I just bought this promising pack of games. Now, I know I'll have to create a party and make many choices as the game progresses. However, I don't really want tips on how to create my party or anything of the sorts. I'm ok with the fact that I'll probably not have the ideal party, and that I certainly won't follow the easier way to the end of the game.

What I want to know is: is there anything really stupid that I could do that would ruin my playthrough? Like, "you can't beat the game if you don't have a mage in your party", or "if you don't buy healing items in the beginning you're screwed because you wont find any later"?

Thanks!

Here are some things I can think of, though they tend to concern the later games in the series more:
*: Don't try to take the same party through the entire series. Multi-class characters, for example, are useful and fun in PoR, but by the time you get to Pools of Darkness, they are useless because of racial level caps. Also, you will not have much room to grow in the 2nd and 3rd games in the series if you do this. It's OK to transfer some characters, and it's also OK to transfer your entire party from Secret of the Silver Blades to PoD.
*: Don't dual class at the start of Curse of the Azure Bonds; the game takes away your town access right away, and you will be stuck with a level 1 character for a while; then when you can level up, you can only gain 1 level and all that extra experience you got will be lost. (I believe Pools of Darkness has a similar issue.)
*: Don't dual class between fighter-types. If you want a Paladin or Ranger, create a new character. (There is a bug that can cause you to be denied an extra (half)attack if you do this dual-class.) Dual-classing away from a fighter-type is fine, however. Dual-classing into a fighter-type is sub-optimal due to the way HP works, but AFAIK, isn't subject to bugs.
*: Pools of Darkness, I believe, has a post-game dungeon that *requires* a thief. I am not sure if you need someone who can cast Knock (though arcane magic is useful enough that you probably don't want to try to do without it).

Thanks for your help!

*DON'T sell your gems and jewelry right away, wait until you need the money for a purchase/training/ID. There is way too much treasure in this game for you to carry it all around, so keep the gems & jewelry because they are light and portable.

*DON'T try to entirely clear the "Slums" before moving on to the next area. There is one particular battle which is very hard, you're probably better off leaving it until you're at least level 3 before you tackle it.

*DO have at least one character who can cast "Detect Magic", that spell is the only way to separate magic items from standard items in the loot after defeating foes, and you won't be able to carry everything.

Thanks, 01kipper!

I started playing yesterday and it was awesome: five minutes in, I entered a bar, got into a fight and realized I had no weapons.

Then I bought some weapons, readied them, entered a bar, got into a fight again and... oh, man, I bought a bow, but I didn't buy arrows!

Third try. Now let's unleash some spells and... oops, forgot to memorize the spells!

Fourth try, and I was finally able to fight properly. Of course, I got confused and cast a sleep spell on myself, but I won anyway.

Of course I have the manual, but I'm reading it as I go, because there's too much information. It might look like I'm hating the game, but truth is I had a blast with my initial missteps ^_^ Game looks really solid, I can't wait to play it again later today.

Can I keep fighting as much as I want at the tavern and the slums to gain XP or will the random fights eventually stop?

The random fights in the slums will eventually stop when you have won enough. It's a good thing, so you can explore undisturbed. You'll always find a place to fight for loot and XP so don't worry.

XP is not hard to come by in these games. If memory serves, you can hit max level in Pool of Radiance pretty easily. If you carry characters through, you can hit max level in, well, many of the games.

Something to bear in mind: each time you have the XP to train up a level, if it is at all possible, GO TRAIN. Unlike in later games, the Gold Box games had this annoying function that would actually "eat" your XP. Here's how it plays out.

Let's say you need 18,000 XP to go from level 9 to level 10, and 22,000 XP to go from 10 to 11, and 28,000 from 11 to 12. You enter a dungeon at Level 9, wander around in a dungeon for a while, loot some treasure, kill some monsters, etc. You earn 27,958 XP. Awesome! You'll go up two levels and be a hair's breadth from going up a third!

Except, no, you won't.

What the game will do is:

Level you from 9 to 10 and leave you with 22,001 XP -- just BARELY enough to get from 10-11. From 22,001 up to 27,958? That XP is just gone. Evaporated. Poof.

So, the better strategy is to try to train each time you have enough XP to go up ONE level, OR to train up IMMEDIATELY when you're able to go up 2 levels. In other words, if you get 18,153, train up. Your XP will stay the same. No worries. If you go up to 22,249, though, when you train from 9-10, your XP will be "shaved down" to 22,001. That gives you just enough to go from 10-11, but you won't keep any XP beyond the minimum required to go up to lvl 11.


Other things to keep in mind:

- The different races have some real pros and cons. Elves have great dexterity, as do halflings. Dwarves have great constitution, meaning they tend to have higher hitpoints. Half-Elves don't get stat bonuses, but can multi-class (actually, technically, half-elves can get 18/75 strength, whereas I think elves can only go up to 18/50, but I may be wrong). HOWEVER, most of the races are limited in terms of WHICH classes they can play, and also can be limited in terms of HOW FAR they can advance. If you plan to run a single party the whole way through, keep all of that in mind. You can always take extra levels in Thief, but you'll be capped in a multi-class character, depending on race, for things like Fighter or Mage or Cleric (where available). The Manual or the Adventurer's Journal details your racial limits. There are other factors that come into play, too, I think. For example, Elves cannot be resurrected. If they die, that's it. No rezzing at a temple (or in the field in the later games). I THINK that applies to half-elves, too. Halflings (I think) cannot equip some of the larger weapons (e.g. two-handed sword, longbow, most polearms). However, I think they're supposed to be harder to hit. Same with dwarves and gnomes (I don't remember if you can play a gnome, though). Humans have to play single classes (until Curse of the Azure Bonds where they can "dual class"), but

- Trolls are a major pain in the ass to fight, especially in the first two games, because they can regenerate. HOWEVER, damage done by fire (and, I think, general magic?) cannot be regenerated. So, if you get a flaming longsword, it'll kill a troll more easily. If you have firefan or fireball as spells, that'll kill 'em. One other handy trick is to have a character stand on the spot where the troll fell. This is kind of a cheap tactic, because, realistically, you'd expect the troll to just...get up and knock you down, but that's how the game works. This will be important in one of your toughest early fights.

- If you really want to cheese the game...take some characters, advance them a ways in the game, train them up, then go to a training hall and "Remove character from party" making certain to save them. You can then start the game anew...with your already leveled-up characters. They'll also keep whatever gear and treasure they had. This, too, comes in handy in Curse of the Azure Bonds, but you'll figure out why that is as soon as you load a Pool of Radiance party into the game and start it up...

It's worth noting that Temple of Elemental Evil also has this function, but it works better there because you can level up anytime outside of combat, and due to the way XP gains work in 3.5 edition, the rule is actually needed there to prevent one from getting too much XP by level squatting. I personally consider this an early New Game + type feature rather than an exploit.

It is, however, possible to duplicate characters, along with the items they are carrying, by renaming them and using separate saves. (Remove renamed character from one save, add in another.) *This* might actually be considered an exploit, though if you are tired of the weak healing, you could use this to get a bunch of Potions of Extra Healing to use. In later games, you could also duplicate a high-level Human, and dual class her clones into different classes.

Yes, I should note that this actually does allow you to COMPLETELY outfit your crew with literally the best items in the game. As in, one for each character. So, if the game has a Longsword +5 or Gauntlets of Ogre Strength or whathaveyou, you can -- once you've obtained it -- basically give it to every single member of the team. It's tedious to do, deeply cheesy (like, fondue levels), but doable.

I would say do this only if you're finding yourself having major difficulties keeping your team alive early on. Although, in later games, you'll probably be savvy enough to know how to handle things (e.g., don't cast Lightning Bolt when you're 3 tiles away from a wall, dummy).

If you are immune to Lightning Bolt, why not?

(This is probably more useful in the Amiga version of Pools of Darkness, because apparently a certain ring doesn't work properly in the DOS version.)

Also, there's apparently a part in Dark Queen of Krynn where you fight underwater, and Lightning Bolt works differently there. (Has any other AD&D game implemented underwater combat, not counting the first person ones?)

Is it still true that if you go past a certain # of hit points, when you transfer to Secret of the Silver Blades you won't be able to level up?