Most Important Things

If you haven't downloaded any patches for the game yet, then you should do that right away. The patches fix many problems that can prevent you from finishing the game. The patches are available from DreamCatcher Interactive's web site.

However, even with the patches, Dungeon Lords still has an assortment of bugs, and so you should save your game often, and use all ten save slots.


Skills

The following skills won't be available in your game unless you're playing version 1.4 or later: identify, repair, scout, and steal.

If you pick up an object and it has ?'s surrounding its name, that means it needs to be identified. To identify an object, right click on it. That should bring up a menu that shows your chance of identifying the object. (Even if you don't have the identify skill, you still might be able to identify objects.) If you identify the object successfully, then you'll be able to identify another object right away. If you fail, you'll have to wait a period of time before trying again. You can also identify objects in shops, for a fraction of the object's cost.

Sadly, the identify skill works badly. If you identify an object yourself, then you'll identify the object and all other copies of the object that you might have in your junk inventory. But if you go to a shop to identify an object, then you'll have to identify each and every item. Worse, if you pick up an object that you've already identified, then you'll only know what it is if you're currently carrying another copy of the object. If you don't have another copy of the object, then you'll just have to identify the object all over again.

The repair skill works just like the identify skill. Just unequip the object (if needed) and then right click on it to repair it. If you don't have the repair skill, then you'll need to go to a shop to have your equipment repaired.

There is no reason to take athletics beyond level 4.

There is no reason to take light or medium dual weapons past level 1.

If you're not playing the Collector's Edition, then there isn't any reason to advance the pick locks skill.

In version 1.4/1.5, if you use a weapon, then you'll automatically gain experience in the skill required for the weapon.


Miscellaneous

There isn't a time limit to the game, so you can rest at campfires as much as you'd like.

Any time you die, you can "revive" yourself (by pressing R), and that will return you to full health. However, reviving also causes you to lose a random attribute point and lose all of your current advancement points, so you're much better off loading your game instead. Later, you'll be able to resurrect yourself using a crystal of life (a celestial spell). For that case, you'll only lose your advancement points, and since you can spend your points while you're dead, it's a viable alternative to loading.

If any of your equipment comes attached with a penalty (from lack of strength or skill with the equipment type), that penalty amount will be added to your armor and strike scores, and three times the penalty minus one will be added to your speed. That is, you should almost never wear equipment that causes a penalty.

The only way to load your game is to exit to the main menu and load from there.

You'll only see the status of your enemies when you hit them in battle. Then their status will show up at the bottom of the screen and include their name (on the left), their health bar (on the right), and the amount of damage you just did to them (in the middle of the health bar).

When you sell items, if the item has a yellow border, that means you're wearing it. If it has a white border, that means it's just in your inventory.

To swim underwater, point the camera straight down and tell your character to move forward. To surface, either do the opposite or have your character "jump." To get out of the water, in situations where there isn't a convenient slope, have your character face a flat surface next to the water and then "jump."

If you bring up the character panel and then hover the mouse over your character name, you'll see your "personal stats," including how many enemies you've killed.

If you're wading (not swimming) in water, then you can jump to move faster.

To use moon bridges, you'll need to pick up a moonstone. You can get them off the moon beasts on the big island in Lost Lake. Then when you have a moonstone, visiting a moon bridge will activate it for you, and you'll be able to return to that moon bridge whenever you wish.

The automap feature was added in the 1.3 patch. If you're playing a version prior to 1.3, then pressing the M key won't do anything.

As of version 1.3, there are several rooms in the game where you'll enter the room, a door will close behind you, and you'll have to do something (usually kill something) before you'll be allowed to leave. Examples include the fire spout room in the Trial of the Ancient Elders, the tomb with the Argalia armor in it, and the arena in Skuldoon. Whatever you do, don't save and load in these rooms. The game will forget about your situation, and the exit door will never open, leaving you stuck in the room and having to load a saved game from before the room.

You can only modify the appearance of you character during character creation if you're playing version 1.4 or later.