A6 - Battle Frenzy Guide

[Slawbug]

Each point of Melee or Poles, and each 2 points of Bows or Throws, whatever the source, gives you 1 point of Battle Discipline skill. Getting to 20 earns you the last battle discipline, Battle Frenzy. It was already one of the strongest game elements in A5, and it is even better in A6 due to the nerfing of Haste and of bonus AP items. Therefore, it makes sense to seek it out ASAP and pay close attention to how you can get it without wasting too many skill points.

 

First let's look at how you can get battle discipline points without spending skill points:

 

ALL PCS: (+9)

+3 Melee Training

+3 Pole Training

+1 Melee Blessing

+1 Pole Blessing

+1 Bows/Throws Blessing

 

RACES: (+3 to +6)

+3 by level 8

+4 by level 16

+5 by level 24

+6 by level 32

 

That's an easy +12 to +15 free for all PCs. PCs who want to unlock Blademaster will cover another +6 on their own, so they are essentially there -- if you invest in Melee or Poles early, an item or two will get them to 20 as soon as you are able to afford enough trainings and blessings.

 

POINTS AVAILABLE FROM ITEMS:

 

Weapons:

+5 (Discipline Blade, +2 to Melee, +3 to Poles -- weak, best on a magic-user)

Cloaks:

+2 (Archer's Cloak, +2 to Bows/Throws)

+2 (Warrior's Cloak, +1 to Melee and Poles -- one is found)

+2 (Warrior's Cloak, +1 to Melee and Poles -- craftable late, uses Mandrake)

+2 (Warrior's Cloak, +1 to Melee and Poles -- craftable late, uses Mandrake)

Rings:

+2 (Pearlescent Band, +2 to Poles)

+2 (Eagle Eye Band, +2 to Bows/Throws -- late)

Gloves:

+1.5 (Stained Swamp Gloves, +3 to Throws)

Necklaces:

+1 (Hero's Necklace, +1 to Melee)

+1 (Hero's Necklace, +1 to Melee -- late)

Bows:

+1.5 (Eliavri's Bow, +3 to Bows -- late)

Helmets:

+0.5 (Cap of Farsight, +1 to Bows)

 

You can get a few good boosts from items early. In particular, the Discipline Blade can quickly get a dual-wielder there, and can later be passed to a spellcaster. Other spellcasters can get there eventually with an item or two and maybe a few skill points.

 

The next consideration is recovering from fatigue. If you can remove 3 points of fatigue per turn you can be in permanent Battle Frenzy, which is highly desirable. 1 recovers automatically; you have an additional chance to recover 1 equal to 5% per point of Blademaster; and every item you equip that has Fatigue Reduction gives you a separate, one-shot chance to remove an extra point.

 

BLADEMASTER AVAILABLE FROM ITEMS:

 

Weapons:

+1 (Singing Rapier -- weak)

+1 (Seeking Rapier -- weak, craftable, uses Mandrake)

Armor:

+1 (Emerald Chestguard -- late)

Necklaces:

+1 (Hero's Necklace)

+1 (Hero's Necklace -- late)

Helmets:

+1 (Thug's Cap -- late)

+1 (Helm of Klin)

+1 (Helm of Klin)

 

As you can see, there isn't much Blademaster available, and it isn't trainable either.

 

FATIGUE REDUCTION AVAILABLE FROM ITEMS:

 

Weapons:

30% (Discipline Blade -- weak, best on a magic-user)

10% (Nephil Warblade -- also weak and best on a magic-user)

10% (Nephil Warblade -- also weak and best on a magic-user)

Shields:

10% (War Chief's Bulwark -- late)

Gloves:

10% (Duelist's Gloves)

Greaves:

20% (Warrior's Greaves)

Bows:

10% (Farsight Longbow)

Helmets:

25% (Warmaster Helm -- late)

 

There are a handful of items with fatigue reduction, most of which appear in the middle of the game. However, they all have pretty low chances to activate, about half (or less) what we were used to in A5. Unfortunately, this means that you can't reach an average of 3 fatigue reduction per turn unless you equip every single one of these items.

 

This does make a high Blademaster somewhat more desirable. Although Divinely Touched alone is enough to get you an average fatigue removal of nearly 1.5 by the end of the game, DT + EW will get you more bonus removal, and you'll get it sooner. For fights that are not short, increasing the amount of time you are hasted Battle Frenzied will significantly increase your damage and flexibility. This is a good argument for EW spellcasters, although there are also good reasons to pursue NM and especially PS.

[EvilEye]

Is there any benefit to increasing blademaster above 20?

 

If you had 40 blademaster would you recover 2 fatigue instead of 1?

[Randomizer]

Blademaster works like Fatigue Removal items in that you only get a chance of it working so going above 20 is really only for increasing damage for a fighter.

 

Slarty you didn't look into using 2 bonus AP items (or Quickstrike) combined with Battle Frenzy or speed item and haste spell. This gives you a base 15 AP per round (Quick Strike isn't guaranteed). So you have 3 actions per turn possible and on rounds that the haste spell kicking in they are full actions and not using an item for the middle action.

 

I did this with one character using Quicksilver Bulwark and Quicksilver Sandals. The other items are Mercuric Leather, Chain, and Plate, and the Cryos Spear. You can get Quicksilver Bulwarks crafted late in the game.

[Slawbug]

I thought the bonus AP items only had a 50-50 chance of giving the bonus AP, though. Or did _that_ change _not_ carry over from G5? I assume it did. And Haste doesn't increase your AP, right?

 

Quick Strike is guaranteed if you get to 20 (or possibly 21) -- QS gives you two independent chances to get a bonus AP point each equal to about 5% per point of QS. So at 10 QS, you have a 25% chance to get 0, a 50% chance to get +1, and a 25% chance to get +2.

[Randomizer]

Bonus AP items act like A5 items in that they always work.

 

Haste spell gives a 33% chance of lowering the first action to 5 AP.

 

Speed items (speed potion/elixir, gremlin wine, speed burst scroll, rod of alacrity) increase base AP to 13 (lowered by encumberance).

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Randomizer

Speed items (speed potion/elixir, gremlin wine, speed burst scroll, rod of alacrity) increase base AP to 13 (lowered by encumberance).

Skribbane does this too, and is much cheaper and easier to get. The trouble is, of course, that it's skribbane.

[Lilith]

As it turns out, Battle Frenzy is not necessarily "even better in A6" after all!

 

In A5, it gave a substantial AP boost, which was nice, but it also dramatically increased your damage output per attack. Now, the damage boost is gone and it only increases your AP, just like a Speed Boost scroll or speed potion -- in fact, the potions and scrolls give you the exact same status effect. Compare to A5, where there were no readily-available items that duplicated the Divine Rage status effect. For tough fights in A6, you're probably better off chugging speed potions and using other disciplines instead.

 

In a way, this isn't such a bad thing. The other battle disciplines are still very useful: a full party with Stunning Blow can lock down many bosses for at least 2 rounds, and Shield Breaker, Leg Sweep, Mighty Blow, Adrenaline Rush and Bladeshield all remain very useful throughout the whole game, instead of Battle Frenzy becoming the all-purpose no-brainer discipline.

 

Interestingly, Skribbane's AP boost stacks with other sources of AP boost, since it's a different status effect. So if you use skribbane and Battle Frenzy or a Speed Boost scroll and have Quick Strike or AP-boosting gear equipped, you can get 19 AP, which means 3 actions per round for as long as the effect lasts (not very long).

[VCH]

Does mighty blow affect all attacked characters for say ice shower or lightning?

 

And did you get most battle disciplines unlocked by endgame. I'm doing the find Melachion's letter quest after having cleared the Great Cave Portal Keep Area and Mertis area. So far I have the first three unlocked for my fighters and the first two for my mage and priest.

[Fael]

I unlocked Battle Frenzy for my first fighter around the time I got to Mertis, for my second fighter as I was entering the Eastern Gallery, and for my archer/priest around halfway through the Eastern Gallery. Still deciding whether it's worth throwing a bunch of points into bows to get it for my mage (who would otherwise max out with a "natural" battle skill of 12).

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: VCH

Does mighty blow effect all attacked characters for say ice shower or lightning?

No. It only affects one target, usually the one closest to the centre of the area of effect.

Quote:

And did you get most battle disciplines unlocked by endgame. I'm doing the find Melachion's letter quest after having cleared the Great Cave Portal Keep Area and Mertis area. So far I have the first three unlocked for my fighters and the first two for my mage and priest.

It's possible to unlock all battle disciplines by the time you reach the Abyss if you focus on weapon skills and use the trainers. Being a slith or a nephil helps a lot, since they get free weapon skills every few levels. What on earth have you been spending all your skill points on, if you've only unlocked three disciplines by that point in the game? Even my mage almost had Mighty Blow by that point.

I'd advise against raising Melee or Pole beyond the level required to unlock Blademaster, though; at that point you should be pretty close to having all the disciplines anyway, so you'll get the last one or two as your combat skills naturally rise with level.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Fael

I unlocked Battle Frenzy for my first fighter around the time I got to Mertis, for my second fighter as I was entering the Eastern Gallery, and for my archer/priest around halfway through the Eastern Gallery. Still deciding whether it's worth throwing a bunch of points into bows to get it for my mage (who would otherwise max out with a "natural" battle skill of 12).

Sounds like you can basically just stick the Discipline Blade on him once you have it and call it a day. Like I said, Battle Frenzy is kind of underwhelming if you've been holding on to some speed potions. Stunning Blow is worth getting, though: its effects apply to all hostile spells, even non-damaging ones like Slow, so you can ruin an enemy's day pretty comprehensively by slowing and stunning them at the same time.

[VCH]

Originally Posted By: Thuryl

IWhat on earth have you been spending all your skill points on, if you've only unlocked three disciplines by that point in the game? Even my mage almost had Mighty Blow by that point.

I haven't needed to spend many. I just keep leaving them in a big pile and continue on playing the game. The characters advance on their own well enough, especially with DT and EW or NM or PS.

Here's some screenshots of my party skill levels.
Jekane
Zollner
Mrrr
Skye

[Lilith]

Well, the fact that two of your party members are human certainly explains some things. Non-humans have a much easier time getting all battle disciplines due to the free weapon skills they get. Also, you haven't yet used the trainers to give everyone 3 free levels of Melee and/or Pole, and you haven't bought the combat blessings from the priestess in Dharmon. I know it's expensive, but spending money on skills will benefit you for the whole game, while spending money on items will only benefit you until those items are used up or become obsolete.

[VCH]

How can I generate enough cash to pay for all that? I spend the majority of my gold on spells, and spell improvements.

[Randomizer]

Most spells are available from spell books. You can always go back for spell trainers later when you have all your skill training.

 

Or you can be like Synergy and steal everything that's not worthless.

[Lilith]

Don't ever, ever, ever buy spell improvements for spells you already know. Levelling up a spell adds a very small amount to its power. One level of Spellcraft is like improving all of your spells by one level at once.

 

Try not to buy even spells you don't already know if you can help it, either. If you explore every area thoroughly, you'll often get access to spellbooks in dungeons before you get the opportunity to buy the spells for money anyway.

 

Don't buy items from shops either. You can find all the gear you need.

 

Prioritise your training. Skills you want to put skill points in come first, since otherwise you're wasting skill points on skills you could have trained with money. After that, Melee Weapons is excellent value for the skill point cost. Pole Weapons is quite a bit more expensive but still worth it. Anatomy is also a very good deal, although there's no real rush to get it. Sharpshooter is good if you want to use bows at all, since it lets you reliably hit things without much of a skill point investment. For Arcane Lore and Nature Lore, it might make sense to get the first two points on each character with skill points and buy the third from the trainer, since you want a little of those skills early on and the skill point cost is so low anyway. Parry is a good deal and Dual Wielding is a so-so deal, but it can be a pain to hold off on investing skill points in them until they're fully trained. Spellcraft and Resistance are nice to have, but they're not urgent. Lethal Blow is expensive and can wait until after there's nothing much else to buy. Gymnastics is probably not necessary at all.

[Fael]

Originally Posted By: Thuryl

Gymnastics is probably not necessary at all.

I don't know, I found Gymnastics to be pretty helpful for increasing my initiative order.

[Triumph]

Is A6 like some other games where if you've put points into a skill after a point you cannot use a trainer to raise it? Meaning you cannot raise a skill yourself until you talk full advantage of the trainer?

[Lilith]

Gymnastics does have a dramatic effect on turn order, but a little goes a long way. Just being a Nephil is enough to ensure you go before many monsters, and adding some Quick Action or Quick Strike mostly seals the deal. I guess you could put in another three points for dealing with very fast enemies, or give some characters training in Gymnastics and not others if you want to manipulate the party's turn order for tactical reasons.

 

Interestingly, Luck also seems to increase your initiative. It really is a remarkable skill; it does so many things and yet none of them are really useful enough to make it worthwhile.

 

Originally Posted By: Triumph

Is A6 like some other games where if you've put points into a skill after a point you cannot use a trainer to raise it? Meaning you cannot raise a skill yourself until you talk full advantage of the trainer?

 

That's right. The first three points in a trainable skill can be purchased from the trainer: for every point you raise a skill, that's one less point by which you can train it. Only skill point investments count: bonuses from race, traits or any other source don't count against you for this.

 

There are some skills, like Mage Spells, that you can't realistically wait for a trainer to raise. Personally, I wouldn't bother waiting for training in Melee Weapons or Pole Weapons if your character is actually going to use those weapon types, either.

[Fael]

Originally Posted By: Thuryl

Gymnastics does have a dramatic effect on turn order, but a little goes a long way. Just being a Nephil is enough to ensure you go before many monsters, and adding some Quick Action or Quick Strike mostly seals the deal. I guess you could put in another three points for dealing with very fast enemies, or give some characters training in Gymnastics and not others if you want to manipulate the party's turn order for tactical reasons.

I found that, without it, by the time I reached the Eastern Gallery, my human mage (who, being a mage, had neither Quick Action, Quick Strike, nor much Dex) was going after at least some monsters about half the time. 2200 GP and three trains in Gymnastics later, that wasn't much of a problem.