Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (February 2012)

[GeneticMutation]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

So, if you want easier fights, go exploring everywhere early on, while you're at low levels. If you want better loot, level up as much as you can while staying in as few locations as you can. The later is pretty much what I've been doing, clearing all the side quests and such in the areas I come to rather than prioritizing pursuit of the main story. So maybe I'll find something that'll pose a bit more of a challenge in areas I haven't come to yet.

I didn't even venture into the eastern half of the map until late last night, the half where you've constantly got assassins popping up out of the ground, trying to kill you every 50 yards. They still couldn't touch me though - love those circular knife things that circle around when thrown, they make quick work of multiple attackers. According to the map, there's another area at the bottom I've yet to venture as well.

DO NOT rush ahead at low level it will only ruin the game and loot available!

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

I didn't even venture into the eastern half of the map until late last night, the half where you've constantly got assassins popping up out of the ground, trying to kill you every 50 yards. They still couldn't touch me though - love those circular knife things that circle around when thrown, they make quick work of multiple attackers. According to the map, there's another area at the bottom I've yet to venture as well.

You mean Chakrams? Those are easily the best in-game weapon (that, a powerful Bow and a really good Longsword are all I needed most of the time).

Sounds like you might be in The Red Marches or Alserund (Detyre); if you are, good luck with that. Absolutely hated that region (walking around was such a chore, and so easy to lose one's bearings, even with a map).

[MoulinBlu]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

Don't worry: you will when you start facing the Niskaru and the Prismere Troll. Most beasts at this stage are more annoying than truly menacing (like the Niskaru Tyrant) or grind on you, even with high-rated armour and weapons (like the Prismere Troll). Most people don't come across any Dreadscale hides or Prismere weapons until ~level 29 or so, and trust me: you'll need them.

I don't know if there are more than one of each, but those were a couple of the boss monsters I was talking about. I already faced a Niskaru and a Prismere Troll. Killed them both, even though at the time I only had 1 point health regen per second and much weaker armor. Now I've got armor and weapons that's nearly twice as strong and doing about 8 or 9 points per second health regen, which keeps my health practically maxed out in a common fight against 3 to 5 lower level assailants, even if I just stand still and take a beating. As far as low level enemies go, either the Threshers? or the two headed giants are probably the toughest I've come to so far. Now even they are just an annoyance, like wolves. Sometimes I'll kill them because the gold payoff is pretty good. Other times I won't feel like bothering with them and just run by, if they're in an area I've already cleared two or three times before.

I used the reckoning mode? - whatever it is when you hit L1 and R1 simultaneously and sort of slow down time - to kill the Niskaru on the first try. He was kicking my but until I got clear enough to get L1R1 to work, though, again I only had 1 point regen at the time and much weaker gear. I beat the troll a few levels before the niskaru when I had all but forgotten I even had that ability where everything turns blue/purple, so it took me two or three tries to bring him down without going into it.

[MoulinBlu]

Originally Posted by GeneticMutation

DO NOT rush ahead at low level it will only ruin the game and loot available!

I'm not.

You mean Chakrams? Those are easily the best in-game weapon (that, a powerful Bow and a really good Longsword are all I needed most of the time).

Sounds like you might be in The Red Marches or Alserund (Detyre); if you are, good luck with that. Absolutely hated that region (walking around was such a chore, and so easy to lose one's bearings, even with a map).

That's them. I think the ones I have now do only 68 points damage, but I've taken some leveling perks that are supposed to do more. I still like a hammer I've got that does well over 100 points damage for slower giants and trolls though, where you're only fighting one or two at a time. I'll usually hit them with the bow until they get in close and then go with chakrams or something else. Spiders and such really low level threats I can normally take out with a bow before they ever reach me, assuming they don't pop out of the ground on all sides, then the chakrams work better. The secondary weapon command is really nice, rather than having to go into a menu like you did with Skyrim. I haven't even needed to set up that rotary dial quick select feature yet.

I'm bad with names, so I'm not sure where I am. I basically just ventured into the half of the map that's on the other side of Yse? where you've got to go for the second parts to the travelers and warsworn storylines.

I haven't gotten used to the reading the little map in the corner yet either. For some reason I always go right when I'm supposed to go left and vice versa. Half the time I have to bring up the world or local maps to get my bearings.

[GeneticMutation]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

I'm not.



That's them. I think the ones I have now do only 68 points damage, but I've taken some leveling perks that supposed to do more with them. I still like a hammer I've got that does well over 100 points damage for slower giants and trolls though, where you're only fighting one or two at a time. I'll usually hit them with the bow until they get in close and then go with chakrams or something else. The secondary weapon command is really nice, rather than having to go into a menu like you did with Skyrim. I haven't even needed to set up that rotary dial quick select feature yet.

I'm bad with names, so I'm not sure where I am. I basically just ventured into the half of the map that's on the other side of Yse? where you've got to go for the second parts to the travelers and warsworn storylines.

I haven't gotten used to the reading the little map in the corner yet either. For some reason I always go right when I'm supposed to go left and vice versa. Half the time I have to bring up the world or local maps to get my bearings.

I never used this feature once through the entire game, but of a wasted button space really!

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by GeneticMutation

I never used this feature once through the entire game, but of a wasted button space really!

I think I have only one item mapped to that dial (health potion), but since it's mapped to one of the direction keys already, I didn't bother with the dial either.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

I don't know if there are more than one of each, but those were a couple of the boss monsters I was talking about. I already faced a Niskaru and a Prismere Troll. Killed them both, even though at the time I only had 1 point health regen per second and much weaker armor. Now I've got armor and weapons that's nearly twice as strong and doing about 8 or 9 points per second health regen, which keeps my health practically maxed out in a common fight against 3 to 5 lower level assailants, even if I just stand still and take a beating. As far as low level enemies go, either the Threshers? or the two headed giants are probably the toughest I've come to so far. Now even they are just an annoyance, like wolves. Sometimes I'll kill them because the gold payoff is pretty good. Other times I won't feel like bothering with them and just run by, if they're in an area I've already cleared two or three times before.

I guess I would lump the Thresh (with the Leanashe and Crudok) in the category of most annoying enemies; thankfully, I don't think anyone deals with more than two at any given time. Even though the Ettin (i.e. the two-headed giant) can be a handful to deal with in groups of three or more, I consider most big brutes a nuisance more than anything. Low-level Niskaru can be manageable, but the Niskaru Tyrant will keep you on your toes, especially in groups of three or more. I think there are three levels of Niskaru (Hunter, Bloodhunter & Tyrant) behind the Niskaru lord, and the Tyrant is just behind the lord in terms of strength, perseverance and viciousness. I think you encountered a Hunter so far; when you bump into the Tyrant, you'll know.

I used the reckoning mode? - whatever it is when you hit L1 and R1 simultaneously and sort of slow down time - to kill the Niskaru on the first try. He was kicking my but until I got clear enough to get L1R1 to work, though, again I only had 1 point regen at the time and much weaker gear. I beat the troll a few levels before the niskaru when I had all but forgotten I even had that ability where everything turns blue/purple, so it took me two or three tries to bring him down without going into it.

I think I would have saved myself a lot of needless dying if I used Reckoning Mode more often. For the most part, I reserve RM for major enemies to ensure I max my HP earning potential (I think I changed that strategy after I maxed out my character).

[MoulinBlu]

I've been repairing my stuff after almost every mission, even though it'll only be a few points low; going on the idea that the better the condition, the more damage and more protective it might be. Now I'm wondering if I'm just wasting repair kits by repairing stuff so soon. It appears that one repair kit is enough to fix one piece of equipment, regardless of how damaged it is, so unless the item performs better at full health, so to speak, there's no reason to repair it until it gets down real low, like 5 or lower. But, if I risk it getting that low, I wonder if it'll break, should I accidentally let it hit 0, and become unusable, like broken equipment did in Oblivion, or if it can still be repaired.

Regarding persuasions, I had two persuasion options come up in the same conversation last night. It was the conversation with the warsworn girl, who was jailed because she was on vault duty when it was broken into by mages, and thus she's the primary suspect. Curiously, all but one of the persuasion options I've had come up so far have had a 95% success rate. The odd one was 60%, but I still got it the first try too. Early on, I did focus on leveling my persuasion; from playing other RPGs like Oblivion and Skyrim, I knew it was important to do so, as other areas will usually level themselves at the rate needed for the game.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

I've been repairing my stuff after almost every mission, even though it'll only be a few points low; going on the idea that the better the condition, the more damage and more protective it might be. Now I'm wondering if I'm just wasting repair kits by repairing stuff so soon. It appears that one repair kit is enough to fix one piece of equipment, regardless of how damaged it is, so unless the item performs better at full health, so to speak, there's no reason to repair it until it gets down real low, like 5 or lower. But, if I risk it getting that low, I wonder if it'll break, should I accidentally let it hit 0, and become unusable, like broken equipment did in Oblivion, or if it can still be repaired.

Honestly, I don't know. I think the lowest I've ever let my weapon degrade to is ~3 before I fast-travel to a blacksmith for repairs (I reserve repair kits for quick fixes during the heat of battle. I should keep track of shop owners that sell repair kits; it would save me a lot of time and needless wandering). Thing is, repair kits are ridiculously cheap, but I don't think any seller carries more than a handful at any given time, so I use them for repairing Mastercrafted and Rare equipment; everything else gets fixed, and that can run tens of thousands in gold easily.

[MoulinBlu]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

Honestly, I don't know. I think the lowest I've ever let my weapon degrade to is ~3 before I fast-travel to a blacksmith for repairs (I reserve repair kits for quick fixes during the heat of battle. I should keep track of shop owners that sell repair kits; it would save me a lot of time and needless wandering). Thing is, repair kits are ridiculously cheap, but I don't think any seller carries more than a handful at any given time, so I use them for repairing Mastercrafted and Rare equipment; everything else gets fixed, and that can run tens of thousands in gold easily.

I was going to repair shops, then one time the shop wanted over 30k to fix all my gear, when I could repair it for like 3k or less in kits. That was the end of that. Now I buy every kit I come across; so far they've seemed pretty plentiful. I upgrade my gear so much, that saves me from having to repair the old stuff too.

I'm also buying every shard I can find. Unfortunately, the best ones (physical) can't be found at the rate I'm upgrading my armor. Every time I upgrade a piece of gear, I need one or two physical shards to put health regen on the new stuff (several of my armor has two utility slots, so I double up on health regen as it seems to have the greatest effect in protection in brawls and I don't use mana very much yet). I've already grown accustomed to not having to pay attention to my health bar when going against non-boss level threats. Had two mountain trolls pounding on me last night, knocked me down and wouldn't let me up long enough to draw my sword for a minute, but my health stayed almost maxed out the entire time. Looking forward to being able to use pristine shards, and I assume Epic is after that.

I've got over 200k saved up for training, but I think I'm inelligible in all but a couple categories now - the last couple trainers I found couldn't train me. Might start buying better gear too, IF it's socketable. I just upgraded my chakrams from 68 points damage to a set I found with 71 damage, but found a shop right after that had a set doing over 100 damage. The price was steep - about 20-40k I think - but at the rate I'm reeling it in, I can afford to splurge. I'll be buying them tonight, assuming electrical storms don't keep me from playing.

[GeneticMutation]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

I was going to repair shops, then one time the shop wanted over 30k to fix all my gear, when I could repair it for like 3k or less in kits. That was the end of that. Now I buy every kit I come across; so far they've seemed pretty plentiful. I upgrade my gear so much, that saves me from having to repair the old stuff too.

I'm also buying every shard I can find. Unfortunately, the best ones (physical) can't be found at the rate I'm upgrading my armor. Every time I upgrade a piece of gear, I need one or two physical shards to put health regen on the new stuff (several of my armor has two utility slots, so I double up on health regen as it seems to have the greatest effect in protection in brawls and I don't use mana very much yet). I've already grown accustomed to not having to pay attention to my health bar when going against non-boss level threats. Had two mountain trolls pounding on me last night, knocked me down and wouldn't let me up long enough to draw my sword for a minute, but my health stayed almost maxed out the entire time. Looking forward to being able to use pristine shards, and I assume Epic is after that.

I've got over 200k saved up for training, but I think I'm inelligible in all but a couple categories now - the last couple trainers I found couldn't train me. Might start buying better gear too, IF it's socketable. I just upgraded my chakrams from 68 points damage to a set I found with 71 damage, but found a shop right after that had a set doing over 100 damage. The price was steep - about 20-40k I think - but at the rate I'm reeling it in, I can afford to splurge. I'll be buying them tonight, assuming electrical storms don't keep me from playing.

As I said about trainers if they won't let you use them due to your level just visit a fate weaver to reset your character! Once that's done just custom your skills to fit with the trainer and hey presto you've got another skill in that slot

[MoulinBlu]

Originally Posted by GeneticMutation

As I said about trainers if they won't let you use them due to your level just visit a fate weaver to reset your character! Once that's done just custom your skills to fit with the trainer and hey presto you've got another skill in that slot

I don't think I was experienced enough with the game to understand what you were saying the first time you suggested it. I got it now; thanks for the reminder.

It doesn't matter much now as last night I bought a set of chakrams with 112 points damage, plus 1 weapons slot and two utility slots that haven't been filled yet for lack of physical gems, but I came across another set of chakrams in the game just the day before that showed 71 pts damage. However, I noticed last night before replacing them with the 112 pt damage set, after I had been using them for a while, that they showed 89 points damage. I'm pretty sure I hadn't leveled up from the time I found them to the time I noticed their damage rating was 18 points higher than they originally showed, so I don't know what gives. I thought it might be that some perk I've taken with chakrams makes that weapon do more damage when in use, but the chakrams I bought for 112 points damage didn't similarly increase when equipped.

I was wrong about repair kits fully repairing your gear, regardless of how deteriorated it is. I noticed last night that what the game actually does is prioritize the gear based on severity of damage; the stuff I was repairing was just getting bumped farther down the list, rather than being completely removed from it.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

I'm also buying every shard I can find. Unfortunately, the best ones (physical) can't be found at the rate I'm upgrading my armor. Every time I upgrade a piece of gear, I need one or two physical shards to put health regen on the new stuff (several of my armor has two utility slots, so I double up on health regen as it seems to have the greatest effect in protection in brawls and I don't use mana very much yet). I've already grown accustomed to not having to pay attention to my health bar when going against non-boss level threats. Had two mountain trolls pounding on me last night, knocked me down and wouldn't let me up long enough to draw my sword for a minute, but my health stayed almost maxed out the entire time. Looking forward to being able to use pristine shards, and I assume Epic is after that.

It's been my experience that Physical and Protection shards aren't as common as the other types, even with Detect Hidden maxed out. I'd say that I have roughly a third less (of Physical and Protection shards) at any given time, but I still have enough on-hand to not worry about running out (then again, I don't embed gems into everything ). Keep in mind that, even if you have Blacksmithing maxed out and you can remove Epic Gems from equipment, you have to decide whether you want to keep the salvaged materials or the Epic Gem. If you invest heavily into Detect Hidden, you'll find Prismere weapons at every turn, so this metal will be as common as steel; what you need to be judicious with are the other components, such as lining, trim, bindings and grip; the best are very hard to come by, and retrieving them from a Mastercrafted weapon can be hit-or-miss. It goes without saying that one should always perform a save before salvaging anything; if you're not happy with the first result, just keep retrying 'til you get satisfactory salvaged results.

[MoulinBlu]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

It's been my experience that Physical and Protection shards aren't as common as the other types, even with Detect Hidden maxed out. I'd say that I have roughly a third less (of Physical and Protection shards) at any given time, but I still have enough on-hand to not worry about running out (then again, I don't embed gems into everything ). Keep in mind that, even if you have Blacksmithing maxed out and you can remove Epic Gems from equipment, you have to decide whether you want to keep the salvaged materials or the Epic Gem. If you invest heavily into Detect Hidden, you'll find Prismere weapons at every turn, so this metal will be as common as steel; what you need to be judicious with are the other components, such as lining, trim, bindings and grip; the best are very hard to come by, and retrieving them from a Mastercrafted weapon can be hit-or-miss. It goes without saying that one should always perform a save before salvaging anything; if you're not happy with the first result, just keep retrying 'til you get satisfactory salvaged results.

Thanks for the tips. I haven't really started crafting weapons yet - been waiting for my level to get high enough where I could craft better stuff than what I can find, since it doesn't appear that the act of crafting itself helps you level faster like it did in Skyrim. In fact smithing is one of two or three areas I still qualify for training. Sounds like I need to invest more in detect hidden too. I believe it's about at the top of the lowest section of ranking; but I don't know how it got there, as I've only purposefully leveled it once or twice - probably read a book or got some training.

Persuasion is where I'm most invested. In fact, after a near draught of persuasion options for a few days, the other night I had about five or six come up in only a couple hours. The night before I had about three, two in the same conversation. So that perk seems to be paying off again. Haven't lost a persuasion option yet - knock on wood. Though most have had a 95% success probability.

I found someone who would remove my gems the other night, so that helped. I've still got a few slots needing to be filled though, as soon as I find more physical shards. Maybe there's something about each character or something else that influences the types of shard you find, because I believe I've found more protection shards than any other. Poison and magic are more useful too, though not all that hard to find. Along with physical, those four are about all I really use so far. Though, I haven't invested any time in trying to figure out which produces greater results: gems that increase your health or something by a percentage, or increase your armor or something by points.

[PrivatePixel]

For those who haven't picked up Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning as yet, it's on sale this month for $10 (~$15 if you don't have a Best Buy GAMER magazine subscription). It's $39.99 currently, and the July issue has a $30 coupon, bringing the pre-tax total to $9.99.

[Monkey]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

For those who haven't picked up Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning as yet, it's on sale this month for $10 (~$15 if you don't have a Best Buy GAMER magazine subscription). It's $39.99 currently, and the July issue has a $30 coupon, bringing the pre-tax total to $9.99.

Thanks! Oh damn, I need to go there. Awesome deal.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

Thanks for the tips. I haven't really started crafting weapons yet - been waiting for my level to get high enough where I could craft better stuff than what I can find, since it doesn't appear that the act of crafting itself helps you level faster like it did in Skyrim. In fact smithing is one of two or three areas I still qualify for training. Sounds like I need to invest more in detect hidden too. I believe it's about at the top of the lowest section of ranking; but I don't know how it got there, as I've only purposefully leveled it once or twice - probably read a book or got some training.

Correct: crafting your own equipment will have no effect on your ability to level up.

I would say that Detect Hidden is perhaps the most important skill that's worth investing in. The only downside is that you'll find so much stuff, it won't take long to fill your inventory / backpacks, and you'll be spending as much time in the shops either selling off excess finds or salvaging them as you will doing side quests. However, not investing enough points into Detect Hidden means that there are areas in the map that will go undetected, areas that, on occasion, contain Infrequent or Rare items.

I found someone who would remove my gems the other night, so that helped. I've still got a few slots needing to be filled though, as soon as I find more physical shards. Maybe there's something about each character or something else that influences the types of shard you find, because I believe I've found more protection shards than any other. Poison and magic are more useful too, though not all that hard to find. Along with physical, those four are about all I really use so far. Though, I haven't invested any time in trying to figure out which produces greater results: gems that increase your health or something by a percentage, or increase your armor or something by points.

Health regen is useful for groups of lesser enemies (gives you a chance to recharge while running away ), but sooner or later, it's better to have a stockpile of health potions on hand for the tougher bosses. Even boosted armour will need to be repaired eventually, which isn't an issue if you have sufficient repair kits on-hand; if you don't, one can expect to spend six figures easily.

[MoulinBlu]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

Correct: crafting your own equipment will have no effect on your ability to level up.

I would say that Detect Hidden is perhaps the most important skill that's worth investing in. The only downside is that you'll find so much stuff, it won't take long to fill your inventory / backpacks, and you'll be spending as much time in the shops either selling off excess finds or salvaging them as you will doing side quests. However, not investing enough points into Detect Hidden means that there are areas in the map that will go undetected, areas that, on occasion, contain Infrequent or Rare items.


Health regen is useful for groups of lesser enemies (gives you a chance to recharge while running away ), but sooner or later, it's better to have a stockpile of health potions on hand for the tougher bosses. Even boosted armour will need to be repaired eventually, which isn't an issue if you have sufficient repair kits on-hand; if you don't, one can expect to spend six figures easily.

Yeah, some enemies are a bit tougher now that I'm in a new area. I had to gulp down a couple healing potions fighting some mage-like boss in some caves under the first real city I've come to, as I keep forgetting about reckoning mode. Got about 50 repair kits in my reserves. I can't figure them out though: the other night I was repairing my gear and it would only bump it's condition 5 or so points, meaning I had to use multiple kits to fully repair one item. Tonight, I repaired several items I let get down really low, while practicing my blocking and it appeared that only one repair kit was needed to give each full health again. Now I'm thinking I must have had some kind of curse preventing me from repairing stuff as well before.

I've already gotten about 500k that I can't find anything to spend it on. Thinking about no longer picking up anything I don't actually want for myself and not bothering with selling stuff anymore. There's a certain point in Skyrim like that too, where selling stuff becomes a waste of time. I haven't covered enough ground though to figure out if I really don't need so much gold. Already remodeled one house. I suspect I'll have the chance to remodel a few more. Though, that part of the game, oddly enough, doesn't seem to be as expensive as it was in Skyrim, unlike just about everything else.

I need to figure out which is better, an gem or accessory that boosts your health by 20-30 points or by 10-15%

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

Yeah, some enemies are a bit tougher now that I'm in a new area. I had to gulp down a couple healing potions fighting some mage-like boss in some caves under the first real city I've come to, as I keep forgetting about reckoning mode. Got about 50 repair kits in my reserves. I can't figure them out though: the other night I was repairing my gear and it would only bump it's condition 5 or so points, meaning I had to use multiple kits to fully repair one item. Tonight, I repaired several items I let get down really low, while practicing my blocking and it appeared that only one repair kit was needed to give each full health again. Now I'm thinking I must have had some kind of curse preventing me from repairing stuff as well before.

This happened to me as well; what I don't know was whether this was attributed to my current level or my point investment in the Blacksmithing skill. Not going to complain though: using one repair kit beats spending a few thousand.

I've already gotten about 500k that I can't find anything to spend it on. Thinking about no longer picking up anything I don't actually want for myself and not bothering with selling stuff anymore. There's a certain point in Skyrim like that too, where selling stuff becomes a waste of time. I haven't covered enough ground though to figure out if I really don't need so much gold. Already remodeled one house. I suspect I'll have the chance to remodel a few more. Though, that part of the game, oddly enough, doesn't seem to be as expensive as it was in Skyrim, unlike just about everything else.

At some point, you'll have more money than options you can spend it on (it feels nice to be part of the 1%, even if it's in Amalur ). You could spend it on really overpriced armour and weapons (there are a few at over 1/2 million gold each), but the truth is that you can craft better equipment on your own once you're past level 30.

[RaijinUT]

For those who are interested, here is a trailer for the Kingdoms of Amalur mmo that killed the studio.

http://kotaku.com/5924410/the-traile...ull-never-play