ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

I keep wiping on entry-level bosses (The Shade two-shotted me just now) not to mention the second troll boss. I put points into blink and teleport but I still get wrecked by magical nukes on first levels.

Actually... I used to play only Bulwark/Berserker/Archmage as these were the only classes I could beat the first 8 zones or so...
So any general tips?

You didn't mention your level at the time but for both Bill and Shade I would postpone them until lv10+ until you're familiar with them.

There are 7-8 dungeons you can pretty safely enter to rack up levels before doing the bosses. Downside is that you might get escort in a place like Old Forest when you just want to peek in for few easy kills.

Arcane Blade doesn't have the easiest start. In the beginning you will want to play hit and run Archmage style.

On the fifth try got to level 15 or so- had 400hp, lvl 5 displacement shield and a shielding rune boosted by sustains and Aegis for damage mitigation. Died on alternate Maze level 4 after being repeatedly smashed by 150+dmg ranged attacks from each side, blasting all cooldowns and getting twoshot by the boss lightning attack when I couldn't cast anything.
It's just not possible to survive no matter what I try. Guides suggest pumping Magic and Str for spells and arcane combat tree, cunning and dexterity after that. But that leaves me with 12-15 constitution and can't max all stats simultaneously.

cultist wrote:On the fifth try got to level 15 or so- had 400hp, lvl 5 displacement shield and a shielding rune boosted by sustains and Aegis for damage mitigation. Died on alternate Maze level 4 after being repeatedly smashed by 150+dmg ranged attacks from each side, blasting all cooldowns and getting twoshot by the boss lightning attack when I couldn't cast anything.
It's just not possible to survive no matter what I try. Guides suggest pumping Magic and Str for spells and arcane combat tree, cunning and dexterity after that. But that leaves me with 12-15 constitution and can't max all stats simultaneously.

Alt Maze is really hard and lots of people die ridiculous deaths there, especially to the boss. I don't recommend putting points in Constitution but instead checking all the shops for health gear (Eyal is a great armor ego to look for at a reasonable price, and cloaks and belts with the Resilient ego are very cheap). If you remove all your spells at level one to get rid of your mana bar, you can shop at Zigur too.

bpat wrote:

cultist wrote:On the fifth try got to level 15 or so- had 400hp, lvl 5 displacement shield and a shielding rune boosted by sustains and Aegis for damage mitigation. Died on alternate Maze level 4 after being repeatedly smashed by 150+dmg ranged attacks from each side, blasting all cooldowns and getting twoshot by the boss lightning attack when I couldn't cast anything.
It's just not possible to survive no matter what I try. Guides suggest pumping Magic and Str for spells and arcane combat tree, cunning and dexterity after that. But that leaves me with 12-15 constitution and can't max all stats simultaneously.

Alt Maze is really hard and lots of people die ridiculous deaths there, especially to the boss. I don't recommend putting points in Constitution but instead checking all the shops for health gear (Eyal is a great armor ego to look for at a reasonable price, and cloaks and belts with the Resilient ego are very cheap). If you remove all your spells at level one to get rid of your mana bar, you can shop at Zigur too.

Thanks for the reply! So health gear it is. How about armour? Is it better to stack heavy gear or go for robes?