Dark Sun Series

[kmonster]

In a desert area you'll meet a lizardwoman searching for a new tribe. If you help her and she starts leaving the area don't leave the area or save before she left the map.

wow

too late
is this gamebreaking or something?

It's suspected to cause sometimes a scripted event in this area not to happen later.
But no one knows for sure and it's rather "maybe...can...sometimes" so just keep on playing.

 

[Sceptic]

It's suspected to cause sometimes a scripted event in this area not to happen later.

That scripted event.... it wouldn't happen to be the final fight, would it :/

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Yep. Didn't happen to me when I did the same thing, it seems to be random.

 

[RK47]

Title -

I messed around a bit and got slightly confused by the race advantages and stats.

What would the benefit of being Thri Keen be if he can't even wear most items?

Seems like Half Giant would be the best Gladiator or Fighter ever. Should I even bother multiclassing him with Cleric etc?

Psy seems to be weak...Preserver classic mage can deliver more utility...while Metabolism seems to be bread and butter for everyone for the sweet -2 dmg reduction and AC -1.

So I thought...why not just make 3 Half Giant and 1 Elf party?

3 HGiant Fighter/Cleric
1 Elf Thief/Preserver

Any downside?

Also, is there any THAC0 penalty for dual wielding? I can't seem to find the info anywhere.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

What would the benefit of being Thri Keen be if he can't even wear most items?
.

Lots of attacks per round. Multi with psi to get spells to negate the no-armor disadvantage (flesh armor, displacement and the like) also get high Dex for better AC

Seems like Half Giant would be the best Gladiator or Fighter ever. Should I even bother multiclassing him with Cleric etc?

A multiclassed char is always more useful imo.

Psy seems to be weak...

Nonsense

Preserver classic mage can deliver more utility

Perhaps if you'd actually be able to get a decent spell selection. Which isn't the case.

So I thought...why not just make 3 Half Giant and 1 Elf party?

Yeah, why not.

Also, is there any THAC0 penalty for dual wielding?

If there is one its effects are not very noticable. Basically, everyone should dualwield for more attacks.

 

[RK47]

Wow...the first few levels just blazed past with the three giant setup.

My elf Thief/Preserver just throws Grease/Cloud of Fog to mess around with the enemy while the Giant Clerics throw the odd Entangles while they pick off the enemies with full buffed Barkskin and Aid.

Question:
How effective is entangle at higher level?
Clerical Sphere for Multiclass Fighter/Cleric - Which is more effective and why? DISCUSS.
What's the best class if I want to include a Thri-Keen into my party? Maybe ditch the third Giant Cleric for it..but I'm not sure what hole am I trying to fill here.

 

[Fowyr]

Also take Fighter/Cleric/Thief. I know, thief is almost useless in this game, still you need it to take one item in the sewers.

EDIT: Oh, you already started game.

Question:
How effective is entangle at higher level?

Not much, but still usefull sometimes.

Clerical Sphere for Multiclass Fighter/Cleric - Which is more effective and why? DISCUSS.

Afair, Clerics have some bug with Cosmos sphere. Can't remember now. Try Water Druid.

What's the best class if I want to include a Thri-Keen into my party?

Something like Fighter/Cleric/Psionic.

I finished Dark Sun several times with Half-Giant Gladiator, Human Fighter/Cleric/Thief, Thri-Keen Fighter/Druid/Psionic (or maybe just Fighter/Psionic, can't remember now) and Elf Fighter/Preserver.
Of course, first time I played without multiclassing and was very sad when hit level cap.

 

[Elwro]

Psionics can be amazing if you plan the development right. Mass Domination anyone?

As Fowyr said, it's better to multiclass since otherwise you hit the level cap pretty quickly.

 

[RK47]

Tried mass dom on a psionist once..most of the time the effect didn't stick. Not sure what i'm doing wrong. In contrast, Wall of Fog, Entangles and Grease are checking every step for stuck / can't attack...better payoff for a turn used to cast, I think.

 

[Fowyr]

Mass Domination is very good power for big battles like in the end of the game or when you trying to protect bystanders. Otherwise, El's Drinker is quicker.

 

[Elwro]

Two El's Drinkers are even quicker :D

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

To make mass domination work well you have to upgrade it a few times, so it's at least at 20

Ego Whip is also very good to keep powerful monsters stunned (rampagers?) who would otherwise fuck you up

 

[kmonster]

The game is easy enough to be beaten with your pathetic party and you've already started, so telling you what you could have done better is pointless.

 

[Elwro]

NO YOU SHOULD DUMP THE PARTY TRY AGAIN AND REVEL IN THE AWESOMENESS OF OUR ADVICE


...but srsly, it's fun to play this game twice, there are some things one can miss on a single playthrough.

 

[Fowyr]

...but srsly, it's fun to play this game twice

No, it's fun to play this game four times, trust me

Oh, and don't use heart on the altar if you have only one heart.

 

[eric__s]

Multi-class all your guys as much as you can because there's no experience cap, only a level cap. A 9/9/9 fighter/mage/psionic is going to be better than a level 9 single-class guy no matter what. Also, don't transfer your guys to the second game because it doubles all enemy hit points, effectively decreasing your damage by half. If you really want, you can transfer their items to new characters.

Also as far as I can remember, half-giants and thri-keen are the best races in the game. Half-giants get double hit points for every level up and thri-keen have a billion arms and I don't think there's a penalty or drawback for either.

The game is super easy though, you can't really lose (unless you get a bug at the end of the game that won't let you fight the final battle).

 

[Erebus]

Two El's Drinkers are even quicker :D

Four El's Drinkers are even... wait, no, they're actually slower since they mean you can't bypass the first of the ending fights. But they're still pretty cool.

As far as elemental spheres are concerned, I think Fire is fairly decent.

 

[Sceptic]

What would the benefit of being Thri Keen be if he can't even wear most items?

They make great clerics or druids thanks to high WIS. They have 4 unarmed attacks, which would be awesome if they didn't become useless a third of the way in. And he can only carry two weapons anyway, so meh. The extra acid attack is unaffected by carrying weapons and is quite nice, but not nice enough to compensate for shitty AC. And if you want high WIS, halfling's is even higher.

Seems like Half Giant would be the best Gladiator or Fighter ever.

Yes. Huge strength and huge amount of hit points and are not be sneezed at high a warrior class.

Should I even bother multiclassing him with Cleric etc?

No. Clerics suck anyway in Dark Sun, as they have no access to the Cosmos sphere beyond 3rd level spells (so no Neutralize Poison, or Cure Serious/Critical, etc). Druids do, and they're a much better choice as a divine spellcaster.

Psy seems to be weak

Hell no. Psionicists are possibly the most powerful class in the game. The kinetic stuff is a bit shit, metabolics have some useful powers, telepathics are horribly overpowered. Synaptic Static will prevent EVERYONE from casting psionics and is a great help in Dagolar's lair and the final battle, then there's all the domination powers (Mass Domination can turn a tough battle into a cakewalk with one click). And finally you sometimes get to solve some quests/obstacles differently by getting to use a psionic power during dialog.

Any downside?

Too many to list. Your party sucks ass. However the game's easy enough, and as long as you have that Preserver you'll be fine. Backstabbing works similarly to the Gold Box games and is insanely powerful at high level, so keep that in mind.

Also, is there any THAC0 penalty for dual wielding? I can't seem to find the info anywhere.

Not as far as I know, or ever found out.

Have fun. Do let us know how it turns out, though I don't think you'll have much trouble (or any kind of trouble until the final fight, really, and this party might be just the thing for the final fight)

 

[King Crispy]

Fuck, I'd kill for a Dark Sun remake or modern sequel by Obsidian or someone not completely incompetent.

 

[sithren]

This thread prompted me to finally give DOS games a try. Installed D-Fend Reloaded and I'm really impressed.

Here are some screenies... (uh, maybe zoom in with your browser to turn them into HD )

Nice logo splash screen. Love it.

Main Menu.

My crappy party.

A haystack!

What has really impressed me was that it seems as though multi-classing was pretty important back in the day. My party seems gimped from the get-go. They get in real trouble. I think I'll multi-class them all. Also, great tip about the backstab up above.

 

[mangsy]

Any downside?

Too many to list. Your party sucks ass.

This made me laugh.

(It's true though, as well as the rest of what Sceptic said... The game is pretty easy, I wouldn't worry about trying to powergame the shit out of it.)

 

[Fowyr]

And finally you sometimes get to solve some quests/obstacles differently by getting to use a psionic power during dialog.

Where?

 

[Sceptic]

They have 4 unarmed attacks, which would be awesome if they didn't become useless a third of the way in.

In case it wasn't clear, I should point out I meant the unarmed attacks become useless, not thri-kreen. Though I find the AC becomes a huge problem in DS2, others do not, and they're a perfectly viable race as long as you're a bit more careful with them.

Fuck, I'd kill for a Dark Sun remake or modern sequel

All I want for Christmas is a patch that fixes all the fucking bugs in both games. If someone can track down Russ Brown I'll even send him death threats / love letters, depending on what would be more effective.

Fake edit: no need to track him down, found him immediately on LinkedIn. I'm sorely tempted to try and add him now...

Where?

There's at least one I remember, the Western oasis. You can mind-control the guard into letting you talk to his leader. Pretty sure there were a few more uses here and there.

My crappy party.

Well it's hard to tell what classes they are from that screenshot.

 

[Fowyr]

Where?

There's at least one I remember, the Western oasis. You can mind-control the guard into letting you talk to his leader. Pretty sure there were a few more uses here and there.

Oh. Should check it on my fifth playthrough. Usually I used my preserver as party leader, so apparently I missed it.

 

[kmonster]

Thri-kreen having an AC problem is a myth, they have an AC benefit. They get an indestructible +5 natural AC instead of equipment slots. If you combine all the best magical armor you can get better AC for 1 character, but if you're playing a party of 4 the character wearing the 4th best armor parts forbidden to thri-kreen doesn't get better AC (unless you cheat to multiply your items) and the extra bite attack (which can paralyze even the hardest monsters) and movement speed do make a big difference, no other race can melee for more damage per round.