about to start the game

[Bagatur]

i've had the game for awhile, but never had the time to play it. now i am kinda bored and decided to give it a try.
i looked around and looks like there is a number of official and unofficial patches to the game. in what order should i install them?
as i understand, i first need to patch the game to 1.0.7.4 version. what's next? the latest unofficial patch and then the high resolution patch? or vice versa?
is the cd check removed in the unofficial patch?
i messed around with character creation already and it looks not so straight-forward. what would be the best one for the first time? i'd prefer a melee character or a character who will use firearms effectively. what race and background should i pick? what attributes should i concentrate on?
thanks beforehand

[juliusc17]

In terms of the official/unofficial patches, I can't advise you much. I've always played with just the newest official patch, and left it at that. The best way to start playing Arcanum would be a melee character, probably a human would be best, and it's your choice if you want to complicate it with background. Melee in Arcanum is, like in most RPG's the easiest begginer skill, though firearms do come in handy and don't require much extra strategy. I would say to put points in Melee, Firearms(both in the skill and the schematic learning), and Dodge(or else more points is the firearm skill). Later on you'll probably find that even though you don't finish the game, you start it again with a totally different character. Most of all, have fun!

[endboss]

The thing about Arcanum is that pretty much everything is fun to play. If it's not fun because it's easy, it's fun because it's challenging. Melee is very, very powerful. If you get a nice dagger and pump your dexterity, you'll cruise through the game. Magic is also really nice. Technology is really cool, but it's more of an advanced concept. For example, one of the main characters (an optional team member - they're all optional) is nearly useless if you're technologically inclined because he'll waste all his magic trying to heal you... which won't do anything because high tech cancels out magic (and vice versa). Just pick whatever you feel would be cool and roll with it.

As for patches you'll want Drog's unofficial patch (make sure you install the official patch first!). It fixes a ton of stuff, removes the cd check, and fixes a ton of stuff. Unlike most other community patches it doesn't add in any custom content so you don't have to worry about weird things showing up in the game. The buglist is amazingly long.

You can get the unofficial patch here: Terra Arcanum :: the World of Troika Games
And instructions and links to the HQ patches here: The Codex Forums :: View topic - Unofficial Arcanum Patch ***Indefinitely Postponed*** (don't worry about that indefinitely postponed thing. He's indefinitely postponed that project like a hundred times and always returns with a new version within a few months)