Advice for Hard 1-H Warrior (NOT Light)

stonedwolf

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Hey

I played through a Medium 2-H Warrior to high-teen level earlier this year but then my phone bricked (waterlogged) and I've only just got a new phone.

I'd forgotten so much I've restarted, on Hard.

This time I want a Sword & Board Warrior but NOT Light weapons. I know they're powerful but I want a standard Longsword type weapon for role-play purposes.

So what are my good options? I'm at Level 5 (now 7). I have the Lesser Shield of Life and the Flamedancer's Sword of Shock (and I will be holding off from getting Addy until I have a Red Ruby (for the cloak).

What good early-stage armour bits should I seek? I'm tempted to risk a raid on a Minotaur for the Cuirass but I'm not sure I can do that yet. A Wyyvern just showed me how low level I am.

Any other lower-level Warrior gear I might grind towards?
 

VDX_360

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First, there's a lot to the game so have fun on your replay :)

Agility build warriors do well in the early game when a few points of defense makes a huge difference. But overall, 1-H warriors outperform agility weapon warriors as enemies get tougher. It's not uncommon for agility warriors to become 1-H weapon users later in the game or on another play-through.

That being said, let's cover the basics:

1) Guild = Warrior's Guild.

2) Near Must Have Advanced Skills
a) Duel,
b) Battle Rage.
Duel will give you that extra damage in those longer fights. It adds up quickly. Battle Rage can break being stunned / paralyzed which is a lifesaver in a few fights. Plus, the increase in damage is a nice go-to for fights you don't need a Get Out Of Free Card for getting stunned / paralyzed.

3) Very Worth Considering:
a) Infantry Training
b) Body Development
c) Blood Lust
d) Heavy Hand.
Infantry Training. Infantry Training avoids critical hits, but more importantly, it protects against stun and paralyzed. Pairs nicely with Battle Rage. There are items that give similar effect so the skill is less of a must-have than before but having the skill does free up your equipment options (as well as some in-game choices sense you won't need to get the equipment). Blood Lust gives a nice attacking increase but I'm not blown away by it. Heavy Hand is a good spot to put extra skill points as the increase in damage is nice but rather skill point heavy.

4) Shield Expert is very helpful early in the game. The extra defense is over powered if you max the skill out ASAP. As the game progresses, the extra defense is less vital, but still useful. You'll also need it maxed for Infantry Training.

5) Whirlwind or charge, not both: For 2-H and 1-H warriors, the Charge + Whirlwind Combo Attack was quite popular with players, esp before the last wave of advanced skills were added to the game. It takes a lot of skill points to get both those skills up. Both can be useful for escaping a crowd but using either will reset your duel count. Thus, if you go duel route, you'll only be using charge / whirlwind as a first hit or as an escape. I'm inclined to go with Charge as it also allows charging across traps or through enemies blocking your way. In that way, Charge is the better movement skill. Even spending 1 skill point on Charge gives you the same charge distance as maxing the skill out, so might be a good spot for a single point early in the game.

Note: It might be better for you to decide which Advanced Skills you would like and than plan your build around the requirements. It might also help you determine if you like passive or active skills. Passive skills being the skills always in effect (duel) and active skills requiring pushing a button (whirlwind etc).

Other than that, standard game stuff applies. Get your Companion early. Griss can be gotten pretty quickly sense you don't need to kill anything (running is the better part of valor).

Options vary on which Companion you use. Pros and Cons on all of them. I tend to prefer Griss with even STR and AGL with a shield. Give her a few levels of Shield Expert, Fury and Cleave and watch her take crowd control. Just don't give her Bash or Whirlwind as her AI will make her use it at the worst possible times (like bashing the fire elemental INTO the fire pit, or knocking away the enemy so it resets your duel count). Keep in mind that once Griss Power Ups after the Castle quest, so she might need to be built to get the advanced skills of hers that catch your eye.

Hirge can make a decent powerhouse, even with the awkwardness of her using active skills (healing, Might, etc). She tends to use them at less than useful times,

Some people swear by Adaon and his high DPS and help with finding secrets. That's okay. Some people still think the world is flat. There's a huge overlap between those two groups. (Note: Adaon robbed you in your sleep, never forgive, never forget!!!!)
 

stonedwolf

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Thanks for the tips.

Last time Addy was my companion as I unlocked him first. I tried Griss but I was low level and trying to clear the entire dungeon out and couldn't manage it. I actually enjoyed his banter, his secrets, but I had to build him to being an archer as he was squishy and getting in the way. Of course I was only on Medium but his archery was viable, at leat as far as I'd got (unlocked Icemist basically).

I managed to get the Lion Cuirass, killing a Minotaur on Hard at my level wasn't as hard as I'd feared.

Any tips on earlier weapons / armour I could be on the lookout for?
 

VDX_360

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You tend to get decent equipment just by playing through the game at a reasonable pace. The world is huge and there's lots of items, so you'll likely get a few lucky drops on any play through (not necessary the same ones). As such, I tend to encourage getting items as you get them rather than trying to dash around searching for stuff.

If you happen to be setting on a pile of gold, pick up a few Chainmail or Platemail items early on. By the time you reach Kingsbridge and New Garamd, you might not have enough to buy a full set, but a few points in defense makes a difference early on. Don't worry about having matching gear. But the pieces that give you the best increase per gold spent. Save some of that gold for healing potions.

Very Cheap / Very Easy armor to get very early on (with out doing an insane mad dash)

1) Lionskin Cuirass. Kill a few Minotaur and get a piece that will stay with you for a bit.

2) Lesser Shield of Life. Useful early game. Easy to get. Much needed death resistance.

3) Sword of Shock. Kill a fire goblin, get a decent elemental sword. Helpful for ghosts.

4) Sword of Flames. 1-H sword with fire damage randomly sold by Traveling Armorer. Good for trolls, esp if you get it very early on when fire weapons are limited.

There's a long list of other items, again it's a big world. But those are items that are pretty easy to get, if you haven't gotten them already.

Things to keep an eye out / worthy of a mad dash:

1) Iron Golem Fist. Randomly dropped by Iron Golems and Ancient Guardians. If you're up for a fight, there's a few Iron Golems you can reach early on. If you get lucky, the Iron Golem Fist does decent damage and deals heavy bolt damage, making ghosts that much easier. You can also waste a lot of time and potions trying to take a golem down way too early only to come up empty handed.

2) Stiletto. A Rogue only light weapon with high death damage. You're able to get this weapon very early in the game if you dash into the fortress and run to it. You'll need death protection, a speed potion, scrolls of detection (for a Level 20 secret door) and a scroll of recall to escape once you grab the weapon.

3) Amulet of Dark Whispers / Phantom Sword. As soon as you can access Icemist, you can trigger the Lady of the Night quest. Dashing through a dungeon can get you the items required to get either the Amulet of Dark Whispers with it's stun immunity, or the Phantom Long Sword. Depending on when you complete the mage tower quests, you can get those items very early in the game.



Note: enemies hit by Cleave get hit for full elemental damage and reduced weapon damage. Keep that in mind when choosing crowd control options.
 

stonedwolf

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Thanks for the tips VDX_360.

I have the Lionskin Cuirass, Lesser Shield of Life, Sword of Shock and Sword of Flames. It's good to know I have the early basics; last time I happened upon the Lionskin really quite late in the game & it was just a collector's novelty. I tried for Icicle but found I couldn't keep the Actor alive long enough to kill the Mantiocre Whelp. I will retry another level on. The ice damage would be handy for the Iron Golems, that fist is a beast.

I am finding the jump from 2H on Medium to 1H on Hard to be significant. I used to be a tornado, you might even say Whirlwind, of death. Now? Well... now my opponents stay alive a LOT longer.

What kind of level might I tackle the Mercian Royal Crypt? I don't mean to clear it out in a single run, but enough that I can nip in and out to try to grind armour?
 

VDX_360

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The wraith ambush is the first large hurdle in taking on The Mercican Crypt. If you can get passed that semi-easily, than you might be good to go.

But, before you take on that undread mess, have you gotton all the good stuff from Mausoleum, Irazur Tomb and Western Korne? Ursans in the latter area drop platemail, which can be a cheap way to upgrade.

With modest potion use, 1-H warriors can be quite effective but it will be a slower playing style compared to 2-H beats.

The games classes have very different feels to them, and that extends to the different build styles.

While I was initial critical of the cleric class, it's become my favorite (join warrior's guild).
 

VDX_360

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Also, you can easily get a +4 armor gauntlets from the Golden Hand.

All you need is +1 reputation with the Golden Hand to peacefully access the Library. There you can purchase the Explorer Gauntlets which give +3 Armour, +1 Agility, and life and bolt resistance. Note the agility point gives it's own armor point which is why it gives +4.

You can give the Golden Hand the lost medallion from Spicing Things Up with no real in-game consequences. Or you can give the Golden Hand one of the lost books, such as the one found in Irazur Tomb just before the lich.

What I like to do is to get the positive rep with he library, buy what I need to buy, raid the library for it's look, and trigger the Lost in the Good Book quest. That way when I done, I don't need to return to the Library which means I don't have to worry about the reputation with Golden Hand.
 

stonedwolf

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I'd raided the other tombs, the Mercian Royal Crypt has those tempting Legion plate kits. But yes, I'm not quite at the stage of doing it easily. With potions, perhaps, but I'm currently only using found potions and scrolls of Recall. A self-imposed limitation. Mind you, in the two rooms prior to the trap are two chests, I got Forest Chain Leggings in them so that's an easy acquire.

The Explorer Gauntlets is a fantastic tip!! I had already helped the Golden Hand from Spicing Things Up so that was great.

The Forest Chain Coif in the Trollfens is on the eastern side, so I raided prior to having the ability to take Trolls on. That's an easy free hat for lower-levels.

Thanks again.
 

stonedwolf

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Okay... LOOKING FOR SOME TRAIT ADVICE NOW, PLEASE!

I'm Level 21 with about 15% of XP to 22. I have done almost all quests except Griss, Lost Sewers, and everything Shard related. I have the 12 Shards stored at the Tower.

I have 10 Trait points and the traits:

STR 7, END 5, AGI 3, INT 1, AWA 2, PER 3

And of course kit you might expect (Abbot's Ring, Warrior Belt, Ring Vitality, Exp Gaunt)

Due to Body Development 3 raising STR would give me 21 HP, END would give me 42.

But... should I jack up some of the lower traits?

For heading into the Ashen Wastes & continuing the adventure what sort of minimums might I be looking at for my lower-end Traits?
 

VDX_360

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Are you still playing as a 1-H warrior?
Are you planning on going for the peaceful ending, or the combat one?

If you want to go for the peaceful ending, you may want to make sure your traits are high enough to make the trait checks required for the peaceful ending. Keep in mind the trait raising equipment you have, or will find.

If you're staying 1-H, you might want to consider raising AGL rather than STR. You're at the point that raising your STR to 8 will take 1 less trait point than raising your AGL from 3 to 5. Both will give the same damage increase. The difference being that STR will give some extra HP and AGL will give some extra defense.

The Arc has the +3 STR belt, so I advise to keep your raw STR at an odd number that way your adjusted STR is even, and gets the health bonus.

But really, you can't go wrong either way.

As for equipment, keep in mind the Ashen waste and Arc have some pretty nice equipment.
 

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