Re: Odyssey Playtesters

From: quixote@elbrus.lcs.mit.edu (Chris Conley)

Date: Thu, 10 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000

In article <409ut2$6tu@ixnews6.ix.netcom.com>,
Robert Lamb <rhdlamb@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>Hey Odyssey playtest vets:
>
>  While waiting for g2 to fill, what advice would you give for a non-
>military party?  What goals or stats should I concentrate on building
>up in the first half dozen turns to ensure a successful team?  What's
>most important to winning in Odyssey?
>
>  I made a general mix of dual-class Fighters, Mages & Priests with
>Scout and Thief thrown in for good measure.  I chose races that seemed
>best suited for life in the Wilds & Swamp since I'm setup in the wilds.

Somebody had to ask...

Let's see, where to start.  IMHO, there are a few keys to look for in a
"den-bashing" position:

- For fighters, the most important attribute is mobility.  Not only does
   it aid in attack and defense, it allows the fighter to engage opponents
   before they can rush in and attack your spellcasters.

- I don't feel that multi-classed characters make sense for a den-bashing
   position.  In almost every situation, you'll be better off with a
   fighter and a mage than a fighter/mage.  Each character should have
   one role in melee; spending points on a character who can fight and
   cast spells is wasteful, since he can't do both at once.

There is one exception to this rule - the Ranger (Fighter/Scout) is
   very useful, since the Scout class is useful outside of combat.

- Don't waste startup points on spells.  For your first turn or two, you
   should easily (based on the playtest) be able to find dens with really
   weak monsters, so that your fighters can handle them without aid.  By
   turn three, your spellcasters can easily LEARN spells as good or better
   than they are allowed to start with.  A maxxed-out arcanist starts
   with a SP near 100, which means that you have a 60% success rate for
   those 100-difficulty spells and a 35% rate for 125-difficulty spells.
   Which do you think is worth more - one or two actions during the game
   (which also have beneficial side effects) or 1500 startup points?

- Regarding statuses, I don't think that they're ever worth buying at
   start-up.  As shown above, a good arcanist/priest should be able to
   get a status spell by turn 2 at the latest.  The status trees aren't
   all that different, either, so those "hard-to-find" chains aren't
   worth the expenditure either.

OTOH, it is a good idea to start bestowing statuses ASAP.  Glory is
   obviously the key for a character-based position, and first-level
   statuses give 2 Glory/turn.  Morphing isn't something that you'll
   need to worry about for quite a while, though.

- Don't ignore the "military" aspect altogether.  It's very easy to
   capture a few hamlets and IMMIGRATE them up to villages; each one
   of these will provide 2 Glory/turn.  In addition, when you attack
   a location, you can engage the garrison's party in Melee; it's a
   nice break while you're waiting for the local dens to restock.

- Every character should have a mount - it's a virtually free means
   of getting pretty good movement, and it helps out in combat as well.
   Warhorses and Great Hawks are my personal favorites, because...

- Don't waste points on the "best" equipment.  It's not cost-effective,
   and you'll find better stuff pretty quickly.  My entire party is
   decked out in Leather and Glowing Quarterstaffs.

Gads; those are really negative, aren't they?  Let's try and find a few
things that I think you should do...

- Consider using your scout to SNEAK into dens and CAPTURE monsters.
   This has two effects: it eliminates the tough beasties from your
   opponents ranks, and it can add them to yours (if you FREE a
   prisoner into your own party, that prisoner will fight with you
   for the rest of the turn!).

- Make a mad dash to hit markers on your first few turns.  If you're
   lucky, you might find a "Ceremony" marker which bestows a second-
   tier status; that's a big bonus early in the game.

- Split up for a while.  Not only will this make it easier to hit
   markers, but you'll hit more dens and collect considerably more
   Experience and Glory in the process.

- The best strategy for a den-basher is probably to "cycle" between
   three or four dens.  As your party gets stronger, you'll want to
   face tougher foes so as to gain more glory and find more goodies.
   The best way to find these foes is to return to restocked dens.
   (Be careful, though; sometimes the jump after a restock is large.)

- HIRE more characters early.  Even though these characters start out
   pretty poor, with PRACTICE and experience gained through melee they
   will become competent pretty quickly.  Save a few spots for some
   big HONORs or BEFRIENDs, though.

That's about all I can come up with at the moment.  All to be taken
with a grain of salt, of course, as my opinion is hardly definitive.
Hope this helps...

- Chris

References

Odyssey Playtesters
rhdlamb@ix.netcom.com (Robert Lamb)
Wed, 09 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Odyssey Playtesters
rhdlamb@ix.netcom.com (Robert Lamb)
Wed, 09 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000