Party composition? - ID: 1473
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This topic was started by rakenan on 25/04/2017, 03:53:24
So I just stumbled across this gem of a game while reading about the upcoming Bard's Tale 4, and this looks like exactly the thing to scratch my itch for a classic RPG.
Anyway, I'm looking for some advice on a party roster to take me through the full game and the expansion. I'm not too keen on switching characters, so it'll be the same 7 the whole time.
Right now, I'm running a Warrior, Hunter, Bard, Rogue, Conjurer, and 2 Magicians. I'm intending to change the Warrior, Hunter, and Rogue to Dragoncallers when I get the chance/feel that I have gotten all I'll get out of their initial classes. Obviously all the casters will end up Archmages.
Are there any obvious problems with this composition? Any good reason not to change all but the Bard when I can? Just looking for some general advice. Nothing annoys me more than getting halfway through the game and discovering that I've made some dumb mistake that gimps my party and now I have to bring in a new character and power level it until it's actually useful in order to progress.
Well, I've found one weakness of my 3-caster party composition - money. Spells are expensive. I kept my party in the black up until I changed classes, but wow is it hard to earn enough money to keep up with new spell levels for the second class.
Anybody know any good spots for farming money in the early game? I've made it to Savage Crossing, but the experience rewards are so high there compared to the gold I earn that I'm sticking to the Forgotten Crypt. I don't earn tons of gold, but I earn low enough experience rewards that I can keep up with spell levels. At least almost.
Generally, you get about 1/10 as much gold as you get XP, so areas with tougher monsters/higher XP will earn you money faster as well. The area around Loch Caetar (north of Savage Crossing) is pretty good but there is a very tough encounter with Orcs you have to win to proceed. You should be tough enough if you have magic users that have reached level 13 and changed classes already. You would greatly benefit from a rogue or hunter with a decent bow and a good supply or arrows. Until you get Mage Maelstrom, it's almost the only way to deal with Orc Shamans.
You probably need both level 7 mage and level 7 conjurer spells at a minimum in the Burial Mound. There's at least one encounter that required (for me) Farther Foe. If you need lower risk encounters to toughen up, try Druid's Grove. That's where I got the XP I needed to tackle the Burial Mound.
Also, I don't know if it's better than the forgotten crypt, but there is a nice little fixed encounter in the far east of Road to Castle C. You have to defeat five trees to take the shortcut to the forest, then face five more trees in the forest. Then turn around and go back to face the five tries in Road to C.C. again, then turn around and face the trees in the forest again, etc. etc. As I recall (it was quite a while ago) each encounter gets you about 1,600 gold and 16,000 XP (total, not per person).
Well, I've found one weakness of my 3-caster party composition - money. Spells are expensive. I kept my party in the black up until I changed classes, but wow is it hard to earn enough money to keep up with new spell levels for the second class.
My gold issue may be a matter of perception - right after class change, my casters were leveling up super-fast, and thus needing to buy spells just as fast. By the time I recognized my problem, leveling had slowed down just from needing more experience, so my gold caught up. It still FEELS like I'm earning a better gold/xp ratio in Forgotten Crypt than I was around Savage Crossing, but that might be a matter of, as I said, faulty perception.
I have reached Loch Caetar or whatever it's called. The fight was rough enough that I turned around and headed south again - I won it, but things take a lot of killing up there.
So far, my Hunter isn't really showing her worth, since she's barely at 50% Critical Hit rate. My Warrior and, oddly, Rogue are doing the heavy lifting in melee - the Thieves' Dagger is amazing for the latter. And my Bard has a Bardsword, so no shortage of songs to keep our morale (and HP) up.
You want to explore Loch Caetar sooner rather than later. Run from Orc Shamans when you can. you'll find a bronze rune and can buy elven cloaks.
I never had a hunter, so I can't comment on that. But rogues have excellent archery skills, too. You might want to get another bow for him or her.
My gold issue may be a matter of perception - right after class change, my casters were leveling up super-fast, and thus needing to buy spells just as fast. By the time I recognized my problem, leveling had slowed down just from needing more experience, so my gold caught up. It still FEELS like I'm earning a better gold/xp ratio in Forgotten Crypt than I was around Savage Crossing, but that might be a matter of, as I said, faulty perception.
I have reached Loch Caetar or whatever it's called. The fight was rough enough that I turned around and headed south again - I won it, but things take a lot of killing up there.
I went back, Elf Cloaks are a very nice AC boost. I'm not quite so bankrupt now, so I'm resuming my play habits of hanging out anywhere I feel confident I can win the fights. Which does not actually mean Loch Caetar, but I've made a few trips there for fun and profit. I think I'm supposed to go to the Bandit Cave next. Or Burial Mound, if I can figure out exactly where it is. Maybe Druid's Grove? There's tons of spots I haven't really explored other than just finding them.
You want to explore Loch Caetar sooner rather than later. Run from Orc Shamans when you can. you'll find a bronze rune and can buy elven cloaks.
I think the Bandit's Cave is harder than the Burial Mound, but it's been a while. Personally, I would proceed in this order:
o Finish exploring Savage Crossing, including the forest in the south. A druid down there will help you out.
o Finish exploring Loch Caetar, find the bronze rune, and add it to the weapon of an underperforming melee fighter (not sure if you can use it on bows)
o Druid's Grove. Note that your spell points regenerate 3x faster here! Find the place you can't get into yet. You may want to return here a few times to regenerate spell points and collect what the druid mentioned above wants.
o Following the advice of the soldier in Savage Crossing, try the road east of and meet the Druid who will give you a quest
o Burial Mound. If you can't get in, perhaps you need to find something smelly to cover up the scent of the plants that guard the mound.
o Once you complete the mound, the druid will give you what you need to complete Druid's Grove. Here you will find something to help you pass to the east.
o Bandit's Cave. Take you time with this one. There are lots of high XP encounters, so you should gain a couple of levels here. Here you will find something that will help you get to the city.
Hopefully this is vague enough to get you started without giving anything away!
BTW keep up with the archery. You'll need it against a variety of shaman-style enemies, as well as giants later on.
I went back, Elf Cloaks are a very nice AC boost. I'm not quite so bankrupt now, so I'm resuming my play habits of hanging out anywhere I feel confident I can win the fights. Which does not actually mean Loch Caetar, but I've made a few trips there for fun and profit. I think I'm supposed to go to the Bandit Cave next. Or Burial Mound, if I can figure out exactly where it is. Maybe Druid's Grove? There's tons of spots I haven't really explored other than just finding them.
P.S. a rogue's ability to hide in shadows is valuable combined with archery. I love seeing enemies drop one by one, never knowing what hit them. 8-)
P.S. a rogue's ability to hide in shadows is valuable combined with archery. I love seeing enemies drop one by one, never knowing what hit them. 8-)
Can Rogues crit with bows? Because the damage seems pretty minimal with archery, especially since the shaman types at least seem to easily heal themselves regularly. If they can, a bow would be an excellent choice, at least as a backup weapon. Save many rounds of repeatedly hiding in shadows trying to get in range of the casters I'm trying to beat.
Can Rogues crit with bows?
Yes! According to the compendium, you start with a 25% chance (when hidden) and it goes up from there. Not all enemies can be critically hit, though. Flambeau has a THAC0 of -57 and a critical % of 99, and she still misses certain enemies and does just double digit damage to others. But most enemies flee at the sight of her ... except they can't see her. :D
Well, I finished the Burial Mound. Many of the fights were pretty brutal, but at this point my choice to have 3 casters is really validating itself - all those rough and tough large groups of melee fighters just melt under the barrage of Hailstorms and Mind Blades. I'm still relying on my Hunter to shoot down the really mean casters at range. Sneaking my Rogue up on them to sneak attack crit them occasionally works too - I don't have a decent bow for my Rogue yet. She'll probably inherit my Hunter's Elvenbow as soon as I find something better.
Next I guess I'll go finish up the Druid area. We'll see how well that works out. Maybe I'll try some Bandit Cave fights too.
Well, I finished the Burial Mound. Many of the fights were pretty brutal, but at this point my choice to have 3 casters is really validating itself
I finished the game with just two (plus a paladin) but three would have made things easier in places (three hailstorms, or whatever, is better than two) and there are times later when you'll want to cast different spells -- Invisibility, Giant Strength, and Close Combat, say -- and being able to do three spells at once would be useful.
I am now nearing the end of the expansion and love being able to have two Archmages and a Dragoncaster all throw spells at once. I may start over when I'm done and convert someone to Dragoncaster much sooner just to see how DC spells work in the earlier parts of the game.
