Perumummy wrote:2) Never put any points in Firearms or computer. With a research of 3 (1 Intelligence + 2 scholarship) you can buy 2 firearms manuals and 2 computer manual from Trip at the very beginning to boost both of these to two.
Also, at the start of the game, guns aren't very good, and you're usually best off beating people up by hand. Later you'll find better guns, and then Firearms becomes a very useful skill.
3) I've found the most useless attribute in the game is Dexterity. I've never raised it above one. If I want to sneak about I'll use a Malk or Nos, or blood buff with celerity, trance, etc. (and yes you will still be able to finish the sneaky quests).
4) By extension, the most useless skills are stealth and security. Not investing in security will cost you a little money, but otherwise not affect you. Again for stealth be a Nos. or Malk. if you never want to fight.
I disagree completely. Stealth is incredibly useful and can be a lot of fun. If you like killing everybody, go ahead, but some quests are all about stealth.
And with high stealth, you can be almost invisible without needing to be Nosferatu or Malkavian. Even with a Stealth of 6, you can sneak in front of a lot of peope without them noticing you.
5) Get a persuade of 3 in Santa Monica as soon as possible. You will be able to get a lot of money on the beach, telling lies to a naive young vampire.
A lot? Not more than some stealth and security gets you in the long run. But yes, Persuade definitely has its uses. Like pretty much anything in this game.
5) The best stats to raise are Wits (max it) and Dodge (max it). You will be almost invincible against the standard human goon, plus you'll hack like a superstar. Don't raise dodge above one dot until after the Malk. mansion (dodge manual).
Again, I disagree. Yes, Wits and Dodge are great, but maxing them costs a lot of points, and there are a lot of more productive ways to spend those points, at least during the early and middle game. And being a vampire, you're practically invincible to the standard human goon anyway. And while some hacking is inevitable, for most quests you rarely need a Hacking of more than 6, and quite often someone will tell you the password anyway.
I think the optimum for most stats is 3. Raising to 3 is cheap, after that, it gets very expensive. I think the system rewards all-rounders more than specialists, although if you want to play the game more than once, specialisation will mean you get a completely different experience every time.
Your advice, for example, is probably great for a high-violence approach to the game, but there are many other ways to play.
1) Disciplines are NOT necessary AT ALL. With a maxed wits, dodge, strength and melee. With a high brawl and stamina of 2, you will own all the enemies in the game. Just don't stand still when you fight bosses. (Yes with a blood pack or two even Ming will be your *****)
But, more importantly, Disciplines are a lot of fun. Yes, you can go the straight-up combat no-magic route (especially attractive as a Brujah, whose Discplines mainly enhance the basic combat approach, but any clan can do this), but using Disciplines are cool and fun, and let you do stuff that you can't do any other way. Celerity is great for running circles around your enemies, Dominate offers the excellent Suicide power (for a stealthy way to kill people from a distance) and offers new dialog options, Thaumaturgy (my favourite) enables you to refuel blood points during combat (Blood Strike), stop or kill swarms (Purge), stop hostile people so you can feed on them (also Purge), stop big enemies from beating you to a pulp (again, the excellent Purge), absorb damage (Blood Shield), blow up people (or do 100+ damage at least, Blood Boil), but almost all disciplines have their uses. Auspex, which looks kinda useless, boosts Wits and Perception, and therefore Dodge and Ranged, making it an excellent choice for any gunslinger.
2) Investigation= nice but ultimately useless.
I tend to agree here. Haven't seen much use for it. I can imagine you find more interesting stuff with higher Investigation, but I have no idea if that is actually the case.
Stealth= useless
Dexterity= useless
Security=useless
Disagree completely, as stated above. The stealthy approach is very viable. Stealth kills can save you a lot of ammo, damage and/or blood packs.
3) Animalism (go pestilence + spectral wolf!!) is more fun and useful than protean : )
See? Disciplines are fun! Protean basically boosts your regular combat, while Animalism gives lots of new abilities.
