Noticed this was on sale for $24.74 on Steam, so I decided to get it. I believe this will be my first ever tabletop CRPG, but I'm no stranger to turn-based strategy games. All of the reviews on Steam and elsewhere are overwhelmingly positive for this game! I've been on a bit of a gaming phase where I'm trying out different types of genre and keeping an open mind about things. I've read some comments about its difficulty for beginners - any pointers for someone just starting out with this type of game?
Don't be afraid to mix and match schools, and you don't necessarily have to focus too much into any specific school to grab some really good skills. Like: Tactical Retreat (Huntsman), Chameleon Cloak (Polymorph) and Adrenaline (Scoundrel). These compliment every playstyle from a very small investment.
If you've ever played Mass Effect 2 or 3 (who hasn't?), then you will have an idea on how the magic/armor shields work in this game. You have to remove the blue bar, or the silver bar to actually target enemy health. For that reason alone you'll either want to focus on either an all physical group, all magical group or a 2:2 split. Try to have at least one Archer type character in your group that uses a crossbow early on. They were the single most broken "class" in the default game before all of the patches, and they are still super strong now.
What I would not suggest though, for a first time playthrough is trying to make random hybrid characters that try to combine both magic and physical
attacks into a single character. There are plenty of builds where that will work, but they are more advanced, and you might end up having to look at a guide to get the best out of them. Unlike what I said above, most of the dipping into other schools (even if they are primarily physical or magical based) are more auxiliary in use and provide movement or damage bonuses that don't particularly care what enemy you're facing. Also, Necromancy is primarily a physical school, not magical.
Early on, certain spells will combo together to make more powerful results than if you were to use each spell individually, such as tossing a random Earth Spell that leaves a flammable substance all over the ground, such as Fossil Strike or even a Poison spell, and then igniting them with a targeted Fire spell such as Searing Daggers or even Fireball. You can get similar combinations with stuff like Water + Lightning, although that combo can be trickier since you can easily stun your own party members due to how long electrified water tends to last.
If you are going to try combos, you can either have two schools that can combo together on a single character such as Fire+Earth, or divide those duties up since AP is so limited. So if you were using two casters, you could have one of them with Earth+Air and on the other Fire+Water (or Earth/Water, Fire/Air). That way, you could have the first caster do the initial part of a combo, and then have the second caster finish it. Both methods have their advantages.
Later though these spell combinations start mattering a lot less in lieu of much more powerful area of effect spells that take a lot of AP to cast, but can wipe out groups with a single cast.
Action Points matter a lot, and IMO, Elves are one of the best races to play because of this. Also, if you plan on using a Rogue type character, make sure to pick up either The Pawn
or Executioner as well as Backlash. These will allow the character to actually move around the screen and deal damage on their turn, instead of having to alternate between moving and killing.
Lastly, Warfare is the best school for
all physical based characters. Focus on raising this first when trying to up your damage.
