Two Worlds 2 - Now With More Pirates! Castle Defense Coming

[CeeKay]

wierd - I have no issues with the way the horse handles. Probably as you say, just something to get used to. So, instead you cheated? ;-)

I took a page from one of my favorite captains:

[CeeKay]

Bah, naming things.  Is that in the tutorial part?  Because I didn't get it there, so I guess I'm screwed forever now?

EDIT: looked it up on the wiki and yeah, that was the beginning stuff.  I guess I may have to start over if I want that skill.  That sucks. 

Yah, sorry, that's where you get rescued at the very beginning. And from an interesting guide here in the Assassin skills section, they deem it useless so not really worth restarting for, it seems.

did you check to see if there may be an autosave left from before you get to the island?  the game keeps 3 or 4 of those.

[EngineNo9]

Bah, naming things.  Is that in the tutorial part?  Because I didn't get it there, so I guess I'm screwed forever now?

EDIT: looked it up on the wiki and yeah, that was the beginning stuff.  I guess I may have to start over if I want that skill.  That sucks. 

Yah, sorry, that's where you get rescued at the very beginning. And from an interesting guide here in the Assassin skills section, they deem it useless so not really worth restarting for, it seems.

did you check to see if there may be an autosave left from before you get to the island?  the game keeps 3 or 4 of those.

Heh, too late.  I already did the idiot's version of just starting a new game.  Oh well, by skipping all of the cutscenes and knowing exactly what I wanted to do I got through the early stuff pretty quickly. 

I also figured out why I missed getting that skill the first time around.  After my guide got stuck in the trap and told me to go find the teleport, I did the opposite and started wandering around the beaches where I then accidentally aggroed the Groms and had to fight them normal style. 

Also, this time going across that stone bridge above Gandohar the sneak skill actually worked on first try, so that made me feel better.  No idea why it was so spastic the first time.

[EngineNo9]

Totally unrelated, I find the spell impacts in this game to be extremely underwhelming.  Do they get more impressive as you level up, or is that about what you can expect the whole way through?  If so, I think I'll stick with my standard melee approach (although I probably would have anyway)

[CeeKay]

The spells were do underwhelming in the beginning I haven't even bothered putting points into spirit or any magic skills.  I'm not worried about heal spells as I keep putting points int the skill that governs how many points of health you regenerate per second and if I get low I put away my weapon and run around for a bit. So far that's worked great.

[Caine]

i am playing a mostly melee character using 2h weapons with some archery for kiting enemies and hunting.  i read that magic is insanely powerful at the later levels but due to the way you build your character, you really benefit from multi-classing, and not just how that regards armor.  i guess getting your relevant magic affinities up so you can use more spell modifiers can make most encounters trivial.  apparently the best weapon is also a staff whereas the best melee weapon tops out at a relatively low level and relies more on brute strength to make up for it. 

there are very few useless skills, but the backstab skill is pretty much ineffective outside of some random moments.  i have it and regret putting the points into it as it only allows you to stab from further away, which makes no sense.  unless it allows you to stay hidden further away and therefore, tele-stab enemies outside of their field of vision, you will always get spotted before you can get more than one or two backstabs.  it's only use is for achievement hunting and the only reason i even bother.  it may be more useful if you rely on traps for crowd control.  that's also why the poison arrows are less effective than the other archery skills.  it drains them out too slowly.  it might make a difference if you can stay away from a huge mob who would crush you in one hit though. 

in my main, i have counter, block breaker and defensive stance as my main skills with the radial hit and the kick as secondary attacks.  i think the other skills would be great if you want to specialize in certain forms of melee combat though as you can do quite a few tricks

[Doopri]

im playing on the 360 but i can confirm that yes, magic DOES get much more powerful, provided you mess with the cards and stay diligent.  however, i wanted to play a "mage" from games start, and it really isnt viable.  id try and try, but until about level 20 or so i spent most time in my melee kit.  i WAS bumping my magic skills during this time (fortunately, while never a melee powerhouse i never felt overwhelmed and didnt have to put any points into melee stuff).

so ya, for the first 15 or so levels i never thought it was practical (or fun!) to play as a mage - if you want to go that route just keep dumping points into your mage skill during the early levels but spend most of your time in heavy armor and melee.

also - DAMAGE SPELL ARE USELESS UNLESS YOU PUT IN MULTIPLE CARDS!!!   (dont just stick in that one "ice" - dump them all damnit!  because of this, magic is also expensive!)

[Fuzzballx]

i'm learning now in multiplayer just how many cards it takes to make an effective mage....it's a LOT. and it's REALLY expensive to put together.

Even after transferring over all the cards my 51 melee has found and buying a lot more...my 35 mage is still short on just the cards neccessary for a fully carded up AOE and summon spells.

You need lots of spray cards, time cards, AOE carriers, summon carriers, and 10 of whatever damage effect you want and summons you want, and lots more...just to make 2 high end spells.

It's a lot of working putting a mage together that has more than 1 spell in his inventory.

[EngineNo9]

I really wish the quests showed a level in the log book.  I find that most of the time I really don't know what I am supposed to do.

The game has selected as my active quest the second part of the Runestones quest when I barely squeaked by the first part of that one, and there is no way I can do this part.  The other quests I have seem to send me off either far south, far east or far NW, and I have no idea which one I should actually do, or what I even can do until I get there or inevitably die along the way. 

I guess I would like more direction for those times when I don't want to just wander.

[CeeKay]

I noticed if you look under combat stats it will tell you how many times you need to do something to get an extra skill point.  for example, after 25 successful lock picks you'll get 1 point, so if you're short on points just check the scroll (it's in your item inventory) and you may find you're due for one soon.

[MonkeyFinger]

What's up with the chests that simply have a red icon that says "Locked"? Does that mean I have 0 change to pick them at my current level or they need a specific key? And why can't I bash them? The manual mentions bashing (with a chance of damaging the contents, IIRC) but I don't see how to make that happen.

[MonkeyFinger]

The game has selected as my active quest the second part of the Runestones quest

Just in case you missed this, you can use the RMB on a quest entry in the log to make it the active quest. The little triangle twisty thingy will turn purple to indicate that.

[Razgon]

What's up with the chests that simply have a red icon that says "Locked"? Does that mean I have 0 change to pick them at my current level or they need a specific key? And why can't I bash them? The manual mentions bashing (with a chance of damaging the contents, IIRC) but I don't see how to make that happen.

take your weapon out, and you can bash. As for red locks, I think its because its a quest item/door

[MonkeyFinger]

What's up with the chests that simply have a red icon that says "Locked"? Does that mean I have 0 change to pick them at my current level or they need a specific key? And why can't I bash them? The manual mentions bashing (with a chance of damaging the contents, IIRC) but I don't see how to make that happen.

take your weapon out, and you can bash. As for red locks, I think its because its a quest item/door

Thanks. I've tried the 'take your weapon out' bit but only for the red locks, so perhaps that's the issue. Haven't found a need to bash the normal ones yet as they've been pretty darn easy to pick so far.

[CeeKay]

yeah, the lock picking mini-game has been a joke so far. if it doesn't get harder I'd rather them just did a behind the scenes percentage roll like they did in the first game and not detract from my depopulating of the Savannah.

[EngineNo9]

yeah, the lock picking mini-game has been a joke so far. if it doesn't get harder I'd rather them just did a behind the scenes percentage roll like they did in the first game and not detract from my depopulating of the Savannah.

I think it gets up to 6 levels of tumblers to align, though I have only seen a 4 layer one once.  Personally I kind of like the fact that as long as I pay attention and click at the right time I can pick them without too much trouble, but if I get sloppy I break the pick.  It is a reliable minigame that can be accomplished fairly quickly.

[Caine]

Wait until you get to the higher level locks. You really need to get proficient with changing direction as you can't wait until it comes around unless you bump that skill up.

[CeeKay]

I didn't even notice you could change directions in lockpicking until after I read that.  not that I've seen a need for it so far, and I've already run into some 5 tumbler locks.

one thing I wish they did was make the color difference in the journal text a bit more obvious between finished quests and ongoing ones, or maybe even had a different section for them.

[Razgon]

Gods I had fun with this last night - was on an indiana jones adventure, to find 10 tombs of some ancient guys - really egyptian style... I'm telling you, you havent seen fun combat, till you tried fighting scary scary monsters in the dark, only illuminated by your torchlight, and the glow of your sword.

Never seen that before in a game - but hot damn it was good stuff.

In other news, the last tomb I was fun, I spent 40 minutes running around in, until I found my way out :-D I simply refuse to draw a map again, like I did 15 years ago in games.

[CeeKay]

The game has selected as my active quest the second part of the Runestones quest when I barely squeaked by the first part of that one, and there is no way I can do this part. 

I did that one last night at level 13.  I just ran my ass through the dungeon, grabbed the stone and ran back out.  part of the first runestone dungeon kind of annoyed me though:

Spoiler for Hiden:

the part with the giant scorpion like creatures.  I did a quick run through of the part and found absolutely nothing back there, so that part must be for XP only.  stupid red herring, putting big monsters there like there may be something awesome inside.

I really wish the quests showed a level in the log book.  I find that most of the time I really don't know what I am supposed to do.

that would be nice.  I did one of the mage guild quests last night, the one with the family stuck in a cave:

Spoiler for Hiden:

it turned out to be a trap with 6-7 goblin mage slayers in the cave, and there were a high enough level that only my block breaking special attack would dent them, and you get locked in the cave with them.  luckily I was able to use the cave's interior and cheese the AI to split them up and take them down one by one witht he occasional 'put the weapon away and run around like a chicken with its head cutt off while regenrating HP' tactic.

[CeeKay]

And from an interesting guide here in the Assassin skills section, they deem it useless so not really worth restarting for, it seems.

I started looking at that guide and yowch, only two of the assassin skils seem to be worth it.  I totally forgot about the Fusion skill; I've got a bunch of damage crystals I should use that on.

Is there a penalty for fighting with two weapons?  I remember TW1 had a skill you needed to unlock and improve to offset penalties but I don't see anything in TW2, so I'm guessing no.

[stryker]

I'm loving this game!
Currently playing as a summoner/fire mage.  Really enjoying how just when I think it is getting too easy I run into something that makes me completely rethink my standard battle plan.  I love a game that isn't afraid to make you feel really, really weak at times.

And I agree with the comments about the effectiveness of the dark.  switching between the torch and you ready stance can be creepy when you aren't exactly sure about the strengths of your opponents.

[EngineNo9]

Is there a penalty for fighting with two weapons?  I remember TW1 had a skill you needed to unlock and improve to offset penalties but I don't see anything in TW2, so I'm guessing no.

I don't think so, unless they do it under the hood sneaky-like. 

Ever since I found out you could use two weapons I have been doing that all the time.  Usually with a fast mainhand sword for slicing damage and an offhand axe for mostly bashing damage but a bit of slicing as well.  That way I never really worry about switching up based on enemy types.

As for quests, I did a bunch of those last night including the mage guild one CK mentions above, which was a surprise to be sure.  I also did another similar one where I followed this guy who "worked for somebody you know" into a dungeon

Spoiler for Hiden:

  and found out he was working for Selen, who I had killed earlier.  They turned into a couple monsters and kicked my ass a couple times before I decided to just leave that dungeon.

[Cragmyre]

I haven't played the first one, but am interested in this one, is there any point to getting the first one?

[CeeKay]

I haven't found any decent blunt damage weapons yet, they all seem to be in the 30-40 damage range while my slashy slicey weapons are around 100, so I've just been slicing away with the block breaker compensating for things.

[Razgon]

You know, I cant think right now, of anything that is more fun that spotting a Varen camp up ahead, unsheating your weapons, and then STORM up and take out their patrolling sentries and then STORM into the camp, where they are sitting and dozing off near the fire, and simply slaugther them all and then, hear my character laugh it up, while I survey the carnage and get tons and tons of metal and steel to make better weapons to slaugther more varens...

Loving it! oh, and MAN can he run fast... It gets all blurry when he gets real speedy!

[CeeKay]

I haven't played the first one, but am interested in this one, is there any point to getting the first one?

You can probably get away with looking up the plot on Wiki. So far, other than the overarching plot I haven't seen anything tied to the first game, and even though I finished the first game I was confused at the beginning.

[EngineNo9]

Yeah, I barely played the first game and I don't feel like I'm missing much of anything playing this one.

[Caine]

The bashing weapons do improve as you go on. I am sticking with my two handed sword or club and the club does about 30-40 more. This is at level 22 and after the strength skill kicks in, the weapon skill is over 600. Every level of upgrade adds about 15 to damage and I had no problems going through the first 7 levels of the arena battles. I even did pretty well against a werewolf once I learned to get out of his charge attack. I would not want to face more than oneat a time. 

[EngineNo9]

I've found several axes that gave decent bashing damage in addition to some slicing damage, and some fast clubs that do even more pure bashing damage.  Right now when I equip my sword and axe the numbers that pop up to the left show nearly the same for sword slicing damage as the axe has for bashing damage. 

Also, the icons that show up for enemies show their immunities, not the types of damage you should use on them, right?  Seems like some people here have been saying the opposite, but I am almost positive it is immunities.

[Fuzzballx]

if a skeleton shows a slash weapon then it shows immunities.  if a skeleton shows a blunt weapon then it shows vulnerabilities.

That's how you can tell.

[Fuzzballx]

Yeah, I barely played the first game and I don't feel like I'm missing much of anything playing this one.

Except the secret codes to unlock the apolocalypse troll sidekick pet.

[CeeKay]

Yeah, I barely played the first game and I don't feel like I'm missing much of anything playing this one.

Except the secret codes to unlock the apolocalypse troll sidekick pet.

I got the one that gives you Fluffy.

[EngineNo9]

Yeah, I barely played the first game and I don't feel like I'm missing much of anything playing this one.

Except the secret codes to unlock the apolocalypse troll sidekick pet.

  

Actually, speaking of bonus codes I entered the one they sent me and I don't think I ever got the axe that it told me I should get.  (and on a side note, screw Chrome for always wanting me to capitalize axe now...)

[CeeKay]

I avoided the codes for weapons and stuff that they gave out.  the first game had the same deal it and it kinda made the game very easy in the beginning.

[Caine]

I stopped using any of the weapons a while ago. I still have the armor though but that's only as I don't know if it's better than any of the individual pieces I have found since.

Both of my two-handed weapons were drops.

[MonkeyFinger]

Also, the icons that show up for enemies show their immunities, not the types of damage you should use on them, right?  Seems like some people here have been saying the opposite, but I am almost positive it is immunities.

It shows the types of damage they are either protected from or invulnerable to.

[CeeKay]

wow, has anyone else bought a musical instrument and sheet music yet?  you use them and the game starts up a crazy Guitar Hero like minigame.

[Razgon]

wow, has anyone else bought a musical instrument and sheet music yet?  you use them and the game starts up a crazy Guitar Hero like minigame.

yeah, only, its VERY fast, and I havent a clue what to do. But seems kinda fun - I know people do this in the MP portion for some reason. I wonder if it gives xp?

[EngineNo9]

Yeah, I tried the guitar and totally failed playing a couple songs with it.  After that I tried a drum and it was much easier to do.  I got over 300 Auras for completing the song, so that was cool.