to brawlers and former Malkavians

[maktab]

Yo peeps,

I'm going to play Vampire a second time through. I've been toying with the idea of a Mad Malkavian who kills everything with his bare hands (i.e., all unarmed). It seems to me that with the points I'll save spending on firearms, melee, perception, auspex, etc, If I spend my points wisely I should be able to beef up strength, brawling, obfuscate, and dementia pretty well. But I don't have any exerience with obfuscate or dementia since my last character was a Brujah. Anyway, my question is, is it feasible to go through the game without weapons or guns if you spend your points strategically?

[Lukeatus]

Well, Malks are shooters by nature I guess... Dementia helps with a ranged strategy and so does Auspex... Don't subestimate the power of Dementation 2, mass hallucinations. You may not notice it, but enemies around you become permanently weaker, it helps.
If you want a Brawling character a Malk's not the way to go. That's my opinion... You can play a more social game and for most missions you can just stealth through. Speacially as a Malkavian. I mean, Obfuscate of course, and Dementation 1 helps as enemies start laughing hysterically and don't notice you go by. But you'll need the disciplines in this case, Auspex is really more of a ranged discipline. But later in the game you'll be in trouble you must fight your way through sometimes.
Very late in the game that might mean using the flamethrower a lot.

[Jhereg]

Originally Posted by maktab

Yo peeps,

I'm going to play Vampire a second time through. I've been toying with the idea of a Mad Malkavian who kills everything with his bare hands (i.e., all unarmed). It seems to me that with the points I'll save spending on firearms, melee, perception, auspex, etc, If I spend my points wisely I should be able to beef up strength, brawling, obfuscate, and dementia pretty well. But I don't have any exerience with obfuscate or dementia since my last character was a Brujah. Anyway, my question is, is it feasible to go through the game without weapons or guns if you spend your points strategically?

Not unless you can learn to fly. The Chiropteran Behemoth is a bit hard to beat to death.

You could, theoretically, take out the sherriff with discipllines (I haven't done it yet).

Aside from those two sticking points, I've gone through using nothing but disciplines, physical (beating) and feeding. Doing it that way takes quite a bit of blood, and I don't know if dementation would work on a zombie. I play Tremere.

[Lukeatus]

It is entirely possible to beat the "final boss" without guns.
You can beat him to death or attack him with a sword or whatever. To find out how, highlight, as this could be seen as a spoiler:You have to turn on the lights on the terrace, and aim them at the Chiropteran Behemoth. He gets disoriented and falls once in a while. Once he does, you can make your melee or brawl attack. So yep, it is possible to go through the whole game without using guns. It just isn't easy.

[Lukeatus]

A Brujah would be perfect for a brawling character.
They get naturally +1 or +2 to the unarmed feat, so they're superior brawlers. The problem with this type of fighting is of course, limited range, and that it yields "bashing" damage, which is easily soaked by vampires with high stamina. Even humans with armors have high bashing soak. But it's the second fastest attack on the game, so it is possible.

[Jhereg]

Originally Posted by Lukeatus

It is entirely possible to beat the "final boss" without guns.
You can beat him to death or attack him with a sword or whatever. To find out how, highlight, as this could be seen as a spoiler:You have to turn on the lights on the terrace, and aim them at the Chiropteran Behemoth. He gets disoriented and falls once in a while. Once he does, you can make your melee or brawl attack. So yep, it is possible to go through the whole game without using guns. It just isn't easy.

:-) I'm willing to bet money that a Tremere would be the very last to even attempt that approach. I've been using disciplines on the Behemoth, lately but still need...lead assistance. Although in my defense, I offer that have taken it with the 9mm.

Nonetheless, I would still like to hear about the zombies. I can take them with disciplines, easy, but could a Malkavian?

[Lukeatus]

Well, I didn't say that it was my approach with the Behemoth, I just shot him and burned him as a Tremere. (Auspex, Blood boil)
But I'm just saying it's entirely possible to take him down with say, a Brujah melee/ brawl character.
As for the Zombie mission thing there's already a previous post on it, but no, Malks don't have a lot of disciplines that help with that mission. You could Kill a Zombie or 2 as you're arriving at the gate (vision of death) but that's about it. I did that when I played a Malk character and it helped a little... But overall I just saved the blood my Odious Chalice got to use on blood buff to help hack the zombies and turn around.