TriRodent

You cleaned out the dungeon. Going back into it, you're now in some guy's laboratory and trying to attack his research subjects... Or he's using the slimes to break down the cinnabar to make potions with it... Or... They are friendlies in this case.

Re: casting buffs. I almost always used my prince/ess for that before a (big/boss) fight started (outdoor excepted). With two levels of Haven's Blessing (?), you're getting 13 (? away from the computer at the moment) rounds of speed and blessing. As most fights are shorter than that it's worth casting right outside of combat range so he can get right into the fight (and everyone else is buffed going into it too). Along a somewhat similar vein, outside doors, have everyone stack up in the 2x2 box directly in front of it, go into combat and open the door, you'll still have a point to attack (with a bow or magic as monsters don't tend to be right next to the door).

I never asked/got an answer about a potential +3. When I gave someone a +3 in 'x', the difference between that and a +2 never seemed dramatically different so I'd usually give that item to someone else to use (or sell it/stick it in a chest for later).

About to run out the door, but a quick answer to two. Imagine the map with three circles, Ft Haven and surrounding areas. Next circle out would encompass the first forts in each of the three areas. The final and biggest circle would be the areas with the last forts. Things get progressively more difficult as you move out in the circles. Doing everything you can in one circle before moving out to the next one isn't a bad strategy. In other words, don't plan on doing everything in the Vol before ever venturing into the swamps.

If you have an item that gives you a +1 in whatever, the person that you give it to should be able to use it/benefit from it even if it isn't a racial trait for them. It may not show up on the skill screen as a +1 if, in your example, the Vol trait wasn't an option as you can't put skill points towards it. But the benefit should still be there for the player

Casting I'm fairly sure

Yes, it'll give that skill to someone who hasn't trained in it

Really? When I had say the ring that gave +1 to poison rain, if I gave it to my magic user who already had two levels there, the effective three levels didn't seem better/different than two levels (certainly nothing dramatic like the difference between one and two)

Another option is to fight through them, 'discover' the location, use the map or walk back to the fort to recover, and then use the map to bounce right back to the start of the location (assuming that the outdoor monsters did respawn) as that would put you there at full health...but yes, that kind of screws up the mental immersiveness...

The demo has some problems according to Jeff in different threads. I think he mentioned that there will be a patched version out early next week.

I 'think' outdoor encounters are unique (so you can clear the path to 'x', go back to a fort to rest, and then not have to reslog through them to get back to 'x' after you're at full health. As to the xp issue...I dunno, that's up to Jeff. It may though be him wanting everyone to be at roughly 'this' level when they reach 'that' point in the game. That's easier to accomplish if only certain events give xp. It could also be that you are royalty and should be concerned with the overall strategic vision of Queen Mom. Accomplishing things that move that forward (reclaiming a quarry for instance) means more than wiping out a few generic mirefangs along the way.

It will come back into play much later on

There are bushes that highlight when you mouse over them. Some have the pods you need. Each area (for lack of a better word) has one or two

Occasionally, while you're wandering around outside, you're going to come across what looks to be a small stack of crates/boxes*. Make sure that you go into that square at they most often give you a unit or two of some resource/gold. *at least with my monitor/my old eyes they can be tough to spot/blend into the background, so if you're in a new area look around a bit.

You'll have to switch over to the assorted, dubiously useful, somewhat pretty rocks...

Right, because being a member of the ruling royalty, one tasked with getting an underperforming colony back up and running is all about killing orcs and not the greater overall economic picture... I get that this game isn't for everyone and sincerely hope that you find one more to your liking, but did you really not read any of the intro sections that explained what your task was going to be? If it helps, think of building the buildings as a skill you need to develop/level up on, as they do impact how well you will do in the combat you desire (a part of the game that will take up most of your time...)

You're still in the tutorial...of course it's going to treat you like a simpleton, that's its purpose (well, other than teaching you how to play moving forward). Once you learn the basics, 'then' you can start doing what you want. Honestly at this point you may want to step away for a day or two and then come back with a fresh outlook of, 'its a new game, let's see what's different and how I can succeed'. Because right now you seem to be in a mental place of 'I'm not going to like this...now to find some reasons to justify that position'

I gave it to one of the other guys hanging around with me (in the party), but yeah...

Or follow Mike's link...

You don't. Pretty much the only loot is in chests, boxes, vases that you run across. Most (all?) kind of sparkle when you see them. They also highlight themselves if you mouse over them.

I guess it's good/too bad that there wasn't a Castle Anthrax/Zoot ish encounter somewhere...

Yeah, keeping your armor light (no speed penalties) may make you get hit for more damage, but if you've buffed speed on every item that will take it...you can deal out some serious damage to them... (you can also put both a 4% & 6% speed bonus on the same item (at least in the beta, haven't tried on the release version). You can't put two of the same augment on any one item, but I guess they are technically different)

Sadly I don't believe that my suggestion to include "huge tracts of land" somewhere in Ft Bannerspire's description was ever implemented... (haven't gotten up that way in the final version to check...)

(Sorry to quote the whole thing, on rather dumb fone and editing qoutes is a pita...) Re the four slimes. Yeah that one was for me one of the harder early dungeons. And if you leave to heal/come back in a few levels...all four are back...sigh. You should though have gone back to Ft Muck to rest/heal, much shorter distance game time wise. I believe your to hit chances go up slightly with each level (or I was getting better equipment). Hang in there

Can you give an example of an 'action' that you're talking about? Thinking about what I may have wanted to change, the escape key usually worked. If you're talking about building buildings, I'm pretty sure that once you buy the shop, those resources are gone (startup costs). You don't have to build the shop/can remove it, but you can't unbuy the initial costs