End-of-game thoughts...

[Unbeliever]

My end-of-game thoughts for BW and other interested parties:

Eschalon is LOTS of fun! I played the first time through as a fighter, who added divination, elemental and alchemy fairly late in the game, and only started really using them by the endgame.

I've already started the game again, this time as a magic-user...

[Am I understanding this right? All classes get one free skill, based on their class. But magic users and healers can gain additional mana based on their int or wis -- and I'm not seeing any comparable benefit for fighters, rogues or rangers. Since any class can progress along any lines, is there any reason NOT to select magic user or healer, always?]

I actually think the game is just about the right size -- if you were to add many more maps, I'd want more/better weapons, armor, treasures, quests, and several new monsters as well...

You've definitely hooked me for any sequels... well done!

I don't generally advocate for uber-bosses at the end of these things, but I must say, the citadel was too easy. The Destroyer battle is pretty much the difficulty level I was expecting at the end of the goblin citadel.

On the other hand, I spent much of the game "broke", wanting/needing much more gold than I had. Maybe add something like the goblin statue midway through the game, to be a gold/experience generating fountain?

I realize the last two paragraphs seem contradictory. The end was too easy -- but I wanted to be able to buy and carry More Stuff. Nevertheless, that's how I feel!

Speaking of carrying more stuff -- how greedy am I to ask for 4 or 5 tabbed pages of inventory, each being not much smaller than the one page we have now? That way, we could organize our backpacks better, grouping like things together. And ONE of those tabs could be a "special inventory" page, where the game can automatically put quest items, keys, easter eggs, etc, to keep them out of the way, and prevent us from accidentally selling or dropping them...

Thanks again for a great game. As I posted two weeks ago, I wasn't LOOKING for another game right now... but I'm glad I found this one. I'm not sure how many players you hooked by handing Shamus Young a free copy to review on his blog (Twenty Sided), but I'm one of them...

[Daemian Lucifer]

[Am I understanding this right? All classes get one free skill, based on their class. But magic users and healers can gain additional mana based on their int or wis -- and I'm not seeing any comparable benefit for fighters, rogues or rangers. Since any class can progress along any lines, is there any reason NOT to select magic user or healer, always?]

Perception is your key attribute for mana,while inteligence and wisdom are secondary.Constitution is your primary attribute for hitpoints,and strenght is the secondary.So,if you invest just in magic,you may end up casting buffs that will make all creatures hit you just 2 times in 100 swings,but even those two hits will kill you.Sure,it is nice to have a buff that gives you a basic damage of +15,but its even nicer if your unbuffed damage is at least 15.Its also quite nice to have monsters basic tohit against you be 2%.So yes,there are reasons not to select a mage/healer.Furthermore,its quite a tough start being a mage,and even tougher if you have no combat abilities.

But I found out that a hybrid is the best choice.Mine was elementalist with unarmed and heavy armor,and it worked out quite nice(although I switched to blundgeoning after findig a book and an amulet that gave a plus to blundgeon weapons).

[Krafen]

I initially thought the same thing about class choice. As it turns out, though, the bonus from Int or Wis is insignificant. You get +1 magic point/level for every 10 points of Int or Wis over 10. Since the most Int or Wis you need to learn spells is 20, you will probably not see much, if any, bonus from those stats. Although they also effect resistances, End effects all resistances, so it is a better choice for that. As I have come to understand the mechanics of the game, Int and Wis seem to be lacking in utility. A nice addition would be for them to affect the chance of a spell being resisted. I think that would make for a nice trade off between Per and Int/Wis.

As to money, I was also struggling with finances until I found out you can make a profit by imbuing items and reselling them.