Strategy

Q) What's the best combination of character classes for a party?  How do I
stay alive at the beginning of the game?  I've wandered all around the
City of Bywater and the surrounding woodlands, now what?

A) I've finally broken down and decided to answer these questions.  Most RPG
players can skip this.  

The best party is a well balanced with at least one thief, one strong
"fighter-type", and one spell caster.  The remaining three are up to
your choosing: usually two more fighting characters and one spell
caster or vice versa.  What I mean by fighter-type is fighter, paladin,
ranger or monk.  I usually start with a paladin/fighter for their sheer
strength and fighting ability.  They get all the best offensive weapons
and the most of the armor.  I put them right in front to take hits and
protect spell casters and use them to carry most of the gold and junk
to be sold.  A thief is good for the occasional lock pick, acrobatic
maneuver, or trap detection.  Most are fairly weak but very dexterous so
I usually arm them with bows and arrows and hide the behind the others.
The first class of spell casters that I don't leave home without is a
cleric.  They can wear any armor and cast healing spells.  Both are big
plusses.  The remaining members of a party is really up to taste.  My
next choice in fighting characters is a ranger and then a monk.  My
next choice for spell casters would be an enchanter because they can
wear a little more armor and carry short swords, unlike magic users,
who basically only fight with daggers.  My current party of choice thus
consists of: Paladin, Ranger, Cleric, Enchanter, Magic User and Thief.
Monks just don't seem worth the effort for me, and fighters and rangers
are comparable, so why not go with the more exotic?  Besides, I've had
really good results from rangers, better stamina, hit %, damage, and
missile weapon hit %.

When you enter the world of Realmz the first time you are poor and
naked.  The first thing you should do is get into the castle by any
means you can.  You probably should avoid brute force and bribes since
you will probably be weak, unarmed, and broke.  Once in the castle, you
will be employed by the king to rid Bywater of the evil arachnids that
live in the spider tower.  But he won't send you away empty handed, he
will let you go through the castle's armory before you go.

Once armed and a little more confident, wander around the buildings of
Bywater, visit with the orcs in the northeast, the goblins in the south
west and wander the entire visible map.  Once you're done you can begin
wandering around in caves and looking for secret places to go to.  If
you're still lost consult the City of Bywater tip sheet and try to
visit all those places.  (v1.5 and later no longer include tip
sheets. It is available online.)

Q) Is there a better way to kill monsters that are separated from you by a
wall or a mountain than to wander all over the screen to track it down?

A) Of course!  If you are intent on hunting it down and killing it by hand, 
there is a button called "shift".  While the cursor is an arrow, you
normally click to make the character move in that direction.  If you
press "S" you can scroll the window in that direction without moving
your character, so you don't have to wander aimlessly looking for a
break in the wall.  Keep in mind that the battle map is just a zoom in
of the dungeon/surface map.  If you remember the terrain before you
enter the combat, you'll find that it's pretty much the same after.
Another thing that helps is that sometimes the monsters aren't even on
the screen and you don't know which way to wander... try "R" for reveal
friends.  You'll find that it also reveals your enemies too.  If you
have a fairly strong spell caster, you could blink over to the bad guys
too.

~
If you just "F"inish each character's attack turn, and repeat for 4 our
5 rounds, the battle ends anyway. (Thanks to Richard Drysdall)  I've
noticed that you get no (that's right ZERO) experience points if you
bag out of a fight this way.

But the best way to kill monsters from far away, that I've found is to
have an enchanter in the party able to cast Lightning Strike.  This
spell's range is up to 20 units away and if you have enough spell
spell points can inflict up to 24 points of damage (if I recall
correctly).  Very efficient.  Cannot be blocked by walls, stalagmites,
mountains...etc.  Other good low level spells for range killing
include Flame Spikes and Cosmic Blast.

Q) What are some of the "hard" monsters?  Where can I go for a good fight?

~A) The "Beholder" in the temple at the sunken town of Waterford.  Also
elsewhere in Waterford is the Wizard's tower.  Two Red Dragons in the
Kobold Caverns.  Lots of dinosaurs and 4 Green Dragons in a different
part of the same cave.  You can also summon a demon at the pentagram
in the same cave.  Also in the Kobold Caverns (Underdark) is some grand
wizard and a group of ogres.  The Skeletal giant and skeletal beasts
that's locked behind the iron door.  And you can find a good fight at
the Spider Tower.  v1.5 has a Queen Spider and guardians too.  Newly
discovered in Version 1.5: a Blue Dragon.   Where are these places?
You'll have to wander around yourself to find them-- geez do you want
everything to be spoon fed to you?

Q) I've been hacking away at [monster x] for ages.  Is it possible to kill it?

A) Of course!  Maybe you need stronger characters?  (Come back when you are.) Perhaps a different strategy?  Better weapons?

In version 1.5 some monsters need magical weapons with a minimum plus
value to even score a hit.

Q) Can I retreat from a hopeless battle?

~A) Yes, but you must run far enough away.  If your characters has more
moves/turn than the monster, you might make it, otherwise, you're
better off standing your ground and take your shellacking like a
man (er.. apologies from un-PC-ness).  There is a new button called
escape that lets you bail out of a hopeless fight, but you have to be
at least 10 spaces away.

Q) I've got wimpy 1st level characters.  How can I get some gold to buy some
awesome weaponry and armor before venturing forth?

A) There are ways to "get" magical items without a fight.  The King will give
you a lot of generic stuff for just agreeing to go on his quest.  But
how do you get past the magistrate to get into the castle?  Well, 
don't ignore poor little beggars in the streets.  If you scratch her
back (or her dog's back) she'll scratch yours (in a manner of saying). 
And besides, you could bribe the magistrate?  Or maybe show him a bad
forgery and then apologize for it?  He might find it funny and let you
in anyway.  There's a lame giant that has a stash of magic armor/
weapons that he'll let you in on if you help him.  (He's near the lake
where all the other giants are.   If you take the dagger from the old
woman being attacked in the town, you'll have one awesome weapon, but
you're better off letting her be, and buying the dagger from her later.
The arena is always good for 50 gold pieces (and whatever the monster
might be carrying) a shot.  Also, pick up as many weapons and armor as
you can carry and sell it back to the shops (if your Mac doesn't crash
when doing so).  You can accumulate a lot of money this way.

Q) My characters often bleed to death and I hate to have to use up one turn of
one of my characters' attacks to bandage them.  Besides, often monsters
are too close and pummel me after I finish bandaging.  What can I do?

A) I keep a weakling thief around for tasks like picking locks, acrobatic
maneuvers, and launching arrows from a long distance.  The character
can dish out much more than it can take.  It often misses when in
melee, so I hide it behind everyone else.  I use it to safely bandage
bleeding characters without feeling that I've wasted a valuable attack.

Q) My party has kicked butt, earned lots of gold.  With that gold we have armed
ourselves to the teeth.  But now my characters are so weighted down
that I only have one move per turn.  What can I do without dropping
any of my precious armor or hard earned gold?

A) The weight is more likely due to the gold than anything else you may be
carrying around.  Go to a shop or temple and have the gold changed to
gems (or jewelry... don't recall if that's possible).  Gems are worth
more than gold so you will get fewer gems than gold, thus lightening
your load.  There is a nominal fee for converting gold to gems but if
your gold is becoming a weight problem, it's likely that you will not 
mind loosing a few gold pieces per gem.  There is no fee for converting
back, though.  To convert click on the bag with the jewels directly
under your party's amount of pooled gold.

Q) I can't find the orc king's daughter (the lame giant, ...).  Where do I
look for them?

A) Most of these are random encounters.  You have to be wandering in the
general vicinity to "find" these encounters.  i.e.  The orc princess is
somewhere in the forest just east of the city of Bywater.  Were exactly
depends, but turn on constant search and you'll be more likely to find
these, and also more likely to get attacked by random monsters.

With the exception of Orcus, which some people have trouble finding.
He's at the altar in the north eastern corner in the ornate temple in
the city of Waterford.  When you find him, put the characters you most
want to keep alive in the circle, and do not smash the orb or be too
brash with him.  You'll find he has a bit of an ego that is easily
bruised.

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