Arcanum build options and possibilities

Since I'll likely be diving into this sometime in December, I was wondering if you guys could share some basic build possibilities. You don't have to spell out every part of the build, just what it focuses on and a few pros/cons or what have you. I'd like to see what type of options are out there in the game and what some of you have played in the game.

Thanks!

Ogre. Pure melee, just grab a mace and start swinging. Don't get distracted with weird builds, focus on damage and defense, and maybe a tad bit of magic later on for some healing.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
Ogre. Pure melee, just grab a mace and start swinging. Don't get distracted with weird builds, focus on damage and defense, and maybe a tad bit of magic later on for some healing.

Awesome, thanks Carn! Hopefully will see more responses like this one here.

Standard mage is pretty easy and straightforward: pick up the dark necromancy college for harm and conjure spirit. Harm is the bread & butter damage spell, while conjure spirit gives you some additional content by talking to the dead. After that, the force college for shield and eventually disintegrate. And finally what I can the "convenience" college for disarm, unlock and the amazing teleport. The most important factor is keeping up high magickal aptitude, which means you have to forego tech. Main stat is willpower, while intelligence lets you keep up spell such as haste or tempus fugit running.

That said, I liked my non-offensive mage better. She focused on the mental and temporal colleges to disable her enemies (and later also on morph, turning them into sheep instead ) and had high charisma for plenty of followers, who did the actual fighting. Not the easiest character to start with, though.

My absolutely favourite character was a techie, but you need to enjoy crafting for this, as he spent a LOT of time going through junk to find components for his inventions. Started with explosives (and some throwing skill) for stun grenades, which are very helpful when you're a squishy scientist. Ended up focusing on mechanical engineering to build himself an army of robots. Same as with mage, the most important factor is to get your technological aptitude high, while intelligence is required for learning technology disciplines.

Tbh, I don't recall the detailed builds of each character anymore, but Arcanum is not a game where you have to min-max your character to succeed. Generally, if you have never played it before, then the one thing I would not recommend is a low intelligence character, because while the dialogues are funny, some important npcs will flat out refuse to deal with an idiot and you'll miss out on some content. It's great for a second playthrough, though.

I've always liked Tech-builds, like a dwarven gunslinger with some mechanical pets. If you want a powerful build though, go all in on a Summoner. As soon as you can start summoning Ogres you'll be set.

There are enough points to spread out a bit, which I generally like to do, so I end up with a semi-charismatic battle mage, with a series of buffs and summons, in addition to full melee skills.

It's worth pointing out that dragging around too many companions will lower the XP you get (I don't remember exactly how it worked, but I remember leveling up a lot faster when I played solo).

Oh yes, and aptitude (magical vs tech) is more relevant for magic than tech. If you're going for magic, you should max it, but if you're going for tech, you should just ensure that you always lean somewhat into tech in terms of aptitude.

Iirc, the number of companions actually doesn't affect XP. You get the same amount of XP, regardless of party size , as long as you're the one defeating enemies in battle. You don't get XP for enemies vanquished by a companion.

Originally Posted by Charna
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Your post makes me want to drop everything and start an Arcanum playthrough! Sounds like there are some great character build options. I love things like low intelligence impacting on gameplay, I've always meant to do a Fallout run with a big dumb brute for a laugh.

@TheRealFluent look forward to your impressions

Lol, me too. I've just realized that I haven't run a thief yet.

Regarding xp, afaik in Arcanum you gain it through quests, whenever you damage an enemy and whenever your party kills an enemy. Which is why a diplomatic character will level up much slower than a harm-spamming mage.

Originally Posted by Pongo
Your post makes me want to drop everything and start an Arcanum playthrough! Sounds like there are some great character build options. I love things like low intelligence impacting on gameplay, I've always meant to do a Fallout run with a big dumb brute for a laugh.

@TheRealFluent look forward to your impressions

Thanks man! I can't wait either. Although I have to finish up Fallout (near the end game) and Kingmaker (waiting on Dec. 6 DLC to come out) before really diving into Arcanum. But it seems like the type of RPG that is going to suit me to a tee, love the setting and massive exploration and dialogue fun.