I first discovered ToME more than 3 years ago and somehow managed a victory with a Dwarf Fighter; It's been quite a while since then, and Maj'Eyal sure has changed (for the better)!

Since that win however, I've been dying to try my luck with Roguelike Permadeath. After picking up the 'Ashes' DLC (and a copy of the base game, because why not?), I managed to have a rather successful run!

Highlights for My Skeleton Sun Paladin

-Several Unlocks: Brawler, Necromancer, Skirmisher, Red Hair(?), Bikini(?!)
-First time:
...defeating the Orc Ambush
...clearing the 'Room of Death' (level 43)
...defeating Atamathon (level 46)
-Saved all Escorts.
-Saved Melinda

Near Deaths

Only one. The weirdling beast was extremely challenging - perhaps it was the weapon - Bill's Trunk - which I was still using when I fought him, but I found it difficult to get through his heals. This was the only time when I had to "stair hop" in order to survive. Later on though, good two-handed weapons began dropping in abundance (see inventory) - the first notable pick up was the Golden Three-Edged Sword 'The Truth', after which it was smooth sailing.

Durability

On the whole, I found this Race/Class Combination very hardy. The skeleton's 'Reassemble' and 'Bone Armour' saved the day countless times. Actually, the barrier skill seemed quite lackluster by comparison, so I mostly relied on a Shielding Rune (for the instant shield).

Second Life popped twice in this playthrough (both times I was pushing my luck/being too aggressive), while Reassemble remained unused (it was good for pea ce of mind).

Running the Chant of Fortitude, the greatest danger came from Mental Effects - I kept a Biting Gale Rune handy to clear it up - to make sure that I could always use my Teleport Rune. Providence was another option, but it is better used near the beginning of an engagement to stay (generally) free of debilitating effects.

Tactics

For a Sun Paladin specializing in two-handed weapons, Mark of Light was (surprisingly) the star of the show.

Using the fight against Atamathon as an example,

1) Mark of Light
2) Absorption Strike (lowering light resistance, damage)
3) Shielding/Reflection Rune + Execution (it's an automatic crit, which triggers Righteous Strength)
4) Flash of the Blade (deals both physical and light damage and provides invulnerability for one turn)
5) Death Dance (deals physical damage).
6) Teleport (and wait for the above skills to refresh)

Rinse & Repeat: 3 cycles for Atamathon.

What wasn't obvious at first (at least not to me), was how crucial crit chance actually is - with Righteous Strength, every crit increases both physical & light damage dealt - this effect stacks up to 3 times. Dealing high damage will result in terrific healing (more with healing modifiers), and so long as you are dealing enough damage, it will allow you to stay in the fight for 5 turns. By that time, most things should be mostly dead - if the situation still looks dangerous, you can teleport (or use "Path of the Sun" to get away).

Mobility

Although I did pick up "Controlled Phase Door" with my final category point, it was unnecessary. Path of the Sun was enough - with 2 points, you could move 8 spaces without travel time.

For opponents still out of range, three Ranks of Sun Ray results in an Area of Effect Blind (highly effective on pesky archers), while mages can be killed outright with Wave of Power.

Once in melee range, opponents who try to flee can be pursued (tile by tile) with Fearless Cleave (which applies damage in a 3-wide arc while on the move).

Category, Class, Generic Points
-Generics felt a bit strapped (as was expected, playing a Skeleton).
-Class talents felt just right - there seemed to be really great synergy, with the exception of Weapon of Wrath:

It's actually a bit of a trap - it seems interesting on paper - but the fire damage didn't synergize well with my abilities OR equipment (which boosted light & physical damage). The damage is also 'capped', which provides very little incentive to stay at a lower health (it's hard to maintain just enough 'lost' health otherwise). By late-game, with most notable enemies having resist all, the damage from this became really pitiful. The Martyrdom effect is mostly insignificant (you wouldn't want to take hits 'big enough' to make the Martyrdom damage appreciable).

For me, it was something I bumped from 2 to 5 in one go, and was fortunately able to scale back after realizing how terrible it was. I see the appeal of having a different damage type, and if this is the intent, then the cap needs to be increased or otherwise adjusted. Otherwise, the element can be changed to (light) to provide better synergy.

-Category Points were in abundance; I had two 'extra' - one I spent upgrading the Crusader Tree, the other I spent on an extra inscription slot (Controlled Phase Door). However, if I could spend both upgrading the Crusader Tree, I would!

Summary

Sun Paladin was extremely fun to play - it was great storming High Peak, going toe to toe with the bosses, and summarily dispatching both of them in a handful of turns. The defensive skill-set allows for mistakes here or there and definitely made for a smooth introduction to the Permadeath: Roguelike" Setting.

Next Game?

I can't wait to check out some of the new unlocks (or try the other classes, which seem to have been reworked since I last saw them). With 1.3 on the horizon, this seems like a very exciting time for Maj'Eyal!

I've written a run-down of my experiences after completing my first game. Beware of spoilers, obviously. The adventures of Ostafel, Dwarf Fighter begins after many false starts, and quite a few restarts (oops - you've run out of lives!)

Learning Curve

Not too difficult to pick up, though it took me longer than I care to admit to figure out how to bind hotkeys. Of course, even now there are still many other mechanics I've yet to figure out. (Grrr, disarm, how do you work?)

Class: Why a fighter?

It was the only class with which I could survive the first dungeon. Okay, so I'm rubbish at the game, however, the fact that alternate classes require different strategies piques my interest - and bodes well for future games. Make no mistake however, though it wasn't my first choice, playing a fighter was fun. By the end, I grew to love the skills, especially the Shield Offense and Warcries Techniques. In hindsight, I did fumble a lot over skill placement. (e.g. getting both heavy & massive armor mastery). Furthermore, were it not for my Movement Infusion, I would never be able to catch ranged opponents. Perhaps I should have invested in Combat Techniques?

Quests & Dungeons

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As this was my first complete game, I ended up skipping a number of dungeons. As I played, I completed quests that seemed interesting to me at the time. In fact, this led to the bizarre situation of collecting 7/10 staves, jumping on the anti-magic bandwagon, then subsequently scaring off the apprentice when I tried to approach him again. Though I technically "failed", the quest hung around in my quest log until the end of the game. Speaking of which, even when I entered the final tower, I was unaware that it was the end-game until I saw the portal. Challenging the bosses at level 43 was a nasty affair; luckily, the clearly visible runes tipped me off: so, thank-you game design, the fight was tough enough even after disabling the 4 runes straight-away! Overall, the tower, while lengthy, was nevertheless enjoyable, and there's nothing like a room full of demons to keep you on your toes. Disarm is terrifying.

Shiny Loot

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Transmogrification Chest is fantastic. I enjoy looting but dislike cluttered inventories in RPGs, so this was a great way to deal with the junk. But what's junk? When push came to shove, I often had trouble deciding if it was better to have +Stats vs. +damage or vs. +resists. Also, because of my anti-magic affiliations, I had to pass up many significantly better items: most notably in the weapon department. My end-game weapon only had 36 Power. In hindsight, I'm none too pleased with my decision, though I suspect it may have been a worthwhile trade-off had I made better use of the Anti-magic tree.

Misc: Interface, Graphics, & Sound

Being able to use a mouse is a blessing - games that require the numpad makes playing on my laptop...discouraging. The layout of the game is very accessible. In combination with a pleasant-looking tileset, and interesting soundtracks: wow, what an incredible journey!

Memorable Highlights:

Rescuing the merchant from the assassin den, assaulting the orcish stronghold with the paladins, and the "lightning storm" at Derth.

***That's enough out of me, thank you for reading. I'd welcome any feedback on what I should have or could have done better, in addition to any other classes that would be easy to pick up next. And of course a huge thank you to Darkgod, for creating such a fantastic game!