The balance mod for Arcanum

Come one, come all.

For a few years now I have been working on a balance mod for Arcanum for my own enjoyment.

It is pretty much done now.

So what does my mod do?

Well in short it balances all weapon styles and magick to do about the same damage. And the broken stuff has been nerfed or removed.

Here are a few examples of major changes

-All healing is very low in combat (not really useful in combat). Fate points have been removed for this reason.

-Backstab heavily nerfed, prowling heavily nerfed and invisibility removed.

-All OP spells and tech items fixed.

-A lot of damage increases to weapons (and very few deal fatigue damage and if they do a lot less)

-Damage spells can be used a lot as the fatigue cost is very low.

-Maximum speed is 16.

-Maximum melee bonus damage is 10.

-Maximum resistance is 75. Everyone one starts with 45 resistance (fire, normal, electrical) and monsters mostly have 45 resistance. Armor and items give less resistance. But if you get a good set of armor (not hard) you will hit the cap of 75. Platemail for example gives +20 resistance.

-Enemies mostly have 16 speed. So they put up a better fight.

-More health for low level enemies and NPCs (and you) start with 40 health and 40 fatigue. Cap for health is 300 (PC can reach the limit with blessings without spending points).

-Maximum followers is 2.

-OP weapons like Torian Kel sword has been nerfed.

The intended combat mode for the mod is turn based but I didnt hex edit out the ability to switch combat mode. This is due to the bug when the original Arcanum "freezes" in turn based combat so that you can quickly switch out and in with space x 2.

The mod is designed for UAP (made with 1.5.1).

I have put the mod up on Nexus mods.

 

Feeling tired? Thing of the past! Disintegrate costs just 2 fatigue. A mage can fight all day. And no items lost. Looting possible. Impossible but true!

Get your new tech items here: Mechanized decapitator, Rifled Cannon.

Or perhaps a magick axe? The thunder axe deals electrical damage (old arcane axe).

 

This is really interesting, maybe you could share a link so we can try it out?
I'm not a real fan of max follower 2 (for story interactions) and unlimited disintegrate, especially since it does disintegrate loots as well but it's still worth trying.
It would be nice to share those hex editing offsets in the 'Engine Hacks' thread if you're willing to, some people would love to know how to modify those values for themselves.

 

Disintegrate doesnt destroy loot anymore as I have changed it. Think of it as high level weapon like Drochs warbringer but for mages. Hence the low fatigue cost. Old disintegrate was completely bonkers imo for gameplay balance.

Yeah I understand it may not be for everyone (or anyone but me) and that is fine by me.

I have changed all descriptions to display correct info for the mod (skill changes, stat changes etc) to make the mod easy to play with.

Max followers is in the effect.mes file and can just be changed if someone wants more followers but i find a party above 3 makes the gameplay to easy.

 

Disintegrate: that is actually very nice I like how you modded it.
The flickering may be due to antialiasing features, not an expert though.
I have pm'ed you if you need help providing an easy way to share it.

 

Please release it :3

 

I have handed the files to Jack who is going to help package them to be easier installed.

 

<3

 

I have kept updating the mod over these past weeks. Hopefully it is done now.

I have also changed the Arcanum vanilla manual to show the right info for the mod as new version of the Arcanum manual. This is for those of us who love to read a manual (like me) but this version contains the right info for the mod.

 

Updating the manual is a nice touch

 

Yeah. The manual is such a great piece that adds to the fantastic world of Arcanum (Jason, Tim, Boyarsky and the others did such an awesome job).

Just felt I had to update it to fit the mod with my balance changes.

 

Somehow ive managed to add npcs to my mod to add to the atmosphere of the amazing game that is Arcanum. 100+ in Tarant.

Ive been playing for a month and modding for a week. Good times

 

More than 100 new NPCs and only on Tarant?!
Mein gott! My compliments!!
Wish you the best

 

Haha yeah well i really love this game. So much fun to play and mod it.

Now after reading amtut and watching the amtut tutorial on yt ive managed to make 6 new quests.

****spoilers for the mod below****




The caladon zoo has lost a tiger

A dwarf doctor in caladon cant find his medical kit

Smugglers in Tarant need help against the competition that is killing its workers

Bounty hunter commissioner in Dernholm

A sheriff in Ashbury has lost his posse to the Hillock Gang.

A crooked guard in Tarant wants to assasinate a politician

 

Thanks for your suggestion of amtut. Was a lot of good info there!

 

Got a direct link for the mod? did have a looksee tru nexusmods, but nothing came up..

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofsteamworksandmagickobscura/mods/2

 

Managed to edit the wheel clan map, qintarra and tsen ang. Now i think im done. Love the feel the new npcs add to the beutiful villages, caverns, cities etc.

 

The family is baking grandma cookhills three bowl bread right now. I have never tried it before. Was a real hassle getting cumbrian cinnamon (praetor really hurt the economy with his no tech agenda).

It smells lovely. Will be nice to finally taste it.

 

Added another quest to the mod. Ashbury Castle. A woman outside is looking for her missing husband.

12 new quests in total for the mod.