any tip on how to finish the game?

[Rex Lupus]

I have tried a few times, but I always get stuck when I start to explore level 15 areas. I always end up meeting an enemy that is too strong and kills me.

[Rainynight]

Learn from mistakes.

[Rex Lupus]

Originally posted by Logica:

Learn from mistakes.

What mistake? I don't know what else I can do. I'm using the best equipment I could find and there is no weaker area for me to get more levels.

[JtDarth]

Originally posted by Rex Lupus:

Originally posted by Logica:

Learn from mistakes.

What mistake? I don't know what else I can do. I'm using the best equipment I could find and there is no weaker area for me to get more levels.

Most the time, getting killed at such an area despite being of appropriate level, is a result of doing something 'optional' or not playing your chosen class well. 'optional' areas should be avoided if you aren't significantly more powerful than your character should be for that particular area, as they tend to be much more difficult.

Avoid opening closed doors and moving boulders unless you are DEAD CERTAIN that you can handle what is beyond.

[IdealPoint]

What races and classes have you unlocked? Do you have any of the DLC?

[Rex Lupus]

Originally posted by IdealPoint:

What races and classes have you unlocked? Do you have any of the DLC?

I'm trying as an alchemist and I have the Ashes of Urh'Rok

Originally posted by Logica:

Simple steps: try to understand WHY u failed and HOW can u fix this in next time.
___
My first mistake was playing on normal about very bad positioning: i was always fighting against 3+ melee enemies at once, i was blocked in dead-ends many times. I was never tried to kite the enemies (fighting them until one of us is dies). Movement is a key.

Another moment - some enemis much stronger than other: u should remember them and try to prepare in future (for example: mages with blue robes have lightning spells with high spike dmg. Green robes have blight dmg with high raw dmg AND high crit chance AND many debuffs. Classes with shield+slings have really high dps, when classes with "shadows" will knock u back atleast one time when u'll try to be in melee range with them, they also can't cast the spells beyond 7 tiles. Archers will hit u REALLY hard if u have "mark" debuff. etc etc etc).

And another moment (which i personally still ignore, even after 2.5k hours): u can't ignore debuffs on your character. Even if they looks useless, they can "hit" u in future. Some of them will do nothing at this moment, but can be lethal when u'll get another type of debuff. (It's hard to clear THIS ONE debuff if u already have 9 more debuffs of that type then chance to clear yourserlf from THIS ONE reduce from 100% to 10%). Reasons can be different, but u should focus on your debuffs all time.
___

There many moments like this :)

PS: rip english

Positioning is not a problem. I'm always starting from afar and have runes to run away, but I will see what I can do in my next try

[Samseng Yik]

The most common issues new player facing.
1) Dungeon tier sequence. Wandering into random dungeon and go in will get killed pretty fast.
Check the dungeon tier and recommended sequence
2) Not often utilize infusion/rune. Many of these can activate without time pass. Strongly recommended Heal Infusion and another that can cure status such as stun
3) Get surrounded in the open, always move your char to a narrow place so enemy will come in 1 at a time. Also can hide behind a wall wait enemy spell caster approach

[Morphic]

Originally posted by Rex Lupus:

Originally posted by IdealPoint:

What races and classes have you unlocked? Do you have any of the DLC?

I'm trying as an alchemist and I have the Ashes of Urh'Rok

Well there's your problem! Alchemist sucks! /sarcasm

But really Alchemist is rather weak later on due to relatively poor scaling and lack of options. Your golem seems great early on but often enough gets 1-4 shot by Rares/Bosses. Some quick tips I've noticed newbies making while playing Alchemist:

1. Remember that your Golem levels up when you do. Be sure to switch control and level it up as those meager Stat points and sparse Talent points can help out. Also remember to properly equip it with spare gear and it has Rune slots it can use too.

2. Your bomb damage scales with Spell Power, relevant Talent level and Gem Tier used. Many newbies forget they can make "ammo" out of different gems that give their bombs different properties. E.g. making your bombs generate Mana for each enemy hit, lighting up tiles, increasing explosion radius, etc. Also the higher the Tier of Gem, the more damage your Bomb will do.

3. Lack of Resistance Penetration. Most likely your going "all in" for one of the elemental infusion sustains.(which, IMO, you should) When turned on, your Bombs will be mostly dealing that Element's type. So if you use Fire, your bombs will be doing Fire damage... against Fire Resistant/Immune enemies you might as well be tossing sparklers at them. Early on you can afford to simply turn off your infusion against those enemies as your bombs will be doing Physical damage instead. However, later on you will end up sacrificing a lot of damage doing that. So be sure to find equipment that has X Resistance Penetration(for my example; Fire) and try to get as high as you can.

4. The Explosion Expert Talent increases the damage your Bombs do the more confined the blast is. Most newbies often overlook this and throw bombs wherever, when what you'll want to do is create or fight in tighter spaces to get that damage boost. Corners are usually pretty great since you can use the Golem to bodyblock for you or throw bombs around corners while the enemy can't see/target you.

Other than that it's difficult to offer better advice since the only info you've presented is basically "Help I die around level 15 areas. I don't make any mistakes!". What often kills you, Rares/Bosses or normal enemies? Are you opening Vaults/Chests? What area do you often die in? What are you putting Talent points into?

Though take my advice with a grain of salt. Even after ~250 hours and mostly playing on RL/NM I still feel I'm a newbie... I bounce around classes a lot and lately play Cornac so I'm not always the most well versed or experienced person for advice lol.

[Berenthas]

Need more info. Usual culprits are not using inscriptions enough and not knowing when to run away. Then gearing. Gearing is hard in ToME, and even after 100s of hours most people ♥♥♥♥ up at it. You never have enough HP and armor.

[ZirzoR]

Originally posted by Logica:

Learn from mistakes.

You know the problem with such a statement or advice, is that the person in question isn't knowledgeable enough to spot mistakes, especially when he with hubris says "I have no positioning errors"

"Starting from afar" Means absolutely dog dung when enemies can pull you in and use infusions of their own or teleport you/themselves around and other means of movement (Such as phasedoor/teleport/grasps/hooks/rush/tumble etc etc)

I think the first bit he should start with is to get rid of the hubris, I've played plenty of dungeon crawl stone soup back in the day and my first real enemy, was my own hubris.

If the person in questions isnt knowledgeable to know what gear to wear, how positioning works, how his class works or what/who killed him for what/why reason, then it starts to get abit tricky to help.

My advice? Watch someone better then you play the game, do some research, read a few guides. (Not class guides, I think people should learn classes by themselves) Just try and learn mechanics/gamesense and overall roguelike things, before thinking about what class/race to play.

Anything is viable on normal difficulty, even a mage not using spells. (Which is more of a challenge run, but still doable) I would say in the hands of a good player, any class/race combinations can complete normal/nightmare runs just fine, its when we get to insane that it starts to tone down abit and you need to be making a few cuts and adjustments.

Get a zone order going, make a list, so you dont get lost in a higher tier dungeon and die, I've had no problems with this zone order on normal/nightmare, I suggest giving it a go.

My Tier 1 Always Look like this:

Special Starting Dungeon > Norgo's > Troll Mire (All the way if you feel strong) > Kor'pul > Caves > Camp > Derth Arena > Troll Mire (If you didnt feel strong) > Lumberjack > Merchant

My Tier 2 Always Look like this:

Maze > Worm > Old Forest > Daikara > Hidden Compound > Complex

My Tier 3 is based on resistances on gear and class/race combo:

Spellblaze (Blight) Tempest Peak (Lightning) Lake of Nur (Breathing/Undead) based on resistances.

Ruined Dungeon > Old Conclave Vault (If I found the spawn) > I usually Skip Dogroth > Last Hope Graveyard (Go inside at level 15 to force level) > Dreadfell > Orc Mines > East > Jadda jadda jadda win the game.

[ThorClock🧙]

A lot of good content in this thread already, but here are some very simple survival tips for any playthrough of Tales of Maj'eyal:
1. Check every shop at the start of the game and try to score some +HP gear. Makes early game much easier because you can double your starting HP with just a lamp and belt pretty often.
2. Do every single dungeon, starting from lowest level. Yes, that means you do all six level 1 dungeons. The extra XP and money helps more than you might expect. Make sure you check a zones recommended level before entering. Some are also harder or easier than their recommended level suggests, but that's something you'll learn with experience.
3. If you encounter a tough enemy, just leave and come back later. Some randomly spawned enemies will just have insanely powerful skill combos due to pure chance.
4. -ALWAYS- have a way to teleport. If you don't have a way to teleport at will, you are just going to die the instant you get slightly unlucky. Teleport rune is good, but there are also tons of class skills. When you find a strong enemy you aren't 100% sure you can beat, you need to run away and use that teleport to run away. Also, go for either controlled or very long range teleports. Short ports will more often then not just put you right next to the thing you're trying to run from.
and finally 5. Don't be afraid to pump con and prioritize survival related skills. Escape skills, skills that prevent you from getting crits, skills that give shields, skills that prevent status effects etc are usually much more valuable than a skill that just does damage.

[mbrowne999]

Make sure your Command Staff and ammo match the enemy's resistance/vulnerability.

[Rex Lupus]

Thank you all for your advice. Some more info about my strategy:

I clean up each area by the level (starting from the weakest) to get as much level and gear as possible
I'm aware of teleporters and I have a blink rune myself to teleport away from enemies.
I always try to use everything I can. When I die I have everything on CD because I used everything I could.
I avoid the vaults and chests in my first run through a dungeon to check back later.
I die to bosses and sometimes to some rare enemies. Normal enemies, I obliterate with my bombs. Those enemies kill my golem and me before I can enough damage to them.

I know I'm doing something wrong, I just don't know what.

I will check out the recommended order

[ThorClock🧙]

For alchemist specifically, you can do really good damage if you max out all of your Explosive Admixtures as soon as possible. Explosives Expert especially can really boost your damage a large amount. Shockwave Bomb is meh but the other three I try to get to max rank quickly.
I also suggest unlocking the Advanced Golemancy tree at level 10 so you can unlock Supercharge Golem, specifically so that you can use it to resurrect your golem when it dies.

There are some ways you can make your golem a lot more meaty and hard to kill. Make sure you are upgrading his weapons and armor as often as you can. Put gems on his armor. Don't forget to give your golem Runes! I often will give my golem a shield rune and instruct it to use the shield rune as often as possible. Instant-use attack runes are also really useful on golems.

Also I failed to mention this last time, but Movement Infusion is probably the best survival tool in the entire game. Your golem dies to a boss? Just do the Joestar family secret technique: Run away! Leave the map, revive your golem, maybe go do a different level for more XP and come back later.

For Alchemists, you need to worry more about enemy damage type resistance more than others. I suggest taking one level in at least 2 of the damage modifier abilities. ( Flame Infusion , Acid Infusion etc). Mouse over enemies and check their damage resistance and switch as needed.

Stats can also play a roll. Max magic obveriously, but for alchemist, there's no reason not to use heavy armor, so get some strength and throw on plate armor. Throwing extra stats in con for more survivability is also a good choice. You can buy armor training in one of the towns. Armor training also lets you buy the best general purpose skill in the game, Thick Skin.