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Maugrim posted:Based on the difficulty of fights so far in this game and the fact that we are currently sustained only by the generosity of Kai I'd say we want to get the hell out. I agree with everyone else!
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 10:14 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2024 06:11 |
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The Deathlord of Ixia posted:You spin on your heel and sprint towards the arched opening by which you entered this chamber, but the insectoids anticipate your action and they move with frightening speed to block your escape. Snickering evilly, they fall upon you from the sides and rear, using their barbed limbs to drag you to the floor. Need I say more? Death Count: 25.
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 14:55 |
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The correct course of action is to use the Sommerswerd. There is no possible way to know that though. In fact, the way it's set out in the book the choice is between running, using a bow, or choosing "not to evade them or make use of a Bow". There is no indication of what you'll actually do, but you'd probably assume fight - and given the previous encounter you'd probably assume "no Sommerswerds allowed", but if you have the Sommerswerd then the book actually forces you to use it.The Deathlord of Ixia posted:As the insectoids come to within a body’s length of where you stand, suddenly their shiny black shells sprout masses of razor-sharp spines. Then, the leading creature emits a high-pitched screech—it is the signal to attack. As one, the creatures leap into the air and fall upon you from above. Desperately you twist and dodge to avoid being crushed beneath their heavy, spiky bodies. Demonlord Tagazin: COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 60 Combat Ratio: -11 We roll: 1 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 44 ENDURANCE 0 Demonlord Tagazin: COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 60 Death Count: 26. That's unfortunate. We were very briefly alive again.
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 15:07 |
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I seem to recall the meeting with Tagazin in Dungeons of Torgar as happening on one of several optional paths and not being required to finish the book. Is there alternate text if you didn’t meet him or does this book treat it as a canon mandatory encounter? Either way these 50+ CS enemies one after the other are making the book way too tough. Dever!
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 15:12 |
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Because of our extremely low Endurance points here there is really no way to survive this encounter, but once again not having the Sommerswerd does make it easier, as does Kai-surge. Kai-surge, obviously, would have given us a Combat Ratio of -3, but also would have had us deal between 2 and 18 damage (1d10 x2, 0 counts as 1) at the beginning of the fight. Not having the Sommerswerd or Kai-surge actually skips the fight entirely but at the cost of 1-20 Endurance points (1d10, x2 if you don't have Deliverance) and your weapon. In this case I'm going to put our path forward to a vote. Do we fight Tagazin with the Sommerswerd and leave with our Endurance probably quite a long way into the negative, or do we pretend we don't have the Sommerswerd, lose our crystal spear and roll for damage?achtungnight posted:I seem to recall the meeting with Tagazin in Dungeons of Torgar as happening on one of several optional paths and not being required to finish the book. Is there alternate text if you didn't meet him or does this book treat it as a canon mandatory encounter? achtungnight posted:these 50+ CS enemies one after the other are making the book way too tough. Dever!
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 15:19 |
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achtungnight posted:I seem to recall the meeting with Tagazin in Dungeons of Torgar as happening on one of several optional paths and not being required to finish the book. Is there alternate text if you didn’t meet him or does this book treat it as a canon mandatory encounter? Yeah, don't we only meet Tagazin if we manage to get on the path that takes us across the Isle of Ghosts ? And yes, dammit, these mandatory CR 11+ encounters make it drat near impossible for anyone who doesn't cheat. What's our max possible CS at this point? (efb)
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 15:20 |
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I vote we weren’t using the Sommerswerd. But then we got past the Ghost Insects how exactly? Maybe the damage was from them and not Tagazin? I hated this book so much, it killed me so many times, I have blocked the memories from my mind. Whatever it takes to get us through it on to the way more fun follow up (my opinion, not saying more).
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 15:29 |
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Runcible Cat posted:What's our max possible CS at this point? Base CS if we rolled a 9 would be 34 in book 13. You add one to that for each book you finish so that gets us to 38 by book 17. Add 8 for the Sommerswerd, 2 for the Silver Helm, 3 for the Kagonite Chainmail, 2 for the Silver Bracers for a total of 53. Add 5 for Grand Weaponmastery and 8 for Kai-surge and you've got your potential maximum for this book of 66. 68 if you use a potion of alether. Or, if you kept your Combat Skill from the Magnakai series but everything else remains the same, your base CS would be 24 in book 13, making the final total (without alether) 56. Meanwhile, if this is your first book, you rolled a 0, and you didn't pick Grand Weaponmastery or Kai-surge, your Combat Skill here would be 25. Just 25. If you only own two or three books but decide to carry your character across anyway and this is the only Grand Master one then your Combat Skill could be as low as 10. That's why combat in this series is hosed beyond repair.
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 15:38 |
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Okay you know what? gently caress this book
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 16:26 |
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Yeah, kaisurge does make a difference but doesn’t it also cost extra endurance per round to use? Kai blast is automatic damage but I also recall the rules for it being hard to interpret as far as temporarily lowering your CS. Also, that’s an optional feature of your character. If you have survival of your gamebook’s mandatory action depending on an optional feature not every player going by the rules as written would pick, you’re doing something seriously wrong. This book is a large part of why when I play through the LW series these days I usually assume I have all disciplines and always win combat. It makes it more of a Let’s Read than Let’s Play, but at least I survive and I get to shake my head at all the crazy ways I might have died horribly.
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 17:07 |
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Tiggum posted:That's why combat in this series is hosed beyond repair. Yeah, that's beyond ridiculous. How is that supposed to be fun? OK, I know everyone cheats, but they shouldn't have to to that extent....
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 17:28 |
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achtungnight posted:Yeah, kaisurge does make a difference but doesn’t it also cost extra endurance per round to use? achtungnight posted:Kai blast is automatic damage but I also recall the rules for it being hard to interpret as far as temporarily lowering your CS. achtungnight posted:Also, that’s an optional feature of your character. If you have survival of your gamebook’s mandatory action depending on an optional feature not every player going by the rules as written would pick, you’re doing something seriously wrong.
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 18:05 |
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I guess pretend we don’t have the Sommerswerd for now. But what happened to our autoheal and Oede?
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 18:19 |
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nelson posted:But what happened to our autoheal and Oede?
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 18:42 |
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Tiggum posted:Dever did something seriously wrong when he gave every player who completed book two +8 to their Combat Skill for the rest of the series. He should just have automatically given the Sommerswerd to everyone as equipment at the start of every book - you are the legendary warrior, this is your legendary sword kind of thing. Or just had it vanish when the Darklords carked it. Its work here is done, it must return to its home planet.
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 19:04 |
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We have the sommerswerd. I mean, we just used it to win a fight. I'm guessing this is an unavoidable combat, so let's just rely on the spirit of Kai sustaining us.
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 20:23 |
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Runcible Cat posted:He should just have automatically given the Sommerswerd to everyone as equipment at the start of every book - you are the legendary warrior, this is your legendary sword kind of thing. Or just had it vanish when the Darklords carked it. Its work here is done, it must return to its home planet. Agreed. And if the latter, it suddenly appears in your hand whenever you need it again- add 8 to your combat skill for this fight. And remove the whole need to hide it in a macguffin scabbard thing. By the way, has anyone on this planet seen Poochie lately? We could really use him back here!
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 20:59 |
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Mikl posted:Okay you know what? gently caress this book Yeah, let’s just get it over with and hope the next one is better. This one has been a sad disappointment. The Ballista did nothing, LW abandoned his crew to go hide, leaving them all to die, there didn’t seem like there were many meaningful choices, the bow did nothing, the puzzles were lame and combat was too unbalanced to be fun.
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 21:16 |
Just tried for another playthrough and died to Tagazin. And he isn't even the toughest fight in the book.
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 21:33 |
I finally beat the book, but it was only possible because lone wolf saga lets you use kai-blast every round. gently caress this book.
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 21:59 |
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Welcome to Book 17, folks. If this was your first Lone Wolf book it was probably also your last.
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# ? Jul 7, 2018 22:16 |
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Slavic Crime Yacht posted:I finally beat the book, but it was only possible because lone wolf saga lets you use kai-blast every round. The Deathlord of Ixia posted:You stare into the glowing eyes of the approaching Demonlord and steel yourself to meet his certain attack.
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 03:29 |
Fall down the stairs.
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 03:31 |
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Let’s go down. I’m actually glad we’re somewhere completely different. Maybe things will get more interesting.
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 03:42 |
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Because of course we rolled the absolute maximum amount of damage. gently caress this book.
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 03:47 |
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Down the stairs! Quickly!
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 04:21 |
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Run away! The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Games > Let's Play! > Falling into a Shadow gate will be the most important day of your life. For Lone Wolf, it was Tuesday.
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 04:23 |
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Comstar posted:Run away! Both
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 11:14 |
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The Deathlord of Ixia posted:With the hideous gibbering shrieks of the Chaos-creatures echoing in your ears, you hurry down the slime-smeared steps into the claustrophobic depths of this sunken building. At first the alien cries of your pursuers sound hungry and frantic, like those of a ravenous pack of starving wolves, but suddenly you realize that they are not cries of hunger at all—they are howls of glee. The Chaos-creatures are enjoying the sight of you rushing headlong to your doom! Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE -11 Chaos-horde: COMBAT SKILL 46 ENDURANCE 46 Combat Ratio: 6 We roll: 10 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE -11 Chaos-horde: COMBAT SKILL 46 ENDURANCE 27 We roll: 4 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE -13 Chaos-horde: COMBAT SKILL 46 ENDURANCE 17 We roll: 3 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE -16 Chaos-horde: COMBAT SKILL 46 ENDURANCE 8 We roll: 10 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE -16 Chaos-horde: COMBAT SKILL 46 ENDURANCE 0 The Deathlord of Ixia posted:Before the sundered remains of your enemies can merge and reform, you kick them into the pit where they are consumed by the creature which lurks at the bottom of its slime-filled base. Then, without looking back, you make a swift escape up to the roof and hurry away along the mossy ridge. Lavas: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE 52 Combat Ratio: 0 We roll: 9 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE -13 Lavas: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE 40 We roll: 9 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE -13 Lavas: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE 28 We roll: 8 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE -13 Lavas: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE 17 We roll: 4 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE -16 Lavas: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE 10 We roll: 2 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE -20 Lavas: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE 5 We roll: 6 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE -22 Lavas: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE 0 If the encounter with Tagazin had left us with 1 EP we'd now be dead again. Death Count: 27 The Deathlord of Ixia posted:As you slay the last of these golden-winged horrors, their torn bodies dissolve into a hot, steamy vapour which is carried away on a foul breeze. The few Lavas that remained with Tagazin, having seen what has befallen their comrades, now abandon the Demonlord to his fate. Tagazin curses their apparent cowardice as they take to the air and speed away. Demonlord Tagazin (injured): COMBAT SKILL 45 ENDURANCE 45 Combat Ratio: 3 We roll: 7 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE -21 Demonlord Tagazin (injured): COMBAT SKILL 45 ENDURANCE 33 The Deathlord of Ixia posted:The second wave of Lavas come swooping down en masse, the terrific beat of their wings forcing you and the Demonlord apart. Shielding your eyes from the stinging dust-choked wind, you look up and see that the Lavas leader is cradling the curious spiked metal bowl in its horny hands. He descends towards Tagazin and inverts it, and suddenly you realize its true purpose and design. It is a helm of power, affixed on top with a crystal spike. The Lavas places the helm upon the Demonlord’s head and the spike begins to glow menacingly. Tiggum fucked around with this message at 15:55 on Jul 8, 2018 |
# ? Jul 8, 2018 15:21 |
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The Deathlord of Ixia posted:The second wave of Lavas come swooping down en masse, the terrific beat of their wings forcing you and the Demonlord apart. Shielding your eyes from the stinging dust-choked wind, you look up and see that the Lavas leader is cradling the curious spiked metal bowl in its horny hands. He descends towards Tagazin and inverts it, and suddenly you realize its true purpose and design. It is a helm of power, affixed on top with a crystal spike. The Lavas places the helm upon the Demonlord’s head and the spike begins to glow menacingly. Demonlord Tagazin (with Power Helm): COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 48 Combat Ratio: -7 We roll: 6 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE -25 Demonlord Tagazin (with Power Helm): COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 43 We roll: 5 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE -30 Demonlord Tagazin (with Power Helm): COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 39 We roll: 1 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE -38 Demonlord Tagazin (with Power Helm): COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 39 We roll: 1 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE -46 Demonlord Tagazin (with Power Helm): COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 39 We roll: 10 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE -46 Demonlord Tagazin (with Power Helm): COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 30 We roll: 6 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE -51 Demonlord Tagazin (with Power Helm): COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 25 We roll: 6 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE -56 Demonlord Tagazin (with Power Helm): COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 20 We roll: 8 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE -59 Demonlord Tagazin (with Power Helm): COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 13 We roll: 7 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE -63 Demonlord Tagazin (with Power Helm): COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 7 We roll: 2 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE -70 Demonlord Tagazin (with Power Helm): COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 7 We roll: 10 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE -70 Demonlord Tagazin (with Power Helm): COMBAT SKILL 55 ENDURANCE 0 We are, of course, dead again. Death Count: 29. The Deathlord of Ixia posted:At the instant you strike Tagazin the killing blow, his body shatters into a million frozen pieces which cascade to the ground. The spiked helm drops on top of his pile of smashed remains, crowning them, as if it were a marker fashioned for the Demonlord’s grave. Deathlord Ixiataaga (with Deathstaff—uncharged): COMBAT SKILL 60 ENDURANCE 39 Combat Ratio: -11 We roll: 7 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 44 ENDURANCE -70 Deathlord Ixiataaga (with Deathstaff—uncharged): COMBAT SKILL 60 ENDURANCE 31 We roll: 7 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 44 ENDURANCE -75 Deathlord Ixiataaga (with Deathstaff—uncharged): COMBAT SKILL 60 ENDURANCE 23 We roll: 8 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 44 ENDURANCE -79 Deathlord Ixiataaga (with Deathstaff—uncharged): COMBAT SKILL 60 ENDURANCE 13 We roll: 1 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 44 ENDURANCE N/A Deathlord Ixiataaga (with Deathstaff—uncharged): COMBAT SKILL 60 ENDURANCE 13 We roll: 9 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 44 ENDURANCE N/A Deathlord Ixiataaga (with Deathstaff—uncharged): COMBAT SKILL 60 ENDURANCE 1 We roll: 9 Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 44 ENDURANCE N/A Deathlord Ixiataaga (with Deathstaff—uncharged): COMBAT SKILL 60 ENDURANCE 0 Guess what? Dead again. That "N/A" reflects the fact that a roll of 1 results in instant death. Death Count: 30. The Deathlord of Ixia posted:Your final blow draws a hellish shriek from the skull of Deathlord Ixiataaga, so loud that it batters the walls and shakes the plinth on which you stand. The Deathstaff disintegrates in his skeletal hand and he topples backwards towards the fiery moat. Yet as he does so, his body crumbles into a plume of grey-green dust which is sucked away into the whirling maw of the Shadow Gate, together with the shattering remnants of the Deathstaff. Remember that the absolute maximum a player's Combat Skill could be at this point is 66. The Deathlord's is 60. That's a reasonable fight for someone who's played perfectly and had perfect luck. It's basically impossible for anyone else. Oh, and that 66 CS requires that you interpret the rules as allowing you to reroll Combat Skill at the beginning of the Grand Master series, which is not explicitly stated.
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 15:47 |
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Bloody hell, this book. Southwest.
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 16:24 |
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South
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 17:53 |
I never understood why it specifies 'deathstaff uncharged.' Is there another route that leads to a different battle, or is this foreshadowing?
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 19:12 |
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And the book still ain’t over! Any minute now the 77 CS Ice Kraken will show up and... just kidding. Wouldn’t surprise anyone though, right? Southeast!
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 20:02 |
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Southeast.
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 20:32 |
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When we start the next book can we get clarification on how psi-blast is supposed to work? Is it in addition to normal combat or instead of normal combat?
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 22:34 |
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Tiggum posted:They are visibly stunned by your unexpected victory I'm not loving surprised considering the amount we had to cheat to get even that far. Southeast is left, I guess.
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# ? Jul 8, 2018 23:08 |
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Slavic Crime Yacht posted:I never understood why it specifies 'deathstaff uncharged.' Is there another route that leads to a different battle, or is this foreshadowing? nelson posted:When we start the next book can we get clarification on how psi-blast is supposed to work? Is it in addition to normal combat or instead of normal combat? Runcible Cat posted:Southeast is left, I guess. The Deathlord of Ixia posted:At first your chosen passage is wide and deep, but within an hour of entering, it becomes treacherously narrow. With no crew to help you pilot the craft, you are in great risk of running the ship aground on the encroaching icebergs. The only difference between southeast and southwest is that southeast has a 10%-20% chance of killing you.
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# ? Jul 9, 2018 03:32 |
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Final stats for book 17:
Combat Skill: 48 (29) Endurance Points: Just absolutely 100% dead. Kai/Magnakai/Grand Master Disciplines
Deaths this book: 8
Weapons:
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# ? Jul 9, 2018 03:37 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2024 06:11 |
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I get the impression that I might be in the minority here but I don't hate this book. Yes, it is basically unwinnable and that is a mark against it, and it's always annoying when you have sections where the Sommerswerd is unavailable, but on the other hand, it's also really cool. Tagazin and Ixiataaga are cool bad guys and you get to fight both of them. It's even cooler if you met Tagazin back in book 10. Playing it properly is a frustrating experience because you do have to cheat, but if you've got this far into thye series then you're used to that by now.
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# ? Jul 9, 2018 03:41 |