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| Wizard | to top of page |
| We�re off to be a Wizard
Oddly, the wizard is at once the most difficult and the easiest class to play. A large percentage of the creatures will slay you with a single blow, but spells such as confuse are incredibly effective. If you expect to run through the game blasting away at anything that crosses your view, you won�t make it anywhere. Simply put, wizards don�t have the offensive firepower that you might expect. Most wizards will never see the high damage numbers that are common for warriors and conjurers. Your success is highly dependent upon properly combining the available tools. Remember to buy all the spell books you see in shops, as you can have three levels of each spell. Don�t buy extra levels of the less useful spells.
Wizardly wear
Armor: What armor you are wearing is not nearly as important as simply wearing something. Always have a spare set of equipment available in your inventory and make sure you never have any missing armor. There is little defensive improvement from the weak armor to the strong armor, so just be sure to be fully equipped.
Halberd (Staff of Oblivion): An important weapon. With the shock damage and vampirism that the Halberd gains, you�ll be able to fight most normal creatures and mages with this weapon. The Halberd is quick and it has long range, so you can use it in melee combat when your wizard would otherwise be unable to succeed with a staff. Perhaps the best feature of the Halberd is that it can block a variety of attacks, so it is a good defense against various creatures.
Magical Staves: There are a variety of magical staffs available to the wizard, with three primary spells: fireball, lightning and triple fireball. Fireball staffs are common, so you should use them to conserve mana. Lightning staffs are nearly worthless, because they burn through their charges in seconds. The only use for a lightning staff is that is has no casting time, so it can quickly be used and discarded. Triple fireball staffs are incredibly useful, and if you purchase the Triple Fireball Staff of Replenishment (or find it later on) it will carry you through the remainder of the game. Replenishment will automatically refill the charges on your staff if you have it equipped, thus having two of the same staffs of replenishment does not work well. The one exception to this is if you want to use more than the max charges in a short time period. Never buy the Lightning Staff of Replenishment. They do not recharge at a faster rate, so they are a horrible expense, since 60 charges are used in a few seconds. The Lightning Staff of Recharging is a functional weapon, but it still drains too rapidly for regular use.
Of the many spells available, some are nearly useless. Spells such as pull and push have limited uses that tend to be based on minor puzzles within the levels. Toggling between spell groups will often get confusing, as it becomes a reflexive maneuver to hit quickly �d� for fireball, but then in another set that may end up as your protection from fire spell. That�s not good. As such, you�ll want to have your spell system as condensed as possible, so that you can quickly access the most important spells.
Burn: A weak spell with a single use�cast it on a zombie�s corpse permanently destroy the creature.
Confuse: One of the most powerful spells in the game, confuse will work on just about any target, making them wander around chaotically for a few seconds. Use this spell on bosses and other baddies and they will be easy targets. This is particularly useful for powerful creatures that can slay you with a single blow.
Fireball: The most useful attack spell available to the wizard. Keep it handy. Some creatures are immune, and few creatures will die in one shot once you are halfway through the game.
Force Field: Always keep a force field on, especially later in the game. This is the only thing that will keep you from dying in one attack, although having one hitpoint left isn�t much better.
Haste: There are two primary uses for this spell: travelling and evading monsters. Travelling is a convenience, but using haste and slow in combination works great in boss fights.
Invisibility: Although this is a nice spell in theory, in practice it is not something you want to use. The reasoning is simple�if you avoid something instead of killing it, you don�t get experience.
Lesser Heal: Always keep this spell readied. Just make sure not to use heal spells to full health when there may be food or potions nearby that you can use.
Lightning: One of your primary attack spells, lightning is generally used on creatures that are immune to fire, slowed creatures or for firing when you don�t have a direct line of sight. Not very powerful, but lightning provides an effective damage-mana cost ratio early on, and later it is needed to kill some bosses.
Missiles of Magic: A weak offensive spell, but occasionally useful. It automatically seeks the target, so it is good to use against the archer gargoyles and other creatures that will dodge fireballs and interrupt lightning. Since they are heat seeking, you can fire while fleeing from a target to stall or hurt them. It can also be used to hit switches from a distance.
Protection from Elements: Protection spells are always nice to have, so cast these whenever you go to a mana crystal, just don�t use protection from poison.
Shock: A powerful defensive spell, shock will damage any creature that you touch. Although it is not bad when used in this manner, it is best to let the enemy hit you, and shock can deal anywhere from 100-200 damage in return. Beholders cast shock, which is why you shouldn�t engage them in melee combat.
Slow: Along with confuse, this is one of the most useful spells. Have it on your main menu and cast it frequently.
Trap: Traps may not always be as effective as bombs, yet they are far more reliable. Casting a trap lets you keep moving for a longer duration of time than casting individual spells, so it can be incredibly useful against bosses. It�s a good idea to have offensive spells in traps, but never create a one without slow or confuse.
In addition to using the right spells, it�s important to make use of the mana crystals. These are available in all boss fights. There are hundreds of mana crystals throughout the game, so you should never walk around without any mana.
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| Conjorer | Comming soon!
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| Worrior | to top of page |
| Warriors, come out and plaaaaaay!
Melee combat is the primary ability of the warrior, but they are capable ranged combatants. Mix and match your abilities so that you are experienced in all situations and prepared for whatever you might encounter.
Armor: The worst threat to any warrior is broken equipment. Unlike the other classes, warriors must regularly engage in melee combat, thus they need to have a full suit of armor at all times. Carry extra armor even when you are wearing plate and realize that it takes up a large portion of your inventory space. Expect to burn multiple suits of plate at the end of the game, so make sure to loot plenty from Chapter 10. It�s possible to keep your best armor intact by removing it when the durability reaches critical and repairing it at the next shop, but you�re better off letting it break and equipping a backup piece (don�t let them break if you have no spare). Armor is too heavy to pack as unusable damaged equipment.
One-Handed Weapons: These are useful early on, but you won�t want to use them at the later stages of the game. Having a shield is advantageous, but it�s preferable to hit for higher damage. Since you can�t easily switch between one and two-handed weapons (quick weapon doesn�t equip the shield) it�s best to use one or the other instead of mixing them. One-handed become obsolete as your Halberd gets stronger.
Two-Handed Weapons: All the big hitters require the use of two hands. Great swords are low damage, but they are useful for blocking spells. Of all the weapons, war hammers are undoubtedly the best. Although they are slow and difficult to wield, war hammers will allow you to kill most enemies with only one swing. When you find your first war hammer, engage lone enemies to practice. You�ll be used to a much shorter delay. Generally, the delay after the attack won�t matter�your target will be dead. War hammers also hit multiple targets; use them properly to wreak havoc on the undead legions.
Halberd (Staff of Oblivion): An incredibly useful weapon. Not for the damage, but for the durability. Having this handy to destroy barrels and kill weak enemies will save you lots of money on repairs. With its quick speed, the Halberd can also be used for healing once it gains the vampirism ability.
Shurikens and Chakrums: Shurikens are a plentiful source of ranged damage. Some creatures, such as the beholders, should not be engaged in melee combat, and gargoyles are much easier to kill with shurikens. Unlike shurikens, chakrums are not situational weapons. A single chakrum is barely worth using, but once you get two they combine for a powerful ranged attack. Equip both chakrums (primary and quick weapons). When you throw one chakrum, immediately switch to the second and throw it too. This doubles you damage potential and keeps you with a weapon available most of the time. While the damage is nice, the true value of dual chakrums comes from mixing spell effects. For instance, wield a fire chakrum in one hand to kill zombies, and have a stunning chakrum in the other hand for powerful opponents. Chakrums will never lose durability, so you can throw them around as you please. Make sure to practice using chakrums.
Making it through Nox without the aid of spells is nearly impossible. As such, the warrior must improvise and rely on magical weapons. Weapons enchanted with impact, stunning, vampirism and fire are the most useful of the group. Getting your hands on an impact weapon will make the beginning of the game a breeze, as enemies will be knocked out of range when you hit them. Stunning is important for fighting magicians and bosses. Vampirism�s constant hitpoint gains will keep you healthy, and fire weapons permanently kill zombies.
Berserker Charge: Insanely powerful for the first half of the game, berserker charge will kill anything. Even most of the bosses will fall after you charge and attack once. You�ll want to practice �sliding� in order to be prepared for boss fights. Sliding is essentially running one direction, then quickly turning (before your movement has stopped) and charging your target. Once you make contact, either immediately swing your weapon or flee. Performing this maneuver accurately will allow you to best difficult opponents without taking damage.
War Cry: Numerous mages populate the Tower of Illusion, and that is when war cry becomes useful. This skill temporarily stuns mages. Try using it against new enemies you encounter, but there are few places where it is needed outside of the Tower of Illusion.
Tread Lightly: Nearly worthless. This skill is just used for bypassing some of the traps.
Eye of the Wolf: Using this skill gives you temporary infravision, allowing you to see invisible enemies. Theoretically useful, but invisible creatures become visible when they attack you.
Harpoon: Harpoon is the second skill that is useful from beginning to end. Essentially, it�s a grapple used to hook enemies and pull them within striking distance. Mages and other ranged attackers are particularly vulnerable to harpoon tactics. Most notably, harpoon is important in the final battle against Hecubah. Since this skill only does one damage, it is a good idea to only use it when necessary, as it is often easier to chase enemies.
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