I've just started out here having played various IRE games for the past 10 years or so.

I'm doing my best not to make comparisons, but I do have an awful lot of questions regarding skills and archetypes. I'd like to choose something that I enjoy playing and will give me a fairly decent start for the lessons I've got. If I hit 70, I'll probably end up with enough lessons to trans two to two and half skills.

1) Demenses confuse me in terms of how portable the skills are. How long would it actually take someone to set up a room to allow them to use most of their demense skills? Does this differ for Druids and Mages?

(I've been told you don't actually have to be in a Demense to use the effects, just the right kind of forest/water etc...)

2) Stealth seems interesting, but far less defensive than Psymet. Aside from Rushing, are the other skills worthwhile? blowgun looks interesting, what's that like?

3) Can anyone give me a basic list of the absolute minimum in non-guild skills to be able to not get annihilated in combat? with stances, parrying, and other things, it seems somewhat daunting.

I'm sure I'll have more. For now, however, thanks in advance for the assistance.

1. Yes, you have to be in your meld/demesne to use the demesne effects. You can setup a few rooms rapidly, as all the demesne skills learn abilities to instacast all effects at once (the drawback being they last a shorter amount of time). It should be noted Psionic Mages are less dependent on their meld than Druids.

2. You can take both Stealth and Psymet. The choice for monks comes down to Psymet vs. Acrobatics. Stealth is given to monks from Magnagora/Glomdoring, while Harmony is given to monks from Celest/Serenwilde. Asides from Rushing and Truss, Stealth is mostly utility abilities. Blowgun is largely useless/for flavour.

1) Imagine Demesnes as a field of effect spell, with different status ailments. After a certain amount of time, you have to reset them. Yes, you have to be in them to use the effects.


2) Blowgun sucks. Stealth and Psymet aren't things you have to choose between. There are quite a few useful skills, such as masquerade (take other people's forms), and a few defs (agility, +1 dex, and bracing, damage resistance, I believe)

3) It's rather hard to do that, but weaponparry in combat is needed, I think it's around expert. When it comes down to it, more is better, but do what you can, with what you have.

Welcome!


Generally it takes about a minute to set up a room with the proper timing. Demesnes are a bit complex, but I'll explain it briefly:

Each guild has a specific terrain they can meld in - Geomancers have Tainted, Aquamancers have Flooded, Hartstone have SylvanEthereal Forest and Blacktalon have Wyrden Forest. Each guild can change a room to be of that terrain type (it's an overlay, rather than an actual terrain, really).

In a room of their type, a mage/druid can either meld the room, bringing it into their demesne, or place effects only within that room. Demesnes can be a maximum of twenty-five rooms, and can only be constructed in a way that no room is completely separate from the rest of the demesne (this applies to breaking a demesne, as well). Adjacent exits from an already created demesne room, basically.

The mage can also place effects which hit throughout their entire demesne, simply by appending 'demesne' to the syntax (e.g. geocast stonerain demesne). Any rooms melded after these effects are set up are still under these effects, making it highly useful beyond the obvious time saving.

Stealth isn't on the same line as Psymet - you choose between Acrobatics and Psymet.

I made a thread on this here, but you won't need all of that for the lower tiers of combat. It also depends upon your guild, but that's still a fairly complete list of highly useful skills for survival.
You're welcome! Post any more questions here, or there's a "Simple Questions" thread too.

Hartstone can't meld Sylvan, no one can, Sylvan is Faethorn forest. Hartstone meld Ethereal forest.

Thought it was the other way around. Fixed. Rest still applies.

Sounds like it should be, and really. Faethorn used to be Ethereal then they decided they had to be different.

I know I said I wouldn't equate skills but,....

Tarot has always been a favourite of mine, even though I've only ever had one character with it. It seems very similar to other games.

Soulless=death tarot in terms of mechanics?

And does tarot afford the ability to make illusions (as in illusions I make up, not the skill) as it does in other places?

cheers

Tarot does not inherently grant the illusions ability, no. But illusions do function in that way here. Syntax is WEAVE ILLUSION and everyone else sees .

It should be noted that there is a tarot card that disguises Tarot use if memory serves. And as far as I'm aware, the mechanic for soulless is 9 "rubs" of it on a person and you can FLING it at them for an instakill, but tarot users feel free to correct me.

It is seven rubs, and the Fool card I think is the obscuring one.

Can't see to find an answer to this on forums either...

Does focus body speed reduce on a scale with discipline training, or does it just drop at trans (or certain points)?

Scale.