being a dwarf ain't easy, aye?

Discussion in 'Arcanum Hints & Tips' started by vitamin, Jul 5, 2012.

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  1. Jojobobo

    Jojobobo Well-Known Member

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    It was the only thing about the weapon I didn't double check, still 22 speed with being a firearms' apprentice isn't bad. Certainly always seemed to get a lot of bullets out for me in short order.
     
  2. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    Make that 17 speed with apprentice. :)
     
  3. vitamin

    vitamin New Member

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    Thank you all for your replies and help - I really appreciate it very much.

    Regarding sewers - I found that entrance and already killed some creatures (those weaker ones). But I'm gonna have hard times with those stronger. I'll definitely need some better sword and/or gun. BTW, thanks for that tip on Sharp Shooter's Pistol but I don't want to steal anything if it's not related to any quest. And as it comes to Looking Glass Rifle, Hand Cannon and Elephant Gun - I'll check on them but I'm guessing that I will need more CP's to craft even one (now I have only 4 unspent CP's).


    And regarding those stealing quests - I think I skip them for now. Just don't want to use my CP's on prowling and pick pocket since my biggest problem right now is killing.


    A quick question - Enchanted War Boots - are they worth their price (over 2000)? That +5 to speed is tempting, what do you think?
     
  4. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    Enchanted War Boots are worth their price - for a mage. Your character, however, will receive no speed boost from them because of his high tech aptitude.
     
  5. vitamin

    vitamin New Member

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    Gosh, what a shame:( But thank you for letting me know. I was just about to buy them.

    EDIT:
    Only now I'm starting to understand why people say that it's hard playing Arcanum with technology oriented character.

    EDIT #2:
    Are there any items that would give me extra points to strength and intelligence? I need lots of CP's for these two stats (at least one of them) if I want to get some better weapons.
     
  6. Jojobobo

    Jojobobo Well-Known Member

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    Therapeutics gives boosts to all stats, the boosts are temporary but using one of the potions I've found will last till you wait or fast travel (so a couple of hours - which isn't half bad). The high end tech armour mechanized plate (not too sure on the name) gives a +2 ST bonus with the UAP but it's very heavy and so will likely make you encumbered - it's your choice if you think that's worth it.

    Damn! I thought when you viewed it in someone's inventory it showed how good it would be for your character, not the character using it but I guess that must be the case.
     
  7. vitamin

    vitamin New Member

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    So it looks like, I'm really gonna have hard times reaching next levels. I just checked that Looking Glass Rifle as it seems to be my only rescue but there's no way I could craft it soon enough:/ This gun requires IN 15(!) and I got only 8. And more over, even when I reach that level, I will still need 4 CP's for all those schematics that come before the one with Looking Glass Rifle. So if I got it right, I'd need 11 CP's all together to make that gun. Having 6 CP's unspent, makes it 5 but it's still 5 levels ahead. And every next level is becoming more and more difficult to complete for me. Even though, I'm far from saying that I'm stuck (I'm not gonna give up that easily), I'd like to hear from you any suggestions on developing my character. For example, should I go for that Looking Glass Rifle no matter what, or there's other way round maybe?*


    * - Please don't give me any spoilers or stealing hints. And I don't want more followers either.

    EDIT:
    Forgot to ask, how it is possible that Virgil's healing spells started to work on me again?

    EDIT #2:
    Maybe instead of better gun, a nice sword would do the job? I just checked my stats, and my chances to hit with melee are 85% while firearms only 75%. What do you reckon guys?
     
  8. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    If you don't consider this cheating, you can drink Essences of Intellect, which can be bought from Wise Women. Each boosts your intelligence by 10 points for 60 seconds regardless of aptitude. While under the influence of the potion, you can invest character points in schematics as well as create items from them.

    Perhaps you are in a area which influences you aptitude (for example the vicinity of the magick shops in Tarant boosts your aptitude by 10 points towards magick) just enough to motivate Virgil to use his spells on you.
     
  9. vitamin

    vitamin New Member

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    10pts! I'd say that is a big cheat. Actually it's a kind of bug, unless it costs something like 10 000, don't you think? One or two points would be reasonable but 10?! There's no way I could use it.

    Yes, I'm in Tarant and while fighting all those monsters in the sewers I noticed that his spells work on me again. But I'd never thought that it's because of some specific area. I thought that it's because he has become a more skillful mage. But this game surprises me again:)


    EDIT:
    As I was searching through out this forum, I found a thread by Muro with very intriguing information:

    If anyone could explain me, how those manuals work and if it's really possible to make that Looking Glass Rifle without wasting CP's on preceding gun schematics that I won't be using anyway.

    EDIT #2:
    Ok, I just tested those manuals and I think I know how they work. Each manual adds some points (based on current IN level) to corresponding discipline but I'm not sure why my current degree doesn't change either? No matter how many points I have, my degree is always assistant/novice/layman. That's a bit strange. Nevertheless, I'd still need to find/buy schematics to craft anything. And that's a problem because there are only two or three schematics in Tarant, and they are for really basic stuff like bullets. So it looks like Looking Glass Rifle is a daydream for me at this stage:(

    EDIT #3:
    One more thing about those manuals - every time I buy one, I get the same book, volume one? For a quick test I tried to increase my IN from 8 to 14 but still I can only buy basic manuals? Does anyone know why is that?
     
  10. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    +10 intelligence for a minute with a single potion is fair enough for a mage, since it comes down to being able to maintain more spells during a single battle.

    On the other hand, the boost for a technologist is way too much to be considered balanced.

    It would be fair if the essence's effect scaled with aptitude, giving a high benefit for a mage and little to no benefit for a technologist. It is a magickal potion, after all.

    They can help create items when you have the schematic and ingredients but lack the expertise (like in my thread you quoted, when I had the schematic for the Long Range pistol, the expertise in the form of manual and lacked one ingredient, the Looking-Glass Rifle). It won't help you gain learn a schematic from a tech tree. No way to learn how to create the looking-Glass Rifle without learning how to create all previous guns in the gunsmithy discipline.

    There are lots of schematics to be bought in Tarant, something around 40, each having a small (usually 5% each day) chance to be in the stock of its appropriate shopkeeper. You just have to keep in mind to visit those shops regularly.

    That's the point. Degrees are earned. Manuals, on the other hand, temporarily increase expertise without you having to invest your experience into a degree.

    You can buy any number of manuals from the same discipline and their effects stack. Volume one is just their fancy in-game name. Nothing to be worried about.
     
  11. Pyotr

    Pyotr Member

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    No, it isn't.
    You can't fool disciplines, IN requirement is for CRAFTING recipe, not learning it.
    Sure, you can drink these potions every time you need to craft something, but thats doesn't make sense roleplay-wise.
    Just think about it for a moment: dwarf technologist frequents some shady women for magical potions. Sounds awfully lot like drug addiction.
    He was talking about
    stealing them
    .
    You cant craft a learned schematic without putting points into it.
    They add your IN to discipline so with 20 IN you can reach 100 with only 5 manuals. Though this value set on pick up, so you need top reequip it if you changed your IN while holding manuals in inventory.
    They used only for found schematics and, considering you can't learn all disciplines, you will use them sooner or later.
     
  12. vitamin

    vitamin New Member

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    Yes, that kind of fix on this potion would be just perfect.

    That sucks. I mean, it's kind of logical but makes my life a bit harder;)


    But I do check all shops everyday and I could swear that they have the same items everyday. I was hoping for lots of new stuff to buy in Tarant but so far bought only some bullets, shield, helmet, gloves and armor. And as it comes to schematics, there are only 3 available but I don't need them. I got no idea when some other schematics will be on stock. Also I don't know how often shops get new supplies, maybe it's once a month?

    Ok, fair enought. And thank you for explaining all these things to me.

    Oh, I see. I thought that it might be a little bug.


    Maybe it isn't a bug per se, but it can be used as a cheat. I agree with Muro that usage of this potion should be aptitude dependent.
     
  13. Jojobobo

    Jojobobo Well-Known Member

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    No they weigh 250 stone for some ungodly reason (a book weighing as much as armour, really?), so that limits how many volumes you can feasibly carry anyway. If there wasn't a limitation it might be a bit buggy, but as there is it's fine.
     
  14. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    All items are on a given shop's item list from the very beginning. Each item has a particular chance to appear after each restock (as said, it's 5% for most schematics).All shops restock daily, though a shop will not restock if shopkeeper is within your view when the restock would normally trigger.

    That being said, if one hunts for an item by checking a shop's stock, waiting 24h and checking it again and so on, it's important to move the camera maximally away from the shopkeeper before waiting. Moving away from him just to be sure doesn't hurt either.
     
  15. vitamin

    vitamin New Member

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    Many thanks Muro for that information. It's good to know that shops get new supplies everyday. That will hopefully make my life a bit easier.

    BTW, I decided to go for melee (quality axe to be precise) and I'm glad I did it. Now I'm cruising through those sewers killing everything I come across:)
     
  16. ConjurerDragon

    ConjurerDragon Member Supporter

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    I died a dozen deaths at the hand of Lukan and his two half-ogres, even considered to join them in destroying the bridge material and pondered creating a new character with more pick pockets to steal the bridge key - and your trick made the same battle so much less deadly. It even makes sense to trick dumb half-ogres in that way... Strange only that Lukan did pick up a railway spike, too. :rolleyes:
     
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