SEVERAL questions on several areas

I've got several q's:

1.) I went ahead and bought my Ninja all the Nija gear but it lowered his AC by about 7...I'm assuming this is a good thing? It doesn't FEEL good yet. Someone tell me it will. Same thing for the Samurai.

2.) Golly, do I really have to go through all that I'm reading about just to get the mask and complete Shurugeon stuff? Yikes.

3.) What do the Voodoo dolls of Shurugeon fame do? I've found 2 and they aren't the ones that just LOOK like Voodoo dolls (I THINK that was Ardibren's Relic).

4.) I can't drop sell, or in any way get rid of the Bauble Stick. It's not cursed. What gives?

5.) Can I use spider eggs that I've obtained around Ishad N'Ha rather than the ones in Serpent Temple?

6.) I swear I generally think of myself as a reasonably intelligent guy, but I am REALLY missing something when it comes to guild advancement. When you level up and don't recieved skill points or new spells, I can figure out how this works. I've read the stuff over and over. I thought I had it licked. Then, I had a Warrior turned Ranger turned Barbarian that makes me realize I have no idea. I went to Barbarian because it got to point where I needed like 150,000exp to advance. Ok, I'll switch to Barbarian because it's still in the Warrior guild and i can level up quickly and since I'm still in the warrior guild I'll get everything I want at level up. No dice. He is like a 10th level warrior, 10th level Ranger or so. So I will not get ALL the good stuff when I level up until he's a 10th level barbarian is that it? I thought it had to do with guilds....really confused on that one.

7.) Do you have to have the invitation to the Stouts to join the warrior guild before going into the stout mines? I went there before and got stuck. The lady boogre that you're supposed to kill left, and i talked to the one guy and he asked me if I wanted to join them and I said yes, but nothing happened. I waited forever. Had to reload from WAY back. I now am wiser and know to save more often but yuck. Is that just how it goes?

8.) My party is WAY stronger than they need to be for where they are. I don't have an attention to detail that is required in the Serpent's Temple, but honestly, I am getting bored because nothing can touch me. Is there a way to move on from here? I've done everything except send the shurugeon demon back to hell and kill the naga and all that but I'm getting bored. I relaize that there are walkthroughs, but I'm bored as heck with it. What about the wolf thing...where is that? what about where you get that hunters horn? Do I just have to buck up and finish this or can i do somethign else for awhile and come back?


Thanks all.

Overall Advice: It seems to me that you've departed somewhat from the standard progression of the game, i.e. leaving the Serpent Temple before you finished it so you could do Shurugeon, only to find that you need the Masque to complete Shurugeon. I suggest that you go back, finish the Temple, then finish Shurugeon, *then* do the Mines/Boogre Caves, etc. Be patient with the dungeons and it'll pay off rather quickly. I'll now address as many questions as I can in the time I've got this evening:

1.) The Ninja stuff is just cheap stuff, in case you're short on cash; it's fairly decent AC for its price, but it still sucks. Go ahead and switch back to some gear to get yourself a higher AC rating. I found it generally easier to cloak in shadows when wearing the full Ninja garb, but the Shadow spell (Lvl 2 Moon) is far more effective than that stupid trait anyway.

2.) Ellysia's mask, in the Serpent Temple, is necessary to kill Haleabus, who is otherwise invincible; you'll have to do the whole Evil Elements thing too...

3.) "Use" the dolls, just as you would a scroll. Ardibren's Relic is needed for a quest in Ishad N'ha, and can be equipped if you like (I don't think it's cursed).

4.) You should be able to drop the Bauble Stick without any problem; I left it next to Rethpian, in the Crypt, where it sits to this very day (quest items don't disappear).

5.) A spider egg is a spider egg; no difference at all.

6.) Guild training should depend on Guild Level, and should be totally independent of character level, though some things (i.e. Crusade for Paladin) are class-specific traits. I'm not fully understanding your problem...

7.) Don't confuse the Stout Mines with the Boogre Caves; they are two very different places. You can't get "stuck" in the Mines, that I know of, and it's relatively straightforward to get yourself un-Boogred. The clan invitation for the Mines is a side quest, absolutely irrelevant as far as the standard game story line goes.

8.) The werewolf generally appears near the charred Stout body in the U-shaped forest north of the Mines. What hunter's horn?

As I started this reply with, you've gotta *complete* the dungeons Kill Ellysia, get the Masque, then kill Haleabus and get the Shroud of Elsera, then give the Shroud to Erathsmedor so he'll give you the Mavin, *THEN* you can go on to bigger and better things.