Legends I tips?

[Opry99er]

I normally consider myself a pretty good RPG gamer.... But Legends I is KILLING me!!! I get 2 tiles away from Wizards Rock and I get WAXED by wave after wave of enemies who just wipe me out--- wizard first. I mean, before ANY exploration, I am getting mauled by giant flies and giant cats. They're supposed to be easy enemies, but I find myself missing almost every time I try to attack. I ended up defeating the first wave of 5 flies, but lost my wizard. Then, before I could move even a single tile away, I was ambushed by cats and lost two more players. Normally I can fend for myself in RPGs, but for some reason-- I get totally mauled in this one. Anyone have any suggestions?

[matthew180]

Sounds like bad balancing. Crap like that does not make a game more "challenging" as some designers think, it makes it frustrating and people stop playing.

 

I've never played the game, but maybe you are supposed to level up your character a little "in town" or something like that, before going outside? Ultima Online was like that, you had practice areas in the town, and if you didn't "pay homage" and spend your first 8 hours of game play whacking away at "dummies", then when you went outside you got your ass kicked. It sucked. Grinding sucks.

 

Matthew

[+adamantyr]

Legends has a lot of grinding. And yeah, 1st level blows.

 

First thing, be sure to make new characters at the guild. Don't use the stock party, they are laughably weak. Make sure they have high stats, you can re-roll over and over until you get the right ones.

 

Second, watch what kind of terrain you're on. The plains (three dots in an arc) should have things like flies and skeletons, relatively easy to defeat. You don't need to move around, you can just stand still and let encounters come to you. Forests have nasty enemies, but they're also more lucrative. I think the mystical bears and the giant cats offer the best XP/gold return.

 

Third, the level system when you leave Wizard's Rock will increase monster HP, but ALSO increases XP and gold by the same factor level. This let you level up much faster, but it's a "skip out, fight, go back into Wizard's Rock". You can get a quest item later that lets you heal and resurrect the whole party without having to re-enter town, which helps.

 

 

Finally, stealth potions are a MUST if you need to travel. The first dungeon will contain some nice weapon and armor upgrades that you should go for. Use stealth potions to get there without too many fights.

 

Adamantyr

[Opry99er]

Agreed. There are training grounds inside town, but you need experience to train.... And....

 

I am going to try again later today.... But to me, a great RPG starts with story, a little bit of easy battle, and character development--to give you a sense of who your character is. With Beryl, I had planned on a short intro sequence where you were introduced to the first of your party members while fighting to keep monsters out of your camp. Once that is over, a little dialogue between the characters, some background on your quest, and THEN the rest. This game doesn't start that way... I read the manual and it's okay... Good story there... But nothing in gameplay.

[Opry99er]

Hey Adam, thanks!! I was using stock party, and they really suck....

 

Thanks for the tips. That should make the game much more enjoyable. When I was playing Legends II a couple weeks ago, it didn't seem this difficult early on.... The reason I wanted to play "Legends I" was to have the ability to import my high level party into Leg2. Besides, why play two before one.

[matthew180]

Sounds more like work than "playing" to me. Is there anything about the game that is enjoyable?

 

Matthew

[Opry99er]

A few things--- the graphics are cut from that mid 80's graphic cloth... Very interesting. Secondly, it's a true RPG on the TI. Thirdly, it's XB+assembly.... Let's just say I'm curious.

Edited December 1, 2010 by Opry99er

[S1500]

I remember playing Legends 2, going further south & south on the map, and the program just ended, bringing me back to a * READY * prompt. I remember, since I was using characters from Legends I that had super-high stats(only way to survive).

 

Wish this game didn't have wandering monster encounters every other second. It should not give you a 2nd wandering monster encounter unless you move around a bit. You can stay in one square, never move around on the map & just fight parties of monsters all day.

[+adamantyr]

That's interesting... the L2 map just goes north to south. You must have walked out of boundary somehow, since it keeps you locked in most of the time.

 

Legends is definitely a "slog", and I found out recently it's really just a poor-man clone of Phantasie I and II. That being said, the lack of many CRPG's on the TI makes it better than nothing.

 

Adamantyr

[Opry99er]

Well, I've discovered that Adams suggestion of making your own party is really a necessary thing... You can't do jack with the stock party.... Yikes!!

[Opry99er]

I took a few screenshots of the game

 

 

This is the title screen

 

 

 

Overworld exploration screen

 

 

 

Battle sequence

 

 

Overall I like the graphics... they're good enough to draw you in. =)

[+InsaneMultitasker]

Who needs grinding when you can F4 the program and update a few "strategic" variables heheh

 

[sometimes99er]

Overall I like the graphics... they're good enough to draw you in. =)

Yeah, the graphics are quite good.

[Opry99er]

Okay I've tried twice today and got waxed both times. When you're facing 7 enemies at once and they get 7 attack turns at once--- and you can't run or avoid the enemies... It's freakin' impossible. My wizard dies first, then the cleric, then I can't heal--- so my Ranger and fighter are left standing alone. If I DO manage to escape or win a battle, I immediately get attacked again before I can move toward the destination. Party gets wiped out every time. Dude, this sucks!!!

 

I made my own party members, wrote down all the advice I got in the Inn, bought some potions from the alchemist, studied the manual and magic journal.... This game is freaking brutal, man!!! I'm gonna give it one more try, then I'm pretty much done with it. What a crap ass way to start an RPG!!!

[+adamantyr]

Okay I've tried twice today and got waxed both times. When you're facing 7 enemies at once and they get 7 attack turns at once--- and you can't run or avoid the enemies... It's freakin' impossible. My wizard dies first, then the cleric, then I can't heal--- so my Ranger and fighter are left standing alone. If I DO manage to escape or win a battle, I immediately get attacked again before I can move toward the destination. Party gets wiped out every time. Dude, this sucks!!!

 

I made my own party members, wrote down all the advice I got in the Inn, bought some potions from the alchemist, studied the manual and magic journal.... This game is freaking brutal, man!!! I'm gonna give it one more try, then I'm pretty much done with it. What a crap ass way to start an RPG!!!

 

What kind of enemies are you fighting? Are you only going 1-2 steps from Wizard's Rock? Keep in mind it's real-time, not turn-based. You have to press 'Q' to bring up the sub-menu if you want to "pause" the game.

 

That being said, maybe it's a decent clone of Phantasie after all... the CRPG Addict is having a heck of a time playing Phantasie III right now... Link below:

 

http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/

 

Adamantyr

[Opry99er]

Just tried again... Here was the sequence.

 

*Leave Wizard's Rock

 

*Immediately encountered "3" weak ass ruffians

 

*Engaged in battle

 

* Here was the sequence pretty much:

 

-1 Missed

-2 Missed

-3 Missed

-4 Missed

-Ruffian attacks, 5 damage to 3

-Ruffian attacks, 6 damage to 2

-Ruffian attacks, Misses

-1 Missed

-2 Missed

-3 Cast heal on 3

-4 Missed

-Ruffian attacks, 8 damage to 2 (2 is now dead)

-Ruffian attacks, 7 damage to 1

-Ruffian attacks, 8 damage to 3

-1 hits for 3 damage

-2 is dead

-3 Cast heal on 3

-4 Cast heal on 1

-Ruffian attacks, 7 damage to 1

-Ruffian attacks, 5 damage to 1 (1 is now dead)

.

.

.

etcetera....

 

Basically, I fought 3 ruffians for 10 minutes, used up ALL my magic points healing, left the battle with one character alive, then got hit IMMEDIATELY with an ambush as soon as the battle was over. This time it was 5 cats... needless to say, I was dead within one turn.

 

 

[+adamantyr]

Just tried again... Here was the sequence.

 

*Leave Wizard's Rock

 

*Immediately encountered "3" weak ass ruffians

 

*Engaged in battle

 

* Here was the sequence pretty much:

 

-1 Missed

-2 Missed

-3 Missed

-4 Missed

-Ruffian attacks, 5 damage to 3

-Ruffian attacks, 6 damage to 2

-Ruffian attacks, Misses

-1 Missed

-2 Missed

-3 Cast heal on 3

-4 Missed

-Ruffian attacks, 8 damage to 2 (2 is now dead)

-Ruffian attacks, 7 damage to 1

-Ruffian attacks, 8 damage to 3

-1 hits for 3 damage

-2 is dead

-3 Cast heal on 3

-4 Cast heal on 1

-Ruffian attacks, 7 damage to 1

-Ruffian attacks, 5 damage to 1 (1 is now dead)

.

.

.

etcetera....

 

Basically, I fought 3 ruffians for 10 minutes, used up ALL my magic points healing, left the battle with one character alive, then got hit IMMEDIATELY with an ambush as soon as the battle was over. This time it was 5 cats... needless to say, I was dead within one turn.

 

So you were ONE step away from Wizard's Rock, and you weren't able to move back into the city? You're playing at normal TI speed, right? This game is probably not playable at fast emulator speeds, because the real-time monster attacks will come too fast for you to react.

 

As for the general wussiness of your party, yes, THAT is normal. You can get slightly better weapons in the first dungeon which improve your survival chances, but then you're still missing, you just do more damage on a hit.

 

Here's one thing to try. Stock up on stealth potions, use one IMMEDIATELY outside of town, and get to the dungeon on the same screen. There's no monsters inside, only traps, which you are warned about before you walk into them.

 

If you find an "item", leave it be. Find either an exit to another screen at one of the screen edges, or leave the dungeon, saving the screen. That way the item is preserved and all the traps you removed are still gone. Then re-enter, pick up the item, and leave, this time without saving the screen. Re-enter and the item is back. Repeat until all four characters have something decent for armor and weapons.

 

This is pure "old-school" gaming.

 

Adamantyr

[Opry99er]

Regular emulation speed. The problem wasn't that I couldn't get back into town, it's that I didn't have any time to re-enter... I was dead before I could do anything. On an earlier attempt, I lost 3 of my 4 adventurers--- then DID manage to return to town--- but couldn't revive my characters by sleeping at the Inn and the alchemist just had crap for potions. Why do all my players miss the enemies 75% of the time when I attack?

 

Not the most recent play, but the first one I tried today, I almost got to the building on the right side of the map, but then got whacked before I could enter. It's pretty insane, man.

 

Obviously SOME people have had SOME success with this game, am I just a bad gamer? =) I've bested several RPGs including Faxanadu, Grandia II, Final Fantasy I, IV, VII, and Mystic Quest, Chrono Trigger, Illusion of Gaia, etc... But I can't seem to do jack crap in Legends. It's just about the most frustrating thing I've tried to play...

[Opry99er]

Hey, tried again... made it to the inn at the right side of the screen... didn't have enough money to stay, so I started moving back towards Wizard's Rock... Ambushed a couple times, lost 2 players and still had no idea what the hell I was doing. =)

 

 

This is about as fun as a barrel of monkey feces.

 

 

[+adamantyr]

Regular emulation speed. The problem wasn't that I couldn't get back into town, it's that I didn't have any time to re-enter... I was dead before I could do anything. On an earlier attempt, I lost 3 of my 4 adventurers--- then DID manage to return to town--- but couldn't revive my characters by sleeping at the Inn and the alchemist just had crap for potions. Why do all my players miss the enemies 75% of the time when I attack?

 

Not the most recent play, but the first one I tried today, I almost got to the building on the right side of the map, but then got whacked before I could enter. It's pretty insane, man.

 

Obviously SOME people have had SOME success with this game, am I just a bad gamer? =) I've bested several RPGs including Faxanadu, Grandia II, Final Fantasy I, IV, VII, and Mystic Quest, Chrono Trigger, Illusion of Gaia, etc... But I can't seem to do jack crap in Legends. It's just about the most frustrating thing I've tried to play...

 

It's just starting that's hard. First level characters are really weak. And gaining experience is long and slow. The main thing leveling gets you is more HP and MP, which increases your survival rate considerably.

 

The building on the right side is an outdoor inn, which will restore your party's HP and MP for 250 gold. (It will not raise dead characters)

 

If you set the level to 6, and get into a fight with skeletons (the weakest monster in the game), you get pretty good return with little effort. Keep in mind it's also 6 times more gold and XP per encounter. That's how you can level up fast, one lucky battle and a quick dash back into Wizard's Rock to save your game.

 

Also, don't forget your ranger can cast healing spells too at level 1.

 

Adamantyr

[Opry99er]

Thanks Adam... I figured out the Inn part. =) I'm trying level 1 right now and it's just stupid hard. Level 6... well, that's insane talk!!! =)

 

So, where the hell am I supposed to go after leaving Wizard's Rock? South? I tried right, and that was a failure. That's as far as I've gotten... I barely made it to the coast on the right side of the map... Then I was dead.

 

Its hard to make sense of this thing... Everytime I try to level up by fighting, I get killed. If I avoid as many battles as I can and then run away when I can't avoid them, I get absolutely no gold or experience. And some battles I CAN'T avoid... those last 10 minutes and my party gets demolished. Ahhh, vintage gaming. =)

 

Needless to say, I'm not impressed with the design elements of the start of this RPG. A GOOD RPG draws the player in immediately, lets you kill some easy monsters to get used to the battle engine, lays out the story/quest, and then you're hooked. This game has done none of those things so far. But maybe I need to keep trying. I feel like I'm wasting time here, and that's really REALLY bad when I'm playing a game. While gaming in and of itself isn't necessarily USEFUL, when I play FFIV or Grandia II, at least I get the sense that I'm accomplishing something, thereby covering up the fact that I'm sitting with a controller enveloping myself in a virtual world. =) God, the TI needs some good CRPGs... You first, Adam... =)

[+adamantyr]

Thanks Adam... I figured out the Inn part. =) I'm trying level 1 right now and it's just stupid hard. Level 6... well, that's insane talk!!! =)

 

Yeah, you don't use the level system EXCEPT to increase gold/XP grinding speed. Mystical Bears will net you a fortune, should you survive the battle. And you're not in any shape for this.

 

Take note of one of the rumors in the Inn: "Without better weapons, those rookies won't survive one battle in the forest!"

 

So, where the hell am I supposed to go after leaving Wizard's Rock? South? I tried right, and that was a failure. That's as far as I've gotten... I barely made it to the coast on the right side of the map... Then I was dead.

 

Look on the upper-left side of the first map screen. What's that yellow thing? It's a dungeon entrance!

 

Its hard to make sense of this thing... Everytime I try to level up by fighting, I get killed. If I avoid as many battles as I can and then run away when I can't avoid them, I get absolutely no gold or experience. And some battles I CAN'T avoid... those last 10 minutes and my party gets demolished. Ahhh, vintage gaming. =)

 

Needless to say, I'm not impressed with the design elements of the start of this RPG. A GOOD RPG draws the player in immediately, lets you kill some easy monsters to get used to the battle engine, lays out the story/quest, and then you're hooked. This game has done none of those things so far. But maybe I need to keep trying. I feel like I'm wasting time here, and that's really REALLY bad when I'm playing a game. While gaming in and of itself isn't necessarily USEFUL, when I play FFIV or Grandia II, at least I get the sense that I'm accomplishing something, thereby covering up the fact that I'm sitting with a controller enveloping myself in a virtual world. =) God, the TI needs some good CRPGs... You first, Adam... =)

 

A lot of vintage and old-school games were badly designed. You can't use Final Fantasy as good example here, try playing Wizardry, Ultima's I-III, Phantasie, Might & Magic, etc. They're all HARD and demanding.

 

Also, cheating is a time-honored method in old-school gaming to getting ahead. You know enough Extended BASIC to add a couple lines to the GENERATE file... add some numbers to your potion stock and gold inventory when you visit the tavern, for example. You can also just edit the player file too.

 

Adamantyr

[Opry99er]

Okay... made it to the dungeons with one character remaining. It prompted me to insert the dungeon disk... umm..........

 

 

Well, in the manual it says that if you want to put all the disk files on RAMdisk, that is okay... so I assume the DSK image I had of Legends was the entire set? Perhaps not. I clicked a key and it re-prompted me to insert the dungeon disk. I wonder if perhaps my DSK image was quest disk only? I got it from WHT. This presents a problem. =)

[+adamantyr]

Well, in the manual it says that if you want to put all the disk files on RAMdisk, that is okay... so I assume the DSK image I had of Legends was the entire set? Perhaps not. I clicked a key and it re-prompted me to insert the dungeon disk. I wonder if perhaps my DSK image was quest disk only? I got it from WHT. This presents a problem. =)

 

There are two disks, dungeon and island. You can find both of them on the TI Game Shelf.

 

http://tigameshelf.net/xb.htm

 

Adamantyr

[Opry99er]

Thanks, yea... I DLed the diskettes from the gameshelf as well, but received a horrible I/O error upon startup in Classic99. It wouldn't run whatsoever. I'll try again, but I DID DL the TIFILES zipped file. It was an ARC file... I unarked, and then ran. It died right as the title screen came up. Blah. Anyway, I'm not sure 100% why it did this, and I'll show you when I attempt again. =) Thanks for the help.