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Loremaster (hybrid) thread

Fenix

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Basically tread for those who want to play as Loremaster (because you love shiny precious artefacts), who pokes his nose in every hole.
The first thing I want to know is a right build.
I know that in certain places there are stat checks (I asknoweleged about
Abyss and well
), so I'd like to hear a starting build that can get most, if not all.
For now my build is 5/10/5/8/8/4, I would gladly do 4/10/4 but I know you'll need Str and Con (blah).

So, tips for stats are greatly welcomed, also anything about you can do as Loremaster (but not only that, also usual encounters (I'm not sure about it, maybe it is not worth it).
For example, encounter with Livia - you can get 2 SP in it, but what happend if you prefer to kill them (later)? How many SP you can get? Is there something valuable that worth a hassle?

Intention for this thread is to make life easier for those who would feel frustrated if he found after he played a week that his build is wrong, and in this game this definitely can happen several times.
I know this is not really hardcore way, but I'm too old for this shit, so forgive me my codexers. )
 

Saark

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As far as I'm aware you will need Con more than Dex as a loremaster. Some of the most interesting places are very hazardous and require you to withstand the environment - con almost always checks for those. At least 2 places in Maadoran were unavailable to me because I didnt meet the Con requirement.
 

Fenix

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I have a guess about such, but I need exact numbers.
Sadly nobody wants to help with them without poisoning me with spoilers.

HELP GOOD PEOPLE! HELP!
Just give a numbers how much Str and Con I need to get all curious places/events/artefacts!
Without spoilers!
 

Fenix

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So, I killed Livia&Co and found absolutely nothing that worth it - leather and bronze armour, iron shamshir, 4 throwing knifes, bronze dagger and axe, buckler, ~ 100 imperials - and 1 SP instead of 2, which is important in case of high Int Loremaster.
 

Jaedar

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Just give a numbers how much Str and Con I need to get all curious places/events/artefacts!
I don't think there are any Strength requirements to get anywhere. There is one place with a dex+con=12 check that is pretty important. I'm told you need 7 Con for a certain event.
 

Fenix

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Anyway, just wanted to know how many hours does a Loremaster run take?

If he isn't a pure talker, so he is hybrid for fights - long, long time if your PC load game ~45 sec like my doing it.
Pure talker and pure combat builds all are very fast - first go without fights, second most likely will miss half of the content at least for the first time.
I will use spoiler tags more carefully. )

I'm told you need 7 Con for a certain event.

In that case started build should be
with Con 6 isn't it?
 

Saark

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Not really.
Since to get to the healing machine you need to hit the dex+con=12 skillcheck in the well, you would have to go 6dex/6con and use the machine to hit the 7con check. You could then just go 5dex/7con to begin with. I heard that the thieves guild machine does a similar job, but you need 2 jars for that one don't you? And the second jar is in the medical facility, which you need to go through the well for, making all of this moot.
Having 7 con just for the abyss really isn't worth it anyway, since you only need it to blow up the entirety of Maadoran.
 

Fenix

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Wait
to use machine that can rise Con you need 7 Con? Looks like bullshit or this is misunderstood?
 

Saark

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There is 2 machines. One fully working one which you can find behind the portal in the well, and the one Levir wants to use. There is also only 2 jars for those machines. One in the strongbox next to the fully operational machine, and another one you steal in the TG quest. Now if anybody could confirm this, but I seem to remember Levirs machine requiring both for one use. Now if you want to boost your stats, you will have to be able to deal with the dex+con=12 skillcheck either way. Either for the "real" machine that can boost twice, or simply for the second jar required to use Levirs.

If you only need 1 jar for Levirs machine, then you may actually run with something like 5Dex 6Con, boost your con by 1 point with Levirs machine and get into the well/abyss. You would basically have to start with a loremaster background to get the respirator from the prospector in the Inn, since the other one is in the well, and then join the thieves guild to be able to get to Levirs healing machine.
 

Fenix

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So, as Loremaster I try to kill thugs behind tivern, but can't. 2 daggers, 4 dodge, 3 CS, 4 Craft, 2 crafted daggers.
Should I at all kill them first, or there are another options to get gold/SP?
 

Elhoim

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2 daggers

[Novice] You've learned to look menacing while holding a dagger. All you need is a good scowl.

Should I at all kill them first, or there are another options to get gold/SP?

I usually go with speech loremasters. They can get money by conning people around town, MG gives good SP and gold, then go to the mine, and fix it for the aurelians. You can get access to lots of artifacts and locations by working for them.
 

Blackmill

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I have a guess about such, but I need exact numbers.
Sadly nobody wants to help with them without poisoning me with spoilers.

HELP GOOD PEOPLE! HELP!
Just give a numbers how much Str and Con I need to get all curious places/events/artefacts!
Without spoilers!

I was able to get everything with 4 STR, 5 DEX, and 7 CON, if I recall my stats correctly. And on another note, there are several lore-related events that don't reward you with an artifact. If you want to access all those as well you may need more INT. I'm not certain though.
 

Fenix

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Well, for now my build is 4/8/6/8/10/4 and I want to use daggers. I suspect that spears will be more useful here, but daggers all I want.
So, any tips?
I can allocate 3 daggers/3 dodge/3CS or 2/4/3.
I can make bronze Lorica Musculata (right? light armor 15 lb).
I can get first poison but don't want to spend 5 SP yet.
Tried aimed strikes in different bodyparts, at best I have 15 hp after hammer man died. There are two of them left.
 

SniperHF

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I'd go 2/4/3. Them counter attacks + you can grab a dagger that has a high bonus to THC.

If you can up your CS to 4 relatively quickly you can pass some useful CS checks.
 

Lacrymas

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Are the artifacts used for something? My first playthrough was with a loremaster that I completed the merchant questline with. My build was 4/4/4/8/10/10. I got some artifacts here and there, but I couldn't figure out what the main questline for a loremaster is, so I started the merchant one.
 

SniperHF

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Are the artifacts used for something? My first playthrough was with a loremaster that I completed the merchant questline with. My build was 4/4/4/8/10/10. I got some artifacts here and there, but I couldn't figure out what the main questline for a loremaster is, so I started the merchant one.

Artifacts are most definitely used, especially in satellite locations around Maadoran. Loremasters do usually join a guild like the Merchants. One of the cool things about the merchants guild is its relatively easy to join at a few different points. You can get kicked out of a few guilds and join the Merchants.

Fighting lore masters get opportunities that pure talker lore masters like yours do not. The opposite is also true of course. Maybe give the lore master another shot as an Indiana Jones type.
 

Fenix

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You can get kicked out of a few guilds and join the Merchants.

Now that is intersting. Few tips? I can't see how hybrid like 4/5/6 can do that.
Actually I lost a little.
I made bronze IGA and with daggers 2/dodge 1/CS3 thugs behind tavern just beat the shit out of my char... usually 1 or 2 turn. )))
 

SniperHF

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Now that is intersting. Few tips? I can't see how hybrid like 4/5/6 can do that.
Actually I lost a little.
I made bronze IGA and with daggers 2/dodge 1/CS3 thugs behind tavern just beat the shit out of my char... usually 1 or 2 turn. )))

The armor method you used is usually how I go about it. You might be able to pull it off but Dodge 1 is probably too low for that fight. Usually I'll do something like combining sword + training from Dellar


In this situation I'd probably take the easy cheap skill points available from using the PER check with the bandits and dump some of the points into combat afterward. That's a pretty inconsequential fight in the scheme of things anyway though so more likely I wouldn't game my build around it at all. Just try it right before you leave Teron.


Also I usually start my 'hybrids' the opposite way; a little less generous on the talky stats and more combat skills to start but after that most points go to non-combat skills. Especially post-Teron.

This probably limits the overall maximum potential of the 'hybrid' but I don't claim to be an uber min-maxer either :M. Plus I've played AoD so much I've lost my patience on reloading for combat results and don't like trying to game the system any longer by reloading a fight 5-6+ times to get the result I want. I'll just spend the points to make it happen.


RE: the merchants thing specifically.

I'm not sure on all the different ways you can pull it off, but one way I know specifically you can get in with the merchants is to fail guild quests in Maadoran. You can then use talky skills to get in with Strabos and start that path, it's pretty cool.

There are similar options for joining the Aurelians
 

Saark

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Well, here's what I did: I finished pretty much every quest in Teron that did not involve the palace. Once I had everything done (or couldn't do certain parts) I got myself the raider/outpost quests. Negotiated the 1000gold ransom but didn't turn it in, instead went to the outpost and helped the aurelians which gets you out of teron immediately. You get an extra quest from Gaelius if you go about it that way, and you basically get away with an additional 1000 gold. You will be missing out on some SP though, probably around 15-20.
If you play your cards right you not only get the quest item/artifact that Gaelius wants (and you can keep it just by lying to him), but also an incredible armour. (11DR, 60 hardness, 10AP, 10/3 penalty, CS65)
 

epeli

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Well, your choices matter more than character stats. And you will have to make plenty of those. See where the story takes you without worrying about character minmaxing on the first few playthroughs. AoD is very enjoyable that way, especially on talker characters.

But statcheck-wise, I believe 8 int (might be higher), 8 per and 7 con is the absolute minimum you need if you want to poke your nose in every nook and cranny in search of ancient lore and artifacts.

I've been trying to avoid spoilers and figure things out on my own, and my second loremaster playthrough started with 4-4-7-8-10-7 stats. Pure talker, not a hybrid. A physically inept weakling with keen senses and good intellect - The harsh world of AoD is a surprisingly welcoming place for wimpy intellectuals. And it was my favorite playthrough so far! So many awesome accomplishments.
- Had a very good reputation (15+) with all the houses despite switching sides at every opportunity.
- Learned much of the old world; from storytellers and loremasters (Cassius, Abukar, Erebus, Ordu Keeper of Tales) and from ancient databanks (Saross, Inferiae, Zamedi, Ganezzar, Hellgate, Al-Akia).
- Found (and repaired) what I assume are most, if not all, fragments of old technology. Power armor, bolter, nullifier, the bomb, the airship, the arch. Had to skip repairing the mine and the energy bridge though.
- Killed a god, Glaath-Zor, in Abyss.
- Stopped another god, Balzaar, from entering the world.
- Entered the arch portal and returned alive.
- Would have killed a third god, Agathoth, as well... if the game wouldn't become one-way trip when entering Ziggurat. Meh. So, I never went to the Ziggurat even though I had opened multiple routes in.
- Became the One God.

Stats right before ascending:
kwYiMqB.jpg
And there's still much to see, many new choices opened up and went unexplored during that playthrough. :love: AOD!
 

Saark

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Which factions did you run with in each of the cities to get those reputation values? This seems extremely fun to replicate. :)
 

Fenix

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Yesterday I thought long and hard and came to the same conclusion epeli.
It was very stupid move to go first time with hybrid like 4/5/6/ etc. - I deprived myself of the lion's share of fun.
So I clearly will start something much more manageble like 4/8/6. )
 
Last edited:

Fenix

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Btw, is it possible to
find atrefact as a Loremaster that Feng sells if you are not Loremaster?
 

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