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cw8: Level 10 Fireball is strong as heck and takes down almost anything in the game with a few shots.
Fireball is effective, yes, but I prefer Magic Bullet. It's like a machine gun with knockback, so nothing should ever be able to get close to you as long as you see it first.
Post edited May 07, 2014 by UniversalWolf
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cw8: Level 10 Fireball is strong as heck and takes down almost anything in the game with a few shots.
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UniversalWolf: Fireball is effective, yes, but I prefer Magic Bullet. It's like a machine gun with knockback, so nothing should ever be able to get close to you as long as you see it first.
Fireball has an AOE splash damage, might be unnoticeable at lower levels but is pretty substantial at level 10. I don't need knockback, level 7 swords with a good bastard sword means I almost always want them to come at me. :D
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cw8: Fireball has an AOE splash damage, might be unnoticeable at lower levels but is pretty substantial at level 10. I don't need knockback, level 7 swords with a good bastard sword means I almost always want them to come at me. :D
With magic bullet you don't even need swords. Nothing will ever get to you. You can cut down four charging Saurians if you're good.

If you're going to use swords, the frost crystal might be fun. At level ten it freezes things for quite a long time so you can casually stroll up and give your target a good whack.
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UniversalWolf: My advice for new players is this: after you first wake up on the beach, be sure to wade out into the surf until you get close to the deep water.
Tried this last night, ha ha
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zippythezip: Tried this last night, ha ha
It was worth it, am I right?
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zippythezip: Tried this last night, ha ha
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UniversalWolf: It was worth it, am I right?
Oh yea, it was worth it.
I went to see if I could swim, got a laugh.
After a long, long break, I've taken up playing Risen again, and I've made some progress. I'm level 11 by now (sword fighting rang 5, strength 50) and I have already explored quite a bit of the island, but I keep postponing my first visit to the harbor city, since from all I've heard once you're inside you have to stay for a longer while and maybe even decide to join a faction.

But now I'm beginning to suspect that I'm playing the game 'wrong', in a way, and that all the exploring and the things I do should be done within the context of quests, not on my own for no other reason than curiosity. Is my reluctance to enter the city rather exaggerated? Are the city adventures actually just a short distraction after which I'm free to roam the island again, just like before, but this time with quests? Or are there really things I won't get the chance to do anymore once I've passed the city gates?

And how much of an impact has the choice of factions? Are the quests significantly different for each faction? Will I miss out on some very cool stuff, if I'm working for the 'wrong' side (whatever side that would be)? Is some faction more fun than the others?
Post edited July 08, 2016 by Leroux
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Leroux: After a long, long break, I've taken up playing Risen again, and I've made some progress. I'm level 11 by now (sword fighting rang 5, strength 50) and I have already explored quite a bit of the island, but I keep postponing my first visit to the harbor city, since from all I've heard once you're inside you have to stay for a longer while and maybe even decide to join a faction.
Yes and no. The game doesn't want to let you get out until you decide to join a faction, but you can do that using Levitation, Acrobatics and/or glitches.
Also, judging by your stats (SW 5, STR 50), you're going to be a bandit, aren't you? If you want to be a member of the Inquisition or a mage, you should be probably saving your LPs for crystal magic.

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Leroux: But now I'm beginning to suspect that I'm playing the game 'wrong', in a way, and that all the exploring and the things I do should be done within the context of quests, not on my own for no other reason than curiosity. Is my reluctance to enter the city rather exaggerated?
Not really. There is always a recommended, but never a wrong way in playing Gothics/Risen - unless you die. Except for force fields / gates in a few important places, the only barriers in the world are the enemies. If they're too strong somewhere, you're not supposed to go there, but with a bit of skill and determination you can usually get past them.

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Leroux: Are the city adventures actually just a short distraction after which I'm free to roam the island again, just like before, but this time with quests? Or are there really things I won't get the chance to do anymore once I've passed the city gates?
Well, they're most definitely not short if you're a completionist. And if you choose a faction (not "enter the city", mind you), you miss Fincher's quests, but if you've already finished everything in the Bandits' Camp, you're good. To put it simply, finish everything before completing any of the "Order vs. Bandits" quests.

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Leroux: And how much of an impact has the choice of factions? Are the quests significantly different for each faction? Will I miss out on some very cool stuff, if I'm working for the 'wrong' side (whatever side that would be)? Is some faction more fun than the others?
Well, the quests are very different in the Harbor City, obviously. Furthermore, a bandit can't get most of the quests in the Monastery (including the murder investigation one), but from the 2nd chapter onwards, it's mainly the same for all factions.

My usual gameplay goes like this: Tutorial Wilderness - Bandits' Camp - Tristan's Farm - Harbor City (completing all side quests / no faction quests) - General Wilderness (pretty much everything except the Monastery and force field-blocked areas) - Harbor City (choosing a faction) - Bandits' Camp (if joining the Bandits) - The Monastery.
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helpo1:
I haven't really thought about which faction to join yet. Naturally, I don't really like either of them and would prefer to work for all or none. But going for strength and swords just seemed more useful out there in the wilderness and on my own (seeing that magic is hard to come by and long range combat doesn't help you a lot when enemies always come running at you in packs). And seeing that the order always tries to force me into their ranks, while the bandits don't really care, I guess that yes, I'm more likely to side with them, even though I hate missing out on interesting monastery and magic quests, as I'm unlikely to replay the whole game.

I think I've finished all the bandit and farm quests except for those that would require me to visit the enter the city or the monastery (seek out treasure hunters for Finch, talk to the mage in the monastery). Not sure what other quests you get from Finch, but I already conquered a temple for him. The only quests that are still relating to the wilderness now are (a) "investigate a mysterious temple in the east for Finch", but that's the same temple he wants those treasure hunters for, so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to get them first from the city or investigate on my own and call them later, and (b) Marvin's quest about the rings of the undead, I've already killed a few undead lords and found 3 or 4 of the six rings and I've located Patroscon, but after defeating him, I reloaded an earlier save game since it seemed that I would be skipping some quest stages by killing him this early. I read that the whole quest starts with Marvin's mother in the city, and I didn't get a quest to kill Patroscon yet either, just to collect the rings. So that's what made me think I'd be missing out on some bits of story and a few xp if I'd just do stuff like that all on my own without getting any quests for it.

Assuming I'd never replay the game, would you say one faction offers more interesting content and more of it than another (e.g. if I'd join the order, would I get all the monastery stuff on top of what I'd get as a bandit, or would I get access to equally cool and exclusive stuff as a bandit as well)?

And I gather from your usual playthrough that it does make sense to postpone the joining of a faction as long as I'm still able to do other stuff on the island? That there's a high risk of missing out on a good chunk of island exploration in joining them too early? And that it's worth paying the extra 100 gold for re-entering the city after escaping it, in order to get the most out of the game?

As a sidenote, if all of that is true, it seems like a quite weird design to me, free exploration and forced story / C&C competing with each other, with the game seemingly pushing you into directions that will make you miss out on a lot if you follow them early. And also the thing about officially being forced to stay within that city for such a long time when it's just such a small part of the whole island ...
Post edited July 08, 2016 by Leroux
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Leroux: I haven't really thought about which faction to join yet. Naturally, I don't really like either of them and would prefer to work for all or none.
Well, Esteban doesn't care about forcing you into his ranks because he already has a lot of people - former city guards and the like - and the only things he cares about are his gold and the city. On the other hand, Mendoza desperately needs manpower to look for the items he needs and to stop Esteban's frequent raids and intrigues. You'll eventually find out that both factions/leaders are just ruthless bastards and they mostly care about themselves, even if they have some "common good" motives.

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Leroux: But going for strength and swords just seemed more useful out there in the wilderness and on my own (seeing that magic is hard to come by and long range combat doesn't help you a lot when enemies always come running at you in packs).
This is when character planning is important. You have to plan way forward. I usually only learn STR to ~30 and minor skills (lockpicking, pickpocketing, smithing, prospecting...) before joining a faction. Maybe a few levels of swordfighting (especially in my bandit playthroughs). That's just about enough to clear most of the island (except for ashbeasts, ogres etc.) if your (player's, not character's) skill in fighting is at least average. This way you can learn 6-10 levels of crystal magic instantly once you join the Order. And believe me, Magic Bullet lvl10 and a bit of mana is probably the easiest way to finish the game.

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Leroux: And seeing that the order always tries to force me into their ranks, while the bandits don't really care, I guess that yes, I'm more likely to side with them, even though I hate missing out on interesting monastery and magic quests, as I'm unlikely to replay the whole game.
Your biggest mistake so far. :P
But really now. I'd honestly recommend you at least one more playthrough, as a mage. There isn't really that much of a difference between a mage and a soldier of the Inquisition (mages offer maybe two or three more quests and, of course, a slightly different "career"), at least not to the extent of another playthrough if you don't want to finish even two.
Plus, mages are generally wiser and kinder than the Inquisition and definitely won't try to "force" you into their ranks - in fact, they have no reason to since the only way to join them is to willingly assist the Order in Harbor City, and that suggests you want to become one of them. ;)

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Leroux: I think I've finished all the bandit and farm quests except for those that would require me to visit the enter the city or the monastery (seek out treasure hunters for Finch, talk to the mage in the monastery). Not sure what other quests you get from Finch, but I already conquered a temple for him.
That's fine. The problem is that you have to finish the first quest before joining a faction, since once you're the Don's emissary or a member of the Order, you can't go around killing your colleagues (or people you negotiate with) and stealing their treasures. :P

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Leroux: The only quests that are still relating to the wilderness now are (a) "investigate a mysterious temple in the east for Finch", but that's the same temple he wants those treasure hunters for, so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to get them first from the city or investigate on my own and call them later...
You'll have to go there before you can hire them, because they won't leave unless they know what they're facing. :P

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Leroux: (b) Marvin's quest about the rings of the undead, I've already killed a few undead lords and found 3 or 4 of the six rings and I've located Patroscon, but after defeating him, I reloaded an earlier save game since it seemed that I would be skipping some quest stages by killing him this early. I read that the whole quest starts with Marvin's mother in the city, and I didn't get a quest to kill Patroscon yet either, just to collect the rings. So that's what made me think I'd be missing out on some bits of story and a few xp if I'd just do stuff like that all on my own without getting any quests for it.
Eh, that doesn't really make a difference. Reward is the same and the only thing you'll miss is a single Leon's/Marvin's (different names in different language versions) line about how he still has nightmares after collecting all six rings. Also, his mother only wants to know he's safe, she doesn't really care about anything else.

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Leroux: Assuming I'd never replay the game, would you say one faction offers more interesting content and more of it than another (e.g. if I'd join the order, would I get all the monastery stuff on top of what I'd get as a bandit, or would I get access to equally cool and exclusive stuff as a bandit as well)?
There are slight differences in the plot, but neither faction is really more interesting or cool. Joining a faction always disables some teachers, quests, armors, (possibly) items etc. from the other one(s). Overally, mages offer the most stuff, skills and quests, but not very significantly more (well, except for the magic, obviously, but even the Inquisiton can use crystal magic).

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Leroux: And I gather from your usual playthrough that it does make sense to postpone the joining of a faction as long as I'm still able to do other stuff on the island? That there's a high risk of missing out on a good chunk of island exploration in joining them too early? And that it's worth paying the extra 100 gold for re-entering the city after escaping it, in order to get the most out of the game?
No, no. That's just my completionist style. You can always explore everything (except for main-quest-blocked areas), even after joining any faction.

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Leroux: As a sidenote, if all of that is true, it seems like a quite weird design to me, free exploration and forced story / C&C competing with each other, with the game seemingly pushing you into directions that will make you miss out on a lot if you follow them early. And also the thing about officially being forced to stay within that city for such a long time when it's just such a small part of the whole island ...
But it offers more quests than any other location in the game - and you can get every single one of them in the first chapter.
Also, Piranha Bytes were always like this. In G1, you could join the Old Camp before visiting any other location in the game; in G2, you could join the militia less than an hour into the game - but it would prevent you from completing a considerable number of other quests. Gothics (and Risen) were always like "Do anything you want, go anywhere you want, join anybody you want, all of it whenever you want - but be prepared to live with your decisions."
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helpo1: Also, Piranha Bytes were always like this. In G1, you could join the Old Camp before visiting any other location in the game; in G2, you could join the militia less than an hour into the game - but it would prevent you from completing a considerable number of other quests. Gothics (and Risen) were always like "Do anything you want, go anywhere you want, join anybody you want, all of it whenever you want - but be prepared to live with your decisions."
Well, yeah, but personally I don't really like this approach if it's totally unclear what the consequences are and if they can lock you out of a great portion of the game without even telling you so. But with Gothic I just played the game without really worrying too much about anything and it worked out fine. I first found shelter in the Old Camp, did all the quests for them, explored the surroundings, then did some quests for the New Camp and the Swamp Camp as well, then joined one of them and fought the Old Camp, all those things one after another, just because I felt like it. Risen seems much more unforgiving towards completionists; e.g. you just have to stumble into one of those novice patrols before even going anywhere else, get caught and there goes your decision to join any other faction. It wasn't like that in Gothic. Anway, there's a lot about Risen I like, I guess I'm just not such a big fan of this type of (unclear) C&C design as it's geared more towards people who love replaying RPGs and less towards completionists, and I'm more of the latter and not at all the former.

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helpo1: Your biggest mistake so far. :P
But really now. I'd honestly recommend you at least one more playthrough, as a mage.
RPGs are such lengthy games, and I still have a ton of other RPGs I want to play through, probably more than I'll ever be able to. It just seems such a waste to me to play through the same one more than once, despite what other players say, I just don't enjoy it that much. Especially since even though some parts of the gameplay and some plot elements change, it still involves more repetition than new experiences, and I just don't like the repetition. And Risen isn't even a fast-paced game, each battle can be somewhat of a challenge, if you don't watch out, so while it's fun to explore and clear the island once, I just don't feel like doing it another time. And also considering that even as a mage the first part would be almost exactly the same, since you can't use magic right from the start.

I wonder though, if the differences are mostly in the city, would it make sense for me to save the game, when I enter it, and then, after my first playthrough, reload the game at that point and just replay a part starting from there, doing other quests in the city and the monastery until the story moves on to parts I already know from the first playthrough?

Can I still become a good mage with my STR 50, swords level 5? (Although, if I'd just replay the city / monastery parts, and not the ending, maybe I wouldn't need to be a very good mage anyway?)
Post edited July 09, 2016 by Leroux
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Leroux: Risen seems much more unforgiving towards completionists; e.g. you just have to stumble into one of those novice patrols before even going anywhere else, get caught and there goes your decision to join any other faction. It wasn't like that in Gothic. Anway, there's a lot about Risen I like, I guess I'm just not such a big fan of this type of (unclear) C&C design as it's geared more towards people who love replaying RPGs and less towards completionists, and I'm more of the latter and not at all the former.
Well, you can always reload a previous save if you aren't going OLOG. If you're new to a certain (classic) RPG, your first playthrough is most probably going to include quite a bit of reloading. And I'm not even necessarily talking about Fallout-like games. :P

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Leroux: RPGs are such lengthy games, and I still have a ton of other RPGs I want to play through, probably more than I'll ever be able to. It just seems such a waste to me to play through the same one more than once, despite what other players say, I just don't enjoy it that much. Especially since even though some parts of the gameplay and some plot elements change, it still involves more repetition than new experiences, and I just don't like the repetition. And Risen isn't even a fast-paced game, each battle can be somewhat of a challenge, if you don't watch out, so while it's fun to explore and clear the island once, I just don't feel like doing it another time. And also considering that even as a mage the first part would be almost exactly the same, since you can't use magic right from the start.
That's exactly the reason why I use the aforementioned strategy in my playthroughs. I want to clear everything I can while I'm independent (and use as little LPs as possible), then save, join a faction and proceed.
The last time I replayed Risen was April, after about a year. It took me 11 real-time days to finish the game from the beginning; exactly 36h00m of game time. Out of it, I have played 16h23m without favoring either faction, and at 17h55m I finally joined the bandits. So, as you can see, almost half of the game can be skipped at future playthroughs (at least the story-oriented ones).

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Leroux: I wonder though, if the differences are mostly in the city, would it make sense for me to save the game, when I enter it, and then, after my first playthrough, reload the game at that point and just replay a part starting from there, doing other quests in the city and the monastery until the story moves on to parts I already know from the first playthrough?
I covered this above, just a few points. I wouldn't advise you to save right after entering the city, but after completing all the possible side quests, which are worth another hour or two of playing.
The city is the place where you practically choose your faction, but there isn't a single difference in quests between the two branches of the Order. Of course, there are serious differences in the "Order vs. Bandits" quests.
There are some changes in the 2nd and 3rd chapter based on your faction, but not very many. Therefore, you might find yourself being on the known grounds very quickly, since faction-joining and Camp/Monastery-specific quests only take a few hours to complete.

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Leroux: Can I still become a good mage with my STR 50, swords level 5? (Although, if I'd just replay the city / monastery parts, and not the ending, maybe I wouldn't need to be a very good mage anyway?)
The average character level at the end of the game is about 27-29, so yes, you most definitely can. Going "bandit-mage" may be easier for you - learning Swords lvl10 from Fincher before joining anyone and using swords as your main weapon through the game. However, I would probably advise you to "remain" a bandit at this point. It is probably the easiest path for a beginner to Risen, since you don't have to plan all your skills in advance. Plus, you have invested quite an amount of gold/LPs into swordfighting and STR. Not irreversibly, but considerably much.
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helpo1:
Ok, so I'll keep exploring on my own as much as I can, save before I join a faction / take on faction quests in the city, then stay with bandits and sword fighting till the end of the game, then reload to do mage's quests and enter the monastery, and when I get into familiar territory again, I can still decide whether I've seen enough or whether playing a mage is enough fun to continue. Right? Thanks for your help! :)
Post edited July 09, 2016 by Leroux
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Leroux: Ok, so I'll keep exploring on my own as much as I can, save before I join a faction / take on faction quests in the city, then stay with bandits and sword fighting till the end of the game, then reload to do mage's quests and enter the monastery, and when I get into familiar territory again, I can still decide whether I've seen enough or whether playing a mage is enough fun to continue. Right? Thanks for your help! :)
Well, that's up to you, of course. But I think that this might be the best way for you to get a good grasp of everything important in the game as quickly as possible. :)
I would argue that the only thing you're doing wrong is thinking too much about all this stuff. Just play the game and do what you think your character would choose to do. Nothing's going to make the game un-winnable.