Arcanium Fast Travel

Strange. I've played the game at least half a dozen times, did a lot of click around travel, and not discovered most of the locations on that map. Off to find the cds …

I never did finish Arcanum. Despite three starts … and it was not because I wasn't enjoying it!! I *love* that game. I like the game system, the story line, the world. Just about everything. Bad things just seemed to happen each time I got just past what I believe to be the mid point. So I took that as a hint from the gods I shouldn't play it (no Corwin, I was *not* playing Arcanum earlier this year). How can a game with "Gar like tea" in it not be great? I ask you!

I loved this game. I took the shooter based on fallout experience but I was disappointed on how much it was nerfed. The friend I recommended the game to I told him to take swordsman. He maxed out at level 50 really fast so he stopped playing. I tried to help him implement the level cap remover but he ended up being level 100 instead and got confused b the various patches.

Didn't Co8 start off doing Arcanum?

It was clearly a game the Troikas loved with a fascinating Steampunk theme and detail after detail. More even than Baldur's Gate.

Alas, non-rpg'ers found the graphics ugly (the demo was a poor example). And the game had to be released too early for proper balancing due to the European development build (a late one) getting released on the IRC. The non fantasy theme, like Planescape, was too unfamiliar and it didn't allow for Multiplayer in the main campaign.

Did anyone ever finish the Gnome conspiracy? That was the freakiest quest I'd ever seen.

I still want to play this game someday. I plan on going the Techno route.
Is it possible to be a gunslinger and be good at melee also? I know there's not a lot of skill points to go around in that game.

Yep, it's possible, but you wouldn't be the worlds greatest inventor, you'd have to focus your inventions to a few categories instead of developing explosives, robots, guns and healing remidies all at once, in order to be able to focus on both melee and shooting at the same time.

So it would be better to focus on invention and melee OR ranged is what you're saying.
I heard that Melee is overpowered, is that true?

Also, how effective would it be to try to divide points equally between tech and magic?

Originally Posted by JDR13
Also, how effective would it be to try to divide points equally between tech and magic?

It would be like saying 'I don't want to play the game'.

The two are part of the core conflict of the game. If you are a mage you are shut out of many things and vice versa.

Haven't tried it out, but in theory, you could still use it. However, neither techs nor magick would be very effective and would just be a waste of points.

I see what you're saying. So it's definitely better to put 100% of your points in one or the other.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I see what you're saying. So it's definitely better to put 100% of your points in one or the other.

Yep - you get significant bonuses that way.

Definitely, I went as a pure mage type and couldn't use hardly any tech at all. I intended to replay it as a pure tech guy, but something else came along and I never did!! One day…

Originally Posted by JDR13
I see what you're saying. So it's definitely better to put 100% of your points in one or the other.

There is no better way around. It's up to you where you put your points - magic, techs, combat skills only, etc. You could beat the game anyway, as enemies are not that tough overall, and depending on your choise you'll have plenty of ways of disposing them.

I'm definitely going to play this game someday. I've got the box sitting in a plastic bin with a bunch of other great games I've never played. I might even start playing it while I wait for Gothic 3 to get patched up a bit better.

Definitely going tech. Just don't know if I want to be a gunslinger or a techno melee fighter.

Originally Posted by Arma
There is no better way around. It's up to you where you put your points - magic, techs, combat skills only, etc. You could beat the game anyway, as enemies are not that tough overall, and depending on your choise you'll have plenty of ways of disposing them.

You *could*, but when you look at the backstory of the game, that magical rift and the fundamental mistrust between the factions, it just makes sense from a RP perspective to take a side very stongly and very early.

Oh, I meant that it is not necessary to dump them in magic or techs only, but he can combine things - like a mage or tech using warrior/thief, or go with a neutral warrior or thief for example. And so on.

Viewing the backstory, the rift is shown to be of recent times. In ages past there was clearly a time where magick and technology co-existed quite peacefully, and probably there were magic using technologists (somehow I doubt that the other way around was such a popular idea, but that's just my view) in at least one place, Vendigroth.

Most powerful build is probably the battlemage build, where you focus on having 1 tree of spelldamage, 1 tree of summoning and 1 of healing combined with maxed out melee skills. You can solo the game then.

As for tech builds - go with anything you like JDR, just make sure you have a bit of charisma and bring along a bunch of mountain sized half-ogre NPCs and such and it's all good. There is no safer way to get through the game than having enough charisma for a bunch of followers, you can experiment with loads of different builds then and still win.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm definitely not going the Magic user route, I heard it was too easy. Besides, How many games give you a chance to go steam-tech in a world where magic exist?

Originally Posted by JDR13
….Besides, How many games give you a chance to go steam-tech in a world where magic exist?

Worth playing? Uhhhh … one? 8)

I started playing this game last week as a gun-toting techie. It is a bit slow in the beginning and tricky for non-melee types. Unless you go the magic route it might be worth spending one point on explosives for the molotov cocktail, a very fast weapon that can be thrown without any skill (just pick it up if you drop it on the ground). My techie started with one point in melee, charisma, and dodge, then pumping up int with some points in perception and as many as possible into firearms. You can use potions and items like the eye gear to temporarily boost your perception when you level up, that allows you to increase your firearms skill so that you can seek out better trainers. NPCs did most of the fighting and I used a rapier until I got the repeater rifle. After that it was a breeze. I should have stopped focusing on int once I had reached the hand cannon schematic though.

Currently I alternate between hand cannon (for easy enemies while travelling), the mechanised gun (ultra fast gun that makes as much damage per shot as the hand cannon but uses 10 times the ammo), and the electrical Tesla gun (does as much damage as the elephant gun but is a bit faster). The latter two require found schematics and high firearms skills, and in the Tesla case high electrical skill too. When dealing with found schematics you can use the manuals from the university to get a temporary tech skill equal to your intelligence so there is not really much need to raise the skills to the max.

The hand cannon and the elephant gun can be found through quests.

Electrical lvl2 allows you to make charged rings that each increase your Dex by 2. This is beneficial in a lot of ways (more attacks per round, initiative, and allowing you to raise dex-based skills). Dex is a good thing to pump for all characters, but it seems like you cant go above your racial max even with extra equipment, so for a techie human with 2 charged rings there is no point to go above 16 in natural dex.

EDIT: Having Dog in the party as early and possible makes the game a lot easier. I'll try without him when I play a melee character…

I pick up Dog in all games, as he can clear out those pesky stone golems you bump into from time to time without breaking weapons.