Gothic 2: any tips on gameplay? things to do?

[fable]

I'm considering starting up a game of Gothic 2. Any tips? No cheese. Just good things to do and keep in mind.

[Fiberfar]

Learn the pick lock skill, since it will help you with most chests if you get it right. IMO focusing on strength is more important than dex since the best weapons require high strength. If I were you, I would save all my ability points untill I get to the City. From there you can choose more open what class you want to become.

[fable]

Fiberfar, how do you mean, " From there you can choose more open what class you want to become"? I am not saying this to poke fun at you, but that sentence leaves me genuinely confused. Why not choose a class early in the game? Are there some questgivers who won't give quests if you've chosen a class, but will if you remain classless?

[Fiberfar]

I said that because I might spoil some of the gaming for you if I go into spesific things. But I don't think it makes any difference, at least it didn't to me

When you enter Khorinis (which is about 10-20 minutes into the game). You get to chose what you want to work with. Based on that you should put points into required skills and abilities. So if you use your point as soon as you get them that might narrow your choice of work. IIRC however, the different types of work you can get is mentioned in the manual.

I just checked, and everything I said here is written in the manual.

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by fable

I'm considering starting up a game of Gothic 2. Any tips? No cheese. Just good things to do and keep in mind.

I'm not sure what kind of tips you need. There is not much you need to keep in mind. Just make your decisions. If they turn out to be wrong then take the consequences anyway. Most consequences in Gothic 2 are stustainable. There should always be a way out if you're in real trouble. Unless you kill guards, citizen or steal while being seen you should always be able to find an agreeable solution to a problem.

[light Spoiler]
For instance, there is a guy sitting near the farm not far from town, just at the beginning of the game. The town is closed for newcomers, you can't get in. So he faces you with a proposal: he helps you to get into town and you promise to help him out if he asks you to. You can agree, but you don't need to keep your word. If you choose so, there will be consequences. This type guy doesn't forget. Those consequences can be the same if you don't agree right away. Perhaps they are not. Finally, it's up to you. Whatever you choose though the outcome is interesting and manageable.

When it comes to choosing an occupation though, you should wait until you know some of the gameworld and the possibilities. There are three factions and I wouldn't tie myself down until I know every single one of them.[/light spoiler]

Dunno if this is helpful.

[fable]

Yeah, that does help. It sounds like the sort of game that tracks your decisions very carefully, and also one that rewards holding off from making important class choices at the start. Thanks.

[Fiberfar]

Another useful tip: Save your game often, or else you will find yourself running over the half continent again and again. At least I did so because I didn't save often enough.

- Not all people like strangers and members of some kind of groups. Some can easily become angry enough to attack you. Remember what those you meet on your journey tell you about other people. I.e. the paladins don't like mercenaries.

[Elan Morin]

The only thing I can say for sure: study this world completely! You can play the entire qame without doing this, but you shouldn't. The major pleasure of this world is its completeness, so every single boulder is placed deliberately, this is what makes Gothic alive.
Do not make haste: the end of the game, when you can kill an ork with a single strike, is not even one percent so fascinating as the beginning or the middle of the game.

We are in Gothic! Gothic is in us!!!

[WolfHeart]

Explore the world, a lot of times you can find better stuff on the ground and in caves then at any of the merchants, also be sure to do every quest around, but keep in mind that most quests WILL affect your standing with the local populace in some way, this can be both good and bad based on what you want later on.

[fable]

Is there a general progression of difficulty to caves in certain directions? Or is a PC likely to find very hard or easy caves without reason right in the middle of otherwise easy areas?

[Fiberfar]

People in the city gives you advices on where to stay out of. The can meet orcs in the forest etc. Also some caves with tough monsters are "marked". Some caves got a lot of blood and corpses outside of it, that means the monster inside is a killer of men and really hard on low levels.

You will also learn the meaning of sounds in the game. Later when you get used to it you will hear if there is an orc inside the cave or just goblins.

[WolfHeart]

As a general, caves are very dangerous to go into without a set of armor and a better weapon, even the ones early on can have some nasty monsters that you arent ready for, or some run away bandits who wont mind mugging you for a few extra coins.

Some light spoilers



Another reason to do as many quests as possibile is that things that can be killed for experiance are in limited suply, there are only so many and only monsters respawn, named NPC's will not.

[Curry]

If I remember correctly you can't finish the game unless you know how to pick locks but you don't need that skill early in the game. In my first game I learnt how to pick locks in the last chapter I'd recommend learning how to brew potions however

There are 3 guilds in G2, Mercenary, Militia and Fire Mages and Militia is the easiest one so I recommend it for the starters. Also you need to have a job to become a citizen of the first town (Khorinis). I recommend becoming the blacksmith's apprentice because then you can make your own magic ore blades and don't have to waste huge amounts of money on them. Oh, and use 1-handers

[Curry]

Oh and there are 2 areas in the game, Khorinis (named after the city, duh) and Valley of Mines and every time you get to the next chapter you change the area. Like, in the 1st chapter you are in Khorinis, in 2nd you're in VoM and in 3rd chapter you get back to Khorinis (The last chapter is an exception however.) Ok, every time you change a chapter all the enemies in the area will respawn so it's recommended to kill all the enemies before triggering the next chapter. Also remember to pick all the flowers and berries, they will respawn too.

[WolfHeart]

Spoilers



Dont need lockpick to finish the game ive done it more then once with characters who didnt invest anything in Dexterity so i found it pointless to take lockpicking, i dont enjoy save/loading 5 times over just so i can open a chest.