Arcanum Arcanum, a blast from the past

[ERYFKRAD]

That doesn't answer my question. The sword doesn't have a to-hit bonus. With 5 melee and 20 dex in both cases, I should have some chance of hitting something, not 0.

On top of that, there is no bonus to-hit with the dagger of speed, but my mage definitely has an easier time hitting the gore guard than my tech character.

But they pretty much answered your question. From the wiki https://arcanum.fandom.com/wiki/Aptitude

• Magical Aptitude - means that character can get ( greater ) bonuses from magical objects or spells (more HP from healing, but more damage from magic as well)
• Technical Aptitude - opposite to magical. Character doesn't get bonuses from magical objects, spells don't affect character properly (less HP from heal/damage magic).

So it wasn't just THC get affected, a lot of derived stats like damage taken and damage dealt are also affected based on your aptitude. If you're highly magical, you wouldn't get much benefit from technological equipment, and that also includes being unable to properly wield crafted weapons. Maybe this isn't made clear in-game, but it kinda make sense it's this way.

This is also a case for when you try to hit magical beings (like Golems) with a technological weapon; you'll have much less THC against them even if you're a technological character wielding a Balanced Sword. I know this because I experienced it first hand, my character sucks balls at hitting the Golems everywhere I met them if I wield a Balanced Sword against them, despite the fact I'm highly technological.

The game only talks about things in the parentheses being affected by TA or MA. It never said anything about other items as well. As you sure base stats are also affected by the TA/MA meter? I have never seen anything like that even mentioned in the forums and other places I went to to look for answers.

However, if tech items have a hard time hitting magic beings, then a tech guy is really in deep frikking doo-doo if he goes all out tech. Mages, on the other hand, will just Jolt or Lightning Bolt tech creatures to death. Seems a bit odd.

This is why Barbarian is best.

 

[Cael]

The game only talks about things in the parentheses being affected by TA or MA. It never said anything about other items as well. As you sure base stats are also affected by the TA/MA meter? I have never seen anything like that even mentioned in the forums and other places I went to to look for answers.

But then you gotta ask yourself, what's the point of the Aptitudes, anyway? I'm not entirely sure, but seeing how things worked out in the game, I think it's safe to assume nearly everything related to combat abilities are affected by your aptitudes. And if you dig deep enough in Arcanum forum, I'm sure you'll find something related to this topic. They're rather old site, though, so maybe that's why it's kinda difficult to find the answers. If only Drog is still here...

However, if tech items have a hard time hitting magic beings, then a tech guy is really in deep frikking doo-doo if he goes all out tech. Mages, on the other hand, will just Jolt or Lightning Bolt tech creatures to death. Seems a bit odd.

How did you come to this conclusion? If tech equipment have a hard time hitting magic beings, shouldn't the same logic applies to magic hitting tech beings as well? Especially since my tech-char actually need to recast Necromantic White spells upon him multiple times by Virgil until it could actually heal me. Do remember that the game has critical failure mechanics, means if you try casting magic upon, say, an Automaton, it might fail to cast and nothing happen; or it critically fail and something horrible happen to your character instead.

Magic has a 100% hit rate regardless. Try it on mechanical spiders and automatons. Every one of my Jolts and Lighting Bolts hit. No fails. The only problem was killing them before my dumb companions ran up to them and hit them with breakable weapons.

 

[Chippy]

Do the gods quest if you haven't don it. It's an implied quest that you get from the museum in the capital city of Caladon. Unique quest. Hard.

 

[Black Angel]

Magic has a 100% hit rate regardless. Try it on mechanical spiders and automatons. Every one of my Jolts and Lighting Bolts hit. No fails. The only problem was killing them before my dumb companions ran up to them and hit them with breakable weapons.

If that's true, then that's really fucking dumb. If my technological character had a hard time getting healed with a Necromantic White spell, why wouldn't the same be true for when casting spells against tech-beings? Smh

 

[Cael]

Magic has a 100% hit rate regardless. Try it on mechanical spiders and automatons. Every one of my Jolts and Lighting Bolts hit. No fails. The only problem was killing them before my dumb companions ran up to them and hit them with breakable weapons.

If that's true, then that's really fucking dumb. If my technological character had a hard time getting healed with a Necromantic White spell, why wouldn't the same be true for when casting spells against tech-beings? Smh

Trust me. I was level 14 when I rushed Ashbury to get the puppy. Went into that house to get that armour for Virgil. Harm doesn't work on the damned spider and my dagger of speed would break long before it dies. Enter Jolt to save my ass. Used most of my fatigue from full, but it got the job done.

MA about 50, took about 6 or 7 castings. Speed was about 30 (21 dex + boots of speed).

 

[Darth Canoli]

Dagger of speed ?

No wonder you had a hard time.

Real men use barbarian swords, give one to an ogre and he will cut anything into pieces in no time.

Spoiler

* Tsss, trying to milk the xp system with a dagger of speed ...

 

[Cael]

Dagger of speed ?

No wonder you had a hard time.

Real men use barbarian swords, give one to an ogre and he will cut anything into pieces in no time.

And steal all my XP

Dagger of speed is the only weapon that can reach 25 weapon speed, which is what you need for 1 AP attacks. Fun times when you have 62 AP :D

 

[EldarEldrad]

I'm playing all the games through 'Dex Top70 list and have inexpected difficulty. I began to play Arcanum, went all the way through Shrouded Hills and have incredibly strong urge to drop it. The only thing in the game I love so far is how stats and skills are working. Combat is total shitfest, quests seems somewhat non-exciting and pretty generic, even dialogs seem pretty boring for me. I really don't plan to drop any game, but playing this for 70+ hours looks like a torture. Is it just beginning and I should wait until things getting better later, or Arcanum really is it?

 

[Sukhāvatī]

I'm playing all the games through 'Dex Top70 list and have inexpected difficulty. I began to play Arcanum, went all the way through Shrouded Hills and have incredibly strong urge to drop it. The only thing in the game I love so far is how stats and skills are working. Combat is total shitfest, quests seems somewhat non-exciting and pretty generic, even dialogs seem pretty boring for me. I really don't plan to drop any game, but playing this for 70+ hours looks like a torture. Is it just beginning and I should wait until things getting better later, or Arcanum really is it?

It took me a couple of tries before it clicked with me; I usually dropped it somewhat near the start, just after Arronax appears to you to for the first time, (I think you go in some mines right after that IIRC?).

So speaking for myself, I would hold out til then, as that was when I started enjoying it properly.

It starts to get more interesting in Tarant at any rate.

 

[track02]

I've been trying to get into Arcanum but keep bouncing off it, are there any QoL mods/patches you'd recommend?
I can't really put my finger on the problem, it just feels a bit cobbled together.

 

[Cael]

I'm playing all the games through 'Dex Top70 list and have inexpected difficulty. I began to play Arcanum, went all the way through Shrouded Hills and have incredibly strong urge to drop it. The only thing in the game I love so far is how stats and skills are working. Combat is total shitfest, quests seems somewhat non-exciting and pretty generic, even dialogs seem pretty boring for me. I really don't plan to drop any game, but playing this for 70+ hours looks like a torture. Is it just beginning and I should wait until things getting better later, or Arcanum really is it?

Most of these kind of "WTF is going on" starts tend to be boring at first. It gets better once you have established why the guys are after you and what the ring is about and all that. The plot doesn't really kick off until Tarant, so if you are bumming around doing other things, it would seem to be even slower than it is.