My new monitor arrived yesterday (YAY) so after I (or rather my flatmates) got it to work properly, the first thing I did was install some games that my old monitor couldn't take (I'd bought a new system a few months ago but still used my old monitor - very frustrating to have a good videocard but no monitor to work it with).

Anyway. :D

I installed Arcanum, first time I play this game. I'm not looking for any spoilers, but some hints in getting started would be welcome. Such as: is there a freaking pause button on this thing?? And if not, any hints as to how combat can be made easier? Also, technology or magic? Or both? I think I'd be more suited for magic - I'm a half-elven Débutante (higher Beauty and Charisma, but lower Strength and combat skills). Oh and another thing, when leveling up, you can put the character points in stats, skills AND spells, contrary to the D&D system where you start with much higher, fixed stats and get new spells or skills every level. This really bothers me - I only got one point when I levelled up. I put it in Strength or Dexterity I think, but that means I haven't got any Skills or Spells yet! Help!
I'm only at the very beginning of the game, talked to Virgil, accepted him into my party and whacked a few wolves and sewer rats. So no spoilers beyond that please! [img]smile.gif[/img]
Any help would be much appreciated. [img]smile.gif[/img]

MAGIC.
You will get RAPED by tech, it sucks, trust me, I ran out of bullets in the last fight,debutante isn' really a good idea, as there are WAY more exp. points fighting then talking, the game is really unbalanced for this. Go for a magic/melee character. Oh and in the beggining, if you want to get past the bandits at the sherifss house, blow up the bridge materials.

Thanks for the help. Really nice choice of words, too. :rolleyes:
And erm, I specifically asked for no spoilers past where I am now. Oh well, thanks for trying, anyway ;)

Wow, Sarah, you playing the exact same character I play/played. Half-elven, high charisma/beauty (I chose the male portrait with that awesome chin-strap beard. wicked stuff! ;) )

Anyway, I'm shit at this game, I got bored with it and went back to playing fallout 2. There ya go, words of wisdom for ya ;)
My friend finished it with a dwarven technologist. Apparently it was "the fuckin' way to go man". Big guns and all that. But then, my friend was very stoned, and somewhat smelly, when he told me this. So maybe it shouldn't be taken as gospel... ;)

The way I see it, you've just gotta choose a 'style' of play and max it out to the fullest. No middle-ground playing. This is a game of extremes, you have to excell at a particular aspect in order to do well, whether it be guns, melee, spells, diplomacy, whatever. Choose a path (and by the sounds of it you've chosen diplomacy. Well done, a kindred spirit ;) ) and stick with it. Get NPCs to compensate for your weak areas.

LOL, thanks mate. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Why are you so surprised though? Obviously the characters we chose are the only ones right for cool people like us! ;)

Edit: three sigs in a row is slightly exaggerated...

[ 04-17-2004, 11:38 AM: Message edited by: Melusine ]

**SPOILER!!!! OMFG!!!!! TOTALLY EXTREME SPOILAGE HOLY SHIT!!!!!!****


when you get to Tarant and find the brothel, let me know what sort of options are available for a female character ;) I 'slept' with all of the 'courtesans' *cough* *hookers* *cough* as a male, just wondering if females can do the same... ;) mmmmmmm. Elven girl-on-girl action [img]graemlins/1drool.gif[/img]


Edit
Ps: Yes we are incredibly cool. Most observant of you my child. ;)

[ 04-17-2004, 11:57 AM: Message edited by: The Hierophant ]

Yeah,that's the only good "high charisma " quest, and the bandits and the bridge aren't really spoilers, it's maybe ten minutes into the game, hehe a spoiler is when I say that the last battle is arch nemesis is actually your father converted to the dark side (or was that starwars?)Anyway, The Hierophant was right, go all the way, magic or tech, choose magic. With tech you can do maybe 20-30 on a critical w/ firearms master with a repeater like I did, or at half the level you could kill the same creature with one spell using magic.

[ 04-17-2004, 05:09 PM: Message edited by: Sir Degrader ]

**may contain gameplay(not plot) spoilers**
The thing is that it's IMHO well-balanced between magic and tech. The important thing is not to multi as one diminishes the usefulness of the other. I've beaten the game some 4-5 times now and I know quite alot about it. If you're a debutante try wielding weapons like chakrams, bows(not very powerfull) and such. Concentrate on Willpower for your magic(if you're still up for being a mage) and the Harm spell is one of the best in the entire game. Ditto for Shield of Force.

Thanks guys! Very helpful. [img]smile.gif[/img]
One more question though - does anyone have any good advice as to how to distribute my character points? Like I said, the fact that you can put them in stats, spells AND skills is sort of confusing. So far I've put all the points I got at character creation and the ones I got levelling up (am at level two or three or so) in stats, and none in skills/spells.
Oh and if Débutante wasn't an awfully good choice, I might still go back and recreate my character. I've only just started playing so that wouldn't be too much of a bother. But then I'd like to know 1. whether a low CHA and Beauty affect the game much (like in Planescape - I like being well-liked in games ;) ) and 2. did most of you go for "no specific background" or are there any backgrounds you would recommend?

Thanks in advance! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Aaaaahhhh that's freaky man! I was just going to reply and thank you for making me laugh really hard, when you logged into MSN. Freaky shit [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Degrader, when I play through a game the first time, quest-wise I like to do everything on my own at first, so any hints on quests that I didn't even know existed are spoilers in my eyes. ;)

There are really good backgrounds. For instance, I prefer walking with as little followers as possible so an Only Child Elf Mage is a really powerfull starting character(-4cha, +6!!! will). But, there are also bad backgrounds. The Educator is one such background because if you value your followers and want them to be really good at something you can only train them to the level before your own(if you're master, you train expert) but the characters often train themselves in their main skills(for instance, a certain dog becomes melee master at level 25 IMHO). Some are just fun to play, like Magick Alergy or Technophobia(cannot hold magical or technological items, with technophobia you can't even pick one up). Or a Savant(alot more int, but still dumb dialog options), that can be interesting. Don't choose stuff like Child of a Hero or anything else that gives you gold/items, it's not worth it. Try being Beaten wih an Ugly Stick [img]smile.gif[/img]

Yeah, agree with you there Bozos.
I also like 'Raised by Monks' as it gives you a bonus ability point (in perception), with little in the way of detriment. You only start with 100 gold, but that's fine, you'll make up that lost 300 gold soon enough.

Also, 'Born under a sign' can come in handy too. Makes for some great critical hit effects, and the augmented critical misses arn't all that bad anyway...

Thanks! Think I'll start over again, then. What are the most useful stats then? Should I go for balance? (Yeah yeah I just keep asking more questions. [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

Depends on whether you wanna be a swordswoman, mage, gunslinger etc.
Although, like you, I like to be 'liked' in the RPGs I play, so I'm somewhat addicted to putting alot of points into charisma. However, by and large, charisma and beauty and luxury stats in this game.

So:
Mage - Willpower (constitution helps too)

Technologist/Gunslinger - Perception and Intelligence.

Melee - Strength and Dexterity. Dext is necessary for skill levels in dodge and melee, whereas strength will ensure that your hits actually do worthwhile damage.

And you can add charisma/beauty/persuasion as a garnish if you feel so inclined [img]smile.gif[/img]

Note - 'balance' is a waste in this game. You pretty much have to be a specialist if you want to actually become powerful. Best to become really tough in one or two closely-related areas, otherwise you will end up with a whole bunch of nothing much.

[ 04-21-2004, 10:00 AM: Message edited by: The Hierophant ]

The pause button is the spacebar. If you're using real-time combat, I highly recommend using turn-based. Less frantic. [img]graemlins/lol.gif[/img]

Don't listen to the first reply, both magic and tech are good, imo tech has the edge but what will really screw you is trying to mix the two - either go whole hog into tech and eschew magic, or stick to magic and ignore tech.

Use your party members to cover skill areas you can't cover.

Thanks mate, much appreciated! Especially the pause button info, LOL! That ought to make combat much easier (not really into turnbased...)
Does anyone agree that the manual to this game is not exactly efficient in helping you get started? I mean it looks great and like they put a lot of work into it, but I had to search forever to find info on how to save my game!

[ 04-21-2004, 05:57 PM: Message edited by: Melusine ]

yeah but the cookies kick ass

There's a few good walkthroughs out there for those that have a hard time getting started. Check out gamefaqs.com and do a search for arcanum...

You can get hired and do jobs for them.

I wouldn't play with real-time combat, turn it to fast turn-based and you have a bit of time to think about what you're doing!

I think it's best to go for either magic or tech - trying to balance between the two means that none of your skills or spells will be that good, and your magic/tech points being somewhere in the middle of the range will mean higher chance of failure at both spells and skills. Be aware that whichever you choose to specialise in will affect quests and which NPCs will be willing to join you.

I have to say that Arcanum is one of the best games I could recommend - it takes a little while to get used to, but it is so large and although there are plenty of quests and a bit of fetch and carry, you don't feel as if you are being led by the nose along a fixed story line towards the end of the game.

Spend some time wandering around all the locations (some of which are huge), talk to everyone you meet - all the usual RPG advice!

And enjoy [img]smile.gif[/img]

(Isn't the music superb? This game has one of my favourite soundtracks ever).

Uhhhh....can I butt in?
For mages, I recommend IN as well...there are quests (including the final area, I won't spoil it for ya!) that need IN.

And can I ask a question? I'm making a throwing expert character. Should I go tech or magic? The boomerang in my hand deals measly dmg...which path will make my character into more power?

I'd go for magic because tech throwing items aren't affected by it. And I can tell you where a mean easter egg weapon is, if you want.

Ooh! Ooh! Tell me!
*hops and skips like a cheerleader*

Thanks Laura, but I started playing Morrowind now, so I'm putting off Arcanum till later. Good I have something to look forward to after I finish a great game like Morrowind though. Thanks for your help! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Yeah, Morrowinds great. Not a game you beat in flash, though(well, you could if you wanted to...). I usually get bored of the character before the end(they get so damn powerful), so I end up starting a new game over and over again ;) .

There's the quest item Azram's Star, which is excellent, but the Aerial Decapitator, the mean yoyo, is cool. Go to the upper part of the map and look at the mountains. Find coordinates 750 556 and go there. You should hear a bang of chimes or something. Proceed down the path to meet the OBM, the chicken-slayer. Kill him. Take AD.

[ 05-15-2004, 03:13 AM: Message edited by: Bozos of Bones ]