Age of Decadence: Loremaster run

[Pongo]

There will be spoilers throughout this thread…

OK, so I've built my non-combat loremaster and I'm going in. I've no idea if this is a good build or not, but I figure that talking and persuading are going to be useful - and lore clearly at some point must be good for a loremaster. Lockpick and traps are going to be vital when Cicero goes exploring ruins later in the game, but I'm hoping that I don't need to worry about them too much in the opening city. Who knows though?

 

[Pongo]

Enjoying the new experience. I've managed to solve most of the problems in the first town without violence… well, without personally being involved in the violence, anyway. I've earned the "manipulator" achievement for persuading others to do my dirty work for me! The lore is paying off as well. My mercenary would never have worked out how to use the smelter, or even what it was. I can see this is going to be a very different experience to the bloodthirsty mercenary playthrough.

I haven't gotten away entirely without combat - I did have to kill Cassius. I thought I'd talked him into leaving town, but then it turned out I hadn't and I got stuck in a knife fight. Fortunately my alchemy came in useful as I'd poisoned my dagger, otherwise I suspect I wouldn't have managed to take him out. So my bodycount is currently 1. I think I could have avoided this by betraying my loremaster Feng, but Cicero is a fairly loyal type… and whilst he's a devious coward, it turns out he'll fight like a rat if cornered!

 

[Pladio]

Crafting is actually almost essential as a lore master if you want to get into some places...

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[Pongo]

I'd been planning to focus more on alchemy, but yeah I'm already starting to fail crafting checks (eg at the smelter). I'll start beefing it up. My main skills have actually been Streetwise and Persuasion, they've been lifesavers so far.

 

[Pladio]

By the way, the way to access most areas in the game is to use a hybrid character. It is also the most difficult. So if you feel up to it I suggest you try.

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[Pongo]

Yeah, I can see how a hybrid would be an interesting choice. I think next time I'm going to go with a hybrid assassin character and join the Boatmen. But for this playthrough I'm just curious to see how far you can get whilst avoiding combat. Its so rare to find a game that lets you try that approach and rewards you for it.

 

[Pladio]

Yeah, I can see how a hybrid would be an interesting choice. I think next time I'm going to go with a hybrid assassin character and join the Boatmen. But for this playthrough I'm just curious to see how far you can get whilst avoiding combat. Its so rare to find a game that lets you try that approach and rewards you for it.

You can completely avoid combat if you do not spread your points too thin.
I think you've figured out already that streetwise and persuasion work well together.

A high charisma character is also a fun run through

Enjoy the loremaster run.

I still need to play this game as a thief, but thief is a difficult path.

 

[Pongo]

Making good progress. I've now finished the second city, still with a body count of one. That's a bit deceptive though, as I really have caused mayhem with my silver tongued loremaster - but all the killing has been done through other people, such as assassins. Cicero has plausible deniability in all cases. Devious manipulation has left him with a positive attitude from all the main factions, although (*ahem*) his word of honor stat is starting to fall a bit. Which is fair enough, because while he's fairly loyal he's not at all honorable.

It turns out that I missed an absolute load of stuff whilst playing as a mercenary. Some of it was gated content, some of it was just stuff I didn't find first time round. Its also interesting to see that some of the things that my mercenary thought were true were patently false, which changes how I see some of the characters and their motivations.

I wasn't sure what guild, if any, he would be best joining. In the end he threw his lot in with the merchant's guild - a devious, manipulative, murderous bunch, it turns out. Cicero likes them.

I'm just a bit annoyed about missing the Abyss. I thought the loremaster would finally find out what was down there. I got as far as I could without the breathing apparatus, but needed more gold to buy the power cylinder. I eventually had to move on to another city to get the necessary gold (Cicero would never enter the arena, or stand a chance…) but when I came back the entire area had been sealed by the guards. Dammit! That mission will have to be handed on to my planned hybrid assassin character in due course…

Cicero as he stands currently (some way into the third city):

 

[Pladio]

Yeah, you need a bit of a hybrid build to get into the abyss, let me know if you want some view on that.

 

[Pongo]

Is that right? I thought my loremaster could do it. I'd gotten the name from Feng and successfully followed the clues. Cicero couldn't pass the constitution test required to hold his breath through the gas, but I'd picked up a respirator somewhere and I'd assumed he could get through with that if I managed to charge it. But I lacked the cash for the power tube, having blown it on more frivolous stuff, and then the mission timed out (presumably when I went to the third city).

 

[Pladio]

Is that right? I thought my loremaster could do it. I'd gotten the name from Feng and successfully followed the clues. Cicero couldn't pass the constitution test required to hold his breath through the gas, but I'd picked up a respirator somewhere and I'd assumed he could get through with that if I managed to charge it. But I lacked the cash for the power tube, having blown it on more frivolous stuff, and then the mission timed out (presumably when I went to the third city).

There are lots of power tubes around, I think 6-7.

There is still some Con test I think even after the mask, but it's lower.

I can try finding out what it is.

Spoiler: Abyss minimum requirements

I think they're as follows:

Perception 6 (or 7 if you can't find out the "real" name)
Lore 5 (plus having received knowledge about the abyss)
Intelligence 7
Constitution + Strength = 14 with both over 6 (for pushing on) or use breathing mask or amulet

Let me know if you want a list of power tubes...

 

[Pongo]

Ah ok thanks Pladio, that's helpful for my next run.

In the meantime, my Loremaster has finished his run - and got to the end of the game with just that one kill, which on reflection could also have been avoided.

I discovered loads more about the game this time, but still missed loads of stuff. How the hell do you get past the forcefield at the Tower of Zamedi? What does the big arch in the middle of the desert actually do? What is at the bottom of the Abyss? For various reasons Cicero never got to answer these questions, but perhaps the next character will do. The world is fascinating and the fact that the game doesn't spoonfeed you answers or even particularly care if you work them out is brilliant.

Despite the different styles, I actually concluded the game with the same ending as my mercenary (although this time with a different faction). The game took considerably less time without the combat (the full run took about 10hrs), although clearly I missed lots of content along the way - despite my best efforts.

What a seriously great game though. When I was playing with my mercenary, I didn't believe it would be possible to do an entire walkthrough without combat, but it really is. I'm going to have a break (for Avernum III) and then come back with an assassin hybrid to see if I can finally get the ending I want (which, I suspect, involves a big boom…)

Cicero's stats at the end of the game:

 

[Pladio]

Minor spoilers:

Spoiler

For the tower of Zamedi, you need a red gem, there's only two ways to get it if I remember correctly and one is faction-specific.

For the Arch, you need to visit a strange doctor in Maadoran's slums.

 

[Pongo]

Thanks! Thats helpful. My assassin will definitely be the best prepared of my characters so far...

 

[crpgnut]

Reading the posts here makes me very glad I gave this game a pass. It just sounds extremely boring to me

Sounds like you guys both love it though, which is very cool. I wanted Vince's game to do well. It's not his fault that I'm a single-character magic junkie!

 

[Pongo]

Yeah I can see it's not a game for magic junkies! I hope it did sell well though - I didn't see any sales figures or anything, but he's making a new game so presumably it did ok. I hope he carries over the same design philosophy.

 

[Pladio]

Reading the posts here makes me very glad I gave this game a pass. It just sounds extremely boring to me

Sounds like you guys both love it though, which is very cool. I wanted Vince's game to do well. It's not his fault that I'm a single-character magic junkie!

Yes, I do not think this game is for you.
The exploration is nothing like bethesda games, although it is a single-character game. It also does have magical elements but not high-fantasy.

I also don't think the new game will be for you as it will be quite similar to this in terms of style I believe.

Yeah I can see it's not a game for magic junkies! I hope it did sell well though - I didn't see any sales figures or anything, but he's making a new game so presumably it did ok. I hope he carries over the same design philosophy.

The game sold better than Vince expected it would, but it's not going to make him wealthy. He said he would be happy if he could keep on going doing the same thing by basically breaking even and a bit extra each game.

He said that if he keeps at it as he is now, he would be very happy to release for more games in the next 20 years