Swordflight: Review of Chapter 3

Ok, this first lot of screencaps recap the events of the first two chapters of Swordflight for BioWare's Neverwinter Nights; the second lot sets the scene for the initial events of the current one.

Our Story so far:

Swordflight Chapter 3 Review

Pirate hunting:

 

Aboard the Sword of Valkur:

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Above: Initial dialogue with Zarala, belowdecks.

Below: Dialogue with the Captain on the decks.

Minotaur pirate isle:

Ok, that should be enough to whet your appetite!

Size & Scope.

Swordflight Chapter Three is shorter than the second chapter but still much longer than the first. It starts off linear, then goes non-linear for its quest-dense urban hub (Zazesspur), then goes linear again for its "major racial paths" (see Reactivity section).

This installment takes you across varied environments such as pirate isles, minotaur mazes, the City of Zazesspur (and the ancient dwarven ruins buried deep beneath it), the frozen wastelands of Cania, forests, countrysides, fortresses, ancients tombs etc. So yeah, it's all there.

Zazesspur Docks

I counted approx. 50 quests, 150 areas, over 600 custom items and quite a few custom bosses, too, like the Dwarven Doomknight and the Minotaur King, pictured below.

cRPG Reactivity.

It's Swordflight! - so, highly reactive to your character. Race, class, alignment, feats and skills are checked at regular intervals; f.e, Playing a survivalist? Expect woodcraft, tracking, and animal empathy checks. Playing a holy warrior? Expect to detect evil wherever you go, and break necromantic wards with Turn Undead.

Most notably, there are two major racial paths that begin at a certain point in the main quest: one for gnomes, halflings and dwarves; the other for humans, elves, half-elves and half-orcs. The areas, dungeons, quests and companions associated with these paths are completely different to one another.

Difficulty.

You hit epic levels in this one and start to kick some ass as a result. But the mobs are massive and their ranks are non-trivial, so they will tear you a new one if you're not buffed or being mindful. I played with a character that didn't have equipment from the first two installments; twice I got a lump in my throat because I forgot to bring consumable wards, and backtracking was out because I was deep down and stuck. So yeah, don't delve any dungeon without a solid supply.

To reiterate, it depends on your build, but as a general rule of thumb you really don't want to be exploring without potions of Death Ward, Freedom, Lesser Mind Blank, Resist Elements and Speed (Enhanced).

Also, Potion of Cure Severe Wounds is a new addition, replenishing fewer hit points than Heal but more than Cure Critical. Invigoration runes, undead wards, scrolls of Raise Dead and the Scabbard of Enhancement won't go astray, either.

A typical on-rest ambush

• Custom Content Employment. Swordflight is known for its inclusion of custom content and this installment is no exception.
• Custom creatures (SwordflightB.hak): Cornugon by Magma, Displacer Beast by DM_Shade, Gelugon by Jupp & h20rat, Glabrezu by Schazzwozzer, Marilith by Lord of Worms (2011 CCC), Otyugh by ShadowM, Rust Monster by Fenmarel & Brent Anderson, Undead Umber Hulk & Undead Hook Horror by Plush Hyena of Doom, Yuan-Ti Abomination by Diademus.
• Custom Placeables (SwordflightB.hak): Pirate Flag Placeables by Dark Defiance (2010 CCC), Snow Mogul Placeables by Vibrant Penumbra (2011 CCC).
• Custom Tilesets: Seasonal Forest from the Lord of Worms Tilesets and Dwarven Halls & CTP Loadscreens from CTP Common.

Examples of area design:

Walkthrough.

There is also a 94 page walkthrough written by the author, available as a separate download. I didn't have access to it during my playtesting, proving that it's possible to get through this Chapter without one.

As usual, most of my issues center around the Aurora Engine upon which my fave modules are built. I find the companion AI really quite annoying; and Swordflight exacerbates the issues due to its increased difficulty.

Pathing can also pose a problem in that, under a RTwP combat system, one can never be sure if, when they click a target/destination, they can actually reach it without bouncing off a placeable or other combat unit (losing costly seconds in combat).

To be fair, the latter issue is true of even Infinity Engine cRPGs, which people praise to the heavens. 

The author is aware of both of these issues; nevertheless, it was decided that Aurora was the most suitable platform on which to build his campaign - and I agree with that evaluation. The engine is mostly great.

But I've always wished Troika's Temple of Elemental Evil shipped with an Aurora-like toolset, and wasn't so bug-plagued. Then, who knows, we could have been playing the likes of Swordflight as a turn-based tactical cRPG. Imagine that? One can dream..

I was hoping for more custom content employment - especially regarding ship interiors and the marketplace tileset - but the ones that were available on the Vault did not suit the author's purposes.

More visual variation in the ranks of enemies would have been nice, too. Do all bandits have to be in uniform and in same style, same color? I just think it would be nice to mix things up a bit (this is not a criticism of their combat abilities, which are indeed varied enough).

This is not so much a criticism as it is a warning: you will need a decent PC to run this. The areas are huge and so are the mobs. Also, if you have framerate issues try turning off Shiny Water.

End of Review.

Swordflight Chapter 3 vids:

Swordflight Chapter Three combat scenario - Weapon Master vs. Priest of Malar: Big bursty damage of Scythe crits saved my ass here, against a priest who unleashes spells if you don't get in his face and smack him down first. Then he shapeshifts, but yeah, another big crit. Improved Invisibility is mandatory for concealment. This is not as EZ as it looks. Sometimes werecats train on Zarala, too. Not good. Again, I was lucky.

• Swordflight Chapter 3 combat scenario - Weapon Master vs. Bandit Commander: Had to quaff two valuable Healing potions. It's better to be safe than sorry because the bandit commander wielding a keen scimitar, making him a crit machine. He healed himself once, which is what he always does. Zarala is fighting with fists lol, but she is irrelevant in this situation, anyway. The Dire Bear is a squishy meatshield for this encounter but it's better than nothing. The archers are rated EZ but, as you can see, they are decent marksmen, and it was satisfying to chase them down at the end.

The rest of this post contains random pics from Chapter 3. They were added four years after the above review. I found them sitting in my drafts.

Most of Chapter III takes place in and around the city of Zazesspur, to the north of Calimport. Zazesspur is Chapter III's quest-dense urban hub. 

Bandit Fortress:

Mega monster mob:

Arcane duel: My Gnome Illusionist taking on a Gnome Lich - in his lab.

Why am I conducting an incursion into the dungeon-lab of a gnome-lich - am I crazy? Well, yes. But I needed something from that lab, namely this:

Zeko Tazoc is the boss of the race-specific quest for gnomes. The lab is built on a "steamworks" tileset that features steam effects and moving engine placeables. It's quite colorful and equally deadly.

Zeko has decked the place out with devious hazards. He doesn't just drop a ton of rocks on intruders from the ceiling like the ogres do, he wants to make us suffer and die slowly. To that end, there are corridors and chambers that will burn us and melt us...

And spheres that bombard us with magic:

Basically, Zeko wants intruders who somehow survive the ordeal to be on their last legs as they limp into his sanctum. And then, of course, he's a lich with a phylactery. In Swordflight II and III we encounter four liches all of whom have a phylactery: Zagash, Ilkuzeram, Illithilich (an Alhoon) and Zeko.

Custom items yielded:

A nice Illusionist-flavored staff (since gnomes are naturally gifted in the illusion school):

Familiar upgrade:

Unique enemies:

The Elemental Plane of Air plays a pivotal role in the Swordflight Series:

A talk with Hamad in Chapter I:

Now, Zarala does not actually adventure with us in Chapter II though she features prominently and is a quest-giving anchor for the Chapter along with Hamad. The revelation that Zarala is an ancestor of the great djinni, Zefad, I reserve for another post.

What is interesting is that the above dialogue with Hamad has some reactivity in Chapter II: if we tell him about what happened in the Plane of Air in Chapter I, he will look into it and offer us a quest at the beginning of Chapter II. Otherwise, we miss out.

In Chapter III there is an incursion by the forces of Azghulkar upon the Plane of Air.

The magical crystal orb is located in the south of the map:

Zarala, being a descendent of the djinni Zefad, is able to manipulate the orb instinctively. This results in what I call "an experience point bomb":

At the end of Chapter III:

Neverwinter Nights	Swordflight Chapter 3	Buried Ruins 2	Thieves' Guild	Mazar's Golems
Swordflight	Swordflight Alignment	Buried Ruins 3	Goblinoid Army	Precious Metals
Rogueknight Interview	Swordflight Walkthrough	Buried Ruins 4	Orc Army	Hammer & Anvil
Swordflight Chapter 1	Shifting Sands Inn	Calimport	Dragon Cult	Bloody Blades
Swordflight Chapter 2	Buried Ruins 1	Zataroth	Aranea Base	Zagash the Terrible