Gothic II: NotR - requesting build advice

[Correct_Carlo]

So I've found faqs for Gothic 2 and Faqs for NOTR, but few for both and thus I have a few questions.

I just got to chapter 2 and am level 12 (mercenary). I didn't really know what I was doing, so I followed the Water Mage quest and had them open the portal to the other dimension (or where ever the hell the portal goes).

I also have the option (which I haven't done yet) of returning to the old mine area to find evidence for the lead Palidin about the growing evil.

So my question is, can these be done in any order? Or is one area way harder than the other? If I go through the portal will I even be able to survive at my level? (I tried and promptly got killed).

I don't mind just wandering around and trying things out to see if I'm strong enough (that's half the fun), but with this game I've read about certain bugs so I'm terrified that if I don't do things in the proper order I'll ruin my game or have to back track (I've actually already had to return to previous saves once after I inadvertently locked myself out of ever recieving the thieves guild quests-----which sucks).

 

[Nim]

Stop worrying about bugs,

So I've found faqs for Gothic 2 and Faqs for NOTR, but few for both and thus I have a few questions.

I just got to chapter 2 and am level 12 (mercenary). I didn't really know what I was doing, so I followed the Water Mage quest and had them open the portal to the other dimension (or where ever the hell the portal goes).

I also have the option (which I haven't done yet) of returning to the old mine area to find evidence for the lead Palidin about the growing evil.

So my question is, can these be done in any order? Or is one area way harder than the other? If I go through the portal will I even be able to survive at my level? (I tried and promptly got killed).

Leave the old mine area for later, either stay in Khorinis or go through the portal into Jharkendar. Though lvl 12 might be a bit low ? Not sure, probably depends on your skill.

I don't mind just wandering around and trying things out to see if I'm strong enough (that's half the fun), but with this game I've read about certain bugs so I'm terrified that if I don't do things in the proper order I'll ruin my game or have to back track (I've actually already had to return to previous saves once after I inadvertently locked myself out of ever recieving the thieves guild quests-----which sucks).

There are very few serious bugs left afaik, think the lares bug is probably the worst one but even that is easily fixable so stop worrying. And how did you mess up the thieves guild ?

 

[Correct_Carlo]

I can't remember off hand, but I think I did two of the pre-requisite quests with pro-thief outcomes (i.e. I didn't send them to jail or what not).

However, after that I joined the militia and did a few more quests (can't remember which ones).

So I entered the harbor pub and the guy gave me the tip to talk to the other guy in the pub about "secret work" (which initiates the third requisite quest). I tried talking to him, but he immediately sussed me as militia and refused to give me the quest (even when I reloaded and changed clothes he'd still say that my clothes didn't fool him).

You can get into the guild as militia, but you have to do the first two pre-req quests with anti-thief outcomes (so they will try to assassinate you). So it seems like if you do the first two pre-requisite quests with pro-thief outcomes, then join the militia before doing the third, you are stuck. You can't get the final pre-req quest to be pro-thief, yet they also won't send anyone to assassinate you so you can get the key from his body.

Unless someone else in the town has a key and I just don't know about it.

Thanks for the advice, though. I will try the portal. I've gotten a bit sick of grinding animals in the country side for LP, so I'll see what happens.

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

You can get into thief guild ez even if you piss off all the city thieves.

Spoiler alert:
1) find the cave with the robbers that carry the "strange fish". it's outside the farm that's near the city's "other exit" (when you go up the staircase before the bandit bridge with scattered coins 'n crap, that's the one), by the orc warrior. inside that fish is a note.
2) bring the note to the fish trader in the Khorinis harbor. he'll tell you there's someone you should meet around the corner
3) beat up that guy, he carries the thief guild key

i THINK that's how you do it. the only difference from when you're nice to the thieves is that the guy at 3) just gives you the key in peace instead of trying to kill you.

inside the guild itself, you can also kill the guy that greets you (he is friendly, so you can strike first) for a key to a room with a really insane chest with a great belt and a tablet IIRC

 

[Nim]

So I entered the harbor pub and the guy gave me the tip to talk to the other guy in the pub about "secret work" (which initiates the third requisite quest). I tried talking to him, but he immediately sussed me as militia and refused to give me the quest (even when I reloaded and changed clothes he'd still say that my clothes didn't fool him).

I'm reasonably sure that you're told from multiple people that the guys in the harbor don't like to talk to the militia. So C&C baby

You can get into the guild as militia, but you have to do the first two pre-req quests with anti-thief outcomes (so they will try to assassinate you).

Just get Nagurs quest asap on entering Khorinis if you ever replay it.

So it seems like if you do the first two pre-requisite quests with pro-thief outcomes, then join the militia before doing the third, you are stuck. You can't get the final pre-req quest to be pro-thief, yet they also won't send anyone to assassinate you so you can get the key from his body.

Yup.

Unless someone else in the town has a key and I just don't know about it.

No, Attila is the only one who has it.

Thanks for the advice, though. I will try the portal. I've gotten a bit sick of grinding animals in the country side for LP, so I'll see what happens.

If you are already sick of grinding now you probably won't make it far in the old mine area.

 

[ManjuShri]

I have just started Chapter 4 at level 33 with the dragon slicer and 2H 93%, is this acceptable? Is there anything to know about fighting the dragons?

 

[Metro]

More than sufficient. As far as the dragons, nothing major. Their health regenerates and their break knocks you back. Using a summoned creature (like a demon) or the black ore (time slow) makes them pretty easy. Their approximate order of difficulty (easy to hardest) is Swamp, Rock, Fire, Ice. You can opt for npc help on the swamp dragon.

 

[Nim]

You can also get Biff as a help for all (or was it only for 3 ?) of the dragons.

 

[Murk]

Yeah. The swamp is easiest not only for its low stats but also because you get two NPCs to help you out (Mercs from the camp) and you can have Biff, if you pay him, to accompany you alongside.

Fire Rain can also help knock the weaker dragons down pretty easily (you may need to melee 'em a bit too, tho).

If you are an archer then the dragons just die.

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

Ærelian Uhh with your stats dragons should die in 3-4 hits, possibly without doing anything. Time to wrap it up imo.

 

[Murk]

You should have no problems unless you keep getting blown away by their breath attack (it's a knockdown + pushback effect). They regen health quickly so you have to keep the pressure on them, FYI.

 

[ManjuShri]

Sounds good I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

 

[ManjuShri]

In Chapter 5 it says that you need a consecrated sword alongside other things in order to defeat the last boss, I sold my consecrated sword early in the game and cannot remember where it is, was that just a helpful recommendation or is the last boss invulnerable if you don't have said sword?

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

Don't even bother melee'ing the last boss, its "knockdown attack" is a PITA even with a maxed-out char. Just use one of the uber spell scrolls (breath of death / wave of death / destroy evil etc.) that you'll have in abundance, it will die in 2 casts. Or summon a few demons. Quite anti-climatic, but hey.

PS: oh, I missed the point of your question. I actually don't remember if you needed that sword, since I haven't done a Paladin replay in forever.

 

[Nim]

In Chapter 5 it says that you need a consecrated sword alongside other things in order to defeat the last boss, I sold my consecrated sword early in the game and cannot remember where it is, was that just a helpful recommendation or is the last boss invulnerable if you don't have said sword?

Do you remember where you read this ? The only thing to keep in mind re the end boss is that beliars claw doesn't work on him. But as you don't seem to be using that you won't have a problem. And I'm reasonably sure that the (upgraded) paladin swords don't have any special effects, they just get more damage with both upgrades.

 

[Metro]

I'm almost positive you don't need that sword. I would be surprised if the game had some sophisticated mechanic where it coded the last boss differently for a Paladin player character versus a mage or mercenary. But yeah, as Rex mentioned, you can always just cheese it with scrolls. PB has never been able to do 'boss' fights well. And, actually, all of Iradoth (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) feels a bit much after you've gotten to that point in the game.

 

[Nim]

Choosing dragons for boss fight doesn't seem like the smartest choice on PBs part seeing as melee is not only a viable path but also the most involving ?
And I'd say the problem begins before Irdorath. Once you are mostly fighting lots and lots of orcs and then lizard men, the lack of variety kills the game.

 

[Murk]

Personally I like the idea of having to resort to non-standard abilities and tactics to defeat the bosses; I wish archery was less effective against the dragons. I appreciate that your character build should be validated but something about having to use limited items and overkill abilities like the scrolls or multiple allies just feels right. These aren't orcs or brigands, they are demigods who are harbingers of the end -- they should require ridiculous methods.

 

[ColCol]

So, yeah, me again, I'm not having any problems, I just want to play it safe by hearing what level you would recommend before starting chapter four.

 

[Murk]

If you can kill Orc Warriors without too much difficulty you should be fine. Lizardmen will probably start to appear around then and they function just like Orcs. They are a bit more offense/less defense if I'm not mistaken but the pattern is the same. I'd love to give an actual number but it's been a while and I don't know how your build goes (melee, I'm guessing?).

 

[Correct_Carlo]

I finished this a while back and really liked it. Both Gothic 1 and Risen start out strong but have terrible endings (Gothic 1's Orc temple sections are a tedious grind), but I liked the latter half of this (with the dragon killing and assembling your ship crew and what not).

I think people are exaggerating its difficulty a bit, though. You could probably charge right through with a minimal amount of grinding if you use summon scrolls to help you with the boss fights (and use Beliar's Claw, which is kind of over powered--especially if you have lower str as I don't think its magic attack is dependent on str). I definitely don't think you need to waste time clearing each level of enemies before the end of each chapter, though, unless you're really into power gaming for its own sake. Provided you have a competent build you will be strong enough to beat the game around level 30 or so (probably even less).

My advice for playing this would probably be just to follow the quests, kill whatever gets in your way, and don't worry too much about going out of your way to grind for levels. If you clear each world before the end of each chapter I actually think the game gets too easy by the end. I'd even maybe suggest using consumables that increase stats as you find them. I horded all mine until the end of chapter 4 and after using them I had almost 200 str, which definitely seemed like overkill. In retrospect, I think having higher str at the start of the game is MUCH more helpful, even if it will ultimately cost you more LV in the long run just because while there are shitloads of enemies at the start of the game who will give you are hard time, there's not really much at the end of the game that requires absurdly high attributes. So all you're doing when you horde is making the early game unnecessarily harder on you for no real reason in the end.

Although it could also just be the way the game is designed. Chapter 4 seems to be its climax--both in terms of difficulty and storyline--then everything after that is kind of anti-climactic. Especially when you get to the final boss and realize he's more or less just a different colored dragon than the 4 you've already killed.

 

[cvv]

Ok, this is as close to a general Gothic 2 thread as I could find.

Thing is, I just decided my G2:Notr copy from GOG has been sitting on that shelf long enough and took if for a spin. First time I'm playing with NotR, mind you.

After combing through this thread, I went with a ranged Merc. I was afraid of the difficulty spike but I dunno, so far (lvl 12) Notr is not that much more difficult than what I remember from vanilla, or maybe ranged is simply OP. Only the wargs gave me a shock, man, PB boosted those fuckers to high heavan.

Here's the thing - at the end of Ch1 I decided to poke those high-level bandits at the lighthouse. They slaughtered me, obviously, but I really wanted to take a peek inside. So I noticed there's been this "Transform into a Dragon Snapper" scroll sitting in my inventory for a while so I tried it. My question is - is this fucking thing bugged? I naturally assumed it's a timed spell that will expire in a minute or so, since it's so incredibly powerful, but no. I'm actually able to run around the whole island and slaughtering everything in my way.

I haven't tried taking on skeletons or Trolls in this form yet and that Orc Elite east of the city still rapes me but all the wargs, shadowbeasts, bandits and lesser orcs drop like flies. Surely there must be some trade off to this spell no? The only one I can think of so far is I'm missing out on the wargs' and shadowbeasts' hides. Or maybe the Dragon Snapper scroll is very rare and it's better to save it for later stages of the game?

 

[MasPingon]

Take him to Miss Pumfrey in the Hospital Wing immediately


Your story gave me a good laugh As far as I remember transformation doesn't have a time limit, you decide when to return to your normal form. Tried to use the same shortkey?

 

[cvv]

Your story gave me a good laugh As far as I remember transformation doesn't have a time limit, you decide when to return to your normal form. Tried to use the same shortkey?

It's not about me not knowing how to break out from the transformation (even though I had to google it). I'm just asking what's stopping me to transform into Dragon Snapper at the start of each chapter, clearing out the entire wilderness and jump up by several levels within 15 minutes, except you miss out on about 1000 gold for the hides?

 

[Cyberarmy]

It is a rare scroll and loses it power after mine area. But nothing is stopping you, have fun wrecking havoc
There are many ways to cheese in Gothic 2 Notr but that one never stops being entertaining.


Edit: Ranged is OP throug out the game if you focus on it first. Only ranged enemies will give you trouble for most of the time. Later stages you'll be fighting against 2-3 at the same time and ranged become an opener/softener.