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Zechnophobe
01-19-2010, 05:54 PM
So, I just finished an almost no loss game (wasn't explicitly going for it, but was also very careful) with a mage on Impossible. Had about 180 losses entire game.

The funny part is that in the entire game world, there was not a single copy of the mana spring spell. I also dug up many hundreds of chests looking for it. Mage.. Impossible.. No mana spring. No rage eater either... though I did manage to complete the Madman's set!

My Philosophy at the end was to just pile on huge amounts of mana. Fighting Ktahu with a single stack of bone dragons for no losses requires a lot of mana. Good thing that I had items that gave me somewhere above 230 mana. Yowza!

This is almost as bad as the mage game where I tried to go with only summoning units.. and then couldn't find Dryads OR scrolls of the wind anywhere (cry).

ivra
01-19-2010, 07:52 PM
The randomness of the game gives some strange situations. In my Paladin game I did not find the Ressurection spell until I was 80% through. It was rather ironic to play a paladin without ressurection...

DGDobrev
01-19-2010, 08:10 PM
Very unpleasant, to say the least :(

There goes my unpleasant game now: I've decided to prove that using the spellbook all game long (maybe except for the boss battles) is viable. So I did a game in which I found 2 Novice's Dresses (now upgraded). So far so good. I also found Amulet of Death, Usurer's Ring, Novice's Staff (Archmage Staff FTW) and I was feeling really, really well, expecting a big Int value when I get the Pain Skull.

I just scanned my save file. Well, guess what - the most common item around, that spawns in (almost) every game, is not here! BB, Pain Skull, BB Death Skull, BB +5 Atk/+5 Int... And BB +2 Morale to Undead.

ivra
01-19-2010, 10:23 PM
Ouch!

I had a rather memorable experience myself with the Skull of Pain to Skull of Death upgrade. I got the third item of the Set of the Dead, the Skull of Pain, and decided that there were enough battles left in the game to upgrade it to Skull of Death and thus complete the set. And there was, sort of. I got it upgraded after the battle with K'Tahu. So i had the pleasure of using it exactly once, in the battle against Baal :-)

I think it needs 66 battles to be upgraded, or something like that.

fable
01-20-2010, 11:57 AM
This is almost as bad as the mage game where I tried to go with only summoning units.. and then couldn't find Dryads OR scrolls of the wind anywhere (cry).

Song of the Wind is guaranteed off a quest barrel in Montero.

Zechnophobe
01-20-2010, 06:44 PM
Oh yeah, the ale right? I think I didn't know about that at the time :(. Either way, it is very far behind me now.

DGDobrev
01-20-2010, 06:54 PM
Actually, it's from the Quest for the Pilot beer. When you get the new beer (by making or paying for it) in Montero, just use the barrel of ale before you give it back to the tavernkeeper in Verona :)

Zechnophobe
01-20-2010, 07:15 PM
Actually, it's from the Quest for the Pilot beer. When you get the new beer (by making or paying for it) in Montero, just use the barrel of ale before you give it back to the tavernkeeper in Verona :)

ale, beer, whatever. even you didn't get them straight in your correction ;P. I do know (now) about that particular perk, but the mage game I'm talking about was my first mage game in AP.

Hento
01-21-2010, 06:17 AM
I just scanned my save file.

Scanned with what?

travelingoz
01-21-2010, 09:26 AM
Try here Hento.

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=11780

PineNeedles
01-21-2010, 07:19 PM
Just finished my first playthrough as a mage and for the life of me I couldn't find Geyser or turn back time (or whatever that spell is called). It was agonizing going through the demon/dragon fights without them. :/

DGDobrev
01-21-2010, 07:26 PM
Oh... now that hurts. Death star can "alleviate the pain" a little, but it's no substitute for geyser against armies of 8-10 stacks.

Smash
01-21-2010, 09:18 PM
Eh.. playing my mage on hard i found both geyser and deathstart nearly at the end of game, didn't found Armageddon at all, game had plenty of good warrior items.

Now i am playing on Impossible, game has plenty of mana and int items, found geyser to buy in montero and 3 free Armageddons spells there and i am a ... warrior ><

Marximus
01-30-2010, 12:30 AM
Is it common to scan save files to insure a fighting chance at a good experience? I flew through Paladin/Normal, then Warrior/Hard (Montero was the "hump" where it went from frustrating to easy). Now playing a Mage on Hard I'm getting pwned in Verona... heavy losses.

It could be I'm just not very good... certainly doubt I'll ever finish in 7 days... or at level 60... or with no losses... nor on Impossible. But I wonder if I've just been unlucky and not gotten a good initial roll. My warrior game, for instance, didn't see a +Attack weapon until Montero. That crippled things a bit.

Given the randomness of the game, I don't consider it a cheat to make sure you've got some change at winning in advance. Just wondering if this is a best practice among the KBAP elite.

DGDobrev
01-30-2010, 01:16 AM
In my eyes, scanning is permissible for people who want to try something specific, or have limited amount of time to play the game (like me) and don't have the luxury of making play-throughs just to pass the time.

As for the Mage, that is supposed to happen. Mage gets the worst leadership in the game and the first few islands are a hell, because she is more or less forced to play as a warrior due to a lack of strong spells. The thing that can save her is to find some strong units - Cyclops, Paladins, Demonologists, or a Call Collosus spell for a lvl 5 unit.

Marximus
01-30-2010, 01:52 AM
Thanks for the feedback. Oddly, by sneaking around and pre-stealing leadership and cash piles, I got to Verona without feeling like the game was a lost-cause. It is in Verona (and Montero) that I'm losing everyone.

I think I'll start again... I'm not going to scan 100 games to line up a perfect run. Rather just make sure I get a few good spells and useful troops early on. Phantom would be nice. So would Demonologists.

I think I'm almost level 20... and I have 13 rage total. Need to get that raised somehow as well so I can actually use Ball of Lightning.

Fingers crossed. Thanks.

Zechnophobe
01-30-2010, 03:48 AM
You should probably prioritize your spending a bit better of runes. Early game, the first point of +8 rage in the might tree is very important, as it will fuel your dragon to do significantly more abilities, and gain experience a lot faster. In fact, as a mage, the only skills I really get from the Might tree are the rage and dragon based ones.

Marximus
01-30-2010, 04:51 AM
Good point on the +8 rage... will do... thanks. All I can do now is kick the bad guys... and dig for goodies.

TemjinGold
01-30-2010, 12:27 PM
You should probably prioritize your spending a bit better of runes. Early game, the first point of +8 rage in the might tree is very important, as it will fuel your dragon to do significantly more abilities, and gain experience a lot faster. In fact, as a mage, the only skills I really get from the Might tree are the rage and dragon based ones.

I'm not a huge fan of Defense with a fighter but Caution 3 is an excellent place to spend might runes later on as well. For a mage, the hardest part of tough fights w/ no losses and no resurrection is surviving the first round and Caution 3 goes a long way to that end.