Avoid the edges of the map until you are a bit stronger, as in, stick to B/C/D-2/3. The corners have rather strong enemies. The Wyvern Peaks to the south (C-3) are a pretty good place to explore and get stronger early on. To cure poison you have to head to a temple and pay them, at least before you get access to level 4 spells(character level 7 for a Cleric).

Amen to that! A1,A4,E1,E4 will slaughter you until you get rather high up there with some decent gear.

Please rate my party, I spent a lot of time re-rolling to get good stats, and I always reset after levelling up until I get the max HP boosts.
I have only visited the first 3 towns.
Fighter, LV5 male evil human, HP 70
Int 11
mgt 17
per 8
end 15
spd 11
acy 14
luc 13
Spear +2, plate mail, silver shield, long bow. Carries a Great Axe in backpack just in case he needs it)
Crusader, LV5 male good dwarf, HP 65
int 9
mgt 16
per 13 (14 with the +1 hammer)
end 17
spd 10
acy 12
luc 10
great hammer +1, splint mail +1, long bow. backpack: silver shield, long sword
Thief, LV5 male evil gnome, HP 45
int 9
mgt 14
per 12
end 14
spd 17
acy 14
luc 15
long sword, crossbow+1, ring mail+1, small shield +2
Amazon, LV5 female neutral elf., HP 64
int 15
mgt 15
per 11
end 17
spd 15
acy 15
luc 11
halberd, great bow, chain mail
WhiteMage, LV5 female good dwarf HP 50, SP 25
int 9
mgt 14
per 16
end 16
spd 11
acy 13
luc 13
flail, silver shield, chain mail (leather +2 in backpack, but I'm reluctant to use it...)
BlackMage, LV5 male neutral elf, HP 45, SP 25
int 16
mgt 7
per 11
end 17
spd 16
acy 9
luc 11
staff, padded armor, and an *equippable* flying carpet that boosts AC by 2!

The Knight's speed is alittle too low for my tastes. But if it works for ya then cool! his HP is good for that level. Personally I have my knight use a 2 handed weapon all the time.
The Paladin's personality is too low considering they get cleric spells which are effected by it later on. Usually I have my paladin mainly use a shield/1h weapon setup.
NOTE: Its generally a good idea to keep your knight/paladin on the front line.
Your Robber is pretty much fine. I could say his luck is too low, but it'll probably be fine.
If by amazon you mean archer, then she has pretty good stats. Its a shame you didn't get the 17 in accuracy though.
Your Cleric is fine. Don't use leather on her. Chainmail is far superior AC wise.
Your sorcerer is pretty good too. Even at level 9 I still havent found gear any better than what you got. Hell mine just has the staff/padded armor.
My only real gripe would be your Accuracy and Speed are too low on most of the characters. But that is my personal preference and stats do begin to matter less the farther you get. If you can rough it to like level 10, you can probably get through the game with what you got. very nice HP roles on your characters btw.

Well, I know about accuracy and speed is somewhat low, but I had already spent a LOT of time rerolling to get those stats so at some point I said, screw it and let's try those out, they are already pretty much on par or better than the default characters.
As for my Paladin's personality, how much SP will he have when he first get spells at level 7 ?
Yeah, these are actually the names of my characters, named after the equivalent class name in other games or RPGs.
In Diablo 2 the Amazon is a bow and spear expert and most of her special attacks are elemental enchantements on her bow or spear, so it felt natural to call my female archer, Amazon :-)
I found 15 accuracy to be pretty good so far, and my mages pretty much never run out of spell points in fight.
My knight would prefer to use a 2-H weapon like you suggested, but his Spear+2 is evil aligned so my paladin can't use it, and it's much better than a regular great axe. And the thief can't use it either because he can't use spears at all.
And my paladin's great hammer +1 hits much harder than anything I have right now.

Those stats are fine, don't worry about re-rolling. It's good that your sorceror is fast. I'm not actually sure if accuracy affects melee weapons; in my game it seemed like melee weapon accuracy depended more on level and class (i.e. higher level characters hit more, knights hit more than clerics, even if the cleric has comparable accuracy). Accuracy definitely affects ranged weapons though.
Regarding evil-aligned weapons, certain actions in the game can shift your party's alignment. You will notice that if your paladin slips to evil, you can equip that spear +2, and then reset your alignment at the temple or with spells. As long as you don't UNEQUIP the spear, you will still be able to use it after resetting alignment. Some might consider that a cheat though.

I reached level 5 today, and acquired L3 spells, including lightning, and therefore felt invincible. So I payed a visit to the Crazed Wizard's Cave again, and almost finished it, getting some decent loot in the process - I thought I got the 13 monsters, but the wizard said there were more. So I went back, re-touched every square, and eventually found a bunch of cyclopses I must have missed. Beat them just barely, then rested, then got ambushed by a couple of wasp swarms and ghouls who KO'd my cleric and the rest of the party soon after. Much cursing ensued.
Tried again. This time, I forgot to rest before disarming one of the chests. Disarm failed, and razor spikes killed my paladin. Reload.
Just finished the third attempt, and this time I succeeded, got the brass key, 2000 gold, and a scroll of fire. Unfortunately, I didn't get any decent loot this time (not a single silver chest). Also it's 3 in the morning.
Is there a good, universal set of rules for determining when one weapon is better than another? Right now, I'm going strictly by damage, first by minimum, then by maximum. But how would you compare, say, Accurate Sword vs. Adamantine Axe? Comparing them, the Accurate Sword does more damage, both give stat bonuses that I'm guessing won't matter by the time these weapons are available, and both have special powers that I'd probably never use due to having finite charges. But the Adamantine Axe is nearly twice as valuable, despite being inferior in the only way that seems to matter. Why? Am I underestimating it, or is the price just a red herring? Is there a better way to compare weapons than my method?

I have a very hard time comparing weapons myself. The battle axe, for instance, is supposed to go 8 damage, just like a longsword, but after many battles with it I found it always did pathetic damage, I found the broadsword (7) to be better than it.

One thing was for certain (and I hope I'm remembering right, that it was introduced in MM1 & not MM2)...if you find a Black Box, you're getting something really *really* good.

Oh Look at that... I accidentally copy and pasted a text file named MM1Items into this message! ^_~
Might and Magic Item List

Item Align- ment Class Equip Bonus Special-Power Charges Value D/AC-Bonus
ONE HANDED WEAPONS
Accurate Sword Good KPA Accuracy+6 Accuracy (Temp)+5 10 6500 8/6
Adamantine Axe KPA Luck +8 C7/5 5 12000 3/5
Axe Destroyer Evil KP Might +4 S6/2 6 8000 8/5
Axe Protector KPA Magic+25% S7/4 15 8000 8/5
Battle Axe KPAR 60 8/0
Battle Axe+1 KPAR 300 8/l
Battle Axe+2 KPAR Fire +20% Might(Temp)+2 10 500 8/2
Broad Sword KPAR 50 7/0
Broad Sword +1 Evil KPAR Luck +2 300 7/l
Broad Sword +2 Good KPAR Might +1 400 7/2
Club 1 3/0
Club +1 30 3/l
Club +2 100 3/2
Club of Noise Cursed 100 3/0
Cold Axe KP Cold +40% S4/2 10 2500 8/3
Dagger KPASR 5 4/0
Dagger +I KPASR 50 4/l
Dagger+2 KPASR S1/6 25 200 4/2
Dagger of Mind S Intellect+3 S4/7 20 750 4/3
Dark Flail Evil KPAC Cursed C5/2 10 600 3/0
Diamond Dagger S Might +4 800 10/4
Electric Spear KPA Electricity+40% S2/1 16 1200 6/3
Electric Sword KPA Electricity+40% S3/4 10 2200 8/3
Element Sword KPAR Magic+25% C7/3 10 12000 8/5
Flail KPACR 40 7/0
Flail +1 KPACR 200 7/l
Flail+2 KPACR Personality+1 Cl/4 15 350 7/2
Flail of Fear C Hold/Fear +40% S2/8 8 1600 7/3
Flaming Club Fire +20% S1/4 30 500 3/3
Flaming Sword KPA Fire +50% S3/1 10 2200 8/3
Hand Axe KPAR 10 5/0
Hand Axe +1 Evil KPAR Luck +l 75 5/l
Hand Axe+2 Good KPAR Luck +2 225 5/2
Holy Mace Good C Personality+3 C6/2 5 2000 6/4
Immortal Sword Good KP Luck +5 C6/3 25 7000 3/4
Long Sword KPAR 60 8/0
Long Sword +1 KPAR 300 8/l
Long Sword+2 KPAR Acid +20% Might(Temp)+2 10 550 3/2
Lucky Scimitar KPAR Luck +5 2200 7/4
Mace KPACR 40 6/0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Align- ment Class Equip Bonus Special-Power Charges Value D/AC-Bonus
Mace +1 KPACR 125 6/l
Mace+2 K P A C R Personality+1 Cl/5 10 325 6/2
Mace of Undead Good KPAC Cursed Age +l0 5 500 6/0
Royal Dagger Neutral KPASR 2500 4/0
Scimitar KPAR 40 7/0
Scimitar+l Good KPAR Luck+2 250 7/l
Scimitar+2 Evil KPAR Might +l 400 7/2
Sharp Sword Evil KP Magic+20% S5/3 5 6500 10/4
Short Sword KPAR 20 6/0
Short Sword+l KPAR 100 6/l
Short Sword+2 KPAR S1/2 15 300 6/2
Spear KPA 15 6/0
Spear +l Good KPA Luck+l 100 6/l
Spear +2 Evil KPA Luck+2 250 6/2
Sword of Magic KPAR Magic+30% S6/4 15 10000 8/5
Sword of Might K Might +6 Might(Temp)+5 30 8000 8/5
Sword of Speed KPA Speed+6 Speed (Temp)+5 20 7000 8/5
Ultimate Sword KPAR Might +l0 Speed(Temp)+5 20 15000 20/6
Un-Holy Mace Evil C Personality+3 C6/1 5 2000 6/4
X!XX!X’s Sword Neutral KPAR Luck+15 Luck(Temp)+5 10 6000
TWO HANDED WEAPONS
Bardiche KPA 80 10/0
Bardiche+l Good KPA speed +l 350 10/l
Bardiche+2 Good KPA speed +2 900 10/2
Cold Glave Evil KPA Cold +40% C3/6 20 2500 10/3
Curing Staff Good CS Poison +30% Cl/6 12 2500 8/3
Demons Glaive Neutral KA Acid +50% S4/1 40 10000 10/5
Devil’s Glaive Neutral KA Cold +50% S4/3 40 10000 10/5
EvilFlamberge Evil P Magic+50% C7/5 15 20000 20/6
Flamberge KPA 250 14/0
Flamberge+l KPA 600 14/l
FIamberge+2 KPA Might +2 Might(Temp)+2 10 2000 14/2
Flamberge+3 KPA Might +4 Speed(Temp)+3 10 5000 14/3
Glaive KPA 80 10/0
Glaive +1 Evil KPA Speed+1 350 10/l
Glaive+2 Evil KPA Speed+2 900 10/2
Great Axe KPA 150 12/0
Great Axe+l KPA 500 12/l
Great Axe+2 KPA Might +2 Might (Temp)+2 10 1200 12/2
Great Axe+3 KPA Might +4 Speed(Temp)+3 10 3500 12/3
Great Hammer KPAC 150 12/0
Great Hammer +l KPAC Personality +l 550 12/l
Great Hammer +2 KPAC Personality +2 Cl/2 20 1200 12/2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Align- ment Class Equip Bonus Special-Power Charges Value D/AC-Bonus
Halberd KPA 100 12/0
Halberd +l KPA 500 12/l
Halberd +2 KPA Speed +3 C1/4 20 1200 12/2
Holy FIamberge Good P Magic+50% C7/2 15 20000 20/6
Minotaur’s Axe KPA Cursed 2000 3/0
Sorcerer Staff S Intellect +4 S7/3 10 8000 8/5
Staff KPACS 30 8/0
Staff+l KPACS Intellect +l 200 8/l
Staff+2 KPACS Luck +2 S1/8 10 600 8/2
Staff of Light KPACS Sleep +40% C3/4 20 1500 8/3
Staff of Magic KPACS Magic+25% S6/4 10 5000 8/4
The Flamberge KPA Might +10 S4/3 10 15000 30/6
Thunder Hammer C Electricity+40% C4/6 15 3500 12/4
MISSILE WEAPONS
Archer’sBow A Accuracy+5 S6/2 10 12000 20/5
Bow of Power Evil KPA Hold/Fear +40% ExpLevel(Temp)+4 15 6000 10/4
Crossbow KPAR 50 6/0
Crossbow +1 KPAR 250 6/l
Crossbow+2 AR Accuracy+2 l000 6/2
Crossbow Luck AR Luck +3 Cl/2 20 2000 6/3
Crossbow Speed KPAR Speed+4 Cl/3 10 2000 6/3
Flaming Bow Evil KPA Fire +20% S3/4 10 3000 10/3
Giants Bow KPA 2000 20/3
Great Bow KPA 250 12/0
Great Bow + 1 KPA 1250 12/l
Great Bow+2 KPA Hold/Fear +30% 2000 12/2
Lightning Bow Good KPA Electricity+20% S3/1 10 3000 10/3
Long Bow KPA 100 10/0
Long Bow+l KPA 500 10/l
Long Bow+2 Good KPA Sleep +l0% 1200 10/2
Magic Sling KPAR Magic+l0% Magic(Temp)+20% 10 800 4/3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Align- ment Class Equip Bonus Special-Power Charges Value D/AC-Bonus
Obsidian Bow cursed S5/2 3 2000 3/0
Robber’s X-Bow R speed +4 S2/7 10 8O00 10/5
Short Bow K P A 75 8/0
Short Bow+1 K P A 375 8/l
Short Bow+2 Evil K P A Sleep +1O% 1000 8/2
Sling K P A R 10 4/0
Sling +l K P A R 50 4/l
The Magic Bow K P A Magic +20% S5/5 5 6000 10/4
ARMOR
Blue Ring Mail K P A C R Electricity+60% S3/4 30 10000 0/9
Bracers AC 4 ASR 1000 0/4
Bracers AC 6 Hold/Fear +20 S4/7
ASR % 20 2500 0/6
Hold/Fear % S4/7
Bracers AC 8 ASR +60 40 7500 0/8
Chain Mail K P A C 200 0/5
Chain Mail+1 KPAC Fire +5% 500 0/6
Chain Mail+2 KPAC Fire +15% 1500 0/7
Chain Mail+3 KPAC Luck +4 4500 0/8
Holy Plate Good P Magic+40% Hold/Fear 30 25000 0/12
(Temp) +50%
Leather +1 K P A C R 60 0/3
Leather +2 K PA C R Electricity +10% 150 0/4
Leather Armor K P A C R 20 0/2
Padded +l 25 0/2
Padded Armor 10 0/l
Plate Mail KP 1000 0/7
Plate Mail+1 KP Fire +10% 2500 0/8
Plate Mail+2 KP Fire +20% 7500 0/9
Plate Mail+3 KP Fire +50% 15000 0/10
Red Chain Mail K P A C Fire +60% S3/1 30 15000 0/10
Ring Mail K P A C R 100 0/4
Ring Mail+11 K P A C R Fire +5% 250 0/5
Ring Mail+2 K P A C R Fire +15% 750 0/6
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Align- ment Class Equip Bonus Special-Power Charges Value D/AC-Bonus
Ring Mail+3 KPACR Speed +2 2000 0/7
Scale+1 KPACR 120 0/4
Scale+2 KPACR Cold +10% 300 0/5
Scale Armor KPACR 50 0/3
Splint Mail KP 400 0/6
Splint Mail +1 KP Fire +l0% 1000 0/7
Splint Mail +2 KP Fire +20% 2500 0/8
Splint Mail +3 KP Might +2 7500 0/9
Ultimate Plate K Magic +40% Sl/8 30 30000 0/13
Un-Holy Plate Evil P Magic +40% Hold Fear
(Temp)+50% 30 25000 0/12
X!XX!x’s Plate Neutral KP Luck +l0 Luck(Temp)+5 10 18000 0/11
SHIELDS
Acid Shield KPCR Acid +20% 2500 0/5
Cold Shield KPCR Cold +20% 2500 0/5
Dragon Shield KPCR Magic +l0% S7/4 20 8000 0/7
Elec Shield KPCR Electricity+20% 2500 0/5
Fire Shield KPCR Fire +20% 2500 0/5
Large Shield KPCR 50 0/2
Large Shield +1 KPCR 200 0/3
Large Shield +2 KPCR 800 0/4
Magic Shield KPCR Magic +20% S4/7 20 5000 0/6
Silver Shield KPCR Sleep+20% 100 0/2
Small Shield KPCR 10 0/l
Small Shield +l KPCR 100 0/2
Small Shield +2 KPCR 400 0/3
OTHER ASSORTED ITEMS
10 Foot Pole No Equip 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Align- ment Class Equip Bonus Special-Power Charges Value D/AC-Bonus
Amber Gem No Equip 500
Antidite Brew No Equip C4/2 2 500
*B Queen Idol No Equip 0
Bag of Garbage Cursed 100
Bag of Sand No Equip Sl/8 5 100
Bag of Silver No Equip 300
*Belladonna No Equip 25
Bells of Time No Equip Age +l0 50 1000
Belt of Power KPR Might +5 600
Boots of Speed Speed+5 Speed(Temp)+5 10 800
*Bronze Key No Equip S1/2 20 500
*Cactus Nectar No Equip C3/1 10 400
Cleric’s Beads C Personality +5 C2/1 50 3000
*Coral Key No Equip C3/8 10 300
*Crystal Key No Equip S7/5 10 1000
Curing Potion No Equip C2/1 4 350
Defense Cloak Armour Class +2 700
Defense Ring Armour Class +1 S2/3 30 500
Destroyer Wand AS Magic +10% S6/2 10 7000
Diamond Collar Age +80 S7/5 10 l0000
*Diamond Key No Equip S5/5 20 2000
*Dragons Tooth No Equip C6/3 10 1500
Dried Beef No Equip Food +6 3 40
Element Scarab Personality +5 C7/3 20 6000
*Eye of Goros No Equip S7/1 20 10000
Fire Opal Age +80 S7/3 10 10000
Flying Carpet S Armour Class +2 S3/2 10 500
*Garlic No Equip 5
Gem Sack No Equip Gems+10 10 10000
*Gold Key No Equip S3/3 15 800
Horn of Death No Equip S5/3 0 2500
Jade Amulet Neutral 600
* Key Card No Equip 0
* Special items used for quest.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Align- ment Class Equip Bonus Special-Power Charges Value D/AC-Bonus
*Kings Pass No Equip 0
Knowledge Book PACS Intellect+2 Spell Level (Temp) + 14 1000
Lantern No Equip Cl/5 10 20
Laser Blaster Accuracy+5 S6/2 10 2000
Lightning Wand ACR Electricity+20% S3/4 10 1500
Lucky Charm Luck +5 Luck(Temp1)+l0 20 800
Magic Herbs No Equip Cl/4 3 50
Magic Oil No Equip S6/5 3 3000
Magic Potion No Equip Spell Points
(Current) +l0 2 500
Magic Vest Magic +20% S4/8 10 6000
*Map of Desert No Equip S1/7 20 400
*Medusa Head Cursed 0
*Merchants Pass No Equip 0
Might Potion No Equip Might (Temp)+5 3 200
Model Boat No Equip C3/8 15 400
*Pirates Map A No Equip 1000
*Pirates Map B No Equip 2000
Potion of Life No Equip C6/2 2 1500
Power Gauntlets KPACR Might+5 3000
Precision Ring Accuracy+5 3000
Return Scroll No Equip C6/5 1 2000
*Ring of Luck+10 3000
Okrim S4/8 20
Robber’s Tools R Thief Abil’s+20% 150
Rope &Hooks No Equip S2/4 30 10
Ruby Idol No Equip 3000
*Ruby Whistle Luck+2 Cl/l 200 500
Scroll of Fire No Equip S3/ 1 1 300
Shinny Pendant Sleep+30% S2/2 10 2000
Silent Chime No Equip C2/7 20 400
*Silver Key No Equip S1/5 30 600
Skill Potion No Equip Level (Temp)+5 5 600
Smelling Salt No Equip Cl/l 3 50
Sorcerer Robe S Intellect+5 S3/3 20 2500
Speed Potion No equip Speed (Temp)+5 3 200
Star Ruby Luck+l0 S1/3 30 6000
Star Sapphire Magic +30% S6/4 10 6000
*Special items used for quest.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Align- ment Class Equip Bonus Special-Power Charges Value D/AC-Bonus
Sun Scroll No Equip C7/5 1 3000
Sundial No Equip S1/7 50 500
Teleport Helm Magic +l0% S5/5 20 5000
Thundranium No Equip Might(Temp) +15 200 10000
Torch No Equip Cl/5 1 2
Undead Amulet Hold/Fear+50% Cl/8 20 800
UnObtainium Neutral 50000
*Vellum Scroll No Equip 10
*WQueen Idol No Equip 0
Wand of Fire AS Fire +15% S3/1 10 1000
Wealth Chest No Equip Gold +5100 5 6000
*Wolfsbane No Equip 10
*Wyverns Eye No Equip S2/8 20 1000
Youth Potion No Equip C6/3 2 4000
* Special items used for quest.

I found the hermit at C-3, and then ALL of my characters' inventory slots became "USELESS ITEM" except the leader's, whose inventory became Pirate Map A, Pirate Map B, and four useless items.
Is that supposed to happen, or is that a bug? I lost a ton of items - two keys, my merchant pass, a desert map, and some pretty good loot I found from previous fights.
If that wasn't a bug, then I'm guessing what I need to do is transfer my items to a character I'm not using, then visit the hermit, and then go back to the inn and get my items back.

Unfortunately, this is not a bug. Keep in mind, though, that any quest items (keys, etc.) can always be obtained again by going back to where you found them. This can be annoying, however, so your plan of transferring your items to a different character who you will keep at an inn and then coming back to the inn to get your items after you talk to the hermit is a good idea.
This is the only point in the game where agreeing to trade with someone will affect ALL of your characters' items, but there are some times when agreeing to trade with someone will affect your LEADER'S items, so if you find trading opportunities in the future, just clear out your leader's backback of anything important before you proceed.
Also, as to your earlier question about the adamantine axe vs. the accurate sword, in that particular instance I would rate them against each other by the stat bonuses; i.e. give an accurate sword to an archer to boost accuracy, and use the adamantine axe to boost luck. By the time you're finding these weapons though, you'll probably already have something much more powerful damage-wise for your knight and paladin. So I would really consider these two weapons to be options for your archer (who will never attack with a melee weapon anyway), either to boost luck or accuracy. Boosting accuracy is probably the better choice for an archer, so you're right, the "cheaper" weapon here is probably nicer. But I think the axe is more expensive because its stat boost is +8 rather than +6. In a lot of cases you'll just be selling magic weapons that you find anyway.
And yes, black boxes are in MM1. I only managed to open one once, and was actually a little disappointed, but I will concede that the contents were very rare. Just not useful to me at that point. Hopefully you'll have better luck with them.

I remember getting a Laser Blaster & some kind of magically enhanced Flamberge...this goes back over 20 years by memory, of course, but I'm pretty sure they were from MM1's Black Boxes

Ok, I think I found a real bug. In D-2, there are two columns of monsters in the upper-left corner. In the right-most column, toward the end but not near it, I encounter some enemies, but when battle ensues, the game seems to freeze. The "OPTIONS FOR: %s1" prompt appears, but pressing the usual buttons does nothing. I found that if I press the down arrow key, it shows the protection spells currently active, and Esc backs out of that screen, but nothing else seems to do anything.
I've encountered this behavior twice, in the same area.

Its kinda unrelated to the current posts, but its an MM1 observation so I'm sticking it in here. ;-)
I just started playing MM1, I'm up around Level 3, we've eaten maybe 10 units of food each...and we've already aged from 18 to 20. We haven't been magically aged, so its just one of those funny little inaccuracies, but eating 10 meals over the course of 2 years is rather lol-worthy.
Otherwise, I'm enjoying playing it for first the first time in over 20 years. I can't believe the memories are coming back so strongly while playing.