new Eschalon player

[Avalanche]

Hi everyone, I've bought this game during the last Steam sales and it's quite thrilling.
Due to the lack of free time I started as a basic swordfighter, even if it seems i'm missing a lot of cool stuff.
Actually i've just took the [***SPOILER*** probably for no one but who knows, lol] Crux of Ages from the Underground Repository and i'm trying to complete some side quests - 5 hours of play, level 7.
By the way, i've found that playing only with brute force is quite difficult; too much "fight->rest->fight". So i am asking you some n00b questions:

1_how do i best invest in skills and abilities? (following an actual screenshot of my character sheet)

2_what improvement i receive by having an high Sword skill?
3_where do i find formulas for alchemy in game, and where do i find components (except from random looting and magic stores)?

[Randomizer]

Use trainers to get to 5 skill in Blackwater and Bordertown for Alchemy, range attacks, Elemental,and Divination. Cartography is back at the inn in the first village.

Alchemy and two brewmaster rings will allow you to upgrade armor and weapons to +3 as well as give you healing potions. However ingredients are pretty much random loot and shops. Collect them and store them near a quick travel place for when you need to make things. Formulas are found mostly at random for the better ones except healing.

Divination will give you healing so you can cut back on resting and lore to identify items.

Elemental will give you predator sight to see enemies in the dark.

A high sword skill is just a better to hit chance and more damage.

Have fun and make a few different saves so you can experiment with building your character.

[Avalanche]

thank you! anyway it seems that there isn't really much space for a simple fighter. so this takes me to the next question: where i learn spells?

[Randomizer]

You learn spells by reading scrolls. You need a minimum of 15 intelligence to learn the lowest elemental spells and 15 wisdom for divination. Items can be used to temporarily increase the stat since you just need it to learn the spell.

Also you are limited to half your stat in the number of spells you can learn. But as a fighter there aren't as many that you will want.

[Kreador Freeaxe]

You need to learn the Arcane, Divination and Arcane, Elemental skills before you can learn the spells, and those are taught in Blackwater by the priest and the magic shop owner. EDIT: However, you can't really learn any spells with this character without increasing Intelligence (for Elemental) and Wisdom (for Divination). A minimum of 15 in each is required to learn the most basic spells in each discipline. You can get there through temporary addition via clothing and rings and things. You don't need the higher stats to cast the spells, only to learn them.

Also, if you focus on increasing your Endurance, it will help you a lot more in fights, as you will have much more health and recover health much more quickly. You also won't be as susceptible to poison gasses and things.

There is room for a basic sword fighter in the game, but it takes more focus and optimization, and first run-throughs rarely come out that way. All those great skills to try and somewhat confusing instruction on what the stats do. Don't worry about it. Just keep having fun. You'll probably find yourself trying some other builds, like so many of us have.

[Painted Lady]

Book I was the first RPG I ever played - and I was hooked in a heartbeat. Since I didn't understand Mages, I played as a basic sword and bow fighter. It was tough, but I did manage to finish the game without using magic.

Until you develop some magic skills, you really, really need to do have a special save slot that you use before you level up. Then, if you make a mistake you can back out and rethink your choices.

Also, once when I was completely stuck, I camped out in a woods near Aridell. I backed in to a corner so nobody could get behind me, then rested until I was awakened by thugs. Fought them and collected the XPs until I could get to a level up and reassess my character.

Your guy seems light on clothing protection to me. Haven't you run into belts and pants yet? Good luck!

[leshpar]

Book I was the first RPG I ever played - and I was hooked in a heartbeat. Since I didn't understand Mages, I played as a basic sword and bow fighter. It was tough, but I did manage to finish the game without using magic.

I'm really surprised that Eschalon is your first RPG. That is a great honor to bestow upon this series, and it definitely deserves it. Are you considering trying other RPGs out after Eschalon? If so I might have a few good recommendations. Granted most of what I know are from the 90s or early 00s, but hey, they all rock too. ^_^

[Vroqren]

3_where do i find formulas for alchemy in game, and where do i find components (except from random looting and magic stores)?

As those before me have said, recipes can be bought from stores, and as random loot. That's about it. That's also it for ingredients, as far as Book I goes. In Book II, there is a skill called foraging which allows you to get reagents every time you stop camping.

It sounds like you're enjoying the game. Do you plan on getting Book II after you finish this one?

As far as investing your points goes, that's really up to you. I personally would grab another point in Cartography, and after that spend the rest in swords, maybe a couple more into dodge. (Even if it's not that useful, that's really what I'd do. I never really bothered learning the mechanics of the game. I don't know if putting all those points into swords was a good idea. That's why I put tons of points into Heavy armor, even though it barely does anything after one level.)
I would put more points into strength and endurance though. Those two go very well together.
Don't take this is gospel - it's just my opinion.

[Painted Lady]

I'm really surprised that Eschalon is your first RPG. That is a great honor to bestow upon this series, and it definitely deserves it. Are you considering trying other RPGs out after Eschalon? If so I might have a few good recommendations. Granted most of what I know are from the 90s or early 00s, but hey, they all rock too. ^_^

Actually, I've been forced into the greater RPG world out of desperation. I've discovered that I personally prefer exactly what BW has developed - a classic, turn-based, single-player RPG. After discovering Spiderweb I've spent a couple of years going through those wonderful adventures.

I'm always interested in more interesting games to play. So, please do let us know your favorites - sounds like great fun.

[Lord_P]

It is funny how Eschalon is like a secret dream come true to many of us.

[leshpar]

It really is a dream come true. I can't get enough of it. The first RPG I ever played was Ultima 6, but I was too young to really grasp what needed to be done to actually beat the game (writting stuff down? whodathunkit!). A couple years later once I got my snes I played and beat Final Fantasy 4 (I refuse to go by american numbering, it was called 2 in this country, but it was the 4th game in the series) and from then on fell in love with RPGs.

Now there is a huge difference between the JRPG and the western RPG (something designed mostly in america), but I love both.

This is my personal top 5 rpgs of all time (written before eschalon came out, and only contains JRPGs. I also limited myself to only one game from each series, otherwise it'd probably be all DQ and FF haha.)

1) Dragon Quest 5
2) Final Fantasy 4
3) Arc the Lad 2
4) Chrono Trigger
5) Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete


Links for info about the games:
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Quest_5
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_fantasy_4
3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_the_Lad_2
4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrono_trigger
5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_2

Dragon Quest 5 actually made me cry during the story. I have never cried during an RPG before, and this story is really THAT moving. Seriously, its a perfect 11 out of 10 in every single way. The best JRPG of all time imho.

FF4 is held dear to me because of the high quality story and the adventure they go through. It was also, as I said earlier, the first RPG I actually beat as a kid.

Arc the Lad is an amazingly underrated series of games (the first 3 anyway, 4 kinda was bad). The first game is pretty slow, but its only 10 hours long, and the story continues through all 3. In fact its one of the first console RPGs to allow you to import save data from the previous game (through the first 3 anyway). Arc the Lad 1 was also the first game to use 3d cutscenes. At least they claim it is, and I haven't ever found proof to the contrary.

Chrono Trigger is amazing because I am always a sucker for a good time travel story. This one has an epic story that transcends time itself and you have to travel thousands of years in both directions to complete your tasks. Also the sheer number of different endings in this game is amazing for the time. Plus the game over screen is still something that sends chills up my spine to this day. Possibly the creepiest game over in any RPG.

Lunar 2 is a bright and cheerful game with some voice acting and the story is one of love and defending someone who gets wrongly accused. Its challenging (as all the games on this list are) and I literally couldn't put it down till I was done. This game also has about 10 hours of additional gameplay AFTER you beat the game, which is also quite long.