Am I Underpowered?

[GenXCub]

Okay, after all my schizophrenia about party composition, I've put together one that I'm fairly happy with and they're all level 9 and done with Trynton.... sent them back to Arnika to unload a lot of dead weight... burning spears, etc...

Anyways, there are all sorts of posts on here about how later in the game you need to cast element shield, soul shield, this, that, and the other...

I've gone the 1 spellcaster route, I have a Sam, Fig, Ran, Gad, Bar, Bis party, and I'm still using Myles and Vi for now. I pretty much tear through anyone wanting to melee, the Rattkin Breeders didn't stand a chance (thank you Siren's Wail). So, if I only have my 1 bishop, and the other guys haven't really developed as spellcasters, how am I going to compete with all the spells that will get thrown at me in the next few levels? And do you think it's too early to go to Marten's Bluff at level 9?

[fable]

First off, you can win with just about any configuration, but a good, basic party IMO should always have at least the following four slots filled:

a fighter type
a thief type
an offensive spellcaster type
a defensive spellcaster type

You appear to have only three of those. I think you will find that you need all four, even if you do have a good gadgeteer and bard--they're best gadgets and instruments show up later in the game, and you are going to be hurting very, very badly in the meantime.

I'd suggest dumping either your fighter, bard or gadgeteer for a mage, and doing a lot of running around in Arnika until that mage has nearly caught up in levels (which should be easy, at this point). My own current party configuration is:

Samurai
Ranger
Bard
Gadgeteer
Bishop
Mage

And I know these folks can work in the longhaul, since they're in the endgame. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[GenXCub]

That's an idea... I can try that on my next run through. I suppose I should change my question to "What can I do with my existing party to prepare them for the late game?"

Also, How the heck do you use the Lure from the Lava Lamp? It never seems to do anything beneficial.

[phoenixsl]

I found that melee is much more important in the late game, and critical stike is very good. It is fine to have only 1 "true" spell caster (a bishop) and a bard or gadeteer. I have a mage, priest, and bard in my first party and found I didn't need all that casting. My new party only has a bishop and a bard I I am at level 28 and did not have many problems.

[Merulus]

I haven’t had any problem with my one-bishop parties in the past… I think the key thing is to use the caster defensively, in a buffing and healing capacity, rather than offensively. In a melee-heavy party, your bishop’s primary duty is to support your fighter-types.

I don’t know what your bishop has trained in, but if you go the mage/priest route you can pick up virtually all of the essential defensive spells and buffs (enchanted blade, magic screen, armorplate, element/soul shield, rest all, etc). Really, all of the essential screens and shields are fourth level or below, so your bishop shouldn’t have too much difficulty learning all of them.

As for Marten’s Bluff… I’ve gone in at eight. The mine tunnels can be a little rough (damn wasps!) but otherwise you should be fine.

And your last question: The lure attracts the attention of wandering creatures (you can use/cast it out of combat), which can help you slip by groups of creatures. In combat, the lure will occasionally distract an opponent. He’ll just stand and stare at it, losing his attacks for the round.

[ratchild]

oh cool!... i had never thought of an out of combat use for the lure... i wondered why i could cast it out of combat... i find it useful during combat... keeps the enemy off my back sometimes

[Fantasm]

Cool! Your party is EXACTLY like mine!

I'm around level 20 now and jaunting around the Rapax Rift. First let me say that your party will be JUST FINE! I, too, have greatly enjoyed this combination; with a bard, gadgeteer, and fighter, I feel I can use just about anything I find! =) And that's alot of fun.

OK, suggestions...the biggest key to making this party successful will be your samurai. Do NOT think of him as just another fighter! With only 2 other spellcasters besides your bishop, one of which you'll probably hardly have cast spells because the ranger is so awesome with a bow, developing your samurai's magic is crucial. If you play your cards right, by the time you reach the latter part of the game you will have a VERY powerful magic user, who can also kick some serious butt in melee!

Here's my suggestion: Equip your samurai with Bloodlust, and anytime, and I mean ANYTIME you aren't in melee range, have him cast a spell. Forget bows or thrown weapons with this guy, his ranged attack should ALWAYS be spells. Even if it's a fireball at a Fire Ant. 8^)

Then when you're in melee range, let him loose with bloodlust, and you should increase both attack skills as well as magic skills. You should put a few points into intelligence as you level, since you won't be able to increase all the skills you'd like, and will get most of your development through practice.

Keep in mind you're asking alot of your sammie, and he probably won't develop as fast as you'd like. Mine's level 20, and I'm still wanting some higher stats and skills. But I know I'll get there, and he's still kicking major butt and taking names.

Don't worry, be happy, and have FUN! Frankly, I'm not sure I'll be motivated to play through again, because I'm so impressed with what this party can do. I can't imagine playing without a Dulcimer of Mending or a NegatAir or a Siren's Wail or a Microwave Ray or a Bishop with an UNGODLY amount of spellpoints or a Fighter with an UNGODLY amount of hitpoints that does an UNGODLY amount of damage with Excalibur. =)

OK, enough rambling, can you tell I like this party makeup? =)

[GenXCub]

My Samurai does currently use Bloodlust and a Shield, he does quite well getting 3 Berserk Attacks twice per round.. I've only given him one spell... Frost. and he F**ks it up every time... backfire... this is only power level 2. And to top that off, he never learns from it. What's bad about doing that early on is that the bad guys usually close the distance to melee before he even goes, and that wastes an attack...

Also for some odd reason, my fighter is still only attacking once per round, and only one berserk swing. Granted, he has an initiative of 9 because he's a dimwitted Lizardman with nothing in Senses, but I was hoping to at least get a 2x berserk by now with 60 in sword (using Demonsbane and a shield)

[Fantasm]

I guess I don't see the harm in wasting the samurai's attack in the first round, as long as your bishop is casting a spell, your bard is playing an instrument, and your gadgie is using a gadget. That frost spell is still an attack! Even at low levels, a stinking cloud spell, a poet's lute, and a lightning rod can have quite an effect on your enemies.

And besides, don't you often have the case of your samurai taking his turn before the monsters move, in which case he simply defends, and you lose your turn anyway? This happens to me ALL the time, if I leave him attacking and the monsters aren't in range. That +6 initiative that Bloodlust gives him actually does more harm if I'm hoping the monsters will go before me and move into range. Of course I really worked on his speed and senses early on, so this could have an effect. But I'm sure glad he's able to get that Freeze Flesh spell off before anyone else!

I guess the other suggestion I would give with this party is to accept the fact that you're going to be more range-based than melee-based. If you are simply running up to monsters right away in the first round, you are wasting so much of the potential that this party has. No matter who I'm fighting, I'll sit back and spend at least one round, maybe two, throwing everything I've got at monsters, so by the time I advance forward they're either asleep or nauseous or insane or frozen or webbed or all of the above! =) If you equip your fighter with a double-crossbow (ranger should get multiple attacks soon enough), then you can be downright scary from a distance. Just wait until your gadgie can start knocking foes unconscious! I would also suggest getting the Trynnie Ranger up at Mt. Gigas instead of Miles. I kept both her and Vi around for quite a while until they left me later in the game (I sure do miss Vi...the one change I might make to this party if I had to do it over again is use a Valkyrie instead of a fighter...but that's not a slam-dunk decision). With another ranger, you can truly rock from a distance...

And don't worry about your spells fizzling, that's how you learn! Are you increasing your sammie's wizardry by 3 every level as soon as you got it at level 5? Are you increasing your intelligence by 1 or 2 points every level until it's at least above average? (say in the 60s). As you scour the world hunting for spellbooks for your bishop (you ARE saving your Bishops spellpicks right?), are you keeping an eye out for other Wizardry books that your samurai can learn now or in the future? (or Alchemy books that your ranger can use?). Obviously, your Bishop will get first dibs on anything, but as you find duplicate books you should pick them up for your other hybrids to learn as well.

One final thought: you should see if you can pick up a wakizashi somewhere and build up your samurai's dual-wielding. It won't do much damage, but later you'll find an enchanted wakizashi, and with another weapon you'll have more chances to do critical hits every round.

Again, these are just suggestions to maximize your party's effectiveness at later levels. I'm not saying that casting level 7 frost spells will help you out much right now, but you'll be glad you did it later on! =)

Just my opinion...I'm having a blast playing this game, so whatever you do, have fun doing it!

[vesselle]

re: your fighter

is that a natural 60 or a beefed up 60?
what level is his STR at?
he'll get an additional attack at 75. the initiative will just mean that he's slow, as you know, and be the very last guy to attack.

just me, but i think a fighters most important stats are:
STR/VIT/SPD/DEX in that order. they are important enough that every lvl up, i give the fighter 3 STR & VIT. this way, STR and VIT both unlock Powerstrike and Ironskin at 100 and that comes pretty fast. then next is SPD & DEX, which you can max to get Snakespeed and Reflexion.

hopefully, you put all your beginning points into STR and VIT so that those were sky high when you started, making getting to the Expert Skills relatively fast.


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