Unlimited money exploit (SPOILER)

[mtm]

DO NOT click the spoiler bar unless you are absolutely sure it won't ruin your Drakensang experience forever. It did for me. Apologies if this is common knowledge but I haven't seen a mention of this on any forum.


Doable at level 3 when you first enter the Ducal district.

The alchemist Auralia (in the Ducal district, front of the barracks) sells a recipe for Elixir of Courage. The ingredients are 1x Finage, 2x Brimstone Water and 1x Golmoon Leaf. With 4% haggle (what Gladys starts with) Auralia sells Finage for 5D (ducats) per a stack of 100 and Brimstone Water for 29D / 100. And the green-robed herbalist just NW of Auralia sells Golmoon for 2D / 100. All in all, a full stack of 100 Elixirs of Courage costs 65D to make. As far as I can tell the merchants have unlimited supply of all these ingredients.

Elixir of Courage requires Alchemy 3 (!) and sells for 73D /100 with the same Haggle 4.

This is a 8D/65D = 12.3% return on interest for your gold every time you do this. Out of nowhere. Exponential growth means so much gold it doesn't even matter very quickly. And you can make this WAY faster if you improve haggle abit (haggle 10 means whoppin 26% ROI).

I was just trying to find the most profitable way to make potions with the herbs I had gathered and sell them. I guess I frickin found it!


I know you can just ignore this little exploit but how can this game, that has truly amazing content, be so frustratingly unfinished when the German version had supposedly millions of players. Someone else MUST have found this out.

[mtm]

and its return of investment. stupid brain fatrs

[RivianWitch]

Maybe too lazy? I was going to start making that elixir of courage, for my own use, but I guess I'll try reselling it now. I think my haggle is something like 9 or 11% at the moment. (Evil chuckle)

Don't stray away too far, mtm. You're definitely a useful person to have around. ;)

[Dasale]

Gothic 2 had such thing too, not a big problem, just don't exploit if you don't like.

[Curunír]

Gothic 2 had such thing too, not a big problem, just don't exploit if you don't like.

Exactly. Just say no to selling self-crafted stuff. (You will get more than enough money during the game, anyway.)

[RivianWitch]

Gothic 1 also had a glitch that you could exploit, making tons and tons of pieces of fried meat...

Cheats are fun, but they do spoil the whole object of the game, don't they?

[Turjan]

I'd say that, if you want to spend the game as alchemist who runs his business to make money, go for it. The investment is considerable, and the profit margin is not too high. I've seen much worse.

[RivianWitch]

I just want to add that I don't really think selling your own potions in Drakensang is a "cheat". After all, this is how real life also works - there is to be an expected gain from manufacturing a product from raw materials.

When I was talking about "cheating" I meant exploiting glitches. The glitch in Gothic 1 was some technical issue whereby you could double the amount of cooked meat in your inventory, if you manipulated your interface in a certain way, while 'cooking' it.

I remember that Divine Divinity had a similar glitch with containers that you could exploit to make duplicates of items.

[wolfing]

I agree it shouldn't be considered an exploit, well, except maybe for the fact that the vendor has infinite source of materials so you have an infinite source of gold. It would be better if it worked off the plants you collect and/or if the vendors had limited supplies.

[RivianWitch]

I agree it shouldn't be considered an exploit, well, except maybe for the fact that the vendor has infinite source of materials so you have an infinite source of gold. It would be better if it worked off the plants you collect and/or if the vendors had limited supplies.

Yes, that's a very valid point. If you have invested in building up a party member's harvesting skills, it starts to feel rather pointless if you can simply buy endless ingredients for a cheapish price.

They could perhaps have made the ingredients slightly more expensive to buy as well, but I suppose all of that, plus the profit you make, is dependent on your haggling skill.
So yes, limited supplies from vendors would have been a better idea.

[Corwin]

Some supplies do seem to be limited. Double Distillate and Lockpicks are very difficult to find. The thieves guild has had no LP's since I bought my first set of 10 for example!!

[RivianWitch]

Corwin, look around for "shady characters". They tend to hide in niches in walls along city streets, so are not always easy to spot. (Look over your shoulder often, to spot them more easily).
They sell all your thieve's requirements, including lockpicks. :)

I seem to remember that the herb lady in the Inn in Moorbridge had quite a bit of double distillate. Pity I didn't buy some, then.

[Gorath]

"Alternative" traders are shown on the radar if the corresponding skill is high enough. I think it was streetwise or similar.

All the good stuff is limited.

You don't need more money than you get automatically. The 1000 ducats for the ship are a fortune. You can hardly spend more.

[Damian Mahadevan]

You can make lockpicks. IIRC

[wolfing]

"Alternative" traders are shown on the radar if the corresponding skill is high enough. I think it was streetwise or similar.

All the good stuff is limited.

You don't need more money than you get automatically. The 1000 ducats for the ship are a fortune. You can hardly spend more.

and you recover those 1000 ducats. I don't remember thinking about money after like level 6. There is too much money (or not enough ways to spend it) in the game I think. Having ducats in barrels on plain sight doesn't help *insert my usual hatred towards stupid breakable barrels and boxes in games comment here*

[Gorath]

Better put that in spoiler tags.

[RivianWitch]

Hey, what would an RPG without treasure chests and breakable barrels be?

I love breaking them barrels, especially when I assign my Amazon to do it, and she shouts: "Die!" at the barrel just before smashing it. :lol:

[wolfing]

Better put that in spoiler tags.
Done
Hey, what would an RPG without treasure chests and breakable barrels be?

It would be a much better RPG lol
Ok, let me rephrase where my hatred for them comes from...
If there is a barrel in plainsight, have it spill beer or wine to the ground, and have its owner scream for the guards and have them arrest you. (Same with the opening of chests in front of everybody)

[RivianWitch]

Hmm, more barrels/chests in hidden areas would be nice, also the requirement to use sneak skill when NPC's are around. Stealing out of a person's locked chest from right under his nose, with no pretense even, of stealth, can be a bit anti-immersive, surreal even.

[Dasale]

Beside setting up a complicate stealing/jail/sneaking system (never saw any good, not even in Morrowind) a more simple solution is to not put such barrel and chests in location where a possible owner is close.

[wolfing]

Beside setting up a complicate stealing/jail/sneaking system (never saw any good, not even in Morrowind) a more simple solution is to not put such barrel and chests in location where a possible owner is close.

AND to put realistic stuff in the barrels, i.e. NO MONEY, or better yet, please, just ... don't have them. Whatever items of worth inside would have been scavenged long ago by the local residents

[Dasale]

Well that's a bit too much for me because logic will lead into having boring crap and lost time to check it.

[wolfing]

Well that's a bit too much for me because logic will lead into having boring crap and lost time to check it.

Exactly, just ... don't have them. Whatever money/items they might feel we could get from barrels, put them in more logical places, like defeated enemies, quest rewards, merchants, etc.

[Dasale]

No you haven't understand the spirit of barrels and chests. It's a kind reward for curious people looking at any corner. It's a barrel or chest to not make it too tough.

And a quote: No realism isn't fun or gameplay, make it realist and you'll get boring long walks, tedious pale eating, boring talks, and so on.:)

[RivianWitch]

Yes, I agree with Dasale. If I wanted real life, I wouldn't play games. Still, they could require stealth for stealing from chests when their owners are near.

I do like some degree of realism and immersion.

But I also like my barrels and chests. :D It's fun, like opening a lucky-packet.

[Grandor Dragon]

But destroying the barrels *is* tedious. You do it because you don't want to miss something, but it is not fun enough. If they were only at hidden places, it would be fine, but many of them are plain view for all.

Also, I find it rediculous that you have to smash them. If you play a brute, the dialogue is to sophisticated. If you play someone more sophisticated, you end up looking like an idiot smashing all this property.

[wolfing]

I might not hate it that much if it was a purple dragon taking a dump on my head with the items inside it, it'd be less immersion breaking than breaking barrels and opening chests in front of their owners with them just yawning (kinda reminds me of the guards by the castle gates in Monty Python's "The Quest for the Holy Grail.")

<snip>
And a quote: No realism isn't fun or gameplay, make it realist and you'll get boring long walks, tedious pale eating, boring talks, and so on.:)
I disagree. There are levels of realism that can make or break the game. Sure I don't want to go 'The Sims' style and have my characters take 'latrine' breaks, but I want the world to be believable, imagine that my characters are in that world (isn't this what an RPG is really about?), so things that are so obviously out of place are a major deal breaker.

[RivianWitch]

Hm, I suppose it does come down to "things that are obviously out of place " breaking immersion and believability. So as long as you don't completely take my lucky packets away, I agree that it would be nice to leave them in more "believable" places, and to open them rather than smash them, while your character screams "die!" at them.

I don't know if any of you played the modern remake of a Bard's Tale. I played an hour or two of it, and I actually enjoyed that it didn't take itself seriously and the resulting humour.
The developers were taking all kinds of jabs at and joking with RPG cliche's, like the standard buxom barmaid, the standard first quest of killing rats in the cellar, the fact that you find all kinds of goodies in the bellies of slain beasts, and the whole treasure chest thing, etc...

[wolfing]

Hm, I suppose it does come down to "things that are obviously out of place " breaking immersion and believability. So as long as you don't completely take my lucky packets away, I agree that it would be nice to leave them in more "believable" places, and to open them rather than smash them, while your character screams "die!" at them.

I don't know if any of you played the modern remake of a Bard's Tale. I played an hour or two of it, and I actually enjoyed that it didn't take itself seriously and the resulting humour.
The developers were taking all kinds of jabs at and joking with RPG cliche's, like the standard buxom barmaid, the standard first quest of killing rats in the cellar, the fact that you find all kinds of goodies in the bellies of slain beasts, and the whole treasure chest thing, etc...

I played it too and liked it, for what it was. It was funny, although the gameplay sucked (to me, any action/RPG Diablo style, which is what they did, sucks)

[Dasale]

Any CRPG requires a very high suspension of belief.

Few example:

A good example are the numerous fighters you kill and you cannot get any of their armors and weapons as if all was always broken. Unbelievable, but why you didn't quote it? I played a game dropping all and that's very tedious because of he amount of drop it generate, realism doesn't make the right choice for gameplay.
You cannot attack any NPC, very low realism, but allowing it generate a nightmare to keep quests valid. Or worst for me they generate out of context message warning you that if you kill this NPC you could break the main quest, for example Morrowind.
You are attacking a castle, but then you need some shopping, leave for a long travel and few days and come back continue the attack as if it was the second after you left it.


And I can add ton more so my first point is that you are making such an affair of one point the barrels which is quite a detail in comparison with many other very high suspension of belief a CRPG requires.

The second point is if like RivianWitch, I like opening a lucky-packet and I feel it adds to a deep exploration. I couldn't deny it could have been tempered a lot.

That point is that it's really a detail for me and even find few plus from it. And I feel that for example, the radar mini map is a much weaker point of the game, the barrels is a very minor weakness in comparison.

EDIT: And if for the radar minimap you justify it from unexplained magic then consider barrels as the same, a magic move letting the hero unseen and uncaught. And yes it's limited magic working only for barrels and chests. And then, magic anyway not more than the radar minimap.

[wolfing]

Most of the problem relies on things that you can 'make yourself believe' and others that you just can't. For example:
Any CRPG requires a very high suspension of belief.

Few example:
A good example are the numerous fighters you kill and you cannot get any of their armors and weapons as if all was always broken. Unbelievable, but why you didn't quote it? I played a game dropping all and that's very tedious because of he amount of drop it generate, realism doesn't make the right choice for gameplay.

Ideally you should be able to get stuff from corpses, I agree, but since it's not something that's visible like the barrels, it's easier to ignore. You could also say that most brigands you find are just using broken pieces they've found here and there, so they have no value.

You cannot attack any NPC, very low realism, but allowing it generate a nightmare to keep quests valid. Or worst for me they generate out of context message warning you that if you kill this NPC you could break the main quest, for example Morrowind.

For that I do have an explanation. In real life I can attack anybody, but it just doesn't cross my mind, I have no reason to do it, and even if I had reason, the consequences are so bad that it's almost as if I couldn't attack them. In game I just think that they are people I just don't have any desire to attack. Not a problem as far as immersion breaking goes.

You are attacking a castle, but then you need some shopping, leave for a long travel and few days and come back continue the attack as if it was the second after you left it.

I do have a problem with this, and in fact, I almost never do it. I usually stick to one place until it's finished.


And I can add ton more so my first point is that you are making such an affair of one point the barrels which is quite a detail in comparison with many other very high suspension of belief a CRPG requires.

The problem with barrels is that they are so blatantly visible and being able to break them in front of everybody, and them having whole ducats in them, it's like worse than finding a Coca Cola bottle inside!

The second point is if like RivianWitch, I like opening a lucky-packet and I feel it adds to a deep exploration. I couldn't deny it could have been tempered a lot.

That point is that it's really a detail for me and even find few plus from it. And I feel that for example, the radar mini map is a much weaker point of the game, the barrels is a very minor weakness in comparison.

See I don't have a problem with the mini-map at all, I find it perfectly explainable. You can see NPCs there, which would correspond with your party's "streetwise" skill, same with the herbs and your 'Plant Lore'. The skill of your characters determine what you can see there. Even if there were arrows pointing me to NPCs, to me it's just the UI feedback for my characters asking people where to find person X. Very different and not an immersion breaker.
And if for the radar minimap you justify it from unexplained magic then consider barrels as the same, a magic move letting the hero unseen and uncaught. And yes it's limited magic working only for barrels and chests. And then, magic anyway not more than the radar minimap.
No, it's not magic, it's just a representation of my characters' knowledge/abilities.
But, hard as I try, I just can find no possible explanation for having a guy standing near his locked chest and then some random guy comes, picks the lock, opens the chest, and leaves with your armor, and you are just fine with it, or a barrel in the middle of town, some dude comes and smashes it, and hey! 10 silver pieces and a pommel in there, who would have thought?

It's all subjective of course. For example, people keep telling me to play Guild Wars, but I just can't. I tried, and realize it may be a fun game, but the whole 'choose your 8 skills for the adventure' just destroyed the game for me. So, I'm a ranger, but if I want to use my bow, I need to 'forget' how to wield my sword, or keep my sword but just need to leave my dog at home, or don't bring the amulet to resurrect people. It's a pure gameplay mechanic that destroys any sense of immersion. I guess the barrel thing is something like that.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

AND to put realistic stuff in the barrels, i.e. NO MONEY, or better yet, please, just ... don't have them. Whatever items of worth inside would have been scavenged long ago by the local residents

You can have fluff in masses in barrels. There is one special chest in the BLood Mountains forest ...

You can sell all the rubbish you'll find, by the way. And some fewer things you'll find and which look as junk can be ingredients to things you can assemble.

No, it's not magic, it's just a representation of my characters' knowledge/abilities.

Just wanted to stress that. The things you'll see on the mini-map (or don't are only based on the character's skills !

[Dasale]

You are so much used to radar minimap that you feel it normal, but the truth is that nothing in real life is even close to it except very modern technology which is totally out of context of a medieval game like this.

The barrels make you look at the wold view when the radar has a very perverse effect to constantly attract your look and have too often eyes glue on it or attracted by it enough to remove a lot of your concentration to the real view.

The common believing that more realism means better gameplay is so well spread that it's a pain.

And the worse for me is how you glue game features on how realist they are or not when the question is how good they are in the gameplay or not. A videogame is symbols not reality and from very very far, that's so weird you don't realize that.

[RivianWitch]

I've got a fairly good tolerance for both points of view here, I tend to not mind too much either way, because one does get used to the "system" of internal logic that most games offer. Let's face it, a game cannot be reality, so one will always have to make some allowances for mechanisms which are purely symbolic representations of reality.

You are attacking a castle, but then you need some shopping, leave for a long travel and few days and come back continue the attack as if it was the second after you left it.

Hehheh, just want to mention a funny example of this: I did not side with the Praios sect during the Blood Mountain sojourn, and upon suggestions here on the board that the Blood Mountains quests get rewarded for non-violence, I went out of my way not to kill a certain female representative of the Praios sect, - instead, I just ran away from her.

So at the very end of everything, when you emerge from the castle, she was still alive. However, someone else was standing at the gate (don't want to put spoilers), and I found her a ways down on the path from the Praios camp.

Clearly the devs had fully expected you to kill her, because if you spoke to her now, she responded with the exact same dialogue that she had offered at the very beginning of the whole Blood Mountains sojourn, as if absolutely nothing had happened in the interim!
Now if that is not a supreme challenge to my experience of the internal logic and continuity of the story, I don't know what is!

Surely they should have given her more appropriate dialogue for the eventuality of her survivng my monstrously efficient combat prowess... :p