Arcanum Arcanum beginner's advice

[Piotrovitz]

I went with multiverse for my first run and it was perfectly fine - supports hi-res, no noticeable bugs, couple of char backgrounds added etc.

 

[RK47]

Following tips are universal:
1. Turn based is generally better.
2. AG is pretty important for AP. STR for weapons requirement and damage. Even if your STR is below the weapons requirement, you can still equip it with penalties.
3. Melee Skill / Any weapon skill is important - because missing a lot is the least harm you could do - critically missing will hurt / kill you eventually.
4. Magic is as good as your magical rating. Some basic magic spell selections are really good - but will become less effective if you have a high technological rating. Without a high magic rating, potions may heal less...and do nothing if you're very technologically inclined.
5. For caster with duration spells like 'Fire Agility' 'Strength of Stone' buffs - they consume your stamina over time. Without a good CON, you're going to faint once the stamina hits negative. This is a bad thing. Try to have blue potions available.

 

[Tigranes]

Multiverse was fine for me, but a couple people reported weird things going on.

 

[Incendax]

Charisma 20 Playthrough.
Who are the most talkative followers?
I want a whole pack of chatty people.

 

[Egosphere]

multiverse edition broke in shrouded hills for me. It also had a bug whereby loading some games would make all of your companions attack you.

 

[Egosphere]

Charisma 20 Playthrough.
Who are the most talkative followers?
I want a whole pack of chatty people.

Magnus Shalefist in Tarant has quite a few dialogues, also connected to a big quest regarding ancient dwarf clan
Franklin Payne appears in Blackroot after you visit Caladon
Geoffrey in Ashbury has a few lines when you visit the ancient tombs
Torian Kel in the ancient tombs has a few words
Z'an in Tseng Ang has a good chunk of unique dialogue when you meet the dwarf king and one of the main characters near the end
Raven in Qintarra has several dialogues with the character, especially on Thanatos and before the end
Loghaire (?) never had him in the party so I don't know, but was told that he has some important contributions in some quests

Find the dog in Ashbury before he gets killed as well. He doesn't take a companion slot and is a good fighter.

PS: Raven and Z'an will not join your party if one of them is already in it, unless you pass a charisma and a beauty check ( I think )
PPS: Your morality will determine which will join you. Torian, Geoffrey, Z'an are evil and won't follow you if you have a positive karma. Others won't follow you if you're bad.

 

[octavius]

If I may butt in with a question...in the September 2000 issue of CGW page 35 it says Arcanum "is coming with a robust editor". Did that really happen?

 

[Incendax]

I’m using Drog Unofficial, High Res 1.5, HQ Towns, and HQ Music. I had some lag, so I followed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=755396888 and eliminated it completely.

Only catch was, if I reinstalled High Res 1.5 because I wanted to change a config.ini feature, I had to cut and paste the custom .dll again because High Res 1.5 overwrites it every time you install it.

 

[Tse Tse Fly]

Without a high magic rating, potions may heal less...and do nothing if you're very technologically inclined.

Fuck yeah Arcanum. I always liked to imagine that it's because the more technologically inclined characters are so advanced and integrated with technology that they simply do not believe that all that magical stuff actually works and deem magic as ineffective and obsolete, being firmly convinced in the superiority of technology and science. Like "Magic is fake, so it won't do anything to me".

 

[True Ukrainian]

Following tips are universal:
1. Turn based is generally better.
2. AG is pretty important for AP. STR for weapons requirement and damage. Even if your STR is below the weapons requirement, you can still equip it with penalties.
3. Melee Skill / Any weapon skill is important - because missing a lot is the least harm you could do - critically missing will hurt / kill you eventually.
4. Magic is as good as your magical rating. Some basic magic spell selections are really good - but will become less effective if you have a high technological rating. Without a high magic rating, potions may heal less...and do nothing if you're very technologically inclined.
5. For caster with duration spells like 'Fire Agility' 'Strength of Stone' buffs - they consume your stamina over time. Without a good CON, you're going to faint once the stamina hits negative. This is a bad thing. Try to have blue potions available.

6. Guns are only as good as your tech rating. Whenever you fire a gun, your tech rating is tested against your target's mag rating. High mag enemies can be completely immune to gunfire if your tech rating is not equally high. If you want to build a tech/mag hybrid, use grenades instead of guns since grenades don't need to pass the mag check.

 

[Egosphere]

If I may butt in with a question...in the September 2000 issue of CGW page 35 it says Arcanum "is coming with a robust editor". Did that really happen?

Yes. DarkUnderlord wrote a comprehensive guide on terraarcanum. Seemed like that editor was a complete bitch to use, though, which is a shame.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Here's a tip:

If you are playing a dwarf, don't get your clothes singed off. Clothes for Dwarves are not easily found and I was ridiculed to no end for my nakendess by all of the meanies.

 

[Black Angel]

6. Guns are only as good as your tech rating. Whenever you fire a gun, your tech rating is tested against your target's mag rating. High mag enemies can be completely immune to gunfire if your tech rating is not equally high. If you want to build a tech/mag hybrid, use grenades instead of guns since grenades don't need to pass the mag check.

Hol' up, does this also applies to using a tech-based melee weapon like Balanced Sword? Because fucking hell, it's so hard for my tech-char to have decent THC on those fucking golems.

 

[naossano]

be ERYFKRAD , refuse both magic and technology

Is it viable ?

 

[Darth Canoli]

Is it viable ?

Probably, you can use NPC without any tech or magic skills like the dog, Sogg, the intelligent orc, give barbarian swords to everyone it probably works all the same.

I think it's a shame not to grab teleport if you're not a techie though.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Tse Tse Fly]

be ERYFKRAD , refuse both magic and technology

Is it viable ?

I remember in one of my games (I've never completed Arcanum though) I got bored with my tech build and put all the remaining skillpoints into combat-related attributes and skills, thus converting my character to melee - and we were demolishing EVERYTHING. Actually I think close combat characters are the easiest type to play as and can be quite powerful if developed properly. You should be fine if you stick to it.

 

[Egosphere]

be ERYFKRAD , refuse both magic and technology

Is it viable ?

high strength, high dexterity character with points in melee and dodge is unstoppable. Get a decent blade and you'll destroy every encounter.

 

[new fucking guy]

Fists are actually a much better weapon than most blades if you equip one of the damage increasing gauntlets. There're even some options for the late game.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Egosphere]

Fists are actually a much better weapon than most blades if you equip one of the damage increasing gauntlets. There're even some options for the late game.

technical aptitude if i recall right. Sort of assumed that we are talking no magic, no tech items.
There are plenty of neutral aptitude items for each slot. Would be funny if there existed trait that is both tech&magic phobic. Was using bandages neutral? trying to think how to heal such character

even the war gauntlets can do the job if your strength is high

 

[True Ukrainian]

6. Guns are only as good as your tech rating. Whenever you fire a gun, your tech rating is tested against your target's mag rating. High mag enemies can be completely immune to gunfire if your tech rating is not equally high. If you want to build a tech/mag hybrid, use grenades instead of guns since grenades don't need to pass the mag check.

Hol' up, does this also applies to using a tech-based melee weapon like Balanced Sword? Because fucking hell, it's so hard for my tech-char to have decent THC on those fucking golems.

Yes. Use magical or neutral weapons against the golems unless your tech rating is high. Or just use grenades. Level 1 molotovs tear through them.

 

[Black Angel]

6. Guns are only as good as your tech rating. Whenever you fire a gun, your tech rating is tested against your target's mag rating. High mag enemies can be completely immune to gunfire if your tech rating is not equally high. If you want to build a tech/mag hybrid, use grenades instead of guns since grenades don't need to pass the mag check.

Hol' up, does this also applies to using a tech-based melee weapon like Balanced Sword? Because fucking hell, it's so hard for my tech-char to have decent THC on those fucking golems.

Yes. Use magical or neutral weapons against the golems unless your tech rating is high. Or just use grenades. Level 1 molotovs tear through them.

Now one thing I'm wondering: does the same logic also applies, but in opposite? Say, you try to cast magic against a tech enemies, like an Automaton for example.

 

[True Ukrainian]

6. Guns are only as good as your tech rating. Whenever you fire a gun, your tech rating is tested against your target's mag rating. High mag enemies can be completely immune to gunfire if your tech rating is not equally high. If you want to build a tech/mag hybrid, use grenades instead of guns since grenades don't need to pass the mag check.

Hol' up, does this also applies to using a tech-based melee weapon like Balanced Sword? Because fucking hell, it's so hard for my tech-char to have decent THC on those fucking golems.

Yes. Use magical or neutral weapons against the golems unless your tech rating is high. Or just use grenades. Level 1 molotovs tear through them.

Now one thing I'm wondering: does the same logic also applies, but in opposite? Say, you try to cast magic against a tech enemies, like an Automaton for example.

In theory yes. Low level spells like harm will barely do any damage to automatons. However, since mag is much easier to raise then tech, your stronger spells like fireflash can still be somewhat effective against automatons and the like, though you will need to keep chugging stamina potions.

There is a reason why lots of people bang on how combat is balanced in Arcanum. Mag protags generally have an easier time of it than techies. Techies also lose the advantage of easy healing without using consumables. Once your tech stat is raised high enough, all spells will fizzle when cast on you, including beneficial ones. Your only source of healing on the fly will be from the therapeutics line of skills, if you invested in them.

 

[new fucking guy]

Dude, healing as techies is trivial. Just take one point in herbology. Few hours into the game you can't talk to cashier in the fucking techstop without Healing Salves falling out of your pockets. The ingredients are literally everywhere, and you're crafting them in fives. That means you're getting 10 of them after every other wilderness battle, provided you gather every plant you see like a proper arcanum autist.