Road to Arnika

[Cantilever]

Ok, I have my 1st party I kept past lvl 3. I have 2 lizard fighters, 1 Dracon lord, 1 elvin Priest, and 2 farie mages. So far they are tearin up everything all through the Monistary. I just got to the Road to Arnika. I've heard its pretty tough, what is the suggested character lvl to fight there? Is it a good idea to stay close to monistary and keep fighting near the door to build up exp since the monsters keep respawning, or just rush through?

[Nightowl2]

Usual level for the "terrible road" is 5, though some like to go lower and some higher (higher will usually be tougher).

As to rushing or not, your choice. Most just like to get down the road and into Arnika. I never bothered to stay on for spawns, myself.

Nightowl2

[Cantilever]

Well I just went thru at 7, was pretty much a cake walk. Onward I go!

[vesselle]

hug the hills along the road on the left side, and RUN. well, stop twice: the detour to the thieve's chest and then, as soon as you can, running up to the hills above the roadway, stopping to get a certain goodie lying up there. stay on the hills and very quickly you'll be in arnika. use your radar map so you can see any oncoming red spots and skirt them.

only thing is, if you do it this way, you can miss out on good experience. and when you get to arnika, you'll be swarmed. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

there's very little respite ingame from humongous groups of monsters coming after you. consider the arnika-trynton road your first taste of what's to come. [img]smile.gif[/img]

you should also read the sticky tip thread. it's got everything you could ever want to know about anything ingame.

V***V

[killerTeddy]

I see you no longer try to use mainly hybrids, i agree with that. You got one party that won't have much problems for the first half of the game, i would say. So, Arnika and the two roads to and from should be no problem, just take care NOT to get surrounded, else your mages will die very quickly.

To make sure your party stays great, i would suggest some planning and preparation: at some point in the game, your mages and priest will have learned most/all spells they'll ever learn. If you don't skip some parts, maybe 2/3 - 3/4 of the game will be over then. Probably you will want to change classes of some or all of them - i think the only real choices are bishop or lord (priest)/samurai (mages). To be able to change classes, you have to meet the reqirements, so you have to rise the necessary attributes early enough. It's a pity if you reach level 20 somewhat and get bored with you mages, and you recognize they'll never become samurais cause they lack 20 or more points in strength... You need to plan for this some, maybe ten, levels earlier!

As you got 2 mages, you could let one cast mainly, say, fire, water and earth, and the other mental, divine and air (or any other combination) so they can cast fewer spells but at higher levels.

Have fun!

[Wereboar]

Do not change class with fairy mages. They can't use most items, so casters is best choice with fairies (except CoC ninja).

If you don't save spell picks for late spell (which i wouldn't in a first game - just try the available spells), it will be past level 20 when you learned your spells. Too late to change class in a 6 character party.

The road to arnika is always a cakewalk with 2 fighters and 2 fairy mages (fast mana regeneration), as long as you don't let the enemies surrond you. Many players prefer hybrids, and mostly ignore offensive magic, so they are much weaker early in the game.