To make long story short, the easiest way is to train strength to 150 and get ice crystal magic. The game is super boring after this. Basically, you freeze and slash, freeze and slash. By getting strength to 150, very few enemies can survive a single charged attack. Even if an enemy can survive, you can walk to the back of enemy while it is frozen. In this way, you can get 2 or 3 hacks before it turns around to block you. Early on, ice crystal is not great. For example, if you face two enemies at once, by the time you freeze the first enemy and then the second enemy, the first enemy already unfreezes. But if you get high ice crystal attack skill, you can freeze them for a long time. Ice magic is starting to get good at level 6. Also with level 10, you can freeze just about anything including ashbeast. After you freeze a lizard, you have enough time to smoke some weed before killing it.
I tried magic bullet. With high skill and large mana pool, you can gun down a horde of enemies before they reach you. But ice crystal is mana efficient, and you do not have enough LP to get high stats in both strength and mana.
Before providing further detail, here is my advice:
1. Don't spend 20 points in magic seals. you can use scrolls with just 5 points in scroll making. There is no difference between rune and scroll in terms of spell effectiveness. Scroll only costs half as much mana. There are plenty of scrolls found in chests. If you run out, just think about what you are gonna do with 15000 gold you collected toward the end of the game.
2. For the same reason, don't get gut animals. You have enough gold.
3. For the same reason, don't get Pick pocket. You have enough gold.
4. Get lock picking skill to level 2 but don't get level 3. I don't remember finding anything too important in level 3 chests, and you can make scrolls to open locks late in chapter 1.
In further detail:
In chapter 1, the hardest part of the game is to finish bandit camp requests and beat brogar in the arena. This is important for learning fighting mechanics, which requires some learning curve. But now, I can easily beat Brogar with damage 10 weapon and no skill. Beating a human is easy once you understand the pattern. After beating him, train smithing to forge a better sword. You might want to go to harbor town just to learn prospecting. For the LP you earned after beating brogar, train strength to 40 and no more and get all 3 levels in alchemy.
Next, you travel around the island to collect 20 hero's crown and 20 ogre root. You make permanent stats potion as soon as you have them. There is no point waiting or holding back. There are couple hero's crown that might require scrolls to get to. You raise strength to 140. You should get 2 or 3 more strength potions by looting chest or as quest reward, depending on your faction. You get +5 from apple. 150 strength is enough and would allow you to one shot most creatures and 2 shots tougher creatures. You can temporarily raise strength to 200 by scroll.
Next, you join the order as either mage or warrior and get crystal magic to 8 but no more. Having strength 150 and ice crystal magic at 8 is enough to clean out most islands, and it only requires you to get level 16 which you can easily reach in chapter 1. When I started chapter 2, I was level 17 and I didn't clean out everything. You don't have to fight ashbeast or ogre in chapter 1.
So in chapter 1, you already completed the hardest part of the game. With ice crystal, you are nearly invincible as there are only a few places you will not be able to use magic or have no room for ranged attack in the game.
You can get good at both melee and magic. You just have to NOT get useless skills and use your LP in essential skills. Lastly, you want to wear the 2 sword fighting rings and +2 magic amulet because those two combined would save you 40 points of LP.
My final character: level 29, strength 160, sword +9 (two from ring), Mana 130, ice magic +10 (+2 from amulet), +2 lockpicking, scroll making, prospecting, +3 smithing, +3 alchemy.
I tried magic bullet. With high skill and large mana pool, you can gun down a horde of enemies before they reach you. But ice crystal is mana efficient, and you do not have enough LP to get high stats in both strength and mana.
Before providing further detail, here is my advice:
1. Don't spend 20 points in magic seals. you can use scrolls with just 5 points in scroll making. There is no difference between rune and scroll in terms of spell effectiveness. Scroll only costs half as much mana. There are plenty of scrolls found in chests. If you run out, just think about what you are gonna do with 15000 gold you collected toward the end of the game.
2. For the same reason, don't get gut animals. You have enough gold.
3. For the same reason, don't get Pick pocket. You have enough gold.
4. Get lock picking skill to level 2 but don't get level 3. I don't remember finding anything too important in level 3 chests, and you can make scrolls to open locks late in chapter 1.
In further detail:
In chapter 1, the hardest part of the game is to finish bandit camp requests and beat brogar in the arena. This is important for learning fighting mechanics, which requires some learning curve. But now, I can easily beat Brogar with damage 10 weapon and no skill. Beating a human is easy once you understand the pattern. After beating him, train smithing to forge a better sword. You might want to go to harbor town just to learn prospecting. For the LP you earned after beating brogar, train strength to 40 and no more and get all 3 levels in alchemy.
Next, you travel around the island to collect 20 hero's crown and 20 ogre root. You make permanent stats potion as soon as you have them. There is no point waiting or holding back. There are couple hero's crown that might require scrolls to get to. You raise strength to 140. You should get 2 or 3 more strength potions by looting chest or as quest reward, depending on your faction. You get +5 from apple. 150 strength is enough and would allow you to one shot most creatures and 2 shots tougher creatures. You can temporarily raise strength to 200 by scroll.
Next, you join the order as either mage or warrior and get crystal magic to 8 but no more. Having strength 150 and ice crystal magic at 8 is enough to clean out most islands, and it only requires you to get level 16 which you can easily reach in chapter 1. When I started chapter 2, I was level 17 and I didn't clean out everything. You don't have to fight ashbeast or ogre in chapter 1.
So in chapter 1, you already completed the hardest part of the game. With ice crystal, you are nearly invincible as there are only a few places you will not be able to use magic or have no room for ranged attack in the game.
You can get good at both melee and magic. You just have to NOT get useless skills and use your LP in essential skills. Lastly, you want to wear the 2 sword fighting rings and +2 magic amulet because those two combined would save you 40 points of LP.
My final character: level 29, strength 160, sword +9 (two from ring), Mana 130, ice magic +10 (+2 from amulet), +2 lockpicking, scroll making, prospecting, +3 smithing, +3 alchemy.