Character generation is the first step on your journey into the world of Exile II. Here are a few hints that may help you get started on the right foot.
If you want to just get a feel for what the various attributes mean for a party, start by playing with the prefab party. The prefab party is not optimal by any means, but is perfectly servicable and has a reasonable mix of attributes.
After playing with the prefab party you'll probably want to create your own party. Here are a few tips:
Humans are best used as spellcasters or fighters because of their rapid advancement in levels. As fighters they can be ambidextrous and still have rapid level advancement, and as spellcasters they can be magically apt and still have reasonable level advancement.
Nephilim are best used as archers and thieves; using a nephilim as a combination archer/thief works very nicely.
Sliths: Their bonus to strength and intrinsic toughness make them natural fighters. Their ability with polearms is less useful, because there are so few good polearms in the game. The best slith fighter may therefore be an ambidextrous fighter who specializes in edged weapon combat, though a non-ambidextrous polearm wielding fighter is certainly playable, and probably more in character.
The slith's intelligence bonus makes them decent spellcasters too, but they are much more useful as priests than mages. Their slow level advancement makes it impractical to have a slith be magically apt, and that hurts their ability as mages much more than as priests. Also the slith's natural ability as a fighter is lost if a slith is used as a mage, since a mage is severely limited in the weight of armor he can wear. On the other hand, sliths make excellent fighter/priests, combining good intelligence with good natural fighting ability. And since priests can wear armor, they can fight in the front lines.
Ambidextrousness is very nice for fighters. An ambidextrous human fighter armed with two enchanted wave blades is a killing machine. Because most polearms are two handed weapons and there are few powerful bashing weapons, an ambidextrous fighter should specialize in edged weapon combat.
Being magically apt is very nice for mages. It is useful, but not necessary, for priests.
Cave lore is useful, but not overwhelmingly important. At most one character in a party should have it.
Nimble fingers is only useful for your thief.
Toughness is good for front line fighters especially, and good constitution is useful for any character who can afford it, but not necessary.
Sluggishness is more of a disadvantage than it at first seems. Those lost action points come back to haunt you more often than you think. That being said, a sluggish priest is not that serious a liability.
Being magically inept not only means that you can't read scrolls or use wands, it also means you can't drink potions. So it can be a serious problem, even for fighters.
Frailness doesn't seem to be all that debilitating. My frail Nephilim archer/thief didn't seem all that much worse off than my other characters. But on the other hand I usually cured her first when I had the chance.
Pacifism basically makes that character useless, even as a priest. A pacifist priest can't even cast Bless. And the game doesn't warn you that you are purchasing a spell for a pacifist character that he can't cast, so it is likely that you will waste lots of money on useless spells. I have heard that pacifism will be dropped in Exile III, and I think that that is a Good Thing (tm).
Actually, there is little reason to bother with disadvantages at all. As long as you don't try using a ridiculous combination of race and advantages, you usually won't need disadvantages to have a reasonable level advancement rate. And remember, characters without disadvantages survive better in the early game, when you have the most difficulty surviving. This will often outweigh the level advancement bonus. The main reason I use disadvantages is to flesh out my characters and add to their persona.
All characters should have a minimum of 12 HPs, fighters preferably 20 or more. Your primary mage should have as many SPs as possible; she will be bearing the brunt of the fireballing... er, fighting early on. Having a lot of SPs is nice for a priest, but not essential.
All characters should have a minimum strength of 3. Any less and the HP gained per level drops dramatically. Fighting characters need more strength, and a minimum dexterity of 3 (preferably more). Spellcasters should have an intelligence of 5 or more. Mages should have a much higher intelligence than 5, since the higher the intelligence, the deadlier the fireballs are.
Fighting characters should specialize in at most one type of melee weapon, and one type of missile weapon, at least level 3 in each. Front line fighters should have a couple of levels of defense skill.
Mages should always have at least 3 levels of Mage Spell, so she will get the all-important Fireball spell. Three levels of Priest Spell is nice for a priest, but not essential, especially for a fighter/priest.
The party should invest in at least a few levels of Mage Lore, preferably spread out among the party. The party should try to invest in a couple of levels of Item Lore too; they are expensive, and quite useful.
Alchemy is nice to have, and nice to invest in at the start because it is expensive. But it is not essential, and no more than 2 or 3 levels is needed.
Your thief should invest in a few levels of Picking Locks and Disarm Traps, even if it means that she has to settle for a slightly lower dexterity. Your archer (often the same character) should invest in 2 or 3 levels of Poison, but not more.
Assassination and Luck should be saved for later. Much later, in fact.
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