Bremen

Bind Foe (Level 1 at least) absolutely works on Demons and Drakes, I just used it in my last playthrough.

Cast bind foe (web) every turn. If you wait before moving in (so they have already moved) and cast web, then cast it again every turn most guys won't ever get an action (e.g. demons and drakes, who it works great on at early levels). Doesn't work on a few things like specters that have a ton of AP, but everything else.

Tanks in general don't work at harder difficulties, everything hastes itself and deals a ton of damage in melee. Just summon up a bunch of guys to take hits if you can't nuke everything down in a turn or two. I just finished a duo on torment (fighter + mage/priest), and the fighter wasn't able to tank until I got divine warrior, even with blessed plate and a shield he got his ass kicked. I don't think Int increases spell target numbers, learning the spell at higher levels does that. In any case you can get the top level spells right after getting to the Vahnatai capital when you teleport to the Tower, so you should try to have 16 by then for divine warrior. Most low-level magic resistant guys are only to one type. Imps I think take full lightning damage. Araneas take fire damage, but they can be tough early, I generally relied on rabid bats and asps until Fireblast. And chain web works wonders, cast it every turn and they won't even fight back - this is a good way to take out Drakes early on. If you're having trouble in the ruined fort, don't forget that you can use repel spirit on the undead vahnatai (vahnavoi) along with the undead. Hasting your priest works well here: you can haste, wait, then walk into a room and have four casts before they get a single move, that should kill everything besides specters and your fighters can mop up.

As far as I can tell, it's just the boots of speed and now Pants of Power that are missing though, everything else is there. Doesn't really matter, but seemed very weird.

Why would you put sickness prone on your tank?!? I would avoid standup fights at the start of A2, just haste/use the wait trick, nuke, and recharge if you run out of mana. Your main characters shouldn't be attacked at all really. Against the Hydras etc (on Torment) I think i just summoned a ton of guys to tank and then nuked them. Rabid Bats and Asps are particularly solid. I'd avoid spending any points on Int until you have 18 mag/pri. Int adds the same mana as mag/pri and is half as effective for spells. And you should avoid wasting points on useless abilities (e.g. lore, str/dex for spellcasters, end for everyone really).

For some reason both pairs of Boots of Speed are missing in my version of A2 (mac via gog, so technically the Windows version). The chest in Olgai is empty and the pedestal was also empty. I used the char editor to fix the issue, but has anyone else encountered this? Everything else seems fine.

Restoration Brews clear dumbfound. You should have a ton of these from cycling the witch for skill potions. Also, buy some mage levels (from the Hidden Tower) for your fighters, so they will get targeted instead of Mages. Mung demons die pretty fast - 5-6 repel spirit from a priest, or a few rounds of attacks from a decent fighter. Gazers have no hp, just wait-move in and they shouldn't even get a shot off.

Blessed Plate drops from Grah-Hoth in A1.

You're missing the scroll of Withering (I think there's a couple others with it) in the Vale of the Sould in a secret room. I'm not sure what (if anything) it does - when I used it my stats stayed the same.

Is there any way to kill Sylak? I got him to about 1/3 or so, with a ton of allies and most of his guards charmed, but then he cast this massive aoe that insta-killed half my party and healed a ton. Or is there just one ending for Romans? What does food do? Seems pretty useless now.

I'm trying to find Kharto...I killed the Goblin village ages ago, and can't seem to find him without them (I'm playing as Romans). Where is he?

Is it possible to not use the geneforge in the beginning? I generally just play pure shapers with no canisters, and I'd like to keep that up if I can.