Hyperion703

32 minutes ago, Magenta said:

How much Melee skill should an Agent have?

Enough to wield the stat stick of your choosing. If I were doing this run again, I might pick Tek's Spectral Dirk for its sweet sweet defensive bonuses. At the risk of quippy commons saying I "enjoyed taking Tek's dirk" and snickering constantly.

1 minute ago, Magenta said:

Have you met the Eyebeast named Dyx? 

Why yes, I have. The aptly named Dyx gave my solo agent the most challenge in the late game. Iirc, it became a matter of relying on at least two actions per turn, and using one of them to recast Essence Shield, while using the other to push damage through. And dress to impress: You'll need to wear the most effective stun-resistent attire and accessories. It took a handful of reloads, and balancing attacks between he and his "trashy" allies to win it. The awesome prize he drops had a positive effect on my motivation to take that SoB down.

8 hours ago, alhoon said:

Why did you take aaaaall the canisters and paid for training for things like war blessing etc when you have blessing magic so high? Is there a reason?

Um... ? Not really sure what you're asking here. My blessing magic was so high because, in part, I took all the canisters and paid for training. What do you mean by this?

8 hours ago, alhoon said:

why 8 on Mind magic?

Not sure, dude. As a first-run character in a wholly unfamiliar installment of a franchise I played just once prior (GF1-M), intentionality was admittedly lacking somewhat. I just walked around and killed stuff, took quests, pumped skills as needed, and just generally got familiar with the Drypeaks. Maybe some of those MM points were from canisters, books, & equips. Any others likely just felt right to boost through skill points during some time in my playthrough. I guess I didn't notice the few extraneous points because it had little effect overall on her power level. If/when I do another solo agent run, I'll likely remind myself to clip it at 6 points total to maximize ultimate badassery.

8 hours ago, Magenta said:

The first thing I noticed was the uber-high Spellcraft. Does that make a big difference? 

By my estimation, the most egregious disadvantage with which solo players contend is the shallow number of attacks per round compared to their shaping counterparts. Although a solo agent will almost always output more damage per turn than any single creation from a shaper of comparable level, she does not stand a chance if we compare one of her attacks to a half dozen such creations. It's the difference multiple attacks - even multiple, slightly weaker attacks - have on overall damage output.

Although access to powerful (and spammable) AoE attacks can mitigate this somewhat for a solo agent, I knew the trick to be equally successful as shapers would be to find the most reliable method to boost the number of attacks per round. To do this, I had to rely on Spellcraft, Haste, and especially Spell Mastery (from the gloves) working in tandem as much as possible to get 3+ attacks per round with my solo agent. Few things survive three 700-point EPs, even in later zones with more lethal foes.

So that's why I pumped Spellcraft as much as I did. And it came with some other notable perks too.

The question then becomes, "By doing so, did it have the desired effect?" To which I would respond, "No, not consistently." Generally I could count on two attacks per round. Three were relatively rare.

9 hours ago, Lorn said:

Did you pump essence mastery?

 

Hell yeah. I pumped it all night long until the morning light. It kept saying I needed to construct additional pylons. So...

10 hours ago, Lorn said:

I wonder, wouldn't Drayks be technically better? 😛

Uh oh. You're making Leviathan and Belphegor angry... Don't know how much longer I can hold them off...

3 minutes ago, Slariton said:

Normally you wouldn't see much difference, but given how huge #1 is for this character, it's enough to make adding +.05 to #2 more helpful than adding +.10 to #1.

Ah, there it is. I knew it had to be some kind of order of operations shenanigans. Thanks, Slartibus (I think you were going by that name when I first visited these boards...)

3 minutes ago, Randomizer said:

Girdle of Genius gives +2 Intellect for more damage and spell duration with slightly more armor

I thought so too. I kept swapping the SB out for GoG, but I noticed something as I hovered over the spell on my quick use buttons at the bottom. I was perplexed to find out that wearing the GoG actually did less damage than wearing the SB:

• Student's Belt: 35-210 Energy damage (+386%)
• Girdle of Genius: 35-210 Energy damage (+378%)

I expected the base damage to be greater with the GoG, but it isn't. Is that supposed to happen?

10 minutes ago, Randomizer said:

Stability Belt for more physical armor and stun resistance (the bane of robe wearers)

If I were playing Veteran or Torment, this would certainly be necessary. In normal, I'd have to be stunned twice to be out of commission for three turns for anything to bash through my Essence Shield, and I don't think that ever happened. But I agree with you; if (when) I end up going into higher difficulties, I'll need to start thinking about sacrificing raw power for survivability.

Thanks Randomizer.

Oh, and just for fun...

Noice, Magenta! She's a looker. I especially love her 4 in Essence Purge. Barzite aligned?

EDIT: MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD. NEWBIES LOOK AWAY, LOOK AWAY!!

Here is the final version of Lilith, my first playthrough in GF2-I. She had killed every thing targetable (except the damn hole bugs and some unkillable golems) in the Drypeaks. At this point, her endless rage and wanton brutality had fully transformed Lilith into "The Silence," a seemingly immortal semi-translucent wraithlike entity hellbent on extinguishing all non-plant lifeforms. Fortunately, through some mystical force, The Silence could not venture beyond the Drypeaks region, leaving it a still, quiet, lethal zone quarantined and sectioned off by the Shaper Council. The area remains forbidden to travelers, soldiers, and researchers alike to this day.

I never touched any skill outside of Magic Skills, General Skills, Intellect, and Essence Mastery. Though looking at it now, a '9' in both strength and agility seems a bit high for never putting anything into them. It's been a few weeks, maybe I'm mistaken. Dunno.

Slayer's Chestguard, Student's Belt, Spectral Cleaver, Vampiric Lance, Gazer Skin Boots, Helix Ring, Agent's Shelter, Gloves of Spell Mastery, Drakon Skin Cloak

All the obligatory charms (EXCEPT TWO - Radiating Essence and Drayk Fang Charm; the first was lost because I did not align with Barzhal and killed everyone in the Radiant College. The second because I fell victim to the 1.01 bug that made Zensital hostile if I murdered everyone else in that town - never made it past Awakened). Next solo agent playthough, I'm getting those charms.

By the time Lilith had met the only NPCs who could train her in Essence Purge, she was already in a state of uncontrollable rage. So she murdered both of the possible trainers immediately (didn't even bother with dialogue). As a result, she never gained those +2 levels in Essence Purge. Again, I hope my character is a bit more self-controlled next playthrough. I never bothered to get any Shaping canisters (outside of Healing) or Combat Skills canisters. 

Probably my most successful first run of any SW game thus far. But, if I knew then what I know now...

@Magenta Before you move on, I'd be down to compare endgame spells, skill points allocations, and equips. I'm just personally curious how other solo agents are put together. I'd be willing to share mine.

2 hours ago, alhoon said:

Did you find challenge towards the end going with that build?

Not after level 11 or so. I started with a few Drakons and worked my way up. I walked through pretty much everything after that.

2 hours ago, alhoon said:

there are not many things that can hit those more than 20% of the time

Correct.

2 hours ago, alhoon said:

they have a ton of hp

432 to be exact.

2 hours ago, alhoon said:

probably do on average 200 damage before the DoT.

About 300+ unblessed.

2 hours ago, alhoon said:

23 level with 18 essence Mastery? What did you do with that? Full Ur-Drakon / Eyebeast at all increases? 

Six level 33 Ur-Drakons. 😀 Together with my shaper, I named them after the seven demon princes of Hell. 

Fun!

16 minutes ago, Magenta said:

Armor pods absorb a pitiful 20 points of damage. That might help in some of the areas around Drypeak but pretty useless after that. My level 22 agent is getting about 300. That's pretty solid most places, except for a couple bosses in Inner Gazak-Uss.

Again, very familiar. I'm curious how much your Essence Purge does...

10 hours ago, Magenta said:

 Are the Vlish as fragile as they were in the OG release?

I really don't know. For one, I never played the OG versions. I got onboard with SW games when Avadon 1 and Avernum: EftP were ported to Android back in like 2014 or 2015. I never bothered with anything prior.

Second, I don't really have basis for comparison; I don't know if any creation I've made around levels eight or nine would be considered tough or strong. Of the limited ones I've used in the early game (probably only Fyoras, Thahds, and Vlishes) they have all had survivability issues. I've heard clawbugs are more durable. But I've no experience with other level 1 & 2 creations.

10 hours ago, Magenta said:

...a Guardian would get the battle upgrades instead.

I agree with this. I'm not sure why it would be necessary for a Guardian to spend a handful of expensive points in their weakest skill category when most of those buffs (blessing, haste, protection) are available natively in their own combat skills. I mean, Essence Shield is nice. But it alone requires a 10-25 point investment in skill points for a guardian depending on the number of combat skill sacrifices one chooses in their equips. In general, I try and not spend any points in a class's "Weak" skill category, if for no other reason than to experience the purest build for that class. It might put me at a disadvantage overall, but I'm okay with that. Especially because I rock normal difficulty.

5 hours ago, Randomizer said:

That its really pumping up one stat to attack.

Tbf, my shaper ended the game at level 23 with 19 in Fire Shaping. If I were to 100% optimize my build, I know I'd be able to find 1-2 unneeded points elsewhere to add to that. Plus the one more level (to 24), assuming I'd put the point in FS, and I'd have 22 as well. Pretty easy to do for a super specialized shaper imo.

What perplexes me is the low Essence Mastery. Though mine is equally wild in the other direction (18!). 

Would it say Quick Action from Spellcraft?

1 hour ago, Randomizer said:

Enough blessing magic to get essence shield

I'm surprised by this. Not because ES isn't a clutch spell - it is. But because I would think that's a fairly costly detour in terms of skill points for a guardian. And I'd like to prioritize equips with martial bonuses over equips with blessing bonuses. Is there really no viable alternative to ES for a guardian? Regen might work. Healing is more accessible at least. 

It's really too bad about evasion/dex. I could swear I've evaded AoE attacks before. Maybe I'm mistaken? (While we're on the subject, I'm fairly certain my agent triggered Quick Action before using spells. Is this possible?)

9 hours ago, Magenta said:

What does it take for a Guardian to be able to tank damage that effectively?

After playing around with my guardian this evening I'm starting to wonder if we're overthinking this. Could the answer be as simple as high endurance, armor, and evasion? Oddly, I haven't pumped really any of those in past runs and I feel the fool for not even considering this.

More news as events warrant.

@Jawaj Thanks for the explanation. Must have been a hell of a fight...

@Genernumlover  I opted for magic creations in this playthrough for the simple facts that I have already explored fire shaping last run and I did not want to overdo melee since my guardian is already melee focused. Magic shaping seemed like the best fit, but I'm possibly starting to regret it.

I roll with two sad vlishes currently. They are level six, and I'm almost level nine. I'd love to get some glaaks, but the training fees for them are through the roof (even for Tylellea or whatever her name is).

A part of me wants to stick it out so I could get some gazers/eyebeasts. I think a Melee fighter with their support would be rad. Another part of me is saying to scrap it and start a new solo agent knowing what I know now. She'd be crazy powerful.

I dunno.

@Slariton He stated above that he's level 24 now (and can't max the third drayk).

39 minutes ago, Jawaj said:

he reads the steam forum but I think not this one

As an aside, anyone else find this particularly odd? You'd think it would be the other way around considering this forum is the official forum on his company's site. No biggie, it's just something I have wondered about for quite awhile.

2 hours ago, Jawaj said:

You shouldn't trying to fully max out every creation.

This 100%. I'm in my fourth playthrough. I've partied with dozens of creations on the reg. I have never made a maxed-out creation. I think my six Ur-Drakons had five upgrades each, that's the most I've ever used and that was at endgame. Most of the game, I averaged about three upgrades. Something like that. Never made it to level 24 like OP. So, if you're rocking just three Drayks by level 24, you're doing something seriously wrong.

How in the world do you even get to level 24 without doing Gaza-Uss? Did OP do those levels?