New to the game, any tips?

[psychotron666]

Alright so i wanna start by saying that I love RPGs and am a die hard RPG fan, I've played many of them over the years, but strangely enough i never actually played this game. So after years of hearing how amazing of an RPG game it is, i decided to get it with a little extra dough.

So what I'm asking you guys, is if anyone can post up some tips to help beginners, any tips will do. Think of when you first started the game, what things did you learn later on about the game's lore or UI or whatever that would have made it much easier and less complicated when you were beginning if you knew about it?

I havent even started a file yet, so what race of vampire and such would you recommend to get started? (i suspect i will play this game through multiple play throughs).

[Solid Gamer]

all what you need to do very first is to download and install unofficial fan patch (original game on steam is buggy).

Everything als goin by the way as you playing the game, you need to decide if you wanna go combat or stealth or charismatic, etc.

Cant realy give you much tipps, this game isnt super complicated.

[Tothmetres]

Melee weapons. Guns sound cool, but aren't, until much later in the game. All of the clans are cool, some make the game totally different (like nosferatu). Pick one that you like, and enjoy that first playthrough of the haunted mansion, it IS that good. And what solid gamer said about the patch, it is mandatory

[Tothmetres]

also, put a point into lockpicking. Blood buff will +3 it, so almost all of the doors in Santa monica can be opened.

[Tothmetres]

Having a level 3 discipline is much better than having 3 level 1 disciplines, but dont fall for the trap of leveling up your disciplines too soon. they are very expensive. get 2 dots in those attributes first. Also, there are 3 social skills. pick one and ignore the others.

[psychotron666]

Nice, thanks for the advice guys.

How viable is it to make a charismatic type character with very little combat skills on a first play through, or just in general? Like is there enough charismatic solutions in the game to justify making a character like that?

Also is there any big differences in game ineractions between having a male or female character?

[Touch of Oblivion]

First off, I would recommend avoiding a Nosferatu playthrough as your first time as that Clan is basically the game's "hard mode" since you're forced to miss out on numerous side quests, have to move around town via the sewer system, and cannot seduce blood dolls(humans in some bars who think you're hot and let you nom on them thinking whatever you do when you make out, it feels amazing).

Second, I would avoid a Malkavian playthrough your first time as they have completely unique dialogue since they're crazy and some of that dialogue does contain story spoilers. I DO however recommend them as a second or third playthrough Clan. They're very fun to play.

Third, don't bother with the Intimidation skill unless you're playing as a Nosferatu. You can accomplish everything better with Persuasion, or certain Disciplines(vampire powers) depending on what Clan you're playing. I also wouldn't bother with Inspection. When it comes to combat stats, look at what each level of your Disciplines can do and choose to go primarily Firearms or Melee or Brawl. Do not try to double up(unless it's for Brawl since you can use that for combat feeding) because there is a finite amount of XP in the game.

Make sure you scour every hub zone/city you're in for side quests BEFORE doing the main story quests as certain side quests will become uncompleteable or unobtainable if you move the story along too far.

Skills you'll want to focus on, since there are combat mandatory sections of the game are Firearms, Melee, or Brawl as I mentioned above. Persuasion, a little Seduction for the blood dolls, Research when you have some spare XP, your Disciplines(likely only going to pick two of them to invest in heavily), and maybe if you feel like it, things like Haggling. However, you WILL need Lockpicking and Hacking quite a bit, so make sure to pay attention to those.

[Touch of Oblivion]

Originally posted by psychotron666:

Nice, thanks for the advice guys.

How viable is it to make a charismatic type character with very little combat skills on a first play through, or just in general? Like is there enough charismatic solutions in the game to justify making a character like that?

Also is there any big differences in game ineractions between having a male or female character?

There are portions of the game where combat MUST happen, so do not plan on being a purely social character. You can be Social with one or two combat abilities, but tbh the only time social stuff comes into play is certain dialogue options including the ability to use Presence, Dominate, and Dementation Disciplines in dialogue on rare occasions and if the Discipline is high enough level.

As for differences between male and female characters, female PCs have a much easier time getting blood dolls and get more Seduction useage than males do. I've also never liked the male models in VtMB as I find they walk/run funny and it bothers me.

[Tothmetres]

maybe someone else can pipe in here instead of just me , but..... Melee weapons are required. A social skill is good. just dont expect a Tzmisce with a brood of fleshcrafted ghouls to listen to you much. I dont remember if , in the vanilla version, the social options are a different color of not. "Very little combat skills" = bad. It is a video game after all. Brawl = better chance to feed, but you really only need a point or 2, same as lock picking. also. hacking..... now thats a matter of opinion. dont put any points into hacking. there are several guides that tell you all of the passwords. that is total cheating, I know, but......

[Tothmetres]

Obtenebris is smarter than me, even if he woke up tottaly crabby, and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ out a total noob. anything he says is good advise. unless he says to go guns without Celerity. Celerity is the ONLY way that guns work early-midgame. even then, dont go guns

[Tothmetres]

and yeah, if you want easy mode, go a girl.

[psychotron666]

Sweet ♥♥♥♥ guys. I had a feeling that Nosferatu were gonna be a harder game, so i didnt even consider them for a first time play through (will do so eventually though). And yeah i didnt expect that a full charismatic character would be too viable, very few RPG games have a big emphasis around non violent ways through going through the game.

Good to know not to go with guns though, i probably would have.

So if i go melee then just doing 1 rank of brawling i should be all fine for combat feeding then, without having to invest too much? Or if that's the case should i just do primarily brawling and just ignore melee altogether?

[Touch of Oblivion]

BRawl is useful for certain Clans like Gangrel and Brujah and Nosferatu. Gangrel get their claws that use Brawl. Brujah and Nosferatu get the Potence Discipline, though that also enhances Melee.

[Touch of Oblivion]

Originally posted by psychotron666:

Sweet ♥♥♥♥ guys. I had a feeling that Nosferatu were gonna be a harder game, so i didnt even consider them for a first time play through (will do so eventually though). And yeah i didnt expect that a full charismatic character would be too viable, very few RPG games have a big emphasis around non violent ways through going through the game.

Good to know not to go with guns though, i probably would have.

So if i go melee then just doing 1 rank of brawling i should be all fine for combat feeding then, without having to invest too much? Or if that's the case should i just do primarily brawling and just ignore melee altogether?

Unless you're playing Gangrel, I'd always choose Melee over Brawl as a primary fighting ability. Clans with Celerity make Firearms a viable option from the get go. You will have to upgrade Brawl over time even if you do go Melee as Brawl 1 will not be enough to secure combat feeding after a certain point. Getting it to 2 in Downtown and then upping it to 3 in Hollywood should be all you need for the entire game. However, there is a way in Downtown to get a free dot of Brawl via certain conversation options with Nines Rodriguez in The Last Round bar, so I'd only pay XP to raise it to 2.

[psychotron666]

Alright cool man, thanks. I'll definitely go primary melee and just invest 2 points in brawl, I'll keep an eye out for Nines Rodriguez and get the third point that way.

Thanks for the help guys, answered a lot of the questions i was wondering about. Enough so that i wont have to restart a character 3 times to get my bearings.

[Tothmetres]

ya, 1 point into brawl will get you through santa monica just fine