Four different times now I have sat down with the intention of creating a party and starting the game, but I get lost in second guessing myself, re-re-re-re-remaking characters...I've NEVER had a game that was so hard to get into. I've read the beginner guides I've found here and other places, and while helpful, there are things they don't cover, and I'm still just so intimidated by this game!

One thing I really don't understand are class changes. I'll list one specific problem here that I'm having. I definitely want a Summoner in my party. But from what I've read, it's best to start him as a Mage and then change classes later on to Summoner. Here is why I'm apprehensive to do that: I want his alignment to be Neutral, but, if you attempt to make a Neutral Summoner, the option is greyed out, you must choose an alignment. If I create a Neutral Mage, can I turn him into a Summoner later?

Also, ages. I don't want my characters dying of old age, but I also don't want them to start off being ridiculously weak. If I start a human character at age 14, is there any DISADVANTAGE to this? What are the optimum starting ages for each race?

Stat rolls. The "bonus" points after I choose the character's age, it may say something like "5-60", but I never seem to roll anything about a 20. Is there a way to get the higher numbers?

Would this be a good starting party?

1 - Human Thief (to perhaps become a Bard later)
2 - Human Mage (to become a Summoner)
3 - Dragonnewt Brawler
4 - Werebeast Hunter
5 - Elf Cleric
6 - Human Fighter/Knight (I forget which one its called)

Sorry. I know these are a bunch of random questions but if anyone can help me that would be great. I grew up on Might and Magic: World of Xeen, and this is quite a bit more advanced than that, to me!

When changing class, you must meet the stat and alignment requirements for the new class. Therefore, you can't turn a neutral character into a class that can't be neutral such as a summoner.

If a character is too young, the character may end up with poor stat growth at level up, just like if the character is too old. (I don't know if this is an issue for any valid starting ages for created characters.) Race matters: Fairies don't suffer much stat losses at all, while a Devilish will have poor stat growth if too young. (You can't create a Devilish, but if you use Spirit Pact on a Contracted monster, you can get one in your party (who will usually start at 0 years old).)

Also, older characters get more bonus points on average to start with. This can be helpful if you are having trouble creating a character of a certain class.

One more thing: When you change class, the *only* things you keep are hit points and spells, and due to the way HP growth works, you won't end up with more HP in the long run. So, barring one rather strange setup (that could be considered an exploit), the only reason to class change is to transfer spells to another class. Therefore, it does not make sense to change a Thief into a Bard.

Also, until rather high levels, Valkyrie is better than Lord. Even at higher levels, Valkyrie is still better unless you want the Lord's stat resistance aura.

Your party is missing an Alchemist. You will want to create one, even if she just stays at home, as the ability to improve your equipment with materials is extremely valuable. Early on, for example, getting Turn Recovery on everyone will help tremendously.

Also, status ailments are useful, *especially* if you plan on using a Hunter. Check the in-game Bestiary to see which enemies are vulnerable to which status ailments; often, enemies have specific holes in their resistances that can be exploited.

One final point: Unlike in World of Xeen, in Elminage Gothic, there is no limit to the number of fights you can get into. Hence, there is no hard limit on XP gains, and after a while, you will encounter good spots to earn XP. Also, you can have individual characters run from a battle, allowing one character to get all the XP without it being divided. Because of this, it is feasible to introduce new characters into your party later in the game; you are not stuck with your starting party forever.

Thank you dtgreene! Everyone else feel free to chime in as well, but that certainly helped.....and saved me from pitching a fit later when I couldn't make my Mage a Summoner haha. Is there any reason why a Summoner can't be neutral? Do Good/Evil Summoners have different summons available to them?

The alignment restriction only applies when changing to the class. If you already have a Summoner, and you have a method of changing a character's alignment to Neutral, you can get a Neutral Summoner. (This actually applies to any class.) There is a 7th level Alchemy spell that can change a character's alignment if that character's stats are maxed out, though that spell has to be relearned after use.

Summoners work as follows:
1. Find a monster you want to be able to summon, then cast Contract on it. Note that you have to get past the enemy's summon resistance (which is always at least 30%) multiple times; at best, if you are at least 10 levels higher than the enemy, you have to get past it twice. (At equal level, you need to get past it 3 times.) Note that you can use the Contract from any spell level you want.
2. When you want to summon the monster, cast the Summon spell of the same level as the Contract you used. This will add the summon as an extra party member who you can't control, but will have most of the abilities it had as an enemy. (If your class is still Summoner and your level is high enough, the summon may actually be of *higher* level than the enemy was.) Summons have unlimited spells though their other abilities may have limits. (For example, if you summon a monster with Treatment, it will have its own limited number of items; when they run out, you will need to summon another to get more uses. A similar situation applies if the monster has an ability like Tarot.)

The Spirit Pact EX skill is interesting. I have explained its behavior more in depth in other posts, but what it does is that it turns your summon into a regular party member, with race, class, starting spells, and some other characteristics depending on the monster you chose. This ability is one of the few ways to get a Devilish in your party, and a few make really good party members. Note that these characters start at level 1, and their special traits are lost if you change their class. Also, the starting EX skill is random, so you might need to save first (before Spirit Pact) and reload until you get the EX skill you want.

In any case, a Summoner's alignment does not matter as far as available summons are concerned.

Interesting....one more question for now, would you recommend starting as a Mage and learning a bunch of their spells then changing classes to Summoner, or have separate Mage and Summoners?

Maybe I'll actually get a game started tonight!!!

I don't have much experience with Summoners (though I believe I did use one to use Contract and Spirit Pact on a certain early game enemy with a 20% (IIRC) behead rate), but there is one particular 7th level mage spell that you really do want, because it lets you teleport almost anywhere in the dungeon that you have been to. (There's one dungeon where the spell can't be used, but by the time you reach that dungeon, you are well past the point of asking beginner questions, as it's the final post-game dungeon.)