Psychology
If I have to choose one tip as the most important tip, it would be "Think and act like a team". Team Ironman is not about personal glory. Think of the team as one character, a character with awesome power gained from combining the advantages of each class. Consider the other characters as your arms and legs you cannot function without, so protect them with all your might. For example: if you see the mage in trouble, go to his aid right away - NOT after you finish off "that" monster first. Same goes when the warrior nearing lvlup running around with dangerously low HP, pay extra attention to him. That's a good time for the warrior to switch to bow while the rogue put on a shield and take up the "sponge" position. This works especially well when the rogue is also nearing lvlup with a surplus of Mana and/or HP.

Communication
In time, you'll get to know your partners' style of play and be able to second-guess their actions and what they are thinking of, but there is still no substitute for good communication.
- Announce every item you find. You may think that 3 AC cap is nothing to write home to and don't bother to pick it up, or use it on yourself. Meanwhile, the warrior may only have one with 1 AC or none at all.
- Swing at empty spaces in the general direction of the item you want your partner to see.
- Discuss with the group before ID'ing an item.
- Say so if the game pace is too fast.
- Keep an eye on your experience points, tell and ask the others. There maybe a need for your soon to be wasted HP and Mana if you're nearing lvlup.
- There's no shame in asking for help and protection suchlike when you need Heal or running low on HP rather than die or use up valuable resources. It is good team play!

Items
Warrior gets the best armor and weapon; the rogue is next in line and of course gets the best bow. As for the mage, he might as well accept the fact he is going to be technically naked and get only left over armor. If the party finds an extra shield and club in the dungeon the mage should use them for better protection instead of the CB staff. The mage shouldn’t be using much spells in the earlier lvls anyway, he should be standing next to the “shield” and whack with the staff or club. Save the CB charges for large crowds especially those skel archers the warrior and rogue have a hard time to get at. Be careful when using CB, don’t hurt your partners in the process. Take a look at “Charge Bolt” in the “Tips” section to learn more.

Don’t bother to ID the items you find earlier than level 4 except for jewelry from bosses or unique items that have beneficial properties the party can use. A sampling of some of the questionable (whether to ID or not) unique items:

The Gladiator’s Bane - Don’t ID. Minus 3 to all attributes is not a good exchange for the -2 dfe bonus at Ironman level.
Leather of Aut - Nice armor, +5 Str and +5 Dex. Give it to the mage unid’ed if warrior and rogue already have armor with much higher AC, minus 5 to magic is not good.
Nightscape - Minus 40% lr (or any -lr in general) is not a good thing to have on the warrior and rogue. The monsters will go after the mage. Minus 40% lr is even too much for the mage to wear because of the lack of Infravision scrolls. Keep it if inventory space allows, the +20 resist all will come in handy. Now you wish you have a ring of Radiance ;p
Scavenger Carapace - A nice shirt for the mage and rogue as long as they have a “shield”. Mr. Warrior the “shield” will benefit from it greatly against range attackers.
Torn Flesh of Soul - Nice, but the warrior and rogue probably have better AC. Not worth an ID scroll if given to the mage.
All unique axes are worth an ID when playing the rogue as shield and warrior as axe.

Other things to watch out for before ID’ing an item is to look at it’s durability, or charges on a staff. Staves with higher than normal charges and items with extra durability or indestructible are probably just Plentiful, Craftsmanship or “of the Ages” respectively. There is absolutely no gain to ID a staff with extra charges, you still get the extra charges unid’ed. The question now is, do you feel lucky enough to get a prefix with that “of the Ages” item? Generally I like to save the ID scrolls for deeper lvls and don’t feel the need to ID items until I find the going gets tough.

Magical items
Unless it’s of a specific types that the other classes can’t use (a War bow for example), or one that would heavily benefit one over the others (a plate for example), magical items should be distributed to the one who can benefit most from them. This is not always obvious. One would think that the mage only need Magic adder in an Ironman game, but the ring of Strength that might not be doing much for the rogue or warrior can mean 5 Magic points to the mage if he needs the strength to use a heavier staff. Likewise, Dex and ToHit adders should go to the warrior especially after he has maxed Dex at clvl 9. What if the party finds a Valiant crown of Brilliance with 18AC, 14 Magic? Plus 14 Magic will sure make a nice addition to the mage’s outfit and make him that much more powerful. But the crown should go to the warrior if he is suffering from lower than optimal AC. This is especially true on a melee lvl when the warrior is playing the key role. Here is where the team should learn to share/switch items for different tasks. Let the mage borrow the crown when he is needed as the artillery against range attackers as well as to read books, and when blue potions are running low.

When leveling up
There’s more to gaining levels in Ironman than just getting your attributes a boost.

Pre lvlup
When you gain a lvlup, both your Mana and HP will be replenished to full globes whether you are down to 1 Hp, 0 Mana or have full health and Mana. Due to this feature, one should not let the pre lvlup HP and Mana go to waste. Keep an eye on your experience points, tell and ask the others the same. When you are close to lvlup low on HP and Mana, avoid using potions, take up a bow and hang behind a “shield”. All you need to do is tag the monster to get a share of experience points. There is no shame in asking for help, it’s good co-op sense. Likewise, if you see one of your partners running around with dangerously low HP, help to shield him till he levels.

OTOH, if you are nearing lvlup with good health and Mana there are several things you can do:
- Crack some barrels
- Cast Heal Other on your partners
- Put up a TP for escape, and use it to store extra items in town
- This would be a good time for the lvling up warrior or rogue to act as “shields” blocking monsters without swinging, and let the others catch up on experience points. You can afford to lose HP now, not after you’ve leveled up.
- Heal yourself so you can take more risk against monsters and protecting your partners. This is a good time for some role switching.
- Mage can now go nuts doing what he does best, put on a magic show. This is the time when the mage uses his Mana to cast spells instead of using up charges on the staff.

Where to put lvlup points
Although general wisdom of point distribution applies, there are several twists in an Ironman co-op game. Adjust accordingly to the team makeup.

Warrior All points to Dex until maxed. You will be lvl 9 when you maxed your Dex and you won’t really need any extra Str for heavier equipment before then. You can now invest most points to Vit and slowly build up your Str for that Awesome Plate. :) Unless a Heal Other/Heal stick is found, forget about putting any points to Magic (see Spell components below).

Mage All points to Magic all the way. Only when you find a heavier staff than you can use should you put points toward Str.

Rogue - Being the most versatile of the three classes, she can afford to adjust her point distribution to suit many different needs. Generally, all lvlup points still go to Dex. Raise her Magic to 17 as soon as Heal Other/Heal in the form of books or staves is available to her. Still keeping the main focus on raising her Dex until its at a decent level, (around clvl 7 with approximately 60 Dex, 2 points might have gone to Magic already) she may start to put one point per lvlup toward Str. in preparation of a heavier bow. Or she can put 2 points per lvlup toward Str in case heavier armor and weapon becomes available to her. The latter example works good if the rogue is the host of the game switching between “shield” and bow.

Potions, spell components and shrines

Potions
Traditionally, warrior gets all half reds, mage gets all half blues, and rogue gets all full potions - because warrior gets 2x bonus from healing potions and mage gets 2x bonus from mana potions.
Ideally, rogue should not have to use any potions at all in a perfect IM game but that’s never the case.
Personally, I think mage should get all mana potions. The mage can put those full blues to much better uses than the rogue can ever dream of. The rogue should still carry a couple of blues in case of emergency.

Rejuvenation potions are to be used only if no others are available, so ask your partners if they can spare some potions before drinking. Rejuv are reserved for emergency only, because they can be shared between everyone in the party when supply runs dry.

Conserve your potions for the deeper levels. Use up the charges from staves first with the exception of extra mana nearing lvlup.

Spell components
All offensive spell books goes to the mage, period. The mage should also get the first Heal Other book in case there is no more to be found. The rogue gets the first Heal and the second Heal Other book who would otherwise be wasting mana on lvl ups. All extra Heal Other books should be read by the mage since he will become the main HOpper (one of the, if not the most important role of an Ironman mage) later in the game. The mage can use Healing scrolls, which are plentiful in the Church.

The warrior can forget about spells altogether with the exception when the warrior is the sole survivor looking for Res scrolls. Or, if a staff of Healing or Heal other is found, then it's feasible to bring his Magic to 17 after Dex is maxed - that would be clvl 9. Being low level its more important to hit and not to get hit therefore little need for heal spell. A high Dex'ed warrior should be able to live on lvl up alone, at least until clvl 6-7, by then he's nearing max Dex. Usually, there are not enough Heal Other/Heal books to go around in a game, and the mage/rogue can make better use of them.

A bonus Mana supply
As a mage, I don’t usually read books as soon as I find them. If I don’t need that spell or plan to use a certain spell in the near future I’ll save the book and read it when I need more mana. In other words, I use reading as little blue potions. The following is a list of the amount of mana gained from reading certain books. All mana gains are constant regardless of your clvl, slvl or class.

The amount of mana gained is equal to the mana cost to cast the same spell at slvl 1.
And you thought Town Portal books are useless in Ironman.

Shrines
Again, due the nature of Ironman game, the pros and cons of various shrines are not always obvious. A different rationale is needed to decide upon when and who should use them if at all. Make sure to take a look at the Enchanted shrine in this section.

Fountain of Tears [+1 to one attribute, -1 to another attribute] - Don’t do it!

Tainted [Does not affect user, other players get +1 to one attribute and -1 to all other attributes] - Don’t touch it!

Abandoned [+2 dexterity] - Goes to rogue for sure even when found early in the game. Warrior’s Dex is maxed too fast and the bonus will be wasted once maxed.

Creepy [+2 strength] - Goes to rogue especially if the rogue is playing shield. The warrior can max Dex early thus leaving a lot of lvlup points to invest in Vit and Str. Maybe nice for the mage too if that means he can use heavier/useful items available.

Eerie [+2 magic] - Mage gets first consideration, then rogue if she needs it to use Heal/Heal Other.

Quiet [+2 vitality] - Warrior gets.

Cryptic [Cast a Nova spell and restores Mana] - For mage. Empty your Mana ball before you use the shrine. Make sure your partners are out of the room when you use it.

Divine [Restores health and mana, gives two full potion rejuvenation, or one full potion of mana and one full potion of life] - Empty your Mana ball before you touch the shrine. Usable by warrior and rogue too, but a Heal Other from the mage makes more sense.

Spooky Shrine [All other players get life and mana restored] - Same usage as the Divine shrine. Cast Heal Other on warrior and let warrior touch the shrine.

Holy Shrine [Casts a Phasing spell] - Sure, if the immediate area is cleared. Go nuts, have some fun. :)

Magical Shrine [Casts a Mana Shield spell] - Are you ready to use Mana Shield yet? Do you want to waste your mana pool when your HP can take the beating? If not, let the warrior have some fun too. See how long he can keep that little Mana Shield up. ;p

Murky Pool [Casts an Infravision spell] - Very useful for scouting, especially when the mage or rogue uses it with minus light radius items. They can pick off the monsters one at a time without activating other monsters. Don’t forget to shift-click when using bow, otherwise you would just walk toward the monster instead of shooting if the monster is not activated.

Mysterious Shrine [+5 to one attribute, -1 to all others] - The rogue and mage can benefit from this more then the warrior since his vital stat, Dex, can easily be maxed.

Secluded Shrine [Gives complete map of current level] - Yes, if the scout doesn’t get confused as to where he’s been. Otherwise, let someone else get the map, it will help the party determine choke points and course of action.

Spiritual Shrine [Gives a small amount of gold to each empty slot in your inventory] - Nice little bonus in a tournament, when gold is used as a tiebreaker. Empty your inventory before touching.

Eldritch [All potions become rejuvenation potions] - Collect all potions from everyone first. If the party is not using up potions, then wait to get more before using this shrine.

Glimmering Shrine [Identifies all items in your inventory] - Same reasoning as using ID scrolls. Wait until you can fill your inventory with “good drops”.

Religious Shrine [Restores all items to full durability] - Wait until you need it.

Stone Shrine [Restores charges in all staves] - Wait until you have some decent staves and have a little fun emptying them first.

Hidden Shrine [-10 durability to one item equipped, +10 durability to all others] - Is the gain of 10 dur on 3 item (2 if bow) worth the risk of having one item (semi) unusable? Generally not worth the risk for Ironman unless you have something that begs to have it’s dur raised such as a TC, because you might not find another Hidden shrine. The party will have to make the decision based on items found.

Fascinating [Lose 10% of maximum mana and increases Firebolt 2 slvl] - Firebolt maybe your main offensive spell for the whole game if you don’t find Fire Wall later. If this shrine is encountered early in the game, it may well worth the gamble. Besides, you don’t actually lose 10% of overall mana except when lvlup and using full potions. The mana globe of a conservative Ironman mage is hardly ever topped when using half blues.

Ornate Shrine [Lose 10% of maximum mana and increases Holy Bolt 2 slvl] - Sure thing if you don’t have HB before facing Leo. The resources lost from facing Leo without Holy Bolt if far far greater than the mana lost from using the shrine.

Sacred Shrine [Lose 10% of maximum mana and increases Charged Bolt 2 slvl] - Not worth the trade off.

Blood Fountain and Purifying Springs [Restore 1 HP/Mana per use respectively] - Take advantage of these as much as you can especially on the same level where they are found. Push as hard as possible without putting yourselves in danger then run back to the shrines to get refreshed. The team may want to set a town portal there for easy access later.

Goat Shrine and cauldron Random effects [What you don’t know can hurt you] - Don’t touch these without careful planning. Besides that they may not be a desirable shrine, they can be dangerous! A Nova from Cryptic and Phasing from Holy can kill you and the party.

Nystul: Here are the procedures I usually go through. The warrior would be the one doing the touching, although by cauldron time maybe the rogue is unable to use her mana either. In any case the other characters have to be able to stand clear to avoid Nova. Then the character should be carrying all of the party's red and blue potions, important spell staves running low, and unid'd items (the ones with real potential anyway). The small chance of getting a Stone or Glimmering shrine probably is enough to make up for all the risks. To prevent the risk of getting a holy shrine, a wide area around the shrine should already be cleared (if not the entire level).

Enchanted [Lose 1 slvl for one spell, all other known spells gain 1 slvl] - Don’t touch it! Best to wait until all levels of the Catacombs are cleared or until 2 Enchanted shrines are found. The following discussion assumes only one Enchanted shrine is found in the game… and keep in mind that certain spell staff may offset the pros and cons, and if you find more spells on the deeper levels and still have access to the Enchanted shrine, then you may reconsider. The following samples are books dropped in actual games with full clear of the Churches and Cats. While I have only included six samplings, they are pretty typical examples of Ironman games.

Sample 1
Books: 3 Heal, 2 Heal Other, 2 Firebolt, 3 Charged Bolt, 1 Mana Shield, 3 Fire Wall, 1 Inferno, 1 Holy Bolt.

Total of 8 spells with 5 of them at slvl 1 (If the party had distributed the book properly, the mage should have only one Heal and Heal Other). There’s a 62.5% chance you will lose one of the spells and 1 in 8 chances you’ll lose the use of Mana Shield or Holy Bolt. While there’s no use for Holy Bolt after the Cats, it’s still a very useful spell to lure and use against Diablo if the party ever make it that far. Sure one can look at it as 7 in 8 chance to gain an extra slvl in each spell, so lets look at what you may gain.

-Heal - almost useless after Mana Shield
-Heal Other - nice
-Holy Bolt - nice
-Inferno - useless
-Fire Wall extra slvl is nice but level 3 is already quite usable even in hell.
-Firebolt and Charged Bolt (note: Firebolt is already lvl 4 since mage gets 2 slvl at startup) These 2 spells can be deadly in a normal game when used properly, however, they are not mana efficient for Ironman. Especially in the deeper levels, they should not be used unless in desperate situations such as being swarmed. The mana is better used to heal other players. The Ironman mage’s main offensive spell is Fire Wall for its damage and mana efficiency. Learn to use it well.
-Mana Shield - No spell bonus or saving in Mana from extra slvl.

While an extra slvl on any spell is nice but they won’t make that much of difference except in mana saving. What you really hope to gain is an extra slvl of Fire Wall; weigh that against the possible lost of Mana Shield and Heal Other, I think not.

Sample 2
2 Heal, 2 Heal Other, 3 Firebolt, 1 Charged Bolt, 2 Inferno, 2 Telekinesis, 2 Town Portal, 3 Flash, 2 Lightning.

This sampling has a 33% chance of an Enchanted shrine turning against you. Again, I would suggest leaving the shrine alone. Remember that being a HOpper is the most important role of an Ironman mage in the deeper levels. He cannot afford to lose Heal Other. Sure, the rogue has Heal Other, but she will be quite busy herself while the mage can be totally protected and do nothing but Heal the other partners.

It would be nice to gain an extra slvl on Lightning, but slvl 2 is not too bad vs a chance of it turning to slvl 1.

Sample 3
1 Firebolt, 3 Charged Bolt, 1 Mana Shield, 1 Fire Wall, 1 Inferno, 1 Telekinesis, 4 Town Portal, 1 Flash, 3 Holy Bolt, 1 Phasing

This is bad, real bad! Only slvl 1 on two of the four most important spells (Heal Other, Mana Shield, Fire Wall and Lightning) in an Ironman game and no Heal Other… Good luck!

Sample 4
2 Heal, 1 Heal Other, 3 Firebolt, 4 Charged Bolt, 1 Mana Shield, 1 Fire Wall, 1 Flash, 1 Holy Bolt, 1 Phasing

Definitely not! Don’t touch that shrine.

Sample 5
1 Heal, 3 Heal Other, 2 Firebolt, 5 Charged Bolt, 1 Inferno, 3 Holy Bolt, 1 Stone Curse

The only consideration against using the shrine here is the possibility (1 in 6 chances since the only Heal went to the rogue) of losing Stone Curse. But 60 mana (57 if increased to lvl 2) required to cast a Stone Curse makes it a spell good only if you are having a panic attack, and against some tough bosses. I would take a chance and touch the shrine.

Sample 6
4 Heal, 1 Heal Other, 3 Firebolt, 4 Charged Bolt, 1 Mana Shield, 1 Fire Wall, 4 Inferno, 2 Telekinesis, 4 Town Portal, 5 Flash, 1 Lightning, 3 Holy Bolt, 1 Phase, 1 Stone Curse

This was a good game as far as the variety of spells is concerned; but I still would not touch the Enchanted shrine. At first glance you might think 1 in 14 chances of the shrine turning against you is not bad, but there are actually 5 spells (not counting Phasing) here at slvl 1 you do not want to lose. That’s almost 36% chance you would lose out, and losing one of the four most important spells is not an option.