.org/2656004/2016-12-21%2018_51_32-Greenshot.png which may be easier to search for. Thanks, guys! This is all essentially correct. To expand on damage dice, Slart posted an analysis several years ago that holds true for most of the series. I've excerpted the relevant portion below, spoilers mine: "Slartanalysis posted:Just as in previous games (and A4), the most important factor in damage is the damage multiplier of your attack type. Here's a partial list, which leaves out some items but hits most weapons, spells, and creation attacks:
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Jan 9, 2017 16:12
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Sorry for the lack of scene-setting screenshots for the first couple bits, but snagging those two images will have to wait for archiving, I think. Enough about that. Who loves clawbugs?  The Little Things You return to Pentil and meet with Mickall Blade. "I have spoken with Doge," you tell him, and describe your meeting with the leader of the southeastern outpost. Mickall looks concerned, but only for a moment. "These are indeed troubling and threatening times, but now that you are here, I am sure that we have nothing to fear. I feel that I have taken up enough of your time. I know you have more pressing matters elsewhere. Before you go, though, I feel I should give you some aid in return for that you have given us." He hands you a pair of gloves. "We found these during a raid to the north. I believe that they are very high quality, but they burn when we put them on. We cannot wear them. Perhaps they can help you. Thank you again for your help, Shaper. We owe all we have to you." You thank the servile for the Shaped gauntlets. You didn't know that they were enchanted against serviles. You received a high price for the previous pair you sold, which means there must be demand for such gauntlets... and that demand is probably from the Sholai. That insight reminds you that you still need to inform Astrov of the little pact you made between his rebels and the Obeyers. Back in the northern cave, you approach the Sholai scout. "I have spoken with Rydell, the leader of Pentil. He is loyal to the Shapers. He might help you," you say. "Then I will go down there to meet him. It will be hard, but I might convince him that we have a common cause. Thank you, Shaper. You have been a great help to us."  You have so many loose ends to wrap up. The nightmarish dry wastes still seethe with clawbugs that stalk you across the dusty flats. Exterminating them takes a great deal of dedication, but it's a good way to put MagusofStars through its paces.  The clawbugs have certainly defended this useless plot of land from all interlopers, though. Their boneyard is full of trophies.  Game Text posted:The floor of this cave is littered with dry clawbug carapaces. Something cleared out this lair recently. The cave is icy cold.  Can you see the ghost without the highlight tool? Because I sure can't.  The specters are the same ancient ghosts you found in the last set of icy tunnels you explored. You wonder what caused them to pop up here in the clawbug tunnels. They are no more challenging than those on the other side of the island, though.  In the very back of the tunnel network is a pylon chamber. It seems that the clawbugs nesting here managed to puncture this sealed room with their constant digging. They must have awoken the specters that protected this place. Game Text posted:This is an ancient stone pillar. It has been sitting in this cave for many centuries. The constant drip of water from the ceiling has coated it with thick mineral deposits, concealing whatever purpose it once had.  You decide to return to the icy tunnels to investigate the pylons there further. You walk through the first tunnel and immediately notice that something's different... The wall to your right is closed again. Whatever secret mechanism causes this remains a mystery to you.  The caves are still rotten with specters. Maybe they never really fall; maybe their dissipation is only temporary, and they can never be truly laid to rest. What an awful fate.  Reaching the unexplored depths of the cave requires a significant amount of backtracking. Along the way, you discover subtle shifts in the cavern layout that confirm your suspicions about the secret rooms. Specters must be hiding in them, waiting for intruders to pass, and then exit to ambush those intruders from behind. It's truly a devilish plan. The necromancy this trap requires is mind-boggling. Your untutored grasp of spellcraft isn't enough to work out how it might have been accomplished.  In the furthest corner of the cave is a large burial chamber. A handful of specters greet you here.  These ghosts are stronger than the shades you've already met, and with these numbers, victory will be hard-won.  But won it is. Game Text posted:When you examine this pylon, you notice a strange, hairline crack at the base. You look more closely and find a cunningly disguised hidden panel. You would never have noticed it, had not good fortune and years of decay conspired to aid you. You approach one of the sarcophagi. Game Text posted:You try to slide away the lid of this crypt. However, it doesn't budge. Your strength is completely inadequate to move it. Then the other... Game Text posted:The lid of the crypt slides away smoothly at your push. There is a body inside. Well, there was. The moment the fresh air from the outside hits it, it crumbles into dust.  You fiddle with the second pylon and hear another click. Then you return to the locked sarcophagus. Game Text posted:The lid of the crypt slides away smoothly at your push. At first, you think that it was empty. There is only a scattering of dust inside. Then, as you watch, a spectral being rises from inside. Two more points in Spellcraft? Yes, please!  A spectral priest friend dropped this upon defeat. I don't make a habit of using gear that reduces fire resistance, though.  As you make your way out, you find that the ghosts and their pylons have one more gift for you. This room is full of chests that, though covered in minerals from their time moldering in this cave, clearly haven't been tampered with. That means the locks and traps are still intact. You use some of your precious stash of living tools to disarm the traps without harming yourself... No, don't laugh; you actually detonate the traps after popping a shielding pod and hoping for the best. Avoiding some puny powder bombs by wasting your living tools is for lesser beings. The chests are full of ancient, gold coins, wands, and other supplies that seem intact. Well worth losing your already singed eyebrows for.  Solution also received a stabilizing band and a shielding band for her trouble. Her jewelry collection is quite nice. She could really use some necklaces and bracelets to round out her accessories, though. Maybe even a few brooches. She could be the Madeleine Albright of Shapers. You deposit your extra supplies in a safe place in the tribal woods before resuming your exploration of the western side of Sucia.   Game Text posted:This is a dusty forest of dead and petrified trees- There are gnawed bones in the ground everywhere, some very old and some newer. There is a heavy vinegar smell in the air, and the still air carries to you the sharp rhythm of clicking claws and mandibles. Oh, great. Spawners. The western wastes are not an improvement over any other poisoned, gritty desert you've visited here. The monoliths are a little interesting the first time you see them, but eventually all you can think of is enormous, abandoned middle fingers flipped at you across the centuries. Game Text posted:This sign was placed here recently. It says: At first, you're excited by this sign -- Goettsch must be nearby! Finally, you'll be able to seek advice from a real, full Shaper. But something about the wording seems a little strange...  You've barely set foot westward when motion to the north catches your eye. Your artilas hiss in anticipation. There's a thahd clutching something...  But you can't focus on the thahd right now, because the venomous type of clawbug is trying to introduce its stinger to your face. You cast a war blessing on the team to help them neutralize the damned rogue. More clawbugs, the variety with the extra thick plates, move in to support the stinging clawbug from the west.  Out that way, to your dismay, is a spawner spitting out ever more of the things. You direct MagusofStars and the artilas to fire, hoping they can suppress the spawner long enough to keep it from popping out more reinforcements while your fyoras deal with the stinging clawbug.   Just as you get the clawbug situation sort of under control, ghosts swoop in from the south to hassle RickVoid and placid saviour.  Placid saviour remains steadfast despite being flanked. It fires and the spawner squeals and collapses into mush.  MagusofStars' terror effect proves potent even against the wastes ghosts. They are paralyzed and rendered helpless. They quickly fall, as does the last plated bug.   And just to rub it in, your artilas also kill the thahd, which had been transfixed by all the fighting. It dies holding a crescent stone -- this must be what the junkyard serviles were talking about. You pocket the heavy rock. The thahd doesn't always spawn here. It seems to be about 20 - 25% whether he'll spawn on a given instance of this zone, and he'll only spawn if you haven't gotten a crescent stone through other means. And the stone itself? It's a key item, but it just looks like any other rock. Good luck if you don't think to hit G to search the small radius around where you kill the thahd and then make sure to check the stupid rock to see that it's not just an ordinary stupid rock.   Another stinging clawbug scuttles out of the woods after you, but your creations successfully exterminate it at range. More interesting is the tome in the lee of this collapsed building. Game Text posted:This is an old Shaper notebook, abandoned when the island was Barred. Its author probably thought he or she would be able to return to collect it. After the years and the exposure to the elements, only a short section of it is legible: You take note of this. Even with the illegible sections, you're sure that some of the information here will prove useful. Anything about the people who inhabited this place even before the Shapers colonized it is interesting, and might, perhaps, provide you with a path forward after you leave Sucia Island. Think of the research opportunities! But that's neither here nor there. You have so many clawbugs to deal with...  Back in the clearing the ghosts ambushed you from is a corpse. You also find a few living tools and some Shaper equipment in the detritus.  You eliminate another spawner. This one was backed up by a crystal pylon -- but unlike the others you've encountered so far, this pylon focused on healing the spawner rather than spewing searing orbs at you.  In a gap between the western trees, you're attacked by another group of wastes ghosts.  They set you up for a stinging clawbug ambush.  Luckily, there's only the one clawbug, and you don't sustain any casualties. Once the last ghost dissolves into the aether, you approach the pylon. Game Text posted:This is an ancient stone pillar, far older than anything the Shapers built here. It must have been placed here by one of the natives who lived on this island long before the Shapers arrived. You touch the bare spot. Game Text posted:When you rub the worn area you feel a sharp stinging sensation up and down your arm. You jerk your hand away. As you shake out your stinging arm, you wonder if perhaps these pylons weren't meant for you. Maybe they're as anathema to non-natives as Shaper canisters are to serviles.  You find another spawner - pylon combo in the northwestern quadrant. Guess who got one shot by a random attack and had to redo this area due to a lack of quicksaves? I am truly the proest of pro gamers.  The first order of business is for your artilas and vlish to suppress the spawner and pylon.   Then you have to do something about the clawbugs surrounding MagusofStars. They're much too close for comfort. These bugs are well-armored, and the mixture of plated bugs with stinging bugs is a deadly combination. To top it off, these rogues are fast.  A combination of swarm crystals and the speed spell eliminates most of the clawbugs and gives your team some breathing room. Idhrendur finishes off the last stinging clawbug, which grants you the space to start curing MagusofStars and GreatEvilKing of poison.  Just as the tide turns in your favor, another stinging clawbug swoops in from the north and grazes your arm with its poison barb. Though the scratch is shallow, you can feel venom spread through your flesh.  The stinging clawbug doesn't stand a chance without other reinforcements nearby, but the spawner is still making new clawbugs to throw at you.  It goes down next, followed by the pylon.  You pause to catch your breath after that fight. It was the toughest engagement you've faced in the wastes yet, and chewed through your stamina. Right now, all you can think about is how tired and thirsty you are. The nearby outsider doesn't have that problem anymore.  On his body you find a very potent wand, which you tuck away in case you find even tougher battles in the future.   There's a fourth spawner to the northeast. You hope it's the last, too. Everywhere you go, you're ambushed by clawbugs. If you never see another clawbug again, it'll still be too soon.   After you wipe out a few more lingering clawbugs, you find a clear pool. Upon closer inspection, though, you find that it's hopelessly tainted -- it's so alkaline that not even algae will grow in it.    You plow through still more bugs and locate a pair of nests in a northern dead end path.  Nearby is a fantastic cache that includes a canister. It's almost worth dealing with the bugs. Almost. This canister grants you the ability to create battle alphas.  Gotta pump that blessing magic.    Another side path in the dead woods leads to a wastes ghost, more crushable clawbugs, and a pair of bodies. They were left to gradually mummify amid their flung javelins. At least they went down fighting.    You fight your away through another nasty clawbug ambush through the grace of the speed spell alone. It leaves RickVoid in such bad shape that it panics and tries to flee, dragging you further west and into unexplored land -- and straight into a spawner.   Braced for another ugly fight, you push your creations forward to defend RickVoid.  The fyoras prove their worth, frying stinging bugs and the pylon.  But this spawner is supported by two pylons, which conveniently can also heal each other.  Focused fire brings down the nearest pylon. It explodes into toxic fumes, which have an immediate and visible negative effect on the spawner.  You're surrounded by carnage.  MagusofStars nails the spawner with its terror effect, paralyzing the creature. You've managed to cure your team and heal them, which reassures RickVoid enough that you regain control over it. Together, RickVoid and placid saviour coat the spawner in a fatal dose of acid.  Then the last pylon finally goes down.  Exhausted, you stand amid the ruins of the spawners and pylons. Did Goettsch put all this here? It's insane, but... you've also had to resort to insane, illegal measures to survive here.  And despite all your wanderings here, you've found no more signs of the Shaper's presence. If this is his realm, where is he?  Next time: It's No Nausicaa
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Jan 9, 2017 20:18
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This is the part of the island I'm most hyped for.
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Jan 9, 2017 21:27
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Oh god, the things in the Valley. SUCH a pain in the rear end to pin down.
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Jan 10, 2017 02:19
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Oh no. THIS place. I only survived here thanks to the AI derping out in a highly specific way that left me able to engage only one of the residents at a time. and ensured I always got the first attack in.
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Jan 10, 2017 05:07
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The next few wastes zones turn into a bit of a bloodbath, alas, but they're not so bad. The great thing is that ghosts are not immune to fear or stun! I don't know if you can dominate them, though, as I've never really tried.
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Jan 11, 2017 20:03
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Well, I mean. It's just Goettsch's realm. Spoilers removed at OP's request.
Somebody fucked around with this message at 05:51 on Jan 13, 2017 |
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Jan 12, 2017 02:30
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We haven't gotten that far yet. Mind an edit?
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Jan 12, 2017 02:49
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It's No Nausicaa Game Text posted:You enter a maze of narrow valleys. The walls are dead, bare stone, scoured out of the rock by centuries of harsh winds. Nothing grows up here.  You follow the blur westward into the canyon and quickly find yourself enfilade. More hazy figures race at you from the rear, but fortunately -- or is it unfortunately? -- they mingle with your team's formation. At first the insubstantial ghosts don't notice you, but that changes quickly. The ghosts are as fast as they are hard to see, and they're almost past you before one turns. You think it points and opens its mouth, but you're not sure. It screams, though, an unearthly noise that would turn anyone's bowels into water. The ghosts struggle against their momentum or maybe against the wind, but when they finally hit, they hit hard. GreatEvilKing and idhrendur take the worst of it. The wind walkers are swifter than your team even with the speed enchantment. Only raw strength saves you. That, and MagusofStars' fear effect, which convinces even one or two of the wind walkers to flee.  You turn back when the last wind walker dissipates, fully intending to retreat. But when you reach the exit, MagusofStars emotes an awful sensation to you all. There's another wind walker north of the exit, close enough that you could close the distance with a sprint. It hasn't noticed you yet, and it seems to be alone -- but so did the first ghost.  Reluctant to hurl your team into another bloody fight, you nevertheless give the order to fire. The wind walker shudders at the first blow. Your creations manage several shots before the wind walker gets within arm's length of MagusofStars. Meanwhile, you heal up your fyoras. They're so battered that you enhance your efforts with the precious healing spores. MagusofStars screams at the wind walker's touch. Strange energy crackles between them and disappears. You're not exactly sure what it is, but it's not good. Nevertheless, the wind walker falls apart before it can strike again. Then you see another lone ghost ahead. You cast speed over your team and begin the process again... And again... And again. You lose track of how many of these wandering ghosts you banish this way. Just when it seems no more will come, you head north.  Another wind walker appears behind you, as oblivious as its predecessors, and your creations send it back to whatever limbo it belongs to.  But it has companions, too. Clearly there are at least three patrols here. You encountered the first on your way west, the second one by one, and the third has managed to catch you by surprise again. MagusofStars drives one off, but another flies at you. You raise your sword to strike, but the wind walker flits under your guard. Its touch steals your breath. Your heart feels like it's being crushed. When the ghost briefly relents, you stagger back and voicelessly direct your artilas to fire on it.  After this glorious clusterfuck, Solution gains a level. She probably shouldn't be rewarded for charging belly-first into ghost murder. It really sends the wrong message to someone who should just sit down and do her homework. I increase her blessing magic to 5 and magic shaping to 10.  Once you've patched up your team, you head east through a tight pass into another messy tangle of defiles.  At the eastern end of a sharply curved passage is evidence of more ruins. You don't have much time to inspect them, as another wind walker swoops through your team. Your creations turn on it before it recognizes them as foes. MagusofStars sends it screaming out of sight.  Game Text posted:You enter a warm, comfortable, steaming bathhouse. The moment you step inside, the sound of the wind outside dies off. The warmth immediately makes you feel comfortable and drowsy. It's obviously magic, but try as you might, you don't detect any malice here. Game Text posted:The pool looks very warm and welcoming. The steam smells bitter and sour. It has a sharp, medicinal smell. It would be very easy to slip into it for a few minutes of relaxation. You use the pool. Game Text posted:You slip out of your armor, first checking to make sure you are safe from immediate attack. Then you get into the pool. After a while, though, your anxiety is too great. It's unwise to be vulnerable out here, but it's been days and days since you had a proper bath at all, let alone a moment of relaxation to yourself. Game Text posted:You regretfully leave the refreshing pool behind. This pool does actually restore Solution's health and essence, but not without an irritating price. The dialogue box is triggered by your proximity to the pools, so you'll probably have to exit the dialogue several times to loot the place and leave.  You dress and head north, past a monolith and toward what looks like the entrance into another ruin. When another wind walker appears, you brace yourself for another challenging skirmish. But it came alone -- perhaps one of the survivors that MagusofStars terrorized. It falls this time.  Game Text posted:The moment you step inside this passage, you stop hearing the howling of the wind outside. It becomes very quiet. There are bones all over the floor of the passage. Some of them are very old. And some of them are not old at all. Along the way, you pick up all manner of weapons long since lost amid the bones.  You take the ring. You might have a use for it, and this ancient mummy does not. Still, you feel a terrible trepidation as you do... Game Text posted:You easily slide the ring off of the finger. It comes away smoothly, as if it has been taken off and put back on many times before. The wind dies down, but you hear, in the distance, many angry howls. Supposedly, if we go back and use the fantasy jacuzzi now, we'll die. I didn't test it out, but if the thread is interested, I can see if there's unique dialogue for dying in a ghost hot tub.  You slide the lid back over the sarcophagus and fit it carefully as though to disguise that you were ever here. Then you walk very quickly -- not quite a run -- out into the canyons.  Game Text posted:This is an old ruined home. Very old. It looks like the hovel of some of the natives who lived here before the Shapers came. But it can't be, because everything looks new. Game Text posted:There is a box here. It has the same insubstantial quality as everything else in the room. You don't kid yourself with thoughts of not opening the box. Game Text posted:The box contains nothing but dust, but it seems to be vigorously swirling around under its own power. Then it swirls out and forms a pair of figures.  Fooling with what these ancients left behind is proving as dangerous as touching an unattended Shaper experiment.   One flees thanks to MagusofStars. The other flits this way and that, dodging your creations' attacks. The effort is wasted -- its defeat is a matter of time. You pore through the litter here and find old javelins, swords, and even something that looks a lot like an essence pod.  As you leave the dwelling, the other ghost surges toward you. But without its partner, it's much less of a threat.  Game Text posted:You find several dead outsider soldiers. The bodies are frozen stiff. Terrified expressions are frozen on their faces. You check the outsiders' bodies for useful equipment, then leave them. The earth here is much too hard to dig graves in, and you can't be sure when more ghosts will appear. At least the wind walkers treated the bodies respectfully.  After MagusofStars hits another wind walker, you wind up chasing it north, past another monolith.  It leads you straight to another pylon. Game Text posted:This is an ancient stone pillar, far older than anything the Shapers built here. It must have been placed here by one of the natives who lived on this island long before the Shapers arrived. The cliff walls have sheltered it from the wind. You touch the bare spot and once again are stung for the effort. You're not sure why you bothered. At least it didn't leave a mark.  Game Text posted:From here, you can get a good look at the gateway. It's not Shaper construction. It's a ruin, many centuries old. It was carved out of solid granite, which was how it survived centuries of scouring by the harsh wind. The note about the curves of Shaper buildings took me a bit aback, given that the limitations of the game's design really prohibits putting down round buildings and curved walls. All this time, I thought Shaper architecture was brutalist. This must be the ghost gate the Junkyard servile mentioned.  At first, the battle seems to go well. There are only a few ghosts here and they're of a much weaker sort than those roaming the defiles.  But even weak shades are strong in great numbers. You quickly find yourself outmatched two to one. Though your creations are still landing successful blows, you're afraid. You're too weighed down with everything you've picked up to be much help.  You take out the ring you stole from the northern crypt and jam it over your finger. Then you throw down everything else that's slowing you down.   Your creations struggle valiantly, but with you tangled up in loot and salvage, they're on their own. And your inability to support them has a price. Idhrendur dies silent and surrounded by ghosts. GreatEvilKing screeches as its partner is overwhelmed, but the fyora can't help idhrendur any more than you can.   The ghosts move on to MagusofStars next, but you're able to hasten your creations now that you aren't weighed down. Desperate to keep them all alive, you break into another pouch of powerful healing spores. As your creations fight to keep the ghosts away from you, you throw more spores and crystals into the fight, pouring out all that you have to keep them, and especially embattled MagusofStars, alive.   At first it seems like you might succeed. The ghosts drop off, several blasted into mere motes. But MagusofStars quails and bobs in the air, oozing ichor and obviously disoriented.   You pump all the healing craft you can into keeping the vlish alive while your artilas fight off their own attacker.  But no matter how hard you try, you still fail. The last ghost wads MagusofStars up like a scrap of paper with its unseen power. Your rage and regret are white-hot, but your creations, not you, deal the finishing blows to the last ghostly protector of this gate.   The gatehouse is desolate. You turn back rather than cross the threshold. Your remorse is too great to take that step forward right now. You return to the junkyard where Proof awaits. She seems pleased to see you, but you can barely manage normal courtesies. "I killed all the shades at the gate to the ruins," you say. "Thank you, Shaper. I do not know if that will help. Perhaps there is nothing to scavenge beyond. But we will try. If you wish, I can let you buy some of our rare items."      You peruse her goods, but in the end, you don't buy any of Proof's special stock.  You stop at the library in Pentil. Learned Dayna is sensitive enough to keep a respectful distance. After several hours of uselessly sitting at one of the long tables, staring at equally useless records, you decide it's time to shape some replacements.  Then you pay a visit to Ellhrah. You've made all the use of the Obeyers that you can.  "I am saddened that you have chosen to support a sect opposed to us. Still, I eagerly hope for a chance to change your mind," he says. Of course your alliance with the Obeyers has reached his ears. You shrug. "I met Control Four," you tell him. "It seems wise. I can't kill one of our creations in such a way." Ellhrah looks angered by this. "You made it, Shaper! You made that thing, and it slaughters my people! How can you be so cold, so callous, as to hesitate for a moment to destroy it! Shaper, you seemed to truly care about us. I am disappointed." But you didn't make it. That thing predates even your parents and grandparents. It's likely you're not even distantly related to any of the people responsible for Sucia Island. Yet you've benefitted from what they did. You can't deny that much. Still, having responsibility for all this pushed on you... it's too much. You leave without asking him about joining the Awakened.  You pass through the ghost gate after all. Game Text posted:You climb up into a rocky, arid valley. It's very cold, and there isn't much living up here. Just some carrion birds and scraggly plants.   Someone made it here before you, or these turrets are unusually long-lived.  Turrets aren't the only things you have to worry about, though. TooMuchAbs and Random rear end in a top hat are struck from behind by a strangely transparent Sholai. The warrior managed to charge right by before you or your creations could respond, and zapped your vlish with some strange energy.   But even the strangest outsiders aren't immune to acid.  Two more Sholai warriors come from the north, both under the same enchantment as their dying fellow. You wish you could get your hands on one of them long enough to figure out the spell, but evidently the effect fades along with the target's life.  Now you've killed three outsiders. You wonder what Trajkov will think about that.  After another run-in with a stealthy Sholai, you head north and destroy more turrets. The outsiders must have placed them here to protect their stake.  Game Text posted:These were once very cramped workers quarters. Everything of value was looted long ago. You doubt that anyone has lived here for centuries.   The wind is less oppressive up here than down in the valley. Some brush and grass have gained footholds here and there, bravely defying erosion.  Another day, another pylon. The same dialogue pops here when you interact with the pylon. Solution is stung once again, because why not?  It's tempting to let your creations sip from this pool, but the skeletons around warn you off.  I managed to not get a screenshot of the room, but it's not much different from the last.  These are certainly shaper ruins. As you check out a destroyed Shaper statue, another sneaking Sholai rushes RickVoid from the south.  Random rear end in a top hat handles the north. Even turrets aren't immune to terror.  The Sholai have truly resilient fighters. Try as it might, TooMuchAbs can't run this one off.  At last, both the turret and the warrior die, leaving you free run of this pathetic camp.  The piled up bones past this obelisk create a foreboding atmosphere. You're not sure what's beyond here, but it makes you nervous. Game Text posted:This old Shaper obelisk is worn, but still readable. It says:   It's a shame that these graves have been so thoroughly smashed up. If they belonged to Shapers, you might have learned something from your predecessors.  You stumble over another boneyard to the north.  But there are still plenty of turrets to clean up around here, so you're not quite ready to leave.    Perhaps all these ruins were knocked down to build up the columns in front of the gateway by the outsider camp.  It's hard to be sure. These huge masonry columns aren't in that great of shape themselves, but they still seem plenty sturdy. You don't know enough to say if they were built from salvaged blocks.  The nearby lever is almost totally hidden by a shrub. You're not sure why it was placed so far away from the door itself, nor why the mechanism is out in the open, rather than in a sheltered gatehouse. You examine the lever, but you can't find a way to unlock it without using up your tools. Without any particular reason to get past this gate, you decide to leave it alone for now. You return to the junkyard and approach Shock with your scavenged Shaper equipment. He takes the apparatuses you have found and inspects them. "Excellent. This will help my work much. Thank you, Shaper." He pays you 40 coins for each piece of equipment. Then you head east once more.  Next Time: Eventually, All Things Merge Into One POOL IS CLOSED fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Aug 20, 2017 |
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Jan 12, 2017 22:51
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I will never get tired of the most "natural" contraction of my username.  I guess you've decided that Solution must be saddled with a pair of fyoras at all times, huh?
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Jan 12, 2017 23:15
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I don't know how I missed screenshotting the terror vlish when I created 'em, but I do hope you enjoyed the reveal, as it were. I almost changed it to TooManyAbs. Fyoras for life! Also I really wanted to name a creation titty_baby_.
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Jan 12, 2017 23:19
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:Fyoras fyor lyfe! 
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Jan 12, 2017 23:22
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I'm more depressed that the best bath we've found yet here is in a haunted ruin. Nobody appreciates the simple things. Also I wouldn't be surprised if the other place is an ancient Shaper burial ground that was being systematically defiled and dismantled.
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Jan 13, 2017 00:11
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I seem to remember this being the part of the game that gave me the most wipes, aside from the goddamn pylons down in the southeast.
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Jan 13, 2017 00:30
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:Fyoras for life! So goddamn adorable. I am sad for the loss of our Fyora. No-one weeps for creepy Vlish.
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Jan 13, 2017 00:33
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You're fyright! dont be mean to me posted:I'm more depressed that the best bath we've found yet here is in a haunted ruin. Nobody appreciates the simple things. There's a distressing lack of attention to hygienic facilities here.  PurpleXVI posted:I seem to remember this being the part of the game that gave me the most wipes, aside from the goddamn pylons down in the southeast. It's easy to get your poo poo wrecked fast here, since the enemies are fast-moving and often come in groups. The wind walkers are the deadliest by far, but that 9 or 10 ghost pile up at the ghost gates can get nasty, and the Stealth Sholai hit like a loving ton of bricks. Fortunately, the Stealth Sholai will usually flee after you hit them once or twice, which gives you time to make free attacks from afar. Also, absolutely nothing we've encountered so far is immune to mental effects. I'm pretty certain I recall terrifying pylons, too, which is just fantastic. What terrifies a pylon? Besides the annual "what did we get stuck in our rectums this year" article.
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Jan 13, 2017 00:35
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Oh, right! I wanted to thank you for using "pore" correctly. Every time someone writes that their character poured over something, it gets my hackles up.
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Jan 13, 2017 02:21
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As someone who died from using the baths, I can say that it does have unique dialogue. Not much, but it's a good bit of prose.
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Jan 13, 2017 02:47
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:
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Jan 13, 2017 03:38
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Taking a bath after stealing from the bath-house owner? Not the worst lethal mistake you could go for, but certainly in line with Vogel's earlier works.
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Jan 13, 2017 05:21
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a)POOL IS CLOSED posted:
b) Giving the creations names from the thread made sense at first, but 'titty baby' has begun to suggest that Solution has a very strange sense of humour. c) I'm very sad Solution wasn't
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Jan 13, 2017 17:34
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vdate posted:a) Hi I'm fyorashaper58 and [ ... ] There's a fine line between comedy and madness.
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Jan 13, 2017 18:21
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I had the hardest time with the ghost gates. Probably because I still hadn't started to use my items to help out. Easier to explore elsewhere, level a few times, and come back.
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Jan 13, 2017 19:56
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| # ? May 10, 2024 18:36 |
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Yeah. In this game more than most, items are for using, not hoarding. Speed, shielding, and essence pods are plentiful enough in shops and loot stashes to use regularly, and are honestly a noodly nerd's (read: Shaper's) best friend.
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Jan 13, 2017 20:03
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