Hints

Practice on wimps. Master combat by picking on easy opponents. Goblins and hobgoblins are the easiest opponents. You can graduate to poleaxe-wielding guards and the black and silver clad officers later.

Get tough before you get going. Get up to level 3 at least before you start trying to get too deep into the story. You gain levels by reading. (Okay, so it’s not very realistic – but it’s more realistic than getting better at picking locks by killing monsters.)

You can turn on the run. You can turn while walking or running (forward or backward). Get used to the movement controls as quickly as possible!

Parrying works! In melee, defending works! Try parrying your enemy’s first blow then striking immediately afterwards. (Tough enemies can smash right through a parry, but the damage will be reduced.) The elf and mage can’t defend.

Mêlée & movement. If you’re having trouble hitting an opponent in melee, try moving closer or further away.

Close with poleaxe-wielding guards! Close with poledudes*! Their close-in “butt-stroke” attack is weaker than their slash. (* “Poledude” is our internal name of the guys with polearms.)

Be ready to run! Stay near a door (or the edge of the map) in tough fights; you can always run away!

Time your attacks. Time your strikes against weaker adversaries such as goblins and hobgoblins so as to hit them as they close into range. A skilled player can kill almost any number of goblins or hobgoblins without taking a scratch.

Monsters vary in strength. Don’t assume that the fact that one monster of a given type, such as a spectre, couldn’t penetrate your armour means you can ignore all such monsters. Monsters vary greatly in toughness.

Elves are not the master race! The elf is probably the easiest character for a beginner to play, but in the long run the two fighters are probably the best. (The magician can do some really sneaky things, but has problems in close.)

Nanoc is tough. His strength is being able to take blows, so don’t be afraid to take on enemies in close. With plate armour, a good sword, and tasteful accessories, Nanoc can shrug off most attacks. Don’t forget your throwing axe; it becomes a lot more effective at higher levels.

The elf is fragile. The elf can slaughter bad guys at range, but – even with a good sword (yes, he can use most swords) – he should avoid melee. Winning the game as the elf is harder than with Nanoc or Thysa.

Thysa is lethal. Thysa has the most effective selection of attacks (an accurate long range attack combined with good melee capacity) but suffers from not being able to use most armour.

It’s not easy being green. Don’t try playing the magician until you’re pretty confident or playing the multi-player game. We don’t guarantee you can win the game as the magician – we haven’t.

Two-handed play is easier. Use your right hand on the numeric keypad and your left hand for combat/spell-casting. Some players prefer using their right hand for everything (except special controls, such as save) but you should at least try two-handed play – it makes timing blows much easier.

Look for the unusual: it usually means something.

Don’t forget to search. You seldom find anything, but if you don’t look you’ll never find anything.