Do you think it's possible if I play on Easy (and take it easy)? And what kind of build should I have? I'm thinking of choosing the Mage (for the swap places skill and a sum of health and mana that's 120 instead of 90, as it is for the two other classes). But I'm not sure if I want the character to be a pure mage, would it be possible to make it a durable archer with some magic and summoning back up skills? That would make a character that's rather good at staying out of trouble, right?

By the way, what's better for that kind of character to focus on? Bows or crossbows?

I don't want any megaspoily step-by-step builds, I just want some general directions when it comes to building good character that actually stands a chance of winning the game without dying.

I think it may be possible, on easy, with a good walk through. More likely to happen on your second play through rather than your first though.

The game took me around 60+ hrs to finish on my first play through where I became very aggressive as I learned to play the game (being cautious would have increased the game time considerably). That is a long time to go without getting killed at least once. I have played for hours without getting killed but . . . I've come upon something new that caused me to misjudge the situation and . . . I got killed. (Orcs morphed into Dwarfs will do that) DD is different in many ways from the basic hack and slash. You need to slow your game play (especially early in the game) and lure individuals from a pack rather than just attacking the pack. Having said that, there are certain kinds of critters you can just wade into the pack without hesitation (i.e. Skeletons coming at you in a single line, hold control and hack away). Learning the difference is mostly done by playing the game. Lure one critter, hack away, take potions if you have them and run away before you get killed. ALWAYS run back toward an area you have cleared as you will encounter more enemies running into unknown territory.

Even if you do get killed, the game reloads quickly. Save often and especially before any major conflict using the S key rather than the quick save as the quick save corrupted saves for me and others. I've had no corruptions using the S key for saving.

There are some critters that you might want to avoid . . coming back later to do them in. The first dungeon is the one most folks dislike the most it seems. I see it as a tutorial and a leveling opportunity, clear every room and destroy as many critters as possible. The game really opens up as you move out into the world. You lose nothing by avoiding some strong critters and can come back for them later but . . . you won't level up as quickly.

DD also differs in the fact that ANY character, male or female, can use any weapon or magic equally well. Some folks swear by the mage, some by the warrior and some by the Survivor. The truth is it doesn't really matter as every skill works the same for every character. The special skill is what determines my choice. I prefer the warrior simply because his "special skill" is more useful to me. When a warrior is invisible, he can cause damage with the special right-click skill and the victim cannot see him/her. If you left click, even once, you become visible and lose the advantage. Even if you make your warrior into a powerful mage it doesn't take long to get your magic skills increased and you get the benefit of not having to raise your strength right away.

I won't try to give you a build other than tell you my preferred build. I like to get my sword expertise to level five and my preferred magic skill expertise (Lightening) to level 5 as soon as possible. I use the sword for close work and Lightening as my ranged weapon. Having not specialized in crossbow I can't really comment. I prefer a sword with zero recoup time since I can deliver more cuts even though the damage is less. IMHO, it does more damage than a slow, high damage axe. True, the axe does more damage but . . . I take more damage myself from enemies while using a slow weapon. I find a particular sword about midway through the game and basically use it for the entire remainder of the game. Maybe some folks will give other input on builds . . . =).

My advice would be not to place too much value on "not getting killed" but to rather enjoy this great game, music and story. If you get killed . . . just reload (remember to save often) . . . =)

Thanks a lot for a great post! Of course I'll enjoy the game either way, but this "trying to win games on first try" playstyle is something I've really come to like, even though I never actually suceed. =)

When it comes to invisibility BTW, is it something that actually will work on monsters that matter, or can all important monsters see you anyway?

Good luck with your game play style, that should be an interesting game . . . =)

I don't remember any enemies on which the invisible attack did not work. The shadow potions can be rare so I saved them for the boss fights mostly. Josephina and Moriendor were very difficult fights, both blind you so your attacks are not very harmful while you are blind. I won't spoil it for you with details. (A weapon with "Freeze" is very helpful or the freeze spell)

You can make your own potions . . . See this post

Also linking your potions to F keys makes drinking potions much quicker. The only thing to remember is when the Ctrl key is pressed you can't drink potions or run away. In the heat of battle I would have the Ctrl key pressed to attack the nearest enemy. I would forget that I had it pressed due to the action. I died many times because I couldn't run away or drink potions. I finally figured it out. The Ctrl key is very helpful in getting your attack to the nearest enemy, use it, just remember to not press it when you want a potion or to run away. See this post about linking potions / skills

I suggest you press the R key at the beginning of every game load. I will cause your character to run constantly. You will use up more stamina but you get around much quicker. You can out run critters but they will follow relentlessly in most cases. Try to lure only the number of enemies you can deal with.

Learning to use the special move can be sorta confusing at first so I will attach an image on how to use it. The "swap places" or "sneak" may be more useful to you. I used the warriors "swirl" attack for the explanation.

Edit: Two heads-up suggestions.

1) Make sure you do not have Cap Locks on as the camera will not follow your character, this can be hard to figure out as you may have the Cap Locks on when you start the game. Turn Cap Locks off will return the game to normal. It was a feature (best guess) that allowed you to explore nearby areas without moving your character by moving your mouse pointer to the screen edge. I found it less than helpful . . . =)

2) If you right click the interface . . . anywhere . . it will disappear into three tiny lines at the bottom of the screen. At high resolutions it is almost impossible to see. Right-clicking the lines will restore the interface. It is a feature that helps with game immersion. It does help with that but can be disconcerting when your interface disappears for no apparent reason when you accidentally right-click it in the heat of battle.

Thanks for all the advice! I'm doing great so far, and I've only been close to dying twice (once during the big battle at the bottom of the starter dungeon and once fighting the ambushing orc drummer).

I'm playing a warrior and currently I'm at xp level 10. I haven't spent any skill points specializing in a weapon yet, but I'm altering between a composite bow and a blade. I've put quite a few points in constitution, and I generally feel pretty safe with my pause button, my healing potions and my teleporter stone.

Sounds like you are making great progress!

I should add one more heads up, there is one place where you absolutely die regardless of your efforts or answers. This is part of the game and there is no way to avoid it. It is part of the game story. You will understand when you are there and experience it. A dragon rider is involved so . . . you will be there soon . . . =)

I had that part behind me already when I wrote the last post. =P

I knew I was diving in deep water with the big fishes, as I hadn't nearly finished the beginner dungeon yet. But the orcs gave good experience and were rather easy to take out one by one with bow and arrow. But of course I was vary of other, more dangerous monsters and I can tell I got nervous when the dragon guy appeared out of nowhere. "Ok, now I'll have to be really, really quick pausing the game as soon as the conversation ends. Then I'll decide what to do next, I hope I can outrun him", I thought.

NOO! The Engineer gave me a lightningquick succession of two consecutive hellspikes and that was it. I was lvl 23 and had finished almost all of the first map.

But Divine Divinity might have been possible to win on the first try. I got rather far and should have left the Engineer for later when I first noticed how quickly he was able to damage me. =(