Followers!!!

TheInevitable · Post by **TheInevitable** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:14 am

ive been thinking about this - i wanted to start a new game with actual GOOD followers ! i want them at my lvl so they wont be lvl 20 and ill be lvl 40.

so what i am aiming for these followers -
- Z'an A'lurin
- Raven
- perriman smythe
- thellogy ashe ball watever.... (necromancer black in asbury)
- Virgil
- soggy
- possibly somehow chukka
- some archnids and finally torian kel (i love him)

so my 2 questions are -
do i have to be neutrally aligned so zan alurin (al. -25) and raven (al.+25) will join me
and is it possible to make perriman and theoloo.. (necromancer in asbury) to work together???

TwoHandedSword · Post by **TwoHandedSword** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:33 pm

You don't need to be neutrally aligned to have both good and evil followers; you just need Persuasion mastery (and a full 20 in charisma wouldn't hurt).

However, even with all that, your stated quest might be futile. Without a cheat, you're limited in-game to a max of six followers plus Dog (who doesn't use a follower slot) and the arachnids.

FWIW, interesting combinations include Raven and Z'an A'lurin, Torian Kel and the Bane of Kree (they hate each other even more than the two elves do), along with Magnus and Loghaire (especially if you complete the Durin stone quest to the very end).

There IS a cheat (or rather, an exploit) available: if you're interested, google 'arcanum meta abuse'. But keep in mind that the followers you acquire using this method lose all their dialog options, which for me is the only reason to have such a resource-draining posse in the first place.

TheInevitable · Post by **TheInevitable** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:45 am

let me guess is it the drain will spell?

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:33 am

which for me is the only reason to have such a resource-draining posse in the first place.

That's right on the money, apart from being walking back packs followers are a pain in Arcanum. It's not the resources you should worry about though, it's all the 'experience points' they steal. Playing solo is definitely the way to go unless you want a lot of banter, and banter is definitely not this game's strong point.

Be aware that NPC's mages are useless in this game, when they are not being more dangerous to the party than they are to the enemy. Raven sees to love bringing ice squalls down on her friends when the battle is almost over!!!

Geoffrey Tarallond-Ashe (sp?) is in fact the worst NPC in the game, absolute waste of space, even more so than Virgil amazingly.

PS You can find all you want to know and more here

TheInevitable · Post by **TheInevitable** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:08 am

ill take that into consideration!

TwoHandedSword · Post by **TwoHandedSword** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:02 pm

TheInevitable wrote:let me guess is it the drain will spell?

It's actually a combination of spells, including Dominate Will or Control Beast (or possibly even Succor Beast) followed by

Spoiler

Reflection Shield

(hence the name, 'meta abuse') which when cast and dismissed in a specific order, makes the former spell permanent with no upkeep points.

At the old Arcanum forum I used to frequent, somebody would regularly put up screencaps of twenty or more followers, including such notables as the mayor of Ashbury and the king of Cumbria, and even level 50 'ailing' wolves.

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Which reminds me: in reference to my above post, there IS one more legal way to get a free follower: learn and cast the summoning spell Familiar. However, the only way to dismiss a familiar is to kill it; you can't ask them to just wait for you if need be. Which can cause issues at certain critical junctures where stealth or solo action is required.