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I picked up Gothic 3 during a recent sale and finally found enough time to start the game. The community patch makes the game playable but I still am encountering a bit of stuttering. I'm playing on Easy with Alternate Balancing and aggressive AI enabled.

I'm currently exploring the caves under Cape Dun. My character is level 6 and I haven't spent any of my skill points yet. I also still need to purchase armor. I have been hoping I could loot some from an enemy.

I'm beginning to see how you can quickly land yourself in trouble by visiting an area that you aren't prepared for. Those Ogres are a force to be reckoned with.

I'm unsure where I should invest my skill points. Long term I want to create a swordsman who can cast some spells. However, I only have about 2,500 gold so I'm uncertain where I should invest first.

Is it worth learning how to hunt to earn gold or would I be better off investing in mining skills?

Thank you in advance for your advice.
Hunting just for gold isnt recommend at the begin and later on you will get more than enough money from other sources. I wouldnt put points in there.

At the very beginning I dont recommend to skill both classes, its easier to skill one first and later on the second one.

For magic: get a damage spell. Get your mana to about 300 (so that you dont need that much mana potions). Learn brewing mana potions (put any gold in skills or mana potions) and then go for wisdom until you have enough for mana regeneration. If you reach this point, you will have almost no problems.

For fighting: I prefer the shield, because you can block almost everything with it and attack afterwards without being hurt. You cant do much wrong with fighting, but I recommend to skill just one fighting path, because it makes for example less sense to be good at big weapons and at swords at the same time or in dual wield and in shield + sword. You just wont be able to use both at the same time. Also you will maybe need some healing potions, alchemy could help. Also some points in smith skills couldnt be wrong, especially because you can make much money with this skill later on and because you get better swords this way, especially at the beginning (long sword) and at the end (rune swords).

Also dont put to much money in armor, because it is just to expensive at the beginning, and if you keep upgrading all the time, you wont have much money for a long time, so that you wont be able to improve your skills, which are more important. Just think about what is more reasonable, to be able to take one or two hits more or to kill a monster with 1-3 hits instead of 15?

In this game you have to think twice at the begin where to spend your money and skills to get the biggest improvement for the money or points you spent.

Btw. Myrtana is the easiest place, then comes Varant and Nordmar is the most difficult of them. I went the first time north and had a really hard time, while when I reached the south everything was so easy :P.
Post edited April 28, 2014 by ThomasD313
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auroraparadox: I picked up Gothic 3 during a recent sale and finally found enough time to start the game. The community patch makes the game playable but I still am encountering a bit of stuttering. I'm playing on Easy with Alternate Balancing and aggressive AI enabled.

I'm currently exploring the caves under Cape Dun. My character is level 6 and I haven't spent any of my skill points yet. I also still need to purchase armor. I have been hoping I could loot some from an enemy.

I'm beginning to see how you can quickly land yourself in trouble by visiting an area that you aren't prepared for. Those Ogres are a force to be reckoned with.

I'm unsure where I should invest my skill points. Long term I want to create a swordsman who can cast some spells. However, I only have about 2,500 gold so I'm uncertain where I should invest first.

Is it worth learning how to hunt to earn gold or would I be better off investing in mining skills?

Thank you in advance for your advice.
If you manage to get past the ogres, I don't recommend going into the lower cave any time soon.
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ThomasD313: Btw. Myrtana is the easiest place, then comes Varant and Nordmar is the most difficult of them. I went the first time north and had a really hard time, while when I reached the south everything was so easy :P.
I went to Nordmar before I even finished up in Myrtana the first time I played Gothic 3 haha. Overall I agree with your advice, though I went with the heavy swords first, then branched over to, well, everything else, the last thing I specialized in was magic and it was actually overpowered compared to every other skill.

Some general advice of my own:

Besides spending money upgrading your skills and buying spells, only spend money on potion recipes, empty vials for your potions and armor. Everything you could possibly need beyond those three things can be found somewhere.

Speaking of money, the Nameless Hero can carry everything in the world with ease, make use of that. After a encounter with whoever, (assuming you won of course) all of their stuff is yours, however if you liberate a city (assuming you side with the rebels), get everything you want immediately, when you visit the town again the rebels will have claimed everything.

Stop and sniff the flowers...then pluck them and make potions out of them. You can save an incredible amount of money making your own potions, and if you've taken the time to clear the countryside of plants then you'll be able to make enough potions to never have to worry about running out of them in a tough situation.

If you don't already know, many quests can be completed out of order, so you can randomly find quest items, or even complete whole quests before you've actually been sent on that quest. You'll automatically get the experience points for completing some of those quests, but sometimes you have to track down the quest giver to get your experience points and other rewards.

Stay away from the Orcs near the force field surrounding Vengard. Trust me on that. Why should you trust me on that? Well when I first played Gothic 3, after freeing Ardea from the Orcs and visiting the rebel camp between Ardea and Cape Dun and doing one mission for them, I went directly towards Vengard in the middle of the night. I didn't see the force field, I couldn't tell that it was surrounding the capital city of Myrtana...and I couldn't tell...that there is about a HUNDRED ORCS stationed there. I leveled up many many times in that encounter. I reloaded my game many times during that encounter. I grew to dislike the reloading theme during that encounter. I learned my lesson for all future playthroughs in that encounter.

Get the Tame spell. Use it on a Warg. Wargs can be found in a few places, but especially near the force field surrounding Vengard. Those Wargs are not worth it...at least not when you're at a low level.

Assuming the community patch/alternate balance mode didn't change the amount of skill points you get, don't fret too much about spending skill points, about halfway through the game you'll have enough to get every skill you want, plus skills you don't want or need. I completely wasted at least fifty skills points early in the game and by the end of the game I had almost every skill and spell available.
Thank you for the feedback. I haven't had much time to game because of the hours I have been working. I do have some additional questions though.

Is there a bonus for saving all of slaves during the liberation of Ardea?
Do I lose reputation if I loot weapons and items from someone I defeated in a duel?
Do alchemy ingredients such as healing plants grow back over time?
If I do any quests for the Orcs do I lose reputation with the rebels?
Can you loot armor from enemies or can it only be purchased?
Do you need additional training before you can begin mining?
Early in game, should I use shrines to boost HP, Mana, and Endurance or to learn skills?

That is everything I can think of at the moment. Thank you in advance for your help.
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auroraparadox: Thank you for the feedback. I haven't had much time to game because of the hours I have been working. I do have some additional questions though.

Is there a bonus for saving all of slaves during the liberation of Ardea?
Do I lose reputation if I loot weapons and items from someone I defeated in a duel?
Do alchemy ingredients such as healing plants grow back over time?
If I do any quests for the Orcs do I lose reputation with the rebels?
Can you loot armor from enemies or can it only be purchased?
Do you need additional training before you can begin mining?
Early in game, should I use shrines to boost HP, Mana, and Endurance or to learn skills?

That is everything I can think of at the moment. Thank you in advance for your help.
I don't believe there is a bonus for saving all of the slaves during the liberation of Ardea

You don't lose any reputation for looting weapons/items from someone in a duel (in fact, if you lose a duel (outside of the arenas) the person you're dueling with may take your weapon and possibly take some of your gold

Alchemy ingredients do not grow back as far as I know, but there are plenty to last you throughout the game

I can't access my old save games (maybe because they were done with the previous community patch), but I seem to remember having positive reputation with both the rebels and the Orcs, even though I was mostly working with the rebels. However if you liberate too many towns (and I imagine it's the same if you're working with the Orcs against the rebels) the Orcs will eventually attack you on sight, and I seem to remember that that causes the Hashishin in Varant to do the same.

You have to purchase armor as it can't be found anywhere as loot, however in a few cases you may be rewarded low/medium tier armor (can happen in Nordmar and Varant). You can find random amulets and rings that give you some protection and boost your stats, and in Nordmar you may be able to similar items. In my opinion it's best to get the best armor you can at the moment (I think it's the first armor that requires you to have a small amount of reputation with the rebels) and then use that armor until you have the cash/reputation to buy the top tier armor.

You can mine and smith right away, I found that the smith skills are useful, but not really necessary overall.

In my opinion, based on the type of character you said you want to make, it would be best to focus on learning the skills (and the attributes required for them) you think you want first instead of raising your Life Energy/Endurance/Mana. Later in the game you'll be able to make potions that raise your Life Energy/Endurance/Mana anyway.
avatar
auroraparadox: Thank you for the feedback. I haven't had much time to game because of the hours I have been working. I do have some additional questions though.

Is there a bonus for saving all of slaves during the liberation of Ardea?
Do I lose reputation if I loot weapons and items from someone I defeated in a duel?
Do alchemy ingredients such as healing plants grow back over time?
If I do any quests for the Orcs do I lose reputation with the rebels?
Can you loot armor from enemies or can it only be purchased?
Do you need additional training before you can begin mining?
Early in game, should I use shrines to boost HP, Mana, and Endurance or to learn skills?

That is everything I can think of at the moment. Thank you in advance for your help.
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NoNewTaleToTell: I don't believe there is a bonus for saving all of the slaves during the liberation of Ardea

You don't lose any reputation for looting weapons/items from someone in a duel (in fact, if you lose a duel (outside of the arenas) the person you're dueling with may take your weapon and possibly take some of your gold

Alchemy ingredients do not grow back as far as I know, but there are plenty to last you throughout the game

I can't access my old save games (maybe because they were done with the previous community patch), but I seem to remember having positive reputation with both the rebels and the Orcs, even though I was mostly working with the rebels. However if you liberate too many towns (and I imagine it's the same if you're working with the Orcs against the rebels) the Orcs will eventually attack you on sight, and I seem to remember that that causes the Hashishin in Varant to do the same.

You have to purchase armor as it can't be found anywhere as loot, however in a few cases you may be rewarded low/medium tier armor (can happen in Nordmar and Varant). You can find random amulets and rings that give you some protection and boost your stats, and in Nordmar you may be able to similar items. In my opinion it's best to get the best armor you can at the moment (I think it's the first armor that requires you to have a small amount of reputation with the rebels) and then use that armor until you have the cash/reputation to buy the top tier armor.

You can mine and smith right away, I found that the smith skills are useful, but not really necessary overall.

In my opinion, based on the type of character you said you want to make, it would be best to focus on learning the skills (and the attributes required for them) you think you want first instead of raising your Life Energy/Endurance/Mana. Later in the game you'll be able to make potions that raise your Life Energy/Endurance/Mana anyway.
Alchemy plants do not grow back but are apparently subject to respawning except for the more important ones like Kings Sorrell. Since there are no chapters, respawning isn't chapter controlled in III but over time, things do reappear or even add to the originals if not killed/picked prior. At least, that is my impression.

Is there a bonus for saving all of slaves during the liberation of Ardea?
No. The opposite is the case, because when they dont die, you cant get their stuff :P.

Do I lose reputation if I loot weapons and items from someone I defeated in a duel?
No.

Do alchemy ingredients such as healing plants grow back over time?
No. But as mentioned there should be more than enough. But some shops do refill them maybe. Not sure, if this also applies for ingredients, but for some other stuff.

If I do any quests for the Orcs do I lose reputation with the rebels?
In general, you wont loose reputation, you already gained. But there are some quests where you have to decide which reputation should be increased.

Can you loot armor from enemies or can it only be purchased?
Just shields and such stuff. But as far as I remember you can find some armor (maybe only robes) in weapon chests later on.

Do you need additional training before you can begin mining?
No, but it is recommend, because the award is higher.

Early in game, should I use shrines to boost HP, Mana, and Endurance or to learn skills?
I did it the first time without, but it is easier if you put some points there, because health or mana potions will refill much more, so that you will need less of them.

But you should put only points in those that fit your character (HP for a warrior, Mana for a Mage). Endurance is the least important, especially if you get this perk, that makes it last much longer. But a warrior should still have a decent amount of it.

Also you can increase them by potions as mentioned. Just dont use the ingredients that increase your stats permanently until you can brew such potions (but you cant brew all of them, because you will get more permanent ingredients than this one ingredient that is necessary to brew potions out of them, so choose which ones should be brewed).

It is btw. better to increase stats like strength or dextery with permanent potions than stats like mana, hp or endurance. Despite you get a boost of 8 for the second (alternate balancing on) and a boost of 3 for the first, the first one is better, because you will need just 2 skillpoints to boost the first by 8 and 3 skillpoints to boost the second by 3.

Btw. dont forget that increasing stats like strength, dextery or wisdom beyond 250 is more expensive (alternate balancing on), so that I would recommend to increase the main stat (warrior => strength, archer => dextery, mage => wisdom) only by skillpoints and after that with permanent stuff like potions (they arent the only stuff, that can give you permanent bonuses).

In case you wonder about permanent potions to increase wisdom, there arent any. For this, you will find other stuff :P.
Post edited May 02, 2014 by ThomasD313
I started a new game since I know more now. I made sure to take everything not nailed down in Ardea. By selling off all the orc weapons I picked up I should over 3,000 gold to spend.

Should I learn the haggling skill before I start selling things?

Since I'm aiming for a warrior who can cast some spells I'll have to increase HP and Mana.

If I purchase rebel armor will I immediately be recognized by the Orcs as a rebel?
Post edited May 03, 2014 by auroraparadox
Should I learn the haggling skill before I start selling things?
I wouldnt recommend it. You will get more than enough money later on, skillpoints are more worth than this little amount of money.
If I purchase rebel armor will I immediately be recognized by the Orcs as a rebel?
Wear what ever you want, for example a teletubbie costume, no one in this game will care about :P