Unable to do Old Man quest 214

[solsukut]

I only have 4 of the 5, out of my 3 short run throughs I haven't been able to keep the archer alive. Also I don't know if it matters or not but I kept the blue knight rather than get the mage. I am currently looking through the quests to see if I missed one that might tie in to the old man line of quests. I have tried to check all quests I do for any prerequisites to start and finish. At this point I am at a bit of a loss on how to proceed aside from skip it entirely.
Mythos[/quote]

I don't think party composition matters on that one. I assume you're able to spawn the old man...just that he won't talk to you?

The below stuff is just my expounding on what is in the HELP file, but as a #s guy I wanted to understand how the code worked for combat.
Attack rolls are based on a random number generation between -5 and 5 (including 0), for 11 possible outcomes. That random number must be greater than your DEX minus Enemy DEX. So if your dex is = you hit just under 50%, and get hit just under 50%, but its best to fight with your Dex at least 3 or 4 higher, at 6 higher you hit automatic and only get hit on an enemy roll of 5 (1 of 11 chance).

Ref keeping Archer alive:
based on the coding the -MOST- critical stat is dex, then arm, then str for everyone except Mage. "most" monsters close to your level have DEX about the same # as their level. If you try to keep your Dex approx = to your level, or around 4 to 6 higher than what you're fighting you can survive almost anything - and you will kill it much faster. It comes down to # of times you'll get hit and at same time # of times you'll hit - both are based on the difference between your dex and monster dex. If monster dex is 5 or greater than yours, it is very hard to fight them - you will only hit 1 in 11 chances (about 1 time every 7 seconds), and that same monster will hit you 100% of the time or approximately 1x every 0.7 seconds) - your're getting hit 10 to 1 (just from 1 enemy, if there are multiples its all multiplied). Doesn't take math from that point to realize you're getting beat down fast, while doing almost no damage to the enemy - both of which mean you die fast.
Basic rule of thumb is your DEX should equal or a little more than your level. I'm level 187 in RPG for all 5 and have 201 DEX for the Sword/Arch/Axe/Club - with equipment all have ARM around 550 and STR 400-480 (not all have easy access to level 175 weapon).

Also with Archer, when you're fleeing to clear (to an edge of map or a doorway), its best to keep tapping the screen so he keeps moving - otherwise if there is a monster within bow-range he'll stop and fire..and get killed before you clear. The same thing happens if you try casting while clearing, the mage stops to cast..falls behind, and is wacked.

There are some exceptions such as BlitzBees (which have like 510 DEX), but those typically have lower ARM, but even so they take much longer to kill since you only hit them 9% of the time (1 of 11 chances). In situations like that, the Mage's spells come in really handy (as long as he isn't being attacked) since those always hit and always do max-damage.
Tough monsters are something like Ghost Arch which has a pretty high dex, and 200 ARM. even at "+6 dex differential" they're reducing your attack damage by 200 each hit which slows things down.

Armor 2d most important since it greatly affects your HP total up to level 150. your HP "bonus" is based mostly on ARM, and a little on STR. Also, when fighting something with same, similar, or much higher DEX than yourself, (IE like a BlitzBee that will hit you every time), you take damage = their STR - your ARM. Thus if your ARM is = or more than opponant STR you take no damage (except on To_hit of 4 or 5; or 18% of the time; or 2 or 11 chances; since 4 and 5 automatically do max damage).

The Mage is good at higher levels becuase he can slow enemy attacking with slow spell, heal party members, and deal out damage pretty fast. that becomes helpful for surviving w/o having to carry a pile of healing potions. Since Mage attacks only with spells (no hand to hand) I didn't put any Dex into him (mine is 187th level with 24 DEX), but I did devote about 50/50 mana and arm early on so he had good HP. That helps since he actually regens while being attacked as long as you don't cast a spell. So there have been times I let the Mage "tank" since he's getting HPs back as fast as he's taking damage.

long...but I hope its worth the read. I recommend you go get the mage...but at this point that might be better to just start over..I know that stinks...but. I think with the info above, I made level 50 in just a few days of playing.

[Mythos]

I looked over the faq and ran through the numbers a bit back after wondering if I should reset stats and lose a level or just keep going and see how it plays out. I keep wondering if it's worth it to reset them or keep going, though so far it hasn't been an issue except for the archer. What is bugging me is that I believe some other quests won't be able to be completed unless I do the old man series of quests. To my knowledge I am looking at the right npc, there are only 3 npc's in the town; farmer, woman and the old man. The old man generally appears between the house and graveyard but doesn't have the speech bubble above him.
Mythos

[solsukut]

Yep...thats the old man. Old man is currently in a 3 part quest, so at minimum you can't do those, which end up giving some decent XP and gold.

[ogonbat]

I also think u should restart.i did it 7 or 8 times and it s not so bad, i prefer to keep alive all characters