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motub · 06-03-2004, 02:10 PM

You can do better than those levels if you 1) use a henchman through only part of Chapter 1 and thereafter don't use one (using a henchman reduces the experience you get). Depending on what class you are, and what order you do the sections in, you will probably need a hench for the first one or two, but you may be strong and skilled enough to survive without one for the last two sections.

2) Get most of the points for an extra level before leaving the Prelude... I needed to cheat slightly to do this, but it is possible that you might gain a Potion of Invisibility legally before going to graduation. The idea is that you get to the stables without killing anything (or killing as little as possible). Once Fenwick and Desther have left, do the last free level up, then go back and kill all the goblins and skellys you left standing. It's like 1500 points of enemies that actually get counted this way, as opposed to if you kill them before, when they are not counted (you will level up to level 3 automatically just by doing the Prelude; it doesn't matter whether you actually have enough points).

There's not a whole lot of powergaming you can do in this game, but there is a little. I was able to finsh HH at the high end of level 9, and hit level 10 in Port Llast before even leaving town (Dockhouse sidequest, wizard's cottage, and I unexpectedly found 1/4 of another sidequest while I was wandering around exploring the town).

I feel like I'm a bit ahead of the game, but not so far that something awful couldn't happen at any moment (such as a yuan-ti level boss-- gah she was tough, and I did have a hench, Daelan, at the time). Using the "free" levels wisely seemed to be essential, though; taking two of them as Rogue (I'm a Cleric, mostly) and piling all those extra skill points a Rogue gets into Search, Disable Traps, Open Locks and Use Magic Device has really helped (I'm now l6 Rogue and L5 Cleric and hope that I'll be OK without more Rogue levels being necessary, as I want to focus on my Cleric-ness

). Admittedly, if I had remained a pure Cleric, I would have had the Find Traps spell, which is excellent, if you have it memorized enough and remember to use it. I like having high Detect better, though. The Uncanny Dodge 1&2 and Improved Evasion help me to survive even though I'm not as strong as I would be if I was a pure Cleric... and by the time you get to Chapter 2 you've found enough "gadgets" to make up most of the difference (though I'm getting a bit tired of changing rings and gloves and amulets, I must admit

).

06-03-2004, 02:10 PM	#10
motub The Magister Join Date: March 14, 2003 Location: Netherlands Age: 62 Posts: 107	You can do better than those levels if you 1) use a henchman through only part of Chapter 1 and thereafter don't use one (using a henchman reduces the experience you get). Depending on what class you are, and what order you do the sections in, you will probably need a hench for the first one or two, but you may be strong and skilled enough to survive without one for the last two sections. 2) Get most of the points for an extra level before leaving the Prelude... I needed to cheat slightly to do this, but it is possible that you might gain a Potion of Invisibility legally before going to graduation. The idea is that you get to the stables without killing anything (or killing as little as possible). Once Fenwick and Desther have left, do the last free level up, then go back and kill all the goblins and skellys you left standing. It's like 1500 points of enemies that actually get counted this way, as opposed to if you kill them before, when they are not counted (you will level up to level 3 automatically just by doing the Prelude; it doesn't matter whether you actually have enough points). There's not a whole lot of powergaming you can do in this game, but there is a little. I was able to finsh HH at the high end of level 9, and hit level 10 in Port Llast before even leaving town (Dockhouse sidequest, wizard's cottage, and I unexpectedly found 1/4 of another sidequest while I was wandering around exploring the town). I feel like I'm a bit ahead of the game, but not so far that something awful couldn't happen at any moment (such as a yuan-ti level boss-- gah she was tough, and I did have a hench, Daelan, at the time). Using the "free" levels wisely seemed to be essential, though; taking two of them as Rogue (I'm a Cleric, mostly) and piling all those extra skill points a Rogue gets into Search, Disable Traps, Open Locks and Use Magic Device has really helped (I'm now l6 Rogue and L5 Cleric and hope that I'll be OK without more Rogue levels being necessary, as I want to focus on my Cleric-ness ). Admittedly, if I had remained a pure Cleric, I would have had the Find Traps spell, which is excellent, if you have it memorized enough and remember to use it. I like having high Detect better, though. The Uncanny Dodge 1&2 and Improved Evasion help me to survive even though I'm not as strong as I would be if I was a pure Cleric... and by the time you get to Chapter 2 you've found enough "gadgets" to make up most of the difference (though I'm getting a bit tired of changing rings and gloves and amulets, I must admit ).