Mechalibur

I've had a fight in the first game, where I barely managed to kill the boss, but then got wiped out by his minions. It added a bit of hectic fun to the encounter, desperately trying to pull out a win.

Really phenomenal map work again, wow. The stalkthorn could fit the setting thematically, considering they were using shaping to introduce plant life to the area.

Best strategy I've found is spamming mind control and using their strength against them. They have a bit of mental resist, but with 2 Ur Glaahks, I'll typically push through and have them kill each other. 

I've had Geneforge-boosted characters lose to those Sholai. Their stats are ridiculous!

Sneaking is definitely the way to go unless you need to get some anger out.

Actually, I just remembered there's a cheat you can use to change your rep if this is really bothering you

"sdf 100 1 X" Replace X with a number. 90 should be a low enough to join Obeyers, 110 should be high enough to join Awakened/Takers. You can also use "gsdf 100 1" to check what your reputation value is at any time.

This is more of a debug tool than a cheat, so this one might not even remove achievement qualifications like other cheats.

1 hour ago, Hyperion703 said:

I read another post around here by someone who was essentially locked out of joining the Awakened and the Obeyers due to dialogue choices they had made in Vikkiri prior to understanding what was even going on. That's basically where I'm at. 

 

I'm about halfway through the game it seems. No matter what I say or do, neither of the aforementioned factions will accept me. I understand that I can ask Darien to help me out with one of those factions. But, what about the other one? 

 

I've read your report on joining all three factions (too late, however) and reaping the rewards of all three. As an admitted completionist, I was excited about that. I also looked ahead and calculated what I'd miss if I hadn't joined one or more factions. Although not required to finish the game, the amount of content missed by not joining even one of those factions is quite immense. Many missions worth. Let alone not joining either (x2!)

 

Ngl, this hasn't sat well with me. I'm half tempted to just quit at this point and leave this game with the distinction of being the only SW game I've played which I didn't complete. You are correct: As the game progresses, players completely unfamiliar with the storyline of Geneforge games begin to understand what is going on. And make dialogue choices based on that knowledge. I didn't even realize until after Vakkiri of the dynamics of Sucio Island, let alone use that knowledge. If I had to make one criticism of this game, I feel it is unfair to essentially punish new players who made poor choices at the beginning of the game due to unfamiliarity by limiting their game play.  

 

Apologies for unloading. I'm just frustrated by this situation. And, tbh, I really haven't felt much like playing in recent days because of it. Maybe I'll feel differently in a few years.

Joining all 3 factions is a rather meta thing to do and not even remotely necessary for any character. If you use Darian's services, you could still join the Awakened and the Takers. All you miss out on from the Obeyers of note is 1 rank in Create Fyora.

The game does mention the reputation system early on and that the serviles will talk about how you respond. It's usually pretty obvious which choice leads to which reputation ("I think serviles are people too" vs "shut up and listen to me, creations"). I don't mean to sound overly harsh, but if you've been waffling between the two very different viewpoints throughout the game, the outcome of neither faction wanting you to join shouldn't be especially surprising.

I think there hasn't been a big call for a reputation guide since it's usually pretty clear which choice is pro-servile and which is anti-servile. And Darian can set your opinion to the threshold needed to join whatever faction you want.

QW2 had your ending and the outcome of the final act depend on your reputation and had some dialogue options that were a lot less obvious.

My understanding is a "good" ending requires using, destroying, or letting Trajkov use the geneforge.

Here's my "headcanon" so to speak.

Non-shapers who can cast magic are capable of using essence in their spells. Essence itself isn't what separates shaping from magic, it's the complications that arise when creating life out of only essence. The creations able to be shaped are the culmination of hundreds of years of Shaper collaboration and expertise. The Shapers have spent countless years determining the exact parts of each creature to incorporate into a creation's DNA and constantly iterate on existing creations. It's not something that can be replicated at random or by chance from someone unfamiliar with shaping arts, which is why non-Shapers don't develop shaping abilities outside of extraordinary circumstances (i.e. canisters or the Geneforge). Charging a spell with essence, on the other hand, isn't necessarily something that requires training - someone already familiar with magic might be able to master a spell using essence through dedicated training - raw blasts of magic require less precision than creating a living, functioning creation.

This isn't really supported by anything in game, though.

I've been able to compensate for speed penalties on armor without too much trouble. The speed cap is 65 anyway (of which haste contributes 40!), so it's not unreasonable to get to or near the cap even with heavy armor on. My setup for torment was one person in plate armor in the front, and everyone else in light armor or robes.

I think that torment multiplies damage taken *after* accounting for armor damage reduction, so even on torment, I've had the frontline character able to completely block weapon attacks with their armor.

I'm also assuming all the backer artifacts from G1 will return (Queen's Wish 2 included backer artifacts from the first game, so we have precedence!). By the time we hit G5, we're going to have more artifacts than we know what to do with.

I can see it hitting 80k, Kickstarters tend to get a large boost in the last few days. However, since we ran out of the high price backer options, I don't think it will be as big of a boost as some Kickstarters end up getting toward the end.

2 hours ago, le retour des marmottes météorologues said:

He did give in and create the option of a satisfying ending for Geneforge 5, after G3 and G4's endings (where frankly 55% sounds generous).  I'd expect the same thing to happen here, especially if it is in fact Spiderweb's last new game story.

 

With the possible exception of the G5 protagonist

The Geneforge 5 protagonist is actually an unsubtle metaphor for Abraham Lincoln.

I agree with more diverse upgrades for creations. Battle Alphas and Battle Betas having identical skillsets is disappointing. I don't think they need to be wildly different or anything, but I'd appreciate something even relatively small like replacing their leap with an AoE attack.

It's an interesting parallel, for sure, although I also don't think it was intentionally meant as a metaphor for Afghanistan specifically.

Regarding the sad ending: it's worth noting the Queen's Wish series it the most connected narrative between sequels that Jeff has done before, as well as the only one that carries over the protagonist from game to game. Having the end of the second be a low point makes sense from the perspective of a powerful Game 3 climax. I know the series isn't the most popular of Spiderweb's, but this is probably my favorite Spiderweb game narratively. I'm not against happy endings or anything, but I like them better when they feel earned. 

I'm pretty excited!

I think "Battle Shaping" should probably be changed to "Weapon Shaping" or "Combat Shaping" since it's already, you know, an existing school of shaping.

Zackary sucks, but Rawal is definitely the worst offender for me. Especially since you're not supposed to kill him.

On 1/13/2023 at 3:14 AM, alhoon said:

 

O_O

I found it hard to join ANY other faction than the Awakened in GF2. I dropped my Barzite run of GF2 when they asked me to sabotage the Awakened. I consider the Awakened the best rebel faction in their point of view: Willing to fight but not to burn anything to the ground. They are more moderate than the Takers. Barzites are practically the most evil, like worse than the "Starting" Shapers were before their laws. But unlike the starting Shapers the Barzites have access to a century+ of research so they are much more powerful and dangerous. 

I meant in terms of gameplay rewards, not morality. 

Considering how high damage gets in the higher difficulties, I'm often replacing my team anyway. Definitely encourages changing up my team more often than in the originals.

If I remember correctly, getting augmented by Tuldaric doesn't change your stats or anything, it just expands the spells he's willing to teach you. Which is nice, but I think the Barzites/Takers could teach you most of those spells as well. It's been a while so I could be wrong, though.

They're way better in Mutagen simply by virtue of creations no longer levelling up from exp. On torment I was struggling with this one fight where as soon as you open up a gate a bunch of ghosts spawn in and immediately attack. Then I tried just siccing a bunch of pyroroamers at them and the chain-death explosions took out pretty much all of them.

I don't mind how it's set up in Mutagen. +1 level for +1 level's sake is pretty good already, since level affects damage, hp, and accuracy.

Still, I do like your idea. Having a locked skill that's only available when you hit 3 points in that creation could be interesting.

In general, I would like to see a bit more reason to join the Awakened, and have the Loyalists fleshed out a bit. I think the Loyalist and Awakened intentionally gave fewer rewards since they were a lot easier to join, though.

Some areas aren't really meant to be assaulted head-on, like the bridges. While you certainly can beat them with the right character, there are usually alternative paths through less dangerous areas.

You don't need that many levels. My latest torment character ended at level 18.

I think airshock is very good, even for shapers. The stun chance is the same regardless of how many points you have in battle magic. The base damage is also perfectly acceptable even if you don't have a bunch of bonuses. Dominate is probably even more useful though.