You had it right the first time!
High scores in intelligence, charisma and speech allow you to talk your way out of the fight at the end of the temple. Choose 'why do we have to fight' and then choose 'I disagree, there is always a peaceful solution' etc etc. Not only does this allow you to keep your idolised Arroyo reputation, but you also get DOUBLE the experience points (600 instead of 300) for talking your way out of the fight than you do for resorting to violence.
Ultimately there is no 'right' or 'wrong' way to play the game of course. I just personally try to be a peaceful diplomat rather than a belligerent warrior when I play an RPG.
Speech is very effective.
I personally tagged:
-
Small guns. Assault/Hunting rifles count as small guns, and a head-shot from one of those babies will take out most human and animal opponents.
-
Doctor . This is infinately superior to first aid. Heals more damage
and fixes broken limbs. First aid is obselete if you have a high doctor skill.
-
Speech. As mentioned earlier, a high speech skill can allow you to bypass even the toughet battles. It also allows for more experience points via increased conversation options, and can offset the negative effects of a bad reputation. Plus, it just feels good to have people being friendly to you wherever you go
For traits, I chose
-
gifted : this gives you
SIX extra stat points, which is a huge bonus! Gaining five fewer skill points per level can be offset by an intelligence level of 10 (which I always choose, being a thinking man
) as well as a few levels of the 'educated' perk later on.
-
Small frame - this grants you an additional stat point. Being able to carry less doesn't really matter much, as you can just get your party members to lug any heavy stuff you find for you. Sulik is great for this.
Seeing as it's very difficult to alter your core stats after character creation, gaining as many stat points as possible is a solid character strategy.
[ 04-21-2004, 11:59 PM: Message edited by: The Hierophant ]