I just completed my third run through of Book 1 including the 2 additional mods by Jedi and Raver. I am curious about a few things before I dive into Book 2.

What skills can I learn from trainers?
Are the same stat formulas used in Book 2 as Book 1?
Are the same dmg formulas used in Book 2 as Book 1?
Do we still have be very careful where we put points or is there more leeway given in Book 2?
What are max stats or when do stats cap as far as real viable increase to skills and damage?

I am just trying to start out with at least some comprehension of the mechanics so I can properly place my starting points.

thanks for help!

Lots of the answers are available here:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3299

thanks for the linkage!

The differences between Book I and Book II are not all that easy to explain. I had played Book I about a gazillion times when Book II came out. So, of course, I understood how BW would structure the new game. I died within about 10 minutes.

That said, there are lots of similarities between the games. It's still better to be an expert at a few things than a master of none. It is still possible to be a melee fighter or a mage or a rogue and be totally successful.

If you allow for food and water requirements, the pace of the early game changes dramatically. And, some things are very different. For mages, there can be problems in finding necessary spell books when you need them. The NPCs are harder to figure out. And, the plot is more intricate.

All in all I would say just configure your favorite type of character, die a few times, then work your way through the game. Good luck and have fun!

thanks...
I am totally looking forward to diving into it after playing through book 1 and maxxing my level twice in it.

going to go full rogue stealth in book 2 for my first playthrough.
I am hoping move silent and hide in shadows is more balanced and usable in book 2.

Hide in Shadows and Move Silently are less powerful in Book II than in Book I. In Book I, Hide in Shadows was actually overpowered, where you were essentially invisible in many situations, and if you lost your hidden state, a simple step to one side or another could most often regain it.

Rogue is still a tough character class to play in Book II, though with the weapon feat, Piercing Weapons are much improved over Book I. For pure damage, I think they're actually the second most powerful melee weapon. Be sure to get the skill to 10 by level two (save two points at character creation so you'll have 5 at first level up) and you'll have a reasonable hit-and-run ability like a good rogue until you can get your other skills up to optimal levels.

To answer the other part of your question, there are more skill trainers in Book II than Book I. Book I was missing a trainer for rogue skills like Hide In Shadows, Pick Locks, etc. That isn't the case in Book II (although finding the rogue skill trainer is appropriately difficult, since he's teaching some illegal skills). And new skills like Foraging and Repair have trainers too.

thanks for all the replies...

been playing it for a few days now. I sat on my rolling for half a day as per usual in my ocd way and got 107 pts.

yes playing a rogue is quite insane and I am playing hard core rules.

however the overall game is much improved with story graphics random items and overall intricacy so I am really digging it.

I do miss the ability to swap hands instead of having to overwrite configurations over and over.
I also like book 1 can not figure out why my performance is in the red so often with such a high end system and is the longer loads normal or is it because of hard core predetermined seed rules?

Overall performance has to do with the specifics of your graphics card and engine, really. Certain ones are optimized for 3-D vector graphics, to the detriment of sprite-based graphical games like Eschalon. You can try adjusting the graphics rendering on the start screen to see if you can get better performance. Also, if you give specifics of your machine and graphics card (or if it's using on-board Intel graphics, which really suck for Eschalon), I'm sure some of the more technically minded can give you some advice.

thanks
out of curiosity in eschalon is it actually possible to have a high enough hide in shadows and move silent to stay silent and sneak attack?



main specs:
win7 64 bit
intel i7 Q740
8gb ram
geforce gtx 460m

I think the longer loads are normal for Book II, although I do miss the faster load times from Book I. Not sure why it's slower, especially on certain maps like Port K.

I've played a rogue/ranger several times with Book II, and had a pretty high Hide in Shadows skill level, and I've been able to strike from a distance with a bow or thrown weapons and stay hidden. It does seem to take a higher level than Book I to achieve this.

As for Move Silently - right now I'm playing a Fighter and using nothing but light armor. He doesn't have the Move Silently skill, but it seems like the "Silent" status is on a lot. So maybe the Move Silently skill doesn't have to be too high, as long as you're wearing light armor and have a high enough Dexterity.

so really the main sneak attack is a bow use to stay hidden
up close sneak attacks are not plausible?

You have to get Move Silently and Hide In Shadows up significantly more in Book II (Particularly Hide In Shadows) to remain hidden when you get up close to enemies, but it is still possible. However, in Book II, whatever you hit WILL know where you are after the strike, unlike in Book I where you could keep hitting with impunity, so it helps if you have your melee skill up and have a good weapon so any enemy you strike doesn't get a chance to find you.

thanks.

I have not found any direct statement on a cap for Hide in Shadows or Move Silent.
I am currently sitting at 15 in HIS and 5 in MS. What is a good aim for a really stealthy character?
Will battle always remove move silent so other enemies will see you right away too?

thanks for all the help

It's possible to kill silently so that other nearby enemies don't notice, though the closer they are, the less likely that is. In Book II, I think you need to get Hide In Shadows up pretty high to get full advantage, but if you're careful about situations, you can do well with it in the 20s or maybe 30. In Book I, by that point you were pretty much always invisible, even in bright daylight. I think somebody did an experiment and in Book II you have to get into the 50s for that level of effect.