-=}ARCANUM TECHNOMANCY GUIDE 1.2{=-
Written by Endarire (R340@wi.rr.com)
-VERSION 1.1-
There's little to comment here.
1/5/02
-NEW THINGS IN 1.2-
Edited and overall improved the guide by Phrog9 (Phrog9@hotmail.com) who
used every ounce of willpower not to add in insults at Endarire the Newbie
(d'oh!)
3/27/03
-VERSION 1.3-
About a month after receiving Phrog9's 1.2 version, I finally read it and
corrected some spelling and grammar. I disagree with his no-Dante rec-
ommendation, but I trust him enough as to keep it.
"Victory goes not to the one with the bigger gun, but to the one that can
kill most effectively."
If you want a full game guide, go to www.gamefaqs.com or www.terra-arcanum.com,
this guide is about building the most effective technomancer possible.
-BASIC ASSUMPTIONS-
1: You've installed Arcanum on a computer that can play it and have applied
the 1.074 patch if needed to get version 1.074.
2: You can check for events marked like *THIS* against important events in
the game world.
3: You can play the game and follow me cohesively.
4: You know what cohesive is or/and where a dictionary is.
5: You fight everything that's normally hostile toward you and some things
that aren't. (Killing blacksmiths/magic item traders/gunsmiths in towns you
don't frequent/need anymore is a great way to get items and cash! This is
bad in Tarant as Tarant's the hub of your adventures.
6: You leech everything you can from every area you can, with limit only on
time and ability, without being a lamer.
7: You don't kill everything in sight for experience.
8: You use multiple slots to save, and save often.
9: You outfit your group with the best-for-the-situation gear.
10: You identify everything and sell what you don't want.
-HELPFUL THINGS I DON'T ASSUME-
1: To attack inanimate objects, go hostile then hold ALT and click. Most
melee weapons lose durability from this. (ALSO: Ore Golems and elemental-looking
creatures WILL quickly erode your weapons!) Mechanical gauntlets found in the
Black Mountain Mines are the best choice when dealing with such objects.
2: You can equip yourself at the start (when buying things) by pressing the
circle left of the black one. You equip group members this way as well.
3: "Double playing" quests. Find the Stillwater Bank, defend it, get the
reward, rob it (on quest), kill the robbers after finishing. This game
earns its M rating. (Beware on killing Madam Toussuade in Tarant! If you kill
her, you lose 2 CHA but follow her and gain 1 CHA!)
4: F7 AUTOSAVES and F8 loads the most recent save.
5: To switch between items on the MIX/MAKE (T) screen, press the arrow in
the top right/left corner.
6: On the MIX/MAKE screen, the numbers displayed next to an item represent
how many points you need to in a field (displayed by the symbol, eg. gear means
mechanical) to make the item. Tech manuals, bought in Tarant university,
temporarily increase your skill in that field. You will always have enough
skill for schematics that you bought on the CHARACTER (C) screen.
7: Have your main character stay unencumbered for mobility and, so long as
they can move, stash stuff on other party members.
-SIGNIFICANT PLACES IN ARCANUM, AND I DON'T MEAN QUESTS-
1230, 1530 Wolf Cave: Store stuff here.
972, 1029 Tarant: Fix stuff here. ID stuff here. Buy ingrediants here.
Shrouded Hills: ID stuff here. Buy bullets here.
1236, 1653 Dernholm: Get Dread Armor for Virgil here. I suggest killing
the smith.
505, 978 Ashbury: Level from the gravyard zombies here before giving the
gem to Geoffry. (NOTE: Only abuse this is if you REALLY suck at the game.
Otherwise, it becomes too easy.)
1179, 1466 Liam's Workshop: Level here. (Get the trap from the house and
go south until the second path, then west. You're fairly safe right of Liam's
corpse, so lure foes there. Sleep often. Same note from above.)
-SUGGESTED COMPANIONS FOR A GOOD ALIGNED GROUP-
Sogg Mead Mugg: Shrouded Hills Inn (9 CHA)
Gar: Tarant, H. T. Parnell's along the main street, left side (2 Persuasion,
3000 coins)
Magnus: Tarant, P. Scuhler & Sons which is on the southwest side of the
first side street going northwest. Smithy and Mechanical. (1 Persuasion)
Jayna Stiles: Dernholm, southern most house. Heals people using healing
salves. Therapeutics and herbology. (Some technological aptitude)
Sebastian: Tarant, in the Boil after you take the quest to "clean it up."
Electricity and explosives.
(Maybe Dog from northeast Ashbury if you save it in time. It's a Master
melee fighter, and may make the game boring!)
Why these? Sogg is strong. Vollinger, Jayna, Sebastian, and Magnus make
stuff. Jayna heals. Gar is a good fighter, if you have the room.
-SUGGESTED COMPANIONS FOR A MALICIOUS GROUP-
Sogg Mead Mugg: Shrouded Hills Inn (9 CHA)
Vollinger: Dernholm, King's Inn & Pub. Gun smithy and chemistry.
Jayna Stiles: Dernholm, southern most house. Heals people using healing
salves. Therapeutics and herbology. (Some technological aptitude)
Sebastian: Tarant, in the Boil after you take the quest to "clean it up."
Electricity and explosives.
Torian Kel: Ancient Temple (Bring him dragon's blood.)
(Maybe Dog.)
Why these? Sogg is strong. Vollinger, Jayna, and Sebastion make stuff.
Jayna heals. Torian Kel is one of the few good evil characters.
-CHARACTER CREATION-
Dwarf, Miracle Cure
1 point in Haggle, 2 in Firearms, 1 in Persuasion, 1 in Throwing
Buy a boomerang, and lockpicks if you want to be a thief-type.
(Picks can be found in the Tarant trash bin near Poone's Flophouse, but that
is probably too late.)
WARNING: It will be extremely hard to survive in the beginning. Virgil can
tank for a while until you get Sogg, then it becomes easy.
-WHAT YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE AT MINIMUM BY GAME'S END-
12 STR
6 DEX (Charged rings give +4 total)
15 PER (Helmet of Vision gives +3)
20 CHA (Jewel of Hebe gives +1)
1 in Haggle, Apprentice
2 in Persuasion, Apprentice (3 and Expert if you want +1 party limit)
4 in Firearms, Master**
1 in Throwing, Apprentice (for Molotovs)
7 in Gun Smithing (Elephant Gun, mwahaha!)
or: get the elephant gun from the Poacher's camp and save 7 points
7 in Smithy (Elite Plate, Helmet of Vision)
7 in Electricity (Charged rings, Tesla rod, other pre-godly equipment)
1 in Explosives (Molotov)
**Check Smythe's Gun Shop in Tarant for the Hunting Rifle and the Tarant
docks for the pipe. Riz from Shrouded Hills also may have this around level 25.
Talk to the Doc in Shrouded Hills for Apprenticeship (or Smythe in Tarant)
and Expert training and a robed William in Ashbury (southeast of entrance,
outside a wooden house) for Mastery. The Firearms Mastery quest is difficult
because of timing- you MUST be swift to run to the barn and get the half Ogre bandit
off the halfling girl before she dies. This means you should not be
encumbered.
-HOME-MADE ARSENAL-
Molotov: Fuel and rag. I recommend to get fuel from Tarant, Dernholm and
Ashbury. Get rags from trash bins. Strong in the beginning, and knockback
helps later.
Bullets: Saltpeter and charcoal. Saltpeter is semi-rare, but available
in Ashbury's gunsmith and generally in import shops and inventors. Get
charcoal from trash bins.
Elephant Gun: (12 STR needed) Get the Hunting Rifle from any gunsmith
(though I recommend Ashbury and Tarant) and the large pipe from an
importer/inventor/junk shop.
Blade Launcher, Tesla Gun: Advanced weaponry. You can find the schematics
in shops. Having both allows you to alternate between bullets and battery
consumption.
-SHOP K(ILL)-MART-
Cash has its use and it's here. Haggle, CHA and items that boost reaction
(like Smoking Jacket) will better your trade prices usually. (Things like
identifying and Expert training are fixed.) Buy all schematics.
Main character:
Body wear: Smoking jacket (Tarant tailor) and Elite Plate
Head: Eye goggles (Black Mountain Clan forge) +2 PER
Goggled helmet (if you decide to put in 5 Smithy) +3 PER
Hand: The best gun for the situation, which is usually the most powerful you
can find. Factor resistances too.
Feet: Strong and preferably light boots.
Gloves: Machined gauntlets (Take them off if you encounter a difficulty
lock.)
Jewelry: Don't count on much helping due to your technomancy rating.
Charged rings, requiring 2 in Electricity, give +2 DEX each to those with a high
technomancy.
(Sogg gets +1 each) The Jewel of Hebe (amulet) in the Panarii temple in
Tarant gives 2 beauty and 1 charisma.
-SLAUGHTERS IN THE BUNKHOUSE, LA LA LA (AKA: DECKING OUT YOUR GROUP)-
=Be careful when giving items to your group- the game is screwy in equip
priority. (Gar's no body armor makes him a great armor carrier.)
=Most items with goldish colored text aren't worth keeping.
=Half-Ogre body wear is rare: Chukka (Bill Gates's/Gill Bates's) bodyguard
has the only Smoking Jacket I've seen and the half-Ogre that pummels the girl in
the Firearms Mastery quest (Ashbury) is the only studded leather I've seen. Stuff for
midgets and stumpies is more common and every living armorer with inventory
sells human-sized body wear.
-COMBAT SECTION-
Your job as gunner is mainly to lure foes into your group of attackers, then
shoot or/and throw Molotovs at the baddies. Because of this (and so it's
faster to travel off the World Map) you want to be UNENCUMBERED. To check
encumbrance, look at inventory (I). If you don't see NONE on the left side
above the items, I advise giving things to your group. (It doesn't matter
how heavy they're anchored unless they can't move. Sogg's naturally high STR
max makes him a great stash!)
Because of your (hopefully) great PER you should notice packs of foes before
they near. Molotovs are great to throw to get packs' attention, and usually
don't hurt your group! Later in the game their knockback purpose is handy
(They hurt other NPCs; beware during the Firearms Mastery quest!)
-MINI GUIDE-
Virgil will do most the fighting until you get Sogg, then Sogg and Virgil
will do most the fighting. You'll start fighting around Expert and be a major
killer after an Elephant Gun is your weapon. Until then, use a bladed
boomerang.
By the time you talk with the *SHROUDED HILLS BRIDGE THIEVES* you should be
level 5 at least.
By the time you talk with *BATES* in Tarant, you should have around 16 CHA
and 2 persuade.
Around *LEVEL 20* you should have 20 CHA and 2 persuade, enough to free Gar
if you're a goody.
Around *LEVEL 25* you should have 4 points in Firearms and the Elephant Gun,
depending on how soon you get to Qinterra.
Around *LEVEL 35* but by level 40 you should have a Blade Master and Tesla
Gun.
Get to Qinterra ASAP. Once on the other side, you can visit the Bedokaan
village, do the poacher quest, and grab the elephant gun, which becomes the
blade launcher.
-SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT ITEMS-
Dread armor: Kill the Dernholm smith ASAP and have Virgil use it.
Myrth's amulet: Steal it from him in Stillwater, or kill him for it after he
plots Qintarra.
Filament sword: Get the mine's deed from a man in Tarant (on the right side
of the street in a dingy looking warehouse) and give it to Sarah Toone in
Dernholm. Booyah. (|=^) Technological swords are better, though.
-OFFERINGS QUESTS-
I highly recommend doing these quests. They can save character points (CPs)
and improve your character. Steven W. Carter's guide at GameFAQs.com has all
the information needed for this.
-BOX OF CYBER CHOCOLATES (AKA: LINKS)-
[Any site listed here may post my guides if I submit them and they don't
modify them without my permission. Standard stuff.]
I recommend the 127 level patch- it changes the max level to 127!
Other files, like the character editor (I recommend it because I disagree
with group member level schemes) at Terra Arcanum.
http://www.terra-arcanum.com/station/downloads.shtml
GameFAQs.
http://www.gamefaqs.com
RPGamer, a popular and large RPG info site.
http://www.rpgamer.com
NeoSeeker, like GameFAQs but with hardware reviews.
http://www.neoseeker.com
The Hunger Site- click and donate free (to you) food. Works once per day
with a reset at 2AM CST daily. Same for Breast Cancer and Rainforest. (Click
the tabs.)
http://www.thehungersite.com
Version 1 was completed at 10:37 PM CST my watch time on 12 26 1. I was
hungry and tired from much Arcanum and planning to send this to GameFAQs and
RPGamer.
1.1 was completed at 11:41AM CST 1 4 2. I'd been playing Black and White
and thought it a slow game, but enjoyable.
1.3 was completed at 8:14 PM CST 4 27 3 after being IMed by someone asking about
my Technomancer guide.
