Walter

Just thought of some other interesting challenges to try: 1. Play as a shaper but use no creations 2. Play as an agent but cast no spells other than healing craft ones. 3. Wear no equipment and carry no charms 4. Do not use any canisters, train at any trainers, or use or read anything else that otherwise increases skills other than using skill points. 5. Never directly damage an enemy with your character or creations: have all damage done by alwan, greta, friendly npcs, or dominated opponents. 6. Never buy anything or sell anything to an npc storekeeper. 7. Play as a shaper and once it first becomes possible never use any creations (even alwan or greta) except for pyroroamers. 8. Once you find the first one, never damage any enemy with anything but steel spines enhancements on armor unless the enemy type will never use mellee attacks. 9. Never kill any enemies that you are not absolutely required to to complete a quest. 10. Play through the entire game without ever reloading a game save or dying once. 11. Never report completion of a quest for a reward unless required for the main plotline. 12. Play through the game without investing anything in mechanics and never open a door that you need living tools or the unlock spell to do so (you would not be able to clear all areas but it may still be possible to win the game). 13. Play as a shaper and never make anything but thaads, artila, and fyora, and whenever one of them levels up reabsorb it so you can't have them higher level than your skills make them at creation. 14. only damage enemies with mellee attacks, but never equip a weapon other than the first dagger you find on starting the game.

Yes, it may make things difficult early on, but it may be worth it later to have it around later when you again have enough essence to cast a few cures.

True, but with very little shaping skills creations will never be useful unless you make them at the start, so making a fyora at the very beginning may be advisable. (though you don't have enough essence to give it 2 points in intelligence until you are level 2).

It's not organic poisons, its caustic chemicals used to treat metal and crystals. When you are there you repeatedly get covered in acid, not poisoned.

Also what creations were you using? With a guardian that means only fyoras and thahds at first, though with the books on dhonals island, a canister of fire shaping on the dhonal docks, the bejeweled bracelet from the testing grounds, and that necklace from the bulwark inn that makes a possible 4 fire shaping, and 5 in battle and magic. Unfortunately though it would probably be quite a while before you could complete the trials for the bejeweled bracelet.

Not if you clear the twin mind tunnels before attacking the spawners and have 8 leadership which allows you to convince Diawaniya to provide reinforcements to attack the rogues. This will cause a battle alpha, a glaak, and a roamer to appear near the supply cache in the infested pathway that will follow you around and fight for you, and will continue to do so in the madness mire. (With their help I actually managed to take them out without clearing the twin mind tunnels first without too much difficulty, though I was a shaper, not an agent).

But without using skill points you can't get that without a bunch of items from much later in the game. And if he wants to save the maximum living tools it is better to go back with the extra key from destroying the spawners (and possibly return to certain doors later in the game with the infiltrator equipment, all of which but the ring and charm can be found by the end of dhonal's island). Also besides the infiltrator's equipment I think there is some shield that gives +leadership but I forget the location. (and tinker's bauble and gloves for mechanics).

And if you have even higher leadership (10 i believe) you can make the creator destroy itself without fighting.

Also when you destroy the spawners he gives you both that key and another key that opens many doors down there.

Well once you go to dhonal's island and get that necklace from the inn that gives +1 battle and magic shaping, I suppose you could prepare for battles like that by using some of your essence (since you run out of energy first anyway) to make some thahds that the shades will waste turns killing, though probably each one will only absorb 1 attack each. Also, avoiding putting any skill points in any skill that is trainable until you reach the trainers would probably be too difficult, you should try to do so for as many skills as you can (after all you won't be spending all the gold on learning creations shapers and possibly guardians will), but also if you are having difficulty in a place DO NOT be afraid to use some items to get it done. Try holding on to armor potions, healing (and greater healing and restoration) and curing pods, essence pods, battle, speed, and shielding pods, and the more powerful types of crystals and wands, and buy more from shops if you are always using up a particular type (and make more of those on the anvil if you don't have enough of some type you find particularly useful).

Then again maybe he indicated the wings were vestigal so people wouldn't keep complaining about not letting drayks fly over things.

You have to read the book 3 times to open that door, and each time it summons a more dangerous group of shades, and there are a few more exceptionally powerful shades past the door. This area is however completely optional and is only done for the treasures inside, so if you can't beat it don't be afraid to wait and come back later as it is the toughest spot on harmony isle.

Well according to the hintbook about the monastery caves "This area contains the most difficult foes in the game and is mainly useful as a way of testing your characters and seeing how tough they are", so while it seems you would want to go through there to get the really powerful items inside, if you are capable of getting through it you can go through any other area without them, just like the inner crypt in Geneforge 1. Edit: Jolana in the Breeding caverns can upgrade Alwan's weapon for 4k, or if you have sufficient leadership only 2k. Edit: And if you enter Jolana's room it makes her hostile but you get cryoaskin vambraces and a mandrake tincture, and she drops a fibrous breastplate. Edit: Perhaps you should note that the "Confusing Touch" on the frozen blade means it curses your target. Edit: and also note that the "Rotting touch" on the oozing blade makes it both deal acid instead of physical damage, and makes it slow the target. Edit: and although you say to use minor heal when not in combat, major heal actually heals slightly more hp per point of essence (though heal does less, and that does not take into account how many levels you know the spell at). Edit: and when Jolana upgrades Alwan's blade it makes it cover enemies with acid.

Well judging by those posts there are a lot of different ways to successfully play agent, however the way you distributed your stats seems a little... unfocused. Thus you lack any really strong way of dealing damage quickly which I think is important for agents.

Well remember in exile/avernum there is only one set storyline and no real plot choices to make like the way geneforge has multiple sides you can join and multiple ways to complete the game. In Nethergate you can play as one of two different groups of people from the start with a different goal in the game.

Yes, well there is generally time to read a few details off the diagrams so after many times I know what all of it says.

Ok, how about this question: on the loading screen with drayk info, it says they used a base material of a heavily modified fyora. Also, it indicates the wings are vestigal. Now how can a creature have vestigal wings if its ancestor had no wings at all?

Also you may want to erase that comment about Macallan's training being invaluable to loyalists. everything she teaches other than leadership, mechanics, and mellee weapons can be trained cheaper by either Vandrin, Gretchen, or Khyryk, and few people reach that point without any investment in leadership and mechanics, and the only reason you won't have any points in mellee weapons is if you are using a ranged weapon or are a shaper and are just using the guardian claymore for its stat boosts. Edit: not sure if its certain, but the jailed battle alpha in Display Warrens dropped a golden crystal. Edit: Somehow I got the Display Warrens to go cleared after first killing the pylons before deactivating them. Not sure how it happened, but here's what I did: I killed all the pylons up to the rotgroth, then went and told the servant mind to shut them off. I killed the rest of the pylons and went off to khyrk, and as it was the only path I had been through on the way back I walked through from the west and on the way I flipped the switches. I never got a clear message but when I exited the other side it was then green. Edit: to see what was in the central building there I slaughtered the serviles there when I first arrived but didn't keep the game save. I do remember though that someone (possibly elek, I forget though) dropped a charm of mental focus, which did stack with the one I already had, and killing elek caused a message about how you can't consider to have won a victory yet until you find someone else to take over. Edit: though there is no reward for mentioning Phasia to Corrie it gives you some experience. Edit: Macallan will leave if you tell her you've met Khyryk, though you get no reward you get some experience, but as she leaves you can no longer train there.

He doesn't teach gazer, but someone does augment you for gold to get a point of that. However that faq must be missing some source of skills as it only lists two possible points of create drakon and I doubt Jeff would make Ur-drakons impossible.

There was something like that in Avernum 3 where going into one house makes it say there is a family having dinner screaming at you to leave. I mean really how would you react if someone just barged into your house.

Well there are three different ways to get boat access on harmony (kill rebels, help rebels, kill spawners), one of which makes alwan leave, one of which makes greta leave, one of which keeps them both. However there are only two ways to get past dhonals (destroy or fix creator), and both choices cause one of them to leave.

I said than most creations. Rotgroths are suppossed to be tougher but as compensation they only have a mellee attack. Drakons may not seem worth it, but it appears Jeff went through an effort to make them seem balanced, but as is often the case something that is supposed to be more versatile ends up seeming weaker.

Well I suppose a drakons main strength was supposed to be its ability to hit multiple targets at once, as nothing else but eyebeast can do that, as well as be able to survive longer than most other creations under attack, while still having the versatility of doing more damage with mellee than ranged against single targets.

Well there are a few different valuable enhancements for armor: blessing stones add +5 % armor, golden crystals (most rare and valueable enhancement) add +5% to all hostile effect resistance. It does not add to armor, but is probably usually a better choice. And thirdly steel spines cause damage to anyone who hits you. However steel spines are probabaly only useful to mellee guardians as most other classes and playstyles involve rarely ever being hit, and if you are often getting hit the crystalline shroud is a bad choice due to its low armor value.

Or again, if you want a challenge play on torment.