Edain Pain

[Mantis]

Hi everyone. I've been enjoying this wonderful game on my commutes, as a change from no-reloading Baldur's Gate on Android. After grabbing Sils with Elves & Dwarves, and getting revenge for uncle Fingolfin by taking down V himself for once it was time for the third age of men. After all, how hard could it be? Well it turns out that it's pretty fricking hard . My best efforts (atop a mound of the inglorious dead) have been a Hador that reached the stairs of Morgoth's hall only to fall to Vallach (shoulda got Rauko Bane...) and a Haleth who was going really well with Galadriel's shortsword till he got caught in a web for oh so long on 800 (shouldn't have wasted my !str on a Deathblade...). Small mistakes are punished oh so heavily when the consumables run out... my stealth game also probably could do with improving as I have never succeeded with a Lorien singer either.

So... anyway, enough of my laments for the dead... and on to a request for advice. For those who have done well with Edain, what adjustments - if any- did you make to your play relative to the other races? Are there any skills or builds that are less viable for men?

[wobbly]

So I was hoping someone else would answer as while I've won the whole set, most of my Edains die. I have the most luck with Haleths & find a simple build works the best. So for a Haleth warrior I like a riposte/cruel blow/finesse setup (+ the dex pt from stealth when it becomes economical) as that requires minimal abilities & leaves more pts to concentrate on raw melee/evasion. I think starting with less then 3 con is hard mode unless you plan on an archery, assassin, pacifist or singer build, so 2/2/3/1 stats-wise.

I think in general for Edains just keeping it simpler & diving slower (but being prepared to abandon a bad level) is the way to go. Perhaps from time to time look where your escape route to the nearest stair is & generally hug walls & avoid dark rooms till you have a "cleared" lit area to retreat to if things go pair shaped.

[Mantis]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll keep plugging away... but not too obsessively! Playing a all-out stabber with 3 Con feels like a good way to fall out of love with this great game so I'm working on my stealth game for now.

[Mantis]

Success . A Haleth braved the skeletons of those who went before, while taking note of what caused their demise. For those who have had trouble I found that the old formula of 3 Dex + 3 Con, putting all available pts into melee & evasion, and cautious play were enough to get through the tricky middle levels. The most blood freezing moments were a) getting stuck in a pit surrounded by rubble looking up at Morgoth at 300ft- !Con let me dig my way out, and b) The egregious mistake of gorging too much food as I cleared my inventory left me caught between an ancient spider and a bunch of trolls with a too much poison ticking away- very very fortunately digging took enough energy that I was able to guzzle some Miruvor with a turn to spare and flee. So many close calls, so much fun . This really is a game that keeps on giving, I look forward to trying some of the alternate playstyles like pacifist in the future.

[half]

Great work on the Edain win, Mantis. I was just stopping by the forum and delighted to see two simultaneous Edain victories. Amazing.

[Mantis]

Cheers, and thanks for fashioning this work of art .