Singleton Archer on Hard (Anama or Gladwell?)

[Oskar]

So I recently (yesterday) started a singleton deadeye and divinely touched nephil archer on hard difficulty (almost done with the demo area, missing the demon, spider and splitting goo). I won't be cheating on this run (read: no buffing up nature lore, arcane lore and tool use with the editor), and I was wondering whether I should sign up to gladwell for the + stats and the items, or go with the anama for their crystals, since I doubt I'll have enough points to get magic user high enough for the dispel barrier and unlock door spells.

 

Personally I'm leaning towards gladwell, since that +1 all stats is looking delicious right now (encumbrance is a [censored] for javelins).

[Dantius]

I would advise not to do Gladwell, since you can get the same bonuses from Melanchion for turning in three of the items he wants, and it has the added plus of making many fewer towns hostile, especially early in the game. I wouldn't know about the Anama, though. I've never played as them.

[Earth]

as anama no mage spells and piercing crystals don't always tear barriers down and anama's give quest to kill shafrir who sells some worthwile spells. if you kill shafrir then you are tied to anama to end of game.

 

only neg. things are no mage-spells and using only crystals to bring barriers down and melanchion not giving you 1 point in dex and int.

[Randomizer]

Gladwell is pretty much a waste for a singleton since the initial stat bonuses are for only a single character, the spell books require you to have arcane lore early on to read them, and the items are available elsewhere.

 

Anama will mean that you can't get into some areas where the barrier is dispel barrier only. You will also lose being able to use mage spells and the points towards it will have been wasted. You can play all priest spells from the start and then fight/avoid sentinels in Tranquility to reach the Anama before doing the Sentinel Workshop, but be careful not to kill too many sentinels so you can go back there. This is a harder game until after the Anama Lands and will require skipping lots of fights.

 

It's possible to get all the mage and priest spells while still having a singleton character on torment.

[Mea Tulpa]

Did anyone ever test if you can complete most of the game, get past the areas that Gladwell-alignment forces you to make hostile, and *then* join Gladwell for the stat bonuses?

[Dantius]

I haven't, though I do that all the time in Geneforge- In G5, I complete up to Kayar's Spire, and only then do I join a faction. It would probably be doable, though pretty much the only place you would have to trade at would be New Harston or Highground. Not that that matters, though.

[Alorael at Large]

I believe someone tested it and it was possible, but I can't find the post.

 

—Alorael, who supposes that would even make Gladwell useful for the endgame, although then you get the Gladwell ending.

[Lilith]

The trouble is that the main benefit of joining Gladwell in the first place is early-game power. If you're going to wait until nearly the end of the game to join up, you may as well just do Melanchion's quests instead.

[Sade]

Originally Posted By: Randomizer

Gladwell is pretty much a waste for a singleton since the initial stat bonuses are for only a single character, the spell books require you to have arcane lore early on to read them, and the items are available elsewhere.

I disagree.

Click to reveal.. (Possible spoilers)

While it's true that you only get +1 increasement to every main skill by accepting the geas, it still beats Melanchion's rewards. And since Gladwell doesn't need Solberg's Papers, you can give them to Melanchion either way.

The reward spell books of Gladwell only require Arcane Lore of 3 and 5, respectively. This means that if you buy Shanker's AL training and wear the Magus Vest you can find in the second reward chamber, you don't need to spend any skill points even as a singleton.

The items are available elsewhere, that's true, but not before much later in the game. For example, you can't find another Incantor's Ring (very nice ring for a spellcaster singleton) until the 7th chapter. To top it off, you also get some fairly nice exp from basins.

Getting towns angry doesn't really matter either, since they are somewhat useless after you have done all their quests, and bought all the training and skill point increasers you want.

So, in my opinion, taking Gladwell's geas is certainly worthwhile for a singleton. Of course, there are several moral dilemmas, but I can't really argue about them.

[Barzhal]

I agree with Sade. You can take Gladwell's stat bonus and receive all of Melanchion's rewards. You only need to acquire Gladwell's items to avoid becoming cursed, you don't need to actually give the items to him. You can also remove the geas later in the game if you want by killing Gladwell and breaking the crystal in the basement. It amounts to "borrowing" skill points when you need them - early in the game.

[Oskar]

Well, I took the geas, but playing a singleton archer in hard is just too frustrating, I had a nice balance going on in the demo area in which I would run away and shoot with well aimed blows/shield breakers, but now that I've reached the second chapter and the melee attackers are getting tougher and more numerous I find myself reloading multiple times to get past a single battle.

Oh well, it was an ok-ish experiment!

 

(And I did plan on getting Melanchion's bonus aswell, as Barzhal pointed out you don't actually need to give Gladwell the items, just collect them.)