It has been over several years since I last played this game so this game will feel almost new again. I chose to be an only-child Gnome since far too often I have chosen Human, Elf, or Half-Elf in various fantasy games. I am about level 18 and my Willpower, Constitution, and Charisma are 18, 6, and 4 respectively. Everything else is at 8.

Combat wise my character is doing just fine but he could stand to gain more Action Points. I have maxed out the Conveyance and Force school of magic and thus far have been using Harm, Fire Flash, and Disintegrate as my bread-n-butter offensive spells. In terms of support skills I am thinking to use Agility of Fire and Hasten to increase my Action Points.

It is the non-combat aspects that I am unsure about. With a Charisma of 4 and the negative hit to Persuade from Only-Child it is going to take quite a bit of points to get that to a usable level. I know there are shrines/altars that will boost my stats but I recall that quest line requires finding them all which won't happen till the later parts of the game.

That being said, there outta be enough points to go around to grab most/all the useful spells, get persuade to a usable level for most quests, and still raise my Fatigue and Action Points high enough that I need not worry about becoming a punching bag in combat, right? Any other buffs from the shrines/altars will just be icing for the cake I'd imagine.

Comments and opinions are appreciated,

Thank you

EDIT: If it matters, I'm soloing the game so will have all the experiences possible from my kills.

1) Raise your DX. Dexterity = speed, which translates into more action points (APs) per turn. This means more attacks, more spells, etc. There are magic gloves that add +2 to your DX. You get an additional +5 speed bonus at 20 DX, and 5 more from the right kind of boots. On top of all that, Hasten doubles this. (You could use Agility of Fire, which can stack as well, but that costs a spell slot and 1 FP [fatigue point] per six seconds per casting. Still, see #5 below.)

2) If you're not using the level cap remover, then you have 64 CPs to play with in total. If you ARE using the remover, then your main question is moot. (Remember that you don't have to use your CPs right away; you can save them until you have enough to experiment, then make a full save "restore point" and try things out.)

3) Have at least rank 3 in a combat skill, either Melee or Throwing. (Bowmanship requires arrows, which IMO are as annoying to acquire as bullets.) My preference is Throwing, both for ranged attacks and because you don't have to worry about building ST, as there's no strength bonus for thrown weapons. But YMMV.


THE FOLLOWING CONTAIN MINOR ENDGAME SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

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4) When you get the chance to master a spell college, take it. All spells in that college halve their casting cost, although NOT their maintenance costs. Imagine mastering Dark Necro, for instance, and spamming Harm at 2 FP per shot.

5) If you're doing the shrine run (better known as the gods' quest) to its full conclusion, you will end up so OP it's funny — including giant bonuses to both HP and FT, and a full 4 points to DX. So don't worry about it.

6) Near the end of the game (at about the same time you're finishing up the gods' quest) there's a learned schematic and its components (not all in the same spot; you'll have to explore a bit) which gives you a +1 bonus to all eight stats. You can still learn and use found schematics, even at 100% MA, so you can craft and use this item. It's a one-shot, because one of the components is unique, so you can only create one dose.

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END OF SPOILERS.

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Feel free to disregard any of the above, based on your own gameplay preferences. And remember that the game is replayable, so the next time around you can choose completely different spell colleges, or go tech, or concentrate on thieving, or play as a big dumb brute, or be evil... you get the idea.

Thank you for the detailed response and suggestions. I don't think I ever got my Dexterity that high in my first playthrough as I relied on my Automatons. With the Speed from max Dexterity and Hasten, I could potentially have more than 40 Action Points per turn? Ah, good point. Once I got my bread-n-butter spells, I didn't really need to spend CP on anything else for the moment. Why Throwing? So I don't waste Fatigue on small fries? Though if I am already going to put points into Dexterity, I can see the merit in it. I do recall it was an insane buff when you finish the Ancient Gods quest. Can't say I recall the order so hopefully I can do it without resorting to a guide. Does the buff exceeds the limit of your character since my Gnome for example cannot have a Charisma higher than 16 due to the Only Child background.

Throwing is one of the best combat skills in the game - possibly the best. Fast, no ammo, ranged, and a great magickal artifact weapon if you can find it.

As for Charisma, there are lots of ways to raise it with items if you know where to find them. In fact, it's almost too easy if you know the tricks, so I won't blurt it right out. It's not hard to find out if you're interested.

Yes. I don't believe so. But I'll be honest: it's been a while since I've played a character with a restriction in a stat I would otherwise have maxed out, so (pending a more definite answer) it may be possible.

I am at level 41 now and I think I have enough CP to spare to get Dexterity to 18 or 20, Charisma to 18 or 20, my desirable spells, max Haggle, max Persuasion, and max Throwing. Though I wonder, I have the Ring of Influence. Once I raise my Charisma to 18 that outta be maxed out without any more CP beyond, Expert, right?

I briefly fiddled with Throwing and can see the merits of it versus spamming Harm. Though once I get the mastery for that school, is Harm better in terms of damage per Action Point used?

Mastery doesn't affect APs (they're still five per spell, IIRC), it halves the casting cost. So casting Harm would cost you 2 FPs instead of 5, but with 40 APs you could still only cast it 8 times per turn.

What also affects Harm, and any other spells with a sliding scale of damage/healing, is your MA. Maxing that out will produce the most bang for your buck — which for Harm is 40 points of damage, less any reduction due to high MR (magic resistance). It's not the most powerful spell, but (especially with mastery) it's by far the best value per Fatigue point spent.

Thank you for the clarification. I'm starting to notice the nuisance of regularly drinking fatigue potions even when spamming a cheap spell like Harm. I'm not too sure how that will be like even if I master that school of magic.