Untamed Banana Slug

You'll need a creation which has high magic resistance, and outputs high magical damage. Ergo. Wingbolts or Gazers. Gazers might be a little better since they have a higher mental resistance.

Why would you want to create a Clawbug instead of a Vlish? Vlish have the clawbug's poison attack, AND a magical ranged attack which curses foes. No contest.

Originally Posted By: Dikiyoba Regular drayks aren't very good, but Dikiyoba is having pretty good luck with cryodrayks so far. Wait, what? Regular drayks are awesomesauce.

Originally Posted By: Thuryl Look, just put points in the skills that you're using the most. If you think that you need a skill to be better, raise it! But which skills will I be using the most?!

When the returns per skill point you get from investing in another skill are greater.

An agent doesn't need dexterity. You should be investing in intelligence and spellcraft. Remember that spellcraft increases the effectiveness of your battle, mental, and blessing magic spells, as well as your healing craft.

Originally Posted By: Seaweed Originally Posted By: Untamed Banana Slug Why would the Vahnatai destroy the food crops that they themselves rely on? They can hibernate, remember? The vahnatai could easily destroy the mushrooms, hibernate for a few centuries and then awaken when the humans are gone and the mushrooms have grown back. But seriously, let's hope the Vahnatai stay out of this conflict. On another note, A6 sounds a lot like A3 and A4... I guess that is a reasonable possibility. It also has the advantage of not killing any Avernites if they are smart enough to return to the surface.

Originally Posted By: Goldenking I'm betting the Vahnatai have something to do with the Blight. Not necessarily the Olgai, but some tribe of Vahnatai or another that got annoyed by the invasion of humans... Why would the Vahnatai destroy the food crops that they themselves rely on? I'm guessing that the blight as either a natural phenomenon (like the potato blight), or the work of Darkside Loyalists.

From memory, gene therapy has been used to successfully treat a small number of genetic disorders. Like you just mentioned, the populance's fear and paranoia slows advances in the field of genetic engineering geared towards humans. All popular media I have ever seen regarding the issue (Bioshock, Gattaca, Star Wars, *Geneforge*.) paints a world with genetic engineering as some sort of dystopia. I guess the drive for self-improvement isn't that strong in some people, you'd think that people would leap at the opportunity to become healthier, stronger, faster, and more resilient.

Sounds to me like you need to equip the Girdle of Genius to increase your intelligence.

From memory it sells for two gold pieces.

For crying out loud, it's WRACK, not WRECK. You sound like a dweeb.

The only way to reverse the Awakened's opinion of you is to join their sect.

Someone already has. Check out Strategy Central.

Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan , but unless you've pumped nothing into Healing Craft throughout the entire game, you can keep up with the Artila that apear. Maybe. But there are more than just artila in the Storm Plains. Quote: Two or three hits from a Drayk on Torment means cooked Alpha for breakfest. Same goes for a Cryoa. Except a Battle Alpha doesn't cost as much as a Glaahk. And after a cursory check, it receives an extra 60 hits points. Note that I'm not arguing that Battle Alphas are *good*, but they are better value for essence than bloody Glaahks. Quote: Battle Alphas barely tint the windshield, whereas Glaahks do. They do approximately the same damage in melee. In fact, I suspect that the multiplier for melee attacks is the same for all creations. To put things in perspective, I was dealing about the same damage with my Vlish (levelled up, admittedly) and Ur-Glaahks. I suspect that this is due to the Vlish bolt having a larger multiplier than the glaahk sting, although I'm not sure.

Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan You're not taking into account your ability to Heal and Bless. Yes, I am. An extra four levels of magical damage against a foe that resists 80% of the increase is not significant. And you can't outheal damage from a Wingbolt, Kyshaak, or Artila (as from memory, Glaahks take full damage from acid). Quote: Battles against Magic-Resisliant Foes are long, but are easily winnable as long as you have the patience. Except you can't afford to have patience. The longer you take to kill an enemy, the more of an opportunity they (and other opponents) have to kill you. Quote: I will tell you the exact opposite. Making a mix of Glaahks and Drayks worked wonders when compared to just Drayks. Ahh, so we're unlikely to convince one another, given that our gameplay experiences are radically different. Glaahks were essentially expensive dead weight when I played through the game as a sorceress. Quote: Cryoas, even when highly leveled, are just too fragile. They can't be relied upon to stay alive in battle, even with melee creations up front and even with their Ice Attack. Glaahks are pretty fragile as well. Two hits from a cryodrayk, and game over. Quote: My freshly made Cryodrayk was an improvement over my Cryoa. It's attack was just as powerful, had more hit points, and a better melee attack. Really. I don't doubt that, but you're forking out 3 times the essence for a 60 (?) hp increase in health and a slightly higher level. Quote: I would, again, argue that Battle Alphas are not as reliant as Glaahks, but honestly, I can not see any gain that could come from it. Battle alphas can damage almost every enemy reliably, whereas glaahks cannot.

I thought you could only see Vug if you were playing as a Roman?

Artemis: Quote: if the rebels dont have to follow them, then why should i? It's funny that you should mention that. After all, each of the four Councillors flaunts Shaper law in some manner, even Alwan. Perhaps a better question would be: If the Shapers can do what they wish because they are strongest, why can't the drakons do likewise? You can't selectively apply your 'might makes right' philosophy.

I also make habitual use (but not abuse) of the exit zone cheat to save time.

Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan The Servant Minds little worms were destroyed by a few Ice Crystals. I casted Mind Shield Aura and let my Bugs rip. It was a frantc battle, but we managed to kill it. We used the Thahd canister and took the rest of the goodies. How did your bugs kill it? The Servant Mind deals a lot of damage in melee. I've never been able to outmelee it with creations, or even a warrior. And why Mindshield Aura?

Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan Are not A Glaahk will overtake a Battle Alpha in Melee almost everytime. Sure, but you're not looking at the big picture. Your glaahks will rarely be fighting opponents like battle alphas. Almost everything in the Storm Plains has decent magic resistance (searing artilas, podlings, wingbolts, kyshakks, GLAAHKS), and this will hamstring your glaahks. So you're essentially sinking 120+ essence into two creations which won't be able to damage a significant proportion of opponents. Compare this with drayks (or hell, even cryoas). Even if an enemy resists their breath attack, you can still wound them for physical damage in melee. I can tell you from personal experience that absorbing my glaahks and replacing them with cryoas and drayks vastly improved my party's performance. Cryoas are a godsend simply because of their ice attack, which not only has a large multiplier but consistently damages almost every enemy in the game. Quote: They can't act when their stunned to death. Yes, their stun has been nerfed, but its still potent. Against generic enemies, their stun *can* be potent if you use two+ glaahks. Against enemies which you *need* to stun, their stun won't have any effect. So the question here is: Why would I tie up an extra 50 essence simply to gain an unreliable stunning effect against a single opponent, and a melee creation which has *no cold or fire resistance*, and whose only attack is a form of damage which a significant proportion of the game's enemies have a high resistance against. Battle alphas don't have the high magical resistance, but their resistances are more well rounded (similar to war tralls), and the physical damage they inflict is pretty reliable.

Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan I said they're good for the time you get them, which is in the Storm planes. Most creations that attack with Melee are Glaahks, or aren't that tough at all. The bandits don't do much damage in the first place, save the thorn flingers. The borrer bugs get whacked in one hit typically for a magic-dependent Shaper that has powerful Glaahks. By the time you get to the Dera Reaches, I'd ditch them and get something with a bit more kick, but for a while they aren't to shabby. Certainly better than a Battle Alpha. The Great Archon Battle alphas are better than Glaahks, and Drayks are the best tier 3 creation.

Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan You can't get Searing Artilas in G3-5. Whoops, I meant plated artila. Quote: Glaahks are are not pieces of garbage. Yes they are. What good is a melee creation that resists *magic* (not physical), and can only do a magical damage attack? Also, their stun is unreliable. Most of the enemies you'd like to stun will be immune.

Just a thought. Ack mentioned that Fire Creations are the worst brand of creation in the game. I'd argue that Magic Creations are by far the worst. The only two creations of value in the Magic Shaping class are the Vlish (trumps other tier 2 creations) and possibly the Searing Artila. Glaahks are overpriced pieces of garbage, and wingbolts and gazers have nothing on war tralls.

Geneforge 5 is my second favourite out of the series. I would rank the games as: GF1 > GF5 > GF2 >> GF4 >> GF3. As you can see, Geneforge 3 & 4 didn't do much for me.