*SPOILERS* Tips on beating the new Kobold quests

[Variaz]

There is a good chance you will hate me for what I did with these two quests, especially the second one that uses a monster feature that I silently implemented without never saying anything about it. ;D

That said, I will give you some tips on these two quests, as they can be tricky.

THE HARRINGTON MANSION QUEST

Ok, you've been following advices, talking to characters(and you met a dwarf that also happens to sell some pretty hot axes, litterally. ), and finally got to a place with monsters. Armed with your powerful blues and artifacts, you strike at the Imp of Greed with all your might, cast spells of great power, and....the imp doesn't die. It doesn't have any resistances, it's not a boss, it just didn't do any damages. What's going on?? Is this a bug?

Well, no. The Imps of Greed feeds on one's wealth, and the more total wealth ones carries, the less damages the imps will take. And what's more valuable than blues and artifacts? That's right. In order to stand a chance against the imps, you must not carry valuable items, as they soak an amount of damages based on three times the total value of all items you carry. While Monks won't have much trouble, Enchanters will live their worst nightmare. But you have to use weaker, possibly non-enchanted items. Here are some tips I can give you:

- If you play a crafter/enchanter, craft your items, but do not give them any bonuses. Even if you can't sell these, they are still considered very valuable.
- Archers should consider using Multiple Arrows. It can work very well to bypass fixed amount of damages soaking. Gunners should use Magic Bullets, as they won't be worth anything compared to real bullets. Gunners could also use Immolating Shot, then drop their gun. It's risky for losing your gun, but it will allow you to damage the imps.
- Give up your shield, and use a two-handed weapon for this fight.
- Spellcasters should consider using some summons, but depending on your build, you might be able to cast your way out of this quest without the need of powerful items.
- Martial Arts. Need I say more?

Finally, the Nymph you meet at the end of the quest has the same ability, but much more hp and powerful magics. Fighting her could be tough(although you do get the first strike), but...violence isn't always the only solution, right?

(Hint: how about trying to boost your Charisma before speaking to her? Just carry a Licialhyd with you(drop it while you fight the imps)).

INFILTRATING THE LANCERS HQ

Yay, undeads! Starts off as a standard undead-bashing quest, with enemies you've probably met before already. It starts great, though the dead kobold left a note warning of a powerful enemy. Hmmm....ok. So you proceed, find a wall you can break, break it, and.... there comes the Restless Dead. You hit it...it recovers. It keeps recovering.

And what's those "Lives" things? 2 lives?? "I have to kill it more than one time?? But....but....do you realize that it can give insane hps to enemies??? "

Yes, I'm aware of that. ;D Nasty surprise, huh? Moreover, this particular enemy will always recover those lives and all it's hp whenever it acts. (keep in mind that this is exclusive to this monster, lives don't allow monsters to recover). So if it moves, attacks, cast a spell...it will recover. It has the standard undead resistances/weaknesses, but also Fire immunity and a 25% Sound resistance.

So how do you kill that thing? Well, first of all, you do not actually have to kill it. If you can jump over it or avoid it, get the parchement and get out, you'll win the quest. But you'd better get used to fighting these guys, as they are regular depth 40 enemies later on(albeit uncommon). So here's some tips on defeating the Restless Deads:

- Rage animates this monster, so to kill it, you have to calm it, obviously. But undeads are immune to paralysis/sleep, right? Well, this particular one is NOT immune to paralysis/sleep! After all, it's not pure necromancy, rage is part of it too and while it gives it a serious advantage, it also gives it an additional weakness. And by chance, there is a Book of Alteration [Paralyze], lying on the ground in this quest. If you don't use Alteration, you can use any paralysis/sleep inducing abilities. As long as you can keep it from acting, you'll be fine.
- Melee fighters, especially Light Lords, should consider combining Element Strike and Combat Feats. A Light Strike might be enough to knock off a life point out of it. If you use three in a row, you might be able to kill it before it has a chance to act.
- Beware the lives. Turn Undead will not instantly destroy it, it will only take away a life point. Better paralyze/sleep it first before using Turn Undead.
- This monster is powerful, but it's not a Unique. Things that don't work on uniques will work on this one.

Finally, if you are unfortunate enough to encounter an elite/boss version of this monster, just run and restart the quest, or just beat the quest without killing it(it won't be worth anything anyway, since it's not unique). You could use Retrograde Darkness, but it will still have very high hp and stats.



Well, hope that helps. Finally, one extra piece of advice: Restless Deads makes EXCELLENT summons. And if you're a Soul Guardian, why don't you try capturing one of the Imps? They would make a nice Simulacrum, wouldn't they?

[Gando]

The Imps quest is apparently unbeatable for enchanters...couldnt find a configuration that worked. The stealth/agility/charisma plan might have worked if I could have found the lady in question...but apparently the switches arent working?...the last one I pulled opened a passage to a dead end with nothing else in it and I searched everywhere for other switches. Also I have found that 1 house is just not enough space to juggle between more than 2 suits of craftables so I will have to junk my old suits just to make a suit to try and beat this quest...without ANY skills since being a typical enchanter all my points are in crafting and alchemy. So to recap...no stats (except a fairly nice int), no skills, no speed, no attacks, no hitpoints = a lack of ability to win against the greed imps. leveling wont help as Ill need at least 40 skill points in a combat skill to deal with them and then of course those points will be wasted. Actually Im not sure if that would be enough ....the normal imps have 60k or so hp and are level 30s with I assume the level 30 resists and defenses. And I will have to lose all my good items in order to accomplish this...either that or i could just skip this quest as I have done in the past...which is a pity because I really am curious about the storyline ...though I suppose I could spoil it by diving into the text files for the dialogues.

[Variaz]

Looking at the quest, there's a total of 4 switches. Have you found that many? If not, keep looking. There are some walls that are diggable as well. Also, you should craft some Charisma equipment(you need 40 charisma), and then if you choose the correct dialog options, you can skip the battle with the Nymph. And you'll be able to get an artifact.

Don't worry, Imps of Greed aren't a regular depth 40 enemy, it's a quest-only enemy.

[Gando]

I got 3 switchs...the 4th eludes me entirely...I searched all possible places a switch might be and dug where digging is possible to no avail...Im afraid that the fact that the imps can kill me if I stand still (because I took my uber armor off to make the charisma/stealth/agility gear. Strangely the imps are completely unaffected by my stealth which is in the high 50s.) makes it harder to search safely.

[Gando]

The really vile thing is ...Id have to lose all the things that make this character playable to do this quest...I refrain from profanity only because I know it offends you...but this quest got to my last nerve.

[Gando]

Ive actually looked at the spoilerific text file for the quest and the point where the final switch is requires digging right where about 8 or so imps hang out...tunnelling one a turn while taking damages doesnt seem to be a bright idea to me. Even with summons as distractions it seems foolhardy.

[Variaz]

To tell you the truth, I knew this quest would be difficult for a pure enchanter that focus solely on crafting and no other skills. You can compensate somewhat by making items without actually enchanting them, just keeping the base items. But without any natural skills whatsoever, this is gonna be difficult. If you had something like Power Attack, or the Polearms bonus to base damages, or even just some natural specialized skill, it would help a lot.

What's your character's stats? Perhaps your stats are high enough to lower your bonus a bit, and do enough damages to beat the imps... And do you really have JUST crafting, or do you have anything else?

[Gando]

Ive tried yet again and failed to get near the fourth switch...the wall that needs to be tunneled is too heavily guarded and the imps are not lurable...nor does it take long for them to tear through anything I can summon with my limited mana. 20k and they almost killed me because I couldnt dig through the wall...Not sure exactly how much strength is required to tunnel a wall guaranteed but it seems rather excessive.

[Gando]

Aug 10, 2008 9:37:55 GMT -5 Variaz said:

To tell you the truth, I knew this quest would be difficult for a pure enchanter that focus solely on crafting and no other skills. You can compensate somewhat by making items without actually enchanting them, just keeping the base items. But without any natural skills whatsoever, this is gonna be difficult. If you had something like Power Attack, or the Polearms bonus to base damages, or even just some natural specialized skill, it would help a lot.

What's your character's stats? Perhaps your stats are high enough to lower your bonus a bit, and do enough damages to beat the imps... And do you really have JUST crafting, or do you have anything else?

That wont help...the reason for the enchantments is so that the character can live more than the half second it takes a monster to see them.

And it isnt difficult. It is impossible. There is no concievable way to do it. I get 26 points per crafted item but without those points I cant do anything. Id say this quest and its monsters were designed specifically to screw the pure enchanter build which imho is the only way to build a successful enchanter as otherwise you end up with a bunch of halfassed skills that do no good in any catagory. I made a stealth/agi/charisma suit with a ring for strength for the tunnelling aspect and found I could not tunnel through anything in a timely fashion...from the appearances of the map there are 2 critical areas that need to be tunneled and each has a load of imps lurking there keeping anyone from doing anything. So I declare it impossible.

[Gando]

Im also willing to bet that it would be equally imposible for my Kensai build as he too is reliant on items to make him strong enough to survive. All portralis characters depend greatly on the items they can get...EVEN monks/High monks. because Portralis is a game where if you do not have good items you will die...all the time. The reason enchanter stands out for the most part is that it is better at providing said items...as is the Diviner. If there was a way to tunnel quickly then all the builds could stand a chance. As it is...Tunneller worms are too expensive for their duration...they work well if you can move around alot and there is room for them to work but otherwise they are just more fodder for whatever to kill.

[Variaz]

Here's the stats for a level 30 Imp of Greed:

---
Hp: 58752
Hit Rate: 2212
Defense: 331
Speed: 126

Attacks: 3 blows of 93 - 654 damages, Physical.

Spells: Magic Missile, 862 Missile damages.


There are three level 40 ones:

Hp: 93960
Hit Rate: 3186
Defense: 398
Speed: 128

Attacks: 3 blows of 135 - 947, Physical.

Spells: Magic Missile, 1162 Missile damages.

---

It really isn't that strong by the time you're able to reach this quest. So assuming a level 25 Enchanter, with 100 points in Crafting... A melee build would have some strength, so I'll say about 30 natural strength.

I'd really like it if you could dump your character. Perhaps there's some strategies you could use that you don't see. Unequip all your items, and post a dump of your "natural" build without items. Perhaps there are some strategies that you don't see that you could use! And don't forget to include your abilities!

[Gando]

Abilities were useless except for jump. What DID work was ramping every single free slot not used for stealth and agility up with strength....136 strength or so and it still took me a lot of turns to open the tunnel. After that I did an item switch to charisma/hp leaving some agility in place and jumped through to the end conversation. I dont think a character dump would have helped though I may produce one when this character is finished. It was really all about having overwhelming strength to kill the wall that would not die. The imps never took a hit from me (though my pet zombies held them off in the tunnels a bit.) the convolutions needed to complete this quest were ridiculous...none of the items Im wearing at the moment are useful in my regular adventuring gear. that suit is at home taking up every last spot...I hate having only one house...it makes changing gear a logistical nightmare for those who need lots of different items. Particular when some of those items are hard to make (due to rarity of ingredients).

[Variaz]

At least you've beaten it. Good work!

A pure Enchanter is the toughest build to beat this quest with(and yes, I admit it, I wanted to make this one challenging for purist Enchanters!), so you can be proud of yourself! And don't worry, the Imps aren't regular enemies, they're quest-only so you won't see them anymore! .....well, until I make another Zekis-related quest... ;D

There will not be more than one home, due to the way the game is made. It takes too much memory to have one house per towns, and ends up slowing down the game a great deal. However, perhaps it would be possible to expand the maximum number of pages you can have, so you could have more than two pages available.

Well, good luck with the Restless Dead on the next quest! If you can beat it, you're ready for the depth 40+ dungeons!

[vastin]

Well, given the stats Vaz posted for the Imps, their offense isn't that potent.

I haven't done it yet, but if I were to go in there with an enchanter, I'd max out my suit, but eliminate all offense from the build altogether. Just Def, Agl, AC, Magic Resist, Con, +Life and whirling leap in order to jump.

Sack everything offensive, except for the strength needed to dig, and just ignore the imps. Use potions for healing, unless you can spare a few points for wisdom and mysticism, which might be wise as this could take a while by the sounds of it.

[vastin]

Aug 10, 2008 9:37:55 GMT -5 Variaz said:

What's your character's stats? Perhaps your stats are high enough to lower your bonus a bit, and do enough damages to beat the imps... And do you really have JUST crafting, or do you have anything else?

The standard enchanter build is 20 Alchemy and (max skill points - 20) Crafting. Oh, and perhaps one point in Agility to enable Jump.

Barring your imps, there's just no compelling reason to put points anywhere else. Doing so just makes your character weaker.

Now that levelables can't tweak alchemy, you might see crafters throw more points into that, but otherwise it's even more imperative for them to keep all their points in those two skills to be effective.