First Aid useful?

[kilolima]

Is first aid a useful skill?

 

It seems that potions or health spells perform the same function.

 

If first aid is actually useful, is it better to have one character focus on it, or distribute points across multiple characters?

 

Also, for the skills that add up between multiple members, like cave or magical lore, is there an advantage for a single character to have a high score all on their own?

 

cheers,

 

kilolima

[Randomizer]

There is no advantage in having a single character having a lot of a distributed skill. In the second Avernum Trilogy it made a difference if you were using cave/nature lore to avoid fighting monsters and a character died so you were now below the amount that caused monsters to leave you alone. This doesn't happen in this game.

 

First aid is only useful if you spend a long time away from town so you can't recharge. Potions are easily available so you don't need to use first aid.

[kilolima]

Thanks, Randomizer!

 

That's what I figured. Would be neat if the first aid skill could be made to be more useful... I don't know how exactly, maybe just be better to replace it with something else?

[Earth]

first aid has its uses but due health regenerates back by its own when party moves if not in hostile territory and spellpoints not it would be useful if it would restore more spellpoints.

[Death Knight]

First aid can be very useful although the circumstances are if you only travel with a party of physical damage characters with no priests or mages. It is possible to make a party of only fighters and archers but most likely hard as anything. I would say it would be hard but not so much if you have a decent first aid skill, good supply of potions and proper tactics.

[Kestral]

Beating this game without any magic would be...like adding extra torment sauce to your torment burger with french-fries of torment on the side. =P

[Earth]

AEFTP would be very difficult to beat doing only phys. damage (outside venomous etc blades extra quirks) since there are enemies totally or high resistance to phys. damage and party of 4 fighters can do only 4-8 hits per round to enemies and 2 fighters and do casters can deal damage to every enemy.

[Death Knight]

I dont see why it cant be enjoyed on normal. Get 3 fighters and give them a high hardiness and extra endurance and minor in first aid. Along with an archer for enemies that are far away. If you think about it, instead of searching for weapons, you'd mostly only need potions for healing and other minor buffs. The archer can usually be given an attack and buffs to use on the tanks while they slaughter.

 

It may not be as easy as a typical party but I think that if you play on normal and make proper use of tactics, it could be done.

[Rowen]

I made a party with sword and shield user, three archer and no magic in the party at all during beta. Like Earth Empires said, it is very difficult. So much so that I gave up on that party in the Gauntlet.

[Death Knight]

Originally Posted By: Rowen is to Young for all this

I made a party with sword and shield user, three archer and no magic in the party at all during beta. Like Earth Empires said, it is very difficult. So much so that I gave up on that party in the Gauntlet.

What difficulty were you playing on?

[Randomizer]

As Rowen said physical damage and relying on sword specials is truly difficult in the later part of the game where monsters have high physical damage resistance. You can chip away at a few points a turn, but then you need lots of potions to heal and you will have to survive getting characters charmed.

 

Imagine chopping down the tallest tree in the forest with ..... a herringbone.

[Rowen]

I tried it both on hard and normal. Randomizer has it right. It is doable, but so hard without magical damage. You know those (iron skin?) golems that resist physical damage and only take like 1-5 damage from broadswords? Try killing them with a physical damage dealing only party mostly made of archers. It is possible, but takes so long and needs so many heath potions that I deiced to start another party and try another horribly bad party combination. (This was during beta after all)

[Death Knight]

Well Ill take your word for it as Im still in mid game and have yet to fight the golems.

[Aleric]

Yeah, an all physical or all magical party would have trouble with any of the ironward or runeward golems. There were a couple of boss type Eyebeats highly resistant one type of damage as well.

[Earth]

there are 1 eyebeast batch (~6) north from Erika's tower (ex-Empire Fort) and occasional gazes on way to Sulfras lair and 5 eyebeasts at Final Gauntlet and they are very resistant to weapon damage and eyes/gazs are vulnerable to ice- and firedamage (I have few times killed some of FG's eyes with icy rain).

 

all phys or all magic damage party would need to have very high to hit rate and killing power like mostly 3 hits to kill enemy before moving to next.

[Death Knight]

Wait don't the flaming swords count as part physical and part elemental. There's usually an oozing sword in gene forge and avernum series as well.

[Randomizer]

Flaming blade does extra fire damage and Frozen blade is suppose to do cold, The Oozing and Venomous blades do poison, but most of the monsters that you are worried about are almost immune to those blades. All of these don't seem to do enough to help against physical damage resistant monsters.

 

I ran an all magic party and the rune warded bones in Grah-Hoth's final fight and one eyebeast in the Tower of Barriers were a problem. 5% to hit chance to slowly fight a monster for less than 5 damage a hit is mind numbingly boring.

[Earth]

yea oozing and venomous blades special effect doesn't do much damage and it triggers rarely and gets resisted with high percentage but still nice blades.