Just got it last week possible Spoiler

[Pyrius]

I just got the game fo the year edition for XBox last week and I havent been able to do anything but play it since then. I was a huge fan of the Black Isle games(Baldurs gate, IWD) and I must say that I got this one with a bit of apprehension....I thought- Could a console RPG compete with a PC. I havent even bothered with my NWN game. I was wondering if there are any hints anyone would care to share with me, I dont mind spoilers.... By the way, Im playing as a dark elf with custome class...my major skills are block, med armor long swords, marksmanship, and destruction.....
Thank you

[LS0158]

The random caves and tombs sometimes have good stuff in them, sometimes not, and their difficulty varies too.

Have a restore strength spell, scroll, or potion.

Have some way of teleporting out of danger (alimvisi/divine intervention).

Atronachs' spells have a VERY high max damage, so avoid them if possible.

I think you only get the level up points from improving major and minor skills.

If you commit a crime, drop everything in your inventory before paying your fine. You never know what could count as stolen.

Merchants' offers are lowered once they consider you their friend. But they offer you lower prices in return. Other than that, high disposition is usually a very good thing.

After a while, you will have (many) items that each have values greater than entire towns.

I like longswords (major skill, at 100), but I have not yet found one with anything more than a minor enchantment. Of course, I'm only level 15, and I may not have looked in the right places yet. There's some really powerful guy called Umbra with a supposedly excellent sword, but I haven't found him so I can't comment on it.

Don't wear ordinator helmets or body armor. I think everything else is okay, though. I've got an ordinator shoulder pad, and they don't attack me.

Have some way to levitate.

[ 07-08-2004, 06:10 PM: Message edited by: LS0158 ]

[Pyrius]

Thanks....yeah, I have found a glass longsword of frost and its working out alright and I found a nice piece of Orc Armor in the Vivec Sewers...I got the Alsmiv-whatever spell, thats how I got the longsword. I went into a Deadric ruin, used an invisibility potion to sneak past everyone and stole the sword off the alter, hit the intervention spell, no harm no foul.

[promethius9594]

there is more to a character than just main skills and race, however.

you should tell us about your character in this format:

(gender) (race) (class)
(BirthSign)

Favored attributes: (1) and (2)
Major Skills: (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)
Minor Skills: (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)

also, alot of our advice is going to center around what type of character you are aiming to play, so it would be good if you could tell us a bit about your intended role.

general advice:

for your first time through, sneak and security are both good skills and can be advanced rapidly for good level up bonuses. they also make the end game alot easier too, once you get good at both.

only select one weapon class per skill level (ie, longsword as a major, marksmanship as a minor). some people only select ONE weapon class overall because more than one can be a wasted skill. personally, i have short sword as a major and marksman as a minor and it has never bothered me. either way, in the end game, you can pay for alot of training in multiple weapons, so your chosen class only affects what weapons you are going to use when you first start out.

Guild timing: go to balmora and join the fighters, mages, and theives guilds right away. dont do any quests before you join all three, or you will be restricted from others by certain quests in certain guilds.

again, select your major house based on what your character type is. hlaalu is the easiest to join, but also contains alot of scum that needs to be taken out.

will post more once i have information on what type of character you have.

[LS0158]

I'm in Redoran, their skills matched mine well. Their skills are:
Athletics (More or less automatically builds itself up slowly)
Long Sword (you've got this one as a major skill, so it'll level up really fast)
Armorer (Useful, especially if you like exploring and spend little time in cities)
Spear (I used spears with another character, and they worked fairly well)
Heavy Armor (If you got Lord's mail, it's heavy armor)
Med. Armor (another of your major skills)

You only need three skills, so it's okay to neglect the other three.

I can't remember the other houses other than that one was thief-oriented and the other was magic-oriented. My character's bad at both.

Join a great house as early as you can, since you can get your own stronghold. But I don't know how high up you have to be. I'm a house brother (rank 7, I think) and I still don't have one.

Also, I now remember something about a white sword of woe being easily stolen in Balmora. I never found it.