While this game definitively is a favorite, my knowledge of it is not absolutely water-tight, so take this advice with a certain grain of salt.
Are spears always meant to be thrown or can I just use them as a regular old poking stick? It is classified as a polearm, not a throwing weapon after all but my Firnelf keeps chucking the damn thing.
Apparantly yes, they are purely thown weapons. Sucks I know, but its also a bit strange, cause they also have defensive abilities like the other melee weapons. My guess would be, as long as you haven't thrown your spear and have it readily in your hand, you can defend with it according to your defense values in spear weapons
Who the fuck am I supposed to sell my shit to in Thorwal? The arms dealer won't buy weapons, neither does any other merchant I've come across so far.
All the three different types of merchants buy your stuff accordingly. So yes, any arms dealer should definitely buy your weapons and armor back.
What's a good amount of food to be carrying around? After buying 20 rations and looting 50 more from the beginner dungeon's first floor, am I good to go?
I would say, that is somewhat subjective, according to your taste and how (safe) you feel, but if you have a somewhat competent food gatherer in your party, every member should not need to carry much more than say 3-6 rations
Weird question maybe but I noticed one guy selling war axes at two different prices. What's up with that?
Apparently overlooked by the designers, should be the same weapon both
Any way to heal in combat? Healing spells are blocked out it seems.
In the first game that healing spell in combat is not implemented, you have to rely on herbs or other items during combat
How to regen mana? I have to guess it's via resting.
Yes and mana potions or meditation (while resting, change hp for mp). But only for mages, if other casters want to meditate, they need to have a thonny flower in their backpack
Can I buy lockpicks in Thorwal? If so, where?
They should be buyable for sure, some shop which sells more expensive stuff should have them. In the north part of the starting town should be a merchant who sells them
Any place I can get some armor?
Just in the starting town alone, there are two very good armor shops (not counting the market ones)
Are merchant inventories randomly generated each day or am I crazy?
Not the stationary ones, the merchants in the marketplaces are, but there are shops in abundance in quite a few cities, so...
Any point in carrying beer and other kinds of alcohol around?
There are some roleplaying aspects which you can use your alcohol for, or later on for certain recipes. You
could also let your chars use some of your alcohol before battles, to increase their courage and strength.. (it does have some drawbacks..) But again, they are sold in many shops and are relatively cheap, so I wouldn't carry much around in the party
Should I rely on healing herbs or spells for healing? Them herbs seem quite expensive for the early game.
Healing herbs are a very convenient way of healing, you can conserve your mana that way. You can find quite a few different herbs during camping, and when you sell some of them you should have enough money to buy the ones you need.
Why the fuck does my dorf only have 1 BP? I specifically arranged his carrying load so that his char sheet says 3 BP but in combat he only has 1 and thus can't even attack.
Are you sure your char isn't ill or something? Also, too much weight is a constant problem in this game, best to carry not too much trash, because when something is needed, the next shop shouldn't be too far away (most of the time at least)
What do to with my magician/witch after he's/she's run out of juice? Have him/her hide in a corner? That can't be right can it?
They can still engage in the fight through throwing stars or other weapons. But just waiting is also not wrong.
How do I know how much AP to invest in a healing spell? Does the amount increase the chance of the spell succeeding?
The more you invest, the more hp you get, the chance alone should just depend on your char skills
What about those 3 types of attacking (aggressive, normal, cautious)? I can about imagine what the difference is but is there any point in choosing anything other than normal for example?
Aggressive gives you a bonus to attack power while subtracting from your defense, with the equiped melee weapon. It probably also increases chance for weapon to break. Cautious adds defense takes away attack power. The former can be helpful for a char in full armor while the latter for a lightly equipped character, etc..
