Hi all - glad to see this board up 100% of the time again and going faster with search, great job SAs in getting up the new server ;)

So here is my current party, let me know if anyone sees ways to improve upon it, they are at about level 10-11 now, haven't had much time to play lately and also am taking it slowly with them and trying to really develop their skills.

Lizardman Fighter - pretty basic guy, maxed Str first with Dex, will go for Sen/Spd next. He's dualing a sword (demonsting) and mace (hammer) and uses a triple show x-box as his secondary weapon. Putting skill points into close/dual/sword/mace, letting bow, ranged, power strike go up on their own till I hit 75 in the others.

Felpurr Rogue - he's dualing a sword (diamond epee) and dagger (stiletto), dual throws as his secondary weapon (doing that to help build his dual skill, also he uses the bombs/powders as his "spells"). For stats, went with Dex/Str, will go with Spd/Sen next like the fighter. Skills close/dual/sword/dagger/stealth, letting thrown/ranged/reflexion go up on their own till I max the first ones.

Mook Bard - she's using a sword (bloodlust) and shield (thieves' buckler) and uses music when things aren't in melee range. She's actually a very effective fighter with bloodlust. For stats have been going for Dex first, and then spreading one point each to Str/Vit/Spd. Will start going more heavily into Str and Spd once Dex maxes out. I intend to switch her to be a Fighter at around 20th level and give her the Giant's sword. For skills, she's gone with sword/music/close/communication mostly, shield has built up on its own. Music I already have over 75 I think.

Faerie Ninja - a first for me. just got him (courtesy of the Bard's PPing ;) the CoC. Now to me he is like a Samurai with Bloodlust in a way, he duals wands (CoC and Wand of Static) and uses spells for ranged attacks. Have built his magic up really well with practice. For stats I'm looking to max Dex first, also building Str and Sen. Then will go for Spd. For skills, dual/crit/wand/stealth, his magic has come via practice.

Hobbit Gadgeteer - she's got the omnigun of course and also a sword and shield (think an enchanted broadsword and thieves' buckler). She's adding 3 points to Sen and going 2/1 to Dex and Vit. For skills, ranged/modern weapon/locks pretty much, have engineering at 75+ already by using gadgets alot.

Faerie Bishop - using a staff (eventually want the staff of doom, think now he's got a monstrance) and sling. Have been going 3 int and 2/1 dex/vit, once int maxes will go something like 3 dex and 2/1 spd vit. He's doing all schools, alchemy is the highest (think around 80), wiz/div about the same at around 60, and psionics is his weakest now at 50 or so. For skills I put 3 points into his 3 lowest realms so it's been div/wiz/psi.

Had no ranger in this group for the first time, so for RPCs I replaced Myles with Sparkle ASAP, she's worth it for the auto scout; am getting ready to ditch her though to take RFS as he'll (along with Vi) be the "keepers" (Vi's getting "dragged" along everywhere whether she complains or not, lol). By then the Bishop will have X-ray and will use detect secrets alot.

I have Vi dual wielding Maces (she's got a disruptor mace and diamond eyes, thanks again to the Bard for PPing chief Gari ;) , as a secondary weapon she has another mace/flail type in a bullwhip with a shield - eventually see her replacing that with the vampire chain. I also want to make her into a Fighter at somewhere in the realm of 20th, maybe earlier. Working her magic alot too. RFS will be a staff and sling guy for the Z. bo later on in the game.

When they all have their "good" equipment, the Mook Bard->Fighter (giant sword), Vi (vamp chain/dual maces) and RFS (Z bo) will take up a flank with extended weapons. The rogue, fighter and ninja will be in the middle rank all with dual short range melee weapons, and the gadgeteer and bishop in the back.

I've skimped on speed somewhat as I want to get the bard to 80ish and give her 2 ankhs of speed and then have her use the rousing drums in round #1, once haste is everyone's plenty fast.

I think they will be able to use just about every kind of item and should be really devastating up close in melee. Anyone have any ideas to make em better? Thanks! =0)

Did you PP that stuff with the new patch? If not, i think you can do the multiple-Brekek thing for some levels...it doesn't work with 12-23, but i think anyhting earlier works.
If you got that stuff in the latest version, i'm glad to know you can, i've never built anyone's PP, usually have only one char who can learn, a ninja, too busy elsewhere with my points. I kill Gari for DE. If you're careful, you don't hostilate the rest.

Bard:
I don't realy know the effect of the instruments. I have pushed my bard to level 24 befor switching him to Ranger. I wanted to be sur he could play instruments at the maximum level. Since I only do range attacks with my bard a Ranger switch was the best (he don't need melee since he is a back unit). But do not switch before you max out PPing and music. If you have lock's at +60 and a bishop you can open virrtually anything. I gave my bard also the vamp chain so he can deal some damange in melee as well when I'm boored of playing music or forgot to reload amos. Dex first, then Int and Vit, finally strength and speed. Dex because it's the primary attribute for a bard. Intelligence because I hate to have a cerabral hemoragy backfire! Vit to make a tank in HP and stamina!

Bishop:
4 schools is a must and very easy to do. I never put a single point into the eralms because they go up very fast. I have just a sling for my Fearie bishop. No weapon because load capacity is to low, also a bishop don't waste time with weapons. His magic is light years more efficent and he can deal more damage per turn then a fighter can with a weapon! I have an Elf bishop and he can use weapons (for the magical bonus). Int and Piety first, then go for vit and speed. Don't invest much point into powercast it goes up at light speed!

Ninja:
Important to boost staff (CoC), dual, close and range combat, and thow. I don't wast points in lock and PP because this class is a pain to level up alerady. Dex and Speed first, then strenght and sens. I favor #of attack over damange because the Ninja will never deal much damange compare to other class (CoC helps a lot) be you go for the criticals! Having 3 shoots each time helps a lot!!!!

To answer the PP question, no I reinstalled and am patchless right now, I won't apply any patches until Ascension Peak or until I see a bug occur that I know a patch resolves. Always played patched before and PPing gets really gimped. With all the practice the Bard has had she's up at about 83 now in PP and just got the filcher's band from the rattkin breeder's room too, so over 100 now with that. Don Barlone was the toughest to PP so far, have to go back and try him with the band on.

How do you get your ninja to throw? Are you uncursing him with a Bishop before battles and making the CoC the secondary weapon, then switching when things get in melee range in combat? Still not 100% sure how the cursed item thing works in terms of when you "uncurse" it, how long you can have a secondary weapon working. Will have to play with it and see I guess, although right now I don't think my Bishop is a high enough level to naturally uncurse the CoC (haven't tried the spell tho).

I don't waste my Bishop's Spell points casting X-Ray. Get the X-ray scanner (x-ray chip + scanner in mook building) asap.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to quickly raise a Bishop's divinity? I find that Divinity and Alchemy are the hardest to raise. The main problem is that the popular Divinity spells, like Cure Poison, Cure Wounds, etc. are ALSO psionic or alchemy spells. Therefore, if your psionics or alchemy are higher than your divinity, only they will raise when you cast them! Therefore, the only time your divintiy raises is when you cast Divine ONLY spells like Guardian Angel. Since these spells are cast less often, I always find my Bishops divinity trailing behind (thus the need for a priest in my party).

Any tips?

unfortunately, all the low-level Priest-only spells can be cast only in battle. I usually try to throw bless and guardian angel as red as i can, it can't harm by backfiring, and you get credit if it fails, anyway. Once you can learn armorplate and magic screen, you can cast these at max any time. In fact, since all my chars are some kind of caster, i spend a few game-weeks at Braffit's, casting, mixing, and resting mana back up to repeat. It's a little boring, but the skill increases keep popping up to thrill you, and he gets enough things for you to mix you make a lot there, even with buying spellbooks for everyone.

Hey - well I never use the Gadgeteer for buffing spells or things like x-ray or detect secrets, would rather cast them and raise the spell skills, especially with a 4-book bishop to develop. Plus once you can put a portal in Trynton near the everlasting mana fountain, mana is a non issue - not to mention all the mana potions you can hoard. Don't think it can be wasted IMHO as it helps raise skills.

As for raising Divinity for the bishop, is his divinity higher than his psionics skill now? If so the charm spell used on shop keeper type NPCs is a great way to train it pretty quickly. Same for identify item, works very well in tandem with potion mixing sessions. In combat you can also go for make wounds as a ranged attack, it's priest only.

To get infinit mana without resting all the time is to stock pill mana stones. I use 2 or the 3 charges then sell and buy them. I have 9 stones in my inventory and I can make a lot of mega fights with it.

Alchemy is very easy to raise with mixing potions. Psionic is a joke as well. Juste cast 100 times Mind read at full power on a He'li and you will be so high in mind realm and psionic that you can learn level 7 spells 10 levels before!

I find Divinity the hardest to raise. Wizardry raises well because it's one of the most used spell school. But since my bishop hit level 18 (now level 24) my realms and schools are stucked. I don't raise much any more. The problem is that my front line (3 critical fighters) crushes all they see too fast. I even spend most turns healing monsters to be able to train my skills! (I'm only fighting at AP) But healing +800HP per turn is nearly impossible (Samurai, Ninja and Monk summed average damage).

The special ability from the bishop cannot uncurse the CoC. This weapon is a bastard. You need the spell and it is cast at higher level the the ability. Yes after the fight one of my bishops cast uncurse and swap weapons.

I Generally start a fight at range, letting time to casters to pull up the buffing stuff (2 rounds to have all complete) also I can train range attack and spells. Then I may choose melee if the monsters have a lot of HP. But I sometimes stay in range to train the throwing/range/bow skill. A ninja in throwing skill is not to under estimate. It will not deal much damage but ooohhh boy the criticals!!!!

Thanks for the tip on the uncursing technique, will try it out when I play this weekend.

One way I found to quickly raise divinity (assuming it is higher than psionics and alchemy when you do this for a Bishop) is to take a HP draining item, put it on someone, rest, let their HP go way down, heal them up and repeat - you'll have an endless fountain of damage to repair.

Wow guys, didn't expect all these positive replies. Thanks for all your assistance, I'll be sure to put your advice into practice when I start my new bishop next game without any Priest assistance. I'm much obliged =)

Oh and here is a little tip for those who don't know! You know the Hex condition? It can be cured/reduced by casting the Remove Curse spell! Its a nice thing to do before you get the Restoration spell, or if you are in a tight squeeze.

P.S. Anyone have any tips on how to beat those damn Djinn of the Clouds without taking casualties? They always manage to pull off a Death cloud which kills some of my guys, and I'm trying to beat the game with a perfect 0 death record. Even with 100 resistances to ALL magics (Magic Shield + Soul Shield Level 7 + Element Shield Level 7) my guys STILL die against it! And yeah, I know about casting purify Air every single round, but then the Imps which accompany those Djinn start casting Quicksand which does the same thing, but with no way to counter it!

[ 04-16-2002, 12:13 AM: Message edited by: Charmy ]

If you are still having trouble getting your bishop to have happy alchemy skill levels you could try a trick/method that I have found to be useful. Whilst camping out on the arnika/trynton road, find a place where only one enemy can get to you. Have most of your party melee (to raise their scores) and have your bishop cast either acid splash or itching skin at the lowest power level until the fight is either over or you run out of sps, which ever comes first. I found this to be fairly effective and was able to raise my alchemy and my earth skills up quickly. Good luck.

DeSoya

To the Cloud Djinns, i salute the code for them, indeed;
develop speed in everyone. Use haste. Powercast 100 Silence/freeze flesh/eye-for-an-eye. Reload until it works. (that's how i did it the first time. You could also prob'ly develop Iron Will to 100 and have a good chance of resisting them, too) I haven't finished in a while now, i've got 6 different parties at different stages, trying other kinds of development.

For the Death cloud and Dijin I didn't have much trouble because my front line are all crtitical chars. So at the first round I did kill 2 of them [img]smile.gif[/img] And the last one, moua... paralysed :D I love Asian style teams [img]smile.gif[/img]

The Other solution is to cast eye-for-eye this will calm them. I found out that many monsters reduce their casting if you have such a spell. Also go melee. In melee a spell caster will engage you in melee! Same goes for our Dijins!

Cool, nice tips! I realize now I made a huge mistake having my Bishop wait for a spell book of Eye for an Eye. I never encountered one.. now I have to wait until a level up to teach it to her. Until then I've relied on the Magic Mirror of my Gadgeteer, but that only has a limited number of charges, and once that is gone, its gone for good.. so I've been rationing the uses very carefully. I've tried engaging the Djinns in melee, and that does help. My front line is like this:

1. Fighter with Light Sword + Diamond Eyes.

2. Samurai with Muramasa Blade + Enchanted Wakizashi

3. Ninja with Cane of Corpus + Rod of Sprites.

This is HIGHLY deadly. In one round of combat they are either horribly mutilated, paralyzed, poisoned, hexed, critically killed or all five. And both my fighter and samurai are great archers, and can paralyze other enemies with mystic arrows. However, when I focus my attention on the djinns, the little imp buddies molest me with Quicksand. It doesn't work often, but it kills my non-iron will guys all the time. And I refuse to boost up the piety of my bard (who has 35 rihgt now) just to get Iron will.. besides, I'd have to level up to like level 40 to get that anyway =p I guess its a matter of luck and perserverance I suppose. As long as the imps lay off Quicksand, I'm just fine. I really, REALLY hate that spell!

And why is it that no damage spells work on Ascension Peak? They all do practically no damage at all, even the really strong ones like Concussion, Cerebral Homerrage, Boiling Blood.. I'm so glad I didn't get a mage..

Where did you find the Muramasa Blade and the Rod of Sprites? I'm desperattly looking for a god of hand for the Ninja! CoC is excellent but I need something else the a single nunshaku in the off hand!

I never encounter the Muramasa Blade!

Muramasa is a random item from the Queen deposit slip deal. Rod of Sprites I have never found myself. Meantime, I used Sprites Dagger or Canezou Dagger sometimes in the off-hand for my Faeries Ninja.

Yeah, Muramasa blade is a weapon for the Samurai which has a 15% chance of Instant Kill, and 7-29 damage. Its a great sword, I love it =) You can pick it up off the Rapax queen chest at the Rapax Castle Upper levels.. but it only SOMETIMES appears. (about 30% chance of getting it). Best thing to do is to save just before you enter that area for the first time, then run full speed to the area where the Queen's Chest is. IT shouldn't take too long at all if you are a templer, since there are NO hostiles anywhere in that area, except in cages.

As for the rod of sprites, it is a GODLY off-hand weapon. I don't remember the exact stats, but something like 5-18 Damage, 50% chance of hex, +5 hit, and +5 initiative..

I was so thrilled when I found it.. it is a rare drop of Peak Sprites, which are sprites encountered on Ascension Peak. I found the Peak Sprites (they are level 33 or so) accompanying Furor, the enormous scorcher. I'm not sure if they ever respawn, but I got a RoS drop off of them on my first try.

For anyone who hasn't killed these sprites yet, GO for this weapon! You'll not regret it if you have a fairy ninja!

In the meantime, Winterwands are better than nunchakas because they are wand/staff like the CoC and they have the 15% Paralyze.