Container safety

Discussion in 'Arcanum Hints & Tips' started by Muro, Mar 21, 2010.

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  1. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    I'd like to gather some info about safety of containers. Asking about the 1.0.7.4 vanilla + UAP game, but if there were any changes in the A:WIP, information about them is most welcome.

    By safe containers I understand the ones in which I can put items and be sure that no matter how much time passes, the items will still be there. In other words, containers which can safely be used as storage space without any fear that any valuable and/or unique items will go bye-bye. Unsafe container are, shortly put, the ones which can make items disappear.

    I primarily wanted to ask about one particular chest which I planned to use in my current game, but what the heck, since I felt bothered enough to ask the question, let's make a thread about all of the containers out there, shall we?


    I'm guessing that trash bins and shopkeeper containers are unsafe since they restock daily (yet one can easily notice that hexed items are somewhat an exception here. What is the rule fro those ones? Do all of them refuse to vanish from shopkeeper stocks? Also, what is the rule for hexed items and trash bins?). And, of course, the Bangellian Furnace is as unsafe as it gets. But, other than that, are all the rest of the containers in the game safe? I'm mostly concerned about these group of containers:
    • I. Inn containers. Ya know, the ones which are usually next to the bed in which you sleep when you rent a room for the night/week. Are they safe? Unsafe? Safe only as long as the room is paid for? Not related with the rental at all? I'm mostly curious about this chest (Drop yer Anchor, Dernholm), but it would be good to know how the rest works as well.
      II. Altars. Are altars safe? Storing massive amounts of Sweet Cakes in Moorindal's altar would be fun.
      III. Info concerning all of the containers in the Bates Mansion would also be invaluable.
    Also, if you know about any unsafe containers in the game that I didn't mention, please do share your knowledge.
     
  2. rroyo

    rroyo Active Member

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    Hexed items seem to obey their own damned rules when it comes to inventory renewal. Like you, I noticed that hexed items weren't being destroyed like everything else, but never did understand why.

    You're right about not using trash cans and merchants' chests. That's a sure-fire way to loose your treasure.

    I: Inn containers like dressers and nightstands seem to be completely safe. Since the ones in the rented rooms not on a set inventory, they should preserve anything put into them.
    Be advised however - many of the chests and such in private homes and the innkeeper's room do have an inventory set for them. Although they don't renew, there's still a 50/50 chance of item loss. (Not sure why but it did happen to me.)

    II: Altars are a risky bet as they are scripted to destroy the proper offering and reject everthing else. I've also never tried using one for storage, so I really don't know if it cleans itself out. The scripting doesn't suggest it - but......
    Something that would be safer would be to create a pile of the sweetcakes or such off to one side. When you return, there'll be a junkpile storing them.

    III: All the containers in the mansion are safe for use. This I can personally vouch for.

    Edit: Almost forgot. The chest at the Drop Yer Anchor in Black Root is completely safe.
     
  3. Cobramax

    Cobramax New Member

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    i use the cabinet of drawers at ristezze house in same room where his locked chest is...ive never had any problems with it at all...that and the chest in the room at the inn across the street there where you find the note on floor...neither of those chests has ever given any problems ( lost items etc...) :)
     
  4. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    Does it mean that any container that starts with any items in it is tainted with this fifty-fifty risk, while those that start empty are safe? Or does this only apply to residential areas? What is the situation with widely understood dungeons and magic/mystic/arcane chests?

    Ah yes, my mistake. I liked the idea of storing items in altars but forgot that the game blocks the option of putting anything that isn't the correct offering in them.

    Don't junkpiles disappear over time?

    That's what happens when one posts right before his sleepy time. Glad you were able to figure out that I indeed meant Black Root.
     
  5. rroyo

    rroyo Active Member

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    1) Right. There is no in-game way to know if the chest has an inventory assigned to it, so the ones with several items already in them has a 50/50 chance of safely storing items.
    The containers with nothing inside or just money, just a key, or a couple odds and ends are a good indicator that the items were placed and the container is safe to use.
    A fair amount of content that goes together - like shoes, a nice suit, pocket watch, and top hat - suggests an assigned inventory. In this example, an upper class NPC.

    2) The chests and dressers in private homes, innkeepers' quarters, as well as dwarven chests, archane chests, shipping containers, and packaged components are the ones to watch out for.
    The chests and dressers in the homes and quarters usually have assigned inventories but the remaining containers (corner shelving, tables, herb bundles) are usually safe enough.
    The other ones listed do come with inventories attached and although they don't renew their stock, there is a risk of stored item loss.

    3) Junkpiles - OK, my knowledge is based on what happens to a dead NPC. Those piles seemed to hang around forever.
    The last time I played without teleport, the fellow at the quarry left a junkpile behind that was still there several months later. Beyond that, I'm really not sure how long the piles last.

    4) Not a problem. (smile)
     
  6. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    Okaaay, this is all more complicated than I expected it to be, but I'm trying to comprehend the whole picture here.

    Your example was about an inventory typical for a NPC. Could you perhaps provide some examples of sets of items suggesting an assigned inventory which can be found in containers, so it would be easier to know what to watch out for? Other than various magic stuff in magic/mystic/arcane chests or various tech ingredients in tech containers of course, I already got it that those containers should be best avoided when searching for a safe container.
     
  7. luppolo

    luppolo New Member

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    sorry to bump this up, but since the question hasn't been answered i'd like to share my experiences (running 1074+uap)

    the barrel right at the entrance of the wolf cave is safe (tested),
    the hunting rifle i left there was still in the barrel after 4 years game time

    inn chests are safe (not tested all of them, but most game guides tell so)
    at least the ones in the rooms that open when you rent, so ex. the other rooms at caladon might not be safe

    junkpiles created by unpicked enemy loot should be safe, the ones in bmc mines were still there after about 2 years game time


    anyway, i'm going to start a new game today and will test all inns
     
  8. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    As long as the bumping post adds something actually worth reading to the topic, I sure won't mind the revival of old threads created by my humble self. I consider such situations White Necromancy rather than Black, Resurrection rather than Create Undead. I can be quoted on that.

    Welcome aboard, luppolo, and know that I appreciate all the contribution I can get.
     
  9. shupbeav

    shupbeav New Member

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    To be honest I use everything other than alters, shops, and trashcans to store items. I have filled up quite a few inns without a problem. Those three are the only ones that seem to reset, except the furnace of course. Creating junk piles works but can get annoying because of followers always trying to pick up what you place there. I actually am trying to find the most accessible place with the max storage. It gets annoying running all the way to the Bates estate every time you want something. I tend to use teleportation which helps but still it sucks. The one place I would not store things is at the blind masters house that has the aerial decapitator, reason being it is just difficult to get back there and I have yet to personally test it. Also there is no storage containers there so it would have to be junk piles. I would like to figure out the world editor well enough to make such a place to stash all my junk, just a place with a ridiculous amount of containers right there where you enter at. Quick easy access to all the crap you keep.
     
  10. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    I suggest Liam's workshop. It's ownerless, you can sleep there, easily teleport right next to the house and the only person knowing where it is is an old lady in Black Root who probably never did nor never will leave the safety of her home town.

    I'm quite surprised with your "max storage" requirement. I myself have never been able to fill up a single chest and find myself in a need for a second one. Containers seem nearly bottomless in Arcanum, like as if they contained a dimension gate to a different plain of existence or something of that nature.
     
  11. shupbeav

    shupbeav New Member

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    Surprisingly enough there is a limit. I spent quite a while after finding that limit, spreading out all my stuff into different inns trying to catagorize it so that I could remember where I put things. Yeah I am a pack rat. Also if there are any bodies that are placed in the game, as long as you don't take everything off the body you can use it as storage and the body never disappears, its like a corpse chest. They can only hold as much as a person a follower can though. However weight doesn't matter, just bulk.
     
  12. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    I recall bodies equipped with useless items on them turning into junk heaps so I don't think that's true. If that would not be so, some districts in Tarant would have a carpet of dead orc thugs in them in my games.
     
  13. shupbeav

    shupbeav New Member

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    No this is not true for things that you kill. Only for things that are placed in the game dead for example the dead bodies of the Molochean Hand agents in the Shrouded Hills inn. They never disappear even if you loot everything from them. If you leave something on them, it can be anything 1 gold or 1 bullet will do, then you can use them for storage just like a chest, with more limitation on capacity of course. In other words, if they start out dead in the game they will not disappear.
     
  14. nomwalla

    nomwalla New Member

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    Not sure if this is gravedigging. The All-Important FAQ tells me to use commonsense, but, uh, I lack any kind of sense at all. In any case, a week seems pretty benign.

    Anyways, shupbeav, you aren't entirely correct. The bodies of premade characters at the crash site (Muck Evil Eye, Merwin, Warrington, and, uh, I can't remember the rest) disappear (assuming, of course, that you're not playing any of them).
     
  15. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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  16. Zanza

    Zanza Well-Known Member

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    I bet you have been waiting forever to be able to quote yourself on that Muro. I'm onto you!
     
  17. shupbeav

    shupbeav New Member

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    If you notice all bodies at the crash site die as the game begins. Every once in a while you can hear it while Virgil is talking.
     
  18. nomwalla

    nomwalla New Member

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    Aha, so that's what that sound was. Well then, mea culpa.
     
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