The Arx Fatalis Thread

[Darth Roxor]

Yup. Couldn't handle Ylsides at fucking all in melee up until the very very very lategame. And even then I had to use 1-2 healing potions per guy.

 

[yellowcake]

Well I got two lightning bolts and a fireball into the guy and it didn't seem to make an impression on him. And then I died. Oh well.

On a somewhat unrelated note to potatos: don't you just love casting magic vision? MEGA PIZDA! Even the vision changes in the way like you were looking through one.

 

[evdk]

What's your magic skill?

 

[yellowcake]

What's your magic skill?

 

[Murk]

My solution to them was 3 fireballs but I would always go all magic or high magic focus (and usually sport the enchanted mithril shit).

You can also try to use harm, or slow them down (or haste yourself) if you are trying to melee.

 

[Minttunator]

I'm currently playing this - I'm 20 hours in and about halfway through, I guess. It's fun, and it does scratch that Ultima Underworld itch - which is nice, because no-one really makes games like that any longer. It works fine with Arx Libertatis (couldn't get it to run smoothly without AL) and it's aged pretty well graphically (for an early noughties 3D game).

It's not as great as I hoped, though - maybe my expectations were too high. The voice acting is absolutely horrible and the plot is silly as fuck, at least up to this point - they've tried to convolute it, but it's basically just your everyday 'you are the chosen one and must acquire some magical MacGuffins to save the world from an ancient evil'. The world also seems a bit lifeless - I'd like to see some more NPCs, more factions and some more meaningful dialogue (sans the voice acting), but I guess that would take away from the sense of loneliness and desolation that is probably mandatory for games like this.

The difficulty curve is somewhat wonky - or maybe I'm just used to today's 'welcoming' popamole games. The start of the game is piss easy, then you meet a demon who doesn't even blink after 10 fireballs to the face (had to cheese that encounter) - and then it's piss easy again, at least as a magic user (and magic seems really overpowered). Haven't met the Ylsides yet. The magic system is nice, though, once you get the hang of drawing the runes (the trick, as someone mentioned, is to draw them small).

Despite the nitpicks, I do like Arx Fatalis overall and plan on finishing it. The crypt, especially, was cool as hell!

 

[SCO]

You finished the crypt already?

 

[Tigranes]

I think I got at least halfway and I wasn't that impressed. It definitely was a fun game, and that particular breed of 'action' RPGs that is so rare that just seeing it done decently is a worthwhile endeavour. But the writing/world seemed entirely forgetful, there are a lot of clunky bits and unlike many other games where I just get used to that (hey, I'm playing MOTB now, what camera?) I was fighting all the way through here. It's a good game, I just don't get the Codex love for it.

 

[Minttunator]

You finished the crypt already?

Yeah, it's probably my favourite area thus far.

 

[ghostdog]

I think I got at least halfway and I wasn't that impressed. It definitely was a fun game, and that particular breed of 'action' RPGs that is so rare that just seeing it done decently is a worthwhile endeavour. But the writing/world seemed entirely forgetful, there are a lot of clunky bits and unlike many other games where I just get used to that (hey, I'm playing MOTB now, what camera?) I was fighting all the way through here. It's a good game, I just don't get the Codex love for it.

It depends on the player. For instance I still hate the NWN2 engine and camera with passion and I would much rather replay Arx Fatalis for the 2rd time than replay MOTB. It's not a game that needs a very good story, it's all about the atmosphere, the exploration and the nifty (if sometimes clunky) magic system. Even if Arx isn't a great game when you look at it from all angles, it has a certain vibe that many of us find irresistible.

 

[St Antony of Padua]

A few years back I played this on a Nvidia Vanta 16mb. When I say a few years I mean about three or four years ago! It was the only thing available to me. Arx Fatalis was an enjoyable game past the hammy VA and wonky magic. It had a lot of potential but fell a bit short. This had been established ad nauseum in previous posts. Later I replaced my Vanta with a 7600 not knowing the consequences! At the time Arx Fatalis ran poorly on later Nvidia cards without a fix in sight. I never finished it.... I may pick it up again. I still have that Nvidia card....

 

[Jasede]

When I played this game for the first - and only - time ten years or longer ago - I can't honestly remember when - here's my build:

Max intelligence.
Every level-up, put a point into intelligence.

I just wanted to share... as a kid I always wanted to be a magic-user because I thought I was smarter than everyone.


I do have good memories of killing everything with single fireballs. ...
Also I believe the final boss was magic immune.

Still beat it.

 

[Gord]

A few years back I played this on a Nvidia Vanta 16mb. When I say a few years I mean about three or four years ago! It was the only thing available to me. Arx Fatalis was an enjoyable game past the hammy VA and wonky magic. It had a lot of potential but fell a bit short. This had been established ad nauseum in previous posts. Later I replaced my Vanta with a 7600 not knowing the consequences! At the time Arx Fatalis ran poorly on later Nvidia cards without a fix in sight. I never finished it.... I may pick it up again. I still have that Nvidia card....

Install Arx Libertatis, I think that might fix the problem.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Don't think i saw any thread of this sort about the game. Question for those who have played and even better, finished the game with pure warrior guy - is that really possible and if yes, is it too frustrating to bother? While looking for some unrelated info on some forums, i accidentally stumbled on a lot of complains about ''ylsides'' or whatever guys who appear in later stages as a common foe being virtually unkillable via open melee even with high stats, while (as per usual) being walking toasts for mage characters. Shitty balance and all.
I'm currently on 4th level, but haven't distributed most of available points yet. With all my gear bonuses have ST 19, combat 72 and defense 46. Is it advisable to start focusing on casting skill and mental (which is piss poor 6 as per now, but i have 3 spare character points and 35 or so skill points pending to be distributed)?

 

[Infinitron]

Don't think i saw any thread of this sort about the game.

Well, there's this one: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-arx-fatalis-thread.82203/

 

[Gnidrologist]

Didn't show up in the search (big surprise :/). Still, it has 18 pages to weed out to find if my inquiry is even addressed there, so i'll rather check this thread tomorrow and it better be full of answers.
Good night.

 

[SCO]

Yeah, you're fucked without some magic. Both Ysildes and Liches will slice you into little pieces. Even then, better get lots of potions for the end boss, if you don't exploit it out.

Also, small thing that makes magic 150% more usable: you can hotkey memorize 3 spells by casting them with ctrl pressed, they will be mapped to 1, 2, 3 keys and you can cast all in sequence by repeatedly pressing '1'.

 

[SCO]

Also, arx combat is a little bit shit. I haven't tried it yet, but why not instead of the standard fireball mage, try a invisibility+backstab char or warrior+great harm etc. That is, if you're bored of shooting 1, 2, 3 fireballs everytime.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Liches are easy shit, just hack them to pieces.

Ylsides on the other hand... well, I finished my first playthrough as a pure warrior, and while they get SORT of manageable at the endgame, when they start appearing in bigger numbers, you still usually need to use one health potion per dude. There is, however, one spot around midgame where you'll be forced to get through a bunch of them (3-4 iirc), and I don't see how that can be accomplished with a pure melee guy. It's simply friggin impossible, and all I could do in that situation was accidentally stumble upon a rather hilarious AI exploit that made them sheathe their weapons and never use them again.

 

[WarHamster]

Yeah, pure melee vs Ylsides is going to be pretty much impossible. A melee heavy character with some magical capability (enough to cast Harm) will be able to get through the Ylsides. I've done it. It's going to be rough and there's going to be much gnashing of teeth, but it is doable. Cast Harm on yourself (will damage anyone attacking you), also Haste and/or Armor, open with a ranged attack spell (cast it yourself if you can, otherwise use a scroll) and then hope and pray you'll get lucky. Not sure if it was possible to cast Harm twice on yourself, if so, do it. Spam potions as best you can and SAVE after each Ylside is down. As Darth Roxor wrote above, there's about 3-4 of them, but I don't recall them being in a group. I fought them one at the time (in the temple), that's the only way it was possible to beat them. Had I pulled two of them at the same time, I would've been toast before I could've said "oh shiiit".

Good luck, Gnidrologist, it's going to be hell!

 

[Jasede]

And here I thought when I played the game and put every single point into intelligence(willpower?) I was gimping myself- but it was the opposite, I accidentally used the most powerful build by far!

 

[Gnidrologist]

Dayumn, that sucks. I should probably start anew with a pure mage if i even continue with this game. Don't like jack-of-all trades much. Still, how much were your ST and combat skills at the first rendezvous with those fuckers? What if i get to the 5th level by which point i'll have maxed out ST at 23 and pour everything into combat/defense? I think only point i spent not on warrior stuff was getting to 35 object knowledge.

At what stage do ylsides appear? I've just finished the castle investigation things and prolly all quests at goblin/troll locations including cooking/birthday sidequests. Now exploring the cave with ''water/earth'' goblin tribes. Guess i can kill all the goblins and trolls both there and in their respective ''cities'' for xp too or is that a no-no?

 

[Jasede]

KILL THEM ALL

 

[evdk]

At what stage do ylsides appear? I've just finished the castle investigation things and prolly all quests at goblin/troll locations including cooking/birthday sidequests. Now exploring the cave with ''water/earth'' goblin tribes. Guess i can kill all the goblins and trolls both there and in their respective ''cities'' for xp too or is that a no-no?

You can kill whoever the hell you like.

Spoiler

Did you unionize the trolls?

Also, the Ylsides first appear quite a bit into the game and I don't think you're nearly there yet. Of course, if you have enough magic scrolls with the remove magic barrier spell, you can get to the entrance to the Ylside bunker on the fourth floor... and die like a bitch

Spoiler

As for fighting them with a full melee character when they first appear in the storyline - I exploited the castle's several secret doors and ran like hell.

But mages are definitely better, only demons ever gave me any trouble (or liches, if there were more than one and one of them managed to cast a protection spell).

 

[Jaedar]

Seeing this thread made we pick up the game again. Currently killing ratmen in a cave. No idea where I'm actually supposed to go or do