I'm about to give up.

I've tried several different parties and also the same result: The frogs at the moathouse just beat me down. I'm damaged and have to go back to town to heal. I heal and head back out. Next encounter, I'm damaged and have to go back to heal...etc, etc etc.

I spend the entire game running back to town because my healers just plain suck. They get one decent healing spell at level 1 and I can only use it once a day. I don't know what to do, this just isn't fun. Am I supposed to be attempting the moat house at level 1? Clearly I'm doing something wrong because so many other people love this game.

 

How about you try some low level quest or do some of the errand quest in hommlet before going to the moathouse? Welkwood Bog does it best when your low level :yes:

 

For some reason, I thought the moathouse *was* the low level stuff. So there's other stuff more to level 1? Thank God.

I think it's the fact that after starting, some of the npcs I first see as part of the initial quest want to send me off to the moathouse right away, making me assume that was what I needed to do. I *did* by weapons and amour first, but after that went straight there.

 

Try talking to the blacksmith and ask him about adventure. Then you talk to the militia captain (lower left house) and he will tell you a story. It opens up Welkwood bog, which I find difficult as well, but we designed it for level 1. Also, try talking to the lumberjack and try Delko Grove. Finally, you can talk to Terjon, the high priest in the church, and get access to Emridy Meadows and fight some easy skeletons

 

But if you really want to go to the moathouse in your current level, how about you hire Elmo and let him do the job. :drunk:

 

Hi
Just a couple of helpful (I hope) comments. Without knowing what your healers are like (as far as stats, etc...) it's hard to say if you are actually doing anything wrong, but here are some ideas.
1.) As mentioned earlier, talk to everyone in town. There are a number of quests that you can do in town that will get you up to second level. My personal recommendation is that if this is your first time playing the game, hold off on the Deklo Grove until you are second level.
2.) Make sure your healer(s) have a high Wisdom score. This will let them cast extra spells. By the way there is no law that says you can only memorize each spell only once per day, so if your cleric has a high enough wisdom to be able to cast 2 or 3 first level spells, he/she can memorize 2 or 3 "Cure Light Wounds" if you want.
3.) Neutral and Good aligned clerics do NOT have to memorize any cure spells in order to cast them. Let's say you have a Neutral Good cleric of Pelor who has memorized "Shield of Faith" and "Bless", and needs to cast a "Cure Light Wounds" on the badly injured fighter. Click on the Radial menu like the Cleric is going to cast one of those two spells. Before clicking on a spell press the SHIFT button on your keyboard, you will notice that your cleric's first level spells have been "converted" into "Cure Light Wounds".
4.) Don't forget that your clerics and druids have the option of casting "Cure Minor Wounds" (each casting heals 1 hit point) as a Zero Level spell
5.) Druids ROCK !! If you have a Druid in your party (either a PC, or Meleny if you complete the "Flirting with Disaster" quest in Hommlet) said Druid can cast two of the most important first level spells in the game: "Entangle" and "Good Berry". Use "Entangle" to keep the enemy "rooted" in place so your archers can pick him off from a distance. "Good Berry" basically allows your druid to create many "Potions of Cure Minor Wounds" for free. What I always do, is the day before I go to the Moathouse (or Emridy Meadow), I hole up in the inn, and have my druid(s) cast as many "Good Berry" spells as possible. On my current playthrough, between my PC Druid and Meleny I was getting as many as 45 "Good Berries". That's enough to heal 45 Hit Points of damage, without casting a single spell during the battle !! I guess I better explain the whole process. I will usually return to the Inn in Hommlet around 3 PM or so. I then have the Druids memorize nothing but Good Berry for their first level spells (and for their second level spells once they reach 3rd level: This requires "dragging" Good Berry into the empty second level spell slots). I then have the party rest for 8 hours. The Druids then cast all their Good Berry spells, and distribute the berries so that none are left lying on the floor (use the TAB button to check for this). I then have the druids memorize their "regular" first (and second) level spells and rest another 8 hours before proceeding onto the next adventure.
I Hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy the game. Welcome aboard !!
The Royal Canadian

 

I had no idea about the shift to cast cure light wounds spells... why would you memorize them then?

 

No need, and at higher levels, I have so many healing potion, I don't think I ever cast the spells.


OP, you can also just walk back and forth from town to different locations hoping for decent random encounters. Save often, as you may get 4 trolls at 1st level, but after a few skeletons, goblins, or pirates, you will also have some decent loot to use or sell. Make sure everyone has a good missile weapon and the best armor they can use or you can afford, use area control spells like entangle, grease, sleep, or web, then stand back and fire away until you have better AC and HPs to go toe to toe with them. Use summons as cannon fodder, so the enemies target them and not you.

 

On top of that, a cleric of Pelor has access to the Healing domain, which gives a +1 bonus to all healing spells Cure Light Wounds and above (not Cure Minor Wounds!), and also gives the option of preparing Cure Light Wounds as the 1st level domain spell, Cure Moderate Wounds as the 2nd level domain spell, etc. So a 1st level cleric of Pelor with at least 12 Wisdom and access to the Healing domain could cast 3 Cure Light Wounds spells, each one healing 1d6+2 points of damage, if I've done my calculations correctly, along with 3 Cure Minor Wounds spells. So that's 12-27 points of damage cured total.
2nd level bards get access to Cure Light Wounds, and 2nd level paladins get Lay on Hands as a class ability. Later on monks get a similar ability but it only works on themselves.
Also, you can buy healing potions and scrolls when you first start, and then from the St. Cuthbert Church (which also has a supply of free healing scrolls and one very powerful potion just begging to be poached, all for a good cause of course!)
As for those pesky frogs, a druid or other summoner is your best friend. Drop a summoned animal in front of one, and you should be able to take the frog down before it moves onto your party.
EDIT: Oops, didn't read through the rest of your post General Ghoul. Just do what he tells you. Please don't paralyze me and eat my skin, General Ghoul!

 

There is some great info here, thank you guys, I appreciate it.

 

its a bit difficult to overcome the game at first levels. you will be wrestling with your crappy rolls until the 6. level or so. thats the most part of the game.

 

Not really, you just need to get to 2nd level to have enough hit points to survive a lucky hit. Get through enough encounters so everyone in the party (except wizs and sors) has enough cash to buy chain shirts and good shield. This is enough AC so most CR1 encounters can't hit you except on a good roll. Just by taking the Fedex quests and a few random encounters on the road should get you there.

 

Why would you indeed? There's no need to memorize healing spells with a good/neutral cleric; unless you are metamagicking them, or using a domain slot, there is absolutely no reason to memorize the cure line of spells for them aside from perhaps RP reasons.

This is one of the reasons why clerics in 3e/3.5e have shot up to the ranks of the most powerful classes, arguably THE most powerful class.

 

Hi
Pardon me for making a plug for the most "undervalued" spellcaster: The Druid.
Druids have their version of the "SHIFT + Click" ability. In the case of Druids, SHIFT+Click
changes the spells to "Summon Nature's Ally" which I find very useful at the higher levels.
During the Balor fight, I almost always end up having a Druid "Shiftcasting" Summon Nature's Ally VI" to bring in a Huge Water Elemental to distract the Efreets and the Balor.
The Royal Canadian

 

mkay, how the hell was I supposed to know about that SHIFT-click thing? The game never mentioned it!