00:15Welcome to the second video guide for Blackguards, a strategic role-playing game featuring the
00:21The Dark Eye universe and developed by Daedalic Entertainment.
00:26In our last guide we introduced the different classes.
00:30Today we're going to take a closer look at the skills and talents of your characters.
00:34And, as promised in our last video, we'll also introduce the free character creation.
00:39But to better understand the advantages of free creation, we should first take a look at the skill system as
00:45a whole.
00:47The skill system of Blackguards enables you to expand and improve the abilities of your character and is based on
00:54the rules for the tabletop role-playing game The Dark Eye.
00:57Anyone already familiar with the game will immediately feel at home.
01:01And for the rest of you, we'll do a quick tour and show you how to choose and improve the
01:06skills of your party in Blackguards.
01:09In Blackguards, both your character and the members of your party gain new adventure points after every fight won and
01:16every quest that is completed.
01:17You can use these points to improve the abilities of your adventurers.
01:22You can invest the points in five different categories.
01:25Base Values, Weapon Talents, Talents, Spells and Special Abilities.
01:31Base Values
01:33Here you can spend adventure points to increase the attributes of your hero.
01:38Attributes like Strength or Dexterity influence one or more Base Values that will be very important in combat.
01:46In addition to this, you can also raise the Base Values Astral Energy, Vitality and Resistance to Magic directly.
01:53The attributes not only influence the Base Values, but also the probability of successfully using a talent or casting a
02:01spell.
02:01And they can be a prerequisite for the learning of these.
02:04We'll explain how this works when talking about the talents and spells and in an upcoming video about the combat
02:10system.
02:12Increasing the Base Values will turn out to be a very effective long-term strategy.
02:17But investing in this aspect of your character requires patience.
02:21The improvements can only be bought with a high amount of adventure points that, when just starting out, will not
02:27be gathered easily.
02:30Weapon Talents
02:33The Blackguard skill system is designed to offer you, as player, as many choices and freedoms as possible to create
02:40your own style of play.
02:42The Weapon Talents are a good example for these opportunities.
02:45After creation, every class has already invested a few points, like this warrior did with the talent Axes and Maces.
02:53But you can also spend points to teach the character new Weapon Talents like Crossbows.
02:58It is basically possible for every class to learn every single Weapon Talent.
03:03The Weapon Talent determines the probability of successfully hitting or parrying with the weapon in question.
03:10A slider allows you to change your fighting style to be more aggressive or passive by increasing either the chances
03:16for attacking or parrying.
03:18Of course, you can also decide to keep a balanced approach.
03:22These settings can be changed at any time during the game by accessing the character sheet.
03:27So don't worry, you won't have to decide on one style right away.
03:30You can try out different settings for different combat situations.
03:34Ranged weapons do not have sliders, since they cannot be used to parry.
03:39Especially at the beginning of the game, raising the Weapon Talents is a very efficient way to increase the chances
03:44at hitting and parrying with a low cost of adventure points.
03:50Talents
03:50Additional to the Weapon Talents and Base Values, your character can also learn Talents by investing adventure points.
03:57This is an important investment for tacticians.
04:00All these Talents influence your character's efficiency in a less direct way.
04:05In combat, they have to be used in the right way and at the right time.
04:09Spending points on Warcraft, for example, can come in handy when you have to quickly change weapons.
04:14This usually takes the character a whole round, which can be critical for an archer that is suddenly surrounded by
04:20enemies.
04:21With enough points in Warcraft, this happens instantly, making you much more flexible in combat.
04:27Other Talents that allow you to set traps, get information about your opponents or haggle a merchant down to lower
04:33prices can also be learned.
04:36Mastering these Talents provides you with a serious advantage.
04:40To mimic the game mechanics of the tabletop roleplaying game The Dark Eye, every talent is based on a combination
04:46of three attributes.
04:48Body control, for instance, which allows you to stay on your feet on slippery ground or when hit with an
04:54attack that would usually down you, is based on courage, intuition and agility.
04:59The points invested in these attributes in combination with those spent on the talent determine the chance of a character
05:05staying upright when they should fall down.
05:08A higher value in attributes and talent means a higher chance of successfully using body control to resist an attack
05:14or the danger of slipping.
05:17Talents that you haven't learned yet cannot simply be activated just like that.
05:21You always need to find a teacher first, who will impart their knowledge about the talent for a fee.
05:26Whenever you meet a teacher in the game, you should keep in mind where to find them.
05:34Spells
05:36Just like in the tabletop roleplaying game, only characters skilled in magic can use spells.
05:41Only mages can invest points in this category.
05:45Like Talents, new spells can only be learned when visiting a teacher, but the ones already learned can be improved
05:50at any time when not in combat.
05:52Another source can be the rare spellbooks. You can buy these from merchants or earn them as a quest reward.
05:58Spells are divided into the categories Damage, Protection, Strengthen and Weaken.
06:05Depending on your style of play, your mage can become a powerful damage dealer or support your party with helpful
06:11spells.
06:12Every spell has both a skill value and a level. The skill value determines the chances of
06:17successfully casting the spell and can be raised directly. Every spell has 4 levels that become
06:23available at the skill values 0, 8, 13 and 18. With every level components of the spell like damage dealt,
06:31area of effect or duration of effect change. High level spells can also create completely new effects.
06:37Spells on higher levels are often harder to cast and have a higher cost.
06:42The level you want to cast a spell at can be freely chosen at any time.
06:48For example, if you raise the skill value of the spell Thunderbolt, the damage dealt will increase
06:54from 1st to 3rd level, but always at a higher cost of Astral Points. On the 4th and final level,
07:00the spell changes from a single target effect to an area of effect spell that deals damage to several targets
07:06in a comb. The chance of successfully casting a spell is determined by three attributes that differ
07:12from spell to spell. As we have already mentioned in the previous video, magical powers can be greatly
07:18diminished by wearing metal. Weapons are an exception to this rule. Even though mages have a lot of
07:24different possibilities, they are not all powerful. They always have to keep an eye on their Astral Energy.
07:30If they run out of magical power, they'll be next to useless in a fight and become an easy target
07:35for enemies.
07:38Special Abilities
07:40To wrap it up, Blackguards also offers the so-called Special Abilities. These allow your characters to perform
07:46special actions or get a passive boon. You can learn these special abilities from a teacher.
07:52Special Abilities are divided in four categories.
07:55Melee, Ranged, Magic and Passive
08:00With these abilities, you can activate new attacks or special boons like regaining Astral Points during
08:06combat. Characters can only broaden their range of possible attacks by learning special abilities,
08:11which is especially important for fighters. Many of these attacks have a lower chance of hitting
08:16successfully, but they cause extra effects if they are successful. You should always calculate whether it
08:22would be more effective to use a risky attack that deals more damage or to go for a normal attack
08:28with a higher chance of success.
08:31Free Character Creation
08:34But let's finally take a closer look at Free Character Creation, which we already mentioned at
08:38the beginning of the video. This is the supreme discipline in Blackguards Character Creation.
08:44In this mode, you can freely distribute all your character's points right at the start and determine
08:49yourself which attributes, talents and abilities will be important. You also have to choose whether
08:55your character should be a mage or not. But choose wisely. Free Character Creation requires in-depth
09:01knowledge of the Blackguard's skill system. If you spent your points without a plan, you might have to
09:07start over again with a new, more competent hero. And now, it's your turn. Show us your character and tell
09:14your own story,
09:15right here on YouTube. Or hit the forums and exchange experiences about your journeys through Aventuria on
09:21forum.daedalic.de. You can also, of course, find us on Facebook. Here you can stay up to date about
09:29recent information on
09:30Daedalic's Blackguards. Background information and anything important is also posted here, www.blackguards.de.
09:39Who didn't join the Blackguards yet but wants to catch up as fast as possible is more than welcome
09:45to register on Steam's Early Access. There's also an awesome collector's edition featuring an artbook,
09:51a figurine and much more cool content.
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