Gothic 3 Preview

Ace Gamez has written up their own preview of Gothic 3, based on what we know about Pirahna Bytes' RPG sequel up to this point.
Perks are something new to the series - they are ways of gaining special skills as you accrue experience. There are a total of seventy perks available, in areas including combat, hunting, magic, smithing, thieving, alchemy and 'other'. These are referred to as professions and naturally you will not be able to gain all perks in all professions, so you will need to choose your specializations carefully. Some perks can only be learned from certain trainers and some require gold or solving quests. All of them require you to spend precious LP (learning points), which are awarded as you level up, as with the previous games. Current information has perks costing 5 LP each, while attributes cost 1 LP each. There are nine attributes, including strength, hunting, ancient knowledge (this relates to magic and learning spells from scrolls and stone tablets), smithing/forging, thievery, alchemy, life, stamina and mana. Stamina is a new attribute and is obviously important, as certain moves and attacks consume more energy than others. In addition, doing anything in Nordmar or Varant will take more stamina due to the extremes of heat and cold. Of course, there will be a way to mitigate those effects, but you will have to earn it like everything else!