Damage type (physical/magical)

[Lynthia]

Hey there,

I can't find any answer on the forum, so i'm asking there.
Does a blacksmith necessarily has to deal physical damage?
Does a Busker necessarily has to deal magical damage?

I'm asking this because i just found a Rapier, it's a sword that gives 21 Physical damage, and tests the Talent value 3 times.
And my Busker has currently an Ivory Lute, which is 12 Magical Damage, and tests the Talent value 3 times too...

So the problem is, i can't find any advantage not to use the Rapier, for the same stat tested, the same number of times, it deals almost twice as much damage, and i can't find anywhere an interest in dealing magical damage with the Busker, or with the talent stat, right ?

Apart from the fact that Lutes have a different utility, a more support one, is there anything i'm missing here ?
Does Buskers have some kind of inner bonus using lutes? dealing magical damage? That kind of information is a bit lacking i think.

Does Strenght directly affects my damage? or is it only the chance to succeed with my abilities ?
Same goes for Talent, Awareness ..

[Angy Bears]

No class is tied to a single type or form of attack. It's entirely based off the class's stats. In example, the Busker has 72 Base Strength and 70 Base Constitution on top of it's huge talent stat. This means the Busker can use Musical weapons, Strength weapons and constitution weapons.

Personally, I love the Busker. If I come across a rusty dagger early game I always take it to use, as it's amazing on them and they can use it easily with their constitution stat. Usually though, I'll stick with musical and move directly to Physical attack damage when I come across the rapier, katana or other talent based physical weapons. Usually due to Magic damage falling off somewhat in mid game.

It all comes down to what your party needs damage wise. Every class can use 2 "Types" of weapons, as every class has 2 "Major" stats. It's for flexibility :) But no, there is no direct downside to using one over the other. Just make sure you have good stats in it's type so you get decent rolls, lol.

[Abaddon1]

The only direct downside would be if you had no sources of magical damage to use against things with high physical resistance. Lutes also give some passive benefits and serve a more support role as you said. Really just depends on what you are trying to do and what your party needs. e.g. If you already have two high physical attack people and want to use a lute for AoE magic damage or buffs etc. then it would make sense to do that over getting a third high physical damage person.

[Lynthia]

Thansk for your answers!
Yep you both made a very good point about balancing magical and physical damages for enemies having armor or resistance up.
Good to know that they are flexible, altough that could be nice to have some class directly tied to a type of damage. It doesn't sound veeeeery logical that a blacksmith could use a magical lute, and that a minstrel could go with a sword. Having a specific bonus to magical/physical damage depending on the class would be nice.

I just lost my run on another issue actually, i was in one of the last dungeons and i was in bad shape, so i tried to flee, i succeed, and when i'm out, i can't put my camp or use any object, i just have the "explore further" option of the dungeon i'm at, and my only choice is to go back in the dungeon... :d Not sure if it's intended, but if it is, the option to flee here is very tricky :p.

Thanks for the feedback and the quick responses anyway ;).

Ps: Does Blacksmith / Hunter / Busker seems the best combination to you guys ? It seems to me but i'd love to hear other opinions about it ;).

[Abaddon1]

Originally posted by Lynthia:

Good to know that they are flexible, altough that could be nice to have some class directly tied to a type of damage. It doesn't sound veeeeery logical that a blacksmith could use a magical lute, and that a minstrel could go with a sword. Having a specific bonus to magical/physical damage depending on the class would be nice.

A blacksmith certainly could use a magical lute, but would not be as proficient at it as they would using a strength or constitution weapon. The stats already balance people into general types of weapons, and the types of weapons tend to be associated with one damage type or another.

For example most Awareness and strength weapons do physical damage with a couple that do magical damage.
Most talent and intelligence weapons do magical damage with a few that do physical. The few interesting weapons that break this mold allow for greater flexibility.

In general the classes that have awareness and strength as their main stats are going to be doing physical damage, in general the classes with talent and intelligence main stats will be doing magical. Some weapons have the ability to do magical or physical damage as some skills will be physical when the overall weapon does magical (e.g. the stun skill on the minstrel's starting lute does physical damage while the lute itself is magical damage).

[Lynthia]

Yup don't worry i got that :p .
I know from the begining they are set in a direction, even if they can do anything.
I was just saying that, it would be nice to have classes with specific bonus depending on who they are, a blacksmith should be good with physical damage, and could have bonus with it, same goes for a minstrel with magical damage. I know they already start with good stats in strenght and talent respectively, which will boosts their weapons etc... but apart from the stats.. :/

[Abaddon1]

I don't know, I like not having reinforced class roles, though I largely treat the classes as a set of stats with a passive skill and starting items and choosing from that. It is true though that I could see more class differentiation being a good thing as well. A delicate balance to strike.

[SlyJ]

Try out the herbalist. Crazy passive. Chance of picking up herbs randomly. and also Having a Hunter or Trapper is important for the evasion tanking.

[Lynthia]

Yup !
Hunter is definitely a must-go to me, i haven't really tried trapper, to me, it just seems like it's not worth yet. But i'll give it a shot ;).
Herbalist is really good too, a lot of people say it's hard and expensive to get the healing herbs(i don't remember the name) but i've never had this problem yet. Thing is, in all of my "good" runs, i've had at some point an item that gave the random herbs picking and the healing group skill.
Which really seems weird, i mean, it's the main reason you would want to pick the herbalist right? But you can just have an item(which is not "that" hard to get) that gives you that.
Then what's the point of having an herbalist apart from having thoses skills early on ?

I haven't played the game enough to know for all the skills, but it seems that some inner skills that have characters can be available through items in the game, this is a bit weird..
I think characters should have some Unique skills that no one else could get.

[lost carcosa]

Originally posted by Lynthia:

But you can just have an item(which is not "that" hard to get) that gives you that.
Then what's the point of having an herbalist apart from having thoses skills early on ?

the items that grant party heal are generally pretty bad, not 100% on the find herb one, but there is arguably a better piece for those slots.

late game when the herbalists early game advantage is semi-lost, they can still transition nicely into damage and STILL party heal and find herbs randomly without wasting those slots.

it's part of the reason i never embark without an herbalist, i just think they are extremely useful all game.

[ComplexGame]

You dont need an herbalist. The farthest I've made it every time is without an herbalist.

But really classes are overrated. It's about how well you play.

[esukhanov]

"Ps: Does Blacksmith / Hunter / Busker seems the best combination to you guys ? It seems to me but i'd love to hear other opinions about it ;)."


For me worked the best with Scholar as magic DD / Trapper w spear as physical DD / Busker as taunter.

Herbalist makes game a bit less stresfull + you don't sacrifice a slot or better weapon for healing skill and brass bell appears rather often if you urgently wanna get a refocus ability.


Hunter or Trapper (i think Hunter is ultimately better, but as I won the game first time with Trapper - i prefer him) as physical DD with spear or spear+buckler is awesome (for me worked muuch better than Woodcutter with two handed + there is lightning spear and spear with additional damage to humanoids).


Busker to my taste is the best tank (though you will need to win Hanged man to get his hat to compensate for not the best vitality and get steady skill - this gets stressful if hanged man is somewhere on a far away island or you find him too late in the game) with dagger in the early game, then rapier or mace in the mid game, then zeus blade or demon blade or similar one-handed weapon in the late game.

Just unlock night markets and check them on every ocasion for candies / goat head staff / zeus blade / red spear with damage to humanoids or similar items that would be of a use untill the last biom and even fine for final boss.

[ComplexGame]

Esu, sounds like you owe a lot of your success to an item from haunt. I will not lie, the haunts make a huge impact on the overall game. Lucky's hat is really good early game, but it becomes less valuable as time goes on. One hat that is very good is the hat you get from defeating The Royal Droll. We already had a Busker in party, but we got the hat from Royal Droll and put it on another character so we had distraction even when the Busker was using the Rapier AND encourage.The Hangman's Hood is awesome for Lich's Crypt.

[esukhanov]

@MTGPoker, yup.
Busker taunter is still fine tanking without hanged man's hat, even on normal, but it makes the play more enjoyable. Like you mentioned - some scourge hats make an impact, so you should take it into account when you decide to risk taking on specific scourge (in the end as any fight in specific location it costs turns, godsbeeds and etc.) - which is an awesome mechanic.

Though i really value only royal droll and hanged man, and maybe foul priestess/bandit king a bit.. leprechaun and coal hearts i usually do not bother.