>Valk cheats death.
>Valk dies again, but is unconscious.
>Sure glad I took one for cheat death instead of all the great things they bring to the table...
It's like taking a priest for miracles, lawl.

Bombs give more skill-ups then a successful hit. It's addition, not replacement. Using devil dust on my monk didn't feel like a waste, so, I just don't get the why not. With certain builds, and parties of course. A classical MDP often does not need bombs, but might as well use some early on. Like, when the mage or psionic runs out of magic mid-combat.

There is an objective difference between using saves as a tool, and as a crutch. At a certain point, it's far less time consuming to just use cheats. See Doom II slaughter maps. If one is smashing F9 at ten percent health... it's a user issue.

Sleeping often takes enough time to pass the timer. You did know this, yes?

More critical than heal all, but whatever. Extremely situational, yes. Not all enemies use death cloud and turncoat effects, but those that do... Also, that's the reason someone might turn a monk into a psionic on the peak: mental immunity. The other common choice is fighter, for berserk. That pretty much works no matter what weapon the monk was using, although a mindblast monk would have to switch to a dread spear, a dual mace monk would lose the nunchaka—but gain the diamond eyes, if no one else is using it—a Zatoichi bo monk could use the staff of doom, if no one else is using it, and a martial arts monk would just not get skill ups—and lose the bonus, of course. All of which can be quite nice on the peak.

Almost twenty one-hundred percent success casts of power level three nuclear blast at level twelve is less useful than about five casts of heal all with a chance of failure? Seriously!? I know I'm horrible at video games, but give me some credit here.

I agree with pretty much everything RChu1982 said in post 104. And prefer to not double up on classes most of the time myself. But I understand why people love to stack bishops and fighters, but that's too gimmicky for my tastes. (And, maybe, I just don't like that much power.)

Yep, tripleshot parties, giant's sword parties, and parties with two, or more, spell-casting thieves practically require a stamina battery. But, any physical damage party will love rest all eventually.

Yes, items sold to merchants are purged after a set amount of in-game days. I like to stuff unique items in a chest, a technique that was much preferred on period hardware to just leaving things on the ground, which often lead to slow downs. I prefer it nowadays, just because I like to keep a tidy radar. But the items are better off sold, I only hoard them because I abuse alchemy money-making. (It's also insurance if I ever feel like bringing RPCs, or even replacing characters.)

⁂

So, the waterfall items are a buckler and a stink bomb, not bad for certain parties. Might be an incentive to grab detect secrets on some psionics. Sadly, there are still better choices for spell picks at that time. But... an eagle eyes psionic backed with a ranger might be able to find them before Gregor.

Regardless, my party is once again out of the monastery. The alchemist is now level nine, and the bishop is stupid. Already over sixty in wizardry at level eight. More interesting is the monk with twenty-nine in psionics. So close to psionic fire. That high intelligence, piety, and senses really helps monks level their magic fast, even if their strength and dexterity take such a hit.

I'm convinced that strength and dexterity are the best stats, and expert skills are merely nice-to-haves. But, building a party around an expert skill, or two, sure is a lot more fun. Like power cast or eagle eyes. But, iron will and snake speed parties are rather intriguing concepts.

But, yes, my party grew so much more powerful in Arnika, and, by level eight, already feel like a success. Now, can I bring these lovely ladies to the cosmic circle, or will I peter out? Either way, I just love the seven warrior classes so much. (And, I have finally warmed up to bishops. They offer so much player expression; sadly, they are are just so dumbly powerful. Ninja is probably my favorite class in the game. A ninja's power feels more in line with how versatile they are. Even if auto-penetrate is stupid powerful at times.)

Thing is, when a spell is extremely situational, and is reasonably available in item form, it's reasonable to replace the spell with items. Since you only occasionally need the spell, you can opt to use an item instead of the spell, and not have to constantly recharge the item, as you would if you're using items for spells like Heal All and Restore Magic.

I don't consider the mindblast rod to be readily available, not to mention that only a few classes can equip it, and it takes up the weapon slot so you can't also have the Staff of Doom available. (Also, is this weapon 2-handed? If so, for Priest/Bishop/Alchemist that means no shield (espeically if your alternate weapon set is a sling and stones), and there are some shields that are useful even for back row caster's lie the Thieves' Buckler. Also worth noting that the Mindblast Rod is awkward as a weapon; 2 of the classes that can equip it do not get the needed weapon skill to use it effectively.

Also, the Mindblast Rod and the Amulet of Healing take different slots, so it's not an either/or situation. Not to mention that the Amulet of Healing is so useful that, even if it didn't have the Heal All spell attached, it would still be among the best readily available accessories in the game. (And that amulet is *really* readily available; not only is it buyable, but there are *2* of them in the game, both of which happen to be in the same general segment of the game. If you play the game in the intended manner, you'll get both of them, but aren't likely to get that Mindblast Rod.)

The Ring of Sanity provides some Mental resistance, so in areas where being turncoated is actually an issue, you might very want to equip one of these. (Is there anything else for that slot that provides better Mental resistance?)

Doubling up on classes can be interesting if the characters have different builds. For instance, I have the idea of using a human or elf bishop with a more conventional int/spd build (perhaps starting as Mage for earlier Power Cast, since apparently the difference in casting ability between the magic classes only affects learning them and not casting them), and a dwarven bishop who focuses on str/dex and maybe changes to valkyrie or lord later in the game. They're both Bishops for quite a few levels, but they could end up playing very differently.


You can also put items in containers that can't normally be sold or placed on the ground.

Just don't put any of the 3 artifacts in chests in the Rapax Away Camp. If you do, it may revert to the Wilderness Clearing and the chests may be inaccessible as long as those items are not in your inventory, and since the items are in those chests, you can actually make the game unwinnable this way.

I do remember the game slowing down when placing a lot of items in Lord Braffit's chamber in Arnika. (I like using that particular spot as a home, going back there to rest regularly and (IIRC) sometimes setting a portal there.

I think Power Cast may be essential if you want to be able to target enemies with spells (excluding Armormelt) in the mid to late game, because of how resistance scales. It feels like Power Cast is needed to keep up with enemy resistances and the level factor, rather than something that allows you to get ahead.

If not building artifacts, having the spells is nice. But, building artifacts isn't exactly hard, so.. you are right.

Mindblast's a guaranteed item, but more of an Easter egg that's meant to be built around on latter playthroughs, like giant's swords and the CoC. But, a certain android, not too far away, mind you, can be built towards it. It is basically a souped-up stun rod, after all. A bishop can get the casting perfected by level eleven, actually. Mine had enough artifacts by then, and we were at Marten's Bluff. Also, it encourages monk->psionic builds.

Testing different build side-by-side is a nice way to learn one's personal preferences. But, there is a difference between using classes as bricks, and as monoliths. Bishops are just plain stupid, any way you cut it.

Great place to get rid of the broken black-box. Can also be used to initiate dialog with Z'ant.

Like mpnorman, a proponent of expert skills, always says: power cast is not a game changer, but rather a prevention of the game changing. Of course, one can also have slingers or bashers too. (Why not both? Well, let's just say that meta-slaves tend to be mid-skilled players for a reason.) It also only really becomes an issues by late middle-game. My non–power cast spell-casting warriors' damage magic is still relevant... at level thirteen.

My Bishop has about ninety in every realm, save earth and water, which are about ten and twenty below, respectfully, at level twelve. I think my party would be stronger if built str/dex, on everyone. But, having a weaker party makes the game more enjoyable. Too bad my party has reached a point where everyone is rather powerful. And, body of stone cheese is too pungent. My ninja has sixty-three L&T, and five of my party can knocks-knocks. But, traps may still pose a problem later on. I stopped putting points into the skill once it hit fifty. Oh well, once we see what this party looks like at level twenty, then I'll make a more final judgement. They are killing things much faster now.

I literally have a "perfect" Bard and Gadgeteer. They maxed Strength, Dexterity, Speed, and Senses. They are level 36 Humans, having the most possible total attribute points (64 Vitality, and 63 Intelligence and Piety before items). They maxed melee skills: Close Combat, Sword, and Shield. They maxed Ranged Combat and Bow skills for range. They maxed Music and Engineering for magic. They maxed Powerstrike, Reflextion, Snakespeed, and Eagle Eye for expert skills. They already have Tripleshot Crossbows and Hunter Quarrels, and will farm for Light Swords and Light Shields. Also, they both have an Amulet of Healing, and Ring of the Road/Tinker's Carryall Bracers respectively for +20 to Strength. It seems worth it to be powerful, as you own the game at a certain point, and are no longer afraid of combat (until Ascension Peak, that is, with the potential for level 50 Armegazers to spawn).