Hi, I'm about to start playing the first Underworld. I've read tips on starting out here and there but I have some curiosities and some unanswered questions:

- I've remapped J to Space since Space seems unused in the game. Am I wrong?

- Can you raise you skills only via shrine or also by use? Let's say I want to train in swords, If I use an axe in the early areas before I raise sword in a shrine am I wasting time on training a weapon type i won't use later?

- This is an odd one: if I find twice the same rune and I put it in the rune bag, will it encumber my character further or will it vanish? I've noticed you can't remove runes from your rune bag.

Thanks! That's all, at least for now.

as far as i can see space is unused
keep in mind that shift is used with the jump key to do a standing long jump.
i'm not sure if shift and space can be used together if you remap your jump to space.
though to be honest i don't know one way or another'
best advice is to try out a standing long jump at the start
if it don't work you may need to remap it to another key

as to skills each skill has its own mantra so the weapons you use wont have an effect on the skill raising
if you use the 3 generic mantras that you find in the level 1 shrine room, i always found those 3 mantras to be totally random in the skills raised

i always just tossed extra copies of runes but from what i have seen they have to apparent weight.
but i think it won't let you put more than 1 rune of the same type in the bag anyway
which is prolly why i tossed the extras when i got any
so if it lets you drop multiple copies of a rune in your bag go for it.
it shouldn't affect your weight limit
if it don't let you the toss the extras i guess

anyway i hope this helps you and sorry for rabbiting on like that

:edited for spelling

Thank you. And yes, Shift + Space works.

If you've got a solution to your questions, then please mark the relevant post so anyone else entering the thread knows it has been answered and can jump to the answer. :)

You can add multiple units of the same rune to your rune bag. Your rune bag will always weigh the same, nevertheless.

Another question:

I've finished exploring the first level. I noticed however that in the spider nest there weren't the pair of gloves that I had seen in a Youtube walktrough. I created a new character, rushed there and indeed they were there. Have I encountered a bug?

EDIT: also, I'm sure that the gloves aren't there because I have only one save after clearing that area. Even if I reload a save before going there and killing the spiders there are no gloves.

I'm not sure what to tell you about the missing gloves. I just tried a Standard difficulty run up there, then a normal difficulty run up there, and the gloves were there both times. I'm pretty sure you don't yet have the ability to throw AOE damage that would destroy the gloves, and all items should appear in their starting locations. Some items have a certain amount of chance involved (occasionally the first hostile goblin will drop a leather vest, though usually he won't). Or maybe the gloves just disappeared due to a bug. I don't know.

They aren't magical, so you aren't missing out there. I don't think your game is in trouble, but it is early enough that you can restart if you feel uncomfortable.

Yeah, they aren't there even if I load a save before entering that area. So it's either a bug or npc/monster can destroy items somehow.

It would have to be a bug. Some creatures can destroy items (mainly ones that throw fireballs), but that is a side effect of their method of attack, not an intention, and there would be a debris pile left over. No monsters will actively try to destroy items (though they might try to break down doors, if they detect you and a door is between you and them). Damage to your armor from an attack doesn't count, as they are trying to kill YOU, not your equipment.

Spiders don't have an attack that could damage items.