What if the Wand of Striking hit for the same damage as your sword+enchantments? I'd sure as heck start dishing out strikes to soften up the baddies before I rushed in... though that might be too powerful so maybe 1/3 enchantments? Give it a good damage boost while not replacing the good ol' hack n' slash. Wand of Striking feels like I'm giving those baddies a slap n' tickle at the moment
You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch. That is rather powerful -- but then such wands have limited charges and are relatively scarce, so even if they're as powerful as your sword strikes (which would be a good way of scaling them as you descend) you'd still want to use them judiciously. 1/3 would make them utterly useless in the beginning, given they'd hit for 2-5 or so. Even later on they might hit for 20-50, which is still little more than a smack upside the head for some of the nasties down on the lowest levels.
Loving Sword of Fargoal so far and I've only had a chance to skim through some of this.. rather long thread , but I had a quick question. (apologies if it's been discussed ad nauseam before) One of the biggest hurdles when I first started was that I had no clue how much health an enemy had left (and therefore how initially strong particular enemies are versus others). I would definitely understand choosing to hide these stats to keep with the beautiful simplicity of SoF, but it was rather frustrating at first . Is the idea that a lowly 'adventurer' wouldn't know these stats and would only figure these things out on repeat attempts into the dungeon? I feel like it would be fantastic if each enemy had something like three (simple) sprite variations, one for 100% health, and maybe one for 60% and then 30%. I mean if you're attacking a monk with a sword I bet you would notice a few signs when they're getting weaker . Regardless, thanks for the fantastic game and all the continued effort!
If there are humanoids on the level (which there often are) they can have gotten to the center and taken the loot. And the skull doors are meat to be a gamble; sometimes there's epic loot, sometimes there's a pit leading 6 floors down and you get stomped.
It's always a gamble when you start out. Part of the fun of the game is feeling everything out and seeing what's what. Enemies are total unknowns to you when you first enter the dungeon, so apart from educated assumptions that dragons are tougher kills than rats, you just have to attack 'em and see. Enemies do have designations that take a certain liberty with what you're supposed to know: For example, you can see by the text at the top whether something is harmless, weak, normal (no special designation), skilled, etc. That gives you an idea both of how hard they will be to kill, and how badly they'll be able to whoop your ass. There are also certain visual clues in some cases: If a humanoid enemy quaffs a healing potion it's a pretty good bet they're low on health. Likewise if they teleport away, or try (try to) run off in the middle of a battle, they're probably heading off to lick some grave wounds. It doesn't take too long though before you become pretty familiar with the relative strengths of the various enemies in the game, though. That's the key: Practise, exploration, and experimentation. That's what this game is all about. Especially on Legendary mode. Alright. Then I will have to keep checking these areas for loot. I know how to get through the spiral traps relatively unscathed, and the skull doors are easy to get out of once you know how. (For now anyway. Knowing Paul there may be some unpleasant and nasty changes to these traps like anti-magic fields in the skull rooms or different traps in the spirals that aren't repelled by a shield spell. Aw, crap. I just gave him ideas, didn't I?)
@Mindfield: Thanks for the reply, you're totally right. I realized right after posting that it'd be ridiculus to have multiple sprites and, more importantly, that'd take away part of the exploration which is, like you said, the heart of SoF. It's funny how sometimes all it takes is to write something down to realize how silly it is .
Story of my life. There are certain technical reasons it wouldn't be practical to triple the number of enemy sprites in the game, too (memory constraints), but in the end it isn't really necessary. Once you're familiar with the relative strengths of the enemies it becomes a moot issue.
That reminds me. I'd love it if visually tougher opponents made it into the game at some point. Not to every enemy mind you but I think a random chance could be added for 1 of these higher level baddies per dungeon floor. Realistically not every enemy will look the same so why not toss a scarred fyre drake with large horns or a warlord with a bigger armor and a bigger sword? I kind of like the thought of turning a corner and seeing something that looks like it will rip me apart. Of course there would be these veteran and vicious without the new look but I think it would add to the fear factor
I think they are hoping for the end of June. There's a lot going on right now so it's all play it by ear at this point. I'm sure madgarden will tell me if I'm totally off, but that's what I've hard last!
Hey all, Some of you already know me from the SoF forum. So, after having beaten the game, I decided to dungeon dive and basically catalogue and experience everything. So here's where I stand now: Character is lvl 25 (maximum) Currently just roaming dungeon lvl 27 (deepest) Sword is enchanted +100 (maximum) Battle Skill 438 (probably the only thing in my game that can still change) I possess all orbs and amulets possible, except for the spirit one, which got nicked off me quite a long time ago, but I don't really care. I am wielding the Dragonscale Shield. I can see invisible foes (dont recall which "eyes" are responsible for that" I cannot be frightened Anytime I become poisoned I simply switch to Bugtooth until it wears off. I have 30 Magic Sacks, so i can carry quite a bit of gold. I have accumulated quite a many enchant spells since they can no longer even be used. I have the Wonky Wonk. I do not think there is a single chest, barrel, locked chest, gravel pile etc. remaining that I have not tapped out. I am pretty sure I have gotten to every zone on every level, quite a number of them I have had to traverse several levels up or down to find a different route to a zone on a level which has no wall tunnels to any other zone on the same level. I really am pretty sure I have soaked up every possible experience. So... can anyone tell me if there's anything for me to do besides just quit playing until the next update is out? I do love the game, but once you have done everything, been everywhere, and found everything... and maxed out everything stat you can, well what's left? One more thing I have been meaning to ask... because I was pretty sure the developer made it quite clear but here and there I see a post with someone rehashing a notion: is there or is there not a way to detect a secret doorway without either 1. Light Spell, or 2. making move attempt in the direction of the wall at every square? In other words, is there a tell visible without Light cast? I was under the impression the answer was definitively NO. Can a dev please verify?
Paul mentioned that there was a visual change but I don't think anyone has posted what the visual change is (You used to be able to see the seam). I believe Mrs. Madgarden made mention that your sword glows when you are near a secrret opening (which might be the visual change Paul was referring to)
Your sword will glow only if there are baddies inside the secret room. It's one of the clues I've found quite helpful in finding the rooms when I know I've cleared out all the baddies but still couldn't find the room.
Impressive! Most impressive...but have you gotten the sword out on this run? Because well, its not a finished game until you do And just curious...how many hours would you say you've put into all that? Are you on hero or legend mode? I asked Paul about the visual tell of the secret rooms and he said "yes, there is one that's noticeable most of the time" No one else seems to be able to notice it...I haven't noticed it anyway! He'll probably be in to describe it again, maybe.
OK, so here we go... DanielT, you maniac. I think you meant to buy "Hanging Around in the Basement of Fargoal" instead. The next update will take care of you, but it's not going to be for a little while yet. Eventually, the dungeon will be such that it'll be almost impossible to see it all. And we will add a way to dive infinitely, for those who really don't care about saving the kingdom above ground. You know, the actual quest. And with the new characters etc. there will be a lot more to see and do. As for secret doors, OK... you know how the lighting works, eh? It sort of is blocked by walls. Well, if a wall is only 1 tile thick, it doesn't really block the light. So it is possible to see secret doors by looking for walls that have the light blocked, and then a wall that is brighter than the rest. That's all there is to it. I can find them fairly regularly if I have an idea of where in the map a secret room could be hidden... if there's a big black gap in the map etc. Yea DanielT, take a look at your total steps in the pause menu, would ya? We're curious. MikeV, there *are* leaderboards, but currently only for the iPad version. And the DLC will be coming with the next big update. We're all just swamped with work right now, so just hang in there and we'll make it worth your while. Love, Paul XOXO*SLASH!!!*
