Hi all,

I just got back to playing Wiz 8 after about a year, encouraged by Flame's mod.

I have been running party of 6 (FIG/SAM/RAN/PRI/MAG/BAR) and its great fun, but I'm getting bored with my SAM.

She has bloodlust in one hand, and the new find from the Umpani training course (no spoilers here ;) ) in the other, and whilst she attacks and hits plenty of times her damage is poor. I'm guessing its because I neglected her STR, having never played a SAM before I concentrated on DEX. By comparison the FIG who I haven't decided to give an off-hand weapon to is delivering 60-100 up to four times each round.

Should I simply concentrate more on developing the SAM, or should I give up and change her to something else at this point?

And my second question, is that I want to experiment with a solo. What would be your recommendations for race, starting class, and any class switching that should take place.

Well, depending on the make up of my party, I usually go STR and DEX with my Samurai. You don't say what level or race she is but, as a hybrid, she starts getting better when her levels meet the teens. Persevere with her, once you get to Bela you should be able to pick up 2 Ankhs of STR from Bela giving +20 to her STR.

As for solos, pre-mod the Faerie Ninja with the Cane of Corpus seemed to be the favourite solo. I personally had great success with a Dwarf Monk, with a few levels of Bishop for the major buff spells.

I'm also running a Felpurr Lord, which isn't easy, as someone on the VN Boards calculated that with the latest mod, you could get armour, items etc which could eventually give +10 to HP, +18 to Stamina and +14 to Mana regeneration to a Felpurr Lord. If anyone is interested I can breakdown what items etc they are.

Anyway, had to give it a go. If you don't know, after the Temple fight, and the battle with the undead in the crypt, you can get (only with the mod) various Lord only armours and other items which will make your Lord a powerhouse.

(Edit: If you don't get the Murasama Blade for your Samurai, you can instead get a very nice sword for her which also gives +10 to her STR)

[ 03-07-2005, 09:56 AM: Message edited by: Krull ]

Solos in the Flame mods are fairly easy with any class. The easiest single-class would be Rogue. Hobbit is my fave race for that, and starting with high SPD and DEX then pumping DEX and STR on levels. If you practise your Stealth and Reflextion a bit, AC won't be a big problem. Once your backstab bonus is consistantly producing 2X, and you got dual swords, you'll do more damage for less Stamina than any other class. The various jewelry items will keep you protected well enough that you won't miss magic, and if you throw for ranged combat, you'll also be able to use the bombs and powders effectively.

What is your Samurai's race, level, and current stats? If you're not too high level it may still be reasonable to max STR. DEX is extremely important for any combat character like a Samurai, so it's not like you've been wasting your points. Especially so with Bloodlust which grants extra attacks and Berserk, so the challenge isn't necessarily to max its damage but just to be accurate enough to hit with it consistently.

Excellent comments guys thanks.

My SAM is level 15 Female Human with 100 DEX and SPD and 75 STR (I forget the others).

I just got the +10 sword so she has that and I didn't think about the ankhs, I will nip back and buy them.

BTW Krull I just came across that armour in the temple.......... I seriously considered changing someone to a lord just for that!!!! I haven't sold it yet, just in case.

Bladedog

It really is excellent armour isn't it?

Have to have a Lord in all my parties now, and a Felpurr Ninja. I get withdrawal symptons if I don't.

Just to be nosy, but what part of the UK are you from? As you can see, I'm from Sheffield but I don't think there's many Brits on this forum.

That's better than I thought, if the 75 STR is not counting any bonuses from equipment. If so, then you'll probably come very close to maxing STR anyway. Would have been nice to do it earlier, but DEX and SPD are also very important for Samurai. Also, there's nothing for your Samurai to be ashamed of as far as not out-damaging a Fighter. Anyway, looks fine and well worth keeping to me.