Blackguards

• Plan ahead and specialize, this is not a game where you can spread your ability points all over and come out fine. As a Mage, pick out a few spells you want to focus on and get them up to a decent level (usually 8) before branching out. As a warrior, pick a weapon style and sink points into it until it's at least 15 or so (preferably the maximum of 18) before going for some other weapon style.

• Making the main character a spellcaster allows for more flexibility in your group than a warrior as having more Mages means they can each specialize on different spells.

• Have multiple damage types ready, don't fight skeletons with piercing weapons. Different weapons can deal different types of damage even within the same weapon style - for example while a normal club will inflict crushing damage, a magical club might deal magic damage instead.

• Remember to restock potions and other items on your item belts before battles. Larger belts which allow for carrying more items into combat should be your top priority when buying things.

• While most fights happen one at a time, watch out for chains of multiple battles which don't let you rest (or save!) inbetween. If it looks like a battle might lead to another, leave one weak enemy alive and spend a little time healing and regenerating your Mages' mana before ending the current fight.

• Fire damage is overall more reliable than magic damage, making the basic fire damage spell preferable to the magic damage equivalent for Mages.

• Make good use of buffing spells, and put at least some priority on leveling up the armor-boosting and attack/dodge -boosting spells as they're cheap to level and improve in both effect and duration on each rank.

• The starting Mage companion Zurbaran starts with Fortifex Arcane Wall on level 2, which allows him to create impassable force fields on the battlefield. Don't underestimate its usefulness! The ability to block enemies from moving through tiles of your choosing can often be far more valuable than any damage spell.

• Most characters can only go for one parry attempt (which increases their odds of avoiding a physical hit) per combat turn. Before trying to land a powerful but hard-to-hit physical ability on such an opponent, it can be worth trying to bait out the parry by attacking them with a weaker character first.

• Remember to update your hotbars with higher rank spells as you learn them. Purposefully opting for lower-rank spells can be useful at times too, especially when finishing off enemies.

• Teach everyone the Streetwise and Survival talents for the +1 Speed they provide, even if you never plan on spending points on them.

• At certain points the game will give you flashback missions where you will only have access to the skills and equipment you get from character creation screen. In some of these you will need to fight skeletons, so make sure you start the game with a reliable source of bashing damage or fire damage.