Q: So what's this all about?
A: After playing through the game, twice, and gaining some knowledge from the forums, I wanted to know what the closest thing to a "best" character would be and how one would go about creating that character.
Q: Why are you claiming that a "best" character is even possible? Doesn't the game's design and level of customization make that impossible?
A: Yes and No. How you play the game - up to a point - mostly determines the quality of your character. But when choosing spells and distributing stat/skill points, some decisions are better than others. There are also some item/equipment exploits that help as well. So this isn't a guide to making a carbon copy of my character, so much as it is me showing you how to take advantage of certain things.
Q: Alright, lets get down to hard numbers here. What does a so-called "best" character look like?
A: This.
^This is in NORMAL fighting mode. In POWER mode, ToHit = 36 and Max Damage goes from 59(+7) to 75(+7). In FINESSE, ToHit goes up to 62. In PARRY, Armor Rating goes up to 140. Hit Points = 162, Mana Points = 316, Encumbrance = 86.0 lbs (182.0 with Ogre Strength).
Equipment is as follows:
- Weapon: Bael's Delight +3... Piercing Weapon, Base Damage 9, +3 Damage added via Alchemy.
- Head: Resistant Ancient Dragon Skin Skullcap +3... Base Armor Rating 8, +10 All Resistance, +3 Armor Rating added via Alchemy.
- Cloak: Ancient Dragon Skin Cloak +3. Base Armor Rating 6, +3 Armor Rating added via Alchemy.
- Torso: Resistant Dragon Skin Armor +3... Base Armor Rating 9, +10 All Resistance, +3 Armor Rating added via Alchemy.
- Hands: Ancient Dragon Skin Gloves +3... Base Armor Rating 6, +3 Armor Rating added via Alchemy.
- Belt: Resistant Adamantium Warlord's Belt +3... Base Armor Rating 7, +10 All Resistance, +3 Armor Rating added via Alchemy.
- Legs: Resistant Tungsten Studded Leather +3... Base Armor Rating 6, +10 All Resistance, +3 Armor Rating added via Alchemy.
- Feet: Resistant Dragon Skin Boots +3... Base Armor Rating 7, +10 All Resistance, +3 Armor Rating added via Alchemy. <-- Before I bought these, I was walking around in a pair of Ancient Dragon Skin Sandals! Can you find them too?
- Amulet: Viscerator... +2 Cleaving Weapons, +5 Speed(!), +2 Damage.
- Rings: Both are Arcane Rings, each adding +3 Perception.
- No Quiver
- No Shield. Since the Bael's Delight only weighs 1.0 lbs, I could carry a Pine Buckler if I wanted to, which would add +1 to my Armor Rating. However, this wasn't possible until after I picked up Bael's Delight and would also prevents my character from casting spells unless I unequip the shield, cast Ogre Strength and then re-equip it.
...
Advantages:
- Devastating strength in POWER mode.
- Guaranteed hit on (almost?) everything in FINESSE.
- Every support spell your character would need, to the point of being excessive.
- A (hopefully) ideal set of attack spells.
- A resistance set that makes you all but untouchable.
- No waiting for your character to progress x number of levels before
pressing the level up button (aka Health/Mana stacking) -- you will never increase any stats that affect Hit Points or Mana.
- The game in general will be much more difficult when starting out.
- You will have to know ahead of time where certain items/people are and how they affect your character.
- Due to how your stat points are distributed, the only weapons you will be effective with are Piercing, Throwing and Bows.
- Heavy armor will also be useless to you.
- You will need to equip rings/amulets that increase intelligence and wisdom before gaining new magic spells.
- Points cannot be spent on a skill until you have found and used all trainers/books for it have been found.
- A very low encumbrance means multiple trips in and out of dungeons to drop off loot.
Character creation:
You're going to hate me for saying this, but the first step is to roll perfect 14's. Thats every attribute, starting out at 14, with 20 points left to spend. Personally this took me several days and I accidentally skipped over it once by clicking the dice again. So much rage when that happened...
OK if you're still reading, and you have all your stats at 14:
- Gender: Female. They get a +1 to Dexterity, and weapon damage for this character will be based on Dexterity rather than Strength.
- Origin: Nor'Lander. This will bump Concentration to 15 (most of the Concentration bonuses come in multiples of 5) and give add 2 to Endurance, which will give a slight boost to Hit Points and Resistances.
- Axiom: Nefarious. You get a 5% chance for a critical hit, with the only downside being that priests can't heal you.
- Class: Healer. This, combined with the Nefarious axiom, will make your female character a Witch/Necromancer, giving you Piercing Weapons as your granted skill. This saves you 5 Skill Points since there is no book or trainer for Piercing Weapons, and is ultimately useful since the ideal final weapon for this character will be a piercing weapon.
- Skills: Put ONE point into meditation. Save the rest of the points.
- Attributes: Put all 20 of your Attribute Points into Perception, raising it to 34.
Playing the game, General goals:
- Getting started: There are two primary goals if you've just started a character -- finding as many skill books/trainers as possible, and leveling up a bit so you're not so vulnerable. Also, read the book before learning from the trainer. CORRECTION: learn from the trainer before reading the book (oops).
- Intelligence/Wisdom: Since your character will start (and finish) with Intelligence and Wisdom both at 15, you will need to find/buy and equip hats, amulets and rings that increase these attributes. Unfortunately this also means having to "acquire" the Wolf Hunter's Ring
- Attribute Points: Put ONE more point into Perception. Every other point you ever get should be put into Dexterity.
- Found Items: The higher level your character is, the better the loot you'll get from chests/barrels/etc. This is especially true of Julian's well in Eastwillow and the Abandoned church + graveyard (HINT: Ancient Dragonskin gold mine).
- Camping for enemies: This is a great way to level up, when you are able. Northern Harpoon Bay is probably the best spot to do this.
- Picaroon Isle: The blacksmith here regularly sells Dragonskin and Ancient Dragonskin armors. Also keep in mind that shopkeeper inventories change once a week.
- Gold: You will need a LOT of it for the best available equipment. Avoid unnecessary spending, and make sure to sell everything that you dont absolutely need.
- Magic: Make heavy use of it early, and not just attack spells. Support and status-effect spells are just as important. The four spells I used the most were Ogre Strength, Create Food, Draw Water, and Portal.
- Enemy AI: You can and should take advantage of it -- enemies may be tough, but they're also very dumb.
- Physical Combat: You CANNOT brute-force your way through the game with a character like this... at least, not on lower levels
Being able to switch combat modes is there for a reason. PARRY and FINESSE will be lifesavers early in the game.
Skills:
- Alchemy: 22 - For adding +3 Damage/Armor to your equipment.
- Divination: 20 - I found the higher level Divination spells not to be worth the skill points.
- Elemental: 31 - Least number where you can learn all the higher-level Elemental spells.
- Light Armor, Heavy Armor, Shields: All should be 1, learned from their respective books. This character won't make use of shields, and it's already been pointed out in the forums that spending points on Light/Heavy armor isn't worth it.
- Cartography: 10. Only points from the book and trainer. Reveal Map can show you anything else if need be.
- Dodge: 1. Only from the book. Pointed out in the forums as not worth the points.
- Foraging: 10, all from the book/trainer.
- Hide in Shadows: 10, all from the book/trainer.
- Lore: 1. Just learn the spell.
- Medicine: 4, all from the book/trainer/?...
- Meditation: 29. Helps regenerate Mana faster. This was the highest I could get this skill without sacrificing things gained from other skills.
- Mercantile: 1. Not worth the skill points.
- Move Silently, Pick Locks: 10, all from the book/trainer.
- Repair: 8, all from the trainer.
- Skullduggery, Spot Hidden, Unarmed Combat: 1, all from their respective books.
- Bludgeoning, Bow, Cleaving Weapons:: 10, all from their respective books/trainers.
- Piercing Weapons: 28. Improves skill with Piercing Weapons and speeds up the Double Skill Feat regeneration.
- Swords: 10, all from the book/trainer.
- Thrown Weapons: 8, all from the trainer.
Spells:
Elemental: Draw Water, Predator Sight, Reveal Map, Sonic Blast, Dense Nimbus, Compress Atmosphere, Enkindled Weapon, Toxic Element, Abyssal Freeze, Ice Lance, Invisibility, Portal, Supernova.
Divination: Bless, Cat's Eyes, Create Food, Divine Heal, Lore, Cure Ailments, Enchanted Weapon, Haste, Nimbleness, Ogre Strength, Stoneskin.
...
I'm sure I've left out a lot, and I'm sure there are mistakes/typos/etc that need to be accounted for. Please feel free to question/comment/critique/disagree with this, and I hope this comes off as more of a guide and less of a "look what i did" post.
Credits: pretty much every guide and informative thread on the forums. Too many to list... but I will if asked.
