Many quests in the game hinge on you sneaking past enemies that can kill you in a few hits, so taking note of their positions and patrol routes is the key to victory. However, this doesn't mean the game is all about evading fights. When attacking, you are given a choice of targeting specific body parts: the head gives you a big damage bonus, but is the most difficult to hit; the torso is easier to hit but does little damage; the arms decrease attack and the legs decrease speed.

Health and stamina – used both for running as well as magic – regenerate over time and increase as you gain XP by defeating enemies and completing quests. The game use a classless character system, where XP is used to buy skills, ranging from melee, archery, magic, to speeding up health regeneration, seeing better in the dark, being able to carry more weight, etc. There are three levels to each skill, and when you purchase one, all the other skills will increase in cost, so it's important to plan out what kind of character you want to build.

Evil Islands features a robust crafting system that will allow you to create your own gear and spells from schematics and keystones. The quality of equipment created depends on what kind of materials – bought or gathered from defeated creatures – were used in their construction. Crafted items can also be permanently enchanted with spells, such as Haste or Night Vision.

The Spell Maker allows you to alter the effects of spells, such as empowering them by adding runes that will give them extra duration and extra range, or changing them to only target enemy units, at the cost of making them harder and more expensive to cast.

Unlike many RPGs where you're soon drowning in gold, money remains an issue up until the very end, so making use of custom-made items can be vital, especially if you are playing on the harder difficulty.