My party has attained level 17 recently and I've cleaned out
Goblinwatch, Abandoned Temple, Shadow Guild, Dragoon's Cavern, Temple
of Baa, Temple of Tsantsa and Gharik's Forge (just kidding!). My
party has also cleaned up the environs of New Sorpigal, Castle Iron
Fist, Mist, Bootleg Bay and nearly all of Free Haven, ridding the
roads of assorted scum and villainy--all in the first year. Although
I'm far from completing the game, it's probably safe to saw I'm no
longer a newbie.
I'd like to offer the following observations and tips for those just
starting this awesome game. The decisions you make early on will have
a major impact on the later stages--and could save you a lot of
headache and grief. Much of what follows has also been taken from the
experiences of others as posted in this ng.
I. Party Selection
The first decision you'll have to make when starting up MM6 for the
first time is the composition of your party. The debate about what
party make-up is most optimal will surely rage for as long as people
play this game. Nonetheless, there is a general consensus on three
classes that should be included in any party:
1. Knight - for sheer close-up fighting power, high hit points, and
getting your party out of dungeons when the rest of your party is
unconcious.
2. Sorcerer - offensive and elemental magic user, will learn dark
magic later
3. Cleric - for defensive and healing magic, and light magic later
The fourth member is less clear. You have a choice of three others:
Archer (Knight/Sorcerer), Paladin (Knight/Cleric), Druid (Generalist).
Although some have maligned the Archer, I think it's a good addition.
Setting aside it's good ranged attack abilities (which is a critical
in MM6), the Archer can complement the Knight in close-up attacks, and
the sorcerer in magic attacks. My Archer is expert in Air Magic and
is learning Fire Magic (my Sorcer is expert in Fire, Water and Earth).
The combination of Knight, Archer, Sorcerer and Cleric is very much an
offensive party. While some may claim that a Paladin or Druid will
add a critical back-up healing component, I've found that my Cleric
alone is more than adequate for keeping my party conscious in battle.
Nonetheless, it's important to note that as long as you have the
Knight, Sorcerer, and Cleric in your party, whether you choose the
Archer, Paladin, or Druid will not significantly harm or aid your
party either way.
II. Skills
The second major choice you'll be confronted with is what skills to
apportion among your party members. Again, reasonable people may
disagree about the optimal mix, but there seem to be a few critical
ones that will help any party throughout it's adventuring. Remember,
all skills can be picked up at some point during the game.
1. Most necessary
Merchant - at least one member should excel in this skill, and
probably all your members should have it at a minimal level.
Disarm trap - the ability to open the numerous traps and crates you
come across, without taking damage (almost all of them are booby
trapped), is very helpful.
Identify item - saves you a ton of money in expenses
Repair item - again, saves you lots of money (money is a commodity in
short supply early in the game), not to mention handy if you're in the
middle of a dungeon and have found that your favorite sword or armour
has been ruined.
Meditation - adds extra spell points - give to Cleric and Sorcerer, at
least (for the Knight, it's useless)
Needless to say, become Expert and Master these skills ASAP.
2. Helpful, but not critical
Bodybuilding - increase HP
Learning - you can find NPCs that do this too
Perception - apparently good for grabbing things out of skull piles
without getting ill
3. What's the use...?
Diplomacy - seems not to have a great effect...
III. Spell Skills and Spells
The last big decision you'll have to make is what spells skills to
distribute. Again, one may comfortably choose a variey of skills, but
the seemingly most important ones are in order (spells in paranthesis
are those most helpful early on):
Sorcerer Fire (Firebold, Fireball and Ring of Fire)
Water (Cold Beam, Water Walking and Enchant Item)
Earth (Deadly Swarm)
Cleric Spirit (Bless and Heroism)
Body (Harm and Cure Wounds)
Mind (Mind Blast)
Other Air (Wizard's Eye and Sparks)
IV. Weapons
One weapon is very important for at least three--if not all--members
to have: the bow. Many of the enemies you'll face early in the game
do not have ranged attack. And because your party is not that high in
hit points, being able to sit back and pick off (or significantly
weaken) the baddies before they finally get close enough to attack is
of great help. The prime strategy I follow when confronted with
hoardes of raging monsters is:
-- Approach close enough to "peal off" three or four monsters so that
they charge. Attack with arrows and perhaps the occasional magic from
the Cleric. If they've survived when they get into attack range, your
Knight and Archer should be able to finish them off with little
trouble. Later, the Sorcerer's and Archer's fireball spells offers
added firepower if arrows are not doing enough damage or if a large
number of monsters are charging.
As for other weapons skills, distributing most of them among your
party is a good idea because you never know when you'll come across a
powerful weapon that does tremendous damage. Here are the weapons
skills of my party members (the one listed first is the one they
started with):
Knight: Sword
Axe (had a powerful axe for a long time)
Bow
Archer: Bow
Sword (probably should have learned spear instead for
it's defensive capabilities)
Sorcerer Dagger
Bow
Cleric Mace
Staff
V. Armour
With armour, it's important to note that the stronger it is, the more
time your party member needs to recover before attacking again (at
least until you reach master), so you must strike a balance between
protection and attack speed. There's no firm consensus on what class
should learn what armour; in my game, only the Knight has learned
anything beyond leather armour--the others are all expert in leather
armour.
Also note that regardless of the armour-wearing abilities of your
members (some, like the Sorcerer and Cleric, can't learn anything
above leather armour), EVERYONE can wear protective gauntlets, shoes,
helmuts, cloaks, rings and amulets.
General Tips:
Bottles - grab as many as you can. Those herbs and things lying
around everywhere make potions, but you need bottles to put them in
(hint: don't take a plain herb and click it on your character--he or
she will get sick).
Bar tender tipping - there can be some useful tips he or she gives
you.
NPCs - can join your party. The most sought after ones seem to be the
instructors/teachers (who boost experience gained) and those who boost
merchant skills.
Fountains and wells - usually offer temporary increases in stats or
rejuvenate hp's or magic points. Beware of the troughs though, they
are often poisonous.
Auto map - when you arrive in a new city, the automap kicks in. Be
sure to uncover as much area as you can so that the map no longer
contains blacked out spots. There's typically other areas on islands
or remote areas that contain helpful shrines, caves, monsters, etc.
Obviously, not everyone will agree with me--and I invite their
comments, additions, or criticisms. The beauty of this game is its
non-linearity and different ways of playing. Enjoy!
-Robert
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