I think I may have got myself stuck

[MasqueradeCry]

The loading problem is probably caused by my game being the Steam release. There's been a lot of fiddling with that by Katauri so it's no great surprise my save is incompatible with your games.

Unfortunately I've been very thorough and there aren't any quests left to do. It's literally the Labyrinth or nothing, or so it seems.
I haven't been through the castle however, so there probably is a chance I could rescue my current game. I'm kind of set on starting over though, I'd rather finish the game in a non-sloppy way.

As for tactics, there is one detail I left out - when I chose to be Warrior I did so because I normally go for magic users and wanted a change. I stubbornly stuck to the idea, for much of the opening part of the game, that I wouldn't cast spells and thought - wrongly - that my choice to be a warrior instead of a mage would make up for that approach. I didn't expect spells to remain crucial to a Warrior, despite there being two other class options better suited for casting.

[Akimbo]

Originally Posted by MasqueradeCry

I didn't expect spells to remain crucial to a Warrior, despite there being two other class options better suited for casting.

If anything spells are more important to a warrior than any of the others, since his are usually weaker and you can only cast once. Making choice and timing more important.

[MasqueradeCry]

There's one thing I'd like concrete advice with that should be fairly easy to answer and explain - with your wives, is it generally better to go for children or keep the equipment slots? (and why, of course)

[Akimbo]

Originally Posted by MasqueradeCry

There's one thing I'd like concrete advice with that should be fairly easy to answer and explain - with your wives, is it generally better to go for children or keep the equipment slots? (and why, of course)

Items all the way, they tend to give significantly better bonus' than the children, remembering the children are also "randomly generated" ( lol ) my current wife is providing me with:

+1 morale to demons ( sad because I'm not using any at the moment )
+5 attack +50 %vs dragons ( dragon slayer sword )
+5 attack (+10 in the day) -20% defense from demons/undead ( Sword of Light )
+1 speed to flying units/+2 defense ( depending on if I have my dragons with me, sadly my boot finds have been awful )
+5 attack +5 Intellect ( Dead Skull )

Compare that to these: http://www.gamebanshee.com/kingsboun...d/children.php

[Elwin]

Originally Posted by MasqueradeCry

There's one thing I'd like concrete advice with that should be fairly easy to answer and explain - with your wives, is it generally better to go for children or keep the equipment slots? (and why, of course)

Answer is easy, take items. I think even creators realized that children are pointless by removing them in sequel

[Vilk]

Originally Posted by MasqueradeCry

There's one thing I'd like concrete advice with that should be fairly easy to answer and explain - with your wives, is it generally better to go for children or keep the equipment slots? (and why, of course)

In the beginning of the game and during a long time you won't have so many good items to use so the wife slots aren't that important. On another way at each children you get, you also get a sum of money. Additionally it could worth take your chance with children because few can bring some rare bonus.

Later you'll just quit the wife with baby to use another during later parts of the game. And for those later wifes, free slot will be a much better choice because at this point you'll have plenty good items.

[Elwin]

not far all, for example xeona's boots slot .. there are no good boots at all

[Akimbo]

Originally Posted by Elwin

not far all, for example xeona's boots slot .. there are no good boots at all

Haha, I thought I was just being unlucky with my boots. The "best" I've found so far are "Heavy Bronze Boots", which give +5 defence but -1 speed. Counts most melee units out, which is why over half my army is archers. The other half varies, but it's usually "soaring/flying" units after I found a pair of boots with +1 speed for them which counters the penalty from the other boots nicely.

[Metathron]

I would say there are at least two boots that I would say are solid or just plain good:

- Boots of the Mystic: +2 intellect, +1 to the power of slow and haste; slow is one of the most useful spells around, great to almost completely paralyze slow walkers and soften them from afar with your shooters

- Snake Boots: +1 defense (who cares, right?), +1 to the speed and initiative of snakes; royal snakes are already one of the best, if not the best, troops in the game. +1 might not sound like a whole lot, but believe me, it makes a world of difference, because the snakes' initiative will enable you to go first in many battles against pesky opponents such as necromancers, and the speed bonus will make them even more mobile.

[Akimbo]

Boots of the Mystic didn't appeal to me much, but I had a whole set of snake/spider based items which I used to great effect earlier in the game. I also picked up a lot of pirate/robber based items but never really tried them out

Looking at the list of boots ( funnily enough the Bronze boots arn't on there :-/ ) the "best" are probably:

Kerian Shoes - +3 defense ( meh )
Knight's Boots - +300 Leadership +5 to the Defense of Swordsmen, Guardsmen, Horsemen, and Knights ( would make me consider humans in my army :S )
Twinkling Boots - 15% physical reduction