Water breathing?

[Lord Stiamot]

Potential early game minor spoiler: I'm in Old Forest at the water ruins and I'm not sure what the best way to get around is. Do I just retreat to an island when I need air or am I missing an easy way to do this? Is water breathing possible? I found a note that hinted at it.

Also why is this game so much better than so many other games I had to pay money for? Wow.

Thanks everyone for your help with previous questions, too. I didn't want to bump those topics up just to say thanks. It is much appreciated though. =)

[aiqtidar]

I assume you're talking about the Lake Nur area?

Water breathing is possible - just look for items with the property "of the depths" somewhere in the name.

You don't strictly need water breathing here though - just go down till you see some islands (I approached from slightly west-of-center, not sure if there's more in the east). On each island you'll be able to catch your breath. You can then hop from island to island till you come across a structure, and inside will be an entrance to a dungeon.

This is an underwater dungeon, but it will have plenty of air bubbles which you can stand inside to regain your breath. The second part of the dungeon isn't underwater so once you get there you should be good.

[Crim, The Red Thunder]

Downside to the bubbles, is they are randomly generated. There might not be ANY in sight of the staircase, and a bunch of nasties around you. It's certainly not impossible, and some people bum rush it without water breathing. However, there are a VARIETY of water breathing methods available, and it's not too terribly difficult to lay hands on one. Armor (body) and helm with the suffix 'of the deep' (IIRC, not 'of the depths' but it's the one the above poster was talking about.), Amulets of the fish, and belts of unlife. Belts are not at all hard to find in stores, and USUALLY you can run across at LEAST one 'of the deep' armor/helm, by the time you're ready to do nur. Belts however, can be worn by everyone, and it's usually easiest to slot into a particular character. If you really have to have water breathing (I recommend it, though others will call me a wuss for putting it off till you get water breathing) Check the stores in the thaloren town, last hope, elvala, and derth. All are easily capable of spawning belts in stores, which might have the 'of unlife' suffix. Usually runs between 150-250 gold, but it's not horrible to purchase. (Depends on what you find it on, usually)

There is also a dungeon MUCH later that requires water breathing, as it does not spawn bubbles, but it's so much later you don't need to worry about it. If you find waterbreathing on something, of future reference, hang onto it (or stash it in a vault) for both of these dungeons.

[NEHZ]

There are also some items that increase the amount of air you carry with you. ie, they allow you to stay underwater longer, though not permenantly.

Also, a nice trick: if you have a digging item/spell, you can stand on one of the islands and dioganally dig away a wall. This way you can enter the dungeon with a bit more air.