So, I'm on level 2, and have run across my first quad of skeleton lancers.

They slaughter me in seconds, and there doesn't appear to be anything I can do about it. I find the controls to be far too clunky to circle-strafe, but even if I could, there is neither the space in which to do it, or any reasonable thing I could do to them even if I could.

I've tried this fight several times, right after using a crystal to heal to 100%, and literally, anything I do results in death so quickly I can't even analyze my tactics. And this is level 2? On normal difficulty?

What on Earth do I do?

Those skeletons are quite tough at the very beginning. If you have any mages in the party hit them quickly with whatever spells you have (probably only touch spells at this point, but the spells will still hit them all at once); prepare the spell beforehand then fire it off the moment they're in range. If you don't have room to circle-strafe the you can try a hit-and-fade, stepping forward, unloading your melee character's attacks, then quickly stepping back before the skeletons can counter-attack. Basically try anything other than standing there trading blows with them.

Are you circle strafing (more like square strafing) by pressing one key at a time, to move in single squares, or are you holding the keys down to move? That would make a huge difference.

I only vaguely remember level 2, but I'll add to the advice. So yeah, it's best not to take a 4-pack head on. If you don't have room to circle strafe, at least duck around corners, where they take awhile to turn and face you. If you do take them head on, just be prepared to retreat to somewhere safe when you're beat up. Like another floor, or closing a door behind you. As for spells, a lot of them will damage all 4 skeletons at once. Greatly useful.

If you can't circle strafe because of a hallway, use the hallway corners in a similar fashion as you lead them around (preferably to somewhere that does give you room to strafe them). These guys are definitely not meant to be taken head-on.

Thanks for the replies, folks.

I gave this another couple of tries. I can kite 'em pretty easily into a 2x2 square room... my problem is I just don't have the skills to strafe-turn at the proper pace to avoid damage. I just suck. Under pressure I hit the wrong key - especially when I'm expecting them to take one path and they take the other. High-pressure circle-strafing just isn't what I want in a dungeon crawl, and if it only gets harder from here, I'm in real trouble.

I love everything else about this game - the atmosphere, the sound, the level-up system... it's fantastic! I can see why people fell in love with it so quickly. It may not have too much of a story, but man, I love the design.

I'm just not a FPS player. If you're going to force the player to play your game as a FPS, you at least need good controls to do it... and this just doesn't work for me.

Does anyone have a better key-mapping idea? I re-mapped to the following:

A strafe left
W turn left
E turn right
F strafe right
S step back
SPACE step forward

A little more natural for my hand, but still not enough for me to not just hit the wrong key at the wrong time while I'm trying to juggle my spellcasting at the same time.

I really don't want to play on easy, but that may be my only option.

Hm... If you are still having trouble, try getting into a situation where you are diagonal to the skeletons. They will pause and consider their options. The moment they start to move into the next square, turn to them and hit them, the move away as they turn to face you.

I love this game, beat it recently... I agree that it's atmosphere, gameplay, ect were amazing... and as far as the story, I thought it was one of the best of any game- no joking! I won't spoil it though! Let's just say there is more to it than meets the eye.

Whew! Finally beat it... and the quad hidden right after it. I just had to calm down enough to get the circle-strafe (such as it is) movement down. I just hucked fireballs at 'em and ignored my melee weapons completely.

On to level 3!

Oh, you said you finally beat it, I thought, "wow what an extreme comeback, beating the entire game!" Then I realized what you meant.