The Shamans' Way: New play diary (Summoner Cleric)

[Kakost]

Thanks again for such a detailed post. Ironman. Ironman!! hmm, let me finish the game once and then slowly work my way up from Story mode!!!

Do not worry brother, take your time and enjoy the game as best you wish.

Each difficulty lvl is an entirely different game play experience, but you get used to them. Yes, you can die on IM a few times, or find it really hard to push foward in a few places on Hard, but after a while you just simply get used to it and dont struggle anymore.

Even Story Mode is challenging enough for a first timer, that's because this game is different from modern RPG games (that are more "Diablo-like") where you just go in guns blazing exterminating everything in your path like a Hercules-Merlin demigod, this game requires patience and careful planning, thus it does indeed requires some time and a few playthroughs to finally getting used to.

In my first play I went straight to Iron Man after just a few minutes on Casual and Hard, where I tested each one of the classes with several combinations, then I got fascinated by the game, I went to the wiki and studied many maps, quests, critters, items, did a lot of math and watched several videos because Im a crazy maniac perfectionist lol.

So, my very first REAL play (besides kilking a few goblins with each class on Lanmegar) was on Iron Man, but I got a masters degree on "EK theory" before going into it, so I never did it blindly - but of course, knowing the theory is one thing, applying it in practice is another, and it was the practice that truly allowed me to become experienced. But I already knew more or less what I had to do.

That's by the way why I chose Elementalist as my first choice, despite many veterans overwhelmingly claiming that Summoner was easier and that Elementalist is hard.

What helped me a lot in the beginning were videos on YouTube. With those videos I learned for example how to make Griss wait in a room and lure enemies one by one to her to leave bosses alone, that's how I learned about how powerful the elemental spells are and how I should use them efficiently. That's how I learn how to do kitting properly, hide behind Griss and kill enemies. And after that, it was just a matter of experience to be able to do it all, and time and again I would consult guys like Neponde himself who helped me A LOT with the "theoretical" part on how to improve - they tipped me into using summon scrolls for instance, and many many other ideas that hadnt occurred to me before.

My very first post here were much like your own very first post (yes my friend, I still remember the first time you posted), and I was asking advice on how to overcome the dreadful "mid game limbo".

And playing on Iron Man as a "green" player, but with a lot of game theory, I developed a sort of "scarcity mentality" - I stockpiled everything that I thought I could remotely need and I played the game as the most heroic coward you could possibly think, running like a little child at the first sight of trouble.

Funnily enough, I played better at that time than I do now lol. That's because now I've became too bold, which leads me to many stupid deaths - like stubbornly dying because "I have no mana but I have 1 recovery, but I can kill a regular Minotaur no trouble, but not the lvl 10 Minotaur Lord. Hmm... I wonder if the next one is a regular or lord kind like the previous? Well, lets find out!

Absolutely stupid. In my first IM run with the Elementalist I would NEVER have done such idiotic thing. I would have IMMEDIATELY used my recovery to make sure I was capable to deal with any unforseen contingencies in my way out, and be sure I would survive my brave escape back into the city to rest.

But hey, now that Im a "veteran", I dont wanna let 1 recovery go to waste unless I absolutely need to... Right?

And the result is this, I managed the incredible achievement of dying with the Cleric, the hardest class of all to die with.

That's how it goes. Arrogance does indeed precedes the fall.

Do not worry about rushing things out, just go on in your own pace. One day you'll be playing on IM like it's child's play and you wont even notice you got there, and you'll be here with us teaching the new generations of players like the ones before me did for me and like I do for you. Dont worry about it

 

[Kakost]

TRIAL 2



So, after restarting it all, I now have finally joined the Church of the Three.

After the initial early-early quests (Unkown Dungeon, Head Hunter, Where's my Sword, Thieves Guild etc etc etc, you know the drill), I did a few Town Hall quests, defeated some stupid Knight in a duel in the middle of nowhere and that allowed me to complete Latimer's quest "Where is Guiles" (requires 40 rep with Varsilia). And so I did it, as a lvl 8 Cleric.

By the way, 1-shooting lvl 9 Wraiths with Sacred Fire is so satisfactory.

After that, I went to talk with the governor and... I could only bribe him - but I didnt have the 3000 coins at that moment. I thought you only needed Per 3 to convince him to open the temple for the Church of the 3, but my memory played me tricks, it's Per 4 for that.

No biggie, because that has an easy fix: go to the Golden Hand and buy a ring they have that gives Per +1 - which I was going to do anyway.

To do that, I needed one of the Necromancy books. No, I was not going to give the medallion from the spice trader girl, since I also wanted her to sign my petition (and save me 1000 gp from having to buy it from Kardagis at the sewers).

So, obviously that meant going back once again to Irazur Tomb, which I consider being the easiest target of all the 3 options.

For that thou, I wanted Awa 2 before going there, so that I could deactivate the gas chamber without needing Adaon, thus making my life easier.

So I decided to go back to the Maze, the very same Maze that became my soul's resting place in a previous life.

This time however, I succeeded where in my previous encarnation I failed.

Or rather, I wasnt dumb enough to fight Minotaur Lords without mana.

One single run by over the level 1 of the Maze was enough for me reach lvl 9 (I was almost there when I went in), and thus I returned with the loot and the horn to give to a certain petulant noble wanting to impress his friends.

That was also enough for my Awa 2.

Anyway, after that small detour, I went straight to Irazur, and after some hardships brought mostly by the insane amount of traps in that cursed place, and then by the annoying poison cloud from those ancient mummies, I eventually and finally reached the book I was seeking (Irazur Tomb is still incomplete, I havent dared trying to reach the Tolassian Tome or the Lich that takes residence in there), I went straight to the Library of the Golden Hand, bought the Per +1 book and went straight to New Garand talk to the governor. And now, the quest was already complete, because I had already showed Latimer his son's remains, I had already returned a certain lost sword and since I have already been allowed at the Golden Hand, I could finally return the medallion of a certain spice trader and collect her signature.

So, with all that, I oficially declare that the Early Game is done, and Im officially entering the Middle Game stage.

Post automatically merged:    28/04/2023

And just when I was so happy and so eager to get my little wolf pet, I see this:



I need Int 3 to buy it

That's fine, I have 1 lone trait point in reserve, so I just need lvl 10 to do it.

Now I can attack a certain Orc fort too and proceed with all regular mid game quests.

My next move is gone be to gain access to Icemist. I need 2 more living Ice and doing the 2 hard quests involving Trolls and the Vorators cave. But I can already feel my hands so close to the Amulet of Dark Whispers that I can almost feel it.

Post automatically merged:    28/04/2023

Oh yes, and a big shout out to Neponde, thanks a lot dude, your tip for taking Arbenos Might 1 has massively paid off, specially because I "borrowed" Hirge's 2H hammer. It greatly increased my game and helped me a lot on many tough situations

 

[Gr8Scott]

Oh yes, and a big shout out to Neponde, thanks a lot dude, your tip for taking Arbenos Might 1 has massively paid off

Yes, 1 SP + 2 mana for +7 damage. Level 1 IS a critical skill for the least offensive character in the game. Stacks with Battle Prayer and an Ogre Might potion as well when you find yourself alone.

And you are right about sacred flames being sweet in undead dungeons. Huge help with those stinky toxic mummies as well.

 

[Kakost]

Yes, 1 SP + 2 mana for +7 damage. Level 1 IS a critical skill for the least offensive character in the game. Stacks with Battle Prayer and an Ogre Might potion as well when you find yourself alone.

And you are right about sacred flames being sweet in undead dungeons. Huge help with those stinky toxic mummies as well.

It's +11 damage for my 2H hammer, it's an incredible skill, the minimum lvl 1 in it is indeed a critical skill to have. Like always, that's the kind of thing you only ever learn by playing

 

[Arcanmaster]

So, obviously that meant going back once again to Irazur Tomb, which I consider being the easiest target of all the 3 options.

imo, Mausoleum is easier.

 

[knarfling]

To do that, I needed one of the Necromancy books. No, I was not going to give the medallion from the spice trader girl, since I also wanted her to sign my petition (and save me 1000 gp from having to buy it from Kardagis at the sewers).

Just an FYI, there is another option as well.

Gilmour (remember the Spider Sack?) will have his uncle sign for a mere 10 fire salts.

I usually have extra, so that is often my option. But I definitely understand not wanting to give the medallion to the Hand. And not wanting to deal with Gilmour any more, either.

 

[Kakost]

imo, Mausoleum is easier.

Really? Hmm... It may as well be. The main difficulty I had on Irazur were those damn poisonous mummies, but Mausoleum has too many ghosts on the way to it, and the room where the book is located is filled with too many undead. With Elementalist or Warrior I would agree with you, because of their AoE spells/skills, but my Cleric only has Sacred Fire, although being super good against undead, is kinda mana intensive for my limited pool - well, perhaps I have rushed it to lvl 3 too soon.

Hmm... Yeah, it may be true. Irazur does indeed have a freaking ton of traps who are more of a burden than the Undeads themselves - I guess this may be the reason why I have that notion that it's easier, I play Mage more than any other class, and due to Mage Armor I got this impression.

You may indeed be right on that point. Also, with other classes I never bothered to rush these quests before, and thus were confortable doing them with a few extra lvls on my back.

Post automatically merged:    29/04/2023

Just an FYI, there is another option as well.

Gilmour (remember the Spider Sack?) will have his uncle sign for a mere 10 fire salts.

I usually have extra, so that is often my option. But I definitely understand not wanting to give the medallion to the Hand. And not wanting to deal with Gilmour any more, either.

Ah yeah, but between giving 10 fire salts to Gilmor and paying 1000 gp to Kardagis I prefer to deal with my prefered scum of society.

I have 1 single fire salt, and I still want 2 more to complete the "Where is Amarisa" research part with the loreseekers for a few extra XP.

My Cleric is only lvl 9 still, and Im not doing much of exploring/dungeoneering/farming yet, and when I say that I mean nothing at all. As such, I havent got to the Goblin cave for instance, that has a bunch of the fire imps or any other similar. Im just going quest after quest after quest, thus having 10 fire salts at the moment would require boring farming time that Im not willing to indulge into.

Besides, I would want to enter the Golden Hand regardless, because of their special offers, in particular the Per+1 ring, so it became a pleasure and business trip, and I can do all at once.

 

[Arcanmaster]

but Mausoleum has too many ghosts on the way to it,

There is spot near stairs where you may aggre 2 8lv wraith and skeleton, it was hardest.
There is 14lv ghost in room with book, but I grabed book and run without touching him.

Spoiler: recent try

I have 3 succesful tries on Hard (I don't play on Iron Man).
Previos 2 tries were done by 4lv clerics with Hirge and 4-6 bottles of Deepfrost Kognjak left from Hirge quest.
Today I made two tries with 5lv cleric and Adaon and no potions. First try failed because I tried to grab book when Death Knight still had some skeleton allies that blocked my way.
On second try I lured all skeletons out that room leaving strong ghost alone.
Since I managed to grab book in Mausoleum with 5lv cleric and no pots, I think Mausoleum is really easier

but my Cleric only has Sacred Fire, although being super good against undead, is kinda mana intensive for my limited pool - well, perhaps I have rushed it to lvl 3 too soon.

Inory Enclave sells Deepfrost k.

 

[Kakost]

Inory Enclave sells Deepfrost k.

Forgive me father, for I have sinned. Im guilty of the sin of avarice, and I never buy potions before the end of the mid game. Can I be forgiven on the name and glory of the Three?

Post automatically merged:    29/04/2023

I barely have any money because I dont spend time farming. Whatever potions I have are those that I gain or find in my travels, Im saving money now to both pay my fines with Mercia (because I have a tendency towards helping Varannari slaves) and to buy my forth vault at the bank.

So the few potions I have I try to hold on to the best I can and not spend them frivously except under life or death situations.

By late game I really don't care, but right now Im super petty with my money

 

[Neponde]

I barely have any money because I dont spend time farming

I hear you.

What I do to save myself the inanity of farming is a townhall quest or two periodically. I then use that as the excuse to clean out the dungeon. Gets me some xp, and a few thousand extra gold. If they are scattered through my runs, its not so bad. (Pick the townhalls that require recovery of a lost tome or ring or something to that effect.)