ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Hey forum, just heard about this game a couple of days ago, and, frankly, I really have been enjoying it so far. That being said, there is precious little documentation for new players, and I've been continually frustrated with almost every character I've made so far. Just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on a decent (and fun!) race/class combo, and general new player tips.

So far, I've played a Thaloren Fighter (technically my most successful, but also the most boring) who died in the Sand Cave area, a Dwarf Fighter (basically the same), and a Cornac Cursed (I liked the idea of the class, but I couldn't even complete the starting troll zone >< ). As for unlocks, I only have the basic starting options, plus cursed, archmage, and summoner. I'm more than willing to work for an unlock if I can achieve it relatively early and then start with that character/race.

Thanks for any advice!

Cursed are cool, but can have a rough start. Trollmire is one of the hardest starting zones, so you might want to leave to the world map and head over to the Thaloren starting zone instead. The Higher race works all right for Cursed, with the extra regen talent.

Give archmages a go - lots of fun talents to burn things with. Any race will do. Arcane Blades are good if you like just bumping into things to kill them - they're more about managing sustains.

How did you die in the sand zone? It can be a tricky place, especially first time round.

Kept getting caught in the sand. Nothing could actually kill my fighter toe to toe (so far) but I kept being stupid and getting suffocated.

Yeah, documentation hasn't kept pace with game development, and what exists could be more accessible. Check here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ip9 ... n_US&pli=1
http://forums.te4.org//viewtopic.php?f=39&t=25162
http://te4.org/wiki/tome4

Minwa wrote:but I couldn't even complete the starting troll zone

I never do the Trollmire first. I clear the starting level (so as not to lose any items by leaving and then coming back), and then I head over to Norgos' Lair instead. The layout of that zone, and the relative weakness of the boss, makes it greatly preferable for me. (With dwarves or undead, after clearing the mandatory starting zone, I'll still head over to Norgos next.)

greycat wrote:

Minwa wrote:but I couldn't even complete the starting troll zone

I clear the starting level (so as not to lose any items by leaving and then coming back)

Sorry to divert the topic a little, but I've noticed this myself. Sometimes I'll leave a level with items on the floor only to go back and find them gone. Other times I can be exploring a level I'm sure I've left and re-entered and still find undiscovered items around.

What's the rule with this? Do some items disappear when you leave a level? Or is this only in affect for certain levels?

I'm not 100% sure how it works, but a quick-and-dirty rule is that anything NOT in a vault is at risk of disappearing when you leave the zone. I think the time since you last visited also has an effect.

Stuff in the same zone doesn't disappear, (ie. if you left something on trollmire 1, then after killing prox, you can still fetch it on lvl 1 (if you take the paths, and not the rod of recall out).

Stuff inside vaults doesn't disappear. (I think even opened ones, but not 100% sure).

Artifacts doesn't disappear.

Ah, that tallies with what I've noticed so far, now that I think back. Thanks!

Sandworm lair is tricky until you're used to it - I lost several early chars there. The trick is to follow the digging worms (with the blue borders) to get from room to room. Try to follow the exact path of your worm - can get fiddly with intersecting paths - as there's basically a timer from when the worm digs a square to when it collapses.