[doros]

So I got a copy of Gothic 3 yesterday night, and, as usual, I'd like to get some feedback from the community. First and foremost, what should I patch it to? Google seems to favor 1.73, so that's what I got. Is this the best patch available? It's an "unofficial" community patch, right? But it's not going to screw over the core gameplay and story or anything?

Second thing, WHAT THE HELL, PIRATES?!

At the of Gothic 2, I knew something was going to happen. Either an orcish fleet was going to attack us on the high seas, or we'd get caught in a storm and run aground, or Beliar-Xardas was going to swoop out of the sky and blow us to kindling, but no. We make landfall, Nameless brilliantly decides to leave the ship unattended, and some two bit pirates jack our whip from the parking lot. Didn't I have more crew than just Diego, Gorn, Milten, and Snoozey? What about all the guys on the ship? You mean to tell me that Lee, the guy who ran the two most badass gangs on the Island, couldn't handle a bunch of scruffy searobbers all by himself, let alone with all the backup he should have had? And worse, why did Nameless leave his gear? He knew something bad was going to happen when he landed, right? Sure, he might not have known Orcs had overrun the entire Kingdom, and I accept the diablo ex machina that snarfed all my precious high end runes. But would it REALLY be so hard to throw on a pair of High Robes of Fire and grab the Master Sword and a Dragon Bow? I mean, he took Orc Slayer, which I couldn't even use in g2 (funny, I could use it in g1)... and of course, Orcy seems about as strong as your average militia Halberd now for some strange reason.

Is this ship fiasco ever fully addressed? Will I find my missing friends, or at least get a better explanation of what actually happened? If so, then no spoilers please, I'll just have to wait and find out. But if that's it- oh, your ship's gone, and 90% of the guys you knew back on the island have disappeared for good- then I'm calling rubbish on the intro!

(it was the Paladin, wasn't it? He mutinied and stole the damn ship while I was ashore, didn't he? I knew I should have fed him to the seamonsters when I first got out of harbor)

Third thing, what's up with classes in this game? Are there any? Or is it more like TES, where you just build your own skillset as you go? If so, that's fine; despite growing up on AD&D Second Edition rules, I'm actually quite fond of games where I'm not locked in to a single career track. I've not played more than a half hour into the thing yet, but I've noticed there seems to be a lot more "factions" this time around... factions, like rebels and orc sympathizers, replace Camps and such?

So who should I side with? Can I actually help out the orcs if I wish? Are factions mutually exclusive- if I do missions for the rebels, will I not be able to do missions for the Northern Barbarians or the Arabs? And can I sour my relations permanently with a faction, to the point where they kill me on sight? It seems, from the way people are talking, that I'm supposed to be ghosting my way through occupied Myrtana, playing the faceless insurgent rather than the genocidal Orc-slaughterer of the two previous games. But it's hard to control myself: I quit the game last night on the outskirts of some "friendly" Orc city (Dun Coast or something?) and talking to Orcs like they were city guards and not vermin to be obliterated just didn't feel right. Yeah, I get it, there's probably a quest-based way to lead a revolt against the orcs if I so choose, but my natural instinct is just to grab my sword and go apeshit on every orc I see, and that's not how this game is meant to be played... right?

Oh, and one more thing: how soon can I get that "Quick Learning" feat, the one that gives you extra skill points each level? I noticed it in the list of Arcane skills, but I've only got a 5 in Arcane Knowledge and it needs a 100 to train it. That seems kind of steep for a skill that should be taken as early as possible!

It's good so far. I'm liking it more than the first two, but that might just be the pretty graphics talking.


EDIT

Just fired it up, and realized there were a few other pressing questions I had:

1. Do monsters respawn?

2. Will buying armor mark me as a member of a faction i.e. will buying Rebel armor cause Orc mercs to attack me on sight?

3. Can I get houses in towns, or is it squatting rights only?

4. Music from Baldur's Gate?! Seriously?

[warstrike]

Just fired it up, and realized there were a few other pressing questions I had:

1. Do monsters respawn?

2. Will buying armor mark me as a member of a faction i.e. will buying Rebel armor cause Orc mercs to attack me on sight?

3. Can I get houses in towns, or is it squatting rights only?

4. Music from Baldur's Gate?! Seriously?

1) As far as i remember yes ,they respawn ,but few of them.
2) Nope . Orcs won`t attack you if you wear a Rebel or vice versa.
3) Nope ,you can`t get a house of your own.
4) Never played Baldur`s Gate but i`m sure Kai didn`t copy any of that music .

You`ll meet all of your friends ,the pirates stole the ship with your items and armors after what you and your friends had left the ship or maybe there were many many pirates
Don`t get your hopes too high ,the game is good ,but it`s different from Gothic 1 or Gothic 2.
And one more thing ,check the forums for the last patch and stuff.

[Dino]

Just an advice: don't play gothic 3. Or play it but don't expect anything in common with gothic 1 & 2 except the names of the characters.

[LORTH]

Just an advice: don't play gothic 3. Or play it but don't expect anything in common with gothic 1 & 2 except the names of the characters.

You've got to be kidding, my Lord. Gothic 3 is the avalanche of awesomeness!
Northmar is one of the most beautiful and atmospheric places in PRG history.

[Larisa]

So I got a copy of Gothic 3 yesterday night, and, as usual, I'd like to get some feedback from the community. First and foremost, what should I patch it to? Google seems to favor 1.73, so that's what I got. Is this the best patch available? It's an "unofficial" community patch, right? But it's not going to screw over the core gameplay and story or anything?

The latest is 1.74, by reading the changelog you see what's new.

Story-wise they don't change much; at gameplay... you can have Alternative-Balancing for example, which changes a lot... the patch comes with a manual for more info.
If it will screw your game... if you're advanced in gameplay and don't feel like starting again... better keep at the version you're already have.

[Tratos]

Latest patch is 1.74, it includes all the previous official and unofficial patches, some of which were made with the help of the devs, they're quite professional.

No permanent guilds, more like TES guilds you can work for, but never fully belong to.

Though it will take you a while, you can reach a point, where every member of a certain faction will want to kill you on sight.

You may support the Orcs.

[TudoracheMG]

Note that the latest patch will also change the requirements for the quick learning perk(it changes the requirements for many things).I think it will reduce the requirement to...50 AK or 60,can't remember

[Tratos]

^That does depend on whether AB is turned on or off IIRC.

[Assassin of Kings]

Hey again doros. Glad to see you're continuing the Gothic saga.

The explanation with the pirates robbing the ship is indeed kind of lame, but at the same time it's not implausible. And no, you won't get a better explanation further in the game ... that's all you'll get. BUT ... don't despair. You'll meet Lee, Lares, Angar and Vatras, who were also part of your crew, later in the game. Lee will play quite an important role:

Spoiler:(zum lesen bitte Text markieren)

You'll help him get his revenge on King Rhobar

As for who to side with and how to play the game, on your first play I suggest you to explore the cities and speak to everyone you need to speak to at the beginning, and then when you've had enough of Myrtana and you've gathered enough experience, go to Nordmar, find Xardas, and do what he tells you. Gothic 3 has 3 different endings: one for Innos, one for Beliar and one for Xardas. I suggest you to go for Xardas' ending, as that's the cooler one and the one that makes all things right in the world of Gothic. Many fans consider it to be the canonical ending of Gothic 3. Later on, if you want to replay the game, you can also try Innos and Beliar's endings, but for now go with Xardas' plan.

Oh, and don't listen to Dino ... Gothic 3 is indeed a lot different from the first 2 games, and it doesn't have the same feeling and atmosphere and character depth as G1 and 2, but it's cool and interesting in its own way, and overall the Gothic experience would be incomplete if you didn't finish the whole trilogy.

[Bastardo]

Oh, and one more thing: how soon can I get that "Quick Learning" feat, the one that gives you extra skill points each level? I noticed it in the list of Arcane skills, but I've only got a 5 in Arcane Knowledge and it needs a 100 to train it. That seems kind of steep for a skill that should be taken as early as possible!

It should be taken as early as possible but you'll level a lot in Gothic 3. You'll still benefit from it even if you take it later. If you're not gonna focus on Ancient Knowledge you shouldn't think too much about it. If you're gonna focus on it (mage character) then try to get as many tablets as possible from merchants (cheap items which add +5 Ancient Knowledge permanently once read, randomly spawns in many merchant inventories) and spending a big chunk of your LPs on it. You'll be there in no time and also your spells will benefit, gaining increased damage as Ancient Knowledge increases.

[doros]

OK, I may have roamed a bit too much, but I think I'm zeroing in on Xardas. I'm not entirely clear on what I should be doing (is it just me, or is the game structure much more open ended then in the previous two installments?), but I've done the following so far:

Finished the two coastal cities and Reddock, rebels control both towns.
Finished the Orc Merc/ Orc quests in that forest castle, stopped short of wiping out Okara. Will support rebels later on.
Done a number of quests for the Rangers and Okara, was told to go to Gotha but haven't done so yet.
Swam to that Temple in the desert, bought armor but held off on doing too many quests.
After sneaking past the orc horde in front of the capital, finished the Orc Merc quests in Farring, got access to the castle and rights to the pass.
Went to Nordmar, found a helmet, done a number of quests for the Wolf and Hammer clans.

I'm trying to get my hands on some Nordmarian armor; once I get that, I'm probably going to head back to Myrtana to explore Gotha and the other regions I haven't got to yet. Monsters in Nordmar are considerably stronger than monsters in Myrtana, and I'm guessing I'm not supposed to be up here until after I've cleared out the southern bits. Unfortunately, the stinking Nordmarians refuse to sell me any armor until I get a 25% rep! So... what's the best way to do this? I've done about a dozen quests between the Wolf and Hammer clans, but my rep is only at 7%. Are there any high-rep quests I should keep an eye out for?

Also, is there any way to buy armor from the Rangers? I ask because for whatever reason, my rep with the Rangers is at 45%, the highest of any faction. I don't need anything fancy, just something better than the lowest level Hashashin armor I already have.

[warstrike]

Check out what available Rebel armors you got. If you`ve helped them u should get reputation and get some proper armor.

[doros]

I've got 24% Rep with the Rebels, which (assuming they follow the same rules as Nordmar) would still put me too low for their threads. Plus, I'd rather not have the Orcs catch on that I'm supporting the Rebels... yeah, you guys mentioned before that the game won't actually take your gear into account, but it's an RP thing.

[Assassin of Kings]

Go to every city in Myrtana and do quests in order to ascend to a good enough level. Gain access to the boss of every city, but don't free anymore cities or don't destroy anymore rebel camps, before at 3 establishment destroyed, the faction (rebels or orcs) will become hostile. After you explored enough of Myrtana, go to Nordmar and find Xardas. He'll tell you what you need to do next.

Spoiler:(zum lesen bitte Text markieren)

You'll have to find the ancient Artifacts of Adanos, and the travel will take you throughout the entire continent.

.

[doros]

Hmmm, well, I made a detour into the desert in order to learn two-weapon fighting from the Hashashin, and I think I might have skipped a bunch of plot. I wound up in Mora Sul (? The major arena city) and everyone is talking to me about finding some kind of ancient artifacts. Then I found one of the old Water Mages in a cave outside the city, and he's spouting some nonsense about me bumrushing the city and being a chosen one, and I'm thinking "Dude! I have no idea what you're talking about! I just got to this damn desert; I swam most of the way here, and I barely know who the Hashashin are, let alone these Nomads and artifacts and whatever else!"

Sheesh!

Also, I ran into a merchant who sells slave girls. One of them he won't sell to me, and the other gal, well, it's fairly obvious the game wants me to bring her to the boss of Mora Sul as a gift. But nuts to that! I want my own dancing slave. Is it possible to buy her and stash her somewhere? Or do I have to give her away? And if I have to give her away, can I at least buy the blonde one later on? She seems like a tough cookie, and I'd love to get her a weapon and a suit of armor and let her be my battle companion.

Anyway, I'll probably go back to Myrtana now that I've got dual wielding skillz. I'd still like to get a better suit of armor than my Light Hashashin stuff, but I blew a huge chunk of my money learning Wave of Ice (WoI! WWWUUUUEEEEEEGGGGGHHH! My favorite spell!) from Mordarian and it'll take me a minute to recoup my losses. I don't know if I should have done that, since they clearly nerfed Ice Block (if I understand correctly, IB has been mushed together with Ice Lance, and now it only stuns the enemy UNTIL you strike them, rather than giving you a virtual one-spell kill) and I don't know if WoI will be all that effective in this game. But whatever, what's done is done, and at least now I have a way to keep crowds off my back... my soft, tender, un-Nordmarian armored back.

P.S. Katanas! I thought Hashashin swords were katanas, or is there a separate Katana I haven't encountered yet? I ask because I found a Master Sword recipe, but it calls for two Katanas, which I apparently don't have, despite my large collection of Hash swords.

[Tratos]

P.S. Katanas! I thought Hashashin swords were katanas, or is there a separate Katana I haven't encountered yet? I ask because I found a Master Sword recipe, but it calls for two Katanas, which I apparently don't have, despite my large collection of Hash swords.

I think there are two in the world.

[doros]

Is the Bargaining Skill worth taking? I've noticed I'm having some money issues, especially re: those obscenely overpriced suits of armor. I'm at 41 Thieving, so snagging Bargaining would cost me a total of 34 LPs. How big of a difference does it make? Would it and whatever bonuses I get to my Excuse skill for having a 70 in Thieving be wrth sinking that many LPs into it?

[Bastardo]

Is the Bargaining Skill worth taking? I've noticed I'm having some money issues,

No it's not, shortly you won't know where to stuff all the gold you have even without it.

[Tratos]

bonuses I get to my Excuse skill

There are few. The thieving system was once explained in a thread far far away.

In short, every city has a certain amount of loot, worth a certain sum of gold. If you steal loot worth only a small percentage of the total possible - you're fine. As soon as you steal a significant portion (something like 20% maybe, can't remember) - then will the guards accost you. Another steal - and they attack. Making excuses basically puts in another safety check in between, so you can be talked to twice by a guard before things get dicey. Once you still most of the stuff, they will always attack, even if you have the skill. In other words - every city allows you to steal only so much before the guards get hostile. Making excuses stretches that limit just a bit.

Btw, unlike in G2 you don't need to be caught for that to count as stealing. Everyone in the city magically knows that something was stolen, that you are the culprit and how expensive the stuff is.

[doros]

OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH, I've got to BUY more health points!

Innos H Beliar, so I just got back from Skyrim- err, Nordmar, with a brand new suit of armor thanks to some ore quest (which, oddly enough, I finished just as I got the rep needed to buy the armor anyway). I popped by a Shrine to buy a new spell, and noticed the Health option. Now, I've bought some extra MP already, and I was AWARE that buying health stats was an option, bu then I figured I'd check and see what my max HP was currently, and wouldn't you know it? It was at 200. Hasn't budged since the start of the game. I was wondering why the Nordmar monsters were so damn hard! So now I just bought a whole crapload of HP, END, and MP with the LP I had been saving for Bargain. I'm only at 300 HP right now, but wow, it's making a world of difference. Between my higher health and the weaker monsters back in Myrtana, this game's gotten about fifty times easier.

So what's a good HP total to shoot for? I'm thinking of getting 200 in END, 400 or so in HP, and 300 in MP, before focusing on Ancient Learning so I can snag Mana Regen. Will that be enough in "consumable" stats? Too little? Too much?

Oh, and re: new spells, any suggestions? I've got Ice Lance, Wave of Ice, and Lightning Bolt. I'm thinking of getting a Thief-friendly utility spell next; is Fog any good? Does it actually make you invisible? How about Bloodlust, for creating distractions? Or the old fashioned Sleep? And yeah, thanks, Tratos, for the heads up. I've already had some run-ins with the guards and their Psychic Thief Detection System. That's actually why I freed Cape Dun from the Orcs: they suspicion-caught me twice (got away with an Excuse the first time), and once the guards went all aggro on me, I figured, screw it! Revolution is ON! Hopefully whoever writes the history books will think of a more noble story to tell when they talk about how the Revolution started.