The Frugal Mage's Guide to LP Allocation

A startup guide for beginners who are interested in pursuing the path of magic.

Purpose/Scope

For mages, frugality is a virtue. While Gothic 1 warrior types can get by with experimental spending of learning points (LP), mages have to be rather more deliberate about how they spend those LP. And given that the first hours of the game give you little access to magic, the beginner might not know how best to proceed in developing a mage build. That's what I'm here for.

This is not a guide for all things magic. It's a general outline for how to build a character oriented toward magic, especially when the game itself can be opaque on this score for the new player.

The character build I am describing is a hybrid warrior/mage type--the kind that can handle himself in melee, but who will also unlock everything the magic world has to offer in the game. While it is possible to play the game as a pure mage, only the experts seem to be able to do so without grief. If you're looking at this guide, you're no expert, and I'm assuming you don't want grief. Better experts than me can show you how to manage the puritanical magic path.

I will be mostly spoiler free in what follows, but I do have to spill some beans--mainly because I need to let you know roughly when certain magic elements become available. At no point will I give plot specifics, but sometimes I'll hide something behind a spoiler-tag: such as, for example, a general event when a special mana-increasing potion will be offered as a reward.

I will proceed by working from the big picture toward some specific bits of advice.

The Big Picture--Your LP Needs

The amount of experience points you can get in this game is finite. That means that the amount of levels you can gain, and thus the amount of LP you can get, are also finite. Different people can squeeze different amounts of experience out of this game, but expect that, in the endgame, you'll be a bit north of level 30, assuming you're somewhat thorough. That is, you have at least 300 LP to work with, but probably not much more than that.

If you want to max out your magic stats (be the best mage that you can be), you'll need to reserve 235 LP for magic alone. Here's why:

You start out with 5 mana, and can train your mana capacity all the way up to 100, where 1 LP = 1 mana increase. So, you need 95 LP for mana. (There is another way to increase your mana through use of special items, covered below, but if you want the strongest mage possible, you should not use this method until you've maxed out your mana through LP training alone first.)

But unless you're burning through (consumable) magic scrolls, magic use also requires access to various circles of magic, which allow you to use and reuse the (non-consumable) magic runes. Each rune is attached to a kind of spell, and they are assigned various tiers--so a mage who is wet-behind-the-ears and has only accessed the first circle of magic won't be able to use a rune of the fourth circle. And how do you advance through those circles of magic? Through LP, of course.

Perhaps you just want to take my word for it: you'll need 140 LP to get access to all the circles of magic. If you want a breakdown, the following will do:

First Circle = 10 LP; Second Circle = 15 LP; Third Circle = 20 LP; Fourth Circle = 25 LP; Fifth Circle = 30 LP; Sixth Circle = 40 LP

So, there you go. A bit of subtraction tells you that you have (300 - 235) 65 LP to play with for non-magic purposes. Since I'm a conservative guy, I like to shrink that down to 55 LP, to see if I can max out my magic stats by level 29, rather than level 30.

The Big Picture--Maximizing Your (Natural) Mana

As noted above, LP training is only one way of increasing your max mana supply. There are two other methods. One of these is through donning special jewelry (e.g. a ring), which will increase your max mana for as long as you're wearing it. I call this "artificial" mana--since you'd lose all those increases if you stripped naked. I won't be covering these trinkets here, as your choice to wear them will always be a trade-off against other goals you might have.

More importantly for this section is the other method, which increases your "natural" mana--what you'd still have on you even if you did strip naked. That is the consumption of special items (mostly, but not exclusively, potions). If you want the strongest mage possible for the endgame, these should NOT be used until you've trained up your mana to 100 via natural means (LP allocation). The reason is that LP training can only push your mana supply up to 100, but these additional items can push it higher. But if you burn them before you hit 100, you'll stunt your late-game growth, since you'll have less movement above that 100 point level.

The biggest boosts you'll get via this method will arrive in the endgame. But even toward the beginning of the game, you'll get access to some of these items. Get them, hang on to them, and don't use them until you've trained your mana to 100 via LP allocation.

Here is a list, organized by when you're likely to come across the item in question:

1. Dreamcall (2 Mana): This is one of three types of smokable weed that you'll find throughout the colony. Probably, you'll stumble upon it midway through the first chapter. The first time you smoke it, you'll get a 2 point boost--so postpone that psychedelic event until later.

2. Essence of the Spirit (5 Mana): Your first potion of this sort should be available in the first chapter, when you deliver the letter to the Fire Mages at the Old Camp. This is one several possible rewards, and obviously the best choice for you.

3. Essence of the Spirit (5 Mana): The second bottle here will become available in the second chapter, as one possible reward from Cor Kalom after your adventure in the mine. Again, you have a choice of rewards, and again, it's obvious what you should pick.

4. Extract of the Spirit (10 Mana): You'll get this one late in the third chapter as a reward for completing the most involved quest of that chapter.

The rest of these items are discovered in the late game (think the last dungeon), and I won't go into detail about where to find them.

5-14? Extract of the Spirit? (10 Mana) and Elixer of the Spirit (15 Mana x 9): There is an absolute treasure trove of permanent mana-increasing potions in that last dungeon. Rumor says there are a total of 10 of them. (If you are interested in my source for this rumor, you'll find it here.) I have to be honest, though: I have only found nine of them. (I am missing that mysterious Extract.) I did find a Potion of Power at the spot mentioned, but not an Extract of Spirit.

Put it all together, and you get somewhere around a total of 157-167 additional mana from these items, with an upper limit of 257-267 natural mana. Having said that, though, six of these 15-mana potions are in the late LATE game, right before the very end. Excluding those late potions (90 mana altogether), for me, it was more like a natural max of 167.

Which Camp Should I Join?

For warrior-types, this question is largely a cosmetic or RP-level issue. For mages, it's a different story, since you will want access to rune magic, which requires knowledge of the various circles of magic out there. And the faction you join will influence your access to this training.

You have two main priorities here: (1) to get early (enough) access to rune magic, and (2) to get ultimate access to all the circles of magic. If your goal is to get the strongest endgame mage possible, that second goal takes greater priority.

Given these goals, there's a clear winner here: choose the Old Camp. The reason is that the Swamp Camp stunts your late game growth (cutting you off from the best circles of magic) and the New Camp keeps you from accessing training in circles of magic at all until rather later in the game.

If you do take my advice, then you'll be getting access to rune magic about two-thirds of the way through the second chapter. You'll have to find other ways to survive until then--and this is why playing a pure mage is not a live option for most new players.

A Note on Monetary Frugality

Not only do mages burn through LP; they also burn through ore. Obviously, (consumable) spell scrolls cost money, but so do (non-consumable) spell runes. So, if you want access to higher spells, you'll have to pay for them, and they can get pretty pricey.

Gothic 1 isn't stingy with ore, but as a mage, you'll have more incentive to save up than the average player.

Early Non-Magical LP Allocation

Since you'll be going non-magical for a little while, you're going to need to invest some LP in other areas, until you gain access to rune magic. Here is one suggestion for how to do so.

First, it's wise to invest a small bit of LP in money-making. Early on, you can develop skills in extracting teeth, claws, skins, and furs, at 1 LP (and some ore) each. While there are other ways of making money, you'll want to take advantage of all the opportunities of making cash you can.

While we're on it, there are other methods of extracting animal trophies that can be learned without any LP investment. Early on, one of the best things to do is to purchase the book "Bloodflies" from Wolf in the New Camp. You'll be meeting bloodflies early on, and stinger extraction is a lucrative business. In addition, fairly late in the first chapter, you should have an opportunity to learn minecrawler mandible extraction without having to invest any LP. For me, this occurred shortly after my first spelunking expedition in the mine.

In general, you'll want to avoid killing monsters other than molerats and scavengers until you have methods of extracting those trophies. (Molerats and scavengers have no trophies beyond raw meat.)

Second, you'll need a way of scraping through those battles. You have two options, and in the interest of frugality, you should pick exactly one: (1) strength and melee or (2) dexterity and bows. My money is on strength and melee, as your magical future will give you plenty of ranged attacks anyway. You'll need to handle yourself when the enemy gets in tight.

My recommendation: take exactly one round of one-handed weapons training (at 10 LP) and then a healthy dash of strength. Without some weapons training, you're a hopeless klutz with a sword, but adding a second round of training isn't worth the advantage it brings.

But what exactly is a "healthy dash" of strength? There's a reason why I think having a "natural" strength of 55 is good in the long run. The reason: you get access to a fine one-handed sword later on that requires 55 strength to wield. Now, you start with 10 strength. Adding 40 LP will get you to 50. But there's a "free" 5 points waiting for you...with a quest available early on at the New Camp.

That's where I leave it with early non-magical LP use. But perhaps you'd want some quality of life upgrades like a round of lockpicking (10 LP) or acrobatics (10 LP). If you follow the rest of my advice and want to max out magic no later than level 30, you shouldn't take both. (Note that anyone can engage in lockpicking in Gothic 1 regardless of training. Training just decreases the probability of broken picks when you fail.)

To sum up, here is my recommendation:

Extracting teeth, claws, fur, skin: 4 LP
One round of one-handed weapon training: 10 LP
Strength training: 40 LP

That's 54 LP applied to non-magical use--and with the 235 LP for magic, you'll be maxed out at magic at level 29.

Step-by-Step Guide

That's it for my general advice and my reasoning for it. Feel free to take it or ignore it as you like! But this section collects the above information in a chronological step-by-step guide through the early game.

Chapter One:

• Milk all the experience you can from multiple camps before committing to one.
  
• Consider picking up methods of extracting trophies from animals early on (both through LP training and otherwise, as noted in the above section), before killing off monsters other than molerats and scavengers.
  
• Pick up a level of training in one-handed weaponry and a bit of strength to help.
  
• When you stumble upon some Dreamcall, hang onto it. Don't smoke it (yet).
  
• While hanging out at the New Camp, knock out a quest to give you 5 "free" points of strength.
  
• Pick the Old Camp as your faction.
  
• Deliver that letter and pick up a max-mana increasing potion. Don't drink it (yet).

Chapter Two:

• Finish off allocating those non-magical LP as described in the above section. Stockpile everything else for magic use.
  
• When you have another choice of a quest reward, choose the max-mana increasing potion. Don't drink it (yet).
  
• A bit more that's obvious...

And really, at this point, I think you're on your way, without any need for further guidance. Just keep in mind those special potions as described above (in that section on maxing out your natural mana).

Good luck, and have fun!

[ELED3L]

thanks, i played the game countless times, never went too much in magic, i will definitely use this the next time i play

[The Legion]

Awesomw guide mate !

[JimmyJ]

insanely helpful guide for someone like me who has never played as a mage

[Claus$candaL]

very nice bro it helped me thanks a lott for your efforts of creating this guide!