class restrictions revisited

[mortification]

Earlier there was some posting about the penalties for changing classes, and what the restrictions were. One of the major limitations in switching from a magic-using class to a non-magic-using class was the requirement that new spells be learned at 1/2 of the skill level.

I've been developing characters along the "prep and restart the game" thread earlier. I've noticed something funny. With a character that starts as a fighter, then goes to a magic-using class, restarts the game, and then back to some different class, restarts the game again, there appears to be NO restriction on spell learning!

Maybe I'm looking at it wrong. But my "super-fighter", who is at least LVL 6 in: Paladin, Barbarian, Ranger, Fighter, Warlock has the following skills:
Spririt - 8
Vine - 8
Moon - 7
Fiend - 7

He is currently a Barbarian on a fresh game. When he levels, he is able to choose any spell that he has not yet learned, even 7th level spells! Also he can sometimes purchase the higher level spells from the guild. I don't have exact stats on this but there appears to be some bug/feature that removes the spell restriction when restarting. For example, when I restarted as a Barb I already had the "innate" LVL 8 Vine skill, so maybe this doesn't count as switching roles...

Another wierd thing about restarting: You can be a Barbarian twice (or any class). A really easy way to max your HP is to start as fighter and immediately switch to Barb. Level a few times (2-3) to enjoy the massive HP. Switch to another class like Ranger. Restart. Immediately switch to Barb again (without gaining any Ranger levels), level a few times. Rinse. Repeat.

I'm playing the patched version in case this makes a difference.

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[Wyvern]

Interesting!!!

I hope a lot of the newbie players who are starting out notice this thread. You've given some excellent advice on how to pump up the characters early in the game!

Wyv

[mortification]

OK, after some further research I've noticed that the restart trick, at lest for Barbarians, does not seem to work. I tried starting with a Wizard, then switching to Barb. What I noticed is that the Barb can't learn any spells that are greater than (Skill LVL)/3, round up. Just like the mnaual says.

However for another character, started as a fighter, then Warlock, and then paladin, He CAN learn all of the spells with no penalty. I'll have to experiment more to figure this out. Maybe some sort of bug?

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[Sazerac]

Actually, it's Skill Level/2, rounded down. But you're right. Best thing to do is go on and play the Barb for awhile, then take him to Warlock and get your spells back.

-Sazerac

[mortification]

Oops, typo. It should be LVL/2. As far as rounding goes, It seems like that at LVL 7 Sun magic, by Barbarian could still learn 4th level spells when levelling, but was never presented with the opportunity to purchase 4th level books in the shop. Perhaps this is an artifact of the restart technique, and it is usually round down?

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[Sazerac]

Hm...Interesting! Maybe so. I must admit I've never done the Wizard to Barbarian trick before, so it may be something with that combination. However, you won't be able to buy ANY spell books as a Barbarian, because the class by it's nature can't learn new magic.

-Sazerac