Somebody suggested a ToME 4 LP and having recently purchased this game, and having wasted a fair amount of time in the free version as well, I decided to give it a shot. I know quite a lot about the game but I've never googled anything related to it, so I don't know what the recommended builds are, what dungeons to visit and when, and so on. But I definitely know how to play it my way. If you're new to the game, I recommend you to give it a try, it's free - http://te4.org/download
I don't have many birth options unlocked but I do have the "Cursed" class, which I happen to enjoy playing as. Cursed characters are melee oriented and have, in addition to any other bars, a hate meter which measures how pissed off they are at the moment and fuels their various abilities. I picked Cornac as the race because it allows me to spend a category point at the character creation stage which is essential to the way I like playing this class.
I dump all available stat points into Strength, and I spend my category point to unlock the Rampage talent tree (line?). I'll want to max Rampage as soon as possible because it allows me to move six times as fast as other characters, and attack twice as fast. Therefore it will be vital to my survival as I will be able to simply run away from any dangerous encounter, or to eliminate a group of enemies one by one before they even blink. I also invest a point in Slash and Stalk each. Slash is a powerful melee attack, while Stalk grants us bonuses for attacking the same enemy multiple times in a row. I don't spend the generic point because the Cursed Form skill family is fairly useless, I will spend it later to unlock better armour and make the melee weapons more powerful.
At the beginning of the game we are dumped in some forest filled to the brim with dangerous creatures.
One of the first encounters. Although these two enemies do not pose a big danger, I have quickly learned that in this game you need to treat almost everything as though it could kill you in one hit. All resources such as life, mana, and skill cooldowns are very easily restored, so you end up taking this game one encounter at a time. The 'z' key allows for autoexploration. It first waits for all resources to be restored, moves to an unexplored area, grabbing all items lying on the ground on the way, and stopping when any interesting features such as enemies are encountered. There is one caveat though: the hate meter is slowly depleted when we wait for HP and cooldowns to recover, which weakens most of our skills.
Very early in the game, all Cursed characters have a choice of unlocking an additional Generic talent tree, which places random curses on their items. The curses are initially harmful, but when they add up, they can grant some very beneficial effects. I don't like this talent so I opt out.
In the same area, we find some kind of a desolated structure with a locked door. What could be inside?
Just a skeleton, which is quickly dispatched and forgotten.
Spoils of the first area. I take a couple of items and let the rest be transmuted into gold (an option that has to be unlocked).
The entrance to the second area of the forest is heavily guarded.
After wandering around a little more, Awor finally gains a level. I dump all stat points into strength again, the class point into rampage, and a generic point into Armour training, which will allow us to equip heavier types of armour.
This piece of lore foreshadows a boss encounter which is found a little bit later.
Two troll, a wolf, and a swarm of flies, with possibly even more enemies lurking in the darkness. I have stalk enabled at all times, because it's free. Awor's modus operandi in more risky fights is at the moment to activate Rampage, and take enemies one of the time, using Slash as often as possible.
Enemies with purple outlines are stronger than normal ones. Here we see a troll wizard which attacks us for 1/3rd of total HP, caution is needed.
Rampage allows Awor to close the gap and stab the troll a couple of times, but we're at 50% HP now. He appears to have ran out of mana.
Killing the vile thing gave us two levels.
Everything is dumped into Strength again, until we hit the limit. The remaining point is instead invested in Willpower. Rampage can be maxed now. Armour training is at 3/5 granting us the ability to wear all kinds of armors.
A little deeper into the forest, we find another loathsome abomination, Prox the Mighty.
Awor quickly gains the upper hand in this duel despite Rampage ending before its end.
Our HP runs dangerously low, but we still have a regeneration rune, which can be used in case of sudden emergency.
The death of this mutant gives enough experience to gain about 1.5 levels, and he drops quite a few useful items.
This note foreshadows a boss encounter in an optional area at the very end of this forest.
Strength and willpower are raised again, and seeing as Rampage is maxed now, I put a point in Frenzy, a talent that allows Awor to attack adjacent enemies four times in a quick succession.
We have cleared the forest and there's only the optional area left for us to explore. It's simply an arena filled with trolls and a rather dangerous boss. I might have to return here later, after getting some better equipment and more skills.
This concludes this chapter of Awor's story.
I don't have many birth options unlocked but I do have the "Cursed" class, which I happen to enjoy playing as. Cursed characters are melee oriented and have, in addition to any other bars, a hate meter which measures how pissed off they are at the moment and fuels their various abilities. I picked Cornac as the race because it allows me to spend a category point at the character creation stage which is essential to the way I like playing this class.
I dump all available stat points into Strength, and I spend my category point to unlock the Rampage talent tree (line?). I'll want to max Rampage as soon as possible because it allows me to move six times as fast as other characters, and attack twice as fast. Therefore it will be vital to my survival as I will be able to simply run away from any dangerous encounter, or to eliminate a group of enemies one by one before they even blink. I also invest a point in Slash and Stalk each. Slash is a powerful melee attack, while Stalk grants us bonuses for attacking the same enemy multiple times in a row. I don't spend the generic point because the Cursed Form skill family is fairly useless, I will spend it later to unlock better armour and make the melee weapons more powerful.
At the beginning of the game we are dumped in some forest filled to the brim with dangerous creatures.
One of the first encounters. Although these two enemies do not pose a big danger, I have quickly learned that in this game you need to treat almost everything as though it could kill you in one hit. All resources such as life, mana, and skill cooldowns are very easily restored, so you end up taking this game one encounter at a time. The 'z' key allows for autoexploration. It first waits for all resources to be restored, moves to an unexplored area, grabbing all items lying on the ground on the way, and stopping when any interesting features such as enemies are encountered. There is one caveat though: the hate meter is slowly depleted when we wait for HP and cooldowns to recover, which weakens most of our skills.
Very early in the game, all Cursed characters have a choice of unlocking an additional Generic talent tree, which places random curses on their items. The curses are initially harmful, but when they add up, they can grant some very beneficial effects. I don't like this talent so I opt out.
In the same area, we find some kind of a desolated structure with a locked door. What could be inside?
Just a skeleton, which is quickly dispatched and forgotten.
Spoils of the first area. I take a couple of items and let the rest be transmuted into gold (an option that has to be unlocked).
The entrance to the second area of the forest is heavily guarded.
After wandering around a little more, Awor finally gains a level. I dump all stat points into strength again, the class point into rampage, and a generic point into Armour training, which will allow us to equip heavier types of armour.
This piece of lore foreshadows a boss encounter which is found a little bit later.
Two troll, a wolf, and a swarm of flies, with possibly even more enemies lurking in the darkness. I have stalk enabled at all times, because it's free. Awor's modus operandi in more risky fights is at the moment to activate Rampage, and take enemies one of the time, using Slash as often as possible.
Enemies with purple outlines are stronger than normal ones. Here we see a troll wizard which attacks us for 1/3rd of total HP, caution is needed.
Rampage allows Awor to close the gap and stab the troll a couple of times, but we're at 50% HP now. He appears to have ran out of mana.
Killing the vile thing gave us two levels.
Everything is dumped into Strength again, until we hit the limit. The remaining point is instead invested in Willpower. Rampage can be maxed now. Armour training is at 3/5 granting us the ability to wear all kinds of armors.
A little deeper into the forest, we find another loathsome abomination, Prox the Mighty.
Awor quickly gains the upper hand in this duel despite Rampage ending before its end.
Our HP runs dangerously low, but we still have a regeneration rune, which can be used in case of sudden emergency.
The death of this mutant gives enough experience to gain about 1.5 levels, and he drops quite a few useful items.
This note foreshadows a boss encounter in an optional area at the very end of this forest.
Strength and willpower are raised again, and seeing as Rampage is maxed now, I put a point in Frenzy, a talent that allows Awor to attack adjacent enemies four times in a quick succession.
We have cleared the forest and there's only the optional area left for us to explore. It's simply an arena filled with trolls and a rather dangerous boss. I might have to return here later, after getting some better equipment and more skills.
This concludes this chapter of Awor's story.
