Gothic Gothic is fun

[Tavar]

Well let's see, I did all the quests for the master craftsmen in Khorinis and became Bosper's apprentice. Then went to the Farm, passed Torlof's test (using help from Lares / Cord), recovered Cipher's weed, and beat up Buster, Fester, Raoul, and Rod. The novice fire mage in Khorinis told me you can't get into the Monastery without paying 1000 gold so I figured there were no quests to be had there unless you planned on becoming a mage.

So I went ahead and joined Mercs and just need to take Lee's message to Hagen to advance to Ch2. I haven't gone with Lares to deliver the amulet, completed any of the Ring of Water quests, or joined the Thieves Guild (not sure how you even do that) but it sounds like I'll probably be able to still clear those in Ch2.

My recommendation is to leave the Ring of Waters quests until Chapter 3 as you'll probably get your ass handed to you in the addon area if you walk straight in. I never liked the quests the Thieves Guild had to offer, but you should go there anyway as some items (e.g. Bosper's missing bow) are located in their hideout. Also, pickpocketing is super good if you are playing a dexterity based build as it gives a lot of xp over time. Here's how you get into the thieves guild:

Spoiler

Go to the bar in the harbour and talk to the patron. He'll offer to give you information for money. Ask him about special work. He'll refer you to a customer in the bar. Talk to the customer who'll give you a quest. You can either do the quest or report him to the Lord André to put him behind bars. In any case, the bar patron will tell you to meet someone named Attila in a secluded corner in the harbour during your next visit. Attila will either invite you into the guild or try to kill you (and he's quite strong). In any case, you'll get a key from him which you can use on the door in the harbor (i.e. in the water). To find the door, jump into the water and swim to the right. Shortly after the wall of the harbour ends, there's a door. With the key, you can open it and you'll find the thieves guild inside.

On an unrelated note: If you experience bluish tearing of your screen in certain areas, turn off "volumetric fog". That solved the issue for me.

 

[Shadenuat]

6 Fireballs to kill a zombie. That is ludicrous.

BTW Depends on zombie, in NOTR they die to ice lance or two.

I just killed 20 zombies in underwater tower in G1, each takes 2.5 charged fire storms. That's actually way more annoying and way longer.
Aside from that, G1 magic is definitely not very balanced - you just stunlock enemies and kill them as long as you have mana, and only later enemies seem to resist spamming firestorm. So damage spells > summons > damage spells in G2 is not much worse. And I felt like G2 has more times you want to use sleep or other spells than G1.

 

[Cryomancer]

each takes 2.5 charged fire storms.

What? Fully charged storm of fire deals 500 damage on G1. They had 1250 hp? Not even orc warriors can soak a single fully charged storm of fire. And use Death to the undead against this creatures. It is OHK on G1.

But yes, IMO magic is trash on G2.

I suggest this topic https://www.reddit.com/r/worldofgothic/comments/9onlcq/magic_sucks_balls_in_gothic_2_notr/

"A properly skilled and equipped character can reach 120 in a desired stat by the end of chapter 2 which roughly translates to 240 damage on a critical hit; a mage will be stuck with 75 or 100 damage until chapter 4 - where it jumps to 150, which isn't even enough to scratch the weakest dragon and 9HKOs an Orc Elite. Compare that with a 120 STR, 160 DEX and 100% bow Paladin pure STR close combat character would probably also have enough LP to put up a decent fight. I guess mages become good again in chapter 5 there you can summon Demons and let it rain fire but at that point you have already finished the meat of the game with a gimped character."

And he is completely right. Crossbows >>> Magic on G2 by a long shot. While your crossbow is dealing 200 damage, your magic is dealing 75 and you ran out of mana after few casts.

This is much better than distributing sausage in a all male monastery

 

[Shadenuat]

Orc warriorz definitely soak storm, and even guards in free mine (saving orc for making ulu mulu) do. I hoped on rain of fire but it does seem meh. Melee is much easier due to weaker enemy armor thresholds and crazy amulets of STR. No skill in melee even required.

Magic is a lot easier to aim and hit everything from distance in the beginning. You'll drink some pots to keep up instead of using arrows. No big deal.

Firestorm superstun in G1 is just too easy.

 

[Murk]

Zombies only have 100 fire defense (according to worldofgothic) and 250 HP, so a single fully charged fire storm should insta-gib 'em in G1.

 

[Shadenuat]

Well finished game again anyway. Game could use a remaster, not that kind we're getting, but to add more dialogue and stuff like 4 bros meeting. And remake Sleeper fight, honestly seems made for you and companions to put swords in.
Unlike some I did not find temple that bad, maybe not best designed dungeon but relatively simple, even if whole Uriziel thing with cave and a diary is a bit obscure.

That robe Xardas gives you is badass.

Balance, there isn't one, especially in the end.

Sleeper indeed has power of sleep I almost slept through the fight. I like him being just some lolrandom cosmic horror instead of wooo u're supposed to be champion of innos, dragon is manifest of beliar, whatever, fuck that. In a sense ending of G1 makes you imagine a different next game, where you don't turn into hobo again, but go out of the barrier as a old hero and forge your fate in a bigger world or something.

 

[Cryomancer]

Game could use a remaster, not that kind we're getting,

I would welcome a remaster. A remake is a different idea. And a remake with dialog wheels(a thing that even bugthesda saw that is awful), a ultra low lethality combat where you can be bitten in the neck multiple times by a wolf as a lv 0 unarmored "commoner", a combat mostly about reacting to icons, nonsensical armor design, consequenceless explosions in the most vital area of the colony(trade exchange zone), hero fighting snappers at lv 0, diego treating the hero like a chosen one, instead of as anyone else, potions that insta teleport to your belly with no drinking animation(...)

 

[Murk]

If someone wants to do a near 1-to-1 remake the way daggerfall unity was done, sure.

I'd also be okay if it was done, in say, Risen 1's engine.

The remake that was demo'd by THQ nordic can fuck off.

 

[Zanzoken]

I don't think a culture which upholds Skyrim and Witcher as the pinnacle of action RPG design can produce a good Gothic game.

Thankfully the old games still play just fine, and I say that as someone who is brand new to them, so no rose-colored glasses tinted by nostalgia. I'd love to see more games like Gothic get made, but for that our best hope is PB with Elex 2, or indies.

 

[Zanzoken]

I am bored to death by this Jharkendar section.

There's really nothing wrong with the area per se, but honestly I just don't think the game needed a third map to explore, or another bunch of sidequests to interrupt the already snail's pacing of the main plot. And I don't really give a shit about Raven -- who I barely saw in G1 even though I was a member of the Old Camp -- or asshole Greg and his goofy pirates.

Wish I had just played G2 vanilla and maybe saved the expansion for a later playthrough. It doesn't come with the Gold edition anymore, but I read on their forums that GOG will still give you a vanilla installer if you ask for it.

 

[cretin]

how the fuck does dodging work in gothic 1?

I see all these posts saying you're supposed to dodge back with monsters, but it only ever seems to result in me being hit no matter what. What am I missing here?

A combination of learning audio cues and animations, basically.

Anyway, here's a shitty video of it to show what I meant.

Ok am I crazy or is it basically impossible to dodge the scavenger's peck? I can sidestep their charge just fine of course, but regardless of what timing i use on the hop back they ALWAYS hit me with the peck.

 

[Murk]

how the fuck does dodging work in gothic 1?

I see all these posts saying you're supposed to dodge back with monsters, but it only ever seems to result in me being hit no matter what. What am I missing here?

A combination of learning audio cues and animations, basically.

Anyway, here's a shitty video of it to show what I meant.

Ok am I crazy or is it basically impossible to dodge the scavenger's peck? I can sidestep their charge just fine of course, but regardless of what timing i use on the hop back they ALWAYS hit me with the peck.

Are you using a 2-handed weapon?

Scavengers attacks are a bit weirder in their range/pattern, but they can be dodged for sure with a 1-hander. 2-handers have a slight delay which can trip you up in the timing though.

This is mid-mod (L'Hiver) but their attack patterns are the same. First one I spawned spazzed out, probably from the location, but was kinda funny so I left it in.

If you're still early on, you can use ranged weapons to kill scavengers, even at point blank, since they do more damage than melee until you can get your melee skill up to be semi-consistent in when you crit.

 

[Tavar]

I am bored to death by this Jharkendar section.

There's really nothing wrong with the area per se, but honestly I just don't think the game needed a third map to explore, or another bunch of sidequests to interrupt the already snail's pacing of the main plot. And I don't really give a shit about Raven -- who I barely saw in G1 even though I was a member of the Old Camp -- or asshole Greg and his goofy pirates.

Wish I had just played G2 vanilla and maybe saved the expansion for a later playthrough. It doesn't come with the Gold edition anymore, but I read on their forums that GOG will still give you a vanilla installer if you ask for it.

Having very recently replayed the game with NOTR, I completely agree with you. The addon content also feels strangely unfinished as there is so little you actually do. The whole purpose of the pirate camp is to get the bandit armor, afterwards it is compeletely irrelevant. And the bandit camp is more or less killing one guy in a duel again and again until you arrive at Raven. There are quite few sidequests and they are not particularly interesting. The whole story is dull and the water mages are completely useless even though everything is supposed to be so urgent. It also doesn't help that the bandits consist mostly out of recycled Gothic 1 characters and models. It made me feel like I'm playing a mediocre fan mod. Oh, and switching between the bandit armor and your proper one all the time is a pain in the ass.

 

[cretin]

how the fuck does dodging work in gothic 1?

I see all these posts saying you're supposed to dodge back with monsters, but it only ever seems to result in me being hit no matter what. What am I missing here?

A combination of learning audio cues and animations, basically.

Anyway, here's a shitty video of it to show what I meant.

Ok am I crazy or is it basically impossible to dodge the scavenger's peck? I can sidestep their charge just fine of course, but regardless of what timing i use on the hop back they ALWAYS hit me with the peck.

Are you using a 2-handed weapon?

Scavengers attacks are a bit weirder in their range/pattern, but they can be dodged for sure with a 1-hander. 2-handers have a slight delay which can trip you up in the timing though.

This is mid-mod (L'Hiver) but their attack patterns are the same. First one I spawned spazzed out, probably from the location, but was kinda funny so I left it in.

If you're still early on, you can use ranged weapons to kill scavengers, even at point blank, since they do more damage than melee until you can get your melee skill up to be semi-consistent in when you crit.

nah i found out what the problem is - you're doing this in G2.

I just started playing G2 NOTR and the dodge back actually works, even on scavengers. In G1, it just doesn't - you get hit by the scavengers peck regardless of timing, and only can dodge their running attack. Probably just one of several mechanics that were polished for G2.

 

[Murk]

Dunno how I failed to register that you were playing G1, cretin. That's my bad.

I loaded up G1 to try it and you're absolutely right, there really is no way (or a window so tiny it may as well not exist) to time the dodge. I guess the advice the hunters give you at the start is spot on -- hit them and don't stop hitting them.

 

[Murk]

S0rcererV1ct0r I realized the thing causing my issues were the D11 drivers, so I got rid of those and returning now works bug-free.

I gotta ask, is stamina going to be a hindrance the whole time or do you end up with enough from just leveling up naturally that you don't need to invest points? Because right now, especially in early game, it basically makes exploration pointless since I can't outlast enemies and swimming seems impossible given how much it drains. And it takes so goddamn long to regen too.

Also, wtf with the giant spiders. Dick move rooskies, dick move.

 

[Cryomancer]

I gotta ask, is stamina going to be a hindrance the whole time or do you end up with enough from just leveling up naturally that you don't need to invest points? Because right now, especially in early game, it basically makes exploration pointless since I can't outlast enemies and swimming seems impossible given how much it drains. And it takes so goddamn long to regen too.

Depends a lot. For martial classes, stamina is extremely important but there are a lot of ways to restore it. Like using potions food, and other things. I never played returning as a martial class. Only played as a water and dark magician, so I can't help you much. I installed returning only for this two guilds. So I can't help you with it. However, RPG Russia has a lot of content for returning "but is in Russian" google translate works fine.

Other thing that I can say is that there are permanently stamina potions and other sources of perma stamina in game. If I would play as a martial class, I honestly would invest a little into stamina but not a lot. But again, it is not a good hint for someone who never played returning in a martial guild. Are you playing in which difficulty? Because legendary is for masochists. Hard is very hard without a guide.

 

[Murk]

I gotta ask, is stamina going to be a hindrance the whole time or do you end up with enough from just leveling up naturally that you don't need to invest points? Because right now, especially in early game, it basically makes exploration pointless since I can't outlast enemies and swimming seems impossible given how much it drains. And it takes so goddamn long to regen too.

Depends a lot. For martial classes, stamina is extremely important but there are a lot of ways to restore it. Like using I never played returning as a martial class. Only played as a water and dark magician, so I can't help you much. I installed returning only for this two guilds. So I can't help you with it. However, RPG Russia has a lot of content for returning "but is in Russian" google translate works fine.

Other thing that I can say is that there are permanently stamina potions and other sources of perma stamina in game. If I would play as a martial class, I honestly would invest a little into stamina but not a lot. But again, it is not a good hint for someone who never played returning in a martial guild.

That's fair, I do plan to go mage (try that necromancer route) but wanted some melee for early game. I got two-handed up to 30% and the new moveset is..... awful. It's kind of mind-boggling how some things are pretty well done and other things are painfully horrible. I may just skip it and join up with a guild super fast to get access to magic.

Thanks anyhoo.

 

[Cryomancer]

I gotta ask, is stamina going to be a hindrance the whole time or do you end up with enough from just leveling up naturally that you don't need to invest points? Because right now, especially in early game, it basically makes exploration pointless since I can't outlast enemies and swimming seems impossible given how much it drains. And it takes so goddamn long to regen too.

Depends a lot. For martial classes, stamina is extremely important but there are a lot of ways to restore it. Like using I never played returning as a martial class. Only played as a water and dark magician, so I can't help you much. I installed returning only for this two guilds. So I can't help you with it. However, RPG Russia has a lot of content for returning "but is in Russian" google translate works fine.

ADVICE : Do not learn this things before becoming a necromancer. Otherwise, you will waste INT

Other thing that I can say is that there are permanently stamina potions and other sources of perma stamina in game. If I would play as a martial class, I honestly would invest a little into stamina but not a lot. But again, it is not a good hint for someone who never played returning in a martial guild.

That's fair, I do plan to go mage (try that necromancer route) but wanted some melee for early game. I got two-handed up to 30% and the new moveset is..... awful. It's kind of mind-boggling how some things are pretty well done and other things are painfully horrible. I may just skip it and join up with a guild super fast to get access to magic.

Thanks anyhoo.

But are you playing on hard/legendary? Because necromancer spells require a lot of LP and has the highest gold and LP cost in game. After you become a novice of darkness, you will need to train your mind and mana for a long time. To get int, read a lot of books. In Khrorinis, in the monastery of fire mages, you can find others to read, mainly if you lockpick the library. Then learn alchemy from Sagitta and the mana recipes. Purchase the "novice belt" which enhances your int by +5 points and learn the language of ancients from water mages on the pyramid. You should have above 30 INT after it. And save scrolls for the initiation into the circle of darkness.

If you have trouble with the quest,

Spoiler

Kill Opollos, the guy in front of sheeps in the monastery. You can climb in the roof and attack at night time about 10 pm where most fire mages are sleeping. Nuke him at range or lure him outside of the monastery if you can open the door. After it, be sure to have about 3K gold and some LP to purchase the reagents and learn how to make the rune arrow of darkness.

On chapter 2, you can learn mana regen which is vital to not spend dozens of gold in potions

Other thing. Join the hunters guild. They give a lot of income and you will need a lot of gold to play as a necromancer.

EDIT : You only get int bonus AFTER becoming a novice of darkness. Don't learn alchemy and language of ancients before it, otherwise you will probably have to use a God's gift on Innos/Beliar shrine for +int.

 

[toro]

Question about Gothic 3: What is the most fun build?

 

[Murk]

Question about Gothic 3: What is the most fun build?

You can do an "omni build" semi-consistently if you play using vanilla balancing; if you use the alternate you can optimize for two-three methods depending.

I like to always use a little ranged action since it's quite fun to do archery (crossbow is very slow until you get to the third tier of skills for it).

But mage, basically. Get the mana regen skill and you're good to go. It will make things almost *too easy*. Otherwise I like to do very long reaching two-handers (halberds mostly) and bow.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

if you use the alternate

didn't find the alternate balancing fun at all tbh, never felt like I was getting stronger which killed any sense of progression

 

[toro]

if you use the alternate

didn't find the alternate balancing fun at all tbh, never felt like I was getting stronger which killed any sense of progression

This is what drove me crazy as well.

I started increasing STR then I realized that I want to change to ranger because melee combat in G3 is absolute trash. My enthusiasm went south when I realized that I have to grind 4 levels + another 25 LP for Master Archer. Fuck this.

I got really mad and I restarted in order to get Quick Learning asap (it took 2 hours or running around):

So, I have the character above but I cannot decide on which path to follow: melee sucks, ranger is somewhat ok, magic is boring.

The game world is outstanding and I want to finish this game but I have no enthusiasm thinking about hours and hours of lame combat.

Edit: Actually there is only one answer: ranger/mage ... but I hate being forced to make this "choice".

 

[Murk]

I never enjoyed melee in G3, but in my last run I tried to make use of long ranged weapons -- halberds especially. It's not as fun as being able to combo/dodge like in G2, but you can keep many enemies at bay with the fast attack from a long weapon as it has a big arc and hits many enemies. Useful especially for large herds like when Bison or lurkers attack en masse. The spinning attack can also do quite a bit of damage if you prefer to be aggressive.

Otherwise yeah, ranger mage is pretty much the way to go. Crossbows reload time is way too long, but if you get the tier 3 skill, it's about on par with a bow in terms of speed. It's also one of the few skills in the game that actually affects combat performance (other than the bonus damage ones).

If someone somehow found a way to import Gothic 3 into Risen 1's engine, something like a baldur's gate tutu, it'd be quite the treat.

 

[Cryomancer]

Gothic is all about committing orc genocide. Change my mind.