Fluff

After that I am largley ignorant of why and how romance is used in later games.

Having played through all of 2 and 5 and some of 3, I can tell you with mild certainty that it more or less isn't.

It's kind of hard for me to explain, but I'm not sure a romance option would really work in a Geneforge game. I guess one my issues would be feeling that NPC's are only attracted to my characters actions, not their actual personality (e.g. a pro-servile person who will be available to a pro-servile character), with the result being that any thoughts I have as to what my character is like are irrelevant. Faction reputation is one thing, obviously the serviles will like someone who helps them and despise someone who oppresses them, but the idea that this hypothetical love-interest could be attracted to two (in my head) completely different people would make the whole thing feel a bit cheapened.

You do get exp for unlocking things in Geneforge 2, with or without living tools, but not if you use a key. For example, if you activate the pylon controllers in the Drypeak Mine, you get experience, but if you have the key, you get no experience, even if you have the required mechanics.

I think the two thahds in question would be identical.

(Alternate title: "I just killed Stanis, and you'll never guess how!")

So I recently found the Geneforge series on Steam since I last played it however long ago, and it took about 0 seconds internal debate before I bought it. I'm now on my second playthrough of Geneforge 2, this time as a power-made shaper with a mildly disturbing fondness for watching things die. Naturally his response to the whole "Avenge Shanti" topic was "...I'm legally allowed to kill you? Eeee!", the only setback being all the creations in the arena getting disabled, and that he was about as good at killing things personally as a wet paper bag. Well, I guess I appreciate a challenge.

Strategy #1: One super-statted cryoa with buffs. Result: Died in two hits.

Strategy #2: Lots of cryoa. Result: They all get dazed at the start, Stanis hits one, it attacks back, he kills it, repeat until no more cryoa. Frustratingly, with haste spores and war-blessing, they managed to reduce him to 14 health on one attempt, at which point my shaper failed to do any damage whatsoever.

Strategy #3: Lots of cryoa, who I attacked myself to un-daze them. Result: A load of guards arrive to murder me. Hm. Didn't think they cared that much about creations in Rising.

Strategy #4: Lots of cryoa, who attack Stanis before I talk to him to get a round without being dazed. Result: Same as strategy #3.

Strategy #5: Shameless abuse of the system. Identify the exact area where cryoa start being dazed, and have most of them wait behind this point, with a few acting as meat-shields to let me survive starting the fight. Result: The meat-shields die, I walk off to the essence pool in the city, make some replacements, and come back. Stanis politely waits too far away to attack without entering the arena, so after some blessing spells and haste spores, I send cryoa in one at a time, pulling them out to be healed after they are attacked once, wearing down that obnoxious "guardian" into a chilly red smear. His death scream was one of the most satisfying moments in the entire game for me.

A bit of shamless bragging, but I do feel rather proud. I suspect that if I were good at mechanics I'd have some way of disabling the creation control in the arena, but who needs mechanics when you have a flood of cannon-fodder, right?

Sadly, the golems and that shaper are dead now, and I've still got a gazer, a drakon and a battle gamma, among other assorted nuisances, to worry about.

I just want to post a quick update on this. I noticed that the golems patrolling that area would follow my fyoras out to the main hall. And attack the other guards while they were at it.

I decided to expand that. I just watched the head shaper get killed by a drakon. I'm not entirely sure what to do now.

Ah, the advantages of being a shaper. That is, being killed in one hit by a strong breeze. This should be fun. On an unrelated note, did you know that if your leadership is high enough, you can get one of the shapers in the college to teach you to make drakes, no matter which sect you've joined? It's fun.

I managed to find that irritating thing. Any advice for dealing with the horde of angry shapers after I've sabotaged it?

So I'm trying to help out the Awakened by doing this quest. I'm a bit too leadership/mechanicy to kill the head researchers, so I tried stealing the research from the core bit thing.

Soyeah. Radiation, golems, angry mages, a drakon. Funtimes.

And then I managed it somehow. My problem is that Learned Pinner doesn't seem to care. Is there really something else I need to do? And will it be harder now that the whole facility wants me dead?

My stupid piece of junk Vista crashes if Fast Draw is off and there are too many items in an area. Slightly lame.

Everyone knows that ornks exist outside of the past to future time travel that other inferior lifeforms use.

Bah. Everyone knows that the mighty Ornks were derived from Drakons! Some things were just lost along the way. Others, were gained.

The ability to survive in space, for instance.

So he is an option. Thanks.

Isn't Rawal an option?

Thanks, and that reminds of my other problem somehow:

Leadership and Mechanics. I just can't imagine a playthrough without them, but I want to try going for raw power as well. So hard to choose T.T

Now that the adventure of Maythos the Rebel Lifeshaper has come to a wonderful conclusion (The final battle was just awesome. I love this series) I need to start again. But I'm spoilt for choice. I know I want to be a shaping or magic based class, but I can't decide which.

Also, alignment. I'm thinking Trakovite, but really I have no idea. Which ones do you guys think were most fun to play?

Oh, funny thing. Ish. I was searching the world for more living tools, and I'd already bought all the ones the servile smuggler had, but he still had one on display that he refused to sell. End result: The Shaper Empire was hunting me because I murdered four of their council members, massacred their towns, ruined the war effort, and was generally a jerk to them. The Rebels were hunting me because I stolle a living tool. Joy.

This one just used its single turn making a Rot-thingy and breathing fire. Then it died.

I was feeling bored, so I decided to complete the quest for that smith and kill an Unbound One. So I camped out by the side of the road on the Dera South Shore, and waited for my prey.

Eventually, I sensed it aproaching from the west, so I created three Shock Tralls, blessed and shieled them, and marched off to what was sure to be the greatest fight of my life so far.

Five rocks later, there was a pool of blood sitting next to a freshly-summoned Rot-thing. Then two more Unbound entered the area. Exit me Stage Left.

So what's the point of those big glowy lizard things?

Thanks for the help. Shame though, I was really looking forward to Rawal's reaction. I'm leaving him last to let him sit in paranoia as he gets the reports of all the deaths of his fellow councilors.

Good times.

Thanks.

I managed to utilize plan "swarm with Shock Tralls and hope for the best" quite sucesfully. I was curious about those power inhibitor things, but I was running low on Living Tools and, as a Rebel, I can't find many places to buy more. Oh well, on to that dude in the South.

Also, am I meant to not get any dialogue when attacking the council members already hostile to me? I got to laugh at Alwan almost-dying-words, but when I met Astoria she just attacked me in silence.

Oh well.

Thanks for the help with that stuff. Also, does anyone know the best way to kill Astoria?

Thanks. My main problem now is essence. What kind of stats should I give those two or three tralls?

Hello fellow humans. I've just joined Ghaldring and used the War Trall canister in his store rooms, and I've trained twice with the Drakon in the south bit, so now I can make Shock Tralls. (I've been training battle shaping only)

I'm just wondering if they're worth it. The thing says their health decay is the price for their rocks stunning enemies. Should I bother with them? If so, how many should I make, and how should I try to keep their health up?