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A summary/review of the Gothic II demo..
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RPGDot Forums > Gothic 2 Spoilers

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Maylander
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 22 Mar 2002
Posts: 1712
Location: Norway
A summary/review of the Gothic II demo..
   

So, I've been through the demo a couple of times, and I thought it might be a good idea to gather all the information on it in a single thread(so just add if I forget something).

Add: I've cleared the map, and the max level is 10.

Now, first out is "skills" :
The skills you can learn/train in the demo:
Strength: Maximum 50 + 9 from Innos + 5 from ring = 64
Dexterity: Maximum 10(unable to learn)
Sword: 10%(unable to learn)
Twohander: 10%(unable to learn)
Bow: 100%(impossible to reach due to the fact that after you've reached 30%, you will train BOTH Bow and Crossbow at the same time whenever Bow is at a higher level, until they are at the same level again)
Crossbow: Read above(there is only 1 crossbow in the demo, and it's unusable due to dexterity demands)
Sneaking: You can learn it from the hunter in Khorinis.
Lockpicking:You can learn it from Grittas' uncle if you pay the 100 gold for her(he's one of the masters who give you quests, and his quest is to get a blessing).
Alchemy: Creating a few potions using herbs(You can learn alchemy from the the alchemist living next to Harad the smith by becoming his apprentice; to do that you have to gather some specific herbs for him).

Size of the demo: At first, the demo seems huge, but after a couple of times through it, you realize it's not that big really.

The main areas are:
-Alliks' farm
-The tavern
-2/3 of Khorinis
-Valley near Khorinis containing a cave, a couple of Shadowbeasts, some wargs, and a lot of field robbers
-The big forest

The main fighting place is undoubtably the big forest, but you have to stay clear of the core; around it you'll find field robbers, wolves, scavengers and bloodflies basically, but inside the core, you have to fight skeletons, wargs, shadowbeasts and an Orc Elite.

Caves: I found quite a few caves, but the rarest ones are the cave with the orc warrior(I was able to defeat him by backing him up against the wall), the cave with the switch and the closed door, and the cave with the zombies. The orc cave is located on the path between Alliks' farm and Khorinis, the cave with the switch is at the very edge of the map near a cliff in the forest, and the cave with the zombies is behind the graveyard near the tavern.

Creatures: I've encountered the following creatures: Bloodflies(normal/young), wolves(normal/young), molerats, scavengers, goblins(black/normal), skeletons(goblin/low/normal), orcs(scout/warrior/elite), shadowbeasts, wargs, field robbers(normal/young) and the blue light which I can never remember the name of.

Creatures I were able to defeat, and how: All except wargs, the orc elite, and low/normal skeletons. The hardest fight was the orc warrior, but after a few reloads I managed to get him up against the wall so that he didn't manage to get the two blows needed to finish me off. Other hard fights were against 3 goblinskeletons, but they can be defeated in the normal way, and the zombies(just back'em up against the wall like the orc warrior). I also managed to defeat a warg, but that was buy standing where he couldn't get me, and spending about 30 arrows or so(150 experience for these creatures isn't nearly enough - reminds me of the bloodhounds in Gothic 1 which gave you 220xp; shouldn't given 300 or so.. ).

Items:
Swords: The best one handed sword I've found is in one of the towers near the non-demogroun exit of Khorinis(in the other tower there is an excellent two-hander with 55 damage). The two-hander in the other tower is the best sword I've encountered, but I've heard rumors about better swords.

Bows: What good are they anyway? You can't use better bows than the one you find near Xardas' tower, but here goes: The best I've found is a "Jagd"bow with 30 damage(needs 30 dex, which you can't get unless you cheat).

Rings: The rings I use in all my games are the +5str ring, and the +5armor ring(both can be found on the hill above the orc warrior cave). I've also found a +5magic resistance ring, but it won't do you any good(no spellcasting enemies).

Armor: There are 3 armors in the demo; the first I was able to get was the "farmers clothing", the next was the "leather armor" from Bosper, and the 3rd was a leather armor from the guy owning the tavern. The best is, of course, one of the leather armors.

Quests:
-Become a citizen(includes 4 sub-quests)
-Help Allik against the mercenaries of Onar
-Help a "Randuck" or something to enter a drinkingcontest.
-Enter Khorinis for the first time
-Get the two brothers at Alliks' farm to attack each other

Ways to exit the demoground:
-Jump up to the top of the cliff near Xardas, turn left, and slide down between two rocks.
-Stand next to the lightpost near Harads' smithy, and press actionbutton.
-Become a citizen, talk to the guards guarding the gate to the upper section of the city, and then you can just walk through(only into the upper section of the city, but still - a lot of things to get here from the richmans' houses).

Map over the Gothic II world(and the demo, of course): http://gamesweb.com/pc/previews/g/gothic2/prev-index.php

I can't think of any more information worth adding, but if you do, just reply to add it to this thread.[/u]

Thank you Srikandi, TheCleric and RobKob for additions.


Last edited by Maylander on Tue Jan 21, 2003 10:49 am; edited 8 times in total
Post Mon Jan 13, 2003 3:30 am
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Maylander
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 22 Mar 2002
Posts: 1712
Location: Norway
   

Addition: Actually, there IS a crossbow in the game(40dmg, 25dex), but there's no way to use it thanks to the 25dex requirement(unless you cheat by using goblinberries).
Post Mon Jan 13, 2003 6:30 am
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hoyp
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 02 Oct 2002
Posts: 501
   

you work too hard
Post Mon Jan 13, 2003 11:48 pm
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RobKob
Head Merchant
Head Merchant




Joined: 20 Aug 2002
Posts: 73
Location: Thuringia, Germany
   

Good job, Maylander.

However, I am absolutely sure that the Innos shrines work not nine, but eleven times.

I'll use this opportunity to clarify the matter of weapon skill training costs. You only train BOTH skills simultanously, when the OTHER skill is at a lower level. The levels are: beginner ( 10% - 29% ), fighter/shooter ( 30% - 59% ) and master (60% - 100% ). For example: You train your bow skill and completely ignore the other ranged skill. Both skills start at 10 . You spend 20 points to raise your bow skill to 30. You are now a shooter with the bow and your other ranged skill is at a lower level. You now have to spend 40 points to raise your bow skill to 50 and your crossbow skill to 30. Both skills are again at the same level so the increase of the bow skill to 60 costs only 10 points. Well, you get the picture. Obviously, if you want to raise one melee or ranged skill to 100% you have to raise the other skill to 60%. So you have to spend 50 learning points for a skill you don't want.
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Post Tue Jan 14, 2003 2:27 am
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Srikandi
Noble Knight
Noble Knight




Joined: 04 Dec 2001
Posts: 222
   

Doesn't sound that bad to me... as someone who likes to be a generalist and avoids the "min-maxer" approach... the game's more interesting if you have options!
Post Tue Jan 14, 2003 7:28 am
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ghola
City Guard
City Guard




Joined: 08 Oct 2002
Posts: 146
   

The sad thing is that it's not an option at all, but a forced way of training. It makes it impossible to specialize. Example: If you want your bow skill hit chance at 100% you are forced to waste 70 skill points on 'auto-improving' your crossbow skill to 70%.

PC_HERO could have used these 70 skill points to learn how to create dex potions, train his dex and what not. Now that would have been an option. This is just forced waste and thus a source of player frustration.

Obviously, I don't like it.
Post Tue Jan 14, 2003 9:48 am
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TheCleric
Fearless Paladin
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Joined: 11 Jan 2002
Posts: 230
Location: Upstate NY, USA
   

I have to agree. I don't like the way they've tied the skill increases together in G2. I'd much prefer the ability to train in one and leave the other in the dust.

Anyway, in regards to the main topic, we should probably add that if you leave the "Official" Demogrounds, you can gather the necessary ingrediants to learn the Alchemy skill.
Post Tue Jan 14, 2003 12:30 pm
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Maylander
High Emperor
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Joined: 22 Mar 2002
Posts: 1712
Location: Norway
   

I agree on the skill topic, but how is it with one/two handed weapons? Are they linked together as well?

Alchemy.. never tried being the alchemists' apprentice, so I don't know how/what to do to learn the alchemy skill. Please explain, and I'll add it to the main summary.
Post Tue Jan 14, 2003 2:47 pm
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ghola
City Guard
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Joined: 08 Oct 2002
Posts: 146
   

I agree on the skill topic, but how is it with one/two handed weapons? Are they linked together as well?

Yes, it goes for any weapon proficiency. The linking seems like a nerf (afterthought balancer) to me, but one with nasty consequences. It has two serious disadvantages:

1) By tying the weapon skills, variety in character development is seriously restricted and
2) Because the player is forced to waste up to 140 (70 ranged + 70 melee) skill points on combat skills there are now insufficient skill points left to spend on the plethora of secondary skills, so that these have become meaningless.

All together a really stupid design fault hurting replayability in a pretty severe way. I very much hope PB will address the issue in a patch.

D4mn... sorry for making your thread drift, Maylander. Your practical demo guide deserves better than that.
Post Tue Jan 14, 2003 9:35 pm
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Maylander
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 22 Mar 2002
Posts: 1712
Location: Norway
   

Ghola, your point should be sent to Kai himself..

The character development is now extremely linear compared to Gothic 1, and to me, the excellent character development was one of the things which made me play the game over and over.. it's just like you say, it is a real set-back to replayability!

Also, I thought about the whole "guide" thing; the thread itself is, of course, for discussion, and then I'll update the first post(edit it) whenever something important comes up.. this way, we'll have a complete guide to the demo, and a very good start on the real game(by reading the guide people should be able to reach level 7-8 pretty easily).

So, what do you think about that suggestion?
Post Tue Jan 14, 2003 10:52 pm
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Srikandi
Noble Knight
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Joined: 04 Dec 2001
Posts: 222
   

There's another (sort of) quest you can do. In the farm that has trouble with mercenaries, there are two brothers working in a field. Each will say bad things about the other. By going back and forth between them repeating their insults, you can get them to fight; one will kill the other (and other farm folk may get involved in the brawl as well). Don't know if there's a happier outcome to this quest; it was one of the areas where the machine translation was not doing a good job of conveying the intended meaning. I think it did actually go in my quest log, though.
Post Wed Jan 15, 2003 12:14 am
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TheCleric
Fearless Paladin
Fearless Paladin




Joined: 11 Jan 2002
Posts: 230
Location: Upstate NY, USA
   

To learn the Alchemy skill you have to ask the Alchemist (can't remember his name) to train you. I think you have to ask him twice. Then he will give you a list of ingrediants to collect to prove that you can tell one plant from another. (Although I can't be sure, because of the mediochre translations, I gathered that his previous apprentice had accidentally killed himself with a potion he made and the Alchemist feels guilty about it).

After gathering all of the ingrediants, go back to him and tell him that you have all of them. He will make you his apprentice. Then, when you talk to him and ask him what he can teach you, he'll give you a couple of potions as choices (costs skillpoints). I really never got any further than that, because I'd used up all of my skillpoints, killed everything killable and therefore couldn't get anymore points to see how many potions you could actually learn.

Maybe someone who pursued it further could chime in with a bit more info. I also remember finding a recipe for a potion somewhere, possibly on the cliff behind Xardas's tower?
Post Wed Jan 15, 2003 4:27 am
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Maylander
High Emperor
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Joined: 22 Mar 2002
Posts: 1712
Location: Norway
   

Thank you Srikandi and TheCleric. I've added the quest to the "quests", and the info on alchemy skill under "skills".
Post Wed Jan 15, 2003 6:14 am
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RobKob
Head Merchant
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Joined: 20 Aug 2002
Posts: 73
Location: Thuringia, Germany
   

You need FIFTY additional learning points to raise a melee or ranged weapon skill to 100%. They are needed for the automatic increase of the other melee or ranged weapon skill from TEN percent to SIXTY percent. So you waste five levels' worth of learning points. It's of no concern to mages, and paladins are only partly affected since they only need a melee weapon skill ( because they later get powerful magic ), but I imagine it's really bad for a mercenary who'll want to have one melee and one ranged weapon skill at maximum.

Anyway, the reason I brought this up in the first place is that the info on weapon skills in the first post of this thread isn't 100% accurate. But then it's probably not of much importance in the demo ( if any ).
_________________
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Post Wed Jan 15, 2003 5:35 pm
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Maylander
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 22 Mar 2002
Posts: 1712
Location: Norway
   

Yupp, added a little something under the "bow skill", because it is of great importans if you want to become skilled with the bow in the demo.

A question, how do you train two-handed sword/crossbow after the one-handed sword/bow skill is 100% ?
Post Wed Jan 15, 2003 6:23 pm
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