Slawbug

Baleful Gold Idol apparently has a hidden -20% hit rate effect while it's in your pack, as a charm.  No idea if it has other effects as well.

If it's like past games it's a 30% chance each turn of dropping the cooldown an extra level.  Which would mean in practice a roughly 50/50 chance of 3 turn cooldowns becoming 2 turns.

The thing is... Jeff didn't live in the Pacific Northwest when the first of these NW corners was created.

Avadon has probably the most similarities to what you describe -- lots of moral ambiguity, multiple ways to complete objectives, a mechanics equivalent, and while it doesn't have canisters, scarabs fulfill a somewhat similar role.  And it has an interface that will feel familiar to you.  It is pretty different in other ways, but you could give the demo a shot and see.

It does actually sound like one of the least destructive endings FWIW.  It's a stalemate siege, but the only deaths come from the Shapers trickling a stream of soldiers to go die fighting the drakons.  Because the Awakened don't try to expand into Shaper territory, the Shapers basically try to block off and ignore the whole region (as we've seen them do elsewhere -- with quarantines and barred islands) rather than putting forth the huge war effort that would be required to defeat them.  And while it's a quiet "siege" the Awakened are more than capable of taking care of their own needs, food, etc., thanks to all the work and resources they took over from Barzahl (in particular) and others.  One can imagine the Sholai finding ways to keep up a trade with the area as well, given all of their goals (both declared and undeclared).

I think Learned Darian was always a woman in the originals.  I'd call that a Mutagen error that Infestation corrected.

The Essence Eater does have a slightly higher base damage per level of damage, since it's 1d3 + 1d2 rather than just 1d5.  But I agree that the Soulblade is the better choice.

That message will actually display if you've done anything to make the Takers hostile, which includes:

- steal NY items from Infested Farmland or Outer Zhass-Uss

- attack Benarii-Uss Entry from the front (coming in from the other Benarii zones doesn't seem to trigger this)

- killed Rhakkus or Easss

 

Could any of those have happened?

Did you read the comments at the beginning of the topic?  It's almost like I wrote it with you in mind 😉

 

"in the Awakened ending, they now explicitly conquer and absorb the resources of the other sects using the Barrier of Winds drakons offensively (!) (firmly putting to rest the argument that they wouldn't have the resources to stand up to the Shapers like the G3 Rebels did)."

Read the ending topic if you think the Awakened don't know how to go on the offensive.

7 hours ago, alhoon said:

Really? Oh, you mean from the achievements? 

 

But it shows me different numbers. 

Pacifist is 0.3% 

Gifts not needed 0.4% (I assume that's solo? No creation - but nothing about having others join you) 

Emerge a legend is 0.3%

Emerge a hero is 0.7% (So, 0.4% for just veteran)

Emerge victorious is 1.5% (so 0.8 for just normal) 

 

I don't understand how it would be showing you different numbers.... I still see the same ones.  Caching issue for one of us?

Anyone can view the numbers on Steam, I was just kicking some discussion off.

I screwed up on my math.  See corrected numbers for Normal/Veteran/Torment.

 

Solo being about as common as Torment makes sense to me.  Solo's not actually obscenely hard, and it's a pretty common approach for people who prefer less time spent on logistics.

"G2 PC who used the hallucination canister"?

 

That said -- nobody in G5 says that your past was primarily in the Drypeak area, just that that's where you were found wandering.  And that would be a long, long time for a supercharged shaper to hang out in Drypeak with the war going on.

 

The class options in G5 pretty solidly rule out any sort of definitive answer, since there's no one character -- including even the G4 PC -- who could have been all 9 options.  Even the G4 PC could only have been 5 out of 9.  But there's lots of people who fit the (extremely vague) things that are said well enough to be one possible answer.  You can pick your class; you can pick your identity -- why not?

The Steam achievement %s are interesting to look at.  While these won't cover all players -- only those dedicated enough to finish the game, and only those playing on Steam -- we currently get

 

2.4% Awakened

2.3% Servants (note, this does not include the non-aligned good ending - I did that first and no medal)

1.5% Takers

1.3% Barzites

 

3.2% Normal, not higher

0.7% Veteran, not higher

1.1% Torment

 

1.0% Solo (never made any creation)

0.6% Pacifist

 

I'm actually surprised that the Pacifist % is even that high, and makes me wonder if there's half a percent of the usual Steam achievement-cheaters in these numbers.

 

But it is interesting that Veteran is higher than Normal.  I think that speaks to the general difficulty level of the game.  Despite this, I've seen remarkably few complaints about difficulty level on Steam, so I guess the names/descriptions for difficulty levels were well chosen!  Whoops, natural 1 on math check.

Outdated works for Rhakkus.  But Easss was always a drakon -- "the first of a newer, deadlier breed of drakons."  

 

Actually this is a widespread issue in the game text.  Pinner's mission also calls the three of them drayks.  Syros's quest text calls Easss a drayk!  Zakary, Pinner, and Macnulty all call Easss a drayk in dialogue, too.

 

I think this can probably be filed under "Beka of Rising."

"The Servants."

"The Takers of the high mountains are working on powerful and dangerous research, led by rogue and rebellious drayks. They are called Rhakkus, Akkat, and Easss. To end the threat, they must be destroyed."

 

It does call them all drayks for some reason, but it also gives their names.  Since Syros is also a Taker leader and a drayk, and Easss is unambiguously a drakon, the names are probably necessary.

Changed.

 

@Randomizer Might want to correct that.

You are valued regardless of canister use.  Canister use does affect whether your peers in shaper training trust you, but not the assignments you're given.

 

Randomizer's atlas says the Servant quest is to kill the 3 drayks.  Is that inaccurate?

The Emerald Chestguard was bonkers good then, it was +2 AP, so you could attack twice every turn.

Kind of a pity that the crafting options aren't more exciting.  Sharon's ring is really the only one of consequence.  Some of the others are OK, but by the time you get the ingredients, you'll likely have something better available.

It uses wine, not amphorae (??), and there is no limit.

There's an interesting consitency to the general direction of travel, and location of the final dungeons/bosses, in Spiderweb games.  Most of the time, you start in the south and/or east, and the endgame stuff is to the north and/or west, and usually the far NW corner.

 

E/A1: Start SE, Grah-Hoth in NW corner.

E/A2: Start NE, Garzahd in NW corner.

E/A3: Start S, Rentar in NW corner.

A4: Start NE, Rentar in NW corner.

G1: Start SW, Geneforge in NE corner.

G2: Start SE, Geneforge in NW corner (Ghaldring even in NW corner of NW corner).

G3: Start E, Akhari Blaze in W end.

G4: Start SE, Northforge Citadel in NE.

QW2: Start SE, final fight in NW corner.

 

This doesn't apply so well to Nethergate, Avadon, Queen's Wish, or to A5/A6, which are all less definite geographically.  But I think G5 is the only game that really goes against it entirely, where you start in the NW and travel largely south.

Changes from Original G2:

- No changes in ending criteria.  The endings are mostly the same, but there are some small changes.

- For example, in the Awakened ending, they now explicitly conquer and absorb the resources of the other sects using the Barrier of Winds drakons offensively (!) (firmly putting to rest the argument that they wouldn't have the resources to stand up to the Shapers like the G3 Rebels did).

- There are two new minor variations that are not ending dependent, for the hallucination canister in Rising, and for the Sholai (who begin to practice shaping in their lands, if you helped them).

- That last one is really smelling relevant to the G3 remake IMO.  I fully expect a Sholai pathway in G3, kind of like the Trakovite pathway in G4 -- not a full-fledged faction for most of the game, but a way to end the game differently.

- The Servant and Non-Aligned endings have significant text overlap, but the criteria to reach them are completely exclusive.

- Apparently Syros being alive or dead makes no difference to anything.

 

Minor Variations in All Endings:

- Canister use (0-9 / 10+)

- Shanti (did not learn she died / did not find her killer / found but left him alive / avenged her)

- Zakary (did not meet / did not kill / killed)

- Barzahl (did not kill / killed)

- Hallucination canister (if used)

- Sholai (killed / did not help / helped)

 

The one requirement for actually leaving the valley is having met Barzahl, so that is a given in every ending, even the bad one.

 

 

MAJOR ENDING 1: PC HAS NO INFLUENCE

 

Criteria: Don't qualify for any other ending, i.e., give up and leave.

 

Part 1:

The council distrusts you and jails you, before you are ultimately executed.  (heavy canister use)

The council distrusts you and jails you.  (low canister use, joined non-servant faction)

The council distrusts you, but sends you back to your training, where you are also distrusted.  (low canister use, did not join non-servant faction)

 

Part 2:

The Awakened are crushed by the Takers (and the Barzites, if you didn't kill Barzahl).  The Shapers seize Drypeak, executing Zakary if he is alive, but hostile rogues from the surviving faction(s) swarm out from the Valley and a long war begins.

 

Minor Variations:

- Which faction you joined (if any)

- If you slew Taker leaders

- If you slew Barzahl

 

 

MAJOR ENDING 2: NON-ALIGNED VICTORY

 

Criteria: Kill Barzahl and Rhakkus, Akkat, and Easss.  Not aligned with the Servants or the Awakened.  (If you kill both threats but are aligned with one of those factions, yet don't complete their quests, you will get ending 1 instead.)  (You do not have to kill Zakary or Pinner for this ending.)

 

The Council is impressed with your actions and returns you to your training. Shaper Troops take over Drypeak, and destroy Medab and Rising. Any faction leaders remaining there are all executed. The remaining Takers flee. You become a powerful, trusted, and valued Shaper.

 

Minor Variations:

- Canister use

- If you slew Zakary

- If you slew Learned Pinner

 

 

MAJOR ENDING 3: SERVANT VICTORY

 

Criteria: Aligned with Servants + complete their quest chain (which requires killing Rhakkus, Akkat, and Easss).

 

The Council is impressed with your actions and returns you to your training, though not before you defend Zakary. He is executed anyway. Shaper Troops take over Drypeak, and destroy Medab and Rising. Any faction leaders remaining there are all executed. The remaining Takers flee. You become a powerful, trusted, and valued Shaper.

 

Minor Variations:

- Canister use

- If you slew Learned Pinner

- If you slew Barzahl

 

 

MAJOR ENDING 4: AWAKENED VICTORY

 

Criteria: Aligned with Awakened + complete their quest chain (which requires killing Rhakkus, Akkat, and Easss).

 

The Council puts you in jail and executes Zakary if he is alive. The Awakened activate the Barrier of the Winds, and send the drakons to defeat Rising. Barzahl is dies if he is alive. The remaining Takers flee. The Awakened absorb the resources of both defeated sects, obtain victories over the Shapers and arrange a prisoner exchange for you. You spend the rest of your life fighting for the Awakened. Apparently it's a stalemate, as the Awakened don't bring the war beyond the mountains, but the Shapers continue to send warriors to fruitless deaths fighting drakons.

 

Minor Variations:

- Canister use

- If you slew Zakary

- If you slew Barzahl

 

 

MAJOR ENDING 5: BARZITE VICTORY

 

Criteria: Aligned with Barzites + complete their quest chain (which requires killing Zakary).

 

The Council puts you in jail. Medab surrenders to the Barzites. The remaining Takers flee. Barzahl absorbs the resources of the Awakened, obtains victories over the Shapers and arranges a prisoner exchange for you. The war continues for years and years, while you partake of increasingly powerful modifications and augmentations, eventually becoming an inhuman "God."

 

Minor Variations:

- Canister use

- If you slew Learned Pinner

 

 

MAJOR ENDING 6: TAKER VICTORY

 

Criteria: Aligned with Takers + complete their quest chain (which requires killing at least one of Zakary, Barzahl, and Pinner).

 

The Council puts you in jail and plans a military campaign, but too late. The Takers crush Medab, Rising, and Drypeak in sequence, absorbing their resources and killing any surviving leaders. (Barzahl, they eat!) The Takers obtain victories over the Shapers and arrange a prisoner exchange for you. You spend the rest of your life researching new destructive powers for the Takers, isolated from other humans.

 

Minor Variations:

- Canister use

- If you slew Zakary

- If you slew Learned Pinner

- If you slew Barzahl

 

Also, ending 6 is the only ending that explains that the thing behind the locked door in the Taker warrens is "the final creation of Easss."

All tier 4 creations have it -- just like they did in OG Geneforge, so not really a surprise.