mikeprichard

True, Random! From the above, there are more than enough canisters in the game to use 16 on the character to max the Essence Eater and reserve an additional 10 to max the Purifying Blade, with only the latter 10 not providing their skill/spells to the character. I now plan not to rely on either weapon, but it's good to have options.

Very good - nice to get confirmation from the veterans! I'll aim for the Soulblade together with the melee-upgraded Annulet, but will probably keep the Purifying Blade on the side (absorbing high-tier Battle/Mental Magic spell canisters, as I won't use those spells as a Guardian) for kicks.

Ah, I was exactly planning to use the Annulet melee upgrade together with the Eater, and didn't realize I can get it "early" by separately dueling Stannis - good info! Probably will go with the Puresteel Soulblade - I'm getting at least 10 Melee anyway, and not fussing with canisters while getting 15% Lifedrain is nice.

Thanks! I was planning on the Guardian Claymore for RP and more STR (recognizing it's only 5% bonus damage per point) / Quick Action bonuses, but the Essence Eater - particularly given how easy it is to naturally max without reserving canisters, the fact that it does both physical and energy damage with a fairly tasty combined potential total, and the +1 STR / +2 Melee Weapons bonuses vs. the Purifying Blade's lack of stat/skill bonuses (at least according to the Atlas) - looks like the endgame winner to me. Still, I'll probably end up maxing the Purifying Blade anyway to have it around for energy damage-resistant enemies (though I'm not sure how many of those there are later), as well as the period before I accidentally kill everyone in Rising to "obtain" the Essence Eater from Guardian Stanis. Extremely useful info; as always, much appreciated.

Nice, and thanks again - so if I at least leave 10 (not 12 per the Atlas) canisters unused, it sounds like I won't risk missing out on anything with either weapon (the Essence Eater bonus only requiring that I've used at least 16 canisters throughout the game, which I'm sure I'll hit regardless), and can keep my options open. I would be quite interested in the exact maxed damage output range of both weapons at character level 20, as well as the range for the Puresteel Soulblade, but I can eventually test that myself if needed.

Oh, I hadn't considered the Essence Eater or Soulblade, since without specific damage stats in the Atlas/elsewhere that I found, they didn't jump out. So, another few questions comparing the Purifying Blade and Essence Eater: 1) Both the Purifying Blade and Essence Eater improve based on canister use, but what's the exact mechanism? From my read of the Atlas descriptions, I think the Purifying Blade requires you to let the blade absorb up to 12 canisters (preventing you from using the canisters for their standard stat/spell/skill boosts), while the Essence Eater simply increments based on your personal canister use count. Is this correct? 2) Will I gimp the damage on either/both of these weapons if I get them too late and don't leave enough unused canisters lying around, and/or if the canister usage count incrementing the Essence Eater (if that's how it works) only starts after the weapon is obtained? 3) The Purifying Blade maxes out at 12 canisters; does the Essence Eater have a limit in this respect, and if so, what's the cap? Thanks for Mech's/others' patience with the questions and the great info!

Yeah, I did a test using "healmenow" to run past the spinecores just to look at the Gamma and his dudes, but I think that battle (again, only playing on Normal) might be easier than the plants if I lure them back to ol' Sharon... or not. I'm still too weak to root out the plants and turret, though.

I was initially planning to get the Guardian Claymore for my Guardian run (both for RP and +STR/Quick Action purposes), but I see the Purifying Blade can gain 2 damage levels up to 12 times at the cost of sacrificing 12 canisters (not a big deal IMO to sacrifice certain "useless" spell/creation canisters - looking at you, Cockatrice and Ornk...). But this seems insanely OP, if I'm interpreting correctly - i.e., an additional 24 damage dice added to the standard damage progression based on character level! Or is it the case that the blade starts out ridiculously weak to compensate for this massive potential damage boost? I haven't even got the base blade yet, so I'm probably jumping to conclusions, but any explanations would be appreciated.

Thanks, Mech - was looking through the Atlas and coming to the same conclusion. Working my way towards Phariton's joint now.

OK, got through the first three at level 11 with some cheese tactics (luring enemies back to Sharon... lol), but holy moly, those spinecores. Will need to return at a higher level. I just want that Leadership/Mechanics ring.

Exactly - my OG G2 notes had the Emerald Chestguard as my endgame Guardian equip; no contest there. No such guaranteed double-attack tricks in the remake.

Agreed - I think it was like this in OG G2 as well. I don't plan to use any crafted equipment on my Guardian toon by endgame, except maybe the Slayer's Chestguard.

Thanks, and yep, I was assuming amphorae from the original... but of course I've also sold/"sampled" all wine so far (dah). Cheers!

Amazing. Minor point: based on other discussions, I think for the Non-Aligned Victory, "Not aligned with the Loyalists or the Awakened." should instead be "Not aligned with the Servants or the Awakened.", to use the in-game joinable faction terminology. (This area has caused a lot of confusion with other players, as I've noticed on the Steam discussions!)

Will Learned Versa make you more than one Restoration Pod, and if so, does the recipe involve Amphorae (not technically "wine" (bottles) as noted in the atlas)? If it is possible to make more than one, and it does use amphorae, guess it would be very useful to keep a few - I've sold all but one of the amphorae I've found so far...

Thanks, Amira - added!

The first experimental creations had even more HP during the beta? Cah-razy.

Good to know. I didn't expect such crazy HP numbers even on Normal difficulty, as Jeff seems in recent games to have toned down enemy HP bloat in favor of providing challenge instead through AI/tactics, but if it all washes later given player damage output, I guess it's mostly moot. I'm too early to judge in any case. Thanks for the insight!

Thanks for confirming, but... yowza. Each one of these bois should be their own faction. Of course, my guardian MC is still a level 7 scrub playing without creations (for now), so I'm sure at least the first few challenges won't be impossible later on, but the HP on the very first one caught me off guard.

I'm playing on Normal, and the first critter of five (the Experimental Cryoa) is level 12 with 1142 HP (!!!). I know this quest isn't meant to be done right away, but is this what others are seeing? If so... what is she feeding these things? Maybe I don't want to know...

(ninja'd by iguana lol)

OK! I just edited my post with a couple more suggestions for you to consider and of course either incorporate/ignore as you see fit. Thanks for the info - Strategy Central's really bulking up quick.

I may be off here, but should the formula instead be "Lock Level / (Mechanics + 1)"? E.g., with Mechanics 9, to open lock level 12, you'd need 12 / (9 + 1) = 1.2, rounded down = 1 living tool. The reverse ("(Mechanics + 1) / Lock Level") would instead return a fraction less than 1 (i.e., 0 living tools rounded down) in most reasonable cases, which I think isn't correct. Since your post is linked in Strategy Central, a couple suggestions (take or leave): 1) Maybe change all references to "door" to the more broadly applicable "lock" (for doors, containers, levers, machines, etc. - although what about traps? ugh). 2) It may be helpful to note that using 0 living tools is also possible depending on Mechanics and lock level values - perhaps through one more list of examples using lock level 5, a range common in the early zones and one where many players will be able to use 0 tools.

Ohhh... I either forgot or never knew about such a bug with "backtostart". So no idea here. But I just created a clean new topic for Strategy Central use which I can edit as/if needed.

To input any of the below codes, type "Shift-D", then enter the code in the pop-up window. The below should be the complete list, but I'll edit this post if any additions are confirmed. Character-related codes: retrain - Removes and refunds all of your manually invested skill points; does not remove or refund skill points obtained through canisters/quests/books/other means. rechargeme - Recharges your essence and energy. healmenow - Heals your group. shieldsup - Blesses your group with "Blessed", "Shielded", and "Hasted" statuses. iamweak - Gives you experience points, with 750 points awarded at character levels 1-15, and progressively fewer points awarded at levels greater than 15. iampoor - Gives you 500 coins. igotarock - Gives you a rock. UI/display/location-related codes: fps - Toggles the FPS meter in the top-left corner of the screen. showmeall - Displays all NPCs/creatures as color-coded dots on the local map; red = hostile, green = friendly/neutral. dontshowmeall - Stops displaying all NPCs/creatures as color-coded dots on the local map. location / whereami (two separate codes with identical results) - Displays the number/name of your current zone and your main character's X/Y location coordinates in that zone. backtostart - Transports you out of your current zone and returns you to the game's starting location in the Drypeak Ascent zone. clearthisarea - Makes the current zone green/cleared on the world map. Reputation/faction-related codes: (Note: your current shaper/servile reputation value is viewable in the in-game text console using the cheat code "gsdf 100 0" - omit the quotes. A value of 100 (the game's starting value) is neutral, > 100 is pro-shaper, and < 100 is pro-servile.) ihateserviles - Changes your reputation to 120 (strongly pro-shaper), making it possible to join the Barzite or Servant factions. iloveserviles - Changes your reputation to 80 (strongly pro-servile), making it possible to join the Awakened or Taker factions. clearallsects - Removes your current membership in the Barzite, Servant, Awakened, or Taker factions, allowing you to again join any of the four factions if you meet the faction's relevant prerequisites. forgiveme - Makes all of the zones in the game forget your crimes, with the effects fully triggered after you travel to a different zone. If you were hated anywhere, you won’t be anymore. However, note that certain crimes (stealing artifacts, killing major characters) won’t be forgotten.