Note: If you feel that some tips break the immersion, feel free to skip them.


Prepare to drink a lot of potions during your playthrough. You'll need a great deal of money to buy them.



It's likely that you'll be short of money in Act I. Therefore, try to economise, since there is no massive respawn in the game and no possibility of farming coins. While in Act I, don't spend money on Devil's Root potions or expensive equipment.


The best place for buying potions is Ellisia Wurtenrodt's hut. The apothecary in Hillbrandt.



If you complete her quest (bring her the book - Herbarium) and don't complete Theil Brechthold's quest (the alchemist who asks you to retrieve a magical potion from Ellisia), her healing/stamina/mana potions will be relatively cheap in comparison with the other shops. 18 coins only.


Try to collect as much loot as possible at the beginning of the game. Loot fallen enemies, break chests and doors, look for hidden levers and passages. Sell everything you don't need.



The best place for selling loot and identifying items is Ellisia Wurtenrodt's hut as well (don't forget to complete her quest first). The prices at her shop are satisfactory.

When you have enough money, you may only collect and sell high-priced enchanted items that need identification (green, blue and yellow ones).


Collect trophies (scalps and heads of fallen enemies) and give them to local Sheriffs in exchange for money.



If your inventory is full and you can't gather everything up, you may sell them, return and repeat these actions until you earn a sufficient amount of money. There will be a lot of such trophies in the game.


An assortment of equipment changes every time you close a shop and start a new dialogue.

For example, imagine you want to buy a new weapon. You ask a vendor to show his goods, but you can't find a suitable weapon among them.



Then you might want to close his inventory, ask him to show his goods again and repeat these actions until you find the weapon you were looking for.





Yes, it's repetitive and tiring, but it's worth the effort. Don't let the game discourage you. You can find a lot of quality weapons and pieces of armour at the local shops.

If you want to level up faster and feel more confident in combat, I suggest using equipment that boosts experience points you gain. In my opinion, it's very important that you gain more experience. Especially in Act I and Act II. Try to find and buy as many pieces of such equipment as you can.



These could be: gloves, boots, rings, belts, amulets, shields (if you use it), helmets that rise your experience by a certain amount of percentage points. For example, a belt with '+9% to experience points' bonus, a ring with '+13% to experience points' bonus and so on.



My set of equipment gave me '+64% to experience points' in total. I used such pieces of equipment throughout the whole game. For example, whenever I kill an enemy that gives me '+100 XP', I gain '+164 XP' instead. These types of bonuses helped me enormously.

Try to explore all areas in every Act. The higher your level, the more likely you will survive in tough situations.


Armour and jewelry.

It's obvious that it will be very difficult to beat the game using this type of equipment only. You will definitely need some protective equipment (against stronger enemies) as well.

Therefore, I suggest having two sets of equipment (helmets, belts, rings and other items) in your chest:

• 1st set should consist of items with experience bonuses (see paragraph 6).
  
• 2nd set should consist of items that boost your stats, attack rating, armor class, elemental protection, etc. Whatever you need.

So I advise you to have two types of each item. For example, you have two shields (and two helmets, two belts, etc.). One adds +9% to experience points, the other boosts your resistances by 10%.





Use the first one against ordinary and weaker enemies (to gain more experience) and the second one against bosses and stronger enemies (to survive and defeat them). The same goes for boots, gloves, etc. Swap your equipment depending on where you are headed and what enemies you are going to face.

About 2nd set. A few suggestions on what to use against tough enemies and bosses (including body armour and jewelry).

I prefer equipment that boosts elemental protection and magic resistance, because there are a lot dangerous mages and other enemies that use magic and deal very high elemental damage (ghosts, succubi and inquisitors, for instance) in Act II and Act III.

This body armour, for example.



Or this helmet.



You might want to use equipment that increases your stats and skills only. Or something that increases your health and stamina. It's up to you. But I recommend using equipment that increases your elemental protection, magic resistance and/or attack rating and armor class if available.



Keep in mind that there are 4 types of equipment in the game:

• Orange (regular, without bonuses)
  
• Green (enchanted, with bonuses)
  
• Blue (enchanted, with better bonuses)
  
• Yellow (unique, with a lot of bonuses). Cannot be bought at shops.

Compare these gloves, for example.









As you see, their appearance is also different.

Quest items are white. They have white titles.



Weapons.

You can keep up to 3 weapons on your character and switch between them during a fight. Blue and yellow (unique) weapons are recommended. You can also use a shield if you want. I prefer two-handed polearms (halberds, voulges, glaives, lances).

What should you pay attention to when inspecting a weapon? What makes a good weapon?

Chance to hit and attack speed. The higher its chance to hit, the better. The lower its speed multiplier, the higher its actual speed. For example, a weapon with 0.3 speed is faster than a weapon with 0.7 speed.



I also recommend using weapons that inflict elemental damage (frost, fire, lightning, poison) in addition to physical damage, because there are a lot of enemies that are invulnerable to physical damage (ghosts, terrors, shadows, etc.).



The other characteristic you should look for is the ability of a weapon to deal additional damage to certain types of enemies. For example, '+169% to damage against demons', '+166% to damage against humans' or '+181% to damage against undead'. It's an extremely useful characteristic.







I recommend you have several weapons in your chest. For example:

• A weapon with bonus damage to demons
  
• A weapon with bonus damage to undead
  
• A weapon with bonus damage to humans
  
• A weapon with bonus damage to animals

Choose and take a weapon you will need for a particular situation. Depends on the purpose and enemies you are going to face.

To sum up, a 'perfect' weapon should be like this:

• High attack speed
  
• High 'to hit' chance
  
• Some elemental damage in addition to physical damage
  
• Bonus damage to particular enemies

And high or above-average damage as well.

I suggest you hire an archer (Olfghard from Asherbalt) and a dog (Diabolus from Hillbrandt prison). You'll have a versatile party that can cope with different situations.



Diabolus acts as a bait. He attracts an enemy and takes damage (as well as negative effects), while you remain untouched and can attack the enemy from behind. Once you've become stronger and more confident, you may swap roles with him, because Diabolus is ineffective against mages and uses up a lot of potions.

Olfghard assists you from a distance. His shots are very accurate.

You can also hire a mage (Nicolas from Citadel, Act III) later.



Allow your companions to drink healing, stamina and mana potions automatically by pressing 'D', especially in tough situations (against numerous enemies or bosses). Yes, they will use up a lot of potions throughout the playthrough, but it's better to lose potions than your companions.


Skills.

I think the most important skill is Smithing. If you don't want to stop fighting halfway through a dungeon and return to the closest city to repair your equipment every 30 minutes, invest skill points in Smithing until it reaches Master level.

By the way, when your Smithing skill is 17 and you are at Master level, you are able to repair yellow weapons (they are the best in the game) by yourself at any time. Your enemies will flee in terror, I guarantee it.

Watch the durability of your equipment! Your armour and weapons are wearing out very quickly whenever you are being under attack of several enemies. Avoid such situations at all costs. Don't let your enemies surround you. Otherwise, your armour and weapons can break during the fight.

The other important skill is Holy Protection (improves your elemental and magic resistances). Elemental and magic resistances are vital stats that will save your life many times. Especially in Act II and Act III. The higher the skill, the better.

Melee Combat (improves your damage and attack rating) and Armor Use (improves your armor class) are important skills as well. 16-20 points would be enough.

You may also invest skill points in Shield Use (if you plan to play with a shield) and Sturdiness (it increases your Hit Points, Stamina and Poison Resistance). 16 points would be enough.

I didn't use any magic, but you might want to add some points to one of the magic schools. Magic of Miracles, for example.

Stats.

You need to increase all stats equally except Intelligence (if you plan to use magic, add points to Intelligence as well). You will need Strength and Constitution for your main combat skills in order to reach Master levels. You will need Dexterity and Speed for your overall combat effectiveness.

The higher your Attack Rating (Attack), the higher your chance to hit an opponent. The same goes for Armor Class (Defense). The higher your defense value, the higher your chance to avoid or block an enemy attack.




These are the basic rules I figured out by myself:

• Don't approach 3 or more dangerous enemies at once unless you are strong enough to kill them easily
  
• If there is a mage among your enemies, kill him first
  
• Never let your enemies surround you and attack you all together. Well, when your level is high enough and you are a tough guy, you can
  
• Certain bosses can permanently lower your stats and skills. Don't let them hit you. Let them hit your dog instead. Attack such bosses while they are being distracted by your companions
  
• Don't let your companions get killed. If they can't survive a certain fight, leave them behind and ask to wait. Then go and fight on your own
  
• There are a lot of difficult fights in the game. Be ready to fall back if necessary. Don't waste your potions and don't get your equipment damaged if you are not sure you will win the fight. Retreat and return once you've become stronger
  
• Do not hesitate to buy and use reinforcing potions (accuracy potions, regeneration potions, frost protection potions, etc.)

Collect green magical boxes and use them wisely. They can be usually found in secret (hidden) chests or boss chests. You'll find them extremely useful in big dungeons and other remote areas. If you are running out of supplies and the nearest town is too far from you, use a magical box. If you are struggling to defeat a boss or a group of tough enemies, use a magical box too. It will likely save your life. How does it work? Just destroy it and see for yourself.



Try not to approach a large group of enemies (6 or more), especially with your companions, because they might die or use up a lot of potions. Don't start such a fight unless you are strong enough and capable of dealing with several opponents with ease. I often have to leave my companions behind and ask them to wait in an empty corridor or an empty room. Then I cautiously approach a large group of enemies on my own, attract the attention of two or thee of them and lure them into a safe area where my companions are waiting. Then we have a fair fight three-against-three and good chances to kill those enemies without much difficulty. Try to be cautious and sensible every time you are engaged in combat, because the monsters of Ultherst prefer to gather in groups and they are often very tough themselves. Therefore, you can't wipe out dozens of monsters in one go.

The same goes for bosses. Fight bosses once you've increased your combat skills to a sufficient level and found good equipment. If you still can't defeat a certain boss, try to lure his guards into another area and kill them first. Then you'll have a one-on-one fight against that boss in his room.


I hope you will find some of my tips helpful.

Good luck, brother Paladin!