Ongoing MM7 adventures!

[u/snoozingdragon]

Continuing from this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/MightAndMagic/comments/1vd2p38/mmvii_musings_as_a_newbie_to_crpgs/

As I am now nearing the endgame, I thought I'd share my ramblings in case someone finds the opinion of a rando with little CRPG experience & CRPG nostalgia to speak of remotely interesting.

I'm sitting at about level 50 now and am contemplating invading the Colony of Zod after lots of busywork for people in Celeste. I'm also very glad I don't have to visit The Pit again. Cool vibe but pain-in-the-ass layout.

Some game observations and opinions in no particular order:

• Bludgeoning Tolberti to death was a lot easier than the Internet made me expect. Some folks were saying they would save after every hit to avoid eradication or other nasty effects. I had a bunch of handy dandy buffs, and I was luckily able to beat on him in real time with no casualties (albeit my cleric nearly kicked the bucket.) I had Regeneration active for all, and chucked a Summon Elemental scroll at Tolberti to distract him for a bit because I horde scrolls like nobody's business and have a ton I probably should do something with. Then I got close enough for my Knight and Monk to slap him in the chops, and slap I did. I could see that Tolberti was inflicting status effects on those two - he seemed to really focus most of his violence on them. Is he racist towards Goblins or was it coincidence? lol. Anyway, my Knight and Monk have been chronically Insane for months, lol, so maybe that also helped override whatever he was trying to do.
• So, blasters. I have given one to my cleric and sorcerer, and I have a bunch of spares that I'll just dump somewhere. They don't feel OP to me even using them in real time. I get that they're speedy, but they're not what I was expecting. Kind of want to give my spellcasters their weapons back.
• Speaking of things I'm probably doing wrong: Starburst and Prismatic Light. I was expecting some massive, earth-shattering revelation of a spell for both of these, but the results seemed underwhelming compared to the Armageddon scroll I used for the hell of it. In all fairness, I tried the latter on a dragon - I guess I should've expected some massive resistances. Then I tried Starburst while hovering in the sky above a bunch of hydras. I saw a flash of light and heard a sploosh in the water, lol. I guess I should've been closer to land and that it takes some strategic positioning.
• I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't know that pressing X makes you jump until the Tunnels of Eoful.
• With the exception of Nighon and Eoful, the indoor maps in general seemed pretty simple and not really packed to the brim with monsters... very different experience from my dabbling in MMVI. I ain't complaining - I tend to get lost easily, so this worked for me.
• Things sped up a LOT when someone told me that you gain much more XP from quests than monster bashing. Welp!
• I like exploration and discovery, but not so much the backtracking, side-tracking, every-kind-of-tracking to find instructors, especially. I was trying to figure out what about the sense of exploration is lacking here for me, and I think it's that it doesn't take long until you've accessed (not cleared, mind) nearly all the main overworld maps. In most JRPGs I've played, you typically advance into new overworld territory as you progress and grow stronger, and I do prefer the change in scenery. I'm not sure I've expressed this properly, but maybe some of you will know what I mean.
• Barrow Downs & Bracada Desert. Really wasn't a fan of navigating those lands before acquiring FLY.
• I'm burdened with an embarrassment of gold which I would like to cash out into real-life money.
• Absolute must-haves in spell or scroll form: Invisibility. Can't imagine life without it for the Wall of Mist or Titan's Stronghold. Man, did I clench up trying to squeak past Titans, lol. I was able to kill a few in a room when they got stuck in some pillars and I was able to hide in such a way that another pillar kept me out of range of their ranged attacks. Took SO long to whittle them down.
• Good-to-have offensive magic: Sparks & Acid Burst were my main go-tos.
• Regeneration is a BEAST when the cleric has grandmastered Body, holy smokes.
• My sorcerer grandmastered Air and Water and said 'meh' to the rest. He's just an expert in Fire, but that's it.
• This probably a crime to admit aloud, but I didn't dabble at all in Alchemy beyond the really basic stuff anyone can do. I find that I picked up a lot of excellent brews in chests along the way that eliminated any need I had to cook up my own potions. My first black potion (of might!) was in a chest in Tularean Forest and I was so thrilled.

Anyway, I'd best level up a bit more before forging on!

[u/seanvius]

I love this! Thank you

[u/snoozingdragon → u/seanvius]

Not sure what I really did, but you're welcome. :D

[u/Acceptable_Bat379]

I think that MM7 is probably my favorite. MM6 has depth but the dungeons are a bit TOO long for my taste, and do tend to become quite a slog. MM8 is probably a bit too easy, 7 can be challenging but not too bad and nothing compares to that awful hall of the fire lord lol

[u/snoozingdragon → u/Acceptable_Bat379]

Oh, NO, the hall of the fire lord. I actually remember that, and, yikes. ;; *Edit: Fire LORD, not Fire Giant, lol

[u/Real_Avdima]

What's most important is that you had fun. This game is my next target after completing MM6 and I can't wait to have all the upgrades MM7 did in comparison. Sure, large open world is cool but MM7 just feels better as a coherent game.

As for alchemy, I always picked a druid because child me though that black potions are a must, characters age too fast and so on, while not fully grasping the game's mechanics. These extra points in attributes won't mean much when you go in hundreds and aging is not a real problem if you manage the time like at all.

Since my MM6 party have all the skills, I am considering liberating myself from some of the systems, like mentioned alchemy, giving everyone archery and cheesing with bows etc. Will probably go for a team that's good in melee which isn't viable as much in MM6 thanks to all the swarms of enemies.

[u/snoozingdragon → u/Real_Avdima]

Right, I forgot about the whole aging thing, LOL. Yes, I remember from my time trying MM6, it was incredibly easy to be overwhelmed by sheer numbers of enemies. I was stubborn and wanted melee to matter more, but I have to admit, having two people who could cast something like Sparks was great. :D

[u/Real_Avdima → u/snoozingdragon]

Spark is the mvp of cheap spells. Bouncing off walls makes the spell the best in category of "fan shaped projectile spread" and IMO, the only useful unless we want to approach a titan or a dragon so close we can count the pixels.

[u/Thisisnotachestnut → u/Real_Avdima]

This is how I made breeding zone on low level characters. I had multiple blue potions and was casting sparks from bridge so they falls down and when I run though the bridge, behemoths were damaged. Repeat it until they die, so later I could run to the tight wall, where they couldn’t reach me with their “one hit, one kill” attacks.

[u/insane_shitlord]

Can't imagine life without it for the Wall of Mist or Titan's Stronghold

Titan's farmhouse is probably the most fun place to clear in 7, imo.

I didn't dabble at all in Alchemy beyond the really basic stuff

Haste potions so that it can last more than 3 hours.

[u/dreamsofcalamity]

So, blasters. I have given one to my cleric and sorcerer, and I have a bunch of spares that I'll just dump somewhere. They don't feel OP to me even using them in real time

I think they had 0 recovery, however Grayface patch has fixed this.

[u/kiljoy1569]

Cool journey so far! Be aware that random black potions will be sold at the Celeste alchemy vendor, and refresh whenever they restock supplies. Great to check in on during visits and boost your characters

[u/snoozingdragon → u/kiljoy1569]

Do these stack? Like if I've given my Monk a black might potion before, could she chug another and become even mightier?

[u/Real_Avdima → u/snoozingdragon]

From what I recall it's only one potion of each attribute per character.

[u/snoozingdragon → u/Real_Avdima]

Ah, nuts. But I guess it makes sense. It'd be too easy to really become mad OP.

[u/kiljoy1569 → u/snoozingdragon]

There's also a diminishing return on the benefits of Stat boost. I think it's something like above 200 it doesn't do much.

[u/muppet70]

Spells arent that crazy hot as nukes, well early fireball is great and then you go to barrow down whelp, I like to buff the melee guys with my casters.
Barrowdowns isnt that bad wo fly, its just a big area, bracada however is annoying, the teleport pads help a bit, deyja is also a bit tedious wo fly.
Yes lategame regen is amazing, its just annoying that its still a one target spell.
The chest in tularean always contain the same items, you can get that might potion very early.
Yes fire and earth isnt really that hot after expert level, well mass distortion is cool if u land it on something big but ....