Big difficulty spike at Aztechnology level?

[pyremind]

So I've been playing through this game, and am enjoying it - but with this mission, where you break into the Aztechnology building to blow it up, I'm hitting a wall with the final(?) room. Lots of blood mages, enemies are suddenly much harder to hit - and they are hitting me very hard. I feel like I'm outleveled here - like I took this mission on too soon? But I've been taking every mission offered in order, so I'm not sure how that would have happened. Do I need to learn to play noob?

[bvguthrie]

If you've triggered the alarm, the Aztechnology fight is one of the three most difficult in the game, in my view. If you've managed to avoid tripping the alarm before fighting the blood mages, it's possible to finish the fight and get out of the building before Knight Errant arrives, which makes things easier. It's best to make Aztechnology the final mission you do before the endgame, but it sounds like you have, so you should be set for it. Just realize that fighting both the blood mages and Knight Errant is intended to be a very hard fight.

[Zadok]

It can be hard depending on how you do it. I suggest you read through your objectives first. Does it say you need to kill stuff?

[pyremind]

End game?? I feel like I have barely started building my character... my hours show 30+ but I had the game on overnight once or twice. If this is near endgame I am surprised..

[bvguthrie]

Diposting pertama kali oleh pyremind:

End game?? I feel like I have barely started building my character... my hours show 30+ but I had the game on overnight once or twice. If this is near endgame I am surprised..

I looked at your achievements--you might have missed Glory's, Eiger's, and Blitz's missions, since you don't have achievements for completing their storylines. That said, this is not a super-long game.

[The nameless Gamer]

I also wanted to ask for tips for the AZtech run. I managed to avoid the bloodshed thanks to picking the correct social etiquetes... But then my party is perfectly clustered up on arrival and the Blood mages have the first attack. They simply fireball my entire party to oblivion. Add the fact that your characters still have only 2 AP while the mages are immune to blindness, petrification, all sorts of AP loss, have 4 AP each, pack a lot of pepper AND can take a lot of punishment. Is it even possible to circumvent the security in more than one way (the correct social etiquetes)?

[Zadok]

Diposting pertama kali oleh The nameless Commander:

I also wanted to ask for tips for the AZtech run. (...) Is it even possible to circumvent the security in more than one way (the correct social etiquetes)?

For one thing you can stop the mages from attacking you in dialogue if you talked your way through the earlier squads. Iirc you've got to go through his stare, which needs either good attributes (Body? Or was it Willpower?) or Chi Casting. Quickness allows to move 1st at least.

For another you can just run past them. Since I haven't played that with a party lately I can't remember the fireball side of things. Usually they ended up busying themselves battling their own spirits behind my back. If they don't summon any that's bad news. Either way Cram helps running and Blitz got some. You need a Decker at the exit and you need to set up the explosion, just behind the main chamber. Everybody else is just support & distraction while your main and Blitz go for it. It's okay if your main is the only survivor. An exception is borrowed equipment: it is lost upon death and can't be rebought (the loss is not registered). A runner carrying your Taser for instance is not allowed to die.

If on the other hand you win the fight Blitz may have time to hack the terminal in the main chamber. Not necessary but a bonus. Mind there is a summoning spot in the back: a true Summoner makes short work of these blood snobs.

[The nameless Gamer]

It's willpower and if memory serves you need 7. That's quite high for any class that is not a caster. Funnily enough, I managed to slice them to ribbons on my first try as melee street Samurai AFTER having cut my way through 90% of the building's security. What overcame me in that attempt were the endless waves of KE constantly chucking flashbangs at my party. I remember the summon, it's an Apocalypse spirit. If it doesn't go berserk it REALLY carves them up. Well, seems like trial & error time again...

[Zadok]

Diposting pertama kali oleh The nameless Commander:

What overcame me in that attempt were the endless waves of KE constantly chucking flashbangs at my party.

First fireballs now flashbangs...
The enemy only ever uses AoE if you offer a target. That's a chance to hit 2+ occupied squares. Spread out man!

[The nameless Gamer]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Zadok:

Diposting pertama kali oleh The nameless Commander:

What overcame me in that attempt were the endless waves of KE constantly chucking flashbangs at my party.

First fireballs now flashbangs...
The enemy only ever uses AoE if you offer a target. That's a chance to hit 2+ occupied squares. Spread out man!

Makes sense. Well, it's been a few years since I tried the Run, might actually get it this time. Help appreciated! (P.S. Fireballs and flashbangs were not in the same attempt, the fireball shower happened on my second attempt when I walked past the security but they got the jump on me.)

[Zadok]

Diposting pertama kali oleh The nameless Commander:

Makes sense. Well, it's been a few years since I tried the Run, might actually get it this time. Help appreciated!

My pleasure. Good luck!

[DaBlanka]

Just played through this mission on Very Hard, and it was the easiest mission so far. Had done it before and remembered it being rather difficult.

This time had security etiquette, and entered the building from the side entrance by the repairman. Obtained the knight errant costumes, and with them and the "security" etiquette was able to not set off the alarms and talk my way through half of the final area. The blood mage wasn't able to complete his ritual, needed quickness 6 to interrupt him.

Also because I remembered this run being hard, I stocked up on jazz for many missions before this. Kept buying 2 jazz from zack flash and saving them. Then for this mission gave 5 extra jazz split between the shaman and sniper, and had 2 more on main character. Entering the blood mage room with all that extra AP makes killing them much easier. AP grenades are a great help too.

Had my shaman summon earth elemental and give everyone medium cover bonus, then focus fired them down, while keeping the living ones on reduced AP with grenades/kneecap etc.

Never even saw the knight errant special response team.