Thing is, a lot of skills aren't really useful. For example, you only need one melee weapon skill (sword, axe, mace, unarmed), and missile weapons just aren't very useful in general (I'll just throw a magic arrow spell/wand charge at something if I want to get its attention from a distance). Lore is almost always a useful investment, and a few points in Swimming and Acrobat are also good investments (but only a few for these two).

Similar to mantras, they are scattered around. One of the lizardmen will give you a scroll that has a spell on it in exchange for a ruby. There is a scroll with a spell in the area with the Imp on level 1. Anywhere you see writing that uses Rune names, try using the runes it lists in the order listed.

The area of the screen your cursor is in when you start to charge the swing will determine whether you slash, hack, or stab (except punching, which only has one version), and your weapon animation will move accordingly. To hit the enemy in melee, you need to be close enough (and pointing in the right direction) for the swing to connect and you have to pass the To-Hit check if you are close enough. Regardless of weapon, I've always used the slash, myself. Practice in an empty room and you'll get used to it.

Raise both your Attack skill and your Sword skill, and it should happen a lot less often. If your skills are in the middle range, you may still see weapon damage when attacking very strong foes (the Chaos Knight definitely qualifies). Btw, use the Chaos Knight's equipment.

You only need to back up if you need to actually release the spell into the world (ex. Magic Arrow, Acid, or Fireball). Spells like Heal, Light, Destroy Undead, and Flame Wind can be successfully cast even if you are bumping up against an enemy. Being able to dodge in and out is important even if you are just using melee though, since you can actually dodge enemy attacks by moving out of range before they connect.

Is that scepter magical? Maybe I've just never had enough lore at that point to realize it. As you said, learn something new!

Yes, it is. Left click on it and see your mana rise again. :-)

Okay, so skill increases slow down according to stats. Good to know. Also handy to know they go to 30; lower than I thought.

Still, I find using the general chants is more profitable overall. Where can I see how many skill increases/points I have left to spend? I'm losing track.

I've only found 2 or 3 spells listed in-game. Most of the ones I'm using were never written anywhere. Unless... all those notes I picked up about 'for large jumps use...' I thought they were mantras? Are some of them actually spells?!!

Okay, the manual didn't explain very well about combat- it made it sound like you had to mouse over them when you really only need to be in range and facing. I know how the rest of it works (different screen regions for stabs, etc) and am getting good at dodging in and out (which I perfected while playing Arx Fatalis). As a result I'm not bothering to raise defence much.

Not found the master builder's grave; is there a specific point when I get a clue or key for it? Or is it just a secret door? I'm crap at finding secret doors. Is there a technique? Does the Search skill help with this?

This value is not displayed in game. You know it has hit zero if you use a mantra and you get something like "Not able to increase a skill".

All spells will use a combination of two or three of the 24 runes. So that scroll about large jumps told you to use Uus Por to cast the Jump spell. Learn the rune names (or check your rune bag for them) and you'll be able to recognize potential spells on sight. Note that the rune names correspond to the English alphabet (with X and Z missing). Also note that while Jump uses the runes UP, most spells aren't quite so mnemonically convenient. ;)

Generally speaking, most mantras are hinted with something like "Chant x for y" or "Shout x for y", though the format may vary. Look for words about speaking something to guess when a mantra is being hinted at.

I'd suggest raising your defense anyway; I think that helps keep your armor from being damaged when you do get hit. Also, some monsters on lower levels have ranged attacks; I think it will help you survive there as well.

The Master Builder's grave is in a raised room section just outside the secret door to the Grey Goblin's lair (Level 1). The secret door is in the wall section at the end of the hall that leads to their jail cell; the area with the master's grave is on the other side of it. The levers can allow you to reach the grave; it will have a grave stone dedicated to the Master Builder.

I think the search skill is supposed to help find secret doors. Look for odd pattern breaks, and use the Look function on them a few times; you might spot something. If you look at a Secret Door like this, the game will indicate you are looking at a secret door (though at first the door might be concealed, which is why I say to click a few times). While it isn't perfect, if you run along a wall and sort of into it, you'll tend to get hung up on corners and odd parts, which includes secret doors. Also, your map may display a door that you might have missed.

Just hug the walls and check your map afterwards.

Yeah starting to understand the vocab, but wish it was like Arx Fatalis- there all the runes were latin words, a language I understand and can sort of speak. This is a bit weird, despite some things (Flam) that make sense. I found a couple more spell notes around just now, but again a lot haven't been covered in-game.

Will raise defence later on then. I found the grave; marked the lever puzzle on my map earlier and forgot to return. When I found it first I didn't notice the pillars below and make any connection. Now I got it :D Nice sceptre.

The map trick seems to work for doors. The pattern change is hard to spot and pattern changes anyway sometimes, like on slopes. That's just confusing.

Keep in mind that if you are only on the 4th floor, even if you've investigated every nook and cranny you're still only halfway through the game. ;)

Be advised that this method isn't perfect. There are a few secret doors that have a sort of false wall covering them, and you have to "Look" (though "Use" might work too) at the wall to "remove" the false wall (it will disappear); you won't hang on that door just running along the edge of the wall (at least while the false wall section is in place). Also, there are some areas with lots of sharp angles and uneven floors (ex. Maze of Silas) that make this method impractical as well.

In general, look for oddities, just like in other old games. If the walls change overarching pattern in a large swath, it probably isn't a clue. If a narrow hallway suddenly ends in a dead end, especially if your map indicates a room might be on the other side of the wall, then use the Look command to check out the walls. Is there a small patch of different wall design stuck randomly in between an otherwise unbroken wall pattern? Look it over. Does the wall seem to be randomly different in one small area along a wall that otherwise looks like it should continue unbroken? Look it over. Just one small section of vines on the wall? Look it over.

If two walls form a corner, and the pattern changes after rounding the corner? Probably not a concern. Things look a little odd (like ripples) all up and down a sort of diagonally place wall? Probably not a concern.

These aren't rules, just some guidelines on things to look for.

It seems to me that people seem to be so loyal to the franchise that they defend mechanics that create busywork without adding tactical depth. (Reagents come to mind here.)

Also, this topic is the first time I've seen someone defend Uitima 7's horrible combat.

But the franchise also had innovative combat (3-5), great story line, and has influence gaming in so many ways. But U7 is a lot of busy work and has mediocre combat. Still a great game and one of the best rpg's out there, but it needs a true honest remake, that is not streamlined to console peasants.

Inventory management and combat have aways driven me off of Ultima VII. Finished Ultima VIII, though, because it's less of a hassle, if you're controlling only one character. The magic systems of Ultima VIII still drive me up the wall, though. Everything except wind magic is unacceptable.

The sad part is that these things were done better earlier in the series. Ultima V had excellent inventory management, as it was not necessary to ever drop anything. Then Ultima VI added equipment weight and re-added separate character inventories (previously seen in III), and Ultima VII made inventory management worse and ruined the combat.

That's some awful selective memory there. I didn't defend the poor combat at all. I've said more than once that it lacks enemy variety and challenge. That being the case, the old turn based system would have been pointless and would indeed create more busywork.

If the old turn based combat system is pointless, then so is the real time combat system. In addition, making the game run in real time can cause an accessibility issue with older and disabled gamers.

Also, in Ultima 6, the busywork of combat (if you actually consider it that) can be automated out thanks to the AI settings.

Really, the game would have been better with either turn based combat or no combat at all. (In the no combat case, the game would probably be a pure adventure game rather than an RPG, it's worth noting.)

So now it's turn based or nothing at all? Nonsense. If accessibility is really such an issue, than reducing player input with semi-autonomous npcs is a good thing. Which is exactly what is happening by default in U7, without the baggage of slowing down navigation. No, it would be better off by adding some challenge to the game in either case. Add some stronger enemies, don't let them always be outnumbered by the player's army of followers, and give them some real variety in the way they attack and the way you approach fighting them. These are the things that made earlier games' combat better, not merely the turn based system.