alhoon

What are the summoned soul jars? Also, if I am close to Teriel he uses some weird attack and deals a bunch of damage to me. But I will do what you suggest and I will revisit once I am 16 level. But I wanted that +1 essence mastery. I have killed the Bound One before finding out that quest, so I have to kill that guy now to get that sweet, sweet +1 essence mastery.

Infernal Teriel: I am 14 level, I have 2 drakons at level 20, 2 Drayks at level 19, 1 Fyora at level 18 and Xander at level 15 with boosted intelligence and spells (+2). I am playing on normal. Aspect of Chaos was a breeze. Teriel? Teriel cuts through half my party in the first round and heals for whatever minor damage I did to him. I presented the Baton. How on earth can I beat that dude? I am not even sure I can turn to easy and win.

What?!? Where did you learn that? Also... THAT is the kind of safeguard that the Shapers need. You try to make a Geneforge? you blow up. Not wait for an Agent to find you, survive and return to the Council.

I spoke with the Emissary about Tuldaric's Infernal. I was half-right. Tuldaric did not summon the Infernal. He found it and trapped it. Why he hasn't send it back? The Emissary doesn't know. Considering that Tuldaric is weeeell gone I am not sure Tuldaric even remembers why he didn't banish the Infernal in the first place. When I talk to him about the Infernal, he says stuff like "I will soon break its will" as if it is possible to "tame" an Infernal...

Not too powerful. At least, not powerful enough for me to wipe the floor with them. Also, the Takers had no issue with how powerful humans could be. They say so in GF4 and GF5. I think the main issue is that you don't have Danette anymore. Taygen, for all his evil, could perhaps make a better Geneforge. The ones the humans and even the Drakons made, are weaker. IIRC the GF4 geneforge didn't even need gloves. The one the Takers have in GF2 is also weaker than subsequent ones.

Not entirely true. Jarred and Shaila got a lot of mileage out of it; it is for game balance reasons only, I think, that the player gets just what he or she does. I would also point out that while "limited" in the sense you don't get a +8 to all stats it does give you actual Shaper knowledge; you can study books and all and do research. I.e. you are not like the Barzhite Can-Shapers or What's-his-name in 2nd island of GF3 that can do just the tricks the was Shaped to do.

SPOILERS FOR GENEFORGE 5!!!!

Keep in mind that this will affect the robes of every Shaper in the game.

Hyperion, to my understanding, speaks of something very different: Finish the quests like a normal person and then once you're an amazing level with quest-equipment and rewards, training and all, go all Litalia and purge everything on the mountains except Ghaldring.

Actually, there is Rook. The Shapers weren't as thorough as they thought. That said, their leader also assured me that they are people-loving explorers that love to learn languages and strange customs. Not conquerors. Nooope. I am pretty sure they dominated their own lands and continent with smiles and by learning languages. And they put Cannons on their ships that killed my poor boat-Drayk for cultural reasons. It is also clear their 18th level warriors got to that level of training, able to take probably an Alpha one-on-one, just by practice, not by experience. And they practiced the way some cultures practice their ceremonial fighting (and I include the Texans in that group, just so you know). They also have a strange custom in apparently, not telling where their main base is. Nothing sinister could ever come from that.

Actually, it is very common and quite popular; parties use it to get votes all the time. The French and the English, the entire Balkan area, the Middle East, the USA and the British Empire, the Natives and the Colonizing nations which is arguably the most relevant here. I didn't mean that; I meant they burned the books of magic they didn't like, forbid the practices, dismantled the social structures that propagated those practices, executed or defeated in battle leaders that didn't bend the knee and severely punished those that tried to continue them. You know... cultural genocide. To avoid rubbing salt on wounds as I don't know where everyone is from, and despite what you said blaming nations for what they did long ago is very easy and very popular, I will go with the Roman Empire and the Carthaginians. The Romans forbid the speaking of the Carthaginian language, burned the city to the ground and poisoned the wells, destroyed records and books in their language, and more or less did everything they could to eradicate the Phoenician heritage. The did go way further than the Shapers, considering that "forbade speaking the language" included cutting off the tongues of every Carthaginian they captured before turning them to slaves. But you can find more recent examples that are much closer to what the Shapers did, which I am not willing to bring up as some such practices were continued till 50 years ago. We are told that at least twice in GF2-I alone. Next time I see it I will put it here again. And yes, I understand that is probably a hyperbole and it is probably more complex... as far as GF2 goes. Because in GF3, in the 3rd island, Lord Rhaul's island, I forget the name, we have an entire school of Common magic - similar to the Magus complex but legal, where the headmaster is sweating and near-panic because you, an apprentice that have not yet been officially out of school, can turn down the entire school with a word. And the wording of that sentence is very similar to what I just said; I do remember the "with a word" part. But to get back to GF2-I, we are told that in a couple of cases. I'll grab it from the codex. Everything they do, is subject to approval. The rule is light but firm; that means, if Shapers do not approve, that something vanishes - whether it is a hierarchy, a guild, a company or, if we believe the wording, a city. I admit I don't think that Shapers would simply allow one of their own with a sore tooth to say "I need the land of City813 for my lab. Clear the grounds from houses and people within 2 weeks." but the local Shaper lord (not the Province boss, even a lower one) could very well say "We decided to put a fort / lab in the place where town1741 is because it is close to resources we need but distant enough in case things go bad; half the buildings would be commandeered by the Shapers and repurposed. The Common will be given reimbursement for their loss of property elsewhere, but they have to go elsewhere. Oh, I heard there is a nice guy called Shaper Zackary that promises his Drypeak Colony will succeed and is looking for people, in case you are interested. " You said it: They have a lot of agency. Not in how to punish people, but in what to do within the law. Including research. A Shaper has extreme leeway into what to research despite very constant reminders that their mistakes cause severe problems. The Shaper Law includes things like "Make your research facility underground." and "Be ready to seal it and run." and "If you mess up, you will be punished!!!!" What it very evidently and pointedly does not have is oversight. Zackary and Barzhal were allowed to do whatever the heck they pleased up there without oversight, and it was 10+ years till the Council decided to send one Agent to check. There are a ton of security laws and procedures to deal with the problems, but not an oversight committee to avoid the problems. In our research programs, we are sending reports every six months, but we also have deliverables and some oversight and if we fall behind there is an inspection. And our research is in mathematics not bioengineering. I bet you all the money in my pockets that big Pharma companies and the governments have inspectors, they don't just trust their research teams to follow the procedures. And a Pharma can do a lot of damage with a defective product but less than a Shaper. And I mean a mid-rank Shaper with a couple of assistants and an apprentice. The Shapers, in their arrogance fail in one of the most basic things of research: OVERSIGHT. A Shaper can put up a lab and start any research project within the Shaper Law and nobody would bother him or her. "I am making peaches with higher self life! And I take great care so that they won't be released till they are ready. " is perfectly acceptable as a "research project" and we are shown evidence that the Council won't even bother to look into what the guy is doing with the resources he commandeers from nearby farms and mines. Did he really took all necessary safety precautions and does he follow all necessary safety procedures so that warped peaches won't become an invasive species? Nobody cares to check. Is he making peaches with higher self life, or is he making Drakons? Nobody cares to check. If his mutated peaches escape his lab and become an invasive species, he will be severely punished. If he makes Drakons, he will be executed. There are very clear and well practiced and rehearsed safety procedures for the peaches to not escape. There are very strict laws to prohibit making of Drakons and controls and regulations so that the equipment necessary to make Drakons is controlled. But there is no oversight they are followed. The Shapers place too much faith on other Shapers. They place too much effort to make sure that the tiny few that become Shapers are loyal and too little in ensuring those that are Shapers don't make mistakes. A committee of 4-8 Shapers that periodically checks and evaluates a region's projects and the safety of their labs is not that hard. The Big Pharma companies manage. The various governments manage. The Shapers could manage too. And since Shapers are very loyal, those inspectors would be very hard to bribe. And since those inspectors are like Shanti, they are hard to kill too. BY SHAPERS! I doubt you will find many Drayks, Drakons or Gazers that would say that.

Well, I have one with Xander to get him to level 15 and fix his double-searer issue + a small quest to make him a little more powerful with spells. I plan to make one more where you convince Tuldaric to Zap one of your Drayks so that it can learn more magic, and then have the mages in the complex offer paths for the Drayk.

The reasons are obvious. It is an act of the Goddess Bu'Ug. The whims of this goddess are capricious. Sometimes she helps. Sometimes she hinders. In a thankfully few cases she completely crashes the world. But fear not! There is a remedy. You could email the other Divines that look over this world and do their best to undo the damage Bu'Ug is doing. The secret ritual you require to contact those divines includes sending an email to support@spiderwebsoftware.com

Intriguing...

I had the exact same question when the demo was out. In fact, I was afraid thanks to a mis-install in a different computer that I would lose my saves, but they were all there. As for the "One Branch only". It really helps. BUT it is not the end-all. This game allows you to be suboptimal. It is not a "puzzle" game where you have to pick the right things. I think even in the highest difficulty, there is leeway to do a few non-perfect things. Sure, some fights will be difficult ... but for the most part you can do them later! Very few are the encounters that you need to do before you can go somewhere else.

If it damages the Shapers I am for it. The issue is... does it damages the Shapers or it makes different kind of Shapers? The GF1-M Sholai were something between the Takers and the Barzhites

There are more than one new questlines, so I can't be sure which one he means.

I was not aware of the inclusion of that quest. What do I lose? EDIT: Is THAT what I lose? Healing craft which I really like? Oh, come on! Thank God I didn't go to finish Tuldaric's friend beforehand.

I met... an infernal. One that has, for a change, not being summoned by a Shaper but decided to simply show up to hunt other infernals. However, I have already beaten the Bound One, before she gave me that stick of hers. Did I lose part of the quest?

Awesome loot and dangerous monsters and/or gases and substances and if the Shapers catch you with some of that loot, they kill you. Haven't reached that part of the endings yet, but ... doesn't one of them snap at the end?

And those are very big issues, because: - They are willing to break too many eggs - Geneforge. In fact we know from GF4 and GF5 that the Drakons don't bring total obliteration, that there are more moderate voices in there and that those voices can eventually win. We do not know that in GF2. We don't know what the factions that survive the coming war will believe and how their beliefs would morph. We don't know yet whether 10 years down the road the Drakons, mad from the Geneforge, would decide humans (common or shaper) should not exist. And it is a chance I am increasingly willing to Take. It is just that I like the Awakened much much more, although I don't think they have a real shot to win. Sure, they may get their stalemate and they may (although I really doubt it) eventually become free from the Shapers albeit in a cold war, rogue nation kind of state, freeing a few serviles here and there from the Shaper lands. But that is not the victory I want; that leaves the Shaper Empire as it is, with just a few mountains less. It leaves Millions of serviles as slaves. It leaves the crimes of the Shapers unpunished. In our world, if a computer scientist trying to make a new antivirus releases a bugged program that burns the company's main-frame and a few dozen terminals, he would be brought to justice for his mistake, paying fines and losing his job. A doctor that does a serious error and kills a patience will lose his license and may go to jail. Shapers would simply board up the facility, put a "do not enter" outside and send a guardian every 10 years to clean whatever mess escapes from there.

I met a bunch of Sholai camped out of a mine. Seemed all nice, explorers and peaceful. Then, I check their warriors and they are beasts-of-war of 18th level. So, apparently the Sholai in Sucia were already well-trained warriors before they got cannistered. For a peaceful expedition, they do have a lot of highly skilled guards. Then, I find from Rook the Servile that theorizes Takers kill Inutile (I hope not) that the Sholai from Sucia managed to escape despite them having no ship, probably by repairing their ship before the Shapers arrived in force after you eliminate Trakjov. And they brought Rook with them. And their nice and polite and awestruck boss doesn't tell me where the main camp is and where their captain is. 😑 If Lying Zackary the Deceiver taught me something is to be suspicious of strangers that evade answers and give platitudes. Yu-La: "I wanted to trade with you and learn your language" Really Yu-La? Cause I found very very few Sholai willing to trade with me if I was not a Taker. In fact, they were positively unfriendly... Trading with rogue Drayks and Taker Serviles is not the same as want to trade with Shapers. The Sholai really misinterpret the situation. Those are not rose-tinted glasses, that is downright hilarious misdirection. And a puresteel bar. She has a Puresteel bar for sale.

What I see is: "Were allowed to exist in some minor form." Those that the Shapers considered to have value for them. As for Empires and assimilation of conquered people, that's not entirely true. A great many empires did or attempt to do Assimilation or in some cases, cultural genocide. Others did not. The British held India from 1773 to 1947 and while they are far from perfect, they move against the great many and diverse Indian cultures at least not as long as those cultures and their practices were not in open opposition. In the Americas and parts of Australia, the British did do cultural genocide. In Latin America, the Spanish assimilated the locals but many of the local traditions, cultures and even languages remain despite being under the influence of the Spanish Empire for centuries. What we are shown here and in GF5, is that the Shapers kinda like the USSR, actively try to impose a monoculture and bring assimilation and in some cases (like the evil ghost-king in GF5 or actually in those tombs in GF2) they eradicated the culture by killing everyone. And the Assimilation didn't "happen"; it was forced. Those that were not completely absorbed were allowed to exist. Something that may change if a Shaper wakes up cranky one day and decides they had had enough of those weirdo crystal-mages.

The Power corrupts thing: It hits me in this game more than other GF games. I mean, my own corruption thanks to power. After I found the super-awesome Shaper Robes from Sharon's closet (she wears hers, those are totally spare that she can live without), my Drakons are 20th level and my Drayks are 19th level. I walked into Gerth. I saw the turrets. I saw the "stupid, obeying Serviles" and "return to the Norm". I checked levels of guards and turrets and I can wipe the place clean. I am struggling to not do just that, say "Screw it" to the story and my mission to find and sabotage the Radiant College (which should certainly be much harder to purge than Geth, so I have to be diplomatic) and start killing Barzhite soldiers, turrets and creations with abandon. I have to think of aaaaall the loot I have in my pockets that I need merchants with money to sell. Of the seer pleasure of turning Barzhal's machinery to scrap metal so that the Creations raise up. I have to think that the Obeyer Serviles will be caught in the crossfire even though they did nothing wrong. But man, I am itching to go out and start killing Shapers and Barzhites. I have had it with their ways. Every zone is a horrible reminder that they should be torn to pieces and we should wage a serious war against them. I swear if I had the option, I would throw an Unbound on Gerth and let it eat everything. ... Perhaps I need to rethink my faction affiliation. I strongly dislike the Takers for how they treat those that disagree with them - and I am pretty much the same when it comes to Shapers / Barzhites. I dislike the Takers but I hate the Shapers / Barzhites. I will have to hear what Syros has to say... I am conflicted. EDIT: Oh, I am not allowed to trade in Gerth... buddies, your usefulness is severely reduced.

Could it be that the few Obeying Obeyers stayed with the Barzhites?