so many creations[G5]

[Shaper Tristan]

i have been randomly trawling the forum and i've noticed that people seem to be able to create a whole bunch of powerful creations(EX: 4 tralls, 3 gazers, ETC). i can only aussume that your useing a shaper/lifecrafter to do this but still.... i've never been able to do this(though admittingly i prefer 1 or 2 beefed up creations). im just wondering for you who do this what is your average intelligence(counting items),i normally average 10(give or take a few)intelligence a game, is that way too low for a shaper?

[Lilith]

10 intelligence isn't bad for non-shaping classes who just want a few creations as backup, but it's much too low for a dedicated shaper. As a Lifecrafter, you should be putting most of your skill points into Intelligence, plus some mental magic for crowd control, some points in whichever shaping skill you want to focus on, and not much else. You should aim for 20-25 Intelligence by the end of the game, including items.

 

What are you putting all your skill points into, anyway?

[Dantius]

Most beginners, me included, pump magic, so I would assume that was what he pumped.

[Shaper Tristan]

ok thx for the quick response. well here it goes....

 

i rarely play as anything but a shaper.

i put the most of my skill points into battle magic and mental magic(i normally have a average of 10-12, and 8-10 with items)

i almost never improve my shaping skills,

i always get my leadership and mechanical to at least 12 by endgame,

and i sparingly put points into strength(4-6 at most) and endurance(same)

i never really improve my meelee skills.

[Marak]

Yeah, I tried what you're describing on my first attempt at playing GeneForge 5 and while I could have 2 or 3 "pumped up" creations, my damage output wasn't what I needed it to be.

 

So, I started over and said, "Hey, this character is going to be a Shaper with a capital S. Therefore, I'm going to put a few points in Mechanics, and a point or 2 in Battle Magic, and after reading about the power of Battle Creations in a thread by Delicious Vlish, I'm going to alternate all the rest of my Skill Points in Intelligence and Battle Shaping until both are 10, and from there it's Intelligence all the way, with the occasional break to put the odd point into Mechanics, Leadership, or Blessing Magic."

 

Let me tell you, the game got a whole lot easier after that. Yes, the first couple of areas were a little rough because I had to rely on under-leveled Fyoras to do my dirty work, but once I had Thahds and Clawbugs it's been smooth sailing, even playing on Hard difficulty.

 

Currently I have a Battle Alpha, 3 Plated Clawbugs, a normal Clawbug, a Vlish, and a Cryora, and it's tons more fun. I now use my Shaper as a buffbot to cast War Blessing and Protection and Haste and Regeneration Aura and the odd Heal or Curing spell, and let my army of face-stabbing Clawbugs run rampant while my Vlish and Cryora debuff and blast things from a safe distance. I even managed to do the quest where you have to kill an Unbound One, which was no mean feat and something that my original Shaper with his paltry 2 Creations never could have managed.

 

Just keep in mind, with a build like this you will have a TON of Essence - but an army of 5-7 creations will also consume a ton of Essence. Try to keep enough of an Essence pool left over so that you can cast some of those vital Buffing and Healing spells, otherwise you'll be losing Creations left and right when you get into a fight with a Dungeon Boss or a huge pack of something unexpected.

 

The thing you have to keep in mind in Jeff's games is that, if you're going to play a caster/shaper character, you DO NOT NEED TO HAVE THE BEST ARMOR EQUIPPED. In fact, you're better off using the lightest pieces of gear you can find - the ones that boost your Shaping or Magic stats - and ignoring your Armor % entirely. Move your Character to the bottom slot in your Party so that your Creations are always creating a living wall in front of you, and if you play your cards right, you will rarely (if ever) get hit by anything. With this play style you can ignore Strength and Dexterity and Endurance entirely, leaving all 3 at their base value, and still win battles easily. This also frees up Skill Points to boost your Shaping and Intelligence even higher.

[Shaper Tristan]

thanks i think i'll try the pumping intelligence.

 

ps. i'm not sure were i heard it but i remember hearing that if you get a shaper skill to level 10 you get some kind of bonus, true,false, just out of curiosity.

[Dantius]

Right, so I'd better trash my Girdle of Genius, Guardian Claymore, Firesteel Gauntlets, Assassins' Boots, and Agent Cloak since I don't need the best armor. Thanks for the tip! /sarcasm

 

Armor is very important. You will need good equiptment if you are to succeed in your goals.

[Shaper Tristan]

but if you dont get hit then armor is useless.

[Dantius]

One Two words: Stat boosts. As a shaper, you will need the +5 all magic skills from the Firesteel Gauntlets if you are to win at any difficulty harder than normal, and all the other boosts are pretty much crucial.

[Shaper Tristan]

i think we were useing armor in the context of... well... armor, not as in equipment.

[Lilith]

Avoid heavy shields for most of the game, too. They tend to have the worst strength-to-weight ratio of any defensive gear in the game, and few of them have useful stat boosts.

 

Originally Posted By: Shaper Tristan

ok thx for the quick response. well here it goes....

 

i rarely play as anything but a shaper.

i put the most of my skill points into battle magic and mental magic(i normally have a average of 10-12, and 8-10 with items)

i almost never improve my shaping skills,

i always get my leadership and mechanical to at least 12 by endgame,

and i sparingly put points into strength(4-6 at most) and endurance(same)

i never really improve my meelee skills.

 

If what you want is a magic user who does a little bit of shaping, why wouldn't you make a Sorceress instead?

[Hypnotic]

Was about to say the same thing Thuryl!

 

Perosnally I don't really care abour amour. For every charcter I make I pump Luck to 10 early on. Then I slap on a golden Crystal to every peice of equiptment I have later on. Together this gives me about 40% Damage reduction of everything without counting the equiptments bonuses. Handy for both the fragile shaper and Guardian that rushes into the mess. 10 Luck is relativly Skill pointy cheap.

 

For Int I find it is best to pump it at the start of the game so you save skill points. Turn in Mekhan and using the Geneforge gives you +2 Int. The higher you pump Int before these two events, than the more skill points you save. Its a small amount but every skill point counts!

 

Flag Dexterity, Endurance and strength for Shaper. Each can be increased by a canister and Rawal.

 

Do Okavano as soon as you have done Kratoa-Kel. The Gloves there should help you get past the traps in Okavano and if you do the sea caves you can get the Shaper robe which you will likely keep till the end of the game (Assuming you are a shaper/lifecrafter).

 

No bonus with 10 Shaping skills but it is a nice target. It will help your creations level. General rule of thumb is to pump one type of Shaping and use Items to increase the rest. If you a lucky enough to be Alwans faction then you can purchase the other levels.

[Spddin Ignis]

You don't need magic to get by as a shaper to be truthful. I usually have atlesat 6 rots at the end of the game. And the sooner you begin to pump up intel, the more essence you get.

[Lilith]

By the way, the reason people used to recommend getting a shaping skill to 10 and no higher was that after 10, the benefit you got from each extra point decreased. In Geneforge 5, that no longer applies, so just get your shaping skills as high as you think is reasonable.

[Shaper Tristan]

ahhh, that must be what i had heard.

[Acky]

Armor is really important if you're playing a fighter (Warrior, Guardian, and Servile), and slightly less important for similar characters (Agents, Infiltrators and Shock Troopers) who will would have another skill to use as their main asset. Shaping characters (Lifecrafter, Shaper, and the Sorceress) don't really need much. Its better to wear stat-boosting equipment. It won't really matter much in the long run either.

[Marak]

Re: Dantius

 

Yes, as a pure Shaper all your "armor" is basically Stat Sticks with different icons worn on different parts of the body.

 

Yes, there are a few heavy pieces of gear that might be worth boosting your Strength a few points to wear, but then again, you can do that through equipment as well.

 

One of the main points I was trying to make is that, as a pure Shaper, with 5-7 Creations lined up in front of you... if you're getting hit by anything other than the occasional randomly-thrown-your-way Ranged attack, you're doing something wrong. Armor % is worthless; you need lightweight gear that is boosting your Magic and Shaping skills and, ideally, your Resistances.

[kot]

well im close to figureing out all the scripts of the geneforge series and well i got to playing a bit... not sure if its against there policy but if there, there then y not "tinker" the script. if u use cheats from gamfaqs etc then u might as well do what i do "grab a charm[first thing i came accross was gruesom charm] and i found it in the scripts and made it +200 endurance {6000+ health} +300 intellegence {14000+ essence} +40 dex {no need passed that ur hard to hit} +45 str {u can carry 200+ pounds and if ur a shaper u can hit like a good warrior/guardian} and plus 50 armor {good boost but caps out at like 25 armor for each so ur not getting everything}" and boom your a walking tank and can shape full beefed up creations till u get ur max 7 and really get to play... im still working on other skills like magic etc but since charms dont need to b equiped i just alter those for my nice bonuses, would b nice though to find a way to determin wat canister gives u what, but then i dont want to ruin the whole game either so i just play with items for now

[A less presumptuous name.]

If you look at the charms, there is a line of code that makes them work from your backpack. You can add this line to anything. I once had "trash" giving me huge stat boosts from my inventory.

[Upon Mars.]

Sad, i liked much better the geneforge one creations.

The new ones aren't so original; man, the artila or the Vlish, they were original concepts.

Now all we get is stupid bugs, savage unbounds, and slith like drakons; disgusting.