[Aerich]

Hmm, just saw Dundee's post; he posted whilst I was typing. I'll add a few more comments and tips.

Keep your Fighter/Druids out of melee combat. In fact, keep everything out of melee combat as much as possible. Dundee's recommendation to buff up one character to take the pain is a good one, which is one reason why I would recommend the pally. It makes a good complement to summons.

Spells with status effects are much more important than damage dealing spells. A Held monster is a good monster. Deal with it at your leisure. Confusion, Chaos, and Horror are nice as well. Even Cloak of Fear can save your butt once in a while. A Web is worth 10 Melf's Acid Arrows.

Dundee said it already and I've said it already, but I'll say it again: keep your party out of melee. Most things you meet will have hundreds more HP than you, so toe-to-toe is out of the question unless you have some major advantages (Mirror Image, great AC, Lathander's Shield, damage resistance). If I go into melee with more than one character (the extra-buffed paladin) on HoF, it's because I'm attacking 4 on 1 and conserving spells. Almost everything that closes to melee with me is badly damaged from spells or a missile barrage.

Edit: one more thing on character creation: you can save yourself one stat point on Constitution with that character by having a 17 Con instead of 18. The Con bonus is split 3 ways (just like the HP and the XP) and rounded down, so you get the same HP with a 17 that you do with an 18.

[ 10-25-2005, 03:00 AM: Message edited by: Aerich ]