Mutagen Tips & Tricks

[Mechalibur]

I figured I'd give some pointers from my experience in the beta, which should work for any class. Feel free to share your own tips or any questions you might have.

 

1. Right click everything! Right clicking lets you see an enemy's exact hp as well as their resistances to different damage types and effects.

 

2. A lot of skills/abilities let you spend only 5 AP when making an attack. As a result, when able, try to end your movement with 6AP so you can take advantage of these skills when they trigger. This also applies to any of your creations that have been hasted, or have the innate haste trait.

 

3. Make sure to use consumables! The game is quite generous with these, so don't feel shy about using any consumables for difficult battles. They only cost 5AP to use, so if you didn't move more than 2 squares, you can use a consumable on top of taking another action. In the early game, this is especially useful against Spawners, since you generally will have to deal area damage to deal with all the incoming enemies.

 

4. Cure Afflictions is an incredibly useful spell. It requires 1 in Healing Craft, but if you don't have any ranks in that, you can pick one up from a sarcophagus in the Tombs map. Keep in mind that this spell works on all debuffs, including mental ones like Fear and Charm. It also only costs 6AP to use, so you can remove an affliction and still take another action on your turn.

 

5. Make use of the Daze spell. Most enemies have quite low mental resist, making the Daze spell essential for dealing with large amounts of enemies, especially in the early game when you don't have too many tools at your disposal. Daze doesn't require any ranks in Mental Magic to use, so even Guardians can enjoy the action. It becomes a little less useful in the late game when you start getting more access to area of effect abilities.

 

6. Acid is extraordinarily potent, especially against bosses. It does damage based on enemy hp percentages, and it does the damage every turn, making it incredible against high-hp enemies or enemies that take multiple turns. The Searer Spell, Searing Artilas, and Iron Clawbugs can all inflict this condition. Even if you don't have access to those, Spray Crystals are a consumable that can help you apply this condition.

 

7. Dealing with pylons can be tricky, but keep in mind that there are usually alternative ways to get to locations that may have pylons protecting them. Stealth is the easiest way to bypass pylons (I recommend trying to sneak past them in combat mode - stealth seems to work better that way). If you don't have any Stealth, the late-game Airshock spell can be very useful, since it out-ranges pylons. They resist energy damage by 50%, but if they can't hit you back, it doesn't matter too much as long as you have the essence to spare. Guardians can also usually be effective against pylons with batons. Batons do physical damage, which bypasses all of the resistances pylons have, and guardians usually have a pretty good chance of taking multiple actions in a turn with their high missile weapons and quick action skills.

[Randomizer]

7. Using reaper batons against pylons gives the most damage per hit and a Guardia with enough missile weapon skill can usually take out. pylon with one or two hits.

 

8. The game's targeting algorithm in distance to target rounds up distance so when you move a diagonal step it may put you in range one space closer than it said.

 

9. Stun only lasts a round, but jeweled wands and airsick crystals have a better to hit chance than your character and will do an area effects. An easy way to buy a free attack round against monsters with low stun resistance at 5 AP.

 

10l Terrify from spell or tranquil baton works best when the monster flees away from you into a wall so you can attack while it can't. Each round the monster automatically heals so pursue if you can.

[TriRodent]

12. If you want to enter a zone from another direction than where the arrow is pointing, click on the green zone dot until the arrow is pointed where you want to go (say for less walking, you want to go to the merchants, etc)

 

13.  Once you get to it, airshock will be a game changer.  Deals decent damage, stuns people in the zone, 'and' most importantly to my characters anyway, it can be cast from beyond the range of turrets/columns, letting you thump them in perfect safety (as long as your energy/essence holds out anyway)

 

14.  At the start of the game see which of your skills have zero points in them & do NOT train/put skill points into them until after you clear out The Tombs & the western side of Southbridge (mechanics & leadership probably excepted as life is easier with those skills early on).  You will get one point in 'x' skill (a few exceptions) as long as you don't train in it before you get there

Edited February 24, 2021 by TriRodent
Have to renumber my hints because of !@#$! Randomizer...

[Randomizer]

14. You can wait until the Sealed Labs for Leadership if you don't mind missing out on some easy experience in the beginning. Then use skill points and go back to pick up Spellcraft from the Ruined School and Wooded Valley, don't talk to the servant mind in the South Workshop unit you have Leadership 5 The missing experience will balance out eventually.

[Mechalibur]

15. Press t to enable the text console. This will give you a lot more information about your damage output and hit chance.

 

16. The Essence Shield spell is amazing, and I strongly recommend using it for difficult fights once you unlock it - the amount of damage it can block is quite impressive. This spell can also be used to protect your character from mines and other traps, even ones that would normally kill your character in a single hit.

[Nicolai]

17. Fill up your Quick Access toolbar at the bottom of the screen. In the heat of battle it can be easy to forget the crystals and wands in your backpack that you can use. It keeps all your valuable resources at a glance. You may have that AOE spell you need RIGHT NOW in a crystal you’ve forgotten about.

Edited February 26, 2021 by Nicolai

[Randomizer]

18. Start buffing your party when you see hostile monsters before you get into the fight. Some places like the Shaper crypt you might want to keep constantly buffed so you don't get caught unprepared.

[TriRodent]

(so I guess accurate numbering isn't going to be a thing?  ... alas...

 

anyway...)

 

20.  If you bump into an essence pool - stick Essence Shield on everyone & if you don't clear the zone before it wears off, wander back & redo it