07-07-2009, 07:40 AM
to level up, find the stairwell to the next dungeon level and go down. once there, each character gains some stats, gets free 3 stats to distribute, as well as gains an extra ability. but, once you go down you'll never be able to return to the previous level, so there's no chance of simply leveling up quickly and then heading back for the loot.
the monsters you fight give zero experience (since you're gaining levels otherwise) but they do drop random items. the bigger the group of monsters the more junk they drop, with drops becoming better as you descend dungeon levels, and each level having a single unique "boss" that gives the best item. the difference between regular monsters and the boss monster is that the crossed sword icon will be "gold", but the gold coloring is bad so it's kinda hard to tell. if you hover the mouse pointer over the icon and you see a uniquely named monster, it's the boss.
since you can't return to previous levels, you have to decide whether you're strong enough to take him down or leave it and the super item behind forever. typical strategy is to explore the entire level first, hope for good drops, then attempt to take the boss.
in case something goes wrong and you have the flee a battle, it takes a full turn to run away so you have to decide whether or not the run before it becomes immediately necessary. if you lose your entire party on normal difficulty each character is stripped of one random piece of equipment, and you lose several more items from your inventory. there are two shrines per level where you can have characters brought back to life and get the whole party's HP/MP up to 100%, but you might have to fight your way to get to them and they can only be used once each. also, if you clear out an entire level, when you go down to the next level you'll have the option of temporarily retreating back up stairs for full recovery, which is also available only once per level.
unlike the previous game, BoD has a Portal item that will send you to a shop where you can buy/sell gear. this is a godsend since you will have at least some control over the equipment your characters use. in the earlier game you simply had to take what the game randomly generated and just throw away everything else. now you can take a load of junk and trade it in for something decent. you only find one portal scroll every other level, so don't waste it.
the wizard character class is for advanced players, apparently. they're fragile as glass and tend to eat through their mana pools at an alarming rate, and wear only one type of armor (light) which limits them in the worst way. retardedly powerful when they have MP to burn, through.
warrior is the tank, wears the heaviest armor and uses all kinds of weapons including bows/crossbows. the armor makes them slow, but when they attack it's usually pretty important. has an "execution" skill that consumes all available MP, where the MP is the % chance of doing a one-hit kill on non-bosses.
the barbarian is a powerhouse. wears medium armor, can't wield spears, shields or parrying daggers so the only real option is to fit them with a two-handed battle axe. has a lot of +damage skills, but doesn't rely on them since the basic attack is strong anyway.
cleric is the healer, making it a must-have for every party. is the only other class to wear heavy armor, can resurrect downed characters, cure poison (very important), and has a few attack spells that are useful against undead.
ranger is the most balanced. usually has a bow, can use spears, shields and swords, and is the only class that is allowed to wear a quiver which usually provides a good boost to speed. starts with a cure poison/regen spell, can learn a moderate healing spell and other attacks that have various effects.
the rogue is the best support character, imo. high attack power, top-notch speed, can use bows, swords, shields, and parrying daggers if necessary. one of their initial skills is a 20MP poison attack that i like to use on bosses. has skills that are designed to be used in tandem with other characters, like a 30MP insta-kill attack that only works on (non-boss) stunned targets, and a lot of classes have stun attacks.
the monsters you fight give zero experience (since you're gaining levels otherwise) but they do drop random items. the bigger the group of monsters the more junk they drop, with drops becoming better as you descend dungeon levels, and each level having a single unique "boss" that gives the best item. the difference between regular monsters and the boss monster is that the crossed sword icon will be "gold", but the gold coloring is bad so it's kinda hard to tell. if you hover the mouse pointer over the icon and you see a uniquely named monster, it's the boss.
since you can't return to previous levels, you have to decide whether you're strong enough to take him down or leave it and the super item behind forever. typical strategy is to explore the entire level first, hope for good drops, then attempt to take the boss.
in case something goes wrong and you have the flee a battle, it takes a full turn to run away so you have to decide whether or not the run before it becomes immediately necessary. if you lose your entire party on normal difficulty each character is stripped of one random piece of equipment, and you lose several more items from your inventory. there are two shrines per level where you can have characters brought back to life and get the whole party's HP/MP up to 100%, but you might have to fight your way to get to them and they can only be used once each. also, if you clear out an entire level, when you go down to the next level you'll have the option of temporarily retreating back up stairs for full recovery, which is also available only once per level.
unlike the previous game, BoD has a Portal item that will send you to a shop where you can buy/sell gear. this is a godsend since you will have at least some control over the equipment your characters use. in the earlier game you simply had to take what the game randomly generated and just throw away everything else. now you can take a load of junk and trade it in for something decent. you only find one portal scroll every other level, so don't waste it.
the wizard character class is for advanced players, apparently. they're fragile as glass and tend to eat through their mana pools at an alarming rate, and wear only one type of armor (light) which limits them in the worst way. retardedly powerful when they have MP to burn, through.
warrior is the tank, wears the heaviest armor and uses all kinds of weapons including bows/crossbows. the armor makes them slow, but when they attack it's usually pretty important. has an "execution" skill that consumes all available MP, where the MP is the % chance of doing a one-hit kill on non-bosses.
the barbarian is a powerhouse. wears medium armor, can't wield spears, shields or parrying daggers so the only real option is to fit them with a two-handed battle axe. has a lot of +damage skills, but doesn't rely on them since the basic attack is strong anyway.
cleric is the healer, making it a must-have for every party. is the only other class to wear heavy armor, can resurrect downed characters, cure poison (very important), and has a few attack spells that are useful against undead.
ranger is the most balanced. usually has a bow, can use spears, shields and swords, and is the only class that is allowed to wear a quiver which usually provides a good boost to speed. starts with a cure poison/regen spell, can learn a moderate healing spell and other attacks that have various effects.
the rogue is the best support character, imo. high attack power, top-notch speed, can use bows, swords, shields, and parrying daggers if necessary. one of their initial skills is a 20MP poison attack that i like to use on bosses. has skills that are designed to be used in tandem with other characters, like a 30MP insta-kill attack that only works on (non-boss) stunned targets, and a lot of classes have stun attacks.
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