Delicious Vlish

Talk down to him if you have enough leadership. He will cower and run away.

 

Otherwise, you're boned.

No, silly, both sides are wrong. It is we Vlish who are really in control. We use the chaos as a means to have fresh brains to snack on. So long as they keep fighting one another, we have plenty of gourmet grub to go around. Brains scrambled by geneforges, brains scrambled by canisters, shaper brains marinated in delicious panic or doubt.

 

Both sides exist merely to provide both amusement and nourishment.

Both sides are dead wrong really...

No never?

Hardly ever..!

(Please forgive this sudden spot performance of "Pirates of Pentil" brought to you by Geneforge Theatre.)

You can not buy three levels in a skill. Period.

You can not buy 3 levels of rotter-thingamajigs.

 

Sorry. No can do.

I am rather partial to magnolia trees and morning glories. Thanks for asking.

The sorceress really doesn't need to boost magic in the beginning. Honestly. There are enough crystals, wands, etc, as well as sending out a few creations. Focus on mech and leadership, sabotage equipment to destroy the presence, be sneaky, and use burning spray every chance you get.

 

Easy peasy. I don't know how many times I did it in the beta.

 

I never did find a sorceress mode I was comfortable with, I'd get them to the endgame, go "meh" and be completely underwhelmed.

 

I have better ideas now.

First rule about Trakovite Anti Shaping Club, you don't talk about Trakovite Anti Shaping Club.

 

You dinnae see nuttin'.

Young people! Get out of your parent's house and take over the world while you still know everything!

 

Just stay off my lawn while you are doing it.

It is more than possible to wind up with the 30,000 gold cap before even reaching the stoneworks.

 

Heck, you can get 1000 gold for snitching on the safehouse. There is a disturbing amount of junk that can be picked up and sold.

That's how I read it too.

 

I are still confuzzled. Dur.

He is around there somewhere. Keep looking. Check for a building full of electroshock therapy equipment. Be careful, one bad step will cook you.

Say what?

Some battle creation thoughts, and shaping in general.

 

If a sorceress really wanted to shape, and she should have a few meatshields, battle shaping really would be the best option. Low costs wont hurt the essence pool as much. A sorceress is packed to the gills with fire damage, acid damage, cold damage, lightning damage, etc, what she truly lacks is physical damage. So another point in battle shaping's favour. Also, as I've been discovering, battle creations truly are fine on their own, for the most part. To further save on some essence costs, a sorceress could get away with adding no int to her creations. With fire or most magic creations, this would not be the case. Cryoas, as I've found out, when left on their own, do some truly stupid stuff, like run into the middle of a pack of deadly enemies to have a clear shot at something almost off screen. Next round, death. Roamers will do it too. So will most magic creations. Only magic creations with a surplus of hit points would be ok in a set it and forget it free for all situation.

 

Battle creations are study enough that you can trust them to go off on their own to take care of business... And let me tell you, they can take care of business.

 

No battle creation I've had so far is really better than anything else. Clawbugs do a lot of physical damage, one of mine is up to about 110 or so average per sting right now, plus the poison damage. Plated bugs do not do as much physical damage. Most of mine will hit for about 50 to 60ish, on average. The upside is, they might get two attacks in a round, so it comes close to clawbug damage, minus the poison. The real advantage to plated bugs are as first responders. Panzers. They can close the distance very quickly. This is immensely helpful. A pack of 2 to 4 plated bugs can make enemy mages and other runner types beg for mercy. They can not be outran. Once they have something backed against a wall or a corner, and they start getting their two attacks a round, that particular enemy's lifespan is drastically shortened, doubly so when the clawbugs finally catch up to apply poison and slow down the regeneration rates. Alphas so far behave more like heavy armor. They do great damage, but not quite as much as the clawbugs, they don't move as fast as the plated bugs, but they can soak up damage like a sponge. They feel a lot tougher for some reason than in previous geneforge games... I've always had a thing for battle creations, and I've managed to complete a run or two in each geneforge game using nothing but battle creations... Even when they sucked eggs. They always needed baby sitting. I'm not sure what is different, or why things are different, but they are.

 

The only real shortcoming to battle shaping is the surplus of physical damage. There are a lot of physically resistant foes. However, battle aura is perfect with battle creations, causing the occasional random ancillary effect. This can assist somewhat against physically resistant foes, but I am finding that my troops can outlast enemy troops, so in all out slugfests, I tend to have the upper hand even if it takes a long time to pound something into jelly. Acid application is more important than ever, although I dare say that proper use of batons would be just as good, if not better. I remember quite well my experiments into using batons and missiles with creations with different classes, including a shaper. (Bullseye shaper)

 

Haste is still good. In fact, even though it is nerfed, haste still makes battle creations quite nasty. Plated bugs especially.

 

As far as the sorceress vs servile shaping issue, I believe both are about equal actually, but for different reasons. After giving it a lot of thought, I'd venture an educated guess that a servile might actually be better off with a few magic creation companions or fire creation companions, provided that the servile was the sort that dealt in a lot of physical damage himself. He could tank for his more fragile creations. A magic oriented servile would still be served well by a few fire or magic creations, but a war trall would probably be enough. The servile still has the upper hand over a sorceress in choosing what sort of damage to deal, as he has access to all forms of damage, physical though magical, while the sorceress has mostly magical damage and her physical outlet will only come through creations. This gives them mostly even footing, with the servile having a slight tactical advantage. Before the argument is made about the sorceress summoning more creations, I'll counter than doing so will drain her essence to much and hamstring her magical abilities.

 

All that said, a sorceress build focused on one or two dedicated brutes, with a few dedicated points to battle shaping, you would have a very powerful build that would be much easier to play for a less skilled or new player. Not as much micromanagement and hustle as a servile. General survivability would be quite good, even on torment, and probably even for the first time player. With a strong focus on magic support and two well built creations, as well as a focus of upgrading said creations, you'd have a nice little team. Situational constructs could still be summoned in emergencies.

But right now, I am dangerously close to death to much of the time. I really skimped out on basic torment survival skills early.

 

Surviving to that point might get tricky.

 

I have some thoughts brewing on the advantages of cheap battle creations. More on that later. For the essence spent, they really are quite exceptional.

I thought about naming my Sorceress Erika.

The vlish bought the farm. It proved far to delicious to be resisted, kept dying, and just wasn't strong enough to keep up with the pack.

 

I've battled my way through the shadow road. The rotter thingy and his wormy henchman proved to be quite difficult. I lost a lot of troops. I've been creating clawbugs and plated bugs as disposable shock troops, and that works out rather well with battle aura, which occasionally provides a nice ancillary boost upon a physical attack.

 

The patchwork gazers gave me quite a bit of trouble. I didn't think I could do it to be honest. I was in way over my head, had to burn through a lot of goods. Pods, spores, various magical items, a wand, etc. When it was done, I had lost most of my army, except for my pair of alphas, Dimwit and Numbskull. I can crank out cryoas but they typically die in one hit.

 

I have close to 400 essence now, 12 int with items. Magic skills were sorely neglected. I had placed just enough into mental magic to cast terror, and a few points in battle magic. I should have waited to buy training.

 

After clearing the shadow road, and selling loot, I maxed out at 30,000 gold. All those green crystals, all those blue and red crystals, suits of armor, iron bars, shaper equipment, all that junk, it really adds up over time. I bought 2 levels of spellcraft, a bunch of spells, bought two levels of battle magic, and still had enough left over to have bought two levels in blessing magic and mental magic. I wish I would have waited, but it would have been to painful.

 

The bugs are slowing down. Against foes like dryaks, they don't do as well as I had hoped. Battles are slow, but steady. The alphas however, do just fine against most foes. There is a noticeable difference. Alphas seem to have more physical resist.

 

My shaper is the weakest link. There has been a few occasions where he has been in mortal danger, and mental magic wasn't strong enough for terror to be effective. I really wish that I had started off as a shock trooper. I do try to keep Dimwit and Numbskull close by as bodyguards, but some times things just get hung up on attacking me. I predict some real problems later, I'll need to catch up on other skills neglected for far to long.

 

The build is still exceptionally powerful, but I am starting to hit that mid-game slump where I really need a few new creation types.

Clawbugs are better tap dancers. More legs, more clackity clack.

10 shaping was easy to hit. I had low int, and enough leadership and mech to get me through the tests. I turned in the servile. (loyalist) I gained a few levels here and there doing things all by lonesome before going to the testing grounds. The real trick was killing the serviles in the storeroom. That was done with a pair of thahds.

 

I was in my mid twenties before I had 10 int. I didn't max strength right away on my bugs. I added a bit at a time. I had no other skills for a long time. No magic, no healing, no endurance, no strength, I was, basically, a deadweight shaper.

 

All of my starting points went into mech and leadership, with 4 left over dumped into int.

 

Four clawbugs with base stats to start = 20 essence x 4 = 80. I had the essence left over to make more critters. And didn't.

If you clear it out and look in a chest, it will give you a clue of where to look next.

You have to find clue that will tell you where it is. Thorny woods I think By the river. Follow the bouncing servile.

Getting a shaping skill to level 10 or higher makes a huge difference.

 

Because of this, shaping really should be an all or nothing skill. Honestly. Dropping a point or two in to it doesn't hurt, but it is wasteful, especially when you can shape through items. Either go all the way or don't bother.

 

Right now, I am debating to go past 10. It is going to cost me 6 skill points to jump to eleven. Worth it? maybe. I am sorely tempted to squeeze in a few more levels.

 

A sorceress can't crank a skill up to ten and still be a solid effective build.

 

What makes shaping work isn't just a high level of skill, but a high number of creations. I've already observed that my survivability drops considerably if something dies or my numbers are reduced. I've gimped my self, my other skills are near useless. I haven't bothered to pump much of anything other than battle shaping, int, leadership, and mech.

 

In G5, thus far, it is safe to assume that a shaper is only as good as his swarm. Shaping is a viable skill on its own, or at least I hope it is. We shall see how this game turns out.

 

Those who minor in shaping will require an investment in skills to make up for their shortcomings...

 

As such, a sorceress is better served waiting for items or merely a shaping skill by one or two and then using items, and then following her strength. Anything else would be selling her self short really.

http://www.ironycentral.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=118731#Post118731

 

^Shaping guide- swarming your way to wealth and glory^

 

It doesn't feel right editing another mods post. Sorry.

And swarming is officially a viable strategy. At least, so far. So good. We'll see how long this holds out. When I get higher level creations and a trall or two, I think this will work out well in the end.

 

Pumping strength is useful. It provides a noticeable effect.