Aoslare

In G3 (and G4), Essence Orbs has a base damage of 1-20 and does 1-5 damage per level of spell strength. I don't know how blessing affects damage output (I think it just adds some levels) but the setup you described (spell strength of 32) would do an average of 106 damage unblessed, in the range of 33-180. Because there are 33 rolls involved, the lowest and highest parts of that range will occur extremely rarely. That's against an enemy with no magic resistance. I suspect that whoever was talking about 300-400 damage output -- and it was probably Delicious Vlish -- was talking about damage per turn when hasted.

Melee is at times extremely difficult to do without assistance from Daze, or creations. Parry is worthwhile, as it reduces damage greatly. The regeneration enhancement, on a weapon, will be your best friend, draining large numbers of HP per attack. However, if you are making creations that's all out the window. Vlish are so disgustingly overpowered in G3 (if you pump magic shaping, make em early and let em gain levels) that the game becomes a cake walk even on Torment. Artila are also good. And they are cheap enough for Guardian use. Even one or two Vlish companions will be a big help, as you get lots of stunning and slowing action each turn.

Can you be a skilled shaper without knowing anything about magic? I don't think we've seen any examples of this in the game.

*facetentacle*

It's very simple. Healing is not shaping. Presumably, proficiency in healing craft and shaping involves similar skills, which is why they are in the same category. But healing craft spells are spells, plain and simple; they behave exactly like every other spell, from casting to spellcraft strengthening and so on.

Magic spells != magic

Um, essence exists without shaping. It's just something the shaping manipulates.

You mean because you didn't think to check two words. Having read through the dumps, I can state that the vast majority of dialogue pieces in the whole Exile series are triggered by two different keywords.

This is really not a continuity problem. The seviles on Sucia could not use the canisters on Sucia. The serviles in G4 are not from Sucia. While it's unlikely they were modified recently, in the course of two centuries the standard servile model might well have changed. And it's EXTREMELY likely that the new canisters produced by the Rebels are not the same as the ones lying around on Sucia for two centuries, especially given that the Rebels grew out of the Takers, who had servile leaders.

Quote: Originally written by Emperor Tullegolar: Slarty, I kind of agree with you. However, I think Jeff started ditching the whole power vs. moderation angle on pupose to show the desperate measures taken in times of total war. With all that power floating around, the Trakovite ideology seems very, very unrealistic, and only a walking deus ex machina like the PC would even be able to think about being able to follow it and accomplish something in its name. *nod nod* Yes, I agree completely. But there *are* always people spouting these ridiculous ideologies, and they are important. I am glad that the Trakovites were portrayed as a tiny, heavily persecuted number of individuals, and not as a full-blown sect with any power or adherents whatsoever.

Basically, the Geneforge series has had two major ethical continuums: 1) Creation Rights vs. Shaper Authority 2) Power vs. Moderation #1 has been there all along in the form of the sects, and was the main focus of the first three games. In G1, we did have #2 with the Trajkov question, and the dilemma of what to do with the Geneforge. In G2, there was the contrast between the megalomanaical Barzites and Drakons, and the only slightly power-crazy Zakary and Awakened, though the only truly moderational presence was Aodare's kill-them-all ending. In G3, #2 was discarded almost entirely in favor of #1, which I think is one of the reasons the game seemed to flat and ethically frustrating. In all three games, however, the sects sort of subsumed #2 into the #1 question. With the sole exception of the Barzites, there was a single continuum, with the loyal sects exercising restraint in power-grabbing, the Awakened exercising less restraint, and the Takers and Rebels exercising none whatsoever. In G4, the creation of the Trakovites splits the question wide open, and for the first time since G1 we really do have two ethical continuums. I have to imagine that I am not the only one who was dissatisfied with G3 in this regard, and relieved and refreshed to see the Trakovites surface.

The only line connecting the Silvars in the games is this one: "You enter the village of Silvar. Coincidentally, Silvar is the name of one of the largest cities in Exile. Who knows? Perhaps it was founded by a homesick person from here." The timeline is fairly solid on these points, so I think it is safe to conclude that Silvar the Avernite city was not named after Silvar the surface village.

The purity officer gives the acid-drip sword as a reward for the canister, IIRC. You don't want to miss that unless you never ever intend to melee.

I think the issue here is less likely to be the RNG than the display of fatuous numbers. Adequate pseudorandom number generators are not hard to come by. Seeing as Jeff once studied statistics in grad school and is clearly competent with simple algorithms, I doubt he would find them difficult to handle. We know from the Armor % display feature that not all displayed numbers are accurate representations of anything. I experimented with to-hit a lot in G3 when I tried to duplicate the A4 99% dodge build, and it failed because to-hit calculations do really weird things in Geneforge when they approach either extreme.

What does it do? I mean, does it generate reasonably pseudorandom numbers, or not?

It is stated in the game in various places that Southern Valorim (a.k.a. Krizsan) was settled fairly recently. I don't have the references here. I settled on approximately 813 for the EE timeline date, and I know I relied purely on solid canon for that number. One of the amusing things about that is that it means Silvar in Exile was founded earlier than Silvar in Krizsan Province. "Why not? Avernum was settled in approximately 10 years (767 IE for the first people, 777 IE when Avernum was established), and it's probably only slightly smaller than Valorim." Um, Avernum was not SETTLED in ten years. The date the Kingdom was founded probably has more to do with either rallying Avernite troops to fight, or the effects of early military victories against Grah-Hoth and the sliths.

Quote: Originally written by wz. As: Given that it already happened, the probability is 1. This is not just nitpicking — you didn't set out in advance to try and get three of these things in a row. If you started a game and thought, gee, I wonder if I'll get three thahdskin tunics off the next thahds I see, that would be a little more impressive when it actually happened. I hope that what you meant was: "you didn't set up a controlled experiment and test for thahd drops." How is intention relevant to this kind of test? And if it is relevant, how they HECK is it desirable to have that potential bias? You're right that I was only recounting an anecdote, but did I ever present it as anything else? Single random data points are not statistically significant, but they are not meaningless, and they are certainly not any less significant than single deliberately chosen data points with an equal lack of context.

If you use the stairs to the jail in Southforge Citadel when you have seven creations, you get a message that says "Error: couldn't place party when entering zone" and the game quits.

I thought the other games capped stats at 30, including items, and did weird things (i.e., reduced stats sometimes) if you equipped and then took off a stat booster with that stat already maxxed out.

Incidentally, has anyone ever gotten a random item drop, then reloaded and not gotten it? Or vice versa. I keep forgetting to try this and see if it works -- as I have never heard of anyone getting a random drop by repeated save and reload. I wonder if they are set when the creatures are spawned on zone loading?

The sentinels have a leadership option at 10 leadership that makes them let you leave. Does that help with the stealth or the alarms?

All creations have a chance of becoming scared and rogue if they are very hurt, the enemy's as well as yours. I've never seen that happen on a parry, though. Can you be more specific about what creations it's happening to? What's your Parry score and what is your weapon? At any rate, I'd be extremely surprised if being a Servile had anything to do with it.

I decided to try a new run as an Infiltrator. (The tipping factor was getting annoyed at having to change my sphere of sight every time I attack an enemy. Now I remember why melee was always deprecated in Geneforge.) Anyway, the first Thahd I killed dropped a Thahdskin Tunic. The second Thahd I killed dropped a Thahdskin Tunic. And the third Thahd I killed also dropped a Thahdskin Tunic. And I didn't pump Luck above 2. Further Thahds have not, so the game isn't broken, but geez. What are the odds? If only I have this luck when collecting Glaahk Eyes.

"+X Levels of damage" basically gives you the same damage bonus you would get from +X Melee Weapons, +X Missile Weapons, and +X Battle Magic, but not the to-hit bonus you would get for those +X's. As for the armor formula: there is no formula. As I have been saying repeatedly, it's just layered multiplication! If you wear one piece of 40% armor, you take 60% damage. If you wear one piece of 20% armor, you take 80% damage. If you wear both, you take 80% of 60% damage, which is 48% damage. The stat screen however will display 60% armor, which is totally and completely bogus.

Was that spell basically the equivalent of Avatar? I'm trying to remember.