Arcanum Arcanum for beginners

[Wulfstand]

I've been meaning to give the game another go (after one failed attempt of a playthrough) for quite some time now, but I finally decided to bite the bullet once i saw this review. (the video itself I do not wish to discuss in this thread whatsoever)
At around the 5th minute mark, when I saw the player wielding both power armour and a gun+shield, my mind quickly asked 'You could do that?' and deciding that THAT would be how my next character would look like and play. Mind you, the main reason why I quit my previous playthrough was that the combat just felt dull. Now, to explain: I chose to play a persuasive mage, and after gaining enough points in charisma and persuasion so as to be able to have 5 companions around (the dog included), I simply decided to let the rest of my party-members do the fighting for me, since all I'd do was spam Harm. I didn't get to much into the story, mind you; I was at the point where I needed to grab a ship to go to the Isle of Despair.

Now, since I know that Arcanum is one of the Codex's most favorite rpgs, I imagine there's going to be a handful of people willing to discuss/explain the game's mechanics (as well as some of its gimmicks; the main reason I'd replay BG II once in a while was to try different builds with various items, basically min-maxing, in a way, sort of) for a beginner.
What stats and skills should I pump up the most? Which items should I be on the lookout for, and where/how could I acquire them? (I've read on some walkthroughs that there are rings which boost your DEX, for example) Is there a viable way to be both good in combat and have a high Persuasion rating? (Since I enjoy having as many dialogue options as possible; for example I loved how I could trick the gang of bandits guarding Shrouded Hills' exit gate) Do I need to go melee before grabbing my hands on a more powerful gun? Which crafting 'schools' are the most profitable? (better weapons&armor, more expensive shit to sell to the vendors) + any hints and tips that come to your mind.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Ask MCA for advice.

 

[Whisky]

Oh boy, playing a gunner can be annoying in Arcanum. First of all, invest in Explosives and when you reach Tarant, look around the schematics stores for Ammunition schematics. This will allow you to craft bullets for cheap.

Secondly, you'll want a better gun. For this, you'll either have to invest in Guncrafting or bear in mind that a Gnome in Tarant happens to have the Handcannon equipped, if your Pickpocket skill is good. If not, the rifle in Tarant's gunshop should do for now.

Yes, combat and diplomacy is feasible. You will have to be careful with your points, as Vanilla Arcanum does have a Level 50 cap. If you can, I'd put at least one point in melee just in case you run out of ammo at a bad time.

By the way, you do have Drog's Unofficial Patch installed, right? If not, get it.

 

[Eyeball]

Dumpster diving is the key to Victory. Essential firearm parts can be found in many of them as can the allmighty charcoal, which you need to craft bullets. Buy saltpetre from a chemist and you will never have to buy an overpriced bullet Again.

 

[Gragt]

Don't trust the skull.

 

[Wulfstand]

Oh boy, playing a gunner can be annoying in Arcanum. First of all, invest in Explosives and when you reach Tarant, look around the schematics stores for Ammunition schematics. This will allow you to craft bullets for cheap.

Secondly, you'll want a better gun. For this, you'll either have to invest in Guncrafting or bear in mind that a Gnome in Tarant happens to have the Handcannon equipped, if your Pickpocket skill is good. If not, the rifle in Tarant's gunshop should do for now.

Yes, combat and diplomacy is feasible. You will have to be careful with your points, as Vanilla Arcanum does have a Level 50 cap. If you can, I'd put at least one point in melee just in case you run out of ammo at a bad time.

By the way, you do have Drog's Unofficial Patch installed, right? If not, get it.

Yeah, I do have the unofficial patch installed. My main gripe is this: since I'll require a handful of intelligence for crafting, a bit of strength for using better armor (right? I'm not too sure about that last bit), perception for the ranged combat and charisma for persuasion, I might just end up being a jack of all trades of sorts, unable to really excel in almost anything. (unless I could gather items that permanently boost stats/the like)

 

[Commissar Draco]

You can craft high quality revolver in first Town you visit or got slightly shittier one from quest, get the schematics for bullets ASAP and comb every trash bin for carbon and salt&paper; Seriusly as a fledgling Technologist you will do the dump-diving a lot as those are source for many parts you will need. Playing as Mage especially Half Elven one is easy mode; try Dwarf or Half-Orc for added Racism.

 

[Jedi Exile]

Secondly, you'll want a better gun. For this, you'll either have to invest in Guncrafting or bear in mind that a Gnome in Tarant happens to have the Handcannon equipped, if your Pickpocket skill is good. If not, the rifle in Tarant's gunshop should do for now.

You don't even need pickpocket skill, just spend a fate point and you'll get an incredibly powerful gun. It feels almost like cheating. Bullets also aren't a problem, just rob some stores and you'll get plenty of them. In my experience, it's quite useful to have some bombs too. Molotov cocktail is easy to learn and make and there are a lot of ingredients (you'll need fuel and rags, the last can be found almost in every dustbin). In combat, Molotovs rock - they don't just damage opponents, they push them back and it could be very useful in tough battles. I've tried some different builds so far, but I always spend some points on throwing skill and make a lot of Molotov cocktails. Throwing weapons are kinda meh, but bombs rule.

 

[Kz3r0]

Oh boy, playing a gunner can be annoying in Arcanum. First of all, invest in Explosives and when you reach Tarant, look around the schematics stores for Ammunition schematics. This will allow you to craft bullets for cheap.

Don't, it's a waste, buy a manual at Tarant university instead.

Secondly, you'll want a better gun. For this, you'll either have to invest in Guncrafting or bear in mind that a Gnome in Tarant happens to have the Handcannon equipped, if your Pickpocket skill is good.

Or kill him and loot the body, you will have an option to start a fight during the conversation, more insults' exchange, just look out for the guards.

If not, the rifle in Tarant's gunshop should do for now.

Yes, combat and diplomacy is feasible. You will have to be careful with your points, as Vanilla Arcanum does have a Level 50 cap. If you can, I'd put at least one point in melee just in case you run out of ammo at a bad time.

Don't waste point in melee, invest in dexterity, that you can increase with charged rings, and the dodge skill.

By the way, you do have Drog's Unofficial Patch installed, right? If not, get it.

Totally this.

 

[Excidium]

Fuck off and play the game, this is not gameFAQs

 

[Kz3r0]

Secondly, you'll want a better gun. For this, you'll either have to invest in Guncrafting or bear in mind that a Gnome in Tarant happens to have the Handcannon equipped, if your Pickpocket skill is good. If not, the rifle in Tarant's gunshop should do for now.

You don't even need pickpocket skill, just spend a fate point and you'll get an incredibly powerful gun. It feels almost like cheating. Bullets also aren't a problem, just rob some stores and you'll get plenty of them. In my experience, it's quite useful to have some bombs too. Molotov cocktail is easy to learn and make and there are a lot of ingredients (you'll need fuel and rags, the last can be found almost in every dustbin). In combat, Molotovs rock - they don't just damage opponents, they push them back and it could be very useful in tough battles. I've tried some different builds so far, but I always spend some points on throwing skill and make a lot of Molotov cocktails. Throwing weapons are kinda meh, but bombs rule.

Actually thowing is not even needed, just aim to the ground instead of the opponents.

 

[Kz3r0]

Fuck off and play the game, this is not gameFAQs

The Codex is better:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=54412

 

[Kalin]

I played the game some time ago as a technologist and ended up with a similar build. In short, it is very much possible to be viable in combat and excel at persuasion, which you can actually focus on right from the very beginning. You do not need melee at all, and while you will not be some kind of terminator early on, you can manage most situations just fine if you pick up some meatshields, preferably half-ogres and charming grunts like Gar. They fight well and also double as excellent pack mules.

In regards to stats, you will most likely want some high intelligence to allow you to craft guns, grenades, gadgets and armour, and it will help your dialogue as well. Charisma and beauty are often boosted by quest rewards, blessings and items, but you should probably still invest a couple of points yourself as time goes by, and perception is necessary for firearms. Also, you will definitely want to invest some points in strength to be able to wield a proper mechanised plate (and even certain firearms) or else you will end up heavily encumbered and suffer severe penalties. If memory serves, the mechanised gun requires around 12 strength to wield. It is a mighty fine weapon and can easily last you throughout the game, though be aware that it uses up ammo real fast, so powerful one-shot firearms are indeed more viable later on, especially while deprived of access to shops (and they also allow you to use the shield-combo you seem attracted to).

Grenades are extremely powerful, especially the stun grenades which can immobilise entire groups of enemies for several turns. For some reason, they do not stun nearby allies, so you can literally throw them right into the melee and watch the enemies freeze while your lackeys hack away at them.

For dungeon exploration and thievery liberation of unjustly distributed goods you will definitely want the flow spectrometer and trap spinger, they are splendid tools and will assuredly help you avoid some painful and frustrating situations along the road.

 

[Xor]

Don't play a technologist for your first playthrough, it makes the game harder and more tedious than it needs to be. If you really must play a gunslinger, I can't give you much advice because my technologist playthroughs of arcanum pretty much never go well.

Here's some general advice to follow:
-RTFM. Arcanum has one of the best manuals of any game I've ever played; it's full of lore about the world and it also goes in depth about the game mechanics. It does lie about what some of the spells do, though.
-You get proportional XP for damage you do to enemies, plus a bonus chunk of XP when you or a companion kills something. So companions actually take away your precious XP if you let them do all the damage. My advice: use companions as mules and meat shields, but kill stuff yourself.
-Note that summons count as companions so using ogre warrior to kill everything will hurt you in the long run. If you don't care, ogre warrior will kill about 90% of the games' enemies in one round.
-Dex is the god stat if you're playing on turn-based (and why wouldn't you be?). Maxing dex should be a priority for pretty much any build.
-Beauty is trash. I don't think there's a single check in the game that looks at beauty, and reaction is less important than you might think.
-There are quite a few dialogs that require an int of 9 or greater, although I don't remember off the top of my head what the highest check is. If you know where these dialogs are, you can just quaff an int potion before going into the dialog. Since you probably don't know where these dialogs are, it might be worth it to invest a few spare points into int early in the game to keep your options open.
-There are a handful of dialogs that check charisma instead of persuasion. This shouldn't matter at all if you have a high persuasion.
-All stats have a bonus effect at 20, making those last 2 points you don't need to max out skills worthwhile in most cases. Having 20 charisma is pretty much mandatory if you want Raven in your party.
-Get your skills trained. Most skill training effects are incredibly useful.
-Weapons and shields can have strength requirements. Like in Fallout, if you don't meet them your to-hit is penalized. Unlike Fallout, the penalty is only something like 5% per deficit point of strength, so it's usually not that big a deal. Armor never has a required strength, oddly enough.
-Pay attention to encumbrance. You get lightly encumbered at something like 25% of your max carry weight, and every degree of encumbrance reduces your speed by 2. Try to stay lightly encumbered at worst. Use your mules!
-Check the various pages of your journal occasionally. You might be injured and just not notice because the interface does a terrible job of informing you when you are. Sometimes you might pick up a new reputation and not notice, and those are usually amusing. The rumors section can lead to quests that you might not have noticed.
-Protip: save a kathorn crystal from the BMC mines. It will come in handy later.
-Some personal benchmarks: I'm usually level 6 when leaving shrouded hills, level 14-15 when leaving Tarant, and level 20-22 when done with the BMC mines.
-Almost all of the backgrounds take away more than they give. Never take a background that reduces a skill if you plan on putting any points in that skill. In my opinion, stay away from any background that lowers more stats than it raises, and any background that gives you more starting wealth in exchange for a penalty.


And lastly, here are some build ideas that I've had success with in the past:
-Melee fighter. Max strength and dex, melee and dodge. You are now a walking killing machine. This can be done by level 20, so you have a shitton of skill points left to spend. Maxing charisma and persuasion isn't a bad idea, nor is investing some points in spells. Teleport is one of the most useful things ever, and minor heal is great for extending your life. This is probably the easiest, most flexible, and most effective build in the game.
-Archer. Max dex, ranged, and dodge. Put points in willpower and time magic. Be prepared to spend tens of thousands of gold on arrows over the course of the game.
-Backstabber. Max dex and perception, melee, dodge (optionally), backstab, and stealth. Since backstab doesn't require you to actually be hidden, only to use the stealth button, you can go into combat with something, get behind, click stealth, and kill it with a simple dagger.
-Mage. Put points in magic, it doesn't matter what you invest in as long as you have harm. Go nuts! Take the useless nature spells and troll people with entangle. Obviously willpower needs to be maxed. Be prepared to invest half your income in fatigue potions, or to spend hours waiting in dungeons for your fatigue to regenerate naturally.

 

[Kz3r0]

Armor never has a required strength, oddly enough.

It would be redundant, heavy arnor is heavy and count as encumbrance penalizing dexterity if you are not strong enough.

In my opinion, stay away from any background that lowers more stats than it raises

Depends, if you are focused on your build or know your Min/Max certain backgrounds are the best, for example raised in the pits gives a great boost to combat skills while penalizing intelligence and beauty, ideal for a dumb playthrough, and considering your suggestion about potions of itelligence it's always possible to use one in every meaningful conversation, if it's not very long.

 

[Gragt]

Also don't forget to equip the ring.

 

[Agesilaus]

OP, you did it wrong.

Thread title: Arcanum for beginners
Text: "Don't Bother"

You're welcome

 

[Roguey]

Since you've already played this for hours how is this a thread for beginners?

 

[garren]

Get charged rings asap (two points in electric), put one point in herbology so you can make healing salves (or get Jaina Stiles), salves are awesome and they heal everyone, be they magickal or technological. I wouldn't bother making guns, I mean most you can just find or steal in the game world long before you can make the best ones, I think there are a couple of good weapons you can make in the endgame but I always felt that the points could be better spent elsewhere. Up to you though.

Also consider the Miracle Operation trait, you can get the dexterity loss back pretty fast with the rings, strength you can invest a couple of points yourself, constitution loss kinda sucks in the beginning when you're weak as hell, but since you just stand back and shoot while others tank it isn't that much of a problem long term.

Oh yeah, grenades are pretty awesome, never used them myself actually but at least in early game they do tons of damage.

Minor spoilers where you can find some good guns and gear:

Spoiler

If you side with Pollock in the Boil in Tarant, he'll give you a Hand cannon, pretty decent weapon if you can get it early. It's pretty fun to figure out tactics to beat the tough muggers and what-not in the boil when you first get to tarant, all to get the hand cannon early. (btw. the gnome tip is good too and you don't have to face the boil early, didn't actually know about that one)

You can spend a fate point in Ashbury to pickpocket William Thorndop, and get the looking glass rifle. Also in Ashbury there's a simple quest to get your hands on a power armor easily, just dont give it back to the quest giver (he'll attack you though), or don't return the quest at all(or later when you find/make better power armor)

You can find the elephant gun by killing some poachers after you find the passageway over the mountains, they appear as part of a quest series in Qintarra I think. Also, Franklin Payne has one in Blackroot but he appears relatively late in the game.

Medical arachnid is awesome, you get it from Caladon in a quest (and schematic to make more). It follows you around and heals you, great if Virgil's healing fails often because you are a technological character (or you ditched him). To use the arachnid, put it in your quickslot and then click on the ground with it. Before Drog's patch it actually was bugged and didn't work at all.

 

[Kz3r0]

Minor spoilers where you can find some good guns and gear:

Spoiler

Also in Ashbury there's a simple quest to get your hands on a power armor easily, just dont give it back to the quest giver (he'll attack you though), or don't return the quest at all(or later when you find/make better power armor)

Spoiler

That armor is not a proper one, it's nerfed and doesn't give the strenght bonus.

 

[garren]

Spoiler

That armor is not a proper one, it's nerfed and doesn't give the strenght bonus.

Spoiler

Sure, but it's better than a lot of the other stuff you can find at that point

 

[Comrade Goby]

Use Cheatengine to give you good stats. Avoid shit combat.

 

[Leonidus]

Made a FAQ aimed at beginners for exactly this purpose available here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/914155-arcanum-of-steamworks-and-magick-obscura/faqs/63974

 

[oscar]

You could try out this dude's mod but perhaps it is best to do a virgin run first -> http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/arcanum-rebalance-mod.86669/

 

[Jick Magger]

Specialize in throwing and explosives.

Murder everyone with boomerangs and molotovs. Molotov ingredients can be found in trash-cans all over Tarant and in general stores of chump change.