Be aware, once you get to Secret of the Silver Blades, there is a Vault in town where your characters can stash their treasure. This carries over between games, so when you start a second game, you can outfit all your characters better than the stuff the townsfolk give you. Also beware of the maze between the town and the Well. You can get very seriously lost in that area very quickly. Look for a walkthrough online. You WILL appreciate it.
btw, once I get there, how do I transfer saves between games? Do I just copy/paste the SAVE folder or is it something else?
And I shall look up a walkthrough for the maze! Thanks for the advice.
There used to just be a utility attached to the game itself, that walked you through the required disc swaps. I don't know how that might work on the version you have (I've always played Gold Box games from floppy disc!)
Funny that I don't remember the maze. I loved Silver Blades the best and you'd think I would remember a detail like that, but.....??? Then again, way back then we didn't merely have the internet to go Google a walkthrough. We hadn't invented fire yet either.
I too would like an EE version of the Gold Box games. So many fun memories from playing those games.
Pool of Radiance - The first of the lot and filled with fun. Tavern brawls, battles against huge waves of enemies, meeting trolls for the first time!, getting lost in garden maze, finding a magic sword in a well, and the very creepy Graveyard.
Curse of the Azure Bonds - One of the better "novel tie-in" games I've played. Lots of places to explore, cool tattoos, and you get to visit Myth Drannor! Also, fireworks at the end. What more can you ask for? The Mulmaster Beholder Corps perhaps? Check!
Secret of the Silver Blades - Vala! Nifty mazes and ice caves which inspired me to buy huge pieces of oversized graph paper to fit the oversized maps on. Also, seeing the word phylactery for the first time and then trying to say it. Good times.
Pools of Darkness - Sometimes a bit uneven in fun, but with definite highlights. The banshee in the bell tower, meeting elminster, walking around inside the body of a god.
Champions of Krynn - I loved the setting and the unique magic system. Draconians and all their varied ways of dying were good fun, and shocking the first few times they blew up a party member.
Dark Queen of Krynn - Fighting on a flying citadel while it crashes toward the ground, visiting the doomed city of Dulcimer, beating up dragons, and an underwater adventure!
Gateway to the Savage Frontier, Treasures of the Savage Frontier - Finding ore to craft a magical blade, traveling to a variety of cities you don't often get to visit in Forgotten Realms games, surviving the long battle at the end of Gateway, perhaps having a character falling love with an NPC in Treasures.
I too would like an EE version of the Gold Box games. So many fun memories from playing those games.
Pool of Radiance - The first of the lot and filled with fun. Tavern brawls, battles against huge waves of enemies, meeting trolls for the first time!, getting lost in garden maze, finding a magic sword in a well, and the very creepy Graveyard.
Curse of the Azure Bonds - One of the better "novel tie-in" games I've played. Lots of places to explore, cool tattoos, and you get to visit Myth Drannor! Also, fireworks at the end. What more can you ask for? The Mulmaster Beholder Corps perhaps? Check!
Secret of the Silver Blades - Vala! Nifty mazes and ice caves which inspired me to buy huge pieces of oversized graph paper to fit the oversized maps on. Also, seeing the word phylactery for the first time and then trying to say it. Good times.
Pools of Darkness - Sometimes a bit uneven in fun, but with definite highlights. The banshee in the bell tower, meeting elminster, walking around inside the body of a god.
Champions of Krynn - I loved the setting and the unique magic system. Draconians and all their varied ways of dying were good fun, and shocking the first few times they blew up a party member.
Dark Queen of Krynn - Fighting on a flying citadel while it crashes toward the ground, visiting the doomed city of Dulcimer, beating up dragons, and an underwater adventure!
Gateway to the Savage Frontier, Treasures of the Savage Frontier - Finding ore to craft a magical blade, traveling to a variety of cities you don't often get to visit in Forgotten Realms games, surviving the long battle at the end of Gateway, perhaps having a character falling love with an NPC in Treasures.
Did you say. . . Underwater adventure? Oh dear, no.
@Vallmyr I thought the underwater portion was one of the most beautiful sections of that game. A light blue background with coral and swimming fish. It was gorgeous. And then you go back up in the middle of the city and fight fire elementals in the air. The worst part is, if you played the second game and didn't play the first, you don't have a Dragonlance to fight the Dragon Turtles and Steam-breathing Dragons underwater. (Dragonlances do your HP in Damage vs. Dragons). The city is Naulidis/Celanost.
I remember more of Kristophan better in the second game. The part with the underground Dungeon. If you play this game, there is a secret door in the room with the Black Puddings. You can easily miss it. I did.
I really enjoyed the underwater portion too. And, unless my memory is faulty, I believe at least one spell reacts differently under water. Lighting bolt acts more like a fireball, and I don't think you can cast fireball or other fire spells at all. I also seem to remember movement being restricted in some cases. It's been a very long while since I played though.
So far haven't had a lot of time to play though I'm super hype for when I do. Probably going to end up having a walkthrough pulled up at least for my first run XD
Learned the ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE! Thanks to google. Soooo, I'm going to have my Half-Elf Cleric/Mage learn charm person and animate dead. I can charm an enemy so it joins my group, kill it, and then animate it! MUAHAHAHAHAHA
Playing Pool of Radiance for the very first time, I suggest that you skip the walk through. Just go and explore and have fun. It's a great story and it is fun the way it unfolds. With subsequent games you may choose to take a gander at various maps (Silverblades in particular apparently), but at least give PoR a try without any help. I think you will enjoy it more that way.
Playing Pool of Radiance for the very first time, I suggest that you skip the walk through. Just go and explore and have fun. It's a great story and it is fun the way it unfolds. With subsequent games you may choose to take a gander at various maps (Silverblades in particular apparently), but at least give PoR a try without any help. I think you will enjoy it more that way.
Alright, I shall do as such then!
Actually going to play it now. I have a few hours before my next psych class begins.
If you go to Sokol Island. Be aware of a fight with tons of undead. I'd hire a couple of heroes to fight with you at the training hall. There is a level 6 fighter hero you can hire. Secret Tech- Let him do most of the fighting and die. His sword is a +1 sword. Take it as part of your loot. Profit.
Also, put off doing the graveyard (Valinghen Graveyard) until the town council offers you some undead fighting equipment to help you… the graveyard is very difficult later on, with a JuJu Zombie. Wraith and Vampire, among others. Also, the vampire, when you find it's coffin, looks like the coffin has been purified with holy water and holy symbols. Purify it again… you'll be glad you did! Also, be aware that Wraiths and vampires drain levels on hitting you. Bring Bless Spells- again, you'll be glad you did!
I kind of envy you playing through the game for the first time. I'd so love to do that again. Trolls, the Library, the Graveyard. So many places to explore and so many monsters to face.
I kind of envy you playing through the game for the first time. I'd so love to do that again. Trolls, the Library, the Graveyard. So many places to explore and so many monsters to face.
It's actually been pretty great. Since I'm somewhat young, 21 and such, I missed out on a lot of the older RPGs. I've played tons of Final Fantasy (nearly all of them) but never had a pc when I was younger so missed out on every WRPG (Except for BG1 which my brother sometimes let me play).
Now I'm discovering things like Icewind Dale, BGII, Wizardry, and the of course, Pool of Radiance.
I have to say I'm infatuated with the design of these older rpgs as opposed to new design.
I'm hoping Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity is at least reminiscent of these older games.
So far the most modern games I find that feel like these older games are NWN2 and Dragon Age: Origins.
They, themselves, are also becoming aged now.
Just bought a bunch of equipment and am now broke! XD I'm not using a walkthrough but I'm keeping a tab open for spell descriptions and item descriptions along with the journal entries. I also have a set of maps pulled up but only going to use them if I get super lose >_>
LOL. Go out and explore. Get some gold and some treasure. You will very quickly find a well. Have fun with it.
Be aware that leveling up requires 1K gold per level you are advancing (so 5K to go from level 4 to level 5), PER CHARACTER. It adds up quite quickly. Keep this very much in mind when you are buying stuff because often times that level will be more valuable than the gear you could get with it.
You can also hire mercs to go with you. This will help if you are facing something particularly harrowing and don't know how to defeat it. But again that's gold that you may want towards leveling up, so you are going to have to manage your funds, at least initially. In later games it isn't as much of a problem.
As was mentioned before, some people actually get out a pad of graph paper and graph your adventures. The world is designed in square blocks so it won't be that difficult to do if you have a mind for that type of thing. That is what we used to do when we played PnP, so it was second nature to us old gamers.
LOL. Go out and explore. Get some gold and some treasure. You will very quickly find a well. Have fun with it.
Be aware that leveling up requires 1K gold per level you are advancing (so 5K to go from level 4 to level 5), PER CHARACTER. It adds up quite quickly. Keep this very much in mind when you are buying stuff because often times that level will be more valuable than the gear you could get with it.
You can also hire mercs to go with you. This will help if you are facing something particularly harrowing and don't know how to defeat it. But again that's gold that you may want towards leveling up, so you are going to have to manage your funds, at least initially. In later games it isn't as much of a problem.
As was mentioned before, some people actually get out a pad of graph paper and graph your adventures. The world is designed in square blocks so it won't be that difficult to do if you have a mind for that type of thing. That is what we used to do when we played PnP, so it was second nature to us old gamers.
I think I might actually go about doing that~
In my Pathfinder PnP group I'm in I'm the designated journal/map guy. I write the sessions events (in my characters PoV) in the journal so if we need to reference something and I have a graph sheet I use to keep track of each area we go to.
I have a feeling I'm going to lose the rest of the year to this series of games. XD
Also I noticed my Magic User/Thief, Fae, can't use bows. Is this intended?
I think back in the old days that Magic User/Thieves were restricted to the least class weapons. Dagger, Dart, Sling, Staff. I could be wrong on that, but that sounds right.
Also just a caveat on my previous post. I am not 100% sure on the level up costs. I know you have to pay to level up and that it is a chunk of money per level. I just am not sure on the exact amounts.
And yeah, those kobolds can be painful. Wait till you encounter Orcs.
I'm pretty sure its just 1000 gp to level up. The DMG might have suggested the steeper costs, but I don't think they were implemented that way. I seem to remember always using a bow for a mage/thief; was there a strength requirement I'm forgetting? Or maybe I'm just thinking of a fighter/mage.
The early battles are a challenge! I remember so many battles just barely managing against kobolds or goblins and hurrying back to town to rest and heal. Amassing wealth and experience is very slow at first!
Most of my knowledge is way out of date, that much is clear. I remember it being expensive to level up, particularly if you had multiple party members who needed to level up. I always had it in my mind that it was 1k per level, but even at 1k per character, that's a lot of change for a beginning party. Again apologies if my brain isn't as up as it should be for this stuff. It's been more than 25 years.
And yes, many of the early battles are TOUGH. I believe my memory won't fail me if I state a certain Orc battle, one battle in the basement of a library, a certain Bar Brawl and the graveyard in general as being particularly tough for beginning adventures.
Most of my knowledge is way out of date, that much is clear. I remember it being expensive to level up, particularly if you had multiple party members who needed to level up. I always had it in my mind that it was 1k per level, but even at 1k per character, that's a lot of change for a beginning party. Again apologies if my brain isn't as up as it should be for this stuff. It's been more than 25 years.
And yes, many of the early battles are TOUGH. I believe my memory won't fail me if I state a certain Orc battle, one battle in the basement of a library, a certain Bar Brawl and the graveyard in general as being particularly tough for beginning adventures.
I got WRECKED by acidentally entering the tavern. I was oh like, "Oh cool! They even have Tavern stories and stuff!" *goes to read tavern tale 20*
SUDDENLY BAR FIGHT
Oh, Piro, my little gnome thief girl, just got one shotted. Dandy.
Oh, I guess I don't need you living either Val'myr.
It seems I've ran into an issue. So got a bunch of platinum from giving the potion from the rope guild to the wizard guy. Only won the fight in said rope guild because sleep IS AN AWESOME SPELL! XD
Anyway, so 2 of my fighters, Aria and Aiyumii, can level as well as my thief, Piro.
Well I go in and train Piro and it's fine. I go to train Aiyumii but it says I need 1000gp. She has 100 Platinum in her inventory. Is it not that 1 plat=10 gold?
I can't say for certain, but I think @atcDave is correct in that it is 5/1, not 10/1.
And yes, Sleep is your very best friend at low level. Knock out your opponents and then pick them off at your leisure. I don't remember if you can 1-hit/kill your sleeping enemies but even if you can't you have a lot more control of the battlefield than you did. Just be careful because it won't effect tougher enemies.
Comments
And I shall look up a walkthrough for the maze! Thanks for the advice.
Pool of Radiance - The first of the lot and filled with fun. Tavern brawls, battles against huge waves of enemies, meeting trolls for the first time!, getting lost in garden maze, finding a magic sword in a well, and the very creepy Graveyard.
Curse of the Azure Bonds - One of the better "novel tie-in" games I've played. Lots of places to explore, cool tattoos, and you get to visit Myth Drannor! Also, fireworks at the end. What more can you ask for? The Mulmaster Beholder Corps perhaps? Check!
Secret of the Silver Blades - Vala! Nifty mazes and ice caves which inspired me to buy huge pieces of oversized graph paper to fit the oversized maps on. Also, seeing the word phylactery for the first time and then trying to say it. Good times.
Pools of Darkness - Sometimes a bit uneven in fun, but with definite highlights. The banshee in the bell tower, meeting elminster, walking around inside the body of a god.
Champions of Krynn - I loved the setting and the unique magic system. Draconians and all their varied ways of dying were good fun, and shocking the first few times they blew up a party member.
Dark Queen of Krynn - Fighting on a flying citadel while it crashes toward the ground, visiting the doomed city of Dulcimer, beating up dragons, and an underwater adventure!
Gateway to the Savage Frontier, Treasures of the Savage Frontier - Finding ore to craft a magical blade, traveling to a variety of cities you don't often get to visit in Forgotten Realms games, surviving the long battle at the end of Gateway, perhaps having a character falling love with an NPC in Treasures.
I'm TERRIFIED of deep ocean stuff.
Is it terrifying? I imagine it to be terrifying.
I remember more of Kristophan better in the second game. The part with the underground Dungeon. If you play this game, there is a secret door in the room with the Black Puddings. You can easily miss it. I did.
So, not terrifying, but very fun.
So far haven't had a lot of time to play though I'm super hype for when I do. Probably going to end up having a walkthrough pulled up at least for my first run XD
Learned the ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE! Thanks to google. Soooo, I'm going to have my Half-Elf Cleric/Mage learn charm person and animate dead. I can charm an enemy so it joins my group, kill it, and then animate it! MUAHAHAHAHAHA
Actually going to play it now. I have a few hours before my next psych class begins.
Also, put off doing the graveyard (Valinghen Graveyard) until the town council offers you some undead fighting equipment to help you… the graveyard is very difficult later on, with a JuJu Zombie. Wraith and Vampire, among others. Also, the vampire, when you find it's coffin, looks like the coffin has been purified with holy water and holy symbols. Purify it again… you'll be glad you did! Also, be aware that Wraiths and vampires drain levels on hitting you. Bring Bless Spells- again, you'll be glad you did!
Now I'm discovering things like Icewind Dale, BGII, Wizardry, and the of course, Pool of Radiance.
I have to say I'm infatuated with the design of these older rpgs as opposed to new design.
I'm hoping Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity is at least reminiscent of these older games.
So far the most modern games I find that feel like these older games are NWN2 and Dragon Age: Origins.
They, themselves, are also becoming aged now.
Just bought a bunch of equipment and am now broke! XD I'm not using a walkthrough but I'm keeping a tab open for spell descriptions and item descriptions along with the journal entries. I also have a set of maps pulled up but only going to use them if I get super lose >_>
Was able to defeat them but almost had my entire party die >_>
Retreated, healed, and going to try again.
Also I noticed my Magic User/Thief, Fae, can't use bows. Is this intended?
Be aware that leveling up requires 1K gold per level you are advancing (so 5K to go from level 4 to level 5), PER CHARACTER. It adds up quite quickly. Keep this very much in mind when you are buying stuff because often times that level will be more valuable than the gear you could get with it.
You can also hire mercs to go with you. This will help if you are facing something particularly harrowing and don't know how to defeat it. But again that's gold that you may want towards leveling up, so you are going to have to manage your funds, at least initially. In later games it isn't as much of a problem.
As was mentioned before, some people actually get out a pad of graph paper and graph your adventures. The world is designed in square blocks so it won't be that difficult to do if you have a mind for that type of thing. That is what we used to do when we played PnP, so it was second nature to us old gamers.
In my Pathfinder PnP group I'm in I'm the designated journal/map guy. I write the sessions events (in my characters PoV) in the journal so if we need to reference something and I have a graph sheet I use to keep track of each area we go to.
I have a feeling I'm going to lose the rest of the year to this series of games. XD
Also, I see o_o
I should probably save my money then XD
Also just a caveat on my previous post. I am not 100% sure on the level up costs. I know you have to pay to level up and that it is a chunk of money per level. I just am not sure on the exact amounts.
And yeah, those kobolds can be painful. Wait till you encounter Orcs.
I seem to remember always using a bow for a mage/thief; was there a strength requirement I'm forgetting? Or maybe I'm just thinking of a fighter/mage.
The early battles are a challenge! I remember so many battles just barely managing against kobolds or goblins and hurrying back to town to rest and heal. Amassing wealth and experience is very slow at first!
And yes, many of the early battles are TOUGH. I believe my memory won't fail me if I state a certain Orc battle, one battle in the basement of a library, a certain Bar Brawl and the graveyard in general as being particularly tough for beginning adventures.
SUDDENLY BAR FIGHT
Oh, Piro, my little gnome thief girl, just got one shotted. Dandy.
Oh, I guess I don't need you living either Val'myr.
/party continues to get wrecked.
But at least you are having fun with it.
Started running into Lizard Men and they have 2+ attacks
Also stumbled upon an old wizard guy and he asked me to find a thing for him from a rope guild or something?
Well, found the guild place and got wrecked when I entered by "seedy looking orcs."
XD
Anyway, so 2 of my fighters, Aria and Aiyumii, can level as well as my thief, Piro.
Well I go in and train Piro and it's fine. I go to train Aiyumii but it says I need 1000gp. She has 100 Platinum in her inventory. Is it not that 1 plat=10 gold?
And yes, Sleep is your very best friend at low level. Knock out your opponents and then pick them off at your leisure. I don't remember if you can 1-hit/kill your sleeping enemies but even if you can't you have a lot more control of the battlefield than you did. Just be careful because it won't effect tougher enemies.
So far I'm absolutely loving this game and I'm just exploring the slums XD
Will I know when I've cleared out the slums for the quest? Like do I just kill every monster or is it a particular group?