Chaney wrote:1. This is very normal. The wizard and sorcerer are considered classes. You have to master the spell levels of 1 class to advance to the next. Do you have a manual. If not download it from the site. This site has the spell list, and some cheat stuff too. It will tell you things like that.
Actually, I think you only need to master 3 levels of spells before you are offered the opportunity to change class. At least, that was the case in the Apple version. But it's smart to master all 7 levels of a class before moving on, because you can never come back to a class. The way it works is you have to master 3 levels of either Conjuror or Magician before you're offered Sorcerer. Then after you've mastered 3 levels of Sorcerer, you're offered Wizard.
One trick that has a big payoff towards the end of the game is to end the progression to archmage on either the Magician or Conjuror class. You have two spellcasters, one a Conjuror and the other a Magician. Each then proceeds to Sorcerer, then Wizard, and then only after mastering Wizard do you come back to the last remaining class. The reason for this is that Wizards need more experience points per level than Conjurors or Magicians. Thus, by ending the progression on these lesser mage classes, you gain levels much more rapidly, translating to more hit points and spell points when you really need them in the endgame.
2. Combat is very hard in the beginning. Stay close to the temple or the adventurers guild. You just have to survive. They get easier as you progress. As far as the attack option. Only the first 3 characters can attack without bows. I would think that your hunter must be further down than 1-3.
I never found the hunter to be very useful. For that matter, I never liked the bard much either -- I preferred to have 3 competent fighters and 3 archmages. However, when you play Bard's Tale II, where your first 4 characters can fight hand-to-hand, and there is a certain item you can import from Bard's Tale I that will turn your bard into a rabid killing machine. For Bard's Tale I, unfortunately, you won't find this item until you're virtually done with the game, which means your bard isn't very useful most of the time. In fairness to the bard, though, the songs do appear to increase in potency depending on the difficulty of the dungeon you're in. There are also two puzzles in the game whose solutions require a bard, but both of them may be bypassed by other means.
Marco.