[Onisuzume]

Are you sure that you find focus stones lying around? Because those are very well hidden in the game and you only get one of them in chapter 2. You can give the almanac to Cor Kalom, it's not like it advances automatically after that and you can't kill any more beasts

Its quite possible to get at least two focus stones in chapter 1.
Two are definitely off-limits, and I'm not sure about the fifth.

As for those zombies: They got 130 armour against weapons, immune to arrows, and 100 armour against fire/magic. The Guardian at the stonehenge is even tougher.

[Mage Master]

What kind of game logic are you following? I know that RPG logic is "go the wrong way and you will get loot" but damn, this is more like a grinding logic and gothic is a story driven game, if you feel like you have to kill everything that you're playing gothic wrong.
The creatures will stay where they are, no need to kill them the second you have a chance.
And wtf? Where on earth are you going, zombies are the most rare "creatures" in G1 after the golems(or something along those lines), there are only a few places with zombies and you have no work there this early in the game.
You really are ruining your first play experience.

[Assassin of Kings]

Its quite possible to get at least two focus stones in chapter 1.
Two are definitely off-limits, and I'm not sure about the fifth.

All 5 of them except for the one you have to find in chapter 2 seem off-limits to me, as you need a lot of health points, strength and items for your search, things that you can't possibly have in chapter 2.

Seriously dude, go and do quests until you are really supposed to visit the places you go to now.

[Onisuzume]

All 5 of them except for the one you have to find in chapter 2 seem off-limits to me, as you need a lot of health points, strength and items for your search, things that you can't possibly have in chapter 2.

Seriously dude, go and do quests until you are really supposed to visit the places you go to now.

I thought the one in the troll canyon was off-limits until

Spoiler:(zum lesen bitte Text markieren)

Diego fixes the winch?

[Mage Master]

All 5 of them except for the one you have to find in chapter 2 seem off-limits to me, as you need a lot of health points, strength and items for your search, things that you can't possibly have in chapter 2.

You can max out strength and master one-handed weapons easily in the 2nd chapter and you can easily get Scar's weapon. So yeah, you can easily go almost everywhere on the 2nd chapter. It takes you like, 150 lp to max out str and learn 1h master.

[doros]

Yeah, but if you really found those then you kind of ruined future gaming experience

Oh. Oops. It's not going to mess up any cutscenes or quest triggers, is it?

I double checked last night, and I've got two. IIRC, I found an altar at Avebury (Stonehenge? Whatever it's called) but was unable to locate a focus stone. There was an uberzombie there whom I couldn't kill- I'm assuming either he had it, or maybe he had a key to one of the chests down there. The other ones I got at that seaside ruin, the one you have to morph into a bug to enter, and at some harpy-infested castle. I nearly missed that one; I was checking out the view from the top floor, and was about to leave when I spotted an altar on one of the lower rooftops.

If there's one at the Troll region, I don't have it. I went there and beat the snot out of a bunch of goblins, but I couldn't beat the Troll. Currently, the Troll and zombies are still out of my league, so anything that requires me to kill them is out of reach; Razors and those large packs of orcs I'm finding in the SW can be tricky and require some judicious tactical maneuvering, but they die in the end.

I'm not really grinding so much as I'm stuck in sandbox mode, y'know? Like I said before, I'm a TES junky, and what with the last few years spent playing free roam RPGs like Oblivion, Fallout, et al, I'm used to forgetting about main quests entirely. Oblivion, my first play-through, I played for about 80 hours before I even started the third part of the main quest, and my second and all subsequent play-throughs I never bothered with the main quest at all. But yeah, I guess this is a story driven game, and I should probably stop poking my nose in everything and get to finishing chapters.

[Cyclops1953]

You can max out strength and master one-handed weapons easily in the 2nd chapter and you can easily get Scar's weapon. So yeah, you can easily go almost everywhere on the 2nd chapter. It takes you like, 150 lp to max out str and learn 1h master.

What you lack in ch 2 is armor and hit points that will be available in latter chapters and with leveling up

Spoiler:(zum lesen bitte Text markieren)

In the old abandoned monastery there is a large mob of snappers and a shadowbeast you need to get through to get the focus stone

In the fortress on the high mountain,you have to get through a bunch of bloodhounds to get the orc hammer,then using the hammer destroy the stone golum on the bridge.You then need to deal with a bunch of harpies.
In order to get the focus stone you need either a telekinesis spell scroll or a bloodfly transformation scroll.

In the tomb under the stone circle there are a bunch of skeletons and an undead guardian(who can not be killed by normal means,Milten gives you a spell scroll to defeat him when you go there later)The guardian has the key for the chest that contains the focus stone.

These places are not meant to be visited in ch 2.

Note: Please don't forget about the spoiler tags.

[Khaled]

Ok...next time you go through the game, remember this:
Go to Old camp, do all the quests you have to do there, except for the Old Mine list quest. After that, let Mordrag guide you to New Camp, do all the quests here too and lastly, return to Old Camp and there is a novice there who will lead you to Sect Camp and so you'll be bale to complete all their quests.
Now, with all the critter on the way having been killed and xp from all the "admittance quests" received you can join one of the camps. remember that the list you got from teh Old Mine can be handed either to Lares, or to Diego, depending on which camp you wanna join.

From my point of view, this is the normal approach to the game and as someone said before me, you get lvl 6 or 7 upon moving on to chapter 2.

Oh, and normally, every beginner choses Old Camp. During my first play through the game, I discovered New Camo in chapter 3 or 4...after y'berion...(yeah, I was a n00b...a n00bish n00b!)

[Onisuzume]

You can max out strength and master one-handed weapons easily in the 2nd chapter and you can easily get Scar's weapon. So yeah, you can easily go almost everywhere on the 2nd chapter. It takes you like, 150 lp to max out str and learn 1h master.

Revenge Steel is an even better idea, imo.

Oh. Oops. It's not going to mess up any cutscenes or quest triggers, is it?

No need to worry about that.

There was an uberzombie there whom I couldn't kill- I'm assuming either he had it, or maybe he had a key to one of the chests down there.

Yup.

Spoiler:(zum lesen bitte Text markieren)

an undead guardian(who can not be killed by normal means,Milten gives you a spell scroll to defeat him when you go there later)

BULLSHIT.
It has only 150 armour against weapons and only 100 against magic.

[Mage Master]

I'm not really grinding so much as I'm stuck in sandbox mode, y'know? Like I said before, I'm a TES junky, and what with the last few years spent playing free roam RPGs like Oblivion, Fallout, et al, I'm used to forgetting about main quests entirely.

That explains it, you are forgiven... I guess...

Yup.

Spoiler:(zum lesen bitte Text markieren)

BULLSHIT.
It has only 150 armour against weapons and only 100 against magic.

Spoiler:(zum lesen bitte Text markieren)

so what that basically means is that you can kill it if your srt+wep dmg>150 or if your spells do more dmg that 100. I have managed to kill him with just a sword.

[Assassin of Kings]

Oh. Oops. It's not going to mess up any cutscenes or quest triggers, is it?

No, but you will already know what to expect when you go in search of the other focus stones in chapter 3, and that kinda sucks.

[doros]

Yeah, I just did Chapter 3, and holy crap. It was all...

"What's that you say? Focus stones? Oh yeah. Mm hmm. Mmm hmm. Hey, shut up for a minute, here's three of them. Hm? No, no need for a map, thanks. Yep. No, already know where those are. Oh hey Milten. Yeah, you see me every day at the Fire Mage base. Sure, treat me like a stranger. Yep. Guardian, got it. No, in fact, he HASN'T got any minions left. One man took em out days ago. Look, just follow me, OK? It'll be over in three seconds."

I notice Nameless lied and said he met (Gorn?) at the mountain fort. Had I actually gone there when I was supposed to, would Gorn have wanted me to do anything with that deed to the fort? I'm holding on to it for future profitsssss (sorry, Teladi moment), and after Milten stole that amulet from me at Stonehenge, I'm keeping an extra-sharp eye on all my loot.

Oh, and one last thing. I just started Chapter 4, and is there any way to sneak back into the OC? Will it happen naturally later on? I'm itching to go for a raid, but I don't want to break anything.

[Khaled]

Oh, and one last thing. I just started Chapter 4, and is there any way to sneak back into the OC? Will it happen naturally later on? I'm itching to go for a raid, but I don't want to break anything.

like someone also said above me: Go with the flow! You'll eventually be able to explore the whole damn map and kill every single human/beast/thing

[Assassin of Kings]

I told you your future gaming experience, at least in chapter 3 will be completely ruined. My advice is to reload the game before going on your own to find the focus stones and play the game by the book from that point on. Trust me, the way you played it until now, you missed quite a lot ...

[doros]

HA! I finally discovered what that deed was for. I was looking around, trying to find Lester for Diego at the start of Chapter 4, and I finally found him standing outside the mountain fort. I walked up to him, talked to him... and it triggered dialogue meant for Chapter 3. Hey Lester, I'm looking for something called a "Focus Stone"! etc etc

This is actually kinda fun. It's all... meta now. For example, I rescued some Orc Shaman, and he's telling me about an Orc village I need to sneak into. Oh no, they're too strong! They be killing you if you go there, human! Yeah, only all the Orcs are already dead, but thanks for the heads up anyway. Unfortunately, it looks like I still need to get that Orc bling or whatever it is I need to access the village, but that's alright; another quest, another lump of XP.

[Tratos]

You cleared the Orc Village? That only proves how incompatible TES and Gothic games are.

Also, since you're done with Chapter 3, I can safely tell you that at every focus stone location (with the exception of the one Nyras has), one of your friends helps you out. The little bits of dialogue preceding the mini quests is in a way the bridge between acquaintanceship and friendship.

[doros]

Well, I don't know if it's fully cleared. There's a locked gate with a jammed winch that I can't get through, but there's nothing left alive on my side of the gate. In fact, I'm pretty sure every Orc in the Orc lands is dead. I haven't seen a single one since Monday evening, aside from the guys who get spawned by quests. I was hoping the patrols would respawn once I hit Chapter 4, but no such luck.

Poor Orcies...

[Onisuzume]

You cleared the Orc Village? That only proves how incompatible TES and Gothic games are.

Psst.
I did that in chapter 1.
Well, all orks except for the shamans.

[Assassin of Kings]

Dude, you really managed to screw up your experience of Gothic really really hard. Go back to the moment you started messing around, killing everyone and collecting everything, and replay the game from that moment. Thanks to finding all the focus stones before you had to do it you've lost the chance of playing through one of the most beautiful parts of all Gothic, that of becoming friends with Diego, Lester, Milten and Gorn. You really miss out on a lot if you don't start the game from the beginning and play it as it should be played. Forget about TES, and start thinking like a Gothic player.

[SkullX]

Here's what I say, complet G1 fast and start G2

In g2 you can go WHEREVER you want, WHENEVER you want , kill WHATEVER you want in WHATEVER chapter you are including chapter 1, because it DOESN"T ruin the future experiences, G2 has a better story based..thing.