Newbie here!

Discussion in 'The Temple of Elemental Evil' started by Airship, Sep 30, 2010.

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  1. Airship

    Airship Member

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    I'm back, this time with a few newbie questions :)

    I have a party of 5:
    Human Wizard
    Human Sorcerer (spokesman)
    Half Orc Fighter
    Human Cleric (Good/healing)
    Elf Rogue/ranger (Currently lvl5 Rogue, gonna multiclass to Ranger from here on) with Longbow

    I just got the craft wondrous items feat for my Wizard, planning to get Magic arms and armor for the sorc and cleric later.

    Currently I seem to be doing good, just reached lvl 5 after completing all of the quests in Hommlet (good GOD, I didn't remember how tedious those were! Especially when it's been so many years since my initial playthrough that I didn't remember ho to do the quests. I've never spent so much time walking in a game in my life! o_O), completed the Welkwood Bog, Emridy Meadows (ended with a very satisfying fight with that damned giant who had killed me three times earlier. Gotta love Web), and just started messing with the moathouse (killed the bugbears, the gnolls... Just Lareth or whatshisname left then, no?)

    ANYWAY, didn't mean to rant, heh. I actually just have a fairly simple question so far. Might be back and update this thread if I come up with more that i can't find by searching these forums :)

    What I'm wondering is, seeing as i just got the craft wondrous items feat, I was planning on using it. Well, the list of items was pretty expansive... Ire there any of these items that are "Must-haves"? Just a few general suggestions on what i should be aiming for would be nice :)

    I know I should probably get some attribute enhancers for the various party members, but is there other items that is great to have? If so, why?

    EDIT: hey, already found something else to ask about! Seeing as I'm shortsighted to a fault, I hadn't actually picked any of the stat-boosting spells when I leveled my Wizard. Anyone know any good shops where i can buy those scrolls? Does Calmert sell them on good days?

    Thanks in advance



    (and sorry for this godawful long post, I feel terrible :( )
    -Air
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2010
  2. Ranth

    Ranth Established Member

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    Hi there,

    I dont craft too many wonderous items. I dont feel like I can justify losing the exp for some of them. Though I do know that people do like getting the belt (and gauntlets?) for extra strength. Also, giving your rogue some dexterity gloves helps, especially if you use small weapons and have the weapon finesse feat.

    Burne sells scrolls that should be able to help you.
     
  3. cezmail

    cezmail Gorboth's Rider

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    Well I know that there is a scroll of cats grace in the moathouse, and Burne had at times scrolls of Cats Grace and I believe Fox's Cunning. Also know that your cleric will have the other 4 stat spells.

    As for crafting, well getting the ones to help your spell casters to have more spells and a higher DC on their offensive spells could be useful. Gloves for your rogue and belts for the front liners could also be nice. The gloves can also help to boost the AC for your Wiz and Sorcerer, as well as ranged touch spells.

    The helm of reading magic to save time and money ID potions and scrolls. Others could be bracers of AC as well as archery, cloaks of resistance to help with saving throws, and you can always scribe lots of spells.

    Take this for what you will. Glad that you are getting up there and took out that meanie Giant who would not play nice. :)
     
  4. Airship

    Airship Member

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    Thanks for your time :) I guess i won't be crafting TOO much, the exp loss seem kind of harsh.

    About the scrolls, I checked Burne already, he didn't have them... Does his shop inventory change? If so, how do I trigger a change?

    EDIT: Whoa, didn't see you there, Cezemail, thank you for your reply, that helps a lot. Belatedly, I see that i should have had the craft wondrous items feat on my Cleric, but i wasted that feat on Brew Potion... Oh well. I'm guessing it would be a bit of a waste to get the Scribe Scroll feat for her just so she could scribe the few scrolls needed? :p



    Also, I found a couple more questions to ask about:

    I intend to have my Cleric use heavy armor, cause that's kind of cleric-y and her Dex is only 10 :)o)... Will this interfere with her cure spells?

    Semi-related, my Fighter has a pretty high Dex (16), because of that I get 7 AC from a normal Scalemail. Is it worth it to use heavier armor? Does this mean that a regular Banded armor (6+1 AC) would be worthless to him compared to the scale? As a DnD newb this stuff confuse me :)

    Next, anyone care to enlighten me on some useful spells to get? i know it's not that big of a deal for the Wizard, but I sorta don't want to be stuck with useless spells for my Sorc. Web is awesome though, that, I do know :)

    And lastly, any good ways to earn money? I have a feeling my crafting will become expensive. I did find a neat Glitch with Otello do the farmer (the one who steals from Filliken). Basically, you catch him red-handed and start arguing about the rights and wrongs of stealing, before you tell him to bugger off in various ways. I choose the one where he gives me the 5 plat he stole so i can give them back to Filliken anonymously. Well, turns out he doesn't leave, and you can do this over and over again for 5 new plat every time.

    Anyway, couldn't stand there forever, so I only got around 30 plat before completing the quest, so i need another source of income :p


    Ehn... Totally didn't mean to make another wall of text like this :eek: So sorry. I know how annoying it must be having me pestering you folks about these trivial things, but i really appreciate your help!

    -Air
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2010
  5. Necroticpus

    Necroticpus Cthulhu Ftaghn!

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    Get it while you can because I'm pretty sure you won't be able to ever again after modpack 6.0. :yes:
     
  6. Airship

    Airship Member

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    The plat from Otello? Or any other easy means for getting money? Cause if it's the latter I'm in trouble ;)
     
  7. Necroticpus

    Necroticpus Cthulhu Ftaghn!

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    The best way to get money is to have a character that has appraise as a class skill. I always use a rogue. Max out your class skill and also buy the sunglasses and merchant's scale from rannos and gremag. Then, sell all the magic items you don't want/need. You'll be in the hundred of thousands of gold in no time.
     
  8. cezmail

    cezmail Gorboth's Rider

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    I will agree with Necro that this is a great way to make all the money you can. Also sell to the merchants that offer you the best prices on recovered loot. Put those chests of holding to work to store your goodies to cut down on trips to Hommlet, as the merchants in Nulb are skinflints when parting with their own money.

    If you have a high enough points in sleight of hand, you can try to pilfer for Burne and Rufus for some nice goodies to sell. Heck I have even sold Burne his own goods and he never caught on.

    Scribing first level scrolls/potions only cost you 1 xp and you can sell them, though not for a heck of a lot. Enchancing any masterwork weapons can get you some nice money, though at a higher xp loss.

    To answer your other questions, armor does hurt the casting of divine spells, so armor that healer up to the max. For your Fighter, those Elven chain shirts are some of the best to get the higher ac, though once you can buy/find a suit of mithril Plate, get it. +8 base ac and +3 for dex equals +11 before anything else. Toss in max enhancement from crafting and a tower shield maxed out, you could get an AC of 30+. Also a heavier armor helps at the start of battle when your character may be caught flat-footed, where you do not get any dex to your ac.
     
  9. Airship

    Airship Member

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    Thanks again :)

    Ehn... So Armor will interfere with my cleric's casting, and thus i should give her the biggest pieces of armor I find? I'm gonna assume typo here, thanks :D

    I did find one of them Elven Chains after killing that giant, I should put that one to good use :)
     
  10. cezmail

    cezmail Gorboth's Rider

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    yep, sorry for that fricken typo. Had a blond moment and me a brunet. :)

    Yes the Elven chains are nice and you can find progressively better ones as you play, so if you
    do not want to craft to enhance armor, you can get a better AC. Also if you get your rogue's dex high enough, then a mithral shirt from the assassins are a great thing to have. Good ac plus a high dex bonus allowance.
     
  11. General Ghoul

    General Ghoul Established Member

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    On the armor question, you have to look at the combination of armor AC, DEX added AC, plus the weight of the armor. For that low DEX cleric, heavy armor like a breastplate or platemail is the way to go, as long as he has a decent STR, so the heavy armor doesn't encumber him. Crafting gloves of STR can solve this problem.

    For the fighters, you need to look at the change in AC in wearing a higher AC armor with lower DEX bonus vs a lighter armor that allows a higher DEX bonus. In case of a tie, I always go for the lighter armor, so each character can carry more in their pack. Also note the max DEX allowed by the armor can effect other things like the to hit bonus on missile weapons or the skill check bonus, so you want to make sure your trap disarming rogue has armor that allows his full DEX bonus.


    On the Wonderous Items: The Helm of Reading Magic is a must, so you can identify all the scrolls and potions. I believe you should give it to all spell casters, they will still get plenty of other feats, so don't worry about that. I also think its worth it to use some XP to give everyone something that helps them: Belts of STR for the frontliners, Headband od INT for your Wiz, Cloaks of Resistance for fighters with low Will saves, you don't want them charmed in the middle of a fight. Make what you can: +2 for now, + 6 later when you are higher level. Sell what you replace or hand it down to someone else. The one level difference at the end of the game won't hurt, and the fighter can always use the extra HPs and AB.


    If you really need the money, when you get into the temple, rest in the areas the giants and ettins hang out, they drop gold and jewels to sell.
     
  12. Airship

    Airship Member

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    Wouldn't I be able to "grind" away that level difference at the end of the game, say, I have reached the level cap with my characters, won't the lower leveled crafters still get experience?

    I'm btw having the damnedest time refreshing Burne's inventory... The way i do it is, I walk to the Bog, fight anything interesting along the way, then head back to Hommlet to rest at the inn. Then i go visit Burne, but he seems to be very fond of his stock - there's minuscule changes if any, and no sign of attribute spells.

    I'm of half a mind to just level up to the next level and give craft wondrous items to the cleric as well, seems like it would be the fastest route :x
     
  13. cezmail

    cezmail Gorboth's Rider

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    Well the level cap would be in the rules only if you had not raised it from the front end. Yoy can change it up to level 20, though the lower level guys should still get higher xp from battles, so that will help some.

    With Burne, you might have to rest/pass time a week at a time to try to get the other items in his inventory. You can also grind and get that level, so your cleric can help with the crafting.
     
  14. Ranth

    Ranth Established Member

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    Regarding armor, there are two important characteristics to note when you hover over it.

    1) Spell failure chance. This is the chance your cleric wont be able to cast their spell. You want to low, but heavy armor makes the % larger. I have never had a spell fail due to only this though if you have a good 'concentration' skill.

    2) Max Dex bonus. Your fighter with a 16 Dex should have a +3 next to it (on the character sheet). This means that they get a +3 to their armor. However, if you wear something heavy with a Max Dex bonus of +2, now they only get a +2 to their armor bonus from dex if they wear that. So, you need to justify the lower dex bonus with higher armor rating the heavier armor will give you.

    I am glad you like the game so far. Feel free to ask questions. We like to help new people around here :)
     
  15. cezmail

    cezmail Gorboth's Rider

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    Ranth, I believe that the spell failure only applies to arcane magic users, mages, sorcerers, and bards. Devine users should never have to worry about that.

    Here is a quote from the SRD if you do not mind.

     
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