Check out http://www.geocities.com/zeviz1/index.html for an html
version of this faq!
Okay, this faq is pretty much complete by now. A few more things will
indubitably be discovered, but nearly everything is in here. To keep
check of new developments, please check the spiderweb message boards!
Thank you to all those who contributed! I may try to do a faq for
Avernum 3, but I'm currently working on Nethergate. Please register
your games and keep this great small software company happily making
more!
Added: a recipe guide, as people were asking for it. Thank you
Seletine for your assistance!
Copyright: This faq is copyrighted to me. Don't post this
anyplace where I haven't given you express permission to do so (email
for permission). If I find your faq on a site and you haven't obtained
permission, I will ask you to remove it. If not, then I'll get you to
pay my college tuition!
Email: elementalizard@aol.com. DON'T ask for registration codes or
any other crap like that. Do send any sort of hints you've discovered,
or things you think I may have missed, or spelling errors, grammatical
mistakes, etc. Don't bother with unimportant stuff like torches,
cursed items, or even shield rings at later points in the game.
They're not worth the time to put them into this faq. Check out the
message boards (get there through www.spidweb.com) for more fun!
How to use this faq. Despite being a walkthrough, I'd recommend
against playing as I played. Mainly this faq should serve as an index-
if you get stuck someplace, refer to it and maybe you'll figure it out.
You can use the "find" command to great effect. It also serves as a
hint guide for spells and abilities, and a location guide for rare
items and hard to find spells. It is quite useful for introductory
players who need some guidance on what to do first. Go to
www.spidweb.com to get this game! It's an excellent way to spend $25!
ABBREVIATIONS USED:
Xp- experience.
C- coins.
HP- Hit points
MP- Magic points
NPC- non-player character
Rep- Reputation
GIFTS- Giant Intelligent Friendly Talking Spider.
AP- action point, movement point, normally a character has 4 unless
they are wearing too much armor, or have magical items, spell effects,
or special traits.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
(1) Character creation
(2) Spell analysis
(3) Walkthrough
(4) Item analysis
(5) Index \ common questions (check for skills,
items, potion recipes, etc.)
(6) Hint summary
(7) How to cheat
(8) Replaying suggestions, solo guide
(9) Version history, websites
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
(1) CHARACTER CREATION
GENERAL PARTY PLAN:
I usually go for 2 fighters and 2 magic users. It works quite well.
If I want to pick up the NPC Becca, I leave the first slot open, and
start with 2 magic users and one fighter. There are 4 NPCs, only Becca
is available in the unregistered part of the game, the others can be
found in the 4th chapter. NPCs are all very powerful, and usually of
high level.
RACE:
Avernum 2 has unique races; unlike the typical hobbit, dwarf, elf, you
get to choose between the feline nephilim and the reptilian
slithzerikai. Most characters do not care if you have a slith or a
nephil, but a few say things like "I hate nephilim" or "Sliths are
evil." Include at least 1 slith in your team as you can later buy
nice, cheap spells from a slith town only if you have a slith in your
party. Sliths are great warriors who are skilled with pole weapons.
They make decent priests. It's your choice on the nephil, though it's
probably not a bad idea. They make excellent archers and thieves.
Additionally, from Alex on the spiderweb software message boards:
Nephilim act much sooner in combat, especially at higher levels. Yes,
Haste and Slow matter more, but some monsters are very fast. Measured
in terms of DEX/GYM required to get the same result, Nephilim start
with +1, and gain an additional +1 bonus every 8 levels or so. In
comparison, Fast on Feet gives you +2, whereas Sluggish gives you -3
and 1 AP less EVERY round. How can you even consider Sluggish? I love
speed!
Also from Alex: Regarding Races and Elite Warrior, to get an estimate
of how useful the bonuses are, at level 1, non-humans get +15% attack
rating with their traditional weapons, while Elite Warrior gives +5%
(+20% more when going berserk). These bonuses seem to increase by +5%
every 8 levels or so, and the damage bonus is probably proportional to
the attack rating bonus (+5% attack rating => +1HP damage).
Even more from Alex: In both cases, the attack rating is indeed
increased every 8th level. As for the damage, I haven't done any
statistical analysis, however, it seems as if Elite Warrior does more
for the damage, while the Slith and (especially) Nephil bonuses do more
for the attack rating (it's a bit like Gauntlets of Might/Warrior's
Ring).
Slith pole weapons bonus:
Level 1: +15%
Level 8: +20%
...
Level 32: +35% etc.
More from Alex(!): Nephilim also gain a bonus to the Parry skill, if
you like that sort of thing.
CLASS:
Always go custom, unless you really want to start playing right away.
There are some skills you probably want to avoid at the start of the
game which the predefined character classes have some points in.
SKILLS:
Some skills are more useful than others. Here's a general guide
Strength- Get some of this. Plunk points into this along with
dexterity as you gain in levels. Strength is initially more important,
as you want to raise you carrying capacity, but once you max it out at
350, slow down and put more points into dexterity. UPDATE: Strength
also adds ~.2 points of damage
Dexterity- Get some of this. Make strength your priority initially,
then start plunking points into this skill. This'll affect the speed
at which you act in combat, as well as several secondary skills.
UPDATE: Contrary to popular belief, it does not affect your to hit%.
Intelligence- Necessary for mages and priest, not much so for
warriors. Still, adding 1 point for warriors will give them some
arcane lore and cave lore for free. It's up to you.
Endurance- Not too important initially, as you don't get many bonus
hit points for increasing this skill, but later on, a single point will
increase you HP by 10 or more.
Melee- Add a few points if you wish, but it's best to get points in
these skills by raising your strength and dexterity. This'll also
allow you to switch weapons without hassle. The alien blade,
demonslayer, flaming and icy longswords are all melee. UPDATE: DO
invest points in these skills! They do increase the damage your
weapons do, by a similar amount as strength.
Pole- See above. The two most powerful weapons in the game are both
pole weapons, but you get them rather late in the game.
Bows- A decent skill, but pretty easy to raise later on. Don't put
too many points into as you can get trained by the nephilim near
Mertis. Adding a point to archery gives you +5% to hit, and +.25
average damage. From Alex, on the Spiderweb message boards: You can
buy 4 additional levels of bows skill from the Nephilim regardless of
how much you already have. On the other hand, anyone using bows will
probably have enough Dexterity and race/trait bonuses (Nephilim + Elite
Warrior) to be able to manage without much training in this skill. My
first party had a Nephil archer in it all the way to the end, and I'd
say it was nice for the variety and for taking out Rakshasi quickly,
but magic is still best overall.
Thrown- It's up to you. Razordisks are plentiful and powerful, and
this skill isn't all that expensive, but it's not nearly as powerful as
bows.
Hardiness- A must. Increasing your hardiness will decrease the
negative AP effect of armor. If you ever find that one of your
characters has 3 AP now instead of 4, put a point or two in this skill,
that'll remedy it. It also affects the damage you take, and some of
your resistances.
Defense- Cheaper than hardiness, but not as useful. Still, a few
points never hurt.
Assassination- Useful, but not all that much initially. Killing a
goblin by doing 70 damage gets you the same result as doing 15 damage.
Boost this up later for very nice results.
Mage Spells- start with at least one person with 6 in this. Another
person could have 1 point, as it doesn't hurt. As you gain levels,
make this skill a priority for your mage until you get 18 in it, then
you can pretty much ignore it.
Priest Spells- start with one person with 6 in this, and probably
another with 1 point in it. As you gain levels, make this skill a
priority for your priest until you get 18 in it, then you can pretty
much ignore it.
Arcane Lore- Necessary for reading tomes and identifying items. Put
points into this occasionally, it's a cheap skill.
Potion Making- Not necessary much at all. Still, plunk a point or
two in it every now and then so that someone can make energy potions
when you're in a bind, or graymold salves for the miscellaneous quests
that require them. It's better than first aid at least.
Tool Use- A decent skill that's pretty cheap. Only buy it for one
person, though. If you have this skill at a high enough level (~30),
you can rip off Motrax without fear, though this is quite an
investment.
First Aid- Ignore this skill. Why? Because to use it you need first
aid kits, which aren't that hard to find, but which weigh a lot. That,
and you need a high level in order to use this without fear of doing
more harm then good. Plus, healing spells make this kind of useless,
especially given how cheap they are.
Arguments about ignoring first aid:
+Longshot: I'll say myself that I disagree on some level with you
about first aid skill. It was incredibly useful to me at low levels,
and my skill in it was only 6 and I was using normal first aid kits.
The reason it was so useful is because I would always run out of spell
points while in dungeons. Also, first aid kits are all over the place,
and can be bought for a fair price anywhere. Healing herbs, on the
other hand, must be scavenged for. They are MUCH rarer than first aid
kits (My note: at the beginning, anyway).
+Enzo7za: And also at high levels first aid does not heal only 30+/-.
If your intelligence, anatomy, and first aid skill is high enough it
can heal 150-300 HP (I checked with the editor[raised stats]).
+y0d1n2a3: Also, Priests with high first aid skill can heal PCs
without fist aid kits (but the effect is much weaker).
-Although you could just as easily invest those points in something
more useful, like priest spells, this gives you more MP and stronger
spells. Still, give it a try if you're up for something different.
Cave Lore- Useful for dodging monster attacks and occasional special
encounters. I plunk a few points in it sometimes.
Luck- A nice miscellaneous skill. I would recommend ignoring it if
it weren't so damn pervasive! There are a lot of encounters in which
this skill is checked, and having a lot always helps. Plus it helps
your resistances. Plus, it can save your life if you're down to 0 HP
and get hit. But it is quite expensive.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
This is a rather subjective area. Still, for the sake of completeness:
Great Renown: Gives a reputation point or two occasionally. Skip it,
reputation is easy to come by.
Nimble Fingers: Gives bonuses when attempting to disarm traps and
unlock doors. Not bad and may help, though not necessary.
Beastmaster: Allows character to start with the summon beast ability.
Useful at the beginning, but not at the end. The call beast spell is
better, and doesn't have an XP penalty. Skip it.
Good Education: Gives a bonus to rune reading and item lore. Not
bad, though you should quickly have enough rune reading for this half
of the skill not to matter.
Toughness: Gives damage protection. Go for it if you want.
From Alex: The character trait Toughness allows you to regenerate
health points at twice the normal speed. Of course, it's still not
worth the experience penalty.
Fast on Feet: Makes you act faster, and occasionally gives you an
extra AP. I like this one, though it's hardly necessary. With this
skill and boots of speed, you can attack as many as 4 times in a single
round if you're lucky and have a lot of spells. 3 times is the maximum
without this skill.
Natural mage: Gives you spell-casting bonuses for both priest and
mage spells, and enables you to cast mage spells while wearing armor.
VERY nice. Allowing a mage to wear plate mail and still cast fireblast
is a big advantage. The bonuses (+4, which increases by level- see
section 5) are nice too, but not nice enough to warrant this getting
this skill for a priest, since their spells can be cast without fear of
encumbering armor.
Elite warrior: Gives a lot of combat bonuses which improve with
level, as well as the go berzerk special ability. An excellent skill
that keeps on giving, even at higher levels. Definitely worthwhile.
Divinely touched: Gives small bonuses with everything- it acts kind
of like it's a lesser version of all the above abilities. It also
gives the lay on hands, natural curing, and summon shade special
abilities. Not so hot, because of the significant experience penalty.
It's an excellent starting ability, however, especially on harder
difficulty levels. Still, I say skip it.
Of the bad abilities, sluggish, sickness prone, and brittle bones are
the only ones you should consider, even then, with great hesitation.
The experience bonuses are nice, but the difference is not too
significant, maybe a couple of levels at the end. Still, it's fun to
try something new.
From Alex: Completely inept makes you 1.5X as vulnerable to fire.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
(2) SPELL ANALYSIS:
MAGE SPELLS:
Bolt of fire: Always useful, except on fire resistant monsters.
Levels 2 and 3 can be gotten quickly, making this spell powerful from
the beginning.
Light: Nice and useful, improving levels helps some, but not a lot.
Skip level 2 if you want.
Call beast: Not so very useful for the most part. If you're playing
on higher difficulties this spell actually isn't half bad. Sometimes
you can summon something very nice, but most of the time it's pretty
lousy.
Bind Foe: Finally! A spell with controversy! Level 1 of this spell
is one of the best in the game! Why? Because it's irresistible. Cast
it on a demon, and the demon misses his next turn. Use it on a drake,
and you can pummel them to goo without worry of retaliation. From
Longshot on the Spiderweb message boards: If you plan on using this
spell a lot, though, go for level 2. It can be resisted by some high
level enemies, but it still is very useful stopping most enemies, and
it's cheap too! Level 3 is a good improvement on level 2, go for it as
it's very nice against giants and dervishes.
Haste: Very useful. The difference between level 1 & 2 is slight,
but helpful. Level three is excellent. When fighting slow-spell-happy
magic-using badguys, have you mage (W)ait then cast this at the end,
and tada! No slow state!
Slow: The enemies love this spell, especially the damnable aranea
and demons. I don't use it too much, but others do.
Ice Lances: This spell is very useful at the beginning, then becomes
obsolete at the start of chapter four, which is a shame because you get
level 3 in chapter 4. Oh well.
Unlock doors: A must. It's best to start off with this spell. Level
2 isn't all that big an improvement over level 1, but is nice to have.
Level 3 is very sweet- all doors are opened by this spell.
Create illusions: Take it if you want it. Summon aid is better, as
the monsters won't die instantly, but this spell can serve as a decent
distraction against non-magic-using monsters (I used in once in
Sulfras's cave to a good effect).
Farsight: Very desirable. Even with this faq, a lot of stuff is
hard to get to, and when I give vague directions like "east of blah,"
it's nice to cast this spell and figure out what I'm talking about.
Level 3 works outdoors.
Lightning spray: When you get this spell, it replaces ice lances as
your dominant damage spell. It's pretty powerful, but eventually gets
ignored when you get fireblast, except when fighting fire resistant
beasties.
Capture soul: A neat spell. Use it on powerful enemies to plunk
their life essence into your soul crystal. Then you can summon them up
with simulacrum. The bad thing is this spell needs to be a high level
to capture a powerful enemy.
Simulacrum: The best summons spell. Get a haakai or lich, a null
bug, an ur-basilisk, and some strong physical enemy in it and you're
set.
Dispel barrier: A necessary spell. Level 3 doesn't do too much,
though.
Summon aid: Nice for distractions. Useful when fighting giant slugs,
as they spit at the summoned creatures rather than at you. Also useful
when you need to run (when ie quickfire's burning your butt, and
enemies are behind you).
Beast Ceremony: Extremely nice. Cast it before all outdoors
encounters to give a heap of whoopass to your foes. Level 1 isn't so
hot, but level 2 is excellent. Level 3 adds a nice touch, but level 2
is all you really need.
Fireblast: Probably the best damaging spell out there. Get enough
magery, intellect, and mage spells, and this spell will do well over
100 damage. Not too bad.
Arcane summon: Eh, get it, but you won't use it much. This spell
pales in comparison to a decently stocked soul crystal and simulacrum,
although the summons do stay around longer.
Arcane shield: Not bad, though I prefer divine warrior.
Arcane Blow: A nice damaging spell for those fire resistant bad guys,
though fireblast is still probably better. It's quite costly in MP as
well.
PRIEST SPELLS:
Healing: As useful and pervasive as bolt of fire. Level 2 is a nice
bonus, so go ahead and get it. Level 3 makes this spell very good.
Curing: Useful. Skip level 2, as level 1 also cures disease. Level
3 is nice in that it gets rid of acid.
Battle rage: Very nice. Level 2 increases the strength and makes it
last longer. It hastens the target at level 3, making haste levels 1 &
2 pretty much obsolete, except against spell casters.
Shielding: Good, especially on harder difficulties. This'll block
your enemy's blows and damage. Level 3 gives magic resistance, a very
nice addition.
Repel spirit: A great spell. Get it to level 2 as soon as possible,
you won't regret it. Level 3 is a must have spell as well.
Smite: Good at lower levels, not so good at upper levels. Get level
2 as soon as possible. Soon divine fire replaces this spell, except in
the rare case of a non-demonic, fire-resistant monster.
Summon shade: Not bad, adds an ally for a while. Greater shades are
decent, though vengeful shades are very nice.
Safe Travel: Bleh. Pathfinder quickly makes this spell completely
useless. Don't go out of your way for this one.
Unshackle mind: Useful against mind-bending monsters like gremlins,
ghasts and fungoids. Level 2 is very useful.
Move Mountains: Similar to dispel barrier, move mountains is
necessary in this game. You get it early, and you can do a lot with
it.
Mass healing: Depending on the circumstance, use either this or just
regular healing.
Mass Cure: See above. Again, skip level 2.
Sanctuary: I rarely use this spell. It could be decent, especially
at level 3. If an enemy ever casts this spell, keep using missile
weapons or spells and that'll nullify its effects.
Divine Fire: The best priest offensive spell. Use it often.
Control Foes: An interesting spell. I don't use it much, although it
is occasionally useful.
Cloud of Blades: A unique spell. It alone can hurt black shades and
Guardians as far as magic goes, and it'll also hurt the rakhasha, which
is a great use for it. Unfortunately, you only get three clouds at
max.
Return life: I just reload. There's a rare but unfortunate bug in
the game that may cause items to disappear if a character dies, so
reloading is probably best.
Divine warrior: Probably the best spell. It doubles you AP, gives
you a super strong blessing, and makes you harder to hurt than a lump
of rock. Get it as soon as possible, and use it whenever you're faced
with big bad guys.
Divine restoration: A nice spell, especially when at higher skill
levels. Out of combat just use healing 3.
Divine host: Bleh. Get this one for the sake of completeness, but
it's quite lousy. One fireblast from the enemy, and poof, no more
shades. If third level summoned vengeful shades, that'd be another
story, but as is, don't go out of your way to get 2nd level.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
(3) Walkthrough
This is how I played my most recent game. You don't have to follow
it word for word, I'd strongly recommend against it, in fact. But if
you ever need hints, just find the dungeon and hopefully you'll find
your answers. I played the game on tough difficulty this time through,
so if you find that certain enemies are downright easy and I say
they're difficult, make sure you're not on easy difficulty. If you
discover some super strategy, tell me. I played through this game
without cheating, including the fight-end strategy found in (6).
There's a walkthrough for the registered section of the game included
in the help file. You can use either theirs or mine.
**************************CHAPTER 1****************************
Watch the entrance sequence to figure out what's going on. Better yet,
buy and play Avernum 1!
FORT GANRICK.
Q: Kill the nephar chieftain
Q: Find the stolen arrow supply.
You start off in Fort Ganrick. Walk around a bit and get acquainted
with what's going on. Go east and get equipped with the stuff you find
in there.
HINT: In general, try to figure out if something is better than what
you've got. For instance, a stone spear has stats of 2-20 -1, whereas
an iron spear has stats of 2-20. The stone spear has an average damage
rating of 10, but the iron spear has an average damage rating of 11.
Go for iron. This is pretty much always true. The hierarchy of items
is bronze/crude/poor/stone < iron < steel < blessed.
HINT: Look in items. Press "L" and choose something. The best stuff
is found in crates, barrels, dressers, bookcases, desks, and of course
chests. On rare occasions, you can find stuff in other objects- for
instance, in Fort Ganrick, there are some casks in the equipment room
which have some cheap wine hidden in them, which you can take (go ahead
and take them, you can sell them in Chapter 4).
HINT: Stealing: It ain't a crime if you don't get caught. Many items
have a "NY" next to them. If you try to take the item, and someone is
watching, you get in trouble (and may even instantly die). There are
ways around this. For instance, there's a desk in the southeast which
has some copper coins. Close the door behind you after entering this
room, and steal them, making sure no one can see you. This'll happen a
lot, and I'll only mention it at the first couple of towns, unless it's
something notable.
HINT: There's a big selection of food in this game. Generally, I go
for the lightest (greens), and ignore the heavier lizard haunches and
fine meals. If you want variety, pick up all that you can. You should
never need to buy food, as there's always plenty lying around.
HINT, from luthien on the spiderweb message boards: If you're loading
up on loot and hit the max items, you can pick up a couple more things
if you equip the non-magic jewelry (or any other items like bows and
missiles that you don't already have equipped). This is typically only
useful earlier in the game before your characters are completely decked
out.
Go north and talk with Commander Vidican and get the quest. Then
leave, quickly. You can come back after you've gained a few levels.
HINT: Quests are your main source of reputation, and a good source of
gold and xp. Whenever you complete a quest, be sure to get your
reward! Uncompleted (ones where you've not received a reward) quests
can be found under "Current quests" in the character info screen.
THE OUTDOORS.
All right. The great outdoors. There are several encounters with
enemies nearby. In general, be nice to guards and never surrender your
money to bandits. Those lizards can't be corralled, as far as I know.
There are goblins, mushrooms, undead, and bandits all nearby with
unique encounters.
HINT, from luthien on the spiderweb message boards: Since loot and
experience are so valuable, I will usually save the game right before
any wandering encounter. Then reload the game to make sure I get the
maximum number of enemies. 8 bladesman, 6 empire archers is better than
5 and 3...
You're also likely to run into spiders, nephilim, and bats. Here we
reach a dividing point. You have two significant options: Either go
east to Formello and pick up Becca, or ignore the NPCs all together.
It depends on your playing style. Becca is quite powerful, and has
more points as a level 7 character than any of your guys will, but
she's not Yours. She was premade, and not handpicked like your
characters. Still, if you're following this faq that won't matter all
that much, and you can always change her name, and picture and make her
Yours. It's your choice. If you do go to pick her up, first go to
Formello and trigger the cave quake (just walk towards the east), then
ask her to join you. Else, head on to:
FORT DRACO.
Q: Kill the bandits
Q: Deliver iron bars
Q: Deliver marriage proposal.
Just south of Fort Ganrick is Fort Draco, an important industrial hub.
There's some important stuff going on here. Anfrond, a mage sitting in
the east, is having trouble with bandits. Killia needs iron bars.
Harg is too scared to ask Rose to marry him. These are all quests. Go
ahead and talk to these people to start the quests. There's some good
stuff to steal too. Go into Boutell's shop, close the door, and wait
for him to disappear into the black (make sure he's not just off the
screen, press the arrow keys in the corner to move your sight). When
he's gone, take the Iron greatsword (nice powerful early weapon), and
move up, do the same and take his iron bar. Then, in the boat shop, go
into the SW room after unlocking it, close the door behind you, and
pillage it. Then leave, find the barrel/crate with an iron bar in it,
move the crate to her room, close the door, and take it. Now you've
got a bit more money. Then go NW, outside of the city walls, and find
the separated building. The saleswoman is rather nervous (buy some
lockpicks from her). Something funny is going on here... Go out
around back and down the trapdoor. This is your first dungeon! Cast a
light spell or use a torch or candle to be able to see. Walk on down,
and you'll run into a batch of soldiers. Uh oh, they're not friendly.
Kill them, they're not too hard, and take all their stuff.
HINT: When you kill things and finish quests, you get xp. Get enough,
and you gain a level. The maximum obtainable level is 50, but this is
hard to obtain with a normal party.
From luthien on the spiderweb message boards: It appears that the
penalty for experience is random. If your penalty is -50%, I think the
50% is applied by giving each point a 50% chance of occurring. Either
that or some other distribution. I've completed quests worth 30 XP
where the 50% penalty character will get anywhere from 10 to 20 XP. The
moral of the story is, save before you complete a quest or some other
big-XP action. It will be hard to get max XP for all your characters,
but at least you can prevent one PC from getting cheated too much.
NOTE: Although I've not checked, it is possible that the reverse is
true for having an experience bonus (taking the negative traits like
brittle bones). Let's say you have a bonus of 15% to xp. With each xp
point gained, there is a 15% chance of gaining another xp point.
Equip anything that's stronger than what you've got on, then take
anything else that's worth money and isn't nailed down.
HINT: You may find yourself unable to carry any more. There are a few
ways around this, from Zeviz: There is also a (slightly cheating) way
to carry much more than your weight allowance. When you are trying to
equip an item, it does not go through the weight check. So if you equip
that super heavy Empire armor straight from the ground, you'll be able
to carry it even if it takes you over your weight allowance. And from
TIE187: Also, if your party has a strength bracelet, you can pass it
around and equip it on each character when they're picking up loot. It
adds 60 stones to the character's carry capacity, up to 350 stones.
Again, "the problem is that you can't drop anything since you won't be
able to pick them up again."
Then go back up the stairs. You can sell your stuff to Orson to get
the best prices (drop the ore, meal and wine- these are later quest
objects). Or, you can go to:
TOR'S HOMESTEAD.
Q: Kill the salamanders.
A bit east of Fort Draco is Tor's homestead. A nice place, though
there are some vicious lizards in the pen just east of the entrance.
You can kill them if you want. There's a nice strength elixir ripe for
stealing in the northern building. Go and talk to Tor and see what's
wrong. Seems as though he needs to hire an exterminator. That'd be
you. Go and find his salamanders and kill them. They're not too
tough, though they have flame fields around them. Then go back and
talk with him. For this, you get a shielding charm (acts like armor),
10xp, one rep, and the ability to train in BARTER.
HINT: Throughout the game you are occasionally given opportunities to
obtain and increase special skills. These can be very powerful.
------------------------SPECIAL SKILL----------------------------------
Barter is a very useful skill. It increases the selling prices of your
items. Get 5 points for everyone, pretty much as soon as you can.
Don't bother training in this skill, though, just get Tor to max you
out. Every time you get 150 coins or so, come back and have him
educate you. You'll quickly max out your skill. 60% is the maximum
selling price obtainable through any means.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Go back to Fort Draco and sell off your equipment. You may have enough
money to go and buy more points in Barter, though you can wait till you
get some multiple of 150c to go and learn, if that's less tedious.
Eventually, with enough barter, Orson will buy your iron bars for more
than 25c, making the Killia quest obsolete. (Additionally, from Alex on
the spiderweb message boards: Healers always buy items at the maximum
selling price. The only, and somewhat annoying, exception is the shade
in chapter 2. It doesn't buy anything - kill it! ). Go back to the NW
and go down the trapdoor, and kill everyone you find down there.
You'll kill the leader, the quest objective. There's a secret door
that leads to a trapped hall with crates that have some decent supplies
in them. Soon you'll run into an apprentice mage and some soldiers,
kill them, and look at the bookshelf. You'll get firebolt level 2, a
nice spell. Pick everything up, sell it and repeat as necessary. The
NE section of this dungeon is filled with rats, including the annoying
vapor rats. Kill them, and you may get a couple of furs to sell. Go
up and tell Anfrond what you've done and you'll get 1 rep, 15xp, and
150c.
Now you can head back to Fort Ganrick. You'll soon get into a fight
with nephilim. Kill them, and make sure that neither Gridley (the non-
soldier) nor Commander Vidican get killed. You'll get a map for this.
Use it to get a password. You can talk to Gridley for another quest,
the "Find the stolen arrows quest." From here I'd suggest heading down
to Formello and talking with Rose, in the inn. Then go back and talk
to Harg, telling him the good news. He'll throw a shielding ring down
(take it, 5xp as well) and stop talking with him. You'll lose a
reputation point if you don't.
NEPHIL FORT:
Then you can head off to the nephil caves. There's a secret passage to
the northern part of the caves above the obvious lower cave entrance,
go here first. You'll get into fights with nephilim, goblins, undead
and hydras on this level. Nothing too difficult at this point.
Eventually you'll make it to a door, and will automatically use the
ghath password to get into the larger parts of the caves. This is one
of the larger levels. Kill anything that moves, with the exception of
Arum. Points of Interest: Arum is held captive in far SE, and his
deceased friend was held in the cell right above him. Check the
friend's body for a Beast Call Crystal.
HINT: You'll occasionally find one of the really nice learning
crystals. They're small blue things that come in three flavors-
abilities, skills, and energy pulse. Ability crystals give you a new
ability, like lay on hands or something. Skill crystals teach you 3
points in a given skill. Energy pulse crystals just dumbfound you, but
are good to sell at 599c apiece.
You can free Arum (1rep 5xp) after slaying the nephar chieftain.
Towards the SW there is a tunnel that'll let you leave to sell your
items. There's a lot of loot in this dungeon, but even obsessive-
compulsives like me aren't going to bother with stone daggers, I'd
suggest just picking up the better-selling items. South of the evil
altar there is a bookcase with the very useful spell Move Mountains.
You only get first level, though. East of the big room is the nephar
chieftain. Kill him to finish the quests. Go a bit SE to kill some
nephil shamans, and get to their book. Destroy the book (don't read
it!) for 5xp. Go NE of the nephar chieftain room and you'll fight a
nephil chieftain. Kill him and go into his room. On the west side,
there's a secret passage which'll lead to two poison fungi and the
treasure room.
HINT: Those are magic barriers. There are three types: fire, which
can be walked through for damage, force, which are impenetrable but can
be removed with a dispel barrier spell, and Big and Weird, which are
those which are separating Avernum and which you'll run into again
later.
Fortunately the lower one is a fire barrier. Walk into it to get a
poor chain mail and rogue leather (very nice- improves tool use, and is
1-4+3). That's about it for here.
FORMELLO
Q: Find healing herbs
Q: Destroy evil altar.
Go back to Fort Ganrick to get your reward (3rep, 20xp, ~400c). Now
you should have nice bit of loot. You may even have maxed out your
barter skill. Time to spend some money! Follow the road to get to
Formello. If you've picked up Becca, you've already triggered the cave
quake. If not, that'll happen, and a vahnatai will tell you to come
and explain your actions (Chapters 2 and 3). This opens up a tunnel to
the vahnatai lands. Go there when you feel you're ready to move on.
Otherwise, there are three main ways of burning off cash here: mage
spells, priest spells and the pathfinder skill. Near the center of the
town is a mage who sells mage spells. See the mage spells section to
see my opinions on what to buy. The priest to the north sells priest
spells, and the PATHFINDER skill.
------------------------SPECIAL SKILL----------------------------------
Pathfinder is a nice and useful skill. It allows you to walk on places
which normally hurt you, like swamps, magic-zappers, and even lava. As
such, possessing enough of this skill makes the safe travel spell
completely obsolete. By everyone 5 points, except for one character.
For this one character buy only 2 points. You'll find a learning
crystal later on which'll give you three more points in this skill.
Don't bother training in this skill, as there is no benefit to getting
more than 20 (or even ~17 for that matter).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This spell costs a lot of cash, comparatively, but it's still a good
investment. Also in Formello is Stoppard, who'll buy healing herbs at
30c a pop. If you need money, go for it. I prefer holding onto those
herbs, but that's just me. Next to Stoppard's store is Townshend's
store. Townshend provides an important service: Identification. Those
odd rings and minor magical items can be identified here, for a cheap
price. Commander Graham will give you a quest: Destroy the evil
nephilim altar. In order to do this, you'll need the ritual of
sanctification. The wizard's apprentice will give you give you hints
about this. In order to get it, leave the town wall through the west
and head north on the east side of the moat. Go as far north as you
can, then walk east through the secret door. Read the book and
everyone who has a point in priest spells will get this ritual (one of
the reasons to give a point of priest spells to a second person). In
the Inn you find Rose, as mentioned earlier. The innkeeper is also
having problems with a ghost, and you can help him out by destroying
it. Do so and you'll be allowed to sleep at this inn for free.
There's a gold ring east of the mayor's room which you can steal. You
may want to save it for a later chapter 4 quest, but it's up to you.
That's about it for Formello.
VERDANT VALLEY
Nearby this dungeon is a special encounter outdoors. You can help some
soldiers fight some nephilim, and get a healing elixir as a reward.
This is an interesting, large level. There are two ways of exploring
this dungeon, from the south and from the north. From the south, you
can access a secondary level filled with lava and such. There's not
too much here, a few minor goodies, some gold, some fine leather armor,
and a wand of bolts. From the north is much more interesting. You
encounter a bunch of bandits and their hideout. For now, hold on going
up the ramp. Instead go out the staircases to the south, and work your
way to the body in the middle. You'll have to fight cave rats, mung
rats, vapor rats, plain bats and lava bats, but eventually you'll get
to a dead body with a Lay On Hands ability crystal. After getting
this, go on back to the bandit hideout and go up the ramp. Kill
everyone in this section of the hideout. To the east, you'll find the
stolen arrow shipment. In the northern room, there is a secret door
along the west wall with a passageway that leads through a fire barrier
to a bunch of annoying hordlings. Kill them, and look at the
bookshelf. You'll get 10 xp. That's it for here, so head on back to
Fort Ganrick and claim your reward (100c, 15xp, 1 rep.).
STRANGE CAVE
Now that all the newbie major areas are done, it's time to hit some of
the lesser areas. The strange cave has a very nice reward at the end.
This dungeon is found by going south from Fort Draco one map down, till
you see a sudden tunnel west. There's a secret door on the northern
wall, and you'll find the cave. Go in, and kill the three damn
gremlins. Then go north and kill the giant. Check the eastern wall of
the giant's lair for secret doors, then go grab his stuff. There's a
thinking cap there, which makes it all the worthwhile (a helm which
improves your mage spells).
REMOTE CLEARING
Another minor cave with decent stuff is the remote clearing. It can be
found by taking the NW route from Formello, and is a hidden dungeon- a
few mushrooms mark its location. Inside, there are three nasty cave
slimes, and 2 viscous goos. Then you can get to the herb patch.
HINT: There are two types of herb patches- one is found on the outdoor
map as a special encounter, the other is found in an actual dungeon.
The latter are much better as they have more herbs than the outdoors
ones. There are 3 dungeon herb patches. Come back to them every 5-7
days or so to pick up some more herbs
MOTRAX'S CAVE.
Motrax is a kindly old dragon who's seen better days. This will later
be an important dungeon for you, but for now, there's two small things
to do. Commander Ko wants you to go kill some bandits (they're the
ones who demand 25c from you- you may have run into them already). Go
out and kill them if you haven't done so, then tell him about it. You
get 10xp and 1 rep for this. Behind Ko's office there are some tunnels
with lizards in them. Kill the lizards and take their loot. You don't
get any reward for this action.
BOAT RIDE
Q: Kill the ogres.
You can get a boat in Fort Draco. There's a lot out there that makes
this a worthwhile venture. After rowing it outside, south of the fort
is a ledge along the east bank, which leads to a secret tunnel with a
ash bow on a dead body. Further south is an island with some lizards
on it. You can get off on the west bank and explore. There are some
shades nearby, talk with them for a quest.
HINT: Whenever presented with the option to be friendly, do so. More
often than not the others will react with friendliness or indifference.
If nothing comes of this, save, then attack.
The ogres they seek dead are to the south. In the meantime, you may
run into a batch of aranea. These suckers are annoying, and if your
difficulty is on higher than normal, they are rather hard to kill.
Destroying them nets you a wand. Further south is a small fort filled
with evil lizard men. Wipe the fort clean, freeing the prisoner (5xp).
Slith spears are good single-handed weapons. Fine slith spears are the
best one-handed spears out there. Go east from this fort, through a
secret door and you'll find the ogres. Kill them, then go back and
talk to the shades for 15xp. Then go west, then south, and you'll run
into some mushrooms. There's an abandoned town with a free iron bar,
and a nearby shop (Waldby). He sells crap for now, unfortunately.
Some people like to kill him and take his stuff, but I'd recommend
against it. He'll identify and buy your items. Further east from here
is an empire outpost. You can kill them and get their nice equipment,
and a set of blessed bolts. East of that is an empire supply cache.
If you have adequate luck (8 total, from Luthien), you can guess the
password and burn the place (looting does nothing). This is part of a
chapter 4 quest, so go ahead and torch it if you have the stats.
SPIDER LANDS:
Q: Retrieve the GIFTSs eggsack.
West of Fort Draco are the spider lands. There are two types of
intelligent spiders here: the GIFTSs, and the aranea. Go to the
northern cave, the GIFTSs home, first. Make your way NW and talk to
the spider on the hill. He'll give you a quest. Then you can do two
things here: Plug up the aranea's hole in the center of the map, and
explore the dumb spider's cave in the NE of the map. You get nothing
for doing the former, but 200c for the latter, though you have to wade
through a bunch of spiders. Afterwards, go bathe in the pool, and
leave, heading south. You'll pass the special web barriers and will
find the aranea cave. These buggers really annoy me. They're not too
difficult on normal difficulty, but above that, and you'll have to take
them on one at a time. The GIFTS's egg case is in the NW. There's a
very useful farsight scroll in the NE (save your game, use it, then
reload). In the center, there is a batch of spiders sitting around.
Kill them, then look at the rune. You'll get firebolt 3, very nice.
Head back to the GIFTS cave to get your reward: 10xp. Then search the
opened tunnel. A lot of nice treasure including a red empire pass, and
a ring of skill.
UNDEAD AND NEPHIL FORT
Far south of Fort Draco are the ruins of an old Avernum 1 fort (which
featured prominently in that game). In this fort is the altar which is
the object of the "destroy the evil altar quest" from Graham in
Formello. This fort is filled with skeletons, zombies, nephilim and
ghouls. If you have repel spirit 2 they aren't too much of a problem.
Points of interest: On the west side of the dungeon there are three
things. South there is a basilisk lair, with a nasty stone-gazing
basilisk sitting in it. North of that there is a cracked wall. Use
move mountains on it, and you'll reveal a demon. These guys aren't
easy. The best thing to do is get next to him and pound him into
kibble. Cast bind foe 1 every turn and he'll fall soon enough. Look
in the chest for a key which'll help you later. In the NW corner
there's a secret passage with a wand of ice. Head east, and kill the
nephilim around the altar. Then (u)se your special ability "Ritual of
sanctification" after getting up next to the altar (you can't hurt it
physically, nor should you have a character sit down in it). This gets
you 10 xp. North of here is a secret door with a chest containing a
blessed cloak, which is better than anything you'll get anytime soon.
East of here is a nephil chieftain. Kill him and his cronies, then go
into the nearby door. In the room with a bookcase you'll find a chest
with an ankh in it, which'll come in handy again later. Go south, and
break into the room with a bunch of nephil in it. Kill them, and you
can take their stuff. There is the very nice shielding spike (it looks
like a scalpel), you may want to give it to your mage. There's a
locked door nearby, but that'll have to wait. Go back to Formello to
claim your reward (10xp, 3 rep, ability to take scrolls).
FIRE LIZARD CAVERNS
NE of Motrax's cave are the fire lizard caverns. There's a decent
spell in here, as well as some quest items. The first floor doesn't
have too much on it, except for some fire lizard eggs in the NE. You
can grab some from across the lava, or if you have a high enough
pathfinder skill can just walk across and take them as you will. The
upper level is more interesting. There are several fire lizards here,
which can be pains in the butt, but aren't all that bad. The nearby
nest has a trapped drake's egg. Unfortunately, there's no way of
getting it without getting burned. In the NE there is a stalactite
blocking a path. Come back here again with move mountains 2 to get
some rubies. In the NW is a drake. He can be difficult if you are
unused to his attacks. Just keep binding him and he'll go down in no
time. He's guarding a shielding ring, another drake egg, and a
spellbook with Light 3. That's it for here.
TYING UP LOOSE ENDS
East of Motrax's cave, are some empire troops. They're pretty well
hidden, but after you kill them you get another red pass. In the
tunnels north of the undead fort is a special encounter which, provided
you have enough luck, will give you a crystal which teaches you the
Anatomy skill. Hold on using it for now. Solberg's fort is reachable
by boat, but there's not too much there that's worthwhile. Plus you
have to fight a bunch of nasty demons, making this an upper level area.
There's a healing spring to the east of this area, but not too much
else. Out to the far west is a ledge with a bunch of snakes on it.
You can't get there yet. Likewise there's a building near Motrax's
cave across a little lake. You'll go there later as well. There are a
few other minor things laying around, but nothing major. It's time to
head on to Chapter 2!
PREPARATION:
Q: Travel down the dangerous waters.
Drop those excess arrows, scrolls, wands and potions off in a friendly
town. No one will bother them. Drop your important food (like greens
and dried meat), and take the food you don't care too much about (the
heavy lizard haunches) with you. You'll lose all your food in this
chapter. Drop all your cheap wine, meal and ore, they play a role in a
couple of minor quest later. Get everything identified, go to the
trainer, then head towards Formello. Enter the tunnel, fight the
hydras, then hop into the boat. Go out to the island and talk to the
vahnatai, Bentis-Ka. She'll tell you to go down the river to Avit, a
vahnatai city. Take the cloaks you find in her room. They are quite
useful, though blessed cloaks are still better. There's a slime
encounter outside to the south of the island, though you don't receive
anything for killing them. Go down the river, and continue down the
two waterfalls. You may lose some food, unless-
HINT, from TIE187 on the spiderweb message boards: When going over
waterfalls, I paddle next to a waterfall, save, go over it, and if I
lose food, I reload.
This'll take you to:
********************** CHAPTER 2 ***********************
There is a lot to do here. There are no stores, very few friendly
people, and no means of training. You'll quickly find you weighed down
with a lot of junk if you don't pick things up selectively. Ditch all
the cheap stuff, you'll find enough good stuff that you'll still end up
with a tidy sum after selling all your junk at the end.
You'll be followed by a shade until the end. The second shade will
sell you healing. Follow the river till you reach a calmer section.
There's an area with rats wandering about. You can get some good
mushrooms here if you have a high enough cave lore. Only one batch is
safe. To the NW is the barrier tower, you'll come here later. Go
ahead and kill the imps, though. Nearby is a secret passage that leads
to a dead vahnatai who's holding a waveblade. Waveblades are the best
one-handed swords out there. Fine waveblades are even better. Go to
the SW, where you see a hut leading to the:
WATERY RUINS
There's not too much here other than some hydras, a few herbs, and the
necessary hexagonal rod. Pick up a couple, they're worth a tidy sum.
Now you're ready for the:
RIVER FORT:
This is one of the three main areas of chapter 2. Take your boat
around the top, and enter by water. This'll save you hassle later. Go
on the west side, kill all the undead there. There's a trapped box
with a bunch of scrolls, and a box with a blessed dagger that's guarded
by a nasty spectre. Spectres, wights, vampires and liches all drain
your experience if they hit you for damage. Kill them quickly. Use
you hexagonal rod on the wheel, and the some doors will open. Get back
in your boat, and go south, getting off to the east. You'll fight some
vahnatai. Kill them, and there's a spring which'll restore your health
a bit to the north. Go east some more and fight some more vahnatai.
Then go up and go as far NE as possible, a search for secret passages.
You'll find a trapped hall with a book at the end: This is one of the
three things you can do to make the next chapter easier. This book
also gives you +1 to mage spells, a nice deal. Go south, fighting more
vahnatai. When you get to the boat, check the southern wall for secret
passages. Kill the slime, then work your way around, and again search
the southern wall. You'll find a body with a fine waveblade and
drakeskin boots (best treasure yet!). Hop into the boat, then leave
this fort,
Some more waterfalls, and eventually you end up in a big lake. There
are two batches of hydras which, when slain and provided you have
adequate luck (4-5, from Luthien), will give you magic wands. To the
north there is a shade which will heal you for cash. To the east,
there's a secret passage leading to a gremlin grove. Stay with them.
You'll lose some food, but will get a few potions. Go north to get
some more. Usually the unidentified ones are cursed, so ditch those.
There's a minor dungeon to the east:
THE RUINED VILLA
Not too much here. In the NW there's a fire lizard guarding an
unshackling crystal in its nest. There are Ice slimes, chitrach larvae
and chitrachs here too. There's a secret passage to the north. Upon
entering the room you must fight some undead vahnatai mages, and can
then loot their treasures. You get a wand of ice, some razor disks and
potion ingredients. That's it for here. On to the second major
dungeon, the
COFFIN CAVES
Once you enter, you'll see lots of crystal coffins. Your job is to
free the vahnatai inside. There are herbs outside of this building to
the NE and SE. There are plenty of chitrach larvae, chitrach and null
bugs here. In the NE there are some barriers. You can either walk
through them or go north and use move mountains to get to the next
room. This room has a chill charm, which is quite nice, given how few
amulets you probably have. Continue south, and fight more bugs.
You'll find a dead vahnatai with a scroll on it. Pick it up. Go down
to the south, and open the door. Kill the larvae, and go west, kill
the undead vahnatai, and check the cupboard. Now you have the second
scroll. Now check the east wall of the main room for secret passages,
and get up onto the platform. Use the code you've obtained to awaken
the vahnatai (BLWLB). That's it for here.
DAHRIS-BOK'S TOMB
Follow the river some more, and eventually you'll be accosted by
Dahris-Bok. Enter the dungeon. Choose either your strongest character
(maybe Becca), or a priest who has decent strength. Some tool use
skill might also help.
HINT: There are a few occasions in which you have to select a specific
character to do a quest. This is one of them. In general, choose the
character best suited for the job (obviously). Addition from TIE187 on
the spiderweb message boards: For single PC quests, I use my
Mage/priest. I give him or her all the protection and special armor the
others wear: shielding spike, 2 or 3 amulets and jewelry, rogue
leather, lockpicks. Having your choice of Priest or Mage spells and the
large amount of mana that goes along with training in both is quite
nice. MY CAVEAT: It may not be too good an idea to load up your
character, especially if they're in an area with a lot of items you
want to pick up.
Go north into the room with four exits. The east and south are open
now. Go east and kill the monsters. You can usually kill the ghouls
and such from a distance, since they can't cross the runes, if you have
decent archery (from Zeviz on the message boards) or repel spirit.
This is pretty straightforward. When you're done, turn the wheel. Now
the east and north doors are open. You'll come to a trick set of
doors. Play around with the runes a bit and eventually all 3 doors
will open (or hit the bottom left then the top left rune). Go up and
turn the wheel. Now the north and west doors are open. Go west, and
enter the room. Check for secret doors to the east then the north, and
life will be easier. Two wheels await you, turn them both. Now go
open the east door and kill the two shades and wight. Continue east
and you'll get access to some treasure, including a call spirit ability
crystal, a cursed ring and a crystal charm. Go back south, and dump
off your treasure on the other characters, then go west through the
previously closed door. Kill everything inside, then go talk with the
crystal soul up top. Kneel, and he's happy. You can search for secret
doors on the north wall, and loot his stuff (Dahris doesn't care),
you'll get an archer ring (an improved fletcher's ring) and a fine
waveblade, but then you've got to fight some nasty undead vahnatai.
Continue on your merry way down the river. You'll eventually lose all
your food. Oh no. There's a cave to the east, you can go in it.
HYDRA LAIR
Looks like some hydras are fighting some chitrach. You can join the
carnage, or you can let the hydras get beat, then kill the weakened
chitraches. Take the meat for food. Talk to the hydras for humor.
There's no great treasures hidden in here.
Continue down the river, you're almost done. You end up at a nicer
area, and see some of those shades again. These, however, decide to
attack you. Kill them, then continue north. Some vahnatai attack you.
Kill them, and check the west wall for secret passages to get some
potions.
HINT: Secret passage tiles look a bit out of place. This is
especially noticeable here. These are hints that something different
is going on.
Go up to the tunnel to the north, and go through it, killing the
salamanders. And there, my friend, is Avit.
************************** CHAPTER 3 *************************
AVIT
Enter Avit. Bon-Ihrno, the vahnatai who spoke with you in Formello is
on the island in the bright clothes. Talk with him. Then go do the
ritual of welcoming (go left to right). You can get some herbs by
heading around the north, then maneuvering over to the west. There's
secret door in the SW house which leads to a pile of rubble in which
you can find a scroll. In the SE building, there's another secret door
that leads to a tree. Approach the tree and you'll get a key (more on
this later). That's about it for here
Head on out, and you'll run into some vahnatai. Be submissive and
you'll do fine. Head on over west to Olgai. Be nice, and you'll get
in.
OLGAI
Q: Recover the crystal souls.
Corman, in the center-west building, will identify and buy your items.
You should have plenty from the last chapter to sell. You may want to
keep 1 waveblade, 1 razordisk, 1 fine crystal, and 1 vahnatai robe for
a later quest. In the NE there's a trainer, you should also have some
skill points to spend. West of the trainer is a weaponsmith. Talk
with him and he'll hint that he threw away a steel shield. It can be
found in the SE, outside of the town walls. You have to fight 3 hydras
to get it. Also in the SW is a locked door, which you can not open
until you have Unlock 3. Now you can enter the council building, if
you've done all three things on your way to Avit (found the book,
awakened the coffins, honored Dahris-bok). If not, you'll have to do
some tests. Once you enter, the vahnatai ask to examine your mind.
Let them, and they'll take down the barriers (100xp). You'll also be
allowed to use the portal to get back to Avernum.
THE TESTS
You probably don't have to do any of these if you've been following
this walkthrough but you still get 10xp for each one you finish.
Strength- Choose either your fighter or your priest to do this one. Go
in and hack everything to kibbles. There are 2 springs hidden here
which'll give you a few HP and MP if you need them. There's also a
very nasty ruby skeleton, which is why I recommend taking the priest.
Search for secret doors and eventually you'll finish without hassle.
Speed- choose whoever has the highest tool use skill or your mage to do
this one. There's lots of quickfire, which is a pain. A few locked
doors bar your path, and you've got to turn a wheel to open a gate.
Take the lower path and ignore the goblins. If you've got enough
resistance you can just ignore the quickfire and instead grab all the
treasure to the north (it's nothing great).
Patience- Doesn't really matter who does this quest. Walk along the
path, ignore the wheel, then make it to the lever. Pull it, and pilot
it out to the water area, and take the upper path. I'll let you figure
this out, but it's not too hard. Then just keep pushing the block up
the stairs. The block won't fall off the cliff either. Move back onto
the rune, and uh oh! Just push it south through the secret door. Jump
down after it, and move it back onto the rune. That's it.
You may have a lot of money (I had >6000) and might be looking for a
way to spend it. There are two nice means of doing so. One is by
finding a vahnatai who's standing around, waiting for folks to come and
talk with him. He can be found in some ruins. He'll teach you 5
levels of Vahnatai lore for 450c each.
------------------------SPECIAL SKILL----------------------------------
Vahnatai lore- A special skill that can not be trained. This skill
will help you in a few important encounters. Get around about 10
points total, that's all you really need.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
EGLI
Q: Find a drake fang
Go to Egli (the city on the island in the lake), and find the mage in
the west to learn simulacrum and capture soul (he's the mage reading
human porn). One of the vahnatai on the east side of Egli will ask
sell you crystals- piercing, unshackling and recall are all quite
useful, shattering isn't. Buy one or two piercing crystals at the
least. From the crystal seller go west through the hall and enter the
meditation chamber. You'll find a secret door which'll lead to a
passage with several fire barriers. Walk through them, and you'll end
up in a room full of crates. Steal whatever you want, and get the
gloves in the attached room. They are nimble gloves, quite useful for
you thief. You can go out and talk with Rentar-Irhno (the cause of
this whole mess) if you want. She'll get irritated and send you to the
entrance.
MANCUSO:
Q: Slay Gaddika
Q: Slay Hydras
Mancuso is another vahnatai city in the east with some nice quests to
do. Speak with the children to find out about the empire a bit, and go
and get some quests. Tokor-Te tells you to go kill Gaddika, an evil
vahnatai to the north. I'll describe this later. You can also buy
some upper level spells from him, though you may want to wait and get
them from someplace cheaper. Aeon, a farmer outside of the city proper
will give you a kill the hydras quest. The hydras are hiding to the
north, and once killed, come back to get 10xp.
RESTING CELL 4
Q: Slay the ice hydras.
This is a very fruitful quest. It's not too difficult either. This
dungeon is located south of Mancuso. Talk with the vahnatai to the
south to get the quest. It seems as though they're having some hydra
problems. In this dungeon are hydras (both young and old), ice slimes
and ice hydras. To the SW is secret passage which leads to a bunch of
potions, to the SE is another secret passage which leads to a dead boy
with a ruby. Go north, and kill all the hydras. Don't bother with the
controls like you did earlier. That's the vahnatai's job. Go out and
tell them you're done and you'll get 20xp and a soul crystal. Now you
can use the vahnatai spells you learned in Egli.
Head on back to Olgai. There are a few more things you could do here,
but honestly, Avernum has better options at this point. Enter the
portal and you get teleported to the tower of the magi.
TOWER OF THE MAGI
Q: Kill the serpent cult
Q: Get some Fire Lizard eggs
Q: Get a drake fang
Q: Speak with Pyrn.
You end up in your chambers. Drop off your excess stuff here, if you
want. Go out the door, and south. Talk with Kelner to get the serpent
cult quest. Go east and talk with Suzanne for the fire lizard egg
quest. If you happen to have one on you, give it to her for 10xp and
the chance to use her spellbook for curing 3 (South central east- there
are 3 books there, corresponding to the quests you'll eventually do).
North and west of here are Mahdavi's chambers. She'll give you the
"speak with Pyrn" quest, which you can't take care of yet. Still,
enter the room to the east, and look in the dresser. You'll get a
code. Go way up north, and talk to the merchants. Piglet sells
alchemical recipes (including graymold- don't buy it yet, as you can
get the recipe for free in Patrick's tower), and Vincent sells potions
and gives you the drake fang quest (#2). Completion of the drake fang
quest gets you shielding 3 and 25xp. You can then go a bit north of
where you got curing 3 and you'll find a storeroom. There's a secret
door to the east, and you can move crates through this secret door, and
plunder them without fear. They contain a wand of lightning, steel
bolts, iron chain, several potions, and a set of magic lockpicks.
There's a mage in the eastern lab who will sell you some of the middle
mage spells. Buy the spells Summon Aid, Fire blast, and Beast Ceremony
(just to level 1) from her, if you want to and have the money. X is in
the SE, and will sell you the five most powerful spells, but at high
cost. There's an energy pulse crystal (free 599c) near the center, to
the east of the portal. Don't use it. Then there is also the portal,
but you can't get there till you get magi clearance. That's about it
for here. Upon leaving the Tower you get to go into:
********************** CHAPTER 4*************************
The final chapter. This one is longer than all the others combined,
maybe even twice that. You'll run into some soldiers on the way, be
nice. You'll probably also be attacked by some empire troops. Empire
troops are a great source of loot, and you may eventually find yourself
looking forward to getting in fights with them. There are some ogres
NW of the tower, but they're not worth killing. Continue up north and
eventually you'll reach Mertis.
MERTIS
Q: Kill the madhouse bandits
Q: Kill the chitrach
Q: Get a gold ring.
In Mertis, you'll find a nice variety of stuff. The mayor will give
you a quest to kill some chitrach in the NW corner of town, doing so
nets you 10xp and some Arrows of Light.
HINT: Arrows of light are quite nice. They do 50 extra damage to
demons, if they hit. Bolts of life do the same to undead. In fact,
from TIE187: Both Arrows of Light and Bolts of Life affect both Demons
and Undead in A2.
HINT, also from TIE187: When you sell a vendor an incomplete bundle of
an Item(Projectiles or lockpicks) and buy it back, you get a complete
bundle back. This is great for renewing rare wands(you can't separate a
wands uses:/), like the Rod of Arcana, or building up a supply of rare
arrows. Sell 1 Bolt of Life or Acid > buy 6 back. Its expensive so I go
to the stranded merchants near Fort Duvno. Their prices are Pretty
Average, which are the cheapest I can find.
Talk with Anhara in the bazaar for a quest to get a gold ring. You may
have one on you; give it to her for 10xp and a ring of skill. The
captain in the northern building will give you a major quest, to kill
the Madhouse Bandits. The priest in the east of town will teach you
the ways of Elgar, for 3000c:
------------------------SPECIAL SKILL----------------------------------
Anatomy: This is an expensive skill. It's worth it though. Almost
all the enemies in Avernum are humanoid, meaning you'll always get more
damage. It does around about 1 point of damage per skill point
invested, but only against humanoids. It affects both melee and
missile, but only seems to add .5 points of damage per skill point with
missiles. It also affects first aid, if you use it. Buy it when you
can or remember. When you get a big batch of cash, go ahead and use it
on this. When someone gets a 5 in this skill, you may want to get that
mind crystal you found in Chapter 1 and get 3 more free points.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Head on North to Silvar. You may want to continue north, and find a
hill with a ruin on top. Go up the ruin to talk with Kossad, to get
the cheapest spells around. There are plenty of wandering monsters
around here, including some nasty batches of sliths.
SILVAR
Q: Sugar for Gary
Q: Free enslaved nephilim
Q: Find Nance
Silvar is full of refugees. There's a band of thieves who have been
abusing them. They can be found (and eliminated) in the SE, but for no
reward. The mayor of the town has a quest for you: free the enslaved
nephilim. You can talk to the nephil in the bar about it. While
there, talk with Gary. He'll give you his sugar quest. I've only
found 3 bags of sugar when I played, so this quest isn't major. Still,
200c is 200c. Elspeth lives among the refugees. Talk with her to get
her "find Nance" quest. Nance is in Fort Dranlon, by the way. You can
buy a boat here, sell your items, store your items, and train here.
Q: There's a bunch of gremlins who want you to find their womenfolk to
the north. The women can be found in the giant's castle. West of the
gremlins is a one-time graymold patch.
FORT DUVNO.
Q: Kill the secret sliths
Q: Find out who can cure dread curse.
North of Silvar is Fort Duvno. There are more refugees here. Captain
Johnson will give you the "kill the secret sliths quest." Walner the
sage will identify your items, and will ask you to find out who can
cure dread curse. Now that we've got a bunch of quests to do, we ought
to go do some, right? Maybe later. Let's get a bit stronger first.
Go back down to the tower of the magi, and talk to Mother Clarisse.
She can cure dread curse. Return to Walner to get your reward: 10xp
and a graymold salve. SE of Mertis there are some diseased
nephilim(nearby here is a regenerating patch of healing herbs). Use
the graymold salve on them and two local tribes will 1) sell you a
batch of charms, and 2) improve your bow skill for 1000c. Head back
down to the Tower of the Magi and go west two maps. Go to the NE
corner of this map. This is the Abyss refuge. Then go south of
Almaria, to a pink house. Agree to pay and you'll get a knowledge
charm (increases item lore and rune reading). Then go through Almaria
(pay the fee, I'll discuss this city later), and up, around the castle,
and near to Blosk. You should see some wandering beggars on the way.
They're from the Abyss. Tell them about the refuge for 1 rep. Go
north, past Blosk, and enter Gnass, the slith city.
GNASS
Q: Retrieve the slith charm
Q: Find massacre evidence.
Find Pathass, and if you have a slith in your party, you can buy cheap
priest spells (including the second level of move mountains- you can go
back to the fire lizard cave [chapter 1] and grab their rubies now).
Continue to talk with him for an important ritual. The chief will give
you the slith charm quest. Assotho will join you if you find massacre
evidence. She's an ultra-powerful priestess who can fight quite well
as well. Orho buys and sells items, you can pick up a fine slith spear
if you don't have one already.
Leave and go to the castle. The wandering batch of guards in the
castle wall will give you a mage's bracelet (very nice at this point)
if you have adequate strength and/or luck (25 combined, from Luthien).
HINT: The power of one's spells are based partly on luck, and partly on
the mysterious Bonus. The mage bonus is equal to the mage spells skill
+ int/2, and the same is respectively true for priest spells. There
are some ways of increasing this ability through wearing items,
acquiring skills, or choosing specific character traits. The mage's
bracelet and the robe of the magi both give a +4 bonus to your
character. However, wearing both does not give 10 bonus, so it is best
just to wear one. The magery skill gives a bonus equal to the number
of points in this skill. The natural mage trait gives a bonus of 4 at
the beginning, and may increase with levels. For priests, there is
only the priest's bracelet. The mage's bracelet and the robe of the
magi do not affect priest spell strength, however, both magery and
natural mage do.
Enter the castle. Go to the SW and enter the library. Talk to the
lady behind the table, and you'll get magi clearance if you have 32 rep
or more (and a quest which I'll mention later). Take your magi
clearance and go SW to Patrick's tower.
PATRICK'S TOWER
Q: Find the Vahnatai Items.
Q: Find the Borgia toadstools.
Q: Get graymold salve for Julz.
You may have those vahnatai items on you I told you to keep. Now's the
time to ditch them. Patrick's in the SE, talk to him and give him the
items. For this you get: 5xp & 100c, 5xp & deciphering lens, 5xp &
100c, and finally 10xp & 2 rep & slow level 3 from his book. Down in
the SW is Julz, who tells you to get him some Borgia toadstools. To
the NE is a library with some useful knowledge. To the NW is a lab.
Enter the secret area north of the demon, and bring down the barrier
somehow (maybe later). You'll have to contend with some quickfire, but
will get a knowledge charm, heroic brew, restoration brew, and a
knowledge brew.
From Patrick's tower go east back through Almaria, to the map with the
lava on it. Here there is the only regenerating patch of energetic
herbs in the game, in the NW. It's guarded by a bunch of gremlins.
North of here is the honeycomb, which is a bit difficult to navigate:
just keep using the automap. You may see some gremlins. Save your game
and go up to them. If they give you a special message like they run up
and hug you, then these are the special gremlins. Reload and keep
talking with the till they attack (they do reappear if they hug you or
run away, but it's best to take care of them now). For this you get a
spidersilk shirt, a decent piece of armor, especially for a mage. Near
the center of the map is the Madhouse.
MADHOUSE BRIGANDS.
You may be somewhat low on funds now, so it's time to go and get some
more. The Madhouse is a great place to pick up some nice stuff. The
problem is, once you leave, it's hard to get back in unless you have
dispel barrier or a bunch of piercing crystals. Hopefully you have at
least one piercing crystal now. Enter the fort from the east. Search
for secret passages, go around, then go up one space. You'll be
teleported to a new area. To the SE is a funny pink wall. Use move
mountains to destroy it, then get passed that barrier. Unfortunately,
I've never found any other way in, though there probably is one.
Fortunately, people have helped me with this:
According to antimony (thanks again!) on the Spiderweb software boards:
To get in without a piercing crystal: Go in the right-hand entrance,
find the secret passage, go up, just like before. Then just walk north,
killing the brigands on the ledges from a distance. After you pass the
second group, there's a long hallway to the right. Don't go down it,
look for either of two parallel secret passages. (Far Sight will make
that easy.) Go down the lower of those (the upper may work as well,
don't remember), and there will be an entrance to the main part of the
fort. Then kill everything in sight, starting at the north end and
working south. Leave to the north as necessary to rest & sell off junk,
since it's easy to get back in.
OTHERWISE:
Go through the portal. Open the southern door, then fight all the bad
guys in there. Go south to the next batch of baddies. Kill them then
search the dresser for a pair of nimble gloves (yea!). Go south and
kill the eyebeast and his cronies (thus ending the quest). Don't go
through the portal, instead keep killing the baddies to the north (one
of them has a wand). Then go back to the room where you found the
nimble gloves and pull the lever. Enter here and kill all the baddies
again, go east and kill some more bandits. One of them has the nice
Archer's cloak, which you should put on your main archer (another
bandit has a wand). Now you can leave. Sell your stuff off at Mertis
or the Tower of the Magi, and get your stuff identified.
Q: Destroy the empire supply caches.
Now head back up to Silvar. You may want to try to go to Fort Dranlon
now. On the way there are several nasty sliths out and about. They
are somewhat difficult, but once slain, you may get a Fine slith spear,
the best one-handed weapon in the game. Hugging the north wall will
yield two special encounters. One is with the scimitar. They ask you
to destroy the empire caches hidden throughout the area. Doing so nets
you a nice reward. East of there is a magic fountain which makes you
enlightened. Quickly head SW while enlightened and enter a lonely hut.
You'll be able to read two scrolls and get raise dead 2 and divine
restoration 2. A bit to the south of Fort Dranlon are some empire
troops in disguise. Kill them and take their stuff.
FORT DRANLON
Q: Get Cheap wine
Q: Get Giant statues
Q: Kill Elderan.
This is my favorite city as there's so much to do. The quartermaster
in the SE will give 20c for each jug of wine you give him. Here's a
good place to cash them in, if you've been saving them. He also sells
one of the three bags of sugar to be found in the game (cost >200c, so
not a good idea). Talk with Mairwen the wizard to get the Kill Elderan
quest. Then talk with O'Rourke to get the giant statues quest. These
are both excellent and fun quests. Nance can be found in one of the
inns. Talk with her then talk with Elspeth for 1 rep, 15xp and a
diamond dagger. The mage Postlethwaite will hint that there is some
nice treasure near Cotra. Indeed there is, nimble boots in the trash
pile to the west of Cotra. Wendy, a mage, will join your party if you
let her. She's a great mage. For such a small town, there's a lot to
do.
North of Cotra are several monsters. These are the remnants of the
force that kicked Cotra's butt. Teach them a lesson. Far south of
Fort Dranlon is an empire courier's body. Keep trying to read his
scrolls and you'll get the secret password "skulls." There are some
nephilim living east of Cotra, don't kill them, they're friendly.
They'll help you out a bit after you free the slaves. They'll tell you
about the regenerating graymold patch on a swampy peninsula to the
east. You have to kill some giant slugs to get it, which can be
difficult (get up close to them so they stop spitting acid, and pound
them into slime). There's a small house north of Fort Duvno where
empire soldiers are attacking some Avernum soldiers. Help out the good
guys for 1 rep. There's a basilisk east of Fort Duvno, you can kill
it without hassle, but don't get anything (maybe capture it in your
soul crystal). Finally (and best of all), north of Cotra is a secret
cave. You've got to fight 3 batches of empire troops to access it,
including a difficult wizard, and a dervish, but in the end, you get to
bask in the crystal cave, which gives you +1 to strength. Woo hoo!
NEPHAR FORT
NE of Fort Duvno you find the nephar fort, the object of the Silvar
quest. These kitties are pretty fast, and their shamans are evil.
They give good loot, often pieces of amber and shield rings. Points of
interest: In the SW, there's a bunch of shamans and a room with
bookcases (on which there are scrolls). NW of this room is a secret
room in which you can obtain beast ceremony 2, an excellent spell. To
the East is a nephar chieftain who's holding a steel greatsword and
drakeskin boots. There's also a bunch of nephar shamans out and about,
and their temple. Take the potion on the left, it's a knowledge brew
(the other isn't nearly as good), and will give you 5 skill points when
drunk. When you do, you've got to fight 3 demons. Here's the best way
of beating them: Use beast ceremony (which you definitely should have),
then get into fight mode. (W)ait one round, then grab the potion with
your priest. Use your mage to cast slow on the demons, and your
warriors to pummel them. You should be able to act twice without
problem, since the demons lose the initiative in the first round
because you (w)aited (and this is a good strategy for several fights).
The first thing the demons do usually is cast haste on themselves.
Cast slow on them again and continue to pummel them. Summon up some
friends to alleviate your pain for when and if they cast lightning
blast. Eventually you can destroy them. Now go up to the platform,
kill all the giants and nepharim. Enter the room. There are two
secret rooms north of here. One leads to a desk with a key, the other
leads to a trapped room with a treasure chest full of good sellable
items. Leave, and use the key on the door, then pull the lever.
You'll free the nephilim. Go back to Silvar to claim your prize (25xp,
4 rep).
SPIRAL CRYPT
The title give a good description of this level. There are lots of
annoying spectres, wights, spirits and ghasts here, so be sure to have
a decent priest. Enter N of Mertis. You may have to fight some undead
on your way, but if you're lucky (but not by the game's skill) you may
get a silver necklace or a piece of amber. You start out in the South.
Go east and up and west, killing all that you meet. When you get in
the NNE, there's a secret passage to get down and finish this level.
You may want to continue going on the outer rim, however, and get a
piercing crystal (that box has 3 crystals in it- not worth it at all).
If you do this, you end up on top of a large cliff, and will have to
jump off, taking damage. Go down the secret passage, and hug the east
wall. Go down the passage and kill the lone wight, then search the
north wall for a secret passage. You'll find a room with 3 graymolds.
Go out and to the south. Jump off the cliff, kill the ghouls and
ghasts, and continue. Kill the ruby skeletons, then go north and pull
the wheel. This'll let you get out of here if you run out of HP and
MP. Enter the dark area and head north, looking for secret passages.
Check the northernmost wall for secret passages; there should be two,
take the eastern one to get a piercing crystal. Take the western wall
past the pit and fight the spirits and spectres. Try not to let the
spectres hit you (make them your priority), as they hit hard and drain
you. Go south, and kill the fetid zombie, breaking the barrier, and
kill all the other fetid zombies. Use your ritual of sanctification
here (30xp). Search the bodies to get a flaming longsword (very nice
weapon). Then start to leave, you'll have to fight wights, spirits,
ghouls and ghasts on your way out, usually. Talk with the wandering
merchants (the seemingly useless ones) to get 1 rep.
SECRET SLITHS
Head east from Fort Dranlon (which is a good place to sell off all the
loot you get here). Find the totems, then head straight west. You'll
enter the secret slith's hideout. Kill the first batch, then head
west. Search for secret passages to the south, and grab their loot.
You can kill their babies if you want, though I don't. Continue south,
and kill some more sliths. You'll soon get to the slith chief. Kill
him, and take his stuff: dexterity bracelet, drakeskin boots, fine
slith spear. Then head east and kill the priests and their guards.
Head south from the altar, kill some more priests, then check the SE
wall for secret passages. Go down it, and bathe in each of the three
pools. Don't read the rune! Go north, then head west, you'll find a
secret passage. Since you bathed in the slime you can pass the rune.
Hop into the boat, then get to the island. If you know the ritual from
Pathass, you can get the slith charm. Head east, kill the sliths and
their fire lizard pets, then go to the NE room. Check for secret
passages on the southern wall, and go up. You'll end up in a room with
2 fire lizards and a bunch of crates. Kill the lizards then search the
crates. You'll get a lot of food, and some nice treasure, most notably
a Resistance skill crystal.
------------------------SPECIAL SKILLS---------------------------------
Resistance- a most excellent skill. It'll block a lot of damage.
There's only two ways to get this skill unfortunately, and you can't
train in it, or it'd make your party unstoppable. Damn.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Then go back down and then west, and go up the stairs. Kill the
sliths, then kill the fire lizards and the slith archmage (who's a
decent soul crystal catch). Head east, and you'll fight a bunch of
snakes. You can get a good number of herbs from this area. Then head
east, and find a secret door. Bring down the stalactite with a move
mountains spell, then look around. You'll have to fight 3 batches of
undead: wights, spectres and vampires. One of the vampires had a
radiant robe when I did this (blocks magic damage). Otherwise, there's
not much else to do here. Go back to Fort Duvno to claim your reward:
300c, 4 rep, and 25xp. Go to Gnass to get 2 rep, 30xp, and sanctuary
3.
SERPENT CULT
The serpent cult is to the east of the tower of the magi. On your way
here, swoop down and west, and look for secret passages. You'll find a
supply cache with some minor goodies. Go back east and head north,
you'll run into some sliths and snakes. Get used to them. Enter the
cave, and fight the nearby sliths. Points of interest: there's a
trapdoor in the NE. You an open it after you pull the lever that's to
the NE of the trapdoor. 5 snakes attack you then. Towards the center
east there are 2 giant slugs, if you want to fight the nasty things.
You can't get up to the main fortress before going down, so get to the
second level by taking one of the two pits. From here, fight the
snakes and get up to the altar, and use the ritual of sanctification
(10xp). Go west and you'll find Captain Brehon locked in a room. Talk
to him after killing the slith chief for 1 rep and 10xp. To the NE is
a secret passage that leads to a basilisk and a book. You can't look
at the book until you get the blessed athame (it's repel spirit 3). Go
to the NW and cast beast ceremony before going up the stairs. There's
a nasty fight up there with 3 slith spell casters and a bunch of
warriors. Kill them, and you can get a dragonskin cloak, the best
cloak in the game. You can use the ritual on the altar for a humorous
result, but no xp. Go east, and fight some mages. Check the bookcase
for a scroll (historical scrolls have no quest in this game). Then
take the west door to get some treasure (coins, blessed arrows, heroic
brew, a cursed ring). Go south and open all of the doors except for
the most southerly one. All of these rooms have some nice stuff. The
NW room has a book that gives you +1 to arcane lore. The SE room (with
the barrier) has a lot of potion ingredients, and the mideast room
leads to a secret room with a bunch of dead, one of which has iron
chain. Now go south and kill the slith chieftain. He has a fine slith
spear, and a warrior's ring (an improved ring of skill). Kill all his
buddies, then go west and kill the rest of the sliths. Use the wheel
in the NE to get out without hurting yourself. Tada, all done. Go to
the tower of the magi to claim your reward: 20xp, 4 rep and battle rage
3.
COVEN CAVE
This is a small dungeon with hard enemies. Get here by going east and
south by boat from Silvar. You get some strange vibes from this place
as you enter it. You can pass the barrier by walking through it, then
must fight some ruby skeletons through long distance. Afterwards, 3
giant slugs await you. Then you'll fight some more ruby skeletons (who
occasionally drop rubies), and some fetid zombies. Finally you end up
a bit south of a room with some witches. Before you can enter this
room, you've got to disarm 2 traps, then fight a batch of fetid
zombies. The witches are quite tough, as they are resistant to almost
all magic. Get up and mush them if at all possible. It's hard, and be
sure to have used beast ceremony at some point prior. Haste 3 would
work wonders, but that's not too easy to get at this point in the game.
Still, with a couple of retries, it can be done. Their treasure makes
this fight worthwhile. They have a bunch of herbs here, as well as a
good bit of jewelry. Those unidentified gloves are cursed, but still
may be worthwhile if you don't mind occasional radiation sickness. The
book to the NE (secret passage) gives you call beast 3, the book to the
NW gives you ice lances 2 and farsight 2 (the second one might be
slightly useful). The book to the SW gives you a point in dread curse:
------------------------SPECIAL SKILLS---------------------------------
Dread curse: Technically, it's a special ability. Don't pursue it,
though. Fortunately in this game it's a lot harder to get than it was
in Avernum 1. Mother Clarisse in the tower will cure it for you.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
You may want to go to some new places. Blosk, Almaria, the Castle, and
Dharmon are all quite nice.
BLOSK
Q: Find the spy
Q: Find Grahk's peninsula.
People are a bit edgy here in Blosk. There's a spy on the loose. Talk
to the mayor to get this quest. There's a few ways of doing this
quest: the proper way and the fast way. I'll walk you through the
proper way. With the fast way, just skip to number 6.
1) Talk to Leith. Bruce's lead is a dead end, that priest is pretty
much worthless.
2) Check Leith's bookshelf for hints on how to proceed. On to Almaria!
3) Go check out the storerooms. You'll get attacked, naturally.
4) Go to the strange room to the SE. Fight the demons, and get the
hint. There are some empire records here, good for the castle quest.
5) Go back to Almaria, and talk to the statue in the SE.
6) Search all the ovens and braziers in the town. Then talk to Leith.
7) Talk to Saffron.
8) Give the evidence to the mayor.
For this you get 4 rep and 25 xp. Saffron will identify your items,
and you can train here too. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be
anyplace to sell your items in this town. Talk with Justin, the
wandering blue priest to get the find Grahk's peninsula quest. For
completion of this quest you get 10xp and 1 point in find herbs:
------------------------SPECIAL SKILL----------------------------------
Find herbs: A nice skill, which unfortunately can't be trained in or
otherwise improved (unless you have Wendy, who starts with a point).
With this skill you'll randomly find potion ingredients when traveling
about by land.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
There's a shambler outside of the town walls. Don't get next to it and
it can't hurt you, meaning just pepper it with arrows. That's it for
now in Blosk.
ALMARIA
Q: Get a blue pass
Q: Get a gray pass
Q: Navigate the waterfall warren.
Q: Find Sixus
I'd recommend you head straight for Blosk first, in order to do the spy
quest in the proper fashion. There's more to do here than in Blosk.
The soldiers will open the gate for you without charge if you have high
enough rep. Healing 3 (finally!) can be found in the hotel in the SE,
in the SE room's dresser. You can take an herb from the alchemist
without problems in the store in the SW. The trainer, Julio, will ask
you to navigate the waterfall warrens. Doing so nets you 10xp and some
blessed sandals. Mayor Beven will give you a big quest, to find Sixus.
This will be discussed later. The mage Abby to the north will give you
a quest to find a blue pass. Upon returning with one (1 rep 10xp),
you're given a quest to find a gray pass. When you get one, return for
1 rep, 25 xp and a priest's bracelet. There are 2 herbs sitting
outside of town, check the north passage for secret doors. Also, use
move mountains on one of the strange-looking sections of the north wall
to bring it down and get to a dead body which is loaded with some nice
stuff (iron plate mail, steel great sword).
THE CASTLE:
Q: Find Harston
Q: Retrieve empire records.
The castle, the seat of the Avernum nation. Go to where you obtained
magi clearance (in the SW), and talk to the librarian. She'll give you
the empire records quest. This is a worthwhile quest, as for each set
of records you bring in, you get 5 xp and 20c. There are a lot of
records out there as well, and this quest never ends. Talk to the tall
lady in green near the castle entrance to get the find Harston quest.
Once you have adequate rep you can gain royal clearance, allowing you
to enter most anyplace, including speaking with king. He'll give you
the kill Garzahd main quest. Also, once you retrieve 2 crystal souls,
he'll start you off on your quest to retrieve demonslayer. Go up to
the mage chambers and talk with one of the mages there to get another
portal code.
DHARMON:
Q: Deliver Ore
Q: Steal Surface tools
Q: Obtain Kothtar plans.
Dharmon is a soldier's city, and is west of Blosk. In the hotel is a
woman who's looking for medicine for her son. This medicine is found
on one of island west of Silvar. Once given, you receive 20xp, 1 rep
and an armor ring, not to shabby for a non-quest. They mayor of the
town (you need either a boat or magi clearance to see her) will give
you the Kothtar plans quest. Sarah, the priestess, will sell you
divine warrior, as well as all the other upper level spells, provided
you have enough rep. Rippel will buy ore from you. Largo will sell
you good potions (buy the graymold one) and will sell you some recipes.
If you enter through the north you can get a boat. Kill the rats then
check for secret doors south, get into the boat and go west. There are
a few places to land here. One is full of shamblers but has some nice
ingredients, the other is Starcap's home. Kill the golems and talk
with him, he'll hint on the onyx scepter's location. You can read his
book for Unshackle mind 3. There's a bunch of storerooms with emeralds
and rubies, which are quite worth plundering. Be sure to close the
door behind you. You'll also find a bunch of arrows of light. There's
a secret door in the northern room, which leads to a basilisk and two
golems. Kill them and take the blessed bow and shortsword. If you
want you can take the tools, and give them to the crook hidden to the
south of the alchemist, though you get a strength bracelet and 10xp,
you also lose 4 reputation, making this quest a bad idea.
NW of Dharmon is a seller of goods. She sometimes has very nice items.
There's a wandering group of empire troops about, and there's a patch
of graymold directly south of Blosk. There's also a trap set by the
rakhashi to the south of Dharmon- watch it, these guys are tough. Take
the south road from Dharmon, and you'll pass the ruins of a city. On
one of the gray patches of stones you'll find a trainer of gymnastics
(5000c for +1 gymnastics for everyone).
------------------------SPECIAL SKILL----------------------------------
Gymnastics: A decent skill which is trainable. It makes you act
faster in combat, and dodge more blows. Buy some and be happy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
COTRA:
Q: Destroy empire smelters
Ah, back to the old dungeons. Cotra was once a beautiful city which
has since been turned into a hollowed shell by empire troops and the
evil eyebeasts. There are lots of ghouls, gazers, ghasts, eyebeast,
giant slugs, and empire troops about. Points of interest: In the far
NE, you'll find Yong-mi who gives you the "destroy the empire smelters"
quest. A bit south, but still in the NE quadrant you'll find a locked
door which, when opened, yields a vampire to fight. Woo hoo. In the
NW quadrant (using move mountains to get in) are the eyebeasts. They
fall pretty easily to fire magic, but the gazers are pretty annoying.
Once you make it passed their main lair, you'll find a spellbook with
smite 3, and a steel halberd (though the fine slith spears are better
because, though the steel halberds do a point more damage on average,
the slith spears can be used with a shield). Head to the SE to fight a
bunch of empire troops. Kill them and destroy the smelters. You may
find a warrior's ring on one of the bodies (I think it was the evil
priest). You'll also find out the location of the nearby empire base.
And you'll get a free boat. Take the boat east and loot the body for
an armor ring.
SECRET EMPIRE FORT
Here is one of the places you find a blue pass. There's not too much
in the way of other goodies here, just a wand on the bookshelf to the
NE, some gold to the SE, and the blue pass to the NW. That's about it.
Of course, all that empire equipment is good for selling, and may
enable you to buy a point more of anatomy or something.
Now that you definitely have a boat, it'd be a good idea to do some
exploring. Go west to find an island with a slith tribe. Attack them,
the chief has a warrior's ring. A bit south of here are some nasty
shamblers (hard to kill, and strong to boot). Killing them nets you a
blessed long sword. North of here is a group of empire soldiers, lead
by a dervish. Teach them not to spy. North of here is Fort Dranlon,
continue on north to find Grahk's peninsula. Then go back down to Fort
Dranlon. Scimitar quest (destroy empire caches): There are 5 caches.
You need a boat. From Fort Dranlon, head west, then land on the second
north bank, search for secret passages and loot and destroy. Then go
back and head a bit north. There's another one nearby here. Destroy
it too. There's two more on the east side, one near the early (chapter
1) empire fort, the other north, near the abandoned mine. Then go
west, search along the west wall. It's well hidden. Return to the
people, and you'll get 40xp, 250c, and an icy longsword.
The soldiers west of Fort Dranlon deserve a beatdown, give them one to
get some empire records. A bit south is a house with a slith tribe in
it. Help them fight the empire for 1 rep. Continue on west, then head
up the waters. Go up as far as you can, then land on the western
peninsula. Go north to get to the graymold cave (a regenerating
dungeon herb patch). Go west, and pass the gate, since you should have
a red pass. You can't attack this gate, unlike some of the others.
Continue west, and you'll reach Harston. Watch out for Empire guards.
I usually just attack them if they catch up to me, even if I have the
proper pass.
HARSTON
Q: Bring bags of meal.
Entering Harston finishes the quest from the castle (20 xp and 2 rep
upon return). This is an empire town, so watch yourself. There's an
identifier and a random item shop here. There's also a steel chain
mail in the barracks (close the door and steal it). Talk to the random
item shop owner (Suzanne) to get the sacks of meal quest.
After Harston, head NE. There's a guardpost here, either attack or
pass. There's another batch of guards here who demand to see a gray
pass. You probably don't have one yet, so just kick their butts.
Passing the tower gets you into another fight with archers and the
dastardly infiltrators. You'll come back to that big building later.
Enter the boat house. Kill everyone inside, then grab a boat. Travel
east till you end up at the last down river, then park your boat on the
small patch of land. Go through the secret passage, and kill the
shades. Aimee will appear and give you Dispel Barrier. This is the
easiest way of obtaining this spell, honestly. Go back to your boat
and take a look around. Don't enter any buildings yet, but there are
three batches of drakes around here. Kill them and two will give you
black drake fangs (give them to Vincent in the Tower of the Magi and
Enla in Motrax's cave). Now you're a good bit stronger and ready to
take on the world even more. At this point I'd recommend going to
Formello, then to the tower of the magi.
FORMELLO REVISITED.
There are two good reasons to go to Formello, and both are spells.
First go north behind the mayor's room, and use move mountains. Then
take a look at that book. You need a deciphering lens to read it.
Then go back to the tunnel to the vahnatai lands. In the area where
you picked up the boat, go north and use move mountains again. Then
look in the box there. You'll get cloud of blades 3. Excellent.
While you're here in Formello you may want to get to the SE area with
all the statues. Go around the wall, then look at the pillar. You'll
get a portal code. Onward to the Tower of the magi.
TOWER OF THE MAGI REVISITED
Q: Find the empire portal.
Time to use that portal. Go to the center, and use beast ceremony
before getting too close to the portal. Once you get one space away, a
bunch of imps, 2 demons and a mung demon are summoned. Send them back
to the depths of hell, and enter the portal, using Ell Pit Esk. This
takes you to the barrier tower.
BARRIER TOWER:
You passed this place in chapter 2, now you can finally see what's in
it. There's a wizard wandering about, and a beggar in the pentagram.
Talk to the wizard, and ask about a book. Go and read that book, and
you've completed this quest. Head east, and go through the secret
door. Try to read the book (you'll get burned, there's no way around
this). Now go talk with the wizard again, and talk to him about it.
He'll remove the trap, and allow you to read it. For this you get
Dispel barrier 3. Don't talk to the beggar or destroy the circle in
any way. Go north, and leave this place. Tell Madhavi you've done it,
and you finish the quest (no reward), and get the new one. I think
it's time to head back to the vahnatai lands. Go to the portal and
reenter Olgai.
VAHNATAI LANDS.
Talk to one of the vahnatai children. She'll tell you that Gnee is
kind of weird. Head over to Egli and enter from the east. Go south
and talk to one of the vahnatai there. Then head back up, and open the
NE most room. Bring down the barriers with your spell, then grab the
potion ingredients and the borgia toadstools (in the box). Talk with
Gnee, in the SW. Gnee is a member of the vahnatai faction which
attacked you and which are allied with the empire. He'll tell you
about the key in the tree in Avit, which you already should have. Then
head on out to Mancuso. Talk to the children there. You'll find out
some more. Hm. Now you know where that key came from. From Mancuso,
head west then take the north passage. Make your way all the way
north, then look for a secret passage to that hut. Break the chains,
then go back and fight the demons. Cross the crevasse, then enter the
sickness area. There's something very nice nearby, but in the meantime
you have to contend with evil demons and their hydra pets, and
occasionally falling ill. Head to the SW. Pick up 3 bugs, then head
to the NW. Find the temple by walking across the lava. Make three
offerings. For this you get +1 strength and +2 blademaster:
------------------------SPECIAL SKILL----------------------------------
Blademaster: A nice skill. Unfortunately, no one teaches it to you, so
you have to train yourself in this skill. It's worth training in
occasionally, as it increases your melee ability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Head back on down south, there's nothing else to do here for now.
There's a tough lich to the south, kill it for 1000c and a rod of major
call. It likes to cast charm, taking you completely out of commission.
It may be too tough for you now. Go west, till you run into the spore
tunnels (north is a graymold salve) and go south. You'll find a hole
in a cliff. This leads to the Ominous crypt.
OMINOUS CRYPT
Enter through a secret passage on your left. Go north, and loot the
tomb (basic charm), kill the guards. Then check for a secret passage
east. Go past the statue, you'll be fine if you have enough vahnatai
lore. There's a passage south with some undead in it, and a passage
north. The passage north splits (and locks you in). Go left, and stay
off of the bodies. Kill the ghouls, till you reach the NE room. Check
the left body for a waveblade, unshackling crystal, and lucky bracelet.
Go back down, and take the right fork. Go past the lava beds, then go
and unlock the door. Kill the undead vahnatai, the check the NW corner
for secret passages. Go west, checking the south wall for secret
passages. You'll find a war charm, and a blessed buckler. Kill the
spirits, then step on the rune and leave.
Go east to Mancuso then go north. Keep on heading north, either
killing all the vahnatai you run across, or hiding. Killing them will
get you their equipment, which is worth a decent amount of money.
Keep heading north, and eventually you'll run into a fort.
VAHNATAI FORTRESS
This is one of the most fruitful levels in the game. Go east, and take
the thin bridge and head south then east. Kill the vahnatai, and go
north, and use the key (from Avit) to get in. Head southeast, to where
the humans are, kill them and the wizard (who has a resistance ring).
Go north (there's a bag of sugar in one of the drawers), kill the
vahnatai guarding the wheel. Then head east to the training room and
take the north door. Go as far as you can, up the stairs, killing the
vahnatai till you reach a boat. Hop in, then take the boat east, till
you get to a 6 square ledge. Take the secret passage down to find a
crystal which gives 2 points of resistance to all of your characters.
Take the boat back west, then find an area in the NW with a basilisk.
Kill it, then get into the room next door. For this you will get an
ability crystal, Defensive Glow. Head south, and enter the door on the
right. Kill the vahnatai in here, and in the adjacent room, then head
south. You'll come to Gaddika. Kill him (he's quite powerful), he has
a gold bracelet, blessed buckler, and fine waveblade. Yipee. See
what's in the rooms nextdoor, and kill all the vahnatai in there. Then
go back to your boat and land on the ledge south. Bring down the
barrier, then look in the two dressers. In one you find evidence
(20xp), in the other, provided you have enough Vahnatai lore, you'll
open the door a bit north and west. Go there next, kill the basilisk,
and take the treasure (armor ring, blessed small shield, knowledge
brew). Head back out. Usually, several vahnatai have spawned and are
blocking your way. One of them has always had drakeskin gloves for me.
Head back down to Mancuso to get your reward (25xp, Natural curing
ability crystal). Tekora-te will also train you in parry now, for
500c.
------------------------SPECIAL SKILL----------------------------------
Parry: A decent defensive skill. It makes you dodge blows
occasionally, especially if you defend. Max it out, as it's cheap and
useful for everyone. Later you'll be able to acquire another point in
this skill for free, so that's why it's best to get everyone at 5.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Head back home, (you'll deliver the evidence to the council, but it's
best to get some of the more useful spells and items before attempting
the ziggurat, you'll also get the Fort Haledon orders quest), and head
off to Patrick's tower. Give Julz the borgia toadstools for 5xp and
bind foe 3, then make a graymold salve to get 4 rep, 15xp and haste 3
(Yes!). Now we can hit some of the other nearby places.
FORT REMOTE
Q: Get Cheap Wine
Q: Get another blue pass
It's the westmost Avernite city. To the north once you enter is a dead
body behind some fragile walls. Search it for a blessed spear. Ignore
the plate, it's cursed. Talk to Angarahad to get the wine quest. To
the SW is an altar which is a good candidate for that ankh you've been
carrying around. Place it there to receive an indeterminate amount of
xp. Talk to the commander to get the blue pass quest: there's one blue
pass south of Cotra (which you may already have) and another in the
unfinished undead attack fort. Leave to the west.
Around here are a lot of empire troops. Generally I kill them if I run
into them, unless I don't have any other option. You probably don't
want to go too deep here, maybe just look around a bit. Giants have
excellent cash on them. South of the blue pass gate is a secret
passage which leads to a bunch of aranea. Kill them for a dexterity
bracelet.
FORT EMERALD
Q: Heal Brian
Q: Kill Limoncelli.
Fort Emerald is east of Blosk. There's an emerald here which'll
restore your spell points. Talk with Brian's girlfriend to get the
quest to heal him. Go up and talk with him, using a graymold salve on
him for 1 rep and 20xp. Talk with the commander up in the NW to get
the kill Limoncelli quest. This is the normal way of getting dispel
barrier, but the way I described is better.
SOLBERG'S TOWER
All right, at this point Solberg's tower is doable. Head back to
Formello, then take a boat west. Land to the south, near the lava. To
the west is a pillar with an important portal code. Enter the tower
across the lava fields. To the west is a secret passage that leads to
a group of fire lizards, and a dead body with a poor chain mail. Go
towards the tower, and when you get the paranoia message, cast beast
ceremony then go into fight mode. Go south, then you'll get in a fight
with a bunch of hordlings, imps and demons. At this point, they
shouldn't be too much of a problem. Go around to the east side, and
you'll enter the tower. In the SE of this tower is ice lances 3.
Speak with Cheeseball for comedy, and to Solberg to figure out
Garzahd's weakness. Solberg will also sell you cheap low level spells,
and also the magery skill. There's two options: buy points from him
for your mage and priest, or wait for the drake. If you have 3 or
fewer magic users, Solberg is the cheaper option, compared to the
drake.
------------------------SPECIAL SKILL----------------------------------
Magery: A great skill. Unfortunately, you can't train in it. It will
increase the power of all your spells (even magery). It's a great
skill for mages and not too bad for priests. Get more points from the
drake.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
MOTRAX'S CAVE
Q: Retrieve drake fang.
Finally we return. Most of the mages here are snobs, but some are
helpful. Enter the west halls. Talk with Enla to get the third drake
fang quest (giving her one gets you 25 x, 1 rep, and a strength
bracelet). Go east, and you'll find Linda, the crazy demon-summoning
mage from Avernum. Check the west wall for safe travel 3. Go and talk
with Ostoth to get hints on where to find mass healing 3. In the rooms
south, there's a key you'll need eventually, as well as some good loot
for plundering. Go east and check Motrax's bed for mass healing 3.
You can continue to go east, searching for secret passages. In order
to disarm those traps, you need a tool use of around 30. The treasure
that's guarded is: Warrior's bracelet, ring of great health, and a
whole lot of gems and gold. It's worth it if you want to try. But
it's not really worth killing everyone over.
CAMP SAMUELS:
Q: Find Locke
Small quest here, as well as a good weaponsmith and a seller of magic
lockpicks. Talk to Lt. Krizsan, and get the find Locke quest. Locke
can be "found" in Fort Draco by looking at the ledger in the building
with the ore. That's it for here. East of this fort are a batch of
empire soldiers.
North of Dharmon there is a gate. Go up north, and you'll get into
fights with empire troops. Do this three times to get an archer ring,
along with all their equipment. You can make a lot of money off these
guys. It's time I introduce you to Silverlocke. She lives in a small
hut south of Blosk, and will sell you the best potion of all, knowledge
brew. She'll only do this if you have a high enough reputation, and
she only has ~10 or so. Buy out her entire collection after buying out
her knowledge brew shipment and she'll restock. South of the castle is
a wishing well. It's never done anything for me. South of that is a
room with three pillars, I don't know what's up here. West of that is
a tunnel that leads to a batch of undead. Kill them and proceed to the
end. Eventually you run into the end, and will be able to pull out an
alien blade, provided you have enough strength. The alien blade is the
best sword in the game, damage wise. West of Patrick's tower is a
special in which you help some soldiers fight 2 rakhashi and their ogre
slaves. Kill the rakhashi and you get 1 rep. North of Fort Emerald,
there is a red pass gate. Enter it, and go to the SW. You'll find a
sick drake. Heal it with graymold and it'll teach everyone 1 point in
magery. This can get you up to 6 in magery, not bad at all. North of
here is the unfinished empire fort, a bunch of undead roaming around,
and some empire troops. Search the area to the north to fight some
undead. Two tunnels yield rewards: in one you get a blessed bow, and
the other, a crystal charm.
UNFINISHED EMPIRE FORT
This is an interesting fort. The empire troops are having a lot of
trouble with undead attacks, and the empire and the undead get into
several fights while you're here. Upon entering, you'll see what I
mean. Usually the empire wins, but is suitably weakened for you to
finish the job. Go into the west smithy to get a bar of silver in a
crate, then head east as far as you can go, then north. One of the
bodies here has some empire records. Continue north and you'll soon
get in a fight with some undead. Spectres, spirits and wights are all
quite common here. Points of Interest: In the NE, there's a secret
passage that leads to a big pit. There are two nice bodies there, ripe
for looting. Head over there, but cast beast ceremony- you'll get
attacked by some wights, vampires and spectres. The bodies have some
decent armor and a blessed greatsword, a great item for selling (since
the icy and flaming long swords are better damage wise). Use the
ritual of sanctification here to get some exp and a disappointing
message (from Kevlarkid86). To the east is the main empire compound.
In it there's a wizard, dervish, and evil high priest. They still
aren't all that difficult, since you should have a decent amount of
spells. In the empire dervish's room, you'll find another blue pass,
which fulfills the Fort Remote quest (go back to get 4 rep, 30xp). In
the storeroom with the guardian and the wine, there's a secret door
that leads to treasure with blessed arrows and a protection brew.
That's about it for here.
TOTEM HALLS
West of the Tower of the Magi, and East of Almaria is the totem halls.
This is where you get a gray pass. You find it by walking through the
big lava patch (the lava patch to the north will lead to a ruby and
some fire lizards and the one to the east leads to some armorers), and
checking the west wall for secret passages. Eventually you get
attacked, and will see a lonely pillar. NW of this pillar is the
entrance to this invisible dungeon. Enter and go east, through the
lava. You'll run into some fire lizards, kill them and go up the
stairs. Kill the drakes, ignore the cursed ring, then jump down.
Search the halls, and kill the empire soldiers. Ignore the
unidentified ring again. Take the northern passage up and open the
door. Kill the demons and priest, then head west. Kill the soldiers
there, then open the NW door and bust the wheel so that you can get out
as often as you want. Go north and kill the dervish and his guards.
Search the desk to get the gray pass, and then check the NW hall for
secret passages. You'll find a treasure chest with a potion and an
assassin's dagger. Go south, and kill the troops there. Search their
food supplies for the second bag of sugar, east of here is an elite
soldier who had a drakeskin helmet for me. Search the rest of this
place then leave.
HALLS OF CHAOS
Now that you have a gray pass let's go find a place to use. If you've
been following this walkthrough, you're probably at ~30 level, and are
ready to take on one of the big uglies. To get to the Halls of Chaos,
you'll first have to find the waterfall warren. Go to the main river,
then head east. There's a sign with waterfalls on it. Go west, and
you'll see a bunch of sliths. Talk to them, and it seems as though
they want something. Go take the eastern route of the rapids, and land
on the first western bit of land. Go through the passage, and you'll
find a hammer. This is what the sliths want. Giving it to them gets
you a pathfinder crystal, which probably isn't all that useful at this
point, but still nice to have. Go back up, and from the sliths go down
the rapids, bear right, bear right again, go down, bear left, go down,
bear right, go down, bear right. This is the Halls of chaos. There
are 4 main sections: NE, SE, SW and NW. You'll hit them in that order.
First, go search those barrels and crates, then go dump them in the
water. You heard me right. Go to the NE then go step on the left
rune, and go through the right passage. Go down the secret passage and
stairs. You end up in an area with what look to be a bunch of vahnatai
crystals. They summon up shades every now and then. Get next to them
and bust them to make them stop. Do this on all of them, then go down
and open the SE door. Grab the key in the dresser. Go up the stairs.
The crates and barrels will have reappeared. Get rid of them again.
Go to the NE and step on the right rune, then go in the left passage
and down the stairs. You'll have to choose a character for this part.
I chose my priest. Send them in, and go through the door. You'll find
an odd area with a bunch of slimes, divine fire them into charred
slime. Look at the box and you'll get another key. Go back up the
stairs, the check the ENE section of this quad. You'll find a secret
passage with a golem and some potions. Now go down to the SE quad.
Enter the swampy area, and get prepared for a fight. 6 shamblers come,
kill them, then go into the room on the right. Three statues want
things. One of them you can satisfy right away, dump some food on the
square in front of him. The others you'll have to go back to the NE
quad and step on the runes, pilot the crates and barrels back on the
rugs. Then pull the lever. You'll get 3 secret passwords. Go down
the stairs (you'll be checked for a gray pass). Try to go through the
door, you'll be accosted by a bunch of mutant lizards and a black shade
twice. Go on through and go west, kill the basilisks, then go through
a west secret door. Some barriers will be blocking your path. Bring
them down, then get prepared for a nasty fight with the DOOMGUARD:
These guys are annoying at lower difficulties, and downright deadly at
higher ones. Cast beast ceremony, then divine warrior, then go pound
them again and again and again. You'll probably have to recast haste
and divine warrior a couple more times before you're finished.
Finally, once it's dead, go and check the chests. You'll find some
herbs, and a cursed ring. Go north and you'll find a secret attached
room. In this you'll find an armor ring, some gold and a blessed
crossbow, very nice. Leave this place. Go to the SW quad, and open
the door. Get prepared for another fight with a bunch of guardians and
black shades. Kill them (you'll probably have to cast haste 3 at the
end of each turn. Wait with your mage.) and go down the stairs. This
part is a bit difficult. There are 4 ways north, labeled 1-4, left to
right. Go up 3 and you'll hear a click. This opens up 0, another way
north. Go up it, and you'll hear another click which merely expands
this area, go a bit north, and you'll get to another area. Hit the
easterly clicker (just hit this one- if you hit a second, go back and
hit the one again), then go to 4 and go north. Through all of this
there are plenty of enemies to distract you. Some giants will be
guarding the door, kill them, and enter. You'll use those keys you
found to open the other doors. You'll be greeted by a bunch of
eyebeasts, kill them and go up the stairs. At each place you'll use a
code you got from the SE area, and will get a spidersilk shirt, an
energy pulse crystal and the blessed athame (the object of this quest).
Finally. Pull a lever, kill the black shades and get out of here.
The blessed athame is a great tool. Go back to the serpent cult and
open up the book on the second floor to get repel spirit 3. I
suggested that you get the athame before going to the ziggurat because
there's a nice spell in there that's locked by a seal (severable by the
athame), and you don't really want to go back after getting the athame.
Now that you have it, go back to the vahnatai lands.
DELRIN-BOK'S FORTRESS.
Head west, through the spore tunnels. Slugs and mushrooms are common
here, so be careful. There are secret passages that lead across the
water. Look around, and eventually you'll see a big fort. That's the
next stop. This fort is full of undead vahnatai, black shades,
guardians, and skeleton warriors in one corner. I'll divide it in 4
parts. NE, NW, SE, and SW. In each area there is a lever. Get them
all so that if you drew a map out it would look like this:
/ \
\ /
Generally, it's best to clear the path to each lever, then go rest
outside, then go back in and set each lever. If you leave the
fortress, the levers switch to random patterns, so don't leave when
you're finally ready. All levers have some sort of trap guarding them.
NE is guarded by a few undead. NW is guarded by some shades. SE is
guarded by a bunch of vahnatai. SW is guarded by a regenerating
skeleton warrior trap. Once you have them all arranged according to
the above pattern, you'll want to head towards the center. You can
pass the 8 runes without problem. Prepare for a big battle, then go
through the northern wall. The main object of your violence should be
that crystal up top there. It's not too easy to beat him, but use
divine warrior and it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Ignore his
summons, as they'll go away once he goes away. Then search the west
wall for his treasure. The ring is cursed, but there's an icy chain
mail, crystal shield and a bunch of fine crystals. Wee!
Continue heading west. You'll come to a large lava field. Go through
by finding a secret door and walking across the rubble. From qalnor:
To the north are 3 efreet who are guarding a blessed greatsword. Kill
them to take it. Then go around the bend, and you'll get attacked by
some vahnatai. Kill them and proceed to Fort Haledon.
FORT HALEDON.
No one really likes you here. Go through the building to the west, and
you'll get attacked by some blades and a shaper. Go through the door
and deliver the orders (thus ending that quest- no reward). Now the
vahnatai don't hate you so much. You can get a few minor things here
now, and can sleep. When you leave you'll be prompted with a question
about directing the forces against the ziggurat. Go ahead, if you're
ready. Go west through the cave entrance.
BARRIER CAVE
Not too much here, though south of where you enter there's a few
supplies, with a secret crystal charm in a box to the SE. Continue on
and you'll pass the barrier, which was also in Avernum 1. When you
leave, check the west wall for a secret passage. You'll meet up with
the vahnatai forces. Go a bit west, and you'll see the ziggurat. Ooh
boy.
THE ZIGGURAT
You start out in a big fight with the empire. Fortunately the vahnatai
are there to help you. Help them out too, and things will go fine.
Enter the main ziggurat area. There are 4 ways of entering. I'd
suggesting any way but south. First, circle the building. You'll find
some herbs and a small room with an energy potion. You'll also be
attacked by spawned fungoids, which are creepy looking and annoying
with their paralysis attack. Once you enter, you'll find that there
are 5 main sections: NE, NW, SE, SW and center. There are a lot of
empire troops here, mainly elite soldiers, bladesmen, a dervish or two,
empire archers, and those accursed infiltrators. In the NE there's an
herb garden and a treasure chest with some gold. In the SE there's a
trash pit filled with those fungoids, a slug, and a shambler. That
body there has a wand of fire, an energy elixir, and a healing elixir.
There's a rakhashi here too. In the SW there's a smithy, not too much
good stuff here. In the NW you'll find ghoulbane, a decent undead
killer. It's well hidden on the SE part of this quad. There's another
secret room here with some treasure too, it's not too hard to find. Go
to the center. A bunch of priests, soldiers and fungoids are here.
Kill them, and take the knife on the altar. You'll be dumbfounded,
hopefully you have some means of unshackling your priest (unshackling
crystal maybe? Restoration brew?). Then use the ritual of
sanctification for 10xp. There are two staircases here. Go up the SW
stairs. You'll get in a fight right away. To the NW is a fungoid
room. There's a wand and two potions in that chest. Go east, and
you'll run into the archery range. Kill the archers, there are steel
bolts here. Continue east, you'll go to the storage halls. In the
upper halls you'll find a secret passage that leads to 2 steel
greatswords, a steel chain mail, and a steel plate mail (nice). Go
east some more and you'll find a room with three mages and a wizard.
Kill them and search the bookcases for a few scrolls and empire
records. Go through the upper west painting, pass the barriers then go
read that book provided you have the blessed athame. It's fireblast 3
(very nice). Go back out and then go up. You'll find a room with a
torturing rune. Don't step on it. The room to the north has two
special chairs. The left one gives +1 strength and -100xp for the
active character, and the right one give +1 dex and -100xp for the
active character. These are both worth using, especially at this point
in the game, when skills are very expensive to raise. To the west is a
secret passage which leads to some mutant giants to the north is the
main spy center. There's not too much here, though two of the
infiltrators nearby are holding a wand of lightning and of fire. In
the complex to the north there's a spot you can rest at safely. It's
probably not worth it, as more enemies are summoned, making you lose
the benefit of those extra 10 MP. Go south out the exit and back to
the archery range, then go back to the entrance. Now go north and kill
everyone. Go north again, through the secret door, and kill everyone.
Now go east through the secret door, and south. You'll find 2 haakai.
These are some of the best things to capture in your soul crystal.
There's a fire lizard egg in the cupboard, if you need one. Now go
back to the east, and search the east wall to get into a column room.
Go north, and kill the two dervishes. This'll get you to Garzahd's
room. All right, now head west. Outrun the quickfire, and kill the
undead vahnatai. Go north, and grab the crystal soul, then jump out
the building. Great, a bunch of soldiers and more quickfire. Use
haste and go west. You'll find a dead body, and on that dead body is a
suit of blessed plate mail, the best armor in the game. Now go south
and get out of here. Summoned monsters will distract the guards.
Now you have one of the crystal souls. Finally. Go back to Olgai, and
they'll tell you to take it to the shrine, which is west. Across the
bridge you can find a suit of blessed studded armor, which is better
than steel chain, in one of the old tombs. Go to the crystal shrine.
SHRINE OF CRYSTAL SOULS.
This is a cool site. Put Caffen-Bok on his place to the east. He'll
tell you to speak with Rentar. Aicheal will talk with you about the
twisted crystal souls. Eos will tell you of a hidden ring of skill on
a stalagmite down south back. Wilvron will teach you move mountains
three. Lorta will tell you a few small things. Circle the shrine on
the outside. There are three vahnatai around here. There's also a
bunch of herbs around. Return here whenever you have a crystal soul,
and you'll get another level 3 spell.
Q: Retrieve the Mica Tome.
When you return to Olgai, you'll be told to speak with Rentar. You'll
also get a magery mind crystal. She'll help you fight Garzahd. Go to
Egli and find Rentar again. She'll give you the mica tome quest.
LAVA DOME:
Head back over to that one place with the chitrach shrine. The lava
dome is the tower here. Enter it. This is one of the most fun towers
in the game. I won't spoil this one for you, but you can get a horn in
the NW corner of the tower. Once you finally get to see Korradis(walk
on the large * tiles, but not on the small * tiles), kill him, and take
the tome. You can't get into that secret room, unfortunately. Head
back to Rentar to get your reward: 20xp and the phoenix egg.
ELDERAN'S TOWER
This tower is located NW of Fort Dranlon. It's a relatively
straightforward dungeon, without many great big puzzles. Once
entering, you'll see two doors blocked by fire barriers. Go through
the doors and search the level as best you can, leaving the altar
untouched for now (you'll find some nice small items). Then touch the
altar, kill what appears, then touch it again. Go into the door, pull
the lever, then kill the 3 monsters which appear. Go up the stairs.
Go east first, there's a chest to the north with herbs and scrolls, and
another room with a few more minor items. Go down the stairs, to the
gaol. Kill the guards, then talk with Bill and Bill. They don't have
too much of interest to tell you. There's a gazer in the third cell.
Go back up and go west. You'll see a batch of levers which open doors
with enemies or stuff behind them. From top to bottom: 1- guardians,
2- golem and black shade, 3- ghouls. Check the south wall for a secret
passage to another room and check the north wall to get to another
secret passage with a chest filled with crystals and scrolls. Go to
the south, and again you'll see levers: 1-bats, 2- a lever, 3-
basilisks, 4-mutant giants. Pull the 2nd lever and that'll open the
gate to the east. Go up the stairs, and you'll need to open a door. A
mung demon is blocking your path. There's a door to your west that you
can't open, instead go north then east. The SE door has some supplies
and demons, but none of the other doors lead to anything other than
enemies. That lever there (NE room) doesn't appear to do anything. Go
search for a secret passage in the SW room, proceed and you'll be
attacked by mutant giants. Kill them and go up the stairs. More
enemies await you upon going up. There's a nasty trap in the NW room
with quickfire. There doesn't seem to be anything else in this room.
Go to the north room, kill the soldiers, then you'll see Elderan.
Concentrate on him as he's quite Arcane Blow happy. Kill the guards,
and you can take his stuff: resistance ring, blessed sandals, cloak,
robe. Check the northern doors. The NW one doesn't have anything, the
north one has some fire lizards and some of their eggs. Pull the lever
if you want, I never saw the result. Check the west wall for a secret
passage. There are 3 books here. Skip the middle book, it drains you.
The others teach you lightning spray 3, and give you info. Check the
boxes to get a cursed ring, arrows of light, scrolls, a recall crystal,
an elixir, and a wand. Go up the trapped passage and look at the
bookcases to get some scrolls. Then go down the center staircase to
the bottom. Check the desk and you'll get an ivory key. Leave the
tower, and claim your reward from Mairwen (4 rep, 500c, 25xp).
SIXUS:
This is the most involved quest short of the three major ones. I'll
walk through this one the long way. If you don't want to bother with
the first dungeon, skip down to number 2.
1. SIXUS' FIRST CAVE
Abby gave you a hint on where to go. Hop into your boat from Almaria,
then head north. Land on a small ledge to the east, where you see a
tower across a pit. Go east, and you may find a patch of healing
herbs. There's secret passage to the east on the south wall. This
will get you to that tower. Inside is an ice drake and ice puddings.
Killing them yields a cursed necklace and some coins. Go west, and
you'll get a special message. Search the south wall and you'll find a
secret tower. Head south, and you'll bump into a bunch of empire
troops. Kill them, and search the area. It seems as though they've
been having a bit of trouble with traps. To the NE is a room in which
there's an imp trap. That's the only one that might surprise you.
Head south, and you'll have to fight a bunch of living statues. Kill
them, then check the east wall for secret passages. Follow it through
to the south, then go east. Make your way to the NE, then pull the
lever. Kill everything that appears, then go west. Go through the
open gate, and make your way to a statue. Talk with it, and it'll tell
you where to find a map. Go grab the map and leave.
2. SIXUS' SECOND CAVE
Go north by boat from Almaria. You'll find a small area of land where
you can disembark and move around. Go north, and you'll see a few
shamblers shambling about. Go up to the tower and enter. Drop all
your food at the entrance. Trust me. Then go down and pull the
levers:
//\//\
Then go up and kill the giants, and go up through the secret passage.
Look around and kill anything that moves. Get to the north, then go
west as far as you can. Go through the secret passage, past the
statues (which would have eaten your food if you still had some), and
kill the drakes. Then use move mountains on the wall, and go north
then east. Look in the nest for a rod of arcana. Go west (destoy the
stalagmites with move mountains), and kill the ice hydras and the ur-
basilisk (capture it in your soul crystal if you want it). Then go to
the south and use move mountains again, destroying the wall. Enter the
room, and tell Sixus that Bevan sent you. He'll thank you and tell you
to grab a treasure hidden on the south side of his wall. It's a robe
of the magi, very nice if your mage isn't a natural mage. Go south,
and read the books on the bookcases, then use move mountains on the
east wall to get beast ceremony 3. That's it for here, go back to
Almaria to claim your reward: 75 xp(!), 4 rep, 600c. Don't forget to
pick up your food.
FORT DOLTHAR
Head up to Fort Emerald and go north. Go east, and travel by boat out
to the big island with all the troops. To the south of here is an
arena full of nagas to be killed. Search the arena afterwards for a
crystal shield. A similar arena is north of Fort Dolthar, this time
the enemies are ice drakes and the reward is a ring of health. To the
NE of the Fort is the evidence Assotho wants. The best way to enter is
by the dock south. Search for secret doors and you'll end up near an
evil altar. Kill the priests and use the ritual on the altar for 5xp.
There's not too much of use on this level (though an evil priest to the
north has a steel chain mail), but there are a lot of troops and their
nice expensive armor. It'd be worth it to kill em all for the xp, but
the cash also makes it attractive. There's an easy 15000c in armor in
this fort. When you're done on this floor, go up the stairs to the
next floor. West is an enemy training area, east are some mages, and
there are empire records on those bookshelves. Once you go to the
north door, the gate you came out of closes. Go north, and then head
east, kill the soldiers, and note that there's a way down near here.
Go north, and you'll see that you're near a vahnatai area. Indeed,
when you open the door, you'll have to fight a bunch of keepers,
warriors, and their demon pets. To the SE in this room is a small
secret which has a box with some graymold. Go north, don't step on
those rugs, and search for secret doors. Then go a bit west and search
for southern secret doors. You'll end up in a room with two vahnatai
cabinets. Look through them and you'll find a second batch of
evidence. Now go west, killing troops till you get to a room with two
runes blocking your way. You'll need to pull to levers which are
hidden in the east and north walls. Pull them then go up. Prepare for
a battle. Once you open the door, you'll have to fight Limoncelli and
his cronies. Limoncellli is a nice addition to a soul crystal. Once
killed (just smack him around) loot his body: drakeskin armor, steel
halberd, freedom charm. Search for northern secret passages and you'll
find a room with bolts of life, emeralds, and rubies (and quickfire).
Search north of here and you'll find the most excellent boots of speed.
Leave this place and claim your reward from Fort Emerald (talk with the
guy to the north, on the stairs): 4 rep, 40xp, dispel barrier 2. You
can take the evidence to the vahnatai council, and they'll work on
getting you into Pyrog's cave (which starts the sneak into Pyrog's cave
quest).
BLACK CUBE
This little dungeon is north of Fort Dolthar, the lone building on an
island. Get in through the NW. Wander around the halls a bit, grab
all the stuff in the crates. Some golems will appear and attack you.
When you've made it all the way around, you can flip the lever. This
summons a batch of undead up to fight with you. Go east and search the
south wall. You'll find some troops waiting in there. Kill them, then
go south. Get close to the crystal and some efreet attack. Kill them
and examine the crystal, then smash it (20xp). Leave, fighting some
more golems on your way out. This is the other way of obtaining the
skulls password.
DARK TUNNEL
This is a spooky dungeon west of the black cube. Enter it, and go
west. Get to the SW room and fight some ice slimes. Kill them, then
go north. In the NW there's an efreet, kill it and take its stuff. In
the NE there's a bunch of undead. Kill them too. In the SE there's
another efreet guarding some jewelry, and a cursed necklace. Then go
to the center. Prepare for a battle before stepping on that rune, then
do so. You'll fight a bunch of skeleton warriors, a golem, a spectre
and a lich. Repel spirit works wonders here. Once dead, search the
lich's body for a dragonskin cloak and intelligence bracelet. Go west,
then north. There's some crystals here, and a wand in the dresser.
Read the upper rune to get Divine fire 3. Read the lower rune to get
in a fight with a bunch of demons. While you leave, be sure to cut all
the corners. Quickfire pours out of the dungeon, and you could quickly
get burned if you don't economize your steps. That's it for here.
PYROG'S CAVE
Time for the next major dungeon. This one is pretty fun. From Harston
go NE, take a boat around that big dungeon you see, and go through the
secret passage around back (you need to have given the evidence to the
vahnatai to do this). Enter and slay all the giants, then go west out
the door. Those two doors N have araneas and crates in them, nothing
great. Go south to the courtyard. West is a drake, some fire lizards
and a graveyard, and east are some mutant giants. South are the
barracks. Go south and kill everyone. Then go east and kill everyone.
I believe the priest has a mithral chain mail on his corpse. Not bad.
Go east, and go take a look at the dragon stuff. You'll get a
drakeskin armor and dragonskin cloak. There isn't too much to the
south, just a bunch of troops, hydras and a golem or two. You can also
leave if you make it to the wheel. From the main barracks go west. Go
north and west, search for secret passages, then go and grab the wands
and empire records. Go back down and continue west. Many of the
living quarters here have a lot of nice items. Continue west, and
you'll fight 2 rakhashi. North there's a third, as well as 3 energy
potions. Now head back up to the NE. Enter the main building, kill
the soldiers, then go up and kill some mages. There are empire records
on the shelves. Go north, and go into the NW room. Search for secret
doors south and you'll find a tablet that you can read if you have
enough vahnatai lore. It's summon shade 3. Go west, and enter the
rooms. You can either kill or free the giants, same difference. Go
into a west door and you'll find a tablet which, when read, gives you a
password for the north door. Go through it, then you'll be checked for
a gray pass, go and take the phoenix egg (#2). Go up and kill the
wizard, then go west. Prepare for another battle with...
A doomguard. Dang. The same tactics as before work well, though if
you want to be cheap, summon up some ur-basilisks and have them gaze it
before hitting it. The basilisk may eventually stone it, though it may
take a few turns. Go south and save Jekknol (10xp). Leave.
While you're here you may want to go grab the bloodthirst spear, the
most powerful weapon in the game. From Pyrog's cave, go west, past all
the guard towers (get out and kill them). Eventually you'll get in a
big fight with some spell casters. Continue west, then land on a
northern swamp. Proceed through this territory, fighting the lizards
and drakes as you go, eventually getting to the tower on the end. Get
the spear, and fight the avatars. Go and get it uncursed at a healer,
and you have the most powerful weapon in the game, one worth ditching a
shield for. Return to the vahnatai lands, and place Jekknol in the
crystal shrine (50xp). Talk to Wilvron to get Simulacrum 3. Then go
back to the vahnatai and they'll be upset that Jekknol's gone mad.
You'll get an immunity ring for this, one of two in the game. Go back
and go to the castle. Talk with King Micah to get permission to use
demonslayer, then talk with Rone (you can not get demonslayer if you've
already killed Garzahd). Go to Patrick's tower and push the plants in
the NW quad then the statue.
PATRICK'S BASEMENT.
First, go west and get summon aid 3. Then select either a powerful
warrior who's loaded with potions and can use swords with a lot skill
or a priest with some restoration brews/ unshackling crystals to go
through the portal. Go around, and prepare for battle. Grab the
blade, and a bunch of demons are summoned. Blast or slash them as best
you can, then try to leave. A mung demon and Haakai await you.
Demonslayer is your best bet against Garzahd, after arrows of light and
bolts of life. Go there with having neither of those nor having repel
spirit 3 WILL get you killed, if you're not a cheater. From Lynsis:
Demonslayer also does extra damage versus guardians, which is none too
shabby!
Giant territory. East of Harston and the graymold cave and north of
Elderan's tower is the giant territory. Giants have a lot of gold, so
it's worth your effort in killing them. You get to say one of the best
lines in the game when you run into a batch of them. You can also pick
up a blessed small shield from one of the shelled out buildings that
they attacked. There are 4 dungeons here, most are pretty
straightforward.
GIANT CAVE
This is the level with the stalagmites that fall and trap you. It's
pretty straightforward, go around and kill all the tall fiends.
There's a secret passage up to the west, but I just take the long
route. One of the giants on the lower floor had a ring of skill. When
you make it to the altar, kill everyone, then search the walls, you'll
find a giant statue (1 of 3), raise dead 3, and a room full of metal
bars. Pick up the shield, it's a blessed large shield.
MOLDY CAVERN
This is not really a giant cave, but there are giants in here. The
main object is to free this cave of giants, thus liberating the
alchemical patch to the west.
GIANT TOWN
Enter through the west, and kill everyone. Not too hard, be sure to
grab statue 2 of 3, and I think there's an armor ring somewhere in
here.
GIANT FORT
The largest giant dungeon, still pretty straightforward. In the smithy
there's a vampire, in the SW there's a demon (and statue 3 of 3). East
of the demon, there's an evil altar. Use the ritual for 5xp. East of
there, there's another altar that's well guarded. Grab the crystal
after killing everyone, then use the ritual (5xp). The crystal gives
the inner might ability. Go east and kill the chief and the shaman.
To the east is his trophy room, and east of there is a room with a
guardian in it. North is a room with some treasure chests containing
gold, north is a secret passage leading to the gremlin women. North of
this area are some creature pens, in the slug pen you'll find a
graymold salve hidden to the south.
Go to Fort Dranlon and cash in those statues (4 rep, 20xp, blessed
helm- the best). Also go and talk with the gremlins to complete their
quest (20xp) and get access to their herbs.
ERIKA'S TOWER
At some point, you have to go here. Might as well go now, since you've
got 2 of the 3 crystals. You should have the portal code from the
pillar west of Solberg's tower. Use it, and upon entering you'll be
attacked. Circling the perimeter of the tower yields several fights
with wizards, elite soldiers, and empire archers. There's a mandrake
garden to the west and a toadstool garden east. To the SW there's some
crates with blessed ammunition in them. Enter the tower, and go pass
all the vacant troops. Go north and pull the lever, go pull the lever,
then stay of the brown path when it passes the pillars. Go south,
killing the golems and gazers (you can just follow the brown path if
you want). In the room with 9 pillars, go south then west to the
secret room, pull the lever, then go north. Kill the demons, stay off
the runes, then dispel or walk through the barriers. Next is a puzzle
area: Here's a way to get through it, provided you have 3 or more
members in your party. You can switch places with other members
without hassle.
1 _ _
_ 2 6
5 3 4
Next is the chamber of options: Luck is best, if you have enough. If
not, try boulder. If not that, then maybe you have enough tool use to
go through the door. If not, then you've got to get into a nasty
fight. Go east and fight some invisible enemies, then north, killing
the shamblers. Finally you've made it through! Talk with Erika,
she'll teach you magery (at the highest price), tell you to talk with
Athron, and tell you to talk with Thompson. Check the south room to
get unlock doors 3 (use it in Olgai- pants of power and the undead
crypt near Formello- shadow leather). Also be sure to talk with her to
receive your boon, then leave (there's some interesting stuff out
there, which you may want to investigate).
OUTSIDE ERIKA'S TOWER
You need the orb in order to do much of anything. Fly across the
water, then go hunting, killing the empire troops as they come. You
may run into a batch of tough guards who have steel bolts and chain, a
nice bit of cash. To the SE there is a lava rich area. Go a bit south
and you'll enter an area with an efreet. Talk with him, and he'll
offer to show you his goods for 5000c. Yowch. It's not really worth
it at this point. If you have the cash, save, spend and see what he
has to offer. It's nice (lots of blessed items, and a flaming long
sword). Then reload, if you don't want anything. A bit to the west of
this dungeon is a secret passage which leads around and around to a
batch of efreeti. Kill them (a tough fight), and you can go and hit a
small patch of land- you get the EasTer Egg code. Return to the tower,
and use it (the blank spot) for some humor.
Crystal hunting: You have two options: the long way (and story-specific
way), or the short way (following the faq way). Skip to 4 for the
short way.
1. ATHRON'S CAVE.
Enter here, then go up to the pentagram and speak with Athron. Then go
east at the bloodstain and go through the portal. Go through the
portal again (only if you've talked with Erika), then go fight the
flame hydras. Before going into the portal check the west path for
secret doors, kill the statues, then go down the first south cullway
and get create illusions 3. Go through the portal, then go do what you
did earlier. Another puzzle rune area. Here's the sequence:
1234123121, left to right. Repeat the portal, then go and get prepared
for a fight in the altar room. Go through the NW wall and through the
same portals as always. Finally she'll speak with you. It turns out
she just had a brood, and that's why she's in such a foul mood. Talk
with her and she'll tell you the name Angierach. She'll also tell you
a bit more about the other going-ons nearby. From Lynsis: In Athron's
lair there's another Ghoulbane. However it's down near her eggs, and
walking down there makes you lose 3 reputation and have the town hate
you. You get attacked by Athron, a couple of fetid zombies, and quite
a few guardians. As well as Ghoulbane you can grab some rubies,
emeralds, and historical scrolls, but don't touch her eggs or you die!
If you kill Athron you get the message: "Athron finally falls. You
repay her hospitality with fatal treachery. Another enemy of the empire
has been eliminated."
2. Back to Erika. Ask her again, and she'll say that Enla and
Ostoth know stuff that you need to know.
3. Motrax's cave. Go talk with them, Ostoth tells you to grab the
key in his room, you'll find the info you need about the barriers here
too. Check the bookshelves for some knowledge too.
4. Tower of the magi. Check the room west of Madhavi's, get the
code, and it's time for Angierach!
ANGIERACH
One of the nastiest dungeons in the game. Bring a lot of energy
potions. Once teleported here, pull the lever and go across the
bridge. You'll soon be caught and dumped into the arena. 5 creature
types are generated here, and it may not be worth fighting them all.
The only worthwhile looting here is a body to the SW holding 1 arrow of
light. The monsters appear after a certain time: Hydras, Eyebeasts,
Undead, Mutant giants, and finally golems. Go to the portal and you'll
get trapped. If you have unlock doors 3 you can easily get out,
otherwise search for a passage to talk with Quinby, then go through the
weakened wall and bust out, killing the golems. There are 10 sections
to this dungeon.1-5 on the north, 6-0 to the south:
1245
3
====
9
6780
You're in 6 right now. The main hall separates the two sides. There
are 12 masters of this dungeon, kill them all to be happy. In area 1
you'll find two efreet (masters), kill them, then go west and north to
find a body holding a wand of carrunos, and a ring of immunity(!). To
the east you'll find a portal to a small dungeon containing some
lizards, a demon, and a spectre all behind barriers. There are some
potions of energy and potion ingredients here. 4 is where the nagas
live. The three nagas (masters) are guarded by serpents and drakes.
They often carry amulets. Their nests hold wands and potions. Heading
south to 3 gets you in a fight with 3 humans (masters): a wizard, an
evil high priest, and a dervish. They don't have too much good stuff,
outside of normal wizards, priests and dervishes. Head south to 8 to
fight some Rakhashi (3, all masters) and their demon pets. Search
their southern quarters for a secret room containing bolts of life and
potion ingredients. There's also a tunnel here that'll let you take
the key to get out of here without getting in a big fight, or a tunnel
by which you can ambush Midori. 9 is a library with a few scrolls. 5
is an undead area with vampires and vengeful shades who have potions
and ingredients, not too bad. Go to 0 when you're finally ready to
take on the evil lich. First you'll have to fight some spectres and
spirits, then go south, and fight Midori (those golems can't get past
the runes). Use those bolts of life to make this battle end quick.
She has a robe of the magi on her. Now go to 7 and use the phoenix egg
to bring down the barriers, and grab the crystal (Vynas-Bok). That's
it for here. Leave using your key, then go south, and make it back to
Fort remote.
Return the crystal to the shrine to get 50xp and capture soul 3. You
can also access the center island now, and can get a few items,
including an invulnerability elixir. Go back to Olgai and they'll be
quite happy. You've just completed one of the major quests of the
game! Go claim your reward: boots of speed, divine warrior 3, and
arcane summon 3 (the spells are located in the room next door to the
treasure room). While you're here go pick up the pants of power from
the room west of the council chamber. They're the best pants you can
get.
TIGER'S DEN
This is West of Patrick's tower, and is one of the places you're told
you can find arrows of light at. Enter through the east, crossing the
lava, then go north, kill the rakhashi, then south, and repeat. Go to
the bridge and take a step. Another piece of bridge will form.
Continue on south. More Rakhashi to fight. They occasionally have
blessed robes, sandles, and mage bracelets on them so search 'em well.
Go west and you'll find an area with a door that disappears. Go
through the hydra lair to the east to find a secret way in. Don't
cross those runes, find a secret way in to the east. Enter the room,
and kill all the rakhashi and their pets. Use the ritual on the altar
to get 15xp. Check the west wall for 4 arrows of light, bolts of life,
and a potion of invulnerability. Kind of anti-climactic, I know.
FORT KOTHTAR
This place is strange. There are a lot of goodies here, including the
orb of Thralni, a very important artifact. The first floor is bereft
of goodies unfortunately. This level is pretty straightforward, but
points of interest include the SW where there's a bunch of giants, the
west, where you can find some blessed javelins, the SSE room in the SE
area has a priest with steel chain, a room near this has acid bolts,
and there's a secret leading to an energy elixir in an eastern room,
the east has an altar which summons up a haakai (no ritual this time).
There are 4 stairs, two of which are bad- the SW, and the south ones.
Go down the south central ones then go west to talk with Stewart (free
him for 1 rep, 10xp, or have him join you- he's an excellent fighter).
Points of interest: The hall of transformations is full of mages and
giants. Kill the giants on the platforms, that'll make your life a bit
easier. Go south to find a secret passage that leads to a down
staircase, go down it, walkthrough the quickfire to get a blessed
greatsword. The slime caves has some lizards and shamblers, and a
secret to the west which leads to some potions. North of here are some
demons and potion ingredients. In the room with the plus, the center
door leads to a chamber with efreeti and a blessed steel helm. Going
east of here will get you to a place with some stalagmites and
boulders. Break the first two pair, then just walk across the path for
the 3rd. Then go down, and east. Go north, west(blades), north, north
(golems), N(blades), N(sluggish), Wait, then go E(naga), then south.
You can claim the orb. Leave and go west. Heal yourself and jump off
the cliff. Kill the undead vahnatai, then head south. Before entering
the portal, check the west side. You'll find a blessed plate mail
(Sweet!). GO back up to floor 2, then go north at the cross. Work
your way through and kill the basilisks, then claim the items north:
smite, and the Kothtar plans (ignore the cursed ring). Return the
plans to Dharmon for 4 rep, 30xp and 1000c. Go west at the cross, then
go down the stairs and enter the halls of the damned. There's a
gymnastics crystal here, as well as some blessed bolts. That's it for
here.
LAIR OF SULFRAS
This is the level to get armor. Enter, and kill all the guards.
There's not too much special here right now, other than an evil priest
with steel chain, a secret room off the room with the drakes, a zombie
with a ring of skill to the SW, a bunch of ore, and the key in the SE
building. Use this key to free Sulfras, though first get her to agree
to give you the onyx scepter. Get out of there. Then reenter, and
plunder the bodies, there's a lot of steel chain, a mithral chain,
blessed studded, and some drakeskin gloves. Get the scepter from
Sulfras, then go take the crystal hidden to the west (blademaster).
That crystal sitting next to her is an energy pulse crystal, not worth
getting in a fight over, especially since she's surrounded by a bunch
of nearly invulnerable black shades.
ORB SPOTS:
Time to build up some frequent flier miles. East of Sulfras's cave is
a secret area that featured big in Avernum 1. Get to the narrow bridge
then fly west, and go through the secret passage. You'll get the jade
halberd, well worth it. Use the orb near Shawnee's store, and you can
get a blessed pike after fighting a bunch of null bugs. Use it near
Waldby's store to get a warrior's bracelet after fighting a bunch of
snakes and nagas. Use it to get to the island near Patrick's tower to
get into a fight which, once won, gives you +1 to parry (which is why
it's important to have everyone at 5). There's a lot in the vahnatai
lands: east of Mancuso you can get a crystal shield, that dead body in
the spore tunnels has an obsidian spear (which, from y0d1n2a3, "It
doesn't do extra damage or increase the chance to hit, but it
occasionally slows the target. The chance of slowing increases if the
character is blessed."), south of here is a small area you can fly to
to enter a cave and grab some mandrake. Near Motrax's cave you can fly
to the isolated hut and buy a rare recipe and get started on the
Thompson quest, if you haven't already (be sure to talk with the
cats!). There's a place near Harston filled with demons which gives a
blessed bow after the fight. There's an herb patch in the spore
tunnels that yields a mandrake every now and then.
EMPIRE ARCHIVES
North of Harston around in the water are the empire archives. Having
the ivory key from Elderan's tower makes this one a bit easier. Enter
through the east, and grab the boat (you don't really need it) and get
over to the west. Enter and kill the golems. You'll need to make it
to the SE and NE to get some info, and there's a guy in the NW who'll
talk with you a bit. Most of the interesting stuff is on the second
floor. First head south and take the stairs. You'll end up in a room
with a demon and some vengeful shades. Here you get a secret code. Go
back up and take the south leap of faith. Go to the libraries to
collect some empire records, then make your way east. There is a
spellbook with control foes 3 here, but it's difficult to get. UPDATE,
from Vilurum: Close the door to get it. This opens the gate. North of
here is a pool. Save the game before going down to the water, as if
you're lucky you'll get a point of strength for everyone. Keep trying
till you do, then go in the altar room (the altar isn't evil). Go
north, then go west, into the library, then go north. A secret door
will be revealed. Go up the stairs and get the portal location. Go
back down then head west. You'll enter the holding cells area. A
skeleton warrior here has a wand of fire, and there are guards here.
Kill everything, then check the western room to get a energy pulse
crystal, and some amber. Doing so releases quickfire, which can be
stopped with an eastern lever. Go south from here, and kill the
wizard, demons and skeleton warriors. In a secret room to the south is
Mass cure 3 (you may need to pull the lever first though). South are
two prisoners, Aydin and Josie. Free them for 5xp each. That's about
it for here. You can go back to Mahdavi and tell her you've succeeded
to end this quest, and to get the "destroy the empire portal" quest (no
reward), but you don't need to.
Head west of the empire archives (don't bother trying to reach khoth-
you can't). Near the spawned fungoids is a secret passage. You may
get into a fight if your rep is low here, otherwise, you enter the
first cave.
CAVE 1
Not too hard, you use the code you got in the empire archives to open a
wall, then you have to fight a bunch of empire troops.
CAVE 2
Ooh, fun. Try to go through the NW wall and you'll have to fight 2 (!)
doomguards. Then go SE, SW, and NE to open the door.
CAVE 3
Ooooh, fun. First go east through the secret passage and use move
mountains, and hit the rune. Then go east, and get teleported to the
beginning, and head east again. Go west and you'll be teleported to a
new area, go east and hit the second rune. Then you'll have to make
your way through the main area. SSSEE S to the bottom, then WW and S
is a feasible path, not too much pain.
You then have to use the orb, and will have to fight a nasty guardpost.
Finally you make it to the:
EMPIRE PORTAL FORTRESS
Make sure you have the onyx scepter and the barrier tower ritual before
attempting this dungeon! Enter through the west. This is a dangerous
level, there are a lot of wizards. In the SW, there's a book that
contains some codes you'll soon need. To the SE is a key you need. To
the NE you'll need to crack the crystal, then head to the NW, and enter
the small building. Go through the door and you'll get in a nasty
fight, then use the codes you got (when it stays lit, you've done it
right). Then leave, and quickly go NE, and heal the portal, then get
the hell out of there. Congratulations, you've just finished quest #2!
GO back to Madhavi and claim your reward (arcane shield 3 and divine
restoration 3, also check the bookshelves north of Kelner for a ring of
great health- from Lynsis).
TO KILL GARZAHD
This is the final major quest. To get this started, first find out
where Thompson was at one time (one of the mages in the isolated hut
near Motrax's cave or Erika will give you hints). Go to Blosk and talk
with Bartholomew. He'll tell you to check a dresser to get some hints.
Go to Fort Remote, and talk with Fraitus, then go SE and push the
painting. Go down.
THOMPSON'S LAIR
You finally use that key you found in the undead ruins. Go up to the
tile maze, and only step on the * tiles. First step on the trash, then
go up and out. You'll find a garden room, there is no way to avoid the
fight and bad effects. The rune to the SW opens a passage to get back
easier. Talk with Thompson. He'll give you a portal code, and will
teach you the last 5 spells. Grab all of your arrows of light (as many
as 23), and beef yourself up some. Then go back to the tower, and use
the code.
ROCKY CAVERN
Not much here. A few crates have some supplies, and a hidden crate has
some decent potions to the NE. The portal sends you to the spiral
crypt, not back to the tower, so you're best off going to kill Garzahd.
Leave, and go to the castle. Rentar will help you, provided you've
helped the vahnatai.
GARZAHD'S FORTRESS
The End is near! A brief map:
7 8 G H
5 6 E F
3 4 C D
1 2 A B
Use the blessed athame to get passed the runes. You start at 1, and
there's a bunch of demons here (which is pretty much how it always is
here), 2 has some Rakhashi, 3 some mung demons (you also get trapped in
here), 5 some slugs (and a portal to 1), 6 some more demons, 7 a ur-
basilisk and a bunch of steel items, and 8 a lich with some scrolls and
a bunch of empire records. 4 has six rooms, west are enemies, SE are
potion ingredients, E is quickfire and an empty room, and NE is a
portal to E. E has a bunch of chambers with the NW one holding a
knowledge brew (from qalnor), and which leads to G. G has a naga with
a dragonskin cloak (the last one), and a lever (pull it) and a portal
to 3. Take the portal, and enter the room to go to B. If you can,
break down the rock and read the book. All the demons die, allowing
for smooth passage to A. A has a teleporter which leads to D, again
there's a book, this time behind a locked door (unlock 3 needed),
which'll kill all the demons. Go to C and there are two portals: the
NW leads to 1, and the SW leads to F. Prepare yourself before taking
the SW portal. Then go to F, and kill the demons, and make your way to
H. Garzahd!
GARZAHD: This guy is tough if you don't have any demonslaying items.
Concentrate only on Garzahd and that haakai, ignore the others. If you
want, you can summon up a haakai, it may seize control of the enemy,
helping you out significantly. Use as many arrows of light,
demonslayer, bolts of life, and repel spirit 3 as you can on Garzahd.
Arrows and bolts do the most damage (50!). He has over 1000HP, so
it'll take a while. Be sure to cast divine warrior. The reason I say
not to kill off the dervishes, golems and giants, is that once he's
pretty weakened, he starts casting arcane shield a lot. If you have
other enemies left, he casts it on them some of the time, making it
much easier. Eventually he will die. Once he does, you get the third
ending, (and possibly the last), and Rentar makes a portal for you.
Search Garzahd's body for a blessed longsword, and a radiant robe.
Nearby is a blessed halberd. Take the portal and you'll end up in the
castle. Tell Micah you've won, and you'll get the last two spells
(arcane blow 3, divine host 3). Tada!
------------------END OF WALKTHROUGH----------------------
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
(4) EQUIPMENT RATINGS
Each armor has a set of protection numbers: A-B+X. The minumum damage
blocked is A+X, the max is B+X. The average is therefore (A+B)/2 + X.
Objects with a large A-B range aren't always as good as ones with
smaller ranges, but a bigger X. So in comparing blessed studded armor
(1-8+4) and steel chain mail (1-12+2) we see that the average damages
blocked are equal (8.5). Similar calculations were done for weapons,
although magical weapons are a bit more subjective with their extra
damage to specific creatures. Some calculations with Jewelry were
attempted by attacking a given enemy using various warrior rings,
bracelets, and charms, although further calculations are necessary in
order to determine exact bonuses.
ARMOR RATINGS.
These are based firstly on damage protection, secondly on melee
interference and weight. Other special effects were ignored for armor
calculations.
BLOCKING NAME
1.5 Shirt
2 Robe
2.5 Poor leather armor
3 Spidersilk shirt
3.5 Poor studded armor
3.5 Leather armor
3.5 Robe of the Magi
4.5 Poor chain mail
4.5 Iron studded armor
4.5 Fine leather armor
4.5 Blessed robe
5.5 Drakeskin/magical/rogue leather armor
6.5 Bronze plate mail
6.5 Iron chain mail
6.5 Steel studded armor
8.5 Iron plate mail
8.5 Steel chain mail
8.5 Blessed studded armor
10.5 Steel plate mail
10.5 Mithral / Icy chain mail
13.5 Blessed plate mail
WEAPON RANKINGS:
These are based on damage, and on number of hands required (fewer is
better).
The following assumptions are made:
Icy and Flaming long swords do an average of 10 damage extra, but 30%
of enemies are immune.
The Assassin's knife, Shielding spike, Jade halberd, Serendipity knife,
Demonslayer, Ghoulbane, Giantslayer and Alien blade are all slightly
more desirable due to their extra effects (denoted by *).
DAMAGE NAME
4.5 Stick
5 Kitchen knife
5.5 Hammer
6 Stone dagger
6.5 Staff
7 Iron dagger
8 Stone short sword
9 Steel dagger = Iron short sword
10 Stone long sword = Stone spear = Ceremonial dagger
11 Iron long sword = Blessed dagger = Steel short sword = Iron
spear = Slith spear
11* Assassin's knife = Shielding spike
12 Stone great sword
12* Serendipity knife
13 Stone pike
13 Steel long sword = Blessed short sword = Steel spear =
Waveblade
14 Iron great sword = Iron pike
15 Steel great sword = Stone halberd
15 Blessed long sword = Diamond dagger = Blessed (obsidian)
spear = Fine waveblade
16 Steel Pike
16* Ghoulbane
17 Blessed great sword = Iron halberd
17 Fine slith spear
18 Steel halberd = Blessed pike
18* Giantslayer
18* Demonslayer
19* Alien blade
20 Blessed halberd
20* Flaming long sword = Icy long sword
20* Jade halberd
23* Bloodthirst spear
JEWELRY ANALYSIS:
The shielding ring blocks ~1-3 points of damage. The armor ring blocks
~3-6 points of damage. The fletcher's ring adds 10% to your to hit.
The archer's ring adds 10% and may increase damage by a point (though
this was not seen during tests). The skill ring appears to add 8% to
your to hit. The warrior's ring adds 16% to your to hit and increases
damage by 1 or so. The ring of resistance increases your resistance.
The immunity ring does the same, but to a greater extent. The ring of
health restores 3 HP every 25 rounds. The ring of great health
restores 5 HP every 15 rounds.
The bracelets of dexterity, intellect, luck and strength all give a +2
to their respective stats. This does not show up on the character info
page, but it's true.
The Mage bracelet increases you mage spell bonus, the same is
respectively true of the priest bracelet. The warrior's bracelet may
increase damage or assassination, but no increase in accuracy was
observed.
The basic charm blocks against acid, chill against fire, crystal
against petrification, freedom against paralzation and sleep magic,
health against poison, and warmth against cold. Shielding raises your
resistances, knowledge increases the bonus you get from arcane lore (so
you have better rune reading and item lore), and war may increases you
damage or assassination.
Of the rings, the ring of great health is my favorite. Immunity and
warrior's rings are next. Generally, the second level of each ring is
far superior to any first, and should probably be equipped (the
exception is the archer ring- you may not have any archers). Of the
bracelets, I like mage and priest best. I'd recommend warrior's, but I
did not see a benefit for equipping it. Of necklaces, you can ignore
basic, health, and warmth charms, (there aren't enough acidic monsters,
nor ice-breathers, and safe travel voids the need for the health
charm). Crystal charms are occasionally useful, but not excessively
so, and knowledge charms are helpful, but not necessary. Freedom
charms are quite nice, especially when fighting undead and fungoids.
War charms were not seen to do anything. Chill charms are quite nice
if your resistance is low.
MISCELLANEOUS ARMOR
BLOCKING NAME
Poor leather helm
Thinking cap
Bronze helm
Leather helm
Iron helm
Fine leather helm
Steel helm
Drakeskin helm
Blessed steel helm
Wooden buckler
Iron buckler
Wooden large shield
Wooden small shield
Steel buckler
Iron small shield
Blessed buckler
Iron large shield
Steel small shield
Steel large shield
Blessed/Crystal small shield
Blessed large shield
OTHER MISCELLANEOUS WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE
STAT ENHANCERS: Items like dexterity bracelets, strength bracelets,
the Serendipity knife, the thinking cap, and the nimble boots all give
a phantom +2 to their respective stats- that is, the stats don't show
an increase except for internal calculations. For instance, the
Intelligence bracelet gives you +2 to intelligence calculations (adds
to the bonus), but does not give you the extra spell points.
The Gauntlets of might add 4 to damage, and 16%(?) to hit.
The Archer's cloak adds 10% to hit with bows, and a point of damage.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
(5) INDEX
This is a simple index that may be of use for quick reference. Search
for the areas listed below to determine the exact means of obtaining a
given object.
PORTAL CODES:
Ent Bel Tor: Formello
Ell Pit Esk: Barrier Tower
Owa Tai Fol: Angierach.
Zed Pel Nog: Silvar
Ain Wyf Exx: Castle
Kav Ait Bon: Erika's tower.
Vag Obb Tor: Garzahd's fortress
Eas Ter Egg (Blank): Secret area.
Priest:
Healing- Almaria
Curing- TotM quest, get fire lizard egg
Battle Rage- TotM quest, destroy serpent cult
Shielding- TotM quest, get black drake fang
Repel Spirit- Serpent cult cave, blessed athame required
Smite- Cotra
Summon Shade- Pyrog's cave, vahnatai lore needed
Safe Travel- Motrax's cave
Unshackle Mind- Dharmon
Move Mountains- Crystal shrine, return Caffen-Bok
Mass Healing- Motrax's cave
Mass Cure- Empire Archives
Sanctuary- Gnass, slith charm quest.
Divine Fire- Dark Tunnel, vahnatai lore needed
Control Foes- Empire Archives
Cloud of Blades- Area east of Formello, vahnatai lore needed.
Return Life- Giant Cave
Divine Warrior- Olgai, retrieve 3 crystal souls
Divine Restoration- TotM, destroy empire portal
Divine Host- Castle, kill Garzahd
UNIQUE/RARE ITEMS INDEX
Assassin's knife- Totem halls, Abyss refuge
Serendipity knife- Ornotha Ziggurat
Shielding spike- Undead fort near Formello
Flaming long sword- Spiral crypt, efreet smith near Erika
Icy long sword- Scimitar "destroy empire caches" quest
Ghoulbane- Ornotha Ziggurat
Giantslayer- Fort Kothtar
Alien blade- SW of Almaria
Demonslayer- Patrick's tower
Jade halberd- E of Sulfras' lair
Bloodthirst spear- W of the empire archives
Mithral chain mail- Pyrog's cave, Sulfras' cave (II)
Icy chain mail- Tomb of Delrin-Bok
Blessed plate mail- Fort Kothtar, Ornotha Ziggurat
Rogue leather armor- Nephil fort
Shadow leather armor- Undead fort near Formello
Robe of the magi- Angierach, Sixus' tower II
Spidersilk shirt- Gremlins in honeycomb, Halls of chaos
Radiant robe- Secret sliths, Garzahd's fortress
Thinking cap- Strange cave
Blessed steel helm- Fort Kothtar, reward from Giant statues quest
Warrior's ring- Serpent cult, Cotra, Slith island S of Fort Dranlon
Immunity ring- Angierach, reward for return of Jekknol-Bok
Ring of great health- Motrax's cave
Archer's ring- Dahris-Bok's tomb, battle empire N of Dharmon
Armor ring- Cotra, Dharmon, Vahnatai fortress, Halls of chaos, Giant
town
Boots of speed- Fort Dolthar, reward for return of Vynas-Bok
Nimble Boots- W of Cotra
Pants of Power- Olgai
MIND CRYSTAL LOCATIONS
Ability:
Summon beast- Nephil fort
Inner might- Giant castle
Lay on hands- Verdant valley
Defensive glow- Vahnatai fortress
Natural curing- Kill Gaddika
Call spirit- Dahris-Bok's tomb
Skill:
Magery- Reward for return of Caffen-Bok
Resistance- Secret sliths
Blademaster- Sulfras' lair
Anatomy- S of Fort Draco
Pathfinder- Waterfall warren
Gymnastics- Fort Kothtar
RANDOM ITEM SELLERS:
Merchants near Formello
Merchants W of Almaria
Brantford, tower of the Magi
Shaynee
Waldby
COMMON QUESTIONS:
If you just want to find something fast, check here. Then search this
faq for the areas listed.
I'm having trouble opening a book. What's up?
One of several possibilities: you don't have enough rune reading
skill, you don't have enough vahnatai lore, you don't have the
deciphering lens, or you don't have the blessed athame.
Where are the passes?
Red- GIFTS cave, area east of Motrax's cave, Almaria (on the Blosk
spy quest). Blue- Secret Empire Fort, Unfinished Empire Fort. Gray-
Totem halls.
Where do I get the deciphering lens or the blessed athame?
Patrick will give you the deciphering lens. Go to his tower. The
blessed athame is found in the Halls of chaos.
I'm having problems in the empire portal fort. Help?
Make sure you have the ritual from the barrier tower, and the onyx
scepter. Then get or do the things needed in the three sections (SW,
SE, NE).
How do I get into Pyrog's cave?
Present the evidence found in Fort Dolthar to the vahnatai council,
then go around back.
How do I bring down the barriers in Angierach?
Use a phoenix egg. You can get one in Pyrog's cave or from Rentar.
How do I get passed some empire guards?
As often as not, you can't. These serve to end the explorable area.
Examples of this are Bargha, the cliff in front of Garzahd's fortress,
and the area north of Dharmon. Otherwise, you probably need a pass, or
need to kill them.
Where is the Adamantite armor?
There is no adamantite armor. You've been had.
NPC STATS
Becca (min level 7), Formello
Str 8 Mel 11 Har 8 Pri 0 Cav 2 Bar 4
Dex 9 Pol 13 Def 8 Arc 4 Fir 2 Gym 2
Int 3 Bow 6 Asn 0 Pot 0 Luc 3 Pat 5
End 7 Thr 7 Mag 0 Too 4 ---
Wendy (min level 19), Fort Dranlon
Str 4 Mel 5 Har 3 Pri 0 Cav 9 Find 1
Dex 4 Pol 2 Def 3 Arc 19 Fir 9 Mag 4
Int 15 Bow 2 Asn 0 Pot 13 Luc 0 Res 4
End 12 Thr 9 Mag 17 Too 2 ---
Assotho (min level 20), Gnass
Str 10 Mel 7 Har 7 Pri 20 Cav 5 Res 5
Dex 7 Pol 13 Def 7 Arc 16 Fir 13
Int 11 Bow 3 Asn 0 Pot 8 Luc 2
End 15 Thr 3 Mag 0 Too 3 ---
Stewart (min level 30), Fort Kothtar
Str 14 Mel 25 Har 7 Pri 0 Cav 9 Bar 1 Par 3
Dex 13 Pol 15 Def 8 Arc 1 Fir 17 Blad 4
Int 3 Bow 14 Asn 8 Pot 0 Luc 0 Ana 4
End 15 Thr 12 Mag 0 Too 6 --- Gym 2
HIDDEN SKILL SUMMARY
Same info as in walkthrough, but also with the location of raising
places, ignoring mind crystals.
BARTER is a very useful skill. It increases the selling prices of
your items. Get 5 points for everyone, pretty much as soon as you can.
Don't bother training in this skill, though, just get Tor to max you
out. Every time you get 150 coins or so, come back and have him
educate you. You'll quickly max out your skill. 60% is the maximum
selling price obtainable through any means. (Tor)
PATHFINDER is a nice and useful skill. It allows you to walk on
places which normally hurt you, like swamps, magic-zappers, and even
lava. As such, possessing enough of this skill makes the safe travel
spell completely obsolete. By everyone 5 points, except for one
character. For this one character buy only 2 points. You'll find a
learning crystal later on which'll give you three more points in this
skill. Don't bother training in this skill, as there is no benefit to
getting more than 20 (or even ~17 for that matter). (Priest in
Formello)
VAHNATAI LORE- A special skill that can not be trained. This skill
will help you in a few important encounters. Get around about 10
points total, that's all you really need. (Vahnatai in ruins, E of
Avit, W of Mancuso)
ANATOMY: This is an expensive skill. It's worth it though. Almost
all the enemies in Avernum are humanoid, meaning you'll always get more
damage. It does around about 1 point of damage per skill point
invested, but only against humanoids. It affects both melee and
missile, but only seems to add .5 points of damage per skill point with
missiles. It also affects first aid, if you use it. Buy it when you
can or remember. When you get a big batch of cash, go ahead and use it
on this. When someone gets a 5 in this skill, you may want to get that
mind crystal you found in Chapter 1 and get 3 more free points.
(Priest in Mertis)
MAGERY: A great skill. Unfortunately, you can't train in it. It
will increase the power of all your spells (even magery). It's a great
skill for mages and not too bad for priests. Get more points from the
drake. (Solberg, Ice Drake, Erika)
PARRY: A decent defensive skill. It makes you dodge blows
occasionally, especially if you defend. Max it out, as it's cheap and
useful for everyone. Later you'll be able to acquire another point in
this skill for free, so that's why it's best to get everyone at 5.
(Mancuso, island near Patrick's tower)
BLADEMASTER: A nice skill. Unfortunately, no one teaches it to you,
so you have to train yourself in this skill. It's worth training in
occasionally, as it increases your melee ability. (Bug shrine)
GYMNASTICS: A decent skill which is trainable. It makes you act
faster in combat, and dodge more blows. Buy some and be happy.
(Trainer near Fort Remote).
FIND HERBS: A nice skill, which unfortunately can't be trained in or
otherwise improved (unless you have Wendy, who starts with a point).
With this skill you'll randomly find potion ingredients when traveling
about by land. (Justin in Blosk).
DREAD CURSE: Technically, it's a special ability. Don't pursue it,
though. Fortunately in this game it's a lot harder to get than it was
in Avernum 1. Mother Clarisse in the tower will cure it for you.
(Doing bad things)
RESISTANCE- a most excellent skill. It'll block a lot of damage.
There's only two ways to get this skill unfortunately, and you can't
train in it, or it'd make your party unstoppable. Damn. (Vahnatai
fort).
HERB PATCHES
DUNGEON:
NW of Formello (healing and spiritual)
Graymold Cave (graymold).
Moldy cave in Giant lands (toadstools and mandrake).
OUTDOORS:
Healing: N of Tower of the Magi near nephilim, Near Sixus' first
tower.
Spiritual: E of Patrick's Tower.
Energetic: NW of the lava/water cave.
Toadstools: Gremlins near Silvar.
Graymold: Slug-defended area N of Silvar.
Mandrake: In the spore tunnels, orb required.
POTION RECIPE LOCATIONS (from Seletine on the spiderweb message
boards):
Healing & Curing Potions: Start with
Haste, Energy, and Strength Potions: Townshend in Formello
Graymold Salve, Balm of Life, Healing and Hasting Elixirs: Piglet in
Tower of the Magi
Energy Elixir: Walner, Fort Duvno
Strength Elixir, Restoration, Protection Brews: Patrick's Tower or
Dharmon
Heroic Brew: Isolated Home (requires Orb of Thralni)
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
(6) HINT SUMMARY
People wanted it, so I added it!
ITEM STATS: In general, try to figure out if something is better than
what you've got. For instance, a stone spear has stats of 2-20 -1,
whereas an iron spear has stats of 2-20. The stone spear has an
average damage rating of 10, but the iron spear has an average damage
rating of 11. Go for iron. This is pretty much always true. The
hierarchy of items is bronze/crude/poor/stone < iron < steel < blessed.
Look in the equipment section for a stat summary.
FINDING STUFF: Look in items. Press "L" and choose something. The
best stuff is found in crates, barrels, dressers, bookcases, desks, and
of course chests. On rare occasions, you can find stuff in other
objects- for instance, in Fort Ganrick, there are some casks in the
equipment room which have some cheap wine hidden in them, which you can
take.
STEALING: It ain't a crime if you don't get caught. Many items have
a "NY" next to them. If you try to take the item, and someone is
watching, you get in trouble (and may even instantly die). There are
ways around this.
FOOD: There's a big selection of food in this game. Generally, I go
for the lightest (greens), and ignore the heavier lizard haunches and
fine meals. If you want variety, pick up all that you can. You should
never need to buy food, as there's always plenty lying around.
LOOT: From luthien on the spiderweb message boards: If you're loading
up on loot and hit the max items, you can pick up a couple more things
if you equip the non-magic jewelry (or any other items like bows and
missiles that you don't already have equipped). This is typically only
useful earlier in the game before your characters are completely decked
out. Also, you may find yourself unable to carry any more. There are a
few ways around this, from Zeviz: There is also a (slightly cheating)
way to carry much more than your weight allowance. When you are trying
to equip an item, it does not go through the weight check. So if you
equip that super heavy Empire armor straight from the ground, you'll be
able to carry it even if it takes you over your weight allowance. And
from TIE187: Also, if your party has a strength bracelet, you can pass
it around and equip it on each character when they're picking up loot.
It adds 60 stones to the character's carry capacity, up to 350 stones.
Again, "the problem is that you can't drop anything since you won't be
able to pick them up again."
QUESTS: Quests are your main source of reputation, and a good source
of gold and xp. Whenever you complete a quest, be sure to get your
reward! Uncompleted (ones where you've not received a reward) quests
can be found under "Current quests" in the character info screen. From
luthien on the spiderweb message boards: It appears that the penalty
for experience is random. If your penalty is -50%, I think the 50% is
applied by giving each point a 50% chance of occurring. Either that or
some other distribution. I've completed quests worth 30 XP where the
50% penalty character will get anywhere from 10 to 20 XP. The moral of
the story is, save before you complete a quest or some other big-XP
action. It will be hard to get max XP for all your characters, but at
least you can prevent one PC from getting cheated too much.
WANDERING ENCOUNTERS: Whenever presented with the option to be
friendly, do so. More often than not the others will react with
friendliness or indifference. If nothing comes of this, save, then
attack. From luthien on the spiderweb message boards: Since loot and
experience are so valuable, I will usually save the game right before
any wandering encounter. Then reload the game to make sure I get the
maximum number of enemies. 8 bladesman, 6 empire archers is better than
5 and 3...
LEARNING CRYSTALS: You'll occasionally find one of the really nice
learning crystals. They're small blue things that come in three
flavors- abilities, skills, and energy pulse. Ability crystals give
you a new ability, like lay on hands or something. Skill crystals
teach you 3 points in a given skill (for some skills, hold on using
these until you have purchased as much skill as possible to get the
maximum result). Energy pulse crystals just dumbfound you, but are
good to sell at 599c apiece.
MAGIC BARRIERS: There are three types: fire, which can be walked
through for damage, force, which are impenetrable but can be removed
with a dispel barrier spell, and Big and Weird, which are those which
are separating Avernum and which you'll run into again later.
HERBS: There are two types of herb patches- one is found on the
outdoor map as a special encounter, the other is found in an actual
dungeon. The latter are much better as they have more herbs than the
outdoors ones. There are 3 dungeon herb patches. Come back to either
of them every 5-7 days or so to pick up some more herbs.
SINGLE PLAYER AREAS: There are a few occasions in which you have to
select a specific character to do a quest. This is one of them. In
general, choose the character best suited for the job (obviously).
Addition from TIE187 on the spiderweb message boards: For single PC
quests, I use my Mage/priest. I give him or her all the protection and
special armor the others wear: shielding spike, 2 or 3 amulets and
jewelry, rogue leather, lockpicks. Having your choice of Priest or Mage
spells and the large amount of mana that goes along with training in
both is quite nice.
NPCS: All npcs are stronger than your characters at their respective
levels, for the most part. There are a few role playing
considerations, but if you want a powerful party, get them to join you.
NPCs also get character traits based on their position of entry: if
they start as the first character, they get elite warrior, and as the
last, they get natural mage.
SPELL CASTING: The power of one's spells are based partly on luck,
and partly on the mysterious Bonus. The mage bonus is equal to the
mage spells skill + int/2, and the same is respectively true for priest
spells. There are some ways of increasing this ability through wearing
items, acquiring skills, or choosing specific character traits. The
mage's bracelet and the robe of the magi both give a +4 bonus to your
character. However, wearing both does not give 10 bonus, so it is best
just to wear one. The magery skill gives a bonus equal to the number
of points in this skill. The natural mage trait gives a bonus of 4 at
the beginning, and may increase with levels. For priests, there is
only the priest's bracelet. The mage's bracelet and the robe of the
magi do not affect priest spell strength, however, both magery and
natural mage do.
More on Natural mage from Alex: Unlock Doors level 1 is the easiest way
to see how the bonus is calculated. My result:
The bonus is incremented every 7th level, so the benefit of Natural
Mage is:
+4 at level 1
+5 at level 7
+6 at level 14 etc.
There is also an increase of 0.4 per level whether you have Natural
Mage or not (i.e. it's on top of the Natural Mage bonus). This makes
Divinely Touched (+1 regardless of level) look even less attractive.
TO HIT: Interestingly, there is no 95% cap to fighting unarmed. Even
so, the damage done is pitiful, so I wouldn't recommend this.
COMBAT VS MONSTERS
DEMONS, DRAKES: At low levels, you can take them on one at a time
with the bind foe 1 spell. Cast it once a turn, and pummel them with
all of your other characters. At high levels, they should present too
much a problem, just wait with your mage till the end of the turn, and
cast haste to void their slow spells.
WIZARDS, RAKHASHI: Only try these guys on higher levels. They can
easily destroy an unprepared low level party. The bind foe 1 strategy
can take them out, one at a time, but it's more time consuming. A
decent strategy is to summon up a null bug, and either sit in the
antimagic field, or get the bug right up next to them, and hit them
with your weapons. Missile weapons are quite effective on these guys
too. Cloud of blades is the only spell that can hurt the rakhashi.
DOOMGUARDS: Hit hard and fast. Divine warrior, blessed and hasted
warriors are necessary. Do not use the jade halberd while fighting
these guys. Monster summoning is also generally a bad idea, since they
are immune to magic, and will split even if they take only one damage.
DERVISHES: Eventually these guys are only a mild nuisance. Still, at
low levels, bind foe 3 works wonders. Most damaging spells work too
slow to be of much use.
LICHES, HAAKAI: Pray they don't hit you with their charming ray- it's
quite difficult to resist. Otherwise, the bind foe 1 trick could work
quite well, and repel spirit is rather powerful.
GARZAHD: Demon slaying arrows are the way to go, honest. They do 50
damage a hit, the best possible. Don't worry about his non-
spellcasting friends, they actually will help you by diverting his
arcane shields.
GENERAL: Haste works wonders. Before entering a battle, cast haste
(or beast ceremony), then (w)ait, being sure that the enemy doesn't do
anything. This'll give you an extra attack. Some hints from Zeviz on
the spiderweb message boards: If you open a door to find a room full of
hard monsters, you can close the door back by clicking look button and
looking at the door. (Warning: this does NOT work in combat mode) Now
you can proceed with advice 2 and 3.
2. If you see monsters in a dungeon, but they haven't seen you yet, you
can still cast Beast Ceremony if you close a door in front of you or
run behind a corner (or wait until your light runs out).
4. If you are in a dungeon, faced with the enemies who have no long
range attacks, you can cast your defensive and summoning spells without
entering combat mode. Since the enemies move 1 square per turn when not
in combat, you will have more time to cast spells before enemies cover
the distance between you and them.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
(7) HOW TO CHEAT:
Use the editor for most of the mundane things like giving yourself 100
in all stats, and for giving yourself gold, items and spells. It's a
nice utensil. Check the spiderweb site for a link to a page (Avernum
anotated maps) which has item codes for all of the items in the game.
If you want some less insidious cheating, try these:
Fight End "strategy": This is useful for getting around troublesome
spots. Press fight, then press end. Your party moves up a few spaces,
and does not trigger special fights/events/traps. This is quite useful
in Motrax's cave, as it'll let you get passed those ultra-difficult
traps and loot his cave with ease. Note that this doesn't work with a
singleton party.
A few initial boosts: Start your party and give someone (or everyone)
the divinely touched trait. Then use the editor to get rid of it. You
still get to keep all those nice skills, which are very useful at the
beginning. This also works with the beastmaster trait.
No phoenix egg needed: In Angierach, you can bring down the barriers
with the cloud of blades spell. Just make sure the area of effect of
the blade cloud and the barriers overlap.
Weight allowance getting you down? Well, from y0d1n2a3 on the
message boards: And if you add anything with the editor, you can carry
more without decreasing your speed. The problem is that you can't drop
anything since you won't be able to pick them up again.
Editor Item list from Chandler (thank you!):
0 - Mind Crystal - Energy Pulse
1 - Copper Coins
2 - Silver Coins
3 - Gold Coins
4 - Bread
5 - Greens
6 - Steak
7 - Steak**
8 - Dried Meat
9 - Weird Meat
10 - Lizard Haunch
11 - Fish
12 - Deli Sandwich
13 - White Tunic
14 - Red Tunic
15 - Green Tunic
16 - Cloak
17 - Cloak**
18 - Pants
19 - Pants**
20 - Shirt
21 - Shirt**
22 - Robe
23 - Dress
24 - Cursed Leather Armor
25 - Poor Leather Armor
26 - Leather Armor
27 - Fine Leather Armor
28 - Drakeskin Armor
29 - Cursed Studded Armor
30 - Poor Studded Armor
31 - Iron Studded Armor
32 - Steel Studded Armor
33 - Blessed Studded Armor
34 - Cursed Chain Mail
35 - Poor Chain Mail
36 - Iron Chain Mail
37 - Steel Chain Mail
38 - Blessed Chain Mail
39 - Cursed Plate Mail
40 - Poor Plate Mail
41 - Iron Plate Mail
42 - Steel Plate Mail
43 - Blessed Plate Mail
44 - Cursed Dagger
45 - Stone Dagger
46 - Iron Dagger
47 - Steel Dagger
48 - Blessed Dagger
49 - Cursed Short Sword
50 - Stone Short Sword
51 - Iron Short Sword
52 - Steel Short Sword
53 - Blessed Short Sword
54 - Cursed Longsword
55 - Stone Longsword
56 - Iron Longsword
57 - Steel Longsword
58 - Blessed Longsword
59 - Cursed Greatsword
60 - Stone Greatsword
61 - Iron Greatsword
62 - Steel Greatsword
63 - Blessed Greatsword
64 - Cursed Spear
65 - Stone Spear
66 - Iron Spear
67 - Steel Spear
68 - Blessed Spear
69 - Cursed Pike
70 - Stone Pike
71 - Iron Pike
72 - Steel Pike
73 - Blessed Pike
74 - Cursed Halberd
75 - Bronze Halberd
76 - Iron Halberd
77 - Steel Halberd
78 - Blessed Halberd
79 - Stick
80 - Ceremonial Dagger
81 - Kitchen Knife
82 - Staff
83 - Hammer
84 - Cursed Javelin
85 - Stone Javelin
86 - Iron Javelin
87 - Steel Javelin
88 - Blessed Javelin
89 - Cursed Bow
90 - Cavewood Bow
91 - Yew Bow
92 - Ash Bow
93 - Blessed Bow
94 - Cursed Crossbow
95 - Cavewood Crossbow
96 - Yew Crossbow
97 - Ash Crossbow
98 - Blessed Crossbow
99 - Cursed Arrows
100 - Stone Arrows
101 - Iron Arrows
102 - Steel Arrows
103 - Blessed Arrows
104 - Cursed Bolts
105 - Stone Bolts
106 - Iron Bolts
107 - Steel Bolts
108 - Blessed Bolts
109 - Rock
110 - Drakeskin Sandals
111 - Sandals
112 - Blessed Sandals
113 - Cursed Boots
114 - Boots
115 - Drakeskin Boots
116 - Blessed Boots
117 - Blessed Cloak
118 - Cursed Robe
119 - Blessed Robe
120 - Cursed Buckler
121 - Wooden Buckler
122 - Iron Buckler
123 - Steel Buckler
124 - Blessed Buckler
125 - Cursed Small Shield
126 - Wooden Small Shield
127 - Iron Small Shield
128 - Steel Small Shield
129 - Blessed Small Shield
130 - Cursed Large Shield
131 - Wooden Large Shield
132 - Iron Large Shield
133 - Steel Large Shield
134 - Blessed Large Shield
135 - Cursed Leather Helmet
136 - Poor Leather Helmet
137 - Leather Helmet
138 - Fine Leather Helmet
139 - Blessed Leather Helmet
140 - Cursed Bronze Helmet
141 - Poor Bronze Helmet
142 - Bronze Helmet
143 - Fine Bronze Helmet
144 - Blessed Bronze Helmet
145 - Cursed Gloves
146 - Gloves
147 - Drakeskin Gloves
148 - Sack of Meal
149 - Bowl
150 - Bowl**
151 - Pitcher
152 - Pot
153 - Pot**
154 - Bolt of Cloth
155 - Bolt of Cloth
156 - Bolt of Cloth**
157 - Cloak Clasp
158 - Pincers
159 - Tongs
160 - Spearhead
161 - Bucket
162 - Bucket of Water
163 - Flagon
164 - Horn
165 - Jug
166 - Jug of Cheap Wine
167 - Golden Goblet
168 - Plate
169 - Plate**
170 - Candle
171 - Torch
172 - Lamp
173 - Spoon
174 - Lockpicks
175 - Fine Lockpicks
176 - Magic Lockpicks
177 - First Aid Kit
178 - Fine First Aid Kit
179 - Poor Fur
180 - Nice Fur
181 - Beautiful Fur
182 - Pillow
183 - Silver Drinking Cup
184 - Mortar and Pestle
185 - Papyrus Sheet
186 - Dice
187 - Scalpel
188 - Needle
189 - Thread
190 - Trowel
191 - Skull
192 - Bones
193 - Whip
194 - Pen and Ink
195 - Earrings
196 - Trash
197 - Trash
198 - Trash**
199 - Bar of Tin
200 - Bar of Lead
201 - Bar of Iron
202 - Bar of Silver
203 - Amber
204 - Emerald
205 - Ruby
206 - Silver Ring
207 - Gold ring
208 - Jeweled Ring
209 - Silver Bracelet
210 - Gold Bracelet
211 - Silver Necklace
212 - Gold Necklace
213 - Torc
214 - Healing Herbs
215 - Spiritual Herbs
216 - Energetic Herbs
217 - Graymold
218 - Toadstools
219 - Mandrake
220 - Healing Potion
221 - Curing Potion
222 - Strength Potion
223 - Energy Potion
224 - Poison Potion
225 - Haste Potion
226 - Invulnerability Potion
227 - Resistance Potion
228 - Healing Elixir
229 - Curing Elixir
230 - Strength Elixir
231 - Energy Elixir
232 - Poison Elixir
233 - Haste Elixir
234 - Invulnerability Elixir
235 - Resistance Elixir
236 - Knowledge Brew
237 - Restoration Brew
238 - Protection Brew
239 - Heroic Brew
240 - Graymold Salve
241 - Balm of Life
242 - Searing Balm (Cursed)
243 - Draining Brew (Cursed)
244 - Scroll - Bolt of Fire
245 - Scroll - Call Beast
246 - Scroll - Bind Foe
247 - Scroll - Slow
248 - Scroll - Ice Lances
249 - Scroll - Create Illusions
250 - Scroll - Far Sight
251 - Scroll - Lightning Spray
252 - Scroll - Dispel Barrier
253 - Scroll - Summon Aid
254 - Scroll - Fireblast
255 - Scroll - Repel Spirit
256 - Scroll - Summon Shade
257 - Scroll - Control Foes
258 - Scroll - Spray Acid
259 - Scroll - Paralysis
260 - Scroll - Web Spell
261 - Scroll - Piercing Sight
262 - Scroll - Bitter Loss (Cursed)
263 - Scroll - Withering (Cursed)
264 - Ring of Vulnerability (Cursed)
265 - Ring of Illness (Cursed)
267 - Ring of Exposure (Cursed)
268 - Ring of Agony (Cursed)
269 - Ring of Blurred Vision (Cursed)
270 - Shield Ring
271 - Ring of Health
272 - Ring of Skill
273 - Resistance Ring
274 - Ring of Grief (Cursed)
275 - Fletcher's Ring
276 - Armor Ring
277 - Ring of Great Health
278 - Warrior's Ring
279 - Immunity Ring
280 - Ring of Discomfort (Cursed)
281 - Archer's Ring
282 - Wand of Bolts
283 - Wand of Ice
284 - Wand of Slowing
285 - Wand of Lightning
286 - Wand of Fire
287 - Wand of Acid
289 - Wand of Carrunos
290 - Rod of Arcana
291 - Rod of Minor Call
292 - Rod of Major Call
293 - Rod of Illusions
294 - Strength Bracelet
295 - Dexterity Bracelet
296 - Intelligence Bracelet
297 - Mage's Bracelet
298 - Priest's Bracelet
299 - Warrior's Bracelet
300 - Lucky Bracelet
301 - Monkey Bracelet (Cursed)
302 - Chill Charm
303 - Warmth Charm
304 - Health Charm
305 - Shielding Charm
306 - Basic Charm
307 - War Charm
308 - Freedom Charm
309 - Crystal Charm
310 - Knowledge Charm
311 - Sticky Charm (Cursed)
312 - Harm Charm (Cursed)
313 - Mind Crystal - Beastcall
314 - Mind Crystal - Spiritcall
315 - Mind Crystal - Lay On Hands
316 - Mind Crystal - Venomfoe
317 - Mind Crystal - Berzerker
318 - Mind Crystal - Inner Might
319 - Mind Crystal - Shielder
320 - Mind Crystal - Blademaster
321 - Mind Crystal - Anatomy
322 - Mind Crystal - Gymnastics
323 - Mind Crystal - Pathfinder
324 - Mind Crystal - Magery
325 - Mind Crystal - Resistance
326 - Mind Crystal - Energy Pulse
327 - Empire Records
328 - Mushroom Merlot '91
329 - Hardonnay '85
330 - Almaria Yellow '91
331 - Archer's Cloak
332 - Dragonskin Cloak
333 - Pants of Power
334 - Pants of Sorrow (Cursed)*
335 - Robe of the Magi
336 - Radiant Robe
337 - Rogue's Leather
338 - Mauling Leather
339 - Shadow Leather
340 - Icy Chain Mail
341 - Polished Plate Mail
342 - Assassin's Dagger
343 - Diamond Dagger
344 - Flaming Sword
345 - Icy Longsword
346 - Demonslayer
347 - Ghoulbane
348 - Giantslayer
349 - Jade Halberd
350 - Obsidian Spear
351 - Alien Blade
352 - Acid Arrows
353 - Bolts of Life
354 - Arrows of Light
355 - Acid Bolts
356 - Boots of Speed
357 - Nimble Boots
358 - Bloodthirst Spear*
359 - Crystal Shield
360 - Serendiptiy Knife
361 - Nimble Gloves
362 - Gauntlets of Might
363 - Piercing Crystal
364 - Unshackling Crystal
365 - Recall Crystal
366 - Searing Crystal (Cursed)
367 - Shielding Spike
368 - Spidersilk Shirt
369 - Stoneshatter Crystal
370 - Slith Spear
371 - Fine Slith Spear
372 - Bag of Sugar
373 - Aranea Fangs
374 - Ore
375 - Historical Scroll
376 - Fine Meal
377 - Cheap Wine
378 - Orb of Thralni
379 - Cursed Waveblade
380 - Waveblade
381 - Fine Waveblade
382 - Cursed Razordisk
383 - Razordisk
384 - Fine Razordisk
385 - Vahnatai Cloak
386 - Crystal
387 - Fine Crystal
388 - Nephilim Map
389 - Fire Lizard Egg
390 - Drake Egg
391 - Bent Hexagonal Bar
392 - Hexagonal Bar
393 - Scrap of Vellum
394 - Scrap of Vellum
395 - Rope
396 - Bar of Uranium (Cursed)
397 - Pyrrhic Gauntlets (Cursed)
398 - Sixus Map
399 - Thinking Cap***
*These Items can be uncursed at a healer and give good stats
afterwards.
**Repeated items have different looks
***Any number over 399 gives a Thinking Cap.
1: Nepharim Chief Necklace - neph(unused)
2: Spider Egg Sack - This is an egg sack. From this delicate pouch of
webbing will soon come dozens of giant, intelligent, friendly talking
spiders. You bet that the spiders would really like to get it back.
3: Red Empire Pass - This is a parchment scroll with red trim, brought
down from the surface. The Empire army uses these passes to get around.
With it, you will be able to pass through low security Empire
checkpoints.
4: Blue Empire Pass - This is a sheepskin scroll with blue trim,
brought down from the surface. The Empire army uses these passes to get
around. With it, you will be able to pass through medium security
Empire checkpoints.
5: Gray Empire Pass - This is a vellum scroll with dark gray trim,
brought down from the surface. The Empire army uses these passes to get
around. With it, you will be able to pass through high security Empire
checkpoints.
6: Unused -
7: Soul Crystal - This Vahnatai artifact can make tiny copies of
creatures you meet in its depths. When you have this item, you can cast
Capture Soul & Simulacrum
8: Bronze Ankh - This is a bronze Ankh. It is beautifully & carefully
made. Touching it makes you feel warm & happy.
9: Package for Dharmon - You found this package on a remote island west
of Cotra. It says "Dharmon" on it. It contains herbs in it, though not
of a variety you recognize.
10: Mica Tome - This ancient tome is etched o a dozen thin sheets of
mica, held together with a length of wire. Despite your great efforts,
you can't understand any of the writing.
11: Cyrstal Soul: Vyvnas - This is the crystal soul of Vyvnas-Bok. It
is the spirit of a leader of the Vahnatai, given physical form. When
you concentrate, you can hear the soft, gentle whisper of the being in
your mind.
12: Crystal Soul: Jekknol - This is the crystal soul of Jekknol-Bok. It
is the spirit of a leader of the Vahnatai, given physical form. When
you concentrate, you can hear the angry, vicious muttering of this
tormented creature in your mind.
13: Crystal Soul: Caffren - This is the crystal soul of Caffren-Bok. It
is the spirit of a leader of the Vahnatai, given physical form. When
you concentrate, you can hear the angry whispering of this being in
your mind.
14: Vahnatai letters & Map - You found these papers in a rebel vahnatai
fort. They are evidence that one of the stolen Crystal Souls was taken
to a place called Ornotha Ziggurat. The vahnatai Council at Olgai would
be very interested in this.
15: Empire Crystal Soul Scroll - You found these papers in an Empire
fortress. They provide evidence that one of the Crystal Souls was taken
to Pyrog's Fortress. The vahnatai Council at Olgai would be very
interested in this.
16: Orders for Fort Haledon - These are orders from the vahnatai
Council at Olgai to Fort Haledon, to the west. You are to take the
orders to the fort, & they will help you reach Ornotha Ziggurat.
17: Amber Charm - This is a small amber charm, carved in the shape of a
large slithzerikai warrior. You found it at the grisly altar of a tribe
of evil sliths.
18: Deciphering Lens - You Received this lens from Patrick, in his
tower. They have developed a special magical script in his tower. When
you look through this lens, you can read the script.
19: Giant Statue - This is a small statuette of a giant warrior. It is
made of a strange material, like metal, but lighter.
20: Wrapped-up Bug - This is the mummified husk of a large insect,
about eight inches long, wrapped up in a web-like material. It's very
old.
21: Kothtar Plans - These are several torn sheets of high-quality
paper, no doubt originally brought from the surface world. They
describe the strange magical experiments being performed in the
fortress Kothtar.
22: Blessed Athame - This is a tiny, razor-sharp knife, about two
inches long. This artifact is famed for its ability to cut through
magical seals.
23: Onyx Scepter - This is a slender black scepter, about three feet
long and ornately carved from a single piece of onyx. It possesses a
potent and mysterious magical power.
24: Solider Clearance - Since you are a solider in the army of Avernum,
you have Solider Clearance. This means that you are allowed to enter
any of Avernum's fortresses at will.
25: Magi Clearance - Your deeds in the service of Avernum have earned
you Magi Clearance. You can now enter all of Avernum's fortresses and
locations of magical research at will.
26: Crown Clearance - Your deeds in the service of Avernum have earned
you Crown Clearance. So trusted are you that you can enter even
Avernum's most secret or guarded places at will.
27: Black Drake Fang - You pulled this grisly trophy from the mouth of
a drake. It's a black tooth. It looks like it was carved from onyx.
Such teeth are renowned for their value as a potion ingredient.
28: Borgia Toadstools - These are some nondescript looking dried
toadstools. You found them in the vahnatai lands.
29: Phoenix Egg - When broken, this remarkable artifact will create a
cloud of quickfire.(When you are in a good place to make quickfire, you
will be given the option.)
30: Blosk Spy Evidence - This is a charred piece of parchment. You
found it in an oven. You can't read any of the writing on it. Perhaps
someone can do something to help you reveal the writing.
31: Repaired Spy Evidence - This piece of parchment is evidence that
someone named Bruce is the spy in Blosk.
32: Surface Tools - This is a set of fine steel tools form the surface
world. They're suited to careful precision work. It's impossible to
make tools of this quality in Avernum.
(8) REPLAYING SUGGESTIONS:
Try the game on a higher difficulty level. Try the game playing as all
the NPCs for a super-powerful party. Try the game as all magic users.
Try it with only 2 people in your party. Try it with all sliths, with
completely inept people, etc.
GOING SOLO:
This is one way of determining whether or not you're a true Avernum 2
master. To see if you're a king, try it on Torment difficulty. A few
suggestions first, though:
Try a slith, they are the most powerful race, and give him the natural
mage trait, and some other trait, probably. Why so many traits?
Experience is very easy to come by. When I played a solo game with a
slith natural mage, I maxed out my level before finishing any of the 3
major quests, and then stopped playing. I would not go for either
beastmaster or divinely touched, since as a solo character you'll get
crystals with these abilities quickly. Maybe go for strong will,
because if you're paralyzed or put to sleep, you're pretty much dead.
Fast on feet could be good, too. Elite warrior isn't as useful, since
your character may build up enough skills to become quite powerful
without this spell. Toughness could be nice as well, but with only one
character, you end up equipping all the best armor anyway, minimizing
the bonus of this skill.
Starting out: Plunk most of your skill points into spells. You'll rely
heavily on them at the beginning. Hardiness is also an important
skill, since you want to keep all of your AP and wear the best armor
possible. The exception may be the thinking cap, which is an excellent
item that improves your spells, something that is badly needed. You
may want to eventually replace it with the mage's bracelet, and put on
a blessed steel helm instead. In terms of armor, get the best
possible. Go for blessed plate rather than icy chain, and then go for
a dragonskin cloak. You won't regret it. Getting a freedom charm
early may be a good idea.
How things are different, bad: You'll get smacked around more, and will
need to cast haste before almost every fight. You can't learn several
spells (the ones that require vahnatai lore>5), and will have a very
hard time obtaining some items (like the alien blade and the mage
bracelet). You actually have to put skill points in barter in order to
sell items at a good price, and will have to cast safe travel 3
occasionally, too. The fight-end cheat doesn't work anymore.
How things are different, good: Getting slowed isn't so bad. Just end
combat, and fight the enemies one on one. Haste 1 and 2 are very nice,
battle rage 3 is super. You can use all the mind crystals on one
character, rather than spreading them around. A lot of spells that
once weren't used at all suddenly become somewhat useful.
The best reason for trying this is that you create a character who can
slay empire troops without any hassle, and who is ultra-powerful,
almost like a greek god. It's very satisfying.
Additionally, from Luthien:
Another con is looting dungeons! It's a major pain to have to leave
every time your inventory is full. However, you can get around this by
using the create a PC option, and creating a character with 10 strength
to lug stuff around for you. This also will help you use the fight-end
cheat. Also, you can store characters with high barter skill and use
them when selling expensive items (or when needing vahnatai lore or
rune reading). A quick note about creating characters -- you can only
do it in 'major' towns, which still makes it a bit awkward when you're
deep in a dungeon. However, if you simply clean out a dungeon via
fighting and don't pick things up along the way, you can go to town and
create 3 characters with 10 strength and come back. Another con is
Gymnastics costing 5000 gold for 1 character- yowch!. Finally, another
con about looting is wilderness encounters. Sure, in a dungeon you
just make lots of trips. But when you fight wandering monsters
(especially empire troops), you all too often need to leave chain mails
and steel shields lying on the ground!
Some of the pros are that you can spend all your money on one character
(including all those knowledge brews!). Also, I've used bows with the
1 PC more than I ever have before. What a great way to save those
precious spell points! That's why I went back and started again as a
Nephil -- good with bows and acts quick in combat without needing fast
on feet, which leaves room for natural mage and elite warrior (or
strong will as you suggest).
(9) VERSION HISTORY
8/13/01, Version 1.0. The walkthrough is complete. Spell ratings have
been completed, armor ratings completed, skill ratings completed, trait
ratings complete, a few indices have been created.
8/15/01, Version 1.1. Added the Madhouse Brigand's entrance from
antimony. Added 3 hints from luthien. Added rare items to index.
Added calculation method for armor and weapon comparisons. Corrected a
few small typos.
8/17/01, Version 1.2. Added general hints from TIE187, Zeviz, Alex,
and y0d1n2a3. Included a few small corrections from Zeviz and Alex.
Added a solo hint section to (7). Added a common questions section.
Added damage and blocking to armor and weapon charts. Format was
slightly improved with use of fantastic indentations and such.
8/23/01, Version 1.3. Added some combat hints from Zeviz. Added a
hints section, allowing users to get these general hints without having
to look through the walkthrough and be spoiled. A few more
calculations were performed with some of the jewelry and other
equipment, and an NPC statistics section was added. A few other minor
changes.
8/31/01, Version 1.4. Corrected y0d1n2a3's name. Fixed error pointed
out by Alex. Added more solo character hints from Luthien. Added some
luck requirements from Luthien. Added some updates about character
skills. Added arguments for and against First Aid, from Longshot,
Enzo7za, y0d1n2a3, and myself. Added an herb patch locator, and a
hidden skill guide to the index. A few other minor corrections.
9/10/01, Version 1.5. Added Athron's lair treasure hints from Lynsis.
Added an editor item list from Chandler. Added arguments for level 2
bind foe from Longshot.
9/22/01, Version 1.6. Added a special items list from Pyrofox. Added
some info on Toughness from Alex. Added keys to special items list.
Did research on archery- rings, cloak and skill. A few minor
corrections.
11/17/01, Version 1.7. Added lots of info from Alex (nephil bonuses,
completely inept info, etc.), and some stuff from qalnor (a batch of 3
efreeti I missed, and a knowledge brew in Garzahd's fort). Added the
obsidian spear info from y0d1n2a3 (mystery solved!). Added some stuff
from Lynsis (another ring of great health!). Fixed Herb patch
information.
12/26/01, Version 1.8, Added info from Vilurum on how to get Control
Foes 3. Added a forgotten source of experience in the unfinished
empire fort from Kevlarkid86. Corrected some spelling errors from
ArcticWolf.
6/27/02, Version 1.9, Added a recipe list from Seletine. Thanks a
bundle!
Unsolved Mysteries:
The secret room in Korradis' tower.
Getting to the body north of the graymold cave without cheating.
Uses of the obsidian spear.
What war charms and warrior bracelets do, numerically.
WEBSITES:
*www.spidweb.com* Go here to get the game. Go on! Buy it already!!
Check related pages and go to the Avernum annotated maps site to find a
decent item list as well, and an outdoor map!
