Avoiding the BMC

Hey guys.

New player here -- I had the game when it first came out & never got any farther than Shrouded Hills, haha. I've decided to finally give it another go!

I've done what I can at the moment in Tarant, Dernholm, and Black Root. There are still some quests to be completed, but I'm not sure how to go about doing them, so I was wondering if it were possible to reach Stillwater without going through the Black Mountain Caves? I've tried again and again to kill the first ore golem, with no luck -- I haven't yet tried Molotov cocktails, but I also want to level up some more before I try. I think I'm at Level 18 now. I have a few areas on my map that are too hard -- the ancient temple, and one more near there I forget the name of. I've completed the wolf cave, and I've destroyed the portal near Liam's workshop. (One more quick question -- I've found an emerald, a ruby, a diamond, an emerald necklace, a ruby ring -- are these needed for anything? Should I just sell them?)

So yeah, can I go to Stillwater without the BMC? How would I get it on my map? Can I go anywhere else?

Thanks!

 

Yes you can go to Stillwater without going to BMC. Arcanum map : http://www.geocities.com/blueinfi/Arcanum.jpg , also those items that you found can be used as offerings to Gods but you'll probably find lots of them so you can just sell them

 

Also, there is this Terra-Arcanum Location Bank

and this Mike's RPG Center-Arcanum-Maps

 

Awesome, thanks!!

 

Either way, at level 18 you should be able to find a way to destroy those rock elementals. There are magical, technological, and neutral way to do it.

 

Yeah, I tried the Molotov cocktails & those seemed to work well. I killed an ore golem and a rock sprite, but then my party members decided to freeze. They won't move, I can't talk to them, nothing. I have another save from when I entered the mine, so I'll just need to do it again. Will the patch fix this problem?

 

Download the official patch and the unofficial patch + extra pack.

 

Set your game to Easy if you haven't done so already.

Also, new players should consider Melee & Dodge.

 

Don't listen to this guy.

Despite the fact that Drog's unofficial patch is an amazing improvement to the game, you should only download the official patch and play the stock version with no mods whatsoever to fully experience the game. Well, that's at least my suggestion.

On your second play-through, download the unofficial patch and the extra pack.

 

I must REALLY fail at this game in an embarrassing way, because I'm at Lvl 21, inside the Mines. I'm focusing on Technology & have been working on getting Melee & Dodge up. I mostly avoid the Golems and Seething Mass things, and I was doing alright at that -- but I came to those three staircases and I'm stuck. I actually can't even remember what's after the middle staircase, because I didn't spend much time there before backtracking -- but the third & far right staircase was going alright until I reached yet ANOTHER staircase that led me to a pack of ... evil ... boar-things. Those things are IMPOSSIBLE. I'll usually kill one if I'm lucky, while all four party members (myself, Virgil, Magnus, and Dante) are killed almost instantly.

At this point, I just want to get through the Mines alive. I'll raid the chests & other loot when I'm at a much higher level. Tips?

 

Those evil boar things are Brute Fangs, and they're very tough. I'd say avoid them completely. Or, if it isn't the Brute Fangs, you might have run into a pack of Were Rats, who're pretty tough too.

Try the middle passage.

 

It’s a decent suggestion, but personally the converse is true, also.
To fully experience (and Appreciate) the UAP/Bonus pack or the A:WIP, you need to play the official patched version at least once.

 

If you are focused on technology and are having a problem with those creatures. I suggest the following technique, as they do massive damage, but can not take much themselves.
Once you come up from the three staircases you can see the brute fangs in a distance.
With a bit of good aiming I tend to take one out, before the fight starts. (this is a techie with guns, as most people do)
Than they run to me, giving my followers a short walk to tackle number 2.
Stun number 3 with a stun grenade if you need to.

With this said I am someone that always clears out anything, even with my techie that needs to have his followers kill all stuff, and also cleared the mines as quick as possible as to get to certain followers.

 

Or skip the thrid and the fourth passage. Since the middle one is where you want to go anyways. Are you using real-time combat mode? The first time I played through the game I used it. It made the game alot harder.

Another tip by the staircases is to kill a a mob, and then run down the stair and leave combat, heal yourself up, and go back and do the same thing again.

 

Hmm, yeah, maybe I should try turn-based combat.

Thanks for all the tips everyone!! Hopefully I can make it through this stupid place soon, it's actually turning me off the game because I'm sick of dying so often. Grrr.

 

Ghosts, first I always play in turn-based combat. Second, there's a few things that can blow the rock golems away without much difficulty. It's all in the tactics. With technologists I specialize in guns. I don't go into the mines until I have a looking-glass rifle. Lots of damage but a slow rate of fire. So, here's what you do. LGRs have the longest range of any weapn in the game, and that's the key. Try to get a bead on it at a range where it doesn't react to you or your party. You should be able to shoot about three shots at it. Shoot twice and click off combat mode. Very quickly click back to combat mode and pump two more rounds into it. Repeat as often as needed until it drops. The key with long range weapons is to try to engage with as long a field of fire as you can. For many of the encounters in the game, not the random ones as they start the enemy right on top of you, you can pick off the monsters without them ever getting into melee.

If the range is short, run away before the combat starts but after they start moving toward you. You're usually faster than they are. Get to a point where you've got a long field of fire. Oh, carry lots of ammo; about 300 rounds should finish the mines. Don't buy bullets; make them from a learned schematic.

By the way, the same thing works for a mage with a harm spell. Take lots of fatigue potions.

Finally, don't bother scooping up the stray loot while cleaning the place. It just slows you down It's not going anywhere and you can always pick it all up on your way out after everything's nice and quiet.

 

Doesn't turn-based + guns sound fabulously Falloutish?

What Vaz suggested with the sniper is a good idea, but if you're playing a mage you could concentrate on the Force college. Lightning bolts do the trick. Or the infamous Fireflash?

You can always bring some mobile containers, for the last piece of Vaz's advice. I think they go by the names Sogg Mead Mug and Malcolm Schulefest.

And another thing... The Black Mountain Mines are by far one of THE most annoying and boring places in the game, but those kites are sure easy prey and cheap xp.

 

That' exactly right, Dirtman. Getting the lightning bolt can take a while, however. Harm you can have right at the start, and you can have the big flame blast before you even leave Shrouded Hills. The pure mage approach works fine, at least it did until the mods started making the monsters fire and electricity proof.

You just need lots of fatigue potions.

 

I would like to add something to the subject of Turn based\Real time combat.
I wouldn't say that Turn based action is easier than Real time.

For example: if you use ranged weapons and you play with party members using real time can make a lot of the harder mobs easier by having your char starting the combat with a couple of shots(therefore gaining the Mob attention) and then kiting, running in circles around your other party members, wearing down the mobs by their attacks in conjuction with your own periodic one.

In several cases you are faster then the mobs you fight, if timed right and with a good mouse aim you can get several shots without being hit. This kind of thing isn't viable on turn based.

My point being that some hard fights might be turned easy just by the way you explore both Real time and turn based, even using the same weapon; tool approach.

 

I find it easier to kite in turn based mode, And yes, it does work.

Since you got alot more speed than the others you can simply just run away from them until you have enough time left to shoot them, then they will run up infront of you, without hitting you, and you do that over and over. I completed some weird tarant mod using that tactic and it worked pretty nicely, Aswell as using it too kill the bludgeon in the stonecutter clan 'cave'