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Arcanum First time Arcanum player, need some general guidance

bati

Scholar
Joined
Dec 26, 2015
Messages
142
I've had this game in my backlog for years after buying it on GoG what feels like a lifetime ago and have made one attempt at it a couple years ago but I don't remember making any significant progress (Crash Site -> Tarant, that was it). This time I'm determined to cross it off my list and to that end I've started a persuasion/charisma character with some magic to back it up. After a couple hours I've realized two things - I kinda enjoy spamming harm and two, I abhor needless micromanagement in RPGs, especially related to inventory or companion management.

I'm considering starting over with a mage type of character but I'd like to know in advance if I'm going to lose access to significant parts of lore/story if I ditch all companions besides Virgil (and later Dog) and lose the ability to persuade npcs.
 

Hobo Elf

Arcane
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Messages
13,999
Location
Platypus Planet
You'll never be able to do all the content with a single character, drog. I thought you'd at least know that by now.
 

bati

Scholar
Joined
Dec 26, 2015
Messages
142
You'll never be able to do all the content with a single character, drog. I thought you'd at least know that by now.

I'm aware of that, I just don't want to end up uninstalling the game halfway through because of excessive micromanagement, already went through that with both Divinity: OS games. If the payoff for all that trouble is worth it I'll of course suffer through it, but if it's not I'll reroll now and play it more like a single character rpg. That's all I'm asking.

Also, I don't spend enough time here to be clued in on the jokes so any mention of 'drog' or 'chris' is lost on me, sorry to disappoint you.
 

Harold

Arcane
Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
785
Location
a shack in the hub
I'm considering starting over with a mage type of character but I'd like to know in advance if I'm going to lose access to significant parts of lore/story if I ditch all companions besides Virgil (and later Dog) and lose the ability to persuade npcs.

If a companion is voiced it usually means (s)he has content seeded throughout the game, but it's not always to the same degree or super-obvious where that content exists. It's also near-impossible to see it all in a single playthrough (unless you know what you're doing and make a very specific build) since good and evil companions can't coexists in the same party.

Off the top of my head, aside from Virgil, followers with most content are Magnus, elf-chick, dwarf-king. If evil, Geoffrey, Torian, dark-elf chick.

The biggest benefits of persuasion are the ability to skip an entire boring dungeon later on when you get to the dwarves & the persuasion mastery quest - which, unlike most other skill-mastery quests, is one of the best quests in the game, very rich in lore & will affect world state and ending slides, depending on your choices through it.

edit: if you're gonna take harm, make sure to take the next 'speak with dead' spell, as it also opens up options in some quests
 
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Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Dont be fooled. Companion content is skippable and not huge, even for ones like Magnus it is basically one nice quest. Codexers tend to be completionist and dislike missing content, but you will miss 5% or less by going solo.

For minimum fiddling and inventory and pain, go full mage, get teleport. Sounds like you just want to blast your way thrpugh and not collect parts to make guns etc.
 

bati

Scholar
Joined
Dec 26, 2015
Messages
142
Sounds like you just want to blast your way thrpugh and not collect parts to make guns etc

Pretty much. If I like the game enough I'll of course roll another char to see the whole thing from a different perspective but I'd like to stick to a minimalist approach while I'm learning the ropes and getting to know the game world. Fwiw I hate missing content too, but lately I've come to realize that some frustrations in rpgs simply aren't worth it.
 

Xor

Arcane
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
9,345
Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Divinity: Original Sin 2
Roll a barbarian.
Arcanum certainly is balanced in its imbalance in that a harm spamming mage and a 20 strength half-ogre can both plow through enemies with no problems.
And if you want to play a gunslinger it involves knowing where to find saltpeter and charcoal, what guns are actually worth using, and how to distribute points without gimping yourself. Also good luck killing the golems in the BMC mines.

Off the top of my head, aside from Virgil, followers with most content are Magnus, elf-chick, dwarf-king. If evil, Geoffrey, Torian, dark-elf chick.
Don't forget Vollinger, although he's a tech character and therefore worthless to most of the good builds.

If you want to get your Bioware on, off the top of my head the requirements for romancing Raven are CHA 18+ and being a male human, half-elf, or elf. Also obscure fact, you can sleep with that one widow with CHA 20 and the same races, and if memory serves women can too.

Playing with fewer companions is actually optimal since you get XP per hit and your companions will steal that from you when they hit stuff, although even with that I typically hit the level cap well before the endgame since I'm a completionist and know where every single quest is.

Pick up the camera at the crash site and don't trade it away. It's useful for a quest later. Also, save a kathorn crystal (I believe that's what they're called, it's a green gem) so you don't have to go search one out after a certain point in the game.

Install Drog's patch because the game is buggy as hell without it.

For a mage build early on you want heal and harm, then points in dexterity, then other spells (teleport, shield of force, and haste are all amazing, the fire agility buff is good too), and you can dip into charisma for persuasion and haggle as you go since those are both useful. Maxing out dodge eventually is good too if only for the fun quest. Eventually get disintegrate since it's OP as hell - despite what the manual says it's an instant kill no matter what. I believe it's coded to do something like 50,000 damage, and it does half that on a save so it still kills everything.
 
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deama

Prophet
Joined
May 13, 2013
Messages
4,352
Location
UK
Ima planning on doing a hoe playthrough where I max beauty and charisma and try to seduce as many things as I can.
 

Xor

Arcane
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
9,345
Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Divinity: Original Sin 2
Ima planning on doing a hoe playthrough where I max beauty and charisma and try to seduce as many things as I can.
If memory serves the only real opportunities to sleep with people are working as a whore in Tarant and sleeping with the guy who owns the gentleman's club to get in. And the widow in Caladon, like I mentioned earlier. I don't think you even get to bang Raven.
 

Zarniwoop

TESTOSTERONIC As Fuck™
Patron
Joined
Nov 29, 2010
Messages
18,650
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
If memory serves the only real opportunities to sleep with people are working as a whore in Tarant and sleeping with the guy who owns the gentleman's club to get in. And the widow in Caladon, like I mentioned earlier. I don't think you even get to bang Raven.
:decline:

Totally not Biowarean enough for a modern incloosive audience. Only 2 bangs, both with the OPPOSITE sex? Of which there are 77 so how can they be opposite? No buttsecks? No alien romance. Soooooo unprogressive in the current year.
 

deama

Prophet
Joined
May 13, 2013
Messages
4,352
Location
UK
Ima planning on doing a hoe playthrough where I max beauty and charisma and try to seduce as many things as I can.
If memory serves the only real opportunities to sleep with people are working as a whore in Tarant and sleeping with the guy who owns the gentleman's club to get in. And the widow in Caladon, like I mentioned earlier. I don't think you even get to bang Raven.
If I become rich and powerful like Gilbert bates, I will purchase Arcanum and remake it in MY IMAGE!
 

Ninefingers

Educated
Patron
Joined
Mar 16, 2018
Messages
70
Location
England
I’m really getting into this now. I decided to play as an ugly degenerate half orc mongrel who solves all problems with an axe.

Hit a bit of a wall with the ore golems so decided to branch out into bows. I was broke and everybody hates me because I’m an ugly fucker and cursed by a gypsy to boot. I figured I might as well become the cunt that everybody expects me to be so I started murdering shop keepers - now I’m loaded and can actually afford arrows.

Unfortunately certain upstanding citizens now attack me on sight with their bare hands and I have to lure them to a secluded spot and have my way with them away from the prying eyes of the guards.

This is the best negro fantasy minority simulator I’ve ever played.
 

Ninefingers

Educated
Patron
Joined
Mar 16, 2018
Messages
70
Location
England
Made it through the awful Black Mountain Mines, picked up a power axe and now it seems to be fairly smooth sailing. My alignment is spiralling out of control as I butcher more people in their homes after they react rudely to my hideousness.

The slightly shitty combat seems less vexing now that I can just blow through everything in seconds. I’m looking forward to replaying with a character with passable beauty and charisma and hopefully having a very different experience.
 

Ninjerk

Arcane
Joined
Jul 10, 2013
Messages
14,323
Ima planning on doing a hoe playthrough where I max beauty and charisma and try to seduce as many things as I can.
If memory serves the only real opportunities to sleep with people are working as a whore in Tarant and sleeping with the guy who owns the gentleman's club to get in. And the widow in Caladon, like I mentioned earlier. I don't think you even get to bang Raven.
You conveniently exclude farm animals.
 

Piotrovitz

Savant
Joined
Dec 21, 2017
Messages
805
Location
Paris, Texas
HELP PLS

I started first blind playthrough as melee tech dwarf, but the pyro-axe is so OPd, it took all the fun away. I suck at self-control, so gimping myself and sticking to charged swords/whatever is not an option.

I'm going with gunslinger now and the game so far (pre-BMC) is pretty balanced.
Got repeater rifle, few hundred bullets and lots of molotovs - will golems in BMC cause much pain in the ass?

Would like to avoid stealing uber weapons with fate points and breaking the game so early, like with pyro-axe.
 

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