Tips for a new player?

[solistus]

Hey all,

I just bought Eschalon last night, and so far I'm loving it. However, the character customisation options are a bit mystifying, as I don't know the game mechanics very well yet. I have a few questions about skills and attributes.

Skills -

I'm not really sure how much to specialise and which 'utility' skills I need (and how many points in each). I'm working on two characters currently; one is a dex/speed-heavy fighter and the other is a caster who I haven't done much with yet. I'm assuming I should invest a good chunk of my skill points in either weapon-and-armor skills (for the fighter) or casting and maybe a little armor (for the mage). What else should I work on, and how much should I divert from my main damage-related skills to get things like Hide in Shadows or Cartography (or whatever other secondary skills are worthwhile)?


Attributes -

It doesn't seem like min-maxing would be terribly effective. From the bit of lurking I've done, it seems like int and wis don't need to be increased past around 20 for spell requirements. Is this accurate? Are any of the others particularly under/over-powered?



Any other general tips? I figured out the hard way my first time through the Crypt to remember healing potions... Any other recommendations about gear, combat techniques, etc.? Oh, and what are the consequences of bad alignment? I have a nasty habit of killing defenceless NPCs....

[Dragonlady]

Hey all,

I just bought Eschalon last night, and so far I'm loving it. However, the character customisation options are a bit mystifying, as I don't know the game mechanics very well yet. I have a few questions about skills and attributes.

Any other general tips? I figured out the hard way my first time through the Crypt to remember healing potions... Any other recommendations about gear, combat techniques, etc.? Oh, and what are the consequences of bad alignment? I have a nasty habit of killing defenceless NPCs....

Well, don't kill all the blacksmiths and spell/potion ingredients npc's. You'll need them to sell your loot. You can kill the people who teach you skills after you get 5 levels.

I like to get alchemy to 9 - hoping I can find 2 'Brewmaster +3skill" rings. At Level 15, you can make 'powerful' healing and protection potions not to mention embue your armour and weapons up to +3's.

Don't buy (at the start) cartography. Go on a quest for someone, and he will teach you up to L5. That's all you really need.

Other skills you can find books to start you off (saving those 3 skill points you'd normally need to get skilll). (though book on Heavy armour won't show up till the middle/late in the game - sigh)

For a mage, get Light Armour skill. Lots of useful magic armour items to be found. Not so many for heavy armour.

[Daemian Lucifer]

Ideally,you should play a fiter healer,or a fighter buffer.But since later you will be able to learn the other magic type,focus just on the one you pick at the begining.

Also,dont choose a weapon skill in the begining,but unarmed.It makes it easier for you to bash things(no breaking of the weapon),and later you will be able to learn weapons for money,which is an excelent start.

Also,pick one of the armors as well.Casting penalty wont be a problem if you have high enough strenght.

Dont pick alchemy,since you will learn it for money later,and it wont be of much use in the begining anyway.

You can skip cartography as well since you will learn it for money near the begining,but it can be a bit hard to do on your first try.So a couple of starter practice games might do you good.

You will need loads of points in perception if you play a caster though.The rest is pretty much your choice.But try to specilize in just a few attributes and negating the others.

As for spells,find predator sight or cats eyes as soon as possible,and always attack under the cover of darkness.These two spells enable you to get lots of hits on the enemy,while making you a much more elusive target.I myself prefer predator sight(elemental magic)because the bonus is bigger,but cats eyes(divination)comes along with bless,so its your prefference.

Oh,and save books about weapons and magic for later when you buy the 5 ranks for money,since this way you will have an easy 7 without any spent skillpoints.

[Krafen]

I encourage you to think in terms of abilities you would like to have rather than in terms of a set "class." One of Eschalon's strengths is its flexibility in character development. Don't let the class name you were assigned hrow you off, all paths are open to you.

38 Perception gives the highest rate of regen (1/3 turns). I suggest getting there as soon as possible. At 40, you get an extra MP/level, so that is a good target. With 38 Perception, Meditation is redundant.

Most skills can be learned from books. If a book has a value of 50, it is a skill book (with one exception I know of). Many of the titles make it easy to guess the skill involved, but some are not so clear. A book either gives you rank 1 (if you are untrained) or two additional ranks. A book can only be read once for the bonus. There is no confirmation dialog, so be careful not to right-click the book until you are ready for the point(s). You will probably find a few books here and there in the world, but most will come from the vendors. As your level increases, the books will become more common on the vendors.

Quite a few skills can be learned from NPCs. All charge the same (100/skill level learned) and can train up to level 5. You can save a lot of skill points by training to level 5 and then reading a book.

If you have low strength, be careful about picking up torches. The weight adds up and they are a bit troublesome to get rid of. You can put torches into empty sconces by clicking the sconce, though.

There are a lot of items that give bonus points to skills and attributes. Hold onto these, particularly the non-combat ones. Dragonlady mentioned using rings to boost your Alchemy; equipping items to allow casting of higher-level spells outside of combat can be helpful as well.

The rewards for a high armor skill seem relatively low.

If you are not attacking with a weapon, the armor non-proficiency penalty does not affect you much.

If you are careful with your skill points, you will have many available for utility skills. Getting Cartography to 17 has some nice benefits (detailed map and nearby mob locations are displayed).

Some skills are only beneficial to a certain point. These are the ones I know of:
Alchemy: 15
Cartography: 17
Magic Skills: 31

Have fun

[solistus]

Thanks for the quick feedback, everyone! I have another question about vendors: does vendor item quality vary based on the vendor, the character level or both? You mentioned that at higher levels vendors have lots of skill books; does this mean that the early town's vendors will remain useful in the future?

[Krafen]

Seems to be both. All vendors get better items as you gain levels, but I seem to find more good items at the later vendors. With quick travel, it is easy to check all the vendors each time they get new items.