TheKian

You get 'strange looks' at 6 canisters, but you don't get any ending modifications from having used them. As long as you don't use any more, you're fine; you suffer no canister addict symptoms. Conduit shards are faction quest objects. I believe that the Barzites, Takers, and Awakened all want one if you join them. There are two in the game, one in the pit of the bound (said Barzite demon stupidity) and the one in Phariton's place.

You ask who is to judge what is an oversight and what is a retcon? Verily, I say unto you... hisnamejeff Also, consider this. The Shapers would likely have decided to just shut down -most- outsider training in magic as a result of the nonsense that happened in the Drypeak mountains, after someonewhowasn'tLitalia destroyed everything. Chances are, the guy with a spellbook had to obtain it FROM the Shapers (since all trained mages are Shaper-ordained), and so had the permission of the Shapers to study it. Furthermore, it's not unrealistic to think that the town's servile keeper (an actually respectably important position) would be given training by a Shaper in basic healing magic, so long as healing magic isn't actual Shaping.

From canon in-game sources, we can be fairly sure that healing magic doesn't actually count as Shaping. The specific example of which I am thinking is the servile keeper (a normal outsider) in Drypeak in Geneforge 2. For bringing back the serviles from the mines, she teaches you cure effects, and mentions specifically that she was taught it. Though Zakary is hardly a great example of a Shaper, he certainly wouldn't have given an ordinary servile keeper permission or training to use any sort of healing magic if it were Shaping.

Medically speaking, although the Shapers could probably Shape new limbs, they would probably be genetically disparate from the person to whom they are supposed to be attached, leading to rejection of the limb by the immune system. Furthermore, human Shaping is explicitly illegal (Source: Um... somewhere in one of the games), so creating human limbs with Shaping would probably be as well. Also, if you'd like to learn about servant minds, then, to quote Slarty, "Per usual, Triumph said it better."

See, the daze/terror attacks work well in Geneforge 4 because, even fairly late into the game, enemies aren't particularly strong. However, in Geneforge 5, enemies get tough super fast. That's why your slowing/cursing batons work much better in G5.

Rotdhizons and rotghroths both do acid damage, but they do about the same amount of damage. I just tested a rotdhizon, rotghroth, and drakon against each other with the same testing basis as my previous post. The rotghroth did an average of about 150 damage. The rotdhizon did an average of about 160 damage. The drakon did an average of 120 damage. The Drakon, however, has a higher chance to hit twice, and fires searing orbs as a ranged attack. It also has a good deal more health than rotghroths in addition to its superior initiative. It's a solid creation. It doesn't do as much damage as the other creations, but its greater variability makes it fairly useful. It mostly depends on what you want: general abilities or powerful specific creations. Gazers are excellent, but they run out of magic pretty fast in large battles. Maybe 6-8 shots without regenerating back up to full energy? Also, @Queenforge, The bonuses from Shaping skill seem to have diminishing returns that are pretty severe (+16 creation levels for 30 Shaping skill). I THINK that it only starts after the 10 level soft cap, but I'm not sure. Also, keep in mind, Drakons have 8 quick action, but Gazers have none, and luck seems to make fairly little difference. Due to the higher base level of Drakons, you'd have to have a pretty great level differential (if you assume that quick action has the same effect as dexterity, that's 4 levels to overcome the dexterity differential, and then 16 more for the quick action differential - or a 20 level higher Gazer!) Edit: Rotghroth'd be fairly realistic, though. +8 level difference, assuming, again, that quick action has the same effect as dexterity. Also, investing points into dexterity makes the rotghroth more expensive than a Drakon after only 2 points invested.

Shaper Lore: The Shapers are a powerful sect of wizards which uses magic to create life, with the aid of a magical biological slurry called 'essence'. The Shapers create an established creation form and bombard it with different kinds of magical energy (read: radiation) that causes them to mutate. If a specific mutation is helpful, the Shapers record how they did it and continue improving the creation further. Essentially, they perform magical genetic engineering. The Shapers, running the government, forbid anyone else from learning how to Shape, on the penalty of death. Shaper society is essentially divided into three different roles: Shapers, the eponymous group of the sect, are researchers. They are exceptionally skilled at the creation of life, and are usually also highly skilled magicians. If they aren't dedicated creation researchers, slaving away to develop new strains of creations, they typically administer a town or travel about, aiding the poor civilians. As one can expect from the rebellion, the last of these possibilities wasn't too prevalent. Guardians are warriors and leaders. Typically, they act as generals and captains, and may be used as leaders of fortifications in particularly important areas: for example, Guardian Makar in Kratoa-Kel, one of the two primary passes between northwest and southwest Terrestia. Though they are often skilled at Shaping, their primary skills lie in their combat prowess; a combination of both allows a single Guardian to act as a one-man army. Agents are the assassins and 'diplomats' of the Shaper council. If there is a problem the Shaper council wants immediately resolved, an Agent is typically dispatched. Agents are most highly skilled in combat, primarily magic. They, being important stealth assets, tend to use few or no creations, and make targeted strikes against enemies, instead of going into all-out war as a Guardian or even a Shaper may. Their less exciting duties include checking up on colonies around Terrestia to make sure that nothing illegal is going on. The Sholai: In the original Geneforge, a Shaper apprentice finds that a people from a distant land have landed on a barred Shaper research facility. These people were the Sholai, brave, seafaring Russians (or something like that). They come from across the eastern sea, one that the Shapers typically regarded as being impassible. Though they do have magical skills of their own, they had not heard of Shaping prior to landing on Sucia Island. Not much is known about their society, but it is believed by some that they have an empire which could rival the Shapers' own in size, given that the Sholai do, indeed, have magic as well. Their technology is similar to that of the outsiders, with the exception of a complete lack of Shaped tools - living tools, batons, and the like. They have fairly advanced ships, probably similar to those of the Renaissance era in Europe, and have and otherwise similar technological level to real life.

The recipes work in the same manner as in your mod. You must locate them in-game to actually use them. I have made sure that you can obtain all recipes unless you do something entirely stupid (like attacking Uchitelle, for example), and that you can craft items regardless of faction. You may need to be slightly pro-Shaper or pro-rebel to actually craft them, however (otherwise neither side will help you), so total fence-sitting that ends up with you staying around 100 reputation will block you off from higher-level crafting unless you have really high leadership.

*ahem* So I did serious, scientific study of the tier 4 creations, Slarty... YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT Sorry, I couldn't resist being Buzzfeed for a moment. The player: Level 23 Shaper 7 in all Shaping stats 3 in all creation skills (4 in Create Fyora, but that's irrelevant) 30 intelligence Data on creations. The amount in parentheses is from invested skill points. The rest is the default level. Edit: All freshly created, mind. These are the pure, raw, base creations with the given player stats. =TYPE= =LEVEL= =STR= =DEX= =INT= =END= =HEALTH= Ur-Drakon 40 20 20 20 (22) 20 710 Drakon 36 18 18 18 (20) 18 633 Rotdhizon 38 19 19 19 (21) 19 770 Rotghroth 34 17 17 17 (19) 17 547 Eyebeast 38 19 19 19 (21) 19 670 Gazer 34 17 17 17 (21) 17 477 The stats given in the definitions file apparently do not actually come into play here. All stats correspond to the 1/2 level rule. The health results are slightly surprising: Drakon beats rotghroth, but the rotdhizon beats the Ur-Drakon. Eyebeast and Gazer, of course, are the worst off in regards to health. You will note that the Drakon and Ur-Drakon have 2 extra levels when they are created. This gives the Drakon only one less dexterity than the rotdhizon. I have tested all the tier 4 creations against each other, 'all other factors the same', and this is the result: Initiative order: Ur-Drakon, Drakon, Rotdhizon, Rotghroth, Eyebeast, Gazer Summary: I was correct. The Drakon beats all other creations for initiative except the Ur-Drakon. The order also, interestingly, follows a pattern of upgraded-normal and fire-melee-magic creations. The Drakon, of course, costs more essence than the other creations, but it is definitely worth having one in your party to soak up damage by attacking immediately. Especially since you're a puny Shaper, alhoon.

Greetings, my fine fellows. Today I have a glorious modification to Geneforge 4 for you all, one that shall make using characters of any class far more enjoyable/doable. The Geneforge 4 Artifact Weapons mod! This mod adds a total of 16 brand new, powerful craftable(ish) weapons. You will obtain two of the basic weapons from this mod (perfected baton, supercharged wand) as a guaranteed result from certain quests: the former from completing the Shaila quest (received from Greta), and the latter from the caravan quest (either from Pirik if you helped it, or from Alwan if you destroyed it). To craft the more powerful versions of these weapons, you will need to find their recipes, scattered around the first three chapters of Geneforge 4. Once you have the materials needed and have discovered the recipe, you must go to a sufficiently skilled crafter with whom you are aligned (see list below) to create the items. I have tested it to make sure it works, but I have not extensively tested it. Please inform me of any problems in it. Installation: Weapons: Recipes: Crafters: Download.

For the purposes of controlled testing without having to mess with my G2 editor, my relevant data comes from Gazak-Uss enemy NPCs (on torment, but I don't think it makes much of a difference anyway). Ur-Drakons have the highest initiative, followed by Drakons, then by rotghroths (there weren't enough rotdhizons to compare them sufficiently, unfortunately), followed by eyebeasts. Also, for reference, my Drakon, at every point since its creation, had higher initiative than everything else I encountered (barring Ur-Drakons). I suppose a proper scientific test may be in order, though.

Experimentally, (for example, in Gazak-Uss, or with my own creations), the drakon always attacks first (again, regardless of whether it is my creation or an enemy), followed by the rothgroth and then gazer. I don't know about absurd strength for rotghroths, but they do hit ridiculously hard (~240 per swing, which is a lot in G2). Also, Slarty, from the Geneforge 2 scenario file... Gazers: //cr_statistic 1 = 20; cr_statistic 2 = 25; cr_statistic 7 = 3; cr_statistic 22 = 10; (+25 int, +3 parry, +10 luck, other stats commented out) Drakons: //cr_statistic 0 = 22; //cr_statistic 2 = 25; cr_statistic 6 = 8; cr_statistic 7 = 3; //cr_statistic 22 = 10; (+8 quick action, +3 parry, other stats commented out) Rotghroths: cr_statistic 0 = 22; cr_statistic 1 = 22; cr_statistic 6 = 6; cr_statistic 7 = 3; (+22 str, +22 dex, +6 quick action, +3 parry, other stats commented out) It's obvious immediately that the Drakon has superior quick action to the rotghroth. However, the rotghroth also happens to have an insane level of base dexterity. The question here is (also, luck isn't likely to have as significant an impact on initiative as quick action) what exactly is the base dexterity of the Drakon. It would seem to theoretically be 1, since it imports the base creature. However, since, experimentally, the drakon does have superior initiative to the rotghroth, its base dexterity must be fairly close.

I'm guessing that the problem here is that, with a smaller party, you can get into the zone, but with a full party or a couple fewer, it decides there's too little room.

Servant minds are bred specifically for extreme loyalty to Shapers, remember?

...You should have total control over your Vlish and so not have problems. If you do not have 2 intelligence invested in each Vlish, DO IT. Having no essence left over for spells is preferable to not being able to control your creations when they actually matter. Also, about Phariton:

The only creatures in Geneforge 2 that seemed to have much of anything in the way of resistances were golems, and those seemed to have a single overall resistance to every damage type. Now, in regards to drakons... they aren't particularly good, but... -They have the highest health of tier 4 creations, if I recall correctly -They have the highest initiative of the tier 4 creation types -Their ranged attack is a bit weak on damage, but is searing orbs, and so can hit multiple enemies -They can parry like all other tier 4 creations -They do huge amounts of melee damage (~170) and have a good chance to get a second swing. Though rothgroths have more melee damage, and gazers have more ranged damage, the drakon is probably the best overall utility creation. If you have enough essence, I recommend at least one drakon and gazer. Since you're not going to be a loyalist, I think that you can safely use all the canisters you need, so you could probably also get rotdhizons and the like.

There are references to specific parts of the games, but those are either early on or irrelevant to the story. The only potential spoiler is for the zone immediately before the secret tunnel in Geneforge 2. So, you know, nothing that isn't super early on.

Unfortunately, that's a very conditional method of combat. You kind of need an essence pool or oodles of essence pods to reasonably do that. Takes about 18 essence to make a controllable pyroroamer, I believe, and each of them is only going to do about, say, 40 damage total (10-20 explosion damage, in my experience, and probably a single hit before getting killed in a massive chain reaction)? However, it could be useful in some areas. I'll add it to the list.

Indeed. However, that's not always the case. For example, recently, I was replaying Geneforge 5 to test Alhoon's warrior mod. In the foundry core, I calmed the turrets with my leadership abilities and then (they were friendly) I proceeded to attack them one at a time. Once, I failed to kill one within my turn, and they all turned hostile. However, they didn't when I one-shot them (or, at least, killed them before the other turrets' turns). Similar 'everything becomes hostile' events can also occur with neutral creatures as well. Basically, you just need to quicksave before murdering stuff to make sure that you don't ruin everything by doing so.

The Drakon is called 'Rhakkus', not 'Rakkus'. And, let me assure you, he is MOST DEFINITELY a different one from the one in Geneforge 5. Something that really is a callback to Geneforge 2 in G5 is Gazaki-Uss. In Geneforge 2, there is a creation disposal ground called 'Gazak-Uss', and we learn from Alwan that 'Gazaki' means 'younger Gazak'. Also, the Drakons are specifically established to be, in multiple parts in multiple games, reShaped Drayks. However, I do not believe that either Rhakkus or Easss were originally Drakys - the only ones we know to be Drayks are ones that have already been established in canon - Syros and Akkat, from Sucia Island in Geneforge 1. Also, as Slarty said, you keep referring to a canon that is not canon if you help the Takers or the Awakened or the Barzites. Do NOT join a faction because 'oh, they'll survive the Shaper purge'. There will not BE a Shaper purge because you joined their faction. Again, as I said, if you really like the Awakened, you should join them. The Takers are just as bad as the Drakons in Geneforge 5. Although I have not completed the game (yet) as Barzites or Takers, I am fairly certain that every rebellious faction in the Drypeaks 'wins' (in terms of 'not being wiped out') if you help them. Remember, the Shaper council wouldn't even have destroyed everything in the Drypeaks if the Geneforge 2 player character did not go back to the council and tell them about everything after having ruined every single hostile faction already. Finally, don't assume that Serviles actually have the same kind of developmental process as humans. Also keep in mind that, back in ye olden days, twelve was an expected, acceptable age for marriage (irrelevant to what we think of it now...) for humans. Don't assume that Serviles must have the same generation length as humans (I mean, sure, they're probably actually heavily Shaped human descendants, but...).

Sooo... here's my question. Why can't you play the mod as a servile? After all, a servile warrior is likely to be just as competent as a warrior or Guardian PC at fighty stuff, and would benefit especially from being able to get proper help in the form of rebel soldiers.

Hello, all. I'm sure that some of you have, at some point, been frustrated by particularly obnoxious parts of Geneforge (cough podlings cough), whether you're playing the original or Geneforge 5. Keeping that in mind, I have some valuable tips and tricks to help you bamboozle your way to Geneforging success. 1. Bypassing mines and pylons and just about everything else. 2. Stealth (the right way). 3. Lava pads. 4. Kleptomania (and creation stealing in Geneforge 3). 5. Powergaming (Barzahl 2.0) 6. Combating Hostile Forces or "Vlishforge 3"

Try altering your monitor settings. I've never had that problem, so I'm guessing it's something specific to your computer. Either that, or some update for DirectX messed it up, but that seems unlikely.

I'm personally of the opinion that the Shapers would think "Hmm. Is it worse to have serviles escape, or to let them be put in Nazhaper concentration camps? Eh, who cares, let that one wacko kleptomaniac who keeps doing stuff for us despite being a rebel deal with them."