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Hi there people. In response to all the posts about empaths being poor
fighters, I though I ought to post my observations on how to fight well as an
empath. This advice really goes for anyone, but I figured those of us here
need it the most.
The most important thing about fighting in general is using a safe stance, by
which I mean one in which you cannot be hurt, or can only be hurt slightly.
How do you know what a safe stance is? When something attacks you, you see
something like this:
Gleeming swings a closed fist at you!
AS: +4 vs DS: +116 with AvD: +17 + d100 roll: +7 = -88
A clean miss.
What does all that garbage mean?
AS is Gleeming's Attack Strength
DS is my Defense Strength
AvD is the bonus of her weapon against my armor type
d100 Roll is a random roll between 1 and 100
and the final line is the result of adding your opponent's AS, AvD and d100
roll, while subtracting your DS from it.
So what's the point?
That last number is what determines whether you get hit or not. If this
number is over 100, then you're going to get hurt. If it's a lot over 100,
you're going to get really hurt. How do you keep yourself from getting hurt?
You choose a stance that gives you a DS that is equal to your opponents AS +
AvD. If your DS is equal to your opponents AS + AvD, you'll never get hurt.
Its d100 roll will never get over 100 and you'll be safe. As an empath, I
feel comfortable fighting with a DS that's maybe 10 to 15 points below safe. The
wounds I receive are minors and the spells to heal them are mere cantrips for
an older empath, but when I was much younger, I used to fight in a totally
safe stance against darkwoodes and werebears. I was younger, and needed my
mana to maintain my offensive spells.
The different stances
Most new players only use offensive and defensive. There are four stances
between these two that have various effects on your AS and DS. Mastering the
possibilities of the different stances is the key to becoming an effective
hunter. You may have been able to hunt rats in offensive, but don't even
think about hunting zombies in offensive. When you change stances, you are
making a decision as to how much to parry with your sword and shield. Your
weapon can be used to both parry and strike an
opponent. Each stance changes the amount of AS which you devote to attacking
and defending. The six stances are:
STANCE OFFENSIVE: Puts your character in a completely offensive stance with
100% of your weapon skill wards Attack Strength, and 0% of weapon skill to
Defensive Strength.
STANCE ADVANCE: 80% AS, 20% DS
STANCE FORWARD: 60% AS, 40% DS
STANCE NEUTRAL: 40% AS, 60% DS
STANCE GUARDED: 20% AS, 80% DS
STANCE DEFENSIVE: 0% AS, 100% DS
{From section 5.5 in the rules.}
Now, the AS that I'm talking about here is your pre-spell AS. If you get
spells which add 50 points to your AS in Offensive, then they will also add 50
to your AS in defensive. How do you determine your pre-spell AS?
Basically you add up your:
Strength Bonus
Weapon Training Bonus
Your weapon's magic bonus.
For example, Standex has trained 23 times in edged weapons, so has a 99 bonus
in that. He has a +21 AS bonus for strength since he is a giant man and
carries a vultite weapon which gives a bonus of +20 to AS. All of this adds
up to 140.
The first of these 2 cuts was in stance defensive, the second was in stance
offensive. If you want to know what amount of AS you have to divide between
parrying and striking, you subtract you AS in defensive from you AS in
offensive. From these 2 examples, you can see that Standex has 140 AS which
he can choose to parry or fight with.
You swing a heavy argent vultite falchion at Gleeming!
AS: +0 vs DS: +219 with AvD: +34 + d100 roll: +59 = -126
A clean miss.
You swing a heavy argent vultite falchion at Gleeming!
AS: +140 vs DS: +219 with AvD: +34 + d100 roll: +78 = +33
A clean miss.
Thus, each time I lower my stance, due to my sword training, I gain 28 DS
and lose 28 AS. Generally, this means that I fight a lot in forward and
advanced against creatures I haven't bound because I tend to want to have a
200 DS or more when I go out to hunt.
Your shield
Your shield is a tricky thing to understand. Basically, your shield will
always add 20 points to your DS plus whatever your magical bonus on the
shield is (i.e. 40 total points for a vultite shield.)
In addition, your shield will add an additional amount to your DS based on
the amount of training you have and the stance you are using. Basically, the
higher the stance you are in, the less DS your shield will add. When I was
holding my vultite shield, it added 49 points to my DS in offensive, 55 in
advanced, 60 in forward, 66 in neutral, 72 in guarded, and 77 in defensive.
So, you can see that were I to go from stance offensive to forward say (2
steps down), I'd gain 56 DS from my sword's parrying, and 11 from my shield's
additional parrying for a total of 67 additional points of DS. My AS would go
down by 56 points.
How do you raise your AS and DS?
The first thing you should do, is always train in weapons and shield
training. The first ten trainings add 5 points to your AS per training, the
next 10, 4 points, the following 10, 3 points, the next 10, 2 points, and any
trainings thereafter, 1 point.
As Empaths, we have access to several spells which can improve our DS. 202(
the dim aura) and 103 (the powerful look) should be available to all empaths
by level 4. Each of these spells raises your DS by 10. 202 lasts for 1
minute a level, and 103 for 2 minutes a level. Hunt with both of these up.
Unlike some other spells, you can only cast these spells on you once at a
time. If you cast 103 on your self twice in a row, it wont last for 4
minutes a level. It will only last for 2 minutes a level. Each cast of 103
and 202 basically renews the clock; they do not increase the size of your
clock. Other spells are "stackable," notably the elemental luminescence
spells, a wizard's blur spell, and several other defensive spells. When you
reach your twenties, you will learn the statue spell, 120, which will give
you 25 to your DS and which IS stackable.
Empaths have 2 great spells on the major spirit list that add to our AS in
all our stances. 211 adds 15 to the AS and 215 adds 25 to the AS. I have
those four spells up every time I hunt.
There are many other spells which can raise your AS and DS. Some AS boosters
are: Strength (wizard spell) +15, Kai's Song (a bard song) +10, and Spirit
Strike (minor spirit), a.k.a. the blue crystal spell, +75 for one strike.
Some DS boosters are the luminescence spells which are on the minors
elemental list:
Silvers raise your DS by 5, brights by 10, and brilliants by 25. These
spells are stackable, which means that a wizard, bard or sorcerer can cast
multiple cast of these spells onto you. Be conscious of the fact that you
cannot have more than 3 hours of spells on you without rolling them over;
i.e. if I get 3 and half hours of spells from Bysshe, then my spells will
fall after only a half hour. Blur, a wizard spell adds 10 to your DS.
Colors, a ranger spell, adds 10 to your DS also.
Try to get some of these spells cast onto you. Use that head full of mana
that you have to
"purchase" the spells from an older elemental caster. When you hear someone
yell "Massies," go join them and get some free spells. Give the caster a tip.
Wizards like wands of the aqua, blue, crystal, gold or metal variety. Bards
like statues and sorcerers like twisteds and slates.
Of course, enchanted weapons, shields and armor will also increase you AS and
DS. Mithril adds +5 to AS or DS, Ora +10, Imflass +12, Mein or glaes +15 and
Vultite +20. Armor can also be enchanted by wizards. You can purchase it
from a wizard or in an auction. Generally, it is quite expensive. Buy your
vultite before you buy your enchanted armor. Special order items that are
off less quality than metal or iron, subtract from your AS or DS. Think about
it, if you have an obsidian sword, you're swinging a rock at someone.
Lowering your AvD
Basically, to lower your AvD when a monster attacks you, wear heavier armor.
For an empath, the heaviest armor we can wear is double leather, which will
require 8 trainings in armor to wear. Spread this training out over a long
period of time, as we really don't become effective hunters until we've
learned spell 215.
Warriors and rogues have the luxury of being able to wear heavier armor. For
them, I suggest wearing as heavy armor as you can wear. By lowering you AvD,
you are making it harder for monsters to hit you, in part making up for your
lack off DS boosting spells.
The final word
My final word is this: hunt with friends. I've been hunting since my mid
teens with the same group of friends. We've grown extremely powerful
together, and the amount of spell DS we can throw at each other is
mindboggling. I can cast 45 points of DS onto someone, Bysshe can slap 40 points
of DS and 10 of AS onto us, and Raxeli can add another 25 to 50 points that I
don't have, so we can truly hunt some older critters.
The best part about hunting with the same group of people is that I've got
some wonderful friends now, which is probably the most enriching thing which
you can draw from your time in Elanthia.
Remember, gemstone is a role playing game not a roll playing game. Understand
the numbers, but don't just live by them.
Special thanks must be given to Bysshe, who dragged me out hunting when I was
young and scared, and who gave me the confidence that I could hunt things
other than rats. Were it not for your insistence so long ago, this guide
would never have been written.
Standex
8/28/96