Other good AD&D CRPGs?

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Gladiators get -1 AC. Thats it…. but you can Dual Class them. Not really relevant unless you plan on setting up a nice Dualled character for Wake of the Ravager. But a Half Giant Gladiator is a Beast! Since they only get max 15 dex, their AC sucks, so every little bit helps. Thri-Kreen Gladiator has a really nice starting AC…..

Synoptic Static is a must for a Psionicist. Make one character has Psionicist as a class. You’ll regret it mid game otherwise….

One single classed Half-Giant warrior with a wealth of HP is deadly late game with a particular magical weapon.

The whole base stat cap of 20 instead of traditional 18 is due to the extremely harsh environment Athas. Only the strong survive.

I would also recommend all multi-class characters have a warrior class. Doing so makes Haste your best spell.

Equip bows on everyone who can use them. Dual weapons in melee for all.

Web and Entangle are extremely useful in the Arena.

 

I recall having to manually activate mind blank each fight for it to work.

On the subject of the arena, don't waste your precious arrows in it. Unlike Baldur's Gate where you get more arrows than you know what to do with, they are more rare in this game and money is tight if you don't grind the Arena. Use the slings which have unlimited ammo. You can swap weapons any time, so there is no reason not to keep the bows and the slings.
The slings don't do much damage, but if you web or entangle foes, they will do some damage and it lets your back rank preserver/psionicist contribute at low levels when not casting spells.
The bows are definitely worth it for the tougher battles outside the arena, but the Arena is the intro area, save your resources.
I agree, add ranger (preferred) or fighter to your multiclass characters. The XP hit isn't that bad if you take a bit of time to grind two level-ups for each class of a triple-class character in the Arena before starting the game proper. You start out weaker because your characters aren't at level 1, but if you grind the triple-class characters up to the level of a starting single-class character (and the single-class will get a level up in the Arena) you won't notice the hit.

I know, grinding in the Arena is boring, but it's the only place you can get unlimited gold so it pays off a bit if you take triple-classed characters.
On the other hand, as indicated, having a half-giant gladiator or a fighter/psionicist can be deadly.

I'd recommend taking a half-giant and a thri-keen, plus two others to cover a preserver and a cleric or druid. Muticlassing is a must as you need a psionicist, cleric or druid (preferably both), a preserver, AND a thief, plus you should mix in fighter classes when possible as preservers and thieves are really weak.
For a first time player, I'd recommend trying to multiclass to cover all the classes, make the half-giant a metabolic gladiator, and the other two non-psionicists cover the telepathy and ballistic psionics. Also if you take a cleric and a druid, don't make them the same element. Thri-keen are the best for the psionicist.

 

Half Giant has weak mental stats. Multi classing him will significantly lower your HPs. Mixing in a class to be able to increase his AC lowers hp and makes you waste rounds using Psionic powers/casting spells when he could be hitting the enemy 4x a round. For huge damage. So if you do multiclass your big boy make sure you choose powers/spells that can be used to buff pre-combat. I like psionicist as the mix-in class if you are going that route.

Was Mul or Dwarf an option for F/P/D?

 

Muls can be Fighter/Druid/thief, fighter/cleric/thief, or Fighter/Psi/Thief, but no other triples.
Dwarves can be F/C/Psi, but not druids.
As for the half-giant, if you are going fighter/psi, I see no down side to going ranger/psi instead. If you put the ranger in heavy armor he acts exactly like a fighter, if you use medium or light armor he gets some bonus abilities.
The down side comes from the psi, reducing the HP by averaging the two classes.
If you go single class, a gladiator might be a better choice for the AC, but a ranger works too.

 

I don't want to spoil, but trust me, having a single classed warrior Half-Giant in the late game is awesome.

My preferred party

Half Giant Gladiator
Half-Elf Ranger/Cleric/Preserver (Water)
Thri-Kreen Fighter/Druid (Earth)
Dwarf Fighter/Psioncist/Thief (backstab rocks!)

Early game use fists for the Thri-Kreen so he gets 4 punches and a bite. Dual Weapons for everyone else.

You get a few moments after you see what you are fighting in the Arena, use those precious seconds to BUFF. Your first 3rd mage level spell should be Haste. Once casts in the arena you can win the battle, then give a rude answer to the announcer who will then send tougher monsters out for a 2nd fight. Haste will still be activated.

Grind the Arena for levels. If facing the preserver plus the big tough monsters, kill the preserver first and try to front the bigs with your Hasted Half-Giant as your others disable them.

When facing many missle enemies, Wall of Fog is your friend.

 

You must multi Fighter with Druid due to the Druid TN Class Alignment Restriction. Rangers cannot multi-class with Druids. So the Thri-kreen is a Fighter.

Dwarves cannot be Rangers, so the F/P/T is a Fighter. I choose Dwarf because Psi and Thief bring down the avg HPs. So a Dwarf’s super high Con helps balance that. You could choose Elf, Half-Elf or Halfling, any will work. Though Halflings have low Str, but that is easily buffed by either your Preserver or by his own Psi abilities.

Rangers level up slower than Fighters so they are not the same. Though Rangers, when mixed with Cleric, give the Cleric more spell options, so those classes go well together. Either do the job, just depends on how you want to mix other classes with them.

I like Metabolism as the Psioinc option for the non-Psionicists.

Alignment only matters when picking what classes go together in a multi-class combo. Druids can only choose TN, Rangers can only be good.

 

Right, so now go enjoy DS Shattered Lands for all it’s Classic-ness!

 

There are a few good threads on this site about the game. I remember this one….

https://sorcerers.net/community/threads/dark-sun-shattered-lands.49027/page-2

 

The problem with triple Dual Class is that it all comes together in the late game. The character is limited most of the game. Which is fine if you are planning to bring the party into Wake of the Ravager where it will really shine. Not really necessary for just a Shattered Lands run.

 

If you grind a ton to make it work earlier, then the end game is a borefest.

 

The only grinding I tend to do is at the beginning to get some starting gold and to get my triple classed characters to levels 4/4/4. Otherwise I find they die too easily.
I don't need to grind for a single-classed half-giant gladiator, who seems more powerful in the arena than 3 triple-classed combo of (pick 3) elf, dwarf, mul, halfling, or half-elf combined in the very beginning until they get to at least three levels in each class.
Thri-Keen tends to be quite potent fighters as well in melee. Not as tough as a half-giant, but able to dish out nearly as much punishment. Triple class them and include a fighter or ranger class and they are your second front-liner.
I can't praise the half-giant enough however.

Edit:I want to clarify, I meant that a half-giant gladiator seems more powerful than 3 triple-classed characters from more normal AD&D races combined, regardless of if they are made of clerics, fighters, rangers, druids, psionicists, thieves, or preservers (pick 3, usually including fighter or ranger as one of the three). This is ONLY at the very start of the game, and the triple-classed characters catch up once they gain two levels for each class. It's just them starting at lower levels that causes this.
A human gladiator (or any other race) also seems more powerful at first, but not nearly as noticeable. The half-giant has bonus strength and con that really makes them good fighters.

 

Yes, when you dual from Ranger to Cleric you get an extra domain.