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I started up a game recently for the first time in ages, expecting to die at some point in the mid 20s but I guess I remembered enough to take it all the way.
Had a great time and I really appreciate that there's been a dedicated crew to keeping this game alive all these years. A round of applause for all of you.
I had never played a blackguard before and didn't really know what the class was about at starting. Here are some jumbled thoughts
I played with know all runes and know all flavors. Technically a cheat I guess, but I've never really liked the ID minigame. I also played with randarts and disconnected stairs, but otherwise no real additional difficulty enhancers
There's a slight bug with blackguards where if you rest at full HP it drains your MP to 0. It took me a hot second to figure out how to gain MP, but I kind of enjoyed the mechanic. It probably regenerates too fast at higher levels
Looking through the spells
Seek battle - top tier spell. Detection is key to survival
Berserk Strength - very useful in the early game when you struggle to kill stuff. Removing fear a nice side effect
Whirlwind attack - minor utility to clear breeders, but otherwise just a laziness spell
Shatter Stone - another top tier spell
Leap into battle - bottom tier, never used. Generally you want monsters to come to you not the other way around
Grim purpose - very useful in the middle game for the rconf.
Maim Foe - abused this spell a lot. I'm not sure the full mechanics for monster stunning. But almost every monster is susceptible to it, even Morgy
Howl of the Damned - general monsters running from you is an annoyance not a help. Never used this spell
Relentless taunting - used this towards the endgame along with a good launcher and either phase or the knockback in the dungeon book.
Venom - there was a very brief period where i made slight use of this spell. But venom is one of the weaker brands and most of my weapons had better natural brands
Werewolf form - made some use of this in the late game. The extra attack is nice, but you need to have a decent mana pool
Bloodlust - bottom tier trash spell. It can get you killed. I didn't realize the side effects, but "lose a turn" is a *never use* spell in my book. It almost did get me killed
Unholy Reprieve - very useful against Morgy. Marginally useful at other points in the game
Forceful blow - only managed to make use of this with relentless taunting.
Quake - trash spell. If you need to sculpt the landscape, shatter stone is a much better choice. If you need a panic button spell, it's a *destruction* scroll
In general the dungeon book was kind of disappointing with nothing of use in it. I found it early and didn't even bother carrying it until the very end.
Some other points:
blood falcons being immune to fear and therefore not showing up in seek battle is kind of a bug. When they show up they can one-shot you without warning. Taking them off the detection list seems obnoxious. I would make them have both the evil tag and not the no_fear tag
Huorns being fast movers makes no sense in the gameplay or in the lore. If anything they should move slowly. When they show up, you can't handle them at all, too much HP and fast moving to boot? I could see them being a candidate for a different mechanic, such as one that doesn't attack or move or anything until 75% HP, but then...yeah a murder machine.
Curses have been pointless forever. They still are.
Food has been pointless forever, it still is
Had a great time and I really appreciate that there's been a dedicated crew to keeping this game alive all these years. A round of applause for all of you.
I had never played a blackguard before and didn't really know what the class was about at starting. Here are some jumbled thoughts
I played with know all runes and know all flavors. Technically a cheat I guess, but I've never really liked the ID minigame. I also played with randarts and disconnected stairs, but otherwise no real additional difficulty enhancers
There's a slight bug with blackguards where if you rest at full HP it drains your MP to 0. It took me a hot second to figure out how to gain MP, but I kind of enjoyed the mechanic. It probably regenerates too fast at higher levels
Looking through the spells
Seek battle - top tier spell. Detection is key to survival
Berserk Strength - very useful in the early game when you struggle to kill stuff. Removing fear a nice side effect
Whirlwind attack - minor utility to clear breeders, but otherwise just a laziness spell
Shatter Stone - another top tier spell
Leap into battle - bottom tier, never used. Generally you want monsters to come to you not the other way around
Grim purpose - very useful in the middle game for the rconf.
Maim Foe - abused this spell a lot. I'm not sure the full mechanics for monster stunning. But almost every monster is susceptible to it, even Morgy
Howl of the Damned - general monsters running from you is an annoyance not a help. Never used this spell
Relentless taunting - used this towards the endgame along with a good launcher and either phase or the knockback in the dungeon book.
Venom - there was a very brief period where i made slight use of this spell. But venom is one of the weaker brands and most of my weapons had better natural brands
Werewolf form - made some use of this in the late game. The extra attack is nice, but you need to have a decent mana pool
Bloodlust - bottom tier trash spell. It can get you killed. I didn't realize the side effects, but "lose a turn" is a *never use* spell in my book. It almost did get me killed
Unholy Reprieve - very useful against Morgy. Marginally useful at other points in the game
Forceful blow - only managed to make use of this with relentless taunting.
Quake - trash spell. If you need to sculpt the landscape, shatter stone is a much better choice. If you need a panic button spell, it's a *destruction* scroll
In general the dungeon book was kind of disappointing with nothing of use in it. I found it early and didn't even bother carrying it until the very end.
Some other points:
blood falcons being immune to fear and therefore not showing up in seek battle is kind of a bug. When they show up they can one-shot you without warning. Taking them off the detection list seems obnoxious. I would make them have both the evil tag and not the no_fear tag
Huorns being fast movers makes no sense in the gameplay or in the lore. If anything they should move slowly. When they show up, you can't handle them at all, too much HP and fast moving to boot? I could see them being a candidate for a different mechanic, such as one that doesn't attack or move or anything until 75% HP, but then...yeah a murder machine.
Curses have been pointless forever. They still are.
Food has been pointless forever, it still is
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