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G2 shaper (shapers in general)


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Ok, so I finished G3 with a shaper. Only focused on one shaping skill-- fire shaping. Game is done. Had a great time. 

 

I recently tried out some G2. Went with both fire and battle shaping. I did both fire and battle shaping quite some time ago in G1 and don't recall it being too hard to do. Doesn't seem the same in G2. Have just gotten up to Medab and now feel like I've got a gimped character. The cost for both create roamer and create clawbug are so sky high it costs my life savings just to get one of them. I got create roamer. I fear that by the time I can afford create clawbug it'll be outdated or close. The Thahd just doesn't cut it anymore in the areas around Medab. Getting hit with that instant burn out feeling, thinking I just wasted a day playing the game.

 

Why such a huge cost for what feels like badly needed skills? All the guardian has to do is look in a clay pot somewhere for his next shield.  But, anyway. Also, I'm unaligned. I have not joined a faction yet because I fear I'll lose access to some needed (or much desired) shaping skills down the line. I'd like to be a shaper loyalist (too many 'hero' games out there and it's nice to be semi tyrannical for a bit). 

 

But, yeah, main question is does it work if I only focus on fire shaping with my shaper in all Geneforge games? Did it in G3 and it was great. Would sure be nice to mix it up with both melee and ranged creations. But, if focusing on two shaping skills is going to gimp you then I'll stick to one. 

 

Edited by FrenchFries
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Most trainers have ridiculously high prices if you're unaligned, but offer a discount if you're aligned with their faction (there are a couple of exceptions). Even then, though, training is not cheap and you should only invest in the skills you really want.

It probably is best to focus on just one line of Shaping, especially if it's Fire. I could see Battle and Magic relying on each other somewhat for support: Magic creations are squishy and sometimes run out of energy, Battle creations can't attack at range and don't have much variety in attack types. Fire costs a bit more than either one of those in both skill points and training costs, but it's a more well-rounded family. Just the Fyora and its upgrade, Cryoa, covers fire and ice at range, and they can still attack in melee if needed.

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But, yeah, main question is does it work if I only focus on fire shaping with my shaper in all Geneforge games?

 

That's how I played G2 through G5, and yes, it does work, even on torment.  I was slightly handicapped because I refused to use canisters and always aligned with non-Rebel factions, so that in G3 and G4 I never got to use drayks (my favorite fire creation) (kshyakks work just fine in combat, but I liked my drayks best). 

 

But in G5 I found a trainer for drayks, and I got through all the games just fine anyway.  Also, I never really worried about keeping them alive to build XP - at least not for most of the games - I liked to change my mix of critters / use of essence around, and build my shaping skills to make the new ones tougher.  May not be the most efficient way to play, but it was fun for me.

 

More dedicated replayers than I ever will be talk up the value of magic shaping and vlish, but to tell you the truth I just don't like looking at vlish.   

 

G2 was my second favorite in the series, after G5, so I hope you have a great time with it!

Edited by Alberich
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Decided to skip G2 for now. I might come back to it. it isn't just cost of creations that kind of bug me about G2 there are other things. G2 just feels like the odd out Geneforge game compared to others. It almost feels like Jeff changed his mind about something at the last moment then re-did a few things in somewhat of a rush. Avadon gave me a similar feeling. 

 

Started up G4. And yeah, trying the same thing except this time I'm trying to increase both battle and magic shaping. So far it doesn't seem so bad. I've noticed one only needs 1 action point to attack instead of the usual 5. That seems to make it easier on battle creations. They're not getting murdered while running up to enemies or turrets. 

 

See, in G3 I got fire shaping up to 13 I think. The hardest part of that was getting from say 8 to 13 due to increasing skill cost. Sure, creations had a few more levels, but I wondered how much a difference did that really make. I'd also spent points in battle magic (up to skill 4) but then stopped and hardly used it at all. So, I was thinking that I might try to get battle and magic shaping up to 8 each, possibly 10 if I can. In G2 the only thing that stopped me from trying all this was that incredibly steep cost if just learning a new creation type. Doesn't seem to be the case in G4...... so far.

 

Something inside me keep saying that I'm sure someone, somewhere has gotten through a Geneforge game with a shaper type while leveling up two shaping skills and not just one. Surely someone has. I guess we'll see in G4. Just got through boiling caverns.

 

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