Best equipment

So, I found all system of items in Arcanum pretty weird.
But it wasn't like in most games, where you're getting those epic items from special quests or even more special places, in Arcanum, most equipment I got from shops or gypsies.

In my most recent run I had following stuff:
1char/2char
Mystic Helmet/Nature's Wrath Helmet
Arcane Platemail/Mystic Platemail
Arcane Gauntlets/Mystic Gauntlets
Enchanted War Boots
+
Sword of Baltazar/Arcane Great Sword

But again, most items in gypsies inventory are pretty random, so I never get second arcane set...
So, what is better stuff, and most importantly, when I can find it?

 

Except your "best" items are useless for tech characters.

 

You can get Arcane Robes quite easily in Tulla, if you don't mind stealing them. If you were after a shield, the Screaming Shield carried by the blacksmith in Roseborough is probably a good idea. Stringy Pete always carries an Arcane Sword, Shield and Helmet - though killing him for those items might not be worth the trouble as it's one of the toughest fights in the game. The Bangellian Scourge is also a good magickal weapon for evil characters that can be found at the Bangellian Deeps, also if you wanted to reliably find an Arcane Great Sword again then an optional location called The Bog always has one. In terms of jewellry, I think the innkeeper in Roseborough carriers an Arcane Ring, and for Necklaces either the Finger of Mannox (found in the First Panarii Temple), the Amulet of K'an-el found on Myrth in Stillwater or just a regular +40 magick resistance amulet found on most magick pedlars are your best bets.

Other than that all Arcane weapons, armour and jewellery have a small percentage chance to be in the stock of gypsies/wise women as you point out. If you're patient enough you can get the items by having a lot of money and regenerating their stock over and over again, best achieved by being near one of the merchants in question then scrolling your screen across so they're no longer on screen and waiting a day. This will take you a while, but if you're really determined to have the best magickal stuff then it's the most reliable way.

As for the best tech items, the majority you can make yourself.

 

Myrth in Stillwater has Gaylin's Amulet of N'Tala. It's Fawn in Qinterra who's got the Amulet of K'an-el.

And Arcane Robe combined with Shield of Protection has to be the best armour. Light weight and high resistances to all sorts of damage. At least if you've got the Magickal Aptitude to boost them both to max. Or possibly Dragon Skin Leather, since that one at least offers high resistance to fire damage, which is dealt by fire elementals, and (I'm assuming) Gore Guards and Lord's Slaves (since they do that awful 10 damage to armour whenever they hit).

Hm. Maybe an armour that can take a beating is better after all? Robes are destroyed in 8 fire hits, Dragon Skin Leather in 12 hits. Unless fire resistance lowers the damage to armour. Does it? One solution could be to take a few ranks in Repair, and get Expert training. Then the items won't lose max HP once they're at 99 or lower. Just repair the robe after it's been touched by flaming fists of fire. But spending 3+ points to become a Repair Expert is probably a bit too costly, especially with the three other points you'd have to put into spells to get the same Magickal Aptitude. Yeah, heavy armour is probably better against fire. Stupid fire.

 

Yeah sorry, got the names confused. That's what I meant.

 

Thanks guys, now in new playthrough I got all those items.
Didn't knew about Pete (always used disintegration on him, duh) and trick with gypsies prety much works.
I got everything arcane in Shrouded Hills, some time later switched from arcane rings to Influence and Virility. (pretty unbalanced thoughts)
As for necklaces I always used ntala, but that one from master healer is much better.

 

I think the Baneful Gauntlets also derserve to be mentioned. If your PC can substain the poison damage which they inflict (with a constitution of twenty your character becomes immune to poisons) then they'll grant your PC pretty good resistances.

 

They also deal fatigue damage over time, so even a character with 20 constitution would rather not wear them.

 

Not with the official patch only though. And while the gauntlet's resistance bonuses (without the UAP) are somewhat off, they're still worthwhile. I used the gauntlets almost throughout my entire playthrough.

 

Re:

Yeah, but they're not worthwhile. There's better items. Hex items tend to be not be worth it. What's the point in having something that lowers attributes or poisons you or whatever, when the whole goal is to increase attributes and reduce damage? Also, why exactly would you want 20 con?

 

Re: Re:

Now, now don't be snotty. High constitution might not be vital due to fatigue restorers, but it sure is convenient and it saves action points that you waste while drinking your potion of choice. You might argue that it's better to invest those points in dexterity giving you your action points right back, but then you instead face the problem of encumbrance as your generally weak mages have their pockets filled with potions.

I've also noticed that a surplus of fatigue can be more valuable than high dexterity even from an action point view point (wow that sounded silly) since you can do any action regardless of the cost as long as you have at least one action point left. The 'saved' action points are converted into loss of fatigue. Example: Using a 4 AP weapon with 2 AP left leaves you with -2 fatigue. This could be used effectively with slow weapons such as the Axe of Lost Time a very powerful and very hexed weapon.

Finally, I don't really comprehend your fourth sentence. Why wouldn't I use something that lowers certain attributes that I don't use in order to reap the benefits of a hexed weapon. Trade-offs are one the more important things to consider in RPG:s with level caps.

 

What potions? Having 2-3 Arcane Staves in rotation completely solves the mana problem for mages.

 

Ah yes, I forgot about the stored mana in most arcane weaponry. Still, arcane gear tend to be pretty hard to come by unless you're a fan of spending weeks waiting for stores to restock. But in a thread about best equipment staves should definitely be mentioned.

 

Re: Re:

You're correct they aren't. Oh well shame on me. I'm not going share what made them worthwhile in my game åas that would be truly embarrassing.
When I now reevaluated them they at best increased my resistances by ten percent. Probably not worth the two or three CPs that I invested in constitution.