The helpful hints thread

[Prince of Kitties]

I'm starting this thread so all the useful BoE tips (particularly for beginning parties) can be agglomerated in one place. Not sure if the mods will consider this a good idea, but here goes.

 

First tip: the mage spell Strength seems to be roughly as effective as the priest spell Bless, and uses 1 SP as opposed to 3, so you get more bang for your buck.

[keira]

Singleton tip: When creating a new party, use slot 3 (Frrrrrr) as your character. By editing (not deleting and recreating) the stats, you can get a whopping 85 starting points, compared to 60 for a fresh character.

[The Mystic]

Health:

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I start my characters off with about 20 health, although I do buy a bit more when creating a tank/meatshield. Instead, I tend to buy more Strength skill; you can carry more stuff early on, and more strength means a higher increase in health when leveling up.

 

Mage Lore:

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I like to buy all of this when creating my party, just to get it over with, because the skill is dirt cheap. The game says not to buy more than 25 levels spread over the entire party, so I usually buy about 20 levels (no more than 3-5 per character) in a 6-person party.

 

Mage Spells/Priest Spells:

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The game says to start out with at least one character with 3 levels of Mage Spells, and at least one other with 3 levels of Priest Spells. I prefer to have those characters start with 4-5 levels. Not only will those characters start off with a few more spell points (a 3-point bonus is given per spell skill level), they can cast some of the higher level spell as soon as you learn them.

[Tonweya]

Because I like to make "Walk-Throughs", I try to make a balanced Party, rather than a "Specific Purpose" one.

For a "straight", (non-edited), Party I prefer six PC's; two Fighters, two Priests and two Mages. (redundancy back-up).

Two Fighters use Edged Weapons.

One Fighter Disarms Traps, (it is better armored).

Picking Locks is useless as any locked door can be bashed.

Usually there are enough Potions available in the Scenario that Alchemy isn't needed although it does make for a more enjoyable Game-Play.

Priests and Mages have Archery Skill. (Some Authors "drain" Spell Points.) (I normally only use a few 'favorite' Spells.)

One Priest increases Spell Points A.S.A.P. so it can cast, "Ritual Sanctify" and one Mage increases Spell Points A.S.A.P. so it can cast, "Identify".

Mage Lore is 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5.

All Attributes are distributed throughout the Party.

I include "Assassination" and "Luck" as I can afford to add it. (It doesn't do much at low levels, but comes into play at higher levels.)

We could go on about a Party Style for days; it's always personal preference. But this is what I use for a "Generic" Party. I would, of course, make something different if the Scenario required so.

me

[Prince of Kitties]

Tip A: If you have trouble getting a singleton off the ground, try making him/her a Slith. The extra 2 points of strength help more than you would think.

 

(Not sure if this might have unfavorable effects in the Trilogy; but IIRC Blades of Exile doesn't let scenarios check for PC race... yet.)

 

Tip B: Boost your PCs' Defense skill at low levels. It helps keep them from getting hit, and not getting hit helps keep them alive.

[Celtic Minstrel]

I seem to recall that BoE has always allowed that... very crudely, but still. Isn't there a "has race in party?" conditional node?