I'm about to start up M&M4 after a fun run through 3. Are there any useful things I should know? For example, do I need to have a lockpicker in my party or can I rely on a talking head like in 3 if I want to do that? What amount of thievery is a good amount to have?

What is the optimal way to assign my stats? For instance, in 3 I learned only late in the game that I should have maxed out speed for everyone, since I could not increase up to a minimum like I could with several of the others. Does M&M4 have a similar situation where some stats I can bump up to a minimum if they are below that value?

Other tips are welcome. Thanks!

changes from MM3 to MM4:

- dwarf and gnome resistances and thievery bonus are switched
- there aren't any druid only spells any more, druids get more cleric and sorcerer spells instead
- barbarians can use more weapons
- you can't get the thievery skill during the game so you need a robber or ninja in the party to do everything

In MM4 there's a location where you can raise endurance and charisma by 5 as long as they're lower than 21, you get the key to this location at a tent near Nightshadow.

Is it easy to get to that tent or does it take a long time? That's the kind of info I was looking for! :D

Do you think it is worth having 2 clerical magic casters in the party? I am thinking about Knight/Paladin/Archer/Robber/Cleric/Mage, but based on my M&M3 experience that might be a waste of spell ability.

I am also wondering what the value of luck really is. Does it modify thievery like strength modifies weapon attacks? Is it worth having a solid score on non-thieves?

You can follow the path to Nightshadow quite early and the dungeon is quite easy if you don't open the coffins.

A second healer is always nice, if your cleric gets unconscious there's still someone to get him back. Clerics get a spell which can halve the hitpoints of up to 3 monsters, no matter how many they have. The pregenerated party has even 3 healers.

I recommend replacing the knight with a barbarian which is far superior in physical combat.

Luck affects if you suffer from monster special attack power, whether you only take HP damage or get eradicated instantly for example.

Noted.

So are the guides that instruct me to pump luck into my rogue type character in error, and just going on instinct?

Is Barbarian differentiated from Knight only in the number of attacks, or are there more components?

I believe Luck supplements a character's elemental resistances, too. And since Robbers and Ninjas get to mess with trapped doors and chests, they take elemental damage more often than anyone else in the party. That's where Luck can help.

Barbarian and Knight are both pure fighters. Barbarians have more HP and gain attacks more quickly, Knights get better equipment and start with the Arms Master skill (increased chance to hit, I think, but it's not hard to get anyway.) Overall I'd say the Knight is a bit better early on in the game, but the Barbarian is much better late.

I don't know how luck affects thievery or setting off traps. The exact effects of luck are unknown and since it's the primary stat of robbers it definitely doesn't hurt to assume that it's very useful for them.

Barbarians can't use the few ninja specific weapons or armor heavier than scale but get 2 extra hitpoints compared to knights.

The difference in gaining extra attacks and therefore attack power between barbarian and knight is far bigger than the difference between knight and ranger/paladin/archer.

Wow, I didn't realize that.

This is more of a technical thing, but how do you start a game with your own characters without losing 3-5 days in inn time creating guys and transferring junk between the minimum 2 original characters you have to hold onto in order to keep all of the gear?

... and is the druid a good class in 4-5? In 6 I tend to take it as it beats sorcerer and cleric out by a mile.

An inn visit takes only one day so if you should be able to create a party and transfer items within 2 days, no need for 3-5 days. If you want to save a day you can start the game unequipped.
The game autosaves when you created a new character, you don't have to leave the inn and spend an extra day (just close dosbox) if you don't have the time to roll 3 characters per session.
But it's not worth worrying about 2-4 days at the beginning, you'll have the game finished long before your characters get old.

I wouldn't take a druid in MM4-5, rangers get enough spell points. But it's of course no problem finishing the game with one.

I just leveled up for the first time, and I my sorcerer, who is now level 3, has 3 hitpoints. His endurance is 10. Is this right? This seems pretty wild to me.

I was mainly talking about using a druid instead of a sorcerer or a cleric as opposed to a ranger. Do either of the pure classes do anything the druid can't?

Druids/rangers get spells like Lloyd's Beacon, power cure, cure poison/disease, fireball and lightning bolt but not the high level spells like day of sorcery/protection, divine intervention, mass distortion, dancing sword or implosion.

An elf sorcerer with <11 endurance gets 1 hit point per level, if you want more take another race and/or higher endurance.

I was very frustrated with my Druid character; towards the end of the game he was basically dead weight, couldn't cast the spells I needed him to.

Ah, so they have limited selection more like M&M7. Gotcha.

I forgot about the elf/endurance combo. My plan is to get to that stat bump early on, which is why I placed a 10 there instead of in luck or whatever. It's a little challenging when the game is basically new again but I shall prevail. :)

Does the message "The party needs rest" mean I need to actually sleep, or can I cast revitalize and up the pace?

You can revitalize instead of resting.

In my outdoor explorations I am noticing that the weakness seems to just vanish sometimes. Is this something I should allow, or will my party eventually go insane and die like in 6 if that is ignored?