Brocktree

You've dodged a bullet, mate. You don't need a girlfriend. If you want to chat up a girl, go to a nightclub or bar.

So she's dating someone else at work but is leading you on? Doesn't sound like such a nice girl. Don't fish from the company pier, buddy.

I think people are getting a bit personal with light. He's attacked fictional characters in a game, not the people in this thread. Jeez. I also happen to agree with him. In Avadon 1 there was a good reason for all of your companions to have some sort of issue with Avadon. In Avadon 2, it feels rather contrived. Added to which, within the first minute of the game, when I learnt that people were getting conscripted as Hands, I could only shake my head. Loyalty was such an issue for Redbeard in Avadon 1, and he responded to that by forcing people with grievances against Avadon to serve him? He's really walking into a coup.

If you let Trajkov use the Geneforge, he grants the serviles equal rights.

Maybe you attacked his roamers while they weren't hostile? Honestly, Master Phipps isn't an important character, and you don't miss out on anything much if you fail to complete his quest.

You *could* do that. Or you could go straight to Travald's crypt and evade his defenders. It's very easy to do so, I didn't even have to reload.

Thanks, I've fixed the errors. I didn't have enough mechanics to disarm the mines, from memory. Runed amethyst is good, although you could probably use a second blade to bestow acid drip, and then switch back to a puresteel blade with the golden crystal to strike with maximum physical damage.

I was replaying Geneforge 5, and realised that it is easy to suffer from burnout, particularly on Torment. Not only is it the largest Geneforge game, it's relatively non-linear, which means that it's easy to waste your time on stuff that isn't important, and miss stuff that is important. That's why I have created the Geneforge 5 walkthrough: The no BS version. By BS, I mean boring stuff/bothersome slog/bitter struggle. For example, when you fight your way past a horde of 700hp enemies at level 10, only to get a healing pod and 74 coins as your reward. Or when you create an artifact, when those same ingredients could have been used for another artifact more appropriate for your character build. Or when you spend 2000 coins on a high end spell, only to find a canister in the next zone. Well, say goodbye to the BS. I'll turn your character (ideally a sorceress/lifecrafter, as they are the most effective in GF5) into a lean, mean, fighting machine. Geneforge 5 walkthrough: The no BS version General advice - Don't buy points in creations/spells from a trainer, unless they are necessary and cannot be found from a canister. Don't know which ones are necessary and can't be found from a canister? Don't worry, that's what the no BS walkthrough is for! - War tralls are by far the best creation in the game. They have high HP, moderate resistances, a powerful long range attack, and are the cheapest 5th tier creation. If you play your cards right, you can have one 15% into the game. Until this point, avoid accumulating too much XP. Once you have war tralls, you can revisit previous areas and clear them up with ease. Alternatively, you could go with shock tralls. - Mental magic is crucial to surviving on higher difficulty levels. Daze (later Strong Daze), Terror, Dominate (later Charm) and Mass Madness are instrumental for crowd control. Almost every enemy can be terrified/charmed, excluding golems and undead. You want to accumulate enough spellcraft and mental magic skill so that you can reliably terrify/charm/daze any enemy in the game which isn't immume to mental effects. - The protection provided by heavy armour is over-rated. Therefore it is not worth investing in strength just to wear armour with a higher defensive rating. Always prioritise stat point bonuses provided by equipment over protection. Most notably, shields and body armour in this game are complete cack. If you're ever encumbered, unequip your shield first, then your body armour. - The creation strength bug in this game has been *fixed*. In previous Geneforge games, creations did not benefit from bonuses to creation strength provided by items. Now creations do benefit from items that are supposed to provide strength bonuses. - High leadership and mechanics are crucial on Torment. Even if you optimise your character for combat, you will be grossly outclassed by many enemies throughout most of the game. I have included leadership/mechanics recommendations for each zone. - Your character's power will increase steadily as their intelligence/spellcraft/essence increases. You will gain huge jumps in power for every war/shock trall you create, and when you acquire mass restore, charm, strong daze, essence lances, and essence blade. Invest most of your skill points in intelligence, spellcraft, and mental magic. The equipment you wear should also provide boosts in these key areas. - Don't forget that you have thorn batons! It's very easy to neglect them when you can access lightning aura and searer, but they are fantastic against physically weak enemies. They have a higher multiplier than most attack spells and good ancillary effects. There are also a number of early game items which give big bonuses to missile attacks. Most importantly, horde reapers. Early game (Drypeak Mountains) Your aims in the early game should be: 1. To access Mera-Tev by completing Rawal's main quest line in the Foundry without accumulating too much XP. 2. Complete the Shaper test in the Testing Grounds, and access the Battle Reward (Speed and Searer) - To complete the main storyline and access Mera-Tev, you'll only need to visit Minallah, Isenwood spire, the Promenade, and the Foundry (East, West and Core). - Bump your mechanics and Leadership up to 6 ASAP. This will be ample for all encounters in Drypeak. - Turning Mehken in to Rawal as a rebel will net you one of the better rewards in the game (+1 to strength and endurance), with no long term consequences. - Artilas, cryoas or clawbugs are the best creations for this part of the game. If you're a sorceress, stick with artilas to avoid sinking points into Fire Shaping. Character classes who start with 2 in Fire Shaping will get best returns from cryoas. You can purchase two points in Create Fyora very early, and find a book of Create Fyora in the Foundry Promenade. - Purchase one level of Protection, Cure Affliction and Burning Spray. These spells are crucial for most of the game, and you can't find any canisters for them. - Important canisters include Wrack (East Foundry) and Essence Infusion (Isenwood Spire) - Hold off investing in Spellcraft. You can access a trainer for it very early in the Mera-Tev. - There are no *must have* items in Drypeak, as you'll be getting much better gear soon enough in Mera-Tev and Storm Plains. However, the Apprentice Belt, Nimble Sandals, Carnelian Gloves are worth using for the short term. - The hardest battle will be against the Servant mind in the West Foundry. To beat it, recruit help from the soldiers in the southwest section, use a wand of weakness to increase damage taken by mind, stack acid and poison ancillary damage (acid spray and searer, respectively), and use fyoras/cryoas. Early-mid game Your three primary aims in Mera-Tev are as follows 1. Complete Astoria's series of quests to access the storm plains 2. Access reduced price training from trainer by raiding Gorash-Kel 3. Discover both entrances to the Shadow Road - A mechanics and leadership of 9 is ample for most encounters in Mera-Tev. - Koski on the North Mera Road is one of the harder bosses relative to your level. Pay him off for 5 coins, then recruit help from Tasha nearby - Gorash-Kel (a fortress in the middle of the map) can be accessed via swamp zones with minimal fighting. Go South from the North Mera Rd to the Northeastern fen, then west to the Northwestern fen, then south - With some trial and error, it is possible to loot most of Gorash-Kel in combat mode. In particular, make sure you get the Farsight Plate (northeast corner of fortress), Blademaster charm (middle), Shaped Blade (northwest corner in the crystal blue box) and Mandrake Tincture. You can steal the Shaped blade without being noticed by the camping Unbound by starting from the lower right hand corner of the room, approaching and opening it in combat mode, and then returning to the lower right hand corner of the room. - Forge a Runed Athemyst on the Shaped Blade to give it the acid drip effect. This will give you the most damaging melee weapon for some time. - Optional: Kill Felik in the Northwest Corner of the Lower Noyde pass for the Best body armour you will have access to for a while - the Thahdskin tunic. The +2 bonus to strength allows you to wear heavier stat boosting armour for no skill point investment. If you don't feel like doing this, stick with the farsight breastplate. - You can now access reduced training prices from Quothe. It's worth buying +2 spellcraft, one point of unlock, regeneration aura, heal and lightning aura. - Essential canisters - Ice Spray (North Mera Road) - Discover both ends of the Shadow Road. One is in Kaz, on the east side. Avoid the guards by going into combat mode. Make sure you use the Create Vlish canister. The other entrance is in Penta on the west side. Use some living tools. Report back to Rawal for the terror spell. - Purchase two points in Create Vlish from Quothe. Vlish are your best creation at this point in the game. Cryoas may do more damage, but will be rendered useless in the Kratoa Stoneworks. - After going off the above tangents, it's advisible to push through on Astoria's main quest. Murkwood is pretty straight forward. Make sure to kill Emogene and nab her empathy blade. A penalty to dexterity is not noticible, but the bonus to creation strength is fantastic. Also read the note in the chest about Crenshaw. - Pay a visit to Crenshaw, and obtain his captain's shiv. As it doesn't grant the same bonuses to your creations that the empathy blade does, you are best only to equip this when you need to cast a high level blessing spell. Be sure to get your reward from Captain Herzen (Samaritan's Sandals). - Stoneworks is quite difficult. Get the key from. In each section of the factory, recruit help from the golems, and have them wipe out hostile golems. The boss if easy if you hide behind the golems and let them hammer him into submission. Make sure you don't miss the Tinker gloves, which are in the right bottom corner of the factory, and the demon's bile. Mid-early game (Storm Plains) I was at level 15 at this point. Your main goals once entering the Storm Plains are to: 1. Complete General Alwans diplomacy quest. This will allow you to access Gazaki-Uss, which provides you with several crucial canisters. 2. Create your first war tralls 3. Collect a couple of infiltrator items 4. Gain a number of decent stat-boosting items - Before heading to Perkalia, go and get your first infiltrator item. Disable the traps on the East Shadow road, and acquire the infiltrator shield and demon bile. Avoid the centre, you won't be strong enough to take out the Bilous Rotgroth - Your second infiltrator item can be obtained from the Middle Shadow Road. If you don't have 11 leadership by now, you can obtain the item quite easily by stealth alone. I found it best to enter from the West Shadow Road. Go south, and approach the Creation Control Core from the West. Disable the crystal pylon leading to the lava pits and use the Strong Daze canister. Then, with careful timing, duck across to the wooden chest in the centre room and take the tunic. All other infiltrator items in the game require fighting against tough enemies. - You should have at least 12 mechanics now (with tinker items equipped). Return to Mera and disarm the hardest traps in the storeroom to acquire the Agent's Shelter and demon bile. Return to Isenwood Spire and steal the Shaper Robe from the trapped box in Shaper Rahul's room. Avoid fighting the Wingbolts via opening the chest in combat mode, and ducking out of the room. - Duck back to the Northwest Fen and fight Crenshaw. Take his Captain's Shiv, and learn about Bennhold's location. Report your success to Captain Herzen in Haria-Kel for the nice Samaritan Sandals. - Steal the demon's bile from the South Mera Road - Go back to the Storm Plains, and head straight for Perkalia via the Hatra Ruins. Avoid the borer bugs at all costs, as they do enormous amounts of damage for little insects. - Talk to Alwan and accept his diplomacy quest. Travel to Gazaki-Uss via Fort Defiance (east of the North Storm Plains). Go east to the Northwest wasteland, then east to Outer Gazaki-Uss (making sure you steal the demon bile on the way), then east again. When you are challenged by the drakon, talk your way out of battle using leadership, then reach Ghaldring via the secret labs. Provide truthful information to Alwan to receive the projection belt, one of the best non-artifact belts in the game. - Go to Helft (Mera Tev) and collect the Shaper notes in the desk in the Drayk's house. Go to fort defiance and give them to Shaper Alexie for the Skein of Wisdom (+1 to intelligence) - Steal the Canister Tome from Alwan's library (use the back entrance via combat mode) and return it to Rahul for a point in major heal and wingbolt. - Purchase quick action from Guardian Manola, as prices have dropped significantly. Quick action is very useful, as it will allow you to act much earlier in combat. - Talk to Ghaldring about joining the rebellion to open up the Secret Access Route. Go visit the SAS and grab the golden crystal, crystalline fibres and mandrake tincture - Middle game - Storm Plains and Okavano fens Aims: 1. Acquire several very useful stat boosting items, particularly the gruesome charm, captains boots and thirsting knife. 2. Acquire our most powerful spells - Kill, Purifying Rain, and Charm. 3. Acquire two powerful artifacts. 4. Obtain an AP of 10 - Buy Kill from Cyprien. This is your highest damaging spell. Combine it with Essence Blade when you need to take down magic vulnerable enemies quick (ie. Unbound). - Steal the purifying rain and charm canisters from Gazaki-Uss labs, as well as the demon fang talisman. - (Optional) Buy two levels of melee and missile weapons from Guardian Manola, for the rare occasion when you bust out a reaper baton or puresteel blade. - Use a couple of Charged Vlish to draw the cyrodrayks' fire in Gorash-Kel, while you use the Elemental Aura canister. Always use this aura when attacking foes who employ elemental damage. - Enter Travald's crypt. Travald's wife is easy to beat if you use a charged vlish to soak up her ice attacks. Use leadership against Travald's advisor and take his infiltrator's cloak. Activate Travald's defenses, and walk around the room *counter-clockwise* (in the same direction as the guardian ghosts), while keeping a distance from them. Travald will fade and drop the Purity Ring, one of the better rings in the game. Take the Ur-Drakon skin in the box behind Tholoss - Return to the East Shadow Road and take down Bilious Rotgroth in centre with charm, Lightning Aura and Kill are easily. Take the Captain's Boots. Use the Captain's Boots and Captain's Shiv to cast Elemental Aura when needed, and then switch back to your regular gear after doing so. - Go clear the Mountain Crossroads. This is easy with high mechanics, although the hostile creations aren't that tough anyway. Be sure to collect the Quicksilver. - Craft your first major artifact: Assassin's Boots. Start by creating the Mercuric Boots (Perfected Boots + Quicksilver), then add crystalline fibres. These grants you +2 action points for approximately 60% of combat rounds. - Go east and clear Fort Rockfall, then go south from the Mountain Crossroads to Thistlewood. Wipe out Callaran and his bandits. This fight is ridiculously easy if you turn the turrets. Use the Essence Blade canister and take the second solidified flame - Get the thirsting knife from the Western Passes. - Next, return to the Foundry Repository in Drypeak Mountains. Go through the entrance to turn the golem hostile, then pound him into dust. He has no area of effect attack, and only one moderate physical attack per round, so it should be easy to take him down with tralls. Head directly east to the southeast corner of the map, and use the control panel to reduce the search radius of the guardians. Then go north to the centre-east of the map and flip the lever. Then go to the opposite (west) side and flip another lever. This opens up a secret room in the centre of the area with a mental focus charm. Also make sure you collect the mandrake tincture from the centre-north room. - Make the Smoking gauntlets (Perfected Gloves + Solidified Flame). - Go to Western Okravano, and neutralise the spawners with strong daze, charm and our war trall(s). - There is nothing of great interest in Western Okravano. However, I wanted to access the sea caves (Northwest area), and Trakovite Haven. The rotghroths near the sea cave entrance are easily avoided, if you don't want a fight. - Duck into the Trakovite Haven and steal Litalia's Symbiotic Cloak. - Betray the location of the Trakovite haven to Agent Micheline in Mera, and get the Physicians charm. - Fight your way through the Sea Caves. On your third encounter with the essence shades, you can use leadership to talk them out of a fight, and are rewarded with the gruesome charm, which gives a significant boost to intelligence. Gyllaran employs a nasty melee stun attack and over 3000hp, but has a low physical resistance. I would suggest meleeing him with some weak disposable creations to draw fire, and pelt him with your tralls/sorceress. He went down easy enough for me. Take the solidified flame in the cupboard. - Take down the Secret Lab. This is far easier than it sounds. With your high leadership, you will have no trouble with the patrolling creations. Go recruit the three powerful mages from the northwest and southeast cells. Charm the creations the head drakon makes, so that he focuses fire on his own creations while your tralls and allies pound on him. Take the Pure quicksilver and mandrake tincture - Make the Sunfire Greaves (Perfected Greaves + Solidified Flame). - Go kill the Gazer at Lerman's pass. Do this by luring him away from his turrets, and pelting on him with war tralls who are protected with resistance aura. Use your PC to keep the worms occupied with charm. You'll need to outheal the Gazer's kill spells with two healing spores per round + a heal spell. Gain the cleanse group canister and unmelting ice as your reward. - Shape the Lifetender Girdle (Perfected Belt + Unmelting Ice) then the Lifebringer Girdle (Lifetender Girdle + Ur-Drakon Skin). This will provide you with enough healing craft for the rest of the game. Mid-late game - Dera Reaches Your aims are to: 1. Get your hands on a Puresteel Blade and Reaper Baton, both of which will doll out enormous amounts of physical damage. 2. Gain access to Mass Madness, which will neutralise mobs of enemies. 3. Upgrade the Smoking Gauntlets and Sunfire Greaves to the Firesteel Gauntlets and Greaves, respectively. This will give you a significant boost to spellcraft. 4. Get your hands on the Forbidden Band - Go to the Perkalia orchards, and run to the south end of the zone to exit it to skip the sluggish, choppy 20+ minute fight. Then return to the zone and use the Essence Lances canister. -Go Straight to the Zephyr Oasis (you can avoid all the rogues on the way if desired) and use the Mass Restore Canister. - Go to the Western Wasteland and kill Shakkus-Eye. He is probably harder than some bosses in the Dera Reaches, but is worth the trouble, ashe has the best ring in the game. Shakkus has a nasty kill attack, and throws out a lightning aura every second round that hits anyone in visual distance. Your strategy involves whittling down the podlings without drawing Shakkus-Eye's attention. Then throw up a resistance aura and charm the remaining few podlings near Shakkus-Eye. While they draw Shakkus-Eye's fire, hit him with your war tralls. Most importantly, keep your sorceress behind your tralls, out of Shakkus's Eye's Visual range. With two attacks per round, you *should* be able to outheal the damage Shakkus does to your tralls with aura of cleansing and mass restore. Unfortunately there are no tricks here, so your war tralls will have to bite the bullet and take a beating. - Optional: Go southwest to The White Wastes, and assist the rebels. Beat off the assault force by using leadership to recruit the creations inside the camp, employing charm liberally, and focusing fire on the kyshakks, Head Guardian, and two enemy mages (easily the most dangerous opponents). Once you have killed the Guardian in the assault troupe, make sure to take his Guardian Claymore, which is the best weapon for Shaper/Magic using classes. Note that assisting the rebels closes of Taygen's faction to you. - From the Zephyr oasis, go east to Camp east alpha, then south to the Pacification road. Activate the calming pylons and skirt around the rogues until you reach the south entrance, then return to clear the zone. Go east and collect the mass madness canister, then leave the zone via the east to access kayar's Spire - Go talk to the servant mind in the northwest corner of Kayar's Spire to activate the controls, then flip the two working switches to change the patrol of the golems. Go straight east to the northeast area and kill Sage Hellebore to get the Talisman of Strength. Get the essence infused iron from the room behind him. You can also find a golden crystal behind the pylons in the central northeast room. - Use the Essence Infused Iron to upgrade the Smoking gauntlets to the Firesteel gauntlets - Go to the Purity Workshop, and take the puresteel. - Optional: Kill Platano. To take him out without any hassle, park your creations outside of his room. Have your PC enter combat mode, dash in and disable his protective machinery, and then dash out. Unfortunately, the pools of acid will not damage Platano if you or your creations are not in visual distance. Create a Glaahk, use resistance aura, and send it into the room an inch away from Platano to draw his fire. Meanwhile, park your tralls slightly outside the door to the room, and pelt platano to death. When your glaahk gets low on health, have your PC heal it through the wall with a targeted heal spell. Take Platano's transference suit, and head back to Rawal for your reward: an essence charm, and an increase in strength and dexterity. Note that killing Platano *prior* to joining Taygen's faction will bar your permanently from joining Taygen's faction. - Collect the puresteel in the southwest corner of the Oasis Fields. - Have Smith Fitz at the Dera South Shore make you a puresteel blade, then forge a golden crystal on it. - Go to Bennhold's Keep. Bennhold is one nasty boss, with 4000hp, two attacks per round, and the ability to heal. Fighting a running battle with him is pure torture, especially since you are led through a field of turrets. When you encounter the first pack of creations, kill all of them, including the rotgroths. Then create the maximum number of creations possible, and *surround* Bennhold, so that he is forced to engage a war trall in melee. This will prevent him from fleeing when he takes too much damage. Keep him perpetually terrified with the terror spell, so that he doesn't kill any of your disposable creations and slip through the breach. - Take Bennhold's Puresteel Charm. Go to the southwest corner of the zone and flip the lever, and take the Blessing Magic canister up north. Be sure to get the Access Crystal and Reaper Baton from Bennhold's bedroom. - Approach the Dera south shore from the west. Disable the mines to the south, and fight the golems, disabling each one with a living tool. - Go down the trap door, and then west through the locked doors. Continue west in combat mode, and disable the power pylon, then go to the northwest corner and active the pylons in the central dome. Go east and south to the central dome, and lure the rogues south of you into it. - After this, go south and east to encounter Vabna-Eye. Enter combat mode and steal the essence infused iron. High tail it back to the central dome and escape while the pylons keep Vabna busy. - Use the essence-infused iron to upgrade the Sunfire Greaves to the Firesteel Greaves. You've pretty much acquired all of the best gear in the game at this point, and have accessed the most important spells/creations. It's up to you where you go from here.

When I read the topic of the thread, I thought the OP was dumbfounded in regards to how good a game Avernum 1 is.

Your last sentence pretty much summarises why I consider Avernum 6 to have a happy ending. The magic of Exile/Avernum is mainly in the fact that it is *not* entirely fit for human habitation. It's an inherently hostile world which only the most brave and foolhardy can explore, not some magical sunshine land with a stifling bureaucracy.

So you would have no problem with me buying a car off you, and then paying what I think it is worth afterwards? So? Do you work for your employer for free?

You're forgetting that the island was not deserted. It had a whole bunch of serviles and drayks on it. So the Shapers essentially left what they considered to be a whole bunch of children with access to forbidden Shaping research. Would you allow your children to play with a nuclear missile?

I found Control Core B incredibly difficult for when it appears in the game. If you don't utilise mental magic, I have no idea how you'd complete it on Torment.

I'm not sure if you understand the joke. It refers to the relatively common phenomenon of women always criticising everything their male significant other does. So it's a jab at women.

So if you want War Tralls early, you're best off joining Astoria. Getting to the Dera Reaches, or taking on the Control Core for Alwan, are both *painful*.

Oh, my mistake. Does Astoria teach it if you join her?

You can train in war tralls if you don't kill the rebel mage at the abandoned farms.

To survive on Torment in Geneforge 5, you needs lots of War Tralls, and lots of mental magic. I wouldn't worry about Rotghroths, just get War Tralls ASAP and level them up.

Doing something you enjoy before the day starts? That's the opposite of conventional wisdom, but it might be worth a try.

I wonder if one's opinion is effected by their experience with the prequels. Geneforge 1 and 2 portray the Shapers in a negative light. In Geneforge 1 you witness first hand examples of the Shapers callousness and irresponsibility. They just up and abandoned a whole bunch of creations who were totally dependent on them, while leaving a bunch of deadly and toxic experimental equipment lying around. In Geneforge 2 you get to witness the brutality with which the Shapers respond to the results of their carelessness, with them just killing any creation with independent thought, even the ones who just want to be treated with respect. Geneforge 3 really does portray the rebel cause in a poor light. As several posters mentioned, most of the Rebel acts are pretty unsavoury (although arguably necessary, if they wish to make the most of the element of surprise), whereas the Shapers are using conventional techniques to kill the enemy. Furthermore, most of the Shapers you meet are actually pretty pleasant to deal with. The Shapers still have their problems, but these aren't drummed in as heavily as they were in GF1 and 2, perhaps because Jeff thought we'd already heard it a million times. For example, Geneforge 3 mentions that drayks are barred creations, so no-one can Shape them. However, Geneforge 1 makes it clear that the Shapers also hunted the drayks into extinction. Hell, it's mentioned multiple times in the game by the narrator *and* NPCs. Geneforge 3 hints at Shaper neglect in regards to their creations, but Geneforge 1 is an actual story that revolves around Shapers abusing and abandon their creations out of convenience, and the resulting aftermath. The response to this aftermath involves the Shapers coming back and killing the serviles who had learnt to support themselves. If you've played Geneforge 2, you'd know that the creations only stand a chance against the Shapers if they hit them with everything they have got. Otherwise they'll end up like the Awakened sect. Since I've played the prequels, the actions of the Rebels become a lot more palatable. If you haven't, then I can understand why the Rebel's behaviour might seem like overkill.

Interesting! I feel exactly the same way. It's nice to know I'm not some sort of freak. That's also interesting. Maybe you feel OK on 5-6 hours because you've just started your 2nd cycle of sleep, and haven't entered deep sleep yet. That would also explain why you tend to have a lot of grogginess on 8 hours sleep. You're near the end of your second sleep cycle (deep wave sleep), and find it hard to wake up. Before any of my exams, I used to sleep very little, and very lightly, so I'd wake up immediately very alert. Anyway, I started the thread because I've had a lack of energy for the last few years, particularly on the weekends. I do generally sleep too little, too late, and too erratically.

There are no 'maybe' options in my polls.

do you feel refreshed and energetic?

If you plan to make only vlish (as recommended by Slarty, which is a great strategy up until Gull Island), then you will have enough essence to do this as an agent. Even Rothgroths are relatively inexpensive. The advantage you gain from an investment in a shaping skill is minimal. Bumping up a Shaping skill to 10 will give your creations *five* in strength, dexterity, intelligence and endurance. This can be significant if you choose to tote around 7 creations (as you, and even I pointed out earlier!), but if you decide to have Tier Four creations, the advantage is less pronounced. Dikiyoba also pointed out something else that I found really sucked as a Shaper. After hitting 10 in a Shaping skill, you need to invest 2 in that skill before you increase a creation's level by 1. That means that you need to invest *FOUR* in a Shaping skill before you gain *ONE* die of damage for your creations. In Geneforge 3, spellcraft is easily the best skill available. It increases the power of battle magic, mental magic, blessing magic, AND healing craft. It doesn't have diminishing returns. Items which add spellcraft aren't bugged (unlike items which add to creation strength, which *are*). Agents have spellcraft as a focus skill. That makes them the best character by far.

They aren't. I can live without a gun, and even if guns were permitted here, I probably wouldn't buy one. I wouldn't mind a zapper for House of the Dead, but I can live without it. That doesn't change the fact that many people here would take that choice away from others. Seems pretty selfish, if you ask me.