Time to swallow my pride...

[SSJ4Sephiroth]

*gulps down his big lump of pride to ask this question* I seem to be having a bit of trouble with the gregor in the beginning of the monestary... can anyone help me with this guy, like how many HPs he has or something? it's nerve-wracking to lose to a giant roach 10 times... *shudder*

[swavek]

it would help to know what classes your party consisted off, but basically you want to cast some disabling spells at that guy. cast sleep, slow, paralyze, or any other spell that might stop him in his tracks. if you're still trying that and he still kicks your butt, then try running past the room he's in and head towards the room where the skeletons are and you'll meet up with a whole bunch of roaches (small ones). they should provide you with some decent XP and skill improvements in order to kill gregor. now after that, if you're still having problems killing gregor you might want to re-evaluate your party composition. you're still at the beginning of the game so it's not too late to start over with a different party.
i recommend that you have 3 decent melee guys and at least 2 decent spell casters or maybe a bishop plus a bard.

[SSJ4Sephiroth]

i have a Bard, a Valkyrie, a Psionist (dead), a Mage (dead), a Rogue, and an Inventor. I tried going to the room with the small roaches, but Gregor just followed me into that room and proceeded to own me. thanks for the help though, i'll try starting over... tomorrow though, too late and too frustrated to do it tonight...

[Jem]

My suggestion would be to trade your mage in for a bishop and your psionicist in for a ranger. Bishops take some time to develop but are much more versatile. A ranger will allow you to turn off the search function so you don't get surprised by monsters nearly as often and is also a good ranged fighter as well as melee. Plus both of those classes have the Alchemy school which can mix potions to sell for easy money -- a great way to build up your cash reserves, especially in the early game.

Personally, I'd lose the rogue and let your bard and gadgeteer split the lockpicking and pickpocketing between them and bring in either a fighter (that berserk skill can really come in handy) or maybe a monk. Heck, even another bishop could be a good asset. Basically, you either need more characters with spell abilities or you need someone who can wade in and do lots of damage that gets lots of HP on level-up.

My personal favorite group is a Valk, Ranger, Bard, Gadgeteer, and two bishops who each specialize in two of the schools. With that party I wiped Gregor away when they were still 3rd level with the two bishops casting support spells and the other four whaling away at him, two with melee, two with ranged weapons. Arrows can be your best bet for decent damage at low levels.

[Charmy]

I recommend you steer clear of Mages, Psionicists, Rogues and Alchemists. To be honest, they really are quite bad classes compared to what else the game offers. Priests are my exception to the 'pure casters suck' rule, in my opinion, because their spells are so useful and they can cast them so well early on (while the bishop is spread a little too thin to be a great healer) that they make up for their lack of versatility. However, Priests do tend to max out early and you may find them having nothign to do later on. They do get some fairly decent attack spells though, so don't think they're helpless.

My current party is as follows:

Lizardwoman Fighter
Dracon Samurai
Fairy Ninja
Felpurr Bard
Rawulf Priest
Elf Bishop.

Equipment Spoilers follow:

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Fairies make better bishops than Elves, but I like the elf ability to be better armored. But the simple fact is that you NEED a bishop. They are a simply fantastic, amazing class which will shock you at their immense power later in the game. Being able to cast every single spell in the game with ease is no small feat! With their skill points always pump up their main schools of magic (Wizardry, Divinity, Psionics and Alchemy), becasue the elemental realms build way faster than the primaries do. Also, build up your Alchemy skill using Knock Knock at the Arnika vault, and your Psionic skill using Charm on Burz. This is a great way to get your bishop's skills to shockingly high levels in no time at all. You may be a little annoyed at your bishops lack of power early on, but believe me, the payoff is enormous.

Bards and Gadgeteers can do everything a rogue does, and more, so stick with them.You may want to change your bard or gadgeteer INTO a rogue later, after they max out their music/engineering skill, because they can backstab, but its really not all that necessary, as certain bard/gadgeteer only items are really sweet! (Prospero's Cloak, Tinker's Carry-all bracers).

I have never tried a valkyrie, so i can't vouch for them, but they do seem like a great class, so I see no problem with having one. Just stay away from lords.. they are really lousy..

oh yeah, and try to get all your guys to dual-wield or use two-handed weapons. A shield really limits your damage potential, so save the shields for a whip wielding priest, or a epee wielding bard, instead.

Also, try not to get into the habit of dying alot, because while you can res your fellows easily with powders, they become rare later on, and if you take losses every battle, it will become difficult to keep your party in fighting condition. Try to load if you've taken heavy casualties.. I played through the whole game without taking a single death, so it really isn't that hard. Make sure to rotate your positions so that you aren't flanked, as monsters will pick out weak looking targets whenever they have an opportunity. In this game, being packed into a tight little corner is VERY VERY good! In fact, its the best offensive position in the game. Cone-shaped spells are ultra effective, and only your fighters are exposed.

I could go on and on forever with tips, but I'll leave it at that. Hope you find it helpful =)

Edit: Try to make most of your characters female, if you can, and it doesn't bother you role-play wise. This is especially important for your bard and gadgeteer. Early in the game you can pick up Stamina Regeneration items like the Endurance Necklace, and later on better things like the Locket of Reflection, which also offers stamina regeneration. These items are FEMALE ONLY but are some of the best things you can possibly have on the stamina-consuming bards and gadgeteers. Items which regen stamina, and that males can use are more rare, such as the rejuvination robes and infinity helm which you can only get later on. (I learned the hard way, having to buy two rejuv robes for Madras and my bard as soon as I met up with Ferro)

[ 04-12-2002, 02:12 AM: Message edited by: Charmy ]

[otter]

Bishops can mix potions for profit and Alchemy skill increase. Search under potions for a list, i know there's a link on this forum somewhere.
SPOILER
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Basically, a young Bishop with 15 Alc can mis a Light and Mod Heal to get a Hv Heal, and at 50 you can mix the Hv Heal and Cure Disease to get Renewal (sell for >4500).

[Tiamat]

This sounds cool! Are the graphics good?

[Megabot]

He has about 100 hp so he is not that hard to kill almost the same as the King Crab down stairs he he!

[ 04-14-2002, 02:37 PM: Message edited by: Megabot ]