ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Hey all, for those who may have caught inklings of me suggesting it from my DavionFuxa Let's Plays ToME - YouTube Runs, or from videos where I shared my thoughts on my Youtube Channel, I'm thinking of doing a Let's Learn Series for Tales of Maj'eyal. This was actually a request by someone who sent me a message through YouTube, and since I'm done with my Skeleton Sun Paladin run I might as well pursue satisfying this request now.

Thing is though, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what I should specifically run for it. Belmarduk (Mirthless) ran a Dwarven Bulwark back in a day for his beginner's guide and I've already run a full playthrough with a Shaloran Berserker; as such I don't think I should choose either of those races or classes. I don't think I should be pursuing classes or races that are locked either - at least none outside the Archmage, Summoner, or Cursed. I should probably aim for a run through which players can have some hope of emulating - this in consideration to the fact that people who view such a video may not have any real in game experience, let alone experience matching mine.

So yea, I'm looking for suggestions. Note though that I do think that input should only be limited to the following:

-Race suggestions should probably be limited to Thalore Elves, Halflings, or Cornac Humans.

-Class suggestions should probably be limited to Archer, Arcane Blade, Rogue, Shadowblade, or Alchemist; potentially also Archmage, Cursed, or Summoner could be suggested since those classes are available very early through unlocks.

I'll most likely be using Normal Adventurer Mode difficulty as well.

I went for Rogue when I first started and found them very hard to get off the ground, especially with no ToME experience. I'm thinking that might be a popular choice for someone unfamiliar with the classes.

Rogue has the advantage of being more talent-oriented, compared to alchemsit which (was) a one trick pony. The new alchemist might be more complicated then one wants to throw a beginner at. You should remember to do your initial learning run though, without the poisons tree, since beginners won't have that one.

Arcane balde if you did it, would need similar cautions not to use the locked trees requiring an unlock, since beginners wouldn't have it.

Ditto poisons tree if you did an archer.

I'd still recommend alchemist or rogue, since they represent two rather variable playstyles. Arcane blade could be used to teach more about build variability, and how two runs could end up with wildy different builds.

And a lot of beginners (mistakenly) play rogue, because it's a 'classic'. I did when I started.

Thalore is the best race to learn the game with since it's relatively simple and it's great at literally every class and has no notable stat penalties (-2 Magic hurts less than Halfling's -3 Strength). Alternatively, Halfling is probably better choice for mages with the better health per level and better racials until level 24. My recommendation is Halfling (or Cornac for early Temporal) Archmage since Archmage is a fantastic class for beginners since it's a standard mage that's above average in all aspects. Alternatively, Halfling Alchemist is a good choice as well since it's initially unlocked. Berserker and Bulwark are really the best classes for learning melee but aside from that, Thalore Shadowblade and Cornac Cursed are better choices than Rogue since Rogue lacks Rush and relies on Traps with Shadowblade probably being the better choice.

@Crim, The Red Thunder
Technically I could use poisons if I played a Rogue - you unlock the category for your character immediately upon siding with the Assassin Lord, and Tricks of the Trade is a potential choice for Rogue characters to consider taking over randart artefacts. Additionally, one of my one off roguelike runs included the traditional Halfling Rogue. That run managed to get all the way to Dreadfall.... and abruptly die to the Worm that Walks; but notably I didn't use Traps or Poisons on that character if I decided to pursue a Rogue.

Rogue isn't necessarily a choice I'm strongly considering, as it is one of the few options here that I have a strong experience background with - one recorded roguelike run that ended with a Halfling Rogue dying to the Worm that Walks in the associated Dreadfall vault, and I also happen to have a Halfling Rogue winner in my character vault. However, if I did pursue it I would probably be looking into using skills I never really made great use of - which mostly concerns Poisons, Traps, and Stealth.

@bpat
I can certainly agree that Cornac Cursed is a fun combination. I actually initially ran that combination in one of my earlier Roguelike runs and... he notably died in a wall of sand. However, I think I might shy away from it - it's definitely a really newbie friend combination that can have some appeal. However, I'm a little hesitant because the build would very well be similar to the initial run I recorded - grabbing rampage early and beginning the slaughter; and jumping in with a non-Cornac race greatly enhances the difficulty.

I was actually also leaning towards considering the Cornac Shadowblade in my musings for one of my Monthly updates. Besides Rush I feel it is possible they might be more appealing for me to play - since I notably hated Stealth when I used it and Shadowblades have a lot of potentially interesting talents. I have no real experience with Shadowblades - or Thalore for that matter, so I might consider the Thalore Shadowblade recommendation after doing a trial run through.

The idea for an Archmage or Alchemists sounds interesting as well. I'm a bit hesitant to jump into playing these classes though as I'm a more dumb-brute oriented player and I'm not sure I can safely say I would have the experience for either class; but I do understand how they can be very easy to play.

Thalore Archer?

Zireael wrote:Thalore Archer?

Archer is super easy (autoarcher addon is proof of this) but it's a bit dull and doesn't really have many interesting tactical play aside from Traps, so I'm not sure if it's the best class for this. Still better than classes like Rogue or Arcane Blade though.

Archer is definitely easy, but also really simplistic. However, Archer is also one of the few classes that I also quit on - while recording. It might be a good class to learn with but if I choose that class again for a recording then I'm really going to be drawn to playing it in Roguelike difficulty - probably on Insane so I don't have to play long.

So some initial thoughts:

Thalore Rogue - Most likely with an emphasis with siding with the Assassin Lord, which would allow a new player to unlock poisons or pick up Tricks of the Trade later assuming they survived that long. This isn't a top choice because the Shadowblade is similar in play, but perhaps a class I also prefer to play.

Thalore Shadowblade (Maybe Cornac) - If I'm looking for a melee orient playstyle, that one could probably grab a little bit of semblance to playing Rogues with (perhaps with an easier time doing so) then the Shadowblade might be it. Shadowblade is the goto consideration that I'm actually considering because I might prefer the playstyle as well.

Thalore Archer - This is a really easy class to play, as it is a ranged character that doesn't focus on magic. I suppose technically I could try to make things interesting by also siding with the Assassin Lord for Poisons - Tricks of the Trade wouldn't be terrible for Scoundrel at range most likely. Most likely though, I'd try to stay clear of using an Archer.

Halfling Alchemist - Going with an Alchemist has the advantage of picking up a Mage-class that doesn't have to be unlocked. It also has the Golem to accompany it which can be interesting. I don't know how changes might impact the class in 1.2.0, but it's something worth looking into for viability.

Halfling Archmage (or Cornac) - Orienting my Let's Learn to a class that is locked might not necessarily cater to someone who has never played the game before; but this is really the true confide Mage-class character for casting spells and zapping enemies. With vast potential there is a lot to do with an Archmage, though it additionally also has a lot locked in its talents. To be honest I'm probably more edged to Alchemist - unless the update made them really hard to play or understand.

The Alchemist is the perennial noob class to me, Golems are cool and do half the work for you. Maybe a Thalore Alchemist is a good start.

Davion Fuxa wrote:I've already run a full playthrough with a Shaloran Berserker

+1 vote to archmage for your next Let's Learn, then. Since it's the polar opposite of a berserker.

Maybe you should do either the rogue or alchemist first. Show off how to unlock some easily unlock some classes (Cursed, Summoner and Archmage) and then some of the rogue talents (Siding with the Assassin Lord), before doing the archmage. Kind of to show off what you need to do to unlock something before starting to show off those unlocked classes.

Plus I am probably more interested to see how to play a rogue class, since personally, I have no idea how to play them as playing in stealth way doesn't seem to work that well. (Getting noticed all the time despite high cunning and points spent in the said skill). I am also very interested to see the archmage too, since well, I like playing as one and I have been experementing with the earth and stone spells as a dwarf archmage and found it pretty fun.
One thing I also noticed that Illuminate is a really nice spell once you level it up. Doesn't do a whole lot at first, other than lights the area, but in level 3 you get the chance to blind enemies and in level 4 you get to damage your enemies with light type in a very big AOE all for 5 mana, which is pretty ridiculous, in my opinion.

Alchemist or Archmage would be cool.

Alright, been busy for the last while or so playtesting the new update to give feedback on the Skirmisher and Berserkers (and to unlock Cryomancer and play a Wyrmic). But I'm starting to think about doing this Let's Learn series then.

I'm thinking the Let's Learn will Feature a Thaloran Shadowblade. Reason I'm choosing it is because recent play got me thinking about one important thing - I know Melee.

Anyhow, just leaving this update then for people who were interested.