Just finished the game after playing it for the first time and I'm gutted. Such a cool game, never experienced anything else like it and probably never will. Played as a female Malkavaian where ever single interaction was fun with the anticapation of the crazy and funny dialogue options. I'll never forget Jeanette or VV either! At least I console myself that I can replay the game with the plus patch. I'll park it for now though safe in the knowledge that I have it to back too. So long...

Nice!

Only once do you only get to play Bloodlines for the first time. I applaud you for going with Malkavian, too.

The nice thing is, whichever clan you pick the next time will be a significantly different experience. I was going to recommend one, but they all have something to offer.

To be honest, I was just attracted to the cleevage and cheerleeder outfit! Only after I'd started the game did I learn this is considered to be one of the more difficult classes for your first play through. Don't regret my decsion though - it really did feel like she had a brilliantly warped personality.

That's a good enough reason as far as I'm concerned. :)

I played Nosferatu my first time, which was interesting. For my second game I wanted the most opposite of Nosferatu, so I picked a Toreador. Needless to say, I saw a lot of things in my second game that I hadn't seen in my first.

I'm not sure what would be the most opposite of Malkavian...there really isn't an opposite to that one. Malkavian and Nosferatu are the most different from all the others, followed closely by Tremere.

I would say there's a consensus that Ventrue are the most boring to play. I've never managed to finish a Ventrue game despite trying several times. It's not that the concept is bad, but they just don't have enough unique dialogue or cool powers to make them as much fun as the other clans. That's my opinion anyway.

The thought of spending a good part of the game navigating the sewers doesn't really appeal to me I have to admit in regards to playing as a Nosferatu although I imagine it would definitely be quite a different gaming experience. I did feel with the Malkavian though, that the Auspex power was a bit useless - I never used it again after the tutorial.

I think it gives a boost to hacking and shooting more accurately but my memory is always suspect.

Malk on first time? Well done!

Surprised you managed to complete it as a Malk on your first run without getting confused or annoyed at choosing dialog that can be somewhat obtuse (to put it mildly). I played a Malk on my second or third play through, and I suspect I would have been right confused - although that's likely balanced by the Malk's intuition (or whatever it's called). I played a Ventrue my first game - found the Domination skill to be pretty useful, both in and out of combat.

I haven't revisited the class again since you can get Domination as Tremere - which with the plus patch can also be used in dialogue, so you can be a "missile-casting fucker" as well as a dominator and get a unique safe-house to boot. Sure there are not quite as many dialogue uses as the Ventrue, but most (all?) of those can be gotten through with other skills anyway.

Malkavian is probably still my favourite class due to how different some of the dialogue is, plus Dementation is useful in similar ways to Domination in dialogue while being slightly better in combat. Also obfuscate is handy, means you don't have to beef up stealth skills as much or be anywhere near as careful in stealth situations.

This is why I still haven't gotten around to playing a Nosferatu - although Obfuscate should make walking around "in public" much easier once it's beefed up enough. Plus they have the other unique safehouse.

As for Auspex, lordhoff has it right - it's best use (IMO) is for a temp boost to your hacking since it raises one of the stats required for it (can't remember which one). It also raises firearms (again due to a stat boost), but I think it needs an upgrade before it's useful for that IIRC. It also displays "auras" around your targets, which is not really useful (even though it might be able to see auras through walls? Again my memory's shoddy).

Apart from occasionally using it to boost hacking before my skills were high enough, I don't think I ever remembered to use it. Even if it were more useful, I'd rather spend the points on Dementation, Obfuscate, and other skills/stats/talents/etc. before I'd bother with Auspex.

It's actually not really dangerous to run around the streets as a Nosferatu when you avoid bumping into people. Sadly this is something we can't fix. On the other hand, PnP Nosferatu would dress differently ;)...

Oh I didn't realise Auspex boosted hacking or firearms - I don't think it mentioned this in the tutorial did it? Anyway - I only used a gun 2 or 3 times throughout the game - much more fun to swing an axe or sledgehammer around! The hacking would have useful though...

The Malkavian dialogue was really part of the charm of the game for me - I could really sense and was quite drawn to my/her personality - she was really likeable. I was really quite upset then, that I didn't choose to leave the hotel room at the end!!

Nosferatu is an interesting clan to play, but it's a lot more fun if you understand some of the unique things about how it works. You have to avoid being seen by generic pedestrians, but that just means you don.t get too close to them - specifically right in front of them. If you walk down the middle of the street in Santa Monica, you'll be far enough away from them that they won't notice you.

Also, you can - and absolutely should - talk to every NPC that has special dialogue. You won't break the masquerade if you talk to all the people other vampires can talk to. Nosferatu actually have a lot of funny and unique dialogue options. Make sure you talk to the cop who shows up outside Gallery Noir after the incident there. I always mention it because he's easy to miss because he looks like a generic cop.

High level Obfuscate is so powerful it cam make normal combat boring. You simply walk up behind your target and assassinate him in one blow, then repeat as necessary. Only the boss fights pose the slightest difficulty. I've never tried mixing Obfuscate and Animalism, but I'm sure it would be lethal.

The last bonus is that you get three blood points from feeding on rats. That makes the sewers a cakewalk.

Thanks for the Nosferatu info - while I was pretty sure you could still talk to most (or all) main characters, I didn't realise that "sneaking" around outside was much less strict than what I was lead to believe. Most guides make it sound like Nosferatu has to sneak a LOT, though I've never read the Nosferatu specific walkthrough sections too closely since I hadn't played as one yet.

Though I should have expected as much since stealth isn't exactly difficult in this game even without Obfuscate. With only a small amount of points dedicated to stealth-related skills/talents you can still get pretty close to enemies before you're detected. I tend to complete both the parking garage and the Sabat Warehouse completely stealthy until the final objective of each (briefcase/explosives) without too much difficulty - though having played those areas before definitely helps.

Yes, the game doesn't really give accurate information about that. I recommend experimenting a little to see exactly what you can get away with as a Nosferatu.

I walked down the streets of Hollywood and many screamed and ran, the police shot at me, etc but I did not get a masquerade hit. To stay in character, though, I generally do avoid being seen. All the times I played as a Nossie (it's my favorite), I never did speak to the cop mentioned above as I didn't have a clue that I could. I think my favorite reaction was, "Oh my God!" by the woman at the bar in the downtown nightclub - so well voiced!