A Few Things To Make Note Of...
1. Use the TAB often, as it reveals "usable" objects (chests, barrels, boxes, corpses, etc.) and also reveals those that you can interact with (enemies, NPCs, etc.)

2. "*" allows you to change your camera view/style. The in-game tutorial doesn't mention this.

3. Trying running through the Prelude killing as few enemies as possible, shutting doors behind you. The automatic level ups (1->2->3) in the Prelude means that the more you leave unkilled/done, the more you can get post-level 3 by backtracking. There is approximately 1500 experience points to be had in the Prelude (if I remember correctly). This can give your character a head start once they reach Chapter 1.

4. Use the Stone of Recall in Chapter 1 often. Transporting back to the spot you activate the stone at costs 50gp, but you can get free healing for yourself and your henchman from Aribeth and then walk back to an area if you are low on funds. Its also useful if you need to get something from the City Core (like a different henchman). Resting in the Halls of Justice ensures you won't have to worry about random encounters.

5. Bring all of the henchmen into the Halls of Justice. Then, if you want to switch them out for different parts of Chapter 1, you need only activate the Stone of Recall and then swap them out. I've found that; Tiger, Linu, and Tomi are the best to keep around. Tiger for tough slug-fests, Tomi for all of the traps and locks, and Linu for undead or healing.

Submitted By: Robert Pilkington

Heal Without An Attack Of Opportunity
If you wait until the moment after the enemies attack (watch their animation) to drink a healing potion, you can safely drink the potion without worrying about getting an Attack of Opportunity that ends your life.

Submitted By: Robert Pilkington

Avoiding Damage
The Greater Archer's, Brawler's, and Swordsman's Belts provide a damage reduction of 20 hp for; Piercing, Bludgeoning, and Slashing respectively. Donning one of these belts will provide a lot of protection for your character at a cheap (relatively) price, ~11K gp each. Once you see the type of weapon that an enemy is using, switch to the appropriate belt. Usually, enemy types (Orcs, Goblins, Ogre, et al) will use similar weapons so that one belt can be used in that area without switching. When combined with a regenerative item (like a Lantanese Ring), you will almost never need to use a healing potion except when facing magic users.

Submitted By: Robert Pilkington

Getting What You Want
When you finally get past that boss and are ready to loot his chests, make sure to do a quick save ("G"), so you can insure that you get what you want. Chests are rated on their content vs. your level, so you can get items valued up to your max if the chest is rated high enough. It may take awhile to reload, but you may get those Greater Gloves of Swordplay that you were looking for.

Submitted By: Robert Pilkington

Getting What You Want II
The items dropped by major enemies when you kill them is also randomized, so you can employ the same trick with quicksaving. To save time, save the game in a save slot before you fight a big baddie for insurance (you should do this anyway), then fight the enemy. When the enemy is near death, do a fast quicksave right before you kill the baddie. Thus, you can keep reloading to cycle the dropped item once the enemy dies, and you won't have to worry about going through most of the battle. Watching the enemy die over and over is sorta fun, too...

Submitted By: Sherwin Tam

Surviving Trapped Chests
If you or your henchman are of insufficient skill/level to disarm a trapped chest, you can do a couple of things to help yourself survive the encounter. First, be sure to save the game. Second, move your henchman far away from the chest and give the instruction to Stand Your Ground, so that you won't have to return to the nearest Temple of Tyr to retrieve them upon their death. Third, imbibe a Potion of Aid. This increases your hit points so that you can withstand more damage. Fourth, find out what the trap is by testing it once and then reloading and then use an item that protects against that type of attack (if you can find one). Traps deal out variable amounts of damage, so that one time it may cause 102 hp of damage, the next time it might only cause 78 hp.

Submitted By: Robert Pilkington

Surviving Trapped Chests II
Just stand back and shoot the chest/box or whatever it is from a distance. Sometimes you get the "Weapon ineffective"-message but when you dont, you can safely destroy the chest and the trap from a distance.

Submitted By: John Anderson

Surviving Trapped Chests III
The feats "Power Strike" and "Improved Power Strike" are excellent against chests with high damage resistance. If the box is trapped, apply the above feats with a ranged weapon. Most containers that are high in damage resistance are only resistant to physical damage. Therefore, in the case that the player doesn't have access to a direct damage spell, weapons/ammo with elemental damage can bypass their resistance. Finally, try to hold onto a weapon with X3 critical damage. Criticals may not happen often but X3 crits can usually bust through even 40/- (the toughest box I've seen barring one special box) resist. If a box seems really tough, load up some ammo, set to bash, and go have a snack!

Submitted By: Gar Hong

Surviving Trapped Chests IV
If you are an arcane magic user, tossing a fireball at a group of trapped chests will often incinerate them. Not only will you bypass the traps, but the effect is more fun to watch than the trap disarming animation.

Submitted By: Scott Hutcheon