Is this a good character?

[Ravager]

I'm happy to help people out every now and again...

Well, you'll have a greatly reduced Mana Capacity. I don't think there are any other side effects (beyond skills that get a bonus from a high Charisma and the odd dialogue option).


I take it you solved the problems you removed from the post?
Probably a good thing, as I've never tried out the Mana Shield spell.

[BallOfFire]

The other questions I had aren't an issue anymore, since I ended up switching to feralkin since I THINK it's necessary for getting the double hitpoint perk. I've started playing, and already cleared out the bonus dungeon. This is so fun! Thank you so very much for making this possible ^^.

[Ravager]

That's good.
*nods* I wish this forum hadn't been so quiet when I first discovered it, I could probably have benefitted at the time.
Anyway, it's nice to liven up the Lionheart forum a bit...

Soooo, any more questions for me to answer?

[BallOfFire]

I have a new question, since I am sure you missed them terribly =P. I read somewhere that skills take multiple skill points to increase when they are at high levels. But if I have items that increase those skills, does that mean it will cost more skill points to raise sooner than it should? Do I need to unequip my items before leveling for maximum effect?

[Hill-Shatar]

I have not played the game myself, however, I have played a lot of similar games. Such items like 'Boots of Flight' (an example) that increase speed by five, or a 'Bow of Hunting' (another example by me) that increases Range bonus' by a certain amount should not require you to use more than one. Rather, they should increase the total by the number provided.

I would wait until Ravager or Fljotsdale answers this one, however. Both reside in the English timezone, and it is 2 o'clock AM there. I'll mention this in passing if I see either of them online, though.

[Ravager]

Originally Posted by Hill-Shatar

I would wait until Ravager or Fljotsdale answers this one, however. Both reside in the English timezone, and it is 2 o'clock AM there. I'll mention this in passing if I see either of them online, though.

Actually, it's 3am (yeah, why am I still up? ), but you did well.

@BallofFire, well, I think that if you have one of those items equipped when you level up the game takes the current skill at face value - so if it above a borderline that means the skill takes 2 or more points to increase then that's how much it will take. In such cases it may be best to unequip the item before increasing the skill.
The best way to be sure is to test it out, I think that it would be 'cheaper' if the item was unequipped before levelling up and equipped again after the process.

[Fljotsdale]

Originally Posted by BallOfFire

Thank you too Fljotsdale! I feel like I already know you after having read all the Lionheart topics while waiting for Ravager to respond =P.

So I really just have one question that is preventing me from starting at this point: can perks that raise attributes other than "Gain ___" bring them above 10? Once I figure that out I plan to actually choose all the perks I'm going to get before I start, so I don't make any mistakes. This is starting to feel like homework.

GOSH! You read all the Lionheart threads!? I'm impressed!

Remember to check the requirements for the Perks you want! For example, if you wanted the Slayer Perk (Unarmed fighter only), you HAVE to have 8 Agi and 8 Str.
Many of the other Perks also have Attribute requirements, as well as a character level requirement, a skill level requirement, and, sometimes, NOT having a particular Perk! So you need to fix your attributes to match the Perks you want.

[Fljotsdale]

Originally Posted by Ravager

Actually, it's 3am (yeah, why am I still up? ), but you did well.

@BallofFire, well, I think that if you have one of those items equipped when you level up the game takes the current skill at face value - so if it above a borderline that means the skill takes 2 or more points to increase then that's how much it will take. In such cases it may be best to unequip the item before increasing the skill.
The best way to be sure is to test it out, I think that it would be 'cheaper' if the item was unequipped before levelling up and equipped again after the process.

I agree.
@ BallofFire
And I always save game after I have reached level-up and before I start allocating points/perk, so that I can reload if necessary, to re-allocate, in case things didn't work out as I expected. It's a good way of checking the effects of equipment on your skills, etc.
I also EQUIP any items that increase skill points on level-up as soon as I notice I am within 300 to 500 skill points of leveling. This will almost certainly leave your character weaker for a short time, but is well worth it, imo.

Only don't forget to re-equip your good stuff afterwards!

[Fljotsdale]

Originally Posted by BallOfFire

Lol no problem, I appreciate how much time you've spent on me.

What will happen if I only get two charisma?...

I finished my character. Hopefully. Here'es his stats

S 5 (6)
P 8 (9)
E 8 (9)
C 2
I 8 (9)
A 8 (9)
L 2 (3)

Feralkin

Wolf Hide

Ascetic
Gifted

Fortitude
Ranged
Evasion

Elemental Spirit

As Ravager said: A lot less Mana, and consequently a lot less spell-casting capacity. And you won't get the advantages that can come with a higher charisma - but a Feralkin with Wolf Hide isn't ever going to be a popular guy!
Er... you have noted that he will be susceptible to disease and poison? You will probably be wise to get lots of antitdote and cure-all potions; AND items that enhance his protections to disease and poison. Did you take the Inherited Resistance Perk at level 2?

[BallOfFire]

I didn't get Inherited Resistance because I decided to save the point to put in something better when it became available. As for my disease weakeness, I figured I would just get Disease Ward to become immune to disease.

Fljotsdale, I'm a bit confused by your second post. You said "I also EQUIP any items that increase skill points on level-up as soon as I notice I am within 300 to 500 skill points of leveling. This will almost certainly leave your character weaker for a short time, but is well worth it, imo." I'm assuming you meant to say unequip, but why do that before a level up? I was just going to do it right after leveling but before distributing skills, just in case skill increasing items increased the skill point cost per level.

I'm level 9 already and still going ^^. This is almost too easy with this character, because half the things that attack me die before they reach me, and the other half just plain can't hit me.

[Ravager]

Originally Posted by BallOfFire

I didn't get Inherited Resistance because I decided to save the point to put in something better when it became available. As for my disease weakeness, I figured I would just get Disease Ward to become immune to disease.

Are you saving perks when you gain them at a level up?
Inherited Resistance is definitely worth taking, it provides a good bonus, can be combined with Disease/Venom Ward and most importantly it has a maximum level that it can be taken, so it can't be left for later...or not much later on anyway.

Originally Posted by BallOfFire

Fljotsdale, I'm a bit confused by your second post. You said "I also EQUIP any items that increase skill points on level-up as soon as I notice I am within 300 to 500 skill points of leveling. This will almost certainly leave your character weaker for a short time, but is well worth it, imo." I'm assuming you meant to say unequip, but why do that before a level up? I was just going to do it right after leveling but before distributing skills, just in case skill increasing items increased the skill point cost per level.

Every time you level up you get an amount of skill points to allocate to skills. The amount of skill points you get can differ depending on certain items equipped (such as items of Voodoo) and the Intelligence attribute. This is different from other items that increase specific skills such as Find Traps. Those affect your character all the time whereas the item that provide skill points per level only affect the level up procedure.
Basically, unequip any items that increase points to a skill, but do not provide bonus skill points per level.

Originally Posted by BallOfFire

I'm level 9 already and still going ^^. This is almost too easy with this character, because half the things that attack me die before they reach me, and the other half just plain can't hit me.

*nods* Ranged weaponry can certainly pack a punch.

[BallOfFire]

I didn't know there were items that increase skill points per level. Are they common? Are there unique ones that are always in the same spot, or all randomly generated? Now my powergaming side is going to feel guilty for not picking those up before getting all these levels I have. I read something about books in that super long thread you guys have going. Do those increase skills permanently? If so, could I just import my character to get more skills by getting the books again, so I don't have to worry about this missed skill points?

Is there a limit to how much skill costs increase? Like will it take 4 skill points to increase a skill by one point, and then never take 5?

By the way, I had the weirdest dream the other night, and I have to share it with someone. I kinda floating in the air looking down at this island, and a huge shockwave of water or something appeared in the middle and rippled outward, then I went flying horizontally and lurched all over the place as I skimmed over the island, seeing it from all these beautiful angles. Then had no control over myself, and flew outward, but it felt more like falling. As I zoomed away from it, it started to resemble what was in my dream the Black Isle logo, and I instantly recognized I was watching the little video at the beginning of a game. But then I lurched backwards, and turned around, finding myself in a plane looking out the window at the island. I looked around the plane, and all of a sudden it started diving down toward the water. The captain said remorsefully, "Here we go . . .," and we dove toward the water. I thought to myself, "This is it. I'm about to die," at the same time I had this elated adrenaline feeling. The plane plunged into the water, and I thought, "I need to get out now or I'm going to drown! How can I get out!? Oh no, while I'm thinking we are going hundreds of feet further down! . . . It's too late. What am I thinking!? I can't give up. I'm going to drown down here, and there is nothing I can do about it." So I just let the adrenaline rush of my final moments take me over, and accepted my fate.

[Ravager]

Well, you should be able to find a Belt and a Necklace of Voodoo somewhere in the game, they're not really common but I've always found them in some treasure of a merchant's inventory at some point. When you wear both of those items at the same time, they grant you an extra skill point per level.
Once, I got a Helm of Focused Logic that increases Intelligence by 1 (and grants an extra skill ptper level due to that) but those are rare.
There are probably other items that increase skill points too, just keep an eye out for them, visit merchants regularly etc.

I can't remember off the top of my head, but I think there is something in the manual that describes how many points are needed to upgrade a skill when it gets to a certain level. That might describe some kind of cap to how many points are needed to upgrade a skill.
One thing I found out relatively recently was that if you get a perk that increases a skill by X points, that also complies to however many points to upgrade a skill, e.g. it takes 2 points to upgrade a skill by 1 and you get a perk that raises a skill by 15, the skill would skill wouldn't be upgraded by 15 but closer to 7.

Interesting dream, though a little fatalistic.

[Fljotsdale]

Originally Posted by BallOfFire

I didn't get Inherited Resistance because I decided to save the point to put in something better when it became available. As for my disease weakeness, I figured I would just get Disease Ward to become immune to disease.

Potty, my dear, if you don't mind my saying so! If you are not taking a Perk on the levels they become available, that is! Of course you can do without Inherited Resistance if you prefer, but did you take another Perk instead? I do hope you did!

Originally Posted by BallOfFire

Fljotsdale, I'm a bit confused by your second post. You said "I also EQUIP any items that increase skill points on level-up as soon as I notice I am within 300 to 500 skill points of leveling. This will almost certainly leave your character weaker for a short time, but is well worth it, imo." I'm assuming you meant to say unequip, but why do that before a level up? I was just going to do it right after leveling but before distributing skills, just in case skill increasing items increased the skill point cost per level.

As Ravager said in his post: you can get items that increase skill points if YOU ARE WEARING THEM when you level up: Necklet and belt of Voodoo, Helm of Focused Logic, armour of Skill (or something like that. Some increase weapon skills, or Mana; some increase your skill points by 1 on level-up.) It is worth keeping such items in your inventory to equip just before leveling.

Originally Posted by BallOfFire

I'm level 9 already and still going ^^. This is almost too easy with this character, because half the things that attack me die before they reach me, and the other half just plain can't hit me.

Congrats!

And here are the stats Ravager mentioned were in the Manual (Page 65):

skill
0-75 costs 1 skill point to raise 1
76-125 costs 2 skill points to raise 1
126-175 costs 4 skill points to raise 1
176-225 costs 6 skill points to raise 1
226-300 costs 8 skill points to raise 1

So you can see why we are obsessed with the number of skill points we get! Which is why I only used Gifted once.

[BallOfFire]

Ooooo thanks. Page 65 of the manual was one of the few I didn't memorize before I lost it. And no I did not get a skill in place of inherited resistance, I'm saving up perks to get 3 Gain attribute perks at once ^^.

There doesn't happen to be any way to alter a character to cheats or third party programs does there? I used to use ShadowKeeper for Baldur's Gate, and it was so nice because whenever I made a mistake I could just fix it with that instead of starting over. Right now I'm not progressing in the game because, believe it or not, I feel too guilty not maxing my strength and charisma, since those are the only attributes you can't increase infinitely through importing characters. My powergaming side is taking me over completely now *_*. Also, I'm trying to decide whether to roleplay or use the GameBanshee walkthrough, because I want to have fun with this but I know I won't if I miss out on something through choosing the wrong dialogue options or something.

By the way, I'm never flying on a plane again because that dream was way too real. I tend to have dreams about things and then they come true . . .