Arcanum Most overpowered builds in Arcanum?

[Haplo]

In case of Arcanum, is there any other way to play then cheese the crazy imbalanced mechanics?

 

[Darth Canoli]

Yeah, it's clear now, thanks. Also, you're wrong. Unless you atribute any build w/o dodge to cheese for some reason. Example: melee/stealth/backstab. You kill anything on your turn, then if needed step back and press end turn, enemy skips his/their turn because they don't see you, repeat. Why you need dodge in this case or is it cheese tactic?

So, solo character ...
Hit and run hide ...
You don't need dodge because your character never gets hit ...

I rest my case...

In case of Arcanum, is there any other way to play then cheese the crazy imbalanced mechanics?

If you hate combat and play for the story, i guess not.

If you don't, just play a regular barbarian (with some followers), 2H sword, no magic or just heal and some minor buffs for hard fights, the game is not hard but you'll meet some challenge every now and then.
Or just a firing squad, it's quite fun, once you figured out the ammo problems.
Even a mage without temporal magic in TB mode (and no overuse of potions) isn't overpowered.

I like making overpowered builds in challenging games, but in Arcanum? Why?

 

[jackofshadows]

Are you high or something? That was my point, yes. You said I'll need dodge in any case.

 

[Darth Canoli]

You'll only need dodge if you want to have fun playing and don't hate the combat.

 

[Old One]

In case of Arcanum, is there any other way to play then cheese the crazy imbalanced mechanics?

It's actually a pretty good question. I guess if you went with a purely diplomatic character who only used a staff or something, that might do it.

Maybe a Mechanics tech specialist with a bunch of automaton followers for combat - I wouldn't call that cheese.

A Divination mage might work too.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

You'll only need dodge if you want to have fun playing and don't hate the combat.

Are you Piccolo?

 

[ghostdog]

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Considering fallout and this game... DOG is excellent. Get that mutt ASAP!

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

You'll only need dodge if you want to have fun playing and don't hate the combat.

You only need to dodge if

Spoiler

you play a weak build that can't kill the enemy before it reaches you

.

 

[Haplo]

In case of Arcanum, is there any other way to play then cheese the crazy imbalanced mechanics?

It's actually a pretty good question. I guess if you went with a purely diplomatic character who only used a staff or something, that might do it.

Maybe a Mechanics tech specialist with a bunch of automaton followers for combat - I wouldn't call that cheese.

A Divination mage might work too.

Yeah, I guess its doable. Definitely not my playstyle, though.

 

[Nikanuur]

I vaguely remember using the Chakram as if Lars Andersen of throwing weapons taught the PC how to.

 

[Old One]

My first-time character was a Force mage who used Disintegrate a lot. I don't consider that an overpowered build, and it was fun. The major drawback is that Disintegrate uses so much Stamina you've got to carry plenty of blue potions. On the other hand, you can disintegrate ore golems, so it's a worthwhile tradeoff.

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

In case of Arcanum, is there any other way to play then cheese the crazy imbalanced mechanics?

Harm is not cheese. Harm is just click the enemy to kill it. Nothing imbalanced about that. Also, Disintegration is a nice end game spell. You're playing a Gnome Wizard right? That's the canonical protagonist.

 

[Cael]

After years of playing it I'm kinda wondering if Dodge is even worth it or would those 5 points be better spent elsewhere.

If you can kill everyone before they can even react, it wouldn't be. Heck, when I go melee mage, I don't even bother with armour. I just wear that +reaction smoking suit the entire game.

Damn, literally the Victorian Flash (Accelerated Man) build.

Enemy starts being aggressive towards the Accelerated Man.
Time stops, adjusts cuffs. Proceeds to super-speed behind enemy.
"Terribly sorry about this, dear chap. I assure you that this is nothing personnel."
"Wha-"
Superspeed backstabbing noises, which sound like like a knife whirring over and over
Enemy starts falling into the ground. The gentleman blurrs back to where he was, before the dead foe even hit the ground.
"Thank goodness, I did not even dirty my suit with blood this time. Well, that was easy - I did not even use ten percent of my power."
Adjust smoking suit, walks away.

I think I know my next Arcanum build.

Forget 1 guy. That build literally can take on those end game mobs spawning from that portal in Black Root at about level 8-12 (I can't remember exactly). BEFORE Haste shenannigans.

 

[Daemongar]

Just created an Ogre with "Ran away from the circus" as his perk. He starts with 1 Int, 20 Str, and the conversation is already fun. Problems: when he critically fails, he effectively kills himself. Was planning on cranking up INT over the first 10 levels, but may leave it at 1 just to see where this takes me.

 

[Mauman]

Just created an Ogre with "Ran away from the circus" as his perk. He starts with 1 Int, 20 Str, and the conversation is already fun. Problems: when he critically fails, he effectively kills himself. Was planning on cranking up INT over the first 10 levels, but may leave it at 1 just to see where this takes me.

Being stupid in Arcanum does produce some rather humorous moments.

 

[Cael]

Forget 1 guy. That build literally can take on those end game mobs spawning from that portal in Black Root at about level 8-12 (I can't remember exactly). BEFORE Haste shenannigans.

Holy shit, how?

Get the +Str and +Dex spells. Get your Melee and Backstab up (Backstab is good to have but not as important as the rest of the combo). Invest in Str, Dex and Will enough to get 20 Str and 20 Dex with the spells up (Will increases the number of spells you can have up at a time). You can stack both spells with itself (to get +8 Str, for example).

You just need to juggle the 3 stats a bit to get the optimum balance, but your aim is 20 Str and 20 Dex after spells and any bonuses you might have.

Get to a place with a magic shop. Buy a Dagger of Speed and a Warboots of Speed.

You are now doing 1d6+20 damage PER AP (more with backstab; +4 per rank), and you have 25 AP per round.

After that, it is all your average tactical positioning in TB combat.

Hilariously, I believe those particular mobs are magical mobs, so tech people have a harder time hitting them in the first place.

Just be warned: You will end up about level 30 by the time the portal stops spawning the mobs. Depending on whether you have the level cap on, this might ruin the game for you.

 

[Black]

(Will increases the number of spells you can have up at a time).

That's Int.

 

[Cael]

(Will increases the number of spells you can have up at a time).

That's Int.

Int, then. One of them, I can never remember without the tooltip.

 

[Old One]

Speaking of dialogue options, most of you probably know this, but if you play a gnome or a halfling (maybe dwarf too - I don't remember) and use Shrink on yourself so you're really tiny, you can get some special dialogue from NPCs.

 

[Ol' Willy]

Finally started the build that I wanted to do for a long time: magical gunslinger. The goal is to keep the aptitude neutral and use magick and tech items mostly independent from aptitude levels. It's quite early but

At level 12-13, with just 8 DEX I can get 27 Speed - if I cast both Haste and Fire Agility on myself (also boots of speed). This more than doubles the amount of lead I can deliver in one turn.
Could be better because accuracy still sucks

Gotta improve the accuracy then add more spells and crafting

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Weren't there tech malfunctions that could happen or does pure neutral aptitude barely have an effect on either? It has been a while. Oh yeah, speedy gun fighter sounds cool.

 

[Modron]

Neutral means you just get half the benefits of tech and magic items, no bonus spell/tech resistence and no spell/tech failure. Basically would be better off just focusing on a combat skill and haste/tempus fugit and using neutral weapons. It's still doable of course and I have done such a run through the game that way before.

 

[Snufkin]

I think you will hit a wall when you meet enemies with high magic amplitude. Elephant gun have high tech complexity do expect lot of misses with your mage gunslinger.

Finally started the build that I wanted to do for a long time: magical gunslinger. The goal is to keep the aptitude neutral and use magick and tech items mostly independent from aptitude levels. It's quite early but

At level 12-13, with just 8 DEX I can get 27 Speed - if I cast both Haste and Fire Agility on myself (also boots of speed). This more than doubles the amount of lead I can deliver in one turn.
Could be better because accuracy still sucks

Gotta improve the accuracy then add more spells and crafting

 

[Ol' Willy]

I think you will hit a wall when you meet enemies with high magic amplitude. Elephant gun have high tech complexity do expect lot of misses with your mage gunslinger.

It is indeed a problem, with mummies I had 0% to hit