My Rogue is out at level 12. I focused on getting my crit percentage as high as possible and two weapon fighting. I outright ignored stealth, as I don't know how this game's stealth mechanics work, but know that in many turn based games stealth is kind of useless. It is either too random to be relied on until it is almost maxed out or just allows you to avoid fighting and thus exp gains.
I really underestimated bleed effects and died almost exclusively to bleeds. I never really had to deal with it much before as I usually had high con on my characters before this or they just broke in two hits so bleeding didn't matter.
The Rogue died three times to The Shade and once to a vault boss. The last death was to a randboss spawned from a chest. A thief with a nasty bleed and brain locked me so I couldn't heal until after I bled out. Here is my rouge's character sheet: https://te4.org/characters/246275/tome/992a66d1-ffda-40f0-a022-17bd1ed957a8
On the positive sieve I unlocked Reavers this time.
I then rolled a Yeek Possessor. I found the class fun but made the mistake of not giving myself a default attack skill, instead focusing on making my self able to steal any body and make them a good as I could. I even felt like I was getting the hang of it by the time I needed to head to the mainland but Subject Z stopped me flat. I quickly cleaned out my vault and have nothing to fight him with, and lack the health to go toe to toe. With both starter dungeons cleared out, my Possessor is done despite having lives left.
Here is her character sheet: https://te4.org/characters/246275/tome/e1f2c10c-51b9-40b4-95cc-9ffb5dd9a201
As for what is next I don't know. Maybe a Higher or Shalore Spellblade or a Thalore Archer. I'll figure it out.
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another noob chimes in...
I know what you mean about having to relearn classes. I have dipped into the addons and now flip around between so many that I end up having to take it reeeeeal easy when I return to one I haven't seen in a while.
I have come to dislike using guides for classes. I haven't been able to manage a Winner yet w/ anything but I am certain that these classes are designed such that the class is only about 50-60% of a successful character. Equipment makes an enormous part and learning the 'tricks'. I believe that you must learn how and when to use tools. One trick that I just learnt is that the Rods work differently than the other tools and do not need to be equip'd. Essentially, when you get a rod, you need to get that thing onto a toolbar button and into you working arsenal.
About Stealth. I had similar or even worse preconceptions about Stealth. I was pissed cause when I used it I realized it didn't work like Sil which has the best stealth model of any r/l. Let me tell you a little story though....
I wanted to play a Marauder and you have to unlock them. I don't like spoilers, but I did peek and learn how to unlock them, and it involves a Rogue doing a lot of damage. So, I built a Rogue and just leaned on more and more dmg. This approach was really satisfying and it lead to me beating the Master as confidently as I had w/ any other build. But then there's that Orc Ambush. After cranking the Master, just as a whim, I put a point or two in the Stealth tree. Then the orc fight starts and I don't even consider it possible, but I decide to give it a go. I don't know exactly what I did any more, but it involved lots of Whirlwinds. And orcs started dropping. To my shock I ended up running around the small map trying to build up enough stamina to finish the boss - which I did. I was so shocked. I realized after the fight that if I'd had Shadowstrike plus the Soothing Darkness, it would've might even have been a lopsided fight.
Stealth in ToME is a weapon. Learn to use it and it will reward you.
I was really prickly about playing an evil class for a while, but then I tried the Cursed and it was an epiphany for me. I tried the Reaver next and they are soooo much fun. The Reaver can cast spells while adj to enemies and get both the spell and melee attacks - just so you know. Now the Reaver is one of my fav. classes. Once you get to the point where whole vaults are exploding from your disease bombs, you will too, I think.
About addons. The amount of high quality addons for ToME really surprises me. I rarely find one I would call bad. There are some older ones that no longer work, but most of the people that make actual working classes or races do good work.
I rec. Midnight and its Moon Paladin. Its a lot of fun. The Spell Blade is too. And the High Guard and the Mage Knights. I really like and recc. the 'now you see it now you don't' addon, its really well done and when they turn up as rares you will have a heart attack, but you will love it.
Hope you don't mind my rambling like this.
Guides
Minor comment, but i'm glad I'm not the only one who dislikes guides.
Maybe that's why I still suck at the game, but I really don't like having my path paved for me and instructed to walk it.
I will admit though, that without reading them, I would still be trying to be a jack of all trades on all my characters. Gotta focus on a couple of attack types.
guides
ToME is such a broad experience that I can appreciate the perceived need for something like a guide.
The guys that write guides are not doing a bad thing, and I have learned stuff from them. Don't want any of the guide writers to feel unappreciated.
But. Yes, its an odd phenom. I will look at one when I am completely puzzled by a class and find things that are useful, but still don't answer my questions.
A great example is the Temporal Warden. This class is amazing cause there is nothing like it. It defeats so much of your 'gamer intuition'. This is such a rare and special treat and the best thing about ToME - groundbreaking game design.
However, I have never seen one word in any guide discussing the Spacetime Tuning nor how to use it. I see Drem using it constantly in the Mouth zone and I got curious and started inspecting them as they were using it. Then, from my observations, I started to make experiements of my own. The results have, again, not produced a WINNAH, but they were extremely useful and entertaining to me.
At that point, I sort of cooled on the whole notion of the guides. The formula for them seems to have started on the wrong foot. All of them start by telling you the 'end' of the story and nothing about how they got there.
I would never write such a thing even if I could. It is vain. Qualitative discussion about how to use classes is one thing. These quantitative pieces have the tendancy to make the author express themselves in a pedantic fashion that in my opinion is a drag.
Yet, its just an artifact of the format. Most people that write copy the form of other and aren't skilled enough to realize these things. Oh well. Its all good fun, no?
BTW. I found that I got a lot better at the game by grinding the 1/2 Arena til I got a WINNA there. Get yourself a Bulwark and learn to fight (successfully) with one of them. You will learn many things and some of them will carry over.
Thats my idea of a 'guide'. Its quicker to read too.