Ok I jt started messing around with this game and LoL for some reason I can't seem to get anywhere.. I keep getting slaughtered by the giant rats in fountain head.

I had this game when I was 12 and I remember getting pretty far into it with no problems.

My question is do you use the premade party or do you make your own and if you do what kind of party do you make..

Also, when buying from the smith can you look at an items stats before buying somehow?

I don't remember if always having to revive your party constantly was a common thing or not.. Well, any feedback would be appreciated.. Thanks

Premade party is fine.

When fighting monsters try to keep a distance and pelt them with missiles. If you the S button twice rapidly you get two shots per round.

Explore the grassland area around Fountain Head and destroy any creature dwellings for fat loot and easy XP. Every time you gain a level your HP and spell points are restored, so you can play for a long time before you even need to rest.

Sounds good.. Thanks for the quick reply.. Yeah I got it going.. just took awhile to jog my memory. I still wish there was a way to see item stats without having to buy them and identify.. I guess going by price or save and reloading will work also.

There is a way to jump start party strength. Fight your way to the mirror in Fountain Head, and tell it "doe meister" to teleport to Dragon Cavern. Collect the gold and then use Mr. Wizard to return. Go to the mirror again and tell it "red hot" to reach Blistering Heights. Take a step back to enter the inn, and recruit Lord Bruno and The Raven. Fight your way through the open areas of the town - your initial party should rack up experience even if dead. Once restored, if needed, the initial party members should be able to jump several levels. Return to Fountain Head and deposit the hirelings at the Inn and the extra gold in the bank.

To gain even more gold for the bank early on, collect Lord Bruno and The Raven and use the mirror to "doe meister" again. Use The Raven's Teleport spell to jump around in the Dragon Cavern - there's a map on GameFaqs showing additional hidden gold hoards - and gain some more experience for the early party members. Return to Fountain Head, drop the Hirelings and deposit the gold, and level up the initial party for a stronger start.

Forgot to mention that you can probably use the official hint book to check out the item stats. I already have the disk versions of the Might&Magic games, so I'm not sure if it's part of GOG's package, though.
Or just check out this link: http://www.angelfire.com/la/rapier/MM3Items.html

Yup.. Im all good now thanks for the tips PetrusOctavianus

I just checked.. the cluebook has all the item stats I was looking for

The Replacement docs site has copies of both the manual and the hint book: http://replacementdocs.com/news.php