I finally gave up...

[AetherVagrant]

and bought Age of Decadence. played some of the demo, pirated the beta, havent really gotten into it -- but I want to.

Curious about some build guides and advice, specifically for a character that will focus on social/thieving skills but would like to still be able to participate in violence -- ie not a total noncombat build, but not a fighter type either.

prefer to avoid crafting as much as possible, as or any sort of tanky type.
is there magic? or just science?

 

[Morality Games]

and bought Age of Decadence. played some of the demo, pirated the beta, havent really gotten into it -- but I want to.

Curious about some build guides and advice, specifically for a character that will focus on social/thieving skills but would like to still be able to participate in violence -- ie not a total noncombat build, but not a fighter type either.

prefer to avoid crafting as much as possible, as or any sort of tanky type.
is there magic? or just science?

You can't be a wizard if that is what you mean.

 

[Ninjerk]

There's alchemy, heathen. People who know more about combat than I do will likely tell you for your first run to either forget about combat or go full combat. Last I read up on them, hybrid builds of the sort you describe (spreading yourself across three kinds of gameplay) require you to metagame to squeeze out every bit of xp possible before you move between places.

 

[AetherVagrant]

hahah, thats what i was afraid of.
But i figured id at least pay for it before bitching and digging in.

 

[Vault Dweller]

and bought Age of Decadence. played some of the demo, pirated the beta, havent really gotten into it -- but I want to.

Curious about some build guides and advice, specifically for a character that will focus on social/thieving skills but would like to still be able to participate in violence -- ie not a total noncombat build, but not a fighter type either.

prefer to avoid crafting as much as possible, as or any sort of tanky type.
is there magic? or just science?

 

[Agesilaus]

I just finished up a thief build that was able to win all the quest specific fights, then I betrayed the thieves to Gaelius, then dumped 8 in lore and joined Meru and successfully completed House Crassus' quest.

I think I had 7 str, 8 dex, 5 con, 7 per, 10 int, 4 cha. Weaponwise, I had 4 in archery, 4 in cs, and nothing in dodge or block. I used a bow with poison arrows and basic alchemy.

When playing as a thief, all fights involve multiple combatants on each side. Aziz and Lucius are both pretty good dodgers, so if you use them and a maybe a little bit of fire, you can really stay back and do a lot of poison damage. In hindsight, my stats weren't ideal, and I should have gone with crossbow so I could use the repeater crossbow to poison 5 people a turn. The poison in the temple district does 7 damage a turn, and you can tear apart enemies like the assassins who attack the slums. In one on one fights, just shoot and run, or use a little alchemy to keep them at bay while the poison destroys them. I only won a few fights in the arena, I wasn't going out of my way to find fights.

Hybrid builds are doable if you are willing to invest in alchemy and the right tools. They're not amazing, it costs gold and skill points that might have gone elsewhere, but almost all my characters have at least some combat functionality.

 

[SniperHF]

Quick and dirty guide to hybrid character:
All combat skillz/stats + streetwise. Sure you aren't gonna see everything but you'll get a lot more than a strictly combat skill character.

 

[Ninjerk]

Streetwise ended up being a much better skill than I thought it was going to be.

 

[Tigranes]

Hybrid is possible, it's just no matter what build you choose, you will probably suck ass for the first few hours. Because, you know, it ain't an easy game.

Given the game is all about multiple runs, yeah, I'd say an all talkie or fisty the first couple times as you get the hang of things.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I recommend a 2h-hammer+dodge build for your initial combatfag run.