NanaBanana

Quote: Originally written by Justin Y.: I am carrying around all kinds of crystals and test tube stuff, is there anywhere I can stash these so it doesn't encumber me? Also, if I am a guardian, should I put one point into blessing and mental magic for speed and unlock? Justin, after reading all your posts in this thread, I would like to tell you of my experiences. In the early part of the game, I try to grab at least one of each item I run across. When I get to the closest "store", I see which items are sellable. The rest I ditch in a pile outside the store. I then make trips back and forth collecting the sellable items. Tends to make the game a little longer, but it's a good way to get coinage. (I finished the game with almost 20,000 coins.) Once you have killed all the rogues in an area, being encumbered isn't a big deal, so I carry all I can hold. Later in the game I don't mess too much with the smaller priced items but they help a lot in the early part. If I find myself overburdened with enhancement items, I find a central location to stock pile them. After I've completely cleared the island, I move them all to the exit dock and transport them to the next isle where I leave them near the entrance dock. I did finish the game without many enhancements, just a few blessing crystals and a runed ruby or two. Most of the weapons/armor you find are sufficient to finish the game. I didn't invest in blessing OR mental magic. I didn't use any canisters. Most of my points were invested in strength, endurance, intellegence, HEALING, some in parry and quick action, luck, mechanics and leadership. I carried all the lucky charms with me, as well as some of the items that would boost some of my skills. (mechanics, luck, leadership) I hope this helps. Enjoy the game.

Quote: Originally written by Jaid: how exactly does that make the game more difficult if you have high parry? Maybe it just seems the rogues are tougher than in G3. Possibly because you have to fight so many of them alone, whereas, in G3 you have Greta and Alwan through the first 3 islands (depending on which side you play and other factors). Anyway, I won't keep this going as this is not the G2 board. Thanks for responding tho.

Quote: Originally written by Jaid: you must not have been a guardian with high parry skill then. Not sure what you mean by this. I play guardian in each of the games. I try to up my parry and quick action skills when possible but concentrate more on endurance and strength as well as healing.

Quote: Originally written by Dragongirl: I think there is a cheatcode for more money in G2. What is it in G3? WOW... you need money? I finished the game with almost 20,000 coins. It was that low because I had purchased some training from Krykh (sp) before heading to Spears. Most of my training was in the healing crafts, but I think I purchased a few shaping techniques. I finally finished the game using no creations, no canisters, few enhancements and only Alwan by my side. Now, I shall try to go back and finish G2. Man, it seems tougher than G3!

Quote: Originally written by Dragongirl: I probably could add a few more points to my magic spells but what about leadership and mechanics if I would need them later? So far, I am able to get along fine with 8 points for each and with the help of the tinker's gloves and the livetools, everything is just ok. (I could have used unlock spell too but didn't b/c I won't get exp. that way.) Don't know if anyone has the hard time with the decision as I do or not. Spending exp. points on leadership and mechanics is always a good thing. Later in the game, you will need at least 12 leadership and 14 mechanics. Strength and endurance were big "purchases" for me as well as healing.

Quote: Originally written by Dragongirl: thanks. I must got mixed up then. That's why it would be nice to have a journy log. Thank you again very much. I tried keeping a log of where I found/left items, but would get so involved in game play I'd forget to write it down. My next thing to do was, move all items to a central location and separate them by purpose, ie jewelry, armor & weapons, shaper machines and enhancement items. If you horde things like I do, it's a rather painstaking event to move them all to the next island. I have several very impressive "piles" of stuff I've toted as far as Gull Island. I haven't used many of the enhancement items yet, but my favorite is the blessing pod to avoid blows. Since Dakro seems to be sort of wimpy, it really helps.

Quote: Originally written by Drakefyre: I complained during beta-testing that Greta and Alwan counted as creations and could be Dazed/Terrified (which shapers are supposed to be immune to), but it wasn't changed. It didn't make sense to me either that Greta and Alwan were susceptible (sp?) to mind effects since they were shapers. Well, maybe Greta since she left the school. We could presume that she hadn't reached that part of the training. Edit: So far, I have made it through most of the game without any selfmade creations. I prefer to use my essence for healing and curing effects. But Mr. Gungho Shaper Alwan should have been immune. I can deal with them being terrified, but it sucks when they are turned rogue and you have to battle them as well as the real rogues. SHEESH!! Other than that, my biggest beef with Alwan and Greta is they are incapable of helping me tote all those items I am sure will be useful sometime.

I believe there are several places in the game where walking through generates the rogues. In other words, they will be there everytime you go through. I've been through several times and gained some experience each time although it's less each time I go through there.

As for the sea caves, I've done it both ways, killing and letting them be. I noticed no difference in game play either way. They do provide some experience points but not enough to go back for. I waited until I finished Dhonal's Island, before losing Greta (I play pro Shaper). I went back to the Testing Grounds, and did the tests with few problems. It's definitly a good idea to save the game when you get up to the fourth test and beyond. Those golums are TUFF!!

If I remember correctly, the trick to get Greta and Alwan to accompany you past Harmony is to not kill the rebels. If you kill them, Greta will abandon you when you get ready to leave for Dhonal's Keep. I think someone mentioned a scripting that would allow you to keep both, but I don't try those things. Regardless of the paths you choose, you will lose one of your companions when you leave the next island.

Quote: Originally written by Zeviz: Guardian is the hardest class to play. (Shaper or Agent would have much easier game.) Hmmmm.. not necessarily. I have played a guardian loyalist (with a few middle of the road answers) with Greta and Alwan as my "assistants" up until I left for Gull Island. Greta deserted me because I killed the creator. I've used no canisters, no creations, no magic other than the healing ones, have not made any enhanced items (as yet) and I am part way through Gull Island. Granted, I play on easy the first time through but still it's challenging to get through. I tried as a Shaper and an Agent but found them to be rather wimpy in the endurance department. I chose to restart the game after forgetting where I dropped my perfect crystal on Spears. But I did make it about 1/3 of the way through there before I restarted.

Quote: Originally written by MichaelSword: its one of the few areas where you can't whittle away at enemies and retreat to town since all those monsters come out of the swamp at you every time you pass through. But it's a great place to gain experience points. As far as not being able to retreat to a town, you should be able to head back to the nearest "entrance" and "warp" to a safe place.

Quoting mok.. "so what happened?" Any number of things can happen. First my HD burned and I lost EVERYTHING! Then my ATI card crashed. Lost everything again! Both times I had not done the back up of the .dat file, so I had to d/l the game again and again. But Spiderweb is very good about replacing the codes and very cheerful. I called them and they were very nice. This time, first thing I did was the backup of the .dat file.

I've found that if I get to a seemingly unbeatable area, I slaughter a few, leave, heal and repeat.** Infested pathway was a tad troublesome for me as well, but I got through it using the above procedure as well as a variety of weapons. **It's a good way to whittle the population, plus you have your autosave to go back to if you get killed on re-entry.

ROTFL mok! Another thing I noticed but hadn't mentioned. I've cleaned out 3 islands of rogues, spawners and creators but when I go back to the earlier islands, they are still soooo busy cleaning up the stragglers. I know they were all dead when I left and a quick turn around the islands reveal no more rogues. (methinks they are just too lazy (and skeered) to get out and help me clean up the other places.

Very Amusing! Other things I've noticed.. Money weighs nothing. Wonder what it's made of? (that change in my purse gets awfully heavy after a few dollars but the character can carry 16,000+ and not notice?) Pods and pouches weigh very little while food, herbs, saltweed and wiry moss are heavy in comparison. (takes less of those to equal one pound than it does pods/pouches) Characters being right in front of a rogue still can't hit it with a sword.

You can go "middle of the road" to an extent without totally alienating either side in the beginning. If you become encumbered and need to drop some items, I strongly recommend keeping a journal of where you dropped them. Later, you can move them to a more convenient location to sort through. (wanders out of the post trying to remember where she left that perfect crystal? )

Thanks for the replies. I made it past Gull Island but think I must have missed some recipes for enhancements somewhere. SupaNik.. that really didn't say what the best armor is.. but no matter, I am on to Spears now. Walter... I don't know about the enhancements. I know there is the rotting flesh thing in the oozing blade. I am on Spears now and think fire enhancements would be beneficial. Indeterminatus...Since you strongly advise against rescripting, I think I'll pass. I'm not a big one for cheats or rescripting anyway.

I have one more thing to do before I head to Gull Island (again). I had to restart after losing my hard drive and video card. I only have Krya's Refuge to complete on the first 3 islands and want to finish that before I head out while I still have Greta *AND* Alwan. But my real question is, what is the best armor, cloak, weapon etc. to have before heading over. I have 3 rather messy piles of stuff, jewelry, enhancements and armor/weapons in Dhonal's Keep. My favorite enhancement so far is the acid infusion but don't think it will do much for the oozing blade. On my last trip to GI, I didn't get too far without losing Alwan then got killed myself. So apparently I didn't have good enough "clothes". Any help without too many spoilers would be greatly appreciated.

EEEPS!! I wish I hadn't read this thread! I am fairly new to the Geneforge games, tinkering with the demo of G1 on RealArcade, "purchasing" G2 with my game pass and outright buying G3 from Spiderweb. I have looked so long for RPGs that are more to the style of Phantasy Star, Kings Quest and Lands of Lore. I really enjoyed those games more so than some of the so-called RPGs out there now. My boredom with the game mostly comes from having to restart several times due to computer problems (hard drive burning, video card crashing) and the occassional, "Now where did I drop those items because I was encumbered" memory lapse! I made it as far as Gull Island and had to restart because of one of those memory lapses. I did find Gull Island rather difficult (I had not used any canisters up to that point) and found Alwan and Drako to be rather weak to battle the rogues. I am also confused about the "special" items and enchanting things. Not always a good idea to enchant things early on. That acid dripping sword rocks.. although now I've located a more powerful sword and wish I could enchant it!! I think Jeff has some great ideas, but needs a little expansion on story lines and endings. As in most other RPGs, you fight your way through battling orcs, or rogues or whatever, but the story line needs tweaking. In one of the Phantasy Star games, you could have multiple endings depending on the characters you chose near the end of the game. That was pretty awesome. But overall, I am happy happy that I found a RPGs that suit me. (on to Blades of Avernum next!)

Ambush Bridge was probably the hardest area for me to clear. If it's the same shade I'm thinking of, I had to clear out most of Greenwood before I could kill him. (and do a slap and dash at the other shades so I had time to heal myself and my group.) I try to be "kind" when I can and those serviles were no exception. I had them wait until I had cleared that area before I sent them on their way.

Good to know that chest isn't worth the effort. I tried to disarm it and got hit for 1024 damage. I thought.. there must be something that will help me win the game in that!! My biggest peeve so far is using 3 tools to open a door to find.. yup.. 1 tool and some other stuff that was good.. but not that great.

The rebel spy is the woman in the upper left corner of San Ru. However, you can't get the proof yet. See the post "Question from a Noobie". The answer to the proof is there.

Thanks sooo much. I was going batty over that. I actually had to start my game over as I goofed on Dhonal's Isle so now I know where to go when I get to that point again.

On Harmony Isle, Norrel asks about a spy. I know WHO the spy is, but can't figure out how to get the PROOF! I know it's probably right under my nose, but I haven't been able to find anything to finger her with.