Yet another newbie question thread

[Fenris]

Hello all,

Just stumbled across the boards. Borrowed W&W from a friend and just finished the serpent temple last night. I am sure I will have more questions, but two come to mind.

1) I have read the manual three times, but still can't figure out what it means when there's a red square around a weapon or shield (I bet this is in a FAQ somewhere, but I can't find it)

2) As far as spell learning. If I have read other threads correctly, then I am wasting my points by bumping up vinecraft for my paladin even though she has the school. She starteed out as a priest. She will NEVER get cure poison from advancement as long as she is a paladin, is that correct?
2.a) if #2 is true, then how do I keep straight what I should be training for each class?

3) Something wierd that seems to contradict the manual. My ranger can cast level 3 vinecraft, but his sorcery skill is only 2. I was under the impression that you could only cast up to the level of your sorcery skill.

TIA for all the help.

[ 07-29-2002, 01:16 PM: Message edited by: Fenris ]

[Bungleau]

Fenris,

First off, welcome to the boards. May your adventures in the Gael Serran prove the topic of many a late-night discussion at the Boogre Bar.

Second, to respond to your questions...

1. That red square means the item is damaged beyond 5% (I think; could be 10%). You will want to either repair it (if a party member can do that) or take it to a smithy and have the smith repair it. If it goes to 100% damaged, I believe it breaks and is gone forever. I haven't had that happen to me, but I recall someone losing a special sword because of that.

2. Two things: spending skill points on vine skill, and using books to learn spells. Possibly a third about who can cast spells.

You can spend skill points on spells, but I prefer to simply train the spell schools at the guilds. That way, one level = one skill level trained, while one skill point spent <> one skill level trained. IOW, you can train in a skill at the guild far faster than you can learn it on your own. When you gain a level, you gain mana points and can choose a spell to learn. You gain more mana in the school whose spell you learned. If you learn via a book, you don't get that extra boost.

And once you've learned a spell, you can always cast it, no matter what your class is or what level it is. I know the book says otherwise; the book's wrong on that one.

2a. Apply skill points to things you can't train in the guilds, such as sorcery, gallantry, and so on. At every level, do your best to train in every guild. Whether you train stats, spells, weaponry, or miscellaneous is up to you; I keep spellcasters on their spells and let others go to swords and daggers after they've hit any other useful levels.

3. You can learn skills up to one-half of your skill level in that school if you're a non-native caster. Sorcery only factors in to your casting ability and effectiveness -- will you succeed in casting, and how powerful will the spell be? The book is a trifle misleading and incorrect.

[Wyvern]

Welcome to the board, Fenris!!!

You'll always find excellent help here! We've got the best posters on the web!!

You might find it useful to browse through the BEST TIPS thread to learn somethings about developing your characters. W&W is a very flexible game and there are more ways than one to develop the characters so they have the skills you really want. As a general rule of thumb, we recommend that you don't change a magic users class until they have learned the spells you really want them to have.

You might want to consider changing your Paladin to a Ranger to regain the ability to learn more higher level Vine spells. Or you might change one of your other characters. There are lots of ways to get the skills you need!

Hope we've been of help and we'll see more of you on the board!

Wyv

[Radek]

1. The red square around the weapon means:

WARNING! The weapon is damaged too much! It's high time to repair it!

I don't know how much, in percents, is the weapon damaged. The documentation says nothing about it. But it is more than 10%. It might be a hallucination but, according to my observations, the rate of deterioration of a weapon seems to speed up at higher levels of damage. Thus, 10% is more than enough.

2. The paladin and the Cure spell. Your paladin can learn Cure at Vinecraft 12 (Cure is a level 6 spell). If you want this character to learn the spell then you can:
a) train Vinecraft in the temple to 12.
b) make him a ranger or a warlock, get the spell, reset adventures, make him a paladin again and reset adventures again.

3. The magic school skills determine your abilities to learn spells - not the Sorcery skill. The Sorcery skill determines:
a) the duration of spells (most of defensive spells)
b) the strength of spells (offensive spells and Heal spells)
In both cases, the same formula is used:

spell_power = base_spell_power * (1 + sorcery_skill/10)

For exapmle, the power of your spells (damage, duration, healing) will be multiplied by 1.7 at sorcery 7.

[kev]

Gday Fenris, Welcome to the forum.
1. You can learn the blacksmith skill in the warriors guild. The higher the skill level the better the weapon that you can repair. This saves on using the smithy to repair weapons.
2. I suggest staying a paladin until you have your level 7 spirit spells then become a ranger to complete your vine spells. A ranger can also learn the important fletchery skill. You can make gold by putting your most expensive arrow in the fist slot in the quiver & she can reproduce it, make sure you have a bow equipped.
3. The manual is not worth the paper it is written on, go to the best tips thread, it answers a lot of questions.
4. Beware of salads. They will hunt you down.
Have fun.

[Radek]

You will need Forge 5 for repairing easily obtainable weapons (katana+1, long sword+1, Nightblade, Wakizashi+1, etc.) Only a few usable weapons can be repaired at Forge less than 5 (Witch's Stick, for example). Forge 5 does not suffice for Robinsword, Serpent Staff, 2H Great Sword+1 and similar weapons. The deeper in the game you will be the higher level of Forge you will need.
Also note that blessing does not change required Forge level. If you convert your Witch's Stick into a terrible weapon by adding many blessings for damage and toughness, the stick will still be repairable at a ridiculous Forge level.

[Bungleau]

Actually, Radek, I thought that your ability to learn spell skills was driven by both your own level and your level in that spell school, but a little differently than you've said.

Specifically, I thought you could learn spells up to the school spell level provided your actual level was the same as the school level (if you're a native caster), or twice the level (if you're not).

For example, a 12th level ranger with level 7 in spirit could learn up to 6th level spirit spells. That same ranger with a 5 in vine could learn up to 5th level vine spells. And a level 4 Paladin with 6 in vine could learn up to level 2 vine spells.

IOW, the school doesn't impact whether you're a native caster or not, but the actual level does.

But then, as I'm thinking about it, I don't know if I've had a non-native caster try to get level 7 spells before. I usually snap 'em up as soon as I can get 'em.

Ah, well. We learn something new every day if we open our eyes to it.

[Radek]

Sure, Bungleau. I haven't repeated the whole "theory" because it was discussed several times on this forum. One detail.
The fact whether you are a native caster does inpact spells which you can learn. Non-native casters can learn only spells up to level minimum(caster_level,skill_level/2 rounded down). Therefore
a) A ranger with Spiritcraft 7 can learn:
- at level 3 or higher: level 3 Spirit spells
- at level 2: level 2 Spirit spells
b) A paladin with Vinecraft 12 can learn:
- at level 6 or higher: level 6 Vine spells
- at level 4: level 4 Vine spells
and so on.
In the other words, a non-native caster will never be able to learn level 7 spells because he would need 14 for the corresponding skill and the maximum is 12 (zenmasters are native casters in all magic schools). It's exactly opposite to your description [img]smile.gif[/img]
Native casters can learn spells up to level minimum(caster_level, skill_level). Therefore
a) A ranger with Vinecraft 7 or higher can learn:
- at level 7 or higher: level 7 Vine spells
- at level 5: level 5 Vine spells.
b) A paladin with Spiritcraft 5 can learn:
- at level 5 or higher: level 5 Spirit spells
- at level 3: level 3 Spirit spells
and so on.
Let us note that you can cast any spell you already know no matter whether you are a native caster or not and no matter which level you are. A level 1 barbarian can cast Firestorm if he already knows the spell.

[Fenris]

OK, a couple more questions.
My new bard has both the fiend and moon circles colored in on his spell book screen, but only has moonmagic as a skill. That seems odd.

My bard also has some pipes and a level one music skill. I can't equip them. do they have to be identified? (with unique items I tend to save, pay for id, write it down, then reload to save money)

I have finally stumbled across the dreaded mantraps everyone seems to be talking about. The trouble is, I am there at night and can't see them coming. is there a way to speed up the passage of night into day?

[WillowIX]

1) If I remember this correct bards can only learn moon magic (check the manual to be sure though, it´s also on CD1)
2) You can´t equip instruments. Try the use/give option, select use and scroll to your pipes in this case. Then click on the target.
3) Some people in here has said that the time moves faster when you´re inside a dungeon. You can try that. Otherwise you´ll have to wait some 45mins.
Hope this helps and Happy Gaming!