Grimrock

I did a search but couldnt find anything on singleton runs. If this has been discussed before I apologize.

I started with Torrum, who is of course a great choice for a singleton, and hard mode cause.. well. I beat it on normal...

So far I'm up to level 5 and its going ok. Slow going, but totally doable. So far. I did skip the slimes though. I just couldnt lure them out with the damn fencing they can spit through.

Just wondering if this has been discussed before.

I have some questions.

With a single character, do you gain more experience or the same? I'm level 7 now and just entered floor 5. it feels like I am leveling faster, but i wasnt paying close attention my first run through with the regular party. I didnt follow a guide, so I had no idea how many levels there were. I was just going.

Toorum has nice skill diversity. I'm sticking with taking advantage of the starting stats. I think I made a mistake putting a point in spellcraft for the staff usage and 2 points in earth for poison bolt. At first I thought I would use it as a pull, but its clumsy switching gear mid combat and I do just fine without it. I've gotten armour up to Heavy and rest of the skill points I put in axe. Hit, strafe, hit, strafe. It's working.

What you guys think? am I wrong on the magic side or can I continue to ignore it and regret my wasted 3 skill points?

Personally, I think Toorum's "Thunderstruck" trait goes a long way... I'm not sure if he's tougher alone than the entire default party. Try using a speed potion some time when you have the 3-in-1 sword slash technique. You'll do some serious damage...fast.

I've finished game with Toorum on Normal, but I suppose I would go with the same path on Hard. I've chosen Axes because I already had a character with Sword during my third playthrough so I wanted to try something new.
As for the Spellcraft skill, I wouldn't call it a waste because extra energy allows to execute more special attacks like Rampage.

Also keep in mind: With spellcraft 5 early in the game you can ignore torches; and also you will be able to cast darkness in places needing you to do so in order to access some of the hidden things ...

And no, I haven't played him on hard. And I wonder, if I ever will. I play him in "easy" mode, 'cause this is my second walkthrough right now; and my first one was default party, hard and old-school-mode. Now I just want to learn more details about this dungeon and find all the secrets I missed on my first walkthrough ...
As you I have just entered lvl 5 of the dungeon, and I am at the same experience level.

No, you don't level faster. The number of monsters is (nearly) the same; the experience value for the monsters is the same as well. Experience points gained from monsters are not split between several party members. if you play with a party, there are three means of earning Experience: None (you died), 50% (if you survived and did not harm/ hit the creature at all) or 100% (you hit/ harmed the monster at least once during combat) of the experience point value of the monster.

Example: Monster X earns you 90XP, if you fight, harm and kill it; if you play with a party and only use one character to hit the creature, this party member gets 90XP, the others 45XP. So, as long as you play Toorum-solo-mode you "just" receive the XP from those creatures you'll fight ... So expect him to have about the same experience level as your party had in average by the end of the game when you played the game the first time ...

(All this is based on what I observed so far during gameplay. If I am wrong, please, don't hit me with the Ogre or the Guardian, choose something smaller ... thank you. )

I so much look forward to finding this amulett gaining you +25% XP; that will push Toorum a bit; and then there is the leveling-machine in dungeon floor #6 ...

All the best!
Liam

Thank you all. The spellcasting comment makes total sense. I really didnt grasp the spellpower for a fighter benefit until you stated it plainly. I can attack always without spell power, so I didnt put together that I wont get the special attacks without it. The manual really needs to be fleshed out.

on my first play through, my only one before this singleton run, I played on normal and didnt use the 2x2 tactic that I found named on these boards. I honestly stood toe to toe with everything up until I met the uurgardians. I did a lot of reloading and a lot of resting. Ate a lot of food, but it didn't feel wrong until half way through when I was forced to dodge out of the way. Playing this way now, I realize how wrong I really was. ah well, it was fun anyway.

With hard difficulty and 1 character, toe to toe is impossible. Luckily I learned a bit.

What I'm having real trouble with is taking damage. In my first run my front were both fighters. My human was unarmed dex maxed. I've heard all kinds of talk on the boards about evasion being gimped, but he stood up FAR better than my str/amour specced minotaur. In fact, i won the game with one guy left standing, my human fighter/monk.

Now, I get hit all the time. it sucks. I'm thinking it's going to be really really difficult when I cant get out of the way of hits. I'm not giving up, and will try to finish this, but I think it may be close thing.

anyway, I still think the earth magic was a waste. I cant see using it at all.

and on the torch/light business. is there any stat or effect benefit to lighting? I just run in the dark. It didnt bother me the first time or this time. I just gotta remember to keep three torches in my bag for the lower puzzle.

Hi.

Mh. Intersting idea - running around in the dark all the time ... But, correct me if I am wrong: There are one or two situations in which you are meant to cast "darkness" in order to activate something, right?
And to be honest: Although I like the mechanic, how your "eyes" get used to the darkness and thus making you look around a lot better "in the dark" (really nice feature within the game!), you still see more details with some light around - best thing: torches, second best thing: light spell (reach-wise) - especially if you consider the "symbol"-secret-button for hidden doors/ sections, which may be hard to be recognized if you run around with the darkness-lighting ... (nice word - "darkness-lighting" ... *g*).

All the best!
Mad

I never casted darkness my first run. There are two situations I remember that you need absence of light. one is the maze of shadows, and that is easy enough without it.

The other is...
as for symbols, I see your point, but again, it didnt bother me at all. the darkness really isnt all that dark, except when a torch starts flickering and first goes out. more of a nuisance. plus you see the shinies better in the dark

Toorum takes no prisoners

ok that is awesome.

You need it to be dark for some puzzles, but you don't need the Darkness spell for it. Simply unequipping your torches and possibly taking them off the wall as well will do the trick if you didn't bring a caster.

However, if you did bring a caster, and cast a Light spell on a regular basis, you need the Darkness spell to stop the Light spell, or be very very patient.



As for Experience going a little faster, that is true to a small degree. If one of your characters didn't manage to hit an opponent, that character only gets 50% of the XP. Naturally, in a party of 4, that means your characters occasionally miss out on a little XP. If you go in all by yourself, you will always receive 100% of each mob, therefor gaining slightly more XP.



It might be worthwhile to invest in Spellcraft to be able to equip the caster items just before you level up. Items that boost your Willpower boost your energy gain from leveling. If you invest in Spellcraft for the +Willpower, do so at the start of the game, not at the end. Energy from Willpower ain't applied retroactively, so the later in the game you gain it, the less useful it is.