Newbie Question

[Hermit Boy]

First of all a little background. I am a relative newbie to W8, but I am a veteran of RPG's, both P&P and Computer. I have been lurking around this forum for a while, and it seems like a great place.

Anyway, I got hold of W8, and I have read the manual and ScottG's Beginners Guide.

I created a party and have gotten them through the Monastery. However, they were mostly for practice to learn how to play the game. This party does not include any Divinity Spellcasters, and only 1 decent meat sheild, so I want to start a new party.

My question is what type of party do I want to create? Now, let me anticipate most responses will be something like "Whatever you want." "Whatever you will have fun with." "Depends on your play style"

Well, here is what I consider fun and what my play style is. I want to have a party that can experience almost everything the game has to offer. So with that in mind, here are the type of questions that I humbly ask for your feedback on.

1) I want a good mix of spellcasting and fighter types. I would like to have access to most if not all types of magic. I don't like the idea of having 2 of the same classes.

2) I want to have most worthy skills available. IE, to access the largest range of options for my characters, do I need Lockpick, Engineering(It sounds like ScottG would say NO), Pickpocket, etc...

I do not want to know the locations of all the best items, or have any step by step instructions on how to build my party. What I am looking for is things like "You won't regret having a Ranger in the party" "If you want access to all types of magic, have 2 Fairie Bishops", "Lockpick is an invaluable skill" etc...

Thanks!

[Pyrates]

Hi Hermit!

Got yourself a great game, you [img]smile.gif[/img] Here's what I have to say to "your" party:

2 bishops rock! If you don't want 2, take 1, but train him/her in all 4 magical schools, it can be done, and it's fun to have such a variety of spells.

Take a bard and a gadgeteer. You find quite some stuff for those in the game. I couldn't stand not using it, so I really need those two, and they are also really good support (and the gun of the gadgeteer is really unvaluable later on, IMHO).

Simple types, e.g. fighters or mages, are mighty and easy to develop, but the "hybrids" (like samurai, ninja etc) are much more fun in my eyes. More complicated, yes, but more fun. In that way you can also easily get to have each magical school covered 2-3 times (I have all 3 times but psionics, and alchemy even 4 times [img]smile.gif[/img] ), and have a variety of skills like lockpicking and such.

Well, for the end, that's my party: 2 fairy bishops, a hobbit gadgeteer, a hobbit bard changed to a ranger, a fellpur samurai, a fairy ninja. They're really cool *G*

Cheers
Philipp

welcome hermit! you have been reading up on our typical responses. so many ways to do this...

fighter, rogue, monk. the key contribution from these guys is muscle, melee power, dealing damage, taking no prisoners, etc. these guys should hit hard and often.

the fighter and rogue are the two best fighting classes in the game. the fighter gives you access to every item in the game, so no matter what you find along the way you have a use for it. the rogue gives you lockpicking (and pp should you choose to pursue it). the monk, as a hybrid, will give you access to the psionic magic, but they are a great basher up front.

ranger, mage, priest. these guys give you access to those quirky abilities that will make your first time through a bit easier: defensive spell buffs and auto-searching.

the ranger automatically searches an area, so for a new player this can be a huge benefit (you wont have to toggle search on and off and scour every new area you enter) and also gives you access to alchemy mixing. the mage is an offensive caster, primarily, but has 3 of the best buffs in the game: xray, missile shield, and enchant blade. the priest is a survival specialist, with every type of healing there is, plus 3 great buffs: rest all, armorplate, and magic screen. they can also swing a pretty decent mace, should you so choose. and, the mage and priest combine to offer element shield and soul shield, the 2 combat magic-shields that are available, and they will get them early and at a high level relatively quickly.

which brings me to my last point. i'd recommend pure casters over the bishop for a newbie, simply because bishops can be difficult to develop. but if you are keen on the bishop, drop the mage and priest and add a bard instead.

good luck, and enjoy! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 11-06-2003, 04:07 PM: Message edited by: sultan ]

[Starfire]

Hello Hermit and welcome to the forum.


It sounds to me like you're looking for a balanced party. Although some people think fighters are boring, for a first timer to the game I'd suggest taking at least one of them along. They can deal out and take a lot of damage. If you want casters who are good melee'ers then take either a Lord, Samurai, Monk or Ninja. I'm sure you know the Hybrid's level up slower than the experts do. Be warned, a ninja can be a bit difficult to develope as there are so many skills they could use and not enough level up bonus points to distribute to all of them lol However if developed properly a ninja can be a force to be reckoned with. I would definitely take a Ranger the first time through the game. They have auto search which means you don't have to run around with search on all the time and the auto search will enable you to find all the goodies in the game and not miss anything. The Ranger also will start getting instant kills with his/her bow around level 6 (well at least mine do) In other words after they've earned a few levels they start getting Ranged criticals.

The Lord learns from divine spell book, Samurai from the Mage book, Monk from psionic book and Ninja and Ranger from the Alchemy. These hybrids do not learn spells until level 5 which means you will be without magic for 5 levels unless you take a pure caster along.

You will find a lot of Bard only and Gadgeteer only items in the game so if you don't want to miss out on using them you'll have to take both classes.

I don't think you will be disappointed taking a Bard along, if developed properly they can be awsome meat shields. I haven't actually played a gadegeteer yet so I can't really say anything about that class. You definitely won't regret taking a Ranger.

You will need at least one party member who can do locks and traps, the rogue, bard, gadgeteer and ninja can do this, however the rogue is the best at it of course as he/she gets a 25% bonus added to the skill. The gadgeteer would be the second best and the ninja the worst at the skill lol

You definitely will want casters who can cast all the main buff spells. So I'd make sure I had characters who can cast from the mage and divine spell book as you will find all of your best and main buffs in those spell books.

A truly balanced party would consist of at least 2 or 3 meat shields and spell casters in the other available slots.

One more little tip, you should make your Bards, Rangers and gadegteers female so they can take advantage of a certain item you will find after you leave the monastery. This item will help with stamina. Bards and gadegteers when using their instruments and gadegts take huge hits to their stamina.

I hope I could help a bit [img]smile.gif[/img]

[DraconFighter]

My favorite party is Dracon Fighter, Felpurr Samurai, Human Ranger, Elf Bard, Faerie Ninja, and Faerie Bishop. It is a balanced party, fun to play, and can use alot of the great things you can find in the game (that we are not telling you any more about). The Ranger can really help you find hidden items in the game, which can be useful the first time. If you take a Bard, make it a female Bard as some items are female only.

But not to worry overmuch. Usually the first time through the game will not be your last by a long shot. I started my second game even before I finished the first.

One other thing you might want to know before you start the game is that there are two kinds of Ninjas - Faerie and otherwise. If you take a Faerie Ninja develop skill in Staff and Wand. I wish I had known that before starting my first game, at any rate.

[rbeane1]

Fighter- Lizy or Dracon
Rogue-Hobbit
Psionic-?
Bishope Have him study divine an alchemy (you have tohave someone who can do
alchemy They make you $$$$)
Mage- Elf or fairy (these guy do the damage)
The last spot is up in the air, I'm leaning toward a Ranger for their search ablilties. With this party I would not take a gad or a bard because your magic
users would have everything covered.

[dplax]

Welcome Hermit to the boards!

For my first time into the game, I chose the party you got given in the demo of the game, because there IMO they worked quite well together.

They were:
Lizzie Fighter
Elf Ranger
Human Bard
Elf Mage
Dwarf Priest
Human Ninja or Monk I don't remember exactly

This party should give you a taste of nearly everything in the game (with the exception of engineering). You have mage, divine, alchemist spellbooks covered, and the fighter and even the bard can become quite powerful fighters later on.

Hope this helps! Good luck on your first way through the game!

[Ziggurat]

I agree with the others about the virtues of each profession. Here's my 2 cents for a starting party:

Valk or Lord (some prefer a fighter)
- Human or Dracon (you get melee and some extra healing, Portal spell later on)

Rogue
- Hobbit (great melee and locks go up quickly, less hassle)

Bard
- Hobbit or Human (go gor stamina early, good fighters and the instruments are very helpful)

Ranger
- (let's you see the potential for the best ranged weapons, auto search is great, can get Portal)

Either Mage and Priest, or Bishop and Ninja/Gadgeteer, as previously mentioned
- Elf or fairy (faury ninja is fun and gets the best melee weapon in the game later, the "pure" casters go up quickly, the bishop can do all spells but takes longer, gadgeteers are more exotic but good meleers, yet it's hard to figure out how to make their gadgets without cheating, gads need stamina so go for human or hobbit perhaps)

[ 11-06-2003, 05:42 PM: Message edited by: Ziggurat ]

[Hermit Boy]

Thanks for the advice. That is just what I was looking for. I got this game because I heard it was extraordinary (and I have not been disappointed so far), but there is so much to it. So many different combos and methods of playing. It gets a bit daunting when you first start.

But I guess it does add to the replayability [img]smile.gif[/img]

spot on, hermit boy. the amazing thing is that character choice (ie class, race and development) is so dynamic that it actually extends to being dependent on your other character choices.

in other words, after you've gotten your feet wet experimenting with individual class potentials, you'll still have lots to try in terms of group teamwork!