And I thought maybe I was the only one. ;-)

I've also just started and yes, I too am finding the first town a little too much with the FedEx quests. Learning how to fight effectively in combat should have been the focus rather than how to get around a town...throw us a couple of very simple combats like "My basement is overrun with vermin!" or something so we can get the combat practice!

My party is Chaotic Neutral, and believe me when I say I'm tempted to just start slaughtering the weak in this town strictly for the XP.

With regards to Elmo (in the other thread) not only is he a very good fighter for a new party...while your guys are swinging and missing he will hit and hit hard..he owns a very nice sword which has a nice blue glow.

One of the best pieces of advice that i put into practice when i started playing was the use of weapons with a long reach. A warrior with the 'Cleave' and 'Greater Cleave' ( i think thats what there called) skills can rack up lots of Attack of Opportunity and with the added reach of a weapon like the ransuer they can dish out a lot of damage in a round.

To the OP

The town quests are boring as hell, i have never bothered to finish up the quests. I find the best way too grab the second level is head to the moathouse, kill the frogs (stay to the left and take out one then edge right and take the other) and then travel or sleep and use random encounters, there are a couple more frogs before the bandits in the courtyard. Then take on the spiders at Delko Grove and follow up with the rest of the moathouse.

On the second floor of the Church in Hommlet check the book shelves by the stairs, lots of nice healing scrolls for free. Sleep is a great spell and can knock out a lot of enemies at once leaving them open for the 'coup de grace'. Make use of the 'five foot step' it allows you to shift your position at the end of your turn in battle, maybe giving someone else a chance to get a hit in.

When you first come across the undead in the moathouse make sure you pick up the extraplaner chest, i have had some games where i could not find it after the battle. Hotkey the options you use most on the radial dial and don't forget to use abilities like Barbarian Rage and your Clerics special ability incase your like me and constantly do.

If you want to stop at the inn for free you need a decent spot skill to detect the card shark has marked the cards.

The Welkwood Bog quest created by the Co8 folks is explicitly intended to replace the Fed-Ex quests in Hommlett with a combat oriented mission. You will be 2nd level at the end of it and better suited to the Moathouse. But if you do Welkwood, do not also do the stupid fetching quests...

I think you talk to the head of the town militia (one of the quick destinations from the inn's signpost) to get it started. Brother Smythe might also suggest you go talk to the dude.

As an old-timer who loves BG1-2 and IWD1-2 (and PnP D@D a looong time ago), TOEE is like a breath of fresh air. You'll love the tactical battles once you get into it!

Good luck. Oh yeah, even later you'll get your butt handed to you a lot. Part of the game's allure.

The town part is present for many reasons: you will learn the various skills, spells, weapons, combat tactics(not tthe same as is Baldur's Gate) and about your party charactars and the town people aswel. This is exactly what RPG is: "role playing game" (and not "roll playing game" ;) ).

By the way: activate the combat grid / color hex. It does really help during combat.

How can I do that? Pretty please? I'm having a terrible time spotting enemies when there are so many bodies on the ground. Plus I'm taking AoO for movements that I think are safe. :-)