Grimoire Thread

[Lady_Error]

Try this: http://grimoire.wiki/index.php/Beginners_Guide

If you have any questions, post them here.

 

[Sonic Titan]

Welcome to the machine.

 

[Yosharian]

Try this: http://grimoire.wiki/index.php/Beginners_Guide

If you have any questions, post them here.

Thanks.

• Humans and Drows (Elves) have the slowest mana regeneration, so they can only be good for other professions.

What does this mean?

 

[Yosharian]

I'm seeing that you can recruit NPCs (like Baldur's Gate 2, for example) but also it seems that we make our own party (like Icewind Dale, for example).

So I'm wondering how these two aspects balance out, is it better to recruit NPCs or better to focus on your own party? Do recruited NPCs bring a lot to the party, such as unique abilities, banter, personality, etc. Or are these elements not important or present in this game, so recruited NPCs are not inherently better than custom-made ones?

I ask because I'm down to go all in and make my own party, but I don't want to invest too much time in that if it turns out that recruited NPCs are just straight up better.

Also, do I lose my custom-made characters when I recruit an NPC?

 

[GandGolf]

I'm seeing that you can recruit NPCs (like Baldur's Gate 2, for example) but also it seems that we make our own party (like Icewind Dale, for example).

So I'm wondering how these two aspects balance out, is it better to recruit NPCs or better to focus on your own party? Do recruited NPCs bring a lot to the party, such as unique abilities, banter, personality, etc. Or are these elements not important or present in this game, so recruited NPCs are not inherently better than custom-made ones?

I ask because I'm down to go all in and make my own party, but I don't want to invest too much time in that if it turns out that recruited NPCs are just straight up better.

Also, do I lose my custom-made characters when I recruit an NPC?

From what I've been told you can only recruit one NPC at a time, but you can also get your old PCs back at the Shrine of the Raptor.

 

[Yosharian]

I'm seeing that you can recruit NPCs (like Baldur's Gate 2, for example) but also it seems that we make our own party (like Icewind Dale, for example).

So I'm wondering how these two aspects balance out, is it better to recruit NPCs or better to focus on your own party? Do recruited NPCs bring a lot to the party, such as unique abilities, banter, personality, etc. Or are these elements not important or present in this game, so recruited NPCs are not inherently better than custom-made ones?

I ask because I'm down to go all in and make my own party, but I don't want to invest too much time in that if it turns out that recruited NPCs are just straight up better.

Also, do I lose my custom-made characters when I recruit an NPC?

From what I've been told you can only recruit one NPC at a time, but you can also get your old PCs back at the Shrine of the Raptor.

Do they still level up while not in the party?

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I'm seeing that you can recruit NPCs (like Baldur's Gate 2, for example) but also it seems that we make our own party (like Icewind Dale, for example).

So I'm wondering how these two aspects balance out, is it better to recruit NPCs or better to focus on your own party? Do recruited NPCs bring a lot to the party, such as unique abilities, banter, personality, etc. Or are these elements not important or present in this game, so recruited NPCs are not inherently better than custom-made ones?

I ask because I'm down to go all in and make my own party, but I don't want to invest too much time in that if it turns out that recruited NPCs are just straight up better.

The recruitable NPCs are an in-built difficulty setting of easy. Although their power varies, from the beginning (of the default start) you can recruit one NPC (Little Rosy) far more powerful than any PC you create yourself and there are others like her (or even substantially more powerful) strewn throughout the game. If you want a true Grimoire experience, then do as I did and forgo the use of any NPCs (except for one brief exception involving a princess that needs to be rescued by adding her to the party, unless this has been changed in v2).

 

[Yosharian]

Beginner's Guide says that female characters have -25% STR and +20% FEL, but the Wiki says they get more DEV, not more FEL. Which is correct?

This is the party I've got so far:

Saurian Berserker
Drake Metalsmith
Feyfolk Necromancer
Aeorb Sage
Wolfin Cleric

I also want a Wizard and a Bard, but not sure what the best races are for these two classes.

 

[Lady_Error]

Do recruited NPCs bring a lot to the party, such as unique abilities, banter, personality, etc. Or are these elements not important or present in this game, so recruited NPCs are not inherently better than custom-made ones?

A lot of the game is about surviving combat, exploration, finding hidden areas, solving puzzles, improving and using skills. There is a very limited way to talk to friendly creatures, but no party banter. So the choice whether to recruit NPC's really comes down to their melee and spellcasting abilities as well as their skills, resistances and things like that.

You can replace most of your party with NPC's if you want to. They can be quite powerful. One big downside to them is that they cannot change professions (multiclassing), which can be very beneficial to increase Hitpoints, Mana, get more spells, etc.

Do they still level up while not in the party?

No, only active party members receive XP and level up.

Beginner's Guide says that female characters have -25% STR and +20% FEL, but the Wiki says they get more DEV, not more FEL. Which is correct?

It's +20% FEL.

This is the party I've got so far:

Saurian Berserker
Drake Metalsmith
Feyfolk Necromancer
Aeorb Sage
Wolfin Cleric

I also want a Wizard and a Bard, but not sure what the best races are for these two classes.

Keep in mind that the beginning can be hard to survive with the wrong choices at character creation. It's a good idea to put the extra points you get into HP, especially for the spellcasters. I would also get at least one more melee character. Don't forget to unequip the weapons of the Saurian, Drake and Wolfin for better melee damage in the beginning.

 

[Efe]

should you level up weapon skills or just let them increae naturally?

 

[Yosharian]

Do recruited NPCs bring a lot to the party, such as unique abilities, banter, personality, etc. Or are these elements not important or present in this game, so recruited NPCs are not inherently better than custom-made ones?

A lot of the game is about surviving combat, exploration, finding hidden areas, solving puzzles, improving and using skills. There is a very limited way to talk to friendly creatures, but no party banter. So the choice whether to recruit NPC's really comes down to their melee and spellcasting abilities as well as their skills, resistances and things like that.

You can replace most of your party with NPC's if you want to. They can be quite powerful. One big downside to them is that they cannot change professions (multiclassing), which can be very beneficial to increase Hitpoints, Mana, get more spells, etc.

Do they still level up while not in the party?

No, only active party members receive XP and level up.

Beginner's Guide says that female characters have -25% STR and +20% FEL, but the Wiki says they get more DEV, not more FEL. Which is correct?

It's +20% FEL.

This is the party I've got so far:

Saurian Berserker
Drake Metalsmith
Feyfolk Necromancer
Aeorb Sage
Wolfin Cleric

I also want a Wizard and a Bard, but not sure what the best races are for these two classes.

Keep in mind that the beginning can be hard to survive with the wrong choices at character creation. It's a good idea to put the extra points you get into HP, especially for the spellcasters. I would also get at least one more melee character. Don't forget to unequip the weapons of the Saurian, Drake and Wolfin for better melee damage in the beginning.

Maybe adding the Wizard is too much caster?

I was considering a pirate, and an assassin possibly...

 

[Lady_Error]

should you level up weapon skills or just let them increae naturally?

You will get points for weapons skills anyway on level up, so of course use them - they cannot be put into anything else. And on next level up, unused skill points are lost (unlike unused attribute points).

I was considering a pirate, and an assassin possibly...

Yeah, Assassin is a very good choice and relatively easy to roll with some races. The Pirate is good, but almost impossible to roll. You'd need to get the maximum points that you can roll. Keep in mind that if you want to do multiclassing later, you cannot go back to a class you already had - but multiclassing is one of the trickiest parts of the game and optional anyway.

 

[Efe]

what about for Saurian, Drake and Wolfin melee.
hand to hand is not on weapon tab right?

 

[Lady_Error]

All melee classes should have the hand-to-hand skill available. When you find weapons that are better than 3D4 (unarmed combat for those races), then you can switch to using weapons. Though you should also have at least some points in the that weapon skill first. Swords and Hammers are a good choice for putting skill points into. Maybe have a couple of the melee guys also partly specialize in Axes and Spears.

 

[Lady_Error]

Actually, all 15 classes have the Hand-to-Hand skill, but it is not a weapons skill, but a physical skill: http://grimoire.wiki/index.php/Skills

 

[Efe]

yes but do you put points into hand to hand or let it grow naturally
to clarify i asked the inital question because since weapon skills improve by use and i dont know what weapon im going to find, thought maybe its better to use axes but add points to hammers so i can do both in time

 

[Yosharian]

I'm a little lost when trying to plan out what skills I'm going to take for each character. I get that you can put a few skillpoints here, a few points there, etc, but I'm lost on how many points I should allocate to each skill.

For example my Aeorb Sage has a lot of skillpoints but should I focus them all in Ancient History and Nature Lore, or will I have enough to also pick up Inspection and Lockpicking?

I'm trying to plan out who will take care of what skills, and I'm just a little unsure. In D&D/Pathfinder you can only allocate up to X amount of points in any given skill, so it's quite clear on how many skills you can optimally take on one character, you know?

 

[Yosharian]

I was considering a pirate, and an assassin possibly...

Yeah, Assassin is a very good choice and relatively easy to roll with some races. The Pirate is good, but almost impossible to roll. You'd need to get the maximum points that you can roll. Keep in mind that if you want to do multiclassing later, you cannot go back to a class you already had - but multiclassing is one of the trickiest parts of the game and optional anyway.

Ok, I'll definitely pick up Assassin then.

Now I've got:

Saurian Berserker
Drake Metalsmith
Rhattu Assassin
??? ???
Wolfin Cleric
Feyfolk Necromancer
Aeorb Sage
??? Bard

So I just need some advice on what race to take for my Bard (Human?), and perhaps a suggestion for a 4th melee/frontliner. Maybe a Wolfin Ranger?

I assumed Metalsmith was a frontliner, but is that wrong?

Also, who would make the best face for this party? I assumed it would be the Bard, but apparently the bard doesn't get diplomacy and the Cleric does..

I am not gonna even bother touching multiclassing at this point.

 

[siroptimusprime]

IIRC from my playthrough of V1, my Metalsmith ended up being quite the frontline monster by the end of the game. That was more of a function of the Lethal Blow skill and may be different as of now! Also, I think he ended up with Sage spells and I had him as a backup Secret Detection bot with minor healing. With the actual inclusion of metallurgy and enchanting, from what I've read, they might even be more useful. I wouldn't worry too much though. I had a really nonsensical party in some regards (drow warrior for starters) but still found all of the endings that were available at that time and completed the hardest bosses. The Deep Freeze cheese that existed back then was good fun and made some encounters laughable but I stayed away from it for the boss encounters to actually test my party. The subpar halfwits I slogged through the game with proved to be sufficient for the game's challenges.

And since I saw you were new: I had never played a blobber of this scale before and Grimoire was my first. There were a few hiccups along the way that some kind folks guided me through in the hint thread but other than that? Smooth sailing, a bit of hair tearing when I realized how stupid I was being with some minor puzzles, and lots of weird fun to be had. In fact, Grimoire inspired me to go play Wiz7 for the first time. It's like a self-fulfilling addictive cycle. Enjoy the ride!

Edit: Also, treat your initial skill allocations as investments and not purely character branches. Skills can improve between level ups through successes and failures.

 

[Lady_Error]

yes but do you put points into hand to hand or let it grow naturally
to clarify i asked the inital question because since weapon skills improve by use and i dont know what weapon im going to find, thought maybe its better to use axes but add points to hammers so i can do both in time

That's really up to you. It's probably a good idea to have different guys specialize in different weapons and have a second less developed weapons skill, just in case you found a good weapon.

For example my Aeorb Sage has a lot of skillpoints but should I focus them all in Ancient History and Nature Lore, or will I have enough to also pick up Inspection and Lockpicking?

Yeah, the importance of the skills may not be too clear if you're just starting. Ancient History is not important in the beginning and Nature Lore is also not ciritical. Inspection and Lockpicking however are super-important to have on a Sage, Thief or Bard. You need both to open almost all treasure chests and some doors - until you learn the Knock Knock spell later.

For spell casters, make sure to put mental skill points mostly into the pink skill (their magic skill), so that you can cast spells successfully without fizzling. Also, put only a couple points into swimming at some point, because then you can increase that skill every time you step into water. Less than a couple points in swimming and you drown.

Saurian Berserker
Drake Metalsmith
Rhattu Assassin
??? ???
Wolfin Cleric
Feyfolk Necromancer
Aeorb Sage
??? Bard

The Sage can do everything a Bard does, including playing music instruments. So instead of a Bard, I'd pick a Thaumaturge or Wizard. And for the frontline a second Berserker or Assassin. Despite having no pants, the Naga are pretty good and fast.

The Metalsmith is a frontline character, yeah. As to diplomacy, the skill is not super important I think, but it can help in some situations apparently. And yes, the Lethal Blow skill is one you want to put points into (Metalsmith, Berserker, Assassin, etc.) That one can instakill enemies.

 

[Yosharian]

For example my Aeorb Sage has a lot of skillpoints but should I focus them all in Ancient History and Nature Lore, or will I have enough to also pick up Inspection and Lockpicking?

Yeah, the importance of the skills may not be too clear if you're just starting. Ancient History is not important in the beginning and Nature Lore is also not ciritical. Inspection and Lockpicking however are super-important to have on a Sage, Thief or Bard. You need both to open almost all treasure chests and some doors - until you learn the Knock Knock spell later.

For spell casters, make sure to put mental skill points mostly into the pink skill (their magic skill), so that you can cast spells successfully without fizzling. Also, put only a couple points into swimming at some point, because then you can increase that skill every time you step into water. Less than a couple points in swimming and you drown.

Saurian Berserker
Drake Metalsmith
Rhattu Assassin
??? ???
Wolfin Cleric
Feyfolk Necromancer
Aeorb Sage
??? Bard

The Sage can do everything a Bard does, including playing music instruments. So instead of a Bard, I'd pick a Thaumaturge or Wizard. And for the frontline a second Berserker or Assassin. Despite having no pants, the Naga are pretty good and fast.

The Metalsmith is a frontline character, yeah. As to diplomacy, the skill is not super important I think, but it can help in some situations apparently. And yes, the Lethal Blow skill is one you want to put points into (Metalsmith, Berserker, Assassin, etc.) That one can instakill enemies.

Are there any skills that are so niche that they can be ignored entirely for a first, non-completist attempt?

You recommended another Berserker or Assassin, but I'd rather have unique classes, because I'm weird like that. Would a Ranger be a reasonable substitute? Otherwise I might just try and get a Pirate...

 

[Darth Roxor]

Ranger is good.

 

[Yosharian]

Ranger is good.

Do you have to choose between specialising in ranged combat and melee? Or can I hybrid it up? If so, should I hybrid it up?

I'm gonna go for a Barrower Thaumaturge as my fourth caster dude.

 

[Haba]

End game is all about killing stuff fast. Ranged dude needs ammo. Managing ammo is a hassle.

But eh, you can switch classes later and pump up new set of skills if you want.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Do you have to choose between specialising in ranged combat and melee?

Not really. You can just let your melee skill rise on its own while pumping ranged with skill-ups from levels. That's what I did.

As Haba said though, managing ammo is a hassle, so in practice I've only used the bow like twice so far.