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User:Kernelmethod/Sandbox:Build Guide: Difference between revisions
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* What is my trump card? If there's an enemy that I absolutely need to defeat and can't run away from, what can I do to guarantee victory over them? | * What is my trump card? If there's an enemy that I absolutely need to defeat and can't run away from, what can I do to guarantee victory over them? | ||
For example, {{favilink|Sunder Mind}} is a powerful mutation and is excellent for defeating enemies with high AV and high health. However, it only attacks one enemy at once and takes several turns, so it isn't strong against groups of enemies. It also has a moderate cooldown of 80 turns and is ineffective against enemies with mental shields (such as [[oozes]] and [[robots]]), so it isn't terribly reliable. | For example, {{favilink|Sunder Mind}} is a powerful mutation and is excellent for defeating enemies with high AV and high health. However, it only attacks one enemy at once and takes several turns, so it isn't strong against groups of enemies. It also has a moderate cooldown of 80 turns and is ineffective against enemies with mental shields (such as [[oozes]] and [[robots]]), so it isn't terribly reliable. As a result, you probably want to have other offensive tools besides just Sunder Mind for fighting enemies. | ||
== Other tools == | == Other tools == | ||
Having strong defensive and offensive toolkits will help you survive in Qud, but throughout the game you'll also run into situations that require a different set of abilities. | Having strong defensive and offensive toolkits will help you survive in Qud, but throughout the game you'll also run into situations that require a different set of abilities. While it's impossible to enumerate every single thing you'll need to consider during a run, here's a small sample of the scenarios you should at least think about: | ||
* What will I do to trade? How will I get enough water to buy items that I need (and prevent myself from dying of thirst)? | * What will I do to trade? How will I get enough water to buy items that I need (and prevent myself from dying of thirst)? | ||
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= Step 3: Choosing your stats = | = Step 3: Choosing your stats = | ||
Once you've figured out what your toolkit looks like, you should start picking stats that support your toolkit. | Once you've figured out what your toolkit looks like, you should start picking stats that support your toolkit. A good rule of thumb here is to '''select initial stats that make your character well-rounded, and then specialize as you level up'''. Even this rule is fairly flexible; however, experience has shown that one of the largest contributing factors to new players dying early is that they take defensive stats that are ''far'' too low (e.g. in the range of 10-12). This leads me to my one semi-specific recommendation for your build: | ||
'''Don't set your Agility, Toughness, Willpower, or Intelligence below 17, and ideally not below 18.''' You certainly ''can'' set these stats below 17, if you wish; but usually this just ends in a miserable time. Each of these stats is valuable to all builds in its own right: | |||
* You need Agility to improve your DV as well as to ensure that your attacks hit (if you're using melee or ranged weapons). | |||
* You need Toughness to improve your hitpoints as you level up, as well as to increase the rate at which you gain health. The generally useful [[Endurance]] skill tree also has Toughness prerequisites. | |||
* You need Intelligence to gain skill points as you level up. Also, the [[Tinkering]] and [[Wayfaring]] skill trees both have Intelligence prerequisites. | |||
* You need Willpower to improve your healing rate (alongside Toughness) and to reduce most of your ability cooldowns. In addition, Willpower is one of ''very'' few ways to improve mental armor in the early- and mid-game<ref>The others, realistically, are picking up {{favilink|Mental Mirror}} and cooking with {{favilink|lah petals}}.</ref>, which is needed to defend against psychic attacks, such {{favilink|Sunder Mind}} and {{favilink|Confusion}} attacks by [[Seekers of the Sightless Way]]. Finally, the [[Self-discipline]] tree has Willpower prerequisites. | |||
In general, there are two stats that you '''may''' be able to afford to dump: Strength and Ego. These involve some significant tradeoffs, however: | |||
* Builds that focus on dealing melee damage will almost never want to dump Strength, unless you're planning on relying exclusively on [[vibro weapon|vibro]] or [[psionic]] weapons. Dumping strength will also reduce your carry capacity, so you'll need to prepare to spend most of the game limited to just 200# - 250# of gear (without items that enhance carry capacity). | |||
* On the other hand, builds that use mental mutations heavily, and builds that depend on gaining new team members using [[Proselytize]] and {{favilink|Beguiling}}, need Ego. Builds that dump Ego will have reduced income and must spend more on items. They also aren't able to take any skills in the [[Persuasion]] tree<ref>There ''is'' a method for consistently picking up [[Snake Oiler]], even without high Ego, which helps mitigate these issues. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I won't list that method here.</ref>. | |||
If you're not willing to make these tradeoffs (or you're unsure) then I'd probably recommend setting Strength and Ego in the 17-18 range as well. If you '''do''' choose to dump one of these stats, then you can put the extra AP into an attribute that supports your offensive toolkit (or alternatively, you can put them into Toughness to make your character ultra-safe). | |||
== Selecting a caste / calling == | == Selecting a caste / calling == | ||
With a general idea of what you want your character's stats to look like, you should pick your caste (for True Kin) or calling (for mutants) to, primarily, support those stats. For example, if you're building a mutant that relies on melee damage, you probably want to pick a calling like [[Marauder]] or [[Warden]] which give you extra Strength (needed for the [[Cudgel]] and [[Axe]] trees), or [[Arconaut (Calling)|Arconaut]] for extra Agility (needed for [[Short Blade|Short Blades]]). | |||
Skills are a secondary concern. If you can choose a caste/calling that has skills that align with your build then all the better, but most skills can easily be picked up after you level up a bit. On the other hand, attribute points are few and far apart, so it makes sense to prioritize them first. | |||
= Some examples = | = Some examples = | ||