Misty Hills
Virgil will meet the hero at the site of the airship crash and accompany them to the end. He'll also help you avoid a confrontation with Moloch's agent at the stone with the prophecy (if you listen to his advice).
Apbalakh's quest can be accepted and completed before arriving in Misty Hills (if you have enough Persuasion to resolve it bloodlessly).
In the mining town, you can explore the mine (a spell will protect you from wolves) and resolve the problem with the bandits on the bridge.
If you don't mind a quarrel with the constable, you can also take on the quest to sabotage the steam engine. A bloodless (and stealthy) solution to the problem of technological progress will require... a boomerang! Leave Virgil on guard, enter the temple, and appease the rats. Near the machine, look for a place where the dwarf mechanic won't notice your attempts to destroy the machine with boomerangs. The dynamite solution won't work.
Helping Doc Roberts protect the bank is also possible, but casualties are inevitable. Leave Virgil behind once again and break into the bank. Our goal is to stun the bandits and knock their weapons out of their hands. Order Doc to retreat, periodically knocking out enemies while the brave secretary beats them to death.
Incidentally, even without stealth skills, you can rob this bank without being detected by the bank employee. To do this, simply stand behind her, activate turn-based combat mode, and sneak through the door behind her. The key is easy to get.
On the way out of the city, stun the annoying dwarf and run away from him – to the east! You'll have to run quite a distance; the map won't unlock right away.
Black Root
is one of the most peaceful locations. Spreading goodness should be done with maximum profit, so don't forget to take Dante with you when collecting taxes.
If you don't mind the creatures from the Void, you can take on the quest to find the hapless inventor. In his workshop, we find a magical trap and head towards the portal. Next, you need to be either invisible or VERY fast (a speed potion will help). The monsters self-destruct after sealing the portal, shed a tear (but we didn't kill anyone!) and turn in the quest.
The tax issue must be resolved positively! Otherwise, we risk ruining the game's ending.
Dernholm
Not many quests, and all of them are peaceful. Don't forget to resolve the tax issue (and the reunification of Blackroot with Cambria), have a heart-to-heart talk with Lianna, and help return the mine to Bessie Toon's daughter. All efforts are for a happy ending!
Tarant: First Visit
Lots of quests and many difficult deaths to avoid. Never brag about your adventures in taverns or the tabloids! Otherwise, problems in the form of hired killers are guaranteed.
First, it's worth working on your equipment. You can steal a very good magic ring from a nobleman in the tavern. Use a Fate Point if you haven't leveled up Pickpocketing yet. You can find a good medallion in the Temple of Panaria—and here, a boomerang comes in handy! If you stand far enough away, the priest won't notice you breaking his belongings.
Solving thieves' quests requires some ingenuity. For example, you can use dynamite to blow up the chests of poor people. The main thing is to keep it under wraps. The quest for the Golden Idol of Kree is only available upon reaching level 18!
To store your belongings, you should appease the rats in the warehouse near the port. Your conscience won't let you clean it out and deprive the poor creatures of their home. Goodbye.
After accepting the quest for the Siamese Twin Skulls, you'll also accept responsibility for the death of the unfortunate half-orc in the Gentleman's Club. Or don't. To steal the skulls from the warehouse, it's best to use invisibility, as escaping from the guards will be difficult. Alternatively, you can set them on a gang of orcs encountered at night in the city. The main thing is to break down the doors to the warehouse; the Illusory Demon will help with this.
The search for the missing painting can be bloodless with the proper persuasion skill. This unlocks a nice bonus upon completing Madame Tussaud's quest. Whether the +1 bonus to the stat for the death of one charlatan is worth it is up to you. However, a failed quest will still be recorded in your journal as a red mark.
By this point, you should have acquired the Invisibility skill. This makes completing the Scalers dungeon a piece of cake. Otherwise, stock up on speed potions and a Dungeon Exit Scroll. Magnus, unfortunately, is completely ignored. However, if someone values the happiness of one dwarf more than the lives of three innocent merchants, they might try dynamite them.
Alternatively, you can take the train to Ashbury and complete the local quests.
Ashbury
is hell for animal rights activists. First, save a dog from cruelty and gain a loyal and helpful companion. Then, leave him where he is, and the new Hachiko will wait for you here for the rest of his life.
Buy supplies from the elf (if you have enough money).
It's best to complete the quest to clear the field of pigs later, but you can do it now if you've collected enough poison from the store. Poison the pig, charm it, and wait for it to die. You'll have to skip this quest if your hero's moral principles are more important than random deaths for experience.
The quest to drag cobblestones across the field will have to be postponed until the Power of Earth appears in your magical arsenal. The main thing is that Virgil doesn't take the cobblestone with him.
If you've obtained Invisibility, stock up on potions and plunder the cemetery along with the ancient castle. You also get armor for one adventurer. Without this skill, completing quests will be very difficult. You can also ease Thorian Kel's suffering by following rumors in the tavern about his whereabouts.
Along the way, you can discover Vuriden's location and repair the altar. The half-ogre's help is optional; Virgil will happily pick up a stone. The main thing is to befriend the wild animals that roam the quarry.
Finally, we drink a potion of Intelligence and resolve the monument issue. Persuasion should be sufficient.
A little about the geography and bagography of Arcanum
The world of Arcanum is home to two mountain ranges, dividing the land into Northern, Western, and Eastern parts. Hardin's Pass, halfway between Stillwater and the elven realm of Kintarra, is unlocked as part of the storyline, and a lead to Gorgoth's Pass can be found in the Caladon tavern. However, there's nothing stopping you from finding them and traversing them yourself.
Trying to circle the mountain range from the south in search of a route to Cambria will fail, but an interesting location will open up.
However, traversing the mountains from the east in search of a route to the North is entirely possible! You should be patient and carefully combine progress on the local and global maps.
Why waste time traversing these mountains, especially outside the story? It's all about the clue to the Strange Pool location, which can be obtained in Ashbury. There, you can acquire a cursed artifact—the Ring of Shadows—which slowly kills the player but simultaneously grants invisibility. This artifact is a perfectly viable alternative to the Invisibility skill, but can only hide one player. Alternatively, you can exploit the bug:
Tarant. Second Visit
So, Invisibility is maxed out. You can loot the sewers, or resolve the issue of robbing the elven tombs. Near the entrance to the dungeon, you'll encounter a crowd of elves. You can convince them not to attack, or choose the combat option, manage to knock a good weapon out of their hands, pick it up, and disappear underground. Virgil will be carrying the stone, so you'll need two slots of supported spells. We make our way through the crowd of zombies, put all the items in the chest, pick up the stone, and immediately give it to our partner. Afterwards, clear the remaining chests of valuables and escape through the Exit Scroll (the passage upstairs will be blocked). Gatekeeper Mr. Bates must be persuaded to let the hero inside. Dealing with the saboteurs at the factory will be more difficult. In the Blackrock clan, you'll have to leave Virgil on the first level of the dungeons—he will periodically heal the hero as he escapes from another hole. After that, stock up on potions and search everything—trap detection scrolls and an Exit Scroll can be found among the corpses.
Isle of Despair
Before the trip, it's worth stealing the book "The Hand" from the Ashbury docks—you can give it to the half-ogre on the island so he'll let the hero see Torvald. However, if you're persuasive, you can enter without it. Otherwise, you'll have to fight in the pit. One option is to have the Bend Will spell, the help of an Illusory Demon, and a bunch of poison vials. We use Subjugation to target the enemy, set it on the others, and remove the spell. We distract the remaining enemies with the Demon. It's important to ensure that neither the demon nor the enticed enemy is killed. We finish off the last remaining enemy with poison.
Be sure to visit Old Man Maximilian and accept his quest.
Cynthia should be taken to the mainland; she shouldn't hang around there. If the hero isn't a dwarf, she might even capture Torvald.
The quest to kill the monster will be difficult – it's a powerful mage and will likely kill the hero with one blow. It's worth a try.
With careful planning, you can complete the Island without any harm and with a good "green" journal.
Wheel Clan
After returning from the Island of Despair, it's worth stopping by Dernholm and meeting with Lianna. This will give you the good ending for Kambria.
Head to the Wheel Clan and go straight to the throne room. Before talking to the acting king of all dwarves, drink a bottle of intellect, which will give you unique knowledge about the Stone, Form, and other things. Persuade him to open the secret passage, talk to Lugair, and return him to the throne. A happy ending is guaranteed for the dwarves.
It's also worth resolving the local quests. Helping the miners in Dredge is only possible at the cost of killing a rare Crystal Spider. Dynamite is an option, otherwise it's a long and arduous process of poisoning.
Don't forget to visit the Stonecutters clan for some interesting artifacts—a ring that increases Intelligence, as well as Kergan's Journal.
Finally, return to Mr. Bates and set off in search of Kintarra.
Still Waters
A peaceful town... if not for one ogre who kidnapped the local wizard. It's worth visiting his cave. The cage door can be opened with a spell if your magical aptitude is high enough, or simply broken down. Silence the ogre, watch the runt escape, and then run away.
All the other quests can be resolved peacefully; this won't be difficult for a Persuasion Expert. You can even take on the quest to find a rare ruby—an invisibility spell will save you there, too.
Kintarra
If Wrath's death doesn't bother the protagonist too much, then it's worth taking the quest from the dwarf wizard. In this case, it's crucial to prove that the elf's death was suicide. To do this, it's necessary to obtain a Glass of Poisoned Wine and a Bottle of Poison in advance, and then use this evidence in conversation. If you don't take care of this, the innocent Trickster may suffer.
The plot itself dictates a peaceful resolution to the problem with the pathetic humans at the Falcon's Pain. It's enough to refer to Mr. Bates and negotiate with the woodcutters to cease their activities due to unavoidable circumstances.
The Bedokaans can be persuaded to release the elf by explaining to them that not all warmbloods are bad. The reward will be a good ending for their tribe. Be careful with your words in their dialogue.
After talking with the Silver Lady, we head to Caladon.
Caladon
Before the expedition, it's worth visiting Tarant and meeting Mr. Willoughtsby. He's just returned from Caladon and is ready to give you the quest for the Master of Persuasion. Don't go for the maximum result on this quest—something like a little praise from him will suffice, otherwise Cumbria's future will be far from rosy. Ideally, peace and prosperity await the United Kingdom.
If you arrive in Caladon at night, you might spot a werewolf killing a rabbit. If you try REALLY hard, you can save everyone.
Having learned of a merciless killer of prostitutes (and not so prostitutes), offer your assistance to the local police chief. Two corpses already lie on the path to ridding Arcanum of the terrifying demon, and another girl will be the third during the quest. While searching for the dagger that can put the demon to rest, the hero will witness the deaths of unfortunate adventurers at the hands (or feet, it's unknown) of fire elementals. Next, you need to kill the killer (pun intended!) using only this dagger, while remaining white and fluffy in the eyes of the inexorable statistics. To do this, sneak into the sewers alone, toss the dagger to the elf, attack him, and spend a Fate Point on his finishing blow, causing him to accidentally kill himself. If tossing the dagger is a problem, you can attach it with the Subdue Will spell, then simply put the weapon in your inventory. Or, you can spend another Fate Point on the toss if you haven't mastered Thievery. An alternative (if you feel sorry for the OC) is to toss the dagger to someone else, attach it with a spell, force him to attack the elf, remove the spell, and then calmly watch their battle.
Next, we encounter a series of quest-related deaths: the hapless writer Mr. Wells, whose last words the protagonist will still have time to hear, and the butler of the Miskov family (here's someone you won't feel sorry for). We dig up the grave and head to Roseboro.
On the way, it's worth stopping by the Cave of Thieves and accepting a quest if the character urgently needs another dose of justice. Don't forget to also accept the task of photographing the terrifying Wyvern. In the cemetery, dig up a grave and find a book with T'Sen-Ang's location. Let's head there. Before entering the Dark Elf hideout
T'Sen-Ang
should wear the Amulet of the Hand of Moloch. Otherwise, they won't let you in. Inside, you'll have to come to terms with the oppressed half-ogres—outside, they'll do more harm than good. We'll use cunning to extract details of the conspiracy from the Dark Elf leader, after which we can finally befriend the Hand of Moloch. From this point on, random encounters with assassins will end (although, the hero already has Teleportation, right?), and you can visit Tarant and become the star of the local newspaper.
Unfortunately, the loyal (and naive) Virgil decides to escape and start a personal vendetta. Even if you equip him with the best weapons in Arcanum, he will die. The hero can witness his final moments in the Weeping Onion Tavern in Caladon. If we still care about him, we can help him kill the bandits from afar; otherwise, we won't be able to rejoin him. After the death of the last enemy, Virgil falls lifeless onto a pile of corpses (a stray bullet or a simple heart attack?), after which he must be resurrected using a scroll (found in a nearby chest).
Peaceful Mage Walkthrough (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)
Author: dimamatik