Replaying Bloodlines...

[Flink]

I'm thinking about replaying Bloodlines going the route of a sneaky Nosferatu using hand to hand combat or a Tramerie blood mage.

Anyway, could someone advice me which mods/patches to install if any? Any performance tweaks that could make it run a bit smoother?

I'm not sure if I'll finish it or if I'll cheat the last bit of the game. Can these two character types cut it? (not counting the last parts of the game)

 

[Rat Keeng]

As far as mods and patches go, you could get the unofficial 1.8 patch. It fixes some bugs, but also makes some big changes here and there. Aside from that, there's a mod that adds histories to character creation, though i wouldn't know where to find it. One thing to keep in mind, is that clan-specific content is minimal at best. I've played almost through with a Nosferatu, and a bit with Tremere, both disappointed me somewhat.

Tremere usually gets a few dialogue lines here and there about how they aren't trusted, and that's about it. You get a new kewl haven, but it has no special functions, and you get it later in the game than the regular one, so no upside there either. Blood magic sounds cool and all, and it does have some spectacular effects that are lots of fun to watch, the problem is staying alive long enough to get to watch them, as you're pretty limp in combat otherwise.

Don't get me wrong, it can be a fun clan to play if you carry a zillion blood packs at all times, and stay out of harms way, but it's still nowhere near as unique as it should be.

Nosferatu are interesting to play, if you walk up to any normal person in the street, you get an instant masquerade breach, which is fun at first, but gets annoying later on. You get a bunch of new responses from people, but again, it's one or two new lines, they're completely superficial, and usually have no impact on the rest of the person's dialogue. Other Nosferatus in the game also have very little to tell you, that they wouldn't tell anyone else. As if the main quest wasn't linear enough, it also treats you the same no matter what clan you are. Such a shame. Nosfs also get a new haven, but it doesn't even have a working TV, and you get it even later than the Tremere one, so that's just more bad news.

Obfuscate only works against weaker enemies, and lags up the game even more than usual, so don't rely on it or anything. I used Animalism and had a blast with it, particularly the spectral wolf and bloodsuckers' communion traits, tons of fun when combined with sneaking. But again, like blood magic, these effects don't hold up against supernatural creatures, and the Hollywood sewers is still the frustrating shithole it's always been.

 

[Crichton]

I played through bloodlines the first time as a sneaky nosferatu gunman and it was ok. I had that fan-patch thing installed so I don't know what difference it made, but I only got the mascarade violation thing when cops or other combatants spotted me in on the streets, civilians just ran off and the game didn't care.

With high dex + high stealth + the occational obfuscate, I could sneak past anything except zombies and werewolves including the stuff in the sewers. Unfortunately the game forces you to kill bosses so sneaking past them won't work and you can't stealth-kill them. At the end of the game with that suped-up automatic scoped rifle, it didn't matter. But I couldn't defeat biship vick the first time I fought him (eventually came back with the flamethrower and roasted him) and I had to kill the big spider thing in the sewers by climing onto the railing and pecking at her with headshots from the .38.

The h-t-h nosferatu is probably smarter, you'll get bonus damage with obfuscate and I did most of my fighting early on with my fists to save ammo (and because the early guns are such garbage, 3 head shots won't kill a cop). On the other hand, that big squid-bitch won't be easy with a low-HP, low-armor sneaky h-t-h person. It wasn't easy for my max HP, max armor, protean + fortitude gangrel the other time I played through the game, but my nosferatu just cut her down with the auto-rifle.

 

[Greatatlantic]

Offkorn's mod changes the game mechanics distractly, to make them closer to the PnP rules. I don't recommend it. And the unofficial patches include a lot of questionable changes that may unbalance the game.

Beyond that, Bloodlines is pretty flexible in terms of character development. While some ways are "easier" than others, there really is no best path. I will say this, if you haven't played Malkavian, you haven't played bloodlines.

 

[Rat Keeng]

Well, combatwise, Celerity pretty much owns everything. You could probably complete the game with nothing but level 5 Celerity, and a shotgun.

But as said above, if you haven't played Malkavian, you should, it's the one clan where you'll really notice the difference.

 

[VenomByte]

Have to agree, Malkavian is great fun. I played through Bloodlines 3 times, as Tremere, Brutha (is that right? The 'rebel' ones.. I forget now), and finally Malkavian.

I would be tempted to play through as Nosferatu, but the game is painfully linear, and thrice through is enough.

I never did manage to find any particularly appealing mods, though I did mess around with switching the playable skins.