Impact of split from Intelligence -> Essence Mastery and Intellect

[Felix_Felicis]

The topic sums up the question. In the original Geneforge games, shaper classes would pump Intelligence to get more essence, and a side effect of that was (I think...) increased resistance to mental magic and maybe some other side boosts. In GF1-M, Essence Mastery buffs essence and Intellect buffs spell energy + spell effects.

 

If damage is a "spell effect" then theoretically you could stack Intellect + Spellcraft for some pretty strong buffs. 

 

I'm wondering though.. is the net impact of dividing essence mastery and intellect:
a) A debuff, in that shapers and agents (who would have originally had to build that one stat + some strength for carrying capacity + endurance) now need to buff 2 stats or be weak in one area?
or
b) A buff, where shapers will get more essence for their skill point investment (and less spells boosted, which they didn't really need), and agents will get more spell buffing for their skill point investment (and less capacity for shaping, which they didn't really need).

 

If this is a question people care about I can try to run some numbers based on essence gain in G5 and compare essence/stat gain to GF1-M, but I don't know that I'll be able to say much about how the attributes scale over the course of the game since I only have access to the demo so I'm only going to be able to see 3-4 levels worth of stat increases.

Edited February 21, 2021 by Felix_Felicis

[Mechalibur]

Essence formula seems to be 4 + [2 + Level] * [1 + Essence Mastery] regardless of class. Shapers start with 4 Essence Mastery vs the 3 of Guardian/Agent, so while they have a slight advantage in Essence, it's not overwhelming. 

 

I don't think it makes sense to consider this a buff or nerf from the original since the game is so vastly different. It does, hiwever, mean that you can't become an expert in bith magic and shaping from investing in only 1 stat. Pumping a bunch of points into Essence Mastery early doesn't seem to be a great idea anyway since you have to contend with creature controllevels.

[Slawbug]

Intelligence didn't actually contribute to magic effectiveness at all in the original game, did it?  Besides the mental resistance, all this is really doing is renaming old Intelligence and adding an Int stat that works the way it does in other SW games... right?

 

Agents never really had to build Intelligence in the original game, and they presumably won't need to pump Essence Mastery here.

 

Definitely a shift that the Essence formula does not have a class multiplier, though.  Hmm.

[Mechalibur]

Intelligence now boosts spell effectiveness  (duration, damage, and healing) by 5% and increases available spell energy (similar formula to essence mastery).

 

I'd still put a few points in Essence Mastery on an Agent, personally.

[Randomizer]

It's best to wait until higher levels for Essence Mastery to get a significant gain. If you are using spells then wait on increasing Intellect until the skill point cost for two levels is about the cost of a level of Battle Magic.

[Mechalibur]

You get more Essence per point at higher levels, but at lower levels small amounts of essence are more significant (for example, upgrading a Fyora is only 2 essence, but 6 for an Ur-Glaahk), so I don't think it's a terrible idea to get some Essence Mastery early.

 

Regarding Intellect, it's worthwhile to note that it affects all spells, including healing, buffs, and debuffs, while Battle Magic will just be attack spells. So I'd say a point of intellect is definitely worth more than half a point of Battle Magic.

 

 

[Slawbug]

It may or may not affect them equally, though,as we've recently learned in threads on other games...