Arcanum .

[Darth Canoli]

The problem is I don't want to spend points on more spells, and then later find out that what I really need is some other spells when I'm all out of skill points.
So this tactic seems the most cost effective one, especially since I don't have Repair skill.

Nah, you're afraid of breaking your weapons on stone golems so use your bare fist instead, it's simple logic...

 

[Shadenuat]

And kill yourself.

At least use shield from Force on Dog + Heal then.

 

[octavius]

Regarding the quest to remove the human prospectors from Falchon's Ache.

How literally should I take "NO BLOOD MUST BE SPILLED ON THE GROUND"?
Obviously my powers of persuasion is not up to the task, so I figure these are the alternatives:

1. I need to find some way to bribe William Bench. If I was sneaksy enough maybe I could wait until dark, then pickpocket him or pick that black chest and see if there was anything incriminating. BTW, how come that Unlocking Cantrip never works? Does it work only on magically locked chests?

2. I need to lure him away and then kill him. But if they got rifles, that won't work. Or maybe use that spell that knocks enemies back?

3. Aggro him, but beat him to death with bare fists. Then there would technically be no blood spilt.

4. I have overlooked something obvious.

 

[octavius]

NM, I figured it out.
Seems it's OK for blood to be spilt as long as I am not the one to draw it. Just park Virgil and that big palooka before taunting Mr. Bench.
So sillier and easier than I thought.

 

[VGMG]

how come that Unlocking Cantrip never works?

Unlocking Cantrip only opens locks if the difficulty of the lock is less than the magick aptitude of the caster.

 

[jackofshadows]

So sillier and easier than I thought.

Yep Dialogue is entertaining though. When I need to do this quest for the umpteenth time, I just turn auto-attack off and try to steal anything from them. Works every time (unless you're a master of stealing ofc). See above about unlocking cantrip, it works great (need to pump magic aptitude) but not silently.

 

[octavius]

So I ditched Sogg since the dullard wasn't providing enough mental stimuli for my character, and picked up Perriman Smythe the mage instead.
I thought he would cast spells in combat, what with him being mage with STR 6, a staff and a robe, but no, he charges enemies like a berserker instead.

What a fucking joke! He's doing like 3-4 points of damage, while Sogg did around 40, had more APR, and better AC. This is the worst companion AI I've seen since Ian ("Ooops! I have absolutely no control over this sub-machine gun") in Fallout.

Is there any point at all in having a mage join you? Will he resurrect my character if he dies or is it still game over? If he has the Teleport spell can I make him cast it?

 

[jackofshadows]

What a fucking joke! He's doing like 3-4 points of damage, while Sogg did around 40, had more APR, and better AC. This is the worst companion AI I've seen since Ian ("Ooops! I have absolutely no control over this sub-machine gun") in Fallout.

Is there any point at all in having a mage join you? Will he resurrect my character if he dies or is it still game over? If he has the Teleport spell can I make him cast it?

Yeah, mage companions are messy in Arcanum. They tend to use magic in real-time mode more often by the way. Or in both modes when there's a lot of enemies ahead. They absolutely can resurrect you, in fact you can just give any of them the scroll or the reanimator (depends on your aptitude). The slight problem is that there's still a short timer before the game over screen, they may not always made it in time. None of them can learn teleport, unfortunately.

 

[octavius]

Will there be more consequences than choices if I recruit a Technologist to join my magically inclined party?
I dropped Sogg, recruited Perriman, dropped Perriman, couldn't find Sogg again, so I recruited Sebastian (must be gay, since his love for me is 212). With 20 Dex and Per, an Elephant Rifle, as well as his lockpicking skills, I figure he will make a more useful (and diverse) addition.

 

[Shadenuat]

It depends on companion, Jayna wouldn't join but most others I think are ok to join mage.
Combat capability of non-melee companions is close to 0%, unless they are all dressed up as tanks in mega gear. You pick them for personalities and unique interactions with the plot (mainly Ashe, and either Raven or Z'an).
For maximum mental stimuli Garr the Ork is most fitting, surely.

 

[octavius]

It certainly makes me want to play a more or less pure mage if I ever replay Arcanum. Or it would, if it wasn't for the enemies beelining towards my character, ignoring the others. Lots of time Sogg killed enemies before they can even reach my character.

 

[jackofshadows]

Sogg killed enemies before they can even reach my character.

And were tooking away that sweet xp from under your nose! You just have to click faaaasstttteeeerrrr Well, you actually can either pump your defense (a simple force shield with max aptitude is no joke) or just kite, enemies do switch. Control spells are hardly worth the use. At least not with vanilla xp system (with modded 'full' system the game's balance is falling apart way quicker though).

And yeah, companions are care much more about your aligment, not aptitude. Unless you're a master of persuasion of course.

 

[octavius]

It's not the loss of XP that annoys me as much as the enemy AI.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Combat capability of non-melee companions is close to 0%

Ranged companions, either with bows, throwing weapons or guns do well enough, the game is balanced and even not so easy if you play on TB mode with ranged companions.
Melee + some key weapons was probably meant as a cheat mode so the dumb masses would be able to complete the game as well.

 

[octavius]

Combat capability of non-melee companions is close to 0%

Ranged companions, either with bows, throwing weapons or guns do well enough, the game is balanced and even not so easy if you play on TB mode with ranged companions, melee + some key weapons was probably meant as a cheat mode so the dumb masses would be able to complete the game as well.

So you found out how you could complete the game?

 

[Shadenuat]

Nah, bows only do real job in RT (also stack +Crit rings) and preferably on main character (then you can position properly for TB too), otherwise enjoy staring for hours at Raven shooting every arrow of hers into your dog, due to how these weapons work.
Gun companions are better.
Mages, sure they're bad, but so were Myron and Lenny, and you would still carry them around because they were funny.

I actually went through trouble of gunning down some Bludgeon-bros to pick up Bow of Ecclesiarches on my dumb pretty elf girl. And it's... ok, although not that much better than standard Compound.
I also got 4th companion, by lowering my karma betraying Bates & running around naked across Tarant for pickpocket Mastery (why? idk, cause I can and it's a DEX skill that doesn't increase my Tech). I am not sure it was possible to pick Torian as dumb without patches; but now I have virghooo, evil gnome, drunk ogre and nameless one in party + doggo and reached level 26. Maybe I will one day go to BMC.

 

[Darth Canoli]

I never use the dog, too much maintenance to keep him alive, just like in Fallout and in ATOM.
And if you can keep him alive, it means your party is overpowered and you don't need him anyway (and still, he could get killed if you get too much relaxed in a dungeon)

 

[The Jester]

Is intimidation dependent on certain statistics? as an ugly half-orc I want to intimidate NPCs to talk without me having to suck their dick, But every time I choose a dialogue that seems intimidating they attack me instead of being afraid.

 

[Shadenuat]

Dialogue checks can vary to some degree. There are checks for reaction, persuasion, stats, for intimidation - strength and even Melee skill.

 

[Ol' Willy]

I never use the dog, too much maintenance to keep him alive, just like in Fallout and in ATOM.
And if you can keep him alive, it means your party is overpowered and you don't need him anyway (and still, he could get killed if you get too much relaxed in a dungeon)

In latest Multiverse edition you can manually level up your companions so mage-dog is possible

 

[Darth Canoli]

In latest Multiverse edition you can manually level up your companions so mage-dog is possible

You can also do this with UAP but i never thought about going out of the melee build for the dog.
Would he use his spells though? Did you try it?
Doggo spamming harm and healing himself would be something.

 

[Ol' Willy]

In latest Multiverse edition you can manually level up your companions so mage-dog is possible

You can also do this with UAP but i never thought about it.
Would he use his spells though? Did you try it?
Doggo spamming harm and healing himself would be something.

I realized this too late to try it; my latest playtrough is on backburner since I mostly play OG at this time.

Thinking about it, doggo's mage related stats are too low to make him a good mage (and no equipment, duh) but I don't think that it is impossible given enough level-ups

 

[a good anon]

I never use the dog, too much maintenance to keep him alive, just like in Fallout and in ATOM.
And if you can keep him alive, it means your party is overpowered and you don't need him anyway (and still, he could get killed if you get too much relaxed in a dungeon)

He's one of the strongest melee fighters in the game, there's plenty of reason to take him. It's a lot easier to keep him alive than in FO.

 

[octavius]

Will there be more consequences than choices if I recruit a Technologist to join my magically inclined party?
I dropped Sogg, recruited Perriman, dropped Perriman, couldn't find Sogg again, so I recruited Sebastian (must be gay, since his love for me is 212). With 20 Dex and Per, an Elephant Rifle, as well as his lockpicking skills, I figure he will make a more useful (and diverse) addition.

Well, there's one consequence: healing potions and ressurection scrolls won't work on him. So Sebastian was killed by the Cursed Paladin and his chums.
First fight where it felt like the enemies had some AI; the Paladin Slaves targeted Sebastian, for example.

And Raven actually used spells; once to transform to a water elemetal, I think, and the other I'm not sure of. Annoying that there's no text feedback on spells cast, since makes it even harder to play the game "blind", especially if you'd want to Iron Man the game. Experienced players who have played mages will usually know what spells are cast based on visual feedback.

 

[Shadenuat]

Yeah if mage is high enough to cast elemental form they will and then rush enemy, and often fall from exhaustion from supporting such high level spell awakening after combat on the ground in their lingerie only.