Thoughts - Part 1 (Possible Spoilers)

[John Robinson]

algesan

It's no breaking news that I get confused on a regular basis. I was wondering what, "Vincent NM party", and "IMO, coupled with weapon"
abbreviations stand for?

[Karjus]

Nm is nightmare.
Imo is in my opinion.

Sent from my GT-I9100P using proboards

[John Robinson]

Karjus

Thanks; I'm glad to pick up any "Forum Speak" available. At this rate looking at other posts, I may have to start taking notes.

Before now the only "IMO" I knew about was a company that produces sour cream (lol).

I can go head to head with anybody on Mainframe speak. "IE eyeball" most of dictionary size error codes defined by IBM begin with
the letters IEB. When there was a problem with no clues in the manuals, we just winged it, best guess from looking at it hence
IEB eyball.

[algesan]

Dec 31, 2013 12:30:37 GMT -5 John Robinson said:

algesan

It's no breaking news that I get confused on a regular basis. I was wondering what, "Vincent NM party", and "IMO, coupled with weapon"
abbreviations stand for?

Okay, some of these are over the top, but here is a fun list: www.allacronyms.com/cat/9/tag/forum

[algesan]

Dec 31, 2013 12:11:43 GMT -5 fallen said:

algesan - thanks for the feedback, we are going to work on making the reward more specific. In the mean time, try out Natural Mastery. Or, Vince could pick up the 1H sword.

Yeah, the last time I had Vraes at an inn, I was wondering from Karjus' posts about purely pumping Natural Mastery and whatever extends duration for it.  It would solve the problem for a while by giving Vraes access to all weapons at equal levels.  What I'd worry about, as the game continues, would be after Mastery is maxed, then what?  Unless we are looking at the end of the campaign at about the time it maxed, the problem will again come up of specialize or not.  It may not have a downside (other than mana costs to cast after every fight at low level in NM difficulty) since right now I'm using it to give me a bonus to my primary weapon speciality.

However, making the reward specific should fix the general issue.

Gah, and you guys have what, seven more character classes to build and balance at a minimum.  Heh.

[fallen]

algesan - one of the primary rules we laid down as we balanced characters is that you will want to specialize. A generalist who tries to do it all and refuses to focus will be weaker than someone who chooses a path and takes it. This does not apply only to Vraes and his weapon skill, but to all characters.

[John Robinson]

Jan 1, 2014 12:15:42 GMT -5 algesan said:

Dec 31, 2013 12:30:37 GMT -5 John Robinson said:

algesan

It's no breaking news that I get confused on a regular basis. I was wondering what, "Vincent NM party", and "IMO, coupled with weapon"
abbreviations stand for?

Okay, some of these are over the top, but here is a fun list: www.allacronyms.com/cat/9/tag/forum

Thank You That one is definitely going into my notes. Will be keeping that link as a handy reference.
I've been feeling like an English Lit major without a dictionary.   Exalt! +1

[xdesperado]

So just finished with E1 part 1 on hard.
Used Vraes, Karjtan, Kyera and Selen.
All ended as level 12.

Selen has proved to be my favorite so far. She carried the team early in combat and of course her lockpicking and trap removal is always useful. While she wasn't as dominant a force in combat as the story advanced that was partly due to Vraes and Karjtan starting to come into their own and also because I started relying less on her Frenzied Blows in melee combat to build up her Pinning Shot for support of team tactics.

I didn't get as much value out of Karjtan as I could have as it took me a bit to start appreciating the extra support he can provide the team. Started out with the mindset of oh yeah he's going to be the big cannon to flatten mobs and nuke bosses. Hasn't happened yet but he's solid and getting better.

Vraes was another slow starter for me. Made the mistake of going dual sword early and without having ranks in Burst of Speed to provide better mobility he was pretty ineffective as a tank. Going sword/shield and making better use of the talents I gave him saw a huge improvement. He could now reliably draw heat so I didn't have to always try and get him in a bottleneck and wait for the enemy to come to him.

Kyera was quietly effective in the role I set for her. Of course she's the major healer but is making decent progress as another ranged threat as I continue building up her Holy Retribution. Yes she is the weakest damage dealer of the group but without her healing and curse removal the rest of the party would be toast. Plus the bit of extra damage she can provide when not busy healing is often just enough to finish off already damaged targets.

Stats
Vraes: level 12, HP 368, SP 180
Dex 6
Con 6
Str 8
Will 5
Int 6
Know 3
Dodge 4
Resistance 5
Toughness 7
Blades 11
Hammers 3
Polearms 3
Leadership 1
Lore 4
Crushing Blow 6
Natural Mastery 1
Stone Skin 1
Burst of Speed 1
Savage Sweep 1
Captain Lukai's Blade (1H sword) 2AP, 3acc, 3par, 30-46dam
Reinforced Sheild 3par
Leather Jerkin (light) 22arm
Banded Bracers (Bracers) +2arm
Cloak of the Hund (Cloak) +20HP
Cunning Band (Ring) +2% crit

Karjtan: level 12, 160HP, 362SP
Dex 4
Con 4
Str 3
Will 7
Int 7
Know 9
Dodge 7
Resistance 14
Toughness 2
Polearms 2
Sorcery 8
Conjuring 5
Lore 2
Firebolt 3
Immolation 4
Choking Ash 2
Pureflame Shield 1
Rimwood Staff (Staff) 2AP, 2acc, 6par, 12-22dam, +40SP, +2dodge
Reinforced Robes (Mage) 8arm
Brazen Necklace (Amulet) +4dmg
Sage's Band (Ring) +8SP
Blurred Arm Guards (Bracers) +1 dodge

Kyera: level 12, 237HP, 364SP
Dex 3
Con 5
Str 4
Will 4
Int 10
Know 8
Dodge 2
Resistance 8
Toughness 3
Hammers 3
Polearms 2
Invocation 7
Conjuring 4
Lore 6
Holy Retribution 2
Etheral Anguish 2
Myshana's Tears 3
Purifying Breaze 1
Warder's Shield 1
Smiting Blow 1
Chaplain's Heavy Mace (1H Hammer) 2AP, 4acc, 3par, 28-42dmg
Reinforced Shield (Shield) 3par
Kallassian Overcoat (Light) 16arm
Warding Cloak (Cloak) +2arm, +2 Unholy Resist
Earthen Walk Boots (Boots) +2arm, +2 Earth Resist
Sage's Band (Ring) +8SP


Selen: level 12, 294HP, 236SP
Dex 8
Con 6
Str 5
Will 3
Int 8
Know 4
Dodge 6
Resistance 2
Toughness 6
Blades 6
Bows 7
Lore 2
Security 2
Stealth 5 (7)
Frenzied Blows 4
Pinning Shot 3
Sly Look 2
Masterful Disarm 1
Precision Pick 1
Broad Dagger (Light Blade) 1AP, 2acc, 1par, 12-22dmg
Ironwood Bow (Bow) 2AP, 3acc, 13-23dmg, 6range
Stealth Brigadine (Stealth) 14arm, +3evasion, +2stealth
Serpent-Tread Boots (Boots) +2acc, +6arm
Aegis Amulet (Amulet) +2par, +4arm
Ring of the Hunter (Ring) +6dmg, +2% Critical

While eager to carry on with this party and continue improving them, think I'll probably start a new save and make a few minor tweaks to the above.
Learned a lot on this go round so think next will go much smoother even if I ramp up the difficulty a notch or two.

[fallen]

xdesperado - great read out from the team, thanks for sharing! Glad you are seeing that with some patience and focus you can get all the characters into their grove. They especially excel when you are building strategies that focuses on team synergy. On lower difficulties, it might be okay for all the players to try to just be killers with their attack talents, but it isn't the most optimal way forward!