Czech game "Inquisitor" - ever heard of it?

[Raapys]

Yeah, couldn't open that myself either.

Finally got level 35, but unfortunately the new spells are largely disappointing. Still no AoE damage, and the single-target damage spells(lightning= high dmg, high cost, long recharge stoning=average dmg, high cost, short recharge) aren't really any better than high-level locust overall. I did get the mark/recall thing which is okay'ish, but it can only set one mark, so it's not that useful. And I got Infernal Hounds, which is somewhat boring but also quite possibly the best spell in the game. Those hound things just rape everyone, and at a high level they'll last long enough that you can have like 20+ of them running around. High mana cost and long cast recharge, but it doesn't really matter as you don't need to cast anything else.

 

[Terpsichore]

Getting hit in melee range drains stamina and breaks gear pretty damn fast, its even worse in hard, make your party eat the blows.

 

[LizardKing]

I forced myself through iron mines and the game mechanics started to piss me off. My companions got killed whenever there was a mage/shaman around.
The whole combat system feels like it's on pre-alpha stage, you have to basically abuse AI to get something done.
It's good to have some challenge, but when challenge == broken mechanics, it kills all the enjoyment.
Spell system sucks balls too, offensive spells seem to fail all the time. Why do they even bother offering offensive spells at early stages of the game if you can't cast them?
It goes over my head why the developers ignored these issues, low budget?

Feeling disappointed right now, but at least Act II seems to be better than the first one.

 

[sea]

I think all the would-be reviewers are too busy playing the game to write reviews. The guys who had pre-release access will probably start posting their reviews soon...?

I highly doubt most mainstream sites are even covering the game, and I doubt they would play more than a few hours to write a review of such an obscure title. In other words, such coverage would be basically worthless except from a pure marketing standpoint.

Otherwise, sea will you be doing a gamasutra review?

GameBanshee review (I guess I'm halfway done now?) but I will probably write an article on it at some point this week at Gamasutra. Thanks for your interest.

In other news:

http://games.on.net/2012/09/d20-has-modern-rpg-design-ruined-old-school-fun/

Seems like the "hardcore old-school RPG fans" don't like Inquisitor because it doesn't have a quest compass.

 

[Morkar Left]

Not having a questcompass in Inquisitor is the fucking point of all the talking you have to do...

 

[Mrowak]

Not having a questcompass in Inquisitor is the fucking point of all the talking you have to do...

Well it depends what they mean by quest compass. I for one I am infurated by the fact that the game won't mark specific people on the map. Example: I learn that certain Jannett - maid for Duke XXX - is possibly a witch. Ok, but where does this Duke live? I searched through the whole town 2 times, got pissed and went my way - only to discover that the Duke XXX lived on his farm, outside of the city.

Conlusions: Quest compass is the problem when it essentially solves quests for you (e.g. the quest is find John Smith, and the quest compass shows where he is hiding). When gathering information it nicely simulates simple human activity: asking for directions.

And maybe I am a nextgentard, but those Entries in the journal could nicely fit under the respective quests, instead of being spread across its pages in order of obtaining them.

 

[sea]

Well it depends what they mean by quest compass. I for one I am infurated by the fact that the game won't mark specific people on the map. Example: I learn that certain Jannett - maid for Duke XXX - is possibly a witch. Ok, but where does this Duke live? I searched through the whole town 2 times, got pissed and went my way - only to discover that the Duke XXX lived on his farm, outside of the city.

I agree, though it's pretty hard to miss the fact that he has a whole location on the world map named after him...

 

[Mrowak]

Well it depends what they mean by quest compass. I for one I am infurated by the fact that the game won't mark specific people on the map. Example: I learn that certain Jannett - maid for Duke XXX - is possibly a witch. Ok, but where does this Duke live? I searched through the whole town 2 times, got pissed and went my way - only to discover that the Duke XXX lived on his farm, outside of the city.

I agree, though it's pretty hard to miss the fact that he has a whole location on the world map named after him...

Yeah, that's the moment when I facepalmed - when I started looking at the names on the main map. How was I to know he was not in the city? Still, there are problems like that with numerous NPCs. You are after long hours of dungeon crawling, you look into your journal, see the next quest is investigating YYY the beggar, only where the hell he was?

 

[Raapys]

I forced myself through iron mines and the game mechanics started to piss me off. My companions got killed whenever there was a mage/shaman around.
The whole combat system feels like it's on pre-alpha stage, you have to basically abuse AI to get something done.
It's good to have some challenge, but when challenge == broken mechanics, it kills all the enjoyment.
Spell system sucks balls too, offensive spells seem to fail all the time. Why do they even bother offering offensive spells at early stages of the game if you can't cast them?
It goes over my head why the developers ignored these issues, low budget?

Feeling disappointed right now, but at least Act II seems to be better than the first one.

Yeah, spells really kinda suck until you're high level. Once you've like 15+ in the spell school, 11+ wisdom and cast the bless spell on yourself( essential for many hard enemies, regardless of level), the tables turn. At that point you can pretty much perma-freeze two-three enemies at a time, even bosses.

 

[Johannes]

In other news:

http://games.on.net/2012/09/d20-has-modern-rpg-design-ruined-old-school-fun/

Seems like the "hardcore old-school RPG fans" don't like Inquisitor because it doesn't have a quest compass.

I haven't played the game but cmon?

Ten years ago, I wouldn’t have minded the slog. I would have happily hunted down all of the bats and not batted an eyelid at a single opening quest taking half an hour of aimless wandering and click-to-kill combat but now — when the pace and interactivity of even the least ambitious RPG has increased exponentially — it’s hard not to look at old mechanics with a mix of melancholy and disdain.

Then there's a youtube link of doing said starting quest in 3 minutes.

 

[ironyuri]

Alright, so I found another hidden rock chest on the northern part of the tree of death map that I can't open (near a spider nest).

What's up with these? Does anyone know if there are keys?

 

[Morkar Left]

Does anybody know how useful the priest skill Spiritual Insight is?

allows the priest to look into the spiritual plane of the world, thanks to which invisible and hiding creatures can be seen and the might of characters’s own magic formulas can be heighten.

Sounds a bit like a "Astral super mode".

 

[Raapys]

Tried it earlier, wasn't really impressed. Better to just use bless for the huge bonus to spell penetration with a decent duration.

 

[Ringhausen]

Well it turns out that Z + Shift Attack will get the henchmen to bash chests open so I won't be needing paganism after all.

Generally I'm not having as that much trouble with the combat. Open Wounds has been consistently a decent damage disher (except for some trolls and ogres early on with only 30% chance) and used together with Reflect Wounds, Crucifixion, Dispel Magic and occasionally some buffs gets the job done. Those firewall slamming orcs could slaughter the party easily, but a barrage of dispels, seals, wound openings, buffs and potion guzzling killed them dead. If there were enough potions. The problem is that it's too fucking fast, just like Arcanum in real-time. Instead of having the infinity engine pace with a pause after every attack here it's wham-wham-wham and you won or you reload.

Now I'm in act 2 so tell me:
Is Authority worth it? How much effect does it have in dialogues and does it even work in combat with magical attacks? I already wasted points in Identification and Mana Restore, wouldn't want to waste more.
And what about the quest to find who stole the artifact from the church. It was supposed to give some kind of promotion, but I didn't get any leads besides a guy who saw it being stolen by a hooded figure. And then it ended up in the crypt, wtf?

 

[KoolNoodles]

Yeah, now that I started my priest build over and pumped a ton of points into Intel and my magic schools, my spells are pretty damn effective. Also having resistances/gear helps, and preparing for fights just like you had to do in BG2 etc. The combat isn't nearly as hard/awful as it was first starting out.

 

[Giauz Ragnacock]

Wow You Gentlemen are far ahead while I still fighting with this ORC mine... Have curious bug with orc warriors destryoing my gear, has someone figured how smithing works and why this thread has became populated by Racists? keep this in GD newfag.

I honestly thought the tripple K or use of the term Kodex was just an inside joke because there really are some real rackets on the Codex. Ism anti-hate.... I even keep swearing to a bare minimum and act courteously toward others.

Have I been trolled?

 

[Commissar Draco]

Figured out how smithing works.... it is very bad UI choice in my Opinion... and fight with ORC Khan was harder on easy than medium... thanks to fact companions on easy have half hit points. Game made with combat like in Planet stronghold would be a blast. Codex is Half Hate (Popamole) Site and half You have figure it out yourself which is which.

 

[Morkar Left]

Is there actually a way to cast spells right from the spellbook or is it always necessary to drag a spell/skill to the action bar before being able to use it?

Which level should I have before attacking the undead bishop? Level 9 is actually to weak because I (and my 2 companions) get instakilled before even being able to run away...

 

[Commissar Draco]

went to him on 20 after completing ORC cavefest... then wit ORC Undeed bane in hand it was easy.... and all active abilities like Smithing, Enemy estimation and Holy Strike works only with action bar.

 

[ironyuri]

went to him on 20 after completing ORC cavefest... then wit ORC Undeed bane in hand it was easy.... and all active abilities like Smithing, Enemy estimation and Holy Strike works only with action bar.

which is the orc undead bane? rashgar's fist, or did I miss an item? I hope i haven't sold it. I'm a priest, so I can use most clubs and longswords, but nothing higher.

Morkar , I killed Herbetius at lvl 10-11, but it took 25 quick save/reloads. You have to be very fast on the draw with your fingers if you're a low level, enter his cell go for his heart, destroy it, then he enters dialogue with you, as soon as dialogue ends you have to be ready to chug 3-5 potions right off the bat to stay alive, if he doesn't manage to insta kill you first. If you can chug the potions, your followers (if they are set to charge and drink potions themselves) will move in and engage. you have to run down corridor you came from to the end, and keep healing. Once Herbetius begins attacking your followers (reload if they die if you don't have raise dead), you need to be casting bless and blade of fire on them for extra damage. If you move to the side and spam AoE signs and symbols on him and the unead, you'll kill him eventually.

At that level, it's a reload fest and it's incredibly hard, but possible. Around lvl 15-20 it will be difficult, but doable. Around lvl 20+ it will be easier than some bossfights, but still hard if he gets a good insta kill and your magic resistance is not high enough.

With your potion spamming you need to be like Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars. You need to begin spamming potions before he even knows your finger is near the hotkey.

 

[ironyuri]

If anyone wants me to draw up an "optimal" guide to progressing through Act 1 including which quests to turn in when, and which areas to visit in which order, I'd be happy to write a short one up?

 

[Morkar Left]

If anyone wants me to draw up an "optimal" guide to progressing through Act 1 including which quests to turn in when, and which areas to visit in which order, I'd be happy to write a short one up?

Sure, would be great. You could claim to be the first one to do it

 

[ironyuri]

I haven't figured out if skills affect how you solve quests, either. For example, would Lotti Frankmuller come along quietly if you had a high level of authority or holy aura?

Shit like that makes me wonder, but I don't want to spend the time going back and re-testing that. I believe I've navigated an ideal way to get through Act 1 with optimal levels and loot, as well as having discovered most secret chests (even if I can't open or unlock in any way those faggot rocks at Tree of Death which are driving me insane to the point of assburgers).

 

[Morkar Left]

I wonder if someone ever tried to mod the game. With balancing fixes the game could be a real classic...

 

[sea]

I haven't figured out if skills affect how you solve quests, either. For example, would Lotti Frankmuller come along quietly if you had a high level of authority or holy aura?

Shit like that makes me wonder, but I don't want to spend the time going back and re-testing that. I believe I've navigated an ideal way to get through Act 1 with optimal levels and loot, as well as having discovered most secret chests (even if I can't open or unlock in any way those faggot rocks at Tree of Death which are driving me insane to the point of assburgers).

This is what bothers me about doing a walkthrough for the game. I am considering it quite a bit, but not knowing where the actual skill checks are is frustrating to say the least. They are definitely in there, but without replaying the game 20 times with different builds you'd probably never find them all.

Has anyone else figured out how to learn pagan magic, if you don't start with it? I can't find any books to learn from.