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08-17-2000, 06:26 AM

Beware of rushing at a foe to take him on in melee. The game is designed so that rushing one foe will reveal several others, and then you'll have to fight them all at once. Instead, let foes come to you if they will, and use only ranged weapons or long-range magic if they won't.

That's the basic idea. There are several ways to expand on it. Many players use a scout. Ideally, a scout will find one foe at a time for you to fight. If it's the sort of foe that will follow you, the scout could lead it back to the rest of the party. Or if the foe won't follow, the scout could start the ranged weapon attack while the rest of the party moves into position. Many players even use a thief hidden in shadows (essentially invisible) as a scout, so the scout can just wait there invisibly while the rest of the party moves up. You need a thief with high stealth skill to make this work.

When you get to higher levels, there are other things you can do with an invisible scout, like find a group of foes and "spot" for a mage throwing fireball or some similar area effect spell.

Don't overlook the various magical enhancements a magic-user can give your party. They can help a lot. Also, when you get a couple levels, you can animate undead or summon various creatures to form a sort of shield between you and your foes. Summoned creatures don't do much damage, but the dumber opponents will attack them instead of your party, giving you time to kill them with ranged weapons. I use magic only on special occasions -- because I don't like resting every two minutes -- but how much you use it is really just a matter of playing style.

I don't use the AI. I turn it off (lower right corner). When I want to attack, I pause (spacebar), select the whole party (the = key), and click on one foe. That is, I generally attack one foe at a time, regardless of how many are attacking me. I have autopause set for when the target dies. That way I know exactly when to select a new target. Most of my party uses ranged weapons most of the time. Usually I have at most one character using a melee weapon.

08-17-2000, 06:26 AM	#2
sibley Guest Posts: n/a	Beware of rushing at a foe to take him on in melee. The game is designed so that rushing one foe will reveal several others, and then you'll have to fight them all at once. Instead, let foes come to you if they will, and use only ranged weapons or long-range magic if they won't. That's the basic idea. There are several ways to expand on it. Many players use a scout. Ideally, a scout will find one foe at a time for you to fight. If it's the sort of foe that will follow you, the scout could lead it back to the rest of the party. Or if the foe won't follow, the scout could start the ranged weapon attack while the rest of the party moves into position. Many players even use a thief hidden in shadows (essentially invisible) as a scout, so the scout can just wait there invisibly while the rest of the party moves up. You need a thief with high stealth skill to make this work. When you get to higher levels, there are other things you can do with an invisible scout, like find a group of foes and "spot" for a mage throwing fireball or some similar area effect spell. Don't overlook the various magical enhancements a magic-user can give your party. They can help a lot. Also, when you get a couple levels, you can animate undead or summon various creatures to form a sort of shield between you and your foes. Summoned creatures don't do much damage, but the dumber opponents will attack them instead of your party, giving you time to kill them with ranged weapons. I use magic only on special occasions -- because I don't like resting every two minutes -- but how much you use it is really just a matter of playing style. I don't use the AI. I turn it off (lower right corner). When I want to attack, I pause (spacebar), select the whole party (the = key), and click on one foe. That is, I generally attack one foe at a time, regardless of how many are attacking me. I have autopause set for when the target dies. That way I know exactly when to select a new target. Most of my party uses ranged weapons most of the time. Usually I have at most one character using a melee weapon.