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Arcanum: Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura: Difference between revisions

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* When selecting your items from the shop before you start, get the lockpicks, as they have a 10% boost, and the dress (if female), since you won't find either again any time soon. Then get some potions and a cheap dagger. You'll find better stuff shortly.  
* When selecting your items from the shop before you start, get the lockpicks, as they have a 10% boost, and the dress (if female), since you won't find either again any time soon. Then get some potions and a cheap dagger. You'll find better stuff shortly.  
* Magic is incredibly useful. Teleport will eliminate annoying travel, catrip will unlock most doors, harm will kill almost everything, and charm will let you talk to almost anyone in a positive matter. Don't spam it at the beginning of the game though, you'll run out of fatigue, and fall over.


* Dexterity is probably the most important attribute, since it governs most combat skills, as well as the thief abilities as well. If you want to succeed at melee, you need DX more than you need strength (although that helps, too).
* Dexterity is probably the most important attribute, since it governs most combat skills, as well as the thief abilities as well. If you want to succeed at melee, you need DX more than you need strength (although that helps, too).


* Regardless of character type, don't skimp out on intelligence. Your initial reaction modifier has some effect on quests but intelligence actually determines the better dialog options. For combat oriented characters, dexterity is infinitely better than than strength even if you plan on specializing in melee weapons. Finally, magic is extremely overpowered. If you want to breeze through the game then build a mage type character.
* Your initial reaction modifier has some effect on quests but intelligence actually determines the better dialog options (and having too little limits your character to "Hulk speak" options unless you keep chugging intelligence potions for every conversation). For combat oriented characters, dexterity is infinitely better than than strength even if you plan on specializing in melee weapons. Finally, magic is extremely overpowered. If you want to breeze through the game then build a mage type character.


* Beauty is a little useless, since you can excel as an intelligent ugly person, but not as a beautiful idiot.
* Beauty is a little useless, since you can excel as an intelligent ugly person, but not as a beautiful idiot.
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* Turn the battle system on turn based.
* Turn the battle system on turn based.
* You get more experience in combat if YOU'RE the one hitting the monsters, not your party members. (Only a small portion of combat xp is for the kill - most is for doing damage to the enemy)
* Magic is incredibly useful. Teleport will eliminate annoying travel, cantrip will unlock most doors, harm will kill almost everything, and charm will let you talk to almost anyone in a positive matter. Don't spam it at the beginning of the game though, you'll run out of fatigue, and fall over.
* If you're a mage, get Harm.
* Fighting hard enemies? Have Harm ready and turn the battle on to free time and rapid-fire Harm as the enemy runs at you. You'll attack a lot faster and far, far more often than turn based.


* Even if you're going tech, get teleport. It is so damned useful.
* Even if you're going tech, get teleport. It is so damned useful.
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* If you find an empty building, with a box in it, feel free to put your stuff in it, it will never go away.
* If you find an empty building, with a box in it, feel free to put your stuff in it, it will never go away.


* Make sure you have lots of ammo before going anywhere if you're using a gun. I mean lots, like multiple stacks, and stuff to make more if needed.
* Make sure you have lots of ammo before going anywhere if you're using a gun. I mean lots, like multiple stacks, and stuff to make more if needed.
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* If you do decide to go the tech route, then for the love of god invest in grenades and throwing. You can easily fashion grenades out of things you find in trash cans throughout the entire game and they are devastating. However, be aware that your character will have some of severe palsy when throwing at first so quick save before you throw grenades at the beginning of the game because you will, without fail, end up throwing one backwards into a group of guards/children/teammates/etc.
* If you do decide to go the tech route, then for the love of god invest in grenades and throwing. You can easily fashion grenades out of things you find in trash cans throughout the entire game and they are devastating. However, be aware that your character will have some of severe palsy when throwing at first so quick save before you throw grenades at the beginning of the game because you will, without fail, end up throwing one backwards into a group of guards/children/teammates/etc.


* If you're a mage, get Harm.
* If you're a tech that's high on the scale (75 or so) healing magic will almost always fail on you. BUT most of the party-joinable NPCs in the game don't fall far enough on the scale in either direction for this to be the case, so you might want to have a healer in your party to look after them, while you take care of your own healing.
 
* Items to hang onto: shovel, mithril, Molochean Hand amulet, kathorn crystal, heartstone, and, if you're a tech, saltpeter & charcoal (the two components in bullets).


* Fighting fucking hard enemies? Have Harm ready and turn the battle on to free time and rapid-fire Harm as the enemy runs at you. You'll attack a lot faster and far, far more often than turn based.
* You need a Charisma of 20 to persuade the final boss to give up.


* You get more experience in combat if YOU'RE the one hitting the monsters, not your party members.
* It's rather easy to break arcanum with real time combat by making a super fast melee attacker and using support spells. Some weapons like the steel dagger have a 2 frame attack animation so you just attack dozens of times per second, obliterating anything with a thousand cuts before they can even attack. And sometimes you can just enable turn based combat and attack like 20 times per turn or something crazy like that.


* Be sure to travel to Dernholm and Black Root before heading to Tarant.
== Location Specific Tips ==


* In Tarant, you can deliver a note for a shady individual (in the Wellington Gentleman's club), solve the theft of a painting (the Garringsburg heist), and fetch a new crystal ball for a psychic. Be sure to complete the quests in this order, and for the crystal ball quest, side with Toussaud not Besson.
=== Ashbury ===


* Speak to Thom Grak (middle of Tarant) to start one of the more interesting quest lines.
* Worthless Mutt is the best fighter NPC in the game. If you want him in your party, remember two things: (1) Mutt is so good at fighting that for the first half of the game, having him in your party will make combat very boring (and less lucrative in terms of experience, since Mutt will tear through enemies before you can even reach them). (2) If you want him in your party, you'll have to hoof it to the inn the first time you arrive in Ashbury. Get to the east side of the inn (SE part of town) and rescue him from the gnome kicking him to death. If you take too long, Mutt will die.


* There's a warehouse in Tarant (just E of the Docks subway station) with a halfling outside. Help him clear out the rats in the warehouse, and you can use any of the interior containers for storage. Handy because it's right next to a subway station and the docks (for when you get your own ship).
* At the docks in Ashbury there is a locked barrel next to a ship. In it there is a book titled ''The Hand''. Unlock it without getting caught and bring it with you when you take that ship.


* Worthless Mutt is the best fighter NPC in the game. If you want him in your party, remember two things: (1) Mutt is so good at fighting that for the first half of the game, having him in your party will make combat very boring (and less lucrative in terms of experience, since Mutt will tear through enemies before you can even reach them). (2) If you want him in your party, you'll have to hoof it to the inn the first time you arrive in Ashbury. Get to the east side of the inn (SE part of town) and rescue him from the gnome kicking him to death. If you take too long, Mutt will die.
=== Black Mountain Clan ===


* By the time you explore the Black Mountain Clan, you should be at LEAST level 20, your entire party should be wearing metal armor, you’ll need to be able to take some heavy hits, you’ll need to be able to heal yourself a lot, and you’ll need at least apprentice level in repair, OR lots of weapons, OR the ability to teleport out of a dungeon with an Exit scroll to get your equipment fixed by someone else.
* By the time you explore the Black Mountain Clan, you should be at LEAST level 20, your entire party should be wearing metal armor, you’ll need to be able to take some heavy hits, you’ll need to be able to heal yourself a lot, and you’ll need at least apprentice level in repair, OR lots of weapons, OR the ability to teleport out of a dungeon with an Exit scroll to get your equipment fixed by someone else.


* When it’s time to go to Thanatos, you can either pay a lot of money for passage or you can get your own ship. Getting the ship is more complicated, but worth it since you can travel to virtually any city for free from that point on.
=== Isle of Despair ===
 
* You cannot return to the Isle of Despair once you have left. There is an  NPC there you need to talk to in order to get the best ending for Dernholm.
 
=== Roseborough ===
 
* Speak to everyone in the inn. One of them will help you find a bridge that's crucial to travel on that side of the continent.
 
=== T'sen Ang ===
 
* Make sure you have (and are possibly wearing) the Molochean Hand amulet before entering T'sen Ang.


* Items to hang onto: shovel, mithril, Molochean Hand amulet, kathorn crystal, heartstone, and, if you're a tech, saltpeter & charcoal (the two components in bullets).
=== Tarant ===


* If you're a tech that's high on the scale (75 or so) healing magic will almost always fail on you. BUT most of the party-joinable NPCs in the game don't fall far enough on the scale in either direction for this to be the case, so you might want to have a healer in your party to look after them, while you take care of your own healing.
* Be sure to travel to Dernholm and Black Root before heading to Tarant.


* You cannot return to the Isle of Despair once you have left. There is an  NPC there you need to talk to in order to get the best ending for Dernholm.  
* In Tarant, you can deliver a note for a shady individual (in the Wellington Gentleman's club), solve the theft of a painting (the Garringsburg heist), and fetch a new crystal ball for a psychic. Be sure to complete the quests in this order, and for the crystal ball quest, side with Toussaud not Besson.


* You need a Charisma of 20 to persuade the final boss to give up.
* Speak to Thom Grak (middle of Tarant) to start one of the more interesting quest lines.


* It's rather easy to break arcanum with real time combat by making a super fast melee attacker and using support spells. some weapons like the steel dagger have a 2 frame attack animation so you just attack dozens of times per second, obliterating anything with a thousand cuts before they can even attack. And sometimes you can just enable turn based combat and attack like 20 times per turn or something crazy like that.
* There's a warehouse in Tarant (just E of the Docks subway station) with a halfling outside. Help him clear out the rats in the warehouse, and you can use any of the interior containers for storage. Handy because it's right next to a subway station and the docks (for when you get your own ship).


* In Roseborough, speak to everyone in the inn. One of them will help you find a bridge that's crucial to travel on that side of the continent.
* Magnus can smelt Iron Ore + Steel into Pure Ore, and combine it with a Fine Hilt Guard to make a Balanced Sword. Balanced swords are a fantastic weapon for a fresh party.


* Make sure you have (and are possibly wearing) the Molochean Hand amulet before entering T'sen Ang
=== Thanatos ===


* Keep one of these items on you throughout the game: shovel, mithril, kathorn crystal, and heartstone
* When it’s time to go to Thanatos, you can either pay a lot of money for passage or you can get your own ship. Getting the ship is more complicated, but worth it since you can travel to virtually any city for free from that point on.


== If you're playing a gunfighter/thief: ==
== If you're playing a gunfighter/thief: ==
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* Keep in mind that magically unlocking something will make a noise, and anyone nearby will hear it. This means if you're trying to rob someone or break into someplace, it will be VERY difficult to do without getting caught. Lockpicking, on the other hand, is almost entirely silent, and you can enter Prowl mode (even if you have no points in it) well enough to avoid being caught by sleeping people.
* Keep in mind that magically unlocking something will make a noise, and anyone nearby will hear it. This means if you're trying to rob someone or break into someplace, it will be VERY difficult to do without getting caught. Lockpicking, on the other hand, is almost entirely silent, and you can enter Prowl mode (even if you have no points in it) well enough to avoid being caught by sleeping people.


* Guns are awesome, but only the good ones you'll get later / have to know where to find. I usually don't even bother putting points into Firearms/Perception/Gun Smithy until at least level 25 or so. Before that, guns are just heavy and bullets are expensive and you can't shoot worth shit. Just suck it up and go melee for the first half of the game.
* Guns are awesome, but only the good ones you'll get later / have to know where to find. I usually don't even bother putting points into Firearms/Perception/Gun Smithy until at least level 25 or so. Before that, guns are just heavy and bullets are expensive and you can't shoot well. Just suck it up and go melee for the first half of the game.


* As a gunfighter, hoard the following items: saltpeter/charcoal (for bullets), looking glasses, marksman rifles, mithril, charges, and corrosive acid. Everything else can be found pretty easily.
* As a gunfighter, hoard the following items: saltpeter/charcoal (for bullets), looking glasses, marksman rifles, mithril, charges, and corrosive acid. Everything else can be found pretty easily.
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