Eschalon: Book II 1up Review

[TheSlue]

Hey I've recently written a review of Eschalon: Book II on my gaming blog. I'd really appreciate any feedback and comments. It's generally a pretty positive review as I really enjoyed the game and its predecessor. The review itself does include some extremely small spoilers. Anyway, thanks for taking a look.

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9032793

[KillingMoon]

Nice review! The most untrue statement in it is that casters and thief-like types will struggle early on compared to hack-and-slash types.
It's true for thief-like types, but playing a mage is quite easy, provided you find a scroll with an offensive spell quite early. But also hack-and-slash type needs to find a weapon suitable to his or her skill, so that's not really a point against mages.
The ability to stay ranged while dealing with enemies is extremely powerful in this game, melee fighters are more exposed.

But your main point about the disbalances is true; certain skills are far better than others.

What I'm missing in your review are some notes about the atmosphere and the world Eschalon plays in, but I understand you didn't want to write a whole book! Well done, this.

[TheSlue]

Thanks. I wrote that because I've tried a warrior and had a real easy time the entire game... and now on my second playthrough I'm playing a mage and moving a bit slower. I tended to one-hit everything with the warrior, and that's not the case with the mage. Also, knocking down that nest near Eastwillow took me ages with the mage. He's a lot better now of course. I see the advantages of both.

[silverkitty]

Yah, people playing mages say "it's easier than a warrior" a lot, but apparently they forget that moment early in the game where they

a) had no money to buy offensive spells
b) needed offensive spells to get money (unless they broke down, messed up their True Mage challenge, and started whacking things with pointy metal objects until they could afford magic)

And they also forget that warriors tend to be able to just play right through, whereas as a mage I spent 75% of my time camping or stomping the space bar.

I spent a lot of time running away from things as a mage - because I needed more mana to finish it off, or didn't have a spell yet that could hurt it enough to matter. That was time a warrior of the same level probably spent smashing it in the head.

[CrazyBernie]

Actually, fighters can spend just as much time camping as a mage... unless they like running around naked.

[KillingMoon]

Also, knocking down that nest near Eastwillow took me ages with the mage.

Demon Oil is ideal for doing that quickly. Throwing a bottle will ignite a fire which will burn for a while. It's not good against creatures, because they will escape the flames, but for burning down nests and stalks it's ideal.
A powder keg would also do a decent job, maybe you would need more than one, but using your usual weapons will make it a very laborious exercise.

I wasn't thinking about the True Mage challenge, Silverkitty, or the True Warrior challenge, just about a general specialization chosen.

[silverkitty]

A powder keg would also do a decent job, maybe you would need more than one, but using your usual weapons will make it a very laborious exercise.

It takes 3 licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop.

[SpottedShroom]

I had to haul four kegs up from the well behind the temple in Eastwillow to destroy the nest in one shot. That also makes you miss out on the dragonells that come out of the next as you're whacking away at it. I wonder if there's a set number of those, or if it's one per N number of attacks?

[KillingMoon]

They seem to come out randomly when whacking away at the nest, as long as the nest is still there.

[Farwalker]

I saved up for an unarmed combat ring and then just kept whittling it down. Not the quickest way that's for sure, quite a few dragonells came out as I recall, but I don't think I had to deal with more than one at a time.

[Slarty]

Yeah, they only seem to appear when you actually hit the nest, so as long as you don't ignore the dragonels you'll never face more than one at a time.

[Dragonlady]

I saved up for an unarmed combat ring and then just kept whittling it down. Not the quickest way that's for sure, quite a few dragonells came out as I recall, but I don't think I had to deal with more than one at a time.

I've had two come out at once, either that as I noted one and started attacking another popped out behind it. Nope, 2 at once. No more than that though.