Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura

[Shady]

So i finally got this game that everyone talks about and it somehow missed me. But my indecisiveness wants me to ask, which race , background and build should i go for? Do these matter a lot for reactivity? Any recommendations are welcome.

[asf]

half orc half gnome gunslinger sorcerer tank

[Acrux]

It doesn't matter that much for reactivity. Mostly race will effect initial reactions to you. The backgrounds are mostly for minor bonuses. If you see something mechanically interesting take it. Otherwise no background is fine.

Buildwise, it depends on what you want to do. Magic? Willpower. Technology? Intelligence. Melee? Dexterity and Strength.

Dexterity is good for everyone. Persuasion is useful. High dex melee plus harm spell is easy mode.

Are you using UAP? It has an option to share xp, so if you have companions they don't steal your xp during fights.

If you have crashes or display issues even with UAP you might need this: https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofstea ... ura/mods/4

[rusty_shackleford]

which race , background and build should i go for?

same advice I give anytime this comes up for any RPG: just pick what you think sounds cool and play that character

[Tangerine]

Arcanum was when I began to hate gnomes.

[wndrbr]

Arcanum isn't a particularly difficult game, and its rpg system is wildly unbalanced and can be easily broken. So pick whatever you like (just don't put any points into Beauty, it's a nearly useless stat).

That's being said, techie is probably the most interesting type of character you can have on your first playthrough. Put more points into INT to learn recipes, otherwise go with a flow. You can also put some points into Charisma so you can have more companions. Some of the companions are pretty OP. For example, Dogmeat's damage output is so high he can rip itself into giblets on a critical miss.

[rusty_shackleford]

Only tip/somewhat spoiler I'll give because it's easily missable is when you get to Ashbury, go save the dog from his owner(? the gnome) who is beating him or else he'll kill him.
You only get 1 hour of in-game time to find the dog and save him once you get to the map

[Ligrev]

Arcanum was when I began to hate gnomes.

Only tip/somewhat spoiler I'll give because it's easily missable is when you get to Ashbury, go save the dog from his owner(? the gnome) who is beating him or else he'll kill him.
You only get 1 hour of in-game time to find the dog and save him once you get to the map

gnomes =

22.JPG

So i finally got this game that everyone talks about and it somehow missed me. But my indecisiveness wants me to ask, which race , background and build should i go for? Do these matter a lot for reactivity? Any recommendations are welcome.

Just follow the gnome conspiracy young padawan. just follow the gnome conspiracy.

...

p.s. Arcanum will forever be my no 1 RPG.

[Reichspepe]

Arcanum also has the most wonderful soundtrack, been listening to it by itself many times

Also, the game has many aspects and "moments" leading you to inquire what the developers perhaps meant by this?

[Shady]

It doesn't matter that much for reactivity. Mostly race will effect initial reactions to you. The backgrounds are mostly for minor bonuses. If you see something mechanically interesting take it. Otherwise no background is fine.

Buildwise, it depends on what you want to do. Magic? Willpower. Technology? Intelligence. Melee? Dexterity and Strength.

Dexterity is good for everyone. Persuasion is useful. High dex melee plus harm spell is easy mode.

Are you using UAP? It has an option to share xp, so if you have companions they don't steal your xp during fights.

If you have crashes or display issues even with UAP you might need this: https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofstea ... ura/mods/4

Yes i got the UAP and also the mod you listed. Im thinking maybe magic+persuasion? Idk if theres something like fire magic, i like fire magic

[Shady]

Arcanum also has the most wonderful soundtrack, been listening to it by itself many times

Also, the game has many aspects and "moments" leading you to inquire what the developers perhaps meant by this?

I love that kind of games. Altough only other games where i found these kind of hints was the Deus Ex series.

[Element]

I wouldn't worry about the build too much since about 1/3rd of the way in a lot of them become overpowered and allow you to bulldozer through the rest of the game with relative ease

[Acrux]

It doesn't matter that much for reactivity. Mostly race will effect initial reactions to you. The backgrounds are mostly for minor bonuses. If you see something mechanically interesting take it. Otherwise no background is fine.

Buildwise, it depends on what you want to do. Magic? Willpower. Technology? Intelligence. Melee? Dexterity and Strength.

Dexterity is good for everyone. Persuasion is useful. High dex melee plus harm spell is easy mode.

Are you using UAP? It has an option to share xp, so if you have companions they don't steal your xp during fights.

If you have crashes or display issues even with UAP you might need this: https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofstea ... ura/mods/4

Yes i got the UAP and also the mod you listed. Im thinking maybe magic+persuasion? Idk if theres something like fire magic, i like fire magic

There is a College of Fire. The Body of Fire spell can save you some points in Dexterity. Some of the spell schools are underwhelming. Other than Harm, Electricity has the best damage dealing spells.

[Oyster Sauce]

Arcanum was when I began to hate gnomes.

Only tip/somewhat spoiler I'll give because it's easily missable is when you get to Ashbury, go save the dog from his owner(? the gnome) who is beating him or else he'll kill him.
You only get 1 hour of in-game time to find the dog and save him once you get to the map

gnomes =

So i finally got this game that everyone talks about and it somehow missed me. But my indecisiveness wants me to ask, which race , background and build should i go for? Do these matter a lot for reactivity? Any recommendations are welcome.

Just follow the gnome conspiracy young padawan. just follow the gnome conspiracy.

...

p.s. Arcanum will forever be my no 1 RPG.

[Roderick]

Went from Fallout to Arcanum and haven't really gotten around it besides the first map.

[rusty_shackleford]

Anyone know what bugfixes/community patches to use for Arcanum in 2025?

[Acrux]

UAP and sometimes you need Universal Setup to get it to work properly nowadays

https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofstea ... ura/mods/4

[rusty_shackleford]

UAP and sometimes you need Universal Setup to get it to work properly nowadays

https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofstea ... ura/mods/4

Seems like the last update was a while ago(edit: maybe not?). Guess I'll have to dig thru the changes to make sure it's only bugfixes because I hate modders.

[edit]
UAP is just drog's patch, isn't it?

[Acrux]

UAP and sometimes you need Universal Setup to get it to work properly nowadays

https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofstea ... ura/mods/4

Seems like the last update was a while ago(edit: maybe not?). Guess I'll have to dig thru the changes to make sure it's only bugfixes because I hate modders.

[edit]
UAP is just drog's patch, isn't it?

Yes. 2.0.2. is the last version. He was supposed to release a "hard mode" update a few years ago. He asked for $500 (I think) and people donated, but just before he was supposed to release he got pissy because someone called him a coomer and hasn't been seen since.



It's mainly bugfixes. I think anything other than that is called out and is an optional installation. Maybe there were some schematic changes, but I don't remember.

[Unhelpful Contrarian]

Arcanum also has the most wonderful soundtrack, been listening to it by itself many times

The Qintarra track is my personal favourite

Also, the game has many aspects and "moments" leading you to inquire what the developers perhaps meant by this?

► Show Spoiler

Oh yes the gnomes conspiracy quest, really shock how much they will go there considering how much parallels are very apparent.

[Vergil]

They should remake this but as a fun genre of game.

[traxtan]

Anyone know what bugfixes/community patches to use for Arcanum in 2025?

https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Arcan ... ck_Obscura

If you try to play any game older than 5 years 1 month check pcgamingwiki.

[rusty_shackleford]

Anyone know what bugfixes/community patches to use for Arcanum in 2025?

https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Arcan ... ck_Obscura

If you try to play any game older than 5 years 1 month check pcgamingwiki.

I was asking because I know some people here would have very specialized knowledge of this specific game.

[Acrux]

The Arcanum CE isn't even finished with development yet, and someone has already created a mod....to turn it into an action rpg.

https://brenek.art/releases/arcanum-new ... stallation

Arcanum CE — ARPG Obscura is a comprehensive gameplay overhaul for Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, built on top of the open-source Arcanum Community Edition reimplementation by Alexander Batalov. It transforms Arcanum's classic RPG systems into a deep action-RPG experience without changing the original story, world, or writing.
ARPG Itemization

Every item in the world now rolls with a rarity tier — Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Unique, Set and Cursed — each granting random affixes that modify stats, resistances, damage, and skills. Six item sets are hidden across the world; equipping multiple pieces of a set unlocks escalating bonuses and on-hit procs. Bosses have guaranteed unique drops (not yet implemented). A new floating tooltip shows all stats, affixes, and set progress at a glance. Unique items are build enabling and very strong — the chance for them to appear in shops/NPC inventories is 0.1%.
ARPG Crafting

Monsters with rarity can drop magical orbs on the ground on top of their body. These orbs are used by moving them in the inventory onto equippable (non-quest) items. There are 8+ orbs in total:

Orb of Awakening — recreates a white item with rarity
Identification Scroll — reveals the rarity on an item
Cursed Orb — modifies an item unpredictably
Orb of Cleansing — removes rarity from an item
And more… similar to Path of Exile (Divine Orbs etc.)

You can craft items up to EPIC quality. Sets and Uniques can only be dropped, not crafted.
Overhauled Magic

All 16 schools of magic now have a distinct combat identity. Every school's signature spell deals damage through a unique mechanic: Fire ignites for burn-over-time, Force chains lightning to nearby enemies, Water slows and freezes, Earth poisons, Mental confuses, Phantasm terrifies, Temporal acid-burns and stuns, and so on. Nature's transform forms (Wolf, Lizard, Bear) are fully redesigned as a melee-damage school — each form trades mobility or survivability for powerful on-hit effects.

Inspiration: Arcanum Equalibrium / Terror's Arcanum by TheDragon13 (heavily changed). Not all spells are changed, and some strong spells are untested.
Blood Magic

Necromancy school was always busted. So I changed the mana for life. It's actually funny and still strong. Enjoy.
Tech Rebalance

Firearms are heavily rebalanced with unique distinct combat identities:

Knockback — 15% knock prone, 5% knockdown (sniper / elephant gun / tech hammer)
Shotgun — multi-target spread hit
Flamethrower — AoE splash damage and burn ticks
Pyro axe / gun — bonus fire damage
And more…

Inspiration: Shark (community member on Arcanum Discord) — with permission. Thank you!
Monster Rarity

Enemies roll as Magic, Rare, or Unique with randomized bonus types: Vampiric, Thorned, Swift, Berserker, Shielded, and more. Unique monsters have procedurally generated titles. Difficulty and loot quality scale with monster rarity. Rare monsters are especially important for orb drops used in crafting.
New Playable Races

Dark Elf, Half-Ogre, Orc, and Lizard Man are restored from cut content and fully playable, with working body types, portraits, and dialog reactions. Each has unique racial stats matching their lore.

Implemented from UAP by Drog Black Tooth + additional Orc art files from F-man (Discord community) — with permission. Thank you!
New Weapon Classes

Unarmed weapons (gauntlets, claws) with scaling damage and on-hit effects
Throwing weapons with damage-over-time properties by type (bleed, poison, fire)
Staves that channel spells on equip, granting lower-tier college spells as active abilities
Thorns items (chest, boots, helmet, shield)

Quality of Life

An in-game F9 overlay documents all mod systems for new players. Engine bugs from the original game are fixed throughout. Many UAP fixes re-applied to CE.

New Stats: Life on Hit, Poison on Hit, Fire on Hit, Acid on Hit, Bleed on Hit, Thorns, and more — visible in the character sheet.

Tooltip system: Custom tooltips can display much more text. There is a bug that will sometimes leave graphical fragments on item hover until the inventory is closed — not game-breaking, will be fixed later.

Map System & Endgame: Work-in-progress map system inspired by Path of Exile. Vormatown implemented into the base game (F-Man, with permission). Level cap 99. After the slideshow, the game ports you back to Shrouded Hills and gives you the first map. Maps work like orbs — move onto any equippable item to teleport into a map zone with strong enemies.
Endgame Rift System
Entering the Rift

Obtain Map: Hunt high-level monsters (Level 30+) in the main world. Magic, Rare, and Unique enemies have increased drop rates for the Map of the Void.
Activate: Right-click the Map of the Void to consume it and open a Rift.

Inside the Rift

Distinct Themes: Every Rift rolls one of 5 types: Physical, Fire, Poison, Magic, or Void. The map layout displays thematic scenery and applies matching combat modifiers.
Scaled Difficulty: Fight customized pools of monsters (demons, golems, void lizards, automatons). Spawn counts and monster tiers scale up with the active Rift Tier.

Rewards & Exit

Loot Chest: Clearing all monsters spawns a Reward Chest containing scaling gold, crafting orbs, high-rarity equipment, a new Map of the Void (pre-upgraded to the next Tier), and a Void Portal Stone.
Return Home: Right-click the Void Portal Stone (consumed) or the Map of the Void to teleport back to your exact entry point in the main world.

[rusty_shackleford]

Nobody believes me when I say Diablo 2 was the worst thing to ever happen to RPGs.

[Algol]

Only tip/somewhat spoiler I'll give because it's easily missable is when you get to Ashbury, go save the dog from his owner(? the gnome) who is beating him or else he'll kill him.
You only get 1 hour of in-game time to find the dog and save him once you get to the map

Hasan Piker was in Arcanum. Wow.

Anyways, I never understood the appeal to Arcanum. I tried playing around four times, and it just never clicked. Even modded/patched up proper. It's definitely way jankier than Fallout 1 +2.

[J1M]

So i finally got this game that everyone talks about and it somehow missed me. But my indecisiveness wants me to ask, which race , background and build should i go for? Do these matter a lot for reactivity? Any recommendations are welcome.

This is actually a detective RPG most of the time, so you may enjoy having some skills related to that job.

[mynameismortis]

What mods do you recommend to get? And from where?

[rusty_shackleford]

What mods do you recommend to get? And from where?

check here viewtopic.php?t=3923-junior-adventurer- ... ck-obscura

[Acrux]

@mynameismortis -That thread can be a little hard to follow since there's a lot of discussion about which game to vote for that month at the beginning.

There are two you'll likely need as mandatory, and you may not need Universal Setup if UAP works fine on your computer.
Unofficial Arcanum Patch 2.0.2 - https://terra-arcanum.com/drog/uap.html
Universal Setup for UAP - https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofstea ... ura/mods/4

There are some QoL that might be helpful as well, but none of them are necessary.
Let my Dog use the Train - https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofstea ... ura/mods/3
Arcanum Improved Description - https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofstea ... ra/mods/13
Crafting Manuals Cover - https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofstea ... ura/mods/1
Justified Flow Distruptor - https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofstea ... ra/mods/18
Instant Exit and Teleport Fix (Aid compatible) - https://www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofstea ... ra/mods/14