OK, you cultists
 

Y'all got me interested, even though I've already got too many games on my shelf waiting to be played. So, I'm a proud owner of the most Watch-hyped game since the Witcher. I think I'm going to enjoy it a good bit.

Any advice for a beginner, oh sages?

Just one for now: Don't know what something means? Right click on it. Right click is your friend. Right click often and you shall be illuminated.

Incidentally I started my second game yesterday, with two modifications: overall NPC/PC walk/run/sneak speed increased by 25% and herb gathering / animal skinning time decreased by 75%. It may not be necessary on your first walk through the game when you can take your time to take everything in. If you've been there, done that already, however, the slow default running and gathering will drive you bonkers.

me too ='.'=

just the demo right now tho

Look into Ergo's mod. Decide if you want to install it.
Make the walking speed even faster than Ergo.

Use ASDW for running. P&C only if you want to go to an exact position.

That's the weakest part. :/

Mage PCs are not a bad choice, as it will take a while until you can get the first NPC mage to join the group.

I agree, a Battlemage is a very good starting character. Don't be afraid to use the ADVANCED button and tweak your character as well. For the early section, high plant lore is helpful. Oh, keep the 'lost' package for a LONG time; it will be worth it. :)

My first attempt was a dwarf mercenary. That actually went reasonably well, but I was a little frustrated on the plant and animal lore. Even topped out, I was less than 50% on animal harvests and Rhulana (similarly maxed) didn't harvest a single plant successfully.

I'm gonna try something for my first restart, but I'm not sure what yet. You know me--I really struggle with hocus pocus characters. Maybe a ranger.

I really recommend a caster, a summoner at that (since you won't find any companions). Remember this is not Gothic, the character you create is just another one of the group. Press F2 and now you're the second character, F3 and you're the 3rd. There isn't any difference. He/she doesn't need to know or do everything. Have one character excel at each thing, no need to have 2 herbalists, or 2 lock pickers.
As far as plants and animal lore goes, don't worry about it. Even maxed out you won't always gather successfully (each type of plants has different difficulty levels, some you just won't be able to pick for a long while, and many you'll have like a 1 in 10 chances, not worth it really).

I worked with a healing mage. The plant and animal lore were nice, but I just couldn't get myself to stay back and throw lightning bolts. Swinging a staff just wasn't a good plan. It's a melee character for me, I'm afraid. I thought about a lockpick of some sort, but I'm guessing I'll pick up one of those pretty quickly when I find Dranor.

Restart 2 on deck. ;)

you finished the whole game in one day ?

Well, obviously dte knows everything about …

http://arhiel.blautann.de/dummy/powerleveling.jpg

Seriously though, he only played the first area to see which class he'd like best is my guess. ;)

I like that one, Arhu, but actually I'm horrible as a powergamer. I'm a complete-ist, so I even search for crumbs in the deadends of the maze. ;)

"Restart" versus "replay", Pladio. The furthest I've gone is clearing the "dark forest" outside the starting town. Like Arhu said, I'm just trying different classes. Restart 2 ended up being a dwarf sapper. I liked that one quite a bit, but I got stubborn with the white wolf and managed to get dead. I'm getting a better feel for the game mechanics now, so restart 3 might turn into a real run. I'm thinking some sort of straight tank and bugger the side skills until the party gets a little bigger.

The first character you pick up after the opening section is a dwarf tank. You WILL need a caster and they come late down the track. There's plenty of tanks available and a couple of good rogues too. Certain tools help your plant and animal lore. Dte, think Kotor with creating/forming a party. A ranger becomes available fairly early on and she's quite useful. A Battle mage CAN be a good melee character with enough casting ability to 'soften' up a mob!!

Started a tweaked warrior. Haven't played KotOR, so the reference is lost on me. You know me--sumo until it hurts…

That's just the way Aventurian Dwarves are. No doubt.

On the other hand, they're waaay better concerning anything made of stones … They can find treasures and hidden caches much easier, at least in the game.

Elves, on the other hand, cannot deal well with anything stone-related …

And the Geodes, coming in the next game, are kind of a middle thing … They are heavily attuned to "mother earth" and act like kind o earth elementarists. They are the druids of the Aventurian Dwarves, so to say. And very, very rare.

I think you still are in the mindset of 'this is my character'. It's really not, you can select a caster and just play as any of the companions. Whatever you choose has no impact in the game (i.e. you won't get different options if you're a warrior or a mage). With very few exceptions you'll be restricted as to who is with you (I think 3 places, all optional). If you don't like "casting thunderbolts in the back" then don't, let the AI control that char. I actually prefer the summoners, makes fights so much easier imho.

Guilty as charged. I really don't understand why there's an emotional difference between building 4 characters up front ala MM7 versus assembling a party like this (or MM8), but "me" is established and set in stone before the first cutscene. If they'd let me change the order of the party portraits, it might help, but there's just something fundamentally wrong about putting the crown on the second portrait for the entire game.

I know…I'm a nutjob.

Nothing nutjobby about this.

After all, you also have to think about the story. It is your PC who is Ardo's friend, and it is the PC character that represents the group on many occasions (don't want to spoil anything here). So while there is little difference gameplay-wise when it comes to which character you regard as your PC, the story will affect you differently.

Same for me. What I found a bit disappointing at first is that "you" don't have any voice whatsoever. Your companions comment on everything, but your own character is always the silent type.

If melee is what works best for you, go ahead and play one. My first run through the game I used a ranger type and kept magic to a minimum, although I did find a druid soon enough.

As for giving the crown to someone else - I changed it depening on where I was. Town? Thief or main character goes ahead. Outside? Ranger. Dungeon? Someone who can detect traps. Dangerous areas in general? Melee or someone with plate armor. Often I let the one go ahead who could see the farthest (perception), since that's one of the few skills that aren't shared between other members of your party. Streetwise otoh is shared, so as long as someone's in your party with the talent, you'll benefit from it regardless of who's got the crown.