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I've just recently bought Arcanum and am looking forward to playing it. Unfortunately, the character creation system is a little alien to me, and I could use a few pointers on how to make the character I have in mind. I'm thinking of making a charismatic gunslinger, the kind of guy who prefers to talk, woo, and reason his way out of disputes over unpaid tabs, hostage situations, visits to the in-laws' family reunion, and other hazardous situations, but who can still do a serviceable job of shooting his way out if the bartender is getting fed up with his attempts to delay payment, the hostiles start shooting up the place, Aunt Levinia insists on serving extra fruitcake, or if tits are otherwise getting upwardly inclined. I gather that Perception, Charisma, and Intelligence are going to be key, but I'm not sure how I should prioritize them and how much I should develop them before putting more points into my skills. Can anyone give me some advice on this?
Post edited September 13, 2014 by Jonesy89
This question / problem has been solved by TwoHandedSwordimage
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Jonesy89: I've just recently bought Arcanum and am looking forward to playing it. Unfortunately, the character creation system is a little alien to me, and I could use a few pointers on how to make the character I have in mind...
That's an ambitious build for a first run. It's doable, but it'd probably a lot easier to pull off after you've completed the game once and had a better idea of what to expect.

Some quick and dirty tips:

1) Charisma is key for gaining ranks in Persuasion and for adding followers. But it doesn't kill the wolves and boars that are mobbing you at the crash site.

2) Perception is needed for ranks in Firearms. But guns have several early disadvantages: bullets are expensive and easily depleted, and guns are surprisingly weak until you've had the chance to invest heavily in their skill. (Even then, they're overall the least effective combat mechanism. Just so you know that going in.)

3) Intelligence isn't critical until and unless you want to start investing in tech colleges, or if you plan to invest in Healing and/or Gambling. The former sounds good on paper (kind of like guns) but in practice requires a heavy investment in skill and bandages to pull off.

4) Even if you go with guns, invest an early point or (preferably) two in Melee. And always have a backup weapon, even if it's only a dagger or an axe. Bullets run out, and aren't much good at breaking open chests.

5) Dexterity increases your attack speed (in real time) or number of attacks (in turn-based). It also adds to your AC, and is the prereq for a whole host of skills. It's probably the most useful stat in the game.

6) You can't do it all at once, so have a plan. Either suck at gunfighting while you learn to smooth-talk and build a follower base, or concentrate on firearms to the exclusion of most other skills.

7) Apprenticeship, expertise and mastery add to your skill, any skill. Each costs money, and each skill generally requires a different trainer. (You learn gunfighting from gunfighters, for example.) There are usually two experts and one master per skill throughout Arcanum; the person you apprenticed with will be able to tell you where to find them.

8) You get an extra CP every 5th level, so that helps. (If you're counting, that's a grand total of 64, including the five you start with — unless you choose to install the Level 127 hack to break the level-50 cap.)

9) If you're a charismatic gunslinger, Strength is less important. It affects melee weapon damage, and your encumbrance from carrying too much. But as long as you have the minimum strength (MSR) to use the firearm of your choice, extra strength adds no extra damage.

10) The more tech you are, the worse spells (including beneficial ones like Healing) will work on you. Investing in Firearms will by itself make you more tech, as will taking ranks in spell colleges.

Others will probably chime in, perhaps even with links. But this should get you started.
Post edited September 13, 2014 by TwoHandedSword
TwoHandedSword has good advice. I would just clarify a little about going for tech colleges: As a gunslinger, you will want to be tech-aligned, but you don't have to invest in tech colleges if you don't want to. Gunsmithy can be cool, but you can also find / buy most of the guns in the game, so you won't necessarily need to build your own, although building the might get you them faster. Also it can be fun.... if you want to roleplay a character who makes guns out of spare parts, by all means go for it.

it's easy to build a gunfighter / gunsmith, but being a gunfighter and a gunsmith and a smooth talker might mean you're a little short on character points... to invest in a tech college like gunsmithing you'll need decent INT and will have to put character points into the college itself. These are all points that can't be spent on shooting better or talking smoother.

You might also consider other tech colleges, as TwoHandedSword mentioned. Smithy lets you smith armor for yourself and melee weapons for your followers (or also yourself, if you want a fallback when you run out of bullets). Mechanics lets you build traps and robots, which is pretty awesome. Electrical I think pairs well with gunsmithy to let you build lightning guns or something, but then again if you have more than one tech college you'll need even more character points to spend on them both. But the electrical college also has other useful items you can build. Oh, and you'll probably want one point in Explosives so you can make your own bullets.

Finally, to reiterate what TwoHandedSword said: most new players who start off with a gunslinger as their first character get frustrated quickly, because guns are surprisingly weak, especially at the beginning. It's easier to deal with once you know the game better but can be tough when you're still learning the ropes. If you're having a hard time, either stick with it and get a little farther, or try a different build first to test the waters before starting over as a gunslinger.

Arcanum really rewards trying different characters, both in terms of builds and in terms of decisions you make, whether you're good or evil, etc. So trying different characters out is a plus!

EDIT: Once you gain a few levels, the character system will make a lot more sense. You need certain stat levels to get certain skills, so while initially it seems like there's tons of stuff to choose from, once you get going you'll realize quickly where you want to spend your points.
Post edited September 14, 2014 by Waltorious
The things you need is to find a recipe for bullets as soon as possible and learn to build a sniper rifle. After that you can do whatever you want with your points.
I know there are more powerful guns in the game but sniper rifle will do for like the entire game. So I'd go for Int enough for creating a fine revolver for starters and Cha for some basic persuasion for starters. That might get you through the first town and when you get to Tarrant you'll get so much quests you'll be able to adjust your points to your needs.
To build on what Waltorious said, there are two kinds of tech schematics: those you learn by investing CPs into, and those you learn by buying and then memorizing (by using them, same as you read a letter or quaff a potion).

The catch with found schematics is that you need a minimum skill in one or (much more likely) two different colleges in order to use a given schematic. You can get that skill by investing CPs if you want, but there is a workaround: in the Tarant University there's someone who sells tech manuals. They are heavy, somewhat pricey, and their effectiveness is dependent upon your Intelligence.* So they're not something you're going to want to carry with you wherever you go.

*Protip: Be sure to down a potion of intelligence — available from magic vendors, including gypsies — right before using the manuals. (If you haven't patched the game with Drog's unofficial patch, which you totally should, then also drink a potion right before buying them.) You'll have one real-time minute during which your IN will be +10 (up to a max of 20) so the manuals will be that much more effective.
Post edited September 14, 2014 by TwoHandedSword
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TwoHandedSword: The catch with learned schematics is that you need a minimum skill in one or (much more likely) two different colleges in order to use a given schematic.
To clarify, this only applies to schematics that you find or buy. Schematics that you learn by investing CPs are always only one college, and you will be able to use them as soon as you invest the CP. They do require that one unlocks all previous schematics in the college, however, and they have an INT prerequisite.

Also, some schematics that you find or buy require as an ingredient an item that can only be made from a schematic that one unlocks with CP. So sometimes, even with tech manuals, one must have a certain skill in one of the tech disciplines to build something from a found or bought schematic.

(Since this is starting to sound confusing, most players use the term "learned schematic" for the ones unlocked with CP and "found schematic" for those found or bought.)
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Waltorious: (Since this is starting to sound confusing, most players use the term "learned schematic" for the ones unlocked with CP and "found schematic" for those found or bought.)
D'oh! I knew that; that's the problem with posting right before bedtime. (I work overnights, so basically my a.m. is your p.m.)

My above post has been edited.
The nice thing about deciding you want to play a gunslinger is you know you'll want to go full tech and no magick. The character creation does seem a bit complicated at first, but you can safely ignore about half of it - anything to do with magick.
So if I wind up trying to make my character charismatic, it sounds like I need to do so almost exclusively so. Not quite what I had in mind for the character, but I think I can make that work if that's how the game is. Aside from putting a point or two into melee and firearms during character creation, when would be a good time to pump a couple of points into combat?
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Jonesy89: Aside from putting a point or two into melee and firearms during character creation, when would be a good time to pump a couple of points into combat?
Not sure I understand the question. Melee and Firearms are two forms of combat. I'd suggest two ranks of Melee ASAP (which also requires at least a 9 in DX) so that you increase your hit percentage and reduce your critical misses to an acceptable level.

I'd also put a point in Persuasion by the time you reach Shrouded Hills (the first town) since there will be an opportunity to make use of it.

And 8 CH would be enough to get you two followers (Virgil and one other) except that the half-ogre alcoholic at the Shrouded Hills inn requires at least a 9 to join you. He's not much more than a meat sack and a pack mule — there's no interesting backstory, and he doesn't have a voice actor, the way Virgil and several others do — but if you decide you want him, be ready to put the extra point in CH as well.

Last but not least, consider taking a point in Herbology in order to make healing salves. Virgil will be able to use Minor Healing on you as long as your TA (technical aptitude) doesn't get too high; but if you pursue gunslinging, at some point that safety net is likely to fail. (It's a percentage, not a cutoff, so there's no hard and fast number.)
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Jonesy89: Aside from putting a point or two into melee and firearms during character creation, when would be a good time to pump a couple of points into combat?
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TwoHandedSword: Not sure I understand the question. Melee and Firearms are two forms of combat. I'd suggest two ranks of Melee ASAP (which also requires at least a 9 in DX) so that you increase your hit percentage and reduce your critical misses to an acceptable level.

I'd also put a point in Persuasion by the time you reach Shrouded Hills (the first town) since there will be an opportunity to make use of it.

And 8 CH would be enough to get you two followers (Virgil and one other) except that the half-ogre alcoholic at the Shrouded Hills inn requires at least a 9 to join you. He's not much more than a meat sack and a pack mule — there's no interesting backstory, and he doesn't have a voice actor, the way Virgil and several others do — but if you decide you want him, be ready to put the extra point in CH as well.

Last but not least, consider taking a point in Herbology in order to make healing salves. Virgil will be able to use Minor Healing on you as long as your TA (technical aptitude) doesn't get too high; but if you pursue gunslinging, at some point that safety net is likely to fail. (It's a percentage, not a cutoff, so there's no hard and fast number.)
That's what I get for posting long after I should have been getting shuteye, I guess. What I had intended to ask was outside of character creation, it sounds like I prioritize pumping up my Charisma and Persuasion whenever I gain CPs (then again, I could be wrong on this first premise). That's all good and well, but I was wondering when, if at all, I should instead use a newly acquired CP to buff up my Perception/firearms skill; is there a point that I can safely alternate between improving my smoothtalking and fighting, or should I wait until one is maxed out before going to work on the other?
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Jonesy89: I was wondering when, if at all, I should instead use a newly acquired CP to buff up my Perception/firearms skill; is there a point that I can safely alternate between improving my smoothtalking and fighting, or should I wait until one is maxed out before going to work on the other?
That's your call; both are progressive increases. The best reason to put points in CH is to acquire more followers; you can max out at six* (five at 20 CH, plus one for investing in at least expertise in the skill). Two or three ranks of Persuasion will get you through most of the game; you really only need to max it out when you're ready to try for mastery.

OTOH, guns are pretty useless without at least three ranks in the skill, and still underwhelming even with four ranks. So if you want to roleplay that aspect of it, I'd say to get yourself up to at least 9 CH** and two ranks of Persuasion, and then build your PE and Firearms (while not forgetting things like DX, which increases your speed, giving you more shots per round). Plan to add a third rank of Persuasion before you take your first boat ride; it'll come in handy.


*Plus "free" non-human followers, such as the worthless mutt in Ashbury, summoned creatures and/or familiars.

**There's a way to get one free CH point in Tarant. Hint: it involves a missing painting and a fortune teller's request. Spoilers if you want 'em; otherwise, have fun solving the two interconnected quests.
Enough questions! Enough advice! Play the game and learn! I command you to have fun!
Ah, that helps a lot, actually. I'll keep that in mind when creating my character. Just one last mechanics question: I've been looking at backgrounds that seem most suited to my character. Being raised by monks would have been the most beneficial stat-wise, but didn't quite gel with my idea of the character, so I'm putting that on the back burner. Currently torn between Charlatan's Apprentice and Debutante (iirc), both of which increase Charisma while incurring a penalty to all combat skills. How sizable is this penalty?
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Jonesy89: Currently torn between Charlatan's Apprentice and Debutante (iirc), both of which increase Charisma while incurring a penalty to all combat skills. How sizable is this penalty?
Charlatan's Protégé will drop you by 1/4 rank in each of the four combat skills (Melee, Dodge, Throwing and Bow) which is relatively minor. Debutante will cost you 1/2 rank in each of the same four skills, which is sizable but still manageable.