Something you need to know about the game is that any class can use any item in the game. That means a sorcerer can use swords as much as the warrior can use a staff. Combination of items can help a lot, however, remember: each class has its specific item, so for example, using a bow with a sorcerer will not be as effective as with a rogue. Even spells can be used by any class. You are also free to develop your character however you like. Every time you level up (i.e. when you reach a certain value of experience points), you are awarded five points, which you can distribute as you want among your Strength, Dexterity, Magic and Vitality parameters. However, based on the character class chosen, it is better to assign the points in a certain way, so as to be able to make the most of its potential. Furthermore, for each class there is a maximum value that can be reached for each parameter (see specific section).
Although the choice of items and equipment to bring with you is completely free, your character must have some "things" to go on through the levels of the abyss, otherwise it will get pretty difficult for you.
- A Town Portal spell or scroll. It can save your life at difficult times, or even favour you if you died and created a portal before it happens. Thanks to it, you can in fact return to Tristram from any point in the labyrinth.
- Potions are very useful because they replenish your mana or life pools. They can be very expensive at first, but you'll notice that they're dropped by the enemies almost every time.
- Some scrolls may hold important magics that only sorcerers can cast. If you're a sorcerer and find one of those, save it until you find a pretty tough demon and use it mercilessly.
Attributes[edit]
- Strength: it's your physical power. It will influence how much damage you deal to enemies; and it's almost the main attribute that high-level equipment requires. To see how much damage you can deal, check your damage indicator on your character stats tab. The numbers shown are the lower damage you can deal and the higher (e.g.: 13-50).
- Magic: your spiritual power. It will influence how high you can learn spells, and how much damage they can deal. However, magical damage can be increased too if you read the same spellbook more than one time, increasing the spell level. Increasing the magic attribute will also raise the capacity of your mana pool. To see how much damage a spell can deal, go to your spellbook tab and simply hover with your mouse on it, it will show the damage you can deal the same way that melee weapons do.
- Dexterity: your capacity for dealing damage. It's an attribute that rogues must increase, since it helps your shots become more accurate. Increasing your dexterity will also increase your chance to hit and your armour class (both checkable on your character stats tab).
- Vitality: basically your life. This attribute will only increase your life pool and that's pretty much it. Sorcerers should try to increase this attribute a lot, since their life pools are pretty low.
Something really important to emphasize is the character's resists. They are pretty good to increase, however, they can only be increased through items. Resists will make your character less vulnerable to certain elements (such as fire, magic and lightning). If you play on Nightmare or Hell mode, your character's resists will be negative, and that will make the game more difficult. So, on those difficulty levels, try to find some item that raises your resistances a lot, which will be helpful.
Tristram[edit]
The town of Tristram is where your adventure begins and your refuge throughout the game. Here you can talk to the inhabitants to obtain information and carry out the sale of useful items. Sometimes, talking to a certain character, you will start one of the side missions of the game. In Tristram you can find the following characters.
GRISWALD THE BLACKSMITH[edit]
Griswald the blacksmith is undoubtedly the most important person in the village. His workshop is on the right side of the square. In fact, here you can buy and sell weapons and armors (rings and amulets included), trying to improve your equipment. The items on sale change from time to time, so it's always good to take a look at them. Most of the time you will find what you need already in the labyrinth, generally is not convenient for you to buy Griswald's items, due to his quite high prices. However, sometimes it can happen to find particularly useful equipment on sale. Here you can also have your weapons and armor repaired, restoring their maximum duration value. Griswald will also give you useful information about many side quests, and talking to him will also start some of the secondary missions in the game. You should therefore visit his workshop every time you go to the town. Every time you talk to him, in addition to "talk", you have the following options:
- Buy basic items: Allows you to buy common weapons and armor (only useful in the early stages of the game).
- Buy premium items: Allows you to purchase weapons and armor that have a magical power.
- Sell items: Allows you to sell weapons and armor that you no longer need. Unfortunately, Griswald will buy them for you for only a quarter of the original value.
- Repair items: Allows you to have your weapons and armor repaired, restoring their duration. The more damaged they are, the higher the sum demanded.
CAIN THE ELDER[edit]
Another very important person of Tristram is Cain the elder, who stands in front of the well in the middle of the square. He is the person who gives you the most information regarding the side missions and the story of the game. You'll also need to talk to him to unlock the penultimate mission. What makes Cain particularly useful however is his ability to identify magical items, for the modest sum of 100 golds. In fact, the magical power of an item you find in the dungeon does not manifest itself until it is identified and the only ways to do this are to use a Scroll of Identify (if you have it) or to ask Cain.
PEPIN THE HEALER[edit]
Pepin's house is located across the square from Griswald's. From him you can buy potions and healing scrolls, of which it is always better to have a good supply. But you can only buy from him, not sell. Pepin can also give you useful information and by speaking to him early in the game, he will start the "Poisoned Water Supply" side mission. Also, every time you talk to Pepin, he will fully restore your life energy for free.
ANDRIA THE WITCH[edit]
The shack of Andria is located southeast of the town, across the stream and is the main reference point for sorcerers. Whenever you talk her, you'll be presented with a wide variety of options:
- Buy items: Allows you to purchase mana-restoring potions, magical scrolls, and magical books.
- Sell items: Allows you to sell potions (including healing ones), magic scrolls and books.
- Buy staves: Allows you to buy staves, both common and with magical power.
- Sell staves: Allows you to sell magical staves.
- Recharge staves: Allows you to fully recharge your staves. Of course, if the staff you want to recharge has many charges, the expense will be greater.
Even if you play as a warrior or a rogue, you should visit Andria every time you go to town, as you can find some very useful items here, such as the Scrolls of Town Portal, which are always available and, with a little luck, the Scrolls of Identify. You also need to talk to Andria after getting the Fungal Tome to start a side quest.
WIRTH THE PEG-LEGGED BOY[edit]
Wirth is in a secluded spot northwest of the city. You have to cross a creek and some rocks to reach him. Wirth will never give you big info and he doesn't start side quests. His only utility lies in the fact that he can secretly sell you an item of great value. However, he charges 50 golds just to take a look at it and he doesn't buy anything from you. However, you can visit him once in a while, hoping for a stroke of luck and to find an item that is right for you (and within your economic possibilities).
ODGEN THE TAVERN OWNER[edit]
Odgen is the owner of the Tavern of the Rising Sun, which is located north of Griswald's workshop. He doesn't sell anything and, strangely, you can't rest in his tavern. Odgen is a kind person who often gives you a lot of information and by talking to him you will start some of the side missions of the game. He's not among the most helpful people in town, but it's worth to stopping talking to him every once in a while.
JILLIAN THE BARMAID[edit]
Jillian's house is across from Odgen's tavern. You cannot buy anything from her, only talk. Jillian will give you some useful information about a couple of side missions (but she won't start any of them) or to better understand the whole story, but that's it.
FARNHAM THE DRUNK[edit]
It is located south of the square. This drunkard just mutters gibberish or gives you useless information. You can ignore him for the duration of the game.
At the start of the game, you may encounter a mortally wounded citizen near the entrance to the deconsecrated church. By talking to him, you will start the side quest "The Butcher" and after completing it, he will disappear. Then there are some cows to the east of the village, which obviously won't tell you anything.
To go to Tristram during your adventure, it is not necessary to always reach the highest level of the labyrinth and exit through the deconsecrated church, but you can use the very useful Town Portal spell. In fact, this spell allows you to reach the city from any point in the labyrinth, creating a blue portal. By entering this portal, you will arrive in Tristram, close to where you started your adventure. Similarly, to return to the labyrinth, you can enter the same portal, which will then disappear. This is particularly useful, in case you are in difficulty and have an urgency to buy healing items. You should therefore always keep a Scroll of Town Portal with you (you can buy them from Andria) or, better yet, learn this spell as soon as possible. In levels 5, 9 and 13 you can then find stairs that will allow you to go directly to the city, through a new passage that will appear once you have reached them. From level 5 you can in fact exit through a chapel near the deconsecrated church, from level 9 you will exit through the rocks northwest of the town, while from level 13 you will exit through a crevasse behind Pepin's house.
The Menu Screen[edit]
At any time in the game, by pressing SELECT, you can access the Menu Screen, where the following options are available.
INVENTORY
It allows you to access your inventory, which consists of a saddlebag and a belt, in which collected items are automatically stored. The belt only has eight slots and can only hold potions or magic scrolls. The saddlebag is made up of a "chessboard" of 4x10 squares and can contain all the equipment not in use. Each piece of equipment has a different footprint, depending on what it is. There isn't much space in the saddlebag, so you will always have to keep everything in order to optimize the space. Furthermore, since you can carry a limited number of equipment with you, you have to be very selective, deciding what is worth keeping. If you try to pick up an item when the pouch is already full, your character will say so and drop it. If you no longer need a certain piece of equipment, you should abandon it, or rather, sell it to Griswold, to free up space. In this window you can also choose which items to abandon or equip. The process is very intuitive. To abandon an item, simply pick it up and then close the window. To equip it, you must instead move it up to the top window, where the equipped items are shown. In particular, it is possible to equip armor, a weapon in one hand, a shield in the other hand (some weapons, however, require both hands), a helmet, two rings and an amulet.
CHARACTER INFO
This window shows all the parameters of your character. In fact, you can consult the current values of Strength, Dexterity, Magic and Vitality and your magical resistances. The maximum life and mana values, the accumulated experience points and how many points are missing to reach the next level are then reported. All this data is divided into two windows, to switch from one to the other simply use the directional buttons. When a character levels up, i.e. when the sacred Ankh appears at the bottom right of the screen, above your life and mana values, you must access this window to upgrade your character. Each time you level up, you will receive five points to distribute among your four attributes.
QUEST LOG
Current side missions are listed here as a reminder. By selecting them, you have the possibility to reread the initial message, which started the mission.
FULL SPELL BOOK
It is the list of spells you have learned, divided into five windows. From here you can select which spell to use, among those learned. The level of each spell is also reported. Once selected, the spell appears on the screen in the appropriate sphere, above the life and mana indicators.
SAVE/LOAD
Here you can save the game or load a saved game. You can also save the current character, with which you can then start a new game. The saved character will retain his experience level and all items in his possession at that time. Characters with high experience levels can also access the “Nightmare” and “Hell” difficulty levels at the start of the game.
VOLUME ADJUSTMENT
It allows you to adjust the volume of various sounds in the game, such as dialogue, soundtrack, etc.
CONTROLLER SETUP
Vi permette di modificare l’uso dei pulsanti del controller durante il gioco.
SCREEN ADJUSTMENT
Here you can center the game screen.
HELP
View the command summary and miscellaneous tips.
QUIT
Close the Menu Screen and return to the game.