Legend of Grimrock
- Don't underestimate unarmed as a combat skill. Weapons other than swords can be a little tough to come by (and its not like swords are everywhere either), and some of the stats/skills in the unarmed tree are really handy
- If you make a minotaur, look at the Head Hunter trait. There are five skulls in the game, and each one will make the minotaur attack harder.
- Keep rocks around. They come in handy with some puzzles, even later in the game.
- It might sound a bit min-max-y, but you're probably better off focusing on a few skills for each character rather than spreading over numerous skills.
- You have to learn spells before you can use them. First, you need to unlock them (add skills in the magic type of choice and get 'Spell: ???'), then either find a scroll that shows the spell, or mess around with the runes until you get it at random. (Or look them up online.)
- You can't melee from the back row unless you use a long range weapon (i.e. spear), or you level up a rogue's Assassination skill enough.
- Bows/crossbows take both hands -- one for the bow, the other for the arrows.
- If your torch is running low (you can tell by the icon), you can switch it up with a torch from the wall. Wall torches give the same illumination regardless, and never go out while they are on the wall.
- Don't just sit there are take punishment from enemies. Dodging around and kiting enemies isn't cheesing the combat -- it will become necessary later on.
- Falling down pits will never outright kill you (though you will take some damage) and is in fact usually a pretty good idea.
- You can grab items (as long as they are close to you) and manipulate floor switches (via dropping objects) through wall grates.
- Earth magic is really poison magic. No earthquake spells here. It has its place, but some people feel calling it 'earth' magic is misleading and end up disappointed.
- Don't cast spells at a wall, or a closing door. It will blow up in your face real good.
- You can 'throw' objects in three different ways, and each of them become relevant for puzzles. In ascending order of distance: you can drop an object (bring it to the lower part of the screen and release it), you can toss an object (bring it to the upper part of the screen and release it), and you can hurl an object (equip it in one of your hands and right-click it). There is at least one puzzle that you may think you can solve by the second method, but you're just a little short, distance-wise. Use the third and it'll be okay.
- There is no store or anything like that, so just drop anything you don't need. Food becomes more scarce later in the game, so don't use up valuable inventory on weapons you've progressed past. Again, keep a rock or two around. Early in the dungeon you may find a bone necklace that doesn't seem to do anything, but hang on to that, too.
- To ensure safe resting, find a room and close the doors behind you. Enemies won't spawn if they aren't already there (with a few exceptions), and they can't open doors.