New Player to Arcanum, some simple generic questions

Hello!

i am as of yesterday the proud recipient of three badly scatched (yet fully functional!) secondhand Arcanum discs, and i'm thinkin about playin after having read a bit of the UberFAQ and some other informational sources.

generally, i enjoy playing thief type characters, but sadly i am often disappointed at their implementation.

my perfect scenario is thus:

primary thief, with some social skills, lone wolf, minor magic user (support), evil (or chaotic neutral leaning towards evil).

would a build consisting of these characteristics be playable?

will i miss significantly excellent aspects of the game without party members? are they memorable? do they have much dialogue?

can i be an effective thief and still be able to persuade others?

i have been playing planescape: torment recently, and i would never, NEVER consider making a character in that game with low INT or WIS scores, the dialogue is just too awesome to miss any of it, how does Arcanum compare in that catagory? is it worth it to sacrifice my other abilities for the sake of dialogue and plot? how good is the story in the game? how stat based is the story?

it seems like my ideal build is spreading things a little thin, are there useful support skills available at low levels of skill in the magickal colleges? can i afford to drop magic if necessary to be a better thief?

is it possible for my to skilled at all manner of roguery? can i have high backstab/pickpocket/prowel/lockpick, or are the skillpoints too limited?

are thieves, as is the custom, underpowered and difficult to play? does playing as a thief significantly change the game?

will i face numerous situations where i have to kill swarms of foes, and find myself stuck due to a limited combat ability?

are evil characters reduced a ridiculous stereotype (i'm so evil! i want to kill everything, but have no idea why!), or is it a more nuanced and 3d portrayal of evil?

are evil characters penalized (like in NWN) for being evil i.e. less quest rewards/items/options?

will the gameworld react to the cruelty and devious nature of my character should i choose that path?

is dialogue reduced to:
1. yes
2. no
3. yes but i'm evil
?

if my desire for my above stated build is unachievable purely through starting stats, will i be able to aquire some of my ideal characteristics via items/quests?

should i give up on my dreams of thievery, and resort to a likely overpowered mage or fighter that just blazes through enemies?

is the thief class limited by something unexpected (game mechanical limitation)?

am i askin too many questions?

thanks for readin all this, i hope you guys can at least answer a few of the above!

-onewolf

 

Play the game, and you'll answer most of your questions.

My suggestion is try a thief/fighter with a positive alignment and at least a few followers the first time through the game. Some of the followers have entire subquests in them, and why miss out on the rich storyline? Plus, they add a lot to the story itself, and can help out if you get lost.
(try pure evil the second time around) :evil:

As far as playing a thief, this game can definately cater to your style of play. (There's subquests specifically for you) The development isn't as detailed as some games, but you have to get formal training to advance your character, so its fun and challenging at the same time. My advice is read the Character Guide before developing your character.

Game play is similar to Torment, but not such a rigid storyline. You dont get as deep into the dialog options with your followers. The upside is some of them make stuff for you.... You'll see.

Above all, install the PATCH!

Here's the Manual and PATCH links for easy reference.

 

thanks for the reply.

hopefully i'll start tonight!

to anyone else readin this, feel free to chime in.

 

He probably has a copy of the budget version. Next to the install and play disc, an extra, third disc with the manual on it was included.

 

thank GOD thats what was on d3, since it was so scratched i couldnt read it.

so far, i'm enjoying the game, keep getting owned by lvl3 wolves/spiders, but i'm sure i'll get a little tougher eventually.

right now i'm lvl5 halfling thief, 5str 12dex 9int 9will 8per 8con, 2lock 1prowel 1pickpocket

hoping to develop magic line in the charm stun college.

will adding to persuation with low char still help me to get more quests?

i'm kinda lost on how to best progresss, i really want to be a skilled thief but i also want the willpower necessary to incease my magic aptitude enough to use good magic items.

damn lockpick keeps raising my tech ap.

also, i keep having to ask virgil to leave my party when i prowel, seems that when enemies notice him they notice me automatically, and keep back command only works for a short distance....

i added to couple skills i didnt mean to take (haggle), and now i wish i could undo the points i spent in it.

i guess thats for my next character!

 

i'm definitely goin magic, its just lockpick that moves me towards tech at all. so far i'm quite pleased, some of the spells are invaluable for my frail halfling (stun and damage shield spell thing).

only wish there was a restore fatigue spell (though it would be entirely unbalancing). if i ever come across troves of cocoa/tobacco leaves, i might take fatigue restorer tech potion. but we'll see how my aptitude is.

havin a blast so far, though i have yet to successfully backstab anything =(. damn companions keep tipping everyone off.

i'm still worried about runnin out of skillpoints for all the things i want to do, but hey, thems the breaks, right?

 

will i miss significantly excellent aspects of the game without party members? are they memorable? do they have much dialogue?

I would say so, some of them and they all have their stories to tell, if that's what you mean...

 

Sure, unlocking cantrip is guaranteed, but it's very loud in comparison to just picking the lock.
To play a real thief, silence is key.

 

Once you've tried the magic path, you can always start another character and try the tech path. Personally I like to walk the middle road each route has it's merits, but I must admit at high level teleport is a must. Saves so much time and avoids those tedious encounters.

 

I like the encounters. They keep me on my toes while travelling, and I don't get bored while going from town to town.
It's all "walk, walk, walk, MONSTER, walk, walk, TOWN"
as opposed to "ZAP! TOWN. ZAP!"

 

Plus its a great way level up. Half my experience probably comes from fighting random encounters. Also, the Hand always has such nice loot for me to sell. :thumbup:

 

And especially Bates' bounty hunters.

 

yeah, i don't like the idea of usin unlockin cantrip just on basic principle, it don't wash with my total stealth ideal of my character. irrational, yes.

so far my solution to the followers suckin at stealth is to ask them to wait while i pillage everything in sight.

i have also discovered that a thief has basically unlimited access to cash, since store owners replentish supplies every so often, and i can just rob them over and over. i have stopped doin that, but should never have started now that i'm loaded with money.

 

Science is the way to go for a thief. The rings, goggles, and lockpicks more then make up for what you lose by not going magical.

 

I like walkin' the thief/fighter/persuasive path.

At the end game, I was a Lvl 50 100% Technological 100% Evil Male Human and had 20 Str, 20 Dex, 20 Cha, and 7 Per. (From the helmet) Everything else was 8. I had Master Lvl 5 Melee, Master Lvl 5 Dodge, Master Lvl 4 Backstab, Master Lvl 5 Pickpocket, Master Lvl 5 Picklocks, and Master Lvl 5 Persuasion. And for some reason 1/2 Bow. (Must be because of a stat modifying item I used that became permanent.) I got Lvl 50 right after Stillwater. (I went from Crash Site, to Shrouded Hills, Jongle Dunn sent me to Dernholm, the King of Cumbria sent me to Blackroot, Liams Mommy sent me to Liams Workshop, then I went to Tarant, Bates sent me to Black Mount. Mines, I went back to Tarant, Bates sent me to Ashbury, Edward Teach sent me to the Isle, the that Dwarf guy sent me to the Wheel Clan, then so on...)