Some beginner questions on the skill system

[Lindwyrm]

Hello everybody, 

 

I'm reading the BoA manuel at the moment and playing with the idea of creating a custom character. But before doing so I want to finish "Valley of Dying Things" and clarify some questions.

 

Do I need to spend skill points in DEX if I want to create a tank?
If I get it right an appropriate level of MEL is enough to hit enemies with swords.

 

Jeff is speaking of some "advanced skills" like parry.. is there a list of all possible advanced skills available?

 

Furthermore ARC is described as some kind of cumulative group skill, clalculated by this formula: 
Cost: 1 skill point, Base: INT / 2
But what exactly does "Base" mean? Are these the base costs? So it would be best to train ARC on my tank with complete lack of intelligence.
or does it mean I get for example 2 points as a present, spending 4 skill points in INT during character creation?
(same question on that regarding DEX on TUS)

 

Would it be theoretically possible to get invulnerable characters when skilling HRD to 100 points? 

 

Is the advantage "Elite Warrior" limited to specific kinds of weapons?

And does "Natural Mage" effect priest spells too? It says "all of your spells receive bonuses" in the manual, but I think that's limited to mage spells

 

That's a lot of stupid questions, but I am trying to understand the game mechanics before doing some serious faults when creating a character. I would be very happy if some of these questions could be answered.. so thank you very much in advance for your help

 

and one last question.. is it kind of cheating, when playing a scenario twice or more often with the same party?
there are many games out there which requires the player to grind content in order to achieve some progress. Is BoA one of these?

[Randomizer]

Skills and Traits should answer most of your questions.

 

Dexterity and Luck makes you harder to hit so that's one way to make a tank. High armor, parry, and other skills can reduce damage even if you are hit.

 

Base means the value from just stats like INT in that case.

 

Natural Mage applies to priest too.

 

Playing a scenario more than once is fine, but you can usually find other scenarios at the same party level with different content. There are guides on suggested levels.

 

 

[Chessrook44]

One thing Random didn't mention is that Dexterity ALSO affects when you go in combat.  Those with higher dexterity go before those with lower dexterity.  Don't dump EVERYTHING in it, but it's probably wise to put points in it for everyone.  Same thing with Strength and Endurance.  Intelligence, in my eyes, is LESS useful for non-spellcasters, except that it helps resist mental effects.  Which is good if you don't want your tank to be charmed and start hacking at your robe-wearers.

[Mr.TiC]

I'd just like to add that it can be quite useful for your fighters to have a few points in magic, preferably Priest Spells. Iirc, it also increases mental resistance but you can simply check that in game. Anyway, in addition to having some emergency utility, like heals and cures, when big monsters (Mung Demons for example) use their weird dumbfounding spell, they seem to target the nearest party member who has spell points. Since their spell eats half of your spell points and fighters are usually closest to the enemy, it's a good way to save the SP of your mages and their ability to cast. There aren't any Mung Demons in the first scenario though, so it's not that important on lower levels..

[Lindwyrm]

I'm very sorry for my late response.. 
Thank you very much Randomizer, Chessrook44 and Mr.Tic!  

 I think I prefer general damage reduction to some good chances not to get hit. 

Unfortunately I haven't fully understood the matter with the base yet.. is it good in the case of ARC to have high INT, or is it more expensive to improve it with high INT?

 

How many points in INT (and maybe in Priest Spells) would you recommend me to spend?

 

 

[Kelandon]

"Base" is your base value of the skill before any levels that you've "bought" (i.e., expended skill points to get) are taken into account. If I remember correctly, skill point cost is entirely dependent on bought values, not base values. The value on your skill sheet is the total of the base and bought values.

 

If that's right, then the way that it works is as follows. Suppose you have skill X, which has a base value of skill Y / 2. Suppose you have never trained in skill X, and it costs 3 skill points to raise skill X. Your skill Y is 6, so your skill X is 3. If you raise skill Y to 8, your skill X will go to 4, but it will still cost 3 skill points to raise skill X. The base of skill X went up, but that doesn't affect costs in any way; it's just a free point in skill X. So no, in no way does having a high base value for a skill hurt you.

 

In general, you'll need 17 points in Priest Spells/Mage Spells to get access to the highest-level spells. In very high-level scenarios (e.g., Exodus), you may need to go even higher (as high as 25).

 

Int is good for casters, and I raise it a fair bit to get spell energy and stronger spells for them, but I've never raised it for non-casters. It does raise Arcane Lore, but it's cheaper just to raise Arcane Lore directly. It also raises whatever resistance, but Luck and Resistance are better for resistances anyway.

 

But it's not really possible to give a value that you should raise Int to. There's no cap or anything. It just continues to help casters as you keep raising it, so as you gain levels, put some skill points into it regularly.