The Eye of the Beholder Thread

[Saint_Proverbius]

Anyone played Eye of the Beholder for the Gameboy Advance yet? It's actually a really, really nice remake of the original classic goldbox game for those looking to try out the old school CRPGs in a new way.

The remake features an implimentation of the new 3E rules, including:

• 3/4 view, isometric, turn based combat
• Attacks of Opportunity
• Speech skills, including Intimidation, Bluff, and Diplomacy. (though no dialogue trees)
• Barter skill
• Climb skill! Wall scaling, FINALLY!
• Four classes, six races
• Feats, including those that involve speech
• Changes to the original
• Lots more.

Pronto Games developed it, and they've taken out the domain http://www.pocketdnd.com/ so maybe they're working on additional titles as well.

 

[Ibbz]

Hopefully if they make POR, they'll put diagonal movement into combat

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

There's a few fairly manditory skills in EoB.

• Climb: You need at least one party member that's really good at this, like your Rogue.
• Intuite Direction: You need this if you plan on using the map without a lot of headaches.
• Bluff: One of the better speech skills, IMHO.
• Search: Useful for finding those hidden doors.
• Hide: A good hide skill allows you to rest without disturbance.
• Appraise: The barter skill, make more money!

Oh yeah, and ranged pretty much sucks when you start out. If you're planning on using an arrow/sling bunny, be sure he/she starts with the Point Blank Shot feat. You'll also want to grab Precision Shot for him/her ASAP.

Hopefully if they make POR, they'll put diagonal movement into combat

I'd rather have more combat feats, like Cleave!

It wouldn't bother me if they did all the EoBs and then moved on to the other Gold Box D&D games.

 

[Mistress]

I'm definitely going to get myself a GBA now. Bonus is that they're on special offer in the store down the road now :D Thanks for the info Saint!

 

[Spazmo]

No Cleave?! Aww... That feat is easily among the most powerful, especially with Great Cleave.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

No Cleave?! Aww... That feat is easily among the most powerful, especially with Great Cleave.

That's probably why it's not in there. Cleave is an insanely powerful feat, especially at low levels when you can kill some critters with one hit from a greataxe or greatsword.

 

[Rosh]

I'll have to add to this here on some things, and help a bit with some help to get a bit further in the game a bit easier.

• A +1 dagger on the first level. Your mage is not a melee. Your team, however, does need some equipment. Near the dagger is a hole in the ceiling you need to Climb to get up. These are sometimes hard to see unless you look specifically at the ceiling.
• Speech skills are mostly crap unless you have speech related feats.
• A thief-type character can train in a LOT of 1-point cost skills, and start with over 30 skill points, and raise most or all plotted into with each level.
• Some skills are not really combined for all party members. These include speech skills and others with specific events like Climb and Search. Therefore, there is no need to overlap them. Intuit Direction and Heal might overlap, but you do not need to train Search by more than one character, same with Climb and each of the speech skills.
• Along with the above, only one character needs to have Appraise. This will be your rogue, of course, and you will want to have it max. This is also depending upon a chance of success, but to influence the success is insanely easy. As my forte in QA testing always has been in finding easy game exploits, I've found an easy way to check this out. When buying or selling, if you don't get 1/3 or so off the list price, hit the L or R buttons to move to another character and then back to make another Appraise skill check. In selling, do the same thing. You can often save hundreds of gold in a single buying/selling session. I think I got full plate for 1200, when it's normally 1800, with an appraisal skill of 6.
• You can laugh at Saint, because he sold the +1 dagger for under 700 gold. :D

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Speech skills are mostly crap unless you have speech related feats.

A Bluff of 4, without the feats, works well on the Dwarf in the Inn.

You can laugh at Saint, because he sold the +1 dagger for under 700 gold. :D

Even with an appraise of 4, I only got 700 gold, so I'm betting there's something else that plays a part in the bartering of the game other than just the skill.. Charisma, mayhaps?

 

[Rosh]

Even with an appraise of 4, I only got 700 gold, so I'm betting there's something else that plays a part in the bartering of the game other than just the skill.. Charisma, mayhaps?

I think I pointed this out:

Along with the above, only one character needs to have Appraise. This will be your rogue, of course, and you will want to have it max. This is also depending upon a chance of success, but to influence the success is insanely easy. As my forte in QA testing always has been in finding easy game exploits, I've found an easy way to check this out. When buying or selling, if you don't get 1/3 or so off the list price, hit the L or R buttons to move to another character and then back to make another Appraise skill check. In selling, do the same thing. You can often save hundreds of gold in a single buying/selling session. I think I got full plate for 1200, when it's normally 1800, with an appraisal skill of 6.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Okay, after playing it for a bit, I've noticed a few issues.

Other than the Cleric, there's really no optional class. The main reason Clerics are optional is that they're incredibly weak in the game. They pretty much suck for casting at low levels, and they suck at hitting things. Weapon Finesse might help him hit a little more with a light mace, but I was kind of hoping for larger blunts down the road.

Actually, Clerics are decent, just for healing during fighting at low levels, like levels 1-2, but once your party hits 3rd Level, there's no real point since you don't get hurt enough to get knocked out much.

About the only really GOOD thing about the Cleric is that Turn Undead is very, very handy in the fourth level of the dungeon.

So, basically, the only reason to have a Cleric is for undead encounters and healing at the lowest character levels.

You definitely need a Fighter, a Mage, and a Rogue. However, the only reason to have a rogue is mainly for the skills tree usage, as Rosh pointed out. Rogues get a LOT of skill points and can advance skills higher and better than the other classes.

Rogues are decent for ranged, but only if you have the Point Blank Shot feat as well as the Precise Shot feat. You're really going to want to pick that Point Blank Shot feat right off the bat, so you can get the Precise Shot at level 3. It's a HUGE MISTAKE if you don't. Trust me. Rogues suck at melee, also.

Sleep spell can make up for the lack of ability to hit ranged attacks often, though. That's one reason you need a mage. The other reason would be Magic Missile, which is your "sure fire" ranged attack in the game so far.

You'll need ranged because the combat often takes place in corridors, which are only wide enough for two things at a time. So, put your fighters up front, everyone else in the back, and give them ranged attacks.

It would have been nice if the party in the game didn't really require being so balanced, though, since that limits replay quite a bit.

 

[Insane-Lark]

I now have the driving urge to buy my oldest kiddo a Gameboy Advance & this is after we'd decided not to. Screw it, I want the Gameboy, she can borrow it when I'm done until they come out with the next Gold Box. :D

 

[Spazmo]

Saint, how well does the game implement the D&D 3rd Edition rules? Does it use all the real rules?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Saint, how well does the game implement the D&D 3rd Edition rules? Does it use all the real rules?

It leaves out some things, actually. It's got enough there so you know it's 3E though.

I would like more weapon feats, though.

 

[Anita]

Hint anyone?

I'm playing this game at the moment and I think it's great. However I'm stuck on level 1! I have a key but can't get through the last door. Can someone who's played it give me any hints? much appreciated,

Anita

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Have you tried lockpicking it or forcing it open with strength?

 

[Anita]

Neither of those skills are available to use for that door. So fustrating!

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Neither of those skills are available to use for that door. So fustrating!

It's been about a month since I've played it, and I'm not really sure which door you're talking about. IIRC, the ladder down to level 2 is fairly near the Inn trapdoor. Is that where you are?

 

[Anita]

I suppose it is quite near the inn trapdoor, it's in a 15ft by 10ft square room on the southern part of the map with the door facing east (eek I sound like my DM :D )
Well this is the only door I can't go through, and I assumed it was the way to level 2 since there isn't room on the map for the door to lead to a proper room.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

There are some switches on the walls which open up areas by moving walls. That's the key to level 1. There might be a key behind one of those closed off areas.

Like I said, it's been a while since I've played it, so I don't quite remember how that went.

 

[Anita]

Thanks

I've figured it out now! Was making a stupid mistake. Thanks for your help.

 

[Saxon1974]

I am planning a re-play through of the Eye of the Beholder games (At least 1 and 2).

I can't decide if I want to do the mapping myself or use them maps in the hint guide. Usually mapping yourself makes it more fun because you dont have things revealed ahead of time, but these maps are decent sized and are going to take some time to map.

Anyone play these and map them out yourself? Any advice?

I dont even see a way to tell where you starting location is on each new map. In the Bard's Tale games you could cast a spell that would tell you what square you were on in relation to the exit stairs....

I loved these games back in high school and haven't played them since. I fired up the amiga version and the sound is much better than the DOS version. Funny thing though is the 8 key to move forward doesn't seem to work.

 

[Zomg]

I replayed them 3-4 years ago and I just brain-mapped them. Some of the featureless levels might give you some problems but for the most part EoB 1+2 don't have mindless mazes that you can't possibly keep a sense of direction in.

If you transfer characters from 1->2 I suggest dropping all of the ridiculous loot from EoB1 at the first opportunity. You'll have stupid shit like a +5 sword and a girdle of giant strength IIRC that break EoB2 completely.

Don't play EoB3, it's shit.

 

[Binary]

Depends where do you want to focus. Want to just have fun with the game? Get the map from somewhere. Want to rediscover the game all over again? Draw them yourself. Use some checked paper and start from the middle.

If you transfer characters from 1->2 I suggest dropping all of the ridiculous loot from EoB1 at the first opportunity. You'll have stupid shit like a +5 sword and a girdle of giant strength IIRC that break EoB2 completely.

Nah, keep the items. That's half the fun. It's not as if EoB2 is hard in any place without those items, or easy with them...

Max bonus on EoB is +4 iirc

Don't play EoB3, it's shit.

Would like to understand the reasoning why you believe EoB2 is better than EoB3.

 

[Zomg]

I suspect it's because the combat is ubiquitous and mediocre and the blobber puzzles are rare and bad. It's been a while since I formed the opinion and I can't recall the game very well.

 

[Saxon1974]

Depends where do you want to focus. Want to just have fun with the game? Get the map from somewhere. Want to rediscover the game all over again? Draw them yourself. Use some checked paper and start from the middle.

If you transfer characters from 1->2 I suggest dropping all of the ridiculous loot from EoB1 at the first opportunity. You'll have stupid shit like a +5 sword and a girdle of giant strength IIRC that break EoB2 completely.

Nah, keep the items. That's half the fun. It's not as if EoB2 is hard in any place without those items, or easy with them...

Max bonus on EoB is +4 iirc

That's the thing, when you map it yourself its a far more rewarding experience, but it does take quite a bit more time. I can't decide, I might start out mapping and then eventually start using the clue book maps once I get tired of mapping. The clue book maps dont reveal everything so it might still be fun using those.

Don't know if I will ever finish it, I usually get about 3 quarters of the way through these types of games and lose interest.