Randomizer

Basically you get a little different speech from the Shapers since you are a lowly servile that they are forced to use and the serviles don't treat you any better.

For spellcraft with leadership of 6 or more, in Chickweed Bridge from Burkes. For combat skills in chapter 3 from Captain Archibald at Rebel Camp Aziraph. Melee and missle weapons are 1800 Quick action and parry are 1200 No one else in the game so just use canisters for the few that are available.

We won't start out as worms? The lighting should either go back to what was in A1-3 or chose better contrasting colors for the area floor color versus monster color. No more black monster on dark color floor. Sounds good so far since the main objection to A4 was the plot.

Where? I don't remember where that is from. If that is from the Inner Shaping Hall then they aren't to be adjusted to end the game.

I have to agree with Delicious Vlish about a servile using battle magic. I didn't increase my mechanics and leadership as much at the start and I held off on increasing combat skills until after train in chapter 3 with no ill effects. I still swap some equipment to do blessing magic when I enter an area. Battle magic makes a servile almost as powerful as an infiltrator. He does have a little less essence and spell energy to play with in combat so you burn through essence pods a little faster. This encourages hit and run tactics to whittle an area down in sections rather than in one trip. For the Poryphra Ruins I did a clump or two or creations each trip leaving just the shapers in the far side for last.

Elevations distinguish Avernum and Nethergate from the other games. The merging of towns and outside wouldn't have been so bad if the proportions had been maintained. I would buff and haste my party and race through an area until the haste wore off and leave fight mode to save. It was depressing how far you could travel between towns in A4 on one haste. It would be nice to have a new area to explore outside the current caves. Even as a new underground level like the tunnels under the Great Cave with more interesting encounters. Maybe more than 2 levels in a area so you have a multilayer dungeon over more than one map area in the level.

I doubt Jeff will revise the current Geneforge 4 since he has enough to do with other planned games. However he seems to want to keep this format for Geneforge 5 and may use information to make changes for it.

Fire shaping starts off a little weaker if you just use fyoras, but by chapter 3 the drayks and kyshakks more than make up for the earlier weaknesses. Drayks have unlimited missle attacks and kyshakks are walking shields with decent attacks. I agree that you don't need to put much into shaping skills since you can store the items for the few times you need to create creations. Jeff's revision during beta testing made it easier for all classes to create and lowered the requirements dramatically. Lifecrafters and shock troopers still have the advantage in essence to create armies where the others have to be more selective. Pumping intelligence is still the way to go since more creations allows for more attacks per round. With enough damaging attacks you can wear down an opponent even with weaker creations. The only problem is if they take too much damage and flee in terror so you have to use mental barrier and watch their health.

On Dhonal Island, the Purification Plant along the east edge of the island has crystalline fibers lying on a table just inside the southern entrance. You don't have to go that far into the poisonous atmosphere to find it using the "get" command and checking items.

I forget which button does what, but one turns on the bridge dropping trap and the other turns it off. Try crossing before using either button and if that fails then try using only one button. I know I wanted the trap enabled so I could get the experience for killing the basilisks after I got the treasure in the room beyond the bridge.

I'm wondering if anyone has successfully finished the game without having to invest heavily in spellcasting abilities to get the higher mental, blessing, and healing spells? Since there is a limited number of madness gems, armor potions, major healing items, and restoration items I found that I needed to have significant levels in those spell classes using at least items to boost my abilities. If you did suceed, what did you run and on what difficulty?

Having made it through the duel in Quessa-Uss with an effective leadership of 12, I thought I should give a practical update. It's not worth it. The best uses of high leadership are to avoid betraying the Illya safehouse to Alwan if you want to keep your Rebel reputation. No more than leadership of 6 and then use the items - infiltrator's tunic and cloak for +2 to deal with Moseh where you avoid the fight. There are a few more places at the Eastern Checkpoint and Dillame Fields where leadership 7 with items will do. You only reach the point where you get no experience sooner. At level 39 in Quessa-Uss I got nothing for killing drayks. With high mechanics you can deal with the experimental Unbound and get the same experience. The duel might take longer but not by much and you only get experience from winning.

Bump to put it back on the first page. Any thought about adding the discussions on Melee Warrior and Shock Trooper as is or in quoted form?

Just finished the duel in Quessa-Uss as a servile with battle magic. With leadership 12 the fight was over in about 5 rounds. Need to go back and try Matala again. I got bogged down with the rotgroths. Should have charmed them instead of killing them. I was able to clear Sandros Mine without creations. At the end of the fight with the Old Golem I let him suicide himself against spine shield while I just healed up, Spells are way better than weapons since if you have the spell energy you can do multiple attacks with essence orbs, etc.

You pretty much need major heal for the occasional full heal in battle when mass energize and major healing pods won't give you enough. Fighters have to have enough spell capability to equal the non-combat spells of the spell casters. It's not enough to be able to almost kill the higher level creations when they still have enough health left to get in one more round of combat. Matala is a great example of the difficulty of a single character fighting a prolong battle against a high health opponent. Most of your time duration spells wear off in combat, you need to heal, and still do damage each round.

There is a secret passage along the south wall. The entrances are designed to prevent entrance.

There are several ghosts/spirits of the shapers that returned to the island after the ban. Only two live ones and you're one of them.

We could have Vahnatai as an isolated group like in the BoA scenario KZR. That would give them a limited neutral presence. Diplomacy sounds too much like the opinion dialogs of Geneforge. If it is based upon actions then it would be okay since you get to make a conscious decision and not try to guess which dialog branch will lead to a payoff.

Congratulations. I hope Geneforge 4 makes it next year.

You don't see strength canisters until late in chapter 5. No increases in healing craft except by items and a few rewards are increases in Major Heal,

Another advantage to mass madness is that it automatically slows all shapers that are normally immune to mental effect spells. When facing 4 or more creations and a shaper type you are bound to gain a few new allies and weaken your opponents.

This is a quick list of the spells that any class should get during the game to be effective: Mental magic - daze, terror, essence shackles, strong daze, charm, mass madness Blessing magic - blessing, protection, essence shield, spine shield, mass energize (it's faster), steel skin, essence armor, elemental cloak Healing craft - minor healing, cure affliction, heal, major heal I think I've used these spells in every game and can get by without the other ones. This needs a maximum level of mental magic of 9, blessing magic of 8 (+4 from captain's shiv and boots), and healing craft of 7.

I don't think Jeff even beta tested OS 9. Still you can always email him to check.

Take the combat system from Geneforge 4 so you no longer waste a turn if you have less than 5 AP to fight or use a spell. At least make it so you don't lose the rest of the action if you still have 3 AP. Please bring back elevations. Mass haste or more mass haste items. The backpack/encumberance system from Geneforge 4 so you don't spend a round dropping everything or leaving piles everywhere to pick up on return trips. From what Jeff said last time it seems like there maybe a few one way sections.

I still think Council hatchet woman. The Council wouldn't send one of their own out to the front lines. Anyone sent out from the Council would worry that his/her fellow members were plotting to eliminate them.