Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade
Character FAQ
27. January 2006
1. Introduction
------------
UL: BotB, released by Sony Online Entertainment back in March 2005, is the
first Hack-and-Slash RPG to come out for the PSP. If you are familiar with
any game from either the Champions of Norrath Series or the Baldurs Gate
Dark Alliance Series, then you will notice the first time you start this up
that the gameplay is very similar if not identical to these PS2 games (the
former moreso than the latter).
There are some major differences though. Following is a rundown of the
more releveant ones:
* There are only four characters to choose from: the Knight (which can
be played either as the standard tank or, surprisingly, as an archer),
the Berserker (a melee character that sacrifices defense for offense),
the Alchemist (your standard spellcaster), and the Druid (a more kind of
mixed melee and spellcaster class). This is not a major deal breaker
though since with numerous playthroughs I found that each class can be
played in very different ways through a different mix of skills.
* Aside from the starting town, every dungeon map is random. This means
that the location of treasures and monsters change with every play
through. The quests remain the same though and the monsters and bosses
you encounter for every map is pretty much the same.
* Lastly, given the design choices Sony has made on the PSP, the
developers had to make some compromises on the control scheme. It takes
time to get used to blocking because of the unorthodox button
combination for example.
All in all, this is a great game and is a nice addition to every PSP
owner's collection.
2. Thoughts on Stats
-----------------
For this section, note that I won't repeat anything from the manual as I
tend to believe that stuff like that only makes it hard for those non-DSL
readers to get this FAQ so don't expect anything of that nature here. I
will provide my own personal opinion on skills and stats based on my own
playing experience. Let me then begin with some explanation on the stats:
All characters have the same basic attributes: Strength (STR), Dexterity
(DEX), Intelligence (INT), and Stamina (STA). This in turn affects the
character's stats (i.e., Health, Power, Damage, carry capacity, etc). The
basic effects of each attribute is as follows:
+3 STR will net you +1 melee damage
+1 STR will up your carry capacity by some amount (I will need to get the
exact value though)
+3 DEX will net you +1 bow damage
+3 DEX will increase your spell damage by 1 (both direct spell damage or
per second damage depending on spell selection)
+1 STA will net you +1 Health
+1 INT will net you +1 Power
I may get flamed for this but please hear me out first. From the table
above, you will see that the additional increase is quite minimal. As you
level up, you also receive additional health and power (the value of which
depends on your class selection), and the increase in amount is most likely
more than enough to survive. Take this example:
A Druid receives +14 health per level up (if I'm not mistaken). At level
ten this gives you 126 health points. At this level, enemise do around 30
to 50 damage so you will be hit 4 to 6 times before you die. Now if you
put one of your three points per level to STA, you will get an additional
9 health. That won't do jack for you... If you then put all your points
to STA, your should have an additional 27 points which may increase your
survivability by another hit which is noticable but again is not that much.
Taking the same druid, at each level you should receive +17 power per level
up. At level 15, when you get "Thunder Strike", you will have around 600
power. Thunder Strike, at level 1, uses around 350 power! so you can't
cast it more than once. Even if you put all your points in INT, the power
increase would only be around 60 points. This won't even give you enough
for another casting. That's not to say that it's no big help but don't
expect much.
The damage increase from increased STR, though welcome, is also not that
much. At base STR, a level 15 druid, can do around 60 or so damage
depending on your weapon and mods. With this, you need to hit your
standard skeleton about three times before his hit points are depleted. If
you choose to maximize strength, your damage goes up by 15. This improves
your damage by 25% but that is still not enough to usually lower the number
of times you need to hit the enemy. Not maxing strength would be much
worse as the increase won't be noticable. This would be more noticable for
a Knight or Berserker, but still that is not significant enough to have any
impact. For most cases, you will increase STR only to improve your carry
capacity.
For spellcasters, maxing DEX may be a good option though, since while it
doesn't affect your direct damage much, it does improve your damage over
time spells (like the lowly "Sting"). At level 15, your 9 to 11 base
damage per second for sting at base damage is improved in that it is now
24 to 26 per second! This doesn't compare to increasing skill points to
sting but at least it helps a bit.
To summarize, I would recommend that you choose one stat and max it so
that the effect, however minimal, is at least noticable. For casters, it's
either max your power (INT) or your damage (DEX) (I tend to pick DEX). For
melee, maaximize health (STA) or damage (STR) (I tend to pick STR).
3. Thoughts on Skills
------------------
Skills can be categorized as Active or Passive Skills. Active Skills can
then be further sub categorized as offensive (direct damage, area damage,
area damage over time, damage over time, or combination of the above) and
defensive (restoration and buffs).
3.1 Thoughts on Passive Skills
--------------------------
At first glance, players will view passive skills as being much better
than active skills in that you don't need to expend power to utilize
it. I must note however that the improvement provided by passive
skills are too low in that you will not see any benefit unless you put
more than a few points into it. For the most passives, I would
recommend putting off placing points until you have maxed your other
skills. Of course if your chosen skills are either maxed for that
level already or are still unavailable and the necessary prerequisite
skills have been selected already, it may be better to put in those
spare points into the passives already.
That said, there are a few passive skills that are worth the early
point allocation (Druid's "Nature's Medicine", and Knight's "Dual-
Wield comes to mind").
3.2 Thoughts on Active Skills
-------------------------
One thing I noted is for some classes, there are some Active Skills
that require a lot of Power to cast. There are some skills that, at
the time that you first get it and even with maxed INT, require more
than half of your Power to cast! For these skills, try to hold off
putting skills points as (1) they are impossible to cast constantly
anyway so you won't be using them and (2) if you do use them, the
increase in skill points might actually make them uncastable as their
Power utilization is above your existing pool.
3.3 Thoughts on Skill Selection
---------------------------
This part is more personal preference so your opinion may vary.
Active Melee skills does damage based on either a fixed amount
depending on skill alocation (i.e., 15-20 damage per hit +10 points
damage per level) or applies a percent multiplier to your base damage.
In my experience, the latter is better than the former in that it does
not have any damage cap. As long as you can increase your STR and
get better weapons, your damage will increase. That's not to say that
the former is not that good. It has some good effects (i.e., chance
to stun, etc) that might be worthwhile. But in that case, you don't
need much points in it. Even one might be sufficient if you only need
it for the effect.
For spells, damage is improved by allocating stat points into DEX.
For most players, it might be best to just put one point in skills
that you won't be using in the long run and rely on the damage
increase provided by DEX. "Sting", for example, is good at skill level
1 until you get "Stone Storm" because your DEX is not only applied on
the initial hit but also on the daamge over time. By the time you get
"Stone Storm" the DEX allocation will also benefit it much. As I've
said, there's no point in putting INT since the benefit is minimal at
best so why not focus on damage instead.
4. Build Recommendations
---------------------
From the above, you shuold be able to create your own builds. I suggest
that you put one point in one skill, and observe the following: (1) is it
power intensive? (2) does it scale well with levels (this can be noted by
checking the next level stats in the skill tree)? (3) is the skill
improved by putting in ponits into STR/DEX (you need to test this out by
saving, allocating stats, and reloading if needed)? (4) most importantly,
is it fun and easy to use and does it mix well with other skills?
Note that for the most part, you will only be using two active skills at a
time so it might be prudent to max those that you use often (and only those
that you use often) first.
That said, here are a few combinations that I liked:
Melee Knight:
Aura of Valor - for increased XP!
Flurry - your main attack, supplement with gems in weapons
Aura of Wounds- your main crowd control skill
Aura of Might - your only buff
Dual-Wield
Melee Attack
Alternatively, you can use block instead of Aura of Wounds but I think the
latter is better.
Ranged Knight:
Aura of Valor - for increased XP!
Critical Shot
Multishot - your main attack, supplement with gems in weapons
Aura of Wounds- your main crowd control skill
Aura of Might - your only buff
Archery
Recover Arrows- when everything else is maxxed
You can also make a sort of hybrid melee ranged knight. With this, just
use the same skill selection as in the above but of course splitting the
stat points prioritizing either melee or ranged first, whichever you use
more or often. Since improvement is very low per point investment, there's
no point splitting the points equally. I recommend putting points in STR
and not in DEX due to the weight of Knight Armour.
Berserker:
Ravage - your main attack
Scent of the Pack
Savage Strike - your best buff (be sure to check power usage before
increasing points). Due to cost of using, this won't be
viable until much later on when the duration is high
enough.
Infect with Madness - a very good crowd control skill. Prioritize the
stronger enemies in bigger crowds. For smaller crowds,
use the weaker ones.
Dual-Wield - at least one point when it becomes available and add
points later.
Melee Attack
You may also want to put points into Thrown Weapon and Recover Weapon if
you want a ranged attack.
Druid:
Nature's Medicine - definitely a life saver. At later levels, the
regen speed is great in that weaker enemies' damage can
be safely ignored even with zero STA investment.
Tranquil Thoughts - same as above except for Power. Some of your spells
will be free to cast with this maxed.
Tempest - your best crowd control skill. I tend to go melee and I
with this cast, you won't be mobbed. Just make sure that
it attacks enemies first. It is superior to Golem
because both this and you can stay in the same spot so
it can act as a sort of shield. Both you and the Tempest
can damage enemies at the same time and you will benefit
from the knockback effect it provides.
Cleanse the Land - your attack spell. Watch the casting cost though.
Stone Storm - Nice spell, max it later though since the +5 damage per
level is negligible and you need Nature's Medicine maxed
first.
Breath of the North - another life saver. One point is enough early on.
Add points later either before or after Stone Storm is
maxed.
With Druids I tend to put all my points into DEX. Survivability is still
average to high. Just keep your minion cast at all times. There will be
tough spots (those rhino mobs come to mind) but it is very feasible if you
take your time.
Alchemist:
Chain Lightning - your main attack skill.
Build Golem - your main crowd control spell. And it attacks too!
Detonate Golem - cast your golem, let it attack and before it dies
detonate it!
Quagmire - assist your golem with this spell, One point is ok at
early levels.
Stone Gaze - assist your golem with this spell, One point is ok at
early levels.
6. Contact Info
------------
For suggestions and corrections, e-mail me at [email protected].
For questions and clarifications, e-mail me at [email protected].
For requests to post this FAQ at your site, e-mail me at
[email protected]. For any other e-mail regarding the game,
e-mail me at [email protected]. Please write the nature
of your e-mail in the Subject line.
7. Version Info
------------
27. January 2006 1.0 First release of the FAQ.
8. Legal Info
----------
This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
Copyright 2006 Michael Madri�an
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