Choose your action order and move before attacking
In Underkeep, each hero can make one basic attack or use an assigned active skill per combat round, and you choose the order of your heroes' available actions. Inventory items and skills labeled as free actions preserve that action, while committing any hero's action locks party movement until the round ends.
Play through a combat round
- Move or retreat before committing a hero's action so that you finish repositioning before party movement becomes locked for the round.
- Use any needed inventory item or explicitly labeled free-action skill while preserving the hero's ordinary action.
- Choose an available hero to make a basic attack or use an assigned active skill, spending that hero's action for the round.
- Continue using the remaining heroes' available actions in the order you choose, until everyone has acted or you decide to stop.
- Press the hourglass when you want to skip the remaining actions and end the round; otherwise, the round ends after all heroes have acted.
- Reassess your position after the round ends so that you can use the renewed opportunity to move before committing another hero's action.
Plan your heroes' sequence around the current problem
For your own heroes, you select the order in which to spend their available actions. Think about the result you need next before choosing which hero acts. A useful habit is to review the party's immediate needs before committing to an attack.
Free actions and ordinary actions are separate parts of that decision. An inventory item or a skill explicitly marked as free does not consume the hero's ordinary action. Check the action label before assuming that using a skill will leave the hero ready to act again.
Move or retreat before the party becomes committed
Once any hero has acted, the entire party cannot move again until that round ends. Make the retreat decision before choosing an attack or active skill. If you have already committed an action, ending the round restores the opportunity to reposition.
- Check whether you still need to change position before selecting a hero's action, keeping movement ahead of the commitment that locks it.
- Press the hourglass if the party is already committed and you want to skip the remaining actions to end the round.
- Move or retreat when the round has ended and movement becomes available again, before spending another hero's action.
Match each row with weapons that can reach
Most enemy melee pressure falls on the front row. Back-row heroes need ranged weapons, spells or melee weapons with Reach to attack from their position. Check the weapon's suitability for the row before planning that hero's contribution.
Swapping hero positions itself costs an action. Account for that cost when deciding whether to change the formation during combat. Before a fight, review which heroes belong in front and whether everyone behind them has a suitable way to attack.
Recover between encounters without losing track of food
Resting away from nearby enemies recovers party health, stamina and mana, but consumes the shared food supply. Disease can prevent recovery, so resting is not always enough to solve the party's condition. Check both your supplies and your heroes' condition before relying on another rest.
- Withdraw away from nearby enemies to find a suitable place for the party to rest.
- Check for Disease before relying on rest, because it can prevent the recovery you are expecting.
- Rest to recover health, stamina and mana while monitoring the shared food consumed by that recovery.
- Keep healing and status-clearing potions available for encounters or places where resting is unsafe, giving you a recovery option when you cannot settle down.
- Use a needed free-action potion during a difficult round to address the immediate problem without consuming the hero's ordinary action.
- Preserve enough gold for a Revival Statue so that you can pay to revive fallen heroes.
Check the rule behind a stalled turn
If the party cannot move, check whether a hero has already acted during the round. If a back-row hero cannot make the attack you planned, check for a ranged option, a spell or a weapon with Reach. If resting fails to provide the expected recovery, check for Disease before relying on it again.