A few newbie questions....

[Denigrate]

Hi everybody! Sorry, but I have just started playing and I have a few newbie questions….

1) Is it redundant to have a Gunner and Alchemist in the same group as they can both do elemental damage? Or is it a good thing because then you can have one focus on fire and the other focus on volt for instance?
2) Along those same lines, is it better to focus on one type of skill or to have a little bit of everything? I know this is going to differ somewhat based on play-style, but should I only go for overhead skills with my Ronin, or should I invest points in all three stances? I know in Diablo 2, for instance, if you try to go for all three skill trees you will gimp your character to the point that the game is pretty much unplayable in the later stages…..just wondering if it is the same here.
3) Do Beasts make Protectors obsolete once they are unlocked? I really like the Protectors, but if Beasts are basically upgraded Protectors, then I don’t want to waste time leveling up my Protector just to scrap him once I get Beasts….
4) It seems to me that Survivalists are the best choice for gathering parties and exploration, but not that many people use them as full-fledged members of their main party. Is this correct?
5) My random FOE encounter rate seems to SKYROCKET when I am using my Survivalist’s “Stalker” skill. Is this how it works, or is it just a coincidence?
6) If I am in the middle of the labyrinth and I make a suspended save, and then come back later, load the suspended save and then die, can I reload from the suspended save, or is it erased as soon as I load from it? (sorry if that question is confusing)


I’m sure I’ll have more questions later….but this is a good start! Thanks in advance for any help you all can give me!!!

[TeslaNewton]

Ok, I can really only answer two questions, but it's a start!

1. I don't think it's redundant. I think it's a great idea to have them focus on different elements. I have a ice/volt alchemist and a fire ronin in my party. At the moment, my gunner is non-elemental; she has wildshot, ricochet, medishot, and snipe. Much later on, I may add the elementals for some extra elem damage.

6. Your suspended save is erased as soon as it's loaded. So if you load up a suspended save and then die, you have to reload your last full inn or magnetic field save.

I'm sorry I can't help you with 2-5.

[Denigrate]

Wow thanks for the quick response!

[TeslaNewton]

[Zaraf]

[TeslaNewton]

[Kimiko]

1) No, I don't think so. There are enemies that have high defense and can only be hurt with elemental attacks. It's kinda annoying to have your whole team defend waiting for the Gunner or Alchemist to bring them down. Having two characters capable of elemental attacks would be handy then.
In any case, you can play the game with most combinations, so just go with what you like.

2) You don't need to have all elements covered, but at least two would be cautious. Depends on if you want to max out one skill or are content to have it only filled halfway.

3) No idea, since I have no Beast.

4) I use a Survivalist as part of my front line. Same as in EO1 actually. They're not the hardest hitters, but they do decent damage. The problem I think is that they have too many useful skills that you need to invest points in first, so STR Up and Bows are left for later.

5) Are you sure you're using Stalker? It works just fine for me, even with only one point in it. I know the Troubadour has a skill to increase encounters. Maybe you accidentally used something like that?

6) No idea. I haven't used suspend-save yet (must've overlooked it).

[Kinokokao]

[Paranoia]

1) Is it redundant to have a Gunner and Alchemist in the same group as they can both do elemental damage? Or is it a good thing because then you can have one focus on fire and the other focus on volt for instance?

1 point into each elemental attack is all you need with your gunner, as usually any enemy that is physical resistant will be brought down to about 5 - 15% of their initial health from the gunners attack, they can then be mopped up by the rest of the team.

3) Do Beasts make Protectors obsolete once they are unlocked? I really like the Protectors, but if Beasts are basically upgraded Protectors, then I don’t want to waste time leveling up my Protector just to scrap him once I get Beasts….

No, protectors are still the best defensive class skill wise. They only loose to the beasts in the Highest VIT and HP. The anti- skills are still awesome for bosses that use elemental attacks. (I remember my 1st fight with stratum 1's boss, used the fire move 3 times and I was able to get fully healed.) Smite is always an awesome attack, And his passive skills are pretty decent such as riskwall, aegis and engarde (1 point in aegis and en garde though. That's all where the good boosts are.)

4) It seems to me that Survivalists are the best choice for gathering parties and exploration, but not that many people use them as full-fledged members of their main party. Is this correct?

Yes, mainly because there are better classes (Such as the gunner/ronin). And they got nerfed badly in EO2, mainly because they were the strongest class in EO1 (Offensively).

5) My random FOE encounter rate seems to SKYROCKET when I am using my Survivalist’s “Stalker” skill. Is this how it works, or is it just a coincidence?

This is just a random coincidence. Stalker just stops normal enemy encounters, just pay attention to the screen and you shouldn't be attacked by a FOE. Or get FOE Sense.

[Dan Smith]

[Denigrate]

Thanks for all the great tips everybody!

[Teclo]

I just wanted to say, in reference to a Hexer being able to one-shot a FOE; the Alchemist's Force skill did around 2000 damage to the Chimaera (and it affects every enemy on screen) by the time I was level 17 or so, at that point my Ronin's normal attacks were doing about 70 damage, if I recall correctly. I'll test it again later to see how much damage it does at level 21.