OK, Enclave has been on my GOG wishlist for quite some time and I finally gave in and bought it. I'm extremely pleased with it, and I believe most of its shortcomings had been already addressed to exhaustion (lazy console port, consolification of gaming, sometimes it suffers from poor collision detection, etc). I knew what I was getting into when I bought the game, let's just say that. The thing is I'm finding it to be brutally hard, and I'm only playing on the normal difficulty... I managed to get to mission 6 (I think? The one after you help/rescue/unlock the Halfling character), but I'm having a really tough time with the current mission. Melee doesn't work all that well at all, and I find ranged combat to be sub par, aiming is a chore and when I fire a shot enemies almost always dodge it. Plus, after the gates open, I get to fight a small goblin-thingie that has a *lot* of health and defends against pretty much all of my attacks -- also, firing arrows or bolts does next to no damage at all to this guy.

I was wondering if any of you guys, more proficient with the game, could share some tips with a beginner in order for me to be able to enjoy it because, as it stands, I might end up regretting having purchased it at all. I love the art direction, the production values, the looks and feel of it, but it's just way too hard for me; and don't get me wrong, I've played some really hard games and loved them, but Enclave just seems a bit more unbalanced and unfair than those other games. Like I said, any insight would be highly appreciated. Should I be playing on easy? What are the best character upgrades for this particular mission? Is there a specific character I should be playing as, that makes the game easier for me? Should I concentrate in one single character/class, and neglect all others? And other issues you might feel like addressing.

Thank you all in advance, and happy gaming! :D

Maybe you'll find this guide helpful:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/xbox/538752-enclave/faqs/20975

There are checkpoints in each level. If you activate them (just walk onto them) you will respawn there if you die and not have to start over from the beginning of each level (at the cost of some gold).

--
Alternate option: Mod it.

Go to the directory: Enclave/Sbz1/registry/
(Wherever you installed Enclave)

Use notepad to edit one of these files (depending on what you want to change):
TplChallenge.xrg
Tpl_AICharacters.xrg

Those are just text files. You'll probably want to edit the sections that refer to "max health", by either reducing the health of enemies or increasing your character's health.

I haven't tried, I'm just guessing. I think stuff that starts with Ch are your characters, and AI is artificial intelligence (either enemies or npcs).

I edited the TplCharacters.xrg to remove the hud from the game.

Remember to backup any files before making any changes. Just save any edits, load the game, and test them out.

hudfreegamer, thank you for your prompt suggestions, I know I could have looked for a guide on GameFAQs myself, but I really wanted things to be a little more... interactive, I suppose, with "actual people", real Enclave players giving me hints and tips about the game.

I'm still taking a break from it, right now I pre-ordered Not a Hero and got for free, plus I bought [url=http://www.gog.com/game/transistor]Transistor, so, I've been playing those two games and putting Enclave a bit on hold, but as soon as I'm done with whatever games I need to play first (Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim is also coming on the 28th and I have it pre-ordered as well), I'll definitely check the guide you shared with me and, if that fails, I'll give the editing/modding a go.

Happy gaming! :)

If you play ranged (bows, staves), play 1st person, this makes aiming actually possible.
With the bow, there is a trick: load 8 arrows, pull the string all the way, get close and release at point blank. This is the best attack in game (works with burst and fire arrows).
If you play melee then start swinging away from the enemy, come close when the swing lands, and back away before enemy hits you back.
If you can't afford to buy best possible equipment, you may want to replay previous levels to get more gold and play the secret levels.

Nevertheless, if you can't make it now, few missions later it gets absurdly difficult. Absurdly as in "you have 100% health, bang, you're dead". You'll have to abandon it sooner or later : (

Yeah, I've played until you have to find 3 keys for the wizard (15 mission I think), but the damage they balanced clearly was meant for a basis to implement more of a fair fighting system (e.g. when the enemy is hit he is stunned for a while), which there isnt and thus it's just an incredible frustrating game when doing brawling (and even later in the game when doing projectile fighting because of the slow shooting and delay of the weapons like bows).
Such a shame, great game otherwise. Uninstall, next.

Hi. I'm new to the game myself. I'm playing on Normal. I'm a few levels in (I forget which) and I'm not finding the game exactly what I'd call brutally difficult (yet). It can be a little inconsistent at times though. You probably know most of this, but anyway, I'll offer up a few things that work for me...

I think the trick is, due to the fact that there is no damage feedback (i.e. baddies don't stagger when hit) there is very little need for long combos. If you hit them with the first attack then continue to combo, you'll just be trading blows. This will mean a battle of attrition whereby you're almost guaranteed to take damage every time.

Ways around this:
Start to swing your weapon from a slightly out of range position to start the swinging animation, then, before you reach the apex of your swing, move forwards then immediately back. Hopefully this will result in you hitting the enemy at full reach then dodging the inevitable comeback from them.
Another trick I've found is to start your standard combo early when out of range, then try to hit them with that final *magic-looking attack you do at the end of the combo. *A blue flash should be seen coming from your melee weapon as it strikes the ground, often knocking the enemy back, allowing for one or two more moves from you.
*EDIT* sorry agent_l I've just realised that's more or less what you said. Didn't mean to steal.*

- Don't forget to block with the shield. Also, don't stand so close that you're practically touching the enemy when blocking; there's a chance their attack will get through. Stand a little way back so your shield meets the apex of their swing.
It seems like shields work in a directional manner. that is to say that simply activating the block move (RMB) isn't enough. It seems to help if your shield visibly faces the incoming attack.
The hit detection can be a bit hit and miss as you know, so no guarantees this will always work, but as a general rule it's a fairly safe bet. Don't forget also that shields have different properties. Weak shields against strong monsters don't do a lot.

- Vary your attacks. Try moving backwards, then jumping forwards with that flying downward hack.

- Crouching attacks seem nigh-on pointless. Not worth the risk from the times I've tried, although sometimes they work against those annoying dwarves.

- Never try to run from a melee-wielding adversary while you yourself are equipped with a ranged weapon at close range. They will run faster. Switch to a melee weapon and they will slow down in order to have a duel. They seem to value honour - lol.

- One consideration when melee battling is height. It's a bad idea to stand at the top of a hill swinging your sword at neck height at a midget who's further down the hill. Back off, let him follow you to the top. Failing that, equip a ranged weapon - this will surely make him sprint after you, immediately switch back to melee.

As for ranged weapons. As has already been said above, load them up with plenty arrows for a close-range medieval 'shotgun'-like blast (I was quite far into the game before I realised you can load multiple arrows for simultaneous release). :P
I think the problem with the hit-detection is because the game doesn't treat the arrows as physical projectiles, travelling through the air at a certain speed. It works in a fashion whereby what is in the sight-dot at the moment you fire is what will pretty much immediately be hit - you just have to make sure that it's a bad guy at that EXACT moment. It's very finicky, but fun sometimes. My personal fave are the sniper arrows with their zoom function (Right Mouse Button).

I feel the same, this game is great, but it becomes far too difficult.

I switched to easy, and still in the later levels I can't stand my ground.

Fuck it, now I use cheats. Exploring the levels, finding the gold, buying better weapons is still fun.

If anyone is interested:

1. Open environment.cfg in the game directory with notepad, add CON_ENABLE=1

2. Hit ^ in game to open console, type: cg_menu cheatmenu

3. Before selecting god mode close the console with ^. If you don't you might experience a crash, at least that was the case for me.

4. Cheats can make a game fun again, don't feel bad.