Dark Sun Series

The backstory is actually very relevant to the game, though you won't know this for a while. Paying attention to it will make some events later more interesting.

Each gem is unique, and of course they're sellable. No way to get it back once sold either. This ain't no part of the decline, no matter what some of you may claim

 

Is there amy way to recruit, or even talk to, the Thri-Kreens in the lave area? Someone in the game suggest they may join the liberation army.

 

I don't think so, I think there are only 4 distinct groups you can recruit, but don't count on them to actually help out during the final fight. Maybe my game bugged out, but only 2 NPCs joined me in the last fight after I recruited (I think) everyone in the game.

 

Too much information there, buddy.

 

Freeeeeeeeedom!



Funnily enough that image was a resized dsun_1337.png

That final battle was brutal, but I prevailed on my third try. I was a bit at a disadvantage having to learn how to use spells like Hold Person and Mass Dominate, which I hadn't bother with before. I didn't realize the saving throws were made after each targeting.
Also, the army did not break after killing the commander, despite what some NPC said.
Web was very useful in this battle, and Haste, of course. Stoneskin was also useful, while Hold Person and Dominate rarely worked. With Free Action and a life stealing sword my Half-Giant Gladiator raped half the army of Drajian while the other party members were out cold.
I guess my guys were a bit underleveled since there still were large parts of the game to explore.

 

Now explore the game fully. From mines on the east to the castle on the west.

 

4 groups? Must be 5, at least. Three villages, the mercenaries led by an elf, and the caravan warriors. Any more?
I killed the mercs since they were slavers, and in the first of the final two fights, only three NPCs from Cedrite appeared. Of them Jasmine the healer was killed in the first battle.

 

Good job ! I don't remember how many tries it took me, but it was probably more.

I think what he meant was that the (unseen) rest of the army would flee once you'd killed the commander and his elite guard.

Mass Dominate is (unusually) almost useless in the last battles. I guess the saving throws of the enemies are just too good.

Web is a life saver. It took me many tries to manage to win the final battle without its help.

 

Onward to Wake of the Raveger!

 

Yeah, its at least five. The ones you named and maybe one other small group....

If I remember right, you have to recruit the 3 main villages to complete the game. And recruiting anyone in addition to that doesn't seem to affect the final battle at all.

Controlling the enemy's movement was the key to the last fight for me. I remember entangle, web, wall of fire and wall of ice all being important final fight spells for me. Probably the only time I used those last 2 spells....

 

I should've asked you to keep one beforehand, but do you have a save after helping both of the other villages but before coming back to Teaquetzl? If so I would like to test a little theory if you can upload it somewhere.

Grats on finishing the game.

 

Ravager combines the ugliness of a Might and Magic 6 with the bad-era-SSI of EoBIII, I recommend putting your copy of it in a lead lined box and throwing it down a well

 

The shadows from the ruins containing the genie. I forgot to mention them.

Sorry, mate. My last last save is at the beginning of the above mentioned ruins.

 

So I went to the last area - the ruins on the east from whence the magera raid. First thing I did waspicking up a Metal El's Ring and my party was immediately surrounded by a bunch of shadows. This seems to have made the lizardmen hostile, since they attacked when I approached. So, should I not have picked up that Ring?
In the ruins I killed the slave leaders, then went to Balkazar's summoning room and slew the four vrocs there. There was one locked room, with a button on the wall, that I could not enter.
Then I saved a magera from being "transformed" and he led me to Balkazar. Balkazar seems immune to attacks, and for every attack he summons a new monster. The magera said something about Balkazar's power coming from a focus, so I ignored Balkazar trying, concentrated on his summons and then tried to find his "focus". There is a mirror, but I can't do anything with it. I battled my way past three vorcs, but found only (nice) loot. So where/what is the bloody "focus"?
EDIT: nevermind, found a book that hinted at the mirror and this time I worked it out.

 

You might've done a little sequence breaking in the wyrm ruins. You were supposed to go talk to the shade near the summoning room early on, which allows you to go through some interesting events with the magera (and gives you some sweet items if you finish the whole sequence).

Also, one of the most (if not THE most) powerful weapons in the game can be created after you kill Balkazar.

 

The shade in the throne room never appeared.
I kept a pretty hard "we don't deal with slavers and raiders" policy throughout the game, so I guess I missed the dialogue with eithe the lizardmen or the Mageras guarding the entrance to the wyrm ruins.

A poison weapon? Balkazar was the last thing my party did before retiring so I didn't bother.

Anyway, the game really grew on me after a slow start.
I really liked the unlinearity of the game and the multiple solutions to most problems. At the time of release it was probably the best CRPG in that regard.
All in all the game felt much closer to Ultima, Fallout and Baldur's Gate than it did to the Gold Box games. So the game was not really an evolution from the Gold Box game, with their linear, simple plots and better combat system, but rather like starting from a clean slate with very different design ideas. I guess that was partly why it failed commercially. Many of the Gold Box fans were disappointed with the combat (including me when I tried it some years after release), while those who would be a more likely target audience (if we disregard the fact that it uses AD&D rules) were Ultima fans and more "casual" gamers who didn't like the Gold Box games' focus on tactical combat and lack of NPC interaction.

I think it was a good game, but it could have been great.
The two main flaws in my opinion:

1. No fog of war. Revealing the whole area takes away the exploration aspect and the sense of danger, when you know where nearly everything is.

2. The combat. In a turn based system the player should have complete control. The lack of a grid was very annoying, especially since the game aleady uses an invisible grid for movement. I think this is a much greater "sin" than the lack of complete control in the Infinity Engine games. Since the IE games are RTwP and have simultaneous movement, a certain degree of chaos and lack of control actually feels natural.
Also, the combat in general was far too easy, which was a great shame, since the game has so many more spells than the GB games. It would have been fun if being "forced" to use your whole arsenal. As it was only the beginning, when you have but a small "arsenal" was difficult, then you rely on might and the occasional spell for most of the game, before the difficulty really turns up in the last battle without you (or me, at least) not having learnt how to use all the spells.

Minor things I didn't like:
No day and night cycle.
No need to worry about water. I would think that on the sands so hot and dry in a world called Athas getting enough water would be just as difficult as surviving the wildlife.

Things I liked in addition to the open endedness:

Getting item descriptions from that old guy in the desert.

More "grey" characters. Sure, there was a fair share of misanthropes bent on world conquest, but even they could be reasoned with. Most of the "bad guys" were merely pragmatic (too bad my party members were so insufferable righteous). It certainly was more subtle than the Gold Box games.

And the setting, of course.


This game would have been perfect for the IE engine, or a more modern isometric engine (ToEE?), I think.

 

Fappy Fuck?

 

Is that a wish, or are there plans?

 

The murder mystery in the verini Fire Temple (WotR) was rather well done. One of the most unique and intricate episodes in a cRPG.

 

I have neither the talent, not the stamina for such projects.

 

I'd try playing Wake of the Ravager if only it didn't seem to be so fugly. I loved the desertic landscapes and near-primitive villages of Shattered Lands, but the screenshots I've seen of its sequel only showed the hideous gray streets of a boring-looking city.

 

People need to stop exaggerating with Dark Sun 2. Some of it looks quite good in its own way. It can be potentially a very buggy game and it's more linear, but the fights, the characters, the settings, all of it is at least as interesting as Dark Sun 1. AFAIR it's more challenging as well but don't quote me on that