Yeah, I'm playing on honor mode so... I'm going to use as much "prep" cheese as I can.
You are right that you don't need to min/max, although you might need to use up some spare resources. I'm doing some fairly aggressive moves to ensure I don't start over yet again (took me 15 tries to stay above level 9) and I really don't want to hear that stupid imp talk again.
That said, I was a pseudo save game scummer in my previous runs. Now that I can't really save the game to test different things and I don't really remember the game 100% (haven't played for a while), it makes for a VERY different sort of game.
Loremaster is INCREDIBLY useful, but counter intuitive to use! It used to just show the information with mouse over. Now you must right-click over the minion and "examine". It gives you a HUGE run-down on the weaknesses of the enemy. This is a must if you want to play "no-reload" and it works from "infinite" distance which I think is FAIR for honor mode players.
Fleeing is incredibly useful too if the battle is going awry. I haven't had to use it in my current run through but in the previous ones it is useful to get a feel for what is going on and if you must, to slowly whittle down the enemy forces. While escapist with some body building / willpower can usually save your character, all it takes is one bad combo and it is over.
Constitution is very useful. Unlike the usual diminishing or linear returns of most games, it appears to get STRONGER the more you put into it. Very useful if you are playing honor since the cost of going down is quite a few total AP (or less if you have "morning person").
Bosses are incredibly risky. If not for my vague knowledge of how they worked, I'd probably have reloaded again by now. I put off fighting some bosses because if you aren't careful, you can get wrecked pretty badly.
Spending money for survivability and certain skills rather than saving for a rainy day is a good idea since there might NOT be a rainy day to go back to!
Splitting the group with a vanguard and using pyramid tricks to maneuver is a must. I think this is slightly counter intuitive but the AI is so stupid with traps + groups that you really have to do this or cry like I did when your team dies to a TRAP.
Anyway, I'm still alive at level 13 or so and I'm sort of liking this honor mode. I don't know if it is for everyone (mostly due to the traps and hokey pyramid tricks) and I'm sure you could "cheat" death by keeping your main at home at all times. When played along the spirit of the game, it is a different experience for sure!
