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Post by SuperNovice on May 8, 2004 11:29:24 GMT
Has anyone managed to go all the way through the series without dying? I decided to try it a few days ago. I've been reading one book per night since then.
I got to the end of book 4 before I died. (Hint: Don't explore the Maakengorge temple. Just kill the dude and get the girl). This is only my second time reading the series so I think it's possible for someone that knows the series a bit better.
Has anyone managed to do this? For that matter, has anyone else even tried?
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deiseach
Kai Lord
Champion of the Sommerswerd
Posts: 170
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Post by deiseach on May 8, 2004 11:38:58 GMT
I'm sure there are plenty of people who have done it. They know every nook, every cranny, every possible outcome. They know to buy loads of Alether berries in book 6, don't bring them to Castle Death and pick them up again before book 9 so you can be ready for Zakhan Kimah. To me, though, this misses the point. I've played books 1-12 from start to finish on maybe five occassions. Each time I try to behave as if I don't know what's coming next, allowing a whole new Lone Wolf to emerge on each occassion (exception: always meet Banedon). If I die, bummer, but I simply step back and make the 'right' choice next time. I'll probably make the same blunder the next time around, but hey, it was a laugh being chewed up again
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Post by Vonotar on May 8, 2004 19:33:19 GMT
Has anyone managed to go all the way through the series without dying? I decided to try it a few days ago. I've been reading one book per night since then. Has anyone managed to do this? For that matter, has anyone else even tried? I did LW1-15 online a few months back, no cheating. You need to know the books well, obviously, and especially from Book 6 onwards, need to choose Disciplines which minimise chances of death by RN. My first attempt ended in Fire on the Water - got squashed by the falling mast! Second time I survived the whole way, though needed to get lucky with the Chaos Master (finished on 2EP after the battle!).
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Post by SuperNovice on May 8, 2004 21:18:16 GMT
I did LW1-15 online a few months back, no cheating. You need to know the books well, obviously, and especially from Book 6 onwards, need to choose Disciplines which minimise chances of death by RN. My first attempt ended in Fire on the Water - got squashed by the falling mast! Second time I survived the whole way, though needed to get lucky with the Chaos Master (finished on 2EP after the battle!). Dying to that mast is pretty bad luck. It's only on a 0 isn't it? Anyway, I'm gonna try again, starting tonight probably. I went with more mental skills this time to start than I did last time. It worked pretty well for me. I think I'm gonna go with that set up again. Any advice for me for the Magnakai books?
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Post by Ofecks on May 9, 2004 2:38:45 GMT
Any advice for me for the Magnakai books? ;D Spoilers: -> Don't ride back to the village, stay away from Armory (FAR away), beware section 339, don't ever take your eyes off the hand, make sure you look behind the tapestries, entering the mine is a very bad idea, get yourself arrested, help Adamas if he needs it, save all your Alether & healing potions for a rainy day, and remember your name!I've had quite a few setbacks during my latest play-through. Up to book 15, here's my death toll so far: book 2 - Helghast escape (RN roll, instant)* book 3 - Kalkoth (battle-related, RN roll, instant) book 7 - Boulder-eye (instant) book 9 - Zakhan Kimah (battle) book 9 - Tahou South Gate garrison (instant) book 13 - Escape from plague-hall (RN roll, instant) book 13 - Acid cauldron chain (RN roll, instant)* book 14 - Wall climb (RN roll, instant)* book 14 - Ice Dragon (battle) book 15 - Tower of Darke (RN roll, instant) The ones marked with an asterisk were cheats - I just continued as if I rolled a better score. With all the others, I started the book over.
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Post by Vonotar on May 9, 2004 12:26:44 GMT
I've had quite a few setbacks during my latest play-through. Up to book 15, here's my death toll so far: book 2 - Helghast escape (RN roll, instant)* book 3 - Kalkoth (battle-related, RN roll, instant) book 7 - Boulder-eye (instant) book 9 - Zakhan Kimah (battle) book 9 - Tahou South Gate garrison (instant) book 13 - Escape from plague-hall (RN roll, instant) book 13 - Acid cauldron chain (RN roll, instant)* book 14 - Wall climb (RN roll, instant)* book 14 - Ice Dragon (battle) book 15 - Tower of Darke (RN roll, instant) The ones marked with an asterisk were cheats - I just continued as if I rolled a better score. With all the others, I started the book over. You must be getting pretty frustrated after that little lot! Dying while escaping the Heleghast was very bad luck, but even those 1/20 chances can catch up with you now and again.
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deiseach
Kai Lord
Champion of the Sommerswerd
Posts: 170
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Post by deiseach on May 9, 2004 12:49:36 GMT
You must be getting pretty frustrated after that little lot! Dying while escaping the Heleghast was very bad luck, but even those 1/20 chances can catch up with you now and again. How many instant death rolls are in the unavoidable parts of the books? It would only be necessary for there to be 10 sections throughout the 28 books where 0 (no modifiers) leads to instant death for it to be statistically impossible to complete all 28 books without dying...
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Post by Thomas Wolmer on May 9, 2004 13:13:27 GMT
How many instant death rolls are in the unavoidable parts of the books? It would only be necessary for there to be 10 sections throughout the 28 books where 0 (no modifiers) leads to instant death for it to be statistically impossible to complete all 28 books without dying... Actually, that's not how the probability to survive is calculated. Each such roll gives to 90% chance to survive, and ten in a row are 0.9^10 ~= 35% chance to survive.
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Post by Vonotar on May 9, 2004 13:35:36 GMT
Actually, that's not how the probability to survive is calculated. Each such roll gives to 90% chance to survive, and ten in a row are 0.9^10 ~= 35% chance to survive. Exactly. Even a million such rolls would give a chance to survive, albeit a very small one.
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Post by AlbinoChocobo on May 9, 2004 17:34:35 GMT
Quite so.
Odds of survival are pretty hard to compute here. For instance, you'd have to take every combat for your given into account. Then avoidable RN, which may lead to a better situation later on. Basically feasible, but extremely tedious.
Plus I wouldn't want to know. It's one thing trying to work out how to better the odds in one tough fight, it's another entirely having every possible path laid out before you. That would kinda spoil the game for me.
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deiseach
Kai Lord
Champion of the Sommerswerd
Posts: 170
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Post by deiseach on May 9, 2004 22:58:30 GMT
Oh come on. Yes, I know that it's possible to roll 9 every time - it's not as if the Random Number generator / die knows you drew / rolled 9 the last time. But if you roll a 10-sided die 1,000 times, you'll probably draw 0 one hundred times, give or take one. So it's probably statistically impossible to go through all 28 books without producing an instant death
Unless, of course, you cheat
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Post by SuperNovice on May 10, 2004 1:15:22 GMT
I didn't really want this to turn into a statistics debate. Of course it's possible. Whatever the odds, there is a non-zero chance that you can go through the books and pass every roll (barring instant death sections anyway). I already knew it is possible, so did everyone else on the boards.
I was more interested in seeing who else had tried it and how well they did on their attempts. I don't claim to be an expert on anything Lone Wolf and I got to book 4. I know that some of the more knowledgable people here are capable of it. I wanted to hear from them and see what advice or anecdotes they had about it.
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Post by outspaced on May 10, 2004 9:17:45 GMT
Oh come on. Yes, I know that it's possible to roll 9 every time - it's not as if the Random Number generator / die knows you drew / rolled 9 the last time. But if you roll a 10-sided die 1,000 times, you'll probably draw 0 one hundred times, give or take one. So it's probably statistically impossible to go through all 28 books without producing an instant death I get what you mean now (I was confused by your previous post). Of course, we're only talking 20 books since books 21-28 deal with a different main character. That's still only one occurrence of an unavoidable 0=death check in every two books which would make the series theoretically impossible. I never thought of it like that! Lone Wolf must be a darn lucky guy!
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Post by AlbinoChocobo on May 10, 2004 13:49:23 GMT
Nope. As stated before, rolling 10 times for instant death on 0 still yields a not-quite 35% odds of survival, which is rather good by Lone Wolf standarts (ie : you get many occasions to die taking a wrong turn, or from accumulated damage).
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deiseach
Kai Lord
Champion of the Sommerswerd
Posts: 170
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Post by deiseach on May 10, 2004 16:16:18 GMT
Okay, it's been a while since I did statistics. But I generated 100 random numbers using the Random Number generator and got 0 eight times, which means that you would get 0 once every thirteen throws. It's quite possible that there are only a handful of instant death scenarios in the main path of the books but it ain't great odds and it's COMPLETELY RANDOM. This is all before we factor in those bloody Kalkoth....
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