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XP & Training ?'s

This forum is to be used for all discussions pertaining to Troika Games' Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura.
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joe05
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XP & Training ?'s

Post by joe05 »

Guys - just started Arcanum and I'm on my 3rd do-over :-)
I'm playing it like I did Fallout ... they look similar and the gameplay has that Fallout feel ?
I noticed I could play turn based, so I'll try that as real time wasn't working well with the toll collectors at Shrouded Hills :-)
I was hoping the game would come with a .pdf manual; no luck ... so it's trial error

I'm not sure what works and/or what combination/builds are the best ?
I just went thru the equipment database = nice melee weapons

So, I'll tell you how I allocated points and strarted out = you tell me if I made another bonehead choice
Maybe my comparison to Fallout has me setting up my character poorly ?

I went with:
* Elf
* Troll Offspring ... not interested in a big party; figure 1 NPC will do
* Magik

I didn't notice any really good spells at level 1, so I went with "Harm".
I pumped up "Dexterity" ... for lockpicking/pickpocketing
Bought lockpicks.

I made to Shrouded Hills and, well, I'm re-thinking my decisions; again.

I found a "wise woman" ... sells lots of good magikal equipment; which I can't afford :-(
So, my next move is try and steal .... $; goods to resell or the equipment I want... how I played Fallout :-)

I'm at level 5 ... saved 2 skill points = not sure where to put them
Noticed higher spells need a higher WP total ... I'm at 9
Not sure if I should go all spells or add a melee weapon(... when the bad guys get close) ... then I'd have to up my STR for the big weapons(... just a guess ?)

That's how I/m playing the game; so far.

Which leads to two questions..........>
1) I see "training" for many skills, but nobody offered "apprentice" for "Magik" ?
Do you train up in "Magik", or is there other ways to become more proficient.
Do I cross build ... stick with the Harm Spell + maybe a few more spells and pump up and train "Melee"; add to STR; then get trained in Melee ?

2) Are there good places/areas to level up.
I wandered around between the crash site and Shrouded Hills for 1-2 hrs ... just looking at the world map and roaming = not one animal or person attacked me ?
In Fallout, most traveling usually resulted in a random encounter.
Again, maybe my comparison to Fallout has me thinking wrongly.

I've done a few quests, but it seemed just killing those wolfs garnered me more xp ?
*** So, I'm looking for places to gain some xp ... would help in distributing skill points if I had some to play with ***

Did notice a backstabbing dagger in the database ... the thief skills + that weapon would be my next route if I messed this up .... hehe
Or a tank-like character with a big weapon.

Still not sure what all those abbreviations + nuumbers in ( ) mean.
When I have the $ to buy them, I'll see how it affects my character stats ... but I need to add some $
I'm at that point of experimentintg because, without a manual, trial/error seems my best option to learn.

If I messed up again, just tell me :-)
Better to start over now, rather than dig myself a deeper hole ... if I can't whoop those bridge toll collectors, well, then I'm stuck anyways ... maybe switching to turn based play will help ?!

As always, appeciate the "gamebanshee" help.
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Twista
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Post by Twista »

well as you have so many questions i'll won't probably hit them all .... fell free to ask again if i miss any ;)

the beauty of arcanum is that you can play as anything ... mage techo warrior thief and combinations ... they are all posible ... the game is very similar to fallout ... the lead designers i think where the same ... so your comparison to fallout is not a mistake ... the combat mode in turned based is like the fallout one ... a big difference is that you can have many more action points in arcanum ... action points are based upon dexterity and speed of the weapon ... a 20 speed weapon will hit many timed even with 9 dexterity ...

harm is a very good offensive spell ... as far as i know you can get master in the art's of magic but only later in the game ( the effect is that you can cast spells at half fatigue cost ) but the amount of damage you do with your spells is based upon the tech/magic metter .... i can't remember where exactly it was in the charecter sheet but look around and you will find it ... the more you are enclined towards magic the more powerfull the spells become ...


a place good for leveling up is the way out of the crash site ... don't go to world map ... just follow the path untill no more wolves come in your way ... you should be about at least level 5 when you leave for shrouded hills ( +there is the priest quest with the dead guy in the cave ) and trust me there are plenty of random encounters in the game ... but they apear around certain areas ... rarely around shrouded hills ...

the number in ( ) come up when you have a magical weapon ... not very sure myself how they work bu i figure that if for example an armour has 20 ( +10 )Ac and 20 % of it's magic power you will get some 22 AC ... not really tried it that much ...

*edit* hope i could be of some assistence ... i really loved the game as it was less buggy than fallout but with a very good story and gameplay ;)
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joe05
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Location: Nursing home in Minnesota
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Post by joe05 »

Twista - thank you !
* weapon speed
* magic meter
Ok, will look for these :-)

As I have few points to spend, I'll wait on diversifying my character.
Cleared out the wolves, so I guess there were no more random encounters before Shrouded Hills.
Did the Priest Quest.
Guess I'm doing ok.

I really don't get all those abbreviations + equipment modifiers :-)
Guess we need to steal/add some $ to buy equipment ... see how my character stats change

Was hoping for a good XP leveling area early so I could experiment with my character = guess that wil have to wait

Will look for someone to train me in Magik as well.

Thanks for your help ... we'll keep going with this character; for now :-)
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