another newcomer...

[Legolas73]

Hi folks,
after many dies of going mental because it wouldn't arrive I finally received my copy of Wiz8. I started a LotR inspired party:

Aragorn, Human Lord
Gimly, Dwarven Fighter
Legolas, Elven Ranger
Gandalf, Human Bishop

Now I didn't have many problems in the Monastery, and as I remained on char lvl 5 I made Arnika Road without much difficulty (the toughest encounter were 9 Modais but with Magic Missile and two cherry bombs they weren't really a match either). In Arnika I decided to gain the levels, which brought me up to about 8. Now I have a bunch of questions (I hope you guys won't get fed up with all the newbies asking all those dumb quesitons...???)

1. After levelling I found that the monsters increased much more in power than I did. I have no clue how I could ever finish off 6 Savant guards with my crew. I am especially concerned about my characters' ability to deal damage. Of course their HPs go up, but they deal as little damage as before.

2. I was planning to give Gimli some rogue proficiencies, especially Locks&Traps. Is it true that you only get skill to choose from which are related to your profession? does this mean that I will have to give Gimli some levels as Rogue? If yes, is one enough to simply kick off the Rogue skills on his character sheet, that is to say, can I allocate Locks&Traps even if I advance as fighter?

3. Talking about professions, I am concentrating on main skills for my chars (like axe and shield for Gimli, Bow and Scouting for Legolas), pretty much leaving everything else at 0 or close to it depending on learning. Is this wise?

4. What about skills for the bishop? So far I have been going for Wizardry and Divinity, leaving the realm skills at pretty low values. Any comments here?

5. Especially Legolas seems to be pretty low on AC, and I thought as I am giving much to Speed and Dexterity (also to Senses) that his AC would be particularly good because of his physique. Am I wrong here? What about his damage capabilities? Right now it's pretty low (ok I hónly have a shitty short bow), but will it go up only through a different weapon or also through skills and attibutes?

6. Ref question 2: How can Aragorn and Gimli get the Critical strike skill?

7. Party formation: Obviously Gandalf is center and the other three at the front. Is there a way to have Aragorn and Gimli at the front and Legolas and Gandalf center?

Man, I guess I could as a thousand questions but I think I will leave it at that for the moment. Thanks in advance for your answers!

[Legolas73]

Ooops, the many "dies" should be many "days" of course. I hope I wasn't foreshadowing any of my characters...

[Sinteuil]

That's alot of questions, but I'll try and cover as many as possible. First off, I hope you leveled up before actually entering Arnika, because if you level up after entering the city, this seems to throw off the game's level sensor, and the Savant guards will in all likelihood be much higher level, and perhaps even unbeatable. If the Savant guards are way too difficult, even after you purchase better weapons and armour from Antone, then try leaving Arnika and re-entering the city.

It's true that Gimli will need a level as a rogue to get some lock and traps skill. One level should be enough, and you can train him up easily once you get to Mount Gigas. You won't need an extremely high skill because Gandalf can make up for it once he learns Knock Knock and Divine Trap. Also once you change Gimli back to fighter, you can always give him the Poseur's Cap for locks and traps to give him a little extra edge.

Close Combat and Ranged Combat are very important in addition to the particular weapon skills. In fact, I'd pick Ranged Combat over Scouting for Legolas, since the Scouting skill goes up pretty fast on it's own.

You're doing the right thing by concentrating more on the books than the realms because the realms will go up by themselves with practice, and the skills for the books go up much less frequently. I usually have only one bishop who learns every spell in the game, so don't be afraid to pick up some psionic and alchemy skills (and you can make alot of money with alchemy!).

It's probably still a bit early for speed and dexterity to be influencing AC for Legolas. You can probably find better armour for him from either Antone or Kunar once you get to Mount Gigas. He'll get better with a decent bow and some more practice to increase his skill. Remember that you're still very early in the game! By the time you get to the Peak, he'll be getting criticals on everything in sight!

Aragorn and Gimli can't get the Critical Strike skill without changing their profession. However, you can give them weapons with a chance for a crit (eg. 5% kill) and this can be almost as good!

Finally, if you put Aragorn and Gimli in the middle row, and Legolas and Gandalf in the back (no one in the front row), you'll get the rough equivalent of the formation you're describing. I usually use formations like this and have no complaints!

Congratulations on making it to Arnika, and hope this helps you out!

[Nightowl2]

A party of four is a bit rough for a first time through the game. One reason to take the full six is that you get a chance to see how different classes perform.

Anyway, locks & traps is a class-specific skill. The only way to have it or increase it is to have a character that comes with the skill. If you switch Gimli to Rogue, he will have the skill and can increase it by putting in points and by actual practice.

Once you change him back to Fighter, locks skill will be frozen at whatever level it was at the change, and there is no way to increase it - even with use - unless you switch Gimli back to Rogue (or some other class with the skill).

The skill will be applied even if he's a fighter again, but only where it was when he changed back.

It's the same for Critical Strike. The character has to come with it; there is no other way to have it or increase it.

So if you want Gimli to have locks skill, switch to Rogue and work on building the skill up as high as possible (up to 75 with points; through use-only after that) while holding off on leveling. Then switch back to fighter. One way (though boring) is to work on the big lock in the Arnika vault.

As you haven't gone too far yet, you may want to consider restarting the game with a Rogue or other locks-type character in the party.

Nightowl2

[Nightwing]

you may find gimli is a better fighter as a rouge than a fighter. But if you keep him a fighter you may want to concentrate on swords or pullarms or even staffs. There are few good axes in the game and even those don't compare to the swords or pullarms you find. Train your bish in Alchemy there are some very good dibillitating spells for them.

[Legolas73]

Guys, thanks a lot for your replies!

A few more things I would like to add:

1) I thought from reading around in the forum that level sensors trigger monster strength when the party ENTERS an area, no? I left Arnika and came back but the Savant Guards are still the same level. (Actually I heeded Sinteuil's advice and stocked up at Antone's shop and I am a bit stronger now.)

2) I have spent some effort on developing Gimli's axe skill. Should this be all in vain now if I decide to go for swords? With the axe, which one's better, the Battle Axe (dmg 2-8) or the Hand Axe (dmg 1-12)? I bought a hand axe but I always thought in my limited RPG knowledge that a battle axe kicks more ass than a hand axe.

3) A big question I am having: How can I have items identified? I thought I could do it at a shop for a fee, as in other CRPGs?

4) Legolas is actually attacking twice per round now with his bow so I am a bit reconciled with him!

5) I have installed the mini-patch that makes monsters move faster. However, it still takes awfully long for the figures to act at all. Is there any other patch that speeds up the system's response time?

Thanks again in advance for your replies.

Legolas73

[Nightwing]

You will find a sword in arnika, actually two that are very good and should change your mind about switching to swords from axes. But if you want to do damage with an ax buy the Bipennimus from Anton. Hint, if a vender does not have something you are looking for rest for 3 8 hour periods and thier inventory will change. The new stuff is at the bottom of the list. I did do a whole game with a dwarf wielding beastslayer ax and then diamond eyes later and had no problem on beserk mode. Check all the buildings in arnika and ask Anton about custom items. Identify is a spell your bishop should be able to cast by now, one of the venders may sell a spellbook you would find usefull.

In the new MOD that Flamestryke developed there are a lot more weopons to choose from and an ax about a third of the way through that is pretty awsome. After you finish this game you may want to download that. It's pretty easy to install, if I can do it, most people can. It won't work for a party currently in mid game.

[ 02-15-2005, 07:26 AM: Message edited by: Nightwing ]

[Sinteuil]

My mistake since it's been a while for me since I've dealt with the issue, but as far as I know, if you go to He'Li's and sleep for 24 hours, this should take care of your Savant Trooper problem with the level sensor. A good way to tell if the troopers are too high level is if you lead them to the lay brothers, who then get absolutely massacred by them. If everything is normal, the lay brothers should really be able to protect you.

There are a couple of good axes in the game (The Ripper and Blades of Aesir), but unfortunately you won't get them until fairly late. Since you can get Bloodlust right there in Arnika and it's your first game, it's certainly very tempting to start training sword skill. Assuming your Close Combat skill is pretty evenly matched with your axe skill, there's no reason to feel you've wasted your time, and your sword skill will go up very rapidly with Bloodlust. Also, once you pick up one of the good axes later, you'll have the option to start using it without having to learn axe skill from the bottom up. A high Close Combat skill makes it possible to pick up just about any weapon with some success.

Identifying items will be very easy for you since Gandalf can learn the Identify Item spell. You can even pick up a Book of Relics from Anna right there in Arnika, so this is something you can resolve right away. If she doesn't have the book in stock, just sleep for 24 hours and try her again. Other than that, there are Identify Item scrolls available, and you should be aware that the ability to identify is tied to your artifact skill which will go up as you find more and more items.

You'll notice that Anna carries Barbed arrows, which should help Legolas to dole out some more damage.

Short of increasing RAM or replacing the processor with something faster, I'm not aware of any software solution to the speed issue other than the one you've already discovered, but perhaps someone else here will have a suggestion for you. I think we're all pretty impressed that you're doing so well with a small party your first time out! Good luck!

[ 02-15-2005, 07:32 AM: Message edited by: Sinteuil ]

[Nightowl2]

Keep in mind that Bloodlust is a cursed weapon. Once equipped, you can't switch for another weapon, not even a bow (or other missile weapon). The Remove Curse spell will let you unequip the item but the curse is not removed.

Also, Bloodlust isn't that good for a fighter character. Fighters already have the Berserk ability, which is what Bloodlust gives. It's a better weapon for a non-fighter.

And yeah, in the regular game, axes tend to be on the wimpy side. A big oversight there, since many players naturally tend to give Dwarf fighters an axe. Since you haven't gone far yet, I agree with others that switching to swords is a good idea.

Nightowl2

[Legolas73]

Thanks for all your valuable replies, guys! Concerning Gandalf's identify spell, it literally blows goats! I haven't identified a single item with it, and at further attempts he keeps asking me (or himself) whether I am (or he is) mad! Anyway, maybe the items I am holding are way too powerful for him...??? Ok, maybe not...

Sinteuil, I appreciate your admiration but I feel that it is utterly undeserved, especially since Arnika Road was realy a piece of cake. Met some Raiders at the crossroads to Arnika, but from there to Arnika no single soul, lost or found, in sight. Anyway, I guess I am not complaining about this, especially after reading all the fascination killing encounters other people had to endure.

I'll let you know how my crew is faring in the future. Best, Legolas73