Bard's Tale Question

[Tempest]

I've been playing through the Bard's Tale series lately and it's really brought back alot of memories, but it's also brought back alot of unanswered questions too...

 

1. How do you determine weapon strength? Other than attacking with each weapon and taking the average of the damage it does, is there a way to tell if one weapon is more powerful than another? I've been going off the price it sells for, but I'm not sure if that's reliable or not.

 

2. What's the best party setup? I know it varies game by game, but for the first one I could never figure out a good party mix. At the moment I'm using two mages, a bard, a hunter, a monk, and a paladin. This seems to work ok, but in the next game I think I may want to have a rogue as well (I'm pretty sure you absolutely need one in the third game anyway).

 

3. What's a good experience level to have when you take on Mangar? I was always in the high 40's and usually I could kill him, but it was always with a cheesy critical hit and he always wasted about 4 of my guys in the process.

 

4. What's the best place to get experience? I always slaughtered the Berserkers in the castle over and over (thank you MIBL!), but I wonder if the tougher creatures in the final dungeon might be better experience.

 

5. What the heck do the Drum of Truth, Spirit Drum, Dork Ring, and Sorcerer Staff do? I could never find a use for them.

 

 

Tempest

[Cybergoth]

1. How do you determine weapon strength? Other than attacking with each weapon and taking the average of the damage it does, is there a way to tell if one weapon is more powerful than another? I've been going off the price it sells for, but I'm not sure if that's reliable or not.

 

I mostly go by the price, indeed.

 

2. What's the best party setup? I know it varies game by game, but for the first one I could never figure out a good party mix. At the moment I'm using two mages, a bard, a hunter, a monk, and a paladin. This seems to work ok, but in the next game I think I may want to have a rogue as well (I'm pretty sure you absolutely need one in the third game anyway).

 

Hm... I think for BT1 three fighters and three mages might also work pretty good, since only the first three can attack straight, so the Bard is a bit wasted on position #4 (unless you have enoough stuff like fire horns, etc.). (=> Didn't BT2/BT3 change it so that the first 4 members can attack?)

 

The Hunter is pretty essential for its critical hit ability. Also a rogue from BT2 onwards. Once he can advance to the farther away enemies. Remember those awful mages that'd always cast themselves away from you? When running out of distance weapons and spell points, only the rogue can kill em.

 

(I'm currently playing BT1 on the NES, were I found the Rogue being totally useless. He usually got possesed or stoned around the 3rd/4th chest he opened, so I replaced him with a Wizard )

 

The Monk... I think in later stages he becomes pretty strong, but also very often 'misses' its target, so I'd probably rather play without one.

 

Don't remember much about the other things you asked. Some items might indeed be useless. One I thought was a pretty funny reference was the "Holy Handgrenade"

[Tempest]

Remember those awful mages that'd always cast themselves away from you? When running out of distance weapons and spell points,

 

God yes. I think that was BT3. I remember the spell was Far Foe (FAFO), and there was one boss that used it so often that you couldn't get anywhere near him. What I ended up doing was using the luck spell and then casting that spell that turns them to stone (it's based on luck). That dropped those little freaks...

 

What's really scary is I remember almost all the spells and their codes still. I think this had to be one of the best spell casting systems ever.

 

Tempest

[Matt_B]

I've been playing through the Bard's Tale series lately and it's really brought back alot of memories, but it's also brought back alot of unanswered questions too...

 

1. How do you determine weapon strength? Other than attacking with each weapon and taking the average of the damage it does, is there a way to tell if one weapon is more powerful than another? I've been going off the price it sells for, but I'm not sure if that's reliable or not.

 

Price is a good rough guide, but some weapons have special abilities that add to the cost but not the hitting power.

 

2. What's the best party setup? I know it varies game by game, but for the first one I could never figure out a good party mix. At the moment I'm using two mages, a bard, a hunter, a monk, and a paladin. This seems to work ok, but in the next game I think I may want to have a rogue as well (I'm pretty sure you absolutely need one in the third game anyway).

 

I'd say three fighters of any type, a bard, a conjuror and a magician to start off with. Once you get the bard strong enough to survive in the front rank, drop one of the fighters and get another conjuror.

 

Each of the fighter types has their pros and cons, but I usually settle on a paladin and a warrior for my final party. Hunters and monks have nice abilities, but don't gain as many hit points which makes them vulnerable to magic, poison, etc.

 

I never found a good use for a rogue in the first game, so they're not really worth a slot over a good fighter.

 

3. What's a good experience level to have when you take on Mangar? I was always in the high 40's and usually I could kill him, but it was always with a cheesy critical hit and he always wasted about 4 of my guys in the process.

 

I've done it in the high teens but I guess it just depends on how long it takes you to get a trio of good wizards. The final battle isn't usually much of a struggle though, as Mangar succumbs to many of the high level magical attacks fairly quickly. He's only got 58 hit points, I believe. Getting to the top of his tower with an intact party is usually the tricky bit.

 

4. What's the best place to get experience? I always slaughtered the Berserkers in the castle over and over (thank you MIBL!), but I wonder if the tougher creatures in the final dungeon might be better experience.

 

You've got it in one. It's also my vote for the best moment in the game: You go through a door and end up facing an entire army!

 

There are some tougher encounters in Mangar's tower that might yield more experience, but you can't use the teleport to "recycle" them as easily.

 

5. What the heck do the Drum of Truth, Spirit Drum, Dork Ring, and Sorcerer Staff do? I could never find a use for them.

 

I've not got much of a clue either, but you certainly don't need them to win the game.

[Tempest]

I'd say three fighters of any type, a bard, a conjuror and a magician to start off with. Once you get the bard strong enough to survive in the front rank, drop one of the fighters and get another conjuror.

 

Each of the fighter types has their pros and cons, but I usually settle on a paladin and a warrior for my final party. Hunters and monks have nice abilities, but don't gain as many hit points which makes them vulnerable to magic, poison, etc.

 

I never found a good use for a rogue in the first game, so they're not really worth a slot over a good fighter.

 

At the moment I'm running with a PLD, HUN, and a MNK. My Monk does the bulk of the damage, with my PLD coming in second, and the Hunter usually doing crap damage but getting a crit hit now and then. If I was going to replace someone I'd replace the Hunter with a Warrior. The Bard doesn't do much, I'm almost just gaining him levels for the second game. By the time the third game rolls around he gets some awesome songs and becomes useful. Also, for a backup fighter he's not too shabby.

 

I think in the next game I'm going ot have to replace one of my guys with a rogue, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'll probably lose the Hunter I guess, but that leaves the Bard in a main fighting roll which isn't too hot. Of course you can actually fill the 7th spot with another guy if you want, but then you cant pick up any special characters.

 

Tempest

[Matt_B]

At the moment I'm running with a PLD, HUN, and a MNK. My Monk does the bulk of the damage, with my PLD coming in second, and the Hunter usually doing crap damage but getting a crit hit now and then. If I was going to replace someone I'd replace the Hunter with a Warrior. The Bard doesn't do much, I'm almost just gaining him levels for the second game. By the time the third game rolls around he gets some awesome songs and becomes useful. Also, for a backup fighter he's not too shabby.

 

The bard is most useful at very low levels - his songs are the best magic you have at the start of the game - and also at very high levels - where specialist fighters are little better against the enemies you face and the bard has better items. He's certainly a bit of a passenger in the middle though. Ah well, it's his story and he keeps the soundtrack ticking over.

 

I think in the next game I'm going ot have to replace one of my guys with a rogue, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'll probably lose the Hunter I guess, but that leaves the Bard in a main fighting roll which isn't too hot. Of course you can actually fill the 7th spot with another guy if you want, but then you cant pick up any special characters.

 

Rogues aren't that bad at fighting once you get them to the higher levels. They just don't have the abilities in the first game to justify their place, although their role is much better thought out in the sequels. For what it's worth, I've heard of people taking on the first game with a party consisting of only one proper fighter, a rogue, a bard and three magic users. Once you get wizards with tons of hits and LO armour classes, you can even dispense with fighters all together. I prefer a couple of decent once though just because they save you from using up valuable spells to get rid of weak enemies.

 

Anyway, it's very easy to ramp a character up a few levels by statue and berserker bashing, so there's no reason why you can't keep a few alternates on ice and bring them in using the party merger program should they become necessary.

[Tempest]

Ok I'm in the low 20's and Mangar has slaughter me 4 times now. It's not Mangar that's the problem, but his damn Demon Lords. They stone all my guys with one hit and the vampire lords keep getting critical hits (although not as often as the demon lords). So before I can move 3 of my guys are stone or dead. MIBL doesn't seem to do jack squat against these guys either. What's a good strategy?

 

Tempest

[Matt_B]

Ok I'm in the low 20's and Mangar has slaughter me 4 times now. It's not Mangar that's the problem, but his damn Demon Lords. They stone all my guys with one hit and the vampire lords keep getting critical hits (although not as often as the demon lords). So before I can move 3 of my guys are stone or dead. MIBL doesn't seem to do jack squat against these guys either. What's a good strategy?

 

LO armour class and maxed out luck helps, but some of the guys in the front rank are going to get taken out whatever you can do. All they can really do is buy time for your wizards.

 

I'd guess the problem is that you're not hitting with the hardest the back rank has to offer. MIBL is a great spell against large groups of fairly weak enemies, but there are much stronger attacks against individual creatures. Use one of your wizards to hit the demons with DMST as it does a huge amount of damage to them. REDE is also more poweful against Vampires, so you should use the second wizard to cast it against them. The third should hit Mangar with a DEST spell, and can usually kill him in the first round

[Mayhem]

I'd have to fire up my disks (C64) of BT1 again to check the level I finished on. I think it was in the mid 30s. But yeah, get those spells a pumping, especially the two mentioned REDE and DEST. Going for the one shot kill on Mangar... might as well try it! I think it worked for me either first or second attempt.

 

Oh and then prepare for one final riddle

[Tempest]

se one of your wizards to hit the demons with DMST as it does a huge amount of damage to them. REDE is also more poweful against Vampires, so you should use the second wizard to cast it against them. The third should hit Mangar with a DEST spell, and can usually kill him in the first round

 

See how long it's been since I've played this? I had completely forgotten about DMST and REDE. I knew MIBL wasn't the best spell, but I couldn't think of what else to use. Now I think I can do this...

 

Tempest