Some interesting things about Arcanum

Discussion in 'Arcanum Discussion' started by miguelv, Sep 28, 2014.

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  1. miguelv

    miguelv New Member

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    I have tried to try all the quests in Arcanum that were for a good aligned character, that is I did a throughout check of this page:
    http://www.gamebanshee.com/arcanum/theworld.php
    And then of this page:
    http://www.gamebanshee.com/arcanum/walkthrough.php

    So I can safely say that I have enjoyed a really good part of Arcanum in a single playthrough, my character was a good aligned human melee fighter with no background. One thing to notice is that I used two programs:
    The Arcanum character editor:
    http://www.fileplanet.com/81128/80000/f ... ditor-v1.8
    And the Arcanum shop editor:
    http://www.terra-arcanum.com/downloads/ ... source.zip

    My followers were all the voiced good aligned npcs:
    Raven, Virgil, Magnus, Gar, Franklin Payne and Loghaire Thunderstone.

    I figured after all the tons of hours I put into the game I would share this nice little list:
    After maxing out all my party I gave them what I thought was the best equipment in each slot:

    Head:
    Arcane Helmet
    If you compare each helmet you'll quickly realize this one has the higher stats.
    Where to find the Arcane Helmet:
    Gypsy shopkeeper. Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.

    Torso:
    Arcane Platemail, Arcane Platemail (small) and Iron Clan Armor (small)
    This one took me a little while to figure out, after comparing each torso armor I ended up with three ones, Elite Platemail, Machined Platemail and Arcane Platemail. Despite the Elite Platemail being a component of the Machined Platemail, the Machined Platemail had some drawbacks the Elite Platemail didn't have. Still the Arcane Platemail has this thing that puts it above the other two, that is the extra +10 TO ALL RESISTANCES, pretty cool stuff. Worth mentioning is the Iron Clan Armor (small) which I gave to Loghaire Thunderstone. Also don't forget that Magnus uses small armors.
    Where to find the Arcane Platemail:
    Gypsy shopkeeper. Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.
    Where to find the Arcane Platemail (small):
    Gypsy shopkeeper. Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.
    Where to find the Iron Clan Armor (small):
    At the end of the Iron Clan quest.

    Shield:
    Shield of Force
    I was a little set aback by how easy it is to find this shield but then again, the one shield that can compare to this one is one that you have to steal and there is only one in the whole game, I am talking about the shield of the blacksmith in Stillwater. On the plus side the Shield of Force has one of the coolest graphics for shields in the game.
    Where to find the Shield of Force:
    Tarant armor shopkeeper (there is 2). Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.

    Gloves:
    Vendigrothian War Gauntlets and War Gauntlets
    This ones are pretty cool, it's a shame you can only make two throughout the whole game, still before you get your hands on these ones you can get the War Gauntlets which are pretty good too.
    Where to find the Vendigrothian War Gauntlets:
    Vendigroth Ruins, you'll have to search for the schematic and components which are there.
    Where to find the War Gauntlets:
    Tarant armor shopkeeper (there is 2). Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.

    Boots:
    Metal Boots
    This ones are more of a personal preference, after seeing so many boots with only DR+ I figured it would be cool to have the ones that gave the most which are this ones.
    Where to find the Metal Boots:
    Tarant armor shopkeeper (there is 2). Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.

    Amulet:
    Dorian's Amulet
    Magic resistance is kind of scarce, at +40 MR this amulet makes up for it, at least by something.
    Where to find Dorian's Amulet:
    Tarant magic shopkeeper. Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.

    Rings:
    Ring of Protection and Arcane Ring
    I think this ones work best combined, you got the Ring of Protection which gives you some nice AC and DR and you got the Arcane Ring which gives you some really nice resistances.
    Where to find the Ring of Protection:
    I ended up with 4 of these ones after all the hours I put into the game.
    Where to find the Arcane Ring:
    Gypsy shopkeeper. Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.

    Weapons:
    Arcane Greatsword, Arcane Sword, Kryggird's Falchion, Torian Kel's Ancestral Sword and Mystical Chakram.
    Now as you may know I maxed out all my party, melee being the most effective fighting method in my opinion I equiped all my party members with what I thought were the best swords, also being kind of a personal preference. We got the Arcane Greatsword which requires 20 strength, some characters don't have 20 strength after being maxed out so another option is the Arcane Sword, which by the way looks a lot like the sword from Diablo 1. This ones are the ones you can get before the Void, in the Void you can get Kryggird's Falchion which is like an Arcane Greatsword and Torian Kel's Ancestral Sword which is like an Arcane Sword. One thing to notice is that the Barbarian's Heavy Blade and Quality Broadsword are other good options, but for characters that are neither magical nor technological then the other options deal more damage. This was a viable option for my party members, edited in the character editor of course. Honorable mention to the Iron Clan Hammer which for some reason didn't connect as much as I would have like it to. For a thrown weapon only the main character should be equipping one in their inventory, since the followers are silly and will replace their sword which does more damage for the thrown weapon. There is the Mystical Chakram, Azram's Star and Aerial Decapitator. Aerial Decapitator does the most damage but has a pretty bad range of 8, and one of the things I was looking for in a thrown weapon was range. The Mystical Chakram and Azram's Star have a range of 20, Azram's Star does less damage, I don't know why it says it does +20 when in the game it doesn't show that, maybe someone can help clarify this info. So I ended up keeping the Mystical Chakram for a thrown weapon.
    Where to find the Arcane Greatsword:
    Gypsy shopkeeper. Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.
    Where to find the Arcane Sword:
    Gypsy shopkeeper. Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.
    Where to find Kryggird's Falchion:
    The Void, mind you this is at the very end of the game and there is no going back once you get in there.
    Where to find Torian Kel's Ancestral Sword:
    The Void, mind you this is at the very end of the game and there is no going back once you get in there.
    Where to find the Barbarian's Heavy Blade:
    Wheel Clan armor shopkeeper. Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.
    Where to find the Quality Broadsword:
    Tarant armor shopkeeper (there is 2). Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.
    Where to find the Iron Clan Hammer:
    At the end of the Iron Clan quest.
    Where to find the Mystical Chakram:
    Gypsy shopkeeper. Use the shop editor to make it easier to find it.
    Where to find Azram's Star:
    Throwing master quest.
    Where to find the Aerial Decapitator:
    Old Blind Master's House.

    My inventory:
    http://imgur.com/wfhixtC

    And that's pretty much it, I know many of you don't frequent the forums anymore, still I would like to know from you guys this three things:
    1)How many times did you finish the game? Did you ever tried to try all the quests like I did?
    2)What kind of characters and party did you make?
    3)What was your favorite equipment, I know it's a little too much to do a big description like mine so go ahead and do a brief description if you want.

    Well thanks for reading and thanks to the people in this forum for the useful info I got from this great site still alive after all these years. :bunny:
     
  2. Byzantine

    Byzantine Member

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    Countless times, and when I was younger, I always made it a rule to play with almost 100% completion of the game with a fully good alignment. When I came back to it some years later, though, I wanted to replay Arcanum as a more open ended experience, so I downloaded some hacks that allowed me to roam Arcanum as if the main storyline was already complete (in which I basically just wandered throughout the continent, as if the Living One had already saved the world).
    Originally, I was often a charismatic warrior. I always had Virgil, Raven, and Z'an Al'urin for company. In more recent plays, though, I often set out alone. In most fantasy role playing games, I usually role play as a neutral aligned Planescape based character who's just popped into Arcanum, Skyrim, Faerûn, and the like for a spell. I seldom play main questlines, nowadays. The attributes and skills of said character were usually as follows, although most of them were seldom ever maxed out on account of how spread thin they were...

    Combat Skills
    Bow
    Melee
    Dodge
    Throwing

    Social Skills
    Heal

    Thieving Skills
    Prowling

    Technological Skills
    Firearms

    Magick Schools
    Meta
    Divination

    Technological Disciplines
    Herbology
    Chemistry
    Explosives
    I never really liked being an invincible bulwark in Arcanum (let alone any other game), personally, so I always tried to opt for a realistic, and very practical, inventory scheme. Although my character never needed to eat, drink water, relieve himself, wash, or sleep, I liked to treat him as I would if I was playing Fallout: New Vegas on Hardcore Mode.

    Clothes
    Eyeglasses
    Worn Boots
    Wool Jacket
    Leather Gloves

    Weapons
    Bow
    Dagger
    Quality Revolver
    Throwing Daggers (I always improvised that they were blowpipe darts)
    Looking Glass Rifle

    Miscellaneous
    Tea
    Wine
    Drugs
    Sugar
    Herbs
    Bread
    Water
    Shovel
    Poisons
    Lantern
    Matches
    Bandages
    Explosives

    Thanks for sharing your experiences on the forums, Miguel. The nostalgia of Arcanum is very hard to shake off.
     
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