game is starting to get "grindy"

MobPwnzer · Post by **MobPwnzer** » March 1st, 2008, 1:21 am

At first I liked the game when I tried it and bought it. Now, it's just grind, grind, and more grind. I'm a 6th level rogue that can't get out of Aridell because the town is surrounded by bandits and more bandits. No matter which direction I go, it's nothing but bandits. X number of them chase me, I pull one at a time, kill, rest, and rinse/repeat. I can't even think about completing quests anymore. I'll grind for two levels hoping the bandits will stop spawning. They're as "thick as thieves" pun intended. At least the crocodiles or alligators thinned out after a while, but not the bandits. They keep spawning like mad. What's up with that?

Ameefmu · Post by **Ameefmu** » March 1st, 2008, 1:53 am

Are you playing a different game to me?

Krafen · Post by **Krafen** » March 1st, 2008, 2:30 am

That is quite odd. I did not notice respawning bandits.

Could it be that bandits are ambushing you when you rest and then you only kill one or two before you rest again? This could result in increasing numbers of bandits.

If you think this may be what is happening, try paying to rest in the Aridel inn. That will never generate a random encounter. Also, if you can fight your way north to the edge of the map from Aridel (it's not very far) you can just move on.

If you need to rest out in the wilderness, try resting for shorter periods of time (naps). I believe it says somewhere in the game that the longer you rest, the greater the chance of a random encounter.

acoustibop · Post by **acoustibop** » March 1st, 2008, 5:50 am

I don't think you normally get thugs (if that's what you mean by bandits) on the Aridell map, MobPwnzer. If they're there, they must have been, as Krafen suggests, generated by your being ambushed when resting and then not killing them.

MobPwnzer · Post by **MobPwnzer** » March 1st, 2008, 2:01 pm

Thanks for the replies, guys and gals. I didn't mean to sound like a complainer, but did want to make a post title that stood out

. I have been killing the bandits, but can't get them all at one time, I would die. I get them one at a time by pulling them to a hidden spot where I can do the ol' mano-a-mano. I "hide in shadows" when I hit them to get in some free shots, but they detect me after a few rounds. And there's usually four of them. Yes, they hit me while I'm sleeping. But I also run into them while exploring. I can't get out too far because I run into them. If I try to get past them I'll run into even deadlier enemies like those poisoned crocodiles or get cornered somewhere where I can't get out. It's almost like a Catch-22. I can't explore because of them standing in the way, but yet I can't complete my quests until I can get past them. All I can do is grind on them for a level or two and hope I can out-level them eventually.

There's other things, too, like maybe my dexterity wasn't raised high enough and so on. I'll post to this thread when I make progress. I'm so new to this game that I can't really pass any judgements until I've tried out other characters and places.

MobPwnzer · Post by **MobPwnzer** » March 1st, 2008, 3:48 pm

Yup, Krafen, your suggestion for doing rests out in the wilderness for shorter periods did the trick! No more ambushes! Thanks!

Maelstrom · Post by **Maelstrom** » March 2nd, 2008, 8:11 am

Something else that helps a lot is the Entangle spell. Level 6 will entangle the baddies and let you beat on them mercilessly.

solistus · Post by **solistus** » March 2nd, 2008, 10:33 pm

If you're having that much trouble with random spawns, you may want to rethink your skill build. Having at least one type of magic early on makes things a LOT easier.

elstyr · Post by **elstyr** » March 22nd, 2008, 8:10 pm

Hi there,

I ran into the same problem too. But for me even the default bandits/thugs (the ones waiting somewhere, not the newly generated by sleep-mode) were nearly unconquerable. I was in level 5. In my case it must have been the char design I've chosen. Being a beginner in this game I've yet played twice as Nor'lander,Agnostic,Rogue with all the skills I thought may be fitting that kind of player, and they did, until level 5. Got no magic skills, got some weaponary, light armor and the rest was finding/searching/exploring/hacking (don't remember the correct terminae). That leaded me to be not able to withstand the enemies. The only possibility was to sniff them out of their bunker and take them one by one, incl. resting sessions in between (or insane loop-walking to get HP back;).
It's somehow sad, but it seems you have to get some magic at least.
I personally don't like that Gandalf-like magic stuff, and also not the heroic just-beat-it fighter-type. I like to act more like an agent, or rogue :) - but that in the Book-Universe. Thought, the game would let me through with this, we'll see - I'm not giving up :).

Best,
Elstyr

mark · Post by **mark** » March 23rd, 2008, 1:41 pm

Simple answer. Don't fight them until you have a good sword. As long as you are one square away from the thugs, they can't hit you. Run around them, and lead them to NPCs or until you get to the edge of the screen.

CobraEye · Post by **CobraEye** » March 24th, 2008, 12:29 pm

I have had the same experience and could benefit from some specific solutions or recommendations.

My character is an adequate fighter and has most of the divination spells, as well as some magic spells. He has 110 HPs and 58 mana points, and was not well developed in the early levels (my first character).

I am having trouble with the mercenaries in the cave, the raptors in the thicket, and the annoying acid grubs.

Despite using stoneskin, ogre strength, haste, and bless, I am still taking 40-50 HPs in a single melee with any one of these three critters, and have few mana points left. I might kill one mercenary and then have to leave the cave and then go recover somewhere.

Is there a specific offensive spell that one should use against these monsters? I don't have much gold and have not found a lot of magic weapons or armor. I have alchemy skill 1 plus a ring of +3 so need to wait until my next level up in 5,000 points to get to 5 alchemy to enchant weapons and enhanced potions.

As the original post said, it has started to get tedious (although Shadowmirk went well) fighting one creature at a time, especially when there are so very many.

Thanks for all your suggestions!

Maelstrom · Post by **Maelstrom** » March 24th, 2008, 1:14 pm

CobraEye wrote:I have had the same experience and could benefit from some specific solutions or recommendations.

My character is an adequate fighter and has most of the divination spells, as well as some magic spells. He has 110 HPs and 58 mana points, and was not well developed in the early levels (my first character).

I am having trouble with the mercenaries in the cave, the raptors in the thicket, and the annoying acid grubs.

Despite using stoneskin, ogre strength, haste, and bless, I am still taking 40-50 HPs in a single melee with any one of these three critters, and have few mana points left. I might kill one mercenary and then have to leave the cave and then go recover somewhere.

Is there a specific offensive spell that one should use against these monsters? I don't have much gold and have not found a lot of magic weapons or armor. I have alchemy skill 1 plus a ring of +3 so need to wait until my next level up in 5,000 points to get to 5 alchemy to enchant weapons and enhanced potions.

As the original post said, it has started to get tedious (although Shadowmirk went well) fighting one creature at a time, especially when there are so very many.

Thanks for all your suggestions!

The Entangle spell (lvl 6) works well on most things (including garden variety bandits and acid grubs.) Hit the baddies with an Entangle at least 1 square away from you (or walk one square away and back again) and the baddies won't be able to hit you (unless they use a bow attack like the Goblin Archers.)

There is an Alchemy teacher in Bordertown. Don't waste your skill points on increasing Alchemy until you've trained as much as you want/can with the trainer.

Hide in Shadows and Predator Sight are a very good thing for you. Only 1 rank in HiS will do the job.

Embrace the night. It's good for you!

CobraEye · Post by **CobraEye** » March 24th, 2008, 3:53 pm

These suggestions are very helpful. I was able to improve my Alchemy enough to add +1 to my Mithril long sword, but am still struggling. I have got to be missing something very obvious.

I got all protected with Stoneskin, Ogre Strength, Haste, and Bless, and then fought a single raptor. I started with 112 HP and ended with 38, even after arrow shots. Entangle didn't help in this case.

I guess it's a sense of frustration that I would lose 74 HPs, earn only 110 XPs, and still have what seems to be an endless supply of raptors ahead. Gold is still a barrier, so I can't buy just any spell and finding weapons or armor or other magic has proven largely worthless.

I guess it's a sense of imbalance, at least from where I sit. Again, thanks for all your help!

CobraEye · Post by **CobraEye** » March 25th, 2008, 9:16 am

I have made a TIFF image of the screenshot for you but don't have any web-based URL to place the image for posting here. I'd be happy to e-mail it, but the TIFF file is pretty large. (As you can guess I am not very tech-savvy in using a computer for more than playing Eschalon!).

CobraEye · Post by **CobraEye** » March 25th, 2008, 1:06 pm

Thanks, Culmination! I appreciate everyone's helpfulness (I didn't know such a web site existed. Boy, do I feel dumber than a bag of hammers...).

Here's the image link:

Since I took this screen shot I tried Level 6 Entangle on raptors and mercenaries and both were "too powerful" for the spell so it had no effect other than draining mana. I fought a mercenary and lost 92 HPs out of 112 HPs before running away, restoring HPs and mana, and then finishing him off during a second round. As I said, I have to be missing something obvious. Thanks for everyone's tips.