its not normally 1 foe that defeats you so just draw them out 1 by 1 run away a little then pick them off i use this a lot . sometimes all the companions go in for the kill so u may have to load a save again till you get a feel for how to use it

I ended up uninstalling this. There are some great ideas in here but I generally get a sense of dread everytime I boot the game up, which is a huge shame. I was really wanting to like it.

dude dont give up it was tough at the start, but ive been playing for 3 days and im lvl 30 now i eat wolves for breakfas.t just give it time save oftern and your lvl up fast

With magic you can get a calm animal spell that works no problem most of the time. Also I can one hit kill almost anything with magic. So far I've figured out magic is way easier than tech.

It took me awhile but I managed to slug my way through those groups of wolves. I am playing a gunslinger but I don't bother trying to shoot all that much until I am able to put a few points in firearms, it's a waste of bullets and melee seems to do as much damage for the first few levels anyway. Another great tip that I read was including a boomerang with the starting equipment. Great for distance pulls and you can chip away some HP on the mob before it closes into melee range.

slight spoiler ahead-








To beat those early level 3 wolves, I'd hit them, then run all the way back across the map to the little cave to the north of the crash site. I could get in a couple of hits, then duck back into the cave and get healed up by Virgil. Kind of exploiting that stuff doesn't chase you into the next zone, but I role played it that we were hiding out in the cave and sneaking out to pick off the wolves :) I did have to go toe to toe with the last couple of groups as I got closer to Shrouded Hills, , as I found out the hard way it was too far to run without passing out from low fatigue. By that point I had picked up a couple of levels and it wasn't as hard.

I had a similarly tough time with the bandits on the bridge, it took many reloads before I managed to beat them with just myself and Virgil.

don't give up wenchwogg! this is actually one of the best computer games ever

pretty much. max out your magical affinity and one shot kill everything, speak to the souls of the departed (very rarely do they have dialog though), teleport across the map instantly (no tech alternative to that... but you lose out on trains which you would have gotten earlier), unlock all locked objects with a word and a gesture. etc.
Magic is 100% Dependant on your character and does not require equipment (although you would want a magic dagger of +50 mana), which means its easier to min-max it early on (whereas with tech you need to acquire the components and diagrams in order to craft stuff).

If you want a really easy game, consider rerolled a mage. But you don't HAVE to play a mage to have fun and beat the game (and it is possible to make a badly designed mage). There is lots of fun to be had from playing this game as a tech master. You even get cool stuff like an alien beam weapon IIRC and a resurrection concoction and a suit of power armor and some amazing kickass swords. (I think for melee, tech stuff is coolest).

Hey mixing tech and magic is possible ! . You just need to change your vision. If you combining spells and tech don't acumulate offensive type spells because low aplitude won't get you anywhere but invest in malee , bow, throwing. etc. Then you can make armor and if you will lack of part simply teleport to other cities !

Arcanum is a game of choices !

- Knight - STR CHA DXT - Malee, Dodge, Persuation, Haggle (low)

Typical Knight in shining armor. HE can fight and he is in center of attention in Inn.

- Marchant - CHA WILL INT - Persuation, Haggle, Gambling, Some making skills, Traps , guns, etc.

Money is the Power ! Old clishe but it works ! Buy sell and recruit and by end of your 10 lvl your Mogg Vergil and other will be well equiped and ready to take anyone !

- Casanova - CHA WILL BT - Persuation , Dodge, some spells like stun , paralyze, etc.

Be a lover ! Recruit your bodyguards like a star ! Talk riddles ! Bang girls ! And when it comes to fight (rarely) Your half ogres/orks will wipe them out after stun them and paralyze.

Mercenary - DX, STR, CON - Fighting skills some tech for granades

You are reincarnation of John Rambo and Terminator. Little bland but destructive power is immense.

First time i played A i was Knight :) Fun and easy to play :)

@Perkel: its possible, its just a terrible idea unless you are very familiar with the game and trying to play an intentionally hard game.

it is ALSO possible to beat the game without any combat skills either, relying on stealth and conversational options (yes, you can avoid the final fights via dialog, literally talking your way to victory). Or just rely on henchmen.

But not all choices are made equal, some of them are significantly worse then others. CAN you play a horrible build? yes. But you should do so while being fully aware of what you are doing.

Knight, merchant, casanova, and mercenary can all be a magical version or a tech version... a tech knight will have the coolest gear. A magic knight will use magic to VASTLY boost his own attributes (1 point into a buff spell gives you the equivalent of 4 points in a stat)
If you are a neutral knight you can get the buff spells and the crafted tech, but they will not work as well, and you lose out on a whole bunch of resistances and immunities you would have had otherwise. It IS possible, as I said, I have done it myself, I beat the game with a perfectly balanced 0% tech 0% magic affinity character. Just not something I'd recommend doing unless you want to make the game unnecessarily hard on yourself.

Only the most hardcore players should consider a mix character.

Actually, I somewhat disagree. Yes, you do really have to read the game manual to take all the abilities and backgrounds into consideration before making your character, but I ran through the game fine the first time with a character who ended up at 5 tech (only because I wanted electric lights not torches).

The big trick is to get to Tarant ASAP if you're not a melee type, because the Tarant sewers and city quests are the best means of getting some quick levels in the first stage of the game. You don't even have to finish clearing out the Toone mine. Rent yourself a hotel room for a week in Tarant so you can sleep off your injuries whenever you need to (it's the cheapest way to go), and start talking to folks and looking for manholes. :)

why rent a room just pass the time away

Yeah, the first game I played was difficult to say the least. But with pulling and patience, and my trusty Rapier, the wolves died. Oh, and killing most of the animals in the starting area helped. That lvl 12 shaman was a pushover... human/tech/male/under a sign with a bit of dodge/melee and guns later on.

Intend to go back to this save but I started wondering about stuff so my second character is human/female/tech/miracle operation thing. Boy howdy did things get harder. She runs out of fatigue so often. Need to use the companions as pack mules. After the initial what is going omg.. things are smooth sailing. lvl 6 ish entered the sewers in Tarrant. Careful planning and pulling (haha stupid enemies walk in a direct path to die from spike traps) I've cleared some paths and killed some high level bandits (around lvl 20 and a 32). Reloaded a few times but I've learned a bit how enemies can change aggro. Oh and a stick of found dynamite came it handy (no sneak skill, took off most of my armor got really close and dropped it behind some enemies, other option would have been to backtrack but that's no fun). Looks like the explosive tech is pretty good. Left over encumbered and ~10ish.


Anyway, TL:DR, while playing Arcanum:
Have a time keeping device handy to not spend too much time playing.
Upgrading your character skills is good, but don't forget about their gear!
Watch the attack speeds of weapons, they can play a large factor. Some times it may be better to use a fist.
Enemies at higher levels can be difficult, try to pull one at a time and win by numbers.
Focus fire on one target.
You still gain exp from your allied kills.
Seriously, remember to check your armor and upgrade. Dead enemies make excellent material donators.
Healing/fatigue supplies can be quite helpful, especially in fights. You can use them on allies too.
Certain skills/abilities seem incredibly powerful. Others can be dependent on context.
You can order helpers to do stuff, like attack a jammed door or locked chest.
As with the above, ordering helpers to stay still so that you can pull an enemy is useful. Also to stop attacking weak enemies so you can attack them for more exp. And send your meat shield in to take the initial aggro for you to come in after.