Gamestyle

[EEWorzelle]

Scatter is certainly right that in a single player game, fun owns!

There are also cases where an increadibly unbalanced party, like a solo Faerie Ninja, can be brought a little bit closer to balanced by cheating and training. Even with that it is still near impossible. When a party is way unbalanced toward being difficult, training and cheats can actually bring it closer to being balanced, up to a point. Carried to an extreme it is unbalancing, of course.

I personally find more fun by not doing training, and so don't do it.

There can be a fine line sometimes. The Alchemist was given the capability to mix potions and make money that way. The designers knew that. Sleeping again and again next to a vendor or breaking the potions down to mix them individually, is another matter. Casting Charm or Mindread can be fun, but doing so over and over again is another matter.

If it's not fun... don't do it. If it is, please indulge.

I don't think any such techniques are necessary, and would never recommend them to new players. I don't think it's fair to tell any player in this game that they need to cheat or train. They don't... but they may.

[ 09-09-2003, 11:32 PM: Message edited by: EEWorzelle ]

eew said it best - in a single player game, do what you believe is fun.

the fact is that, each of us has drawn the line between fun and cheating in a way we're comfortable with, whether that's at the point of using editors (at one extreme) to circling the monastary or camping near a vendor (at the other extreme - acknowledging my own value judgements in that continuum )

even knowing that certain items are available for certain races or class/race combinations, and building parties to *exploit* that knowledge could be considered cheating. i'm not saying it is, but you get my point.

for me, i'll occasionally troll for experience if i want to get that next level up before leaving or entering a new area of the game. the extent of my spell or skill training is casting buffs between camps, but i've rationalised this as survival, not training. and i'm quite willing to camp at arnika or another vendor for a few days to stock up on good ammo, or mixing ingredients if i know i'll need cash down the road.

but that's just me. your mileage may, and probably should, vary .

[edit]

btw, elkston, love your quote.

[ 09-10-2003, 12:50 AM: Message edited by: sultan ]

[Loudhy]

Hi,

many thanks to all of you. I never thought there would be so many replies.

To Wereboar:

I thought about using Missile Shield Scrolls and Elemental Shield Scrolls.
I know they are only Lvl.3 Spells but I thought they would help. I planned
to have one slow and one fast Gadgeteer and Bard ( the slow should heal the party each round and the fast should use the scrolls and other helpfull
instruments like Bless, Haste etc. ) before the monsters can react.
I know about the sprites in Trynton but you can see them with X-Ray ( because they move very fast) so may be I can avoid them.

I am just thinking about the right order of the locations am I'm not really
sure yet. The first I think will the the way to get the Mandolin of the Magus
and the Instrument for Heal all ( I forgot its name).

Do you think that may be possible ?

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Ya know; looking back at the first game I played, not knowing anything about better party make-ups, formations, races or special items in the game, I don't think I do any better or worst now than I did then (I think that's the balance). Sometimes I even feel I know too much now instead of just doing what I feel is right, i.e. building attributes that I want to build instead of those I am supposed to, to achieve a "better" character.

The one big downside to this game is that it has made most all of my other RPG's look pretty sh*tty!

[Loudhy]

Hallo EEWorzelle,

sorry I forgot to answer your post.

You're right, I'm playing RPG's since Ultima II and Bard's Tale I. I've
always tried to win all games from the start without reloading so it got
normal for me to maximize the efficiency of my party in all my games.
Some of the games were very hard this way (Expert Level Wizardry VII without Class Changing)) some were impossible for me (Bard Tale II because of the Snares). But all the other RPG were possible.

Greetings

[Wereboar]

I thought about using Missile Shield Scrolls and Elemental Shield Scrolls. I know they are only Lvl.3 Spells but I thought they would help.

Are there scrolls of elemental shield? Never noticed. But i usually don't use scrolls.

The missile shield scrolls (and armorplate scrolls) helped one of my 4 hybrids parties to the point where they could cast the spell high enough. I don't know how it's later, but i think if you meet a group of deathsting apusses and are unable to run away, you're toast. Heal all doesn't help that much when you have to ressurrect several party members each round. But then, the slow healer will help a lot in this case (usually my bards/gadgeteers have high senses, which means high initiative).

In addition, you have six characters. Once you have your two heal-all instruments, it can work. But i don't know how your odds are against high-level opponents, especially with kill all spells. Thief, Bard and Gadgeteer are the classes which have the worst magic resistance.

Maybe i try it myself one time. Maybe next party.

[Scatter]

I went through once with a non-casting party, which i played as illiterate (no scrolls, either) (2 Fighters and a Rogue who switched to Fighter when we got to the Castle) They found, in the absence of magic:
AC and Level are the keys to Deathsting Apuses, and Level and Amulet of Healing (50 vs Divine each) are the keys to the Death Wish-casters. Death Cloud-casters (and other cloud-effects) can be overcome with Ring of Breezes and Amulet of Airs.
Their biggest problem was insanity. With only one Ring of Stars it was hard to have Mental resistance high enough toward the end. So i gave them all Feather Darts in their alt slots and swapped-locked weapons when anyone went insane.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Originally posted by Scatter: I went through once with a non-casting party, which i played as illiterate (no scrolls, either) (2 Fighters and a Rogue who switched to Fighter when we got to the Castle) They found, in the absence of magic: AC and Level are the keys to Deathsting Apuses, and Level and Amulet of Healing (50 vs Divine each) are the keys to the Death Wish-casters. Death Cloud-casters (and other cloud-effects) can be overcome with Ring of Breezes and Amulet of Airs. Their biggest problem was insanity. With only one Ring of Stars it was hard to have Mental resistance high enough toward the end. So i gave them all Feather Darts in their alt slots and swapped-locked weapons when anyone went insane.

Brilliant!

[elkston]

Originally posted by sultan: btw, elkston, love your quote. [/QB]

Hehehe. Yeah, Miles was a baad mofo. Brought us some great music in addition to quotes like that.

Originally posted by Wereboar: quote: I thought about using Missile Shield Scrolls and Elemental Shield Scrolls. I know they are only Lvl.3 Spells but I thought they would help.

Are there scrolls of elemental shield? Never noticed. But i usually don't use scrolls.

[/QUOTE]perhaps they're referring to magic screen scrolls.

i'm currently playing a three-man party with monk, ninja, rogue. so we have no permanent buffs and, at level 16/18 (and only just got to the umpani) can only cast soul and element shield at 3/4 green.

surprisingly, we arent that vulnerable to magical damage. on a whim we wandered off the swamp to the temple and took them out in 4 rounds, in spite of resistances in the 20's without the whimpy shields we could cast (admittedly, a surprise death bomb wiped out 5 cultists before they could summon help).

the last non-spell casting party i ran had a bard playing the mandolin at level 7, and i didnt notice a tough time. i'm beginning to wonder just how good having extreme resistances really is.