New ToME 4 player - how do I found out if quests are safe?

[Kalirion]

I've spent a lot of time with ToME 3 (or was that ToME 2?) back in the day, recently saw an article about ToME 4 and decided to try it out (hopefully without getting carpal tunnel syndrome this time.)

So I've been stubbornly trying a berserker character and getting my ass kicked most of the time. The "Stormcloud" part 1 was a bit of a wake up call - at least I know what I should prepare for now. And then last attempt I thought I was ready for Part 2 - and boy was I wrong. Seems either I've been building my character all wrong, or that quest is WAY too hard for a level 12 zerker. Maybe in the future I'll wait till the appropriate resistances are maxed out and the character is level 20....

So, for quests, how can I get that "level feeling"? BTW those feelings don't always seem to activate for new dungeons either.

Also, is there any way to know the relative difficulty of a hostile adventurer's party? Or its makeup (wizards, warriors, rogues, etc)? I got slaughtered by several of them, and barely survived a couple, and only had an easy time with one or two. Do those scale to character level, or the area where they wander around?

On another note - is there any player stash where I can leave heavy stuff I don't want to sell, without it disappearing?

And finally, why do the escortees in the random quest have to be so dumb, and is there any way to know which direction the portal is without them running into a group of monsters while you're following the wrong branch?

Edit: One more thing for now - is there a way to search for traps? When the halfling's foot is telling me there's a trap nearby, it doesn't help at all except interrupt auto-exploration, unless I can actually find the trap.

[stinkstink]

Also, is there any way to know the relative difficulty of a hostile adventurer's party? Or its makeup (wizards, warriors, rogues, etc)?

Nope, adventurer parties are completely random, scaled to your level, and depending on your character, are basically rolling the dice against death.

On another note - is there any player stash where I can leave heavy stuff I don't want to sell, without it disappearing?

There's one at the end of the Old Forest, but you've gotta earn it.

And finally, why do the escortees in the random quest have to be so dumb, and is there any way to know which direction the portal is without them running into a group of monsters while you're following the wrong branch?

They're a bit less suicidal in b41, and you can right-click them or their portrait on the party to ask them the distance/direction of the portal

Edit: One more thing for now - is there a way to search for traps? When the halfling's foot is telling me there's a trap nearby, it doesn't help at all except interrupt auto-exploration, unless I can actually find the trap.

You need the Trap Handling skill, which you can get in the Cunning/Survival tree (which starts out locked for most characters, and usually isn't worth spending a category point on) or from thief escorts.

[Kalirion]

Thanks for the quick reply!

On another note - is there any player stash where I can leave heavy stuff I don't want to sell, without it disappearing?

There's one at the end of the Old Forest, but you've gotta earn it.

Ah, I got all the way to the boss of that one, and then quickly escaped before it could eat me. Then got eaten by a Storm Drake in Maze.

And finally, why do the escortees in the random quest have to be so dumb, and is there any way to know which direction the portal is without them running into a group of monsters while you're following the wrong branch?

They're a bit less suicidal in b41, and you can right-click them or their portrait on the party to ask them the distance/direction of the portal

Cool! There are "party portraits"? Never noticed one. Is it something you need to enable in options?

Edit: One more thing for now - is there a way to search for traps? When the halfling's foot is telling me there's a trap nearby, it doesn't help at all except interrupt auto-exploration, unless I can actually find the trap.

You need the Trap Handling skill, which you can get in the Cunning/Survival tree (which starts out locked for most characters, and usually isn't worth spending a category point on) or from thief escorts.

I've had the level 1 skill with a few characters, and it seems it always either finds a trap, or doesn't. And if it doesn't, waiting around in the same place won't help find it.

[stinkstink]

Cool! There are "party portraits"? Never noticed one. Is it something you need to enable in options?

Not sure of where the default position for it is, but if you have party members (a golem, summons, undead minions, an escort) there should be small pictures of your character and their followers somewhere. You can click on them to swap direct control if possible, and right-click to set their AI tactics. For escorts, you can ask about the portal.

[Kalirion]

Cool! There are "party portraits"? Never noticed one. Is it something you need to enable in options?

Not sure of where the default position for it is, but if you have party members (a golem, summons, undead minions, an escort) there should be small pictures of your character and their followers somewhere. You can click on them to swap direct control if possible, and right-click to set their AI tactics. For escorts, you can ask about the portal.

Ok, I switched to classic view for more readily accessible info, and the portraits are there, but right-clicking on them does nothing.

But right-clicking on the escortees themselves works, so thanks!