Alchemists are a lot fun due to the giant friendly robot you have that likes to crush, kill, and destroy for you. Also, I’m enjoying archers… now that I figured out how to reload my bow… That said, I haven’t made it past a level 12 character yet, and, yes, that was a Cormac.
The main campaign is complete and tested as are almost all the classes. It’s definitely out of the rapidfire massive sweeping changes phase that characterized the pre 1.0.0 development but there’s still ongoing support. My understanding is that now that the game’s out on Steam DarkGod (the creator) is now mainly working on a separate steamtech DLC campaign where you play an orc that will have a whole bunch of funky new mechanics and classes and such. The Stone Warden was a donator-only class because it was still in beta - the class, only, not the overall game - but that was quite a while ago and I haven’t played in months so that may have changed. Buying the game on Steam is effectively donating, so you get the benefits of donation (and if you donated directly you can get the Steam version for free by linking your te4.org account and Steam account.).
TOME used to stand for Tales Of Middle Earth
One minor annoyance: If I start in windowed mode, it throws the window off my screen down and to the left, so I have to drag it back up to where I can see the damned thing. If I dare use full screen, there is no mouse cursor. Annoying as hell.
Edit: Also, somewhat annoying that Wilder is unlocked, but nothing in Wilder is unlocked. I mean you might as well list all of the locked shit if you’re going to show me one locked thing. Just strange how that is set up.
“I’ll try a Wilder out, er… no classes… I guess I WONT try a Wilder out.”
Are you sure there’s nothing unlocked? Check it again when you have a dwarf selected. You should be pleasantly surprised. :)
-Tom
I love you.
I’m enjoying this better than Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup for some simple reasons:
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Inventory management is easier. No need to transport items to safe places for later use.
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Skill trees. Enemies have access to talents too.
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No food timer.
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Instant ID on items.
Reading that list some roguelike fans would wonder what the game offers. Simply put its more about the tactics, the level up and the loot.
And dying horribly to a sea of wolves.
Not to mention the unlocks. It’s not the same from class to class of course. Some classes really start to evolve once you get their advanced trees (Archmages, which have entire advanced trees built around the idea that “I just really like this one particular elemnt, and can’t stand enemies who resist it, can you please give me 4 skills to enhance that element and do something about those resists? Oh, you can? Super”). Other classes pop out pretty awesome. Like the Alchemist. There’s really nothing their bombs can’t do. Including kill you and your golem. . . until you max the skill that removes the friendly fire damage (seriously, max that one ASAP).
The departure in character building is welcome. While Roguelikes and their many spawn have always been about tweaking and experimentation, for some reason this is an area that’s been underserved. Like I said, there have been interesting takes at skill based and/or classess systems, but nothing on the level of this game.
Excellent post before the one I just quoted. I knew it had been around for a while, but your breakdown was way more interesting than a version history. I also had no idea about the Middle Earth tie-in, so I see that Maj Eyal is a sly workaround and not just Nonsense Fantasy Words. As for whether it’s complete, I have no desire to play games in beta, but I’ve occasionally been duped into it by the imprecise line these days between “beta” and “in-progress”. As for the Stone Warden, the only info I could find was from the manual linked on Steam, which isn’t a manual at all, but a wiki. The Stone Warden entry says nothing about “this class isn’t done yet”, so I shall continue to earthvine my way through whatever content the RNG churns out.
Credit the middle earth game where it’s due. It more or less modeled the entirety of middle earth (but randomized, if that makes sense). It was a lot of dungeons. And a lot of dungeon levels. Whoo boy. That game was exhausting.
As others have pointed out, this is how roguelikes work. Version numbers aside, they’re generally very playable well before anyone declares “it’s officially released!”. If people are actively playing it, this usually means it’s winnable/beatable. You won’t get burned here. Only rubbed. The right way.
I never play Cormacs anymore (when I’m actually playing the game. Which appears to be, you know, now. Again).
The Xp penalty won’t matter that much over the long haul. It’s worth a couple of levels, at most, over the entire game. Not that these levels are irrelevant, but the things you can get from other races are so amazing.
Cormacs get an extra category point, in addition to their xp gain rates. They’re considered a mediocre race. Good for starting out until you start to get your bearings.
For those who haven’t figured it out yet, you have two options with category points.
- Unlock a new skill tree, so that you can use it’s delicious awesomeness. By far the most common application.
- Improve an existing tree. Say what now? Look at the tree, next to the name oyu’ll see a number like “1.3” or “1.0” or “.8”. That’s your multiplier; every skill in the tree is multiplied by that number to determine it’s effective use level. So if you have Shield Bash at level 5, you enjoy everything that comes with it being level 5. But if your multiplier is .8, for damage purposes it counts as 5 * .8, or level 4. Likewise, at 1.3 you’d count as 6.5. Using category points in this manner is unusual; generally it’s better to unlock a tree. But it depends on the class and build (there are alchemist builds that can do it regularly).
- You get category points at 10, 20, 36.
By the by, at every multiple of 5 you gain 2 class talent points instead of the 1 generic/1 class. All racial talents are generic talents, which is one of the reasons people don’t care as much for Cormacs. Some of the racial trees -dwarves, skeletons, the elf stand-ins, halflings to name a few - can be pretty amazing. And there are other trees that are often useful, so often you don’t have generic points to spread around.
Lastly, the alchemist’s golem can be upgraded to shoot eye beams. EYE BEAMS. Almost as good as bombs that fill half the screen with hate, and then don’t damage you or the golem because you maxxed the friendly-fire skill like I told you to.
You can learn talents and talent trees in-game, in special circumstances. Both magic items, uniques, and randarts (uhhhhhh, purple? I can’t remmber the colors any longer) can have properties that increase the multiplier of a talent tree.
What is the login in-game about? Do I need to do that?
If you donate and login, the game unlocks a couple of things (not classes or races or anything like that); you must be logged in to access them. Also, there’s a global chat server, so if you are logged in you can chat with other folks playing the game. Across the ENTIRE UNIVERSE.
Yeah, I like the global chat interface where it updates people getting killed across the game and how/why and what level they were and other achievements that people gain while playing.
I donated I believe last year and really enjoyed the game for the couple plays I tried. I believe I got into the 20s in levels before I perished. I really should try out a few more race/class combos. One of the big issues I had was trying to determine the order of progression. I was randomly entering zones and dungeons I had no business being in. Later on I learned I missed out on a lot of content I should have been working through to get stronger.
I will have to look into this closer as I believe I can use my code and activate it on Steam. I would be much more apt to play through Steam and now with all the achievements, I may have to fire this up again soon especially with the forum activity :).
Going to spoil this, just in case. This isn’t really “super amazing knowledge!” or anything. Here goes. . .
A very rough area order for The West
- Clear out the available starter dungeons. Trollmire (forest area north of Derth), Norgos’s lair (snowey dungeon just NE of Derth, near the tree city), Heart of Gloom (just east of Norgos), Ruins of Kor’Pul are where you want to start.
The toughest bosses in order: are Trollmire, Kor’Pul, Norgos. Do not fight the last Trollmire boss until you are level 8ish. Do not fight Norgos until maybe level 5. You can leave and come back.
There are additional tier 1 zones, like Rhaloren Encampment and the Scintillating caverns. I take these next.
Each of these dungeons is always available, to every class. Some race/class combos start in these dungeons. If you start elsewhere you probably have to finish your starter dungeon before getting out here. Note: Mages do not have to finish their dungeon, which can be tricksy (you can leave and come back). Note: alchemists start in the Scintillating caverns (well, some of them). Leave. It’s a tricky place if you are new to the game; come back when you’ve got some levels.
Dwarven notes: after you exit your dungeon, you are in Dwarf city. There’s another dungeon in there. Do not take it on, go get some levels first. It’s harder than it looks, and the boss can be deadly.
There are other tier 1 zones.
- At level 10-12+, it’s time for the famed tier 2 dungeons. You have a quest to beat the following dungeons: Old Forest, The Maze, The Sandworm Tunnels, Daikara. Presented in roughly the order you should take them in. You must beat these dungeons to progress the story (as it werE).
Caveats:
- Old Forest has the first true swarms. This is dozens and dozens of a type of monster. Stick to small spaces and advance carefully.
- The Maze has a tough boss, much tougher than Old Forest IMO.
- Sandworm Tunnels has a tough boss and a hair pulling mechanic central to the dungeon. It can be frustrating to maneuver.
- Daikara is by far the hardest zone; cold and lightning resist can really help here (the former is probably more important). The boss is nasty. The giants are nasty. Other things are nasty.
I generally like to be 18ish+ before Daikara, so I explore other zones that become available to help get me there. I leave their discovery up to you. I will simply say that you won’t be able to beat the Last Hope Graveyard at this point. Some people like to “cheese” it.
Once you beat the core Tier 2 zones, Dreadfell is next up from a story perspective. God speed, on that one. I have lost many, many characters in Dreadfell.
Good stuff, peacedog. Thank you. It has been over a year now since I played and I feel another run coming soon… perhaps tonight!
Since I purchased it on Steam, does that count as a donation? The Steam version is the version you’d get if you donated, correct?
You know, I have no earthy idea. I don’t have the steam version. I heard a rumor about an unlock code, but I may purchase on steam just to support him more. I’ll see if I can dig up what’s what on this front.
Some of these lost dudes are downright suicidal.
When oh when will I learn not to disturb graves. I think that’s the primary way I’ve died so far.
Yes, the Steam version counts as the donator version. The game’s a free download so there would be no earthly reason to spend money on it on Steam if it didn’t. Conversely, donating a year or two back got me the Steam version the day after it came out.