When I was 8 years old I remember playing this on my old school fat monitor PC. I enjoyed playing it, so when I got witcher for free on my new GTX 970 purchase I recently discovered this website, and found Arcanum. It didn't take me long to purchase the game after finding it.

However, I tend to get lost in old school RPGS... simply because more often than not:

There are many options, but I tend to choose the weak and underpowered options effectively gimping myself.
I tend to not understand where to go or get lost often.


I was wondering what is the best way to play this game, should I find some spoiler free walkthrough, or watch a youtube video walkthrough?

There are so many ways to play this game, that it's almost impossible to gimp yourself except on purpose.

Make sure you have a fighting skill at level two ASAP, preferably one that doesn't use ammo (such as Melee). After that, have fun. The beauty of this game is in its replayability and innumerable side quests: you can be a mage or a mechanic, a tank or a talker, good or evil, alone or with the largest possible posse. Play whatever you like; just don't get so caught up in trying everything on a single playthrough that you wind up never really getting that good at anything.

Consult a walkthrough if you get badly stuck.
Play on turn-based mode, real time is horrible.

If you want easy combat, build a mage with harm spell.
If you want normal difficulty, go for magic aptitude swordsman.
If you want a difficult game, go with mechanic aptitude and firearms.

Charisma and talking skills help a lot. But are not necessary.

The companions that are rather tossed on you, are good guys.
There are alternative ones if you play evil.

Good advice so far. The only thing I would add is that Arcanum is a really great game at letting you roleplay any character you want. So don't feel like you have to build a certain type of character in order to survive. Just go for one that sounds interesting and fun to you. It's true that magic and melee are generally easier than tech, but tech still isn't that hard, so feel free to try a tech character if it sounds cool.

The character system will seem complicated at first, as there are lots of numbers to deal with. But soon you will see that everything has prerequisites, so if you know you want to pump up your Melee skill you'll automatically be boosting your Dexterity stat as well so you can qualify for the skill. So it sort of "guides" you to builds that make sense.

The thing you need to understand is that Arcanum is defined by two opposing forces: magick and technology. They don't mix, so you shouldn't try to use both of them at once. That's right out.

For a first-time player, I recommend going with magick. There are some incidental things (I won't spoil them for you) that make the game a bit easier for a magick character. Also, magick is simpler to understand. Technology is bit better if you already have a grasp of the game's mechanics.

My first character was a Force mage - a wizard focused on the Force school - and I think that's a solid choice for anyone. It offers some nice combat spells without being too easy and exploitative.

No. The forum is responsive. Better to ask on here.

First and foremost I highly recommend playing in FAST turn-based mode. It really helps the game move along and makes the combat pretty fun once you get used to how it works.

Second, make sure to install the crucial patches/mods to get the best experience.

Know that you'll have a bit of a learning curve with the game as far as skills, combat, interface (managing followers, inventory, etc.), but just hang in there and you'll get used to it and be in the swing of it before you know it.

Love your character. Put a lot of thought into who you want to play as. Spend time in the char. creation and reading the manual to figure out how things work. Feel free to replay the beginning area as many times as you like until you get a feel for how it all works and move on into the game and really solidify the character you want.

Explore explore explore. There are so many things to find and do!

Enjoy!

Being good with people saves you resources, including money, and sometimes the rewards for taking the peaceful path are better then what you can get by fighting. Even if you want to roleplay a pure combatant, having that option will make much of the game a lot easier.