Arcanum - worth a punt?

[Neanderthal]

If you keep Torian Kel right to the end, there's a nice little find that speaks to the lore.

Oh there's no way i'm getting rid of him. Only downside is that him and Gar are not interesting mechanically, think i'll have to change his advancement scheme.

Holy crap that Dwarf city is big enough! Hoovered up all of the quests around before seeing the kings son Randver, and damn that was interesting. Held a long discussion on the nature of Dwarves in Arcanum and their philosophy of stone and shape, passion and direction in essence I think, intertwined and yet still seperate. Apparently Loghain the Dwarf king believed he had violated his stone and shape by exiling the Black Mountain clan, and so had gone into exile. Really had a good natter about everything and because of that instead of having to trawl through another dungeon Randver showed me a secret passage to his fathers hiding place. I've got to say, why the hell couldn't something like this be implemented in the Black Mountain, would have made it so much more satisfying.

Taken a rest there, just about to talk to Loghain Thunderstone, hopefully find out what the fuck is going on, as I am really intrigued by all of this. My suspicion is that the Black Mountain clan were banished to the void like Arronax and Kraka Tur, and that he is using their technology to come back. Elves really are dicks. Stennar escaped somehow to warn Bates who might have the resources to stop Arronax, and the Molochean Hand were hired to stop Stennar's message getting through. Am I really Nasrudin reborn though? I was reborn on wings of fire, in hills shrouded in fog, kind of.

Think i'm officially hooked. I'm seeing so much content for tech users as well, got to replay as one I think.

 

[Neanderthal]

Sorry to ask but is this bloke in Stillwater pulling my pudding about the Stillwater Giant?

 

[Ladonna]

Is that where you have to catch one? Take up the offer and find out.

 

[Neanderthal]

Took your advice Ladonna, glad I did, thanks. Was roundly mocked in Tarant museum for bringing them a dyed blue rabbit, returned to Stillwater, killed the Giant hunter and set off for Qintarra a bit perplexed. I then came across a blue rabbit in the wilderness which transformed into the Stillwater Giant. Sometimes you really feel that developers are trolling you.

Just reached Qintarra after some pretty tasty action in the journey, absolutely beautiful music and pretty bloody good visuals.

I wonder if this caged blue rabbit has any use later on?

 

[Tigranes]

An alternative is to visit parnells first then the elf questgivers. Im sure you can guess how that goes.

 

[Neanderthal]

I think I might have missed out on some content with that Elf in Stillwater, Myrth was it? He seemed a bit conspicious in how he just gave me the location of Qintarra and then did nothing else. Had to persuade him that I was an Elf from another continent, but after that he just shut up. Odd.

 

[Snufkin]

My favorite build in arcanum is early elephant gun guy. First go to shrouded hills ignoring everything else. Get revelover by helping Doc with bank robers and become apprentice at firearms. Now its time to grind - you can get to lvl 8 without going to any big city. Build elephant gun using elixir of intelligence, get agility of fire and two charged rings for 20 dex. Now start pumping thief skills and do the quests. Keep pumping charisma a bit and persuasion. You should probably develop herbology a bit. Thats about it, you can get explosives tree to lvl 4. In tarant by buing proper manuals and schematics you can make electric full plate armor which has 45% DR. But real strenght of this build is that it finishes early as fighter so you can grind lvls easy in Tarant severs. Just build loads of ammo.

 

[Neanderthal]

Good tips, cheers.

Is Virgil any use on a tech run? Seems like that lass in Dernholm is made to replace him, but is her story as interesting, Virgil seems pretty much core to main plot.

 

[Jedi Exile]

Companions aren't that important in Arcanum, so you wouldn't miss much if you leave Virgil behind and take Jayna. She doesn't have a story at all though, while Virgil has (sort of).

 

[Carrion]

I'd suggest keeping Virgil around, even as a tech guy (or at least I did keep him around). He does strengthen the main plot quite a bit.

 

[Sranchammer]

Virgil has the best

 

[Tigranes]

You will see virgils questline this time, so no need next time. Virgil and magmus have significant content. Others dont.

 

[Neanderthal]

Yeah I don't think i'll need Virgil's sheparding on my next runthrough, and I don't think his spells'll work at all on a tech character. I'll take that Jayna and Magnus instead, probably play good alignment as well.

Visited a load of places in the forest and the Bedokaan swamps, did a shit load of quests and got a sweeeeet Arcane greatsword, that adds magic points and is making me interested in mastering melee and dodge, to add to my spells and persuasion. Think I might just have the points for that.

Finally went in to see the Silver Lady and was given a number of visions that were a lot like what the dead Schuyler patriarch told me, i'm a bit lost but I definitely think now that the Black Mountain clan were banished to the void to help Arronax escape, think that's the black place beyond the mirror with the black flame. The Molochean Hand seem to be being decieved. And a flock of ravens seem to be behind everything, though Raven seems to think that Min Gorad might be a Dark Elf name and that they are the ravens, which would make sense I suppose. Do they have the power to banish people to the void?

Off to hunt down Renford A Terwilliger in Tarant, complete a few quests on the way for the Dwarves as well and maybe report back to Loghain, where the hell have I heard that Terwilliger name before?

Got to say the interview with the Silver Lady was great, felt dramatic and mystical, not seen a foretelling done half as well in an RPG in ages. Maybe Kreia.

 

[Tigranes]

From a gameplay standpoint, companions can mean a massive reduction in difficulty, simply because they can be abused as distraction and spells like Tempus Fugit become exponentially OP with them. It's like Fallout companions but without the friendly fire. So a solo playthrough can be very fun from that standpoint - but you might enjoy having them around for various reasons, anyway.

The Terwilliger segment is a pretty nice bit of clue-chasing. Caladon has a nice smattering of quests - make sure you check up on their Thieves' Guild if you did so with the one in Tarant; otherwise, the police station, and the rich gnome at the southwest corner of Tarant that now appears, are both places not to miss. There are some easter egg locations you can stumble across in the World Map on that side of the mountains, though there are also large areas where there is nothing.

 

[Neanderthal]

Think i've missed the thieves quest content, I saw hints all over Tarant but they mostly told me to jog on.

 

[Tigranes]

They're quite fun, though at this point you might like to save them for a subsequent playthrough. Light spoilers on how to sign up:

Spoiler

You need to talk to a man standing in an alley in Tarant, the one where you turn left as soon as you enter the city, near the house where you get the elven tombstone quest. I think he will tell you the signup details if you've some thievery skills - but sorry, memory is fuzzy on that. One reliable way is to use Persuade to fool the guy at the Shrouded Hills bridge...

 

[Neanderthal]

Ah that's where I went wrong, killed that Lukan bloke in Shrouded Hills. Thanks for tip, think i'll save for next playthrough though, at moment fate points are serving me thieving needs.

 

[Old One]

Is Virgil any use on a tech run?

If you load up Virgil's inventory with bandages, he'll use those on you instead of casting his healing spells.

Arcane weapons don't degrade, meaning you can use them to chop up Ore Golems and that sort of thing with ease.

A thieving playthrough of Arcanum deserves a character specifically designed that way from the beginning, IMO.

 

[Neanderthal]

Arcane weapons don't degrade, meaning you can use them to chop up Ore Golems and that sort of thing with ease.

Now that's remarkably useful information, cheers Old One.

Came across something really interesting, the Stonecutter clan of Dwarfs was overrun by undead (lot of undead in this game) and fighting through them I found a chamber hidden deep in their tunnels that they had recently excavated. This was the laboratory of one Kerghan the Terrible, the first Human member of the Elven Council and creator of both Black Necromancy and the Derian Ka. Apparently his research was forbidden by Nasrudin and eventually Kerghan was banished to the void like Kraka Tur, but he went willingly and peacefully unusually enough, despite his great power.

The lore of Arcanum continues to enthrall me, it's very rich and organic for wont of a better word, the world has a really detailed background that makes sense in its fantasy. Reading the manual really just adds to this, I wonder how this Supernatural Selection that created the Elves thousands of years ago and changed the world actually occured? There's a book in Tarant library about Soot that seems to hint at something, but i'm not clever enough to get it, it's a real pisser when your characters are more intelligent than you.

 

[Konjad]

You will see virgils questline this time, so no need next time. Virgil and magmus have significant content. Others dont.

Magnus has a very interesting quest about finding his clan. I totally missed it the first time I was playing the game (I mean I did look for it but couldn't find it). It was very satisfying to finally find it during my replay.

 

[CrawlingDead]

Combat is not that bad.

It's not bad at all once you make it turn-based. The real-time was trash as hell.

I started out as an Elf magic user, think I'm going to jump into technology, haven't tried it yet.

 

[Neanderthal]

I am fucking loving the late game, especially Caladon, there just seems to be so much to do and see and great quests just springing out of the woodwork. Searching for Terwilligers book on T'sen Ang and the Dark Elves I am also acting as an emissary for the Tarant industrial council thanks to my persuasion skills, and I left behind so much content finished in Tarant, that I feel i'm really making a difference to the city and Arcanum. Virgil is carrying all the newspapers that brag of my deeds, and the stuff I stuck my nose into. I also have to confront the Prince of Caladon about King Praetor's daughter, which could be fun.

There also seems to be a murder loose in the city and Virgil has just wandered off to go look at a gravestone, IN A CITY HE SAYS HE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT, my hairy arse he knows nothing. Time to sort this shit out.

One decision is perplexing me though, should i try and ruin the alliance between Tarant and Caladon? My snooty Elf mage says yes, my completionist says no. I have the political future of the continent in my hands.

 

[Animal]

One decision is perplexing me though, should i try and ruin the alliance between Tarant and Caladon? My snooty Elf mage says yes, my completionist says no. I have the political future of the continent in my hands.

Just follow your heart.

 

[Leitz]

I just played through Arcanum for the first time and it was a let-down.

The main quest structure is boring. Talk to random person in random village to get your next clue. The other quests are mostly fedexian.

The combat is boring. Why could I never infiltrate some camp with muh guns like in Fallout, plucking one enemy after enemy. Using the environment. Using tactics. Instead the combat is plain -click on the enemy-. Occasionally you have to lure one out of a bunch.

The guns and steam punk features...boring. Not well implemented at all. I counted five steam engines (probably an exaggeration). Most of the time it's a generic fantasy setting.

The music is boring. Those violins were OK for an hour or two, but then I had to switch it off. Whenever I was in a new place I switched the music on again just to realize that this game has absolutely no good videogame music.

Good things to say: I liked to be treated like shit because I was a half-orc. As soon as I had a certain armor everyone called me barbarian. This game is weird.


tl;dr: Arcanum is not the top ten hit RPG that you guys made it through vote, it's not in the league of Fallout or Baldur's Gate. I'm playing Vampire Bloodlines right now, it's much better.

 

[Ninjerk]

The music is boring. Those violins were OK for an hour or two, but then I had to switch it off. Whenever I was in a new place I switched the music on again just to realize that this game has absolutely no good videogame music.

 

[likaq]

tl;dr: Arcanum is not the top ten hit RPG that you guys made it through vote, it's not in the league of Fallout or Baldur's Gate. I'm playing Vampire Bloodlines right now, it's much better.

Joined: Apr 13, 2015