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At the start the cinematics will play. If you don't see any videos, try turning off antialiasing. If that doesn't work, open gothic.ini in the system folder and change scaleVideos to 0. If you install the RAD Video Tools you can also watch the videos directly from the installation directory.

As soon as you begin, the situation will be explained to you by Xardas, the necromancer from the first game who has become a close ally to the hero. He tasks you with taking news of a dragon invasion to the paladins, and retrieving an artifact called the Eye of Innos that will help you defeat them. If you have the Night of the Raven add-on installed he will also explain that the ancient shrines of the gods have been desecrated.

[edit] Tips

• explore the cave by the waterfall on your left after visiting the tower.
• initial monsters for newbies to tackle are: Field Raiders, Wolves and Giant Rats.
• Save your permanent stat gains until later in the game (Goblin Berries, King's Sorrel, magic tablets, etc.); these allow you to boost your skills beyond the normal limits, and with Night of the Raven stat gains end up costing 40 learning points once you near the maximum. When the cost hits 40 it will be hard finding a trainer that will teach you past 90, but a strength above 90 is needed for some weapons.
• Using crossbows relies on strength, while bows use dexterity. If you are going to focus on melee combat with a strength-based character it is much cheaper to invest in crossbow training because you only have to invest in the one attribute.