Terra_Ex

That's great, thanks for all the info

Just finished Geneforge 4, overall an improvement on G3 in most aspects, though the factions being limited to only rebel/shaper kept the whole narrative quite narrow in scope compared with earlier titles. I stuck to a mostly pro-rebel playthrough but those drakons certainly were giving me plenty of reasons to go pro-shaper towards the end. I also missed the Alwan/Greta banter from G3, as an aside I certainly think it would be interesting to have other party members who were also struggling against the temptations of power the players face in any potential remakes, but otherwise I had an enjoyable time. Anyway, I'm planning on moving onto G5 next and will only have time for a single playthrough so I want to get the most out of it. Obviously as it's the final game in the series there's no "canon" ending to work towards but I do have some questions before I get stuck in any further (just about to meet Rawal right at the start of the game). -Canisters - can these be used without consequence in G5 or should I be limiting myself to a certain number? Any effects on encounters like in G4 and do they affect the ending. -Shaper build - I'm playing a Shaper again in G5 (always played shaper in every game) and I'm wondering what the best builds are. I felt like my Geneforge 2 shaper was an absolute powerhouse in both summoning and magic and my G3 shaper slightly less so (I think he was very Vlish-dependant). In G4, my shaper didn't feel all that powerful and the strongest creation I got access to was a wingbolt which I kept through most of the game - my G4 protagonist felt very underpowered (even in the endgame) and I want to avoid this happening in my G5 playthrough. So, with that in mind - Which summoning school/build should I be focusing on to create a truly powerful character? -Does anything special need to be done (that might be missable) to unlock the highest tier creations? I had an absolutely blast with my Eyebeast based shaper in Geneforge 2 and this being the last geneforge game I want to be sure I don't miss out on the highest tier creations this time. -Factions - I understand that there are more than 2 factions this time around, presumably the game's overall setup is closer to G1/2 as a result. Can you play through the game completely unaligned or is the endgame goal tied to faction goals? Thanks in advance.

That's very helpful, thanks!

First time playing through the Geneforge series and I'm liking what I've played of it so far. I've just finished Geneforge 3 and will be looking to move onto Geneforge 4 soon. I've been trying to keep my faction choices as close to what seems to be the "canon" route as possible, and yes I'm aware that the endings don't always tie in perfectly with the subsequent but so far it's been close enough. My choices so far have been: G1 - Pro Shaper, killed trajkov & goettsch, sided with Obeyers, didn't use the Geneforge. G2 - Powergamed, sided with most factions in turn then wiped the lot out and reported back to the shapers for a pro-shaper ending. G3 - Mostly pro-rebel, started out pro-shaper and transitioned across to the rebel side as that's where the plot seemed to want me to go and it felt like a natural progression. Litalia flipped out at the end, mistaking me for a shaper loyalist (a bug, presumably from glancing at the scripts) and attacked me in the geneforge but for continuity reasons I'll pretend that didn't happen. Killed Rahul and sailed away with Akhari Blaze's blessing. Now I'm probably going to play through the Avernum remake next to give myself a bit of a break from the Geneforge series, however when I return, which path/faction in Geneforge 4 leads most "cleanly" into Geneforge 5 with the fewest plot contradictions? I did read a suggested set of faction choices for each game on this very board a while back but can't find it for the life of me now...