Mechalibur

The Guardian Claymore can't really compete with a maxed out Purifying Blade or Essence Eater (there's also the Puresteel Soulblade, which has similar damage to the Purifying Blade and 15% lifesteal, but a crazy 10 melee weapon requirement)

23 minutes ago, mikeprichard said:

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.

I think the Purified Essence in Phariton's place is far easier to get than the one at the end of Sharon's Grove.

It's an artifact that can be enchanted to boost shaping, magic, or melee. If you boost melee, it gives a 20% chance to double your melee damage. 

Then join the Awakened and get training from Tuldaric. Easy.

She's not remotely a pacifist.

Canister use doesn't matter for the achievement. Just don't do anything like kill the leader of the faction you want to join.

The Servants are the easiest to join which could very well be influencing the achievement stats. You can join immediately if you're pro Shaper, and you can even join if you're pro-Servile if you have enough leadership.

3 hours ago, alhoon said:

The game is pushing me more towards the Takers... 

Was Learned Pinner always so... pacifist and subservient? I have met other awakened (Blade Loyd for example) that understand what it will take to be free, to co-exist with Shapers. 

When I go to Medhab I am blasted day in and day out from messages that inform me that my character is keenly aware that the Shaper council would destroy that peaceful town, where kids play, crops are raised and serviles barter with dignity to the ground for the crime of existing. Turn it to dust and eradicate any mention of it. 

And what Learned Pinner tells my character? "You may carry news to your kind about us and they will come and purge us. So, I must convince you that we have a right to live."

?!? 

Pinner thinks she has to convince an apprentice (well Shanti has declared I am not an apprentice anymore) of a town's right to exist. She is practically begging for their right to exist. 

 

Somebody has to crack some Shaper heads and Pinner seems very reluctant to do so. I kinda remember she was hiding things and their true power, creating a weak, non-threatening front. I hope she does. Although a dozen Reaper turrets outside doesn't exactly send the message "We are at the mercy of the Shapers". 

No, from what I recall from the previous time, Pinner was too... defensive. And that came down to the rest of the Awakened too. They were too defensive, too passive. You don't win a war by not losing the war. That leads to a stalemate. All the Shapers have to do, is to keep the rebellion secret from the Common and the Serviles at large and dedicate some of their forces to keep the awakened contained. 

 

EDIT: "We can only gain peace by appealing to the mercy of the Shapers". Riiiiiight. 

Even the text says that Pinner is naive; this is the result of growing up without meeting Shapers. 

She goes out of her way to say that the Takers and the Barzites offer more power, but the Awakened is a fight for Justice. I agree. But what about Justice for the crimes the Shapers committed on the Serviles? 

Don't worry, Pinner. I will avenge your brothers and sisters that died in Sucia. THEN we can discuss with the Shapers. 

 

I decided to join the Awakened, but I am not happy about the leadership, just so you know. 

 

 

It kind of sounds like you're not happy with the Awakened because they aren't acting like Takers? No, they aren't asking you to crack Shaper skulls because their goal isn't to crack Shaper skulls. If that's your ultimate goal then... yeah, you already know who you should join.

But the Awakened do back up their ideals with a plan this time around. They aren't just sitting around hoping for something to change.

While it's most likely a typo, I like to think Zakary just has the worst intel out of anyone in the Drypeak Mountains 

The targets are Akkat, Rhakkus, and Easss. Basically all the Benerii-Uss bosses.

I think it used amphoras in the original and the remake changed it to wine. You should be able to put all the amphoras you want in the junk bag.

19 minutes ago, Slarzahl said:

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.

Are you necessarily trusted and valued? I thought that depended on canister use.

19 minutes ago, Slarzahl said:

You also don't have to kill Syros for this ending, even though you have to kill him for the Servant ending

I don't think you have to kill him for the Servant ending. I got the Servant ending on my Pacifist run where Syros was very much alive at the end (although Rhakkus, Easss, and Akkat all died)

Your litany of questions was liable to cause my keyboard to break, so I answered in the most expedient method possible. Anyway, it seems like it's fine now, so to more specifically answer your question,

Yes, possibly but not recommended, you'd probably die, yes, yes, no

Nothing increases item effectiveness, to my knowledge. That's why I'm pretty liberal with stuff like icy crystals and fiery wands in the early game - they have no scaling.

Boss enemies can have a lot more hp than they did in Mutagen. Still, the player's damage potential is higher as well, so you should be able to do the fight after leveling up a bit and getting access to more equipment/training.

The last fight of her grove is unironically probably the hardest encounter in the entire game. Sharon could have solved this entire crisis by siccing her creations at the other factions! 😄

Depends on the drakon in question, but yeah, some have less hp than the generic 500hp warriors in Zakary's warren.

Yes, it's best not to think about it too much.

18 minutes ago, alhoon said:

It's not an issue though, unless the areas I have not reached have weak guards. I mean, Drypeak's guards are level 10 with 400 hp. Unless the drakon guards of the Takers or the warbred servile guards of the Barzites are actually weaker than this, which I do not expect, then it is not at all an issue. 

Surprisingly, they do have less hp. I was more referencing Zakary's guards who are even higher level than that with more hp.

I got quite familiar with weirdly high guard hp when doing the psychopath run 😄

2 hours ago, alhoon said:

Well, that scaling in GF games is also causing immersion breaking issues. Alwan's soldiers are the best of the best ... and just check the soldiers of the desert than have 1000+ hp each and one of them would wipe the floor with 3 of Alwan's soldiers. 

 

That's already an issue! Have you seen how high a level and hp all of Drypeak's guards are (except Zora)?

Edit: Although I agree level scaling isn't really a good fit for Geneforge. 3-5 are pretty linear, and 1+2 mostly have an intended path for you to follow level-wise.

Phariton asks for 1 if you're unaligned as a prerequisite for training. So 5 total, potentially. Outside of that, they're only good for selling.

1 hour ago, Slarzahl said:

I think the issue is more that even level scaling doesn't hurt the game (which I'd argue for QW) it never really makes it better than it would be without the scaling.

 

Like in QW the whole point is that it facilitates a very order-agnostic open world.  But lots of other SW games have had a world like that (or a more open one, in the case of E/A 1-3).

 

There are well-known issues that can come with level scaling.  I just don't really understand the potential benefit.

I actually thought that was a weakness of the Avernum series. The open-ended nature meant a huge amount of the content was just trivially easy because of the order you picked.

Probably getting a bit off topic here, but I think level scaling gets a pretty bad rap due to being poorly implemented (quite famously in the Elder Scrolls Oblivion), but I don't really see the issue if it's done well, especially in games where you can explore major areas in pretty much any order. When implemented well, a lot of people don't even notice it's there, like I've never seen complaints about level scaling in Dragon Age Origins even though it's present, and plenty of people didn't even realize it was in Queen's Wish. I remember there was even a post in the steam forums complaining about how level scaling ruined games and there was no reason to have it in QW2 even when it wasn't in the first game... even though it was and they just didn't realize it!

There should be a lever in (or maybe it was behind) the building Shath is in that opens the center tower's doors.

Yeah, enemies demonstrably do scale in Queen's Wish, up to your level-1 (although they also have a minimum level, so they can potentially be higher level based on where you're going).