This is my first time with the ruleset, but that’s certainly the feeling I’m getting. I’m not really sure where to invest points in the start, so I’ve mostly been pooling the APs for now, waiting to meet some trainers that can teach me useful special abilities.
It’s a similar feeling to the one I had when I played Baldur’s Gate the first time where ruleset was an obstacle that I had to get over if I wanted to enjoy the game underneath.
Yeah, it’s game systems like this where I read a few useful guides before I even play to get a feel for character builds and such. I would rather play initially as a guided walk-through instead of simply making horribly ignorant choices early on that ruin the late-game.
I kind of like it.
Yes, it can be kind of daunting at first glance, especially for mages, but if the alternative is dumbed down rpgs for the unwashed masses, i will take having some customization options instead.
The mage thing was hard to accept. It seems like you have to pick a few spells you like and focus your stats around supporting them, as opposed to just pumping intelligence to be good at every spell. I’m not sure i like this.
Some of the criticism I’m reading is that luck tips the balance too often in encounters. High chances to “not connect” with attacks is common to PnP systems in the early levels. I’m wondering if you can comment on that.
Do you eventually get money in this game? I am still early in the game, but i have absolutely no money.
I can get 1gold from a map if i’m lucky, many give nothing. Maybe a quest will give me 3-5 gold, or nothing.
It costs me 1 gold to rest at an inn which is insane.
This brings up the question, why should i rest at an inn instead of buying provisions and resting in the wilds (other than it is annoying)? Provisions only cost 4 silver (0.4 gold?).
This is influenced by skills obviously but i don’t think my survival is really high enough to affect the price much.
I haven’t started the game yet, but I don’t like the idea of creating/leveling characters when I don’t understand the underlying RPG system. I was already familiar with DnD so I didn’t need to learn it for Baldurs Gate/Neverwinter/Knights of the Old Republic.
Has anyone found a detailed online explanation of the pen-and-paper rules? The only guide I could find was here in a Steam thread, and its doesn’t bother explaining anything, its just a straight up “this is the most powerful character build”. I’m not interested in that, I want to make my own characters using educated choices.
Tony
For me, most of the stuff was similar enough to D&D that it came pretty naturally.
Mages being a key difference since instead of 1-2 stats being the primary attribute for all of a caster’s spells, each spell has their own stats.
Thanks Murbella, greatly appreciated.
Actually there’s an overview article in-game (world map menu), which is also linked on the Blackguards Steam hub. Written by some guy from the Codex.
edit: Every detailed rules guide written for one of Drakensang games should also be okay. Only details are different.
Resting is cheaper in other parts of the world.
Make sure to open every treasure chest you encounter. Increases the amount of loot. There aren’t many though. Usually only in places which make some sense. You can safely ignore crates and barrels for loot.
Relatively spoiler-free hints
Immediately put points into the weapon skill you want to use. Keep in mind for later that certain enemies (skeletons would be the obvious example) aren’t impressed by piercing weapons.
The mouse-overs give you a good idea which attributes or talents to put points into. The basic formulas / dice rolls are explained in the in-game guide.
Practically it might be a good idea to simply start with your 2nd favourite arche-type and then create your favourite in expert mode later.
Cheers. My initial thought was to look at the special talents I’d want later (like triple shot for hunter) and then make sure I meet the stat requirements for them. But now I saw several posts where people suggest skilling up weapon first - any guidelines here as to how high? And for the hunter, are the bows or crossbows a better option?
The weapon skill influences the hit%, so it’s absolutely necessary to spend points there if you want to hit anything. Mellee chars will max their primary weapon, so you certainly can’t be completely wrong to put points in there. Maybe start with 8 or 12 or so.
You’ll get quite a lot of AP throughout the game. No need to save them. Maybe keep 1000 per character and spend the rest. The game has some difficulty spikes. Unused AP will make those levels even harder.
Useful special talents are:
Mages should have some points in either staffs, daggers or bow. The first two usually come with weapon modifiers (+2 mana regen, etc.) and dual wield could be an option to get twice the boni (still needs confirmation!).
Crossbows offer more damage but lack some specials. I’m not sure 3-shot is available to them. The shooting frequency should be identical.
I bought this when it came out but hadn’t played it really at all until today. I like it a lot. Recommended to anyone that likes SRPGs.
I’m pretty addicted to it. Up all night and I have a paper due tomorrow too!
How much pre-knowledge is needed for the game to not be a pita. Ie: two handed swords are a waste of points because eventually you fight tons of skeletons which resist slicing, should of gone two handed mace noob!
No, two handed swords is fine because it deals slashing damage, not piercing damage (which skeletons are immune to i believe). Basically you want to get that skill that increases the damage of your strike by like 3X (can’t remember name, but i believe two handed swords get it) and you don’t want to go piercing damage (although i did hear that was a blunt damage spear later on, but cannot confirm).
That is pretty much all. Oh and dual wielding doesn’t seem that great since it stupidly doesn’t have any effect unless you use one specific dual wield basic attack (ie it doesn’t work with the high level super attacks you use).
Skeltons are indeed immune to piercing damage, and you’ll face many in the middle of the game. ;)
Of course there are a few encounters or story twists which are easier if you know what’s coming. I don’t think you need to know more than in similar games, as long as you stay focused.
Towards the end I had to force myself to finish. So many encounters with infinitely respawning enemies, chokepoints, cumberstone ruleset, very generic storyline (party banter was very good in comparison) - whole thing felt like a really average NWN module, only with different rules.
Its a tactical game, a lot more than it is an RPG. As for the infinite spawning enemies, you are talking about the ones where you had to use the environment to stop them or to complete the task, right? I haven’t ended the game, but most hard areas have specific things you can do to tip combat in your favor.