Hey, hope you don't mind me continuing to post my FARA experiences- don't feel obligated to respond immediately, it's just fun for me to share these things with someone. Anyway, dead again at 2,500 points- was battling a few enemies, including a Heroic Dark Servant, a few hundred miles from Relica with a Heroic Mortician mercenary that I was lucky enough to pick up in a nearby town. The fight was going pretty well until the Darkness Meteors hit (I was careless and didn't realize I was standing in the impact radius)...
I never did get to making my Elemental spell, because I had been waiting for a good self-buffing Effector rune. Sorry about that, looks like you'll have to wait a bit for my verification on how the Elemental spell works. (If you're confused about what I'm talking about, read my edit to my other post.)
So, a few new things I've discovered:
Morticians make amazing mercenaries, at least for a caster, with their Fervent Embalming ability, or, as I like to think of it, Raise Dead- you'll be shielded behind your ever-present undead army, and they decay slowly enough for your entourage to grow over time if you keep killing enemies- they don't count toward party limit, but I'm not sure if there's a maximum number of undead a Mortician can control. I was a bit dubious at first when I saw my new mercenary was an Insight-heavy class, since I was looking for someone to keep me out of melee, not another caster, but this was far more effective- instead of one new ally to tank for me, I got several! They do decent damage, too. (Honestly, I'd be in favor of Mortician just being renamed to Necromancer, because that's the impression it gives as of now, and it feels weird to call them a "mortician" (since when did undertakers get magical abilities? There's got to be some normal morticians... Also, Necromancer sounds more impressive to me.)
It seems extremely profitable to travel further from Relica once your equipment and allies are up to it- enemies were regularly dropping Obsidian and better equipment, which was a significant upgrade over my current gear. Also, I never actually completed it (I was on my way when I had that unfortunate encounter with a meteor) but I received a quest to retrieve a piece of equipment (an Arcanium Bracelet, to be precise) from a Dungeon, in exchange for a Grand Chest, which at least sounded quite impressive (I've never opened one before, what are the contents like?) I also did a few quests for the Jade Circle, although I never got into good enough standing to receive any traits. A bit strangely, I received two quests to jailbreak someone from another Jade Circle castle, upon which I had to escape before the rest of the castle started trying to kill me, but which overall improved my standing with the Jade Circle upon completion. (Internal disputes, perhaps? It would seem to fit with their description...)
I had a bit of trouble with certain elementally-attuned enemies after I infused my staff, as it changes your attack type from "arcane" to "infused element". I'm considering making an elementally themed set of spells next game, to get full use out of the Curse rune- judging from this, I'm guessing an Arrow spell would be mandatory?
Also, any advice on spellcrafting? I'm having a hard time figuring out which effector runes would work best with which stabilizers. Certain runes seem obviously better than others (Silence versus Stupidity, anyone?) but others are a bit harder to figure out. I've shunned the attribute-decreasing runes so far, as they seem to be of rather narrow use (except possibly the Vulnerability rune, but I'm not sure how much that actually affects the stat in question) and am of nearly the same mind on the attribute-increasing runes (Enlightenment is the only one that might be of use while spellcasting, but I already get that as a Scholar- considering using Fortitude, perhaps? Again, depends on the extent of the improvement.) Anyway, any idea of what spells+effector runes I might want as a caster (3 spellslots)? I see you recommend a Rejuvenation rune on one of your spells ("your" in the generic sense) but I'm not sure if, for example, it would work better on a spell that's cast often (attack spells) or one that's cast more rarely (status-effect spells) given that I don't know how long Rejuvenation actually lasts.
I built the Tavern and the Warehouse this run, although the former was mostly useless due to the Shady Gambler promptly blocking the entrance (I was contemplating just murdering him, although it would be a bit awkward to do that in front of everyone) and the latter was mostly useless due to not having completed another Warehouse before my death. I definitely see how both could have been useful, though.
If you're robbed sleeping outside, it appears that you're not actually guaranteed to get back everything the thief stole when you kill them? My Obsidian Scepter was still missing, which hurt.
Anyway, up to 5,000 points now (I cheated with /unlockclasses earlier because I was interested in the Spellthief, but I'm strictly playing unlocked classes now)! Having fun and will post the next update when I have time!