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A Shock Trooping Guide for Shock Troopers[G5]


Acky

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The Shock Trooper is a strong, classy lady. She's a tough Shaper that exchanges magic with weapons. Unlike the Shaper, she can charge into the thicket of battles and come out with only a few scratches. Like the Shaper, she will be relying on creations to do most of the front-end fighting for her.

 

There are two main variations of the Shock Trooper. The first is a Melee fighter that spends more of the time with her creations. Like the Warrior, she will need a fair amount of Strength, Melee Weapons, and Quick Action. 8-9 is a good target for Strength if your willing to push it, but you can get away with 6 if you would rather put those points in something else. If you need to drop a piece of armor to avoid putting more points in Strength, drop the Shield. It's weight/benefits ratio is pretty bad. For Melee Weapons, get about 8 or 10 if your willing to push it so you can give everything a firm jab. For Quick Action, about 10 will give you a solid 50% to get a second chance, so that's a fair target, but again, you can get away with 8. Using Sods Dancing Pants you get from killing the servile bandit lady in Bonepeak will help a lot. As for weapons, the Stunning Blade or the Steel Broadsword from the Bandit in the Whitespires Inn at first, and then you should improve as you go. Inevidably, you'll want to the Puresteel Blade for it's massive damage multiplier. Altered with a Golden Crystal will make it oh so much more dangerous. A Melee user can be harder to do, but is still entirely playable.

 

The second is a Missile user. Unlike the Melee user, a Missile User will have to stay in the back more often. Dexterity and Missile Weapons are what you'll need to decimate your foes from the back. You'll still need some Strength to wear heavier armor. About 12 for Missile Weapons will allow you to defeat most enemies, even on Torment. If your willing to be stealthy, you can slip into Gorash-Kel and get the Farsight Breastplate from the body in the northeast corner of the fortress (not the patchwork/podling nest). The +3 to missile weapons will give you a lovely boost so early in the game, and will let you forgo pumping Missile Weapons for a while. I kept mine for an entire game I fell in love with it so much. Dexterity should be pumped very high, in the 14ish area, to give you an extremely amazing Missile attack. Rely on Javelins for the Whitespires, and then switch over to Venom Batons, then Acid Batons, then Submission Batons, finally to your beloved Reaper Baton. You will be able to one shot most opponents on lower difficulties, and give everything else a thorn in their hide on higher difficulties. You can harvest Reaper thorns in the Lethia Gate area. It'll make the Shaper there hostile, but its definitely worth it.

 

Both of these builds will benefit from having some Healing Magic. Plus, its really cheap for you. I brought it up to 10, 15 with items and charms. This pretty much let me keep my creations in good health no matter what was hitting them.

 

To have a strong character, you'll have to accept a slightly smaller horde than a Shaper might have, but its worth it. Bringing Intelligence to 15 to a great mark. This will give you enough essence to make a large amount of monsters while still having a powerful character. Bringing it to 20 like a Shaper would will leave you with a weaker character. Either choice will leave you with a satisfying character/party. Endurance should be also given some love. 6 is a good target, although Melee users should get about 9. You'll get access to items to increase these, so don't worry much more about increasing them past what was advised.

 

As for Shaping Skill, Battle Creations are excellent, while Magic and Fire Creations are fair. Majoring in one aspect and then minoring in another is a great idea. Battle Creation are cheap and pack a punch. Fire Creations offer every damage type you can attack with, save acid and Physical (the melee attack isn't the best). Magic Creations offer powerful attacks and tend to be excellent companions with Battle Creations. Basically, mix it around for maximum effect. Clawbugs and Vlish for early in the game are great. Rotdhizons and War Tralls are a match made in heaven; War Tralls stay in the back and pelt enemies with rocks while Rotdhizons apply acid damage and run down their enemies, nailing two attacks almost all of the time.

 

Now for the artifacts. What and why.

 

For the boots, anyone can tell you that the Assassins Boots are the real winner, and a must-have, even to missile Shock Troopers, who would be tempted to get the Dreadnought Boots for the boost to Missile Weapons. Getting to act twice in one round is more important then ever now. It can make so many fights much easier, and will make the difference between life and death most of the time.

 

Getting the Firesteel Gauntlets for the blessing magic is a great idea, although the Lifecrafter Gauntlets will make your creations much stronger. If you want a blend of the two, go for the Gauntlets of Mastery. The Firesteel Gauntlets, however, are probably the best choice. It'll make your buffs last a very long time, plus give you access to Acid Shower, which is a great spell to lace an entire area with. You will, however, have to wait until near the end of the game to get it.

 

While most would go for the Girdle of Victory, you should really go for the Lifebringer Girdle for the boost to Healing Craft and the boost to your Shaping skills. This will bring up your healing abilities dramatically while still giving some love to any newly-made creations.

 

The Black Iron Greaves are the best fit for any Shock Trooper, admitting more to the Melee user then the Missile User. The Spellcraft will further boost your healing and blessing capabilities. The Parry won't be of much use, but the Quick Action certainly will.

 

Never sell any creation parts or gemstones. Use these to make new wands and Crystals. They are pretty plentiful, so you can safely rely on them.

 

The Shock Trooper should never go into battle alone. She is not a Servile or Warrior. She lacks the defensive capabilities. She should always have a few creations with her to back her up in a fight.

 

The Great Archon

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This is a great guide to shock troopers. It makes me want to go play as one, as I've been meaning to try to replay G5 as a battle creation user, and the shaper has gotten boring to use, as I used him on my last playthrough.

 

This is off-topic, but when are you (if you are) going to make a guide to magical creations? Your other two were really helpful.

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http://www.ironycentral.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=118731#Post118731

 

^ The Great Delicious Vlishs' Shaper Guide.

 

Before I go back and start making guides for things that already have them, if I even should, I would rather finish up making a guide to Agents/Infiltrators and a guide to Magic Creations.

 

The Great Archon

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