Henchman choice? Not really !

Graeye · Post by **Graeye** » Thu Oct 10, 2002 9:47 am

If your character is a caster (wizard or sorceror), Tomi is the only henchman who can find and disarm traps AND open locks, so what choice do you really have?? Without him, you can't open chests and doors and you stumble into every trap. Casters need other skills (concentration, spellcraft, lore, etc.) and can't waste precious points on these mundane abilities.

If part of playing the game is to constantly switch henchmen, how are you supposed to know when to switch? Why aren't they all in the same room as the recall port? How do you have enough conversation with any of them to figure out their "quests"? Are you supposed to clean out an area using Daelan, then go through the whole area again with Tomi to open all the chests? What if there's something in one of the chests that you need to finish the area? Do you just take the trap damage and then constantly heal yourself (assuming you survive the trap)?

I'm sorry but the longer I play this game, the dumber it gets. This whole single-henchman thing is clumsy and ...ummm ... what's the word I'm searching for ... ahhhh ... stupid !!

Vargtass · Post by **Vargtass** » Thu Oct 10, 2002 1:14 pm

My wizard had a pixie as a familiar and she's a rogue so I didn't have any problems with traps or locks. I used Daelan and Grimgnaw as my henchmen.

Yuusuke · Post by **Yuusuke** » Thu Oct 10, 2002 11:01 pm

Well if you're a sorcerer or mage, you have choices, you can just use familiars to disarm and unlock.

The real classes that gets screwed are the fighter classes, since they don't even get to have familiars.

But I have a simple solution to this. Just make wand or rod that has infinite uses of Knock, which is a level 9 item if I recall correctly, and give it to your character before you start a game. Until then you can either just use Tomi or just make a second Knock wand that has like 3 charges a day that you can use at level 1.

Loredweller · Post by **Loredweller** » Fri Oct 11, 2002 9:53 am

BTW, traps you cannot go around are very rare. As for chests, there are second to none what canot be bashed by lightning or flame lash. Sling with proper amunition will do, too. So Tomi is necessary while the skills are low. Altogether one might consider to return later because, although the contents are randomized, the value of loot, IMHO, raises with the level.
Also Daelan amd Linu bashes chests rather well. Shame you never can tell Linu to use appropriate Cleric spell (in my being Cleric i've found it being very useful).

DraySkullan · Post by **DraySkullan** » Fri Oct 11, 2002 1:48 pm

I'm playing a paladin, and yes, Tomi has been the most useful. But he cracks me up, so it's cool.

Graeye · Post by **Graeye** » Sat Oct 12, 2002 9:07 am

Thanks for great tip

I'm now using Daelan and the pixie and it's working much better. I'm not sure why but it never occured to me to use a familiar to open stuff (shrug). I don't even have to listen to Tomi tell me over and over again 'Oh, I can pick that open easy'; the pixie just DOES it. Now if I just had a way of keeping her(?) from charging into every combat, things would really be great; it's tiresome to have to tell her to 'stand her ground' all the time, although she is remarkably durable, considering her limited hit points and armor class.

Anyway, thanks, again, for the suggestion.

Obike Fixx · Post by **Obike Fixx** » Tue Oct 15, 2002 4:15 pm

If youre a warrior with plenty of Con and Str, and a\some regenerative items, you don't need a trap remover, or a lock-picker (Tomi). A theif is only useful in the beginning of the game, for a fighter with plenty Con and Str.