dodo

It reduces the strength of casters and give you some incentive to add Dex. In combat, sometimes you have to decide if it's worth getting close enough to an enemy to hit them with the higher damage/tohit magic attack. At 10 squares away, the enemy can use up its 9 ap to walk up to you and ensnare you.

It's in the Trapped Lair, top left corner. Should be marked on the map.

You can hit the Tab key to bring up the map. The pylon is marked.

Level 1 Flash Powder should give slow, and you get additional ensnare at level 3. But I have it at level 1 and it looks like its ensare and not slow.

For the Socerer, Arcane Blessing only affects the whole group at level 3. But the ability menu text shows it as affecting allies even before you are at level 3.

I played on hard throughout and the first part of the game(demo and north of demo area) was relatively easy. The middle part was often frustratingly tough, maybe because I was wandering into areas not meant for my level.(This is why I don't really like open world games.) Once I reached levels 20-25, it became incredibly easy. This is partly because some areas were meant for a much lower level party and partly because my players were opening up adrenaline rush or have +ap items. But even the major fights were quite easy.

Maybe you switched difficulty when you started stumbling into high level areas?

It's on the southeast wall of the central building. When you enter from the back gate, head to the bottom right. When you turn the corner, the button will be right in front of you.

There is another switch in a small recessed area along the passage between the rats and the prisoner in the corner. But that just brings you to a room of about 5 enemies.

Oh. Is it multiplied or subtracted? If I have 40% armor, does that mean I will block 10% on average or 28%? What's the penalty for Hard?

My characters have 30+% armor ratings but they seem to take full damage quite often.

I know you can only add 8 points to them but do the additional points from specializations and special items count if they add up to more than 8?