I am in the early stages of the game and cannot get by a Battle. I am facing 3 Poison Seekers and about 8 or 9 Slimes. I only have 2 guys that have ranged weapons & and 1 cherry bomb. I'm too early in the game to have a lot of good armor and weapons, and cannot continue in the Monistary until I get by these tough guys. No matter what I do, I end up getting killed. Please help!

(My party includes a Bard, Lizard fighter, Gadgeteer, Priest, Mage, and a Lord)

• RE: Hopeless Battle,guest, 10:58 AM, Feb-22-02
• RE: Hopeless Battle,Avatar (Guest), 11:01 AM, Feb-22-02
• RE: Hopeless Battle,Duke of Earl (Guest), 11:02 AM, Feb-22-02
  • RE: Hopeless Battle,amastropolo, 11:11 AM, Feb-22-02
• RE: Hopeless Battle,rbrown, 12:03 PM, Feb-22-02
  • RE: Hopeless Battle,Cybertracy (Guest), 01:26 PM, Feb-22-02
• RE: Hopeless Battle,Essexx (Guest), 02:11 PM, Feb-22-02
  • RE: Hopeless Battle,Strongbow (Guest), 08:11 PM, Feb-22-02
• RE: Hopeless Battle,DaLeech (Guest), 05:03 PM, Feb-25-02
• RE: Hopeless Battle,Greebo (Guest), 07:27 AM, Feb-26-02

I don't know if you have tried this or not.
go into your options and set the diffculty level to easy.
When (if) you beat them you can set it back to Normal (or difficult)

Tactic that i used for creatures that shoot is to try to lure them to a bend or corner - some where i can get protection from their ranged attacks and force them to come to me so that i can engage them in melee combat.

good luck.

(also if you can kill one or two then try to run away and rest then comeback)

What level are you playing at If its expert drop it to normal and try. Since you are no saying what spells you possess I'm duessing pretty weal ir none at all. Did you go for a swim in the lagoon and get to the pagoda there are supplies there. Run away until you find a defensivable place. Have your Bard use his Lute. Gadgetter his lightning rod and duct tape, priest cast bless, mage cast energy blast, fighter and lord in front for melee rounds formation should be front fighter lord left bard right gadgeteer center priest mage. Hope this helps. The little marks attached to your formation icons show what direction is facing/attacking if they are all lookinf left or right o down shift you formation to meet the attack. Remember He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.

Your Bard should have a poet's lute - use it a lot. Try any spell that incapacitates the monsters somehow, i.e. sleep, paralyze, insanity, afraid, blind. If you are on normal or hard, try turning the difficulty down, it helps some.

Or maybe you should consider starting anew, since you've just begun anyway. Your party makeup is not bad, but maybe more suited for experienced players. The Bard and the Gadgeteer suck until you get some decent gadgets/instruments. I'd only use one of these. What you could use is a bishop, so you can use the psionics and alchemist spells (especially Insanity helps a LOT), and a ranger, so you don't miss out on those potions lying around. Try a makeup of Valkyrie, Ranger, Lord, Bard/Gadgeteer, Bishop and Mage/Alchimist. Oh, and get a dracon; those breath attacks are quite useful.

One more thing, avoid camping at all costs. Use healing spells and potions and magic nectars for spell points. Camping spawns a lot of monsters, just lurking around the next corner and wearing you down in a huge battle so you have to camp anew afterwards.

Hope this helps

-- The Duke

This sounds like one of those random encounters that are too powerful for your party to battle. Don't avoid camping at all. Camp as much as possible. In fact, go back to the nearest area where you can camp safety. Camp 4 times in a row. The monsters will either split up, or move on completely. Other monsters that you already beat will respawn. You can fight another group of them and keep building your EP.

You need to get into melee range for this group of monsters in order to battle them effectively. Cast any buff spells you might have (guardian angel, bless), use your poet's lute and cast paralyze. If you have a one handed weapon, use a shiled in your off hand.

Are you in the Upper Monastery or lower? When you cross a boundary, the monsters will respawn when you cross back. They might be easier the next time.

Or go back downstairs and build your skills. Check your people and see if any are close to leveling up. Doublecheck for rooms and items you missed. Check Burz for new inventory. This game is highly non-linear. There are very few places where you have to proceed in a straight line.

Um, this may sound stupid, but my daughter was playing and didn't know how to "level up" and she was getting killed quicly early in the game. She though leveling was automatic. There is a little white plus sign in the corner of your character's pictures and you click on that to gain levels and add points to attributes.

This could be why you're not fighting very well.

good luck

Thank you for all the tips. I think it was a combination of making the mistake of resting, having a challenging mix of party members, and wasting my ranged ammo in earlier battles. I will give it another try (or likely tries) tonite.

Best advice this early in game is to use "missile shield" which is just a level 2 spell but is huge 1st half of game.This spell blocks almost anything the seekers can throw at ya as well as slime spewed at ya from various slime creatures.It also blocks arrows from Higardi you will soon run into.Most important it saves numerous doses of poison thrown and early on poison kills quickly (1)low hit points (2)no spells yet to cure poison (3)cure poison vials too expensive early on and big chance of getting zapped again.

how odd.. I just started playing on expert mode and have yet to encounter a battle anywhere near as hard as the one you just described (reached arnika already)

the only differences I've noticed so far between expert and easy are:

1) more monsters in groups, plus more "roaming" monsters
2) they have more hp
3) my characters miss/fizzle spells ALOT more often

I've been hearing ppl talk about these really tough battles, but I have yet to see anything of the sort

Different angle on the same problem - you're facing monsters which rely primarily on ranged weapons. You, however, do not have to. RUN up to the monsters with your fighter and lord up front and have them pound on the nasties instead of letting them pound you with their inherent ranged weapons.