ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Hi,

just returned to tome 4 after a short break (think last version I played was beta 9, now beta 15 since I'm on Mac). I'm really having trouble leveling up in the starting zone. Previously I've been following the rule of keeping clvl == dlvl, but when clearing all of a level, this cannot be done, even as a lowly human. I guess I could go back and forth between the levels but should that really be necessary? I could do it easily in beta 9.

Love the new shadowblade though (for all 3 levels I've played ). That kind of class have always appealed to me.

In recent betas, mobs don't give much experience. Go kill the bosses, and you should get a few xp levels at once. Not mentioning the trunk of loot they drop now

I find it better (as I also found it in past betas) to leave trollshire, and go to the ruins instead. Easier to control flow of enemies down hallways instead of open forests, and some rooms in the ruins are downright flooded. Got to level 3 on floor 2 of the ruins once just from rooms being full of monsters and finding "special" rooms with out of depth skeletons in them.

Ok, thanks for the tips. While I'm asking... do you guys get more equipment before facing the first boss? I do equip stuff I find, but I always feel a bit scared about it since there's no id. Or should I visit town first?

If I don't want to do the mire first, then I will head to town just to check out cheap egos and preID runes/infusions. But there's no need to be worried or anything without id.

It depends. Some classes like archmages can clear the zone without problems. With other classes like warriors I usually clear only the first level and go back to buy a steel weapon, a third inscription, or missing armour pieces.

I find trollshaws quite easy. I certainly don't have to go up to town, but like I said in the OP I feel I'm to low level once I get to the boss. Perhaps it is possible to handle him at clvl 3-4, but with all the other monsters appearing as well it gets really tough.

Like MM, I'll typically leave the Trollmire once (or twice) before finally diving all the way down to level 5. I generally kill Bill at level 4.

i try to get the trollshaws over as fast as possible. bill has been nerfed, and regen runes are powerful, so most classes shouldn't have much trouble with him. sometimes i might go back and clear a dungeon level twice to gain another character level if im feeling seriously underpowered..

I tend to be pretty severely grindy in the early game - it helps keep escorts alive, and that's the gift that just keeps on giving. I'm frequently level 5 before I hit Bill, but it takes a *lot* of grinding. Gratifyingly, his exp pump at that point is still enough to reap a few levels.