Super confused by this game

[Quacksalber]

Hey - so I could do with some tips. Firstly, my party really sucks. My sorcerer keeps missing, my rogues dies all the time, my priest suddenly cannot cast spells anymore - it says she needs a free hand, but I did not change what she was wielding and it still says it if she's just holding a candle.

I also just got into a random encounter I could not win and there's nothing to do besides the main quest, so it's not like I can go and get some levels. Also, the tutorial is super long and overwhelming.

This isn't the first game of this type I've played, but I'm finding its design pretty obtuse thus far. I'm fairly certain even Kingmaker wasn't this perplexing, lol.

Can we change the party, or are we stuck with whoever we made? Do they get better after a while?

[Wizard of Woz]

More info would help. What is your 4th member? What fight are you stuck on? What level are you?

[Quacksalber]

Originally posted by wizard_of_woz:

More info would help. What is your 4th member? What fight are you stuck on? What level are you?

I also have a fighter, who is the least useless, although I generally dislike those types of characters. I got into a random encounter with "slavers" and ended up reloading after 3 tries. I felt like I was too low level for it as I managed all other fights before, but have no idea what else I would be supposed to be doing. My bunch are level 3 - close to 4.

[cigarking]

If I am reading this correctly, your party is 2 thieves, 1 cleric and 1 magic user.

I'd get a fighter type to replace one of the thieves. You need something that can take damage as a tank.

Spell casters need a hand free, so if you have sword and shield going you typically can't cast spells. Don't forget they also need to have something to hold their components, like a pouch or a amulet.

[Wizard of Woz]

Originally posted by cigarking:

If I am reading this correctly, your party is 2 thieves, 1 cleric and 1 magic user.

I'd get a fighter type to replace one of the thieves. You need something that can take damage as a tank.

Spell casters need a hand free, so if you have sword and shield going you typically can't cast spells. Don't forget they also need to have something to hold their components, like a pouch or a amulet.

Well you aren't reading correctly, he just said he had a fighter.

[Soteria]

Originally posted by EH!:

Hey - so I could do with some tips. Firstly, my party really sucks. My sorcerer keeps missing, my rogues dies all the time, my priest suddenly cannot cast spells anymore - it says she needs a free hand, but I did not change what she was wielding and it still says it if she's just holding a candle.

Pick up powerful cantrip with the sorceror when you can so cantrips that miss do at least half damage. For the rogue, you may be better off using a ranged weapon and staying out of melee. For the cleric, are you sure you don't have a weapon in one hand and a candle in the other? If you didn't take battle domain, you might be best off using either a crossbow, or just a shield with no weapon.

I also just got into a random encounter I could not win and there's nothing to do besides the main quest, so it's not like I can go and get some levels. Also, the tutorial is super long and overwhelming.

Drop the difficulty for that fight, maybe? There are some random encounters that can be significantly harder than the main story, depending on when you get them and your party composition. Without knowing more about your tactics I can't tell if you're just doing something wrong or what.

Can we change the party, or are we stuck with whoever we made? Do they get better after a while?

They should get better. Your party is almost exactly what I took through my first time. Haste and Bless are really good spells and you should use them regularly. Spiritual Weapon is also surprisingly good. Spirit Guardians is great, too.

[Quacksalber]

Originally posted by Soteria:

Originally posted by EH!:

Hey - so I could do with some tips. Firstly, my party really sucks. My sorcerer keeps missing, my rogues dies all the time, my priest suddenly cannot cast spells anymore - it says she needs a free hand, but I did not change what she was wielding and it still says it if she's just holding a candle.

Pick up powerful cantrip with the sorceror when you can so cantrips that miss do at least half damage. For the rogue, you may be better off using a ranged weapon and staying out of melee. For the cleric, are you sure you don't have a weapon in one hand and a candle in the other? If you didn't take battle domain, you might be best off using either a crossbow, or just a shield with no weapon.

Thanks to everyone.

She definitely only has a candle - the priest that is. What's even more confusing though, is that she had a mace and shield from the get go as well as a crossbow, and could cast her spells up until now. Could it be her armour? I did change her medium armour for a better medium armour.

I will follow your advice for the rogue and sorcerer.

Originally posted by cigarking:

If I am reading this correctly, your party is 2 thieves, 1 cleric and 1 magic user.

I'd get a fighter type to replace one of the thieves. You need something that can take damage as a tank.

Spell casters need a hand free, so if you have sword and shield going you typically can't cast spells. Don't forget they also need to have something to hold their components, like a pouch or a amulet.

I have a fighter. I do like rogues, but I don't do parties like that until I feel I've understood a game- hehe.

[Wizard of Woz]

Originally posted by EH!:

Originally posted by Soteria:

Pick up powerful cantrip with the sorceror when you can so cantrips that miss do at least half damage. For the rogue, you may be better off using a ranged weapon and staying out of melee. For the cleric, are you sure you don't have a weapon in one hand and a candle in the other? If you didn't take battle domain, you might be best off using either a crossbow, or just a shield with no weapon.

Thanks to everyone.

She definitely only has a candle - the priest that is. What's even more confusing though, is that she had a mace and shield from the get go as well as a crossbow, and could cast her spells up until now. Could it be her armour? I did change her medium armour for a better medium armour.

I will follow your advice for the rogue and sorcerer.

Originally posted by cigarking:

If I am reading this correctly, your party is 2 thieves, 1 cleric and 1 magic user.

I'd get a fighter type to replace one of the thieves. You need something that can take damage as a tank.

Spell casters need a hand free, so if you have sword and shield going you typically can't cast spells. Don't forget they also need to have something to hold their components, like a pouch or a amulet.

I have a fighter. I do like rogues, but I don't do parties like that until I feel I've understood a game- hehe.

Does your cleric still have their spell component otem equipped? With my cleric I was always able to cast spells while holding a mace.
Maybe a screenshot of your clerics inventory screen would help us help you.

[Tom L]

If you want to change your classes, you'll have to restart but your party make up seems fine.

Tip for thief is that at level 2 you get cunning action. You can use this to attack with a bow, duck behind cover, and rehide as necessary. This will give you "advantage" on attacks and keep your rogue from dying. Attacks from stealth also ensure you get sneak attack damage. This depends on the terrain in battle but should be an option a lot of the time.

Cleric: One thing you can do if you are using a weapon and shield is right click on the shield and Mark Deity. This will allow you to cast many, but not all of your spells without a free hand. Other options are to have a bow or an empty hand and shield in your secondary weapon slots to swap to when you want to cast. Don't underestimate some of the early damage spells like Inflict Wounds and Guiding Bolt either. They do pretty good damage. Certain enemies like undead will resist the Inflict Wound damage though, but you get turn undead and skeletons are vulnerable to blunt weapons so there are other options. Later on you will get Spirit Guardian which is a concentration spell that does AOE damage to enemies around you which is fantastic. I recommend taking the Flawless Concentration feat so that damage taken is much less likely to break your concentration.

Sorcerer: Early on, magic missile is your friend precisely because it can't miss. Burning hands if you find yourself with a bunch of enemies near you will at least do half damage if they save. Sorc gets very powerful later on with metamagic allowing you twin cast the same spell so you can cast haste on 2 people, for example. They are the only magic user that can do that. For metamagics I like to take Twinned Spell and Heightened Spell but a lot of people seem to like Twinned and Quickened too.

At level 3, I recommend picking the Shadowcaster specialization for your rogue in order to have someone who can identify items. Not the end of the world if you don't, but this will save you some cash.

If you are approaching an enemy, try to stealth and get a ranged attack off if you can. This gives you a full free round for your party. Can't usually do this with random encounters though.

Hope some of that helps.

[Gracey Face]

Originally posted by EH!:

She definitely only has a candle - the priest that is. What's even more confusing though, is that she had a mace and shield from the get go as well as a crossbow, and could cast her spells up until now. Could it be her armour? I did change her medium armour for a better medium armour.

There's three elements to spells in DnD, Verbal (the ability to vocalise the spell's words), Somatic (the ability to make the right gestures) and Material (items that allow the spell to function). You additionally in 5e need a spellcasting focus for most spells

Not all spells require all three elements or a focus, so this may be why you were able to cast at the start. Never tried marking my shield as another person mentions, as I mostly use two handers so I personally always go into the options and enable the "cast without free hands" option (since it's stupid that you can't cast while holding a 2 hander).

[Wantoomany]

You can cast while holding a two hander. You need two hands to wield it but you can hold it in a single hand while casting.

[Gracey Face]

Originally posted by Wantoomany:

You can cast while holding a two hander. You need two hands to wield it but you can hold it in a single hand while casting.

I tried on release (or not release, when i played it pre DLC, though I think it was near release) with the caster subclass on the fighter and it wouldn't let me, so I have just habitually been setting it to cast with hands occupied since. Have they changed it or is being able to cast with a 2 hander cleric specific?

Ooh, just tested it and everyone can now, that's a nice change. Not sure whether to delete the post now, considering...

[Soteria]

The explanation of verbal/somatic/material might be helpful.

[Isaacorion Ceres]

You can cast with a 2-handed weapon (Longbow, Crossbow, Greatsword) as long as you have the other requirements met. I've done it on Cleric, Paladin, Rogue, Ranger, Greenmage Wizard...

[Quacksalber]

Originally posted by Gracey Face:

Originally posted by EH!:

She definitely only has a candle - the priest that is. What's even more confusing though, is that she had a mace and shield from the get go as well as a crossbow, and could cast her spells up until now. Could it be her armour? I did change her medium armour for a better medium armour.

There's three elements to spells in DnD, Verbal (the ability to vocalise the spell's words), Somatic (the ability to make the right gestures) and Material (items that allow the spell to function). You additionally in 5e need a spellcasting focus for most spells

Not all spells require all three elements or a focus, so this may be why you were able to cast at the start. Never tried marking my shield as another person mentions, as I mostly use two handers so I personally always go into the options and enable the "cast without free hands" option (since it's stupid that you can't cast while holding a 2 hander).

Okay, I must have been casting using the crossbow, as that works. what really threw me was the candle. I unequipped the mace, and now I can cast with the candle (and just the shield). I did not realise I still had the main weapon equipped if I used a light.

Thanks for the help guys! I'm now struggling trying to figure out how to identify items at a faction vendor, but the rest is starting to make sense. :D

[LJ-the-brave]

Try to search for a wand of identity. This will help you through the game.