If you look at his character record it says he has android immunities. I've checked the manual but cannot find what they are.

Looking at his magic resistance his mental resistance is 100 and in the red so assume he's immune to mental spells?

Could someone tell me please?

Thanks.

Naa, he can go insane, e.g... you should DEFINITELY enjoy his insane laugh, it's hilarious [img]smile.gif[/img]

Cheers
Philipp

As far as I know, 'Android immunities' just means he has the same immunities as other androids: the same ones you see when you right-click on Savant Troopers, etc.

DT

I think you've got it. Of course, how simple, as the best solutions are, click on one of the savant troopers/slashers/beserkers. Thanks!

Just thought of this: try dismissing him from the party, right-clicking on him, then adding him back to the party again. Never tried that in the game, but it should work.

As Pyrates mentioned, he definitely can go insane. In one battle he ran amok and almost obliterated my poor little fairy monk before I restored his sanity. :(

But all in all, I liked having him in the party. No magic, but a very effective fighter. And I liked a lot of his comments.

There is a hidden android immunity: RFS-81 is waterproof, he can't drown.

Now THAT is interesting. Makes me wonder how you found out *G*

Anyway, is there any location you can reach that way you couldn't with a normal party?

Cheers
Philipp

It's just like a built-in scuba gear. The only effect is that he can keep his two rings/amulets while under water.

[ 04-01-2005, 08:45 AM: Message edited by: Silpion ]

For those who are interested I checked out some Savant Gunners and Savany Minions who both have the same immunities, namely immunity to Disease, Poison, Nausea, Irritation, Fear and Sleep. Oh, and water!

Thanks all.

Ahh, forgot about the scuba gear, I haven't played for some time...

Cheers
Philipp

Been hanging out with the android for the last few days - RFS-81 is a great addition to the party. I've given up on most of the other NPCs - either they are getting hacked up by the monsters, or they just stand there doing nothing effectively. Only other one I bother with any more is Vi - and only because she seems so intimately involved in the story line. I'd heard such positive comments on this and other boards about Madras - but he is a waste of space in combat. Urq was OK, but now his spells are too wimpy. Saxx was like excess baggage - rarely got hit ( amazing, as he had such minimal armor, mostly what he could find rooting through our bag) and didn't do much with his instruments. Myles, what can I say? He ended up dead - but, I was finished with his little quests, anyway.

So far - the android wins in the NPC lottery! One benefit - you don't have to keep, or find new armor when you pick him up, he's perfectly happy going into battle stark naked. But....is an android ever really naked?

Who is your favorite NPC?

Once an RPC joins the party, how well or poorly they perform depends on the exact same things as for the characters you create: level, attributes, skills, equipment, etc.

If you add an RPC to your party who's a lot lower in level than the other characters, they'll probably always be weaker than the rest of the party. But other than that, any RPC should be useful if you give them decent equipment and keep them around long enough to build up the skills and attributes that are important to you.

Keep an RPC in your party and treat them like the other characters, and they'll do fine. Swap them in and out and don't bother to develop them or give them good equipment, and they won't have a chance to amount to much.

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My personal favorites were RFS-81 and Vi, both of whom went to the end of the game with my party.

Vi was a little lower level than the rest of my characters when I added her, but once I got her some good armor, weapons, and spells, and built up her skills, she carried her share of the load just fine as both a fighter and a spell caster.

I had Myles in the party for a while, but I didn't need his thief skills. He was useful as a pure fighter, but his comments got on my nerves after a while. :( Once he left and I added RFS-81, I was happy he was gone.

I understand about developing the NPCs. But some - like RFS-81 - are already quite powerful by the time a party runs into them. (and he was BROKEN when we first picked him up!). Saxx hung out with us for a couple of levels, so developed a bit - but my bard was more powerful. Maybe the issue is timing to some extent - NPCs that are far below the experience of the party are not that useful, unless they have some particular skill.

One of the main annoyances is that they don't take their armor and other equipment with them when they leave. Seems that they should take, at least, what they showed up with, if not accept any improvements that you might let them keep. For a time, I was switching NPCs quite often - just to get a sense for how each class and race worked - and having to lug around all their particular armors and weapons was a nightmare!

In the end, I focus on the same two that you, Dinkum, have settled upon - Vi and RFS-81.

I acually stuck with Saxx and Madras for awhile.

Saxx was useful for the fact that there are enough instruments around for two bards. At the start of each combat, my bard would play the rousing drums and Saxx would play Angel's tounge. Haste and Bless cast at high level while my Bishop can whip out some nasty offensive spell, Element Shield, or Soul Shield.

Madras took a little while, but once he got to the mid-teens in level he was a very useful party member. An advance Omnigun is something to behold...especially in the hands of a gagateer with Eagle Eye and loaded with high-power Ammo. By the time Madras was around level twenty he could dish out 150+ worth of damage/rd at range (Using Hunter Bolts), in addition to all sorts of nasty conditions. That's not to mention all the cool gadgets (Port-a-Potty and whatever the heal-all gadget was being his favorites).

Alas, there were just too many placed they didn't want to go, so I cut them loose.

Yeah, I had hopes for Madras, but he didn't want to go where I needed to go - Bayjin, so I couldn't get him many levels. I never played a Gageteer character, so I was interested to see how one worked out. By the time I picked him up, I had already sold off all the gadgets, so he had nothing to work with, anyway. Tried to make a double-shot crossbow, but no luck. Might pick him up for the SouthEast Wilderness adventure....but I hate to give up RFS-81. Guess next time I'll try a smaller party, so that I can test out more NPCs!!

Did he not have the engineering skill for the double-shot crossbow?? My Bard is still using the tripleshot crossbow....yikes that is one nasty weapon. She gets off 4-5 shots twice/round. Great at picking off those annoying enemies that run away.

You know, LewyRay, that's a good question about Madras' skills. I'll bet I was trying to fuse two heavy cross-bows...and it may require light. I can't wait to put one of those bad boys in the hands of my Samurai. Now, who sells those light cross-bows....

Another NPC that impressed me was Pvt. Sparkle (except for that silly little voice). She hung out with us for quite a while and was developing nicely - wish she could "borrow" Madras' Onmigun. I'd probably take her over Vi, but Vi seems much more central to the story, so I like to keep her close at hand.

Yes - you need to use light crossbows. I believe Madras has enough skill to build the double-shot crossbow right away.

I think I purchased one light crossbow from Croc and found the other two in chests or as drops.

Anna and Sgt Kunar sometimes sells light crossbows if you don't mind reloading after camping the usual 3 times and they haven't got one.

As for RFS, I had an all magic party (specialist casters and Bishops) and recruited RFS when I went to the Mine Tunnels. The plan was to play this party with no RPCs as much as possible but to leave RFS in the Trang Teleporter Room in case I did need him.

Snag is, he was so damn useful I've had to keep him in the party as my designated melee person.

Apart from Vi, I sometimes use Madras to create doubleshot crossbows. I would use him for the tripleshot ones but it takes ages getting his Engineering skil up to 75 from the 35 in skill he starts with.

Yes, Krull, you point out another "benefit" of RFS81 - he stays where you leave him.

I think most people like RFS-81 and Vi because they have the fewest no-go areas of any NPC. I've done fine with Madras and Sparkle as well, but never used any other NPC's for any length of time.

If you consider the sum total of the NPC's stats normalized for their relative levels when they join (they get 6 extra per level just like you do), Vi is by far the best NPC, with Urq, Saxx, and Madras in nearly a 3-way tie about 10 points lower. Tantris is the worst, 39 points lower than Vi (and the same starting level). Keep in mind that for player-generated characters the difference between the race with the most starting points (Human, 315) and the least (5 races including Faerie and Mook, 300). Even Tantris, though, actually has 6 points more than a player-created Faerie or Mook of the same level. (So yes, Vi is a whopping 45 points ahead of your player-created Dwarf Valkyrie, and still 30 points ahead of your Human Vaklyrie.) So if you're willing to work with how the game assigned the attribute points and keep them with your party as much as possible to keep their levels high, NPCs can potentially be more powerful characters than your PCs.

Yes, in the last party, and now the current one, I've kept Vi and RFS, as they were both magic heavy parties, and agree that they are the best ones (IMHO) to recruit. The only other NPC I've used is Madras for the reasons given above.

I used Urq solely as someone who can identify items for me (if I don't have anyone in the party to do it for me) so recruit and then dismiss him in the Mook building. Otherwise Vi or a relevant spellcaster does it.

Don't know if anyone agrees but I think it's probably better to develop NPCs who will be of use to you on AP for the end game hence Vi and RFS. I think Saxx goes to the Peak but am unsure of who else will. As far as I'm aware, only Tantris and RFS go willingly to the Rapax areas, is that right?

RFS-81 will go into the Rift & castle, don't know about Vi, but no-one goes into the away camp. I'm guessing thats so you have two spaces to collect the two NPC's there.

I wonder, does the same happen in Bayjin? You need to collect Glymph (sp?) so does only one other NPC go willingly?

So far, I tried taking Saxx, Vi, Madras, Sparkle, and RFS-81 to Bayjin. Only RFS-81 was willing to go. Now, I took them by different routes - Saxx & Sparkle cut-out in the Underwater Adventure from Gigas, and the others when entering through the swamp. But, I don't think that matters.

Only RFS is willing to go to Bayjin. This is to ensure that you have at least free spot for Sgt.Glump in 'nomal play'.

Surprising side note: Saxx doesn't like to go into the water caves. But when you enter the sea caves, he's happy again (and doesn't wnat to go back through the water).

Not sure about that rationale, wereboar. One could always dismiss an NPC to pick up Glumph. I think most would find their way back to the "home" location, where you could meet up with them later. besides the list I compiled of NPCs that won't go to Bayjin is not complete - what about the others?

Maybe he's afraid to get a "rusty" Saxophone :D ?

[img]graemlins/monster5.gif[/img]

As far as i know, RFS is the only 'normal' RPC that will enter Bayjin without complaining (the 'quest' RPCs do it, too - Glump, Rhodan, Drazzic).
And none except the 'quest' RPCs will enter the away camp without being forced.
And that are exactly the places where you get one two quest RPCs.
It could be some strange coincidence, but i think the programmers wanted you to have the free slots available (in 'normal' play).

Well, that was a waste of time! Spent hours running around to find two light cross-bows (in the end I bought both from Anna), fighting my way from the Swamp to Trynton, picking up Madras, and getting him to make me a double-shot crossbow - only to find out that Samurais can't use them! Makes no sense to me, as they can use a either a light or heavy crossbow - why not the double-shot?

I tried giving it to the Bard, but he has major stamina problems, what with all his musical instruments being played, so that was not effective. Next, I'll try giving it to the fighter (and Demonstring to the Samurai), but I'm afraid he may suffer a similar fate, as his berserking tires him right now.

Probably end up selling the damn thing.

I also had planned on having my Samurai use the double shot (and eventually the triple shot) crossbow.

I did end up giving it to my Bard. Now she usually plays the rousing drums in the first round of combat and switches over to the triple-shot or Fang depending on the range to the monsters. After 4-5 rounds she usually has pound a hv. stamina potion, but otherwise does pretty well. I have definately found that I am using the instruments less and less as I go along. They just do not seem as effective compared to what my Bishop and Ranger, both with powercase at high level, can dish out.

As it is now, I have a pretty good ranged party. My fighter is welding the Strong Bow, the Samurai a Hunter Bow, the Ranger the Eagle Eye Bow, and then the Bard with the triple shot. When I arm them all with good amo most monsters are pretty beat up by the time the get into melay range (if they make it at all).

You seem to have some weapons that I'm not finding - are you playing some kind of modified game?

I hear you about the realative weakness of some Bard instruments as the characters and monsters increase in level. But, still, the Bard using Strings of Seduction and Banshee's Howl is quite effective - plus I depend upon him for healing, which leaves the Bishop and Psionic the option of using their Divine spells for Guardian Angels (which have saved many a life), Instant Death, and Eye4Eye spells. I use the Bishop to keep the Bard (and the rest of the party) well rested - In fact, their initiatives are such that the Bishop always goes after the Bard, so I can use him at full power every round that the Bishop feeds him stamina. The Bard's Silence Lyre seems more effective than the Psionic, or Bishop with their silence spells - although, now that the Bishop has gained a level or two on Ascension Peak, he is doing better with silencing.

As for the melee range - I usually have to walk up the beasties to give the fighter, samurai, RFS-81 and Vi a chance to slice them up.

The bows he mentioned are all in the standard game.
Eagle eye bow is ranger only, IIRC from Bela.
Strong bow can be found in several places. IIRC one is fix hidden in upper rapax castle.
I'm not sure about hunters bow, but i think it's the one you find in the sea caves.

I must confess I don't see what's so special about the Eagle Eye Bow. It does an extra 40% damage, 1% to kill and adds +10 to the Eagle Eye skill and costs about 44,000 gold. The Strong Bow and Siege Arbalest are about 1/6 of the cost and has 5%/6% to kill and 40%/30% extra damage respectively. Am I missing something?

Ferro sells all three and, as Wereboar says, Bela sells the Eagle Eye bow so can get it sooner than the other two. He's also correct about the Hunters Bow as I'm fairly sure it's in Marten's chest in the Sea Caves.

I met Bela but probably didn't pay attention to the Eagle Eye because I don't have a Ranger. Haven't ventured over to the Rapax areas yet, so haven't hooked up with Ferro.

As for ranged weapons, I find that the Medusa and Ta-Li stones are some of the most effective against high level monsters like those on Ascension Peak. I also like the Fear Bolts because when some monsters run far away, they leave the current battle and you can hunt them down later. This was essential at times because it allows you to "split" large groups that might prove too difficult for a low-level party. For mid-level beasties, the Barbed Arrows were nice, because they drained stamina faster than HP, so monsters would become unconscious before I moved up and let the Melee take over. The Viper Arrows and Lightening Bolts are great, but hard to keep well-stocked.

Another thing - my Bard has powercast, even though he has no spells - I assume it works with the instruments because the game seems to treat them as Magick, i.e. he can be silenced and they are reflected by Eye4Eye.

[ 04-12-2005, 01:45 PM: Message edited by: SpitBall ]

well you have to be strong to use strong bow and subject to dropping it when hexed and siege arbalest is a heavy, clumsy weapon (-3 to init). The to hit/init mods for EEB are also a little better than strong bow. Does it make up for the lesser kill %? Crash on to Dominus with an elven bow and don't worry about it (elf not included).

On the other hand, I don't know what's so great about a great bow.

In the end, I gave the double-shot to the Fighter - and bought up all the Hunter Bolts I could find in Arnika. Strangely - he now shoots 3X at each turn and gets 2 turns per round. When using his regular bow (not double-shot) he shot 2X at each turn (2 turns per round). Why does the double-shot only add 1 shot per turn, isn't that a 1.5 shot crossbow? I'm not really complaining, as he can score upwards of 50 HP damage per turn with the new crossbow, which is almost as good as his melee, but I'm a bit confused as to why its not giving 2X the shots. Maybe he still needs to improve his Bows skill?

I may be wrong, but I think the 2x crossbow only adds one shot to what you are already getting...so if you normally would shoot twice, you would not shoot 3 times with the 2x crossbow. Of course there are factors such as dex, speed, init, bow skill, etc.

btw: with her high dex,spd, and bow skill, my bard is shooting her 3x crossbow 5x's twice per round. With Hunter bolts she is dishing out close to 200hp of damage! So if we are willing to keep practicing with it, the potential is there.

Correct. The Doubleshot Crossbow adds 1 extra shot to each attack sequence your character gets, and the Tripleshot Crossbow adds 2 extra shots. So when your character's stats would normally dictate getting 3 shots per attack sequence, they would get 4 with the Doubleshot Crossbow and 5 with the Tripleshot Crossbow. The other "doublestrike" weapons like the doublestrike dagger and Bloodlust work exactly the same way.

I consider the Tripleshot Crossbow to easily be the deadliest ranged weapon in the game due to exactly what your bard is seeing. Now try that with a Ranger with 125 in Ranged Combat, better bolts, and their natural critical hit ability, and you will see real ranged carnage. Too bad you just can't carry around enough ammo to keep that up...

Thanks, that clears it up a bit.

I did give the double-shot to the Bard for a while, but finally chose the Fighter because he uses it every round that he is not in melee range, whereas, the Bard is often playing an instrument, so doesn't get to regularly unload with the 2X bow. This dynamic has been in place from the beginning - both have consistently used bows for their ranged attacks - so the Fighter is more skilled than the Bard and generates more damage per bolt, plus the Fighter wears the Helazoid Pendant and hits with almost every shot.