Seth's sword has random stats, but it can be fairly good for the start of the game. If you completed the
escort for the healers quest, though, he will be gone. If not, you can also kill him by indirect means (Poison Cloud cast near, but not directly on him) to avoid a counter attack and loss of reputation.
I did not use a walkthrough, just talked to everyone and explored everywhere I could get methodically. There are non-combat quests in Verdistis you can complete to get more experience, and the north east area of Rivertown is easier than the south east. The undead in the north west (east of the river) are relatively easy to take out with ranged attacks, but tougher melee. If you can find or buy a spider statuette, you can walk freely around orcs and just transform back temporarily to blow up the supply train (and do the second army quest after that). A bow can be helpful fighting tougher creatures, especially combined with a hit and run tactic.
Spell books can be bought. I found Aura of Guarding and Spell Shield quite helpful at lower character levels. The Firewall spell book I found in Mardaneus' house was the only way I could kill the spider at the bottom of the catacombs, and others have also found it great for crowd control.
You can survive the Dark Forest at level 18. Ariana did so before level 12 (when is when she hit the gong to get to the last area of the game). The unavoidable fights required a lot of re-loading at such a low level, however. As long as you have enough
restoration potions and enough hit points to avoid one-hit-kills, you can survive anything.
ARIC'S WARRIOR GUIDEEarly Starting Tips or
Early Starter Tips (NON-Spoiler Version)Free skills, and spell books you can buy
