Ironworks Gaming Forum - Tia, part six

After entering Brimloch Roon, Tia purchased a ship and left the town.
"If I recall correctly, I am supposed to see a roller. I see nothing."
"The roller is under water, Tia. That's why you don't see it."
"Oh, I see. Let's hope the roller will be worth of mentioning. What do we do now?"
"There are two possibilities, Tia. First, you can go to the Skull Castle immediately. It's full of undeads and you have the Crusade trait. That means 5 or 6 levels up for you plus the corrersponding number of HP, spells, and mana. If you are cautious then you would start there. Use your new ship for the journey. Second, you can investigate the shore immediately and go to the castle later. But Tia, with your 212 HP, it could be dangerous."
"It's daylight. Why not use daylight for the investigation?"
"Okay, Tia. Be careful."

Tia started to swim around the shore. Suddenly, something hit him and he lost more than 140 HP at once. Tia was able to left the sea in the last moment and heal himself.
"Shit it! What was it?"
"There are ladies around, Tia. As far as your question is concerned, you have met the roller you were so keen on seeing. A pack of sea sharks. Add together: their high attack value, their high attack strength, your poor parry value, your AC 0, your Furry trait and your Frenzy spell. The result might be worse."
"I cannot get rid of the Furry trait and I do not want to give up the Frenzy spell. What am I supposed to do? It's terrible!"
"You cannot do much with it. One possibility is the Reflect Damage spell. You can also heal yourself with the Restore Health spell but keep in mind that Restore Health is SLOW and that all the attacking monsters will be able to attack after casting Restore Health and before the spell will heal you. In the other words, if you do not have enough HP to withstand next attack, then you get killed.
The Reflect Damage spell is helpful. Well, it cannot reduce the damage you take but the sharks get hit as well. You can do the following, for example:
- cast Reflect Damage,
- put your leg into the water. The sharks will attack and get hit,
- retreat on the shore immediately and heal yourself,
- put your leg into the water again,
- and so on, until the sharks kill themselves.
Once, I was there with a warlock playing without any items as well. The warlock had only 150 HP. We had to practise the method above again and again."
"I can play under Reflect Damage all the time. I have the Mana Seed trait so that I'll be able to regenerate the Stone Magic mana points."
"Right decision, Tia."
"Are only the sharks so dangerous to me?"
"Not only the sharks. Each Crab O' The Sea can hit you for more than 50 HP with every attack. Imagine 3 crabs attacking together and what will happen. Also, raptors are dangerous. They cannot hit you so much but they occur in large packs."
"Is there anything else I should know?"
"Every time you get a message 'A Sea Shark has been here' or 'A Crab O' The Sea has been here', do not hesitate, be after the monster immediately, and kill it. It lowers the chance that a pack of them gathers and attakcs together. The most stupid thing to do is ignoring the messages as if you had AC 60 and a blessed weapon in your hand. Cast Spirit Eye and keep an eye on the map. It can tell you how many sharks or crabs are around and where they are. Also, keep in mind that an open sea is the most dangerous area for you."
"Oh, well."

Tia managed to kill the sharks with the Reflect Damage spell and his fists. They were only three and the subsequent attacks weren't so strong luckily. Then he was very careful what's going on. He keeps his HP at maximum all the time and attacked all sharks or crabs immediately after detecting them. Tia gave the hook to Talrik, created a portal near the entrance to the Skull castle, finished the shore and returned to the town.