I have a little over 40 hours in Wayward Souls, and almost all of it has been spent playing Abbie. At this point, i think i'm ready to say: My way of playing Abbie is the only correct way to play her, and all the other ways are inferior scams.
Abbie's playstyle is unusual. At first, she may seem a lot weaker than the other classes. This is because she is weaker than the other classes. She is not particularly mobile, she has a low healthbar and a very lackluster damage output, and when played improperly, she can die very quickly from only a couple mistakes. However, Abbie possesses an unrivaled ability to cheese rooms, and when played and built properly she can burn very safely, albeit not particularly quickly, through most levels and tilesets. This ability to break the game is Abbie's real strength, and it is one you will have to learn to abuse to the utmost if you want to be successful with her. Luckily, this guide can quickly teach you the basics of doing so.
In this guide i will go over such valuable information and techniques as:
- managing your energy and spell resources, and how to use certain spell effects
- never, ever taking the earth or air staffs or the un-upgraded fire staff, and why ice and lightning are the best ones
- why your first spell slot should always be the slow field and how to reroll if you don't get it
- various spells that might or possibly might not suit your second slot--it doesn't really matter
- how to break the game
- a quick walkthrough of the first boss

Abbie's skill floor is a lot lower than the other classes, and i feel she is the perfect class for those starting out in Wayward Souls. Playing Abbie correctly - as i do - requires a certain modicum of patience and savvy, but not much else. i'm confident that even a monkey like you will be able to at least clear Caves with her by the end of this guide. After that, you're on your own.

I'm sure you're aware by now that Abbie's basic attack requires energy to use. if your energy bar is not sufficiently full, attempting to attack will throw out an adorable puff of air that deals no damage or hitstun but is very intimidating and impressive. However, it ALSO locks you in a vulnerable attack animation, rendering you unable to dodge projectiles for a brief period and probably forcing you to use a consumable (or all of your consumables, if you panic) to protect yourself. doing this repeatedly during an encounter is an excellent way to run out of consumables, die, and throw away a good run. Therefore, learning how to manage and keep track of your energy bar is equivalent to learning how to manage your consumables, and should be one of the first basic techniques you learn when picking up Abbie. There are three major techniques involved in energy and resource management, listed below:
1. Spell-Weaving (once the proper upgrade has been bought)
2. Abbie's slick patented "lick-and-dip" maneuvre
3. Hit efficiency and Shepherding

Spell-Weaving
Spell-weaving is the act of using a forge spell (z or x ability) in between basic or power attacks. Once you've unlocked the right upgrade, casting your first or second ability slots will restore a not-insignificant amount of energy to Abbie. Combined with the considerable hitstun many of your forge spells have, this is usually enough to get off another hit or so, and sometimes enough to get a power attack in. I can't think of many cases in which you should be using an ability twice without weaving an attack in. Try to throw out a power attack just before you cast an ability, and another basic attack after if you can weave it in without taking damage. Never spam your consumables if you can help it - their power lay not in their damage, but in their hit stun and energy return. Abbie gets a lot of spells back from her enemies, so you shouldn't be afraid to use her abilities every once in a while, but she can still run out very quickly if you're not careful or have a dry patch, so learning how to use them efficiently should be important to you.
(Q: when should I use scrolls? A: when you are surrounded in a tight corridor in melee and about to take damage, or absolutely need to stun a summoner or necromancer you cannot reach. Scrolls are for repositioning and stunning priority targets. All your attack scrolls have powerful stuns attached, and you should use them. Never, ever use a scroll just to deal damage.)

The Lick-and-Dip
Abbie possesses the unique ability to deal damage to her opponents from afar without using up valuable consumables. This ability to hit and run from afar makes her deceptively mobile, giving her the freedom to efficiently and safely weave attacks in between dodging rooms full of projectiles when other classes otherwise might not. However, it is sometimes more prudent to dole out all of your damage at once and then back out when facing certain rooms. This is where the lick-and-dip comes in. you "lick" your enemy, unleashing all of your energy on them, and then you "dip" out, hugging the cleared side of the room until your energy returns. Many enemies are much slower than you are, and particularly in larger rooms with freedom to move around, they won't be able to retaliate against you or may not even follow you until your energy is back. Generally speaking, if an enemy isn't on your screen anymore, it won't fire projectiles or raise allies.

Hit Efficiency and Shepherding
Abbie's basic attack is lower-ranged, non-piercing and deals less damage than her power attack, so it's very common for beginner Abbie players to stick to using her power attack whenever possible. However, this is a mistake. While Abbie's basic attack does not pierce, it can still easily hit multiple enemies if you know how to place it. It also deals some hit-stun just like her power attack, has higher dps, and is far more energy efficient against small numbers of foes. Below i'll explain how to make the most of her basic attack aoe.
Because Abbie's attacks expend energy, attacking is often less a matter of whether you can, and more a matter of whether you should. Generally speaking, the more efficient the attack, the better. Attack efficiency is a matter of the value of the target it's hitting (a necromancer or rusher? or just a lifter?), the number of targets it will hit, and the safety of the attack, not just the energy cost. For instance, casting a power attack outside of an enemy's aggro range is as efficient as it gets, but if that power attack is hitting two zombies several feet away while a ghost is sitting to the left of you, you're probably an idiot. you could have killed those two zombies with a single basic attack, after you dealt with the ghost.
Shepherding is the technique of moving around the room so as to manipulate the placement of your enemies, lining them up so that multiple targets are hit by a single attack. This is /also/ important for lining up or blocking enemy projectile paths. You don't have to dodge projectiles that are already being blocked by shield-knights, for example. Generally speaking, there are two enemy formations to know about - lines and blobs. Lines of three or more enemies are usually best handled with power attacks, but sometimes it's more efficient to wheel back around and hit a blob of two or more priority targets with a barrage of basic attacks instead.

Okay, let me just get this out of the way:

There are only two staves you should ever be using: The Staff of Vezar or the Fulgurite Rod. I'll briefly explain why the other stavees aren't good choices before i get in to the trade-offs between these two staves and my reasoning for why one is generally better than the other.

1. the stone staff is garbage
At first glance, this staff seems alright. It has a longer range on its basic attacks, and the power attack hits an area around you. This should be pretty good against melee foes, right?
wrong. Extremely wrong. The power attack's aoe is extremely small, and most melee enemies that pose any threat to you have short dashes connected to their attack animations anyway, which will outrange it. Additionally, casting a power attack in short range is a bad idea in the first place, since it leaves you in an attack animation that prevents movement. the best way to deal with melee foes is to hit them at range. Finally, your base power attack outranges this staff's basic attack, landing you with a net LOSS of attack range, and you miss out on having a piercing attack or being able to buffer ranged attacks. There are zero benefits to taking this staff choice, unless you just don't feel like winning anymore.

2. the air staff is ALSO garbage
this staff seems pretty darn cool, right? I mean, projectile nullification is one of the strongest effects in the game, and this staff can just throw it out on command, so what's not to like? And Abbie's biggest weakness is her lack of mobility or invincibility-frames, so shouldn't she like a power attack that gives her a backwards dash?
No. I don't know if this staff was ever play-tested on an actual run, but dashing backwards in a crowded room full of enemies and projectiles is just about the worst thing you could ever do. The projectile nullification is brief and one-directional, and the dash has no invincibility, so you'll frequently be dashing backwards just to get hit by a different projectile or enemy or even the same ability you were trying to avoid. Throw in the loss of the range and piercing effect of your base power attack, and not taking this staff becomes a no-brainer. If the forge gives you the option of taking this staff or the stone staff, what you should do is exit and try a new run.

3. The silver eye staff is pointless
crit rates are extremely low in this game and even if they weren't, it still wouldn't be wise to rely on them over the benefits given by the staff of vezar or the fulgurite rod. Even the salamander staff is better when upgraded. This staff won't ruin your run if you take it, but if you have the option of taking the ice staff or lightning staff, you should do so every time.

4. The staff of the salamander is kinda bad
While this staff is pretty decent once it's been upgraded, it is a liability before that, and most runs will end before you you ever see a +1 staff. in its base form, it has the LOWEST range of all the staves. That being said, its power attack is actually pretty decent, with a good aoe and reliable hitstun, making it good at clearing out rooms of hounds and the like, but it's still smarter to just shepherd them in to lines and take them out at range.

5. The Fulgurite Rod has its uses
The lightning staff, AKA the fulgurite rod, is most notable for having the highest single target damage of all the staffs thanks to its unique and very useful power attack, which can hit the same enemy three times at once. This power attack is still useful at range, since it can strike diagonally and covers a lot of territory. Thanks to its flexible projectile paths and high damage, it is by far the best staff for boss fights, as the staff of Vezar lacks up-front damage and the other staffs are just useless. While it can't compete overall with the sheer utility, ranged power, and quality of life provided by the staff of vezar, the fulgurite rod is still a very effective staff and a perfectly valid choice.

6. Why the Staff of Vezar is the best one
This staff's power attacks apply a powerful slow that keeps enemies from closing in or running from you and makes subsequent attacks easier to hit. that same slow ALSO lengthens enemy attack and spellcast animations, making it easier to dodge attacks or kill foes before they can finish dashing or using an ability. If that weren't good enough, EVERYTHING this staff does costs a lot less energy. Without this staff, Abbie often feels like only half of a character. With it, she's complete.
Even without its overpowered slow, its cheaper power attacks and basic attacks would make it worth it. Even if the attacks weren't cheaper, the slow would be worth it. The fact that it has both makes it the best weapon in the game, probably out of all the weapons available for all of the classes. Its attacks are quick and responsive, and they're so cheap that you never have to worry about not having enough energy to ward off a phantom thief or bopping a necromancer before it can raise its allies. Its cheap, long-ranged, piercing, SLOWING power attacks make clean work of most rooms, and for everything else, following up with a flurry of basic attacks is usually enough to finish the job, so the staff rarely feels like it's missing damage, except in certain fights, such as against the keep boss. this being said, its lack of up-front damage can be a real liability against bosses and encounters involving multiple tanky summoners. However, it shines more than any other staff at enabling Abbie's core playstyle of breaking the game, allowing her to safely clear most rooms and making it tonight's biggest winner.

The only spell you should ever have on your Z key is the icy projectile nullification field (the ice robe). This spell will make the difference between victory and defeat for you. Its slow is powerful and long-lasting, its aoe is large, and it even blocks summons and spellcasts that aren't projectiles. Get this spell every time it's offered, and don't be afraid to spam it, because robe charges drop pretty frequently. If you get something like lightning storm instead, that's totally fine! just run straight in to the next room and offer yourself up as a gift to the spider god, then start over and hope RNG treats you a little better this time.

Your X key (the book) is a little more open to preference. The base ability is actually very strong, with high damage, a large aoe, and an extremely useful ministun, and there's nothing wrong with going the entire game with it or its upgrades.

Spells you shouldn't ever take, and why:

Lightning Storm: having only three casts of this ability at max is extremely limiting, and the cost of three resources with every use is simply too steep to rationalize taking it. Yes, this spell is extremely powerful, but it just costs too much to use, and there's really no point in a spell that damages and stuns three times when you really only need it to stun once in order to take out an enemy. Additionally, you're missing out on the powerful projectile nullification of the ice field spell by taking this, making it doubly not worth it.

Manablade Arts:
This spell sucks. The problem with it is that casting animation is just way too long, effectively leaving you a sitting duck from every other direction while you're locked into a swing. casting this ability is like asking to take damage, and the option to reflect your enemy's puny projectiles just isn't worth getting hit from another angle. It tends to erase what it touches, but you shouldn't be walking in to melee to use it for that on Abbie. Just don't ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ take this, stupid.

Spells that are good:
the ice ball: this spell deals okay damage at okay range, stuns, and draws enemies in in an okay area of effect, making it easier to hit multiple foes at once with a following power attack. There are better spells for actually getting things off the screen, but this one isn't awful.
the wind bolt: this spell stays on the screen for a long time, moving across it at a glacial pace. it is good at nullifying projectiles from a given direction, giving you a narrow but long-lasting corridor of safety in an otherwise crowded room. its damage is lackluster, but it has some knockback. This is a fairly good defensive choice.
the stone ball: this thing hits like a double-decker bus and has fantastic range. It's superb for spell-weaving (using power attacks between book or robe casts, remember?) and blasting down lines of enemies very quickly. Unfortunately, it doesn't have much hitstun to speak of. This is what you take if you're dealing with enemies you really can't afford to keep on your screen for any length of time. You are sacrificing some defense taking this spell, but if you are bringing the staff of Vazar, you're already pretty good at kiting things around and could probably use the burst damage this spell offers.
the flame fan: this is really just a reliable close-range offensive tool for Abbie. Its best qualities are its brief cast-time and fairly forgiving cone aoe, its excellent damage and brief hitstun within that cone, and its high number of charges. It's a fairly good panic button if a rusher closes the distance to you, and you have access to it from the very start of your run. Both of its upgrades are worth taking, even the one that just adds crit to your other spells.

There are a lot of other spells, and some of them are worse than others, but I don't think it's totally necessary to go through all of them here. Take the ice field in your robe slot, and take whatever you want in your book slot, and you should be fine.

Abbie relies on exploiting and breaking encounters in order to be effective. She does this in a number of ways, but i'm going to be talking about two basic but vital techniques in particular: "pulling" and "kiting."

Pulling
Normally, when you start an encounter, you enter the room, the door shuts behind you, and then you fight all of the room's enemies at once, within the confines of that room.
Abbie thinks this is boring and trite. Instead, she prefers to sit just inside the edge of the door - just far enough so that she can hit its inhabitants without the door closing - and snipe any enemy she can reach within with power attacks before stepping back and waiting for her energy to recharge. Only once she's taken out as many enemies as she can in this way does she actually enter the room and start the encounter. If enemies are far enough, they won't react at all, allowing abbie to get free attacks off on them. However, enemies struck closer to the door will chase her out of the room and often bring with them a chunk of the room's inhabitants, without alerting the entire room. This phenomenon is called a "pull," and it's in this way that she's able to deal with the bulk of an encounter using the space of every room she's cleared up to that point instead of being stuck in a single cramped room. Is this an exploit? Yes, but Abbie was made weaker than other classes precisely because she's able to do this. Every time you move on to the next encounter, before you enter the room, you should keep track of where the doors are and try to determine whether you can snipe or pull any enemies outside the door without entering it. Many of Abbie's most challenging encounters can be made much easier this way.

Kiting
Kiting is the act of attacking while fleeing, and fleeing while attacking. Other classes do exhibit some degree of kiting, but Abbie uses kiting as a fundamental part of her playstyle. As Abbie, you should always be moving unless you're specifically trying to shepherd enemies in to a specific formation, and you'll find that on successful runs the bulk of your spells will be devoted to keeping yourself from being cornered by enemy rushers or projectiles while you methodically kite around the slower, largely harmless bruisers in the room to clear priority targets. This style of play doesn't work for every room - some encounters will take place on cramped bridges or corridors with insufficient space to avoid bruisers, and this is when you'll want your consumables the most. But in rooms with ample space for moving around, It's usually better to just run past bruisers until more dangerous targets are dealt with. Abbie isn't the only character who can play this way (rogues are usually better off pulling bruisers in to a far corner of the room before dashing past them to take out casters), but for her it's essential to her survival.

In short, the first things you should be doing when you move on to your next encounter are as follows:
1. note where the door is
2. determine whether any enemies can be pulled or sniped, and do so if possible
3. determine the shape of the room - is it cramped? is there space to move around and avoid bruisers?
4. Identify priority targets - particularly summoners and necromancers, but also certain dangerous casters or rushers
5. enter the room and start the encounter.

that's it.

The boss of the Caves will give you a very hard time as Abbie if you approach it the same way you've learned to approach normal encounters, but if you fight it the right way, you'll never take damage from it again.

This boss moves quickly, hits hard, and has powerful projectile attacks that are extremely difficult to dodge...from afar. And that's all there is to this boss. All you have to do to clear it is to move in to melee range and never step in to the path of its hammer. Ducking and weaving or trying to move between the projectiles will only result in you taking needless damage. Just move right up next to the boss, wait for it to wind up a hammer attack, and dodge laterally adjacent to it and attack until it winds up again. When it jumps, move out of the way of its landing, then close in again as soon as it lands. This boss is basically just a Lifter on steroids. Really easy stuff.