What is the correct procedure for going down a ladder? I've tried several variations of clicking, looking down, and moving on or near the relevant ladder, but I always end up hearing screams and taking falling damage...

It's a bug in the game. Until the next patch, heraing screams and taking falling damage IS the correct procedure for going down a ladder.

No pain, no gain.

Bruce,

It's called the "leap tall buildings in single bound and scape knee" method of ladder descent. Best executed by selecting healer and getting heal spell ready (for early on when party is way weak) and then selecting one with best athletics and scream Geronimo. When party is stronger you will have less qualms about this form of lemming suicide. Heh, my first RPG experiences we had a guy whose character was Bruce the Bad. He was legendary at losing from unbeatable situations. Every time you got in a melee, in a short space of time he manged a "hit nearest friend, damage critical". Never seen a worse sustained run of poor dice - he would have appreciated our ladder descent methods (miss nearest rung, fall heavily on friend in front).

Hasn't anyone here been listening to my method that works for going down ladders. All you do is turn your back to the ladder and back up while looking down at the ground. As you near the edge slowly, wait for the point that you are almost ready to fall over the edge with one click. Get ready, click back till you fall down then click foward as fast as you can and your guys will grab hold and you can press down to climb down the ladder. This is nothing new to first person games guys. Give it a shot.

Hail and reverences (seriously) to the man/woman (I've been wisened up lately as to the assumption who's behind non-gender-specific names. Apply new knowledge where you can) who solved the puzzle. From the description, I think I'll still stay with the "Geronimo!"-procedure until I find the ladder from Brooklyn Bridge that otherwise wipes out my party.
By the way, did you read the Darwin Awards? Sounds like Bruce the Bad.
"4 TACOMA, WA - Kerry Bingham, had been drinking with several friends when one of them said they knew a person who had bungee-jumped from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the middle of traffic. The conversation grew more heated and at least 10 men trooped along the walkway of the bridge at 4:30am. Upon arrival at the midpoint of the bridge they discovered that no one had brought a bungee rope. Bingham, who had continued drinking, volunteered and pointed out that a coil of lineman's cable lay nearby. One end of the cable was secured around Bingham's leg and the other end was tied to the bridge. His fall lasted 40 feet before the cable tightened and tore his foot off at the ankle. He miraculously survived his fall into the icy river water and was rescued by two nearby fishermen. "All I can say," said Bingham, "is that God was watching out for me on that night. There's just no other explanation for it." Bingham's foot was never located. "

The best way of going down ladders for is is the "Geronimo with lucky grab" technique. What I will do is go at the ladder from the side. The trick is to simply fall on the ladder. When you hit it, you usually stop, and can climb down normally. The other times you simply use the gravity method of descent..