/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.1905015]

Hey guys, does Arcanum ever get any better? I've played about 45 minutes so far in the first area headed away from the crash site. So far I'm not really getting into the combat. Story and dialogue / quests seem kinda cool. Does it get better ? I chose a dwarf with repair / strength focusing on melee. Thanks for any advice. I love Fallout and Diablo type games by the way.

[Anonymous No.1905019]

>>1905015
I have the same problem with this game that I did with PS:T: The combat difficulty spiked out of nowhere and I got stuck so I ragequit. I plan on picking them both up again sometime in the near future though.

[Anonymous No.1905023]

I never really warmed up to the combat, but the world and dialogue in general was more than enough to make me enjoy it. Also dat music.

[Anonymous No.1905058]

>>1905015
the combat is ridiculous. there's no middleground- you're either OP or UP. harm is broken.

ugly graphics.

retarded controls. retarded combat mechanics.

takes a while to get into the game, but once you do it's pretty good

[Anonymous No.1905068]

The balance is ridiculously broken. You can travel all the way across the world and spend all your money to craft an item that does something a level 3 spell can do (I'm speaking in general, here).

[Anonymous No.1905081]

>>1905058
>ugly graphics.
I understand most of the complaints about Arcanum but this one always confuses me. The game looks really nice, from the game view to interface and artworks.

[Anonymous No.1905104]

>>1905015
Make sure to have combat on turn based.

But give it a chance. I hated it first time I played it. Then sometime later I gave it another chance. And boy I'm glad I did.

That final boss solely is worth all the annoyances I had in this game.

And magic is also cool as fuck...

[Anonymous No.1905109]

Arcanum is pretty mediocre but the main quest is interesting enough to keep you going.
I really like some of the companions, especially Virgil and Magnus, but it's a shame there's so much wasted potential and unfinished content.

The combat blows. Melee is doable but simply not fun to play.
Well, to be honest, guns and magic aren't either, but at least they get shit done.

Melee just requires a lot of grinding.
You need high dexterity, speed, constitution and strength as well as melee skill, dodge and some form of healing.

In my opinion it's worth playing through once at least.

It's more than I managed with Baldur's Gate 1+2.

[Anonymous No.1905127]

>2001
>>>/v/

[Anonymous No.1905157]

I played a melee build as well and and was having fun in Tarant until I had to go through the Black Mountain Mines. Fuck those overpowered golems. I eventually just gave up there.

[Anonymous No.1905193]

>>1905015
Hi so if you want to go through this game let me give you some tips(some are exploits):

Money: Get 1(or 2) rank in pickpocket and find the junk dealer Ristezze in Shrouded Hills, pickpocket the key to his room from him then sell things to him and grab them back from his chest(you will understand if you try it). Sleep with the in-game camera outside his room to reset his cash.

Combat: Very important to always go for combat first when leveling up, it will cap fairly fast(~lvl 20) after that you can go for misc/RPG stuff. Always get training for your main combat skill(wiki if you don't know what this is, it is important).
Easiest is by far magic in REAL TIME MODE. Just get the spell Harm (lvl 1 spell) and then dump points into random helpful spells like extra beauty, unlocking cantrip, teleport etc as this will increase your magical aptitude and thus damage. Strategy is click 'till almost out of mana then chug mana pot and click some more.

Items: If you are magic go next to a Gipsy woman(Shrouded Hills, Tarant or That Other City I Can't Remember) check out her stuff. You are looking for arcane armors with high DR and arcane rings, also arcane weapons if you are not using harm or just want a sidearm.
As technology you will mostly be building stuff yourself so just wiki it up.

Second easiest(imho) is firearms. Get the revolver schematic (2nd lvl schematic from one of the technology trees) and check all trash cans in first city to get revolver parts to make it. Next weapon will be a Looking Glass Weapon which you can either make or steal from Master trainer as he is passive bitch that won't fight back(do the quest first though it is very difficult).
Next I dunno, never made it past island of despair with this build as it's more difficult and requires more patience.

PS: Here's the Map

This is what I've done I'm sure there are other maybe better ways of playing the game but this is what I ended up doing almost every time.

[Anonymous No.1906046]

I played BG1 and 2, IcewindDale 1 and 2, Fallout 1 and 2 but I can't get into this. I got to the blackcloud mine whatever it's called and that stupid stone golem wrecks me. Even the brige at shrouded hills already turned me off, I had to look it up. I'm under-equipped, I have no good armor or weapons for my companions. I just gave up on this game.
Fuck just thinking about Arcanum is pissing me off.

Right now I'm playing Inquisitor, maybe I'll revisit arcanum.

[Anonymous No.1906056]

>>1905015
The strengths of the game are in the quests, writing, atmosphere, soundtrack... basically everything that isn't the combat. There isn't much to it and it doesn't really get better. Playing in turn based mode makes it less of a clusterfuck but it's still not great.

[Anonymous No.1906450]

>>1906046
If you can put up with Inquisitor then by hell you can put up with Arcanum.

I see lot of people complaining about Black Mountain Mines. Few tips.

Don't go there straight away. Do all the quests in Tarant first. Get stronger and with better equipment.

If you still have difficulty you can exploit, if you or anyone in the party has ranged build. Some enemies walk slower in real time than in turn based mod. Zombies and golems are one of them. So switch to real time and shoot him until he comes up to you, then switch to turn based and run away. Repeat and you should be good.
Now just let me tell you how writing is good in this game. Not only did they meld steampunk and magic but also that 19th century way of thinking. Blatant racism, colonialism, social Darwinism and all 19th century philosophies this is how people of 1800's were really thinking. Also manual is beautifully written.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_9XnYUil2I

[Anonymous No.1906454]

Basically its like Morrowind. bad gameplay ok story.

[Anonymous No.1906456]

>>1906450
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_9XnYUil2I
Hadn't heard this. Really nice

[Anonymous No.1906718]

>>1906046
Just buy lots of cheap disposable weapons before you go into the mine.
Your companions auto-equip new weapons once their old one breaks.

Geez guys. Just think for a change before you start complaining.

[Anonymous No.1907634]

I managed to have fun with the combat by making a mage exclusively focused on summons and buffs, I only played real time and would go fast through every dungeon, not having to worry about equipment for myself or party members and getting tons of cash from selling all the loot, strangely I thought that this game was the best of all the classic CRPG's because I wasn't expecting a great combat system anyway and I found the story, setting and npc interaction to be more interesting.

[Anonymous No.1907647]

>>1906718
>Just buy lots of cheap disposable weapons before you go into the mine

Or just disintigrate everything

[Anonymous No.1907684]

>>1906450
I think like I've done everything there is to do in Tarant minus the evlven catacombs and delivering that package for the guy in the gentlemen bar.

It does look to be a beautiful game and I really wanted to play it. I'll give it another go sometime. I absolutely adore the soundtrack and the atmosphere.