Is there a preferable way of playing through this game? I mean i went to the underground city when i got out of the keep but it's somewhat hard there. The piles of limbs are ok, but the gory bloddy clawy things are quite powerful and i'm out of potions so what do i do? Should i have went somewhere other than the underground city first? I'm playing a fighter character.

There is a spell hidden in he first keep to raise a bridge in the sea to get to the tower/dungeon you see on the other side. It is my first playthrough and I just finished that dungeon after the first keep and it was doable.

I went on using the cheap trick of attacking once and going one step back and before the monster moves going one step forward and repeating the pattern. If the enemy only has melee attacks then you won't get hit very often, it's feels like a wimpy tactic though :).
But anyway, i totally forgot i have the spell that repairs stuff, so i'm going back to repair the bridge now leaving all the bloody monsters of underground city slashed to pieces.

The game does get a lot easier towards the end, especially after you learn the spell Shackles of Ice that you can use to freeze the enemies and master a weaopn or two. I suggest mastering one weapon first, as it makes attacks more powerfull, then add points to any other weapon you want to use. I've personally used swords and Steelripper Spear, which can potentially kill most enemies when thrown on them.

And the good old hit and run tactic works well on enemies that don't use ranged attacks. Hit, step back, step forward hit.

The back and forth tactic - swing, then back away, then step forward and swing again - works really well in this game and will ensure most enemies don't get too many hits on you.

You will also want to go to the Dark Lantern first. Remember, Azariah tells you to go visit the wizard in the Dark Lantern first. It's wise to listen to him.

I played this game back in the day on an old IBM. The secret for me back then was to just walk away sometimes. Since characters heal and mp recharges when they are just sitting there not doing anything it allows you to get through the game. I did that a lot!

I just finished the game and in the end most of my inventory at that point consisted of healing potions, magick herbs and mana and healing symbols. I also ended up using magical items only a couple of times. After you figure out how to play the game it's actually way, way too easy, even when you are killing big, though monsters.

I found the game to be a bit easy in the combat area.

As mentioned, you can do the back and forth during fights. Go forward and attack, then move back. Then rinse and reapeat. It's really not that fulfilling, but helps you in tough fights. You could get through the whole game this way without taking many hits.

I found that some monsters have a weakness during their animations. If you figure out when a monster can be attacked during their animations, you don't have to even go back and forth anymore, just strike when they are at their "weakened" animation spot... if that makes sense ;).

The only tough parts for me was the puzzle solving. Most puzzles were pretty easy, just took a few thoughts to get through. But a few, I had a tough time with. I think it might be cause I didn't grow up with these kind of games, so they kind of went over my head in a way to solve them.

Also the game is pretty non-linear! This might add to the toughness for some, as you can wonder around and enter places earlier than maybe you should. But pretty cool I think that it is non-linear :).

Do the Stonekeep Shuffle! Attack the monster, back away from it, let it come to you, attack it again, rinse and repeat until enemy is dead.

anniegetyanniegetyNew User
Rep: 1
Registered: Oct 2011From Canada
Posted 2 hours ago
15
First I must thank magmarok for the video settings. Was close to giving up. Am now in the barrier and have placed the four blocks on the four corners but the four doors with the switches have not opened I also cannot open the door to the west exit. Does anyone have any idea where I went wrong?. Would love to finish this game. Thanks.

As others have mentioned, dodging enemy blows backwards makes combat easy. It's only when you're cornered or flanked by two or more enemies that the game becomes challenging. Some enemies have a long-range attack that travels far until it hits a wall. However, they will only use it if you're out of sight. When there's a medium distance between you and them (2-3 squares), they'll prefer to come to you. All other attacks are short-range, meaning they affect only the square immediately in front of them. You know when to step back when you see the wind-up animation, which is especially long for spell attacks (Hagborn), but can be lightning-quick for some melee opponents (Mirelurks). If you hit the enemy during their wind-up animation, their attack will be interrupted, so use this tip when you're cornered and time your attacks to just before they attack.

The Steelripper spear (found in the Eye of Clay) does massive damage when thrown. You can only throw a weapon when there's at least one empty square between you and your enemy. Use the spear while backpedalling and picking it up after each strike; even strong enemies are killed by two or three hits in this way.