Which starter packs should I choose?

[usinuk]

Another suggested repost of a thread, since the XUUWAG isn't done by any means yet.

Originally Posted by sidusar

I've heard that before, what exactly do you mean by that? I thought it referred to how getting started in magic will cost you 50 skill points, crafting ditto and harvest 20 while getting started in fighting costs you nothing. But now it seems to be something you get once you reach the mainland, so I'm a little confused here.

From the upcoming and long-delayed (and long) XUUWAG, my walkthrough -

"The only thing that then matters in your start is what starting packs you pick. You have 3 packs. This is where it gets hard.

Melee
1 Pack: Accurate Attack 1, Dagger (ql 10)
2 Packs: Accurate Attack 1, Increase Damage 1, Dagger (ql 10)
3 Packs: Accurate Attack 1, Increase Damage 1, Taunt 1, Shield 1,
Dagger (ql 10)

Magic
1 Pack: Acid 1, Magic Amplifier (ql 10)
2 Packs: Heal 1, Acid 1, Magic Amplifier (ql 10)
3 Packs: Heal 1, Acid 1, Root 1, Fear 1, Magic Amplifier (ql 10)

Foraging
1 Pack: Basic Extraction, Pick
2 Packs: Basic Prospection, Basic Extraction, Accelerated Prospection 1,
Pick
3 Packs: Prospecting – source time 30 seconds, Harmful Extraction 20,
Basic Prospection, Basic Extraction, Accelerated Prospection 1, Pick

Craft
1 Pack: 50 generic crafting materials (ql 10), Armor Crafting 1, Armor
Crafting Tool, Light Boots plan
2 Packs: 100 generic crafting materials (ql 10), Armor Crafting 1, Armor
Crafting Tool, Light Boots plan, Light Gloves plan
3 Packs: 200 generic crafting materials (ql 10), Armor Crafting 1, Melee
Weapon Crafting 1, Light Boots plan, Light Gloves plan, Dagger plan

What makes this tricky is that basing your initial choices on what your character will eventually look like may not be your best allocation of skill points (SPs). Why? Here’s a list of what each of these things cost:

Accurate Attack 1 – 10 Fight SPs
Increase Damage 1 – 10 Fight SPs
Taunt 1 – 10 Fight SPs
Shield 1 – 10 Fight SPs
Net = 40 ‘free’ SPs

Heal 1 – 50 Magic SPs
Acid 1 – 50 Magic, Fight, Craft, or Foraging SPs.
Root 1 – 55 Magic SPs
Fear 1 – 55 Magic SPs, 50 with Heal 1
Net = 205 ‘free’ SPs

Basic Extraction 1 – 50 Magic, Fight, or Craft SPs
Basic Prospection 1 – 15 Foraging SPs
Accelerated Prospection 1 – 35 Foraging SPs
Prospecting with 30 seconds – 35 Foraging SPs
Harmful Extraction 25 – 15 Foraging SPs
Net = 150 ‘free’ SPs

Armor Crafting 1 – 50 Fight, Craft, or Foraging SPs
Melee Crafting 1 – 25 Craft SPs
Light Boots – Included in Armor Crafting 1
Light Gloves – 30 SPs
Dagger Plan – Included in Melee Crafting 1
Net = 105 ‘free’ SPs

QL10 Dagger – 1000 dappers
Pick – 1200 dappers
Melee/Armor Crafting Tool – 1300 dappers
QL10 Magic Amplifier – 1000 dappers
50 pack of raw materials = 6500 dappers

What’s important to keep in the back of your mind during this, though, is that you are not limited at all to playing a single class based on what your initial selection of packs ends up being. You can just as easily buy the first stanza (Acid 1 for Magic, Basic Extraction for Foraging, Armor Crafting 1 for Crafting) of a skill using 50 skill points from another skill you have points in. What’s fairly obvious about your starter packs from the above list is that certain combinations give more bang for the buck than others.

Lets look at fighting. What’s important to realize is that the second you hit something with any weapon you earn fighting experience…there are no prerequisites at all. So, if you hit something with your default magic amplifier staff, you get fight experience. If you hit something with your hands, you get fight experience. So…fight skill points aren’t terribly hard to get. Yet…if you spend 3 skill packs on fighting you get a grand total of 40 skill points worth of powers. Not terribly impressive. Recommendation: 0 packs, even if you’re planning on being a pure melee fighter. It will take you all of 2 minutes to get 40 fight skill point by killing suckling yubos.

Magic? Well, different story. 1 pack gives you Acid 1, 50 SPs worth of a spell. 2 packs will give Heal 1 and Acid 1, meaning 100 SPs. 3 Packs? Heal, Fear, Root, and Acid, 200 SPs worth of spells. Great bang for the buck if you’re planning on being a pure mage, as you will likely take all 4 spells at some point. (We’ll get into basic spell descriptions later.) You also get a ql10 magic amplifier, which basically increases your lowest level spell power and speed early on and isn’t a bad weapon - but becomes useless once you get any spells above level 10, like acid or cold 2, so it isn’t a big deal.

What if you’re not playing a pure mage? Heal 1 brings a number of other stanzas that you will probably buy eventually if you’re planning on playing a balanced mage later, fear is basically a requirement to survive as a solo mage, and only root is a bit of a specialty spell. Recommendation: 3 packs if you will be playing a dedicated mage, and either 0 or 1 if you’re playing a balanced character with mage skills.

Crafting? 50 points from another skill to pick Armor Crafting 1 up is pretty steep, so probably worth it for at least 1 pack. One very important point to be made is that when you pick up a new Crafting Type powers – Armor, Melee, Ranged, Jewelry, Ammo, or Shield – you gain access to a default item of that particular type (respectively, light boots, dagger, pistol, earrings, pistol ammo, and buckler.). This makes it easier to grind things to gain experience later on without having to spend the additional 30 or 40 skill points to get the plan. Crafting skill points are generally regarded as the most precious in the game given how many things you can spend them on, so even though the bang to the buck isn’t great at 25 skill points per new stanza it may be worth it to take more. Recommendation: 3 if you’re playing a dedicated crafter, otherwise 1.

Foraging? It’s the easiest way to gain experience and a small amount of loot early on. Again, 50 skill points to get the ability to use a pick is pretty harsh. Other than that, harvesting skill points tend to be fairly tight early on but open up once you get to higher levels or harvest in lands besides your homeland. Recommendation: 3 if you’re planning on playing a dedicated forager, otherwise 1.

How do we usually start characters? We usually take 1 magic, 1 crafting, and 1 foraging pack. Ultimately, though, the way to think about it is that you’re going to get anywhere between 40-200 SPs as a bonus for starting in a certain skill. Any extra points in some combination of magic/crafting/foraging will serve you well.

And if you feel the decision is tough and you've screwed up and need to reroll, relax. It doesn't take very long to accumulate hundreds of skill points, and by level 50 you will likely have forgotten what you picked for starter packs anyway!"

[usinuk]

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