Beginner's help

[pepsimanvsjoe]

Figured I'd give some advice to newcomers.

You're likely to change classes & races as you progress. For now your best bet is a combination that will get you through the early dungeons.

Fighters - Self-explanatory. Always a safe bet for the frontline.
Brawlers - Most likely your main damage-dealer for the early parts of the game. They have a natural bonus to defense that accumulates as you level.
Thieves - Almost all treasure chests are trapped, and your #1 source of equipment comes from said chests. Thieves are a must. Make a dragon-newt thief so they can breathe fire in battle.
Mages - Can nuke enemies but most importantly they learn diomente. Diomente is a teleport spell that allows you to move to nearly any explored tile in a dungeon. After you get diomente you can immediately class change to something else like a Summoner or Alchemist.
Clerics - Healing spells.

Like I said, race doesn't matter too much at first. If you need to make a new character it's faster to take advantage of certain EXP grinding locations to bring them up to speed. Anyway, two dragons are a definite help. Before long their breath attack can hit entire rows of enemies.

Set your age low. Old characters lose vitality and eventually die and stay dead. If you want more stat points you can re-roll until you get a large amount. That said, it isn't really necessary. Stats fluctuate on level-up, sometimes they go up, sometimes they go down. Don't worry too much about it.

For skills you'll definitely want the following:

Mysterious Bag - all excess items from treasure get deposited in the alchemy warehouse. Nice way to reduce the headaches that come from running out of space.
Healing boost - I forget the name exactly but it strengthens the healing abilities of the character. Make this character your cleric and give him/her/? all your potions.

Money is easy to come by before long, mainly because all you'll really need to buy are potions and magic maps. Consider grabbing a flamberge when you get the cash for it, it'll make your fighter viable for awhile. Otherwise expect your brawler and dragons to do most of the killing.

The skill that awards treasure chests after random encounters. Normally chests only appear after fixed encounters. This can really increase the amount of loot you can attain.

When leveling up don't settle for 1 HP. Yes it happens A LOT but just continue to reload until you get 7-15 hp gains. With only 8 hp to work with at the beginning of the game you'll need all you can get. Don't worry about losing stats on leveling, it's only something to consider when you're class changing (you need points in certain stats to unlock classes).

If you're looking to get diomente early on your best bet is the third floor of the first dungeon. There is a hole at the very end you can continually inspect to fight relatively easy battles for 3000 to 4000 exp a fight. Bring a lot of supplies and a good book to keep yourself occupied. Once you hit spell level 7 with the Mage you get diomente and miracle. If you're getting bored (most likely) you can go ahead and stop. Personally I'd consider class-changing at this point to a summoner or an alchemist. Alchemists get a lot of debuff spells(very useful) while summoners can make contracts with monsters(basically a 7th party member, also very useful). Once you class-change your mage will end up with three charges for every spell level. Yes even if you only have one in spell-level 7 you'll somehow end up with three.

Oh and SAVE FREQUENTLY. This can't be emphasized enough. After the first dungeon monsters capable of beheading, nuking the entire party, and other nasty tricks will start appearing.

Once you get through the first few dungeons you'll likely want to pursue the more advanced classes. Hopefully by this time you've acquired some gear that'll make them viable.

The main thing to consider is that this party most likely won't be your final one. This party is for getting over those initial humps. You'll be class-changing or even creating new characters for the next leg of the game.
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If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[meshuggah12345]

What about the map? How does it work? I bought a "Magic Map" opened it in the dungeon and couldn't open it again, is it just a 1 use item?

[Copernic]

sometimes i can have 28 pts to distribute and with another character 5 points can you explain why because i hate this point i doesnt want to play for now

[Lenteazul]

Originally posted by meshuggah12345:

What about the map? How does it work? I bought a "Magic Map" opened it in the dungeon and couldn't open it again, is it just a 1 use item?

Yep, its a consumable so buy lots of maps before going to a dungeon.

[pepsimanvsjoe]

Magic maps are temporary. They serve as a compass to tell you where you are in the dungeon. If you want something a bit more permanent take screenshots of the map, then just bring them up on your computer for easy reference. Also in B1 of the third dungeon(the tree) you can find an upgraded magic map. This goblin dungeon map can be used a random number of times before it breaks. Broken items can be repaired at the shop or via spells so it's not a big deal(even if you have to repair the GD map at a shop it'll only cost 5 gold)

When you create a character the stat bonuses are random. Sometimes you get 5, sometimes 10 or even 40. This is a holdover from other Wizardry-styled games. It's not something to worry about since as you level up the stats you need for your class will go up while the stats you don't need will go down. So if you make a fighter with 30 intelligence and 10 strength, eventually they'll lost most of those INT points and get a bunch of STR points. It's frustrating to min-maxers but otherwise not a big deal.

Besides, level-ups are a GOOD thing. Each class has a mastery bonus(which unlocks in the 20s or 30s). This mastery bonus adds a % to a specific aspect of the class. For example a Mage will slowly become even better at casting spells, until eventually they can nuke everything in a single round(even the bonus dungeon stuff....but that's going to require an extra 1,000 levels or so).

Oh and yeah the level-cap for this game is extremely high(2,500? 2,800? I forget). The exp curve is kinda brutal though.(I'm at 30+ hours and a number of my characters are still in the teens in terms of level). Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself.

[pinwolf]

Originally posted by pepsimanvsjoe:

...race doesn't matter too much at first...

Are there special race abillities/skills?

[pepsimanvsjoe]

Originally posted by pinwolf:

Originally posted by pepsimanvsjoe:

...race doesn't matter too much at first...

Are there special race abillities/skills?

Actually yes.

Human: 10% Spell Resist, 15% Status Resist, 30% Status Recover
Elf: 25% Spell Resist, 15% Status Resist, 30% Status Recover
Dwarf, Gnome, Hotlet, Fairy, Werebeast, Dragonewt: 15% Spell Resist, 15% Status Resist, 30% Status Recover

Fairy: AC -5 (low AC is good).
Werebeast: +20% Poison attack. Silver equipment will cause Curse if equipped.
Dragonewt: Breath Skill in battle (default is a fire breath attack)
Devilsh/Hotlet: Can equip cursed items without getting cursed. Cannot equip Holy items.

[hardwiredsin]

Thank you SO much for this thread, I'm enjoying the game a lot but I also have no clue what I'm doing :( reading the manual right now...I'm trying to create my own party rather then use the premade characters but I was totally lost on what to choose so this thread helps

[ウィッチ（？）]

Race do matter. Here are some more points.

Human = Generic, nothing good but nothing bad either. Also aging could be problem..

Elf = Can live long (up to 900) also good with magic. Low strength make it hard to use for melee job.

Dwarf = Can live long (up to 200) good with fighting job. But bad with intelligent.

Gnome = Can live long (400) and good for Priest or Thief.

Fairy = Only for hardcore players. Have heavy restriction on equipment and low vitality makes it hard to keep on going (can even Lost in inn while sleep if you are unlucky) plus they live only 30 years. Good if you want high agility character, also start with AC5 (good defense). Just don't forget, one hit = death for this race most of time.

Hotlet = Best race for Thief. That is it. If you want to use them, get 20+ points and add point into Strangth and Vitality after Agility.

Werebeast = Have good attributes (except luck) overall but might be hard to use because of ability to pursuit attack when steal or making summon contract.

Dragonewt = Race that can use fire Breath. Useful for up to mid way into game but at high level, normal physical attack will do much more damage. Might be good with job (e.g summoner) that have less choice to attack. Also one of race that can live long (300).

[Terminal Velocity]

Should I stick with the premade characters at level 4 when I start? Or can I create a new party from scratch at lvl 1 and not worry about getting wiped out in the first dungeon? I have created a mixed party using some premade and some mine, but I'd rather put the premades aside and create my own.

[Ketampanan]

I have several questions:
- Are the preset characters good to use, or is there any drawback to using them instead of making my own characters?
-Is there a front/back row for your party? I assume it has, with 1st three front and 2nd three back, but there's no indicator whatsoever for the rows.

[pepsimanvsjoe]

You'll be fine for the first dungeon using entirely created characters.

And yes there is front/back row. 3 x 3. Weapons are classified as having S, M, or L range. S weapons are front row only, M can be used by front or back, but only front can attack enemy back, L can attack any range. There's a couple methods to get unlimited range for everyone(off the top of my head there's an alchemist spell). Spells can also attack either or both rows.

Enemy groups tend to be up to three rows. The third row doesn't actively participate in battle until either of the other two rows are wiped out.

IIRC preset characters have special unique skills. Otherwise it's better to decide your own race/class/skills. If need be you can always create new characters.
Unfortunately I don't have the info on pre-made unique skills.

[ウィッチ（？）]

Originally posted by That 900mmr guy (ShadowMaster):

Should I stick with the premade characters at level 4 when I start? Or can I create a new party from scratch at lvl 1 and not worry about getting wiped out in the first dungeon? I have created a mixed party using some premade and some mine, but I'd rather put the premades aside and create my own.

Does not matter who you use at first, you will going to replace them or make new for many reason. Getting Lost (perma death) can happen anytime.

Oh and.. if you want survive long enough from beginning. Buy some alchemy material then add HP regen to your equipments. Which helps a lot in early dungeons.

[pepsimanvsjoe]

Oh right. Completely forgot about materials.
Ore is typically found while exploring dungeons. You'll need a pick* (pickax) to collect them. Afterwards you can go to the Alchemy warehouse(Inn) and your Alchemist can add a variety of bonuses to your equipment.

This list is for Elminage Original but should apply to Gothic as well.

unrestricted main/sub(35 AP)=make your weapon usable in right or left hand.

unlimited range(30AP)=infinite range on weapon

Curse(10AP)= Lift curse on item (which mean you can equip cursed item)

double-strike-*monster type*(15AP)=Double dmg to *type* creature

Status Recovery Rate(1AP=2%)= my guess is the recovery rate if you're sleep,mute,fear

Alignment unrestrictions(15AP)=make item equipable for all 3 alignement
gender unrestrictions(15AP)= make item equipable for all gender
equip Unrestrictions(35AP)= make item equipable for all class?(not sure about this one)

Damage value(5AP=+1min/max dmg)=increase weapon dmg

recovery(2AP=1hp)=recover hp at end of turn

Resistance-Ma(1Ap=1%)=increase resistance to mage spell
Resistance-CL(1AP=1%)=increase resistance to cleric spell
Resistance-Al(1Ap=1%)=increase resistance to alchemist spell

I move-Sle(1AP=1%)=add sleep effect to weapon
I move-Poi(1AP=1%)=add poison effect to weapon
I move-Par(2AP=1%)=add paralyse effect to weapon
I move-Sil(1AP=1%)=add silence effect to weapon
I move-Con(1AP=1%)=add confuse effect to weapon
I move-cha(2AP=1%)=add charm effect to weapon
I move-Pet(2AP=1%)=add petrify effect to weapon
I move-beh(2AP=1%)=add beheaded effect to weapon

I Resistance-Sle (1AP=1%)=increase resistance to sleep
I Resistance-Poi (1AP=1%)=increase resistance to poison
I Resistance-Par (2AP=1%)=increase resistance to paralyse
I Resistance-Sil (1AP=1%)=increase resistance to silence
I Resistance-Con (1AP=1%)=increase resistance to Confuse
I Resistance-cha (2AP=1%)=increase resistance to Charm
I Resistance-pet (2AP=1%)=increase resistance to petrify
I Resistance-beh (2AP=1%)=increase resistance to beheaded
I Resistance-dra (2AP=1%)=increase resistance to drain

Attribute -Fir/ice/lig/hol/dar (1AP=2%)=increase power of element (fire/ice/lightning/holy/darkness)

e Attribute -Fir/ice/lig/hol/dar (1AP=2%)=increase resistance of element (fire/ice/lightning/holy/darkness)

AC (10AP= -1AC)

Most of the ores you'll find in the beginning are worth 10 AP. So it's easy to apply a +5 hp bonus per round per character. This will definitely help early on.

*picks will break, easily repaired at the shop or via other means.

Speaking of, a lot of equipment can be used as an item in battle for various effects. In Elminage Original these uses were infinite, but in this game they will break after so many. The Flamberge you can buy is one such example. (Good reason to have an alchemist, or at least somebody with alchemist spells)

[Ketampanan]

Alright, another questions:
-What does alignment affect other than class restrictions? Also, alignment comments?
-I read the manual for stats. Saw that AGI only affects turn order and thief skills? It doesn't affect anything else, like AC? Seems kinda useless other than for thiefs and healing classes.

[Baggy]

Thanks for the screenshot tip for the weird magic map, sick of running out.