geminidomino: Is there some way of getting battlefields to reset? I'm about Level 7 and I've gotten through the war-camp, done all of the side quests I've found so far before that, and I'm just getting pimp-slapped whenever I go into the Brigand Camp or Caves, so I think I may be underlevelled/undergeared.
I'm just getting towards the end of this game, so hopefully I can provide a little help. The combat is definitely harder in the earlier parts of this game, and I too found the caves to be quite tough. I'm playing a ranged/magic character, so if you're playing as predominantly melee you may need to adapt some of this advice. Apologies in advance if you know some or all of this.
There are essentially two key ways to strengthen your character (apart from obviously better armour and weapons), namely increasing your skills and gaining attunements:
Skills (melee, magic, ranged and speed) can be increased by using advancement points:
- Every 100pts gained will enable you to improve a skill (from 'F' up to 'A' and then 'S').
- Advancement points are earned by levelling-up (100pts per level) and by standing on Hex Points when you are in the Dreamworld (10pts each).
- I recommend concentrating on speed first and then whichever of melee, magic or ranged you want to specialize in.
Attunements are additional skills or bonuses:
- Attunements are gained by hitting enemies with weapons, equipping armour and items, and collecting 'essence' after you have killed spirits and demons in the Dreamworld.
- When you have gained an attunement it will appear in the attunements list (press 'A' to see the list)
- Each time you rest you can select which attunements you want to be active (higher level = more attunements can be active)
- Different attunements can reduce the damage you take, increase the damage you do to certain enemies e.g. humans or spirits in the Dreamworld, drastically increase the effectiveness of a particular weapon and provide improved healing.
- A list of attunements and items can be found in the GOG extras.
General advice:
- Areas do respawn but it seems to be fairly low-level and random.
- Explore the Dreamworld in each area to gain advancement points and essence. Begin in the starting areas, as harder normal area tends to equal harder Dreamworld area. The Demonslayer and Spiritslayer attunements can help here.
- Rest at campfires whenever possible to heal and select the most suitable attunements.
- Make sure the best available healing item is in one of your quick-slots.
- You can escape most enemies by switching to or from the Dreamworld (but be careful you don't end up in worse trouble!)
- Try to avoid getting surrounded by enemies. It's best to try and move around within a fairly small area, as running into new areas often attracts even more enemies, and you can end up being chased by a crowd of them.
- Equip the best weapons you can, but make sure the relevant attunements are active.
- The 'Grassroots' attunement is great at slowing down enemies in relation to your speed.
This has turned into a bit of an essay! Hopefully some of it will be helpful. I'm enjoying my play-through - the combat is a bit repetitive, but it's an interesting world and a decent story, helped by the narration of Tom Baker.
