Level 14 Shaper and his Dryak story

[SpaceCadetHX]

I hope this doesn’t bore anyone to death but wanted to post my latest game and some things I have been trying.

 

I started a new Geneforge 2 game with the intention of streamlining my Shaper and creations as early as possible and then leveling up for the rest of the game without adding any new creations. The end goal is to have 1 Thahd, 2 Plated Clawbug’s and 1 Dryak.

 

The first major goal I set was being able to train and create a Dryak as early as possible. There were several challenges to doing this quickly so I had to think the whole process through. The things required were:

 

--- Joining the Loyalists – Need 6 Leadership and 1 or 2 Pro-Shaper opinions.

--- 1600 Coins – Train Dryak cost at Upper Research Hall

--- 8 to 10 in Mechanics – You need to go through the Experimental Valley and deal with acid spraying mines. Additionally, you can open many doors and chests to greatly help collect more coins.

--- 60 Essence (without 2 points in INT), 75 Essence (with INT)

--- 3 points in Fire Shaping

 

Looking at that, it might not seem like it is that hard to do. I was skeptical that I could do it before I reached the Upper Research Hall but wanted to try anyways. My biggest concern was if I could actually get 1600 coins that quickly and without having to sell some of the things I wanted to keep. This was probably the biggest challenge because it meant I was unable to spend any coins at all on spells at the beginning of the game. I only made 2 exceptions and they were Create Thahd and War Blessing. I got 2 points in Create Thahd and 2 points in War Blessing. This totaled around 500 coins so that was a major hit, however they were both really needed for me to smoothly clear the areas ahead. Besides, my Thahd was staying with me forever and he needed to start leveling up as soon as possible.

 

As for my skill points, you need at least 3 in Fire Shaping to even create a Dryak and you already start the game with 2 points. Instead of adding a point to Fire Shaping, you can get 2 free points from Sharon. You can steal the Shaper Robe in her room or kill the first Experimental Fyora behind her house and enhance the ring she gives you. Doing both gets you +2 to Fire Shaping and then you don’t need to waste skill points. Upgrading Mechanics can really help a lot with getting coins and getting experience for picking locks and disarming traps so I invested heavily in Mechanics very early.

 

Leadership needed to be at 6 to join the Loyalists and the Shaper in the Upper Research Hall will not train you at all unless you are a member. You cannot join the Loyalists until after you explore past the Secret Tunnel so this was one of the last things I did. The added benefit is that after you join, you get to steal everything in Drypeak Warrens and the coin gained from this is absolutely needed. Additionally, you can train in spells from the Loyalists at a significant discount as compared to other sects.

 

Saving 1600 coins was interesting, fun and challenging to attempt. I am somewhat of a freak when it comes to clearing out a level of all sellable items and leaving nothing behind of value. Even while doing that, it was hard to get the coins required. I found something interesting early in the game that I never read about before and also never found before. This 1 event basically guaranteed that I would be able to sell enough to get 1600 coins. In Drypeak Mines and Western Mines there are neutral Pylons scattered on the map for defense. You can find a key that turns these pylons to help you clear the map but for fun I wanted to attack one and see what happened. After the Pylon died, it dropped 3 Gemstones and that equals 75 coins. I went around and killed every single Pylon and got a large number of Gemstones. I also went back to town to see if anyone was pissed at me for doing this, turns out they don’t seem to care at all. I really didn’t want to sell my Gemstones until later in the game so I just saved them but I knew if I had to, I could make 1600 by selling some of them now.

 

So in the end, I made it to the Upper Research Hall at level 14, had a little over 1700 coins, over 75 essence, had joined the Loyalists and learned Create Dryak. I did not have to sell any Gemstones or items of value that I wanted to keep. A few major finds of gold because of high mechanics made this possible.

 

At this time, I have only cleared 21 areas and I have my final party of 1 Thahd, 2 Plated Clawbugs and 1 Dryak. We are simply plowing through anything we face and the experience is not bad at all. I have a feeling this will be my most powerful character yet and I am having a lot of fun enhancing my creations to very high levels.

 

Has anyone tried for a Dryak this early?

[Txgangsta]

A possible easier way to do this:

 

You can get a drayk cheapest with Phariton if your unaligned. Join the Loyalist for early benefit (no shaper opinion required) and then leave after getting in barzite lands.

 

Don't upgrade your mechanics that high, just run past the sprayers and be careful not to get hit. If you do, pull around a corner and heal. I believe your creations will not set them off, so have them sit by the exit, then run your shaper through with the haste spell.

 

You'll want fire shaping as high as possible, as well as lots of endurance toward endgame for your clawbugs and thahd.

 

Maybe pick up the abandoned thahd in the crags early instead of making one? I'm not as sure for this one, since the lack of control really makes people cringe.

 

Edit: Get those creation levels as high as possible. Invest as heavily as possible in shaping. These creations are generally weaker, so having them with higher levels will make the endgame more pleasant.

[SpaceCadetHX]

I did think about going straight to Phariton but rejected the idea in the end. The main reason is after mapping out the route I would need to take, I believe it would be much more difficult than going to the Upper Research Hall. Some of the areas on route to Pharition are extremely tough for such a low level character and some fights may even be impossible. I suppose it would be possible to get there but you would probably need the "Speed" spell to do it. That would mean you need to go to Medab first and buy that skill then go to Phariton. All in all, it sounds like more work but it can be done.

 

Good idea about the acid sprayers but getting my Mechanisc high wasn't just for them. The other traps and locked doors/chests are just too valuable to pass by in the beginning.

 

I hated not being able to control the abandoned creations in combat. They would almost always screw things up, I just kill them all instead.

 

I absolutely plan to invest essence into my creations as much as I possibly can or until they max out. There is no reason to put points into Shaping skills at all since I will not be creating new creations. Instead I will just level up my current creations for the rest of the game. Those skill points would be wasted otherwise.

[Txgangsta]

Ok, thanks for the input on my thoughts. Ya, if your not making any more creations, then no need for more shaping. I originally thought you were planning this had hadn't started.

 

As for your shaper, start upping his magic skills to make him a useful fighter as well as a healer in the back. Personally, I'd start treating my shaper as an agent at this point. It'll make a very powerful endgame team.

 

I may do this my next run through. It sounds fun =) What difficulty are you on?

[SpaceCadetHX]

Not a bad thought about making him part of the attacking team. I had thought about that and am still arguing with myself over the idea. My thoughts were that my Shaper's first and most important job is to act as healer for the group since I cannot allow any of my creations to die. After that, Blessing Magic will be a major part so I can buff the party.

 

As for Battle Magic, I have some reservations for using it heavily with this setup. First is even thought I will be gaining significant amounts of essence as I level up, I will be pumping those points directly into my creations instead of saving them for magic spells. Some battle magic spells are pretty costly to cast and at higher levels I will most likely be using my combat turns to heal/bless instead of attack. I was leaning more towards Mental Megic for 2 reasons. The first is that mostly all of the spells in that category are cheap to cast and that would benefit my Shaper because his essence pool would not be that high anyway. Secondly, those spells would seem to help my creations directly in combat. For instance, if I Dazed an opponenet, not only would that save me from having to heal the damage that monster did the next round but it would also open up my creations to attack more important targets for thier next round of attack. Compare that to Battle Magic, unless I flat out kill my target, it will still be around to cause trouble and somewhat make double duty for me as far as essence goes.

 

I dunno for sure, I need to think more. I guess I am a little wuss and only play on Tricky difficulty level. I admit that I only recently found out about this setting. I suppose I should man up and go on Torment.

 

Actually, I never read what the different difficulty levels actually change in the game? Do things hit harder or get more HP's? What exact effect does it have?

[Dikiyoba]

Enemies get more HP and you are less likely to hit them or dodge their attacks.

 

Dikiyoba.

[SpaceCadetHX]

Thanks Dikiyoba. I changed it already. That should make the game much more fun.

 

I think mostly every character has a patch of levels where things are not going as smoothly as they should be but will be jsut fine in the long run. Like how Agents have a little trouble in the early game and Guardians have trouble in the late game. Right now I am having that trouble with my Shaper. I am at the point where I need like 2-3 more levels to save up enough Essence to help my creations in combat. I rushed so much to make my final party as quickly as possible that I had only 4 essence left after creating everything. I did that so we would all get experience and level up as quickly as possible together.

 

It is really fun though. The more challenging the better.