This section is meant to give new players some early tips to really improve in the first stages of the game, where the combat might look scary or confusing

GOLDEN RULE
If you attack health, enemy heath will go down. If you attack energy, energy will go down. If your damage is more than enough to make your enemy's energy 0, the extra damage will be dealt to health with a 2x multiplier.

Originally posted by tostito675:

damage to enemies energy overflows to health when all energy is depleted, and when energy is at zero the enemy takes double damage. So for example if you had an enemy with 20 health and 4 energy, an attack with a strength of 14 would kill them if aimed at their energy. 4 damage to deplete their energy, and the remaining 10 damage would hit their health for 20.

FIRST
Always look at what abilities you character has. Some might end your turn but others won't, so you might as well know them and try to use it wisely. Putting yourself in the middle of 6 enemies is madness. Putting yourself in the middle of 6 enemies with a 42 armor is making a bait.

SECOND
The lower your numbers, the more often your turn ramps up, so if you have some Turn 4 or Turn 5 card to use, maybe a little party should be a better choice than a large one.

THIRD
Attacking energy is important, as it looks like you stop the enemy from using special attacks. But remember some of them consume health, so it's not always the best choice
Also, look at how many health you are spending using abilities

FOURTH
Look at your characters. Like, really, do it. Some have special passive perks that are so good you could make a battle entirely around them. Gleda healing 6 to 9 point of health each time she slays an enemy is one of them

FIFTH
Lots of numbers of your abilities scale with your attack. Sometimes you will need to choose it first when you level up

SIXTH
Remember that if someone falls on battle, they get an injury. At 4 injuries, they die. You can also get an injury because you can't protect yourself from the Reaping.
If that's not enough, injured teammates get a % of their stats taken away until you heal them. Sometimes is better to not use someone injured in battle.

Originally posted by Xaneorath:

Oh, and I think you should add to the basics how you can find out how to heal wounds once for free, both at the Double and the Triple Menhir. It might not be obvious to find for everyone and is certainly important.

Outside random events, that could help or harm your party, this two will always trigger since they are Main Story Events, so knowing that you could save some strixes

Save Krieger
If you take in Padagang’s shop something with silver you could save Krieger when you reach the Double Menhir. In Rask's shop you could also take a silver tiara, but that doesn't help him, or a strix, giving you some extra for your first days to expend

Flitt
If you call Flitt a coward back in Albius, when you reach Dynford Village he will rush to the Enses and have and instant death even before the battle starts

Fisk
If you ask Fisk in the begining if "He is too drunk to understand" he will charge forward in Dynford Village. He will not die instantly as Flitt, but you will not be able to use it as a character. Sadly, even if you manage to save him there, he will touch the menhir after the fight and die.

Originally posted by Xaneorath:

Not only Flitt can die if you react to him wrongly during the beginning. In one of my attempts I acted nicely to everyone but accidentialy asked fisk if he is "too drunk to understand". It resultet in him "doing the Flitt" at the Menhir. Meaning: He ran straight into the battle.
Interesting enough, he does not immidiatly die like Flitt, he is just locked as battle character and placed right in front. Sadly he also gets the great idea to touch the Menhir afterwards

Vai
Vai is a monk and the only healer you could get on Thorn's route. He will be up to recruit if you reach the first menhir fast enough.
As the quote below says, he could be even more helpful along the journey, so it's a character you should be looking for in the early stages of the game

Originally posted by Xaneorath:

he monk Vai is recruited on Brenins Route only if you reach the first Menhir fast enough. Also if you leave Vai in Ursus to get information about their Menhir (and he gets stuck at his abbey), he will rejoin you a while later just at the end of the Wasteland. (Well, at least he did for me. I really enjoyed that Scene btw and now Vai will forever be in my memory as "Lost and Found"-Monk with his uncanny ability to always be the unlikely saved survivor..) Doing this also gives you a disguise to smoothen things up in the next city

Leaving Ursus
If you reject Sheck’s help in the entrance of Ursus and go first to the Inn rather that to Unda’s house, you will end up fighting some of Brann's men and then the chapter with Thorn will come to the end as they will be forced to leave Ursus inmediately. Hode will remain healthy, but you will lose the chance to speak to Unda
If you decide to avoid Brann in the Inn or go first to Unda’s house, you will end up in jail and will lose temporarily Gleda and Hodde.

Jail
If you end up in jail you can escape in three ways:
1. Hopper calls Coronzon for help and he teleports you out of the prision, but he will own Coronzon
2. Hopper sleeps everyone in the prision and you escape, but his curse will grow stronger
3. Thorn goes with the Templar Sisters
If you dont find your way out in one of that three ways, Thron will be executed and you will be no longer able to play with him or his companions


The Prince of Friga
If you decide to go for Mact through the fortress of Friga, you will have a decision to make, whether you engage in a fight with the Gellans or continue looking for the Prince. If you take the path of the fight, the Prince is one of the wounded soldiers you are saving doing so. If Thorn doesn't go to Friga or choses not to fight there, the Prince will die.

Saving Mact
For what I have read, you have to reach the White Tower before 34 days to save Mact and his hand. Between 34 and 38 days he will lose his hand and after the 38 day, he will die, but don't @ me since the days rule seems to not be completely like i told it. Besides, It doesn't look to have any gameplay implications for Mact to have his hand or not

Originally posted by Xaneorath:

Maybe it is connected to some situations where you can let Brening show concern for his son. Like, for example, right at the beginning where you could choose "I hope Mact was here" as a present for Brenins wife.

As this quote says, maybe the time bracket is also affected by the times Thorn remembers his son and shows that he cares about him

Qarbapht
If you go first to Friga and then to the White Tower you should have met Droket. If also Brett is alive at that point, when he dies he will give him a small locket and his stone knife and came later with another body to pick them up, ultimately allowing you to kill Atraakah in Opacum
If Thorn dies before Friga, Droket will manage to save Mact on his own and go with him to Friga

Hodde in Opacum
If Hodde managed to reach Opacum with Thorn, you can let him continue to be Hodde and be a part of your group or you can send him away with his father, now the King. Even if you keep him in, in the last battle he is only available if you are able to play as Lo Pheng and Thorn and him are in good terms

Seven parts of the Curse

--You can lower your course by going to Dead Springs on your way from Albius to the First Menhir, trying to drink from the bucket of the young girl
--First indication for Hopper is on the Menhir, if you touch it, you will know that the first part is in the Double Menhir
-- In Ursus you can find a sentence of the curse in Unda's house. If Thorn was there, look the table the latest or you could miss it. If Thorn wasn't there, you will find it automatically
-- Leaving Ursus you have to go to a "Tall Building". You have two options: Either the Ghostly Tower, where you have to solve a little riddle to have access to the new information or the Scarlet Tower where your best choice is to let one of your companions spend the night with the witch to earn the new info
-- Chirlan will give you another part of the spell after entering the Wasteland
--Leaving the Wasteland I founded another clue in the Warrens Mansion, butI think like with the other parts, in either path you take you could find something
--Lon in Friga will give you the next part
--Leaving Friga you will need to go to a place where there is someone with affinity with animals. In any case, you should help whoever you might encounter
--In the Water Menhir you will read the sentence automatically as part of the events that unfold there
--The last part is in the temple of Opacum, which you can visit by agreeing with Philia to search and read it


The full enchantement is as follows:
1. Take into yourself that which you can take, for there is no one else to take it
2. and if you do not burn out, carry it
3. And with every step your burden shall become heavier, for you carry many, and their numbers increases still
4. You will save yourself by saving others
5. But you will not keep misfortune away
6. Because you carry misfortune within you
7. God of mine - the fire, the wind and the salt of the earth. Accept my flesh, my spririt and my love. Save and protect us.


Last one will be found on Ammas body after you kill her, but even so the spell is not complete. The final clue is in Amma's book

Healing Hodde
Hodde can be injuried at Ursus in a fight with the Enses at Unda's house. As Hopper, you could try to heal him. Succeding means Hodde will re-appear with Thorn near Friga after finding Mact.
If you don't try to heal him he will reach Opacum with his father, but doing so seems to triger King's Treeg death

Gleda Brennin after Thorn's execution
The text saying that Gleda is dead doesn't appeared in my game until I reached Opacum, so it's likely you could find her in the Vandil forest or in the Wasteland and prevent it

Originally posted by poshol:

You can find Gleda in the Wasteland after escaping from jail (don't know if it applies after Thorn's execution though). If you head as far southwest as you can, the team runs across her in a village with your friend the merchant.

Wodan
If you decide to kill the woman, the battle will be far easier since you don't have to face a Reaper, but you must kill all the soldiers. If you refuse to kill the woman, along with the soldiers will be a Reaper, but if you rush and kill him first, all others will turn to stone and the battle will end.

Leaving the Gellian Tunel
If you attack without waiting, you could recruit Ruor after the battle. If you wait, the Reaper or a Frisian soldier kills him, depending on your previous choice

Albus the Monk
You could interfere directly to save him, but you can also try to avoid the gellians who are trying to kill him, but notice that if you recruited Ruor, he will rush to battle and then either choice will put yourself in battle and consequently, saving Albus

Saving Reet
Simple, really. You can give her one of your sacrificial stones and save her or choose not to and let her die. Don't know yet the long term consequences, since she can later guide you to the Wandering Menhir and as a result Lo Pheng says he can no longer return to the Shadow Clan.
It's important that you give her a sacrificial stone right away, since trying a normal strix will prevent you to reach the triple menhir in time and save the Ense who ultimately will save your whole party

Recruiting an Ense for your party
If you gave Reet the sacrificial stone first, one of the Enses previously wounded in a battle between them and the Gellans could be recruited by Reet into your party. If you tried other options first, he will be dead when you reach the place

Wandering Menhir
If you have recruited Khama the Ense and Alus the Monk, Khama will prevent Shannet killing Alus. If you recruited only Alus, he will die right there, causing the Guardian of the Menhir to be really upset with you. Other option if you are comited to a playthrough and made mistakes in the past is to let Shannet die due to injury acumulation.

OATH-KEEPER Achivement
This is only available when you always do whatever Pelko Soturi commands you

Not entirely sure what events are part of the previous decisions you made and what are decided directly there. I will try to put some examples:

• Multiple different endings (as far as I know): Philia, Gleda or Reet could either resist the events of the end or could submit. Also, as some secret achievements might point, some of them might die in the final chapter
  
• Playing as the three different protagonist: Final chapter can be played as Thorn, Lo Pheng or Hopper. First time i played nobody but Hopper reached Opacum so I didn't have to choose. Second time I managed to bring everyone there, but only have to choose between Lo Pheng or Thorn. Don’t know if that was a consequence of a 100% cursed Blance.
  
• Depending of your “evilness” or “goodness”, Lo Pheng and Thorn could join forces against Atraakah or fight between them
  
• You can choose between Lo Pheng or Hopper if Lo Pheng is loyal to Pelko Soturi
  
• As far as I know, there is also the possibility of someone of Thorn’s party to kill Prince Treeg. The time I managed to reach this point, Thorn was dead and the killer was Tenner, his former servant, but I have read it could also be Fisk or Sopp the ones killing him. My wild guess is that this can be acomplished if Hode is injuried in Unda's house, Thorn is dead and you refuse to heal him in Ursus, since that's what I did
  
• Qarbapht's death is trigered if Mact reaches Opacum and he has not died in the White Tower, and I think that can only be done if Thorn doesn't get to Friga or is killed before reaching Mact