Help with some questions?

[wulfster42]

Hi! I'm gonna try and play this again. I have tried twice but decided I messed up my part creation and instead of restarting, I just put it on hold for later. I don't wanna do that again. Only made it to the lighthouse so far before restarting.

I don't know what has changed, or bugs (like stun not stopping enemies from blocking) have been fixed.

Also, hope much of a difference does it make to have 1 of each race, like how much content will I miss, and will I miss stat barrels etc. I want to have 1 of each race, but, human has 3 very nice classes, which makes it soo hard. I could just do 2 human and two of the other three, if any of the three are meh.

I want to find all secrets!! Which I think means I either need dark magic (I think only expert?), or an NPC you can get somewhere (But I don't use walkthroughs, although I would be willing to look up where to get that npc).

I kinda REALLY like/prefer the idea of using that grandmaster warfare skill to get rid of all blocks on an enemy, over using blademasters many attacks to get rid of them all. I could also do a combo (First hit with the one that gets rid of all blocks, and then hit with the blademaster so all his hits ignore the blocks).

I see that some spells are probably really important, although I would like a more melee focused party, I can live with having 2 primary spellcasters if it's really needed. If I could get away with 2 total melee, 1 hybrid melee/caster and 1 pure caster that would be great (I think that means I would have to take freemage which is human though...sigh).

For my warfare guy, just from looking at info, I really like axes, because from what I have read stuns don't work on bosses, and axes have +50% crit damage (and the final warefare one makes you auto crit!!), and 50% of damage as bleed. That seems much better than maces, and slightly better than swords (although swords do get an extra hit if you crit I think...so that is almost as good).

I was thinking of going with 1 axe with max warfare (for the auto crit) and 1 two handed sword (maybe barbarian...hehe call him conan), who can't auto crit but can grandmaster sword and has a high crit %. That would be alot of fun, even if it wasn't as optimal as blademaster.

Both could get the expert warfare one early on that makes them auto hit at least, to output a ton of damage!

If I did that though, that takes orc and human out, I think Runepriest is a good option with GM fire and Light (not sure if I really need light though), but I don't know if that allows me to get any elf class that can cover the other elements I need (at least prime expert for identify, and hopefully dark for getting all the secrets).

Anyway is there a way to see the changes, especially after the expansion etc, so I can plan my group a bit better? I really don't wanna get halfway into the game and find out that things I planned for have been changed.

[mpnorman10]

After reading your thoughts, my first impression is that your instincts are good. For example your decision or leaning toward obtaining GM level of key skills and certainly any fighting character's weapon is right. GM level is so much more powerful than M level, by design, that the greatest danger in this game is spreading skill points around too much and either preventing or significantly delaying the obtaining of GM level for key skills.

Yes, there are areas (like one per) that you will miss if you do not have every race represented in your party. I do not remember how many stat barrels are on those areas, but I can guarantee, at certain points of the game you will be wishing for a few more battles so you can level-up before taking on that boss you have to defeat before opening up new territories and parts of the game.

You can overcome this by being very prudent and smart about your use of scarce skill points and money to buy key level-ups and spells. In every other Might and Magic game prior to this one the full potential of every character could be obtained and experience was not limited. This game is a HUGE departure in that respect, but the challenges that presents are also fun, so, whatever...

I would say be wary of characters who cannot reach GM level with their main weapon or magic realm (for casters). The number of skill points is limited enough so you can and should plan where and when you place them... that is key.

Regarding race, the humans are not really greater than the other races. It is unfortunate that the game rewards doing things a certain way (i.e. one of each race, having characters that specialize in strength, perception and intelligence, and to some degree vitality). It is disappointing that the characters available are not more flexible, but you still can meet the needs in a variety of ways.

Regarding hidden areas and the Detect Secrets spell there is an NPC who will automatically provide that and more during most of act I, and once you obtain and use the dark shard you no longer have to worry about it. In the meantime buying the spell at the earliest vendor is cheap and you can stockpile a few for the end of act I until you obtain and use the dark shard and no longer need it. There is no need to be "forced" to take a character capable of dark magic, if that does not fit with your overall strategy.

Good luck and enjoy.

[wulfster42]

Thanks!!

I keep waffling over what I want to do lol. I really love the idea of having GM in warfare though to get rid of all blocks for the rest of my part as well, and also auto crit. It just seems so Yum lol.

Since I don't need dark, I could go with a merc + barb + druid + rune

I think that covers all the bases I really want, and I can get all the important spells (hour of power looks too good to miss out on, so I can get that from druid).

Merc would be GM warfare and master axe probably, Barbarian would GM sword and master warefare (or at least expert it), Druid would get GM primordial for HoP and Water for liquid skin or whatever that is, along with master air for lightning damage and master magical focus. Also both would master light.

Rune would GM fire for fire spells, GM focus (probably), master earth, master light.

That covers all 4 races and gets all the most important spells/buffs I think.

Going merc over defender for that auto crit on first hit for enemies at full health, otherwise defender would actually be better with GM axe and Warfare.

Otherwise I could go with defender and then have a freemage instead of a druid.

[Traul]

You should take the Freemage on a first playthrough. Both scrolls and NPCs are cumbersome methods when you don't know what you are doing: you will spend a fortune on scrolls if you have to scan every wall of the dungeons with them, and the NPC is extremely tough to get early without a solid strategy and tactics. That being said, now that I know how to get it, I go for the NPC all the time even with a Freemage: not having to think about keeping the spell on is just more comfortable to play. Expert Dark Magic is still very strong, though: Sleep and Purge may be the best spells in the game aside from straight damage and heals.

[wulfster42]

I just have to either A: not have one of each race to have freemage, or B: not have a merc, but mercs auto hit/crit on full health enemies seeems sooooo awsome, especially for two handed using mercs!!

Such a hard choice, which race wasn't a restriction on areas. I actually would like to have all 3 human classes lolz....although I do wish crusaders got two handed weapons.

[Traul]

Pick C: multiple playthroughs. The game is rather short but has great replayability precisely because different parties really do play differently.

[mpnorman10]

The amount of damage with a weapon or dual weapons wielded by a GM is MUCH more than for a Master, from what I have seen.

Traul and I disagree on the ease of Detect Secrets Spells without Dark Magic. You only need them indoors (i.e. within dungeons/buildings) and if you buy them 3 at a time from one or two of the lowest vendors you will never run out before obtaining the dark shard. When one runs out, just cast another. The dungeons are not that big (but save often... difficulty often changes suddenly at unexpected times).

The NPC in act one is trivial to obtain early (for free) and, depending on how you order things, you can keep her for a long time before she leaves while you stockpile the Detect Secret scrolls.

On the other hand Traul makes the excellent point that a Freemage is strong, while I have heard mixed reviews on the Merc. I usually develop a Freemage for Air, magic focus and possibly one other magic to GM level, usually holding Prime magic to expert level and Dark magic to Novice (just the one skill point). My sister in her games prefers to GM Prime Magic... there are a lot of right answers at the GM level.

I have not tried using Sleep and Purge spells, as Traul suggests, but I think I will try them out on another run in the future, since a respected player thinks of them as powerful.

Also, if you really want to play a Merc, play a Merc. You can do without one or two racial areas.

Plan accordingly, you will get 108 skill points in the entire game if you do everything, but about 12 of those will come after the main quest is complete. So if you want skill levels to help you with a significant part of the main quest, do not teke too long to invest enough for that Master and then GM level. On the other hand you have to actually complete a (often somewhat tough) quest so there is a balance.

[wulfster42]

Thanks for the posts/advice:)

Well, I wanted the merc over the defender because it gets that auto hit/crit on full life ability, while also getting GM warfare (only him and defender get that).

GM warfare from what I understand gets rid of ALL blocks for the rest of the attack round vs an enemy, so if I use that ability everyone else will hit as well, which just seems mega awesome tbh.

I'm kinda torn between going with mace (to auto stun), or sword (for an extra attack automatically that can't miss/be blocked either). Both seem pretty freaking awesome, and if I go with a mace on another char (the barbarian) I'll probably stun anyway (thinking of going mace on my runepriest (1 handed) as well....so with barbarian that would be 2 mace shots to stun after my merc uses the 2 handed sword initially).

As far as spells, I got the girl in town that finds secrets so I am gonna milk her and try and keep her as long as possible, and then use scrolls like you mentioned for now. Between druid and runeprist I cover all the spells I really want (except dark). I can even GM primordial to get hour of power eventually.

Gonna GM water and Prime with druid and Fire with Runepriest.

So my party setup looks like this (Although I'm very frustrated that even though my merc had 2 handed AND sword to start, he only got a freaking 1 handed sword and no 2 handed swords have been sold in the shop yet ....grrrrr).

Merc Two handed + Sword + warfare + bow to start. Most points in might, some in perception to start (eventually he should auto hit most times or use warfare ability to auto hit).

Barbarian Mace + two handed + bow to start, think he might have gotten 1 in wind as well.

Points split between might and perception with more in perception initially (till I level up and can start getting points in mace for more accuracy and eventually warfare for auto hit).

Druid Points in light + wind + earth + spear + xbow
Mainly use his sp for the starting light spell to prevent damage and wind to push back.
Long term wind will be primary damage for this char so focused on magic.

Runepriest Mace + fire + xbow + light I think is what I started with.
Going hybrid on him, mace + symbol, focusing on crit alot. Some perception to start for hit.

That gives me one of each race, I get all the GM spells I want really (water/fire/primordial). I'llm get a high enough light from both mages to keep up CA easily. I don't have dark, but I'm gonna try and work around it. Get identify fast, fire for no paralysis, two decent AoE damage types (fire and lightning). Meanwhile all of em can actually melee fairly well in a pinch. One of my melee (think it's the mercenary) can also cast the wind spell (which works great with everyone having bows) but my druid can also cast entangle (which basically has the same effect).

Should work well hopefully and will be able to go into each racial area. As far as the dark scrolls etc, I can also just clear the area, and then once there are no monsters save, use the scrolls until I find the secret, and then reload and run right to wher eit is and use only 1 scroll that way (if any are needed at all). So that should hopefully work till I get the dark crystal thing you all mentioned.

Anyway that is what I'm running with, so hopefully it works ok, thanks again everyone.

[wulfster42]

Btw, as far as just replaying. I truly hope that happens, but evidence from recent games says it's unlikely. I am 47 and a life long gamer. Started RPG's with Wizardry Proving grounds on the Apple II c. I used to replay the Might and magic games and FF6 every summer until Diablo II came out (and then still every so often after that).

I rarely finish games now though, and the ONLY game I have replayed in the last few years is Dark Souls 3. I have a massive backlog of games I can't seem to get into (Fallout 4 for instance while I played 1-3 and NV to freaking death).

So i'm a bit gunshy of starting a game without planning things out that will prevent me from getting frustrated later, because I won't go back and replay it at that point.

I hearted and replayed Castlevania SoTN for instance, but couldn't even finish bloodstained (which looks just as good to me). I have a horribly short attention span at this point for games and if I get bored, BOOM I switch to another one (and yes, I have tried to push through lol, I just end up not playing much eventually if I do that).

Also, over the years the actual character development/leveling up has become more and more important to me, and once I can't improve, I get tired of just about any game.I have to have the carrot of getting stronger to keep enjoying something.

No clue how I got here, lol, I used to love all types of games, but especially RPG and Platform games. Then Action RPG's came along and that started to ruin many RPG games for me.

Anyway I am liking this game which is why I was so worried about missing out on stuff or getting frustrated later. I think I have everything covered with my party (other than no 2 handed swords *shakes fist at heavens*.

After my first game, IF I can still enjoy playing, I will probably go for multiple mercs lol, so more then one can auto-hit/crit on full enemies (probably taking them out with 2 handed swords, especially if I can get a two handed sword that is relentless. I figure 3 hits auta with a two handed sword and one of them auto crit...will probably take out most non-bosses. If I have 2 mercs, that is 2 enemies taken out right away. Kinda wonder what it would be like to have 3 mercs like that lols, and 1 spellcaster (maybe an all human party, 3 mercs + 1 freemage hehe).

[wulfster42]

I did get a two handed sword and it was radiant..which I read meant no blocking, but....everything is still blocking him:( Luckily it's my merc so eventually that won't matter, but wish I hadn't spent the extra money for Radiant now.

I did end up reseting and switching my other characters to spears instead of maces (now all 3 non-mercs use spears).

My druid/runepriest/barbarian are spear users. I could have still gone with maces for my barbarian, and probably should have (since he has two handed weapons), but it was nice to get wind on him to start instead of taking 2 handed weapons.

Thing I like about spears is when I get expert even though i'm using a two handed weapon, I still get 2 block attempts, and then another 1 from expert two handed (on my barbarian).

They all do 2 handed damage even without the two handed skill (relaly nice for my druid and runepriest starting off), and their pierce armor as well.

It definately seems better for the druid/priest (and the priest gets it as an auto skill) starting off.

Not sure if I should have stuck with mace on my barbarian though. It would mean less blocks, but would give a bit more damage and a chance to stun. Kinda a toss up to be honest. If all 3 have spears, that is alot of blocking they can do..which is really nice, but doesn't stop spells, meanwhile mace could stun spellcasters, stopping spells all together.

Wish radiant worked though, as it would have opened up other options for me (no real worry about warfare asap, and deals with blocking on all chars till I get GM warfare on my merc.

Also ranged seems to be rocking so hard, especially the xbows, so gonna get Master on my merc in that and Expert on my runepriest. I wish all my chars could use xbows instead of bows actually.

[mpnorman10]

There is one key thing that makes this game extremely enjoyable and it is not even part of the mechanics of the game. It is an attitude.

Other than rare bugs or unfortunately not so rare Ubisoft account problems, the key attitude with which to play this game is responsibility. To be more specific the player is entirely responsible for how this game goes. You clearly highly value development and weapon choices under the assumption that these are the most important factors for determining whether your game is smooth or frustrating (like trying to force key boss battles by trying them over and over again) and that is exactly correct.

It is entirely up to you and your choices as to how strong your party is against that boss. If it is frustrating or impossible do not point fingers at the game or bad luck; it is solely and only your choices.

That is in an incredibly wonderful thing. If you think about it for a moment that means that your thoughtful design and follow-through development of your party based upon your game plan is everything. If it goes poorly, or even not up to expectations, it is time to hit the drawing board again and come up with a new design.

I honestly do not know how well your party will work (and I mean that... it could be great). Most of my experience with the smoothest games were a split of fighting and magic, but not an even split, for example 3 magic guys and one Fighter, like an Elf Blademaster and Shaman, Freemage and Rune Priest, or the opposite of 3 fighters or range guys with one doing magic support.

The reason for that is potions that heal one or magic defenses that protect all. For example, with the 3 magic guys there is heavy use of the shield spell in the light realm to protect against damage and the regenerate spell in the earth realm to heal lost hit points. With the fighting party, lots of hit points and armor do most of the survivabilty.

Forming a party is based upon the principles of offense (which you appear to have carefully considered) and defense, i.e. by what method will incoming damage be dealt with.

For the casters in your party you appear to be developing Mace and Spear for their offence, but have you considered Magic Focus. In addition to adding potentially awesome levels of power to your spells, it gives weapon options that become increasingly effective, especial if they can reach the GM level in magic focus.

This, IMO, is a wonderful game because it gives so many different but workable ways to be a winner. Each method requires consistency and focus but there are many of them and new things are learned all the time.

About following through, please do what is fun with no regrets. If you start the game 20 times and finish it 3 times this will clearly have been one of your favorite games. It is a single player game and if you do what is fun for you then you get it... that is exactly what you should be doing. Couple that with taking full responsibility for any failures and you have a winning and championship attitude.

Best of luck to you.

[wulfster42]

Thanks!!

Yeah I plan on focusing on magic for both my spellcasters, but not sure if I will use a focus later on (probably on my runepriest at least), or stick with spears.

It only takes 5 points to expert spears which gives 2 black and a free high damage, two handed attack. That is 5 points I won't be putting in a magic skill or focus skill etc, so I may regret it later, but it is certainly making the early game easier.

I may regret it long term for my runepriest tbh, because I want to GM both fire and primordial on him. I wish you could reset skills later.

I do think I will have a decent range of magic though, the only thing I'll be missing is dark.

I will have GM fire/primordial and Water. Master Earth and Light. Other then when just starting I'll focus on magic almost entirely as the stat increases for my spellcasters.

Melee wise, my first char is a Merc who will get flawless assault, and uses a two handed sword. That means he nullifies all blocks for an enemy if he attacks first, allowing everyone else to pound on him as well. The sword crit means he auto gets another free hit as well (and if I can get him a two handed sword that hits twice each turn later on, that is 3 hits!).

He also will get Master crossbow which gives a +65% chance to crit (I just wish he coulda been an orc for the extra crit damage). He is the crit god hehe. He also has air magic (only needs 1 point) for gust of wind, so useful with bow/crossbow attacks.

My other melee primary is my barbarian. He is a spear user....I probably should have stuck with maces, but spear will give him 2 more blocks (For 3 all together with two handed expert..which is as high as I'll take 2 handed probably). He also has gust of wind. Sadly only uses a bow (inferior to xbow) but oh well, you don't really have many choices as Half-orc and that was the best of the bunch.

My 2 spellcasters cover all the buffs I need/want, except the dark one (I am buying the scrolls and have the girl for now). Meanwhile they both use spears right from the start for serious damage. Other then getting primordial to expert (for identify), boosting spear initially gives em both damage and chance to hit for melee. 1 point in the ranged skill (bow/xbow) and they have excellent free ranged damage as well. Runepriest has fire right off for high auto damage and druid has a bunch of good spells, but also is my CA caster to protect the group. I have not used a mana potion yet because they are so efficient at bow attacks and spear attacks, I just use gust of winds if there is a space behind the monster, or CA if there is not, and rarely take damage.

As things progress I may regret the damage loss of spear vs high level focus, we will see. If so it's only 5 points lost for a nice bonus early game, and i'll learn from it in the future. The only one that affects is the runepriest....so I'm not super worried and I kinda really like having the 2 block chances on him.

There are some bugs or things that don't work like they say they should. Radiant weapons I read were supposed to ignore block, but then I saw they were bugged, and then I saw they had fixed it. Well, nope, my radiant great sword is still getting blocked (makes me a sad panda). I can and will eventually get around that with the expert warefare skill unstoppable, and then later flawless will let EVERYONE ignore blocks....while doing tons of damage (going to be great vs bosses i'm sure!).

IF I do get to replay the game later, I may go with a Merc + blademaster + blademaster + Freemage. It would only have 1 spellcaster, but he can cover the most important buffs, and with the Merc going first and nullifying blocks, the blademasters (sword ones) would all hit pretty much (while you don't get the 2 bonus dagger hits, you get 1 bonus hit from crit (which you probably always will do) and swords seem to do almost double the base damage of a dagger...are faster/easer to train etc.

I think swords are actually better than daggers if you get one of the 2 hit base swords later on (Especially if you get an extra hit for both hands).

Funny because then I would be going almost all swords instead of almost all spears!!!

[wulfster42]

Finished the lighthouse and things are going well, but I can't keep going to seahaven (and get my expert spear and warfare skill!!) till I finish the dumb bandit quest which means losing my search companion.

Wow that fight with the 2 doors near the top of the tower, where elite guys come from both directions....I had to reload it, and then I went into the cubby hole so only 2 could get to me at once. That was harder then any of the fights afterwards (although the boss did knock me off the tower once lol).

I'm enjoying this so much I'm gonna go back and play all the old might and magic games again after this starting with World of Xeen (love that game so much). I have not played them in soooo long.

[wulfster42]

Well, I am going to push through with this party, as I have not made any massive mistakes, but....I now know alot more for the future.

First the SPELL Radiant weapons causes an enemy to not be able to block, which kinda makes the main advantage of GM warfare mute......since you can do the same thing with 1 person casting radiant weapons (and it's cheaper on mana costs).

That could easily mix up my party right there.

Meanwhile, I do have some spells, but I'm seeing how specializing in them could be really useful. They keep having me get ambushed by groups of enemies on all sides etc (I finished the castle). Once I actually get to seahaven I can expert my spears which will help with block attempts at least, but till then more AoE spells/damage would be nice (just have fireball really, and lightning on my other char but it only hits 1 enemy).

Since I get no real defensive advantage from melee chars, it looks more and more like spells are the primary way to go...sadly, if you wanna destroy stuff. That being said vs bosses radiant weapon + attacks from my other chars eats stuff up.

If I remade though, I would go with 1 radiant caster who also puts up the CA, 1 primary damage caster (probably runepriest), and 2 melee chars (and since Radiant weapons can get rid of blocks, at least one of em would be a blademaster at this point.

I can still mostly do that with my current bunch but it's not optimized, and I really didn't need a merc which means I could have gone with someone who can GM swords and has other abilities.

Oh well, I should be able to power through.