Class observations as I play the game - ID: 1404
FORUM: Guides, Spoilers and Walkthroughs
This topic was started by thecasualoblivion on 07/11/2015, 19:28:04
I notice that there really isn't a guide for all the classes. I'm making an attempt to complete this game after many abandoned efforts, and I thought I'd comment on my observations using the various classes on the way.
When I started this game, I decided I was going to grind a lot and use a big party of more than 7 characters. I settled on a party of 10, which allows me 3 arch mages and one of each class. It also allows me to run two independent 5-man parties for grinding. For the 10th member, I created a character with the intention of going Dragon Caller as early as possible, which I define as a Hunter with 24 Con and 24 Int, which I should reach level-wise in the early 30s. I'm running a classic game, with 81-85 points of stats for all heroes, and when leveling I'm resetting for stats only, not hp or sp. I'm also following wizardz' walkthrough
Part 1: Castle Cranborough area(Tunnels, Tower, Crypt) and Watchtower tunnels.
I grinded 460k xp here, so my party was overkill for almost the entire time. This continued through 9 levels of Sorcerer in the Watchtower Tunnels.
Warrior--kills everything in one hit. Damage overkill allowed me to equip a Halberd instead of something better for the 20ft range. Best hp.
Paladin--at this point in the game as good as the Warrior, including Halberd use. Haven't used the spells much outside of the accuracy buff.
Hunter(s)--kind of a disappointment early. Critical Hit chance is low at this level, and seems even lower in actual fights. Only class that can attack Mages at 50ft with a weapon, but can't guarantee a kill.
Bard--kind of dead weight. Healing song was useful before sp became superfluous. In Crypt I started getting horns, and I have a bank vault full of them now, with a pile of Frost Horns which are strong and have good range. As I have 3 Mages and sp is superfluous, horns seem kind of overkill. Kills enemies about 50% of the time with Bronze Boomerang.
Monk--deals insane damage, lots of item space, bad hp but highest AC.
Thief--was very helpful throughout the first 10 or so levels as sp was somewhat precious, but since then I've just been casting TRZP instead of picking locks as its quicker and easier. Kind of dead weight at this point.
Archmages(in training)--with my gear and hp, magic is usually overkill. These three are my strongest characters but ironically I use them the least.
I'm starting on clearing out some sections of the world map next, then grinding to Wizard 7 in the Bandit Cave followed by the Burial Mound, which is when if memory serves things start being more of a challenge.
A few tips.
Close combat spell is most useful when caster dex stays higher than monk's and less so the thief's.
Hunter loses range due to weapon changes when DCing unless close combat/great tattoo is also used to make up for it.
The monk and warrior make better DCs for damage than hunter. Rogue can maintain range and higher defense with thief mastery. Bard is not worth DCing at all unless you also strongly level and maitain use of alchemy for full effect.
Hesitation is uber great.
After collecting all the shards base game you may want the best hp and mundane/runed damage you can group. The thief in particular is weak in both areas unless with
or better. At least 500 hp each is needed for final of base game, 800+ recommended. Note that if you level thief mastery and gain the
in the expansion areas before obtaining the silversword and sufficiently high hp, from then on they are super powerful and effective for defeating the big bad of the base game et al.
DCing will cause the thief to lose thier best weapon option, so the hunter and warrior remain ideal choices imo. Monk and thief have trade offs that may not be worth it. If you get a second thief or more definitly DC the others.
The bard, (1) AM and paladin can almost always be effective helpers, all the others depend on their level and areas being explored. Base game thief is weak link imo, expansion the hunter is. AM is king of the majority of the base game, DC of the expansion. Monks and warriors are ok in both games, but only great after DCing in particular for the warrior. You can in fact have an uber deadly melee crew of 4 monk DC and 3 warrior DC or uber resilient team like wizardz 4 master thief DC with 3 bards.
I chose Hunter as my ASAP DC for a few reasons. Hunter has 1-16 base HP and 100% critical hit to carry over. Warrior or Monk might be better damage wise, but I would be tempted to level the Warrior more to get more attacks, while a Hunter DC with 24 Con, 24 int and 100% Critical Hit has nothing further to gain from leveling aside from HP, and my extra Hunter will have those at level 31. Thief and Bard aren't worth DCing until after Watertop. Out of all the options the Hunter seems best for going DC as soon as possible. I'm probably going to make a second DC out of the Monk later on at very high levels, since the Monk doesn't really get interesting gear to play with and seems like he has less to lose.
I restarted my game after I decided I'd rather play classic than modern since I could start with higher stats. I had a Rogue with max skills in that game and a max hide Rogue who stays hidden most of the time after attacking was actually performing quite well IMO. I was more disappointed with my 82% critical Hunter, who seemed to crit less than 82% and wasn't dealing double Thief Dagger damage when he didn't.
I'm not sure I want to get items from ridge fault early. I'd kind of rather play the game straight. I enjoy grinding.
You also seem to recommend a larger amount of DCs than I would have expected. I was only planning to have two, is that number too low?
Can't DC until after base game is defeated, water top opens up before that. Hence why master thief and warrior have the most to gain by DCing - the warrior (and monk though they don't have the high thaco) is even more deadly with the special caster weapons, losing mostly just gain of attacks per level - the monk losing his ac gain is the primary down side for him/her once damage is max. The master thief loses nothing by DCing if (master) thief skills are at 99 and int 24 luck and dex at 40, but the one powerful thief only weapon. Hunters lose the range of the bows since they can't be in deep via the shadows as the master thief retains even when DCing, so the hunter or other DC has to use great tattoo before attacking in some cases, or rely on close combat cast once or twice by AMs - that combat round loss is huge imo.
The way traps work in the expansion, HP is less an issue than at the end of base game, IF you kill the monsters fast enough. DCing is best after defating the prowlers anyhow imo...
Only one DC is necessary, but 4 or so is more ideal depending on group build goals.
The recommendations are subject to change as Mario updates the game (new runes will be big), it's even been a couple of minor updates since I played so maybe the hunter is better now in the expansion, but as of two builds ago those were my experiences.
The review board says I can class change my level 21 rogue into a DC now. Is this misleading?
erm might be misleading... check it out. It should state that you have to defeat the mean big bad boss first...
kind regards
Mario
