Mercs selling more damaging axe in chapter 1 than sword you can forge in chapter 5 is unfortunately normal in Notr, it was different in basic gothic 2 if I remember right. Also in regular gothic 2 you needed more mana than 5 to use powerful scrolls such as fire rain - which made sense.

Originally posted by chris:

I've been playing this game a lot lately. I have some union mods installed to fix crashes I was having from e cores not playing nice with it, a controller mod, and a xp bar mod. Other than that I have nothing.

I'm not sure if this is always or when I get to a certain level, but one of the mercs sells the Dragon Crossbow and the Dragon Bow. They also sell the best axes. I didn't notice this until about level 14. I became a citizen, but haven't joined a guild like Fire Mage, Mercs, Militia. That means I can theoretically get the best weapons and still play as a Fire Mage or Militia/Paladin. Another interesting thing is that when I play as a Fire Mage strength and 1 handed abilities still cost the same as other classes despite a guide that says it's not so in NOTR. I don't know if these are bugs or something to do with the mods.

Dragon Crossbow and the Dragon Bow were never faction specific.
The cost of abilities are the same for all factions if you play with NIGHT of the Raven expansion.

Thanks for the replies.

I've read a number of strategy guides for this game, but it's difficult at times to tell if they're for Night of the Raven or the vanilla game. The weapon stats are all over the place and so are the things I've heard. For instance, even if you ask AI about weapons it will say that mercs have the best weapons. Paladins/Mercs have the best armor. Mages are a bit crippled in melee. I haven't found that to be true while playing notr. Perhaps it is for the Vanilla game, but supposedly that's an easier game anyway.

In notr Fire Mage seems to be easiest. You can become a thief before joining it. It gives you access to all of the Paladin areas like the boat early in the game. There are some items like a strength potion that are valuable.

I don't see the advantage of playing as Malitia/Paladin or Merc. Both sides are hated by either the towns people or the farmers. They don't have easy access to anything. I guess the only upside for Paladins is that they can spent their praying at shrine points later in the game when they cost more and for mercs I've read that they can get 15 x 2 to either dexterity or strength at some point. Mages kind of cancel that out with 5 to strength and dexterity at some point. The Robes have less armor against melee and ranged, but more against fire and magic. I feel like Mage is again the choice even though magic kind of sucks in notr. They don't really need it. It's just a bonus which can be powerful late in the game.

Originally posted by chris:

For instance, even if you ask AI about weapons it will say that mercs have the best weapons. Paladins/Mercs have the best armor.


I don't see the advantage of playing as Malitia/Paladin or Merc.

magic kind of sucks in notr.

Mercs have the best weapons in classic version and highest fire resist armor in both classic and notr version.
Paladins - best phys. melee/ranged protection armor in both classic and notr version.
Magic is OP In NOTR you just have to use the right runes.
For example you can summon any number of goblin skeletons already in ch.2 which are OP IN NOTR and be fine until endgame.

You can just use itemhoshi code to take a look at all weapons. In Notr claw is best anyway (when lightning hit), others you can buy or find early on - yeah its not a bug, you can get almost best melee weapons with any guild and claw (as a sword) with paladin and merc
In basic gothic 2 dragon hunter aka former mercenary could forge most damaging weapon in chapter 5, but in Notr for some reason this weapon is on fourth place
Also in in Notr best paladin and best dragon hunter's armour have same stats

About magic fracs explained well above.

Goblin skeleton, sleep, ice lance, steal energy, storm, ice block, summoning either skeleton or zombie, lightning, ice wave, summoning demon or army of darkness, fire rain or wave of death - those are good picks

I also always playing a battle mage, learn your dexterity to 40 so soon you will be able to use rapier and master sword after eating/drinking some bonuses and buying/finding dex rings/belts

Later on, after reading stone tablets you can get acrobatics by this *little* glitch where you reach 90 dexterity while having rings/belts on

I don't see any reason not to play a Mage in this game. You can get the best weapons and become as good as Malitia and Mercs at melee. You lose Beliar's claw, but don't really need it. You also lose the Mercs second +15 attribute bonus, but you gain 5 strength and 5 dex from Innos tears. The Robes seem to be better than armor. They may offer a bit less melee and range weapon protection, but offer superior fire and magic resistance. Having access to spells is a huge bonus later in the game. Early in the game you can use the master sword or use transformation scrolls. Fire Mages also have the perk of being able to go on the boat early in the game without having to sneak onto it via the ropes to get the strength potion. The main bonuses for other classes are the Claw, Paladin's get to pray at shrines later for bonuses when it's more useful, and Mercs get the extra +15 to strength or dex. I still think that none of that trumps having access to spells. So far I like the Mercs story the most of the ones I tried. I like hunting down the criminals in the city. I think from a story perspective Fire Mages are a bit bland due to being priests and somewhat fanatical Innos followers. I'd rather have been a Water Mage like in the first game. I see that you can pretty easily reach 120 dex for pick pocketing, lock picking, and acrobatics with minimal point investment. There are so many items that add them. The same with strength. It seems logical to be a melee mage with the way NOTR is set up.