Arcanum Arcanum's difficulty

[LudensCogitet]

So I finally set out to complete Arcanum for the first time a few weeks ago, and I'm having a really good time with it.

But, it seems to have become incredibly easy. I'm level 35 with 18 dex (yay charged rings), 13 strength, and maxed out Melee. I'm using the pyrotechnic axe.

The Dredge was a cake walk at level 30. I am destroying every enemy in 2-3 hits. Is this normal? Am I over leveled?

I ask because the game is known for being buggy, and it was fairly challenging early on. Probably up to about the point I got Dog. After that he just bit everything into chunks.

I'm going to keep going and I think I'll continue to enjoy it, but it almost feels moot to continue building my character, as I don't think I really need anything else. Does the difficulty spike again?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I cast harm on this thread

 

[Wunderbar]

There is no such thing as balance in Arcanum.

 

[agentorange]

A CRPG that becomes a cakewalk after the mid/late-mid point? What an anomaly.

 

[Tullis]

Properly a little to late , but you could try the Arcanum Equilibrium mod?

 

[pidstuff]

The game isn't really difficult, though I did find Stringy Pete to be a bit more of a challenge.

 

[Butter]

The difficulty varies wildly based on build. Melee makes it hilariously easy.

 

[JarlFrank]

Melee is very easy. The Dredge is one of the hardest areas in the game. If you just sliced your way through it effortlessly... yeah, you won't encounter anything that'll challenge you from this point onward.

 

[Alphons]

For me the hardest part were Black Mountain Mines- ore golems and seething masses destroying armor and weapons of your followers and that fucker Gudmund just had to booby trap that long-ass corridor (let's just say that he survived only on 1 of my playthroughs).

Other than that Arcanum is pretty easy (unless you rush level 5 to that quest in Black Root where you have to close the portal).

 

[pidstuff]

that fucker Gudmund just had to booby trap that long-ass corridor

I don't know if this has ever been mentioned here before but there's a trick to it. Set your movement to fast turn-based, get into combat mode and you can just move wherever you want to move without triggering those traps. The effect is even better when you have companions as they are the ones most likely to trigger those traps.

 

[LudensCogitet]

The difficulty varies wildly based on build. Melee makes it hilariously easy.

Hilarious is the word for it. Moving through the pass on the way to Qintarra my companions and I were basically a natural disaster. All the wildlife would just fall into discrete pieces as we walked by. :D

Thanks for confirming my game's not bugged.

 

[deama]

The pyrotechnic axe is a famously OP item in arcanum, it's best to stay away from it for first time playthroughs.
At any rate, I recommend you try another build for your next playthrough, melee is pretty boring.

 

[Tito Anic]

Also there is op sword found in the Isle of Despair on a gladiator which is crazy fast and combined with max str, dex and poition of quikness transforms you into NEO.

 

[LudensCogitet]

The pyrotechnic axe is a famously OP item in arcanum, it's best to stay away from it for first time playthroughs.
At any rate, I recommend you try another build for your next playthrough, melee is pretty boring.

I can see why. Thinking about cranking the difficulty and ditching the pyro axe for Harrow since I'm a dwarf and it makes role playing sense.

 

[fantadomat]

As any good rpg,the difficulty depends on the skills of the player. Most of the codexers would breeze trough it in a day,while other people out there will die constantly to the wolfs in the first area

 

[Catacombs]

people out there will die constantly to the wolfs in the first area

who the fuck can't get past the crashed zeppelin part??

 

[index.php]

people out there will die constantly to the wolfs in the first area

who the fuck can't get past the crashed zeppelin part??

 

[fantadomat]

people out there will die constantly to the wolfs in the first area

who the fuck can't get past the crashed zeppelin part??

The first companion in the nu obsidian game .

 

[aeroaeko]

people out there will die constantly to the wolfs in the first area

who the fuck can't get past the crashed zeppelin part??

i died a few times

 

[Citizen]

i died a few times

Maybe if you play a non-combatant character and tell virgil to fuck off in the beginning, otherwise it's cakewalk

 

[Daze]

Arcanum: Of Swordworks and Dodging Obscura

 

[LudensCogitet]

So. I finished the game last night. In the end I went back to the Pyro axe. First, because it is immune to the weapon damaging effect some enemies have.

But second, and more importantly, because I came to the conclusion I'm sure many have come to before me: combat in Arcanum is just completely broken. A "difficult" enemy is an enemy that will completely stomp you with no warning, and the solution to that enemy is always something like throwing a stun grenade and wailing on it until it is dead, or getting several lucky hits in. All one does is trade blows until someone falls over. Intentionally prolonging that process does not improve things.

Makes me wonder whether I need to play Fallout again to check if the combat was any better there.

 

[Tigranes]

Level 35 is very high level. People's levels at different points in the game will vary greatly because of purposeful/accidental grinding etc., but the character system I would say is built to give you steady progression up to level 20 or so, at which point you have everything you need to cause apocalypse.

Arcanum combat also feels broken in very different ways based on your build. Tempus Fugit / Haste build and you're playing Matrix mode, for example, while a bowyer can get to a point where they're firing a million arrows per second.

 

[deuxhero]

Fallout is better in that there's less ways to get stupidly broken quickly, but that's due to comparative lack of build options. It's worse in the speed: You'll be begging for Arcanum's fast turn based option the first time you get into a fight in an area with non-hostiles (at the latest).

 

[Daemongar]

people out there will die constantly to the wolfs in the first area

who the fuck can't get past the crashed zeppelin part??

I'll tell you. I created a charisma based build. Had like .5 in Attack and .5 in defense, so I didn't completely ignore combat. Figured once I got to Terrant, I could play the way I wanted to play. A nightmare. I was constantly knocking myself out, dying, scarring myself. Yes, we all know you have to create a combat build, or grab specific spells, etc. There are millions of ways to break the game! Had to put every point for the first 11 levels into dex to get combat skills up to make the game manageable.

People still play Arcanum with random builds. It can be very, very difficult. But hey, you can do it too! Create that cute elf girl! Ignore combat, or give her heal spells because when you create a char you don't know a healer is standing there! Make an interesting mechanic dwarf! Quit bitching about how "broke" the game is and create that dream char! Not a cookie cutter you googled! Play that stealth char that doesn't cast, hot shot! Lets hear about your original build.