The Joy of Star Trail!

[Hazelnut]

As far as I could tell, the summoning spells don't do shit in the first game, aside from Skeletarius (probably because they already had a sprite for that one).

That's rather poor, but at least I know now. Skeletarius is complete crap in practice I've found. I've been trying out poisoned wand combat with my demonology mage, holy crap it's powerful. The only thing that annoys me is that I cannot tell how long it lasts - is there any way to tell. I'm sure it lasted til a second combat once, and then I think it ran out, getting my mage killed.

Strange; never noticed that. Then again, I don't use Demonology until RoA 2 anyway as a rule because with spell skills ~9-12 in the Demonology spells there's a good chance those monsters turn against you.

And woe to you if that happens and you don't have magic or magic weapons.

Magic weapons? Looking at the various sources of info on the game, most of these are difficult to tell from normal versions. Supposedly there's some good magic item on the bandits between Felstein & Orkanger but I couldn't be bothered to try and work out which thing it might be and just sold the lot. I did manage to get my Dwarfs Orc Hook made magical by spending >150d and praying, but of course being RoA it broke on the second next combat and when repaired reverted to a normal Orc Hook.

What use are the blankets you suggested I have for everyone? I have them on my spell casters (was hoping that it would help restore APs on the trail) and can't see any difference.

 

[Jasede]

Well, magic weapons are terribly rare and difficult to find. There's no simple way to tell you "this weapon is magic" short of using the two spells that analyze items - one tells you the properties/enchantment, and the weaker, cheaper spell tells you if an item is magic or not.

Magic weapons still break and I think the only way to enchant your own weapons to be unbreakable is to have Ingerimm repair them; or that only works in RoA 2. Just keep spare weapons. And be glad that a lot of this is way less annoying in RoA 2, and outright, oh noez, comfortable in 3.

Err, what else. Blankets help prevent catching a cold. I am serious, you can get a cold, and if you don't treat it or are unlucky, that can turn into some terrible pneumonia. It's very rare to happen in RoA 1 though, so you can trash the blankets if you like, but I'd keep them in 2.

I also think, but am not sure, that having blankets, sleeping bags, 1 cauldron per party and dishes and tableware for everyone makes you regain more health each rest.

 

[Zomg]

Getting your weapon magic'd up by a miracle doesn't change anything about it statistically, at least in RoA1. I think it just lets you hit demon-type enemies, and there are about two of those in the entire first game. Even then you can just blast them with a damage spell, they have very few HP. As far as I could tell innately magic weapons (not miracle'd) are all unbreakable - at least I used them for most of RoA1 with none of them ever breaking on me, while I lost many non-magical goupillons on my warriors.

Poison lasts a certain number of hits, I think, maybe 4-5 for the cheapest poison? Like a lot of stuff in RoA, it's grossly overpowered and breaks the game, so don't use it, or compromise and only use the ones you have to make yourself (Vomic and Expurgic) which at least force you to find the recipes, increase the alchemy skill a bit and fiddle with herbs before you can one shot everything but undead with a magician's wand.

 

[Andhaira]

No, Blood and furor should work. Its just VERY tough to cast even in the first half of star-trail, and this is with a painstaikingly generated and level;led party.

I suggest if you really want to try it, load up your latest savegame, as a test, enter a combat somehow and keep trying this spell over and over. Rinse and repeat till is works and you get a heshthot or (heaven forbid) a zhant. Then sit back and watch as it rapes your entire party AND the enemy.

 

[Hazelnut]

Thanks for the info guys. So the only way to find magic stuff is to cast odeum (?) on everything you find? Screw that, I'll leave it rather than go through that tedium.

Yeah, poison is pretty ridiculous but I assumed that it would become much less overpowered as I level. I think that your suggestion is a good one zomg, but I'm gonna allow for having one for those very tight situations. I'll pretend that it's really expensive, like a few hundred D's by donating to a temple. That'll stop me spamming since I'm a damned tight ass. :wink:

I'm happy to leave the demon summoning until RoA2. What level are starting chars in Star Trail? Mine are all approaching level 4 now, and I only have a single map piece. Got the Mage who thieved one to find next..

Really wish I could find some of that herb to restore my female mages strength - it's still only 10/14 since that awful bout of tetanus. Admittedly she caught it again and died before I could cure her again. Got her revived at a temple - turned out easier and less time consuming than curing it had been the last time. Anyway I've learned not to heal wounds with the same character more than once a night.. I'm pretty sure that each successive use means a higher risk of infecting the patient.

Andhaira, RoA1 doesn't let the spell be cast in combat. At all.

 

[Jasede]

You should be level 5 when you start RoA 2, 6 if you don't rush the game, 7 if you do every little thing you can do and do some grinding.

Compare this to normal RoA 2 start, where you start at level 3, or, optionally, at level 1.

 

[Andhaira]

Oh you are still on RoA1.

Yeah just keep pumping that spell, its fun to cast in RoA2 and very useful in RoA3 (which has more supernatural enemies, and you are screwed if you can hurt them)

There is another spell that can't be cast in the entire trilogy AFAIR, its the one that summons chimera's.

RoA2 is very fun at level 3(after the priestess levels you up). Though I admit it could be tought at level1. But since you are importing your party,it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Hazelnut]

Sounds like Star Trail is gonna be a little easy, but I already planned to blast through Destiny ASAP, so I'll try not to get too high a level.

 

[Andhaira]

Its not easy believe me. Not on your first playthrough,nor is ithard. Its challenging though in a great way.

Seeits not just the battles, you actually don't fight as much as in other rpg's. Not by a long shot. StarTrail is a gameof resource management: You need those hunting skills to forage for food. Diseases are MUCh more rampant this time. Environmental hazards (such as rockslides) require good mountaineering and spotting skills.

Furthermore, allcombat you have is usualy your tired, footsore and maybe diseased party vs fresh and healthy opponents.

Furthermore in Start Trail you also encounter enemy adventurer parties, these are the toughest fights in these games because these parties have classes and equipment and spells. (these spellcasters can bamboozle, great need,dance etc) your pc's as easily as you do it to your enemies.

Lastly, Star Trail is where you start fighting some supernatural foes; they are very rare,but quite tough. The final battle is not easy as well, especially
considering you have to traverse a dungeon to get to it.

Also, reaching a town in Star Trail really gives you the feeling of sanctuary and safety and relief. No rpg even comes clsoe in this regard;never have I been so happy to stumble into an inn, or restock on supplies as in Start Trail.


The only real flaw this trilogy hasis that,as you can see, most battles are random. You can't see the enemies in the 3d view.

 

[Raapys]

Hmm, I seem to remember playing a RoA game a few years ago but never really getting anywhere as I was dying from diseases and whatnot all the time. Yet playing BoD the only disease I've gotten is the one you sometimes get when failing to heal a party member, a rare event.

So Star Trail is where the disease nightmare starts then, eh?

 

[Jasede]

Combat in RoA 2 is the greatest things since slicest bread, especially because normal enemies can own your ass if you gith them tired, sick and hungry. Just as it should be.

There's very few pointless battles in RoA 2; they're all placed carefully. I really like that about it. And the travel system... oooooh, it's so good! And indeed, diseases are a LOT worse in RoA 2. They happen in 1, but far more rarely.

If you, in RoA 2, do not have blankets for everyone, or better still, sleeping bags; if you do not give them dishes, or a cauldron, or warm clothes in the mountains/in winter they will get terribly ill. Heck, if you walk too much in your boots your boots get worn out and you need to buy new ones (!).

God I love that game.

 

[Andhaira]

And if your boots got worn out and you traveled some more on theworld map you take damage and can get diseased.

Only game where you needto carry extra boots!

 

[Claw]

Strange; never noticed that. Then again, I don't use Demonology until RoA 2 anyway as a rule because with spell skills ~9-12 in the Demonology spells there's a good chance those monsters turn against you.

Eh, really? I got few spells as high as nine in my first playthough iirc. I always thought 8 was a great value. But then I used to think 10 was the maximum.

I couldn't be bothered to try and work out which thing it might be and just sold the lot.

Tsk. What's the point of playing an RPG if you're going to eschew loot? Besides, you really want some permanently magical weapons. I believe some are even unbreakable.

What use are the blankets you suggested I have for everyone? I have them on my spell casters (was hoping that it would help restore APs on the trail) and can't see any difference.

Do you mean bedrolls? Blade is rather soft on the player, at least that's the impression I got. In Trail you'll need them more. Also, sleeping bags are better, get some for your mages.

Thanks for the info guys. So the only way to find magic stuff is to cast odeum (?) on everything you find? Screw that, I'll leave it rather than go through that tedium.

Don't be silly. Oh well, you can do what you want.

Really wish I could find some of that herb to restore my female mages strength - it's still only 10/14 since that awful bout of tetanus.

Can't you find it or don't you know which you need? The manual says finage should restore attributes. You should be able to buy it.

 

[ashfanman]

The Swamp...

Looking for some help on Star Trail, as I can't figure out what to do next in the Swamps. I killed the engulfer for the Lizardmen and got the Crystal Ball for the witch. However, when I try to give it to her she says something about me being no better than the wizard as I killed her animals, then she fights me. I've killed her, but I can't find the heather plants to pick up. Also, how do I know what Rantzy to capture in the net? Have I done something wrong?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I'd hate to have come this far and not be able to progress!

Thanks,

Chris

 

[Claw]

Well, it's been ages since I played Trail. I understand you need to read two documents you get in the wizard's tower and a chest in the SE of the swamps, respectively. You won't be able to find the heather plants otherwise.
You should get the Ratzy first anyway, according to this walkthrough you'll get a clue to which plant you need this way.

A map of the swamp:

17 - heather plant
21 - chest with net and document
24 - the Rantzy you want


PS: Excuse me for asking this stupid question, but by "got the Crystal Ball for the witch" you mean you killed that wizard dude in the tower (23) and got the document you need as well, right?

Also, the transformed guy will be very sick after he's back to human form. He might also need clothes.

 

[Hazelnut]

Well, I'm still playing RoA1 and finding that it's not as badass as I thought it would be. The combats are not getting harder as I assumed they would. I did have an amusing run in with a sea creature though.

I do have one issue with my dwarf. His basic AR has changed from 0 to -4 and I have no idea why. I noticed it immediately after he leveled to 5, but why levelling up would cause that I don't know. I checked the last savegame before battling the Druid and Wolf lair where he levelled, and his AR is fine. Any ideas RoA experts?

Also I finally found finage in a shop (no where had it) and found that it needs preparation. Dunno if I need a recipe or something. I have one for Expugic, which is poison apparently.

So I have a dwarf with -4 AR and a magess with a ST of 10, but it doesn't matter much because combat's easy even without poison which I've not been using.

 

[Zomg]

No fight in Blade will ever be as tactically interesting as that first one with the 5-6 bandits in the tutorial dungeon. It just gets easier and easier. 99% of the combat is garbage fights that you autobattle away. Star Trail has less absolute garbage combat (like those dungeon fights in Blade where you run into a single defenseless orc over and over) but there's still plenty of autobattle madness once you get up to level 4-5.

 

[Claw]

Also I finally found finage in a shop (no where had it) and found that it needs preparation. Dunno if I need a recipe or something.

*cough* I should really stop speculating about it, since it's clearly too long since I last played RoA.
So I looked into a german DSA-Forum instead, which has a thread on the subject. While your character should normally recover slowly on its own, there may be a bug in Blade that prevents this. Did alot of time pass since your mage was sick? Did you rest in hospices?

PS: Apparently finage could be consumed only in the floppy version of Blade. In all other versions and games it's only useful for alchemy and in combination with the "cure disease" skill.

 

[Binary]

Seeits not just the battles, you actually don't fight as much as in other rpg's. Not by a long shot.

Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember a huge battle on BoD, where about 15-20 bandits would ambush the party.

This was directly north of the starting town, after a fork on the road where, according to the storyline, the party should go west, so maybe it was used to disencourage the players to stay away from the main story.

 

[Andhaira]

Yeah, BoD vets actually hurry to get this battle FIRST, to get max exp becuase in BoD all battles after the first yield the same xp.Stupid, I know.

 

[Hazelnut]

Also I finally found finage in a shop (no where had it) and found that it needs preparation. Dunno if I need a recipe or something.

*cough* I should really stop speculating about it, since it's clearly too long since I last played RoA.
So I looked into a german DSA-Forum instead, which has a thread on the subject. While your character should normally recover slowly on its own, there may be a bug in Blade that prevents this. Did alot of time pass since your mage was sick? Did you rest in hospices?

PS: Apparently finage could be consumed only in the floppy version of Blade. In all other versions and games it's only useful for alchemy and in combination with the "cure disease" skill.

Oh, thanks for that Claw because I can't read german, but it's not great news for my magess. Well I can easily hold out until I've imported into Star Trail. (which had better damn well work otherwise they'll be trouble :twisted: )

yeah, I know it should recover slowly (tetanus was a constant companion for a while) and it was doing that until she got tetanus again - died from it and was resurrected. I think that's probably screwed the regeneration which is why I was after finage. This has been the case for three nights of play now, and probably 2-3 months game time. Not sure what you mean by hospices, I usually rest in inns.

Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember a huge battle on BoD, where about 15-20 bandits would ambush the party.

Hmm, I only got a handful if I recall. About 4-5. I remember thinking that it was simply the first skirmish of some mega battles. Then I found the camp and waded into 6-8 maybe, but it was a walkover. Oh, I'd love to find 20 bandits to fight, that would be fun. Actually fighting even more would be a nice challenge to see if I could...

EDIT:

No fight in Blade will ever be as tactically interesting as that first one with the 5-6 bandits in the tutorial dungeon. It just gets easier and easier. 99% of the combat is garbage fights that you autobattle away. Star Trail has less absolute garbage combat (like those dungeon fights in Blade where you run into a single defenseless orc over and over) but there's still plenty of autobattle madness once you get up to level 4-5.

So if I go into the game at level 5 then it's going to be dull? Damn, why the hell did I start with BoD for? I assumed that it would scale or something in RoA2. If it doesn't then maybe I'll just recreate my team in that game. I'm definitely regretting going all munchkin on Jasede's "all 13's" advice... I just imagined some hard ass game was ahead.

 

[Zomg]

Incredibly dull, yes. I imported my BoD team and then wandered the map, ignoring all the surivalist advice so I could walk around pantsless and barefoot without sleeping bags while wearing winter coats in summer, where I eventually accidentally ran into a hidden dungeon that's supposed to be near the endgame, and I never did anything but autobattle aside from having the elf haste himself occasionally. I did have to cure the diseases numskull and battlefield fever periodically, but the Herbalism/Treat Disease elf never had any trouble.

I think there's a good base for a new party to have fun in Star Trail before the game breaks, though.

 

[Andhaira]

Dude, you are having an easier time due to this thread!! First of all were it not for some advice here you would probably be running around in the game wondering why your characters were getting sick, how to cur them, and dealing with attacks in that situation. One ofthe challenges of the RoA games is a sick and weary party vs fresh opponents.

There will be more of this in Star Trai, its a tougher game than BoD.

Thridly, one of the flaws of these games is that you can eventually get your killed pc reseructted. I SO wish this feature was not implemented (since its not ther in pnp!!) it would make the games even much better.

 

[Jasede]

Lol @ Hazel

"Guys, help me make a good RoA party"
*guys suggest awesome party with awesome stats and give hints*
"GUYZE!!! RoA IS TOO EASY!!!!"

...

lol

You'll prolly have enough trouble in RoA 2 even at level 5 if you don't know what you're doing anyway. (Though honestly, I usually play RoA 2 with level 3 because combat does get so easy to the point of boredom if you're too strong. So what. This game isn't mainly about combat anyway.)

 

[Zomg]

Having denigrated BoA this much, I'm not sure why I suddenly want to replay it using "choose archetype" shit-stat characters from the bad classes.