Long battles

[Ziggurat]

Good points, all. I noticed getting the multiple attacks in the middle of a battle in my current game. Keeping track of the skill point levels before and after battles would have answered my question. I wish the programmers had designed it to say you gained such-and-such number of stat points at the end as a summary, instead of acknowledging only the last one. The comment from ChaosTheorist about raising Stealth from 35 to 87 in one battle is awesome! Wonder how that can happen? I can't see it.

[Aelia Jusa]

Originally posted by Ziggurat: There are some really long battles in this game, as has been noted by many here. After seeing Ferro in the Rapax castle for the first time, I was attacked by 39 opponents! They included: Concubines, Courtesans, Archers, Veterans, Berserkers, Warmages, Patrols and Bowmen. Is this a great game or what!?

Or what I think! [img]tongue.gif[/img] My worst memory of this game was the super long battles, those rapax really had a lot of friends! At the rapax camp, at the castle, on the ascension peak [img]graemlins/idontagreeatall.gif[/img] . It was so frustrating when I'd have to redo a battle because people died, but the WORST time was when I first came up to Rapax castle, you may remember there was a very large amount of guards there - this was a looong one. Well we were just getting the upper hand and there was only a few of them left; one of the few that my party were managing first time. Then! Power went out. Just for a second, but long enough to restart my computer, and of course, not being able to save mid-battle I had to redo the entire thing [img]graemlins/idontwanna.gif[/img]

[ChaosTheorist]

It happenes immediately. A while ago, my monk started to get multiple attacks with the Staff of Doom in the middle of a fight.

Yeah, that's what "In fact, the increases happen in real time: if you open a character's inventory screen and select the "Skills" display, you can see the skills increase during the battle." was supposed to convey; sorry I wasn't more clear.

[ChaosTheorist]

Originally posted by Ziggurat: The comment from ChaosTheorist about raising Stealth from 35 to 87 in one battle is awesome! Wonder how that can happen? I can't see it.

As mentioned, I was doing Stealth training for my Bishop. I had converted her to a Rogue, and had spent some quality time with a Small Spider (which is how Stealth got up to 35 and Shield up to 14). But the little guy kept conking out on me, and I was having to cast Stamina on it every 20-30 rounds to keep it going. Plus, it only attacked about 25-30% of the time. So I went looking for a Green Slime. I found a group of 2 or 3 Noxious Slimes and a couple of Green Slimes in the green-water-on-the-floor room. After I relieved the Green Slime of its companions, I put the Rogue into Defend, holding a sword and a shield. The Green Slime whacked at me for something over 100 rounds, then retreated. Unknown to me, there was another Green Slime just outside the door. So, they got into this oddball "tag team" sequence, where one would run away, which activated the other, they'd exchange high-fives or butt-slaps or whatever it is Green Slimes do (well, I guess it wouldn't be a high-five--pseudopod and all, you know; maybe a "low-one"), then the newly-activated slime came in and beat on me for a while, ran away, activated the other, etc., etc. 1673 rounds later, Stealth was up to 87 and Shield was at 70.

To answer the next obvious question: about an hour or so, I think. I'm not really sure; once the combat got into the self-sustaining "tag team" mode, I went to the other computer and did other stuff, only coming back after I heard a few "Ouch" sounds indicating that the Green Slime had scored a hit and the Rogue needed to sip a Heavy Heal potion. Since the damage-causing hit rate was less than 4 hits per hundred rounds, and typical hits were 2-3HP, I didn't have to monitor the battle very closely.

[Ziggurat]

We have some people here who are very smart, lucky, and patient. Not necessarily prioritized in that order. But all are good things to have. This game never ceases to amaze me in what new strategies you can discover. BTW, I'm not a big fan of looong battles, especially when I'm hot on the next big thing to do. But sometimes, when the time is right, when I'm not in too much of a hurry and a think it just might work, I do appreciate the long grueling ordeal when you're really not sure your party is going to make it. You find the best spot to defend (if there is one), you use your stamina sparingly, try a bunch of spells, try some tactical moves, and hang on for dear life as your resources go towards zero. It can be quite rewarding when you survive one of these things. But too many enemies who are almost equal certainly tests your limits of patience. Long battles by nature in this game can be complicated, just as short ones rarely are. I'm not sure what the right mix is, glad to have a few of them.

[Cataephract]

I know exactly what you mean, Ziggurat. Long-grueling ordeals in video games, where your chances of survival swing back and forth in a matter of seconds, define my video-game memories. In any rpg, strategy, action, etc. game that I play, those sorts of battles are the ones I enjoy most remember longest. I can still think back to Warcraft II battles, to the feeling you get when you realize that you've just broken them, that they've snapped, that devastating defeat has become crushing victory. Wiz8 is a great game for this, because there are plenty times when you run into these horrendous battles, outnumbered always and outgunned occasionally; when you mutter to yourself "We will not survive this...", and then thrust yourself into with all your vigor and intellect. This is what great gaming is, not slaughtering monsters like lambs with Uberweapons, and not demoralizing, needlessly difficult challenges, but gaming where you aren't sure if you will win or lose, but you sure as hell are going to give it a go anyways.

[ChaosTheorist]

Perzackly. That's why I pretty much never play on Iron Man; it takes away too many options. When "oops, guess that didn't work" means "oh, well, that party's toast" you always have to be in conservative, CYA, attack-only-when-victory-is-assured mode. Learning "what works" inevitably implies at least an occasional learning of what *doesn't* work. My solo Bishop has gotten killed 3 or 4 times already, and I'm only in Arnika; if I didn't have the flexibility to explore the limits--and limitations--of this kind of play, it wouldn't be worth the effort.

[Dobian]

Originally posted by Cataephract: Wiz8 is a great game for this, because there are plenty times when you run into these horrendous battles, outnumbered always and outgunned occasionally; when you mutter to yourself "We will not survive this...", and then thrust yourself into with all your vigor and intellect.

I've had battles like that at Rapax Castle and Rapax Away Camp, including one that lasted over hour (thank god for my bard!). And then there was the crypt keeper...took me many tries to come up with the right strategy for that one, and then it was still a dog fight.