So I have been trying to keep the party around the same level so that I can change them out without worrying if they are under leveled for a fight. But man I feel like it is becoming just too much of a chore ( just finished the Dig ) to level everyone all the time.
Does anyone just stick with a certain three heroes throughout the game or do I need to just suck it up lol
Currently running:
Garrison
Gully
Bretto (I just got Alumon, and found out that Bretto is a bit better healer)
I finished my NG+ with only Gully + Garrison + Knolan
It’s cool to discover the other spells but there’s no need to lvlup all the characters except to make them gain their perk points (anyway you can gain an inifinite number of them by buying some books to the collector)
So It’s up to you.
Note: in NG+ all the characters are back to lvl 1.
Before NG+ I leveled-up all the characters to level 30… I didn’t in NG+
I run Gully, Garrison, 'Bretto as my team the entire game through as well (I’ll sometimes switch Bretto out for Alumon for certain dungeons, like Mana Rifts).
Something to keep in mind about Battle Chasers is that, because of how xp is calculated (you get huge xp gains from enemies that are higher level than you, very little from even or slightly lower level, and nothing from enemies that you are more than 3 levels above), you don’t really need to put a lot of work into keeping characters in the same level range. As long as your other 2 party members are able to carry the third for a few easy fights (even just against enemies outside), you’ll very quickly level up your lower level party members.
In my 2nd NG+, I ran purely G/G/B for pretty much the entire game. When I completed Mana Rifts (the final repeatable dungeon), I decided to level up the other characters. Within 2-3 fights in Mana Rifts (Mythic difficulty, so enemies were 33-34), the carry character was in their mid-high 20s and, well before the boss fight itself, the characters were level capped.
Something important to note is that gear matters just as much, if not more, than level does in Battle Chasers. If you run with the same party all the way through, you’re much more likely to have good gear for them (due to crafting) than if you try to level up and gear up everyone since you’re only trying to gear up 3 characters rather than 6.
I’ve played with Calibretto and Gully, switching the 3rd hero to see everyone’s abilities.
Some dungeons may take multiple runs to get certain events (Shade of Belevros in the Iron Outpost, S.U.Z.I.E. core from Junktown, Caldeus’ skull from Deadwatch), so you can rerun them with the other 3 heroes. That should make reruns less boring too.
Or you can level up in arena.
But yeah, it’s a chore.
Well, AP from the weapon is significant. And stamina bonuses. But everything else is negligible compared to the level bonuses, isn’t it?
AP and Stamina (and Defense) are pretty much the only gear stats that matter (as I’m pretty sure we’re both aware). Haste and Crit values from gear are pretty much always laughable, even on a fresh piece of gear designed for it, and they become especially laughable at high levels when you have access to the really good perks and mastery benefits (1% Haste and/or 1% Crit from gear doesn’t really mean much when you’re already getting a passive ~20-25% in both categories from perks; it gets even worse when you factor in buffs which further render those stats irrelevant due to their size and straight additive nature).
At level 30, with all perks/masteries and all beast perks, a naked Garrison has 4193 hp and 11444 AP. In his best gear loadout (Cursed Blade + Possessed, High Paladin Armor + Unholy Might, Skysteel Band, Pulsing Demon Heart, Battlemaster’s SoV; all legendary), he’s got 9293 hp and 18658 AP. That’s 222% of base hp and 163% of base AP, on top of Invigorate. For my 'Bretto, naked, he’s got 11318 hp and 4695 AP; geared up fully (Calamity + Possessed, Star-Forged Plating + Unholy Might, Skysteel Band, Cold Iron Chain, Frozen Stone; all leg), he’s got 16958 hp and 11175 AP, which is 150% base hp and 238% base AP (I actually use Overcharged Cannon for my 'Bretto, which is about 2224 less AP in exchange for Invigorate; I consider this more useful since I’m already overhealing like crazy with 'Bretto and Invigorate allows me to just chain cast Nature’s Wrath and Cleansing Rain without interruption). The differences become even more stark when you factor in defense too (gear tends to more than double that as well).
The biggest effects of level come from perks (which aren’t really level dependent; if you spend all of your time fishing, you can max out perks at level 10 when you get to the fishmonger), the ability to equip better gear (every 3-4 levels, the stats you’ll get from a given slot increase by ~50%), and level modifiers in the damage equations (this is the biggest effect of leveling).
Of course, it’s probably important what rank the gear in question is and whether it’s enchanted up correctly. Legendary gear with legendary enchants that are level appropriate are a world of difference compared to green gear that’s unenchanted. If you’re used to running with unenchanted greens, I can see how you’d see level as being more important than gear.
Thank you for the examples, Kitru.
Your base values seem too high though. Did you reset perks after taking off the gear and then again after putting it back on? Toggling any single perk should be enough to recalculate the bonuses.
Yeah, by 52% every 3 levels. Or doubled every 5 levels. And your base AP and HP grow at the same rate.
I didn’t realize that they didn’t calculate on the fly. They did seem a bit too high, but, no, I didn’t reset my perks after removing all gear. If you want, I can give you my numbers again with the perks reset.
This is why I stopped playing. The grind was just too much and the rewards/loot for repeating dungeons, even on harder difficulties weren’t enough. It’s sad because I loved the art, the battle system, and the cheesy fantasy story. The game was just too much of a chore to play (which I put about 30 hours into)