Shattered Kingdoms

Hi,

I just started playing SK on the weekend. So far I have tried a barbarian, a sorcerer, a bard and a rogue with the first two being my favourites.

I had a lot of help in the start with my barbarian with a very nice bard in Teron, who gave me some money and taught me how to train and fight. I bought a greatsword in the arena, and then I went exploring and I somehow lost it when some undead ambushed me. I was kind of disappointed because I was too high a level to go back and buy a new sword.

I eventually found the weapons shop in Teron and bought a gladius -- and now I've lost it too. I'm not sure why it is gone. I don't think it was stolen because the shopkeeper didn't mention about the possibility of it being stolen, like it does when I try buying something more expensive. The last time I can see it being used was during a fight with a goblin which I ran away from.

I'm hoping I can find another shopkeeper who can sell me another greatsword, but it makes me wary that my weapons have disappeared. Is there something I can do about this?


PS: it would be good if the Kytar mage told you how to get back to the camp after sending you to Menegroth. I spent some time searching in the city for it, thinking I'd completely ruined my rogue by getting out early.

Warrior classes have a skill called Disarm. It's possible to be disarmed so that your weapon is thrown to the ground. If you flee the fight without finishing it, and you've been disarmed in that way, you're going to be leaving your weapon behind.

The second weapon loss might be similarly related, or it might be logout code/level related, it's hard to say for sure from a player's position.

You can also lose weapons if you are literally disarmed -- if you have a limb cut off during a fight. If you drop your weapon in combat or due to a weakening effect such as poison, beware that some NPCs in the game are scavengers -- they will pick up anything they find on the ground and pocket it. You would then have to kill the NPC that has possession of your gear to recover it.

I'm pretty sure the main reason was due to loss of limb, because I have not loss my weapon ever since I bought some armor. It's important not to be stingy about this!

Thanks for your replies, you two.

This concept carries through the entire spectrum of low-level to end-game content in SK. The more time and resources you devote to being prepared and protected, the better you will succeed. Even then, there's no threshold where you will be invincible or immune to all negative effects or situations. Try to approach the game world from a semi-realistic standpoint; meaning, would an adventurer go out wandering in untamed wilds, to face unknown threats, without basic protective gear, magical aid, and appropriate armaments?

There's lots of characters in-game that will take the time to help low-levels get equipped and to answer logical questions about how and where to travel, and what gear or supplies would be needed to survive those travels. It's worth it to take the time to RP with mentors about those things, particularly as a new player, because you'll get a head start on surviving the game world. As they say, forewarned is fore-armed.

It's a pity I tend to log in when there are very few players around. Only one of my characters has had contact with a mentor.

A handful of comments about the game:

I find sorcerer is a very hard start in the game. Magic missile is a weak spell, and though it does improve with level, it does not compare favourably to someone swinging an axe. A pet is super duper useful and necessary if I want to survive against NPCs I perfectly match against. The class has a truckload of utility for sure, but it doesn't compensate for the lacklustre combat in the early game. Maybe I should have a go at warlocks to compare? I also have yet to try swashbuckler, scout, hellion, mercenary, shaman, necromancer.

Priest has a much easier time than the sorcerer, what with bless and armor and cure light and refresh making the character more hardy and allowing one to travel around without a mount. And they can wear light armor right off the bat.

I like the paladin skills. They have enough melee to stand up to abuse and some spells to keep them there. The warnings about their RP haven't fazed me, or else I would not have tried priest at all, since they too need to follow a god eventually. My paladin is probably better off being human rather than dwarf, but I like dwarfs and I hardly see any mention of them.

The maps could do with more detail. Exile's map seems to be funky, or else needs updating. Its starting area seems better than that of Nerina's or Teron's.

I haven't yet made an evil character. Deep elf looks very inviting, though I'm concerned about painting a target on myself going with that. I have a terrible time RPing evil; it always comes out stilted, like a Disney villain. Or it just seems like an excuse to do terribly stupid things, like attacking everyone.

...and now my sorcerer is eating dirt from a bakemono attack. Hmm. Should've gone invis.

I'm personally loving a warlock, the shaman's pretty sweet too. Haven't tried the hellion or swashbuckler though.

Someone once said that the key to a believable villain is that to the villain, they are the hero of their own story. I've always liked that quote and tend not to go to extremes with regards to the cartoonishly evil things unless there's a roleplay related reason why a pc is having that sort of reaction. That's just my take though.

For an example of that, look up Handsome Jack from borderlands 2.

Ha, I thought I would rage-delete my sorceror, but I decided to go back. Much to my delighted surprise, my equipment was still where I died, almost one day later. Hurrah!

Oh, and I tried the Wastes. The starting area is very appropriate for evil, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to play an evil character for the foreseeable future.

Sorc is a pretty great first character, because invis, fly, charm, gate, locate, and identify are so good for exploring. If you can get it leveled up a little bit a lot of the squishy issues start taking care of themselves. Piece of advice for your young sorc: wear a shield and stand stance neutral, even though you can't "block" with it it'll still help you out a lot and you gain nothing from being aggressive, ever.