Shocktrooper, limping along[G5]

[Delcar]

Hello all.

 

Been enjoying the hell out of the game greatly so far, and after some experimentation and with the help of the guides I've settled on the Shocktrooper as the right fit for me, and have been doing ok overall. (I did the demo as Shaper, and Lifecrafter, and got a warrior to Peta)

 

My trooper however hit the Storm Plains region and the difficulty curve seems to have taken a swing upwards.

 

I've looted the Eastern Shadow Road, killed some of the critters in the Foundry Repository, cleared out the Stoneworks, and taken out a roaming Unbound, so while I seem to be doing all right power-wise, I think my tactics need some refining.

 

[stats to follow in next post]

 

I'm torn on what to increase next - Luck or Endurance for survivability, Dex or Missile weapons for more killing power, or start improving my magic some.

 

I've got a pair of plated clawbugs still, (level 35 and 36) and a new-ish vlish (level 20). I make corrupted Thahds fairly often as disposable shock troops, and can make a Battle Alpha, but a new one doesn't quite make a good replacement for the ol' bugs.

 

I sell pods (except essence), wands and crystals as soon as I can, and I'm still feeling poor.

[Delcar]

Current Stats (No gear or 'buffs')

 

Level 31

Str: 5

Dex: 6

Int: 9

End: 4

-COMBAT-

Melee: 4

Missile: 8

Q. Action: 1

Parry: 1

-MAGIC-

Battle: 1

Mental: 1

Blessing: 1

Spellcraft: 0

-SHAPING-

Fire: 3

Battle: 10

Magic: 5

Healing: 7

-GENERAL-

Leadership: 8

Mechanics: 10

Luck: 3

 

-NORMAL KIT-

Infiltrator's Shield

Nimble Sandals (+Blessing Stone)

Girdle of Nimbleness

Tinker's Gloves

Infiltrator's Cloak

Vat Chitin (+Runed Amethyst)

Plate Greaves (+Charging Stone)

Acid Baton

 

-OTHER GEAR-

Jade Band

Guardian Stone

Ethereal Seal

Empathy Blade

Captain's Shiv

Flaming Sword (+Ivory Skull)

Samaritan's Sandals

Fyoraskin Cloak (+Runed Ruby)

 

I've found Shaped gloves, boots, and breastplate, and have them stashed. I've got two(2) Demon's Bile, but no mandrake tincture yet. I probably -should- just start wearing the breastplate anyway.

[Delcar]

Tactics:

 

Start with Regeneration and War Blessing

 

Plated Clawbugs are melee, most fights I'm pretty close behind them alternating between Group Heal and sniping, I'll rarely whack someone with the Flaming Sword (+Ivory Skull) either to finish off a weakling and save ammo, or for the curse effect early in what I expect to be a long fight.

 

The Vlish is extra long range oomph, he stays behind me and shoots the weakest target.

 

I try to pick off lone critters or small groups rather than rushing in. If I have no choice but getting into a big brawl, I'll send 4 corrupted Thahds in, and keep the main group the hell back. Then I send in 4 more with us following them in.

[Dantius]

Hmm. Some hints:

 

Shaped gear exists for a reason. Wear it. You will probably never have to wear Puresteel gear, since by the time you get it, you'll already have the artifacts.

 

Ditch the tinker's/infiltrator's items. Keep in your pack, then equip them when faced with a difficult lock/conversation where the leadership/mech would help.

 

Blaze through the Okanavo (shouldn't be too difficult with a bunch of creations), then grab Litalia's Symbiotic Cloak for the +3(maybe +2, I forget) endurance. It was a godsend for my rather fragile infiltrator up until I got the Agent's cloak. You'll probably keep it forever.

 

There is a mandrake tincture in the Repository. Get it, then use it to make an artifact. There are others in the Secret Laboratory and Gorash-Kel, but those are probably too difficult to reach until after you are into the Dera Reaches.

 

I will continue to harp this to everyone who will listen: Do the Gazaki-Uss quest from Alwan ASAP. If you have about 16 living tools to burn (I know it's a lot), you can get all the fifth tier creations and Rotgroths, which will basically give you smooth sailing until well into the Dera Reaches.

 

Dude, pump INT. You have nine points. By the endgame you should have (including items) about 20. Wear the Girdle of Genius until you get the Projection belt for Alwan after completing Gazaki Uss.

 

Mental magic is still important, but probably not as much since you have creations. Try to get it to the point where you can cast Strong Daze, which is very handy. I would recommend buying two levels from Quothe (in Astoria's fortress), which will make the skill points go much further.

 

I would advise against pumping luck. It does almost nothing, you would be better off pumping END.

 

Geneforge 5 gives you more opportunity to waste your money than pretty much any other Geneforge game. 10000 coins can be blown at one trainer with ease. Don't worry too much, and remember the Geneforge motto: Steal everything that isn't nailed down. Steal stuff that's nailed down, too.

 

Remember that the Shock Trooper, is, first and foremost, a Shaper class. Your combat skills are probably as far advanced as they are ever going to be, any further boosts will come from items.

 

Finally, a piece of timeless advice: The Shock Trooper is probably the worst class available. I only once finished a game with her, and I had to cheat like mad. It does not come highly recommended by pretty much anyone.

[Randomizer]

If you haven't done it yet, then visit Gorash-Kel to lower Quothe's prices for training. Stash your creations in the northeast corner and in fight mode sneak around avoiding the Unbounds. It takes some practice, but it's possible to get far enough inside to do the quest.

 

Buy training in mental magic and spellcraft so you can daze opponents now and use strong daze later, This will allow you to concentrate attacks on fewer opponents. Mental magic is the most useful spell class for dazing and later charming opponents.

[Dantius]

He's killed an Unbound, too, so he will also have that discount. Personally, I buy right away and don't wait, but if you are short on cash (how much do you have, exactly?) then you would want to do the quests.

[Dikiyoba]

The Storm Plains are more difficult than the Mera region, so don't be too alarmed. At this point, however, you need a pack of strong creations to do well. Start saving your money so you can buy create rotghroth from Sage Olipha in Abandoned Farms. You can get create wingbolt from Rawal after stealing Alwan's book for him. Eventually breaking into Gazaki-Uss's laboratory for creation canisters is difficult but worth it.

 

Forget luck or endurance. Don't take Randomizer's advice about mental magic (and there's no rush to buy spellcraft either). Get your intelligence up, both through skill points and items. There is a Girdle of Intelligence in the podling crossroad zone. If you happen to have the Helft Papers, Shaper Alexie in one of the three forts will give you a Skein of Wisdom for them.

 

Dikiyoba seconds the advice to keep your infiltrator's gear in your pack until you need them and replace them with gear that will help you and/or your creations do better in combat, even though it's horribly annoying to have to switch back and forth all the time.

[Delcar]

Dantius: Good points on the gear - the infiltrator's shield is the only one I carry, I'll find an alternative, and get new gloves.

 

Litallia - is that the Tarkovite leader? So far, I've avoided alienating any faction - I'm still undecided which way I'm going this play-through, but I'm leaning towards Astoria's worldview.

 

I'm going to gather all the living tools I can find and do Gazaki-Uss.

 

Randomizer: I have visited Gorash-Kel, but I'm not sure how much training I have taken advantage of from Quothe; I'll go revisit.

 

Thanks!

[Delcar]

I've got about 3k in cash right now, and haven't fully looted the Thistlewood bandits camp, but I did haul out the choicest gear.

 

Here's a dumb question, why can't I shape some sort of mule to carry stuff for me?

 

Ah well.

 

I've got the Hleft papers, been debating who to turn them in to, thanks for the tip!

[Dikiyoba]

You can steal the cloak in Litalia's room without angering the Trakovites. Dikiyoba thinks it is well worth the guilty conscience.

[Acky]

Quote:

Finally, a piece of timeless advice: The Shock Trooper is probably the worst class available. I only once finished a game with her, and I had to cheat like mad. It does not come highly recommended by pretty much anyone.

Actually, the Shock Trooper is arguably one of the most powerful classes in G5, the only one possibly being more powerful is the Servile, but imo, its still close.

I'd offer help, but you seem adequately advised. Good luck! The last two chapters are the best ones!

[Dantius]

Personally, my favorite class is when you edit the g5itemchar to get the Eyebeast to replace the Shock trooper sprite, but oh well..

[Delcar]

Ok, nabbed the cloak, and the Mandrake Tincture.

 

I've looked at the artifact choices, and I'm torn. I thought I had the soldified flame; I know I have a pure quicksilver.

[Dantius]

Pure quicksilver? Go for the Lifeforce Gauntlets, since you probably need the boost to creation stats.

[Acky]

No, grab the magic-booasting gloves (Firesteel? Check the topic Crafting Artifacts in the Strategy Central.) A few points in your creations won't mean much at all, but the right bless at the right time certainly will.

 

The Solidified Flame is in the bandit camp in Thirstlwood, and another is in the Sea Caves in Okavano (not the trakovite camp)

[Nefarian]

Use that pure quicksilver to make Mercurial Boots, then upgrade into Assassin's boots, one of the best items in the game with +2 AP

[Delcar]

Thanks again all. I'm geared out alot better already; had to up my strength a tad to wear the spiffy new gloves and the Shaped Breastplate, but it seems to be paying off.

 

Now if I can get past those damn podlings in the crossroads, I'll nab that belt.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Dantius

Finally, a piece of timeless advice: The Shock Trooper is probably the worst class available. I only once finished a game with her, and I had to cheat like mad. It does not come highly recommended by pretty much anyone.

The Shock Trooper isn't so bad in G5. It was clearly inferior to the Lifecrafter in G4, since you needed to invest in blessing magic, but in G5 there's enough magic-boosting equipment available that the only thing that will really hurt you is the lack of good mental magic. Even in G4, though, it's a better class than the Warrior.

[Student of Trinity]

The Shock Trooper may not be the most efficient class, but it is fun to play if you can balance your build so that your PC can lead her creations in battle. Then you get a significantly different kind of game from other classes. (I've never been able to get Guardians or Warriors to work this way, because my creations always die too fast.)

[Spddin Ignis]

Exactly.

Shapers/life crafters-Send powerful creations out and cast spells from the side-lines

 

Guardians/warriors-Use creations as back up while they hack at the enemy

 

Shock troopers- Has the fun of being able to charge into battle WITH your creations.

 

Sorceress-mix of magic and creations, with magic as primary. mostly mental magic for a good game

 

Everyone else-magic and combat pretty much-usually characters with very few creations, but can take on most things alone.

[Delcar]

Yup, my aborted run as a Lifecrafter and Shaper was due to me not being willing to stay far enough behind the lines.

 

My aborted Warrior run was because I kept getting frustrated with being a superhero with everchanging sidekicks (the critters died too fast, and I couldn't support them well enough.

 

Shocktrooper, to quote Goldilocks is just right - for me.

[Student of Trinity]

And that's the only efficiency that really matters. After all, these are single player games, and they have four difficulty levels. And with experience playing them you learn all sorts of tricks and tactics that make later play-throughs much easier than the first ones. So there's no reason all the classes have to be equally effective. It's more important for them to be different, and to use them to make the game different for yourself. That has been the idea with the multiple Geneforge classes from G1 on.

[Spddin Ignis]

Yeah. But im more of a shaper kinda guy. I pump my shaper up on shaping skills, intel. and battle magic. No competition. If i play on hard, normal, or casual, im like a god. Thats why i use torment more so then i used to. When i play shocktroopers, im not comfortable with the lack of magical skill.

[Delcar]

I think I'll do a strong caster next play through - to learn my spells better.

[Acky]

IMAO, go with the Sorceress. Much better stats and abilities then the Infiltrator/Agent.

[Spddin Ignis]

I prefer the Shaper. Very effective, very powerful. I suspect that the series revolved around them from the very beginning

[Acky]

...I know. You just said that three posts ago

[Spddin Ignis]

I know. But i added a sentence, stating my opinion on the series and its origins somewhat. But i appreciate the smiley anyway.

[Lilith]

The Lifecrafter and Sorceress are both viable choices if you want a character with high magical abilities. The main difference between the two is that the Lifecrafter should invest moderately in Mental Magic and Spellcraft and heavily in shaping skills, while the Sorceress should do the reverse. The Sorceress's main asset is that she can daze or charm almost anything that isn't completely immune to mental effects, provided you build up her skills enough.

 

Battle magic is fairly unimpressive in G5 and you shouldn't rely on it too much beyond the early parts of the game, although it's useful to at least have access to all the spells.

[Spddin Ignis]

I rely on battle magic throughout the entirety of the game. Usually one of the lightning based attacks. Ive used it to take out all of the unbound. The first spell i buy in the mera-tev is the lightning one. Then i continue to use that until i can get an upgrade in the perkailia orchards.

[A less presumptuous name.]

Personally, I never use battle magic. Especially on torment, it's just not a good investment. Putting a whole bunch of points into battle magic just to get a little more damage? Not worth it for me. Not to mention that attacking beasties makes them come after you, not your minions.

[Randomizer]

It depends upon the spells that you use. If you are using single target battle magic spells and not area effect ones when you can get easily damaged, then it can be effective. If you have high enough armor and resistances, then you can blast away and only need an occasional heal.

[A less presumptuous name.]

I play as a Shaper. Thus, many points go into shaping skills and intelligence. I don't have the skill or endurance to make single-target spells worth the APs.

[Spddin Ignis]

I work on intelligence, shaping skills, and battle magic. Very helpful after your stuck one on one with an unbound after it has killed your creations. Lightning Aura has saved me a number of times against unbound.

[A less presumptuous name.]

I prefer mental magic. I use wrack and, once I get it, essence shackles to take out a boss. Strong daze, even though my magic skills are a bit low, has saved my life more times than I can count.