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Arx Fatalis Hints
Casting Spells
1 of 7: The spellcasting system in Arx Fatalis is unique among role-playing games. Each spell draws on the power of two or more runes, each rune representing a specific element or effect (for instance, "Yok" is the rune invoked in spells involving fire). Casting spells requires that you collect all of the required runes, and that you draw the shapes of the runes in the air to invoke them. This can take some practice, but is well worth the effort.
2 of 7: The section of the game manual explaining spellcasting can be somewhat confusing. You'll notice that spells are divided into ten levels. However, there is no minimum level of Casting skill required to cast a spell of a particular level. Provided you possess the proper runes and enough mana, you may cast any spell in the spellbook regardless of the level of your Casting skill.
3 of 7: The main effect of Casting skill is to increase the power of your spells. For every ten points of Casting skill, your "casting level" is increased by one point. Whenever you see the phrase "x lvl" in the description of a spell, this indicates that the effect will be multiplied by your casting level. So a Magic Missile, which deals 1-4 damage x lvl, will inflict 2 to 8 points of damage when your Casting skill reaches 20 (casting level 2).
4 of 7: The prospect of memorizing each rune and then drawing it with any precision can seem daunting to new players, but once you've gotten the hang of it the system actually works quite well. Each time you add a new rune to your spellbook, open the book and click on the rune for a demonstration of how to draw it. Then try it for yourself until the movement seems natural. Instead of trying to replicate the exact shape of the rune, it may help to reduce the shape to a series of straight lines and angles. The Kaom rune, for example, appears as a curved hook, yet is much easier to draw using two straight lines (See an example of one way to draw this rune). Experiment tracing the runes using large or small movements, and see which works better for you. The game is flexible enough to adapt to your style of drawing, so that after a few successful attempts, it will recognize the runes you draw more readily.
5 of 7: It can also help to become familiar with the meaning of each rune, so that you won't have to look up a spell's runes every time you want to cast it. For instance, if you know that "Aam" means "Create" and "Taar" means "Projectile", you can then deduce that any spell that creates a projectile will involve those two runes. If you're clever, you can even uncover a few secret spells by combining runes in a meaningful way.
6 of 7: Even after you've mastered the art of freehand rune tracing, the process can still be awkward during the heat of battle. Further complicating matters is the fact that, should you be struck by an opponent while casting a spell, your concentration will be shattered and you will have to redraw the runes from scratch. Fortunately, you can "pre-cast" and store one spell in each of three spell slots. Then, when the spell is needed, you simply invoke the memorized spell without having to draw the runes. Spells can be stored by holding down the "stealth" key (default key: Shift) while tracing a spell's runes.
7 of 7: While memorizing spells in advance can help eliminate the need to draw runes during combat, it is difficult to know which spells will be needed before battle begins. Yet spells which are cast on the fly during combat are awkward and time-consuming to draw and difficult to aim with any degree of accuracy. Normally, a spell will fire in the direction you are facing as soon as you finish tracing the runes, and you cannot use mouse-look to align the spell on your target while in magic mode. A trick I use is to make use of the spell slots every time I cast a spell. I've assigned the "stealth mode" key to Shift, "magic mode" to the "?/" key, and the key to fire the spell in my first spell slot to Enter. When I'm ready to cast a spell, I hold down Shift and "/" to store the spell in the first spell slot. After tracing the runes, I align the spell on the desired target, then hit Enter to cast it. Rearrange the keys to a configuration that feels comfortable to you.
