You should be able to go up a few levels clearing the area around Aleroth, exploring the farmlands, etc. Try not to do too much of main plot quests (ie the army quests or plague / harvest disaster) before finishing the catacombs; if you get too far the game will reset Mardaneus' status when he is required for something else, and you may miss out on the quest to cure him (and the experience / reward).


As you level, you may want to boost your constitution (for hit points) and agility (to improve your chance to hit and decrease your chance to be hit). Depending on your class, you might try to find some decent equipment with a charm quality, and use some (preferably) silver charms to boost your primary stats or your hit points. For example, a mage does not get many hit points per constitution point, so may want to rely more on equipment bonuses or charms for hit points.

differences between classes (minor spoilers)

Early Starter Tips (NON-Spoiler Version) (contains much of the information in the above topic)


Aura of Guarding will absorb physical damage, and Spell Shield will absorb magical and elemental damage (very handy for poison attacks, since the damage comes off the shield and your character doesn't jerk around with a greatly reduced offense and defense). As a warrior, I maxed both skills with purchased spell books (early in the game even a level or two would help).

Free skills, and spell books you can buy (spoilers)


If you keep going east of the farmlands, you should be able to find the Ars Magicana market square, where there are some decent merchants. The blacksmith in particular may have better equipment available, and the mage can sell spell books, charms and possibly good rings or amulets.
You may not have much gold at this point, but there are a fair number of high quality axes, etc in the catacombs to loot, depending how far you got, which you can use to trade with.


Do you have the latest patch installed, or an already updated game version? Check the bottom right corner of the main menu for the version number; if it is lower than 1.0034A you should install the patch.