Gothic Brand New to Gothic. Questions on Class/Character Build for Gothic 1

I just decided to give the gothic series one final try.
Never liked them, never really got into them, tried the first one once,
tried the second one twice. Hated them ever since :D

I'm away from home this weekend so I don't have acces to my main gaming pc -
so I can't play The Witcher.. all I've got is my laptop here which runs gothic 1/2 very nicely so I decided to give it one last shot to convince me :D Just like many people on these forums have given varous games "one more chances" with positive outcomes, I decided now it's my turn.. And the game that everyone seems to love but I never got... Well.. there's KOTOR - but I won't touch anything with a name that begins with "STAR" (-wars, -trek, -gate etc..) so I decided I'm gonna go with the gothics.

Now. I'll start with the first game in the series.. I'll throw in the latest patch (no mods!! no mods!!) and do some reading - apparently jemym's guide is the way to go.

Wish me luck, perhaps in a couple of days there's one less Gothic hater on these forums :D ?

(edit: yay! my first post on the gothic sub-forums! I'm one of the cool kids now!)
 
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Zakhary, I got sucked into Gothic due to the demo. If I haven't played that one, I would never got an interest in RPG's -> I would never got into these fora. That's how important Gothic is to me.
 
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Hehe, good luck Zakhary! A small advice from me: Be patient enough to learn how the combat system really works, and get an upgrade in 1H fighting skill. Untill you get to that point in the game, fighting is very hard.

Beyond that, I won't say a thing (unless you have specific questions, of course), because I don't want to ruin the experience of exploring the world of Gothic. :)
 
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Running is a great way to stay alive in Gothic 1; if you run away long enough creatures eventually give up -- except the snappers!). If you can master the hit and run you'll gain experience (eventually) especially early on. That's why I love bows/crossbows because you can damage, run away, come back and inflict more damage. Hitting an enemy/monster from a high point with a bow works well.

As Maylander rightly says, get 1H skill as well.
 
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What were the problems you had on your last couple of Gothic tries? Maybe we can help you avoid them this time.

If the game sucks you in this time you should install all the technical mods to make it run smoother and look better. Probably a waste of time until you are sure though.

Reg. the controls:
Set them to the alternative defaults if you are right-handed. Then it´s ASDW + mouse. ONe forum member is making a strong case for moving everything one key to the right, which is also interesting.
The control thing nobody ever complained about is the undocumented one: a gamepad. ;)
The first thing to try if you want to interact with anything: (CTRL or LMB) + forward. If this doens´t work look into JemyM's FAQ.
 
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Yeah the controls wera big issue for me last time.
What I did when I began the game was this:
Use the "alternative" control scheme, increase the mouse speed to the max,
swap the keys "left shift" and "left control" against eachother - this also made things a lot easier.

The controls still suck, but I'll manage.

The combat sucks, bad. But I knew to expect this so I'm patient.

It would seem, however, that the first Gothic is much better than the second one, for some reason. I think I'll get much farther than the last time at least, might even finish it someday.
 
The combat sucks, bad. But I knew to expect this so I'm patient.
It will get better when your character has learned how to use weapons. At the beginning he is just some noob who hold his sword like a stick.
Combat efficiency scales quite linearly. Every little piece which strenthens offense or defense helps, and several combined help a lot.
Don´t fight more than one opponent in the beginning. Run away if you think you`ll lose.
It would seem, however, that the first Gothic is much better than the second one, for some reason. I think I'll get much farther than the last time at least, might even finish it someday.
NPCs, setting and story are deeper in the first Gothic.

You can play it like an adventure. Concentrate on quests and politics. Slower play makes the combat easier.
 
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Zakhary, I got sucked into Gothic due to the demo. If I haven't played that one, I would never got an interest in RPG's -> I would never got into these fora. That's how important Gothic is to me.

Same for me :) Thanks to gothic I went at rpgdot and then here!

Good luck zakhary. It is a really good game.
 
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Questions questions questions...

a) Can I kill the annoying guy who follows me around in the old camp and keeps telling how he "likes" animals and getting cozy with men.

b) Can I have a viable character that uses a crossbow / 1h weapons and has little to no magical or 2h weapon skills? Kind of a slasher/assassin with some thieving skill thrown in there too?

c) Which of the factions is most "fun" and/or would fit the character described above?
 
a) if you lure him outside the camp where no one can see you, you can kill him without a problem. Most of us did that here ;)

b) points enough too do that.

c) mmm a little thief/assassin? I think the new camp would fit you the best, a real merceneray attitude there.
Was my favorite cam pof all three of them
 
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I killed the annoying mud guy. Killed him dead!

I also killed three guys near the north gate to the old camp.
Will this affect or harm my gameplay progress in someway?
The guards seemed not to care.

I'm still untrained in all weapon skills, I just chose to train me some dexterity so I could use the crossbow I found from a cave. The combat just got a lot more fun. Crossbow!! What will happen when I train my crossbow skill? I can kill more than three guys in one fight :D ?

When you beat someone down with a melee weapon you have to finish him off but when you down someone with a crossbow he stays dead, correct?


b) points enough too do that.

Wha?
 
c) Which of the factions is most "fun" and/or would fit the character described above?

I´d recommend joining the new camp too.
If you´ll give the Gothic+NoTR chance as well, joining the mercenaries in that game is probably the easiest route and also the one which ties to the first game the most via the old characters from the new camp.
What I´m trying to say is that joining new camp in Gothic and then joining the mercenaries in Gothic2+NoTR will tie both games more together and get you probably the most cohesive story experience.
Specializing in 1hand weapons and strength is the most hassle-free way to play Gothics and both those camps sumplement that way nicely.
You can always cast spells via spell scrolls.
 
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I would recommended to at least put some points in 1handed sword fighting.
Mmm don't know how much improvement it brings to put more points in crossbow, never really used it with G1.

I meant you get enough skillpoints during the game.

You are right about defeating someone with a melee kinda weapon will only knock him down and shooting someone with magic or bow/crossbow is lethal.

This is the game why I went to the old dot and moved with the most people of there to here :)
 
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I killed the annoying mud guy. Killed him dead!

Unnecessary. He usually runs away if you hit him once.

I'm still untrained in all weapon skills, I just chose to train me some dexterity so I could use the crossbow I found from a cave. The combat just got a lot more fun. Crossbow!! What will happen when I train my crossbow skill? I can kill more than three guys in one fight :D ?
Also train 1h. You cannot - and you should not - always use the crossbow.
It`s not certain you have enough space and time to aim when you fight Orcs in a dungeon.

When you beat someone down with a melee weapon you have to finish him off but when you down someone with a crossbow he stays dead, correct?
Quite correct. The game checks if the other guy has "enemy status". If not he only gets knocked down. Kicking somebody´s ass is the accepted method for business negotiations and for settleing minor conflicts. ;)
Think twice before you kill somebody inside a camp. Too many witness. It's often okay to knock somebody out and rob him before he gets up again. You can even trap him at night when he is alone, rob him and then use an oblivion scroll.


A warning: Gothic has 3 buggy areas. They can be solved in 99% of the cases, even if problems occur. Nevertheless make sure you always have a couple of savegames to go back to. Use more than one slot.

Another tip:
Experiment. Don´t hesitate to use the stuff you find. Look everywhere; enjoy the spectacular 3D world.
 
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Unnecessary. He usually runs away if you hit him once.

Yeah, many of the unnecessary things I'm gonna do along the way ;)

Also train 1h. You cannot - and you should not - always use the crossbow.
It`s not certain you have enough space and time to aim when you fight Orcs in a dungeon.

Yeah that was the intention like I mentioned a couple of posts above.

One more question, are there any possibilities to play a cruel, ruthless and unpleasant character in this game other than murdering random people?
I always like to do that in games, and the games that let you do that get more love from me :D

Next.. i'll propably start hunting animals with my crossbow for exp and ore and try to get the animal skinning skills from those rangers to gain even more ore.

Hmm... but I'm gonna need more bolts... A LOT more bolts... :D
 
Can I cook meat? Or prepare other kinds of foods? What are the frying pans and spoons and kettles used for? Can I set fire? What are the tumblers for?
How do I use them? (I'm still not cool with the controls)

I killed a bunch of those crocodile-like-reptiles with my crossbow and now I'm all out of bolts - and I can't find more near or in the old camp and that makes me a saaaaaad panda. I think I'll go check out the new camp or something cause I'm not sure I'm cool with the atmosphere in the old camp. Too many sad people wallowing in apathy :D

Neeeed... Mooore... Booolts....
 
Yep, you can cook raw meat by using the frying pans. The cooked meat gives more healing points than raw meat ( 15 instead of 10, IIRC )
I'm not sure, but I think the spoons and kettles are only used in quests ( maybe only one ?).
 
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When you "use" a fireplace, PC_Hero should automatically use a pan to fry meat.

You don´t have to kill everything in the first chapter.
Killing lesser animals with the crossbow is not really necessary because they can hardly hurt you when you've received a decent armour,
Save enough bolts for the tougher missions in chapters 2 and above.
The ore shortage will solve itself later on.

Do admission quests for all 3 camps. You need the xp.

Playing a 100% evil character is not possible.
I also liked the New Camp best. Surprising as it may seem, they are the most honest people ...
 
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Thanks for all the advice guys. I can't believe I'm saying this but I think that I've finally been sucked into Gothic! Yeap, you heard right - I'm actually starting to like this game. At this point I'm also going to need to ask for forgiveness from those people to whom I've bashed gothic in a forum thread (or two...) - I thought I had given Gothic a fair try but I see now that I had not. I also see now that the game certainly has it's charms :D Oh, and thanks for recommending the game so much! I propably wouldn't have given it a second chance without your thoughts and opinions.

Another tip:
Experiment. Don´t hesitate to use the stuff you find. Look everywhere; enjoy the spectacular 3D world.

That propably is - all things considered - the best advice you can give in a game like this. I'm gonna do just that. Experiment. Enjoy. Have fun. I'm not gonna power game. I'm not go the easy way or perform things in the optimal manner. Doing things the hardway (aka my way) is so much fun... most of the time :D

Allrighty then. Back to the game!
 
Killing mud is unneccessary, but after he has been bugging you a lot, it is a real relief to kill him.
If you want to play the most evil char possible in the game, you should join the old camp. They have the most tirranic attitude of the three.
Well at least that is my opnion.

Darn you, you make me feel like starting gothic all over again :)
 
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