Tales of Maj'Eyal

Sir Funk

Lord Nagafen Raider
1,251
155
Nice, I'll have to at least give him a shot. The Fire Drake has an AOE shout that cleared whole rooms upon summoning. Basically the Fire weakness effect from Ritch combined with the Fire Drake AOE/drakelings has been a combo that has killed 95% of everything I've come across without difficulty so far.
 

velk

Trakanon Raider
2,541
1,128
Definitely getting into this game hardcore. I want to make a run to try to get as far as I can to unlock more stuff, and maybe even "beat" it. I did a summoner yesterday that got to 20 but died due to some bad luck with a guarded chest.

Here's the (non-base) classes I have unlocked so far; which one is my best bet to get as far in the game as possible easily?

Brawler
Archmage
Wyrmic
Cursed
Temporal Warden
Stone Warden
Stone warden IMO. They are pretty easy to play, with a good blend of offense and defense and have the best defensive spell in the game ( stone wall ).
 

velk

Trakanon Raider
2,541
1,128
I am using a mindstar in my offhand on my necromancer. It has bothincreased damage:DarkANDdamage penetration:Darkon it. This is with a staff in my main hand, Blew my mind when I realized I could equip both.
Most staffs are two handed - exceptions are short staffs and the two pieces of telos staff.
 

Sinzar

Trakanon Raider
3,149
269
Here's the (non-base) classes I have unlocked so far; which one is my best bet to get as far in the game as possible easily?
The first class I beat he game with was an arcane blade. It's a basic class, but to play one you really need the stone magic tree unlocked. The early game is rough, but with careful planning and prep, you can make a sickly strong end-game character. Max cunning > magic > dex. Use the enhancement stat boosting spell + gear to meet stat reqs to train your skills. With the arcane combat talent and dual wielding talents, you end up proccing nukes on attack like 3-10 times per round in combat. You also have teleports and charging for mobility / escape.

The build was kind of a glass cannon, and it only has melee range "cleave" AoE, so huge packs require hit and run tactics. Was still a lot of fun. After I beat the game, I used that invulnerability potion, engaged the Athamalon optional boss, and killed him in 3 rounds. I wouldn't recommend the build for pure hardcore mode though. I think I was on my final life when I finally finished.
 

Pancreas

Vyemm Raider
1,124
3,818
Most staffs are two handed - exceptions are short staffs and the two pieces of telos staff.
Ok that makes more sense. Anyways, non minion necros are actually pretty awesome. They play very similar to an archmage but are more durable, especially if they complete their lich transformation quest. The animus tree gives them the option to use soul tokens to restore a decent chunk of health and mana instantly. If you wind up maxing out Chill of the Tomb, try to find something that lets you cast cold wards, makes it much easier to use in close quarters.
 

bytes

Molten Core Raider
957
638
I'm so fucking frustrated with this game, it's just painful. Dusted off my old account, have a bunch of unlocked classes, but I just can't win. Not even with classes like wyrmics; everything's cool and nice until I get into the Masters dungeon (only lvl 19 because Thalore and all) and some rare just completely destroys me.

Spent hours today trying to get an AB at least to level 10, it's ridiculous. The class is spread so thin, while I can see how it could wreck shit later on, the start is so rough.
 

Pancreas

Vyemm Raider
1,124
3,818
Arcane blades are one of the harder classes to get traction with. Wyrmics are great, up to a point, but are very susceptible to status ailments, which is what you find in the Master's Tower galore.

One of the biggest things you can do to improve survival rates is set yourself up with some escape mechanisms. Teleport is the most popular as it goes through walls. It only really helps if the majority of the level is already empty though, or you are not having trouble with non rare enemies. Movement infusions and phase door runes are good too. Being able to just get out of a bad situation and pick tough fights apart makes some encounters much much easier.

After movement the next thing you want is a way to clear status ailments. They come in three flavors, physical mental and magical. Stacking immunities is the best, but barring that having a rune or clickable item or spell that removes negative effects in at least two of those categories is a must. Preferably the ones that your character doesn't have decent saves for.

And then just having a lot of health OR a lot of shields or insane resists and defenses... yeah all of that defensive crap. Mostly this is an equipment lottery thing.

And the last part is to come out swinging. Blast all your cooldowns every battle and take out the hardest target first. Going into defensive mode halfway through a fight can end up losing you an otherwise winnable battle.

Anyways the hardest part of the game in my opinion is the run up to the master's tower and most of the mid level 25-35 crap. After that stuff tends to just get easier as you are finally getting into end tier equipment and prodigies. Of course the final boss is always a bit of a gamble. Hope this helps.
 

Renault

N00b
134
1
Yeah I've never really played any games like this before so I've been kind of terrible at it so far though I am still having fun when I play.

So far I think my deaths have been approximate level 13 rogue, 23 zerker, 26 wyrmic with an arch mage alive at 15 and another zerker at 31 on his last life.

I find if I clear every dungeon I out level the first tier ones, the second tier is usually well balanced but then when I hit that third tier and level 20-30 range I end up under leveled especially if I'm playing anything with an experience penalty and usually end up running out of lives in Dreadfell.

The second thing I've had happen that is weird is running into vastly higher level rares occasionally. My wyrmic ended up dying when I ran into a level 49 demon thing in Dreadfell when all the normals had been ~26 with a few rares at ~31.
 

Sinzar

Trakanon Raider
3,149
269
The second thing I've had happen that is weird is running into vastly higher level rares occasionally. My wyrmic ended up dying when I ran into a level 49 demon thing in Dreadfell when all the normals had been ~26 with a few rares at ~31.
Did you open a sealed door that popped up a confirmation prompt? The sealed doors are rooms with monsters (and items) vastly higher level than the zone you find them in. Open at your own risk.
 

Aaron

Goonsquad Officer
<Bronze Donator>
8,116
17,938
Got this up and running again after reading this thread and it's an amazing roguelike game. I even decided to buy it. At first I was wondering if I should buy it on Steam or donate through the webpage, but from what I understood I'd get the same stuff regardless, so I took the easier approach and bought it on Steam. [del]While I did unlock the Explorer game, the Stonewarden did not come with it (as it does when you buy it via donations) so I was a bit pissed at that as I was hoping to try that class. Anyone know if a $5 buck donation on the webpage will be enough to unlock that class?[/del]

Edit: was wrong, the Stone Warden class is there, you just need to select Dwarf before selecting the class for it to appear.

Edit 2: Thought the [del] tag was a strikethrough font, guess not... :S
 

Krag

Peasant
475
47
Got this up and running again after reading this thread and it's an amazing roguelike game. I even decided to buy it. At first I was wondering if I should buy it on Steam or donate through the webpage, but from what I understood I'd get the same stuff regardless, so I took the easier approach and bought it on Steam. While I did unlock the Explorer game, the Stonewarden did not come with it (as it does when you buy it via donations) so I was a bit pissed at that as I was hoping to try that class. Anyone know if a $5 buck donation on the webpage will be enough to unlock that class?
You are supposed to get the Stone Warden class with a steam purchase, I don't know if you have to do anything specific for it though. You should probably check/ask onthe forums.
 

Aaron

Goonsquad Officer
<Bronze Donator>
8,116
17,938
You are supposed to get the Stone Warden class with a steam purchase, I don't know if you have to do anything specific for it though. You should probably check/ask onthe forums.
OK I had a look at the forums and you were right. You need to select the Dwarf race first, and then click the "+" to open the Wilder arch-class before you will see the Stone Warden. My bad!
 

Nirgon

YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE
12,749
19,650
This game i think is finally in a great spot of updates ironing out the "gotcha noob" shit talents. Being on its third expac with great shit added: fully recommend this thing now. Incredibly good in it's current iteration, cheap as hell too.

Pal made a doombringer that starts in chaos dimension or something, I'm in the troll forests/undead tower/sandworm lair area as a shadowblade. We are both very immersed.
 
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Pyros

<Silver Donator>
11,059
2,262
Might have to check this out. I haven't read this whole thread but how long does a typical run take?
Depends on how familiar with the game, but usually 25 to 30hours isn't uncommon if you're not playing really fast. I think people who play fast get it down to like 6-10hours or so but personally my fastest runs were still around like 18hours I think, I like to take my time to consider the options and stuff.

I didn't know there was a thread for this, I played a lot(1k+ hours) of ToME a few years back, cleared the game on every class(and there's a lot), it's a great game if you're into traditional roguelikes and especially the combat aspect(since there's not much else), very deep char building and lots of variety in classes and races.

It does take a long time for every run though so it doesn't lend itself to "true" roguelike instant death and why it defaults to adventurer mode(starts with like 1 or 2 lives and get more as you level up, up to 5? 7? forgot it's been a while). Balance is also kinda all over the place, some classes are much stronger than others, and some mechanics break lategame pretty hard if you use them(the crafting thing in lategame with one of the DLCs for example makes even the shittiest class able to bulldoze the endgame).

Another issue is the game is currently in limbo, with the main dev having issues since Covid, so while a new DLC was announced a while back, it hasn't been released yet. A year or so ago there was some news of a beta being "soon" and that also hasn't happened yet. The game is perfectly playable as is but unlike many other traditional roguelikes it's not getting frequent updates. I think last update is like 2years ago or something?

The game is free though(you can download the free version on the site), have to pay for DLCs and they're quite nice but if you're curious grab the free version and just play. Steam only has a paid version, the money gets you a bunch of cosmetics and the Possessor class(which is a buggy mess, but a fun one, it's more an advanced class though since you kinda need to know what every skill and mobs do to get an idea of what to possess). You can just transfer the saves if you end up buying it on steam after.
 
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Caliane

Avatar of War Slayer
14,572
10,068
Might have to check this out. I haven't read this whole thread but how long does a typical run take?
well its a roguelike. so 3 minutes probably.

I kid, its more forgiving then most. Was playing Barony recently, and that you die alot. That one is 100% balanced on killing you the first time you meet any new enemy or trap.

tome is definitely more about getting a good build/playstyle, and doing well, then making a mistake and getting surrounded.
 

Pyros

<Silver Donator>
11,059
2,262
well its a roguelike. so 3 minutes probably.

I kid, its more forgiving then most. Was playing Barony recently, and that you die alot. That one is 100% balanced on killing you the first time you meet any new enemy or trap.

tome is definitely more about getting a good build/playstyle, and doing well, then making a mistake and getting surrounded.
I picked up Barony last week and playing that atm, I don't find it that unfair, the only real thing like that is boulder traps and I guess some puzzle rooms(especially the one which involve boulder trap). Rest is somewhat straightforward. Still getting my face punched in by skeletons and rats on the first few levels though but generally if I make it past that I can secure wins pretty consistently other than freak accidents.

ToME does that shit a lot too if you play on Insane, double class elites will get some nasty combos that don't make sense until you've played the classes and know what the skills do and how they might work together. This is especially true on maps with strong monster base(bees and snakes for their innate high speed notably). On normal/hardcore way less so since elites don't get 2 classes iirc and you get way less of them, but I only played one run on hardcore before I moved to Insane since it seems to be the more intended difficulty.