[MOD] The Curse of Gothmog

[MostlyHarmless]

On level 11 now (with brief visits to 12 and 13) via pits. I got stuck because my lvl 13 fire mage didn't know any air magic and the Zo spell requires 5 of it. There was also now practical way to gain two levels of experience since I'm fighting mostly ghosts which give no xp. In the end I had to convert my minotaur rogue into an air mage. The good news is that she retained the ability to wear light armor without penalty and volley two throwing weapons at once. I assume she retained most skill bonuses too from previous skill trees. The bad is that I originally built her with all points into strength and vitality, so she is kind of a crap mage (low energy and willpower). I tried the mage conversion book on a fighter too - he retained armor abilities (heavy armor without penalty), but lost the ability to use a sword (vorpal blade).

It's kind of cool to have a mage with lvl 13 rogue skills, but I don't like being forced to convert a character - maybe there should be a warning in the mod description that you'll need someone who knows air magic or a book of wisdom next to the Zo scroll.

[Dr.Disaster]

On level 11 now (with brief visits to 12 and 13) via pits. I got stuck because my lvl 13 fire mage didn't know any air magic and the Zo spell requires 5 of it. There was also now practical way to gain two levels of experience since I'm fighting mostly ghosts which give no xp.

Actually there is a way to level up, although it requires a bit of grinding. On my second playthru my pure fire mage was in the same situation as your mage and since i had no Book of Wizardry on level 11 back in v0.91 here is what i did to solve this problem.

On level 10 behind a breakable wall is a room with a fountain and 3 alcoves. Each time an item is removed from an alcove 2 purple worms are spawned. Lucky me recalled that place so i headed there and turned it into a worm sushi bar for about half an hour to give my mage the needed level up's.

I assume she retained most skill bonuses too from previous skill trees.

That's correct. It's an engine glitch that happens for a few abilities as you observed. For example if you turn a fighter or a ranger with learned heavy armor into a mage he still can wear his heavy armor without a penalty.

This effect can also be observed in mods where you can switch characters in and out of your party like "Eye of the Dragon" or "The Sunset Gate". The reason behind this is prolly that it was never intended to change a character's class during play. I guess some abilities are simply activated by setting them to "Enable" for this character's slot once the required number of skill points is assigned and there is no way to disable them again.

It's kind of cool to have a mage with lvl 13 rogue skills, but I don't like being forced to convert a character - maybe there should be a warning in the mod description that you'll need someone who knows air magic or a book of wisdom next to the Zo scroll.

As said above: you are not forced. You only need to recall where you can farm experience to gain the missing skill points. You might want to return to a previous savegame and go the grind-worms route if you like to keep your rogue a rogue or your fighter a fighter.

The Book of Wizardry was added for those players ignoring the "must have a mage" warning in the mod description (for whatever reason) so parties without a mage are not totally screwed once they reach level 11.

[MostlyHarmless]

well, i'm stuck on level 11. found the 5 blue gems and put them in place, but nothing happened. got 39/74 secrets (including lock picks, but no skulls for my minotaur so far). i failed to open the doors at the bottom (south) of the ghosts level or find a proper way back up or further down aside from pitfalls. (see pic for details).

in general i found the mod very good. in terms of puzzles it's been the most difficult mod i've tried, but the battles have been easier so far than in other mods. the floating heads that shoot lightning have been the toughest adversaries because i encountered them in corridors with little room to maneuver.

the book of wizardy is interesting; i think you could build a fighter with lots of willpower and vitality, with the intention to convert him or her into a mage by level 11. until then you could invest in armor (and maybe athletics) because you keep those skill bonus, armor at least, so that you could have a heavy armor wearing mage (of course the fighter would be crap for the first 10 levels, but the fights are on the easy side so that's no problem).

pic of how far i made it in levels 10 and 11:

SpoilerShow

[Dr.Disaster]

well, i'm stuck on level 11. found the 5 blue gems and put them in place, but nothing happened. got 39/74 secrets (including lock picks, but no skulls for my minotaur so far). i failed to open the doors at the bottom (south) of the ghosts level or find a proper way back up or further down aside from pitfalls. (see pic for details).

Can't see why you are stuck.

With all 5 gems in their sockets all you need to do is make sense of
- the not teleporting teleport fields they activated
- the demon riddle beside the twin doors in the south of the area
- that lone pressure plate in front of those twin doors

You should have everything needed to continue by now which includes a capable mage.

SpoilerShow

Did you try throwing things and/or spells into those teleport fields?

[Ken_Tucky]

How can I escape the ogre on level 6, Pressure's Challenges?
He traps me in the long corridor, and my team is not strong enough to face him in melee combat.
If I use the magic map spell, I can see that there's a small room (one square) that probably can be stepped into in the middle of this west-east corridor, so the ogre can run past me, but there's no button or anything to open this wallsquare.

Is there some way to deal with this orge to avoid standing face to face and getting killed all the time?

[Dr.Disaster]

How can I escape the ogre on level 6, Pressure's Challenges?
He traps me in the long corridor, and my team is not strong enough to face him in melee combat.
If I use the magic map spell, I can see that there's a small room (one square) that probably can be stepped into in the middle of this west-east corridor, so the ogre can run past me, but there's no button or anything to open this wallsquare.

Is there some way to deal with this orge to avoid standing face to face and getting killed all the time?

Either be very quick with pressing keys to run up to and beside him before he charges you or use magic boxes to freeze him.

[Ken_Tucky]

How can I escape the ogre on level 6, Pressure's Challenges?
He traps me in the long corridor, and my team is not strong enough to face him in melee combat.
If I use the magic map spell, I can see that there's a small room (one square) that probably can be stepped into in the middle of this west-east corridor, so the ogre can run past me, but there's no button or anything to open this wallsquare.
Is there some way to deal with this orge to avoid standing face to face and getting killed all the time?

Either be very quick with pressing keys to run up to and beside him before he charges you or use magic boxes to freeze him.

I'm not quick enough to run up and beside him, and I don't have any magic boxes or freeze spell

Besides, I'm also having problem with the pressure plate puzzle on the same level. I found the red button which opened the square with the chest and another secret button (which opened the grate to the mini-ogre). But I keep teleporting around and around on the pressure plates, very confusing.
I imagine I shall kill the mini-ogre and possibly there's another secret button in the square where he is standing. If so, how can I kill him when I get teleported/transported all over the place?

[Ken_Tucky]

How can I escape the ogre on level 6, Pressure's Challenges?
He traps me in the long corridor, and my team is not strong enough to face him in melee combat.
If I use the magic map spell, I can see that there's a small room (one square) that probably can be stepped into in the middle of this west-east corridor, so the ogre can run past me, but there's no button or anything to open this wallsquare.
Is there some way to deal with this orge to avoid standing face to face and getting killed all the time?

Either be very quick with pressing keys to run up to and beside him before he charges you or use magic boxes to freeze him.

I'm not quick enough to run up and beside him, and I don't have any magic boxes or freeze spell

Besides, I'm also having problem with the pressure plate puzzle on the same level. I found the red button which opened the square with the chest and another secret button (which opened the grate to the mini-ogre). But I keep teleporting around and around on the pressure plates, very confusing.
I imagine I shall kill the mini-ogre and possibly there's another secret button in the square where he is standing. If so, how can I kill him when I get teleported/transported all over the place?

Some help, please?

[Dr.Disaster]

How can I escape the ogre on level 6, Pressure's Challenges?
He traps me in the long corridor, and my team is not strong enough to face him in melee combat.
If I use the magic map spell, I can see that there's a small room (one square) that probably can be stepped into in the middle of this west-east corridor, so the ogre can run past me, but there's no button or anything to open this wallsquare.
Is there some way to deal with this orge to avoid standing face to face and getting killed all the time?

Either be very quick with pressing keys to run up to and beside him before he charges you or use magic boxes to freeze him.

I'm not quick enough to run up and beside him, and I don't have any magic boxes or freeze spell

Besides, I'm also having problem with the pressure plate puzzle on the same level. I found the red button which opened the square with the chest and another secret button (which opened the grate to the mini-ogre). But I keep teleporting around and around on the pressure plates, very confusing.
I imagine I shall kill the mini-ogre and possibly there's another secret button in the square where he is standing. If so, how can I kill him when I get teleported/transported all over the place?

Against the Ogre: actually i can't recall if i had magic boxes (those are the freeze spells!) at that point.
On first playthru with v.90 my party was hyper-buffed by the too huge exp rewards so it just whooped that ogre's butt.
On second playthru in v.9x my party ran up and side-stepped him before he could charge. Then i lead him into the large circle where i could easily fight him.

For the teleporting place: you can walk with or against the teleporting route.

SpoilerShow

You also might like to checkout the exact route you're being teleported by looking at your map. It might reveal something.

[MostlyHarmless]

well, i'm stuck on level 11. found the 5 blue gems and put them in place, but nothing happened. got 39/74 secrets (including lock picks, but no skulls for my minotaur so far). i failed to open the doors at the bottom (south) of the ghosts level or find a proper way back up or further down aside from pitfalls. (see pic for details).

Can't see why you are stuck.

With all 5 gems in their sockets all you need to do is make sense of
- the not teleporting teleport fields they activated
- the demon riddle beside the twin doors in the south of the area
- that lone pressure plate in front of those twin doors

You should have everything needed to continue by now which includes a capable mage.

SpoilerShow

Did you try throwing things and/or spells into those teleport fields?

i started to play another mod - Demiosis Domain, although now that got super difficult too once i ran into Demiosis himself (and in general i find that mod harder than other mods I've played). i'll return to the Gothmog's curse later - I tried various things with the pressure plate, teleports and demonhead on the wall of course but obviously failed. i tried to get a ghost to shoot fire and poison bolts at the demonhead and also into the receptacle near it (but maybe i only managed to get them to shoot firebolts into it), killed ghosts in front of it, and tried shooting it with fire myself and maybe lightning bolts (not sure anymore). same with teleports, and also threw ash piles (?) at them. i thought since the Zo spell required 5 in Air magic (as opposed to spellcraft), then maybe I'd need to use Shock for something, but obviously no luck... And with the pressure plate i tried to get a critter to stand on it and also triggered it myself and then ran to various directions to see if anything opened or activated, and also ran through the 3 doorways that are in open areas, but basically got tired of trying stuff since nothing seemed to work. i'll give it more tries sometime later.