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JerichoDeath
I've been playing the game on version 1.0.5, and I was just tearing my hair out with how impossible Deceit was. (ON EASY MODE)

(double-casting Cleanse, keeping the Mass Paralyze active constantly on the back row, infinite SP, and my Hide in Shadows/Critical Hit combo did absolutely zero extra damage)



... and I just found out that 1.0.6 nerfed him in easy... so, I'm about to try it out.

(probably still impossible in normal difficulty and above, though)
jack1974
There's also 1.0.7 out BTW :)

Not impossible, since people defeated him even on Nightmare, but yes quite hard!
JerichoDeath
... I have no idea how to update this game. Do I just paste the stuff in the archive over what's installed?

Is there a way to backup my saves so they don't disappear? I can't tell where they are.



My party hasn't really been outfitted solely for offense. So, I just don't have the necessary DPS to kill him on easy (in 1.0.5).

Also, I thought he wasn't supposed to be able to double-cast Cleanse anymore? Cause he does... not to mention his infinite SP regen.



I read that Hide in Shadows was supposed to work well with Critical Hit, but it doesn't do anything...

The "Take Aim" skill doesn't seem to do anything either (to Deceit, or any other enemy in the game).
jack1974
No you just unzip the file anywhere in your HD, the saves and preferences will be automatically imported. I'm also going to update the game live on my site with a normal installer in the next weeks.

Hide In Shadows and Take Aim make QUITE a difference!!! they boost the damage a lot. I am able to win in Easy, but I wasn't able to defeat him in Normal either. So don't feel too sad, if even the developer itself can't win :lol: but several players did and they want such challenges, especially in an optional battle.
JerichoDeath
No you just unzip the file anywhere in your HD, the saves and preferences will be automatically imported. I'm also going to update the game live on my site with a normal installer in the next weeks.

Hide In Shadows and Take Aim make QUITE a difference!!! they boost the damage a lot. I am able to win in Easy, but I wasn't able to defeat him in Normal either. So don't feel too sad, if even the developer itself can't win :lol: but several players did and they want such challenges, especially in an optional battle.


(thanks for the help)



Take Aim has never done anything for me, and I mean nothing. I've had it since act 1, and I've used it multiple times just to see if anything changed... but it's never done anything. Just seemed like I was using up a turn when I could have been doing something else.

Hide in Shadows is sort of weird. It works with "bandages", but it doesn't do anything to the damage of Critical Hit. I haven't tried it with my other skills because I figured that it was a bug that needed to be fixed.



Incidentally, that's also why I haven't taken the "Study Enemy" skill. I assumed it might be bugged too, and be a waste of a skill point.
jack1974
Take Aim increases damage. Simply try to attack an enemy, then reload, take aim, and try again. You'll see quite a difference. Same for Critical Hit.

Normal hit:

http://i.imgur.com/NxrS4Zj.jpg" style="max-width:100%">



Normal hit after take aim (notice the increased damage):

http://i.imgur.com/C7OECfh.jpg" style="max-width:100%">



Critical Hit:

http://i.imgur.com/BS1SIYM.jpg" style="max-width:100%">



Critical Hit after Hiding in Shadows:

http://i.imgur.com/KmGpBFb.jpg" style="max-width:100%">



as you can see it makes QUITE a difference. However, maybe playing in easy mode you reach the "damage multiplier cap" so you can't do more damage than that, it might be the case. So in practice already with the normal attacks (non buffed) you reach the max damage you can do. That's the only possible explanation :)
JerichoDeath

as you can see it makes QUITE a difference. However, maybe playing in easy mode you reach the "damage multiplier cap" so you can't do more damage than that, it might be the case. So in practice already with the normal attacks (non buffed) you reach the max damage you can do. That's the only possible explanation :)


That might be it. I have seen some insanely high damage from Critical Hit before (far in excess of what any other character was capable of), and this was with no hide in shadows or take aim active (since I never noticed them doing anything). Actually, part of the reason I took Shea out of the main party was because his skills for that seemed useless compared to the mages, since Critical Hit only hits one enemy, and most fights seemed to be 3+ enemies on average. It was mostly a choice between having Shea on the front row or Chalassa in that place. Since Chalassa is awesome (and my favorite), it was an easy choice.

(playing as Althea with a Druid / Hunter start)
JerichoDeath
On the note of this saving of her soul... when do I tell her after beating Deceit?

I mean, I'm sitting in act 4, and it still hasn't happened.



I still have 4/5 hearts for her, of all things!

I have no idea how to get that 5th one.
fabulaparva
At the very end of Act IV is when Althea tells her.



Those hearts never go higher than 4. Can't remember the explanation why there is the 5th heart, but yeah, 4 is as high as they go.
JerichoDeath
At the very end of Act IV is when Althea tells her.



Those hearts never go higher than 4. Can't remember the explanation why there is the 5th heart, but yeah, 4 is as high as they go.


Yeah, I decided to play through anyway. So, I noticed.



I was acutely aware of the missing heart for a long time, and was kinda wondering why the last two bath scenes before the successful romance start didn't give the heart.

Oh well.
marja376
I haven't been able to defeat Deceit either, even after reequipping to reduce vulnerability to paralysis and lightning, trying several different strategies, and reducing the difficulty to easy. I didn't want to micromanage my companions' skills, it seemed dishonest, so I let the computer select their skills, which does make for mismatched skills. I rarely had too much trouble with other fights.



If there were a way to switch around skills, that would help. Otherwise, I'm left either dropping the quest or repeating the whole season to get appropriate skills.
Taleweaver
Sorry about that. Deceit is an optional quest, and both he and Jul are supposed to be hard to beat.



Have you tried packing a truckload of potions and scrolls?
marja376
Yes. Of course. I have plenty of the basic potions, but when Deceit cleanses twice, he's back at full strength and we're not. I can't use scrolls, because they are labelled mage class only, and the magic users are all specialty classes. I can't use the bombs either, because they are labelled thief class only, and again all other classes. I tried the trick of switching the positions because Deceit focuses paralysis on the back rank.



I am not going to drop the quest, because Althea wouldn't.
jack1974
Note that to get the achievement you need to play in Hard/Nightmare, but to solve the quest you can just switch to Easy/Normal difficulty. In Easy difficulty it should be definitely possible to win :)
marja376
In Easy difficulty it should be definitely possible to win


I haven't been able to defeat Deceit either, even after reequipping to reduce vulnerability to paralysis and lightning, trying several different strategies, and reducing the difficulty to easy. I didn't want to micromanage my companions' skills, it seemed dishonest, so I let the computer select their skills, which does make for mismatched skills. I rarely had too much trouble with other fights.


Should be does not imply is. I can't do anything about cleanse-spam. All the solutions I've seen either (a) aren't enough or (b) assume that I've picked the right skills for the characters, when I've deliberately avoided picking the skills and can't change the skills now. I see that some of us can use the "thief-only" equipment, it was just mislabelled, but I think I would need to restart the chapter to finish with anything except "everyone except Chalassa got killed trying to save Chalassa."
jack1974
Well if you want to send me the save, I'd be curious to try.

http://www.winterwolves.net/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=2971

I didn't consider that the bombs were very useful and since Chalassa can't be in the team, you can't use them unless one of the siblings is a Thief. A possible easy solution is to add some fireball/whatever scrolls that can be used by mages or other that can be used by Warrior too.
marja376
It turns out hunters and bards can use theif equipment, so for my last try I loaded up on bombs. I can't identify the relevant saves just yet though.
jack1974
Ah yes there's Jariel! OK with bombs definitely is possible to win, I'm quite sure of it.
Troyen
Course Jariel has a really high miss rate against Deceit.



Tip: You can save mid-fight and reload if you miss a key bomb or Deceit cleanses instead of doing something else. If you save a few turns before Deceit's turn, he might do something different on his turn.