The Eye of the Beholder Thread

[Jaesun]

But if a remake/remastering would take place, I know exactly how I'd do things: I'd have the Xanathar-fight take place as normal, and then an in-game cutscene plays (kinda like the resurrection ones) where someone from the surface teleports down to the party's location, makes a note of their achievement, and then offers them a ride home. The player can accept, and the game ends (Amiga-ending style), or the player can refuse, saying that they'll find their own way back to the surface and keep playing the game. The true 'ending' would then be using the Stone Gem to activate the portal leading up to the third floor, and the player finding another exit from the sewers from there, triggering an enhanced version of the Amiga-ending.

I really like that.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

You know, I don't think i ever max leveled to 20 in eob3 or dungeon hack.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

You know, I don't think i ever max leveled to 20 in eob3 or dungeon hack.

I levelled my Fighter to 20 once in EotB3.

Once.

Took so much grinding of Undead Beasts I could have built a cathedral out of their bones.

IIRC even with min-maxing of XP and playing through the entire trilogy I could 'only' get my Fighter to Level 17 by the end of the game.

Maxing out a single-class Thief shouldn't be a problem though.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Well, be glad it isn't max to level 40 like the pools or krynn series. Can you dual class in EOB? Eh no guild so probably NO. I guess Dungeon hack is also 20.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Well, be glad it isn't max to level 40 like the pools or krynn series.

Don't remind me! :D

I tried playing through the Pools-series back in 2000.

Followed every guide that was available then (though I didn't put them through the Hillsfar-game) and carefully picked my classes, and when to Dual them.

By Pools of Darkness I was just burned out. I would have kept going if they hadn't introduced the stupid notion that "when travelling between worlds you must leave all your gear behind". I got my party to around Level 27 before calling it quits. Secret of the Silver Blades ruins the series by being 90% filler combat.

Can you dual class in EOB? Eh no guild so probably NO.

Correct, single- or multi-class only.

I guess Dungeon hack is also 20.

I think it is, but to be honest I've never checked. That may have something to do with the fact that monsters don't respawn in Dungeon Hack, so grinding is not (rarely?) an option.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I can't be the only one who grinded lvl 39 fighters then switched them to other classes and grinded to 40. Them some mean mages & priests and shiz. So much grind.

 

[pjs]

If you want to grind the XP in EOB series, by far the best place is by the lever in great guardian lair in EOB2. In a couple of hours you can get a couple of million XP per character. Then when you transfer to EOB3 you will gain level every time you kill a monster until you reach the level for which you have XP or the level cap. So in contrast to gold-box games, no experience is "lost" even if you grind more XP than the level cap of EOB2 allows. See my write-up here: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/the-eye-of-the-beholder-thread.34454/post-8446165

As for gold-box games and Pools of Darkness in particular, the most effective strategy to completing the game is using a few hours to grind in Secret of the Silver Blades. You should initially have roughly 2-3 rangers, 2-3 paladins and a cleric, and you dual-class everyone to magic-user by specific points around levels 11-15 (cleric the earliest, paladins at 13, rangers at 15) in SSB. Then by the end of POD you have a very fighting-capable party and everyone is about level 30 magic-users and can buff oneself. You essentially break the game, including the final fights, because everyone is protected with globe of invulnerability, mirror images, etc. For more details if interested, see writeups here: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/ssis-gold-box-series-thread.61389/page-197#post-8968585

 

[Rincewind]

I never grinded for a second in my EoB I-II playthrough. I transfered my party to the second game and I dropped all my EoB I items at the temple foyer. It was challenging to complete EoB II, but in a good way, nothing impossible. Except for the last boss fight, of course, which was just a silly exercise of step dancing. I liked the EoB I endgame miles better (and, in fact, the first game is my favourite, by far).

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I never grinded for a second in my EoB I-II playthrough. I transfered my party to the second game and I dropped all my EoB I items at the temple foyer. It was challenging to complete EoB II, but in a good way, nothing impossible. Except for the last boss fight, of course, which was just a silly exercise of step dancing. I liked the EoB I endgame miles better (and, in fact, the first game is my favourite, by far).

Interesting. Playing EotB2 without any input/benefit from EotB1 certainly is something to consider, especially since freshly-made EotB2-characters start at Level 6/7 (depending on circumstances) while imported EotB1-characters tend to start at Level 8/9, on average.

So it becomes a question of keeping the extra levels, but skipping on the übergear, because Eotb1 has the best loot, besides the endgame loot from EotB3.

Playing through EotB3 with a freshly-created party is something I've yet to do a full playthrough of, but I've attempted it. It's certainly a challenge because you have to scrounge for some of the badly-needed magic weapons (+2 weapons to kill the Swordwraiths in the Mausoleum are hard to come by). But such a playthrough also allows me to use the new character portraits exclusive to EotB3, so it's a double-edged sword.

And on the final point - in my opinion EotB1 is the best one in the trilogy. It's the most open-ended one, the most versatile, the least frustrating one (except for the fourth floor).

 

[Rincewind]

So it becomes a question of keeping the extra levels, but skipping on the übergear, because Eotb1 has the best loot, besides the endgame loot from EotB3.

Yeah, I read that tip in this thread somewhere to drop the ubergear from the first game after transferring because it takes out the joy of equipment upgrades in the second instalment. I think it's a solid tip.

Playing through EotB3 with a freshly-created party is something I've yet to do a full playthrough of, but I've attempted it.

I haven't played EoB III yet, maybe one day. I completed the Amiga AGA remakes of the first two games recently, so importing the characters into the third DOS game will be a bit of a challenge.

Probably I'll just transfer my EoB II party with my EoB I gear manually with a hex editor (and don't cheat).

This seems to be useful for that:
https://ase3.zorbus.net/eob3hex.txt

From the All Seeing Eye 3 homepage:
https://ase3.zorbus.net/

And on the final point - in my opinion EotB1 is the best one in the trilogy. It's the most open-ended one, the most versatile, the least frustrating one (except for the fourth floor).

Oh yeah, I loved it when exploration went from linear to non-linear. First by the interlocking middle levels that formed almost like a 3-4 level mega-dungeon, then by discovering the teleporters. Great stuff! The second game had a bit of that in the underground levels of the temple, but exploring the towers became a very much linear affair.

Well, this makes me want to replay the ECS version again, and maybe the C64 remake, and discover all the secret quests at last

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

You transfer your level 1 noobs to eob2 and a copy to eob3. Then, the challenge begins. Extra bonus to you for reducing each class to lowest stats & hp as well for that extra challenge, even more if you go solo.

I did that with Pool of radiance several times making the worse class/hp groups possible.

 

[OndrejSc]

 

[Desiderius]

Oh man that curved dagger...