GABYSOFT

John can answer in more detail (obviously), but I'll try to help.

1 - Not sure but I think so.
2 - Definitely yes on spells. Spells cast by lower level characters aren't as effective as the same spell by a higher level character. Take a new mage and cast Geibor.....it will do a few points of damage. Take a high level mage and cast Geibor and it might do 100 points or more of damage. Same thing with the fireballs and icing spells.

I have definitely seen higher level priests dispell better than lower level priests. No idea if they can get high enough to dispel Vampires.
3 - You'll level up quicker (on average) in lower levels of the dungeon. You'll also level up quicker (on average) against higher level monsters. This is in addition to the impact of your character's race and class (like Elves leveling slower and Rangers leveling slower).

If you want to see how "strong" your character's spells are just go a little too deep and cast spells against stronger/higher level monsters. Then you will see how effective that character's spells are (because it will say how much damage you did instead of just "you iced it" or "you fried it").

Ah, that sounds right. The character that was reset to level 1 was at a slightly higher level than the other 2. It probably was when he reached level 256 that he reset to level 1.

It was a Dwarf Samurai, a Halfling Ranger, and a Human Ranger....so I didn't see anything there that really tied them together. I'm not sure what their levels were, but they were very high (roughly 135-140 I believe).

I'm not positive how long it went on before I noticed. I noticed the Rangers gaining 2 levels from wiping out a group of monsters on level 10 but it didn't seem too odd. Then the Samurai (roughly level 135) gained a level from killing a spider on level 1 and I knew something was up. For a while nothing was wrong other than leveling up way too quickly (they still showed up as having their correct level and spells and everything). Then the Halfling Ranger was level 250ish+2, I rested him, and then instead of being level 252ish he was level 1. Still 999 hit points but no spells and level 1. I was able to use a temporal gem to undo this.

I'm afraid to use those 3 characters now.

Thanks for looking into it!

I just encountered a new bug. 3 of my characters started leveling up WAY too easily. Like they were new characters rather than at very high levels. Then after resting instead of being the correct level one of them was level 1..... But he still had 999 hits and all of his high stats. But level 1 and no spells.

It happened to 3 characters and not the entire ranging party. I'm not sure why those 3 were affected and the others in the party weren't.

It seemed like they were leveling like a level 1 character but still showing their correct level and spells for a while prior to being switched to level 1. Luckily I thought to use a temporal gem early enough.

I like Rangers better than Sages mainly because they end up with MUCH higher hit points. Even if you don't have them up front a Ranger with a ton of hit points is easier to keep alive.

For some reason I have never been at all interested in Paladins. Not back in the 80's when I first played the game and not this time around. I don't think I have ever even created a Paladin.

I did make my first Ninja recently and thought I'd try seeing how far I can get with a Peasant and a Ninja. Maybe I can try a Paladin out when I get bored with what I'm trying now.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Good one. I successfully got through level 11, but decent mages were the key. Hirebrands don't hold a candle to Samurais. The lack of Rangers wasn't that big of a deal, other than needing better Priests for healing spells since I didn't have Rangers or Samurais.

I'm curious what sorts of new and/or different ways you guys have found to keep the game interesting. My latest was to get Rangers of every race....a few were tough but I got there.

I think my next self-imposed challenge is to get a party full of Rangers to defeat level 11.

You guys come up with any interesting challenges?

I never found much use for anything other than samurais, rangers, and mages....other than a priest when first starting out. My typical party is 3-4 samurais, 3-4 rangers, and 3 mages.

Actually, the top 10 in the hall of fame is a typical party for me.