Lands of Lore - the Throne of Chaos

No. Haven't found a key in the Mining Co, nor in the Mines.

 

I think I figured it out. I have to close one door to open the other. And then I fund a chest with a Sliver Key which I guess open the door in the mines.

 

My God, all that respawning of giggling fuckfaces and armour eating beasts in the mines is starting to get on my nerves!

 

So what are those ghost serpents in the White Tower? Are they some spell cast by the Ghosts? If so, is there any way to defend against them?
Also I seem to recall reading somewhere that a Vaelan's Cube could be used against the ghosts. But how?

 

Fuck, I'm so sick and tired of those endlessly spawning hordes of trolls or whatever they are in the Yvel forest. I takes hours to clear out enough of them to get near the Vulture Chasm which I assume is the way to the City of Yvel and the last of the four ingredients.
This is one of the most rage inducing games I've played in a long time. All that fucking respawning is not good for my blood pressure!
And every wand I found have only 2 or 3 charges; what's the fucking point?

 

You're still playing the floppy version? Inifintely respawning orcs in Yvel was something they toned down a LOT in the CD version. Of course I'm not sure saves are compatible so if you've made it this far... you're also gonna suffer in the dungeons later on if you're still on floppy version.

 

Ahhh....lucky you. You are playing one of the greatest gems of all time for the first time.

You are playing as Kieran though, your major 'mistake.' You should have played as Akshel or Conrad, and ripped through the games. Akshel especially grows incredibly powerful quite quickly, he can cast level 4 (ancient) versions of all spells you find immediately. No one else can. Even Conrad can only get upto level 4 in Spark and Heal AFAIR, rest at level 3. If you have Akshel, you can even destroy the ghosts in the tower using your spells. (though the cube is better obviously)

The only annoying places I found in the game were the mines, because of the fucking keys, and then that utterly stupid place where you loose your Atlas and you wind up with teleporter puzzles. I actually gave the game up the first time I played it at that point. It is very near the end though. You fight Scotia soon after.

This game has aged the best out of all the old school gems, even Realms of Arkania and Ultima 7. It still looks beautiful, and the spells effects still look as incredible as they used to. Scotia's shapeshifting still looks. This is the power of hand drawn art. While Grimrock proves that 3D can be done in a very beautiful way, LoL's grafix have their own unique charm. If only entire game lines had spawned using this art style...

 

No, I'm playing the CD version from GOG, with full voice acting (surprisingly good, actually).
I shudder to think at how the floppy disk version must be if the spawns were reduced for the CD version...

Actually I changed my mind, and went with Conrad instead. But the real "star" on my team is Baccata. With four arms he can equip the Valkyrie bow in his second hand and increase in Rogue levels (now lvl 6). He's also my best Mage (lvl 4; the others are lvl 3) and all three member are lvl 5 Fighters.

So what does the spell levels do in practice? Do you get more effect per mana point spent?

I thought the mines were fun. Much better than the Evyl Forest. I also liked the White Tower, but I couldn't find the last Mystic Key to the door in the basement, so I figured I try to find the City of Evyl first.
It hurts my pride, but I think I'll lower the difficulty in the Forest of Evyl, to get past those fucking trolls, without wasting too many hours of my life on it.

One thing that is ultra lame about Lands of Lore is how the automap shows all secret doors and hard to see buttons.
I much prefer a good mapping challenge to those endlessly spawning trolls and ghosts.

 

They significantly increase the power of the spell, and the mana cost. It comes out in your favor though. Spellcasting becomes the most important thing towards the end of the game, so I suggest you gain some mage levels.

 

But even one lvl 3 or 4 spells drain away all the mana, so I have mainly used the mana to cast Heal spells in combat. If I use up all the mana and I suddenly surrounded by enemies and have no mana for the Heal spell I'm screwed.
And the Cube only works to regain mana if you use it effectively (ie against ghosts).

 

^ You also gain quite a bit of mana as you go up in mage levels. Granted I haven't played for a while, but I recall at level 4-5 mage skill you could get off a fair number of powerful spells before resting.

 

Lvl 4 Heal heals your entire party?!?
Does the manual even hint at this?

 

Finally made it to the Vultur Chasme, and then it turns out there's no way to cross, and there are thousands of orcs on the other side? How am I supposed to get to the City of Evyl and get the "Mother Earth" reagent?
And how come Conrad's Might increased more than Poulson's when they equip the same weapon? Poulson is even one fighter lvl higher than Conrad, so that is weird.

 

It also cures poison instantly.

Level 4 Freeze freezes your opponent into a block of ice which you can shatter killing it instantly. Looks pretty cool, the shattering ice animation. Only very powerful enemies can avoid the insta kill AFAIR. You can also use it to create a wall of ice to block a passageway...but many enemies can shatter through it.

Level 4 Lightning and Level 4 Fireball just wipe out everything on screen apart from your own party. The animations alone, esp of lightning, are worth casting it. Looks better than lightning spells in todays game TBH.

Unfortunately, only Akshel can ever attain that power.

 

Damned, the only lvl 4 spell my guys can cast is Sparks.

 

Yes, why?