Probably the most frustrating aspect of this game is that it does not come with a manual. The In-Game descriptions of Stats and Skills can be pretty vague. Only through trial and error can you really figure out how Character stats affect your character as they level. Choosing skills can also be tricky, as you don't really know which skills are most useful. After a few partial play-through's and restarts, I have found an optimal party build which will allow you to maximize your experience and gold, without compromising combat ability.

First of all, here are some general game mechanics that are not explained In-Game.

1.) Characters do NOT gain Hit Points or Magic Points when they gain a new level. You only gain Hit Points by adding points to CON, and Magic Points by adding points to INT. This is important, because it means that there is no need to invest in CON early on, you can wait until later in the game if you feel that your characters need more Hit Points.

2.) Character Stats do NOT affect Skills. So having a high Dexterity will NOT increase your chances of Pickpocket or Lockpick. This means that there is absolutely no reason to choose any of the pre-made character builds. Choose Custom, for all your Characters.

3.) Character Stats

• STR - Increases Carry Weight, and Melee damage (Not sure of the effect, possibly a percent increase)
  
  
• DEX - Increases Hit Chance with ALL weapons (Very Important) and Damage with Bows. It also increase your action points, which allows you to charge in and get the first hit on enemies, swap weapons sets, or run away.
  
  
• INT - Increases Magic Points. (2 Magic Points per point invested)
  
  
• WIS - Increase Spell Effectiveness (I haven't noticed a Damage Increase, but it will increase the number of rounds for Debuf Abilities, like Polymorph) WIS also increases your Spell Hit Chance, which prevents your Spells from failing. This is important.
  
  
• CON - Increase Hit Points. (Ignore this for at least the first 10 levels)
  
  
• LUCK - No one is sure what it does, I mostly ignore it. There has been some experimenting that shows a moderate amount of investment in Luck can greatly improve your Critical Chance, so it is not entirely useless, just make sure you invest in it on a high damage character to get the maximum effect, like Two-Hand Melee. I wouldn't invest in it for Hybrid Archer/Mages!

4.) Distance affects Range Weapon and Spell Chance to hit(Failure Rate), including debufs.

5.) There are NO pure Mages in this game. Pure Mages are weak and extremely limited by Spell Points. Their Damage Spells, like Firebolt also fail often, do very little damage and cost too many points to cast reliably. It takes a really long time before they become effective and they will never be as good as a Melee Fighter.

6.) Pure Archers are also a poor choice, because Bows just don't do as much damage as Melee fighters and you will constantly run out of arrows which cost 1 Gold each. It's like throwing money at your enemies! Not to mention, that gold is tight in this game and you will need all of it for the Skill Trainers.

7.) If you want to cast spells, you will need to be holding a Staff which is a Two-Handed Weapon. (But don't invest any Skill Points into Two-Handed)

7.) There are NO respawn's in this game, meaning that you will not be able to grind for gold or experience. So, you will need to maximize your experience gains and hoard your gold.

8.) Some important Skills that can be overlooked are Pickpocket, Foraging, and Barter. You will want to raise these skills as fast as possible to maximize your gold, and experience.

9.) Alchemy is not very useful. Ingredients are limited and get heavy, eventually you will run out of capacity to store them. You also need to find/buy the recipes before you can make Potions. So it can also be expensive. The best Potions require a Skill of 95 to make, which will also cause your Alchemist to be skill starved or cost a ton of money at a Trainer. I recommend avoiding Alchemy all together, until maybe late game, if you have the money to train in it.

10.) There are also diminishing returns on Skills above a certain level. After 50-60 you get less benefit (with the exception of Barter and Foraging).

11.) Don't bother buying Spells until you actually need them. There is a Skill requirement for spells and you wont reach that requirement for some time. Save your gold for Training and hopefully you will find the Spell books in your travels.

12.) Don't worry about buying gear. Some of the gear that increase skills can be tempting, but you will find plenty of magic items with a high enough Foraging Skill, again save your money for Trainers.

13.) Shops NEVER resupply items. So this means there are a finite amount of lockpicks in the game. So, even with a high lockpick skill, you will want to do some save scumming. Also, if you sell an important quest item to a vendor, you will lose it when the vendor resets. (when you transition out of the area)

14.) Forage is an amazing Skill and is absolutely necessary to get better loot and more quest item drops. Random drops will double and triple the higher the Skill. You will get more gold in containers as well as extra items. Raise this as high and as fast as you can and you will never have to buy gear from a shop!

15.) Pickpocket is the best Skill in the Game. It gives experience when ever you succeed as well as extra gold and loot. Get it as high as possible as fast as possible! You can gain several levels off pickpocket in the starting area using this Skill. This is an essential Skill!

16.) Barter is also an important skill as it not only increases/decreases the Selling/Buying price of items, but it also decreases the cost of everything in the game. Boats are cheaper, renting a room is cheaper (Though I don't know why you would ever do this), and Trainers are cheaper, meaning more Skill levels. Raise this as fast as possible before utilizing any of the trainers.

Now let's get to Character Creation.

BUILDS
As I mentioned earlier, there is no reason to choose any of the pre-made Character Builds. They are much weaker than the Custom Build, so choose Custom for all 4 Characters.

CHARACTER SEX
Character Sex is important. Males get +5 Points to STR and Females get +5 Points to WIS. So, your Melee Fighters should be Males and your Mages should be Female.

CHARACTER RACE
Character Race is important, because you want to optimize your Characters Stats in order to get the greatest benefits.
The best melee fighters are Male Wolfkin and Orc. Their stats are all distributed between STR, DEX, and CON with a little Luck thrown in for the extra Crit Chance.
The best Hybrid Mages are Female Elf and Felmur. Their stats are distributed between DEX, INT, WIS. You will need the DEX if you want them to hit anything with a Bow or Melee Weapon.
The best Pure Mages are Undead and Necrophil. Their Stats are distributed between INT, WIS, CON. But they have no DEX, so they will be ineffective as a Hybrid Mage which makes them pretty weak as they are limited by their Spell Points.

Here is an example of of a good starter party.

1.) Male Wolfkin - This guy will be your Tank and your Thief. (Bear with me, it will make sense)
Skills

• 1 Handed Melee - Do NOT invest any Skill Points until after level 10.
  
• Defence - Do NOT invest any Skill Points until after level 10.
  
• Pickpocket - Invest ALL your Skill Points every level until it is 50-60 *Best Skill in the Game*
  
• Picklock - You will eventually need this Maxed out for those Very Hard locks. But, DO NOT invest any Skill Points - Use the Trainer in the Starting Town.

Stats

• DEX - Raise to 25 quickly, so that you can Hit things.
  
• STR - Raise to 50-60 by level 10-12..
  
• CON for at least the first 10-12 Levels.
  
• You will need to Alternate between DEX and CON in order to ensure that you can still hit things.

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2.) Male Orc - This will be your Damage Dealer, he will one-shot a lot of enemies in the early game.
Skills

• Two-Handed Melee - Add 10 Points to start and don't touch it until you find a Trainer
  
• Foraging - Add 10 Points to Start and invest ALL of you Skill points into it until 50-75, the Higher the better, trust me you want to do this, you will find TONS of magic items

Stats

• DEX - Raise to 25 quickly, so that you can Hit things.
  
• STR - Raise to 50-60 by Level 10-12
  
• CON - Ignore for at least the first 10-12 Levels.
  
• You can also raise LUCK to increase your Crit Rate, instead of CON. Or Just stick with DEX and STR.

3.) Female Felmur - This will be a Hybrid Healer/Archer.
Skills

• White Magic - Add 10 points to get the free Heal Spell and don't touch it until level 10-12, you will eventually want to get it to 25 for Major Heal, and then 40 for Mass Heal.
  
• Lore - Add 10 points to start and then invest ALL you skill Points until it is 40 so you can identify Magic Items and open all the secret doors in the early game.
  
• Persuasion - After Lore is at 40, raise this to 20. Eventually you will want it at 70, but you can train it up in Valingard. This is not essential, but it will net you extra experience and gold, as well as a cool item that adds 15 to lore.
  
• Archery - Don't invest any points to start, not until later in the game, after level 10-12, I would focus on Lore and Persuasion first.

Stats

• DEX - Raise to 25 so you can hit things with your Bow and get the extra action points so you can maneuver in combat and swap weapon sets.
  
• WIS - Raise to 25 so that your Heals don't fail and get the slight boost in effect. Add more if spells start to fail often.
  
• INT - Raise to 40-50 and then alternate between INT and WIS/DEX. Maybe some CON later on and STR if gear gets heavy.

4.) Female Elf - This will be your Debuf/Archer.
[u[b]]Skills[/b][/u]

• Grey Magic - Add 10 points to get the free Polymorph Spell and then don't touch it until level 10-12, eventually get it to 40 for Mark and Recall.
  
• Barter - Add 10 points to start and then invest all of your Skill Points until it is 50-60, you may want to get it to 100 eventually, but you may have to wait until you find the Trainer in Ferrynglade.
  
• Black Magic - Eventually, get it to 25 for Life Tap and Cone of Cold, but wait until after level 10-12.
  
• Archery or 1H or 2H Melee -Don't invest any points to start, after level 10-12, and only level it to 15 or 25 for mid game. Melee really doesn't require STR to be effective, you will still hit, and do the base damage because of your DEX, though Archery is the best choice in my opinion.

Stats

• DEX - Raise to 25 so you can hit things with your Bow and get the extra action points so you can maneuver in combat and swap weapon sets.
  
• WIS - Raise to 25 so that your Heals don't fail and get the slight boost in effect. Add more if spells start to fail often.
  
• INT - Raise to 40-50 and then alternate between INT and WIS/DEX. Raise to 40-50 and then alternate between INT and WIS/DEX. Maybe some CON later on and STR if gear gets heavy.

The builds I have outlined above are designed to maximize your gold, loot, and experience gains. It will take you to level 10-12 and you will still be in the starting town, giving you plenty of time to customize your party any way you like, afterwards. You can increase Archery on one or both of your Archer/Mages, or give one of your Melee characters White Magic for extra heals in a pinch (Though I don't recommend it. Too much of an investment when you can just Train 15 levels with your Grey Mage who already has the INT/WIS)

After character creation, you start in the first dungeon. Leave your cell and head north.
Loot the last room to get some gear and outfit your party. When you find torches, equip them in the secondary weapon slot of one of your melee characters and only switch to the torch before you loot a container (It may increase your chance of finding extra loot, though it is not proven) to save the torch.
Then head south and start searching the rooms. You will find some lockpicks in the open room on your right. Use them to pick the locks on the cell doors, make sure you save your game before attempting to pick any locks, the RNG in this game is unforgiving. You will have to save scum, becuase if you fail you will loose one of your locklpicks, and it is the only way to ensure that you have enough lockpicks to open all the doors.
Eventually, you will encounter some rats. Your fist battle! Stay back 5 spaces and end your turn, allowing them to come to you, so you don't get surrounded. Focus on one at a time, and have your Gray Mage Polymorph anyone that comes within range. Make sure you pay attention to the Hit Chance, so you don't faill and waste Magic Points. Always check opponents Hit Points and names before deciding which enemy to attack and which to Polymorph, make sure to Polymorph the Higher level (Higher Hit Points) enemies, or the ones with names Like Diseased Rat (They will Poison your characters) and clear the weaker ones first. This is the main tactic you will want to use in most battles against non-ranged opponents.
Clear the rest of the dungeon, drop the heavy shackles if you get over weight, you can come back for them, and exit the dungeon.

When you leave the dungeon, DO NOT LOOT ANYTHING! Find the guy in the middle of the town, and save your game before talking to him. Right Click on him and Pickpocket him. You may need to savescum again (I hope you are OK with this, because you will need to do this for the rest of the game). Talk to him and get your first quest! Now leave the town, without looting anything, by passing between the 2 guards and following the road to the south.

I'd like to note here, that until your foraging is at least level 50, I wouldn't loot a single container or fight any battles, I will explain how to do this.

Once you reach the town, head south of town, and on the southeast side you should find the Seaside Inn. Enter the Inn and talk to the guy int he purple robes, this will complete the first quest and give your second quest.
Now, pickpocket EVERYONE, including the Sheep and Chickens! Just make sure you save before you attempt it because failure is not an option, going to prison will decrease all of your skills by -1 point, and the fines are expensive.
You will start gaining levels quickly, just ensure that you raise your Pickpocketing every chance you get, you will start to see why. Make sure you don't forget the beggar east of town against the northern cliffs, and the wandering town guards. You will find a broadsword on one of the Skill Trainers (Excellent Two-Handed Weapon!) there are also 2 guards to the east of the beggar, guarding the prison.
Make sure you talk to everyone and get their quests. Just make sure you save before attempting to Persuade anyone. By the time you finish with the town, you should be level 45-50 in Pickpocketing. Then head north along the road and find the Fort on the right hand side of the road, get the quest and pickpocket everyone.
Leave the Fort and follow the road west, be careful to avoid any fights along the way, and eventually you will find a merchant, pickpocket them as well. The merchant has a key on him for the chest next to him, DO NOT LOOT IT yet. You should be around level 8-10 and have been leveling your other characters according to the Creation Guide in Section II, if not, spend your Skill Points now, making sure to increase Barter and Foraging as high as possible, Lore to 40, and Persuasion to 20.
Follow the road back to town and when you get to the bridge, turn west and follow the water line to the north and then west. Eventually, you will find a guy who gives a quest to hunt Seagulls. Pickpocket him, then use persuasion (20 Required to ask for 300gp). Now, you are ready to complete some of these quests you picked up.
Complete the Crab Meat and Seagull Skin quests, which should be easy since you have such a high Foraging and should be getting a ton of drops. Remember to use polymorph often.
Now, you should have a foraging of at least 50. Retrace your steps and start looting everything! Don't forget to go back to the ruined village where you exited the first dungeon. Once that is done, sell everything you don't want/need. Now head to the Seaside Inn and talk to the Lockpick Trainer, level up your Lockpick as high as you can, and start picking all those locks you passed by earlier.
Sell off all the extra loot again, and level your lockpick some more, you want at least level 45-50 to be able to somewhat reliably open Medium Difffculty Locks.

Now you are ready to start clearing all the wandering enemies dungeons that you have probably passed by, along the way. Clear the mine north east of the bridge to town, clear the second mine full of undead to the est and north of town, next to the Orc encampment. Then head back to town and clear the sewers and kill the Butcher, just make sure you pickpocket him first :) !!!
Turn in the Quest and then head to the graveyard which is just west of the Orc encampment, and grab the Codex for the guy in the Seaside Inn.

Congratulations! You have just cleared most of the first area! You should be pretty well equipped from all the loot you recovered in the dungeons, thanks to that high foraging skill, and have plenty of extra to sell. You will eventually want to buy a boat and set sail for some of the unmarked islands, but don't bother buying the the home, there is only an empty barrel and a Bed inside, and by now you have more food than you can shake a stick at. You will find some bandits blocking the road, make sure you Persuade them, then Pickpocket the leader, then attack them for maximum EXP and loot! Clear the rest of the starting area, and head to the next town. Just make sure that you pickpocket EVERYONE you meet along the way. :)

First of all, there are only 3 Spell Levels in the game, which are 15, 25, and 40. So, I recommend leveling up to the Skill Level Required to cast the Spells you want and stopping there, until you find the Trainers.
Higher Skill levels (Along with WIS) are supposed to increase the effectiveness of Spells, but it has been my experience that Direct Damage Spells like Firebolt, don't see a large increase in damage. A level 1 Black Mage with Skill Level 15, and WIS 15, will cast Firebolt for 6-8 damage and fail to cast at least 50% of the time. A Level 10 Black Mage with a Skill level of 25, and WIS of 30, will cast Firebolt for 7-9 damage and fail to cast around 30% of the time. Firebolt is a pure Mages main direct Damage Spell at the beginning of the game. It really doesn't level well and can be resisted to boot. I would NOT recommend creating a Pure Mage Character.

White Magic

Level 15

• Minor Heal Restores a moderate amount of health to a single target. This is the White Mages reason for existing.
  
• Cure The target is consumed with a purifying energy that counteracts a single harmful magical effect. Not very useful for the first half of the game, as most poisons will only do around 6 damage for 3-4 rounds, so you are better off just focusing on ending the battle quickly and using Minor Heal.
  
• Knight's Blessing A jolt of energy fills the target allowing him to fight more effectively with melee weapons. I am not sure what this does? Maybe increase Melee Skill level? I don't see a difference.
  
• Ressurrect Breathes living essence into a fallen party member.
  
• Melee Shield Envelopes the target with a divine energy that reduces the impact of incoming melee blows. Great Spell for your front line Melee Characters.

Level 25

• Major Heal Instantly replenishes a large amount of health to a single target. Useful for characters with a high health. I tend to top off my Melee Characters when they are at 50% health, using Minor Heal.
  
• Archer's Blessing A sudden confidence sweeps over the target increasing his ability to use a bow and arrow. Can help your Hybrid Archer/Mages in big fights, but you will mostly be busy with crowd control and heals, so this Spell is of limited utility.
  
• Spell Shield Envelopes the target with a divine energy that mitigates the effects of harmful magic. Only one shield spell may be active on a target at a single time. This Spell would be AMAZING if it were a group effect. Otherwise, you have to choose a character that you don't want to get Polymorphed or Confused.

Level 40

• Missile Shield Envelopes the target with a divine energy that mitigates the effects of ordinary projectiles like arrows. Only one shield spell may be active on a target at a single time. Another Spell that could have been great, but guessing which Character will be targeted by enemy Archers is a bit of a gamble. Cast it on your Healer.
  
• Mass Heal Engulfs the entire party in a wave of restorative energy. Counteracts enemy AOE Damage Spells if your whole Party gets hit, but since your Mages should be in the back row, you really only need Minor/Major Heal.

Gray Magic

Level 15

• Polymorph The targets form is transmuted into that of a pig during which time it wanders aimlessly in a confused state. Crowd Control! This is your Grey Mages starting Spell and is incredibly useful for the first half of the game.
  
• Detect Life Enhances the caster's senses allowing him to sense anything with a living essence from a distance. Useless! Don't Purchase this Spell!
  
• Illumination The caster is imbued with a luminescence allowing him to see off into the darkness. Use Torches/Lanterns, save your Magic Points.
  
• Confusion Strikes terror into the target's eyes causing it to flee in hysteria. This is another great Spell for Crowd Control.

Level 25

• Teleport The caster transports himself to a nearby location. Can save your Mages life!
  
• Reveal Map The caster is struck with a sudden sense of everything around him near and far. I like to see which areas of the map I haven't explored, and you can see Secret Doors, so you don't need this.
  
• Relieve Burden Reinforces the target's fortitude allowing him to carry more weight around. I don't see a use for this! Just return for loot you can't carry.
  
• Silence The target's mind is afflicted with a disturbing silence preventing it from casting magical spells. Great for Enemy Mages!

Level 40

• Mark The caster memorizes his current location with all of his body and soul. Once memorized he can later travel back at will instantly using Recall.
  
• Recall Once a location has been memorized with Mark the caster may instantly travel back to it at will.
  
• Invisibility The target it engulfed in a energetic film that refracts light outwards and around him preventing him from being seen. Useless!

Black Mage

Level 15

• Firebolt Hurls a fiery ball of misfortune at a single target at a distance. Weak Direct Damage. It doesn't level well.
  
• Curse of Weakness Damages the targets vitality causing it to become more susceptible to physical attacks. Only a single curse can be active on a target at a time. Possibly useful for Boss Fights or Powerful Enemies, but I don't know what it does.
  
• Web Ensnares the target in a very sticky spider's web. Good for Melee Crowd Control only.

Level 25

• Flame Pillar A pillar of fire is called down from above to strike at any foes within a small radius. Lame! Stick with Direct Damage, you will rarely catch 2 enemies in this.
  
• Life Tap The caster performs a ritual of transmutation whereby some of his life essence is converted into Spell Points. Useful for all your Mages and a great reason to get 25 levels of Black Mage on your White Mage.
  
• Cone of Cold A cone of whirling frost energy surges outwards from the caster leaving behind a field of frozen targets. The only reason to have a Black Mage in your Party.

Level 40

• Frostbolt Propels a frozen shard of ice at high speeds towards the target causing immediate harm with a possibility of freezing it. Upgraded Firebolt.
  
• Poison Cloud A noxious cloud of gas is conjured fourth poisoning any foes within its radius. AOE Damage over time. You are better of with Direct Damage and Crowd Control.