Subject: MM6: Here's how to choose starting classes! From: "James N. Daniel, III" Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 15:10:51 -0500 Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg Might & Magic VI: Choosing Character Classes by James Daniel The following is my personal analysis of character class choices in MM6. This material may be reproduced and redistributed (especially as an inclusion in any eventual FAQ list), as long as it remains unaltered and attributed to me (James Daniel, daniel@ziggy.ph.utexas.edu). Mild format editing for .html and other (non ASCII) formats is allowed. There's been quite a bit of discussion about what realistic choices there are when picking character classes at the beginning of the game. The actual attribute scores and skills chosen are largely irrelevent for long-term gameplay, since they get averaged out by choices made in the game. Your classes, however, are set in stone, and can only be changed if you decide to start from the very beginning (or figure out how to hack the game). There's three main sections to this analysis: a class chart (which should have been included in the manual, I think), a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each class, and final section about overall strategies to consider when choosing classes. Class chart: <--------- Magical types --------> Class name | Arms | Armor | Elemental | Clerical | Light/Dark ------------------------------------------------------------- Knight | All | All | No | No | No ------------------------------------------------------------- Paladin | All | All | No | Yes | No ------------------------------------------------------------- Archer | All | ~PS | Yes | No | No ------------------------------------------------------------- Druid | DSB | LS | Yes | Yes | No ------------------------------------------------------------- Cleric | MSB | ~P | No | Yes | Yes ------------------------------------------------------------- Sorcerer | DSB | L | Yes | No | Yes Notation: DSB -- Dagger, Staff and Bow MSB -- Mace, Staff and Bow ~PS -- No Plate or Shield LS -- Leather and Shield only ~P -- No Plate L -- Leather only Class Merits and Disadvantages: -Knight- The Knight is the pure fighter. With only one major disadvantage (no spells), the Knight has several advantages. Ironically, I think one of the biggest advantages is the lack of spells. No spells means that you can develop all of the miscellaneous skills much more fully than with any other class. Also with the lack of spells comes another big advantage: lots and lots of hit points. Knights have more hit points than any other class, by leaps and bounds. As they gain ranks up to Cavaliers and Champions, they far surpass other classes which must all improve spell points as well. The Knight is the one that will carry all of your mangled party members back to the temple to recuperate. -Paladin- The Paladin has all the benefits of the Knight except for hit points. They have access to just the Clerical spells (three spell groups), which focus on healing, protection, and buffing up the party in general. Aside from the weakness of fewer hit points, a Paladin is a good addition to any party who likes to have an extra healer along (to heal/raise/ressurect the party's primary healer). In a bizarre party, a Paladin could be the only healer, but I don't consider this a viable design since it implies no Cleric or Druid, which is imbalanced. A Paladin helps the party by being able to heal and help directly with spells, by casting damage spells at those nasties that are immune to normal weapons, and basically by being able to survive long enough to cast backup healing spells. -Archer- The Archer has been much maligned on c.s.i.p.g.rpg as being a "useless" class. I heartily disagree. As a fighter/spellcaster, the Archer has more weaknesses than the Paladin, certainly. In return, though, the Archer has access to all Elemental spells. Only the spells of Light and Darkness are more powerful. In another game, such as *D&D, this would be the "Elf" or the "Fighter/Magic-User" multiclass. The Archer has full offensive melee capability. Due to the lack of a shield, an Archer is wise to wield a two-handed weapon, or employ two weapons (as a Dagger expert or Sword Master). Archers also can't handle plate mail, but chain is a close runner-up. A party with an Archer needs to be more offensive than defensive: the ability to absorb damage is less, and there is likely only one character in the party (not the Archer) that can take a lot of damage (Knight or Paladin). I haven't noticed that an Archer is any better with a bow than any other class with an equivalent bow skill and equivalent stats, so this might give the impression that the Archer is "useless". Rather, I think the Archer is misnamed: this is the Sorcerer/Knight. This is the one that casts another Fireball after the Sorcerer's to clean up what's left over. This is the one that casts yet another Sparks spell. And when finally out of spell points, the Archer still hits hard. The Archer is well-suited to MM6 playstyles: the best defense will always be to keep your distance and run away, and such hit and run tactics are the Archer's combat forte. The Archer will help your party not by absorbing damage, but by dishing it out and casting that last Meteors spell to finish off the enemy. -Druid- The Druid has access to the greatest number of spells, and will gain access to all of them long before the Cleric or Sorcerer even _finds_ light/dark magic. The Druid is a spell generalist, capable of filling in holes left in other party designs. In an Elemental-heavy party, the Druid can specialize as a healer, with a few nasty Fireballs for when the party isn't in need of much healing. In a party with several Clerical casters, the Druid may well be the only Elemental caster, and would be suited to specialize in these. In a balanced party, the Druid is a very large pool of mana to be exploited in casting any spell but Light and Dark. Druids are as vulnerable to damage as Sorcerers, even though they can wear a Shield. In general, I would use a Druid as a 2nd spellcaster for extra Clerical or Elemental spells, with the primary spellcaster being a Cleric or Sorcerer. I heartily recommend Expert Dagger skill for Druids! -Cleric - The Cleric is the the ultimate defensive spellcaster. With only three classes of spells to choose from early on, progress in spell skill is rapid. As a melee fighter, the Cleric can take more damage (able to wear Chain and Shield, and sturdier overall than Druid or Sorcerer), but isn't able to dish out so much with only Mace and Staff (and Bow, but this is about melee strength) to choose from. The Cleric has some decent damage spells, such as Harm, that are generally useful, but not very powerful. The Cleric's main strength is to bolster the party's overall combat skills (with Bless and Heroism, for example), and to aid recovery from damage and other ailments. Later on, the Cleric gains access to Light/Dark magic, which greatly increases the party's offensive strength. I would choose a Cleric for a more defensive party design, or to get someone to master the Clerical groups of spells early on. Don't get me wrong, though: a Cleric can indirectly increase the party's offensive capabilities. There's nothing like being able to revive that unconscious Sorcerer that still has beaucoup mana (and zero hit points) so that the party can start casting Fireballs again. -Sorcerer- I can honestly consider leaving out any class from the party, and still think I have a strong party. Any class, that is, except for the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer is your magical offensive damage pump, and also has access to a great variety of utility spells that make your quests easier. Early Water Master skill is essential for quick progress in MM6, and the Sorcerer is the class to do it. For the first twenty or so levels, the Sorcerer isn't going to spend points on much other than better Elemental spell skills (Expert Dagger skill, Expert Meditation, and Expert Learning are notable exceptions). The Sorcerer is quick to die in close melee, and will focus all efforts upon killing lots of nasties before they can close to melee range. Eventually, Sorcerers gain Light/Dark magic access, by which point they are expert in most Elemental spell skills and perhaps Master in one (best choice is Water Mastery!). Only Druids have access to more spells, and Sorcerers have access to all of the most powerful offensive spells in both the early and late game. You may certainly try a game of MM6 without a Sorcerer, but I'm not going to. Party Design Strategies: There are quite a few different possible party designs, even if we neglect all the variations based on different statistics and starting skills. I consider nine relatively balanced designs in this discussion. This is based upon a couple of assumptions that I think every beginner will make: 1) Every class chosen is different. No duplicates. 2) There are two "fighter-type" slots and two "magic-type" slots, each with three possible choices. Obviously, these assumptions are easily broken, but the result is an imbalanced party: too many fighters, too many mages, or too many of a single class. I wouldn't recommend playing an imbalanced party until later. So if we let the first letter of each class stand for that class, here are the nine combinations: Light/Dark Elemental Clerical Clerical 1) KPCS 2) KPDS 3) KPDC Elemental 4) KACS 5) KADS 6) KADC Cler/Elem 7) PACS 8) PADS 9) PADC The columns indicate the emphasis of the spellcasters, while the rows (across) indicate the spell emphasis of the fighters. Combination (7) is the default combination in MM6, and is perhaps the most balanced choice. Combination (5) is my personal choice with which I'm currently playing. Each combo has its strengths and weaknesses, but is generally balanced between fighting/spellcasting. The main consideration in design is which of the main spell groups you wish to emphasize. Light/Dark: In order to have strong access and use of Light/Dark magic, you must have two casters capable of it. Cleric and Sorcerer is the only balanced choice, since these are the only two classes with Light/Dark magic access, and the only alternative is to duplicate classes. Choose this emphasis if you want lots of spell power late in the game: Cleric and Sorcerer can each choose one of the two spell groups and specialize. Since recovery times are significant, a 2nd spellcaster allows faster casting rates. Elemental: These spells have the most overall utility and offensive capabilities. Emphasizing Elemental spells means that you'll be able to cast plenty of Fireballs and other nasty spells at a quick clip, eliminated scores of enemies quickly before they get a chance to hurt you very much. Each Elemental caster can choose a group in which to become Master, spreading the burden around the party. It can be wise to emphasize Elemental casting since the spells are mostly offensive: a 2nd or 3rd Fireball in quick succession (before the bad guys get to go again) is very useful. One of the quickest ways I've found to decimate enemies early in the game is to get them into a tight hallway and have three Air Experts cast Sparks at them! Several casters that all do Fire Ring is useful, too, since this is a costly spell in the early game, but has the advantage of hitting everything around (even behind) you. Clerical: These spells have some offensive capabilities, but mostly they heal and/or beef up your party so that it has more staying power. The main advantage of emphasizing Clerical magic in your party is that you'll have more than one person capable of healing the party. You'll never be in a situation of having your only healer going down in a fight (which can be very annoying when your healer has plenty of mana left!). Of course, you -can- still have a situation in which all two or three of your healers are down for the count, but no party is perfect, and a party with only healers is going to lack much offensive ability. Summary of strategies: This model lets you choose an overall spell strategy and choose your party from that initial strategy. If you like major offensive capability, emphasize Elemental spells to be powerful in the early game, and choose Light/Dark to be powerful in the late game. If you prefer duking it out in melee with beefed-up characters and plenty of cure spells to go around, choose a Clerical emphasis. Interestingly, the choices hinge upon whether or not you use a Knight or a Druid in your game. If you choose a Druid, he or she will be either your primary healer or primary Elementalist, thus emphasizing Clerical or Elemental magic in the overall party. If you choose a Knight, your other fighter (in this strategy) can cast either Clerical or Elemental spells, which emphasizes one of these persuits in your party. One possibility is to emphasize Clerical magic on one axis of the above chart, and Elemental on the other, so there'll be only two Clerical types and two Elemental types in the party, one primary fighter (the Knight) and one major spellcaster (either Cleric or Sorcerer). Personally, I chose combination (5) since I wanted lots of blast 'em power early in the game. The main weakness of this choice is that I have only one healer (the Druid), and only one character capable of Light/Dark magic (the Sorcerer) who will have to handle all of the heavy-duty spells. The advantage is that with widespread offensive spells, I am able to take on difficult opponents in a series of runs which I'd be unable to take on with less offensive power (i.e., not even one would die before I was toast!). So I don't have a lot of staying power in fights, but DAMN I have fun while I'm in them! The Knight will always have enough points left to run away, dragging my power spellcasters back to town. (If he doesn't, I load my most recent save.) Otherwise, I'd recommend the default combination (7) that MM6 presents you. It is maximized for powerful spellcasting in the long term, and balanced for spellcasting in the near term. Its main weakness is the lack of a Knight, and to me, a Knight is the 2nd most worthwhile character in the game (after the Sorcerer). The Knight has plenty of points free for non-spell development, and one can ignore both the Intelligence and Personality stats, allowing Might, Accuracy, Speed and Endurance to get pretty darn high! However, the default combo is by no means weak. It merely is the strongest balanced spellcasting combination. ===>Special Combo: Finally, there's one somewhat imbalanced combination that I would consider aside from the 9 listed above, and that is the KKCS combo. This gives you every spell access, maximizes Light/Dark access, and you can specialize your spellcasters on SPELLS, and leave the Merchant/Identify/Repair/Disarm skills to your two Knights, who will have plenty of free skill points to spend on them. Obviously, there's plenty more options available, but this covers about all a beginner in MM6 would be able to digest. It is difficult to tell what imbalanced combination you might want until you've tried one of these balanced ones. Only after playing for several days do you realize whether you want more melee ability, more utility spellcasting, more offense, more defense or whatever. It isn't too much of a cognitive leap to take the basic strategy I've outlined so far and tweak it to your own fancy. James Daniel