Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura/YMMV: Difference between revisions

** The Black Mountain Clan Mines. It's the only part of the game you can't talk your way around. Moreover, it's filled with rock golems which break most weapons when you attack them and do insane damage compared to what you've been fighting thus far. Any combat-heavy area counts, really, but most of them are placed fairly. The Black Mountain Clan Mines are more notorious because they are a relatively early part of the main quest and because you can't get around doing them.

** To a smaller extent, getting out of the first town can be this for the violence-inclined and/or those without the right build. In order to leave, you have to get past the guys guarding the bridge. Unfortunately, the leader has two half-ogres who will beat your party to death in short order. You get stun grenades early on, but without throwing skill you have to save scum for a solid hit. To get past charitably, you either need a ton of money (more than you're likely to have or want to spend), to sabotage the new bridge being built (which will make the town hate you), or a single skill point in persuasion. You can also cheese the encounter by dropping some railroad spikes next to the thugs. Because they're all using their fists (which do a crapload of damage), the game considers them to be unarmed. That means they will automatically pick up and equip ''any'' weapon on the ground nearby, even if that weapon does far less damage than they'd normally do unarmed. Railroad spikes have a maximum damage of 1. Your team should be able to beat them now. The point is still good, though: without knowing how to take advantage of the game mechanics like that, that's an early-level [[Beef Gate]] that has put a fair number of people off from playing the game any further.

* [[Unfortunate Implications]]: {{spoiler|If gnomes are meant to represent Jews, then what is represented by Half-Ogre Conspiracy?}}

** To be fair, {{spoiler|not everyone in the conspiracy is a gnome, and not every gnome in the gameworld is in the conspiracy. Vollinger, a gnome NPC that joins your party, is pretty repulsed by the conspiracy.}}