A few questions

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Alirin
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Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2021 5:32 pm

A few questions

#1 Post by Alirin » Fri Mar 05, 2021 7:10 pm

Hi!

Sorry to make a thread like this, I've done a bit of digging and these are some questions I haven't manged to find the answer to. First though, I was slightly surprised to lose access to the newbie line relatively so relatively soon into my journey. I spent a lot of time just reading and idly exploring, so when I came up to situations with questions I did feel a little stranded without that channel to fall back on.

So far I've been going about things mostly on my own. I don't want to make people feel like I'm taking up their time, and yet I've sort of consciously geared my statprefs and such to joining the Scribes and I know this can take a long time compared to other paths, which I'm prepared to invest. I apologise if Elrain has been noisy lately for anyone, I just wasn't quite sure how to interact with him and may have inadvertently done a great deal of pinging trying to work out under what circumstances he himself accepts students.

People talk a lot about how there aren't generalist characters and that learning skills can limit you. Is there some hard limit on how much you can learn? Do skills get harder if you branch out? Am I better sticking to an extremely narrow focus out of fear of hindering myself?

I'm finding a few things other things a little difficult. Particularly improving certain skills that I want to improve as a priority while other skills I'm not interested in as a major priority (but still want) just seem to be zooming up at breakneck speeds. I want to learn fonts and languages but I genuinely don't have a clue how to start on reading or learning a language when I don't speak it to start. I've somehow picked up boreal at an early stage and gained nothing since.

I imagine guildless elf pve is pretty pitiful but I feel like there's also a depth that I'm missing. I've completely emptied my delaylimit and I'm wondering how to optimally utilise my special moves mostly to do quests.

(Oh also, are there certain combat settings I'd be best using?)

Final question for now, is it better to boost one stat a time or spread them out a little more?

Thank you all!

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Arsicas
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Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2011 4:20 am

Re: A few questions

#2 Post by Arsicas » Fri Mar 05, 2021 9:15 pm

Hey, welcome. :) Usually people are helpful if you do have questions, and asking around IC about stuff is a good way to get to know people too. Though also, the people you need to speak to may have different playtimes or be busy with other things, so I know it can sometimes be frustrating trying to find someone to join a guild, etc. For joining a guild via an NPC, you’ll usually have to wait a few days before they will let you join. That’s just to give you time to find a PC that might be able to let you join, since it’s generally better to have someone to introduce you to the guild and its rp, mechanics, and rules.

It does get harder to learn skills if you branch out too much, but this is generally only noticeable if you have a lot of high level (60+) skills. I wouldn’t worry about it too much unless you’re trying to be a fighter/martial artist/thief/mage. Going extremely narrow might help to increase those skills faster and get better at them, but don’t feel limited to that if you do want to explore different kinds of skills. Most characters tend to join a layman guild (scribes, skalds, alchemists) in addition to being a fighter or cleric, etc. And there are craft guilds as well.

Certain skills do increase faster than other skills, and fonts are notoriously hard to learn. Languages are a bit easier because you can learn them from hearing or speaking them. I think you can learn boreal from reading signs, but I’m not sure there is that option for other languages. But you can ask a friendly neighborhood scribe for a learnbook on a language, or the scribes and skalds both teach the basic racial languages.

Elves mostly rely on their speed and agility in combat, so they tend to be light fighters who use lighter weapons and missile. Certain specials are linked to the same timer, like specials using hands vs. specials using feet, so you have to kind of get a feel for what order to try using specials in and how long it takes before you can use another one. Combat is pretty complicated in general, hehe. But maybe some people more interested in the numbers game can offer better advice. :P

As far as stats, it can depend upon the type of character you want to make. Fighters probably won’t have much need of int or wis but would focus more on str, agi, con, and dis. Mages definitely will want to pump up their mental stats, but shouldn’t completely forsake their physicals. You will also gain stats from the skills you use. Some people like to focus on their strengths, like making a super agile elf, whereas others may want to spread some points into the weaknesses (elves have low str and con, so they may want to put some points in those to make up for it, although they’ll never reach the str/con of some other races). Basically, I would spread out your statprefs some, but if there are certain stats you don’t really need for the type of character you’re making, you can probably disregard putting more points into those.
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Delia
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Re: A few questions

#3 Post by Delia » Sat Mar 06, 2021 3:41 am

What is important is that you decide what of character you would eventually like having. What do you like to do? You should not go for an even generalist character as if you end up playing long and decide to do pvp it can get rough.

Decide if you want a physical or a mental character. You can mix it up to a degree but generally fighters do not get better if they have higher mentals than physical stats. Mental stats and skills give your character zero survivablity so if you want a mental character you will want some survival skills.

Having some guild as an eventual goal will help tremendously with your build as different guilds focus on different stuff.
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Alirin
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Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2021 5:32 pm

Re: A few questions

#4 Post by Alirin » Sat Mar 06, 2021 12:34 pm

I feel like I've already slightly messed things up then as I've gone kind of wild on just skilling anything up if I realised I could skill it up.

My skills look like this at the moment:
acrobat: 17( 17) aim: 4( 4) animal lore: 13( 13)
appraise armour: 18( 18) appraise enemy: 40( 40) appraise object: 39( 39)
appraise value: 43( 43) appraise weapon: 21( 21) awareness: 33( 33)
blindfighting : 0( 1) bookbindery: 0( 1) boreal: 2( 2)
butcher: 20( 20) cave lore: 1( 1) climb: 25( 25)
common font: 27( 27) common language: 91( 91) defence: 27( 27)
deflect: 8( 8) elbow: 14( 14) first aid: 16( 16)
forest lore: 18( 18) headbutt: 14( 14) herbalism: 16( 16)
hide: 12( 12) hunting: 10( 10) kick: 18( 18)
knife: 22( 22) light armour: 10( 10) location sense: 6( 6)
medical: 14( 14) meditate: 12( 12) missile: 10( 10)
parry: 28( 28) punch: 14( 14) quenya: 91( 91)
rapier: 6( 6) scout: 10( 10) skin: 23( 23)
smash: 20( 20) sneak: 15( 15) swim: 15( 15)
swing: 34( 34) sword: 27( 27) team combat: 4( 4)
thrust: 31( 31) tracking: 18( 18) trading: 31( 31)
two handed: 20( 20) unarmed combat : 30( 30)
Any advice on some minimums I should be getting?

I think I'm leaning to wanting to become a mage, but the thought of being a cleric also seems cool.

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Israfel
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Re: A few questions

#5 Post by Israfel » Sat Mar 06, 2021 6:50 pm

What you have there is a perfectly fine skill sheet for a newer character. Don't worry about accumulating low levels in many skills (below 30).

Also I'd say don't be too concerned about the generalist vs specialist thing when you're starting out. Both extremes can be very punishing. A generalist might find they struggle to master their skills, but they can be highly versatile in many situations. A specialist with only one dimension to their skills could come completely undone by a simple obstacle like a trap, a riddle or a giant with a big club.

When we talk about branching out potentially creating a challenge long term, we're usually talking about a character trying to fulfill multiple opposing goals like an elf trying to become a mage and an armoured knight at the same time. Having multiple goals that are closely related however is a great way to play. For example, an elf scholar who is also a cleric. In fact, these things complement each other - a scholar will be more intelligent and wise; the things that make a good cleric also. You can type 'skills /t' to see how skills are grouped into categories for a general hint at this. My advice, look for things that align rather than clash and go for them as good long term goals that you can excel at: a heavy fighter who is also a lumberjack, a highly intelligent scholar cleric, a nimble archer musician. Experiment and find what you enjoy doing in rp, look for where the skills and stats align or don't, and use your stat preference to patch up any weaknesses or double down on your strengths.

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