i just started this game and I'm a bit overwhelmed by the different structure thsi game has. at first glance it looked like fallout with a touch of bg, however the seemingly vast amount of options for leveling up my character leaves me nervous that i'm going to screw up and wreck him. i'm going for a tinkerer/sniper type, but i'm having a hard time deciding where to spend points. the only skill/attribute i know is useful is int maybe pe.

I also still can't figure out how to create firearms (if that is even possible). i keep picking up parts that i assume go together to make a rife such as spring, powder, broken pistols,etc. yet, i haven't found anyone who can train me or make anything. any much needed advice would be appreciated. help a noob out. that's what jesus would do.

I can help a little.

I haven't tried a firearms character myself yet, but the way you build tech items is by raising your skill in the relevant tech college. In your case, this would be the gunsmithing college (as opposed to electrical, mechanical, etc.). For each skill level you earn in gunsmithing, you will learn a schematic, which will let you build a gun, or ammo, or something relevant, out of parts. There are other schematics in the game which you can find or (I think) buy. I know you can buy schematics if you are using the unofficial Arcanum patch but I'm not sure if that was in the base game. Many of these "found" schematics require a certain amount of skill in two different tech disciplines, like gunsmithing and electrical, for example.

Anyway, to actually build something from a schematic, there's a button on the UI called "schematics" (it looks like a gear) that will take you to all the schematics you have. If you started the game with some gunsmithing skill, you'll already have a schematic or two. From that screen, if you have the right ingredients and enough skill, you can make the item. Some followers can make things too; to have them build something for you, I think you just talk to them and one of the conversation options involves asking them to make something.

In terms of building your character, you will definitely want Intelligence, as you need high Intelligence to be able to gain higher skill levels in gunsmithing. To shoot people, you will want firearms skill, and a half-decent Perception stat. Other stats that are useful are Dexterity, which gives you more actions in combat, and Strength, to carry more stuff. But you could also recruit followers to carry all your stuff. You may also want to think about other technological disciplines you could choose along with gunsmithing. You will definitely have enough character points to try two tech paths, at least.

It's goo to know that the early guns in the game are pretty weak (think Fallout) so you will want a backup weapon / followers who can fight for you. Later on guns get better, but I've heard they're never really as powerful as one might think. General consensus seems to be that grenades are much more effective. I've tried a grenadier and had a pretty easy time.

Finally, remember that being a tech character means that magical things won't work well for you. This includes healing magic. You'll want to use tech healing salves rather than magical healing potions, and NPC followers who try to heal you with magic will have a hard time. Also, enchanted items will basically have their enchantment not work for you at all. On the plus side, you can use technological items, like machined armor, better-crafted melee weapons, and, of course, guns, really well.

General consensus is that magical characters are easier. I've only done a melee character and grenadier so far, and they weren't too hard. I found that a straight-up melee fighter gets boring though. The game can be tough in the beginning, but I recommend sticking with it because it's really rewarding later on. If you find that guns are giving you a hard time, maybe restart with a different build until you get a better feel for the game. I get the sense that a gunman might be easier on a second playthrough than on the first.

I hope that helps.

That is all excellent advice from Waltorious. Especially the bit about tech/gunfighter characters being more difficult than a mage or a pure fighter. Not to actually dissuade the OP from playing any character he or she wants, since the game really can be played with (almost) any type of character.

A couple of your questions can be fairly easily (and usually with accompanying pictures) solved with the manual. If you have the GOG version download the manual for sure, if you don't have a manual maybe you can find a PDF version online somewhere. It is really useful, especially just to get used to all the different skills/stats and things you can do.

I wouldn't bother putting points into gunsmithy. You can get the Hand Cannon and the Looking Glass Rifle within 10 minutes of starting the game without any combat at all.

The electric discipline has the best guns (Tesla Rod and Tesla Gun)

Invest heavily in perception and firearms. You'll hit more and waste less ammo.

Also, read the manual.

To the first point: 10 minutes if you are powergaming your way out of the first town... Though you can get a Fine Revolver very easily quite early in the game. Gunsmithy isn't necessarily the most useful technical college, but it does have its uses, especially later in the game if you want to build the best gun and don't want to have to buy technical manuals.

To the second point: Those are both very good weapons, but I classify them as non-standard firearms and not guns, hence them being electrical and not gunsmithy, so if the OP is roleplaying a gun character, and not just a character who uses whatever firearms then gunsmithy would be more applicable.

Thank you waltorious, shebear, and dvolk. This has been extremely helpful. You provided some much needed, useful advice. I don't have the manual and didn't know there was one which would have cleared up a few of my questions. I might struggle with the difficulty of a tech character, but I would have gotten smoked if I didn't read your posts. I'm hell bent on playing through a tech character solely based upon the atmosphere and setting. This game has such a cool concept that it's hard to believe it's the last one from troika. Thanks again.

Here is the manual, from TerraArcanum.

http://www.terra-arcanum.com/downloads/arcanum/resources/arcanum_manual.zip

Thanks shebear. What's your character of choice in arcanum?

I have played A LOT of different characters. I usually played a mage type character though. But I enjoyed all of the characters I played, and tech characters are really fun, though much more difficult because you have to do some more for planning.

I agree with you that tech characters are more interesting based on the setting. The only real tech character I've tried so far though is a grenadier, which was a lot of fun. If you find that a gunman is a bit too hard for a first playthrough, maybe go back and try a grenadier to have a slightly easier time.

Other characters that I haven't tried yet, but plan to, include: a tech thief, and magical thief, a gunman, and a charismatic character that talks his/her way out of everything. I also plan to experiment with playing purely mercenary characters or outright evil characters, as so far I've only done good guys. I have heard that the game plays out quite differently for these different character types, so I'm excited to try them out.

"tech characters are really fun, though much more difficult because you have to do some more for planning."
-Oh my. getting my ass kicked by an ailing wolf. was not expecting this to be the difficult part.
"I also plan to experiment with playing purely mercenary characters or outright evil characters,"
-hopefully you can kill virgil playing through this way. he's getting on my nerves.


the general consensus from most forums lean towards mage oriented characters as the most powerful, although like you guys have said you can successfully play regardless of what class you are. the range of choices is overwhelming in this game. from my perspective going through it's all about combat, though I can see already how padding charisma could have significantly altered the outcome of some of my encounters.

Yeah the beginning is a bit combat-oriented, but once you get through that to the first town, other options will present themselves.

Are you using turn-based combat? That is highly recommended. You can set it in the options or by pressing space (space will toggle between real-time and turn-based). If you are playing a gunman, you might want to let Virgil run ahead and fight the wolves in melee while you shoot from farther back. Or you can grab something to club the wolves with yourself. Remember that Virgil will usually heal you, and at the beginning, even though you're a tech character, the healing should work OK. The more you build up your tech skill, the less his healing will work though. And if he's getting on your nerves, you can ditch him, but you should probably hang on to him at least until the first town, to help out with the fights.

Also, I forgot to ask if you are using the Unofficial Patch. If not, it's highly recommended, and you should grab it now because I don't think that savegames are compatible with the un-patched version. While you're at it, there's a high-res patch that is nice, and includes some higher-quality townmaps too. You can get all these from Terra Arcanum (the same place that you got the manual from).

Well, I don't know about that. Your character has strong reasons to get to Tarant as soon as possible after all, to alert the authorities, find the ring's owner, etc. Getting to Tarant is easy too... It makes sense to go there first and then come back to the crash site and Shrouded Hills when you have adequate supplies.

Imagine you are walking down the street in Tarant minding your own business, when you notice a halfling with a Hand Cannon by his side! "Wow," you think, "that would be really useful to have on my travels!" So you sneak behind him, say a little prayer (use a fate point) and it's yours... and you just saved yourself from investing 16 character points.

In general, I think too many craftable items that cost valuable character points are just found in the game world. It makes the technological disciplines less attractive. Also, some of them are too weak. The Elite Plate is barely better than the Basic Plate you can just buy in the store. I don't think that's a worthy reward for a doctorate in smithy. The game says they're guns though. The nice thing about them is that they do electrical damage, which almost no monsters resist. If you ever wasted 100 bullets on an ore golem, you know what I mean. Also, the ammo is much cheaper than bullets. This makes the Tesla Rod great if you play without followers.

I've been primarily using rt. needed to use turn-based for a couple situations. Glad you mentioned the patches. I should probably install those before I progress.

Virgil is being used as a healing operation human shield camel so far. I send him off to get his ass kicked and I pick enemies off from a distance. Let him heal me and then throw all my goods in his inventory. He's useful I just wish he'd keep his mouth shut.
Damn this isn't good news for someone trying to play through with standard firearms. In your opinion is the elephant gun worth the character points? Since I can already pickup a handcannon without the schematic the only other gun seemingly worth while is the elephant.

i just installed the unofficial patch and my old saves are still showing up? did i incorrectly install the patch or will those saves eventually screw with the patch?