completed first runthrough. <Spoiler>

[Spencerbutch]

hey all. ive had eschalon book 1 and 2 for 9 days now, and love them. ive only played book 2 extensively, but i am gonna backtrack and play book 1 soon. i just finished the main storyline in book 2 for the first time, and thought i would join the discussion about the game.

i just finished in 16 hours with a ranger, (556 or 98%) ranged kills at level 18.
this was my 4th character, after 3 very failed (i started with an oblivion style spread out skill base) characters.

when i can locate the screenshot of my final screen ill add it to here (MacOS, any help???)

i really enjoyed the game. i noticed when i had 30 dex/conc and 30 bows no enemy was a problem. i basically brought 250 flight arrows and waltzed through talushorn. (the tyrus dragonel room was bad the first time though.)

i plan on doing many more runthroughs, cuz there is so many styles i wanna try. first, though, i want a chance to use my archer to explore more, do fathmurk, and the rest of the quests. so if i load my save game right before i summon korren can i just leave talushorn and keep running around? (like Zelda OOT)

im assuming so but i needed an excuse to introduce myself to the forums anyway.

also - im spencer

EDIT: i ran the game in windowed mode to allow for screenshots that i apparantly cant post to here.. from what i can gather (stupid me, i saved in general ghorrs room.) im stuck here forever (on jennika.) guess that means its time for a new character. im thinking unarmed/throwing weapons..

[Vroqren]

Congratulations on completing the game, I remember the first time I ever beat Book II. Personally, I have to suggest Unarmed to you. Thrown Weapons may be fun, I've never tried it, but Unarmed is my absolute favorite build so far.

If you do thrown though, you may have a hard time with Fathamurk. Just remember that the more ammo you need in Fathamurk, the less loot you can carry out.

[Spencerbutch]

i started a new character, (named stinkmeaner ) and started out with unarmed. since i am a bit more educated about the game now, i feel like i can make a stronger character. level 2 and already 9 unarmed is great, and i plan on using the feat to grind levels pretty quickly. im going to do thieves arcadia as soon as possible and train throwing to max, eventually using levels to get throwing to 18/20 and unarmed to 30.

im also concentrating points on strength for the dual purpose of ability to carry more throwables later on, and more gear/food now.

i expect that throwing will be good for attacking from the shadows, but i can use unarmed for a tight spot/brawl.

in addition im focusing a lot on mercantile this time, as i had a hard time with money on my last character, at least at the beginning.

also wondering if i should play through book 1? thoughts?

[Painted Lady]

I played through once using Thrown Weapons for my ranged attack. It was not very successful. The problem is that there aren't enough high quality thrown weapons to really be able to use them at will. Then, the best ones are so heavy and expensive that you will run out at the wrong time.

[Randomizer]

The thrown weapon feat is designed for demon oil. Overlapping fields of burning damage to a group of targets.

[SpottedShroom]

If you want to salvage your first character, you can use our own xolotl's save game map editor to let yourself out of General Ghorr's chamber:

http://apocalyptech.com/eschalon/

I'd suggest trying Book I before you play Book II again. There are some improvements in the engine in Book II that might be harder to tolerate if you get too used to Book II, and I'd hate to see you give up on Book I because it's an awesome game.

[Spencerbutch]

thanks to all 3 of you since i wouldn't have discovered those things on my own.. and ill try that map editor. in a few days ill make a post saying how this new character turned out.

[Lord_P]

I'd suggest trying Book I before you play Book II again. There are some improvements in the engine in Book II that might be harder to tolerate if you get too used to Book II, and I'd hate to see you give up on Book I because it's an awesome game.

I never got over the fact that items do not autostack in Book I. Am I strange or something?

[Spencerbutch]

the fact that throughout book 2 items bought from merchants didnt autostack got on my nerves a bit.. so maybe you're normal.

[mwindsong]

I played a few characters in Book II and just recently bought book I. I'm having a great time playing it! I have noticed the improvements between I and II. I'm glad that those were put into book II, but it hasn't diminished my enjoyment of book I. I'd say these are awesome games. Just as I did in book II, I'll go back and play book I again so I can try all the quests. Once again I have sold off something that I should have saved for a future quest, LMAO.

[Spencerbutch]

To the TL;DR crowd: Why are you on a forum if you are averse to reading? tsk tsk.

I couldn't help but notice you added this to your signature recently. Can I ask why?

it irks me when people use "tl;dr". a forum is (obviously) text based and if something is "too long to read" than that person is exhibiting pure laziness and probably doesn't deserve to know whatever wealth (or lack thereof) of knowledge was in the "text that was too long to read"

anyway, its a sig.

while we are asking pointless questions - Why prismatic Maelstrom instead of Jedi_learner?

[Spencerbutch]

while my reply was sarcastic and rhetoric, i was legitimately curious, and am glad to know.

cheers