Gothic 2 - New Player Guide

A guide for new players to learn how to play and master the mechanics of this old, but great game. Encompassing everything from combat to the UI systems and FAQ.

Introduction

Want to play Gothic 2 but just can't figure out how?

That's completely fair.

As a game from the era of physical manuals, Gothic 2 has no tutorial or explanation of how the controls work.

This guide should answer all your questions and get you playing as soon as possible.

Gameplay Basics

With no weapon drawn, you are able to interact with targeted items or people by pressing left mouse button or left control. Think of this as your 'action button'.

Pressing TAB will access your inventory which you can navigate with the arrow or WASD keys.

To use or equip an item from your inventory, simply press the action button on it while you have it selected.

Melee weapons are always equipped in slot 1, ranged weapons in slot 2 and magic spells in slots 4 to 10.

Press the number on your keyboard to draw a weapon you have equipped or put it away if you already have it out. Spacebar (by default) draws the last weapon you had out.

Combat Basics

Melee

With your weapon drawn, you can attack your target by holding down the action button and then choosing a direction with WASD to swing.

Do not mash your sword swings! Instead, wait until the first swing is finished and then swing the opposite direction, ie; if you just swung left, you should swing right at the right moment to keep the attack swings going without interuption. This is the most important thing to know about melee combat.

Swinging forward will always attack with an aggressive combo which can be continued by swinging forward again at the right time until the combo is finished. These attacks always move you forward.

Swinging side to side is a more defensive way to fight, but you have to wait for the enemy to come to you.

Pressing back while locked on to an enemy will parry, this only lasts about a second so be sure to block at the right time. Only humanoids or other creatures weilding weapons can be parried.

Two-Handed weapons have longer range which lets you attack the enemy while they are repositioning around you.

Your combos, swing speed and crit chance will increase with weapon skill.

Your damage will increase with strength.

Ranged

With a bow or crossbow drawn you can attack your target by holding down the action button and pressing forward.

Pressing left and right will change your target while still being locked on.

Your reload speed and accuracy will increase with weapon skill.

Your range and damage will increase with dexterity.

FAQ

Which apprenticeship should I undertake in Khorinis?

Both hunting and blacksmithing will make you steady money throughout the entire game, but alchemy is a good choice if you aren't planning to join the mages guild and want to make potions.

Where do I find an Orc Weapon for the blacksmith?

Leave the city through the back exit, turn left, but don't follow the path up the hill, just search around that little valley for a cave. Inside the first section of the cave you will find an orc weapon stuck into a skeleton. You need to be able to fight Giant Rats to get there safely.

How do I kill someone after I knock them down?

Stand infront of them, hold the action button and hold forward.

How do I pick locks?

When you have the lockpicking skill and some lockpicks, press the action button on the chest and press either left or right. Each lock will have a different left/right combination. When you pick the wrong direction you will have to start the sequence over again. Lockpicking in Gothic is based on trial and error and memory.

I suck at combat! How can I get more levels early on?

Get escorted by someone who will take you outside the city such as Lares or Bartok. These kinds of people will escort you somewhere for a mission and everything they kill along the way will give you experience.

Which faction should I join?

All the factions have their perks and have different tasks for you to perform. This choice drastically changes certain parts of the game.

Joining the Militia is the easiest and you will eventually be able to become a paladin and use some spells. The tasks you have to perform are generally about helping the city and detective-style work.

Joining the Mercenaries is a bit tough and requires you to do a lot of combat, especially against other mercenaries to be able to work your way up. This is the only faction in which you can learn to forge ore weapons. Your tasks generally involve helping farmers and lots of combat.

Joining the Monastary of Fire requires 1000 gold and a sheep (you can get the sheep from the mercenary farm). This is the only faction in which you can play as a true mage and learn to make and use magic runes. The tasks you will have to perform a very different from the other factions and will not involve as much combat.

Be warned, there is no mana regeneration in this game apart from quaffing potions. Magic in Gothic is extremely powerful, but tough to earn and tough to use.

New Player Tips

• Save often and occasionally in alternative slots as a crash while saving will corrupt your save.
  
• Focus on doing the expansion quests (Ring of Water/Missing People quests) early on in the game as the expansion drastically increases the difficultly of the game from Chapter 3 onwards for balance.
  
• Drop or sell the Wolf Knife that Cavalorn gives you at the start of the game. This is an expansion weapon that is designed to give the player a small boost at the start of the game which will make all other weapons redundant for the first 10 or so hours of gameplay.
  
• Never walk around town with a weapon out.
  
• Only use melee weapons in town fights, anything else will cause you to murder.
  
• Always purchase summon scrolls such as 'Create Skeleton' when you see them. These can help you win really tough fights, especially early on in the game. Just don't summon them in town.
  
• During your first few levels, you should only spend learning points on weapon skills or strength/dexterity.

[GZs_^]

On another note - If you really crave a excellent sauce of Info on g1 g2 g2notr i recommend

mondgesaenge.de BUT its in full german - google translate might help but they have everything

if you scroll in "Tipps & Tricks" there are summarys of how much of a particular attribute or weaponskill you can get by gathering numerous items plants foods drings etc.

[GZs_^]

- Apples and Dark Mushrooms (Dunkelpilz) Increase Strength(apple) and Mana(shroom) if you eat 50x of them - every 50 apples/shrooms (not digger flesh)

You can Pray at Shrines of Innos for Stats and HP => you need to donate 100g tho
what you get overall is influenced by the Faction you join Mages get more mana while Mercs/Militia get more STR/Agi


BUT WITH ALL THE STAT INCREASING THINGS IT IS ADVISED TO WAIT WITH THEM UNTIL YOU HAVE REACHED THE HIGHEST COST OF IMPROVING THAT STAT

the prices for lvling up Attributes
10-30: 1 LP
31-60: 2 LP
61-90: 3 LP
91-120: 4 LP
120: 5 LP
you can cheese it when u take a +5 at say 29 it will still cost u 5 LP but the same +5 will cost 10LP at 30

using any stat increase in your MAIN Attribute before you've reached the maximum will make it harder to equip highend weapons especially if you r strength based

[Helios]

I liked the SSethtzeentach approach to playing the first part of this game, namely farm turnips to get gold and buy the transform into a raptor spell to kill everything in your path

[Crazy Eyes]

I think he is saying to get rid of the wolf knife because he thinks it makes the game too easy for a new player. I beg to differ. The wolf knife has one of the shortest ranges of all weapons in the game. Yes, melee weapons have a range and it's supposed to be based on the length of the weapon. It's a hidden number specific to each weapon, but generally you can assume that the weapon is supposed to be as long as it looks. And the wolf knife is pretty short... To put it bluntly, I still died plenty of times while using the wolf knife early on and I even began to suspect that using something like the spiked cudgel would be better. You can get the fine short sword pretty quickly, anyways...

[Sillyflower]

Very helpful, thanks. I'm not sure how newbies like me (I haven't started yet) are meant to learn how to play without any manual/tutorial of some sort :(.

Re wolf knife, I assume the advice should be DO NOT drop/sell.

[blvckgucci]

Ok, here's another one:
- your character's inventory is unlimited, so pick up everything (literally everything, unless someone catches you stealing), because unlike in Gothic 1, merchants have unlimited gold to buy off your junk. However, some items that may appear as junk, can prove very valuable later on (example: Shadowbeast horns), so be sure to sell your junk only when you're sure it is actually junk

[blvckgucci]

I decided to take a look at this guide with intentions of expanding it rather than learning from it, so I'll just drop a few points in this comment.
- new chapter always introduces new elements into the game, ranging from simple monsters and animals respawns, to new quests and new NPCs. Be sure to check in with your usual quest-givers whenever you enter a new chapter. For that reason you should also make sure you hunt as much as you can and complete as many quests as you can before hitting a new chapter. Sometimes new chapter will render some things inaccessible. In order to have a pleasurable run you need to maximize your Exp intake in each chapter
- being Harad's (the blacksmith's) apprentice will provide you with a steady and sizable source of income if you are willing to spend a couple of Learning Points on it

[blvckgucci]

- learn lockpicking as soon as you possibly can. In Khorinis, Thorben, the carpenter and locksmith can teach you that for 200 gold and 10 LP. However, Thorben is in debt to Lehmar, the money lender. If you beat up Lehmar and loot his ledger and hand it over to Thorben, he will teach you lockpicking without paying him the 200 gold.
- there is a lot of useful loot on rooftops in the bay district
- don't pump LP into both Strength and Dexterity, choose one and stick to it. Strength gives you access to both one-handed and two-handed weapons and crossbows. Dexterity gives you access to Dexterity-based swords (not a lot of them but they are really good) and bows. It's worth noting that the damage on melee weapons scales with Strength, and damage on ranged weapons scales with Dexterity. This applies to ALL melee and ranged weapons. This is the reason Crossbows have a significant diffirence between the required skill and damage dealt, similarly with Dexterity-based swords.

[blvckgucci]

- be advised that merchants are NPCs who have their own stats, but their stock is not directly their inventory. However, when you open up a merchant's trade window for the first time and close it, next time they will be wearing the best of their stock they can (this point can be unclear, so here's an example: Martin is Paladin's quartermaster and he can sell you some of the weapons he has. The best sword he has in stock is Master Sword [Dex:60, DMG:120, Cost: 2400], but he doesn't have it equipped. When you visit Martin for the first time and look at his stock, don't buy anything and leave, next time you visit him he WILL be wearing the Master Sword, rendering it unavailable for purchase. HOWEVER, this only happens, because Martin as an NPC has 60 or more Dexterity. If he didn't, he would wear next best sword he can)
- some quests are mutually exclusive, be sure to analize the situation before committing to either one

[blvckgucci]

- be advised that the LP cost of learning abilities and skills (Strength, Dexterity, Mana and fighting skills) increase as you progress through it, starting at 1:1 ratio, eventually reaching 5:1 ratio. For this reason be sure save your Goblin Berries, Dragon Roots, related Dexterity and Strength potions, and other items that permanently increase your attributes for later when it's more expensive to learn those abilities
- be sure to invest some serious coin in the best belts, amulets and rings you can find, it will profit you in the long run
- armor upgrades are few and far in between, but they are really worth it. Acquire new armor whenever it's possible