In Progress Let's play Disciples of Steel

[kofeur]

Mining and more

I had already found the place before while I was looking for the hammer

It is well hidden, you really have to walk all over the place to find it

A high perception is helpful

But you also need the disarm/pick lock skill

hmm... are we dealing with a kind of medusa?

Let's see...

A flaming man? He doesn't even feel superior

He didn't last long, but he had some nice equipment

It's weird, he didn't cause a lot of damage to my knight in terms of points but he did cause massive wounds

Only 14 points of damage on the arms and 6 points of damage on the legs, yet...

Anyway back to Hollengard

And next mission is...

So the dwarves weren't frozen by the beast I killed... the plot thickens.
Let's go hunt for that mushroom in the meanwhile...

Where could that swamp be? Let's take a look at the map to get an idea. This is the capital of Rathadon

And this is the whole Rathadon area, I would know about that considering the numbers of Rathadonian soldiers I killed training my disciples

And the only swamp recognised under the 'places' tab is this one...

So I went there and got attacked by some ghouls. And that reminded me of an area I had gone through again while I was training my disciples! Who said grinding had to be boring? You can explore the world while doing so.

This is the place in question. And if you look on the lower left of the screen it tells you what kind of terrain you're in. Playing new games really destroys our observation skills... I only noticed this feature while looking for the swamp...

Yes here exactly, The little square represents my location

And we find the mushroom quite easily!

And just after that we meet some charming locals...

... who clearly feel superior to us outsiders

Everybody is brought at the same level in front of my stunning monk, he's the great equalizer!

Yes even undead can be stunned. That being said, I find it refreshing that zombies are not low level monsters like in most other fantasy RPGs. Here they are in a nice middle range.

Back to Hollengard

And what is the next mission?

Interesting, we will be going to some forbidden area next!

 

[lightbane]

These are the derpiest zombies I've ever seen.

 

[MMXI]

Looks like you're finally making progress! More!

 

[CappenVarra]

Wow, monks sure seem to be vital in this game. Keep up the good work!

 

[Yeesh]

Once you go black mushroom, you never go back. Mushroom.

 

[kofeur]

lightbane

They're actually quite tough, they would slaughter a starting team!

MMXI

Big update coming soon

CappenVarra

Well they are vital for my strategy really. I've actually gone and tried to solve the quests of a town (Hollengard) you would normally tackle after having finished other towns first. I like the monk because he allows me to tackle fights that would be hopeless otherwise.

Yeesh

The frozen dwarves never came back :D

 

[Sceptic]

Big update coming soon

Awesome!

 

[kofeur]

Forbidden Mines

Ok, so we need to find the key to the sealed mines. But first we need to find the mine!
I never found anything that had guards in front or keys. And I've been around the area extensively. So what if the mine is in the city itself?
And indeed...

Directly as we enter we find treasure

It is actually the key!

And that is the entrance to the mines

That was easy!

Ok, what next?

We're going demon hunting! And we get the key back!

Incidently, it is the right key. It wouldn't have been such a shame not to explore this mine

Is that our demon already?!

You can kill the elemental or answer the question which is Mymax. It is some kind of copy protection, you need to look it in the manual

These are the remains of those who didn't know the answer

hmm...

Our first encounter

But my party has become so strong that even skeletons are scared

The first of many secret doors. I just look for them all over the place

3 doors to look into

One contains something

A key

And the other door is locked

But, the key I just found doesn't work

And behind a secret door not far from here we find the blade!

Indeed the broken blade was the right one

And our next mission is evidently to kill the demon

Let's see how awesome that blade is, it's after all our first magical blade!

hmm... It's a 2 handed blade that does less damage than a normal one

If it's not highly damaging it might be highly accurate. let's compare it to the backstabbing dagger (which is the best weapon I have here)

Attack goes up to 379... nice!

And now the magic blade...

Attack goes down to 122.. huh?!
Ok... It must be a blade that is only useful facing the demon...

Back in the dungeon we find the main food production area

And near this area

They didn't last long...

Exploring further we find the stairs to the lower level

Things are getting exciting, we have 3 doors to choose from

Taking the left door and exploring a bit, we find some higher level enemies

It's the flaming guys again!

And they're accompanied by the same creature my monk killed on his own, the one that stinked of death...

They shouldn't feel that superior now...

Well, even if my characters are quite strong, they still got damaged

But let's see what they were guarding

Looks nice!

Ok, let's go explore the right door now

Who's standing guard this time?

Oh just some weaklings... my mages can deal with them on their own without magic

A Vampire?

No...

Same as the zombies, the mummies are quite tough

Tougher than the zombies actually

They're well equipped...

And they can hurt you badly enough...

Another secret door

This place is full of them! Nothing in this small room though...

We're getting close to the demon

Managed to kill it with my magician. That's the power of a well placed aimed attack!

And then we hear things...

Just a year?! That seems like an awfully short deadline...

And further down we find the demon! What does he look like?

Not what I expected...

Wow, this is beyond feeling superior! This is going to be a tough fight!

This time the Grunor is just confident, doesn't feel superior anymore

But I did win in the end

Funnily enough the blade proved to be useless as I couldn't even touch him with it. On the other hand, the demon wasn't immune to magic either. So I cast a huge spell at him and finished him off with my fighters. And yes I stunned him, although barely managed to do so.

And in the corner of the room I find

I think the wiz pick is a kind of picklock... Will need to raise my skill before I try using it.

Let's go explore the main room that we saw in the beginning

Interesting... there might be some kind of dragon here, considering this room is so big!

hmm... this could be a secret room

But I tried bumping into all the walls and couldn't find any secret door

I did found some treasure in the corner

That looks nice!

This is no secret door, even though it looks like it could be one

So no big dragon in this big room...

Oh well back to the city

So what is our next mission?

Seems like we're done here. Let's go check out what missions we can can get from some other town.

I wonder if the blade being useless was intended or if it's a bug. There are quite few loose ends, a copper key yhat I didn't find any use for. I will keep it in my inventory just in case. A big cavern with no big monster to kill, and a door I didn't manage to open.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Behold, a beholder!

 

[CappenVarra]

Nah, it's a Grontokleer

 

[Yeesh]

Look, I'm not a board-certified swordsmith or anything, but if someone claims they've reforged a blade for you in less time than it takes to heat up a Hot Pocket, they probably didn't do a great job.

 

[MMXI]

Look, I'm not a board-certified swordsmith or anything, but if someone claims they've reforged a blade for you in less time than it takes to heat up a Hot Pocket, they probably didn't do a great job.

Which I guess explains why the blade sucks.

Anyway, very good update. That dungeon seemed pretty cool. More please!

 

[Whisper]

"Here he is, just west of Hollengard, and he is called a Weart not an Ogre on the screen"

This ogre Weart is not "at crossroads to the east" of Hollengard but "west of Hollengard"? Can you please tell exactly where you found that ogre (i spend 1 hour at crossroads and though "S"earching tell that he is near, he dont appear).


SPOILER:
Also in dungeon with backstab dagger you missed some secret room with papers Receipt for weggni(sp?) for quest and staff for mage (ogre + minions scripted battle room, need search corner).
Also "search" in corners of rooms sometimes gives potions and other items.

 

[kofeur]

Crooked Bee

Yep a beholder, can't say I expected that... Combat wise, it was a straight up fighter, he was using a 2 handed sword (I don't know how)

Yeesh

Indeed, Using this sword made my knight worse than my mages!

MMXI

Thanks, working on the rest

Speaking of which, I found the use for the wizpick. It actually opens any locked door in the game with no need for any skill. The only downside, is that it only has 10 charges. I tested it out on the closed doors and ended up in a section full of vampires. I am goign to keep the charges for now, because I don't know when I might need it to advance in the game. I just need to keep track of all locked doors with no keys that I can find

I find it quite cool that in such an old game, they dared give the player an item that can open all doors. That means that the pick locks skill might be useful after all, should try increasing it.

 

[kofeur]

"Here he is, just west of Hollengard, and he is called a Weart not an Ogre on the screen"

This ogre Weart is not "at crossroads to the east" of Hollengard but "west of Hollengard"? Can you please tell exactly where you found that ogre (i spend 1 hour at crossroads and though "S"earching tell that he is near, he dont appear).


SPOILER:
Also in dungeon with backstab dagger you missed some secret room with papers Receipt for weggni(sp?) for quest and staff for mage (ogre + minions scripted battle room, need search corner).
Also "search" in corners of rooms sometimes gives potions and other items.

Sorry I should have written 'east', I'll edit the post.

I found the ogre or weart here exactly:

I never did a search, I just kept walking through the crossroad until I got him as a random encounter. Are you playing the patched version of the game?

Thanks for the spoiler, that dungeon was part of the quest for Kitari?

 

[Whisper]

Yes, i play patched version. Today i found this ogre in "Lair" one step south from crossroads, needed to "S"earch.
About Kitari i dont know, i just went to dungeon for backstab dagger (since i needed good weapon for rogue).

About secret doors, i check every wall, seems its a must or you can miss something important. Hoped that Perception would help. Btw some door in dungeon on page 2 of this forum - you can open with magician Knock spell (15+ power). Found green dragon and some coins.

But you cant open door that is in Barelk with spells. My thief lock pick is very low (very hard to get exp for him since he already spends Xp on Perception, too long to explain but if you character spends Xp on some non-combat skills, then pure combat characters get XP faster since they kill more and better), i plan to visit dungeon in Teal for lockpick, maybe this will help.

p.s. Barelk blade is Crushing weapon and its better then backstab dagger in stats (provided you have same Crush and Edged skill for same character).

p.p.s. I also save every body of unusual enemy in Vault. I dont know what happens if later you are asked to kill that beast and bring body and you've already killed it and left body behind.

This game is awesome. I have more fun than most modern RPG (whose design is very casual-oriented).

 

[kofeur]

Yes, i play patched version. Today i found this ogre in "Lair" one step south from crossroads, needed to "S"earch.

Glad to hear you found the ogre finally

About Kitari i dont know, i just went to dungeon for backstab dagger (since i needed good weapon for rogue).

About secret doors, i check every wall, seems its a must or you can miss something important. Hoped that Perception would help.

I sometimes get a message saying my thief 'felt a draft' now in front of a secret door. I have a perception of 370 at the moment. Perception is still important to spot traps and treasures. If you have a high enough perception you spot the treasure automatically without having to use search function. Make sure your thief is always the pointman in the dungeon.

Btw some door in dungeon on page 2 of this forum - you can open with magician Knock spell (15+ power). Found green dragon and some coins.

Thanks for the tip, I'll go check it out. It's good to find out that the knock spell is useful!

But you cant open door that is in Barelk with spells. My thief lock pick is very low (very hard to get exp for him since he already spends Xp on Perception, too long to explain but if you character spends Xp on some non-combat skills, then pure combat characters get XP faster since they kill more and better), i plan to visit dungeon in Teal for lockpick, maybe this will help.

The door opens if you use the wizpick, but it only has 10 charges, I am keeping in case I need it later

p.s. Barelk blade is Crushing weapon and its better then backstab dagger in stats (provided you have same Crush and Edged skill for same character).

Indeed it is a crushing weapon! I gave it to my priest:

With the morning star his base hit is at 221

With the blade, he's at 295

And if we compare the other stats:

My priest is going to be quite dangerous now!

As far as experience goes, I'm going to explain that in another post later... basically you're completely right it is very hard to get XP for less combat focused characters. I compensate like this:

- When visiting a dungeon, I let my weaker character kill the weaker enemies (like orcs, jabberlings, etc...)
- I stun a strong enemy with my monk and let a weaker character finish him with an aimed shot
- I send the character I need to improve on a solo 'training' trip

p.p.s. I also save every body of unusual enemy in Vault. I dont know what happens if later you are asked to kill that beast and bring body and you've already killed it and left body behind.

Yes I do the same

This game is awesome. I have more fun than most modern RPG (whose design is very casual-oriented).

Indeed
I'm having a lot of fun with this game and this time I will finish it

 

[Fowyr]

The Mines of Barelk already? Awesome.

 

[octavius]

So what is the verdict on this game? I haven't read this LP since the game is now number 3 on my to play list and I want to avoid spoilers, but it seems to be a game you either hate or like.
From what I've read about it it reminds me a bit about Knights of Legend, being rather hard core and made by "amateurs" who only made that one game, although KoL was backed up by Origin and their artists.
The designer and programmer of the game showed up in a thread over at Abandonia, BTW.

 

[Fowyr]

It's one of the most enjoyable Goldboxes-inspired game what I saw. The one of drawbacks is overabundance of trash encounters in last part of game, but it can be alleviated by Wrath of the God spell.

 

[Whisper]

This game has a sence of exploration. Sence of some danger and achievement. Sence of unknown.

I dont know why this game is not popular? There is no FAQ for it even.

 

[Whisper]

To all who play or played this game:
1. You can do quests for all cities including Rathatian (sp?) or you have to choose side and its impossible to finish quest for all cities?
2. Since i mostly use power word:stun from illusionist, i ask for feedback on other spells, how useful are they? Maybe i should go with 2 magicians then with 1 magician and 1 illusionist.
3. Also on power of spells, it is always best idea to use spell power to max of damage spells? Because 20 spell power in magic bolt will hit for 50 dmg and 10 spell power for this spell will hit same creature for 15 dmg. So basicly it is use 1 or 2 dmg spells at max per battle, then you have no mana.
4. What non-damage spells you mostly use for magician and illusionist? Especialy for illusionist.
5. Have some creatures weaknesses to some spells and heavy resistance to another (not talking about that is is harder to land spell on tough mobs like fire giant).
6. Chance to fail spell casting, aka failed to concentrate - what affects it? Wearing armor? Just random chance? Wounds?

p.s. Where in manual you found "Mimox" password for guardian in Barelk? (and what happens if you dont know and attack it?) I found name after talking in tavern, but couldnt find in manual.

 

[Fowyr]

1. You can do quests for all cities including Rathatian (sp?) or you have to choose side and its impossible to finish quest for all cities?

You can do quests for all cities. Rathadon quests is almost non-existent

2. Since i mostly use power word:stun from illusionist, i ask for feedback on other spells, how useful are they? Maybe i should go with 2 magicians then with 1 magician and 1 illusionist.

Oh no! Illusionists pretty useless after mid-game. Afair, useful spells are:
Priests: healing spells, Transport, Cause Blindness (sometimes), Wrath of God (always useful)
Mages: Magic Bolt, Wall of Fire (sometimes), Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Time Stop, Deathstrike (very useful against powerful opponents), Ice Storm
Illusionists: Mind Flay, Power Word Stun, Reveal, Mass Invisibility

3. Also on power of spells, it is always best idea to use spell power to max of damage spells? Because 20 spell power in magic bolt will hit for 50 dmg and 10 spell power for this spell will hit same creature for 15 dmg. So basicly it is use 1 or 2 dmg spells at max per battle, then you have no mana.

Depends on the HP and resistances of monster.

5. Have some creatures weaknesses to some spells and heavy resistance to another (not talking about that is is harder to land spell on tough mobs like fire giant).

can't remember

6. Chance to fail spell casting, aka failed to concentrate - what affects it? Wearing armor? Just random chance? Wounds?

Maybe bloodloss, wounds and magic skill of the caster.

p.s. Where in manual you found "Mimox" password for guardian in Barelk? (and what happens if you dont know and attack it?) I found name after talking in tavern, but couldnt find in manual.

You always can check steel1.mk1

 

[Whisper]

1. I want to do all quests. Having no "pointer" makes them sometimes challenging though. And thing is that you can drop body of future quest's mob (thus making quest impossible to finish?)
2. Why use Reveal? since you can "S"earch in combat. Other illusionist spells are used? Like beguile or astral protector or confusion etc. But still not bad class, power word stun saved several combats.

Also do you remember where is "chest" on "shore" for lord of teal (aka pirate king) quest?
I am currently in graverobbers hideout, thinking that "Sirius" for women-king of demata is there, am i right?

I am going to write FAQ for this game probably in future, so all answers are very welcome.

p.s. I think ranger with high bow skill is more powerful then monk. Though all classes are somehow balanced.

 

[lightbane]

Moar!!