Wise Women - The TRUE Cash Fountain!

Discussion in 'Arcanum Hints & Tips' started by Nakar, Jun 22, 2002.

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  1. Nakar

    Nakar New Member

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    I've noticed some people talking about various ways to make money. Here's one I found to be WAY too good.

    We all know those gypsy wise women outside the cities of Arcanum, happy to identify items for a modest fee, and always - well, sometimes - offering appealing deals on great, sometimes even arcane magical equipment.

    Well, one day I was patronizing the lovely and well-stocked Tarantian wise woman, and because I was bored, saved and whacked her with my pyrotechnic axe. Splat.

    What the hey, I'm gonna reload, but let's loot first... well, no items, as usual, just a stack of... 10,000 gold!?

    ...no, wait, *100,000* gold!?! This lady was LOADED! Where could she have POSSIBLY gotten all this money?

    *spoiler*

    In my attempt to MYST Arcanum (beat it by getting to places you're not supposed to go - thanks to Stringy Pete and the whacking of Nasrudin, I have a guy standing in front of Kerghan at level 20), I needed GOOD gear to take on Stringy Pete and steal his ship. Well, there's no WAY a level 19 half-orc warrior mage is gonna take out level 50, damage-resistant Pete, right? I thought there was a chance, but I needed several things:

    1) A dark helm (sold by the wise woman in Tarant) - Hey, I'm basically "exploiting" to beat the game to see if it's possible, I may as well jack my magic up to 100. This let me use that nifty protection shield. You have 95% DR, Pete? Me too!

    2) Arcane gear - In my case, arcane leather armor, enchanted war boots (for the extra speed, coupled with Hasten and a potion, I had 75 speed), arcane axe and shield... whatever it takes.

    In both cases, note, I needed to go to the Tarant lady, and I needed to sleep a LOT to force restock.

    *end spoiler*

    Sure enough, that's the key. EVERY TIME you sleep with the lady offscreen after speaking to her and scoping her stuff (that's crucial), she naturally restocks. The thing is, she ALSO restocks her money. But because the money is on her person (I guess) and not in a chest like most storekeepers, the money ACCUMULATES. Try it yourself, using pickpocket to view her cash reserves. She gains ~3000 gold every time you cycle her inventory.

    Wow! With all that money, it'll be a breeze to... wait... to buy her equipment. How am I gonna manage THAT? Even if I resurrect her, she'll hate me.

    Then I remembered the dynamite-through-a-wall trick I'd read here. I ran around the wall of Tarant such that I could see the wise woman, and planted the TNT on her. No muss, no fuss, and one dead wise woman. Loot 100k gold, and resurrect her - and she's amiable to me to boot!

    I would consider this cheating on a ridiculous scale, of course, but if you're gonna cheat, cheat. All you need is some free time, a stick of dynamite, and a resurrect scroll or restore life. You can't get more money for any less effort.

    Again, the key here is: Talk to the woman, see her wares, scroll her offscreen, rest 'til the next day. Repeat. The money you spend only adds to her bankroll, so you may wanna blast her twice...

    ...and conveniently, you can usually acquire two sticks of dynamite by the time you leave Shrouded Hills. Getting the money for the scrolls or items to resurrect, I leave to you... or you could just kill one of the other wise women...
     
  2. legolas

    legolas New Member

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    the wise woman outside of tarant has no money when i viewed her inventory. i even slept outside from her screen to see if she would get more, money, but she did not
     
  3. Nakar

    Nakar New Member

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    Did you access her shopping interface first? I *think* that's the trigger.

    Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe one of those mods out there (ranged mod, whatever) accidentally triggers it? I can easily get screenshots of a wise woman's cash reserve, but that's not exactly 'proof.'
     
  4. Ferret

    Ferret New Member

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    *bows deeply for the dynamite-through-a-wall trick*

    And yes, you've got to shop, then move away and sleep, then shop again. Shopping is the key to all fortitude. :wink:
     
  5. Jasper_Chen

    Jasper_Chen New Member

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  6. Luinil

    Luinil New Member

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    care to explain exactly what it is? thnx
     
  7. Evil Assassin

    Evil Assassin New Member

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    I think that if your standing behind a wall, you can place some dynamite on the other side without anyone noticeing you.
     
  8. Ruelz

    Ruelz New Member

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    amazing...

    amazing what one learns just randomly browsing forums. I thank you for the dynamite through the wall trick knowledge as well! I didn't realize that would work!

    And to think I spent hours and hours pick-pocketing her... :lol:
     
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