In Praise of Faeries Posted by Carl on February 25, 1999 at 11:20:35:
(debinet.debevoise.com - 208.201.160.2)
In Reply to: oh ... and what is the big deal with the fairy cls
posted by mike harakal on February 25, 1999 at 07:00:49:
1. A faerie ninja equipped with a cane of corpus (which can only be
used by a FN) and a rod of sprites (which can only be used by
faeries)is the deadliest fighter in the game, bar none. Not only
does the cane/rod combination do more damage per hit than any other
(even lightsword/wakizashi+1), but faeries, because of their high
dexterity and speed, get more hits per strike and more strikes per
round than other races. Thus equipped, a FN will usually kill 4
monsters per round.
2. Faeries have a natural AC 2 points lower (i.e., better)than other
races. Not only are our faerie ninjas the hardest hitters in the
game, they (with faerie monks) have the best defenses. A NAKED
fully-trained faerie ninja or monk has a natural AC of -14, with
body ACs of -14. Equipped with faerie-usable items and armor, she
can have a natural AC of -19 and body ACs as low as -31. By
contrast, the BEST AC a fully-trained non-faerie lord can have,
using the best armor in the game, is a natural AC of +4 and body ACs
of -10.
3. As implied by the preceding paragraphs, faerie ninjas are
comparatively low-cost. They don't require all the incredibly
hard-to-find armor that lords, valkyries and samurais do, yet have
much better defenses. And their weapons are easier to find -- unlike
Excaliber or murumasa blades, you don't have to get lucky (or reload
for hours) to find canes -- you just have to be able to kill
Bleinmeis! Since one of the difficulties in the game is the limited
number of chests with high-end weapons and armor, having faerie
ninjas means the high-end stuff can be spread among fewer other
characters.
4. Faeries have the highest natural speed, dexterity and
intelligence, and the second-highest personality,in the game. These
natural abilities appear to transcend stats -- given 6 characters
each of whom has 20 speed and dexterity and 18 intelligence and
personality, your faeries will always go first in combat, be more
adept at opening locks and chests, fizzle fewer spells, and
negotiate better with NPCs. Their speed is is a huge advantage when
fighting speedy characters such as Bleinmeis or the Fiend of 9
worlds. Because of their intelligence, they make great
spell-casters.
5. Weaknesses: (a) Terrible strength. This counsels against relying
on faeries to be great fighters, except as cane-wielding ninjas.
Carrying capacity isn't a big issue, since they can't wear (and
don't need) heavy armor anyway, and most of the puzzle items in the
game aren't heavy. (b) Bad piety. This causes them to develop slower
than, say, elves, since they tend to get fewer skill points per
level. However, this deficiency can be minimized by saving right
before they level and replaying the level until you get good points.
(c) Bad vitality. This gives them fewer hit points than other races.
However, as we've seen, they're much less likely to be hit. Besides,
as the game progresses, characters are more likely to die from
critical hits or spells than from loss of hit points.
Conclusion: Because (as we've been discussing) it's possible to get
2 canes, it follows that the most powerful possible party has 2
faerie ninjas. This solves the problem of equipping your 3
front-rank fighters, since the third can carry the 1-handed Light
Sword plus a Wakazashi+1 (if a ninja or samurai) or a Diamond Eyes
(if a lord or valkyrie). Otherwise, you usually wind up with a lord
swinging Excaliber (which, although 2-handed, is no better than the
Light Sword) or a Samurai with a murusama (which is not quite as
good as the Light Sword, plus Samurai's defenses aren't that good).
I also like to have a faerie spell-caster -- either a bishop or
(more recently) a monk who started out as a bishop and casts all the
bishop spells.
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Follow Ups:
* Re: In Praise of Faeries Scone - 11:38:12 3/01/99 (2)
o Re: In Praise of Faeries Ogre - 11:56:40 3/01/99 (1)
+ Re: In Praise of Faeries Thanks...I'll try it -
04:04:56 3/02/99 (0)
* Jesus Christ on a Popsickle Stick mike h - 16:17:00 2/25/99 (0)
* Holy Winged Crusader - That was AWESOME! (nt) Ogre - 11:32:40
2/25/99 (0)
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