[DraconisRex]

Yeah, you'll survive. BUt don't count on RPCs being there. If you do, you'll eventually find yourself short of what area you expected them to fill.

As for advice, well:

1. I don't like Faeries. They die too easy.

2. I like Alchemists, they can't be silenced and they wear much
better armor than mages and they make potions and they can
combine low cost items into high cost items for resale.

Additionally, they can combine various potions so that you'll
have fewer encumbrance issues. (Better to have 5 pickmeup's than
5 stamina & 5 heal.)

3. I like to dual my Alchemist with a few Mage then finally convert
to Bishop around level 13. This will be my primary attack Bishop.

4. I like to run a Priest to level 5, at level 6 it's time to dual
to Bishop. Specializes in Priest/Psionic books. This is my
primary defense Bishop.

Because both Bishops were single-book casters, they get much higher in their niches, much faster than playing a straight Bishop. This was just my experience. It may not be true.


5. Samurai's are pretty cool. But I don't like to dual-weild them
as much as I like to use that really cool two-handed sword that
costs an arm & a leg. Do not forgoe points in strength.
Samurais are Critical Kill warriors, but most opponents will
still be killed by raw damage.

Also, Samurai's don't have the best armour in the world, either.
You've got to put points into speed to get the armor bonuses.


6. Plain fighters are okay. But if you want to dual weild, go
Lord. A stilleto is a heck of a weapon. Hard to find. But
has like a 10% kill chance.


7. Rogue choices are difficult. You may choose to have two rogues
in your party. (I usually do.)

Plain rogues backstab and have an open lock bonus. Big deal.
I use knock-knock with two spell casters & a Bard. Gets
even the most difficult locks open. (And I have opened the
8 tumbler bank vault just that way.)

Bards are great. No magic, but awesome musical instraments.
Decent armour & weapons choices. Still, this character won't
ever be better than a flanker/missile weapon secondary melee
fighter.

Gadgeteers are a pain. For a lot of the game, the best ammo
choice is the stones, and they are heavy. If you cut the weight,
you're firing darts. Woo hoo. Now, the Gadgets are FUN. And
some of them are quite powerful, albiet stamina draining. I've
used the Gadgeteer plenty of times and enjoy the class.

It's just not as offensively oriented in the early and early-mid
game as the other rogue classes. As you're just starting out,
this class is easy to foul up. Better to play through Arnika
with a party or two before trying this class, IMO.

Ninja's are great range fighters. Dual weilding various insta-
kill weapons or incapacitating weapons, make them good melee
fighters, too. But they have stiff requirements and are very,
very slow developing.

I usually take a Bard & a Ninja. (I like offense.)