ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

I've read any number of build guides, but I still absolutely suck at this game, to the point I can't help but suspect I may be missing something that's obvious to everyone else and I'm totally oblivious to. Or maybe I've just got absolutely crappy builds.

My latest attempt at a playthrough is this guy: https://te4.org/characters/236085/tome/ ... df8028e655 - am I just doing something incredibly stupid with his gear or his abilities? I get that as a shadowblade he's going to have problems with range and crowd control, but my normal technique fighting bosses is "activate all my special attacks, die, activate all my special attacks, die, etc." - what am I doing wrong here?

Asking about a specific Class in the Spoilers section (for that class type) would be the most appropriate.

1.6 changed a bunch of things, but even still going through the character vault and looking up race/class winners that only used the official addons will probably help you a bit to see where points should go. When you go through those and the guides again you will see some very effective talents that would have helped you out a lot.

The Orcs campaign was designed around the Tinker classes, other classes can have a bit more difficulty with that campaign (the balance of drops is toward tinker gear and equipment). You might want to try the Age of Ascendancy campaign first to get a feel of the class before going to the Orc campaign.

Putting 1 into every talent that looks useful hardly ever works. It pretty much makes you a mediocre critter target.

If your basic idea is to activate all special attacks and die, perhaps you need to invest in some defense like a shield or regen in the beginning, middle and end of a fight.

In this game trying to get most fights in the narrow hallways with melee classes is a good idea. Try not to get surrounded. If you walk into an area with a bunch of critters back into the hall so you only have to fight one or two at a time.

If you are getting overwhelmed, running away is a perfectly good strategy to reduce cool downs till you can heal or shield again.