Grind, grind, grind... I need some advice

[Styro]

I really am enjoying Andor's Trail, but it seems like it is taking me a really long time to get anywhere. Am I playing the game wrong or is this just the way it is? I feel like maybe I am missing something obvious or doing something wrong. Hopefully someone here can give me some pointers. Currently, I go out, kill 5 - 10 enemies, and then have to go back to rest.

My char is currently level 7.
HP 32, AC 104%, AD 3-12, BC 25%, DR 1.

I spent a really long time going back and forth between my bed and the rat cave before I finally was able to finish that quest. Now I spend all my time going back and forth between a bed and the snake cave. I can only kill about 8-10 snakes before I need to rest again. I have only been able to reach and kill a basilisk a couple times so far. The result is a LOT of grinding. I must have been to the snake cave 30 times or more so far. I have now upgraded my equipment to almost the best I can get from the current stores other than the super expensive stuff like the amulet that decreases attack cost (Jewel of Fallhaven?).

Here is my current status on quests:
Search for Andor: I have talked to Bucus and Bucus is sending me on a quest.
Disallowed Substance: I cannot get to the abandoned house. The rabid foxes are too tough for me to kill more than two before needing to rest and then of course they are back.
Fallen Friends: I can kill the bugs without taking too much damage but the next guys (Minotaurs or something?) are too tough.
Key of Luthor: Haven't gone into the catacombs yet.
Lost Treasures: I need to find a heartstone.
Missing Pieces: Guy seemed shady and I refused to help him.
Deep wound: I cannot get past the creatures guarding the book.

So basically, I can kill snakes and jackals. And I have killed hundreds of them. Do I just have to keep doing that hundreds of more times until I level up enough to be able to kill something else?

If the grind is necessary then I would suggest that the developers could double or triple the XP and gold from enemies and the game would be much more fun. I can see grinding a cave 5 or 10 times, but 30 or 50 or more seems excessive.

If the grind is not necessary then what should I be doing differently?

Edit: typos

[Mino]

There is some grinding involved, no way around that.
If you let me know what equipment you are using, and also what you have in your inventory that isn't being used, I can give some suggestions.

And what did you use your first skill point on?

Basically, I would stick to killing small snakes and small rabid dogs for the gold but more importantly the meat (sells for 12 gold and useful for healing).

[Sarumar]

Welcom to the forums Styro !

IMO yours AC is really high for yours levels.. so I thing that you use some of "heavy" weapons ?
Here is tips for you, go barehanded without any weapon and you can hit multible times in single round and go to buy Jewell of Fallhaven as soon as possible

Please post your full atributes (AP, HP, AC, BC, CC, CM, DR), skills schoosen and your equipments for more help.

Happy hunting

[Styro]

Thanks for the replies.

Here is my equipment:
Fine green hat - 2% BC
Hardened leather shirt - 5% BC, 1 DR
Iron longsword - 5 AP, 10% AC, 1-4 AD
Crude wooden buckler - 1% BC
2x Tavern brawler's ring - 12% AC, 0-3 AD
Bar brawler's gloves - 5% AC, 2% BC
Snakeskin boots - 6% BC

The only thing in my inventory currently is 1 meat chunk. And I have around 200 gold.

I used my skill point on increased fortitude. For my next one I was thinking either Regen, Bark Skin, or Corpse Eater. Basically something that would let me last longer on trips before needing to head back to rest.

I did not know that unarmed was an option for combat. I just bought a weapon that allowed me to attack twice and had good damage.

Here are my base attributes:
32 HP, 10 AP, 3 Att cost, 65 AC, 2 AD, 9 BC

With equipment:
5 Att cost, 104 AC, 3-12 AD, 25 BC, 1 DR

I do not know what CC and CM are.

[Mino]

Good choice on Increased Fortitude for your 1st skill.
Since you won't meet the minimum requirement for Corpse Eater on your next level up, I'd suggest going with either Regeneration. Or you could hold on to the skill point until level 9, and if you use the next 2 level ups to increase your HP, you'll have the 40 needed for Corpse Eater. But I'd go with Regeneration first, and then Corpse Eater when you hit level 12.

I agree with Sarumar, fighting bare handed is more helpful at the start, even though it will cut down your AC and AD, having 3 attacks per turn will help. I think the equipment you have is good for the shops you can get to, basically Crossgen and Fallhaven.

For now, don't spend any more money on equipment, but instead save up for the Jewel of Fallhaven. Basically you'll have to kill a lot of small snakes and dogs for meat to sell. Once you have Regeneration, you won't need to use the meat for healing as much, just have to be patient and wait for your HP to restore. That necklace will make a big difference.

CC = Critical Chance (but now its called Effective Critical Chance). You might notice some rings that have a Critical Skill stat - this is what determines your ECC.

CM = Critical multiplier. Once you're able to get further in the snake caves, you'll find a boss that has a critical hit weapon.

PS. Don't sell any boss drops. They're one-time only, so even if you think you won't use it and the money seems good, you could end up regretting it later. Keep in mind, some items could have their stats changed in future updates, so even if it seems worthless now that could change.

[Sarumar]

Mino is one of "the wise old sages" here., but IMO do not take regeneration..... Instead go after cleave skill

Just sell your sword and go sometime barehanded and buy asap Jewell of Fallhaven

Happy hunting

[Mino]

I love Cleave, I think its a great skill.

But just not as a first skill because it will cost you 3 skill points (you have to get Hard Hit and Weapon Accuracy first). I think Regeneration and Corpse eater are more helpful earlier on because they allow you to heal up without meat or potions which allows you to sell more of them to get better equipment. Until you can get to Combat Speed level 2 (which isn't until level 32 at the earliest) Cleave works better if you also have the Jewel of Fallhaven, and either unarmed or Quickstrike dagger (also expensive).

But in any new build, after Increased Fortitude, Regeneration and Corpse Eater, I always spend the next 3 on Weapon Accuracy, Hard Hit and then Cleave. So we're agreed, just maybe not on the order.

[Sarumar]

I love Cleave, I think its a great skill.

But just not as a first skill because it will cost you 3 skill points (you have to get Hard Hit and Weapon Accuracy first). I think Regeneration and Corpse eater are more helpful earlier on because they allow you to heal up without meat or potions which allows you to sell more of them to get better equipment.

But in any new build, after Increased Fortitude, Regeneration and Corpse Eater, I always spend the next 3 on Weapon Accuracy, Hard Hit and then Cleave.

...
I disagree, +12 to AC is great for lowlevel build , but this is just my opinion

[fiernaq]

Styro, you made some excellent choices. Much better than my first few characters

The one thing you seem to be lacking right now is AD. The first 5-10 levels of the game you already have enough AC to hit stuff but you start out with a base AD that's too low to do any good. If you don't want to start over I would recommend that your next few lvls you upgrade your AD. Switching to barehanded only helps if you have high enough AD and AC so for now you might as well keep a weapon equipped. However, as soon as you can afford the Jewel of Fallhaven I would definitely switch to barehanded.

If you do want to start over, prioritize the JoF. You can do without a hat, shirt, shield, gloves, and boots. The three items you will want to buy before the JoF are:

Hardened Iron Longsword 5AP, 14% AC, 2-6 AD, 416 gold (Smithy in southwest of Crossglen)
2x Tavern Brawler's Ring - 12% AC, 0-3 AD, 359 gold (Blue robed dude in Fallhaven tavern)

Once you have those 3 items you should just start saving for the Jewel. If you can get your base AD to 8 you can one shot the snakes in the front part of the cave. Kill the 2 green snakes and the 3 ants outside the cave, enter and kill as many snakes as you can, run back and rest, rinse and repeat. Try to save meat for selling but don't let yourself get killed especially if you're close to lvling up. Once you have the JoF, sell your weapon and go barehanded or look for a weapon that only costs 4 AP instead of the 5 that the Hardened Iron Longsword costs. I don't think my AC got over 80% until after I was lvl 10 but my AD was at least 8 min by that point and I did fairly well on this build.

Oh and plan ahead. Read the Gear List and plan out what equipment you want to get based on the style of character you're going for. You can go for number of hits like I do or you can go for a heavy hitter build, a crit build, a defensive build, a damage reduction build.... whatever you choose, though, make it a focus. Hybrid half-and-half builds don't tend to do as well in this game.

[Wyrmspawn]

Personally, I think Damage resistance is the most important thing in the game, for my build anyway. Don't buy the Jewel of Fallhaven buy the necklace of the protector (in Loneford) instead. And if you prefer damage resistance to block chance, get the jinxed rings of damage resistance. They offer you +1 to damage resistance, but -9 to block chance. If you prefer not to get hit, however, get the ring of the protector, available in Remgard and Vilegard, in the chapel.