Current parties...

[Ae3than]

Sultan, Dplax, & Starfire,

Thanks for your welcome. This is a great board with a wonderful exchange of ideas on how to enjoy this game.

I took my 2-Dracon, 3 Faerie group to the Circle last night so am now working an Ironman Expert party. I am going to start a new thread on the problems there, but for the purposes of this thread, I have:

1 Lizzie Fighter (never played a fighter before).
1 Human Monk ( top killer in my first group)
1 Mook Ranger (Finally a chance to use Giant Sword)
1 Rawulf Valkyrie (Love Valks and Cheat Death seems real good for Iron Man)
1 Elf Mage (For buffs and offense)
1 Hobbit Bard (Bards are so strong.)

Ae3than

[dplax]

Good luck with your party Ae3.
BTW it sounds like quite an interesting party to me, although usually I prefer less muscle in my parties and more ranged/ magic using chars.

[Daven]

I'm on my first party. This may sound boring, but this is what I started with.

Dwarf Fighter
Dracon Fighter
LizardMan Ranger
Dwarf Priest
fairie Mage
Cat (can't remember what this race is called) Mage

At level 20, I switched the Ranger to a fighter to take advantage of much better armor. This group can pretty much squash anything pretty easily. I didn't like trying to train the ranger with the minor spells when he started receiving them. he was primarily a bowman while the two fighters killed everything. I casted spells every round, with every spellcaster, and now their spell points and spell availability are just about maxed.

It believe everyone is around level 25 now, and were just kinda cruising around now. I have the 3 artifacts, but am still trying to figure out how to get into the savant tower at Arnika.

My fighters are using Fang, The Avenger Sword, and the Dread Spear. I found the Light Shield somewhere (don't remember) where, so I think I got a fair shake on the better items. I was a bit disapointed when I found Davey Jones locker and found a bunch of crap, the best item was some Tinkers Carryall Bracelet which I couldn't even use.

This is my first game, and I've been having fun. Probably doing everything in the wrong order, but what the hell. I spent a few hours at Accension Peak early in the game and my people leveled up very fast. Now I'm just running around cleaning things up.

Well thats a long enough post.

Later,

Daven

welcome daven! i dont think the party sounds boring at all. the things you lack in favour of simplicity will also create vulnerabilities. in any event, you made it this far, so you probably dont have much to worry about anymore.

btw, i'm keenly jealous about avenger. in 50+ games neither my wife nor i have ever seen it!

if you want a hint on the tower, let us know

[dplax]

Welcome Daven!
Just to add to your post, that if you enjoy it, then the party is not boring.

[Killer_Rogues]

Ascended the last party, started a new one. I've been playing on normal and decided to step it up a notch and try expert (no ironman yet - maybe after some more times through). anyway, i decided since the last two parties i ascended had hybrids i would try a non-hybrid party. i went with the four pure magic users and two fighters for protection (imagine 4 scrawny guys casting spells behind a couple of big, dumb strong lugnuts - that's the basic idea). And because i like my parties to have themes, this party is the disabling party. i plan to put the most little circles above every opponent possible - this includes paralyzing, freezing, webbing, nausiating, concussions, irritating, blinding, and eventually tossing various clouds thier way. My two fighters (one dracon (Meathead), one lizardman (Stone)) have become a little peeved because they rarely get to duke out a good battle. My casters (fairy mage (Buzz), dwarf Priest (Father), Mook Psionic (knowitall), & elf alky (Bomba)) have been fairly effective through the monestary and into arnika. With two having paralyze, the mage throwing freeze flesh and webs from the alky and priest, there are few who make it to me. and those that do get up to melee range are usually nausiated from noxious fumes or irritated and my fighters have no problems. the only issue is keeping mana from running out if i have two big battles in a row. i certainly look forward to later in the game when i can get my hand on some SP regen. items! This is the first time i have run an alchemist in a while and its nice to have plenty of cash! The only death so far was the fairy mage died because i have the bright idea of having him unlock chests with the magic hat and a dart killed him in the monestary. i look forward to seeing how this party goes - fun so far and that's whats important.

[Ziggurat]

Sounds like a fine party, I would have reloaded after the death but maybe you are doing Ironman. It also sounds like you are leveling pretty fast to get those spells. I think I may try Expert next time, never tried it.

[Deathmage]

All characters are level 14-15.

Tinst (Felpurr Samurai):
Wielding Bloodlust and Wakizashi. He has very high Spd/Dex/Sen, and decent strength. Didn't focus on magic at all, very few magics (only Light and Energy Blast, and I'm not the type to keep casting). However, is a major powerhouse, as he can hit up to 6 times with Bloodlust (!) each round, and about 90% of them hit for ~30 damage. Very powerful indeed, although with no ranged skills at all, thanks to the cursed status of Bloodlust.

Celia (Felpurr Ranger):
Sister of Tinst. Recently maxxed out Sen, and Spd will soon follow. She can fire lots of arrows per round. Recently purchased the Eagle Eye Bow, and althou she just started investing in Eagle Eye she already has high skills due to the Helazoid Pendant. Seems to score Critical Hits a lot. Wields the Stun Rod at close range.

Dram (Gnome Gadgeteer):
The fundamental, staple Gadgeteer I almost always have in my party. Has a good Omnigun that can fire a lot (6 with haste), but usually uses the Frontier Phraser, which is much more powerful. Has an assortment of useful gadgets, and maxxed Sen.

Rim (Hobbit Rogue):
The powerhouse of the party (surprisingly enough!). Dual-wields Thieve's Daggers. At close range, his daggers can do ~35 damage, almost never misses, and can attack a LOT (8 with haste!). Great for softening up enemies. Has maxxed Dex and Spd with high Str and Sen.

Lani (Elf Alchemist):
Kind of useless in the party, actually. She has insanely high Earth realm skills and relies on Whipping Rocks to get her point across. Her Element Shield is also very useful when dealing with the Rapax. Wields the Ebon Staff, which is a very good weapon for mages as it can do a lot of damage (well, good enough damage to kill weak enemies, at least). However, while useless, she is the only one who holds the Resurrection spell and therefore is still important.

Kamath (Human Bishop):
Ah, yes. Kamath rarely uses weapons, but he wields a Disruptor Mace with Diamond Eyes. His highest realm is Divine (his story is "Fallen Priest", so it fits), and he uses Magic Missiles a helluva lot. Enchanted Blade is also very useful, and he casts Fireball, Energy Blast, Make Wounds and such to kill off weak enemies and potentially disable tough ones. Focuses on Divine (that has been past the point of no return), and now focuses on Psionics and Wizardry (completely ignoring Alchemy, of course). He has maxxed Int and Pie, currently working on Sen and...Dex or Spd I guess.

RPCS:

Saxx (Umpani Bard):
Saxx is fully decked with the Bard equpiment (+ Shield of the Wind and Tripleshot Crossbow), but he uses his instruments to attack. When that fails, both his weapons can do a decent amount of damage. His primary role is to buff up the allies with Rousting Drums mainly. Focusing on Vit/Int/Dex mainly.

RFS-81 (Android Monk):
The monk we all know and love. You just can't go wrong with him. Frontliner, of course, can do a helluva lot of damage, especially since he can knock people out. Uses a spear for extended purposes (Spear of Death, to be precise). He pokes people to death in a long distance, and rips people's throats out close. Also has high Spd/Sen/Dex (sensing a pattern?) and Critical Kills quite easily.

[ 12-01-2003, 05:54 AM: Message edited by: Deathmage ]

[Deathmage]

Update!

Now everyone is about level 19~20.

Tinst:
Holds the second highest kill count in the party and is close to maxing out a few stats (he has SPD maxed). He switches though a lot of weapons: Ivory Blade, Fang, Bushido Blade, and Bloodlust might come in useful sometimes. Armed with the Zatachi Bo, as he is absolutly hopeless in ranged weapons because of his long partnership with Bloodlust.

Celia:
Haven't changed much. Still armed with the Eagle Eye bow and the Stun Rod, although she now uses a Tripleshot Crossbow + Lighting Bolts when needed. Absoltuly deadly with that, as she can fire up to 8 shots per round!

Dram:
Also haven't changed much, although now he has the NegatAir gadget (I've actually been able to make this for a while, haven't realized -_-), which sometimes comes in handy. He also uses Lighting Bolts when necessary. Has SPD and SEN maxed out. Also has the Water Cannon.

Rim:
Holder of the highest kill counts of the party, Rim is still with his lovely Thieves' Daggers. Has DEX, SPD, and STR maxed out...powerhouse, can do about 70 or so damage with one hit. Does vary quite a lot, though.

Lani:
Still quite weak. Now armed with the Earthquake spell, however, which is a great spell. Kamath recently got Ressurection (I think?) so she won't be that useful anymore.

Kamath:
The God of Spells. Nobody, I say, nobody can beat him at spells. Looking forward to snatching Lighting soon.

RPCS:
Saxx. On my way to pick up RFS-81. Saxx is essentially the same, although now he has a bunch of high-leveled instruments. They don't come in handy much though, as I've been wondering in Rapax territory with him lately.

Things Accomplished:
Okay...they got the three artifacts.
Then, they finished the Rapax quests, and then went back and killed Al-Sedexus without pissing the Rapax off. She was killed by Tinst, who was also her lover.
And they just finished the Umpani-T'Rang alliance quest, although they didn't get to kill the Rapax King. I do plan to, however, but not with Drazic and Rodan, as they are absolutely crap at fighting (well, compared to my high-leveled party at least). Drazic couldn't hit the wide side of a barn if he was standing right next to it and Rodan has hit about two things in his short partnership with Fang. I returned them to the good general.
Hmm, what else? Ah yes, the party cleared out the southeast temple (with relative ease) and is on their way to kill Nessie (something I've wanted to do, but haven't...)
The Rapax King would also die, soon, in the hands of the heroes.
Mwahahahahaha!

[Rawhide]

I've seen a few posts commenting on how easy it is to be torn apart in combat, but perhaps that's because of the parties people choose.
On my first game I saw that the game put three people in the front row, so I chose three fighter characters: two fighters and a samurai. I had Vi tag along for much of the game, and later RFS instead. With three fighters I never had any problems, except the first few times I encountered geomancers and then pyromancers.
Obviously people like to make as much use of the different character types as possible, but fighters are very tough and never need healing during a battle; they have enough hit points to last until it's over. With the KO ability and this toughness I think they're better than lords, because a lord is primarily a fighter, so his magic is never going to be used much (another spellcaster can provide protection spells)
I did find that the opponents target my samurai more than either of my fighters; it was a day after I got the mirror armour when I first saw its special ability (the fighter did have a shield though).
My party was:
fighter x2
samurai
bishop
alchemist
bard
The alchemist learnt all the spells and eventually dualclassed becuase there was nothing left for him to do as an alchemist. That's why I prefer bishops now.

The guy who had bloodlust (all game; I didn't find many good weapons) had most kills (almost twice as many as anyone else), the other fighters had a lot, and bard and bishop had only 200 or so each. How do people build up killcount for the people in the back row? I've seen people say that it was even between all their characters.

[ 12-12-2003, 08:50 AM: Message edited by: Rawhide ]