I recall reading a while back that the caldera is extremely broken, they know about it, and the only fix is to save before going in, and back up that save to a different location. Otherwise, it should be fixed next beta. But I could be wrong.
Well after talking to some people on IRC last night I backed up my broken save for bug-fixing and decided to do something I've never done for any game - make multiple saves with different characters. As it stands right now the builds I want to play are...
- Higher Archmage
- Higher Alchemist
- Higher Necromancer
- Higher Paradox Mage
- Cornac Shadowblade
- Shalore Arcane Blade
- Thalore Summoner
- Thalore Archer
The rest don't sound very much like something I would want to play, and the ones I have listed sound like ones that would fit pretty well with concepts I have developing in my head. Last night before I went to bed I started up Granmeri and Aldeen, a Higher Archmage and a Higher Alchemist respectively. The next one on my list that I have unlocked right now is a Cornac Shadowblade, which I'll work on after I not only get back from my appointment today but also after I write down the character description for Aldeen. I wrote one for Granmeri the day before yesterday and revised it again the same day, and I'm pretty satisfied with her description.
...I do the whole description thing for both creative reasons and as part of an experiment into psychology that I've been running and tweaking since I was around eight or nine years old, though it's not so much of an experiment as it is a coping mechanism. However the last time I explained it in depth to someone I got mixed reactions - some thought I was imaginative while others thought I was downright loony. Either way this bit of experimentation helps me enjoy games like Tales of Maj'Eyal more by giving me a face to the character I'm playing and allowing me to form a greater sense of attachment, among other things.
Looks like lots of new fun is planned for the next version :
http://te4.org/blogs/darkgod/2012/09/news/sneak-peak-b43-new-featureprodigies
Those "prodigies" sounds like they're a great addition because they're rewarding for the player to manage to get a character surviving up to that point.
I like the sound of [REDACTED] on an Archmage personally, though as I said on the ToME forums just a little bit ago I would probably have to improve my build and overall strategy for Granmeri by around 200% just to even be able to reach level 40 under ten percent of the time. If I go by the statistics I have built up for myself I can get Granmeri to around level 20 or higher about thirty percent of the time. That's over six runs that I've done with her so far and with the average level she rises to before game over time being about 17.
If I wanted Granmeri to actually beat the game I would have to get about a 250% improvement. The 200% to get the first prodigy would mean her average level would have to be 34, while in order to beat the game her average level on a non-successful run would have to be 43. If these predictions I am making come true then going by how fast it's taken me to rise to that average level I am at now compared to how long it took me for my first roguelike - It took me seven years just to get to an average level of 13 in that game and that is still my average today - I'm guessing that I might beat Tales of Maj'Eyal within the next five to seven months.
I'm probably going to be wrong on this one though, but then again you never know. It is my opinion though that Tales of Maj'Eyal is a lot easier to get into and understand than Ancient Domains of Mystery, somewhat easier than Dungeon Crawl and Gruesome, and a little bit easier than Dwarf Fortress. I hope I am right and Tales of Maj'Eyal is the first roguelike I am ever able to beat but honestly I'm just going to wait and see.
Anyways, I've got to get going for an appointment out of town with my psychiatrist. I'll see to finding out a nice little concept for a Cornac Shadowblade while I'm on the bus I guess? Either way, have fun today.