An Archonic Study of Battle Creations[G5]

[Acky]

This info is mainly based on results found on Torment. When a creation sucks on torment, it may not suck on a lower difficulty

 

This is an Archonic Study of Battle Creations in Geneforge 5

 

Battle Creations are probably the strongest branch of creations in the game. They're strong, their fast, and they can take it for extended periods of time. What's even better is that they're cheap and disposable. Even at low levels, they can be dangerous on Torment if used properly, so long as you don't expect to keep them.

 

The first creation you can get is the Thahd. A small humanoid creature that punches your enemies. It's a good creation that can hold it's own and still deliver a solid hit. It does not need much in the way of Baby sitting, and has enough health for such a low level creation that it won't need much healing either. Unfortunately, the Thahd is sort of doomed to be short-lived. You can get a Clawbug almost right at the start of the game, which is better than the thahd, respectively. Shaper types will want to trade out their Thahds for their Clawbugs immediately. Warrior-types will probably not have quite as much essence that early on. You can keep Thahds up right until the ending of the Whitspires and about midway into the Mera-Tev. By that time everyone will have enough essence to exchange them for Clawbugs.

 

A Thahd works well as a Tank. Throw it into the middle of a brawl and you will have scary results. Most things will just get punched into smooth, smooth rogue jelly. Enemies like Artila's can be a problem, simply because two hits with an Artila's blob of acid will make your thahds very dead. Fyora's, other Thahds, worms etc won't be much of a problem. Just be sure to take out those Artila's first.

 

The next creation is the Unstable Thahd. It's an upgrade of the regular thahd. It's fists have been infused with Acid, giving its attacks an acidic touch. It will cover it's enemies with Acid when it attacks. In other words, it's like a Mini-Rotghroth. Charged creations, they will die after they are made due to a constant loss of HP points. With Regeneration Aura, however, this is negligated. You can't take them out of the zone, because they are set up to die upon entering a new area. They have a fair amount of HP, although they are pretty fragile against everything except Magic attacks, oddly enough. They are, by nature, not going to last long on the battle field.

 

In the brief time they are around, however, they are very useful. At high levels, a pair of Unstable Thahds can tear up pretty much anything in the first two parts of the game. The Cryoa's on the Mera Road, the Roamers in the Mera Fields, the Clawbugs near Kratoa-Kel, the worms in Okavano, they can all be met with death at the hands of these creations. Even classes like Agents can use a few of these for pure zerg-type creations. I remember when my Infiltrator made a batch of 7 Unstable Thahds and used them against Ghaldring. They weren't damaging him, but they were becoming the perfect distraction as the rest of the Shapers and myself pelted Ghaldring with attacks. The Acid is also useful.

 

The next creation is the Clawbug. It's basically a huge scorpion that stings it's enemies with venom damage. Moderate with essence costs, the Clawbug is a powerful companion for any Shaper or Warrior (note that this is just a generic term. I include Guardians of course). While they are weak against Fire, Magic and Ice, you will not come up against these kinds of enemies save two places (the Cryoa's and the Vlish in Heft, respectivily). Clawbugs are almost immune to Poison After the Mera-Tev, however, you will be facing more enemies that use Magic damage. The Kyshakks near the farms, the Podling on the crossroads, the Glaahks. I've always found that this is where they have started to meet up with stiffer resistance, even with them at ridiculously high levels for Clawbugs (I'm talking 30s hear). Nevertheless, players have reported that they have kept their Clawbugs past the Storm Planes and did quite fine with it on lower difficulties.

 

Like the Thahd, Clawbugs are tanks. Solid tanks that at high levels trample through rogues like a Bull in Mexico, and at low levels can take on pretty much anything in the Mera-Tev, provided you're backing them up with healing spells and blessing magic. Use them to keep the enemy tangled up in a net of stingers in the front while you pelt them with spells, thorns, or stick them yourself with a sword.

 

The next creation is the Plated Bug. An upgrade of the Clawbug, Plated Bugs have much more health, start at a higher level, and now have 10 AP. They've lost their Poison bite that the Clawbug gets. However, thanks for the 10AP, this really doesn't draw them back much. You can get them immediately after entering the Mera area's, and it's a good idea to get them soon. Like Delicious Vlish pointed out in his Shaper Guide, Plated Bugs make excellent Shock Troopers. They can rip into a horde of enemies first, giving everything a firm stab by the time you and the rest of your creations come in. Letting them run wild with it's AI turned on is fine if their at a high enough level. At low levels, keep the AI turned off so you can control them. While they are not hands down better than Clawbugs, they are an excellent addition to any pack or creations.

 

Use Plated Bugs like bottle rockets. Let them run into a group of enemies, dislodging them, and then allow the rest of your creations to catch up and rain a righteous rain of poking on them. A disorganized group of enemies is always easier than an orderly one. With enough health, your Plated Bugs will be taking in the majority of the attacks while your creations chip at the enemies numbers from the back. With you as a healing battery, suddenly all those attacks coming in on the Bugs really don't matter much, do they?

 

The Battle Alpha is the next creation I will talk about. Battle Alpha's are okay. They attack with their fists in Melee, so they're basically overgrown Thahds. They have generally low resistances against attacks, save Physical damage. A single blast from a Wingbolt or Kyshakk will spell its doom, and even a one-on-one with a Glaahk will usually result in the Glaahks victory. The Battle Alpha's nitch, I think, is an extremely zergish creation that can be dispatched out quickly and not hurt the essence pool to much. I remember sending three Alpha's with my Warrior out to attack that Gazer in the Central Wastes. The point wasn't to kill it; rather, to distract it so I can move in and kill those Podlings with the real creations, and than. The main problem with this, however, is that there are better creations available to do this from. The Unstable Thahd, for instance, might have been a better fit for this. They would have been cheaper. On the flip side, Battle Alpha's have more health, so therefore they lasted longer against the big sack of cornea.Battle Alpha's can be used as tanks, similar to that of the Thahd or Clawbug. They won't be your best option if you have leveled Clawbugs with you, but it can happen.

 

The next creation is the Battle Beta. It's an upgrade of the Battle Alpha in every way. Stronger, faster, and higher leveled too. Two well leveled Battle Beta's that are improved in their stats are pretty dangerous to everything that isn't strong against Physical damage, and nothing is strong against Physical damage. They act as the perfect body guards for a delicate Shaper or Sorceress. I managed to keep one right up to the end of the game, and it did just fine.

 

One strategy I used is a Beta-Kyshakk pack. Betas keep them tied up in melee while Kyshakks destroy them with magic blasts from the rear. Wingbolts are technically better for this, but for a warrior type, this combo is probably better, simply because you use less essence in this regard.

 

Rotghroths are the 4th tier creations in Battle Shaping. Rebels can get access to these creations first through that sage near the Kyshakk infested farms. The are huge, zombie-like, humanoids (although that's a stretch) that attack with Acid on their fists. They have low resistances against practically everything, save physical and poison, which they're immune to. A Rotghroth is cheap creation, so chalk up another point for the Rotghroth. Their arms are laced in Acid, so anything they attack will sink in acid. What really gives Rotghroths an edge is that they have a few points in Quick Action. This will let them have a second attack about half of the time. A more passive benefit is that they will almost always move first in the Battle order. This makes them great Light tanks they have a powerful damage output but a generally weak resistance against enemies

 

Rotghroths make excellent light tanks. They have a lot of damage they can dish out, but can't take much damage without a little baby sitting.

 

Rotdhizons rival the War Trall as the best overall creation in the game (note this does not mean the strongest; the Shock Trall takes that). They have every strength of the Rotghroth, but better. Stronger attacks, Quick Action, and more health all come into its favor. Plus they have 12 AP! This literally means they can run down and destroy any enemy in the game. 12AP also means that even after you kill an enemy with one attack with the Rotdhizon, you can than attack another enemy that's nearby. Hasted, even more so. The War Trall and the Rotdhzion are excellent companions for late in the game. The Rotdhizon keeps your enemies forced up in a bundle up front while the War Trall wipes the floor with them from the back.

 

Overall, Rotdhizons make the perfect Shock Troop, not unlike the Plated Bug; only better. Pretty much everything is in their reach. While they are a bit short lived, they are extremely effective against pretty much everything in the game (Gazers, Drakons, Tralls, etc). The only thing I had trouble with while using Rotdhizons was when fighting other Rotdhizons. Go figure.

 

War Tralls are the 5th tier battle creations. Instead of using a Fire/Ice/Magic ange attack that other range attackers use, the War Trall attacks by pelting the opposition with large rocks they keep in a pouch on the side of their hip. War Tralls are cheap, almost a bit to cheap for a 5th tier creation. With moderate resistances, you can trust a War Trall to be able to absorb damage reliably, and be able to dish it out. War Tralls can also stun with their rocks, but it isn't very reliable. A Shaper, Warrior, Socceross will want a few War Tralls in their pack. They are that powerful.

 

A War Trall should not be used in Melee. Instead, keep them as close supporters to your font creations. Most enemies aren't strong against Physical damage. Gazers will be killed in particular. Other War Tralls are a problem, but than again you can bless and heal your Tralls, while you're enmies can't.

 

Finally, there is the Shock Trall. A charged creation, the Shock Trall will die shortly after being made. It has lower health than a regular Trall. Fortunatly, this does not matter too much in the long run. With 12 Ap. a Shock Trall will get in a second attack most of the time. They even get a slight chance to stun their enemies. This, however, is pretty rare and not very reliable on its own. Their melee attack is pathetic, of course.

 

Drakon's are weak against the constant pelting of a Shock Trall. Gazers die all to quickly. Other Shock Tralls won't come up much during the game, with the exception of the Sammann fight and those Thugish Tralls.

 

Over all, Battle Shaping is an excellent branch of shaping, and certainly the strongest in terms of raw power. It is completely possible to have a pure-Battle Shaping playthrough. You can only be hit in a very small amount of places where you will have a lot of trouble.

 

The Great Archon

[Øther]

You forgot to add that Shock tralls can stun.

[Potato]

Great guide on battle creations.

 

However, aren't battle betas just higher leveled battle alphas?

 

Also, in the creation guide for G2 it says that Thahds with +4 strength and +2 dexterity have the same stats as a battle alpha when at the same level, with a cost of only 32 essence (including +2 intelligence). Not sure if this is true for the other Geneforges though.

[Slawbug]

Many of the creations have been slightly retooled since G2, and almost all the battle creations have been retooled since G4.

[Lilith]

It's still true that a beta is just a levelled-up alpha, though.

[A less presumptuous name.]

Yet, in my experience, those levels make them better enough to make a difference, even taking into account the time delay between getting alphas and betas.