Looking for tips to defeat the evil incarnate of Akbaa!

[CerebroDragon]

Hello to all fellow Arx Fatalis fans on IW (as few as you seem...)

(spoilers for those who haven't gotten to the end of the game)

I've been trying to take on the dire evil of Akbaa for the past hour or so but have encountered very little sign of success. After the trasnformation, the priest keeps summoning demons and poisoning me from absurd distances away in the room to which I always have to quickly press TAB to get into the inventory, scrambling backwards as I jam down the F key on a cure poison potion. I can usually survive for around four demons until I eventually run out of healing/cure potions. There's also a mysterious death blow which sometimes assails me on almost full health...so in a bit of desperation, I thought I'd ask here for some ideas to those who have finished it on how they defeated it.

I'm obviously using the Mithril enchanted Meteor Sword and are wearing Ylside armour for maximum protection. However, I'm yet to complete all of the Crypts. I only managed to complete the level where you obtain the shield of the ancients, after which I was all out of light sources. Going any further would have been not only insanely sinister, but very difficult indeed having to rely on the casting light just to see around.

So yes, that said - throw us some ideas!

Cheers,
Cerebrodragon

[Bungleau]

Hmmm... challenging, eh? I confess that I haven't gotten that far yet... Smarties, the itinerant mage, has just finished destroying the meteor and is heading on his sword-building quest.

If you're really stuck, you might take a look at rpgdot (arx.rpgdot.com). They've got a good Arx Fatalis section, and I've found it useful.

You can also head to the Jowood Studios site, where their forums for Arx are a good source of ideas. I've used them, too [img]smile.gif[/img]

Seems to me you can summon a creature in the final battle, and use that to distract the other opponents. But I could be wrong... [img]smile.gif[/img]

You might want to go back and complete everything else. The extra XP makes a difference, and if you're short on light, try the magic eye spell (mega vista). It makes things easier for me in the lower levels.

[CerebroDragon]

Thanks, Bungleau! As usual, some handy tips! [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

I'd never really experimented with mega vista, so I'll have to give it a shot when I'm finishing up the Crypts.

However, I think I may have lucked out majorly for light sources. I found a seemingly never ending supply of candles which I can pick up from a chest in the Ylside Outpost. It also contains a healing potion and two scrolls of enchant weapon. Every time I leave the area and return - more candles appear there! I wonder if it had anything to do with my personal mission to wipe the Ylsides off the face of Arx after they frightened the life out of me on first encounter!

I figured out a fairly cheesy method of killing the Ylsides in the outpost which I'll share, if anyone's interested...it involves the very same room containing the above mentioned chest.

I ended up consulting the UHS (Universal Hint System) for some ideas on the final battle and it ultimately revealed the nature of a couple of the nasty spells which the incarnation of Akbaa throws at you. Using this knowledge was critical in my final sucess!

**My battle method** (could be a spoiler!)

My character is 75 percent fighter, 25 percent mage, I'd say, so melee was a massive part. After pre-casting a bless and two speed spells, I ensured all my potions were easily accessible - before taking the first swipe.

I would basically stay away from Akbaa during fights with demons and flee behind a column in the room (the SE one was a favourite...) in order to take them out. This would also give me a chance to heal/cure poison and such with more time, as Akbaa moves fairly slowly. After dealing with the demons, I'd use an invisibility potion or speed spell and rush Akbaa for all I was worth, taking care to stay away when he was glowing green or had the red circles going around him - a sure sign that either poison or energy drain was coming my way and had killed me so many times before.

I think I'd killed about 7-10 demons behind the columns before finally being succesful in killing Akbaa essentially through sheer force and perseverence. My character was level 8 in finishing the game. I'm not sure if this is fairly low or not, but I'm intending to finish the rest of the game off on a previous save and try to win it again with an alternative ending.

Cheers,
Cerebrodragon

[Bungleau]

I'm curious about your Ylside-slaying method. Mine involves launching a fireball into their nostrils... very effective for this 90% mage (10% everything else). I'm just ready to go into the Ylside outpost... I too have undertaken a mission to wipe them from the face of Arx. Sorry, Kultar... picked the wrong side of this fight, buddy [img]smile.gif[/img]

Glad to hear that you were able to finish it. Guess I'll keep all these healing and mana potions I've made... and perhaps I'll make some more cure poison potions, too.

Last night's gaming ended when I went back down into the crypt. I forgot to memorize my standard three fireballs, and a mummy started hammering me left and right. I backed out of the crypt to return to the city... where I promptly keeled over dead from the last hit Tonight I'll figure out how long ago I forgot to make a fresh savegame.... that wailing you hear could be me [img]smile.gif[/img]

[CerebroDragon]

It is indeed a great feeling to kill a Ylside! [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]
I remember getting my first close up of the one guarding the door requiring the password, at the Inn. Sinister bunch! The black bags under the eyes have me convinced that they're full fledged drug addicts.

The fact that you're able to keel them over with one or two fireballs says much for your mage Smarties prowess, Bungleau! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Your method is perhaps even more efficient than mine, since if you are stealthy, you can probably take them out in the outpost one at a time.

My method takes some practice and is more melee intensive but it might also be applicable to spell power. What I did was first clear the way to the little room I mentioned, with the chest. Its the first or second right turn from the entrance, IIRC. You'll notice a bed and a table in the room these are critical decor and can be used as a very cheesy weapon! (Which I discovered by sheer accident...) Here's what I did:

I'd get the attention of would be Ylside with speed spell in place, then flee back to the room. With it hot on my heels, starting from the right side of the room, I'd jump on the bed and then on to the table, being careful in trying to lure the Ylside after me. The trick is to get him behind the table. If I'm fast enough in manoevering around, the Ylside would often chase me behind the table and get stuck there! He'd try to walk forward towards me but be unable to do so.

I'd then be free to laugh maniacally and take my time dispatching my usually indomitable opponent. I repeated this trap some 6-8 times!
Needless to say, the room was quite a mess afterwards!

You could use this method if sheer desperate I'd say, spells should work just fine. But it does take some practice...

Good luck in your Ylside cleansing operations!

Cheers,
Cerebrodragon

[Bungleau]

My first character was more of a fighter with some magic, and he was too much of a generalist. He consistently got his butt kicked by the very first Ylside. Smarties was a reaction to him... all mage, all the time. So he's a little extreme, to say the least. His magic skill is over 100...

I'll have to keep an eye out for that room, and look at the table area. I love little traps like that in a game...

I won't get any gaming in tonight... spent hours cleaning up my electronic address book, removing duplicate entries. I hate switching and combining... but I'm almost done. Got the 6000 entries that were in there down to 3300, and I should be done around 3000. Such fun...

I'll get some gaming in tomorrow, though...