Any way to gauge how well you're doing?

Greetings all,

I just picked-up Arcanum, as I've been looking for a new game and it looked really appealing to me. I'm only a few hours in right now and I'm really enjoying it; however, my character seems to be pretty weak at this point (he's level 9). I'm going for a Gnome Gunslinger/Thief type character, essentially replacing a Thief's normal type of weapons with guns. I started out with the Miracle Operation background and while it's been a rather massive boon to my perception and intelligence, my constitution and strength are abysmal (Con is 1).

Anyway, when I'm killing things, I seem to be on the low-end of doing damage. I have Sogg-Mead Mug in my party, as well as Magnus (Virgil died, unfortunately, really screwing me over for a healer) and Sogg seems to be the one doing most of the damage, really slicing things up with this magical sword I gave him. Meanwhile, I just bought a rifle which seems to be doing okay damage, but I feel as though by now in most RPG's (I'm not speaking strictly of newer RPG's either, I'm an old CRPG fan and a P&P fan) I'm substantially stronger. Though I recognize there's 50 levels in Arcanum as opposed to a normal 20 in a D&D based system.

So how do I know if I'm doing okay? I'm having fun still, but I feel as though I could be doing better and I'm starting to question my choice of character, wondering perhaps if I should have gone with one who is more apt in melee fighting or spellcasting.

As well, I can't seem to find it in the manual, but what does MSR:8 mean? It is highlighted in my weapon box with my new rifle equipped and I haven't seen it before.

Thanks

 

MSR:8 mean Minimum Strength Required: 8. It means you need to have a Strength of 8 or higher to not incure penalties (I think). As to not being particularly good, don't worry. I don't think I've ever been anything but a wussy meatbag at level 9, regardless of what path I choose. Except of course when I play a Harm spamming necrophiliac.

 

Since you're going tech based and Virgil is dead, you'll want to pick up Jayna Styles. If memory serves she's in Dernholme and is a tech based healer.

MSR: 8 does indeed mean you need an 8 strength to wield the weapon.

Just keep increasing your PE (and DX if playing turn based), as well as your firearms skill (be sure to get training in it since at your level you should have reached expert training) and work on finding better and better guns as you level and your damage will increase. Techies start out very slow, but are very rewarding if you stick with them.

 

Thanks for the info, folks.

Also, why is Dex important if I'm playing turn-based (which I am)? I'm increasing my dex now as part of being able to level-up my pick lock, but what roll does it serve in turn-based combat?

I've been cranking-up my firearms skill as much as possible, I think I'm only one skillpoint away from maxing it out and I am currently an apprentice in it. Where might I find an expert trainer?

I guess I'll have to figure out how to make my way over to Derholme, because not having a healer is really killing me (har).

 

Dex determines your speed, which in turn base mode means how many actions per turn you get. The more actions the more bullets you can pump into the enemy per turn. The good ol' Doc can help you with firearms expertise.

 

Great, thanks. Also, how can I heal-up my party if I don't have a healer? I imagine it might be some time before I make it to Dernholme, so in the meantime, what do I do? Sleeping only healed me.

 

So, I picked up Jayna; however, she seems a little useless right now. She can't heal during combat (I'm assuming?), so the only way I can have her heal is to make potions for me, is that it? Where is a good place to find those ingredients for those potions? I seem to have only found one single ingredient so far.

 

Give her bandages. Also she makes healing salves does she not? The ingredients are literally everwhere on the world map.

 

Giving her bandages is probably a bad idea, she'll use 'em up before you know it.

But yeah, ginka roots and kadura stems - the ingredients for healing salves - grow pretty much everywhere, there are even often around during random encounters, but most importantly they are available in the stocks of herbalists. During my tech games Jayna was able to produce so much of those babies that most of my inventory was filled with them + selling the excess was one of my main sources of income.