Ossuary: The End Game
Saturday, 20th March 2021
As you appropach Ossuary's end game, things become a lot more difficult, and the ways of dealing with them depend upon the type of character you are playing.
As a melee character with your blade and shield, you'll have had a relatively easy ride until the spectres appear. But now you have to make a choice: if your intelligence is above average, you can switch to using the wand and amulet to take on the new enemies against whom your blade is ineffective. This might work against spectres at least. But if you've chosen to be a melee character then your intelligence is probably inferior to your strength, and you'll probably falter against the stronger daemons.
The other option is to start using the magic scrolls, which you'll have been collecting since before you met the spectres. There are some down sides to these. They have a tendency to disappear in a puff of smoke at the most awkward times, and banishing the spectres and daemons this way doesn't count towards your experience for levelling up. So you'll want to put off switching to them for as long as possible.
In either case, it's highly recommended that you hang onto the wand at this stage. The last thing you want to happen is to be trapped by daemons when your last scroll disappears; if you don't have the wand as a last resort, you will have no means to fight them. That's game over. A good rule of thumb when deciding which objects to pick up or leave behind is to split your spare inventory space 50/50 between potions and scrolls.
As a magic character you'll have an easier time. Your familiar wand and amulet can be used against the spectres, although if your intelligence isn't particularly strong then you might have a hard time against the daemons and have to start relying on the magic scrolls. In contrast to melee characters, you can probably afford to dispense with the blade to give yourself a bit more inventory space. And it's probably sufficient to carry just a couple of scrolls with you and leave the rest of your inventory space for potions.
The final battle with the necromancer is the most dangerous, but preparation should see you through. The necromancer hits hard, and gets in the first hit as you approach. So make sure you're at full health before you tackle him. You'll probably need to quaff several potions during the course of the fight, so make sure you have them ready.
You'll have noticed throughout the game that if your health drops below 10, the figures turn yellow as a warning that you're in mortal danger. The necromancer can easily cause more than 10 damage in a single hit. So unless you're a risk taker, you'll probably want to quaff a potion before you're reduced to single figures. Getting down to half health is probably a good time to think about quaffing a potion when you're facing the necromancer.
The necromancer doesn't move, so you can back off if, for instance, you haven't killed all the daemons and one threatens to intervene. It's generally a good idea to clear out the daemons before facing the necromancer, but there are occasions when you might want to avoid that. You may be low on scrolls or potions, for instance, and want to save the latter for dealing with the necromancer. Note that the necromancer is human, so the magic scrolls won't banish him.
If you enjoy playing Ossuary, and you're interested in further news about this or my other projects, then you might like to join my Discord or follow me on Twitter.
Ossuary Download
Download: ossuary.zip
Size 54kb, downloads 743.
The main DOS distribution. It contains the executable ossuary.exe and a manual in plain text format. There is in-game help for the keys, but a read through of the manual is recommended so you can learn how to use the various items you'll find in the game. (read more...)
Comments