Useless NPCs

[Gab]

I'm findg that most of the NPCs that you can recruit are useless(ex. Myles)
Can you guys give me advice about wich NPCs are worth taking along and wich one
I should avoid?

[ 05-27-2003, 08:36 AM: Message edited by: Gab ]

[Mr Creosote]

They are all pretty useless, certainly you can generate a better char yourself.
RFS the Android who you may or may not have come across is about the best, mainly because of his "personality".

I think RPCs are one of W8's weaknesses as a game, the time they put in development of this game area could have been better spent finishing some of the uncompleted bits and pieces, and having a traditional gorrors area near the end. If it had been designed as a solo game then RPCs would be good, exspecially is they were available for the tougher areas, but when you already have up to 6 chars whats the point of dragging along more chars who at least part of the time wont go to some of the game areas when you need them?
Personally I never felt RPCs were "part of the team", just ocassional hangers-on.

[Kakero]

RFS-81 is the best rpc, he is very good at combat and he can critical strike often. plus he goes almost everywhere and if you dropped him he'll be there patinetly waiting for you without running off to somewhere else.

Vi is second best to me, She is a valkyrie and she can cheat death ( a lifesaver for your party in some cases ). she is very good with long range weapon ( polearm ) and she can deal good damage with it if you give her good weapon. also she start out with a high modern weapon so you might wanna give her a rocket launcher to play with. She will not go to some of the places but she will go to acension peak and somehow is part of the storyline.

I already said the advantage of rpc is some other thread so I won't list them here. Personally I think rpc is a must have for me and adventuring without rpc makes me feel naked ie something seems to be missing in the game.

note : those rpc that I didn't mention is not as good as those two .ie near useless. though I still invite them to the party because I wanna take their stuff.

[ 05-28-2003, 10:02 AM: Message edited by: Kakero ]

[GAfalconer]

It just depends upon your playing style. Some people like RPCs, some people don't. There are so many different ways to play the game and develop your own characters that there isn't One Right Way or Attitude when it comes to RPCs.

Here are some random thoughts on RPCs ...


Pro: RPCs are useful when it comes to extra skills for the party and for the extra carrying capacity. The addition of an RPC gives your party more attacks per round, perhaps an attack type you didn't have before. Having another character to help carry the loot makes it easier to avoid encumbering your characters which causes lost initiative, attacks, and in extreme cases, loss of armor class.

Pro: A few minor opportunities for nabbing extra gold and experience are available only when you have an RPC (such as taking Vi back to see He'Li and Lord Braffit). But, they are truly minor opportunities.

Pro: RPCs add to the role-playing experience. Some of them have fun lines.

Con: RPCs are a drain on experience points, in that each kill is now shared with an extra character, slowing down your characters' development. If you want to go very high in levels, as fast as possible, then avoid RPCs. They're also a
drain on your funds since you might want to upgrade their equipment as you go through the game.

Con: No RPC will accompany you everywhere in the game. If you recruit one and develop a combat strategy that's dependent upon that RPC, you'll have to adjust your play when you enter an area that the RPC won't go. If you trick them into staying (such as portaling in), they'll whine the entire time AND take a -20 point hit to their stats. This is why you see many people saying RFS-81 is one of the better RPCs: because he'll stick with you the most, including to Ascension Peak for the endgame.

Con: Just about every RPC has some kind of annoying flaw. They weren't developed in a way that takes advantage of their profession and racial skills. RFS-81 is a monk but can't use magic - so in reality he's just a fighter with the non-magical monk skills (and you can't change his class, so he advances at the 20%-slower-than-pure-fighter rate of a hybrid fighter). Vi is a Valkyrie, meaning she has a 25% Polearm skill bonus. But she refuses to give up a mediocre mace that just sits in one of the equipment slots and adds extra weight. You could have her melee with the mace, but you can't replace it with more powerful maces available later in the game and you lose the nice Polearm bonus Tantris is a Samurai, but comes with skill points in Polearm rather than the Sword skill a Samurai bonus is for. And so on.

Con: RPC loyalties can be fickle. Sparkle (Trynnie ranger) will leave if you attack the Umpani or Trynnie ("You are mean people!"). Myles (Higardi thief) will leave if you turn the Higardi Patrol hostile (such as accidentally bungling multiple sling shots and a spell in the same round - normally they'll ignore single misfires). Oddly enough, Vi didn't abandon the party when He'Li attacked us for a botched shoplifting. I found that pretty surprising given that she and He'Li are fast friends - even tried attacking He'Li after dismissing Vi; Vi not only stayed green (friendly), she joined us in attacking He'Li. Another oddity is that killing Saxx didn't turn the Umpani hostile.


In my gameplay ... I tend to treat most of the RPCs as just temporary companions, kept for one or two specific purposes and then released when they're done. For example, there is no Gadgeteer in my current party. I'll recruit Madras and develop him long enough to get his Engineering skill up to the level he can make Double and Triple Crossbows. Once he's assembled enough Triples to outfit my party, he gets dropped. Much as I would like to have the really cool deadliness of his Omnigun when he hits upper levels, I don't like his refusal to go to so many places.

Of the RPCs, RFS-81 is my favorite because he'll stick with me through the endgame (with the one exception). Being stuck in "Non-Magic Monk Mode" is annoying, but since he'll stay with the party I'll overlook that, and develop him as a martial arts fighter (with occasional extended weapon practice just so he has an extended attack). He comes to the party needing some remedial work in ranged combat, but since monks can't use bows, give him a sling and bullets and he'll catch up to the rest of the party in no time. I have RFS throw bombs and powders to make up for his inability to cast magic spells.

One of my bards is being developed with emphasis on the thief skill Pickpocket. So, I don't need Myles for his thieving abilities. But, since I wanted to have my samurai spend a level or so working on his magic rather than melee, I recruited Myles and changed his class to Fighter. Myles makes a pretty good Temporary Hit Point Sink, to be ditched after a while. So does Vi, who also can be given a musket to develop Modern Weapons skill, making her capable of being effective with the rocket launcher, later.

Last year I started out a party of 3 Bishops, 2 Bards + a ranger. Too weak in melee, so I shuffled out the ranger for a Samurai. That rocked, but .. well ... falconry season started (a hobby of mine that is a major time sink) .... then work and grad school both went overboard so to stay disciplined I never touched the games (avoiding the Near Occasion Of Distraction) .... So, I'm starting anew with another 3 Bishop, 2 Bard, 1 Samurai party. Each Bishop has one primary school (Alchemist, Mage, or Psionic) and secondary school of Priest. One bard (hobbit) is being developed with thieving skills. The other (lizardman) is being developed as melee .... Lizardmen bards don't start out with bonuses, but Lizzie is rocking, slicing & dicing now (lvls 7-10). Toot a horn, fight several rounds dealing out decent damage, and still have enough stamina left to play the instrument again.

[justindavis]

RFS 81 gets many criticals as he gets better. I think Madras is a punk, but the toys he builds give you more than $100,000 GP per item most of the time. Get Madras built up on engineering to merge items for sale.

I do agree on the dilution of XP though. That is a bummer.