What kind of Character to make in Arcanum?

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Yay, I finally got it!
But i have tried a few characters and i cant decide which kind of character to go for, if anybody has some advice i would really appreciate it, thanks.

 

I difficult question... I tried a pure melee first time, but then I decided to try a mage. Then after I screwed a lot of quests I decided to go with a gun slinger/techie. You will probably restart about 5 times till you find what character suits you best .

 

Just now I'm going through with a Gnomish Arsonist - getting him tech (Guns and Bombs ). Although I made some errors in distributing CPs do begin with, he has rounded out at the end. I just can't wait til I get my hands on the schematics for the flamethrower Bwahahahahahahah .

The great thing about Arcanum is the choice. But don't pick alergic to magic as your background . I have heard that this background is essentially screwed later in the game as he cannot go any further in the plot due to something or other. Have fun creating your character .

 

DON'T play a gun technologist. The Firearms skill is pretty lame. Its very hard to hit anything, most of the time I wound up using swords.

 

IMHO, in the start you really need at least apprenticism in melee and dodge. If you want to advance firearms, bows and throwing later, that will be fine.

I also suggest you to be at least apprentice in haggle (and save some pocket change). But it is obsolete if you will improve pickpocketing, ok?

The most item/money saving skill if you ask me is REPAIR. Improve this skill at least to expert!

Persuasion will be your another choice (at least expert) if you want to have more party members than your Charisma allows.

Lockpicking is obsolete when you get good repair - almost every locked door can be teared apart, but that will also damage your weapons.

Prowling I found useless.

From statistics, I suggest you CHR at least 9 for start (Sogg joins only if it is 9). Mainly during levels, invest into CH, DX, IN and WP. WP you say? You never know if you'll continue development in some social abilities or magick.

Will you specialize as mage, tech or a bit of both, hey man, it is all in your taste! Background? Come on! From all those there is certainly at least one that can describe your hero in details just as you imagined him.

 

Where is that myth from?? I have heard this too many times now. Sogg does not have a charisma restriction. If he joins depends on the usual formula for max followers: charisma / 4= (max foolowers).

Oh.. And if you ask me reapair is usless. It is extremely cheap, so you wouldn't save money from it.

About statistics it depends what character you play. IMPORTANT: don't use put points in a statistic only for one skill. F.Eks. don't put points in will power just because you want haggle. Put points in it if you are a mage and need it to lean a certain spell. Then when you have risen your WP and learned the spell you may put some points into haggle. And vice versa if you have lots of int cause you are a tech guy and need it for your scematics the skill you should learn is heal since it is dependant on your int.

ALSO IMPORTANT: Don't be a jack-of-all-trades. If you want to be a mage be a PURE mage. No tech. You can put points into haggle or gambling that won't hurt but don't put points into anything tech! With a magic aptitude of 100 harm does 50 (!) damage. With aptitude of 0 it does 5 damage. Same goes for tech aptitude.

I might make a guide how to create a character and post it here in the near future...

 

Okay here are the simple ones i like:

Pure gunman. completed (with allergy to magic by the way)
increase intelligence, learn all gun schematics while increasing firearms skill and mastery, increase strength enough to use big guns, increase dexterity, learn all electric schematics. in that order. late game, use elephant gun generally. use rifled cannon for golems. use blade launcher for golems (or is it the other way around?). use tesla rod for mechanical enemies and powerful undead. make the electric rings!! make the regenerative jacket!! buy lotsa batteries!!

pure mage. completed. tons of fun.
have an idea of what kind of mage u wanna play (kill kill kill zap burn harm!! or protect protect summon enchant summon!! or whatever) increase willpower, learn spells, increase intelligence. in that order. the rest of the character points is quite up to you. you can increse your constitution or fatigue, increase the number of spells in your repotoire or increase your dexterity (i prefer to enchant myself with agility of fire).

pure fighter. next on my list.
increase strength, melee skill and mastery, dexterity, dodge skill optional. erm, it kinda ends here doesnt it? learn some useful spells i guess, then u can wield magical items more effectively.

pure talker. last one i'll probably try in a while.
increase charisma, increase persuasion, increase beauty. idea is to let the followers do all the fighting. so learn useful skills or magic like healing ones or repairing ones.

[This message has been edited by Arkados Blackmire (edited October 17, 2001).]

 

Ok thanks all. I made a Hyperactive fighter and i am doing quite well. But now i have another problem: How do i use my followers skills? Because i dont have picklocks and Virgil does so i want him to open this ches. How do I do?

 

You can only lock pick if you have a set of lockpicks or a skeleton key.

 

Does anyone know exactly what scores in the different ability scores will give. The manual doesn't say anything really about it, except what exceptional scores of 20 in each give a character. Also, does anyone also have a list of what each rank in a skill does? The manual tells what aprentice, expert, and master give for each skills, but are there any other benefits for ranks in skills, specifally dodge. It doesn't sound that great to be an expert in it, so I was wondering if ranks in dodge do anything more than cause an oponent to critically fail on a critical sucess?

Just wondered as the manual is lacking on alot of basic gameplay issues, which is suprising considering the length of it. Also, give or take, abuot how many points will one get over the course of the game? And why do most people regret upping strength. Doesn't it affect damage and HP?

 

A myth? It is not a myth. Try to get him with lower CH.
Maybe I was wrong, I never checked it in the real game. My experience on that is based on demo. In the demo you can't get him if CH is lower than 9. I expected it within the game too so I started with CH 9, but really never checked. Anyone?

Your formula is incorrect.
Max # of followers= (CH/4) + (2 more if expert in persuasion) + dog - (1 if you have "educator" background)


[EDIT]
I don't want to see this subquestion, so:
Summoned creatures DO NOT take space as party follower.


[EDIT2]
Vicsun, make it! If you don't make it, I will. This game deserves it. So much options I hardly remember from any other game.


[This message has been edited by Extremist (edited October 18, 2001).]

 

my charisma was 10 and i had.... Virgil, Dante, that dwarf mage, Raven, and dog, all the way to the end. some kind of bug i think. but i had to make sure after i asked them to wait, i had to recruit Virgil first or second, or he'll complain about too many party members. the rest dont really give a damn.
Magnus did, i told him to wait and never returned.
Dante was with me to complete the blackroot quest but i never bothered to finish it so he was with me all the way. powerful, but a bit of a coward though.
Completed with a male human pure gunman with +100 alignment, never got the said romance with Raven though, anyone know why?

 

A dwarven mage?? How is that possible!!!??
I haven't tried Arcanum, but a dwarven mage just sounds wrong...

 

Zaragoth, this is the game you can do anything inside. It is not limited by too much rules. And the best - it is not racists who made it.

 

Nothing wrong with a Dwarven mage really. I know it's not the most common class, but doable in Arcanum and 3rd edition dnd games. I always hated the racial class restrictions(except perhaps for Paladins), and I'm glad we are starting to do away with those in modern games.

 

Nothing wrong with dwarves making poor mages either, IMHO. Like it or not, races *are* different, otherwise there would be no such thing as a "race".

 

I could care less if a dwarf is a great mage or can barely cast first level spells. It's the fact that one can choose this that's important here. If the game designers wanted to make a dwarf have a penalty to intelligence, or in Arcanum's case, technologically inclined, that's fine, but they can still overcome that to become mages. I thoroughly dislike the idea of a dwarf not even being able to be a mage. Sure they make better fighters, but there is no upfront restriction that says you can't make this type of character. I much prefer the concept of choice in modern RPG.

[This message has been edited by Crawl (edited October 20, 2001).]

 

Dear Capstone, race in Arcanum determines some things - initial STATS and SKILLS.

But to close your opportunity to develop a class for good?! Come on! Admit it is lame d&d rule.

 

I think mages are the best to play in Arcanum
IMHO the teleportation and magelock are priceless. Nothing better than locking a door and summoning everything 'cept the kitchen sink and kicking sumbody's ass indoors.
Also a question.

SPOILER
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When I got to the Stonehenge thingie to meet Nasrudin why did Raven leave my party? I can't get her back! HELP!