Arcanum - worth a punt?

[Citizen]

That damn dog ruins the whole game(well not just him). Next time just let him die.

I wanted to, I promised myself that when he dies I would let him go (carried only one revitalizer with me for raven), sadly nothing in Arcanum was strong enough to kill the mutt. Troika should have implemented another plot twist at the end, making the player realize that the dog was the real Living One, the most powerful being in Arcanum, and your PC was just doing talking and buying consumables for him.

 

[Tigranes]

Late to the party, but firearms are fucking fun to play in a very different way.

Magic is certainly the more smooth and painless way to play, if that's what you want to roll the first time (or if you want to breeze the combat ASAP, I guess). You can spam Harm to get past some places that frsustrate some first time players, like BMC, and Teleport gives you fast travel in a way tech players cannot approximate.

With firearms, the earlier levels are much more of scrambling around on bits and pieces until you get some skill points and proper equipment, and crafting becomes a key element to the way you play - though Arcanum's crafting, unlike other games, is fully integrated into the game systems and it feels great to find specific ancient artifact pieces and put them together, or to combine your knowledge of incendiaries and firearms for a new weapon. As for total power levels, you can be ridiculously powerful with most firearms/tech variations, and you get to kit yourself out with some great gear.

I'd say that the tech oriented experience gets the most out of Arcanum - you get a more challenging and precarious early game, you interact more meaningfully with the loot and the gameworld, and it gives you the sort of cool abilities and gear that are missing in most other RPGs, fully leveraging its own brand of steampunk.

 

[Black]

Tech players can get the unique staff that grants unlimited teleport.

 

[Piotrovitz]

What's the reasonable level to go to black mountain mines?

I know there are mobs there that damage your weapons - is there a way for those for melee-tech character, i.e are some specific weaps resistant to this? Or do I have to pump up repair or take dozen of swords with me?

 

[Black]

High end weapons (both magickal and tech) don't break on stuff. For example, pyrotechnic axe or even featherweight axe.

 

[YES!]

Anyone on this site asking if Arcanum is worth playing should be perma-banned. Unless this site is actually for an audience that prefers console games developed for children, in which case they shouldn't. We'll see how this turns out.

 

[Piotrovitz]

High end weapons (both magickal and tech) don't break on stuff. For example, pyrotechnic axe or even featherweight axe.

Just went there with Magnus and Shayna, all with featherweight's and they do get damaged pretty fast.

I want to find pyro schematics on my own without spoilers - is there a way for melee tech to get through golems with some other relatively available weapons, or should I just find alternative way, like pounding them bare hands or spam with molotovs or get mage npc etc? Was thinking about charged sword maybe, but I can't find schematics anywhere and I'm not even sure it doesn't get damaged either.

I feel like I'm stuck with the main storyline and getting burned out slowly. I'm around lvl 24 now, with most of the quests in major cities done, at least those that don't require stealth/persuasion. I'm leveling ultra fast just from random encounters on world map and some dungeons here and there filled with zombies/skeletons. How far into the game are black mountains? Is it even 1/3?

 

[T. Reich]

More like 1/4 in. BMM is the first major story-related dungeon crawl in the game, but it's far from being the only one.
You'll also have to do a LOT more travelling around that you've done so far.

As a melee techie, the logical step to battle gear degeneration is to invest into repair skill, and to become at least apprentice in that. Doesn't cost much, saves a lot of trouble.

If you're starting to feel the burn out now, you'll never finish the game.

 

[Black]

You can get dogmeat in Ashbury and he'll probably take care of the golems.

 

[coldcrow]

Can't you just forge 20 balanced swords or so?

 

[Piotrovitz]

Took few balanced swords, but they just break too goddamn fast. I think investing in repair so they could last for 1-2 more fights just wasn't worth it.

I went bare hands and got pretty far - ran out out healing salves eventually and had to go back for re-stock. In Tarant I finally found charged axe schematics to buy, went back and it was a breeze. Those traps though, holy fuck : |

It seems the only way to get through with melee tech is to either a) get high-end unbreakable weapon, b) have couple of melee npcs, c) go bare hands and prepare for endurance marathon.

If you're starting to feel the burn out now, you'll never finish the game.

It's not because of the gameplay - I wasn't this stoked with any crpg since playing FO1 ages ago, seriously - it's just when you're short on time and can't sink countless hours into the game, you can get discouraged after hitting brick wall. Hence I'm asking here and there for some spoiler-free, non-gamebreaking tips, which are much appreciated d: - )

I don't get all the shit that the combat system gets. Sure it is clunky, but it's nothing unbearable. Everything else in this game redeems it.

The lowest point for me are the dungeon designs. Every ruins/caves/crypts/etc so far were just dull and uninspired mess of mazes and empty rooms, with mobs and chests thrown randomly.
Maybe it gets better later, but the ones I cleared so far make the randomly generated dungeons from Diablo 1 feel exciting.

 

[Piotrovitz]

Alright, I started again and took physically gifted background which nerfs xp gain by 30% and now levelling feels right.

I think I fucked something up with the tax collection quest in black root - I gave mayor retrieved dagger, but he still didn't wanted to pay the tax. Now the only dialogue options are persuasion training and asking if he has changed his mind. Did I screwed up something in conversation about his guards before or is this a bug? Assuming that I broke it - does it close the doors to some further quests?

Also, how does the chapeau suppose to work?
I equipped it outside of the combat and it drained all my batteries in minutes. It still adds up the DR, but the fancy animation is gone. Is it suppose to drain batteries only when getting hit?

 

[Crash]

I finally finished Arcanum (with latest official and unofficial patches), but was a bit dissappointed with the ending:

Spoiler

I joined the orc revolution, saved their leader, slaughtered all their opponents in Tarant and Caladon, just to at the ending find out that they screwed up and didn't make a new orcish state

 

[HoboForEternity]

Well thats the reason why smelly idiot orcs arent the dominant species

 

[Ranarama]

I finally finished Arcanum (with latest official and unofficial patches), but was a bit dissappointed with the ending:

That's like losing in a cutscene.

 

[Black]

I finally finished Arcanum (with latest official and unofficial patches), but was a bit dissappointed with the ending:

Spoiler

I joined the orc revolution, saved their leader, slaughtered all their opponents in Tarant and Caladon, just to at the ending find out that they screwed up and didn't make a new orcish state

Orcs and half-orcs make up approximately 13% of the Arcanum population and yet they commit 52% of crime. What exactly were you expecting?

 

[HeatEXTEND]

I finally finished Arcanum (with latest official and unofficial patches), but was a bit dissappointed with the ending:

Spoiler

I joined the orc revolution, saved their leader, slaughtered all their opponents in Tarant and Caladon, just to at the ending find out that they screwed up and didn't make a new orcish state

Orcs and half-orcs make up approximately 13% of the Arcanum population and yet they commit 52% of crime. What exactly were you expecting?

I smell gnome...anyone smell gnome?

 

[Sranchammer]

Orcs and half-orcs make up approximately 13% of the Arcanum population and yet they commit 52% of crime. What exactly were you expecting?

It's the Common Era. Take your terrible racism back to the Age of Legends, fuckboi

 

[HoboForEternity]

Orcs and half-orcs make up approximately 13% of the Arcanum population and yet they commit 52% of crime. What exactly were you expecting?

It's the Common Era. Take your terrible racism back to the Age of Legends, fuckboi

they are brainless brutes whose strength is useless in the age of technology. No longer people conquer with swords, but with invention and industry and trade. Orcs are useful tho as blue collar workers.

 

[Egosphere]

Orcs are more worthless than Bedokaans. At least the latter had a genuine reason to have a chip on their shoulder.

 

[Micormic]

Orcs and half-orcs make up approximately 13% of the Arcanum population and yet they commit 52% of crime. What exactly were you expecting?

It's the Common Era. Take your terrible racism back to the Age of Legends, fuckboi

they are brainless brutes whose strength is useless in the age of technology. No longer people conquer with swords, but with invention and industry and trade. Orcs are useful tho as blue collar workers.

Yeah until they go on strike and start stealing hubcaps, smoking crack and committing rape and murder on unprecedented scales.





Orcs in Tolkien's middle earth were given the right to vote in 1994, I'm sure that worked out well :D

 

[Old One]

Are we going to try to unionize the kite next? Make a list of their grievances perhaps?

 

[cherry blossom]

I finally finished Arcanum (with latest official and unofficial patches), but was a bit dissappointed with the ending:

Spoiler

I joined the orc revolution, saved their leader, slaughtered all their opponents in Tarant and Caladon, just to at the ending find out that they screwed up and didn't make a new orcish state

Orcs and half-orcs make up approximately 13% of the Arcanum population and yet they commit 52% of crime. What exactly were you expecting?

That's only the 52% of the reported crimes. Besides, are you sure that you really want to believe the news made by the other, racially biased oppressive races?

 

[Black]

I trust the Tarantian.

 

[Strange Fellow]

I trust the Tarantian.

If you listen to the mainstream media you deserve what you get.