Beginner's Help

[isadorbg]

 

I basically changed everything around now to

Morvidus: Revision, Zoology, Glamour, Negation, Music, Dialectic (for the stury attribute boni)

Planning on getting all the attribute-boosting clique members (Vincent might be difficult since he's from Vernin?)

 

 

 

Not a bad choice for the classes and Morvidius is a really cool college (not at the level of Vernin but still)

For Vincent. The college rivalry is not important in year 1 but it might change in year 2.

 

 

 

Cyx tactic with the temple of Iudocia works just as well with Arcadius's temple (unlocked by Music - Voice 2 or the background Deed: A Singer's Gift) and making pims by working the fields, right?

 

 

Not really no, Arcadius give you a raise of your voice subskill plus 2 religion subskill (random)and the "working in the fields'' abilty one transportation point and 20 pims.

The temple of Iudocia raises each of the religion subskill (Prayer-Oratory-Piety and Theology ) by one for a cost of 5 pims.

 

To get the ''Cleanse and Remake'' Spell suggested by Cyx which is no doubt the most useful spell of the game you need to have you Piety subskill at 7.

The Iudiocia ability is thus the more effective way to get at this level since it you get 5 point for one action with one of these being piety but everything that can raise piety is good too.

 

 

 

 

2. everybody here would probably cringe if I even consider taking

Deed: Negated (+1 Point) - +15% Chance of Failure for any Spell, +2 Relationship with Joana Lio y Rossollo, +2 Relationship with Ana Flavia Bessa ?

 

 

 

Well depends on how you intend to play. I don't think the malus impact the options in random event and Adventure (never took it) but if you intend to use ''Cleanse and Remake'' which is a spell or any other spell (tough few are really useful), you'll have to consider the malus.

 

 

 

3. If I'm in Morvidus myself are my chances on getting on the bad sides of the bullies there lowered

 

 

 

 

Yes and No. No because unfortunaly our dear bullies are quite ''open minded'' on their targets . What matters most is your relation with them if you have more than plus 3 or 4 relation with them you should be okay and there is where being in the same college might be an advantage since you'll certainly get more event and Adventure involving other members of your college including the trouble makers.

[graublau]

Oh, ok, then I guess the Wiki is outdated, it sais Expand Religion - Piety there:

http://academagia.wikia.com/wiki/Arcadius's_Temple

 

I guess I need to try how badly the 15% failure chance will hit

 

thanks a bunch!

[Schwarzbart]

What isadorbg forget to tell you is that you need the Beseech Pheme for Cleanse and Remake and unless you take History class you should learn prayer to 5 for getting it. You want to have prayer 2 anyway for the Durand's Prayer Gorve

 

Also isadorbg is wrong about Arcadius's Temple as it gives Prayer and Piety beside a Random Music SS.

[graublau]

ah so Arcadius would do just fine, since I'd get Prayer (to 5) and Piety (to 7) and could use the Cleanse and Remake, right? (Sry x_x this is just really confusing at times and so much to take in - but it's great!)

[Schwarzbart]

Yes, if you have enough money for it this is one way.

[Metis]

So I would say definitely take Revision and Glamour, as so far they don't have locations dedicated just to learning them.

Library of the Manetele? +1 SS of choice, +1 SS random Revision, +1 SS random Forge? It's a pretty good place if you can wait for Library Knowledge 9.

 

No clue where, if anywhere, you can decently train Glamour though.

 

The forbidden pillars- Mastery and Gates and a bit of that Sync thrown in- are rarely asked for, so you can safely ignore them if you so choose.

That, and they're a pain to learn anyway. If you do unlock Instinct (Sync skill) and Selective Focus (Concentration 9), though, I do recommend you use SF to train Instinct to 10. Lightning Reactions is a very nice passive ability, and Free Running (Instinct 2) allows you to train up Endurance at the same time. Endurance 10 unlocks The Challenge at the Redoubt, which is an easy (if one-time) +1 Glory and +200 Pims (Insight/Endurance v13).

[isadorbg]

What isadorbg forget to tell you is that you need the Beseech Pheme for Cleanse and Remake and unless you take History class you should learn prayer to 5 for getting it. You want to have prayer 2 anyway for the <a data-ipb="nomediaparse" data-cke-saved-href="http://academagia.wikia.com/wiki/Durand" href="http://academagia.wikia.com/wiki/Durand" s_prayer_grove"="">Durand's Prayer Gorve

 

Also isadorbg is wrong about Arcadius's Temple as it gives Prayer and Piety beside a Random Music SS.

 

Oh yeah forgot the prayer one.

 

The Arcadius, i checked the game and it gave me exprand voice and two religion subskill but maybe i mistook it with something else i am getting pretty tired

[Schwarzbart]

For Glamour check out the Professor Podium of the glamour class room. But you have to get it via Explore if you don't have the class.

 

@isadorbg No you are right the text says two religion subskill but this 2 are fixed and not random

[Metis]

For Glamour check out the Professor Podium of the glamour class room. But you have to get it via Explore if you don't have the class.

Not going to count that as a reliable place to study it because unlocking a specific location through Explore is just...no, at best.

[graublau]

I hope it's ok to keep using this thread for my newb-questions x_x

I'm still working on the backgrounds. I think I've sorted out the attributes, at least if I haven't missed one.

 

Intelligence:

Omen: Shattered Mirrors - +1% Chance of Success, +1 Intelligence, +2 Leadership, +1 Oratory

Family: Graverobbers - +1 Intelligence, +1 Anatomy, +1 Archeology, +1 Biology. But when Stress>2, you will suffer -1 Confidence, -1 Composure, -1 Temperance and -1 Luck

Insight:

Omen: Islandquake - +1 Insight, +2 Theory of Negation

Prodigy: Spiritual - +1 Insight, +1 Awareness, +1 Ethics, +1 Art Appreciation

Luck:

Astrology: The Comet - +1% Chance of Success to all Actions, +1 Luck, +1 Pure Luck

History: Descended from Heroes - +1 Luck, +1 Glory, Vistation Rights for the Temple of Iudocia and the Imperial Reserve. - 2 Stress Maximum

Charm:

Family: Sky Pirates - +1 Charm, +1 Acrobatics, +1 Knots, +1 Navigation, +10% Chance of Discovery

Prodigy: Center of Attention - +1 Charm, +1 Leadership, +1 Flirting

Finesse:

History: Artisans of Skill - +1 Finesse, +1 Artisan, +1 to two Random Forge Skills

Prodigy: Life of Avarice - +1 Finesse, +1 Conceal, +1 Composure, +1 Move Silently, +1 Negotiate (Temperance and Character Skill Maximum at 9. Unlocks A Hot Time adventure)

Apprenticeship: Spy - +1 Finesse, +1 Poisons, Inform all Espionage Subskills, Inform all Blackmail Subskills

Fitness:

Omen: Blood Moon - +1 Fitness, +1 Archery, +1 Wrestling, +1 Command

Family: Sports - +1 Fitness, +1 to two Random Rimbal Skills, +1 to two Random Athletics Skills

Strength:

Omen: Island Lights - +1 Strength, +1 Brute Strength, +1, Courage

Deed: Lonely Sentinel - +1 Strength, +1 Hunting, +1 Scouting, +1 Relationship with Gwendy Zuyder

Prodigy: Battle-born - +1 Endurance, +1 Strength, +5% CoS at Hostile actions.

 

So, if I want to push all my attributes via Background I need to take the Omen: Shattered Mirrors one, which rules all the other omens out, which in turn leaves only one optio for Insight, Fitness and Strength each.

As for Luck I'd say the comet is an easy yes, but I'm a bit unsure about the Heroes-History - how much do the -2 Stress Maximum hurt? (And the Imperial Reserve is not where the Sphinx is, is it?)

Charm-wise the Sky Pirates would give more boni, but the +10% Chance of Discovery is something negative, right?

And with the 3 options for Finesse, they all seem valid, but if I want to keep the option to get all attribute skill boosts Life of Avarice is no good, since Temperance 11 gives bonus to Charm, but on the other hand it gives an adventure, so it might be worth while to try.

 

All the abilities I found giving attribute boosts (at least I hope those are all boosts? In the wiki most of them say 'Increase' which term wise would be a temporary thing, not permanent)

Understand Strategy (War 2) - Expand Insight
Goose Bumps (Ambush - Danger Sense 3) - Increase Insight

Learn From Mistakes (Compete - Planning 2) - Increase Insight, Increase Intelligence
Mind for Numbers (Arithmetic - Theory of Arithmetic 10) - Increase Intelligence
Mild (Befriend - Temperance - 11) - Increase Charm
Trap Cunning (Ambush - Traps 10) - Increase Finesse
Athletic (Sleight-of-Hand - Acrobatics 3) - Increase Fitness
Well Toned (Athletics 8) - Increase Strength, Increase Fitness

Backgrounds to get points back are

Family: Black Sheep - Parental Approval level will never rise above 0 and you get an additonal point for use on other character creation picks.
History: Descended of Traitors - -2 Relationship with 10 Random Students and you get an additonal point for use on other character creation picks.
Deed: Negated - +15% Chance of Failure for any Spell, +2 Relationship with Joana Lio y Rossollo, +2 Relationship with Ana Flavia Bessa
Prodigy: Bad Luck Magnet - +5% expansion of your Chance of Failure and you get an additonal point for use on other character creation picks.
Friendships: Actually, Bitter Hatred - Add 2 stress, -5 Relationship with a Random Student from Morvidus

 

Black Sheep seems a good choice, since you can work for your money.

The two -relationship ones are ... difficult, at least for me personally, I'd rather get along with people?

And - as weird as it might seem - the 5% generall chance of failure seem worse then the 15% on spells, plus that one gives relationship boni.

 

But what I'm really wondering about is: are there any backgrounds that you guys think are a "must-have"? Like things that other wise are really hard or maybe not at all available in game otherwise? The Gate and Mastery things seem to be something like that? Or maybe the Discoveries: Libraries?

 

Thanks again for any insight

[Xandran]

I don't know if there are any must-have backgrounds, but I frequently take a familiar background of some type in most of my playthroughs now, just because I still haven't seen all the familiar adventures. Although whether a familiar adventure is any good is sometimes hard to even say with just one playthrough of it. A few of them have multiple paths through them! If you don't pay attention, you might accidentally start menacing farmers by starting hurricanes for no reason! (I still regret not actually reading closer when I had that option, haha)

[Schwarzbart]

For Int you missed Family: Graverobbers

For Strength you missed the new background Prodigy: Battle-Born

 

Also keep in mind you only can select one Omen background

[graublau]

I read somewhere that beginners should maybe leave familiars for laters, that's why I was thinking about not getting one and rather creating a "familiar centered" character later on.

 

Ah thanks. I guess I disliked the graverobbers to much because of the penalties once you get stressed (2+). And the battle-born one doesn't seem to be in the wiki yet, guess I'll have to check that out IG.

[Metis]

As for Luck I'd say the comet is an easy yes, but I'm a bit unsure about the Heroes-History - how much do the -2 Stress Maximum hurt?

Remember when I said that starting with 1 Fitness was a terrible, terrible idea and you should never do it? It's because Fitness×2 is your base Stress and Vitality Maximum, and if you start the game with 1 Fitness your Stress/Vitality Maximums are likewise 2, and that really is not enough to do anything. Especially if you choose the Bitter Hatred flaw and roll Joana, because she will Bully you constantly which raises your stress by 3. Out of your maximum of 2. It's painful.

 

And the Imperial Reserve is not where the Sphinx is, is it?

Nope, Sphinx's in her own room in the Imperial Palace. If you want Visitation Rights you need to either do her adventure or get Early Empire 9, I think.

 

Charm-wise the Sky Pirates would give more boni, but the +10% Chance of Discovery is something negative, right?

Yes, and it's pretty damn negative as well. If you need another point of charm just drop a point in it in the talents screen because +1 to three skills is not worth +10% CoD.

 

Fun Fact: My spellchecker does not recognise "boni". It does recognise "bonuses".

 

And with the 3 options for Finesse, they all seem valid, but if I want to keep the option to get all attribute skill boosts Life of Avarice is no good, since Temperance 11 gives bonus to Charm, but on the other hand it gives an adventure, so it might be worth while to try.

The -1 to two Skill Maximums, again, isn't worth it. A fourth point of Finesse at the start is overkill, anyway. If you need another point of Finesse that badly just enroll in Revision, since the study mastery gives +1 Finesse.

 

Goose Bumps (Ambush - Danger Sense 4) - Increase Insight

That's Danger Sense 3.

 

But what I'm really wondering about is: are there any backgrounds that you guys think are a "must-have"? Like things that other wise are really hard or maybe not at all available in game otherwise? The Gate and Mastery things seem to be something like that? Or maybe the Discoveries: Libraries?

If you want to study Gates than Family: The Secret Heritage is a must. Discoveries: Libraries is only good for unlocking two other libraries at the start, which isn't bad, but not worth a background point.

[Metis]

Not editing the post above because that seems to mess up the quotes (seriously, what's wrong with the quotes?).

 

I read somewhere that beginners should maybe leave familiars for laters, that's why I was thinking about not getting one and rather creating a "familiar centered" character later on.

Familiars are pretty much giant timesinks and unless you either savescum or have a guide open the entire time the Familiar adventures are painful. In fact, in my last game I rolled a porcupine and I couldn't finish the adventure. My Familiar somehow failed on a red Charm/Conversation v7 with 1 Charm/6 Conversation 20+ times before I just gave up. In fact, if anyone knows how to cast spells on a Familiar to temporarily make them less god-awful at life, I'd very much like to know

 

I guess I disliked the graverobbers to much because of the penalties once you get stressed (2+).

You generally don't want to be walking around with a high stress anyway so it's not that big a deal, but if you don't know how to manage stress efficiently you'll be spending a lot of turns resting or doing something else of that nature.

 

And the battle-born one doesn't seem to be in the wiki yet, guess I'll have to check that out IG.

I happen to have the game open:

 

Prodigy: Battle-Born. +1 Endurance, +1 Strength, +5% CoS at Hostile actions.

 

It's more than just a point in Strength, but not much more, sadly.

[graublau]

Ah, thanks again

added the info for battle-born and corrected the Danger Sence value (just copied it from the wiki ^^)

 

So atm I'd start with

Omen: Shattered Mirrors - +1% Chance of Success, +1 Intelligence, +2 Leadership, +1 Oratory

Prodigy: Spiritual - +1 Insight, +1 Awareness, +1 Ethics, +1 Art Appreciation

Astrology: The Comet - +1% Chance of Success to all Actions, +1 Luck, +1 Pure Luck

Prodigy: Center of Attention - +1 Charm, +1 Leadership, +1 Flirting

Apprenticeship: Spy - +1 Finesse, +1 Poisons, Inform all Espionage Subskills, Inform all Blackmail Subskills

Family: Sports - +1 Fitness, +1 to two Random Rimbal Skills, +1 to two Random Athletics Skills

Deed: Lonely Sentinel - +1 Strength, +1 Hunting, +1 Scouting, +1 Relationship with Gwendy Zuyder

Family: Black Sheep - Parental Approval level will never rise above 0 and you get an additonal point for use on other character creation picks.

 

So I'd have another 4 points (if my math is correct ) left

And I consider taking:

History: Descended from Heroes - +1 Luck, +1 Glory, Vistation Rights for the Temple of Iudocia and the Imperial Reserve. - 2 Stress Maximum

Deed: Negated - +15% Chance of Failure for any Spell, +2 Relationship with Joana Lio y Rossollo, +2 Relationship with Ana Flavia Bessa

 

Would it be best to put those 4 points in attributes or into more backgrounds which would give me skills/unlock stuff?

[Schwarzbart]

Not editing the post above because that seems to mess up the quotes (seriously, what's wrong with the quotes?).

 

Familiars are pretty much giant timesinks and unless you either savescum or have a guide open the entire time the Familiar adventures are painful. In fact, in my last game I rolled a porcupine and I couldn't finish the adventure. My Familiar somehow failed on a red Charm/Conversation v7 with 1 Charm/6 Conversation 20+ times before I just gave up. In fact, if anyone knows how to cast spells on a Familiar to temporarily make them less god-awful at life, I'd very much like to know

You need spells that target your familiar. We have The Familiar's Gift (sadly need some hard to get Pheme),Familiar Education as spells and Animalistic Empathy as action that can help you with the adventures.

 

I happen to have the game open:

 

Prodigy: Battle-Born. +1 Endurance, +1 Strength, +5% CoS at Hostile actions.

 

It's more than just a point in Strength, but not much more, sadly.

Here we have different opinions because in my reading getting a CoS are much better then any skills I would gain from a background. CoS is one of the most lasting effects we can get at the start wile 2 points in skills are worth maybe 1 timeslot.

[Metis]

Oh hey, From Novice to Master - Familiar Edition. How did I not find you before? That's going to save a lot of trouble, even though I always enrol in Zoology so I always have access to Improved Familiar Handling.

 

And +5% CoS is good, but it only applies to hostile actions. I can very easily go through an entire year without using a single hostile action once, depending on whether Kurt decides to be cute or not.

 

EDIT:

Would it be best to put those 4 points in attributes or into more backgrounds which would give me skills/unlock stuff?

Tutoring: Grifter is a good choice if you're a Black Sheep, since the -25 Parental Approval is going to amount to nothing. And if you start with -2 Stress Maximum you want to start with at least 3 Fitness since otherwise you're going to be stuck sobbing profusely in your room for a day far too often.

 

Also get Familiar - Platypus. You'll get a short adventure chain immediately after the tutorial which gets you +1 Luck, before you can even select your actions for Juvenalia.

[graublau]

I would hope to not need the CoS for hostile actions as well, since ... I'm just not into confrontation I guess

But I'll see if there are other CoS 'options' - Tutoring: Grifter sounds good.

 

Is there a list of "academic actions" to evaluate how useful this might be?

Prodigy: Curiosity - +1 Bonus to all Academic Actions, +1 Study Habits, Work Until You Drop (Action)

 

What about backgrounds that give me back Max Stress, like

Exploits: Shipwrecked! - +1 Maximum Stress, +1 Patience, +1 Temperance, +1 Leadership, +2 Composure ?

 

Or maybe items?

 

Am I thinking correctily if I mean that "everything else" is worth more than just getting some skill points?

[Metis]

A +1 bonus to actions shouldn't be something that a background point is worth spending on, honestly. And +1 Stress Max actually isn't bad, if you need it, but it's best not to need it. If you want +1 luck just go with Familiar - Platypus and be satisfied with the +1 Fitness from Family - Sports.

 

If you're not enrolled in Incantation you could consider Apprentice: Local Wizard so that you (hopefully) start with at least Theory of Incantation 1, unlocking Esteban's for when you have the money. Alternatively choose Inheritance: A Spy's Stealth, since the items you get are combined worth over 1200 Pims, which is enough to pay tuition.

[graublau]

I was thinking about getting Ana Flavia Bessa as a friend to unlock the Theory of Incantation (with the relationship +2 from Deed: Negated that shouldn't be to hard, right?) Maybe an aditional 2% for social (to the 5% from Grifter) from Prodigy: Social?

[Metis]

Befriend is a social action so you already have +5% from Grifter, you can use the Great Hall location for another +10%, and you start with +2 relationship...yeah, that should be a piece of cake. Prodigy: Social isn't a bad choice, but if you know you're going to be getting Theory of Incantation early and you're not enrolled in Incantation I'd say pick Inheritance: A Spy's Stealth, sell both items and use the funds to pay tuition. Then study at Esteban's until Theory of Incantation takes 0/2 skill steps and work off the stress with Use The Athletics Field.

 

Getting 900 Pims through working jobs takes a long time, and if you're not lucky enough to roll (and succeed at!) a random event that just so happens to hand out an item worth 800-some Pims you're going to be without Incantation for a while, and that is painful.

[Dreamweaver]

I read somewhere that beginners should maybe leave familiars for laters, that's why I was thinking about not getting one and rather creating a "familiar centered" character later on.

 

Ah thanks. I guess I disliked the graverobbers to much because of the penalties once you get stressed (2+). And the battle-born one doesn't seem to be in the wiki yet, guess I'll have to check that out IG.

In my current playthrough I picked a cat with 3 stat-boosters (the ones with +2 attributes each) so I invested 4 points in him from the start. It's worthless at the beginning but it makes him easier to train up later. I figured attributes can be earned for the player somewhat easily while it's tricky for the familiar.

 

I'm pretty sure the graverobber penalty doesn't trigger if you have enough confidence, so that late game even if you ARE stressed you won't be affected.

 

So I'd have another 4 points (if my math is correct ) left

And I consider taking:

History: Descended from Heroes - +1 Luck, +1 Glory, Vistation Rights for the Temple of Iudocia and the Imperial Reserve. - 2 Stress Maximum

Deed: Negated - +15% Chance of Failure for any Spell, +2 Relationship with Joana Lio y Rossollo, +2 Relationship with Ana Flavia Bessa

Would it be best to put those 4 points in attributes or into more backgrounds which would give me skills/unlock stuff?

 

If you are considering taking Negated for roleplaying reasons, why not, but if you are trying to optimize your character I'd stay clear as it is a permanent penalty whereas you'd probably buy something that could be obtained from a single adventure anyway.

 

If you want to optimize I'd suggest picking traits which give attributes.

[Schwarzbart]

That's why you alternative can start with wealthy as this might help you in later years more.

[graublau]

Wouldn't it be more useful to reduce stress by working in the fields since you get money?

For money in generall I thought about using Cyx tip and pray for it.

 

Is there a way to verify if confidence counters the stress-debuff from graverobbers? And to find out how much confidence you'd need? Taking a background would probably not be enough, right?

Family: Favored Child - Start with 500 pims, +2 Confidence

I was considering Negated, because I thought 15% on casting spells wouldn't be too bad, since I expect to mostly be casting Cleanse and Remake, maybe From Nothing, Knowledge or Revision of Skills now and then, but nothing time critical - maybe I didn't understand it right in the wiki, but I thought if I messed up casting the spell I can always reload and try again? (Maybe cast it in a different slot / on a different day?)

 

And with wealthy you mean

Station: Wealthy - +1 Courtly Fashion, +1 Court Hairstyles, +1 Perfumes, +2 Etiquette, +1 Art Appreciation. Allowance of 50 pims per two weeks, start with 200 pims ?

How would this calculate with black sheep and/or Grifter-Tutor? Would I end up getting the 200 pims plus 25 per 2/weeks?

And will backgrounds still have effects on the coming years? (That would be really cool )