I watched the tutorials twice, read through all the help, I've even beaten the game a couple of times (on normal difficulty) but I still don't understand how locking glyphs works.

Sometimes I can lock a glyph, and sometimes I can't. Sometimes I can lock a glyph for other people, most times I can't, and even when I do, it doesn't seem to do anything.

I know there is a spell to lock a glyph -- does that mean you can lock 2 glyphs.. assuming the mysterious magical formula for a "regular" lock works?

eddycurrents said:

Normally you can only lock a glyph if you can't complete any of the tasks at the adventure. This is known as 'focusing'. If there is another character at the same adventure with you (and you fail to resolve a task) you can lock a 2nd glyph on that character (this is known as 'assisting'). If there are more characters at the same adventure, you can use all of them to assist, as well, so it is possible to lock up to 4 glyphs on a single failed role if all characters are there (however, I don't think I've ever done this- it almost never makes sense to lock that many). Focusing and assisting can only be done once per turn- once a character has been used for either function, they won't be able to focus again until their next turn, or assist again until the next character's turn (provided they're at the same location as the active character). Focusing and assisting does not require the use of any items.

You can use most spells to lock a glyph, even on a successful role when you are able to complete a task. Obviously, you only want to lock something if it can be used on a remaining task. The tabletop version allows other characters to use dice that have been locked with a spell cast by a different character on their turns (if not used by the caster), but Omens does not- only the character who casts the spell can use the locked dice, and if you don't use it on that turn, the spell is wasted.

There is one character, Jim Culver (only available if you purchased the Ithaqua campaign), who allows you to focus even when you succeed at resolving a task. He can also be used to assist in the same way. I have found him very useful on several occasions.

Hope this helps.

That helps, thanks.

So I guess if you are having a tough time with an adventure and desperate to solve it, you could send 4 characters there and sacrifice the first 4 times to make sure the 5th one gets 4 good glyphs.

In other words, send A there, lock a glyph and fail on purpose. Then send B there, lock a glyph for A, and try to win but she probably fails too. Then send C there, lock another glyph for A, and C probably fails. So send D there, lock a glyph for A, now D fails.

Next turn, A has 4 locked glyphs waiting for him. Hopefully he makes it this time or your team just took a serious beating for nothing.

May be a good strategy if there are 3 elder signs there and that's all you need to finish the game?

eddycurrents said:

I think the only reason to do this would be desperation, or, as you indicated, going for the win. I can think of very few times when I have used 3 characters to assist, and I play this game all the time. Better to use your items, or try your luck at the lost and found to get some, than waste 3 turns to try and 'guarantee' success through assisting (which wouldn't truly be guaranteed, anyway).

You wouldn't need to fail 4 times to have 3 characters to assist with (thus having the ability to lock 4 glyphs)- on the 4th turn, you would have 4 characters on the same adventure if you moved them all there on each turn, and could lock 4 glyphs at that point, rather than failing a 4th time.