WCG

As a side-question, is there a way to tell how difficult a trap will be to disarm? I'm playing a rogue with a high Mechanics skill, so he's had no problem disarming everything, but... I was just wondering, since there's never an indication of how much Mechanics skill is needed for success. Do you just try it, and then find out if you're going to live or not? I suppose that's realistic, though.

Did you just test the initial dungeon? There's a reason why this might be the case in the initial dungeon, but not after that. I'm not saying that's true, since I haven't bothered to test it, myself. But it seems plausible that they simply wanted to keep the main character from leveling up until he'd left the initial dungeon (for obvious reasons, given what happens at the end of it).

No, they can be disarmed. Mechanics of 3 definitely works. You seem to get a variable amount of experience from it, depending on how many are in your party at the time. I suspect that's so you don't level up inside the starter dungeon.

Thank-you. I didn't realize that. (I thought the red area would get the full damage, while the yellow just partial damage.) For the rest of this, Aloth doesn't have chill fog or slicken, and I haven't found new spells anywhere yet, but I'll keep an eye out for them. It's good to know that he gets better later on. Yes, me, too. I'm only playing on normal difficulty, and I'm not interested in power-gaming, so I'd like to keep as many of these characters as possible, at least until I learn their stories. Thanks for the replies, everyone!

First, you need to be sneaking in order to see that they are traps. You can't do anything before that (although there are at least two other ways to get past that trapped area). If you move your characters close to the traps while sneaking, you should spot the traps, and they'll turn color. (Your cursor will also change to the disarm traps indication when you hover over an identified trap.) Then, you just have to click on the trap with your rogue - or anyone with some Mechanics skill - to attempt to disarm them. As I say, you don't have to disarm them, since you can get past them at least two other ways. But I suspect that your problem is just that you weren't sneaking when you walked up to them. PS. Note that you won't find hidden stashes of loot if you're not sneaking, either. I don't remember if there are any hidden stashes in that initial dungeon, but you do find them in the game. (Nothing you really need to find, though.)

Sorry, I have no idea. But I did notice that my party got more experience from disarming those traps when I had three people in the party than when I had two. I was experimenting, and just happened to notice this. Both times, my rogue disarmed the traps, not Heoden. But we only got two-thirds as much experience (total - I didn't check to see how much each character got) when there were only two in the party as when there were three. I suspect that's only in the initial dungeon, for... reasons. (I don't know where you are in the game, so I won't say more than that.) But I really don't know, since I didn't test it later. I'm not overly concerned with it, one way or another, since I'm just playing on normal difficulty and I'm not interested in power-gaming. But I thought it was interesting. I have no idea what's going on with your game. Sorry.

(Note: minor spoilers, maybe, but only if you haven't even been to Gilded Vale yet.) I'm playing a ranged rogue, and I've got two fighters, since I purchased one before I found the one at Gilded Vale. That's OK (though I would have done things differently, if I'd known I would already get a fighter), but I just can't figure out how to use Aloth the wizard effectively. I would love fire- and cold-based attacks for some enemies, but I can't use them without hitting my own characters and/or putting Aloth on the front line, where he doesn't last long at all (reasonably enough). Scepter and rod attacks also seem to hit friendly characters in the way (unlike arrows) - and like his magic missile spell, they do mundane damage, which is also a bit disappointing. (I'm struggling to get past damage resistance.) He does have some debuffs, though it's hard to tell if they're doing us any good. He also has to get close to use them and wait until my fighters have stabilized the front line (if they ever do - those damned shadows!), since they seem to affect friends, and not just enemies. So, most of the time, Aloth seems to have nothing useful to contribute. For the shadows, I used his rolling fire spell to start the fight, then had him run away. That worked OK if I was lucky enough to hit them (and the fire didn't bounce back into us). But then, he was pretty much useless for the rest of the fight, except as a target (since the shadows almost always targetted him, whether he initiated the fight or not). His cold spell works OK against slimes, but he has to be in melee range, which is not such a wise idea for a wizard. For other enemies, once the battle is stabilized, I can sometimes move him around to the other side, so he can use his scepter. But by then, the battle is pretty much over, one way or another. So, what am I missing? How should I use Aloth? I'm only playing on normal difficulty, but the battles are plenty hard enough for me (just about right, I'd say). PS. I'm loving this game. Best Kickstarter investment I ever made! I normally prefer sandbox games, but so far, the setting and the story in this one has been superb. I can't wait to find out what happens next.