Legend of Grimrock Character Guide
Sections in this Character Guide:
Attributes & Stats Races Classes Skills Traits Secret Character
Classes
On top of the races, you have 3 character classes to choose from, and in order to get the most out of this game, you are going to need a happy balance. Your first impression, since the front two characters are the ones to do all the physical damage, to throw two cumbersome fighters into the lead. This has it's advantages, since they have the most health, but you may be missing out on some very nasty assassination abilities by doing so.
The Fighter
Starting Health: Humans 60, Insectoids 55, Lizardmen 60, Minotaurs 70
Skills: Athletics, Armor, Axes, Maces, Swords, Unarmed Combat
Favorite Attributes: Strength & Vitality.
Best Traits: Aggressive, Athletic, Healthy and Touch. (Fist Fighter if you're going for unarmed combat)
Fighters are the masters of close combat and are highly trained in to use a wide variety of weapons and armor. They can range from primitive barbarians to a highly trained soldier, or perhaps an honor-bound nobleman.
There are only two reasons to have a fighter, either to do a lot of damage, or take a lot of damage.
If you are going for a damager, focus on a specific weapon (I recommend either Axes or Swords) and increase it to the max, with a secondary focus on Armor and/or Athletics. Focusing on armor is recommended first, but some prefer and equal split.
For the defender, or tank, the weapon of choice is always Mace (since it increases Vitality), but Unarmed combat does make you harder to hit. Weapons shouldn't be the main focus here though, and pumping as much into Armor and Athletics is the key to making him survive the impossible.
A key thing to note about Armor, is that Heavy Armor can be a really heavy burden on fighters with a low strength until you have enough skill points into it. I find it best to put as much into Armor as early as possible to remove the penalties of heavy armor for tanks, and damagers to stick with light armor until they reach that magic number too.
The last thing to note is that it may seem like a good idea to pack the Warriors with Minotaurs, but that may be a bad choice. Humans get a lot more skill points to start with, and that extra Dexterity bonus make Lizardmen a lot harder to hit.
The Mage
Starting Health: Humans 35, Insectoids 30, Lizardmen 35, Minotaurs 45
Skills: Air Magic, Earth Magic, Fire Magic, Ice Magic, Spellcraft, Staff Defense
Favorite Attributes: Willpower. Dexterity and Vitality should be mixed well for survival.
Best Traits: Aura, Evasive and Strong Mind. (Natural Armor for Insectoid Mages)
Mages use their enchanted staves and orbs to command the great mystical powers needed to cast spells which can either harm or protect. These spells can range from a shield to protect someone from an element, to a nasty bolt of raw energy, to a small orb that lights the way.
You will find that all of the Elemental Magic skills follow a very similar path and all come with their own offensive and defensive spells, so the main choice you will have is which element you like more, then either Spellcraft or Staff Defense. If you're looking for a mage that can kill things quickly, go for Spellcraft, but if you want them to live longer in battle, then Staff Defense is the obvious choice. Pick one or the other though, as those points should be used for spells to make them more useful.
I would recommend at least 2 points in Fire to access the first spell. You will not find the instruction on how to use it, but it is really easy to guess.
The Rogue
Starting Health: Humans 45, Insectoids 40, Lizardmen 45, Minotaurs 55
Skills: Assassination, Daggers, Dodge, Missile Weapons, Throwing Weapons, Unarmed Combat
Favorite Attributes: Strength and Willpower. (Switch out Willpower for Vitality and Dexterity if you are going for an Assassin)
Best Traits: Agile, Evasive, and Skilled. Aggressive may be good for Assassins, and Fist Fighter for Unarmed Combat)
Rogues have a bad name, and for good reason. They are the masters of stealthy combat and ranged weapons, and are often found picking into a lock that isn't theirs.
Choose either close combat or range for a rogue, not both. I find it best to have 2 rogues in your party because both types are so invaluable.
Rogues don't do as much damage as Warriors do, but at the higher levels, and with the Assassination ability, they will attack so often that they will do more damage per fight. Sadly, backstabs become very hard to pull off at times, especially if you don't have a mage with invisibility, but they stick pack a punch regardless.
For the ranged, stick with Missile Weapons since they do a lot more damage, as long as you have enough ammo.
Next, lets look at the Skills in a bit more detail
Other Sections:
Character Guide Potions Secrets Spellcraft Treasures Walkthrough Gallery