Certainly the nature of the clan matters. I often play Elmali clans
(steadfast and sun is a nice mix of starting blessings, and generally I
like to play a defensive style), in which case the Elmal quest is
usually the first one that I rattle off--for Elmal's help when you are
attacked (five years of awesome defensive prowess really lets you
stabalize).
Anyways, my tips for the Elmal quest:
- obviously sacrifice to Elmal in the preceding year.
- strengthen your fortifications in teh preceding year (I'm pretty sure
this helps)
- strengthen your patrols before the quest (don't know if this helps,
but it might)
- try to arrange to have someone attack you in the year preceding the
quest (again don't know if it helps, but it might).
- Your quester needs some combat ability (to defeat the monsters), but
more critical is decent magic (to heal himself) and decent custom (so
he doesn't get seduced by the teller of lies). Having fair or no
custom skill seems to lead to a very high chance of failing at the end.
I find that it isn't so much a matter of being exceptional at one
skill, as being not bad at all three (and if marginal, the quest to
strengthen the quester is pretty sweet).
- sacrificing horses does seem to help (unlike the uralda quest, where
sacrificing cows seems of little or no benefit).
Thank you for the tip about not having any support for Urox when doing
the Uralda quest. That is probably the trick that I was missing, I
almost always have an Urox shrine running detect chaos fairly early on.
Interesting that you use Uralda quest to keep your cows up when running
an ernalda clan--I usually find that I do the ernalda quest so
frequently that it helps give me enough boost to my cattle (I typically
run it to boost crops in the first bad crop year, often run it to
strengthen the quester, so that I have one ring member who can be chief
and good at plants, and then run it to make the cows healthy when I get
a chance). I find it fascinating how the game is so well balanced that
there are so many viable strategies!
-Bryan
- Meredith Dixon <dixonm_at_...> wrote:
> On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 10:58:01 -0800 (PST), Bryan Thexton
> <bethexton_at_...>
> wrote:
> The Uralda quest is usually the first quest I do in the early game,
> because it
> seems to get so much harder if I pay any attention at all to Urox,
> and I like
> the flexibility of being able to have a Uroxi on the ring. I also
> pretty
> much depend on that magical cow to keep our herds up.
>
> I am usually playing an Ernalda-worshipping Peace clan, which may
> explain why
> I have an easier time with it than others.
>
> The quest I always have trouble with is Elmal's. For years
> (realtime, and
> literally) I couldn't do it at all, despite having read the myths.
> Someone
> finally took pity on me and told me the proper choice at the end,
> which I
> still find completely counterintuitive, unlike all the other myths
> which make
> good intuitive sense. But I still find it almost impossible to do
> it. Not
> sure how much of that is psychological aversion on my part and how
> much is
> incompetence on the part of my clan ring. :> Often I go through
> entire games
> without ever doing an Elmal quest.
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Meredith Dixon <dixonm_at_...>
> Check out *Raven Days*: http://www.ravendays.org
> For victims and survivors of bullying.
> And for those who want to help.
>
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