Wow, this old topic. I don't think I ever even finished Act 1 on Hardcore. Bu I have finished the game twice at the second highest difficulty.
2) Stealth is still mandatory, but only for the stealth level midway through Act 1 and the Act 1 boss room.
4) On difficulties below Hardcore, Act 1 magic remains worthless.
"Mages are pathetic and worthless."
No. No, no, no. Early mage spells are pathetic and worthless. Once shaman magic becomes available you will decimate hordes before your warrior has much of a chance to swing - at less of a mana cost than any of those focussed/instant/fire type spells.
Those magic spells do kill things, but their mana costs are so high that they're basically worthless. Sure, you can one-shot an entire group of enemies. But then you're out of mana and there are a zillion more groups right behind that one.
I did find pickpocketing quite useful, mostly to steal huge stacks of arrows and such.
The summoning dolls are only useful in the post-game, because you get an entire character's worth of skill points to spend.
In my view, the act 1 doll is only good for a mule, never level it. The damage it does with the crossbow is worthless even in Act 1 when you first get it. Only level the Act 4 doll. Even then there are only barely enough skill points to make the Act 4 and act 2 dolls into meat shields. I think I shove most of the attribute points for the doll into Constitution to make it a tank, because the damage they do is not useful.
It's better to make one of the main characters a ranger if you want one.
