Advice on fire creations in G1

[WarHamster]

So, I've got a Shaper character at lvl 10(ish) in G1 and he's got two faithful and long-suffering fyoras (named Zeus and Apollo, Magnum P.I. FTW!) that have been with him since leaving Vakkiri for the first time way back when. It could be said, that said Shaper has become quite attached to those two critters. However, now that he's exploring the lands beyond Kazg, the two lizards seem to have lost their aim and even with upped stats (DEX+3, namely) they aren't able to hit the broad side of a barn any longer. At best, the "non-buffed" to-hit chance seems to be around 50% and with my luck it means c. 90% of their shots miss (the game's dice-roller hates me).

 

And now the question: Is there any sense in increasing the stats of lvl 7(or so) fyoras some more in the hopes they would start hitting enemies again or have I reached the end of their usefulness?

 

As loathe as I am to let go of those two red, fire-breathing raptors, I made a test and absobed them and created two roamers to take their place. I'm not too impressed. They don't seem to be able to hit enemies any better (maybe 5-10% better to-hit chance, I'd guess, if at all) and their damage output isn't that much better either. I do have same level of ability in both Create Fyora and Create Roamer, and roamers start at a higher level, so the newly-created roamers are actually a level or two higher than my experienced fyoras (IIRC). But still they don't seem to be that much of an improvement.

 

As the game itself is very tight-lipped about the actual to-hit chances and how much damage a given creation is expected to do, I thought to ask the community about the pros and cons of fyoras vs roamers. Your opinions?

 

At least roamers seem to have more HP than fyoras and their bite is nasty, so maybe I'll use them as chargers (fire acid first, then close to melee).

 

Also, I ran into the creation type limit the other day, which was a surprise to me. Is there a hard cap of three different types of creations the whole game through or is it level dependant (e.g. can have character lvl/3 creation types or something)?

[WarHamster]

Well, don't everybody answer me at once.

 

Anyway, having tested the roamers for awhile now, I can see that both the fyoras and roamers are pretty weak by this stage in the game. Need. Bigger. Guns. Artilas are still pretty decent, though, and kick a** and chew bubble gum well enough. Go, acid worms, go!

[Dikiyoba]

Drayks (and eventually cryodrayks) are the bigger guns you need. When you finally get them, they'll last you the rest of the game.

 

Dikiyoba.

[Nim]

Originally Posted By: WarHamster

the two lizards seem to have lost their aim and even with upped stats (DEX+3, namely) they aren't able to hit the broad side of a barn any longer.

Upping Dex doesn't help with creations to hit, strength does. Iirc Dex only helps with their dodge.

[Slawbug]

Yup. The in-game help lies to you, on that one.

[LORDKINGDAMANLORD josue]

two critters. However, now that he's exploring the lands beyond Kazg, the two lizards seem to have lost their aim and even with upped stats (DEX+3, namely) they aren't able to hit the broad side of a barn any longer.

 

 

yes ive noticed that to i just use buffed up roamers and artilia i think i to need bigger guns

[Shaper Shaper]

Roamers and Fyroras are pathetic creatures. Besides, making another creature is better than upping creatures' stats.

[Slawbug]

Yeah, paying for better stats on creations is rarely a good deal even in later games, but in G1 it's AWFUL: not only is it unreasonably expensive in essence, the stats you buy won't make up for the stat points you lose by having creations gain levels instead of just recreating them at higher levels.

[Tracer Bullet]

I always used a battery of vlish for G1--their accuracy is outstanding, and they can be recycled infinitely.

[Akharri Blaze]

I usually balance my party out with two Battle alphas, two Vlish, and Three cryo-drakes by end game

[Alorael at Large]

That requires spreading your shaping skill point investment. In G1 (and in most of the series), battle shaping is strictly worse than other types. Magic is okay, but in G1 fire creations are just better.

 

—Alorael, who thinks the biggest mark against magic creations is the glaahk. It's not an acceptable capstone.

[Slawbug]

I don't think it's QUITE that cut and dry: Drayks and Cryodrayks have no competition as "strongest creations" in G1, but on the other hand, the Vlish is the only way to consistently slow enemies, and due to the stat system, high level Artila and Vlish (both very cheap) are nearly as good as Drayks and Cryodrayks: they do less damage, but aren't significantly weaker in any other way, and the acid/slow makes up somewhat for the damage. The real bonus for using them is that they are so cheap in essence: you can neglect your Intelligence and still have an army of 7 with essence to spare. Additionally, Fire Shaping costs 150% the skill points of Magic Shaping. This means you get 30 free skill points for going the Magic route, AND your creation levels ramp up a lot faster -- and since the Artila and Vlish are better than the Fyora and Roamer anyway, this is really noticeable early on.

[Tracer Bullet]

I still maintain that the Vlish peaked at the beginning of the series. They were awful in G2, and somewhat recovered in G3, but the best was G1.

[Slawbug]

The numbers don't agree with you. In G1, Vlish were very good. One of the best creations in fact, they nonetheless rolled smaller dice for damage than any other creation did. However, in both G2 and G3, the size of almost all damage dice shrank -- dramatically in G3, when most melee dice went from d8 to d4. However, Vlish ranged attacks never had their dice shrink. So the Vlish in G3 actually has an attack with larger dice than most other attacks, in addition to being cheap and recruitable early in the game that gives the largest advantage to long-surviving creations.

 

See this analyrrative:

http://www.spiderwebforums.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=62244#Post62244

[Tracer Bullet]

Right. So the vlish weren't BETTER in G3, they were just better by comparison to the weaker competitors.

[Slawbug]

In this case, they were actually better, because EVERYTHING ELSE had its damage reduced: not just allied creation attacks, but PC spells, PC melee and missile attacks, and enemy attacks as well. There were other general balance shifts, particularly in terms of HP and Endurance, and enemy level, that were made to compensate. So the Vlish really is better in the context of G3, not just better compared to other creations.

[Tracer Bullet]

I'll have to try them out then.