Complete Charachter and Party Creation Guide v1.0 Copyright (2010) (DaiKallan) This Faq may be posted on any free game advice website. This guide may NOT be distributed through any paid service. Table of Contents 1) Introduction 2) Basics 2.1) Attributes 2.2) Skills 3) Races 3.1) Goblins 3.2) Elves 3.3) Dwarves 3.4) Humans 4) Classes 4.1 Knight 4.2 Thieves 4.3 Monks 4.4 Paladin 4.5 Archer 4.6 Ranger 4.7 Cleric 4.8 Druid 4.9 Sorcerer 5) Party Construction 5.1 Begginers Build (Evil) 5.2 Begginers Build (Good) 5.3 The Bruisers 5.4 Keep Away 5.5 Spellcaster Dominance 5.6 No Self Magic 5.7 No Magic Mastery 5.8 No Magic Expertise 1. (Introduction) Many walkthroughs provide guidance on party creation and development, however most focus on a single party structure. M&M VII: For Blood & Honor is one of my favorite PC games, I've played through it many times using a wide variety of different parties. I created this guide to help other players build varied and interesting parties in order to have a more dynamic gaming experience. I included basic skill information so that you can understand my logic and make adjustments to fit your play style. (g) denotes that you must choose the path of good (e) denotes that you must choose the path of evil 2. (Basics) 2.1 Attributes There are seven Attributes in Might & Magic VII: For Blood and Honor. They are as follows. Might - Might affects how much damage a charachter does in melle combat. It is useful to all charachters but are especially important for the Knight, Paladin, Ranger, Monk, and Thief. Intellect - Intellect governs elemental magic. Sorcerers, Druids, Archers, Thieves, and Rangers get bonus spell points for high Intellect Scores, other classes gain no bennefits from this attribute Personality - Personality governs Self magic. Clerics, Druids, Paladins, Monks, and Rangers all get bonus spellpoints for high Personality. Charachters also require high personality scores to qualify to learn Expert and Master ranking in the Merchant skill. Clasess without Self magic or the Merchant skill gain no bennefit from this attribute. Endurance - High Endurance adds to a charachter's Hit Point total. When a character's Hit Points are reduced to zero, s/he becomes unconscious. The character dies when his/her Hit Points are reduced to a negative value equal to his/her Endurance Score. So a charachter with a 15 Endurance dies when s/he reaches -15 HP. Accuracy - High Accuracy grants a bonus to hit with all weapons It is important for all classes, but especially for combat focused classes. Speed - High speed reduces the recovery time between actions, it also improves a charachter's Armor Class. Luck - Luck grants a bonus to a charachter's resistance scores, this doesn't show up on the charachter stats, but is calculated into the the effects of magical attacks against the charachter. Attributes give their respective bonuses in the following structure Attribute Score Bonus/Penalty 0 -6 3 -5 5 -4 7 -3 9 -2 11 -1 13 0 15 +1 17 +2 19 +3 21 +4 25 +5 30 +6 35 +7 40 +8 50 +9 75 +10 100 +11 125 +12 150 +13 175 +14 200 +15 225 +16 250 +17 275 +18 300 +19 350 +20 400 +25 500 +30 500 is the highest an attribute can get 2.2 Skills Skills are the most important part of charachter development. Combat Skills Axe Normal: Skill level added to attack bonus Expert: Skill level reduces recovery time Master: Skill level added to damage. Grand Master: Skill level is chance to halve enemy's AC. Bow Normal: Skill level is added to attack bonus Expert: Skill level reduces recovery time Master: Fire to Arrows with every attack Grand Master: Skill level is added to damage Dagger Normal: Skill level added to attack bonus Expert: Dagger can be wielded in the off hand Master: Skill level is chance to do triple damage Grand Master: Skill level is added to damage Mace Normal: Skill level added to attack Expert: Skill level added to damage Master: Skill level is chance to stun opponent Grand Master: Skill level is chance to paralzxe opponent Spear Normal: Skill level added to attack bonus Expert: Skill level added to damage Master: Spear can be held in one hand Grand Master: Skill level added to AC Staff Normal: Skill level added to attack bonus Expert: Skill level added to AC Master: Skill level is chance to stun Grand Master: Staff is usable with the Unarmed Skill Sword Normal: Skill level added to attack bonus Expert: skill level reduces recovery time Master: Sword may be used in the off hand Grand Master: Skill level added to AC Unarmed Normal: Skill level added to attack bonus Expert: Skill level added to damage Master: Double skill level added to attack and damage Grand Master: Skill level is chance to avoid incoming attack. Leather Normal: Skill level added to AC Expert: Recovery penalty Eliminated Master: Double Skill level added to AC Grand Master: Skill level added to Earth/Air/Fire/Water Resistance Chain Normal: Skill level added to AC Expert: Recovery penalty halved Master: Recovery Penalty eliminated Grand Master: Physical damage is reduced by 1/3 Plate Normal: Skill level added to AC Expert: Recovery penalty halved Master: Physical damage reduced by 1/2 Grand Master: Recovery penalty eliminated Shield Normal: Skill level is added to AC Expert: Recovery penalty is eliminated Master: Double skill level added to AC Grand Master: Gives protection as the Shield Spell Dodging Normal: Skill level added to AC Expert: Double skill level added to AC Master: Tripple skill level added to AC Grand Master: May be used with Leather Armor Magic Skills - Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Body, Mind, Spirit, Light, Dark. Higher level of mastery in magic skills allows more powerful spells to be learned and increases the effectiveness of spells already known. Miscelaneous Skills Alchemy Normal: Simple potions may be mixed into Complex potions Expert: Complex potions may be mixed into Compound potions Master: Compound potions may be mixed into White potions Grand Master: White potions may be mixed into Black potions *Note* Black Potions include Pure Attribute potions. These potions may each be used once per attribute per Charachter to boost an attribute by 50 points!* Armsmaster Normal: Skill level reduces recovery time for all melle Expert: Skill level added to attack for all melle attacks Master: Skill level added to damage for all melle attacks Grand Master: All previous bonuses are doubled Body Building Normal: HP Bonus = Base hit point gain x skill level Expert: HP Bonus = Base hit point gain x skill level x 2 Master: HP Bonus = Base hit point gain x skill level x 3 Grand Master: HP Bonus = Base hit point gain x skill level x 5 Identify Item Normal: Identify Items of power = Skill level Expert: Identify Items of power = Skill level x 2 Master: Identify Items of power = Skill level x 3 Grand Master: All items can be identified. Identify Monster Normal: Identify monster Hit Points and Armor Class Expert: Identify monster Attack type and Damage Master: Creature's spells are displayed Grand Master: 100% success, Resistances are displayed Learning Normal: XP % increase = Skill level Expert: XP % increase = Skill level x 2 Master: XP % increase = Skill level x 3 Grand Master: XP % increase = Skill level x 5 Disarm Trap Normal: Disarm Trap power = Skill level Expert: Disarm Trap power = Skill level x 2 Master: Disarm Trap power = Skill level x 3 Grand Master: Disarm all traps Meditation Normal: SP Bonus = Base spell point gain x skill level Expert: SP Bonus = Base spell point gain x skill level x 2 Master: SP Bonus = Base spell point gain x skill level x 3 Grand Master: SP Bonus = Base spell point gain x skill level x 5 Merchant Normal: Price reduction % = Skill level Expert: Price reduction % = Skill level x 2 Master: Price reduction % = Skill level x 3 Grand Master: Buy and Sell at Value Perception Normal: Perception power = Skill level Expert: Perception power = Skill level x 2 Master: Perception power = Skill level x 3 Grand Master: 100% perception rate *Perception also gives a reduction from damage taken from traps Repair Item Normal: Repair Item power = Skill level Expert: Repair Item power = Skill level x 2 Master: Repair Item power = Skill level x 3 Grand Master: Repair anything Stealing Noraml: Skill level gives a chance to succeed at stealing Expert: Effect is doubled Master: Effect is trippled Grand Master: Effect is quintuppled 3. (Races) 3.1 Goblins Goblins are the best race for Knights, Thieves, Monks, and Rangers Goblins start with diminished Intellect and Personality, and enhanced Might and Speed. The high Might means you deal heavy damage from the begining and the High Speed reduces recovery time so you get more attacks. The lower Intellect and Personality have no effect on the Knight, and little effect on the other three since spellcasting is such a small part of those classes. 3.2 Elves Elves are the best race for Sorcerers, Druids, and Archers. They get enhanced Intellect and Accuracy, and diminished Might & Endurance. The enhanced Intellect helps with spellpoints and elemental spells. The enhanced Accuracy helps with the Archers melle and ranged attacks it's not too important for Druids or Sorcerers but you should never pass up a chance to get two for one with your attribute points. The diminished Might is a handicap for all charachters, particularly the Archer, but all of these classes focus on spellcasting and ranged combat. There's no way around it, the Endurance penalty hurts, you'll want to increase your elves' Endurance early on. 3.3 Dwarves Dwarves are the best race for Paladins and Clerics. They are good Substitutes for Knights, Thieves, Monks, and Rangers. Dwarves get enhanced Might and Enduranced, they have diminished Speed and Accuracy. The enhanced Might and Endurance helps every charachter, But the more Combat oriented classes would rather substitue the weak Intellect and Personality over weak Speed and Accuracy. 3.4 Humans I never use humans. They get no attribute trade offs, meaning you don't get the two for one attribute raising. If you do decide to play them they work equally well for all classes. 4. (Classes) 4.1 Knight The Knight is the only class that doesn't get magic skills. They of course have weapon and armor skills instead. Knights Start with 40 hit points and gain 5 per level. After their first promotion (Cavalier) they gain 7 per level, and after their second promotion (Champion or Black Knight) they gain 9 per level. Preset Skills: Sword, Leather Starting Skill Choices: Axe, Spear, Bow, Mace, Shield, Chain, Body Building, Perception, Armsmaster Combat Skills Can't Learn: None Normal: None Expert: Staff, Dagger, Bow, Unarmed, Dodge Master: Axe, Mace, Leather, Chain Grand Master: Sword, Plate, Spear, Shield Magic Skills - Magic Skills may not be learned by the Knight class Miscellaneous Skills Can't Learn: Meditation, ID Item, ID Monster, Stealing, Alchemy Normal: Disarm Trap, Learning Expert: Perception, Merchant Master: None Grand Master: Body Building, Repair Item, Armsmaster I almost always include a Knight in the party, their sheer ability to take and deal damage is almost to much to give up. The promotion quests for Knights are fairly simple and straightforward, allowing you develop hit points and skill mastery early on. Knights should all use Plate armor, for the knight it's as fast as chain or leather and provides MUCH higher Armor Class. Master rank Spear and higher allows the Spear to be wielded in one hand, allowing the Knight to wield a Sword in the off (permitted by master level Sword skill) or a Shield. The Shield provides substantially improved defense, and the sword provides an impressive damage increase. Which one you want to use will depend on the rest of your party. The most important miscellaneous skill for a knight is armsmaster, when duel wielding at Grand Master level it adds 40+ to damage. Body building at Grand Master level after the second promotion adds 450 HP. Knights and Paladins are the only ones who can learn grand master Repair Item so that's a good choice as well. Other than that focus completely on combat skills. Knights should all start with bows, it makes the begining of the game easier. Then either Spear or shield, all the other skills can be purchased later. 4.2 Thief Thieves are decent combatants and have a variety useful skills. Their magic ability is not at all useful. Thieves begin with 35 hit points and gain 4 per level. After their first promotion (Rogue) they get 6 per level, and after their second promotion (Spy/Assassin) they get 8 per level. They start with no spellpoints, after their first promotion they gain 1 spell point per level. Preset Skills: Dagger, Stealing Starting Skill Choices: Sword, Bow, Leather, ID Item, Merchant Perception, Disarm Traps, Dodging, Alchemy Combat Skills Can't Learn: Axe, Staff, Spear, Plate Normal: Shield Expert: Bow, Mace, Unarmed, Chain Master: Sword, Dodge Grand Master: Dagger, Leather Magic Skills: Thieves may learn Normal level elemental magic after they have recieved their first promotion. Miscellaneous Skills: Can't Learn: Meditation, ID Monster Normal: Repair Item Expert: Learning, Body Building Master: Perception, Merchant, ID Item, Armsmaster Grand Master: Disarm Trap, Stealing Thieves can take and deal a lot of damage, though not as well as Knights or Monks. If you have any other elemental Spellcaster there is no reason to teach thieves magic, if you don't the only reason to have them learn magic is for the Wizard Eye and Feather Fall spells. They are the only class that can achieve Grand Master in the Disarm Trap and Stealing skills, and they can achieve Master level in Perception, Merchant, and ID Item, all of which are vital skills. The biggest downside is that the promotion quests for the thief are very difficult. Thieves should all Use leather armor since they can reach Grand Master which improves their magic resistance. Dagger and Sword are both viable choices for melle weapons, and they should always dual wield instead of using a shield. Body Building at expert level with four ranks gives the thief an extra 64 hitpoints which is certainly worthwhile. For the Thief's starting skills ALWAYS select Disarm Trap. Once again I will suggest that anyone who CAN start with the Bow skill should. If you lack a Sorcerer or a Druid then the thief should get the Alchemy skill so that Complex and Compound potions can be mixed. If you lack a Cleric then you may want to give the merchant skill to your Thief. I usually avoid taking the ID Item Skill with any charachter because the Scholar NPC will Identify all Items for you and give a 5% bonus to experience for a mere 5% of your treasure, a steal at twice the price. 4.3 Monk Monks are the only class that can match up with the Knight in terms of shear taking and giving damage. They begin with 35 Hit Points and gain 5 hit points per level. After the first promotion (Initiate) they gain 6 hit points per level, and after the second promotion (Master/Ninja) they gain 8 hit points per level. They begin with no spell points, after their first promotion they gain 1 spell point per level Preset Skills: Dodging, Unarmed Starting Skill Choices: Staff, Sword, Dagger, Spear, Leather, Body Building, ID Monster, Armsmaster Perception Combat SKills Can't Learn: Axe, Mace, Chain, Plate, Shield Normal: Bow Expert: Sword, Spear, Dagger Master: Leather Grand Master: Staff, Unarmed, Dodging Magic Skills Normal: Spirit (e), Body (e), Mind (e) Expert: Spirit (g), Body (g), Mind (g) Master: None Grand Master: None Miscelaneous Skills Can't Learn: Merchant, Meditation, ID Item, Repair Item, Alchemy Normal: Stealing (g) Expert: Stealing (e), Disarm Trap (g), Perception, ID Monster Master: Disarm Trap (e), Armsmaster Grand Master: Learning, Body Building Monks are my favorite class for their sheer damage potential, they are the only class I've ever had two of in a party. Evil monks can easily replace the Thief in Disarming traps. Good monks can get expert Body magic, and more healing is always welcome. If you are playing without a Cleric, Paladin, or Druid then the good Monks Expert Self magic will give essential curative spells as well as Heroism and Bless. With expert level Disarm good Monks can still replace thieves with enough bonuses from Items and NPCs, at least until Someone can get the Master Earth Magic Spell Telekinesis. The two most important Skills (other than perhaps Disarm Trap) are Dodging, and Staff. When Dodging reaches Grand Master you can wear Leather and still recieve it's bennefit (at least 30 AC). The lack of armor means no Recovery penalty, which means more attacks, the same is true of fighting unarmed. If your monk is a goblin with a maxed out speed it means you'll be attacking almost twice as often as your other charachters and enemies right from the start. Grand Master Staff allows the monk to dual wield Unarmed and Staff attacks. After developing those skills it's best to evenly develop Unarmed, Leather, Body Building, Armsmaster, and Learning. If your are playing good you should also develop Body Magic to expert level as well, for a little added healing. Monks are the only class that can reach Grand Master Learning, which increases experience gained by 50%. With Grand Master Body Building the Monk Will gain at least 400 hit points. For starting skills pick staff, plus either Body Building, Armsmaster or Leather. Leather costs more to buy than the others so that's probably your best choice. 4.4 Paladin Paladins are a powerful class. They get excellent combat skills and Master level Self Magic. Paladins begin with 30 hit points and gain 4 hit points per level. After their first promotion (Crusader) they gain 5 hit points per level, and after their second promotion (Hero/Villian) they gain 6 hit points per level. They begin with 5 Spell Points and gain 1 spell point per level. After their first promotion they gain 2 spell points per level, and after their seoncd promotion they gain 3 spell points per level. Preset Skills: Starting Skill Choices: Sword, Dagger, Armsmaster, Shield, Leather, Axe, Merchant, Repair Item, Body Building Combat Skills Can't Learn: None Normal: Staff, Unarmed, Dodge Expert: Axe, Spear, Dagger, Bow, Leather, Chain Master: Sword, Plate Grand Master: Mace, Shield Magic Skills Normal: Light (g), Dark (e) Expert: None Master: Body, Mind, Spirit Grand Master: None Miscellaneous Skills Can't Learn: Disarm Trap, ID Item, ID Monster, Stealing, Alchemy Normal: Perception, Learning Expert: Merchant, Meditation, Armsmaster Master: Body Building Grand Master: Repair Item Paladin's strong combat skills coupled with their Self magic for buffing and healing are a very welcome addition to a party. The only real problem is that The first promotion quest for the Paladin is Very difficult, you have to kill the Dragon Wromthrex, who has 1060 hit points, does 14-112 damage per attack, and has high magic resistance. If you are going to play a Paladin then the most important skills are Combat Skills. If you lack a Cleric or Druid then the paladin should develop Body and Spirit magic as well. Repair Item is another important skill. As with any Combat oriented class Amsmaster and Body Building are valuable, Master level Body Building will give at least 126 bonus hit points. If you're going to focus on Self Magic then meditation is also a good idea, at expert level it'll give 24 or more spell points. If you want, to increase damage then you can have the Paladin dual wield sword and Mace. If you are on the path of good developing Light magic is still useful for the paralze spell. If you are on the path of evil you may want Dark Magic for the Vampiric Weapon and Shrinking Ray. For Starting Skills pick Shield, and Repair Item or Body Building 4.5 Archer The Archer class combines strong combat skills with Master of Elemental magics. Archers begin with 30 hit points and gain 3 hit points per level. After their first promotion (Warrior Mage) they gain 4 hit points per level, and after their second promotion (Master Archer/Sniper) they gain 6 hit points per level. They begin with 5 Spell Points and gain 1 spell point per level. After their first promotion they gain 2 spell points per level, and after their seoncd promotion they gain 3 spell points per level. Preset SKills: Bow, Air Starting SKill Choices: Sword, Axe, Spear, Leather, Fire, Water, Perception, Amsmaster, Learning Combat Skills Can't Learn: Mace, Plate, Shield Normal: Staff, Unarmed Expert: Sword, Axe, Dagger, Dodge Master: Spear, Leather Grand Master: Bow, Chain Magic Skills Normal: Light (g), Dark (e) Expert: Master: Air, Earth, Water, Fire Grand Maste: None Miscellaneous Skills Can't Learn: Disarm Trap, ID Item, ID Monster, Stealing, Alchemy Normal: None Expert: Merchant, Meditation, Body Building, Repair, Armsmaster Master: Learning Grand Master: Perception Archer's are the only class that can reach Grand Master in Bow. They can deal some pretty serious damage at range. Master Spear and and Expert Dagger allows for dual wielding for good melle damage. Their Mastery of Elemental magic makes them a reasonable substitute for a Sorcerer, though they are short on Spell Points. The first promotion is very simple, the second promotion is a little more difficult. Expert Body Building gives the Archer, 48 Hit points. Expert Meditation gives the archer 24 Spell points. If you are on the path of good developing Light magic is still useful for the paralze spell. If you are on the path of evil you may want Dark Magic for the Vampiric Weapon and Shrinking Ray. For starting skills pick Spear, and Fire. Since they can't use shields you'll want to dual wield Spear/Dagger. 4.6 Ranger On paper the Ranger is a weak class. Few useful skills at any high level of mastery. In play they can actually be surprisingly useful. Rangers begin play with 30 Hit Points. They gain 4 hit points per level. After their first promotion (Hunter) they get 5 per level, and after the second promotion (Lord/Bounty Hunter) they get 6. They gain 2 spell points per level after their first promotion, they get 3 per level after their second promotion. Preset Skills: Axe, Perception Starting Skill Choices: Sword, Dagger, Bow, Leather, Disarm Trap, Dodging, Body Building, Armsmaster, ID Monster Combat Skills Normal: Staff, Unarmed Expert: Sword, Spear, Dagger, Shield, Dodge Master: Bow, Leather, Chain Grand Master: Axe Magic Skills Expert: All elemental and self magic. Miscellaneous Skills Normal: Merchant, Meditation, ID Item, Repair Item, Alchemy Expert: Disarm Trap, Learning, Body Building, Armsmaster, Steal Master: Perception Grand Master: ID Monster For starting skills I again recomend Bow, other than the archer they are the only class that can do serious damage with them. The second skill you take will depend on the rest of your party build. If you lack a Thief or Monk, then the Ranger is your best option for that skill. If you're lacking a Knight or a Paladin then Bodybuilding is best to improve your hitpoints. Otherwise Armsmaster is probably your best bet. I recomend against ID Monster, it is almost completely useless until you get it to grand master and by that point you could've invested the skill points in more important things. Advancement is equally dependent on your build. Of course Disarm Traps is vital, Perception helps you find traps and hidden treasures. Other than those you want to focus on Combat skills. Bow, Chain, and Axe. Because you're focusing on so few skills you can develop them very quickly. You're best off using two handed axes to deal serious damage. Expert Level Body Magic is useful for aditional healing, and if you lack an elemental spell caster, utility fire and air spells are very important. 4.7 Cleric The Cleric is the primary practitioner of Self Magic. As well as one of the two classes that can use high level light or dark magic. They also get decent combat ability, as well as being the only class that can reach Grand Master Merchant skill. They begin with 25 hit points and gain 2 per level. After their first promotion (Priest) they get 3 per level, and after their second promotion (Priest of Light/Priest of Dark) they get 4 per level. They start with 10 spell points and gain 3 per level. After their first promotion they get 4 per level, and after their second promotion they get 5 per level. Preset Skills: Mace, Body Magic Starting Skill Choices: Shield, Leather, Spirit, Mind, Merchant, Repair Item, Meditation, Alchemy, Learning. Combat Skills Can't Learn: Sword, Axe, Spear, Dagger, Unarmed, Plate, Dodge Normal: Staff Expert: Bow, Leather, Chain Master: Mace, Shield Grand Master: None Magic Skills Can't Learn: Fire Water Air Earth Dark (g) Light (e) Normal: None Expert: None Master: None Grand Master: Spirit, Mind, Body, Dark (e) Light (g) Miscellaneous Can't Learn: Disarm Trap, ID Item, Armsmaster, Stealing Normal: Body Building, Expert: Perception Master: Learning, Meditation, Repair Item Grand Master: Merchant Starting skills should be Merchant and Spirit Magic. Merchant reduces the price of items and the skills that the Merchant purchases. Magic Skills cost twice what other skills, and Spirit magic is essential. Mind Magic is useful but not vital, so you can wait until later when you can afford it. It's important to pick up Shield and Chain skills as soon as possible, your Cleric can't heal if he's dead. Learning and Meditation are both very nice skills. Meditation at Master level will give your cleric at least 105 extra spell points. If you don't have a knight or a Paladin, repair Item is useful too. When you start focus on Merchant, Body Magic and Spirit Magic. They will give you the cash and the spells you need to survive. Then move on to combat skills. Once you've chosen the path of good or the path of evil, you should be able to quickly raise either Light or Dark Magic, both of which are important. 4.8 Druid The Druid is the most versatile spellcaster having access to both Master Self Magic, and Master Elemental Magic. They also gain Grand Master Meditation and Alchemy to round out their skills. Druids start with hit points and gain 2 hit points per level. After their first promotion (Great Druid) they gain 3 hit points per level, and after their second promotion (Arch Druid/Warlock) they gain 4 hit points per level. Druids start with 10 spell points and gain 3 spell points per level. After their first promotion they gain 4 spell points per level, after their second promotion they gain 5 spell points per level. Preset Skills: Dagger, Earth Magic Starting Skill Choices: Mace, Leather, Water, Spirit, Body, Meditation, Perception, Alchemy, Learning. Combat Skills Can't Learn: Sword, Axe, Spear, Unarmed, Chain, Plate, Dodge Normal: Staff, Bow Expert: Mace, Leather, Shield Master: Dagger Grand Master: None Magic Skills Can't Learn: Dark, Light Normal: None Expert: None Master: Body, Spirit, Mind, Fire, Air, Water, Earth Grand Master: None Miscellaneous Can't Learn: Disarm Trap, Body Building, Repair Item, Stealing Normal: Armsmaster Expert: Perception, Merchant, ID Item, ID Monster Master: Learning Grand Master: Meditation, Alchemy Starting skills should be Body Magic and Meditation, they're expensive skills that are essential. Grand Master Meditation gets the Druid at least 250 spell points; almost more than you'll know what to do with. The Druid is the only charachter who can get Grand Master in Alchemy, which allows you to pump up the attributes of each charachter. Intellect and Personality both provide bonus spell points for the druid, so don't skimp. For combat skills I usually go Mace and Shield over dagger, the added armor is more important than dual wielding, and of course Leather since it's the only armor skill they can learn. Learning is, as always, extremely useful. Other than that the only thing to really focus on is magic skills, fill whatever gaps you have in your party. Generally Air and Body are the two most important magic skills. 4.9 Sorcerer The Sorcerer is the only class that can reach Grand Master in the Elemental Magic; they can also achieve Grand Master Light or Dark Magic. Sorcerers start with 20 hit points and gain 2 points per level. After their first promotion (Wizard) they gain 3 hit points per level which does not increase after the second promotion (Archmage/Lich). Sorcerers begin with 15 Spell Points, and gain 3 spell points per level. After their first promotion they gain 4 spell points per level, and after the second promotion they gain 6 spell points per level. Preset Skills: Staff, Fire Starting Skill Choices: Dagger, Leather, Air, Water, Earth, ID Item, ID Monster, Meditation, Alchemy Combat Can't Learn: Sword,Axe,Spear,Mace,Unarmed,Chain,Plate,Shield,Dodge Normal: Bow Expert: Dagger, Leather Master: Staff Grand Master: None Magic Can't Learn: Spirit, Mind, Body, Dark (g) Light (e) Normal: None Expert: None Mastery: None Grand Master: Fire Water Earth Air Dark (e) Light (g) Miscellaneous Can't Learn: Disarm Trap, Body Building, Armsmaster, Stealing Normal: Merchant Expert: Perception, Repair Item Master: Learning, Meditation, Alchemy Grand Master: ID Item, ID Monster Starting Skills should be Air and Meditation. Early on you should pick up Water Magic and Leather Armor. As I've said earlier Identify Monster is simply not worthwhile, and ID Item can be replaced with the Scholar NPC. If you don't have a Druid then the Sorcerer should pick up Alchemy. Learning is important for the Sorcerer as it is for any other charachter. For your weapon you should choose Staff, once you get expert level it adds to your armor class. Meditation at Master Level provides at least 186 spell points, so it's an obvious advancement point. Other than Meditation, Learning, and possibly Alchemy, no other non-magic Skills matter. Air and Fire Magic are the most important early skills; as they give you the increadibly useful Wizard Eye and Torch Light spells, as well as the best offensive spells in the game. Light or Dark Magic are Incredibly powerful, and you should advance them quickly once you get them. 5) Party Construction Clearly a party needs a balance between magic and combat ability. Here are several Party Builds 5.1 Beginers Build (Evil) Knight/Monk/Druid/Cleric This build makes for easy play because it has strong combat abilities and a whole lot of healing. The Knight should have Repair Item. Focus on Spear, early so you can get to Master Rank, then focus on Plate, Shield, Body Building, and Armsmaster, in that order. The Monk should get Disarm Trap, and keep it up. Other than that focus on combat skills and learning. Magic Skills are irrelevent for an Evil Monk. The Druid should develop Air, Fire, Body, Meditation, Learning, Leather, Shield, Alchemy, Water, Earth, in that order. Meditation is vital for more spellcasting, since the Druid is the only elemental spell caster they need to be developed, and Body magic provides additional healing. After that you need to develop the defensive properties. The Cleric should develop Body and Spirit magic first, then follow that up with Merchant, then Armor and Weapon skills. Learning and Meditation are more important than Mind Magic, so develop it last. Slow but Steady is the name of the game. Buff with the Cleric, then kill off small groups of monsters, healing as you go, when you run out of spell points, find somewhere to rest and then repeat the process. 5.2 Begginers Build (Good) Knight/Thief/Cleric/Sorcerer This build is fairly straightforward. The Sorcerer is essential for getting through the Light proving grounds, they'll be able to cast Invisibility which will get you past the increadibly powerful monsters there. The Knight develops pretty much the same, though you may want to go Spear/Sword instead of Spear/Shield. The Thief of course gets Disarm Trap and Perception. Improve Stealing if you want, though by the time you can steal from a shop reliably, you're no longer interested in what you can get. Obviously Leather Armor is important. Sword and Dagger are both good choices for weapons, if your Knight is using swords then I would recomend using either two daggers or dagger sword, so that you have better magic Item distribution. Don't waste your time getting magic skills they're not worth your while. The Cleric is the same as the previous build, except to say that it is even more important to focus on healing since you don't have a druid, and later monk, as back up. The Sorcerer should focus on magic Skills, particularly Fire and Air so that you have access to strong attack magic. You'll want to give them Alchemy as well to augment your party with curative potions. This build has the bennefit of two casters with Light Magic which can be devastating late game. 5.3 The Bruisers Knight/Monk/Monk/Cleric This is my absolute favorite build. With this build you walk up to your enemy introduce your self, and then beat them to death with your bear hands; and maybe a sword and a mace too. The Knight should definately dual wield Spear/Sword, the best defense for this team is killing the enemy as quickly as possible. One of the Monks should get Disarm Trap, and the other should focus exclusively on Combat Skills. The Cleric has a lot of roles to fill. In this build Spirit magic is actually more important then Body magic, buffing your heavy hitters means you take less damage. Of course the Cleric has pretty good combat potential as well. Since you don't have anyone who can cast invisibility it's much easier to play this party through as evil (especially since it makes disarming traps easier). However, if you do decide to go the path of good then high level Body Building can give you enough hitpoints to survive, and once you do you've got Light Magic. Stacking, Day of Protection, Day of the Gods, and Hour of Power on top of your already formidable team just crushes anything you come across for the rest of the game. Conversely Dark magic doesn't really help your strategy that much; Shrinking ray can weaken your enemies to kill them faster, Pain Reflection deals out some more damage, and Souldrinker combines damage with healing. Still, it doesn't replace the massive buffing of light magic. 5.4 Keep Away Thief/Ranger/Archer/Druid This Build Focuses on Ranged combat to get the job done. To use this build effectively you'll need to be good at using real time combat so that you can keep moving. Develop Bow with each charachter before any other combat skill. The Thief will of course take Disarm Trap and Merchant. After that you will improve combat skills in case you get stuck in a corner somewhere. The Ranger will focus on Combat skills, and then eventually build up body magic for some extra healing. Despite the fact that Archers can reach Grand Master, you may want to give Perception to the Ranger, so that your archer can focus on magic and combat skills. The Archer should focus on Bow and Magic skills. Melle skills and even Armor can wait while you focus on dealing damage. Of course the Druid develops Self magic first, after that you'll want to develop either Fire or Air magic so that they can dish out some damage as well. Meditation is essential since almost every combat turn you'll be either healing, buffing, or throwing out damage spells. Good and Evil are about the same level of difficulty hear, since you won't be likely to have invisibility and the evil proving grounds will put you in a lot of corners. Take the time before those quests to get your promotions and do some miscellaneous quests. Before you go into the proving you'll need to have developed your melle and armor skills. 5.5 Spellcaster Dominance Archer/Sorcerer/Druid/Cleric This Build is trickey in a few places, slow but steady is the way to play; burn out your spell points and then rest. You'll want to take the path of evil since you won't get a whole lot of benefit from the ultra buffing spells of Light Magic. Dark Magic will deal out serious damage and provide added control. The Archer Should develop Perception, and then Bow and Chain. Then develop Air and Fire; they can buff and let the others spend their spell points on damage. Body Building, Meditation, and Combat skills can wait. The Sorcerer will Focus on magic skills in order of Fire/Water/Earth/Air. Fire for offense, water and earth for buffing and utility, and air for added damage. The Druid should focus on Alchemy, Body Magic, Meditation, and then Air Magic for dealing damage. The Cleric will of course build up merchant and Self magic, but will also need to take the Repair Item Skill. Until you get Master Earth Magic with your Sorcerer and gain access to the Telekinesis spell, you won't have a way to safely open chests. Armor up and use your ample healing magic to slog through it. 5.6 No Self Magic - The Ultimate Challenge Knight/Sorcerer/Thief/Knight The lack of healing, and of the Self magic Buffing spells is increadibly rough. The Sorcerer will need to develop the Alchemy skill so they can brew potions of Divine Cure. There magic advancement needs to focus a little more on Buffing. Earth Magic's Stone Skin is particularly vital. The Thief will need Disarm Trap, Merchant, and Perception. For weapons either dual daggers or dagger/mace. One Knight should be Spear/Shield, and that one should have Repair Item. The second Knight should have either dual swords or sword/spear. Promoting the Knights and Sorcerer early is important, you'll need the path of good for Light magic's buffing spells. 5.7 No Magic Master - The Even More Ultimate Challenge Knight/Monk/Thief/Ranger Starting out with no spellcasting capacity, and only the most basic spells in the rest of the game is very Difficult. You will need to do the Ranger Promotion quest as soon as possible so you can get the healing and buffing spells. Once again the Thief will need Disarm, Merchant, and Perception, but you will also need the Thief to pick up Alchemy. The Path of good will be difficult with no spellcasting, but the extra self magic from the Monk will be helpful. 5.8 No Magic Expertise - That's not a Challenge, that's Suicide Knight/Knight/Monk/Thief On the Path of Evil you have nothing but normal level spellcasting. Which essentially means no spellcasting at all. The Thief will once again take Alchemy but will not have enough mastery to create Divine Cure Potions. Your healing will be dependent on regular Cure Potions and Scrolls. When your Thief get's promoted you'll actually want to take Air Magic for Wizard Eye and Feather Fall. Possibly Fire Magic for Torch Light. Giving the Monk any magic is really futile, best to just up your damage and defense potential. Consider giving one of the Knights Chain instead of Plate, that way you can take advantage of the best magic armors in eachs category. Thanks to 3DO for such an epic game. Direct any comments or questions to immortal_kallan@hotmail.com