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Getting Feet Wet

Submitted by chunes on Tue, 2011-01-25 16:52

So I've just discovered this game. And I love it.

I come from a NetHack background, and discovered this game after looking into some roguelike-friendly libraries. I fell in love almost immediately. I really like the intuitive cooldown system, and the thing about this game I like perhaps most of all is its lack of consumable items in general; especially potions and scrolls.

Runes and infusions are slick, versatile, and make for some surprisingly deep strategy. So far I've only played the Fighter and Archmage classes at any length; I'm delighted by how different they play and how unique their challenges are.

Anyway, I'm still a huge noob, but I'm sure I'll have something more interesting to say in the future. Right now I'm trying to decide how to balance my Archmage's stats — he's been one-shotted a few times, and I'm concerned that this might become a theme. Melee critters aren't an issue; it's the spellcasters. I wonder if I should pump con or use one of the shields available..?

con is a must for any class,

Submitted by Duskheart on Tue, 2011-01-25 18:36.

con is a must for any class, also any items that boost your resists will improve your survivability a lot.

Rogue

Submitted by chunes on Tue, 2011-01-25 19:12.

Thanks! I figured as much, though resistance gear seems to be quite lacking in the early game.

For the new update, I started a rogue, and just killed Bill. I am loving this class! I have fallen in love with traps. I hope they scale well into the later game.. I've noticed monsters are starting to resist the pinning effect of the bear trap more often, and I'm worried that the damage of the fire trap won't scale with stats.

I'm planning on investing heavily in traps and the stealth-ish skills. So far it's served me well. I basically never get into melee range at the moment, and if I do, I just stun and run, maybe hitting the enemy a few times if the coast is clear.

I'm finding it difficult to pass up Dex and Cunning in favor of Con. :P Too many juicy abilities..

By the way, does anyone know if it's possible to use my characters from beta 18 in the new version?

As a general rule it's not

Submitted by edge2054 on Tue, 2011-01-25 19:47.

As a general rule it's not possible, especially with a release as big as this one.

Thanks

Submitted by chunes on Tue, 2011-01-25 20:15.

Thanks; good to know.

On a sour note, my rogue just died to a skeleton archer. Ah well. I think I'll play on adventure mode instead of roguelike until I get a better handle on the game. Or maybe.. I'll keep playing on roguelike so I learn to be more cautious. Heh. I want to remake him, because this class is just so much fun. I had a lot of fun with Nightshade while I had it.

Advice

Submitted by Molach on Tue, 2011-01-25 20:57.

For stats, I recommend pumping CON, last Archmage I made raised mainly MAG and CON, with just a tiny bit of WIL for a long while.

Having enough offense is also good. I liked the approach of having lightning bolt,flame and manathrust spells at decent levels quick, and just keep cycling between those. Get manathrust and flame up to beam-level and they should make short work of enemies. Phase door I used very little, mainly as a escape, not as a tactical spell. Because mana will be an issue with low WIL, so mana should be used to fry thine enemies.

Get weapons training at the weapons shop in Last Hope. After Trollmire you might consider doing the journey, if you have 50 GP. The key is opening up the 'health' talents which give +40 HP each. You need quite a bit of CON to select them, so hang on to any +con equipment (wear it, get 'health' talent, then wear your regular stuff. Not that wearing +con is a bad idea, though). I also like to get the 'heavy armor' talent too at some point, because of good helmets, gauntlets and metal boots that just might drop.

Lastly, keep your resistances up. When you find yourself in line of sight of enemy spellcasters, pop your wild infusion. Its a free turn, and will give 15-25% resist to everything. Also the talent 'premonition' is great, even though it takes a bit of mana to run it. It's pretty much 20% resist all. (So just wild + premonition gives close to 50%). Make a +6 resist all ring (your can probably buy the ingredients) and wear that instead of +3 all stats...and you should be pretty safe.

I understand the love, it's pretty much ...great.