Backlog redemption: VtM or kotor next

Originally Posted by Fnord
Bloodlines. With the fan patch, of course.

Seconded. Play with the latest unofficial patch by Wesp.

And I think I need to get KOTOR, as I, too, haven't played it yet.

Have to go with Bloodlines myself. With the unofficial patch. I enjoyed it enough to reinstall a few times and play out the alternate starts.

Originally Posted by joxer
Unless your disc is scratched like mine and now you can only cry as Kotor2 is not digitally distributed in online stores and prices on ebay and elsewhere for retail version tend to be rediculously high.

this isn't the first time this has been brought up recently and while i agree its lame there is no digital version is $10-15 really too high?
http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Knig…ywords=kotor+2

Originally Posted by JemyM
I would advice to skip Nosferatu or Malkavian on your first playthrough.
Ventrue, Tremere or Toreador is doable but harder.
Gangrel or Brujah easier.

I disagree, Tremere is by far the easiest clan to beat the game with. The reason for this is Blood Strike, the level 1 Thaumaturgy discipline ability. This ability does a set % in damage against any opponent that it hits, so while it is junk against minor enemies (apart from the fact that it can be used to get some blood), but against bosses, it is a killer. In fact, this ability will trivialize any boss battle, so you might want to not use it because of this.
Gangrel tends to frenzy a bit more, but get an advantage while frenzying. This advantage is trivial in the grander scheme of things. Also, they don't get access to any really good disciplines.
Brujah also frenzy more than others, and get an even more trivial advantage, but at least they have celerity, which is a great discipline.
I consider both Gangrel & Brujah to be at the very bottom of the clan choices in this game, and probably the hardest ones to beat the game with.

I played the intro and Ventrue is what came out.

(probably because I tend to gravitate towards the elegant hacker/bard with a gun/longsword )

Kind of fascinating to play a game were I know absolutely nothing about the story, the mechanics or any other "gaming the system" facts. Have played for about 2 hours and it reminds me a bit of Deus Ex.

Kids are in bed, nice weariness from weightlifting/swimming, wife watching some soap on telly. Its time, time for a single malt and exploring the dark side of LA

C

Originally Posted by curious
this isn't the first time this has been brought up recently and while i agree its lame there is no digital version is $10-15 really too high?
http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Knig…ywords=kotor+2

Of course not! Sold!
Hopefully I won't be waiting 3 weeks for the delivery…

Originally Posted by Fnord
I consider both Gangrel & Brujah to be at the very bottom of the clan choices in this game, and probably the hardest ones to beat the game with.

I ripped and slashed my way through with Gangrel and it wasn't much of a challenge but I could barely pass the sewer section with malkav.

My only playthrough was as a Tremere. It was definitely interesting, plus you get an extra option for the ending (I think). I found the boss fights still challenging, especially than damn werewolf and the cemetery gate guarding!

Originally Posted by JemyM
I ripped and slashed my way through with Gangrel and it wasn't much of a challenge but I could barely pass the sewer section with malkav.

Stuff like this obviously depends on how one develops the character.
I for one obfuscated through the section with my Malkavian in no time .

Originally Posted by Thrasher
My only playthrough was as a Tremere. It was definitely interesting, plus you get an extra option for the ending (I think).

There are no clan exclusive endings, though some may be more fitting certain clans.

Originally Posted by DeepO
Stuff like this obviously depends on how one develops the character.

During my teens I was a big fan of Gangrel so maybe it's because I know how to optimize them.

Originally Posted by DeepO
I for one obfuscated through the section with my Malkavian in no time.

I wanted to try Dementia so I didn't have enough Obfuscate at that point.

Trying to stay away from spoilers and meta gaming.
Its really a pristine experience to go into a game like this!

Since I turned out to be a Ventrue and kind of playes it like Deus Ex (a bit of breaking and entering, some hacking, some whacking and lots of smoth talking)
I just some minor questions that I'm fumbling with:

1: Combat, can you go with unarmed? or do you need melee or lots of guns?

2ialog choices, red is domination, blue is persuasion and pink is seduction? missing some?

and as some have said, the voice acting and music is very good, never breaks the immersion for me

C

Originally Posted by Crilloan
1: Combat, can you go with unarmed? or do you need melee or lots of guns?

Ventrue is probably best off with a gun.

Originally Posted by Crilloan
1: Combat, can you go with unarmed? or do you need melee or lots of guns?

Melee. Unarmed is (somewhat) useful if you have disciplines that works well with it. Guns are just underpowered. In fact, I would not even bother with unarmed for clans that do have disciplines that works well with unarmed, melee does not cost blood.

Originally Posted by Crilloan
1: Combat, can you go with unarmed? or do you need melee or lots of guns?

I´d say unarmed is only worth it for Gangrel and guns are indeed underpowered, though they´re very likely just fine in the hands of Toreador (auspex + celerity ftw, I´d guess).
I´d go high melee with Ventrue. Also, I think that eventually you should get fortitude to 3-4.

Originally Posted by Crilloan
2ialog choices, red is domination, blue is persuasion and pink is seduction? missing some?

Green - intimidation.

Originally Posted by DeepO
I´d say unarmed is only worth it for Gangrel and guns are indeed underpowered, though they´re very likely just fine in the hands of Toreador (auspex + celerity ftw, I´d guess).
I´d go high melee with Ventrue. Also, I think that eventually you should get fortitude to 3-4.

Gangrel use claws which deal aggravated damage so they are the nastiest kid on the block in that regard. I dunno how it's implemented in Bloodlines, but the reason Aggravated is so nasty is because it slice right past vampires and werewolves damage reduction. They also have fortitude, so not only do they deal nasty damage, they can also take it, making them the Vampire version of a warrior-class.

Brujah is the solid fighter since they have potence (super-strength) and celerity (super-speed) as well. This makes them really nasty with a melee weapon in their hands. They do not have the resistance Gangrel does though so they have to rely on faster kills.

Nosferatu have potence as well but do not have the speed, they have to rely on obfuscate (not being seen). Toreador have celerity so even if they lack the strength they make up in number of strikes, regardless of weapon, but they are definitely weaker than the Brujah.

Ventrue is a social class that aren't optimized at dealing high melee damage. They lack both strength and potence. While they can up their regular strength, they need both dexterity and strength to boost melee, but only dexterity to boost firearms. Presence and Dominate are powers that can be used on a distance as far as I concern, even allowing them to deal indirect damage with the help of charmed foes.

So while firearms are somewhat underpowered, Ventrue do not have the necessary disciplines to make them effective in melee and may benefit from both the improved damage from a shotgun and the range. In turn they do not need to worry about getting shot thanks to their fortitude but if you are playing Ventrue you are going to want to optimize your social disciplines instead.

I dont finish many games, but these two hooked me in enough that I did finish both. Id give the nod to Bloodlines as the better game. 75% of that game was great, but the last 25% turned into not much more than a FPS. I played as a Toreador with a heavy focus on Celerity and Melee, and minoring in some firearm and seducing stuff if I remember correctly. I knew ahead of time that it was going to turn into a fighting game so I went with the "slow everything down and beat the crap out of them before they know what hit them" strategy.

I didnt get very deep into the corny backstories in KotOR much, but overall it was a fun game and decent story (if a bit too easy in the combat department). Both had kind of a console feel to them, KotOR (I believe it also came out on XBox) alittle more so than Bloodlines

KotOR, but trying to get KotOR2 anywhere could be a real problem these days. No idea why. Playing through KotOR without being able to get your hands on KotOR2 could result in quite a bit of frustration..