Thank you for taking the time to get back to me with your advice! My feedback:
One important point: There is diminishing returns when it comes to the benefits of stat boosts. Looking at a table online, once a stat reaches 50, it takes 25 points to increase the bonus by one; therefore, a good strategy is to focus on getting everyone who can use a stat up to 50 in the stat, then focus on the character who will give you the most benefit from the stat. So you might get everyone's might to 50, then put the rest into your Barbarian.
This sounds like a great strategy. You are right - it is not worth it going past 50 in most cases. When most of my party has stats around 50 I will double down on Might for my Barbarian, Personality for my Cleric and Intellect for my Sorcerer.
Endurance: Giving this to your Barbarian is the wrong decision, because there's no way to force enemies to focus on that character. Rather, this stat should go to whoever needs it the most. As a result, it is important to prioritize your sorcerer to some degree, especially as that sorcerer is an elf. Also good to give a good amount to your cleric.
This is brilliant advice. My Sorcerer was extremely fragile. I have begun investing endurance into my Sorcerer and at 20 endurance it has made a world of difference. He is now much more survivable. I plan to do the same for my Cleric.
* Speed: It's not that important for your healer to go first, as you choose commands when your character's turn comes around (so no worry about enemies killing your characters after you've given the order to cast a healing spell but before the spell resolves). Also, once you're in melee range, your main damage dealer isn't going to be your mage; it's going to be your barbarian, and speed is irrelevant at range; hence, speed should go to your barbarian. The only possible exception here would be if you're casting Mass Distortion, which is only useful in certain situations, but which happens to be ranged.
I think you are right here. It is not advantageous for the Healer to go first. In fact I think you would want the Healer to go LAST in combat to respond to damage or status ailments. However I think there is great utility on having a Speed Sorcerer. I have boosted the Speed statistic for my Sorcerer and that has ensured they go before my opponents and are able to soften up the enemy so that my single target damage melee characters can take them out.
* Intellect and Personality: Only important to those who can actually use those stats.
Good advice. I am boosting my Intellect casters (Archer and Sorcerer) to 50 and then boosting the rest on my Sorcerer. I am boosting my Personality casters (Paladin and Cleric) to 50 and then boosting the rest on my Cleric.
* All stat bonuses: There are a few of them in the game, which boosts all the stats in the game. I recommend giving these to your cleric because of the spell Divine Intervention.
OK. Will be sure and check this out.
* Permanent resistance bonuses: 1 point in a resistance is significantly better than 0, as 1 point is enough to allow your Luck bonus to be added in full; otherwise Luck will not help with your resistance. So, favor characters with 0 resistance for resistance bonuses.
OK. Will be sure to check this out.
* Permanent level bonuses: These exist, and are your main form of advancement near the end of the combined game, but a discussion of the strategy there is outside the scope of this post. For now, note that it is more beneficial to save any bonuses of this type you encounter for later.
OK. Will be sure to check this out.
---
Having played some I am happy to report changes to spell points and hit points via statistic boosts are retroactive. Here are some additional follow up questions I have!
I am looking to farm XP at higher levels. Where can I best farm XP in Xeen?
I am looking to farm GP at higher levels. Where I can best farm GP in Xeen?
Post edited August 03, 2020 by GrimjackMV
