BenS

I think you need 4 Leadership to get Zora's help, which is well worth it for all the zones she will stick w/ you! Just don't let her die obviously.

I don't believe so.

This is super helpful, thank you. I managed to play through a Shaper game w/out the Helix Ring. Either I missed it or sold it stupidly. About to start either a Guardian or Agent game shortly, and I'll be sure to grab it/hang on to it this time, even though you mentioned it was probably better for a pure Shaper.

I haven't played w/ a Drakon/Ur-Drakon in this current game beyond doing the min/max stats I provided above, so you already have more in-game xp w/ them than I do. You will soon decide how and when to upgrade them I'm sure. If I do another Shaper run, I will try Fire & Battle; for my Guardian run I will do Fire; for my Agent run, Battle. As for why I run w/ maxed out Tier 4s...rather than w/ greater #s...partly b/c in past GF games I went w/ quantity > quality, and it's fun to try something new. Also, while an overcharged Rotghroth can be awesome offensively, the Rotdhizons will be higher level and last longer thanks to their dmg resistant upgrade (and top them off w/ Regenerate and Essence Shield and Protection and...) and they're the tankiest thing you will ever create. If you decide to just keep w/ Fire Shaping and ignore Battle/Magic, may I suggest you also become a halfway decent mage? Not so much for Battle magic, but for Blessing Magic. Also don't ignore Healing Craft, as you're Strong in that. Unless you're fine w/ consumables but those only go so far; you can't reproduce everything you can w/ actual magic.

I'll try to help. I'm playing a Shaper, near end-game so I don't remember where I was at for 9th level exactly but... Based on your fondness for your Fyora and the 2 Drayks...you might as well get a Drakon b/c then you are just focusing on 1 (Fire) Shaping school. For the time being. So when you put more pts into it, literally all your creations would get boosts. I thought I'd go Fire Shaping mainly for my current Shaper, as that's what I typically do. But. I decided to try both (the improved) Battle Shaping as well as Magic Shaping. At 20th l. have (w/ gear/canisters) 11 pts in Battle & Magic Shaping, and (w/ gear/canisters) 16 pts in Essence Mastery. I run w/ 2 maxed out Rotdhizons & 2 maxed out Gazers, w/ essence (my total essence is 378) to spare on spells quite easily. The point of this? The Battle creations are great tanks and the Magic creations are great nukes. It's been a solid strategy for me. For you, I suspect the Drakons are a middle ground you can use if you really do go all in on Fire Shaping. They're not as tanky as Rots, but certainly more than the Gazers, and thematically fit your team. If you want to do some future planning, here's the minimum/maximum essence needed for Tier 4 creations. Maybe you'll want to get Battle Shaping up there as well, IDK (notice the modest essence requirements compared to the other Tier 4s). Drakons (24/87); Ur-Drakons (36/126); base levels 10 & 13 respectively Rotghroths (18/63); Rotdhizons (26/89); base levels 10 & 12 respectively Gazers (22/76); Eyebeasts (32/113); base levels 10 & 13 respectively Good luck.

Do we know why the Drayk/Cryodrayk sprites are (mostly) so tiny in this game? For a while I thought I was just meeting the runts of the litter, or maybe it was a design choice. Maybe even a problem w/ my computer. But if you look at the 4 Cryodrayks at the end of the entrance hall in The Radiant College...you'll see at least 1 that appears noticeably smaller to the naked eye compared w/ others. Various such single encounters in the game appear to me to be the same issue. Weren't these creatures taller/stockier in prior games? When your Fyora towers over one and you can reach down to pet it on the head, the awe-level when seeing a drayk...lessens. I'll admit it's changed my normal Shaper preferences, which are Fire Shaping. If this needs to be calved off into another discussion, feel free.

There's at least 1 more Roamertooth Band in the game, fyi, though by the time you get it, you might already have better options for your PC.

Per the Steam boards, there's a bug w/ the Feisty Slap Gloves, that should be fixed in a few weeks w/ 1.0.2. I believe weapon shaping skills don't work w/ it. I have fond memories of the FSG from Mutagen. I'll be curious to check it out when I play a Guardian.

I don't know if I got lucky, but...I beat the 4th group at 17th level (veteran Shaper w/ 2 mostly maxed Gazers and 2 mostly maxed Rotdhizons), and then still mostly buffed, after a quick save, I wandered into the 5th area to see how quickly I would get spanked. It only took me 2 tries to win! I focused on the 4 Ur-Glaahks and then wore down the Experimental Gamma. I was fighting the group near the sign into the area; maybe that limited its options, IDK, but it focused on the Rotdhizons, which had Hardness, Regeneration from me, plus healing etc. The maxed Pure Fanged Bracelet is of less utility (I think) to my Shaper run, but the ultra-rare P.E. at the end meant I could get the Infiltrator Ring, which should be quite helpful on occasion.

Thanks. I just came back to edit my post b/c it was in error anyway.

I see that various (4) faction achievements/medals require a "good ending". That suggests not just finishing the game allied w/ 1 of them. Should I be worried that I've, ah, over-indulged in canisters during my 1st run, which I'm not done w/ yet? I know the non-aligned ending text...would go bad for me, but that's something different than an achievement/medal.

Thanks for posting that. I'm always interested in builds people found worked for them, especially at higher levels of difficulty, and the gear they used to finish the game. Good luck finishing the last areas and I hope your next playthroughs are equally fun.

Hmm. So I could join the Awakened early, get much out of them w/out final faction quests; quit; then join the Barzites...same pattern; then simply choose the Servants or Takers for my final "real" faction?

Ah, I misunderstood, thank you. As for formally leaving...say I've gotten what I want from the Servants after joining, and won't miss anything (or much) by formally leaving, is that simply a dialogue option with...Zakary? Or the leader of the next faction I'd want to join, like Learned Pinner?

Can you tell us the Leadership check to "join" the Servants w/out officially joining? I never would have thought of this! Also, will it be obvious as an actual Awakened follower which quests to avoid Takers becoming hostile to you? In case you then want to go to Darian...as you say above.

I continue to learn things I wouldn't have thought on my own, so thank you both for the tips. I had imagined Agent--w/ lowest essence/shaping skills--would want Fire b/c they tend to be lesser essence creations, or maybe Fire for a melee-based Guardian for ranged attack options. But I think I see your rationale for different choices. I am playing my 1st game on Veteran instead of the usual Normal just to get a feel for the game, and probably will continue in that vein w/ maybe a Torment Guardian for last. The game's starting to get more challenging simply b/c I haven't joined a faction, reached the Loyalist Camp, and thus am a Shaper w/ no tier 3-4 creations. I'll see how far I can push it before breaking down and joining, though I know technically you don't have to join any faction to complete the game. I'll try to focus more on Fire for my current Shaper, then do Guardian & Magic, Agent & Battle for the next 2 games, to try and complement inherent build strengths. Thanks again.

Well, my 12th l. Shaper has definitely been built and run sub optimally by this analysis. I've pumped Essence Mastery every level, not understanding how little bang for the buck I got at early levels. I'm running currently w/ 3 maxed Cryoas and 1 maxed Energized Vlish--all members of Team Nope. LOL. I love the passive frost dmg the Cryoas have to nearby foes at least. Slarti, I think your 2nd Roamer comment might be for Drakons, no? I was probably building to an Everyman shaper instead of focusing on 1 type, thinking my versatility will pay off when I know the foe types in an area. But maybe spreading myself too thin I guess. I will note the Battle shaping type doesn't have much going for it (by your analysis) until 3rd tier, which unless you join a faction early I don't think you'll get access to. Anyway, this is all helpful info and theory-crafting. I can create new pets if my current squad just can't cut it at a certain point, and fully expect to. Since I plan at least 3 play throughs, maybe I should settle down on 1 shaping type and explore the upper reaches of the others later. Since I'm playing a full Shaper w/ more essence than Guardians or Infiltrators, maybe the high-essence-costing Magic type should be my goal. Though I do like the mix-and-match squad, like I currently have.

Hmm, I must not have come across the Dhagan (?) Defender; maybe in my current, pro-Ro game I will. I think I understand what to look for now vis a vis physical v. magical bonuses for the character, and making sure I pick an appropriate bow--especially if I have and use Whirlwind. My 2nd, melee PC (2h) is using Temptation (magical) and the Ice Bow (magical), and I'm pretty sure his magical bonus > his physical bonus (he's a bit of a Gish-type PC). Later I'll switch to the Warp Spear, assuming my current band survives the Arena combats, and I'll upgrade the Piretical Sword to the oddly-named Cutlass of Radiance (which is 2h) for my staff-wielding mage. Thanks.

For the 2nd game in a row, my Prince and 2h weapon user have used the Fool's Shot and Ice Bows. Does that mean, based on the above (D2 for them) formulae, they do less dmg w/ Whirlwind than if they used vanilla bows that output more physical dmg? I mean Fool's Shot is still great for the bleed add-on, and having at least 2 party members be able to apply magic dmg isn't a bad idea, but I'm still curious. Separate question I keep forgetting to ask: critical hits; how does that dmg calculate? Is it 150% and armor is ignored? I'm trying to figure out what happens sometimes when a PC takes massive dmg and the console text tells me none of my armor was used to soften the blow.

I never even thought of a solo run for this game, but thanks for confirming it. I had imagined your starter crew of 3 Havenite companions w/ you but at least on Casual, I guess you don't need them. Cheers.

The Soul Jars are in the room to the W of him; get a decent ranged character straddling the 2 rooms and you can attack the Soul Jars when he summons them, and him as well to your E. That's what I remember doing my last game.

Oh, those sound pretty decent, thank you.

It would seem to be a purposeful gimping of your party, given how crucial I find some of the 3 provincial cultural abilities to success. But maybe on lower difficulty levels it might be more viable. Probably a "challenge" game after you've finished it more traditionally. Anyway, just curious whether anyone had attempted it and finished the game.

Thank you for the write-up. Do you have any clue what the Haven's Command bonuses would be like? I had 2 skill ranks of that in my 1st game, but w/ no way of knowing if those were skill ranks better placed elsewhere. I'm on my 2nd game and...15th level I think...just put 1 skill rank there. But skill ranks are quite limited w/ the 20-level cap, and I'd like to make more informed choices about placements for them.

I did not know it was possible to kill them and have them not return endlessly to beat up on you, so I'll at least try this in my 2nd game, now underway. Thanks for the tip; I found this dungeon one of the most difficult in the game in some ways.