Review (with some tips) - ID: 612
FORUM: Guides, Spoilers and Walkthroughs
This topic was started by Vlav on 25/04/2012, 02:54:30
I reached the end of the game (or what I think is the end of the game) and here are few tougths/ideas/etc. I am French speaking so please forgive my typos...
Overview : The game is very fun with several intellectually challenging parts. I enjoyed it vey much and will buy any sequels without hesitation. Don't be alarmed by the numbers of critics that follow and rather see them as a way to go (at least in my view) from a great game to the "perfect" game.
Most challenges in the game involve finding a path, a key while some others require your crew, particulary your mages to reach specific levels. The "find a key or path" are one of the strongest point of the game. An example of level requirement would be that I think it would be impossible to beat Inferno without lvl 1 archmage ( for the hesitation spell). With some adjustment to the spells, it would also be possible to introduce a little more challenge in the combat themself. More on that below.
Time to discuss the specifics!
The character creation: There is huge difference in the final stats between a character with great starting stats and average stats. Take the time to roll character with at least 84 points total . You can speed up that process a lot by looking at the length of the stats line. For example,if you roll a gnome ,the last digit of the stats line need to be pass the "+1" on the line below. When this happens your know for sur, all the stats are 2 digits long. By doing this,one can roll 30 times a minutes at only look at the actual numbers when proper length is achieved...
When you are ready to level, save your game and redo your level until you get a perfect roll. If you fail,reload your saving game. For non caster you want to raise your con until it is 25 without delay. For caster, you want to reach 25 int then 25 Con.
At the time I entered Inferno (around lvl26 for non caster) my caster had more HP than any of my melee. Not only that,they had better AC than my bard and hunter and my best caster (with his close to 40 dex) had better AC than my war.
I would suggest that :
1) number of HP gain need to be capped at 8 or 10 for mage
2) The starting stats should be a little less random ( Not much point to force people to roll for 1 hour)
3) Stats gain should occurs every 3 levels or so
4) Hp/Sp gains should be fix
Combat :
Many class have no use. I kept a bard for the run song, 1 war and 3 mages. If I was to start again , I would do 5 mages,1 war and 1 bard.
Give multiple attack to all your melee and cap the number of monsters that can be hit with one spell.
Give the ennemy some chances to hit the mages. A mage with 40 dexterity always cast first. Make this a bit more random.
Reduce the effect of restoration. Give the crit some minimum chance to resist hesitation.
That is it for now. I will add to it later
Once again, thanks for a very enjoyable game!
One reality carried over from the Bard's Tale series is that your game isn't just your party - it's expected that you will create new characters throughout your quest to replace obsolete ones, or to face a delicate situation then be switched back out of the party. Bard's Tale 3 strictly requires a rogue to defeat the final boss - but you could play 95% of the game without one and power-level him once you reach the last dungeon. Just the same, starting with less mages and upgrading to more is meant to be encouraged.
I agree that mages trumping everything else (except a single bard) is an issue, however.
