Tales of Maj'Eyal

Seananigans_sl said:

I checked the wiki a bit. Not necessarily wanting spoilers, but basically wanted to A) see what in the world I need to do to unlock new classes, B) try to figure out more of this inscrutable item/stat system (it's not very intuitive at all, really), and C) pick up any other random tidbits.

I mostly was just overwhelmed by the GIANT HUGE WALL OF TEXT when looking at NPCs, items, etc. Don't get me wrong, I vastly prefer this to WoW or other dumbed down baby shit. Complexity is good. But it's just somewhat of a shock, especially given the less than ideal presentation of it all.

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A lot of that has to do with the abundance of elements in this game And each one getting listed individually. Also if an item has a special effect or power, that power gets a full explanation in the item window.

This game has a ton of potential utility items. Essentially clickable effects. The first time you equip an item with such an ability it will automatically create a hotkey for that item which will persist on your bar even after the item has been unequipped. If this hotkey it pressed while the item it not equipped it will equip the item, and then use the ability the next time the key is pressed. Some groups of items share cooldowns and I believe the item indicates which cooldown group is used.

If your character utilizes skills with an elemental attack as their primary damage source, such as mages, +% damage for that element is key to look out for. Also, when equipping a mage staff, the command staff ability that most generic staves and some rare staves have lets the player set the element of the staff, ensuring it is useful no matter what element the player uses.

There are tons of little things you will pick up just by playing. But those are a few.

How do you play the bow classes in this game? I'm enjoying the game a lot so far but when I tried the ranger(?) it was incredibly difficult, even in the early game. You have to stand still to shoot and against the boss/harder mobs it was a major issue that i had nothing to keep them from getting to me.

Get Flare to level 3 asap so that it blinds. Steady Shot is very important too.

Remove all your points in Bow or Sling Mastery before spending them elsewhere, then replace your points in Mastery. Do this until you make a final decision on which type of weapon you want to use. You can only remove the last 4 points you spent, so this is a way of gaming the system while still having faster reloads and a damage bonus. Personally I think slings are better for archers, but on my current character I went with bows anyway because I got a yellow one from Bob.

Put a point in Quick Recovery so that you can max out Fast Metabolism as it becomes available.

Different races have different starting areas, which vary greatly in how easy they are for certain classes. I'm playing a Thalore archer now, and the grizzly boss is hard if you meet him before getting to clear out a large chunk of the map. Human is probably easier, but I wouldn't try to kill Bob immediately after the first troll boss. I'll probably go with skeleton for my next one after I die, because Thalore racial isn't that great if you aren't raising willpower a lot.

If you're playing a starter area that lets you leave before completing it, you can exit to the world map and go to the town(s) and check their vendors. Buying a better infusion (shield/heal/regen), a kinetic shield torque, or a better weapon/ammo can help a lot.

Hatorade_sl said:

Says the guy with a Magelo profile... Come on up to at least 2005 please.

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Only level 65 too. What a noob.

Any good wiki for this game?

The official one, but it's usually slow as shit:Tales of Maj'Eyal Wiki - Tales of Maj'Eyal

Man, addictive game - but really disappointed in the Summoner - powerful but man it's obnoxious resummoning every 10 (or less) turns.

Vaclav_sl said:

Man, addictive game - but really disappointed in the Summoner - powerful but man it's obnoxious resummoning every 10 (or less) turns.

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I've only played a couple of summoners and they seemed really powerful, but it also felt like I needed about four action bars for all the crap they have. I didn't have a problem with resummoning stuff though, just treat it more as damage spells rather than permanent minions.

Vaclav_sl said:

Man, addictive game - but really disappointed in the Summoner - powerful but man it's obnoxious resummoning every 10 (or less) turns.

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Think of them as nukes rather than pets. Alchemist and necromancer play a bit more like traditional pet classes.

Zyke_sl said:

How do you play the bow classes in this game? I'm enjoying the game a lot so far but when I tried the ranger(?) it was incredibly difficult, even in the early game. You have to stand still to shoot and against the boss/harder mobs it was a major issue that i had nothing to keep them from getting to me.

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Archers have a few things that help - in generics field control you get disengage, which lets you jump backwards away from stuff ( note you don't have to be adjacent to it, you can jump back at range as well ), and heave, which basically kicks stuff away from you.

In archery prowess, the first skill (flare) becomes a blind at level 3, the third skill is pinning shot ( pinning is basically root mechanic from eq/wow ), and the last skill (scatter shot) is stun. Stunned creatures do 1/4 damage, move very slowly and can't use a random selection of their skills - stun is a deadly condition, and scatter shot will become your most powerful tool as an archer.

At level 10 your options open up a bit, as you can pick up traps, poisons or archery excellence

And finally for infusions - as a living creature, you will almost always want a movement infusion. If you are undead, it's a lot harder, as you have to rely on phase door and teleport.

What does this game do right, that even it's low Indie budget, still manages to attract a good following?

its hard.
it has a crazy amount of build possibilities.
Quite a bit of content.

Its like a dwarf fortress in a way. you say low indie budget, but its been worked on for some time. ToME 4 came out in 2012? could have sworn I played it before that... but even so, it IS the 4th game. over a decade of refinement.

There doesn't seem to be a point to opening sealed doors unless you're a summoner or significantly overleveled. Especially the one in Daikara that opens up to a 20 giant death squad. What the fuck.

Vaults (sealed doors) are intentionally much harder than the level you find them. Wait until you see what's waiting inside the vault at the bottom of Vor armory later in the game.

Sinzar_sl said:

Vaults (sealed doors) are intentionally much harder than the level you find them. Wait until you see what's waiting inside the vault at the bottom of Vor armory later in the game.

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I got the digital ass-kicking of my life when I opened that door.......still haunts me.

Sealed doors really depend on your class.
wrymlings. totally don't care. just tank it.

Do always assume a +10 level npc. possibly caster. so be ready. clear the level, can go back.
open the door.
teleport out. spawn a minion in front of you. stealth. use a speed skill to break line of sight.

oh, in the forests, look for "loose rocks".
A reveal spell is pretty handy, particularly for a new player. look for black areas, that the spell wont reveal.



I have not had much luck with the rogues.

Always use tracking before opening the doors if your class has it. I've had no issues with killing vaults on my archer(s), even when there's elf casters that are 12+ levels higher than me inside.

Caliane_sl said:

Do always assume a +10 level npc. possibly caster. so be ready. clear the level, can go back.
open the door.
teleport out. spawn a minion in front of you. stealth. use a speed skill to break line of sight.

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Or if you are a pet class, get your pet to open it for you while you are standing back, out of line of sight. ( For alchemist, just click your golem icon at top of screen - for others there's a skill you need to pick up to take direct control of your pet )

Playing a Cursed, is cursed aura really worth bothering with? A minimum investment of 9 generics (plus the increased difficulty early on) would need to be pretty damn amazing. I might have the points for it though, since I'm leaning towards skipping Fungus so that I can still use the Blighted Maul.