So, how do we gauge an enemy's strength?

[Istrebitel]

Newbiew here, another dumb question.

So, I made a Halfling Rogue, went to Bill and died. I'm looking at these pages
http://te4.org/wiki/Prox_the_Mighty
http://te4.org/wiki/Bill

So, if their difference is 5 Str, why does Bill two-shot me while Prox couldn't really hurt me?

Or, more generally, how is the player supposed to gauge enemy toughness or difficulty in general? How do I know who to attack and who to avoid?

[Faeryan]

There's still this thing called Physical Power and the difference in weapons.
When mouse overing on an enemy you can see their physical, spell and mental power rating as well as similar resistances. That often tells you if it'll hit hard or really hard. The same page tells you their accuracy and defense that'll tell you if you're able to hit them and if they can hit you at all.

When inspecting them you can see their talents with their description that will help you define their overall danger rating.

[Robsoie]

Additionally, from the wiki Bill is able to Rush (adding a free attack with 120% damage and can make you Dazed making you less less resistant to damage too ) and is able to use Heroism (that will boost his stats and so increase his damage too)

[Istrebitel]

Thanks! I made some observations and I saw a difference in damage (36vs23) and strength (37vs32) but not much else. It even has lower defense (2 vs 9). I suppose this is randomisation? Because this time I've slain it without taking damage at all (maybe I took like 10 but no more)... It feels too much like a total randomness, I mean I get it this is roguelike, but such a big difference?

I guess I'm gonna ask my new question here instead of making a separate topic:
How to stop escortees from dying like idiots? After one "wait" command they no longer listen (no we must press on!) and they advance even when on 1% health, and monsters seem to prefer them, and I seem to have no way of healing them (as a rogue)....

[Xandor Tik'Roth]

The only way to heal an escort that I know of is Nature's Touch, which you'd only get from an escort. Honestly, the strategy that I use is to stay in front of them whenever possible. You won't save all of them, but you'll have a shot at least.

Also, you can just start up a new thread. There's nothing wrong with that.

[SageAcrin]

The main thing you're looking for is the Damage statistic, for judging the power of a physical fighter enemy.

That tells you a composite of their weapon based multipliers(like strength), physical power, and their weapon, and gives you a general idea of how hard they hit.

Look at their talents, too, obviously. An enemy with no talents has less burst damage potential than one with, say, Flurry.

Otherwise, see comments about how Accuracy matters, as well.

As a note, ToME almost never randomizes damage notably. There's a few exceptions for gear and talents, but if an enemy uses the same attack again, chances are it will do about the same damage, within a fairly small range of possible randomization.

[tylor]

It's mostly experience. Thankfully, unlike most roguelikes, you will not have to start over, when some innocent-looking rare bee kills you, because of it's 200% speed.

Also, rares are strong, anything in vault is strong, casters, giants, dragons are strong, bosses are extremely strong. Be very paranoid while fighting any of them. If you have less that 3/4 of max hp, and can't heal to full immediately, you should teleport away.

[TheSlayer]

The only way to heal an escort that I know of is Nature's Touch, which you'd only get from an escort. Honestly, the strategy that I use is to stay in front of them whenever possible. You won't save all of them, but you'll have a shot at least.

Also, you can just start up a new thread. There's nothing wrong with that.

Bathe in Light and some totems also can target escorts.

To newbies: don't (R)est until you know you have the escort's path blocked. Your Resting will not be interrupted by attacks against your escort, who will run ahead of you and die immediately, often in less than 1 second real-time. Beware especially wary of abilities that target "all others" or "all" as opposed to "foes" or "enemies," as these will outright murder your escort. Self-centered explosions in the Celestial trees are the worst offenders. Escorts will also occasionally bash you in the face with a weak spell. Paranoia will cause you to attack your own escort (and vice versa).

All of this probably belongs in a sticky'd thread about escorts. Mods feel free to use any or all of it, and add to it.

Ah, last but not least, save your game immediately after all dialogues in the game. That includes escorts, Miss (redacted) on arrival in the Far (redacted), and the start of the final fight. If your game crashes and reloads at the save immediately prior to the dialogue, it will NOT be re-triggered and you can lose things like escort commands, quest triggers (though not game-breaking), and help from a certain magical lady at an important time.

[Istrebitel]

Thanks everybody! After I learned how to inspect enemy's talents, and the fact that damage statistic is with all stats applied, I think I've kinda got the idea (this game actually provides you with a LOT of info to chew on... which is very welcome!)

[Isotope-X]

That is one element which stands out about TOME, there are no secrets. No silly "drink this random potion which will kill you." You know exactly what that Unique Corruptor/Solopsist Dreaming Horror can do.

[Sradac]

and Bill has a really, really, big treetrunk he uses as a club. It kinda hurts.

*Edit for language - Xandor Tik'Roth