Helping Hand

Hold near anything to grab it. Move to swing it.

Let go while moving to throw it. Heavy things lag behind and hit harder.

Small monsters can be picked up and thrown at walls.

Whatever you hold when the hero takes the stairs comes with you.

Axe and maul: big, slow, crushing arcs.

Dagger and spear aim themselves. Stab, or throw them.

Flail: whirl the ball. Buckler: stops arrows and bolts.

Pull torches off walls to set foes alight. Grab a weapon rack to take a weapon.

Weapons can have powers: Sharp, Keen, Flaming, Frosty, Shocking, Vampiric, Heavy, Light, Lucky, Returning, and zany ones from trick spells: Bubbling, Clucky, Shrinking, Rubber, Whirling, Warping, Gusting, Pulling and Warding. Forge a spell into a weapon on the anvil to add its power.

The anvil (N or its button): drop a weapon on the anvil to link it (you keep holding it), then drag other things into its tray. Every 2 seconds the hammer forges the next one in, for gold from the hero's purse: 20 gold each. Weapons add ranks and powers, orbs and potions add powers, gold adds Lucky, gear adds a matching power, and Forge Embers from bosses add +2 ranks. An Anvil Rune skips the hammer: drop it in and the item upgrades instantly and for free. Feeding a power the weapon already has levels it up (Flaming II, III... up to V) and makes it stronger. Every forge lands on the linked weapon wherever it is, even in your hand. Press the anvil to unlink it.

The keep (left side of the bag) holds one weapon or piece of gear safely. Press it to take out a copy, then it rests for 8 seconds. Only one copy exists at a time: taking a new one makes the old one vanish. Forging the copy on the anvil upgrades the kept item too, but the copy can't be melted into something else. Put the copy back in to make the keep ready at once.

Orbs burst when thrown, or the moment they touch a monster.

A bomb's fuse lights when you grab it. Throw it fast.

Knock orbs together to fuse them, with no limit. Mixed orbs burn, freeze, zap and blast all at once.

The tome (T or its button) is a spellbook with pages. Drop a spell on a page to write it in; drop more spells on it to weave them together. Drag a spell off its page to throw an echo, then the page recharges (bigger spells take longer). Hold a page for a moment to lift the spell off. A Prism Shard on a page lets it hold one more kind of magic.

Trick spells: Bubble traps monsters in bubbles you can carry and throw (they pop when they hit something). Chicken turns them into harmless chickens. Shrink makes them tiny, weak and easy to flick. Bouncy turns everything to rubber. Tornado wanders around swallowing things, then flings them out. Portal: throw two and things that fall into one come out the other.

Some tricks work on the hero too: a bubbled hero can be picked up and carried (one hit pops it), a tiny hero is carryable and hard to hit, a chicken hero is ignored by monsters, and he walks through portals. After a boss or a chest he waits a few seconds so you can grab the loot.

Gust hurls monsters away into walls. A Gravity Well drags monsters and loot into one spot for a few seconds; throw a bomb in after it.

Support spells (Heal, Shield, Haste) are for the hero: touch one to him or throw it at him. Any spells can fuse, up to 3 kinds per orb: each kind does its own thing where the orb bursts, so Fire + Heal burns monsters and heals a nearby hero. A shield soaks up hits for 20 seconds; haste makes him move and swing faster. If he's not right there, they leave a glowing field for a few seconds; get him into it. Fused with Gravity they pull him in too.

Touch a red potion to a hurt hero to heal him. If he's healthy, he pockets it for later.

Hand him gear (helms, mail, blades, charms, boots) and he equips it.

He opens treasure chests and grabs loot himself when no monsters are near.

Every three floors the dungeon changes: the Crypt, the Fungal Caverns, the Goblin Mines and the Frozen Depths, each with its own monsters. On every third floor a big boss guards the stairs, and they stay sealed until it falls.

Watch for traps: bear traps pin him, spike plates bite every few seconds, and blast runes explode. The hero walks right into them, so drag them out of the way or smash them (or drag them under monsters). Bombs hurt the hero too, so throw them away from him.

Protect him! Shadow stalkers sneak in and hunt him (they shimmer until close). Some rooms are ambushes. Bosses and champions mark a red circle under him before they slam: hit, freeze or bubble them to interrupt, or get him out. Some monsters wear armour (weak hits glance off), ghosts need magic, and the stronger you get, the more champions come.

Gold coins drift together and merge into bigger piles.

All furniture breaks: barrels, crates, pots, tables, benches, beds, racks, chests.

Drag things into the bag to keep them. Drag its tab to move it. B opens and closes it.

Mouse / touch: hold to grab, release to throw. Hold right-click to fast-forward. Mouse wheel or pinch to zoom.

Gamepad: stick moves the hand, A grabs, Y bag, LT fast-forward, Start pause.

Keyboard: WASD / arrows move, Space grabs, B bag, hold F fast, + / - zoom, P / Esc pause.