Sarah the Sorceress Loyalist[G5]

[Acky]

I'm going to post updates on my.......11th?......playthrough as a Sorceress named Sarah on Torment. This meant to be a guide or anything like that. Just hopefully a successfully completed game that I've written about, and hopefully something you can entertain yourselves with by reading.

 

Without further adu, let me introduce, Sarah to Loyalist Sorceress. It'll be a canister-addict Alwan runthrough. Canister addict because too many people do loyalist runthroughs without canisters.

 

Me and Sarah woke up in some smelly servile barracks. We shift around for a few minutes, trying to get our bearings. We give ourselves a single point in Intelligence, then a point in some Battle Magic. We put the rest of the skill points in Leadership and Mechanics. We get our equipment together, and then get bothered by some sweaty servile named Mekhon. We leave the barracks. A few serviles come running at us, getting chased by some bugs. We weren't to thrilled about having to touch a few bugs for a few creations, but exp is exp nonetheless. All the serviles survive. After we're done picking up the loot, we run off to try to see what else there is to kill. A huge battle Alpha comes running at us, Thrasher we think his name was, trying to get all rough and tough with us. We smack it with a bolt of fire, and than attack it again, letting Mekhon take most of the punishment. With careful timing, we land the killing blow, getting extra EXP. We unlock the door to get our speed pod, and create a Fyora named Dixy for kicks. We (including Dixy) march off to the south, calming the Fyora, then killing the Fyora, dealing with testy worms and artila's and whatnot. We calm the Roamer and then go inside the lab next to it to see whats inside. After getting two more levels, we bump Battle Shaping some more. Then we get to the Vlish, landing another level just for getting our pretty selves there, again pumping Battle Shaping. While that Mehkon girl handles the Vlish, we round about, killing the rogues before they have a chance to give us the stink eye. After we russell with the Vlish, Rawal decides to come in and break up the fight. Poor Dixy never saw it coming.

 

 

After we got into Minallah, a Shaper and an outsider were arguing about a Roamer. The dumb Agent thought it was rogue, apparently. We calmed it, getting a little Exp for our trouble. We then ran through Minallah, since most of the populace wouldn't talk to us, and went to Rawal. We turned in the servile for the point in Intelligence mostly, and for the the Endurance of course. We get my allowance from Rawal and run back into Minallah and sell my loot. We return to that incompetent Shaper and get him to train me two levels for Thahds, plus some Cure Affliction. And a point for a Fyora, which I regretted later. After a batch of three Thahds is made, we storm in and take care of those vile rogues in his storeroom. I ran to the mage and got him to teach me Daze and Burning Spray. We also took his crystal. Going back into Minallah, we ran all wiley nilly, doing this and doing that. Took care of those mines, killed the thahds in the back room, and manged to pacify Twixx before we had to kill her, getting so much Exp in the process. We take all the quests from the people. We also unlock a fair amount of doors, so our Living Tool supply is a little dry at the moment.

 

We run back north with three new thahds (the first tree were absorbed to maximise Exp gain) and storm through the place, raining hell on the surviving rogues. No Fyora cloak, but we did get an Ice Crystal. We raise our Battle Shaping to 6 with all our exp we gained. We intend to raise Battle Magic and Mental Magic soon too, and than General Skills.

 

We storm out into the Promeade, ready to slay some rogues. We get the quest from the Mythbusters to reable the Pylons. So we go around, turning on the pylons, and than kill the rogues one-on-one. Didn't even need to cast daze. We rest in Minallah and head back out to take care of those Shrouded Rogues. The worm wasn't a problem; it died in three turns. Neither was the thahd. We kept it dazed while our thahds pounded on it, and our Burning Spray killed it. We proudly claimed out Students Belt, enjoying the extra intelligence. The Fyora was a bit of a problem, but nothing to serious. One thahd died from the Fire Attack though.

 

Still no Fyora Cloak.

 

We put some more points in Battle Magic. A new thahd is made as well. We sell our little loot, and head off for the Testing Grounds. We give the old hermit his crystal, letting the Roamers attack us to get the extra Exp (took care of those pesky Fyoras too.) We walk into the Testing Grounds. We didn't get too much of a hassle, although we did fight our way instead of sneaking around the Roamers for the Exp. We lured the big worms in the back out one at a time, and with Battle Magic, it wasn't able to get a hit on us with that Venom wave attack. The shielding blade was worth it. We did use a Speed pod for the fight though. We trick the thahd into attack the other thahd, and then keep our timing right to land the killing blow(s). It took a few tries, but we managed to do it. We proudly take our Clawbug reward, and are now preparing to take on the Presence on its own turf.

 

The Great Archon

[Zummi]

Halting Drewy, Acky?

[Acky]

Drewy never really got off the ground. I'll probably pick the idea back up later this summer.

 

So anyway, we arrive safely at Minallah to shape us some Clawbugs. Two Clawbugs are shaped. We've named them Captain Crunch and Stingray. We have enough essence for another one, but we need that for our spells. Both of their AI is turned off, btw. We want to control them.

 

We set off for the eastern core. Sarah and her Clawbugs make mince meat out of those creations in the mines. Hint: Don't deactivate them. Just kill them; it'll get you more Exp. The Fyora's weren't a problem. Didn't even use daze. The Clawbugs and Sarah just chopped them up. We slipped down and sabatoged the control panel, so the presence will be getting a bit of a shock pretty soon. We ran into those traps and let them go. None of the creations were a problem. Too easy. We got our Wreck canister, and two levels for our troubles too. Plus the loot. That pretty loot. Finally, after healing up, we went in for the kill. The Presence lasted maybe two rounds. We've also iceased out Battle Magic to 8 at this point, which makes for some pretty strong returns.

 

We ran into the Green Fyora on our way back. We ducked in, letting the Fyora's come out and killing them one by one. We casted Wreck on the Green bean itself and the thing almost dropped dead on the next smack. Seriously, Wreck kicks ass, even at low levels. I would be hard pressed to find something more murderou on an enemy for a while. We forsee our main strategy being Daze, Wreck Target, and then kill it with spells/creations.

 

We got our reward from the captain, and then started sniffing around in there. More on this later tonight. For now, heres a screenhot.

 

http://thespireofarchon.webs.com/photos/Sarah-Story/Sarach%20pic%201.JPG

[Artemis~]

the 2nd person terminology used is clever; this is almost like a story, because of the sensual details you used. Touche'.

[Acky]

Sorry that I have to speed this up, but I'm way ahead of what I'm posting now.

 

Me and Sarah cleared out the rogues and such filth and then went after the Clawbugs. They weren't that tough. We could take them on one at a time, and with Wreck, they weren't going to last long. We sold the Nimble Sandles but kept the Carniliean Gloves for the Battle Magic. The Servant Minds little worms were destroyed by a few Ice Crystals. I casted Mind Shield Aura and let my Bugs rip. It was a frantc battle, but we managed to kill it. We used the Thahd canister and took the rest of the goodies.

 

Next we ran an attacked the Presence Servile. We calmed the Turrets and then killed them one by one. After getting the key, we made an Unstable Thahd for the fight and ran in. Mind Shield, Wreck, Poisoin, Clawbug, all were key for this fight.

 

Running back to Rawal to get our reward, we sold our loot, making almost 2000 gold with savings. We cleared out the inn and got our reward. That annoying captain let us through the gate once he saw our papers. We skipped the bandit for now, but came back later and took care of him, letting the refugees get to Mera. The assasination went fine. In fact, we even managed to land to killing blows, scoring some exp. We cleared out the Roamrs, and now we're on the way to find the Shadow Road.

 

Sorry I had to skip so much . From now on, I'll be able to write full, detailed posts.

 

The Great Archon

[Acky]

Sorry, forgot the screenshots.

 

http://thespireofarchon.webs.com/photos/Sarah-Story/Sarah%20Pic%202.JPG

 

http://thespireofarchon.webs.com/photos/Sarah-Story/Sarah%20Pic%203.JPG

 

http://thespireofarchon.webs.com/photos/Sarah-Story/Sarah%20Stats%201.JPG

 

http://thespireofarchon.webs.com/photos/Sarah-Story/Sarah%20Stats%202.JPG

 

Edit: Does anyone know why these aren't coming out as links?

[Artemis~]

that's fine: although this is more entertaining to me then it should be.

[Dikiyoba]

Just so you know, I'd be willing to edit your pictures into your posts. First, though, they have to be much smaller so they don't stretch the screen a ridiculous amount. Second, use this format for images <img src=""> so it's easier to edit them in.

 

Dikiyoba would guess that the percentage symbols in your links are messing them up. They would probably work if you made them links manually, though.

[Untamed Banana Slug]

Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan

The Servant Minds little worms were destroyed by a few Ice Crystals. I casted Mind Shield Aura and let my Bugs rip. It was a frantc battle, but we managed to kill it. We used the Thahd canister and took the rest of the goodies.

How did your bugs kill it? The Servant Mind deals a lot of damage in melee. I've never been able to outmelee it with creations, or even a warrior.

And why Mindshield Aura?

[Acky]

The Mind can Terrorize your creations. Mindshield Aura counters this.

 

I used a mix of attacks. My Acid, plus the Bugs poison, chipped away at its health when I needed to pull back and heal. Took quite a few turns to do, but it worked.

 

The Great Archon

[A less presumptuous name.]

It seems as if you went after the presence servile without using the geneforge? I didn't even think this was possible. Did you find a way to do that or is the screenshot just a tad misleading?

[Acky]

I used the Geneforge. In fact, its not even possible to kill the presence without the Geneforge. Like I said, I'm in a rush, so I'm skipping to the important stuff.

 

The Great Archon

[Artemis~]

if you use one of those bile-infused cristals [i have no idea how to spell that] then it takes out the whole group of worms in one round. you can find one somewhere in the [east?] core.

[Randomizer]

The bile-infused crystal is in a barrel after killing the roamers in the West Foundry Core. Jeff put it in a barrel because you could get it before entering that area.

[Acky]

Once we returned to Mera, Sarah decided that she needed a few extra helpers around. Summoning a Vlish named Methane and a Plated Bug known has Philip, we went out into the mined swamps to see if we could nick some easy Exp. Other than that, 'twas a boring click fest (the artilas weren't very difficult)

 

As I'm writing this, I've realized that I forgot to get the Tinkers Bauble from the Rotghroth. I'll get to that.

 

After resting up in Mera, selling our loot, we head south towards Heft to take care of the local Vlish infestation. The Submission and Pacification Vlish we pushovers. Most didn't last more than two rounds. They had a magic attack, which is dangerous for Clawbus, but Regeneration Aura made that danger practically none existent. A Terror Vlish got Captain Crunch for a few moments, however, and then went after Sarah. Those poison blasts hurt like a sunofagun. Fortunately, Stingray came and took care of that floating sack of tentacles.

 

We mozied on down to the south side of town when all of the sudden some annoying Drayk popped out and told us to go away. All we want to do is get some papers. We managed to intimidate it enough for it to let us in. Quickly killing its pet Cryoas, we blessed our selves and went for the lizard himself. We cornered it in Melee, preventing it from using its breath attack on our lovely bugs. We let loose all the marbles, Wreck, Lightning Aura, Burning Spray, the poison the bugs are putting in, the curses from Methane, ice bolts (we took the Ice Spray canister near Mera). Philip is starting to get his second attacks in. One of the good things about majoring in Battle Magic is that you have access to a lot of damages types, save physical. If you can get the creature cornered, and then apply Burning Spray (Acid), Searer (Poison) and Lightning Aura or Essence Lances, your opponent will suddenly begin losing 200 or so a turn. Apply Wreck and/or blessed, it goes up exponentially. It takes a while since the Drayk has a lot of health, but it's dead without any casualties. I would have taken a screenshot, but damn it, I forgot.

 

After we help ourselves to the loot and the canister of Battle Aura, we get our papers. We don't want the rebels to get them, and we have no intention of helping Rawal, so we think we'll keep them for a certain Shaper down south.

 

The Great Archon

[Untamed Banana Slug]

For crying out loud, it's WRACK, not WRECK. You sound like a dweeb.

[Acky]

My mistake.

 

Anyway thanks for making them into pictures from now on Dikiyoba. I won't be able to take a picture of the whole thing though. I don't know how to make them smaller while still taking up the whole screen. Whatever.

 

As an related question, how come images got locked out to regular members anyway?

 

The Great Archon

[Dikiyoba]

Don't you have an image editing program you can use to resize and crop your screenshots in?

 

Images got turned off after a fairly bad trolling incident. Dikiyoba doesn't remember the exact details.

[Artemis~]

uh, the billy mays theme's kinda scaring me, ackrovan.

[Sudanna]

Nalyd believes it was images of a carved up arm that did the trick.

[Acky]

(clears throat)

 

After furious discussion, we decided that we are going to help Learned Dominic with her two problems to maximize exp and rewards. We hope that Alwan will understand. (as you can see, I'm not playing a pure Loyalist)

 

We slipped back into the northeastern swamp and nicked ourselves a Tinkers Bauble. The Rotghroth almost got us, but Sarah quickly entered Combat mode so it went on by. We've put killing it and the Artilas on our list of things to do when we're level 30ish.

 

We went into the woods south of Penta and started to clear out the Roamer packs with their Vlish maintenance. We dazed them, and then concentrated our creations towards the Vlish. Afterwards, the Roamers were barely a threat to our pretty selves. Several times, we didn't daze and still could breeze through the packs. A Vlish nailed a good shot on Sarah with its Poison bolt one time, but Philip pinned it to some trees and tore it up.

 

Me and Sarah stumbled upon some rogue serviles in the northwest corner of the woods. We didn't even need to talk to them; we quickly saw they were rogues and destroyed them. Being Serviles, their quite fragile. Two or three bolts from Methane could take them out. The Batons were quite nasty as far as damage, however. The leader got tangled by Philip while the rest of the group went around and took care of the servile refugee's. The leader dies last, and drops a pretty Thahd tunic. The strength won't do much, buts its better then the Spiderskin Robe we were wearing.

 

We leveled up for clearing out all the rogues. We increased Intelligence again, allowing us to get enough essence for our new Vlish, Apple. He was given two points of Dexterity from birth, but in retrospect, that was probably a waste. Ah well.

 

Dikiyoba: No, I don't. I'm sure I can find one though.

 

The Great Archon

[Acky]

We set out again. We climbed the steep mountain road to the Nodye Pass. We gazed upon the massive, incredible walls that the Shapers had erected to keep out rogues, rebels, and curious players. Damn. We were hoping to get a vacation on a sunny Nodye Beach. Anyway, an annoying captain waved us off. Hmm.....the canisters are catching back up with us. The urge to flick him in his nose is very present. But we hold off. Instead, be scout the place a bit. An unfortunately merchant is stuck there. Poor sap. She won't let us help her, for whatever reason.

 

We slip south into the creation pens to see if we could find the hidden route into the serviles escape route. By simple luck, the guards had just then wandered off. We make a dash to the west, and are lucky enough to find the route that Dominic told us about. We stumble into a nest of huge Fyora's. Captain Crunch, Stingray, and Philip all dash in and surround the Fyora's one at a time. Apple and Methane start cursing it dumb rogue while Sarah dazes the whole group. Easy peasy. They went down one by one. We didn't need to even apply Wrack.

 

We leave the southern tunnel one at a time. Apple got caught once. Sheesh. Should have put those points into Intelligence.

 

Once regrouped, we disarm a few pesky mines blocking our way. We run deeper inside, only to encounter an old, drayk. We forgot its name. Didn't even need to talk to it. It's a rogue creation, and by Shaper decree, must be destroyed!

 

The Fyora's provide a bit of a problem. None of the bugs are resistant to Fire damage. Apple and Methane have some trouble too. We cast blessings, use a speed spore, and cast Regeneration Aura. With careful managing, we arrange it so that our bugs are all only taking one Fyora on at a time. Philip runs up and starts poking the reptile. Crunch and Stingray go after one Fyora on their own. Apple and Methane team up and take on another Fyora. Sarah moves herself near one Fyora, whacks another Fyora with Lightning Spray. The last Fyora goes for Sarah because she's the closest. Sarah could have dazed them all, but where's the fun in that? Once the Fyora's get outmatched, we pounce on the Drayk, applying Wrack, Burning Spray, Searer, and Lightning Damage. Once again, the Drayk falls just like its swamp brother. We pocket our rewards oh so happily. Sarah could have dazed them all, but where's the fun in that?

 

We unlock the door with some living tools to get the Shocking Rain canister, mostly for the sake of completion. It won't have much use. A little bit for taking on those Clawbugs, but not much else.

 

We report our success to the servile fella. She rewards us with more crap to sell.

 

We then went for the Murkwood bandits. We destroy the clawbugs the building with no trouble. As we stroll around, admiring the new frills, we spot a bandit holding up on the road. She turns and flees. We pursue her, letting our creations take the lead. She stops running and talks to us, trying to dissuade us from coming in further. Of course, we don't listen. We intimidate her, telling her about the assassination attempt on Astoria. Any ounce of defiance in her is squashed just then. She lets us in, only asking us not to investigate the cavern to the west. We'll see about that.

 

We snooped around, looking for the cave. It doesn't take long. We prep ourselves, blessing, aura's, the whole scherzo. We break in, fully prepared. We were going to let them live and repent this offence to the Shapers, but they don't even give us an evil monologue. Lazy. Our bugs swarm in, taking on the whole troop of soldiers practically on their own. Philip runs at one of the mages, getting him in the corner. The Vlish run in and start launching their bolts at the soldiers, supporting the Clawbugs. Sarah goes toe to toe with the other mage, topping his firebolt with Searer. Eventually, the soldiers backs are broken and their line folds, allowing the bugs to kill the remaining traitors. We look around the place, looting as we go. We open up the door on the other side. We then see a Shaper (Ah Shaper!) burning up documents, obvious evidence of their traitorous deeds. Before we can question him, we starts to kill himself. Fool. We did it for him. An Ice Spray spell knocks that sum'dogie dead.

 

We then leave the complex behind, not without looting the campsite for the evidence. We stroll downward. Before we leave, we decide to check out the bandit storeroom. Unfortunately, there is a guard there, and she spots us. We quickly kill him, but not before he sounds an alarm. Oh well. We're going to have to fight our way out it seems.

 

We start the to loot the place, only to find that our inventory is full. Vlish spit! We'll have to come back later. We exit the cave and overwhelm the bugs before they can poke at anything. We chug a healing pod, a healing spore pouch, and an essence pod. We fully bless ourselves, war blessing, protection, speed, and of course Regeneration Aura. We charge.

 

Philip, the eager little chap, runs out and attacks the mage, forcing him to run. The Baton wielder comes out and pokes Philip. My two clawbugs scream wiley nilly and run into the crowd. The Vlish stay back and start letting loose with spells. With all the creations keeping the enemies at bay, I start hitting them with Shocking Rain, getting about 50 or so damage a cast.

 

We take out the first group, and then run towards the second. Philip is still fighting them as his brothers run out and tangle with them. Vlish do so to. They fall with relative ease. Now that leader chick comes up to see what the hub bub is. She starts to target Philip, whose already weak at this point. Still, he charges anyway. We all converge on this filthy bandit to give her the justice she deserves; death. Unfortunately, she had quick action. She hits Philip with a devastating 100 hit. He can't take it. He has suffered too much. He dies by her hand.

 

The creations go nuts. She flees in terror, trying to get of the grove. It is to late, however. Captain Crunch goes insane and charges her, pinning her against the trees and poking maliciously at her. Stingray stops and starts to cry at his dead brother. Methane floats over and tries to nudge Philip awake, but to no avail. Apple would react had we given him more points in Intelligence.

 

Finally, the bandit dies with a thundering Ice Ball to her head. We claim our new sword (can't remember the name at the moment) for our own. Our bloody sword. We gain a level. We put the points into Mechanics.

 

We bury our Philip, and continue on.

 

Next time: We trek through the northern swamps of Mera Fen.

 

 

 

OOC: I'm a little unsure as to what I want at the moment. I have enough essence for either two more Clawbugs or a Vlish and a Clawbug. Or a Plated Bug. We're just a little unsure at the moment.

 

The Great Archon

[Untamed Banana Slug]

Why would you want to create a Clawbug instead of a Vlish? Vlish have the clawbug's poison attack, AND a magical ranged attack which curses foes. No contest.

[Namine]

Battle shaping is broken remember?

[Randomizer]

Besides on torment level games cursing isn't that effective in reducing the chance to hit.

[Lilith]

Cursing also reduces damage, though.

[Acky]

Originally Posted By: Untamed Banana Slug

Why would you want to create a Clawbug instead of a Vlish? Vlish have the clawbug's poison attack, AND a magical ranged attack which curses foes. No contest.

Umm, Vlish in Melee? Against a swarm of Melee Bandits/Clawbugs? Vlish have no armor and very low physical resistance. This would have worked in a past game, G3-4 respecivly, because all battle creations were pretty much inferior to Fire/Magic creations. In G5, this is no longer so. Melee creations now do their purpose and avidly serve as effective front-end fighters.

Quote:

Battle shaping is broken remember?

Actually, no, Battle Shaping is not broken. It's probably overall better then the other two branches, but it isn't overpowered. They just ROCK instead of SUCK, as they have for the last two games.

[Acky]

We made a quick trip back to the bandit camp, seizing all of the remaining goods for ourselves. Our coin purse is getting heavy.

 

We have Shaped up a brand new Plated Bug named Jimi Hendrix. He's weaker then the other creations, so we gave him two points in Strength to even it out some.

 

We entered the northwestern part of the Mera Fen, from the southeast. We stumbled across a large infestation of Artila's. No, no, no. They simply won't do. We started luring the Artila's out one by one, surrounding them and killing them off. It took a good few tries to finish the job, but after about 3 trips we managed to trim the Artila's numbers down to half. All of our blesses up, we ordered our troops forward. The bugs tore the Artila's up with no difficulty. Our Vlish floated from behind, casting orbs left and right. The magic damage was a pinch. The Plated Artila's had Acid, which my bugs do not take well to. But Sarah is strong enough to cover for them, and heal her precious bugs when need be. She can also reliably Daze/Terrorize them, but we don't want to be lazy now, do we? Besides, its much more satisfying to blast them to bits. In addition, we love having options.

 

The Artila's fall, and we get a nice bit of Chitin Armor, although not as good as our Thahd tunic. We were all set to leave and rest when an Unbound approached. We patiently waited a few minutes for it to leave before leaving.

 

We rested in Mera and came back to the fen. Using the information we got from the bandit camp up north, we checked out the paths and sure enough, found the hidden entrance. We blessed up, casted Regeneration Aura, and made two Charged Thahds. We bellowed our commands to our creations, and ran in, spells, tentacles, fists, and pincers waving. Sarah went Talon-to-Baton with one of the Baton Wielders. The two thahds avoided the humans and went for the Pyroroamers. The bugs went and took targets. We made the mistake of sending Jimi forward, away from the rest of the group. A guard caught him by the wall and began hacking him. A Plated Artila blew him away with Acid and Magic. Jemi fell. It was most unfortunate.

 

We secured the outer buildings, collecting the loot from our fallen enemies. One thahd was killed by the Roamers. The other one was absorbed for the needed essence.

 

We busted into Crechshaws room. Sarah laughed at his desperate pleas to for life. We dazed the lot of them, casting Wrack on his goons and himself. It was over quickly.

 

We stole the last of his ill-gotten goods and departed the camp.

[Artemis~]

a vlish's melee attacks are fairly effective: they hit 'em where it hurts if you know what i mean.

[Acky]

Resurrection FTW

 

We started out south, Sarah and I, our creations fresh and ready for combat. Entering from the north, our senses immediately told us that something wasn't quite right. The tracks were filled with tiny holes, and there was a strange chipping sound. A brisk patrol south confirmed our fears; clawbugs, probably a few dozen. They're gonna need more.

 

Sarah commanded her bugs to screen the enemy. Our Vlish support from the rear started to blast the enemy from afar. Sarah began acting as a healing battery, which kept the troops in good health.

 

After clearing out the eastern road, we turned our attention to the groves around. We took a peek, and saw about 5 Clawbugs nestled about. We could have just taken them out one by one, but we are agents for the mighty Shaper empire! To cower from such lowly worms, it's unthinkable! Sarah casted her blessings and charged in. The bugs kept the rogues stuck, while the Vlish weakened their lines with their bolts. Safely in the back, Sarah began ripping at them with her Shocking Rain spells. The clawbugs, panicked, could not help but keep their attention on the advancing Clawbugs. Unable to effectively counter, the stupid rogues are killed.

 

Sarah ice bolts the clawbugs hiding in the attempt at a tunnel. We then spotted a small pathway leading away to a much larger tunnel. The clawbugs had no idea what was coming to them. Recasting her blessings, and a little Regeneration Aura, Sarah's bugs screen the bugs, largely repeating the previous battle. Unfortunately, a young Queen suddenly pops out, claws chirping. The source of the bugs, no doubt! We cast daze. Despite our weak investments into Mental Magic, we keep about half of them stunned. We surround the queen, the Vlish pulsing their bolts into the damned creature. It's acid spray hits our troops hard though, so Sarah must keep herself occupied with keeping her troops alive. Captain Crunch nearly reaches death on several occasions, but some well timed Healing spores keep him going. Near death, the other bugs arise, splitting us into two groups, the bugs and Sarah with her two Vlish, Apple and Methane. Uh oh.

 

The Vlish, the poor creatures get panicked, and run right up to the bugs (damn misclicks >_<). Poor little Apple. She get's hit pretty hard. Seeing her kin get hurt, Methane starts pelting the vermin with cursing magic bolts. Sarah casts another healing spore, and blasts the bug with an ice bolt. Apple retreats. By this time, our faithful bugs have beaten the queen and return to defeat these foolish rogues. Phew, that was close. We happily collect the crap laying around and head back out.

 

The rest is went smoothly. The other bugs proved no threat. We killed the last of the bugs hiding in the rocks as we secured the southern pass out. Although, we did stumble upon a single loyalist soldier. He had a group of thahds with him, and he had a hard time getting them to head back to Kratoa-Kel. Simple outsiders. We use our most calming voice to convince him that the road is safe. There were some hurt thahds, or whatever. We just told him to send them south, to the Shapers. One of them died on the way. No big. It's just a creation.

 

Here's a pic of my goon squad.

 

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu323/MasterAckrovan/SarahPic5.jpg

[Hypnotic]

Sarah Lives! Funny, while reading that I thought there were two clawbugs until I saw that pick. Good as always.

[Dantius]

How do you do that trick "You see Sarah, Friendly, Health 234/234"? I've been wondering.

[Dikiyoba]

On a PC, it's just a right mouse click on the character.

 

Dikiyoba isn't sure off the top of Dikiyoba's head what the Mac version is. Control+click, probably.

[Spddin Ignis]

Its the right mouse click actually diki

[Hypnotic]

Control Click dosn't work for Macs. However much I try, it always targets the charcter.

[Drayk Armitage]

Cmd-click.

[Lilith]

Nope, that doesn't work either.

[Acky]

Wait.

 

PC's finally have something that Mac's can't do or do better?

[Shaper Tristan]

Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan

Wait.

PC's finally have something that Mac's can't do or do better?

awww, beat me too it

[Øther]

Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan

Wait.

PC's finally have something that Mac's can't do or do better?

No, Macs just do it a different way.

[Acky]

After ensuring the soldier and his thahds made their way back to Kratoa-Kel, we decided to do a bit more exploring around the vicinity. We snooped around a bit, and soon discovered an abandoned farmhouse. We heard some growls, and the air had a foul stench about it.

 

Quietly, we proceeded into the door. The house had indeed been ruined, and quite a few pieces of furniture had been torn up. The ground was littered with slime. We took a quick glance out the next door, only to discover a group of bubbling slimes. E gads! We ordered our creations back into the house, blessed them, and sent them charging.

 

The bugs took up a strong line blocking the worms, with the Vlish staying safely in the other room for cover. Seeing an opportunity, we started blasting these creatures to bits with Shocking Rain. We slashed one in two, and then suddenly the bits split two each. Never the less, we continued to pour Shocking Rain spells into the room, whacking all of the creatures, completely out of harms way. The bugs stayed strong, and didn't give an inch to the vermin. Within a matter of moments, they were all dead.

 

Before heading out, we peaked in the back and checked to see if any of the slimes still remain. Interestingly enough, there was a large slime there, much bigger the previous ones. Bah, we'll just leave it. But wait, whats behind it? Is that a....a....canister?

 

The battle was short and clean. The creature didn't stand a chance. We don't remember the details; the urge to consume the canister was too great. But the price for power....

 

We doubled back to Mera and sold off the rest of our loot.

 

From the road leading to Kratoa, we went west, towards Lermans pass. It didn't take long before we encountered a hoard of Cryoa's, lurking amid the nearby woods. The air was strangely cold too. But no matter! No rogues may prohibit the path of a Shaper soldier, regardless of the danger. We blessed, healed, and charged in!

 

This was a challenging battle indeed. The Cryoa's the superiority of numbers, as well as firepower. But they didn't have a soldiers wit. We sent the bugs near the east woods. Sarah cast Essence Shield on herself and started luring the rogues, one by one, away from the main pack. It was a frantic battle. The rogues were smarter then most, and still stayed in close groups. The bugs would surround them, the Vlish providing fire support from the back. We ended up using ourselves as a healing battery. Sarah stretched out in all directions, letting the essence flow through the air. The bugs wounds were grave, but our healing was stronger. We went through an essence pod keeping them alive and strong, but in the end, we were victorious. The cryoa's were dead.

 

(This can be a pretty tough battle to do in one go, so don't be surprised if you need to double back once or twice to a base. Roamers, Vlish, and Bugs are all weak against ice, and while each hit doesn't do too much damage, if they all start firing, you're cooked. I wouldn't spend an elemental spore on it, but it'll still be a cookie)

 

- The Great Archon