download vampire the masquerade bloodlines 2 reddit

When I abandoned stealth and subtlety and went in loud, slinging blood missiles around and letting my only concession to pacifism be dialogue checks, I found myself really enjoying its combat despite Bloodlines' sluggish, early 2000s action RPG mechanics. Bloodlines' levels are too cramped, its enemy AI simultaneously too dumb and too unpredictable, for it to be played like a stealth game.

The issue is that while Bloodlines shares a first person perspective and similar commitment to player agency as immersive sims, it's coming at these ideas from a completely different lineage of game design: CRPGs like Fallout or Troika's previous effort, Arcanum. I approached VtMB as I typically approach those sorts of games: opting for perfect, non-lethal stealth. My problem when I booted up Bloodlines for my first playthrough was that I'd heard all these comparisons to immersive sims, especially Deus Ex. These fun Tremere abilities completely changed the game for me. Later thaumaturgy skills include an AoE stun and a highly damaging blood explosion. The skill's progression begins with a blood-based magic missile that, when timed right, has effectively infinite ammo. Thaumaturgy is the in-game representation of that signature Tremere blood magic, and it rips. They get some bonus dialogue options by way of their ‘dominate' special ability, but the real draw is thaumaturgy.

This time around, I opted for clan Tremere, secretive blood-wizards who seek to understand their curse by way of academic study. The big draw for me was that Malks have all of their dialogue completely rewritten in the spirit of Fallout's low-intelligence playthrough, and other characters react accordingly. In Bloodlines' ruleset, they get some special abilities that help with stealth and conversations. My first time through, I went with clan Malkavian, mad prophets whose special insight into the vampire condition sets them apart from their fellow kindred. In Bloodlines, you choose a vampire clan at character creation, which covers a combined race/class role.

Download vampire the masquerade bloodlines 2 reddit