Gothic 3 Nordmar or Varant first?

JDR13

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Is there a general opinion on where to go first when you're ready to leave Myrtana?

It would seem to make sense story-wise to go to Nordmar first, but the difficulty level in Nordmar suggest that you should go to Varant first.

Suggestions?
 
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That was my thought as well, seems Varant was intended as the last area, one reason being you only get the Heat Resist Perk from Varant, iirc, which is very necessary for preventing Immolation from all the Orc Mages.
Personally though I always try to get all the Teleport Stones first, before I start doing the heavy Reputation quests. which isn't too hard since most often they are on the main path. Usually I don't bother with Xardas since it's pretty deep in Nordmar, plus the Large Weapon Master Perk and the Cold Resist Perk are both close by in the Fire Clan camp.
 
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Is there a general opinion on where to go first when you're ready to leave Myrtana?

It would seem to make sense story-wise to go to Nordmar first, but the difficulty level in Nordmar suggest that you should go to Varant first.

Suggestions?

I agree with your observation. IMHO the storyline hints point you to Ardaea-Cape Dun-Montera-Okara/Gotha-Vengard-Geldern/Silden-Nordmar (to find X and possibly visit the monastery) - Varant - Nordmar again, but as pointed out Nordmar is about the toughest place on the map, so one might be a bit too low a level to manage there if following the above path. IMHO level 30+ makes Nordmar manageable, depending on the build.

Getting to Xardas isnt all that hard though if you find the hunter with a pet, and let the pet guide you to the tower (using a path that isnt that obvious if you find the way on your own).
 
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i though heat resist only protected you from the heat of the desert not fire damage?
also you can get resistance to cold in myrtana from the nordmarian in silden i think it is;the village near lovely plains and waterfall area.

first time through i went through nordmar first, and yes it is more difficult but that made it all the more awesome to...back before even the official patches that thined the enemies in nordmar. storywise it actually probably makes sense to go to varant not just because it is easier access but thats where more fire chalices are, the water mages, and the temples as well that the orcs are scouring. if you to go normar you have to back later anyhow so its not to big of a deal. the game is so massive though and full of so many routes it blows my mind that i played it for over a month straight last year averaging over 5 hours a day, some games just are a bane to sleep.

i don't need to replay gothic 3 as its world is forever etched in my mind and i could paint a thousand paintings of all of its landscapes.
 
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It is easier to do varant first. if you first go to nordmar, well that is a steep rise in difficulty, while in varant it is only a bit more harder.
About the many roads. almost at then end of my first game I found a new path at a twon where i have been that many times already
 
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It seems that most places think you should do Varant first, the guys over at WoG mention it.

http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/showpost.php?p=3768345&#post3768345

Although I like non-linear games, I kind of wish they had at least dropped a few subtle suggestions in this one.

The hints all point to Xardas after Myrtana, and Nordmar is manageable if you only try to get to him rather than to clear the area:p IMHO the only believable storyline that makes you go to Varant first is if you play a renegade that teams up with the Hashishin (which I did with great pleasure since the nameless hero should have more than one axe to grind with the King and possibly Xardas).

In a way the main story violates PBs intentions to make the different cities "do the local quests and never return" affairs, which IMHO is for the better as that kind of design is a bit dull anyway... But it messes things up if the player goes to Nordmar "too early" and try to play as in Myrtana, clearing settlement after settlement.

I'd like better in game "quest documentation" both in terms of a better journal (wonder if the community patch ever will fix all those broken journal entries) and in terms of sheer dialogue (not bloody likely:p) but that goes for the side quests as well.
 
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curiously undead, you still take damage but you don't catch on fire anymore, which does the real heavy damage, to the best of my memory. ;)
 
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curiously undead, you still take damage but you don't catch on fire anymore, which does the real heavy damage, to the best of my memory. ;)

Are you sure about that? IIRC Goblin shamen killed me right until the end of the game:p It'd be great if the ability works though.

Maybe it is a CP1.5 thing? I havent gotten out of Reddock yet...
 
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Mmmm, I've ecountered some Goblin Shamans in Myrtana and defeated them quite easily with a level 15 character using a longbow. Haven't dared to fight an Orc Shaman yet though.
 
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One on one they arent much of a problem if you spot them in time, but in Nordmar there are quite a few groups with more than one. They are very vulnerable to bow shots and it doesnt take all that high a hunting skill to be able to insta-kill them, but prior to that I found that the best approach was to simply run in and whack them. It's been a while since I played the game now, but dont these annoying bastards heal themselves like other shamen?

In all I think they are the most frustrating enemies in the game, especially when doing escort quests in Nordmar:p

EDIT: What I meant is that I think the "burning effect" got me even in the late game, and I usually learn the protection perks quite early. Unfortunately I dont have a late save to test this (deleted all saves upon installation of CP 1.5).
 
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well if that is the case i would say this is just another example of how the 'community' breaks the game 'continuity' for me. {haven't played the game with any unofficial patches but the whole 12th paladin being a fire clan warrior has always been unsettling}why should protection from hot weather which if i recall in game dialogue is broken down in "tricks to survive in the desert with less water" as somehow related to fire not being harmful to your skin.
here's how i thought those protections work.
in varant the heat normally didn't drain stamina at night, but during the day it did and with the protection it didn't.
in nordmar stamina drained during the day and night and the cold protection protected you at day and slightly at night. a cold night in snowy mountains is much harder to handle than a hot day in the desert. i really liked that aspect of the game and combined with the snow and sand storms really made those respective enviroments come alive.
weren't there some magical items that offered protection of fire, ie the fire mages robe for example-a faction who is not from the desert but the snow and why they would need protection from heat i have no idea;)
 
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i also found Varant slightly easier than Nordmar in the sense that spacious desert gave more breathing space.. plus it's better to get over with the opening up of the temples and acquiring the artifacts of adanos before venturing into Nordmar..

i though heat resist only protected you from the heat of the desert not fire damage?
i too had the same confusion about that skill.. read this thread:
Resistance to Heat question
 
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Well it must just be me confused then, as I don't recall it having anything the do with the CPs, though I do see I am not the only one whom recalls this, as in the linked thread.
 
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This is an excellent thread topic, it is the 'crunch' of the game, we are trying to judge which path to take of the three supposed endings yet there is deceptively another path - the ending of which i have yet to learn of. I have put "The Witcher" to one side for now and reverted to G3 with an optimism of hope to solve this hidden anomaly.

Arguably, the books of the eternal wanderer contain the solution to the fourth or unknown path....
http://gaoneng.googlepages.com/TheEternalWanderer.txt

Using the hinted storyline of the books to progress through the game one needs to be wary for it looks difficult to give a depth of meaning to parts of the path which the books suggest, there appears to be a paradox or a twist within the storyline....and there is, i have mentioned this elsewhere on these forums in the past re: Myxir the water mage. He suggests an interruption to the wanderers path when he reveals "but he went not to the temple" (this is the 5th temple) - now you see it is too late in the game to correct or revert. However, on restarting a new game you could perceive the path which now to take is indeed straight to Nordmar - but bypass the temple then return to Varant (if you see the twist)?

I don't want to kill the watermages to get the sceptre of Varant and the staff of the eternal wanderer, i don't want to kill Rhobar either, i must find another way - via the nomads maybe?

The most likely method to solve this strange but intriguing situation i suspect is to take the path of the druids, for it is said Innos gave the eternal wanderer (you) the power of the druid stones to solve and put right and redeem that which is wrong in the world.

In the last play through i spent much time with controlling the animals and indeed at one time had a large pack of wolves following under my direction (as the head wolf) via the white ripper transformation. There is in-game mention that the orcs fear something strange about the wolves.

It is fairly obvious, by noting the various positioning of wolves and packs that they can be used to complete various quests, so by killing wolves this solution would never work. On each kill of an orc the transposed wolf gains a level - can you actually have a level 100 white wolf? - i got to 20 then gave up - perhaps i should have continued?

On transforming back to human form from a wolf or any other beast (out of sight) the orcs know of this and attack, it doesn't quite fit, yet setting a pack of wolves onto the orc opponents works best - i will investigate further.

Just for now, i hope the 1.52 community patch doesn't negate any deep game code, perhaps waiting until the Jowood G3- v1.6 official patch becomes available would be a more accurate move to help with all of this deep stuff?

Greetings.
 
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Due to level scaling both should be about the same toughness. The only reason I think Nordmar feels harder is due to the orc camps and by the time most people get to varant their characters are becoming all-powerful.
 
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