Character build

[faronel]

Heya,

I am new to DS II and I got to play only a little (burned 4 towers at the beginning to the ground - mercenary level), but I already have a few questions to ask.

First of all, the character build. I know, that the trainer told me at the beginning to stick to one class (ranged, melee etc..) or otherwise I'll become too weak down the line, but what does he know, right? Anyway, what kept me bothering is that before proceeding to play, I wanted to know, if I really should stick to one class or can I do combo (I was thinking developing melee+nature)? I know, that it's much more fun to discover the IFs by myself while playing, but it wouldn't be fun, if I found an act or two later that my strategy sucks and my hero now is getting owned by every minion.

If some of you played long enough (passed mercenary or even greater level), maybe some character build tips? I don't want a whole in detail step-by-step scripture, a minor discription would do.

Thanks ahead!

P.S. I am playing original, not BW.

[my6kato]

hint

Hi mate, the P.S. pretty much said it all. You need to stick to the class as you dont get the best advantage of mix classes, but theres always option to do mix char. I've always played BW and i find DS2 boring i suggest try to get BW and then start the game. Melee is best choise for beginers as you are like a sponge for enemy dmg, but Dungeon Siege is a game of parties of heroes so ... if your own char is not melee somebody else will be. Example: Merc difficulty you are allowed to have 4 mercs, as experienced player you can have ANY combination of characters, the most balanced party is 1melee,1ranger,1combat,1natural magic. You have TANK (the melee) you can make him using shield so he will be REALY A TANK, basicly he goes forward in battle to collect all insects and with the rest of the crew (ranger + magicians) you just make the clean-up as the have the higher damage and lesser health. (last few months im playing single without any help and i still manage to complete the game in highest difficulty).
Lets say You would like to have a combat magician. You will need some levels at melee and range ... melee for physical resist, max life ect. and range for magic resistance, dodge ....all pasive defensive skills as you would not enjoy dying too often. The rest of the points you concentrate on (lets say) fire magic...by the time you master the fire magic you gona have spare points to master (lets say) lighting damage, you will need to have 2 different types of damage at higher levels as you have monsters with ability HEALED BY FIRE so only with ur fire damage no matter how high is it you will heal the monster instead of killing it...
P.S. I dont think you need too detailed explanation how to develop ur character as this is the most fun part of the game , just experiment, try different stuff... AND GET BW DUUUUDE

[faronel]

Cheers a lot, mate!

I will get the expansion from my friend, when he returns from a vacation. Meanwhile, I'll try to play the original in order to get into the game system.

By the way, I hate parties. I just don't like the idea that the experience is shared among party members. I was told by my friend that in this game each hit matters even more, cause experience is going to the player who is dealing damage, which in result reduced my tolerance toward NPC parties even more. In a lan game it would be completely fine, but with NPC...

Anyway, I always played solo in singleplayer, but I must admit, that nature mage is getting owned pretty badly in solo here... That 24 level treasure protector against mine level 11, rofl... Maybe I had to come back later, but it took me 50 (!!!) minutes to kill that sucker (and probalby 10 deaths for me ).

But the reason for my reply is not my whine, but a new question. Is there any way to use some kind of a quick switch of magic spells with a keyboard? It really kills me off to switch the spells manually with my mouse...

[JessicaElytis]

Couple things.

1) DS2 characters can be "converted" to BW characters, but are notoriously known for bugs when they do. Usually from NPC's and Pets with inventory, if I understand correctly (I've always played BW, so not sure). I would suggest just restarting the game with a new hero once you have BW installed, as sometimes the saved bugs don't show up till much later in the game (and after a lot of work on building the character).

2) XP is divided evenly amoung the Main Character and all NPC's. As far as I know, there is no set bonus for getting in the "hit". For example: I've had my Nature Mage gain melee levels because I forgot to set her spells after chaning out her staff. She never even hit anything, just got the levels from just standing there.

3) Pets (unlike NPCs) do not soak up XP. So if you want all the XP yoruself, but still want a bit of "party" style help, you can look into various Pets offered.

4) As to your question; Yes. Though I can't remember offhand how (and I've misplaced my manual). Basically, you set the entire Party's spells/weapons using the Function keys (F1-F12). I ~think~ this is done in the Options menu under the Hotkeys.

However, as for switching up spells, I find that the 4 slots are enough, with some of the party heal spells and buff spells set in the Auto-cast selections. This also works if you like a certain spell cast to lead into battles (Like Decay Armor).

As for the owning on the Treasure Protector (which I am assuming is the Taclak in the underground smithy), then no worries. Everyone gets owned by him at first. Tough ass battle with the levels most are when they reach that point.

~Jessy

[faronel]

F1-F12, roger!

Thanks, Jessy!