mikeprichard

I think Lorn's talking about GF1 Mutagen, not GF2 Infestation.

Yep, your reputation will affect merchant prices in the relevant faction strongholds. I don't think it affects "wilderness" merchant prices, though I'm not 100% on that.

Mechanics +3 in Mechalibur's original list in the OP refers to non-sarcophagus boosts - specifically: Rydell's Pentil book, Hills of Jars, and +1 training from Flig (see details above). There is a fourth possible point I noted in my subsequent post above from a sarcophagus in the Sealed Lab, but given how sacrophagi work in GF1 (they're annoying), it's so late in the game as to likely be irrelevant/unusable - and I certainly don't recommend holding off on Mechanics increases for so long just to get that extra "free" point.

As to how much Mechanics are "needed" overall, I kept notes indicating I ended the game with 10 total points including boosts but before temporary items, and had no issues opening all locks with living tools to spare (though there were 1 or 2 traps just beyond my skill, with 13 or 14 required). As usual, Strategy Central has some useful linked info, including Randomizer's traditional "Atlas", which notes a maximum of 14 Mechanics needed to disarm all traps in the game - GF1-M - Atlas to Quests and Items [Massive Spoilers] - Geneforge Series - Remasters - Spiderweb Software Forums (ipbhost.com). That atlas will also give the location of the gloves (in the Mine Core - though spoilers aplenty there, so be careful with your word search if that's an issue).

That's the concept of creation "control" - another topic also linked in GF1 Mutagen Strategy Central has some more details - Geneforge Mutagen Creation Mechanics - Geneforge Series - Remasters - Spiderweb Software Forums (ipbhost.com). Short version (though I generally don't play Shapers, so am not an expert) - you'll want it to be stronger than "weak" if you don't want to frequently lose control of your critters.

Whoops... so you are. What I meant to link to lol - Analysis - Creation Balance in Mutagen - Geneforge Series - Remasters - Spiderweb Software Forums (ipbhost.com).

EDIT: never mind lol

For Jaffee's lesson, in addition to being an Obeyer, you need to have learned about Trajkov (not sure the exact triggers for that) and met Masha.

Yeah, I kind of assumed in my above "notes to self" that Darian is an option to switch rep from one extreme to the other. I had more notes about rep values needed that I didn't share here that made it pretty simple to avoid using Darian altogether, but it certainly would be simpler.

The significant guaranteed extra damage from Chain Lightning even against single enemies coupled with its earlier availability and low-ish essence cost make it extremely strong, IMO. I've got both CL and Essence Lash at 3 points at endgame, and EL doesn't do much more damage than CL (it does Wrack and Shock, but also costs 7 vs. 3 and doesn't hit other enemies). So they're both fairly on par, with variation depending on the situation/needs, in my experience - though if we're only talking about bosses/single strong enemies, EL may indeed have an edge. Also agree with Guardian's Roar seeming underwhelming as the "final" skill, but its effect is unique within the Weapon Shaping tree (ignoring magic/creation options).

My basic notes/path for this are a fairly close mashup of Slarty's/Mech's comments in that topic (I've assumed the player is a completionist explorer here; these are just some highlights):

1) Say "pro-Shaper" things to get the Obeyer quest from Leader Rydell in Pentil to feed Control Four, and complete the quest.
2) Join the Obeyers by talking to Leader Rydell, and talk to Learned Jaffee in Pentil for a free point in Create Fyora (if you have at least 5 Leadership) and a Sholai lesson (if you've learned about Trakjov and have met Masha).
3) Say “pro-servile” things to get the Awakened quest from Ellhrah in Ellhrah's Keep to kill Control Four, and complete the quest.
4) Join the Awakened by talking to Ellhrah, and talk to Swan in Ellhrah's Keep for combat skill training and Sorkin in Pentil East for a Sholai lesson.
(The Takers can also be joined for their rewards either before or after joining the Awakened. However, joining then leaving the Takers for another faction will cause everyone in Kazg to become permanently hostile.)

Cool, enjoy - and forgot to say: welcome to the forums!

"Retrain" only resets any directly invested skill points; all points obtained through canisters/quests/books/etc. are kept (which is important, since you'd never be able to get most of those back otherwise).

20 minutes ago, Mechalibur said:

15% Lifedrain is just a 15% chance to recover 20% of damage dealt with a single-target attack. It doesn't stack with the Lifedrain weapon shaping skill either, which is essentially a buff that gives 100% lifedrain and can be cast prior to starting combat.

Ah, thanks for clarifying how exactly this works - I seem to be seeing the Lifedrain effect trigger a lot more than 15% (without any other Lifedrain effects active), but maybe I've just been lucky. The 10 melee requirement is a non-issue for my character, but I might consider the Purifying Blade again based on your comment.

The melee alternatives to the fully maxed Purifying Blade are the Puresteel Soulblade (with slightly less damage but 15% Lifedrain, which IMO makes it superior) and the Essence Eater (which with its dual magic/physical damage may at times do more damage in a single attack than the above two blades - though note the melee-upgraded Frosted Annulet will only have a chance to double the physical portion of the attack). But to reinforce the original point - all three have a significant to-hit bonus, with the Purifying Blade having the highest in the game, and if you're missing frequently (check the combat log for the exact to-hit percentages), it is likely a character level issue.

Also, following up on an earlier post, the Feisty Slap Glove does in fact accept up to four anvil augmentations, but to amend the info currently in the Atlas (and assuming the in-game tooltips are correct for each version of the glove), the augments do the following:

---first: increases unarmed damage / adds chance to daze
---second: increases chance to daze
---third: adds chance to stun
---fourth: further increases unarmed damage / increases chance to stun

Hmm, that would make sense, but I went back to the mind with Leadership 10 and exhausted all dialogue options (I'd done the same the first time through the Power zone, and didn't notice any new options this time), and these two doors in Shaping remain closed. I haven't yet killed Akkat or Easss, but I doubt that would do it(?).

EDIT: OK, it's the two heavily-locked levers (with no key available) in the small room with the Battle Alpha canister in the NW/heating vents part of the Shaping zone. The Atlas indicates these levers instead affect the heating tiles, but they don't seem to - FYI for others who might stumble on this.

Regarding the below notes from the Atlas, as a non-Taker (Awakened), I killed Salgurdar (I never had the option to speak with him as he defaulted to hostile, and am not sure how he would reward Awakened or Barzites since he's similarly hostile in both cases) as well as Rhakkus, but the below two doors still don't open. I'd understood there are no faction-locked Taker rewards, but is it the case that these two canisters are in fact completely unavailable to non-Takers? If not, how can I open the doors? Thanks.

Salgurdar - teach for Shaped

- can open door by Enchantment Anvil for Awakened (52,35) - Canister - Create Rotghroth

- can open door by Enchantment Anvil for Barzite (53,36) - Canister - Create Gazer

I ended up luring the battle gamma back to Sharon to have her successfully assist with the beatdown. It was epic and/or pathetic, lol.

I never used Mental Magic really, and skill points are scarce, but maybe 2 points (boosted to 3 eventually with a canister, if you're into that kind of thing; there are also items you can use for temporary spellcasting ability) through the course of the playthrough might not hurt. But yeah, I suggest you fool around with "retrain" if you're stuck on a particular battle and see what works for you.

I wouldn't bother putting any points into Intellect - the Energy boost is almost useless given how quickly Energy regenerates, and the raw spell power upgrade isn't important. Personally, I'd also completely skip Missile Weapons (and Evasion) to focus on Melee with a little in Quick Action. You are correct that a few enemies (glaahks somewhat early and later gazers come to mind) can potentially be extremely annoying to any solo player (Guardian or Agent) given their potential to stunlock/terrify while they or others acid/poison/burn your health down, but with some blessing and strategic positioning, it's all about prioritizing those enemies and killing them very quickly. Regenerate is also your friend. As to canisters, yep, using fewer is always going to make things relatively more difficult.

I do have 3 total points each in Battle and Mental magic (from 1-2 invested skill points and canisters/charms/other boosts), but in the event I've barely used either spell tree. However, if you're having trouble, maybe Daze will help out in a pinch. Not sure how effective it is when it counts at low skill levels/generally, though.

If you're too far in your playthrough to restart but still want to respec (and if you don't care about achievements, though I'm not 100% sure all cheat codes disable them), you can use the Shift-D code "retrain" and mess around the same encounters with different builds.
GF2 Infestation - Cheat Codes (complete list) - Geneforge Series - Remasters - Spiderweb Software Forums (ipbhost.com)

You're welcome! And the Helix Ring only boosts the different magic schools by 1 point each and when fully upgraded also gives a couple points to creations' Quick Action, so it's not critical for a Shaper; just potentially helpful. More useful for an Agent IMO (though by the time you get it fully upgraded late in the game, probably not), and for a Guardian, you're gonna want that Frosted Annulet.

Guess you sold the residue or mandrake... I think there's just barely enough residue/mandrake throughout the entire game to get all upgrades, but since it looks like you're still fairly early, you should be able to at least collect enough to fully upgrade one of the three artifacts. As I see you're playing as a Shaper, only the Helix Ring is likely to be of use to you anyway IMO.

To charge and thus improve each artifact (Frosted Annulet (takes 1 charge), Feisty Slap Gloves (takes up to 3 or 4 charges), Helix Ring (takes up to 3 charges, with each charge available after you kill certain prominent NPCs with the ring in your inventory)), you need to have one sample each of mandrake and infernal residue when using an anvil.

Solo melee Guardian with healing and blessing magic (healing/curing/Regenerate from Healing Craft, and Speed with occasional War Blessing/Protection/Essence Shield/Mindshield from Blessing Magic).

EDIT: Just now realized (as is in fact clear from the tooltip) that Mindshield doesn't affect the PC, but only creations - so scratch that. Not that I was using it much.

FWIW - and again with the caveat I'm only playing on Normal - there's not much anywhere in Taker lands that can last more than one round against my level 18 (just now 19) solo Guardian. Some of the earlier levels were a bit challenging, but toward the mid-/late-game, you should really see the power ramp up if you follow the general tips above.