Game News RPG Watch lifts the curtain - Eschalon: Book 1 first impressions

[Shagnak]

Also, I need one of you to tell me where I have to go to get my stuff that the old guy in Aridell was supposed to give me (quest #1).

As per SuicideBunny, the chest in his house.

 

[FrancoTAU]

Does anyone have the full game yet? Sounds good so far, but i'd love to hear if the story or dialogue options pick up before I buy it.

 

[abstract]

what's the best way to order from Europe? "best" meaning with the least amount of extra fees.

 

[puppyonastik]

I'm no longer a journalist here

Why was this decision made and how exactly does it help the codex?

 

[Vault Dweller]

It's a really long story. One day...

 

[kingcomrade]

VD told Spacemoose to stop being stupid, Spacemoose spammed NSFW and got banned, Naked Lunch gave the Little Boys Gang admin powers and they banned the admins. Then DU said it was all VD's fault and so VD left.

 

[Shagnak]

Is there a better weapon from the short blades category to be found in the demo? Or am I stuck with the shitty iron dagger with base damage = 1?

I was wondering the same. I was hoping I could find a short sword that qualified as a"short blade" but haven't been able to yet. I think the quicker I get some long range shit going on the better. Long range from the cover of shadows = win (hopefully).

 

[Sovard]

The problem is that the "obscured by darkness" to-hit penalties are rather high. IMO, a thief should also consider taking alchemy to make their own cat's eye potions. I'd recommend the same for rangers as well... as you can't hold a torch while firing a bow.

EDIT: Scratch that, it doesn't work. I figured it was sort of a gimme mechanic, but it's not there.

 

[dagorkan]

Is there a better weapon from the short blades category to be found in the demo? Or am I stuck with the shitty iron dagger with base damage = 1?

I was wondering the same. I was hoping I could find a short sword that qualified as a"short blade" but haven't been able to yet. I think the quicker I get some long range shit going on the better. Long range from the cover of shadows = win (hopefully).

Erm, big mistake! It says right in the chargen section before you start that short swords are counted in the Swords category. Short bladed weapons seem to be just dagger like things.

Though, I have found a pretty cool weapon that counts as 'short-bladed' - you get it from a quest where you go kill this Hive Mother Giant Wasp thing, and cut off her sting. You can keep it after the quest. Never tried it out but it's valued at a few hundred gold, I am pretty sure I'll always have better weapons to choose from among Swords.

Also, you really need to increase your weapon skills guys, or maybe invest in Elemental magic. I went for Divination which was a great investment (kill in the dark + healing spells), but didn't find any offensive spells until now, I'm in Blackwater, the first decent town I've come across, but each of the higher level spells (Fireball and the like) are 900 gold.

And when you come across random treasure chests in dungeons, save before opening them. Several times I've noticed that the loot is randomized, not sure in all but it's worth doing anyway. I managed to get an Gloves of +3 Swords and an Amulet of +3 to hit... not sure if +1 TH is +1 skill, but that's might even be two levels worth of Skill points (only have Swords 5 and I invested in it almost every level up).

You can also learn some extra skills by paying people. I know you can learn Alchemy and Bows, it's about 100 gold for level 1, then 200 to increase to level 2 etc. That's cheap definitely saved me some points, to get the starting skill costs 3 Skill points normally. Probably not worth increasing more than that though.

As I said just arrived in Blackwater is changing my opinion of the game. I think I've come across the first morally 'gray' or C&C quest. Went to a tavern and a guy just offered me 500 gold to go kill this Druidess type woman who lives in the forest - and said he wants the amulet she has. The thing is she seems to be part of the main quest, since I alraedy went to see her before, and she identified an amulet for me... don't know if it's the same amulet, or what would happen if I had killed her before she'd helped me.

 

[dagorkan]

The problem is that the "obscured by darkness" to-hit penalties are rather high. IMO, a thief should also consider taking alchemy to make their own cat's eye potions. I'd recommend the same for rangers as well... as you can't hold a torch while firing a bow.

EDIT: Scratch that, it doesn't work. I figured it was sort of a gimme mechanic, but it's not there.

No, get Divination Level 1 and buy a Scroll of Cat's Eye (~150 gold). Ingredients for potions are way too expensive but everybody has a huge pool of mana which is wasted if you don't have any spells to cast. I find my mana regenerates almost as fast as it can be used if you're casting Cat's Eye - enough for a whole dungeon if you're casting nothing else.

It has really made a difference to the fights. If there are tough enemies, swarms of Wasps, Minotaurs, Bug creatures or whatever I camp until night, cast Cat's Eye, put out my torch and attack them. It really evens the odds. A Wasp normally has 65% chance of hitting me, to my 55%. In full night with Cat's Eye that reduces to around 30% and 40%. It's a pain having to do that but it works, and you'd just be making life difficult for yourself by not doing it.

Of course, it probably won't work on those Evil Dwarf things, Okatru or whatever they're called.

 

[Shagnak]

The problem is that the "obscured by darkness" to-hit penalties are rather high.

Yeah, I realise that. Despite this the darkness has been a useful tool. There was a fight that I couldn't get past with my meagre dagger skillz (two "bloodsips" I think they were called?), but when I lured them into the dark they didn't seem to be able to find me for a while. I basically got more than just a few turns flailing at them (and hitting occasionally), and it made all the difference for when they finally realised where I was and engaged me.
With creatures often not noticing me when I'm in shadows, I was wondering if softening them up from darkness was a viable strategy.

Erm, big mistake! It says right in the chargen section before you start that short swords are counted in the Swords category. Short bladed weapons seem to be just dagger like things.

Aiiiieeeee! Reading is teh hard and all that. It's a pity that it basically limits you to only 1 damage shitty daggers most of the time. Why would one ever take it?

Late Edit:
Interestingly, the manual kinda contradicts:
"Short Bladed Weapons include Knives, Daggers and similar shortbladed
weapons including Short-bladed Swords."

Though, I have found a pretty cool weapon that counts as 'short-bladed' - you get it from a quest where you go kill this Hive Mother Giant Wasp thing, and cut off her sting. You can keep it after the quest. Never tried it out but it's valued at a few hundred gold, I am pretty sure I'll always have better weapons to choose from among Swords.

That sting sounds cool. But like you say, swords seem much more useful. When I get home from work from work it's time to level up and depussify my blade skills.

 

[abstract]

Well, it looks like rogues get the short end of the stick. It seems like they are just gimped fighters, seeing as fighting in the dark adds large penalties to hit, and the darkness is pitch black so all you can do is blindly flail around with the cursor, hoping you will accidentaly hit a monster.

 

[Saxon1974]

Well, it looks like rogues get the short end of the stick. It seems like they are just gimped fighters, seeing as fighting in the dark adds large penalties to hit, and the darkness is pitch black so all you can do is blindly flail around with the cursor, hoping you will accidentaly hit a monster.

You can use Cat eyes potions or spend a skill point is divinity and then can cast cat eyes I believe and then you dont get such penalties. Or you can carry a torch, however then you cant use your other hand for a shield or bow.

 

[dagorkan]

Guys, you can still use a torch + cat's eyes, the effects add up. Then when you need to fight and are a square away from the enemy just switch off your torch. Switch it back on when the fighting's over.

 

[Shagnak]

After dagorkan's advice I bought cartography on level up. On hindsight maybe it was a bit silly, after all, there goes my 3 points *poof* gone. No chance to get some sword shit going on. Really should have done it at character creation.

After thinking on my silliness for a bit I thought I would go and see if there was something better than my shitty dagger after all. And there was - a +2 skinning knife at the local blacksmith's. So looks like my shitty build will survive another level after all.

 

[dagorkan]

After dagorkan's advice I bought cartography on level up. On hindsight maybe it was a bit silly, after all, there goes my 3 points *poof* gone. No chance to get some sword shit going on. Really should have done it at character creation.

After thinking on my silliness for a bit I thought I would go and see if there was something better than my shitty dagger after all. And there was - a +2 skinning knife at the local blacksmith's. So looks like my shitty build will survive another level after all.

You can buy Sword or other weapon skills for the usual 100 gold per level (cumultative) when you reach Blackwater, so don't worry too much. Cartography is useful, at the least it lets you know the areas you've already been too, I think I might have gone mad otherwise. You might also find some boots somwhere which give you +2 Cartography which isn't that great (just colors in woods/grasslands) but just to let you know.

Good news!

I have finally, unexpectedly completed the initial quest and the plot is beginning to take shape. The Amnesia thing is there for a very good reason, it is more creative than you would have thought, plus there seems to be some urgency, a time limit from now on - so take your time and level up a bit (I'm almost level 8) before you get to Blackwater because I think you will probably need the skills.

The game does seem to have a whole more potential now.

 

[Saxon1974]

After dagorkan's advice I bought cartography on level up. On hindsight maybe it was a bit silly, after all, there goes my 3 points *poof* gone. No chance to get some sword shit going on. Really should have done it at character creation.

After thinking on my silliness for a bit I thought I would go and see if there was something better than my shitty dagger after all. And there was - a +2 skinning knife at the local blacksmith's. So looks like my shitty build will survive another level after all.

You can buy Sword or other weapon skills for the usual 100 gold per level (cumultative) when you reach Blackwater, so don't worry too much. Cartography is useful, at the least it lets you know the areas you've already been too, I think I might have gone mad otherwise. You might also find some boots somwhere which give you +2 Cartography which isn't that great (just colors in woods/grasslands) but just to let you know.

Good news!

I have finally, unexpectedly completed the initial quest and the plot is beginning to take shape. The Amnesia thing is there for a very good reason, it is more creative than you would have thought, plus there seems to be some urgency, a time limit from now on - so take your time and level up a bit (I'm almost level 8) before you get to Blackwater because I think you will probably need the skills.

The game does seem to have a whole more potential now.

Coolness

I realize that indy games like this don't come around very often so I am taking my time exploring each area thoroughly so hopefully by time i get there I will be good enough. I did have to come back to Grimmhold because it was pretty tough at first.

 

[dagorkan]

By the way, I'm not sure there is a time limit, I'm just saying the plot implies there would be. We'll see, on the one hand it would be good, on the other there are still a bunch of side quests that I haven't completed.

 

[bezimek]

After dagorkan's advice I bought cartography on level up. On hindsight maybe it was a bit silly, after all, there goes my 3 points *poof* gone. No chance to get some sword shit going on. Really should have done it at character creation.

After thinking on my silliness for a bit I thought I would go and see if there was something better than my shitty dagger after all. And there was - a +2 skinning knife at the local blacksmith's. So looks like my shitty build will survive another level after all.

You can buy Sword or other weapon skills for the usual 100 gold per level (cumultative) when you reach Blackwater, so don't worry too much. Cartography is useful, at the least it lets you know the areas you've already been too, I think I might have gone mad otherwise. You might also find some boots somwhere which give you +2 Cartography which isn't that great (just colors in woods/grasslands) but just to let you know.

Good news!

I have finally, unexpectedly completed the initial quest and the plot is beginning to take shape. The Amnesia thing is there for a very good reason, it is more creative than you would have thought, plus there seems to be some urgency, a time limit from now on - so take your time and level up a bit (I'm almost level 8) before you get to Blackwater because I think you will probably need the skills.

The game does seem to have a whole more potential now.

Good to hear ! I must try demo but i think that it is game for me. Thanks for info !

 

[Saxon1974]

By the way, I'm not sure there is a time limit, I'm just saying the plot implies there would be. We'll see, on the one hand it would be good, on the other there are still a bunch of side quests that I haven't completed.

Hope not, I think I remember chatting with the dev on the forum and hearing he was not a fan of time based gameplay...I don't like it much easier, I would rather take my time exploring.

 

[FrancoTAU]

Has anyone ever pulled off the time limit RPG well? Magic Candle 1 did a pretty good job at it. I hear there were some other games like Challenge of the Five Realms that ruined an otherwise great game because of it.

 

[Saxon1974]

Has anyone ever pulled off the time limit RPG well? Magic Candle 1 did a pretty good job at it. I hear there were some other games like Challenge of the Five Realms that ruined an otherwise great game because of it.

Yea Magic Candle did a pretty good job, I still didnt like the time limit thing though. It had an option of a spell or something you could use to grant more time.

 

[Serious_Business]

Good news!

I have finally, unexpectedly completed the initial quest and the plot is beginning to take shape. The Amnesia thing is there for a very good reason, it is more creative than you would have thought, plus there seems to be some urgency, a time limit from now on - so take your time and level up a bit (I'm almost level 8) before you get to Blackwater because I think you will probably need the skills.

The game does seem to have a whole more potential now.

Thanks for the heads up.

How long have you been playing?

 

[Atrachasis]

Good news!

I have finally, unexpectedly completed the initial quest and the plot is beginning to take shape. The Amnesia thing is there for a very good reason, it is more creative than you would have thought, plus there seems to be some urgency, a time limit from now on - so take your time and level up a bit (I'm almost level 8) before you get to Blackwater because I think you will probably need the skills.

The game does seem to have a whole more potential now.

That sounds promising indeed! Did you reach that point within the demo (I'm just starting out), or do things pick up only in the full game?

 

[dagorkan]

I bought the full game, the demo only lasted about 1.5 hours. I'm about ten hours in (not counting reloads) and almost level 8.