Rogue thoughts (heh)...

[Rush]

"SPOILERS"

A couple of questions before I head down-state for the holidays. I am sorry in advance if these are mostly repeats, and if you are wondering, yes, I have played the game through already. During my next run, I plan on paying very close attention to the assignment of skill points so:

Question 1: As far as Rogues go, what are good, solid levels caps (skill points assigned) for lock picking? For hide in shadows? For move silently? For skull duggery? For spot hidden?

Question 2: Just checking as far as assuming that a player need assign no more then 15 to 17 (depending upon which post here that you decide to base your decision on) skill points to level cap cartography?

Question 3: I know there are skill books out there which increase skill points, for example, a lock pick book will give you 1 skill point in lock picking, providing you had no prior skill points assigned to that particular skill, and 2 points if you already had skill points assigned. The question here is...are there a set of books out there which additionally add skill points, for example, you find a book on lock picking and use it to increase your skill points in that skill. Then later on, you find a book II on lock picking which again, increases your skill points in that skill? See, I could almost swear I saw a post somewhere on the boards showing a capture of the game featuring a skill book II for a certain skill.

Question 4: Who created the opening score (music intro) for the game, and does he/she have a web site up?

As always, thanks for listening. I know of late that I've rambled on aimlessly upon these boards, but it's only because this is an exciting game and it remains so for me...

---Rush.

[IJBall]

A couple of questions before I head down-state for the holidays. I am sorry in advance if these are mostly repeats, and if you are wondering, yes, I have played the game through already. During my next run, I plan on paying very close attention to the assignment of skill points so:

Question 1: As far as Rogues go, what are good, solid levels caps (skill points assigned) for lock picking? For hide in shadows? For move silently? For skull duggery? For spot hidden?

In terms of Hide in Shadows, remember that you can get your hands on both a +3 Hide in Shadows cloak and a +6 Hide in Shadows ring. With that in mind, you likely need no more than about Level 5-7 in Hide in Shadows.

With Spot Hidden, you can also get a +6 Spot Hidden ring, so I really don't think you need more than probably about Level 3 in Spot Hidden.

I think the same is roughly true of Skulduggery - considering there are +3 Skulduggery gloves, maybe Level 4-5 in that is probably all you need. Getting about Level 5 in Skulduggery will obviously increase your odds of disarming traps even more, so Level 10 might be sort of the "max" to shoot for.

Move Silently probably only needs about Level 4-5 to be quite effective.

On Lock Picking, I'm still not sure - even with the +3 gloves, and Dexterity of 25 or 30, it seems like even Level 5(+3) in Pick Locks doesn't get some locks much above about a 50% chance of success at picking. I'm guessing Lock Picks needs to get to around Level 10 before it gets really good.

Question 2: Just checking as far as assuming that a player need assign no more then 15 to 17 (depending upon which post here that you decide to base your decision on) skill points to level cap cartography?

I've been working on that very question myself over the past week or so - I now have a Level 22 Cartography character!

There is absolutely positively no added benefit (at least, that I can see) to get Cartography above that Level 16 or 17 limit that is talked about in the Cartography Skill Table thread.

Question 3: I know there are skill books out there which increase skill points, for example, a lock pick book will give you 1 skill point in lock picking, providing you had no prior skill points assigned to that particular skill, and 2 points if you already had skill points assigned. The question here is...are there a set of books out there which additionally add skill points, for example, you find a book on lock picking and use it to increase your skill points in that skill. Then later on, you find a book II on lock picking which again, increases your skill points in that skill? See, I could almost swear I saw a post somewhere on the boards showing a capture of the game featuring a skill book II for a certain skill.

I'm afraid there are no books like that. The closest are the Alchemy !, II & III recipe books, but they don't get you skill points.

I'm curious to see if there will be sort of Skill I & II skillbooks in Book II, and/or whether there will be trainers that can train skills beyond Level 5 (to, say, Level 10 (at a cost of $1000 gold!)) in Book II.

[Rush]

IJBall, thank you for the info-! Every bit of it was extremely helpful, and I will have it near me when I begin my run-through as a Rogue. As far as skill II books go, you are right...I bet it must have been an alchemy book II capture that I saw posted, and mistook it for a sign of book II's for all skills.

Thanks again...

---Rush.

[Turtle]

Seriously, I wouldn't waste any skill points on Cartography. You can do without it until you finish the sextant quest, then the 5 points you can buy and the 2 points from the book are more than adequate. There are a couple of items that pump it up, too, but they really don't make much difference afer level 7, and you'll certainly find more useful footwear and amulets.

Lockpicking: Note that if you have a better than 50% chance of picking a lock, you get no XP for it. And you can keep trying as long as your lockpicks hold out (or your F2 key ). You don't need to get your Lockpicking skill above 6 or 7 unless you plan to try for some locks that really aren't meant to be picked--ie. keys exist.

[IJBall]

Seriously, I wouldn't waste any skill points on Cartography. You can do without it until you finish the sextant quest, then the 5 points you can buy and the 2 points from the book are more than adequate. There are a couple of items that pump it up, too, but they really don't make much difference after level 7, and you'll certainly find more useful footwear and amulets.

In fact, I agree with this - in every game I've played for months, I do exactly what you suggest: Garrett's quest and buy up to Level 5 Cartography, and then search for the Mapping Your World book to get it up to Level 7 (and I've often skipped this last part).

In fact, in a couple of games, I never took Cartography beyond Level 1 or 2 (I was saving my coins for other Skills!), and absolutely did not suffer for it.

I only played this last "Cartographer character" game because I'd never really seen Cartography past about Level 9 (you can pretty easily get Cartography of 9 with Level 7 Cartography and the +2 Cartography sandals).

And Level 16+ is kind of cool, as you can see enemies coming on the Automap before they show up on the main screen.

Lockpicking: Note that if you have a better than 50% chance of picking a lock, you get no XP for it. And you can keep trying as long as your lockpicks hold out (or your F2 key ). You don't need to get your Lockpicking skill above 6 or 7 unless you plan to try for some locks that really aren't meant to be picked--ie. keys exist.

There's at least one lock I can think of which need pretty high Pick Locks and which people might want to pick - the lock to Lilith's chest. Also, I think the lock to the door & chest with the first Easter Egg benefit from pretty high Pick Locks (or a multitude of "rerolling" ).

But, yeah, Pick Locks is something else I've almost never taken past Level 5 or 6 or so myself.

[Rush]

Thank you Turtle-! Doubly so for that info on assigned points to lock picking, which in the end, will save me some valuable skill points.

I'm stuck, now, on Arcane Divination while planning for my Rogue. I can purchase 5 points of it in Blackwater, and gain another 2 via a found book, but do I really need Divination, despite the fact that all seven points are basically freebies?

I do not know enough (having never used them) about Divination spells to make the call one way or another. Say I get the 7 points and who knows, maybe even add a couple to the skill when I level up. Are there really any Divination spells (with 7-10 point maximum points assigned to the skill) that could make a difference to my Rogue who is going to be relying heavily on Arcane Elemental spells?

Ah, me...I should be on my way south for the holidays but for the falling snow which has been making driving somewhat perilous.

Thanks again...

---Rush.

[Rush]

Good info, IJBall. You snuck that in when I was typing my last post (grins)....

---Rush.

[Turtle]

Are there really any Divination spells (with 7-10 point maximum points assigned to the skill) that could make a difference to my Rogue who is going to be relying heavily on Arcane Elemental spells?

No. Well, Detox and Cure Disease are very useful, but their effectiveness will be limited by your casting level and I think your Wisdom, which obviously you don't want to invest in heavily. Charm is theoretically useful as well, but it is very hard to find, and the same limitations apply. I think Priest characters become fairly powerful towards the end, but it takes a big investment.

You'd be better off to go for Alchemy--there are potions to duplicate the most useful low-level Divination spells, and making them depends only on your Alchemy skill level, not on any of your Attributes, so you don't have to spread yourself too thin.

[Rush]

Thank you, Turtle...I'm taking your advice.

---Rush.

[IJBall]

Thank you, Turtle...I'm taking your advice.

If you want some more advice, you don't need to put any more than 2 points into Alchemy yourself:

Levels 1-5 - can buy from Gamfari in Bordertown
Level 7 - can get from the book "The Art of Brewing"
Levels 8-9 - you need to provide those yourself at a level-up
Level 15 - can get if you're Level 9 Alchemy, and have two Brewmaster (+3 Alchemy) Rings

Getting to Level 15 allows you to make every potion there is, save Invisibility III (you need to be Level 20 Alchemy for that, and I've never bothered), and the Potion of Predator Sight (which you can't make at all yourself in Book I).

But Level 15 is important, I think, because it also allows you to magically imbue your weapons to +3.

[Rush]

Thanks for the reminder of rings and such, IJBall. I had forgotten about the skill boosting effects of rings and the like when planning my Rogue.

When I did my run-through as a Mage, I kept a few of these kinds of skill boosters in my inventory. Mostly for picking locks and mercantile which saved me on skill points I assigned elsewhere.

Thanks again...

---Rush.