G4 - Pacifist

[Painted Lady]

I'm thinking about trying to do a G4 run through as a pacifist. The "helpful hints" say that while it is difficult, it can be done.

 

It's obvious that I will have to skip a lot of side quests like putting the malformed Drake out of his misery, etc. That means I won't level up as quickly as I would otherwise.

 

I figure I will have to rely on Mechanics, Leadership and Daze to get through. My basic question is about the degree of difficulty. Should I play on Normal, or are Hard (or even Torment) possibilities?

[Triumph]

I did a "pacifist" run in G3 - here's some of the rules and tactics I followed. I never got around to finishing, but I did enough to be sure that it's eminently feasible.

 

The key rule of the pacifist is that you are a legalist who doesn't personally inflict hurt or cast spells on your foes, but doesn't mind if NPCs or mechanical things do damage. I would recommend that you NOT use Daze - Mental Magic is a well-established tool / tactic on its own; using Daze was too similar to just being a Mental Magic agent or whatever. As best I can tell from playing G3, Jeff's idea of "pacifist" path did not require / include using Mental Magic. Throughout the game, he embedded various means to overcome enemies or obstacles that don't rely on your combat or spell casting prowess. So, you use lead / mech / stealth a lot.

 

Rather that using mental magic that affects your enemies, I submit you'll find it helpful to cultivate buffing spells, specifically haste and the spells that reduce damage or boost HP. AP boosting items are good, too. All this does nothing to enemies, but help you survive as you run past enemies. Be willing to dash in and out of hostile-filled areas to grab cool loot.

 

I believe upping the difficulty boosts all NPCs, not just enemies, and Mech and Lead requirements don't change, so actually a Hard or Torment run should be quite viable. I did it on Normal, but I suspect the higher difficulties would work okay too. I hope you'll post about your journey!

[Painted Lady]

Thanks for the heads up re: mental magic. I need to think about this build a little, but it might be a fun change of pace. Won't be able to start for a couple of weeks, but will post if anything worth talking about happens.