Minmaxing, sequence breaking and stuff

Hi.

So, I finally dug out Arcanum again and, after going through some character ideas/plans (that never worked out - fuck youuu level cap!), decided on what I want to play. A melee thief-type character by the way. Yay. Anyway, being "blessed" (I'd call it cursed) with metaknowledge from a previous runthrough a few years ago I find it kinda hard to ignore my min-maxer instincts. So this leads us to my main question(s):

1. Could it screw up my game if I went to the Vendigroth Ruins early on? I mean, really you can just go there but this might screw up the plot in that you know things you shouldn't know etc.. My intention is actually to simply go in, preferably invisible, get the Vivifier schematic, get the unknown chemical thingy ingredient and then leave.
1a. Can one in fact buy scrolls of Teleport and/or Invisibility? My memory's a bit cloudy on that one but I think Invisibility is available, with some luck.
1b. Is there any non game breaking way to actually reach the areas around Caladon/Roseborough or the Grey Mountains that doesn't involve using a ship/getting there because the plot wants you to? While the latter is possible via Teleport (by getting the quest in Stillwater to find that ruby, teleporting to its location and then walking away - you can even find Quintarra if you want to. Although apparently there's no Raven...) I couldn't find a possibility to walk way south, so that I might reach the cities there. Furthermore I don't think you can make anyone put those locations on your map early in the game. Oh, great.
The reason for this question is that if there were such a possibility you could start sacrifing stuff to the gods rather early, instead of when the game's almost over. You know, those bonuses might actually be useful then. And that's without the possibilities offered by an early Velorien blessing. Well, yes, by going to the Grey Mountains area early you could theoretically start the first circle and make two offerings until you reach the Wheel-Clan. Mhm... tempting.
1c. Besides the obvious benefits of doing early offerings to the gods one might then be able to get that Mannox amulet... thingy. Now I recall that it offered some bonus to melee and Google tells me I'm right. Too bad I can't figure out if those +2 melee I read here and there are meant as +2/4 (half a skill point or somesuch) or as +8 (2 skill points). Anyone here who knows the answer or has a savegame to check it? I'm afraid I don't have one. And I'm too incompetent to put it into a savegame of mine via editor. Maybe because I can't seem to find one that does what I want it to do. Yay me.

And now some minor ones:

2. Is prowling any good? I tried it several times with different ranks (that is, between 0 and 5) and every time I failed if I was "too close" to somebody. Well, isn't the point of sneaking around that others won't see you doing stuff you shouldn't do? My impression as of now is: it doesn't work. Invisibility ftw. Too bad I'm not into magick.

3. Is it normal that Bollo (or whatever his name is - the halfling thief guy you find in Dernholm's prison) has the avatar of a male human?

4. Any suggestions for interesting companions? So far I have Virgil, Sogg, Jayna, Magnus and likely the dog will follow. Right now I'm thinking about kicking Sogg out and getting Garr instead. Mostly because he's voiced. And green. One problem might be that as of now I don't intend to go over 12 charisma, which kinda limits my follower count.

...

So why bother at all with all that planning ahead, possible sequence breaking and stuff you may wonder. Takes out the fun of the game in some way, maybe. Well, because the thought of having my previous character build + one magickal school mastered is just that awesome. Mhm... Teleport. Or Tempus Fugit.

 

the response to # 1 is. you can obtain the effect of the outcomes of ALL of that if you just edit the background you are using. (start with whatever items and/or abilitys/bonuses you want without skipping ahead to get the items. only limited to the premade Proto items and premade effect.mes UNLESS you know how to create a Proto for items or edit the Effect.mes for added effects.)

the background and effect editing is just done with ANY text document editor and are really the 2 simplest things to mod.

about level cap. the AWIP mod has a Tempter of Fate thing in it where you have the ability to get more char points to build your char with, effectively making ANY build possible if you can afford the cost. I sudjest playing with it.

 

Howdy.

We have the universal level cap remover in the download section.

The scroll of Teleport has a 10% chance of appearance in any general magic and light magic shop each day, while the scroll of Invisibility has a 10% chance of being found in the dark magic shop's stock each night.

You can force Hardin's Pass and Gorgoth Pass by going to their exact coordinates.

You need to have the Lethe Wyvern Sighting location marked on your map (or force it by going to its exact coordinates) and you have to kill the Wyvern and/or find the bridge there (not sure which since I always do both) in order to gain the possibility of passing through the location.

The first.

Prowling works, yet it does so in a realistic way, so no walking right in front of people's noses without them seeing you. With decent prowling you are able to get right behind people's backs without them noticing your presence (perfect with backstab) and with the mastery you can pretty much escape every battle as long as the enemies don't see you at the end of their round.

Halfling convict, halfling deity, what's the difference.

. .
These are the two portraits assigned to Tollo Underhill. If you have anything else, it means something probably went wrong in your game.

 

Actually, while I see your point I like to work within the limitations of the game. I mean, theoretically you could make up some background without any disadvantages, which increases some of your characteristics by 10 or something and maybe raises some skills to maximum while were at it. But where's the fun in that?
While the level cap (and the given backgrounds) may therefore be regarded annoying to some extent they also make you think more about how to develop your character. For example I figured out that Beat with an Ugly Stick works quite well with my planned concept, actually a lot better than no background (or the Educator which I thought about before) but I also have to deal with the disadvantages, like, say, high prices and people unwilling to talk to me. And of course the usual sucking up to your dialogue partner. But that's part of the challenge/fun/game/whatever, isn't it?

 

Indeed it is, and I agree with pretty much everything in the post above. I simply didn't expect any morals in that matter, seeing how you are such a ruthless metagamer and all.

 

Well, you could argue that metagaming requires thought and, uh, "skill". Kinda like an art in itself. Also I try to resist my metaknowledge as much as I want to abuse it. But somehow you just don't feel like for example raising your dex/dodge/melee to the max right at the start of the game if you know about that hilarious Velorien blessing. On the other hand it might be more challenging to not get that one. Argh, my head explodes =/
So yes, I do have some reservations and morals if you want to call it that. Oh, the irony.

Anyway, since I basically forgot to submit my posting after I typed it and thus didn't see yours at first here's my reply:

Interesting. But so far it appears as if I can't make Gorgoth Pass appear from the east/right side of the mountains.

The problem here is I seemingly can't make it appear from "above", that is coming from Qintarra. Are you sure it's possible?

Good to know. Still I find it odd that I was seen by about everyone, with max skill no less, in a dark area (after I managed to get that lantern out of my hand :roll: ) although the NPCs in question were quite a few hexes away from me. Odd. Maybe it changes with apprenticeship etc.. Anyway I guess I'll try it anyway. It's thievish. And stuff.

Um, I mean he looks like, well, a naked human male. In the actual game, that is. So no small guy. Instead I get a medium sized guy who likes to wear small sized armor. Wonderful

 

Not saying that your way of thinking contradicts itself. I see the logic in it, I merely assumed you think in a different way.

Checked it for you. You can't go to the exact coordinates (1500 W 1442 S), yet by going to 1495 W 1442 S you get Gorgoth Pass marked on your map and the game 'teleports' you to the west end of it.

Yessiree. All locations can be forced, it's just a matter of how to do it. Here I wasn't able to get it marked, but you can do what I did, that is go to 1575 W 1009 S, go directly south until you reach the coast and then follow it leftward for a minute until you find the bridge to the location you seek.

A yes, I now recall encountering that bug myself when I was playing 1.0.7.0. What is your game's version? Anyway, the bug was certainly fixed in 1.0.7.4 or the UAP.

 

While that didn't work out for me (maybe because I was 1-2 W/S coordinates off) I could actually make it appear on the map (thus making it a valid target for teleporting around) by walking around in the near vincinity and I was also able to pass the Lethe Wyvern bridge thingy the way you mentioned. I didn't try out Hardin's Pass (yet). Still it's pretty interesting what one can do in this game.

81004 UAP + Extra Pack (whatever that does)

Although I'm not using the original one but rather a German translation so that the text of my game doesn't get messed up into some mix of English here and German there. That's also why I'm rather confused about that issue as something this obvious would've been fixed long ago, yet the translator might have botched something by accident. Or somehing went wrong during the installation.
Another thing that caught my attention is that the elf you meet in Stillwater (who can tell you about Qintarra's location and all that) is absent. Is that it supposed to be that way, that is, it's by forced the plot so that he appears only after you're supposed to find him? If not something isn't quite right I guess.

 

It makes some restored schematics appear in tech shops (Clockwork Physician, Illuminated Decoy, Explosive Decoy, Charged Axe) and it makes the Schreck's Multi Barreled Pistol schematic work with restored components, description, art and newly designed stats. I'm not sure if the original Bedokaan sprites were in the extra pack or if they worked separately before both them and the extra pack were merged into the UAP's Extra Content module.

If I recall correctly, Drog guaranteed the UAP's functionality only with the English version of the game, saying that different language versions have some files or something named differently or something, which means that at best the UAP won't be fully functional in them. Ich habe keine Ahnung über die Details, I don't know too much about the tech side of his work. I'm sure the German UAP translator(s) did their best to make it work flawlessly with the German version of the game, yet perhaps they overlooked something, which would be quite understandable considering how a massive thing the UAP is.

As I said, Tollo was indeed a naked human in the 1.0.7.0 version. He is a naked halfling in my game with the UAP v081229 installed, yet I checked the changelog and there is nothing about fixing Tollo's set of sprites, so I presume his appearance bug was fixed in the 1.0.7.4 official patch. Hmmm...

...you did install the 1.0.7.4 patch before installing the UAP, right?

Myrth appears in his house when the plot requires him to be there, just like Raven in Qintarra.

 

Translation terror continues to raise its ugly head. Graaah...

Oh well. Luckily it's not too important as I wasn't planning on taking him along anyway.

Yup. At least I think I did. Plus the .exe's version in my Arcanum folder reads 1.0.7.4 as well.