Neveryll
04-19-2009, 02:19 PM
For people new to the old "hardcore" RPGs I would have to say Dark Spire may be downright discouraging. So I thought I would throw out some tips to help make your runs into the Spire a bit easier. I personally went with a party of one of each type of class to begin with. I also went ahead and decided what secondary classes I wanted them to be down the road. I recommend putting your highest armored person in the top slot and using the herioc formation. Yes that means only the top person can attack directly but it keeps your other characters alive longer. I put my warrior in the top slot and my rogue in the one beneath. A rogue has the ability to hide and then attack every other round from the shadows even if he's not in the top slot. Use this to your advantage.
Tip 1 - When rolling up your new characters keep rolling until you have at least a 10s for all stats and 11s or higher for stats needed for the classes you want them to be in the future. Raising your stats is possible but it uses a lot of EP.
After you have made the party you want head down into the training grounds and work things out with the local trainer. When you get in the door to the training grounds SAVE YOUR GAME.
Tip 2 - Gotta love some of the old RPGs in regards to sudden death. You could walk through a door and die from a trap at level 1. You could try to open a chest and die. Your whole party could be wiped out by a rogue rat or mushroom. So the rule of thumb is save, save, save.... and save again.
Once you have some gear make sure you equip your weapons and armor. Yes your adventurers really do need to be told what to wear to keep themselves alive :p
Tip 3 - Watch what items you equip to what characters. Some items like Daggers can be equipped by Priests ... but that doesn't mean its neccessarily a good idea. Doing so makes it so your Priest can't cast any Holy spells on the party. So which would you rather have heals or the ability to poke a rat once your warrior and rogue have both bought the farm from one too many bat bites.
After you leave the training grounds and the guild, stop on by the local Shop and buy another robe or two, some leather armor, and a few more swords. Now you have the starts of your adventuring group. Choose to leave town and head to your local temple if you want and have them pray to work up thier Faith. Then head on over to the Spire. Save your game the second you get in the door.
Now head on down the hall and open the door on your right. ARRRGGHHH! A MONSTER!
Tip 4 - Most old RPGs had the monster encounter just inside the door to a room. You will find random encounters out in the halls but with the Dark Spire expect to see something ugly staring your party down on the other side of most doors.
Fight down the monster and collect your reward unless its hidden in a chest...
Tip 5 - Chests are what the rogue lives for or dies by. Make sure that you select your rogue or someone with the secondary skill to open chests by using the L and R buttons up top. Examine it and then attempt to Disarm the traps from top down. If you open it without any probelms, great! If not you can expect a zap to your health bar or the dreaded notice that your poisoned! ARGGHH! What this means is that unless you have an antidote in your inventory expect to run back to town as soon as possible to get it cured or your toon will be pushing up the daisies. Every step you move when your charcter is poisoned the character takes a point of damage. My rule of thumb is to head back to town when my priest has two healing spells left to cast. Oh and when you do have an antidote and go to use it from the item menu make sure you select the poisoned charcter or it goes to waste. I don't know how many times my warrior has drank an Antidote while my rogue looks on in disbelief.
Once you have cleared the first room of the first monster..... Save. And walk out in the hallway and around the corner. Fight one or two more groups of monsters and heal your charcters up to full health and high tail it back to town. That doesn't sound very herioc does it?!?! Well the problem is unless you are very lucky your going to run out of health fast. Head over to the local Inn and rest in the cheapest room if everyone is at full health. this will recover the number of spells your priest and mages can cast. If your not at full health, use the second least expensive option to regain your health and spells. Save again.
Now is the hard part. You will run back and forth between town after every three or four fights until you have enough EP to train up your charcters levels at the guild. But before you do train SAVE IN TOWN.
Tip 6 - One die to rule them! One thing about old RPGs they liked to let you rely on chance for a lot of things rather than skill. When you leveled up you got to roll a die and that number was added to your health. What you rolled a 1? Too bad. Its not like you can turn reality off and reset the die?!?! Well in the Dark Spire you can. Save your game before you train any of your characters. When you go to train, train your level and if all they do is gain 1 HP, reset and try again. The early levels are the hardest when some small fry monster can take you out before you've even gotten a chance to buy that shiney new platemail.
Once you have gotten some cash from your small runs and a few levels buy your gear and continue on into the spire. I hope my tips help to make your game time more enjoyable and help you ease your way into the game.
Tip 1 - When rolling up your new characters keep rolling until you have at least a 10s for all stats and 11s or higher for stats needed for the classes you want them to be in the future. Raising your stats is possible but it uses a lot of EP.
After you have made the party you want head down into the training grounds and work things out with the local trainer. When you get in the door to the training grounds SAVE YOUR GAME.
Tip 2 - Gotta love some of the old RPGs in regards to sudden death. You could walk through a door and die from a trap at level 1. You could try to open a chest and die. Your whole party could be wiped out by a rogue rat or mushroom. So the rule of thumb is save, save, save.... and save again.
Once you have some gear make sure you equip your weapons and armor. Yes your adventurers really do need to be told what to wear to keep themselves alive :p
Tip 3 - Watch what items you equip to what characters. Some items like Daggers can be equipped by Priests ... but that doesn't mean its neccessarily a good idea. Doing so makes it so your Priest can't cast any Holy spells on the party. So which would you rather have heals or the ability to poke a rat once your warrior and rogue have both bought the farm from one too many bat bites.
After you leave the training grounds and the guild, stop on by the local Shop and buy another robe or two, some leather armor, and a few more swords. Now you have the starts of your adventuring group. Choose to leave town and head to your local temple if you want and have them pray to work up thier Faith. Then head on over to the Spire. Save your game the second you get in the door.
Now head on down the hall and open the door on your right. ARRRGGHHH! A MONSTER!
Tip 4 - Most old RPGs had the monster encounter just inside the door to a room. You will find random encounters out in the halls but with the Dark Spire expect to see something ugly staring your party down on the other side of most doors.
Fight down the monster and collect your reward unless its hidden in a chest...
Tip 5 - Chests are what the rogue lives for or dies by. Make sure that you select your rogue or someone with the secondary skill to open chests by using the L and R buttons up top. Examine it and then attempt to Disarm the traps from top down. If you open it without any probelms, great! If not you can expect a zap to your health bar or the dreaded notice that your poisoned! ARGGHH! What this means is that unless you have an antidote in your inventory expect to run back to town as soon as possible to get it cured or your toon will be pushing up the daisies. Every step you move when your charcter is poisoned the character takes a point of damage. My rule of thumb is to head back to town when my priest has two healing spells left to cast. Oh and when you do have an antidote and go to use it from the item menu make sure you select the poisoned charcter or it goes to waste. I don't know how many times my warrior has drank an Antidote while my rogue looks on in disbelief.
Once you have cleared the first room of the first monster..... Save. And walk out in the hallway and around the corner. Fight one or two more groups of monsters and heal your charcters up to full health and high tail it back to town. That doesn't sound very herioc does it?!?! Well the problem is unless you are very lucky your going to run out of health fast. Head over to the local Inn and rest in the cheapest room if everyone is at full health. this will recover the number of spells your priest and mages can cast. If your not at full health, use the second least expensive option to regain your health and spells. Save again.
Now is the hard part. You will run back and forth between town after every three or four fights until you have enough EP to train up your charcters levels at the guild. But before you do train SAVE IN TOWN.
Tip 6 - One die to rule them! One thing about old RPGs they liked to let you rely on chance for a lot of things rather than skill. When you leveled up you got to roll a die and that number was added to your health. What you rolled a 1? Too bad. Its not like you can turn reality off and reset the die?!?! Well in the Dark Spire you can. Save your game before you train any of your characters. When you go to train, train your level and if all they do is gain 1 HP, reset and try again. The early levels are the hardest when some small fry monster can take you out before you've even gotten a chance to buy that shiney new platemail.
Once you have gotten some cash from your small runs and a few levels buy your gear and continue on into the spire. I hope my tips help to make your game time more enjoyable and help you ease your way into the game.