Some spoilers in here later on but a ton of good info that I wish I had when I started.I entered the Cosmic Circle on the 8th day and 1:03 hour. I never rested with this party except for one time and then only for as long as it took to hit the rest button and then to wake up so perhaps 20 minutes of time in the game had passed. I had to do this to get back my Mook character from the Mooks in Arnika. I played without him for a day and a half game time and went back to Arnika several times but he never came back until I camped for the shortest time I could.
2 Lizardman Fighters specializing in Polearms from the very beginning
1 Mook Ranger (a must, it sucks to search all the time otherwise and you need to search to find magic nectars for your NO REST party)
1 Priest
1 Bard (I did Hobbit) You really need a bard since they can use their instruments over and over. Make her female and give an item that replenishes stamina and you are set.
1 Mage (I did a Psionic once before in a party but the Mage is better for defensive spells which is what you need. Haste can be done by the Bard as well as other Psionic spells).
I did a party with 3 fighters with polearms and a bishop but it's better to have the Priest and Mage so you get higher level spells quicker but especially so you can have two characters cast the Portal spell.
as soon as you get a Portal spell cast one in Ascention peak so you can get there after the landslide when you get a second item. I also did this so I never had to get the helm of serenity which saved a lot of time. I did the portal in the building where you put the Destinae Dominus and then when I got it from Marten my characters were only insane for a short time. I also had the spell sane mind at that point so it wasn't a problem.
The biggest challenge finishing in 8 days is fighting some of the Ascention peak battles at relatively low levels. I took on Pee Wee when my characters were 13th level and it was a challenge. Rapax army when they were 15th or so and again, it was interesting but do-able.
I'd be interested to see if anyone can finish the game quicker than I did.
Best tips I think
Get magic nectars whenever you can.
Don't worry about Piety for Mage or INT. for Priest. Increase speed and senses instead after primary skill. Being able to cast a spell before most or all the monsters do their actions is VITAL! Same with Bard, increase Speed and Senses to get a high inititive. I had my Bard cast Haste on my characters 90% of the time in the first round and then my fighters with polearms did some whalloping. Offensive spells for the most part are a waste. You want to have Magic Screen, Missle Shield, Armor Plate, and Enchanted Blade active at all times. Avoid useless battles with X-ray.
Figters with Polearms can do a ton of damage. Advantages are polearms are widely available so you don't have to look for some "awesome" sword and try to kill Nessie 50 times. (I was lucky to do it once since my party was so low a level). Don't have to spend valuable points on dual wield and two skills such as sword and dagger. Concentrate all points into Polearm, close combat and power strike. Eventually you get three swings and three attacks with polearms if you play a regular game and get high enough level to get your skills, speed and dexterity high enough. I couldn't get as many swings and attacks with this party (did with another one) since I was trying to finish as quick as I could so my party was not as high as level when I finished.
It's important to know (at least I believe this to be the case) that the number of attacks and swings seems to be governed more strongly by close combat skill and especially skill in weapon used then by Speed and Dexterity. This is why it is important to pick ONE weapon skill at the begginning and STICK WITH IT.
Do not Dual Wield! Much better to have the 3 swings and 3 attacks with a high damage polearm (dread spear is especially nice with the 50% Hex) then 2 swings 2 attacks with a sword and 2 swings and 2 attacks with some secondary weapon that you only get half strength bonus' one.
I've played the game with a half dozen parties and believe me the way to go is with straigt fighters for your combat front line. Polearms also are great for not having to keep getting withing "short range" in order to hit the monsters. How many times have you had your fighters switch to bows in the middle of a round because they killed all the mosters within the short range.
I played a fairie ninja and got the cane of corpus. Big deal. Can't switch to a ranged weapon and the damage was about equal or less than a good polearm in a Beserk fighters hands.
That is the other thing about Pure fighters. Beserk is double damage every time. Also dont' have to waste any points in any magic skills.
Mook Ranger so you can give him or her the Giants sword when you kill the Death Knight in the hill in the Wilderness (I think it's the north wilderness. The one that leads to the Rapax Rift.)
Forget Samurais. Too hard to find good armor and Beserk with a fighter is better than lighting strike.
Critical hits don't come around enough to make them worth it. I like it better when my Fighters hit something big and they go uncounscious better anyway.
Well this is long so I will end. Hope it has helped someone.
Big Daddy.
Anyone finish it quicker?
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