First Risen 2 Game - Tips, Hints, Help ?

Hello everyone.
I am finishing up my Shadowrun HK game in the next few days probably and I wanted to play Risen 2.

About a year ago now, I had started the game to fool around a bit and did not really enjoy the combat system, but I thought since it's a PB game, I will probably enjoy most of the game/exploration/… anyway.

I was hoping I could get some basic starter tips from you guys (with minimal story-related spoilers, if possible).

I know I would like to play with the voodoo skills as they sound like the most fun to me, so I am interested in knowing which skills I should focus on and when I should start learning each.

For example, I know I can learn lockpicking at the start of the game from that prisoner. Is that worth it ? Or should I wait as there may be other more interesting things to use that money for ?

Also, regarding combat, is there a way to play it without having to roll around all the time ?

Any other beginner tips/hints ?

Lockpicking is a GREAT idea.
Dodge roll is so overpowered its ridiculous.
Like all PB games with dodge, you can finish it with level 1 sword with enough patience thanks to dodge/roll.

Try the puzzles without jumping to the internet for solutions immediately. I think you'll enjoy them a bit more.

Thank you both. I will keep that in mind. I might be back with more questions when I start

in the beginning keep patty with you.
dont let her leave.
if you do something do her leave , load and dont do it.
a lot of mobs will kill you in 2-3 hits

According to this guide :http://guides.gamepressure.com/risen…e.asp?ID=15286
The Voodoo skills are useless… Is this right ? Should I not bother ?

Most of voodoo skills are not useless. Just don't forget to beef up your black magic stat.
That guide sucks.

Voodoo isn't useless, but the guns are flat out overpowered in comparison. The main difference is that guns end up being a new "main" combat skill you can focus on. If you go with voodoo, you still have to use sword to deal damage. Voodoo does offer an alternate route for certain quests though, which is quite fun.

The way I remember it, only muskets are overpowered. You can choose to ignore them and play a pure pirate by putting all your skill points into blades, pistol, and the various pirate tricks.

Yes, I also recall firearms being vastly overpowered - but also pretty straight-forward if you don't want to go the complicated route.

I picked it because I have a thing for firearms in fantasy settings. I really don't know why

Around release, I seem to recall most people agreeing that Voodoo magic was the weakest path - but I guess they were wrong?

Yep, muskets (and shotguns) are overpowered. Very much so, especially the ones with a double shot. It's probably more fun to just stick with a more regulard melee build though.

Also, remember that you can get +1 in all attributes via collectibles, so never go beyond 9+1. That 10th point is very, very expensive. Also, alchemy requires voodoo rank 4 I think, and offers permanent potions, but only for the actual skills (the base herbs offer +1, the potions offer +2 for things like muskets, swords etc).

It's not just too much of damage output muskets, it's also kickarse sidekick Venturo you get if you go with inquisition that makes the game feel even more easy.

Voodoo is still more fun.

Originally Posted by joxer
It's not just too much of damage output muskets, it's also kickarse sidekick Venturo you get if you go with inquisition that makes the game feel even more easy.

Yep, he's very strong. I generally play through Risen 2 twice whenever I play it, just to experience both sides. I tend to save right before making a faction choice (fairly easy to notice when "The Big Choice" is incoming), and then just re-load it after I'm done.

Oh. Very important piece of advice: Remember to enter your save folder from time to time and clear out most of the saves. I do it after every session, and only keep the most recent saves. If I want to keep some old saves, I move them to a back up folder until I need them. The auto- and quick save feature is insane in Risen 2, and spams the save folder to the point where it's silly.

Originally Posted by Moriendor
That said, Voodoo is in fact complementary so you will also have either melee or some shooting skills (the highest levels of Firearms are Inquisition only but you can still become a competent gunner). I don't even want to know how overpowered a gun wielding Voodoo user would be.

Actually, voodoo + guns is only viable in Risen 3. In Risen 2, there is no way to get a good shotgun or musket when choosing the voodoo path.

Edit: Also, the only unique thing to voodoo are the sceptres, and they're fairly useless as they require such incredibly high skill before they work on anyone relevant. Alchemy, dolls etc are available to everyone from what I recall.

Edit 2: Oh yes, and a few quests can be solved in a unique way thanks to voodoo.

Originally Posted by Maylander
Actually, voodoo + guns is only viable in Risen 3. In Risen 2, there is no way to get a good shotgun or musket when choosing the voodoo path.

Edit: Also, the only unique thing to voodoo are the sceptres, and they're fairly useless as they require such incredibly high skill before they work on anyone relevant. Alchemy, dolls etc are available to everyone from what I recall.

Are you sure about the availability of skills ?
Most seem to say voodoo skills are only
Available to natives …


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Originally Posted by Pladio
Are you sure about the availability of skills ?
Most seem to say voodoo skills are only
Available to natives …

Not skills. Items. Skills just marginally increase how good you are at using the items.

Sceptres and muskets/shotguns are the unique items. Everything else can pretty much be obtained and used by both paths, but the "Firearms" set of skills is useless without muskets/shotguns.

Edit: Combat skills, that is. Lockpicking, Intimidate and Silver Tongue are very useful, as they are skill check based.

Ehh, depends on your tolerance for combat. Muskets are OP, but dull, really that's all you get.
Voodoo starts weak, needs more investment, but picks up later on, crazy unbalanced. It can also net you more $ in the long run ( though by then you probably won't need it).
But seriously what's more fun… play as birocraut with a musket stuck up his ass or a freaky shaka-zulu witch doctor?
Damn shame you could not join in with that witch dance, though.

Originally Posted by turian
in the beginning keep patty with you.
dont let her leave.
if you do something do her leave , load and dont do it.
a lot of mobs will kill you in 2-3 hits

All followers kind of serves as combat cheats ( attract enemy, while being unkillable), but that guy with musket is best option.
Grab him as early as possible on second island and you'll have a lot easier time, delay until final faction quest.

So, I am now on Tacarigua. It's quite fun, but I really dislike the dodge-fighting arcade. Luckily Patty is around to do most of the fighting for now. I found a temple like place, where a trap opens up a passage to a "Guardian", which looks like an orc from previous games.

I almost had him, but he one-shot me

In terms of further questions:

1. Game seems to stutter quite a bit. Is this something in my settings or is there some ini fiddling required ?

2. I have a lot of loot. How do I know what I should/can sell without selling important items or even just random items that could be useful later on ? (e.g. plates and goblets had quests for them in Gothic 2, and in this game I have a few "Icons")

3. Should I skill up anything in particular before seeing pirates ?

4. How does the damage formula work in this game ? Is it the weapon primarily or your blade skill for example ? Reason for question is if it's worth me putting points into Blades at the moment or if I should focus on Cunning to get pickpocket and lockpicking ?

I have been able to get lots of Glory going into the jungle with Patty and I now also have pickpocketing as a skill. My next stop would be the pirates. I'll probably go there the long way through the jungle as there are some nice treasures hidden about.

Anyone able to help with the questions above ?
Especially question 1 ?

What are your system specs? I remember having some stuttering, but I thought that was due to the game being new at the time. Iirc, lowering the shadows down one notch in the settings made a significant difference.