I decided to play this. I downloaded it from its home page at the new vault. I did a manual install, and on the way created a .zip file, which since the vault holds it as .rar I have published as a public service. For more, including play hints, see below/overleaf.
Install
This is now stored on my google drive,
- H&C Unzipped Contents.zip, … 134 Mb
Keyword: “Harp & Chrysanthemum”
SURL: https://wp.me/pauVx4-199, I corrected a spelling mistake in the title
Thoughts
Yup! Fights are hard, but here’s my party about to leave “Drawn Swords”. (I) am a fighter/magic-user, trying to recreate my first ever character.
Walkthrough, Notes & Hints
I found a partial walkthrough at Lilura’s blog, and a further review at Belariad’s blog, which reinforces the positive comments on its beauty.
She offers the following advice, “Set Puppet mode to ON and set Party AI to OFF. This gives you full control of what your companions do in combat.”
Another of her pieces of advice is to stock up, she talks of healing kits, and arrows. I’d add acid vials, spells and flame spells, the trolls implement the rule that unless scorched by acid or flame, they regenerate. Nasty. Don’t sell the great sword that does fire damage.
This needs some study, both for Trolls and Treants, both spell casters need to maximise their fire damage, and probably have their AI turned off so they only cast it when the Trolls are vulnerable. I have been watching Critical Role and note that they change their spell caster’s spell books to optimise for specific enemies, undead, drow, daemons etc. Perhaps I need to do this, my normal style is to select the most damage dealing spells available to me irrespective of damage type. (This may no longer work as well as I’d have hoped).
There’s some frustratingly odd stuff, the side quests offer significant and useful treasures, these side quests include the Backland Barrow, (Lilandra’s walk-through explains this), as does the pop-up below, and the Dryad Fire which has a frustrating moral dilemma, only the violent route yields the loot. At the end of the Castle Joyous side quest, close the Crypt door, and speak to Oudin.
What to do about the Riddle of the Harpers? Do I want to be a Harper?
Oopps, the comments say that the fights are hard. Not my style but we cotinue.
How strange? A fight I was stuck on and had left for months, against the Guardians of the Dove’s portal suddenly became easy. I wonder why? Might have been proper preparation, might have been that the only casualty of their fireball was a summoned dire wolf. So back on the road!
I wonder if I should start this again, I have forgotten so much of what I have done and their journal notes, and the one I made are not so good.
I found a walkthrough at Lilura’s blog.
I decided I wanted Lilura’s comments on the Backland’s Barrow incorporated on this page, but hidden and available only on request. I used the code from this page at w3 schools. It opens a lovely clean ‘modal’. The script has to succeed the text, and it looks like the script is tightly bound, by naming, to the button and text. If I want another one, I’ll have to study the HTML and script name references. I think it’s cool as it is.