Tried So Much and No Win Yet!

[blargplean]

I just want to be able to get a character to past 20 but I have such bad luck! I have even stopped opening doors and chests! I just want a class that I can have fun with and get to sometimes so I can unlock the high lv stuff! Any ideas? No bulwark! I find those too boring!

[Who]

Can you give some more information so I can tailor the help a bit better? What classes / races have you tried? What monsters / dungeons are giving you the most problems? Have you read through the survival guide on the wiki? http://te4.org/wiki/Survival_guide

[cttw]

Fire Archmage?

[blargplean]

I have tried pretty much anything! The thing I try the most are cursed, mindslayer, arcane blade, rogue, wyrmic, summoner, and alchemist! I have tried many different races for each of that classes! I dont have skeleton or ghoul since I cant seem to get that far!

[cttw]

It took me a very long time to get my first win in this game. There is a lot to learn, there is stuff you must have planned and done in advance to face a challenge in the future, and there is just bad luck.

I found that as I could often get to dreadfell after a while, killing the master was not a sure thing, and I would always get crushed in the special event after dreadfell. While that did not end the characters, it was a taste of things to come and the orc ambushes and Prides would finish me pretty quick.

What helped me was to donate, and play for a month on exploration. I took my best class, died 67 times and won the game. About half of them versus the last bosses, whom I had no idea how to face with my class. But after that I learned, I got to see the part of the game I hadn't seen, and what kind of challenges lay ahead. After this 67-deaths win, I managed a proper Adventure Mode win with no cheating but also on my last life.

Now I am working on a no-deaths win. That is still to come.

[Davion Fuxa]

I just want to be able to get a character to past 20 but I have such bad luck! I have even stopped opening doors and chests! I just want a class that I can have fun with and get to sometimes so I can unlock the high lv stuff! Any ideas? No bulwark! I find those too boring!

If you haven't already, look at other people play the game. Here's a shameless link to my Shaloran Berserker Run for an example of a game played from start to finish. Also check out Belmarduk's Beginner's Guide.

I only started playing the game after watching someone else play the game extensively and more or less used belmarduk's guide as a bible to learning how to play. Even then, it is worth noting that even after all that I died a quite a few times when I sort of looked at the variety of characters ToME has to offer - my YouTube Channel's first Three Playlists are pretty well entirely failed runs (drives home the point of something about this game, don't it?).

[blargplean]

Thanks for the tips! I just got the reaver so play that now! Got one to 17 then died! Trying another more normal reaver now! If this doesn't work not sure what I am going to do!

[Xandor Tik'Roth]

Don't feel too bad. I took me about 8 years before I finally beat my first roguelike (Furyband as a Jedi). In fact, I still haven't beaten ToME 2 now that I think about it. I've run 3 winners in T4, only one without cheating or using Exploration mode.

It takes time. Each time you run through the game, try to learn from your last death. There are very few cheap deaths in this game. Usually, the only time I die is when I manage to get myself stunned with all my abilities on cooldown and I don't have an escape. Teleportation and Phase Door is incredibly important.

[blargplean]

TOME 2? and Phase door hates me more often than not! I will teleport from 1 rare to a crowd of 2 rares and more monsters! But I still use it!

[Theyleon]

TOME 2? and Phase door hates me more often than not! I will teleport from 1 rare to a crowd of 2 rares and more monsters! But I still use it!

This is TOME 4 - so there were 3 others. They were much more 'old school', and based on Tolkiens middle earth (TOME actally stood for Troubles of Middle Earth originally)

Phase door is pretty bad generally, it can save you sometimes, but it's too random and unreliable. Try and replace it with a teleport (has a minimum distance it will teleport you, so you will always escape what you're currently fighting), or movement infusion (lets you run 5-7 squares in one turn)

[SageAcrin]

Some things that help early on:

A: Remember who killed you and approach them with caution later. Try to kill them at higher range, use Shielding or Regeneration before fighting them, etc.

B: Considering focusing more on inscription slots than other things. (Inscriptions=Runes and Infusions) A fourth one can be unlocked at L10 instead of a category and is an easily overlooked option that can be very powerful for some classes. It's case by case if it's actually better than a category, but it helps.

C: Escape faster. If you don't like Phase Door, go with Movement Infusions. I prefer Teleport over both-it's somewhat a matter of taste. Either way, pick an escape and go with it.

D: Do the "tier 1" dungeons before the "tier 2" dungeons. The tier 1s are the ones that Shalore start in/near, the ones Thalore start in/near, and the ones that most other races(Cornac, Halfling for example) start in/near. (The ones that Dwarves start in/near count too, but other races can't access those. Only dwarves can.)

The "tier 2" dungeons are the four that get listed in your quest log after you complete your normal racial first two.

E: If you get hit with Stun or Confusion, either run or cure them. It's quite possible to live without doing either, but it's not a good thing for a beginner to try. Wild infusions can cure Stun and Confusion-Wild Infusions that hit physical effects for Stun, and ones that hit Mental effects for Confusion.

[blargplean]

Thanks I knew most of that! And I have been looking at guides and things what does it mean by a max stat? I know stats go to the grey area when they are too high for a lv but is there a cap I should stop at?

[Theyleon]

You can't increase the base value of a stat beyond 60. It can go over this with item bonuses though.

[blargplean]

ok thanks!

[blargplean]

I have got to lv 29 with a skeleton bulwark and 26 with a skeleton/shalore TW cant remember which one I was when i got there! But I am getting closer!