General Tips & Advice

A compilation of general and miscellaneous tips and advice when playing in The Easting Reach or in regards to character builds.

Skills Advice

Use Magic Device

When playing a class or character focusing around this skill, the following may be kept in mind.

• Use Magic Device (UMD) does not emulate levels. As for the target, most items have a value under 4800, and almost none will be over 100000. There's probably little benefit from going over 25 skill points, and 15 will cover most of your needs.

Stealth

When playing a stealth-based character:

• 15-20 skill points in Stealth is usually enough. You can make it harder on yourself by standing out in the open for a while, but if you move from cover to cover it'll tend to work out. Tiny creatures still swarm you, but otherwise it's rare to be spotted by more than one member of a group. Halflings effectively get +7 to their stealth from their small size, racial skill bonus and DEX increase, so it doesn't take a lot to make that work

WIP (Will be sorted later)

10,,,"Characters start at level 1 and can advance to level 8. Even the mighty can be brought low."

12,,,"When someone falls in battle, you can help them respawn by ending the fight and joining their side quickly."

13,,,"Level 1 characters get several free respawns to recover from being knocked out. After level 1, or if they run out, they may only respawn once every few days."

14,,,"Dead or comatose characters assume a spirit shape when they can no longer respawn. They need a Revive or Resurrection spell to return to life and awareness."

15,,,"A fallen character may lose a random attribute point. The Restoration spell offers temporary relief, but only Greater Restoration and Resurrection can permanently cure the loss."

16,,,"Characters need at least 3 points in all attributes to live. If a base ability score drops below 3 after falling in battle, they are permanently dead."

17,,,"There is no XP loss upon death, but new XP gain is halved for several days. This period increases each time a character trapped in spirit shape dies anew."

18,,,"A dead PC leaves a corpse behind. Corpses can be carried to a priest or buried somewhere in the wilderness."

19,,,"Characters in spirit form can drop items, but cannot pick them up again. They can hear others, but may not be heard in turn. They can't stray far from their body either."

20,,,"You can earn XP by discovering new and interesting locations. Each character can only earn this XP once per location."

21,,,"You can earn increasing sums of XP and coin by working for an NPC. This takes one hour at a time and you cannot wander far from your place of work. "

22,,,"You can earn XP by advancing through dungeons. Fighting monsters is not always the best or safest way to do so, but it might guarantee a safe escape route."

23,,,"You can earn XP by simply roleplaying your character. You can help someone else earn XP for roleplay by tipping off DMs."

24,,,"When you adventure on your own, you only gain half as much XP as normal. After level 1, you won't be able to respawn without help either."

25,,,"Most of your money will be inside your coin pouch as coin items. These are converted to the familiar 'GP' while you interact with merchants."

26,,,"A Sardil is the smallest coin, made of copper. It takes 50 Sardil to make a Halanth (silver), 1000 for a Balan (gold) and 10000 before you own a Torntar's worth (platinum)."

27,,,"Pick pockets often steal items from your coin pouch first so it's wise to save some money in a different place. But only coin in the pouch can be used to buy from merchants."

28,,,"The Scribe Scroll, Brew Potion and Craft Wand feats do not cost XP, but do need a spell crystal of the right school and quality as a crafting component. For cantrips, mere Spell Dust is good enough."

29,,,"All classes except Druids gain the Weapon Handling feat. This lets them use weapons they may not be proficient with in exchange for an attack penalty."

30,,,"Characters can use one 'special ability' in combat each round. This could be a skill ability like Feint or Tumble or come from a feat like Knockdown or Called Shot. Not all special abilities come at a penalty."

31,,,"Some feats are most effective when other characters have them too. The Thundering Charge feat for example improves the AC of everyone on horseback by one point for every character after the first to have it."

32,,,"Skills like Craft Armour, Craft Weapon and Taunt have been removed. Others were merged, like Craft Trap and Set Trap into Set Trap, Hide and Move Silently into Stealth or Listen and Spot into Perception. Lore was split into ten Knowledge skills."

33,,,"To identify an item, you need an Identification Kit and the right Knowledge skill. Most items accept the best of three different Knowledge skills. If you and your friends are out of luck, you can always pay a merchant for the information instead."

34,,,"Some weapons were changed. Polearms and whips have a longer range. Shuriken now sport a 19-20 x3 critical range and throwing axes have been lightened."

35,,,"Some item weights have been changed. Padded armour, breastplates and tower shields are lighter than normal while half plate and full plate weigh more."

36,,,"Pickaxes, short spears and mauls are commonly used as weapons in Impiltur and have their own weapon feats. Other more exotic CEP weapons do not."

37,,,"Characters can gain 3-4 levels in a prestige class by level 8. Prestige classes do not come with proficiency feats, but can be a great way to build on a character's existing strengths."

38,,,"Barbarians double their damage resistance while they Rage. At level 8, they can choose a bonus feat to make their Rage even more powerful."

39,,,"Bards can learn a new song every level. With 16 bonus songs to choose from, no two end up with the same repetoire."

40,,,"Priests have access to new domains, including Chaos, Charm, Creation, Law, Love, Luck, Moon, Prosperity, Retribution, Strife and Time."

41,,,"Priests are no longer as fit for combat, having lost the Heavy Armour proficiency and high Fortitude save."

42,,,"Animal Companions are powerful allies to a Ranger or Druid. The Familiars of Sorcerers and Wizards on the other hand are rather poor combat material."

43,,,"Druids can Wildshape into many different creatures. Use your 'craft' menu to replace each of the five Wildshape options with one of your choice."

44,,,"High level Druids can choose a bonus feat which improves their Summoned Creatures or Wildshape ability in some way, making them even more fearsome."

45,,,"The Animal Handling skill allows Animal Empathy checks, but there is no taking 20 on rolls outside combat."

46,,,"All characters have a Move To command. This can be used to move followers like animal companions, familiars, summoned and dominated creatures and henchmen to different locations."

47,,,"Druids, Paladins, Sorcerers and Wizards get extra spell slots. While many spells do not last as long as normal, they make up for it in quantity."

48,,,"Arcane spell casters can choose feats which reduce or eliminate spell failure when using shields and armour."

49,,,"The Ranger's favoured enemy bonus affects all skill rolls when dealing with their foes. Remind your DM to apply it when the opportunity arises."

50,,,"Rangers can choose between an archery style and dual-wielding at level 2. If no choice is made by level 6, the dual-wield path is selected."

51,,,"Rangers can use Tracking to read their surroundings or follow the last PC to pass through the area."

52,,,"Paladins can use Detect Evil to determine if suspicious characters are nearby. Raise your Bluff skill if you wish to confuse their ability."

53,,,"Tower Shields can't be used without taking the Great Shield proficiency. Fighters and Paladins get this feat for free."

54,,,"Power Attack and Expertise give you a choice of a +1, +2 or +3 bonus in every situation. The Improved versions let you go up to +6."

55,,,"Monks are vulnerable when facing experienced warriors, but can be deadly to an unprotected spellcaster."

56,,,"Many combat feats were improved. The Circle Kick feat can be used to harm enemies without changing the Monk's primary target, while Called Shot can also be aimed at the head."

57,,,"Pick Pocket can only take coins and small items. It can't be successfully used on the same target twice in one session, nor can it be used again on someone who detected one failed attempt already."

58,,,"The Cleave and Great Cleave feats no longer take Power Attack to select. The Mobility and Spring Attack feats no longer require Dodge."

59,,,"Rogues are the only class with the ability to craft poisons, but anyone can use the vials they make. Like traps, poisons are made through the 'craft' menu."

60,,,"When recovering a trap, you gain trap components instead of a whole kit. Traps which were crafted by yourself or a fellow PC are an exception to this so you can reposition them easily."

61,,,"A character's Sneak Attack dice are halved (rounded down) when they are not using a light melee weapon or unarmed attack."

62,,,"Specialist Wizards lose a bonus spell slot if they haven't memorized a single spell from their chosen school for that spell level."

63,,,"The Abjuration and Necromancy schools are now opposed. The same is true for Conjuration and Transmutation, for Divination and Illusion and for Enchantment and Evocation."

64,,,"Wizards can spend time, money and spell crystals to create a spell scroll for a spell they haven't yet learned. This spell research is started through the 'craft' menu."

65,,,"The Civilian class is available to all characters. This class is inferior in almost every way, but does offer a wide range of skills."

66,,,"A character's reputation for wealth and their Appraise skill affect the price of many items. Spend some time as a beggar to lower others' expectations."

67,,,"Summoners can choose between different themes, like different elements or animals. Use the 'craft' menu to make a choice for the spells you've memorized."

68,,,"The 'craft' menu has an option to help interpret your ability scores. Each ability has four aspects and you can decide which ones apply most to you."

69,,,"Your Selection Tool is used to point at items and characters you want to use voice commands on. Remember to re-select yourself when needed."

70,,,"Each character gains a journal. This can be used to take notes and then attach search words to them so you can quickly find all your information about a subject. "

71,,,"Several new spells were added. Detect Magic, for example, can help read an Arcane Mark or provide extra information about a dungeon."

72,,,"The Heal skill can be used with Heal Kits and Cure Kits. Heal Kits slowly regenerate hitpoints as long as no new wounds are taken. Cure kits can stop poison and disease and even undo their damage."

73,,,"Resting at an inn will heal all lost hitpoints and recover all spells in a safe environment. In the wilderness and in dungeons, resting is far less effective and more dangerous."

74,,,"A tent kit, quality food, high constitution and the Survival skill all improve the quality of rest outside of inns. Campsites are scattered throughout the land but you can also create your own."

75,,,"Characters can rest once every 60 minutes. But if a rest is interrupted for any reason the character gets one free retry without having to wait."

76,,,"NPC priests offer a wide range of spells at reasonable rates to help characters recover from the strains of adventure. They will only offer spells they feel you might need."

77,,,"Powerful spells like Greater Restoration and Resurrection are only available from a few characters in the whole of Impiltur. Remember them if you ever need a miracle."

78,,,"The most common healing potions are based on natural magics. Like the Druid's spells they take time to work. Other potions work like a Priest's magic and cure instantaneously, making them valuable in battle."

79,,,"There are many potions with strange effects to be found. Not all of them are beneficial or work entirely as advertised. "

80,,,"Some items are cursed, working in ways they're not expected to or becoming impossible to take off without a Remove Curse spell. Other items have different effects depending on their owner."

81,,,"Many items like food and drink are perishable, disappearing over time. You can also expect to lose your room keys when the server resets."

82,,,"You can change the @name and @description of your items through voice commands. You can also change your own character @description and @portrait."

83,,,"You can use voice commands to automatically @follow another character, or even to @lead a character along if they're afk."

84,,,"There are voice commands to @roll dice or to @lower saves, skills or attributes for some time. Losing on purpose has never been easier."

85,,,"You can change the appearance of your equipment at any tailoring model for a small sum. New characters can even do so for free. For head changes, please contact a DM."

86,,,"Languages are learned, selected and spoken using the [ bracket. Your known languages are determined by your intelligence and class. "

87,,,"You can throw voices to your followers using the [A] mark for animal companions, [F] for familiars, [S] for summons, [D] for dominated creatures and [1] to [5] for other henchmen."

88,,,"Emotes are activated using the ; command. You can also use this to see the list of valid emote commands."

89,,,"Characters can pay taxes and buy permits in Sarshel. While not strictly necessary, characters lacking the right paperwork always lose a legal dispute."

90,,,"Some containers will creak when opened, alerting nearby monsters to sneaking or invisible looters. A penetrating oil can reduce the risk, but can't remove it."

91,,,"Keep your eyes open when adventuring. There are hidden objects and passages to be found, and not all trap locations can be predicted."

92,,,"You can apply grenades to your weapons to give them a damage bonus. But beware, some of them damage the metal."

93,,,"When holding a weapon in one hand and a torch in the other, some of your hits deal fire damage. The torch will eventually go out."

94,,,"Characters may learn different things about an area depending on their class and skillset. Talking about what you see can help you build a clearer image of what's going on."

95,,,"Be careful where you step. Some terrain is slippery, painful or otherwise hard to move through. When you know where to stand, you can use this against your enemies instead."

96,,,"When you bash a locked container, you destroy some of the contents inside. But finding some treasure intact is still better than walking away from everything."

97,,,"The starting area shows a list of PCs and players who recently logged in. If you keep missing other active players you want to interact with, try contacting them on the forum."

98,,,"With the exception of magical portals, horses are the quickest way to move around. You can hire or buy a horse from stables such as those on Sarshel's outskirts."

99,,,"Caravans and milestones let you travel between settlements without giving movement commands. They still take time, which you can spend in conversation."

100,,,"You can choose an @home location through voice commands. This lets you to start at your favourite haunt instead of the standard login locations and can save you a lot of walking."

101,,,"Wildlife is often shy and hard to spot. If you move slowly and quietly, you may see a lot more creatures going about their business."

102,,,"Characters who train in Parry gain a bonus to the skill equal to their total level."

103,,,"You can setup a quickbar slot for two-weapon fighting. Simply drag the right hand weapon onto an empty quickbar slot and then drag the left hand weapon (or shield) overtop of it. Pressing this button will swap both items into your hands. "

104,,,"You can switch between camera modes in game with the '*' key. "

105,,,"Press the 'v' key to access your character's voicechat and quickly give commands to your companions. "

106,,,"Make good use of the equipment store in the starting area. It's cheap and has items like exotic weapons which you won't soon find elsewhere."

107,,,"If you use missile weapons, keep an eye on your ammunition. Arrows, bolts and throwing axes can be difficult to obtain."

108,,,"You have an additional 24 quickslots that can be accessed by holding the CTRL or SHIFT keys. "

109,,,"Remember that you can keep your own notes in the character journal. "

110,,,"Choose the point blank shot feat if you want to use a ranged weapon in close combat; or, switch to a melee weapon. "

111,,,"Area maps have notes to draw your attention to points of interest. You can add your own persistent map notes as well. "

112,,,"You can use the radial menu off the chat window to set the different levels of feedback available in the game. "

113,,,"Priests don't have to memorize basic healing spells in advance. If dragged directly from spellbook to quickbar, such spells can be cast spontaneously by sacrificing a memorized spell of equal level. "

114,,,"Sorcerers and bards may unlearn spells when gaining a level to get rid of a disliked spell in favor of a better one. "

115,,,"Remember, rogues and bards get the use magic device skill which allows them to use powerful magic items, such as wands and spell scrolls. "

116,,,"Some weapons have the wounding item property on them. Once a character is wounded by one of these weapons they will continue to take damage until they have been healed by potion, spell or healing kit. "

117,,,"Remember that you can use alchemist's fire on your melee weapons to add fire damage to your attacks for a short duration. But be careful not to burn your weapon through overuse."

118,,,"Remember that you can not sell items while you are shapeshifted. You need to return to your character's normal form in order to interact with stores. "

119,,,"Different types of stores buy and sell different items. If you don't find what you want at one store, check other stores as well. "

120,,,"You have control of your henchmen's inventory. If you don't like the weapons or armor they are using, give them better ones. "

121,,,"Build trap kits with the craft trap skill and such items as acid flasks, holy water and tanglefoot bags."

122,,,"Caltrops are useful when fighting groups of weaker enemies. "

123,,,"Many a foul dungeon is darker than despair. Be prepared! A torch or magic light will help you find your way."

124,,,"Though your character requires no food or water to survive, monsters do. They eat adventurers. "

125,,,"Characters with high appraise scores can often get better prices from merchants. "

126,,,"Extra information can be gained by watching for tracks in soft terrain. "

127,,,"When characters die, they can only be returned to life by use of a revive or resurrection spell. "

128,,,"Hang onto any magical weapons you find -- you never know when you will confront a creature that is immune to normal weapons. "

129,,,"If you are having trouble damaging your opponents, try using power attack. This mode increases the damage you do with each hit."

130,,,"Faerûn is a huge continent located on the world of Toril. "

131,,,"When you shapeshift, review your class ability menu. Some forms have access to special powers. "

132,,,"Your henchmen may look cute in their skivvies, but please put armor on them. They will live longer. "

133,,,"The enemy will use invisibility to hide themselves and buff up. Be prepared to counter them with dispel magic, see invisibility or true seeing. "

134,,,"Rogues, or other characters with high dexterity, should take the weapon finesse feat and use light weapons, such as shortswords and daggers. They are not well suited to using strength based attacks. "