Hi,

I am thinking about new ways to play this game and besides to my new party I mentioned in an other topic, I am thinking to play a game with only one character the first time.
I know there were a lot of topics about this theme in the past, but maybe someone of you can tell me the most important things I must think about ? How is it possible to learn all the necessary skills with only one character (especially fighting + protection magic + stealth ) In my imagination I want to take a Dracon and I want to end up with a Samurai.

Thanks in advance [img]smile.gif[/img]

definitely a question for scatter. i've never done it myself so i am not the best person to comment. i expect it will involve at least 1 level of rogue (for stealth) and perhaps 11 levels as a bishop (to pick up all the spellbooks through lvl 5 spells). and certainly a fair bit of training.

good luck!

Yah, what he says:
Stealth is almost a must already at only 3 chars. Solos pretty much don't make it very well without. (i've started 11 solos, 3 never made it out of the Monastery, and only 3 made it all the way to Ascend--all the ones that survived even as far as Arnika had Stealth 100).

One started as a Bard, and except for L5 as Rogue for Stealth, she was a Bard for 8 levels--at L10 i switched her to Samurai. Took a really long time to get Element Shield, but it wasn't a problem; i had Magic Screen and Soul Shield with a Bard just as quickly as you can get them as a Bishop or Priest, but for a lot fewer XP. And you get more levels to work up your L&T (in my case also PP) Biggest benifit of starting a Bard: You can Sleep stuff right away. This one was a Hobbit; for a Dracon you lose a lot of attribute points, which are very important, but it might be a trade-off with the Breath, although i've been disappointed in that since i first tried it in W-7.

Another was a Valk/Bishop Human--4 Valk levels, one Rogue and then 11 Bishop before returning to Valk. This one got X-Ray and Portal as well as Element Shield a lot quicker, but practising L&T up from the 8 you get with only one Rogue level was rather tedius. The first four levels got my HP up, and i had lots of fighting practise before i made Bishop, getting Mace, Dual and Close cranked up before i took my Rogue level, even though i ended up WAY ahead on XP. Death-cheating was VERY helpful. (i played her on Expert but not Iron)

And the last was a Human Ninja/Bishop, run pretty much the same way as the Valk above, but Stealth, PP, and L&T were all a bit easier on the nerves to practise.

In every case, i also reloaded the Upper Monastery until there was a Locket of Reflection in the chest with the Lightning Rod in it (so you can run--and reflect magic when necessary--can take a few tries, but it's MUCH more common than, say, Muramasa). And in every case i trained a lot, whether Music, Magic, Artifacts, L&T...When you only have one char to build and so many essential skills, it's best to train up what you can and use level points for the stuff that doesn't train easily (eg combat Skills, unless you fight a lot, and in solos you run more)

Scatter

I thought all chests were set the first time you entered an area. There is disk access when you move to the Upper Monastery so assumed that that particular chest was set as soon you entered the Upper Monastery?

What about the two chests in the wheel key room?

Are there other chests you could reload to get (hopefully) better items? I'm not asking for an exhaustive list, just those at the beginning of the game to make life easier!

Thanks.

You can just keep starting new games until the chest on the beach gives you something good.

Question (spoiler maybe)
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Speaking of solos .. I am doing my first time through with a solo ninja fairie -- what a blast!

It was pretty hard getting to Arnika (I didnt bother waiting to level). Once I made it to Tyrnton, I had a single Death Bomb (not sure where I got it). After about 5 tries I killed the Don and his buddy with it. Level 11 with the Cane -- just about nothing can stop me now.

One question though:

How does a solo character get Martens Idol? I tried recruiting a NPC, but every single time I pick up the idol my character gets kidnapped (and not the NPC). Is this how it always is, or should I try again with several NPCs? If it is normal, what methods did you use to either kill the Croc or the Frog?

Thanks in advance.

Spoiler alert
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In solo you can try killing Croc before getting the idol, because it will always be your character who gets kidnapped (at least in my experience). You are just missing outon the frog experience. And Croc is such an arrogant bastard anyway. Kidnapping party members and keeping them in his chest.

Just be sure you've bought everything you need from Crock before you kill him, because he won't be coming back ;)

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And wait while he gets his spellbooks which only come after you make a certain level.

i'm a big fan of crock-killing, but i do want to point out that, according to others who have played solo, if you grab the idol while crock's still alive, you get knocked out but there is no kidnap scenario. basically, that means you miss out on the frog quest altogether.

of course, i've never solo'd so i cant be sure. but if you want a real trip, take a party of 3 through and let one get kidnapped. that knife-edge balance of a team of three getting split creates some real tension! ;)