A Torment + No Canister Playthrough

[kuo]

Edit TLDR / Post-mortem: I'm confident I can get to an ending, but that's no more of an accomplishment than, say, a pacifist run.

 

Currently, my character is pretty strong (gear is Quicksilver Chain, Danette's Cloak, Guardian Claymore, Dancing Boots, Mica Band, Girdle of Strength, Shaped Shield), but still not strong enough to clear everything (I mean everything everything, e.g. I want to kill Goettsch) in a reasonable amount of time, nor strong enough to acquire any better gear (e.g. I want Bhargeth's Girdle from Crossroads, Hammer Bracers from Drayk's Vale, and all the goodies from the Crypts / Great Temple). I feel that a ranged build might make my life easier, so I've opted to restart. If I ever manage to do this one heck of a challenge I will make a new post.

 

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First things first:

1. I love min-maxing.
2. I love spending more time than necessary on Spiderweb games.
3. I find it ridiculous that the Shapers would ever spare your canister-drugged-up-insane-butt even if you saved their entire civilization. Goettsch was spot on when he said "You can wander this world for a thousand years, and you will never find a more baffled or impotent group of fools than the Shaper council." 

 

Therefore, I present my one-canister (since Firebolt is required to advance the tutorial) + Torment run.  That means no magic and no creations - consumables are ok. To make things more interesting than a pacifist run, my goals are: destroy the Geneforge, defeat every major character, and clear every zone. To maximize skill points, I wanted to visit the Sealed Lab without leveling any Leadership/Mechanics/Stealth. My approach was to kill pylons one-by-one with the claymore, and since I forbade myself from using the heal canister, I had to walk back to town after every kill. So, it is surprisingly possible, but takes lots of patience.

 

If you're interested in watching the wholesale, mind-numbing abuse of quicksaving, combat, and stealth mechanics, I've uploaded my gameplay footage at 4x speed, cut into somewhat related chunks. I put a tiny bit of commentary at the start of the first two videos, but don't really plan to do more.

 

PS1: There are going to be several areas down the line where both luck and abuse of game mechanics won't be enough for me to achieve a full clear - prime examples are Sealed Lab and Icewalls, where enemies will endlessly spawn (and as solo I can only kill 1-2 of them per round). Mechanics/Leadership/Stealth might help, but usually requires high levels to bypass the hardest combats. Advice is appreciated, especially a heads-up on other zones where this playstyle isn't going to work.

 

PS2: I passed through all three southern mine zones but they did not turn green. Perhaps there is another clear condition, like waking up the mind or handling all the pylons?

PS3: There are a few instances where I avoided Pyroroamer damage by standing around a corner - in the big scope of things it's an inconsequential bug, but I thought it should be noted. If someone else has already caught it, that's great.

Edited March 17, 2021 by kuo

[Drowklath]

That has got to be pure suffering. Played canister junkie Shaper on veteran, enjoyed immensely, except for pylons. If you're looking for advice on killing them, the automatic ranged attack pathing takes you one tile closer than you need to be. Stand one tile back from the highlighted attacking tile, and the pylons will waste turns and only occasionally use the single target stun attack. You can still reach them though. I believe this is because they cannot move and they forget you are there as you are out of range, allowing you to put ranged attacks in. Vampiric Lance is fantastic damage and infinite charge, with some health recovery.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Drowklath
Missed an explanation.

[Randomizer]

Reaper baton is more damage and gets the job done quicker so you can get on with it.

[kuo]

Thanks! I definitely I didn't put enough consideration into a ranged build, mainly due to an irrational fear of running out of ammo. Once I'm through with this I'm gonna give that one a spin.

 

Wow...I just tried out the "ranged-vs-pylon" strategy and this would enable me to reach the entry baton much earlier in the game. I can take it a step further and step out of range after I attack and whittle the pylon down by restarting combat. I'm now thinking I should cut this run short and restart with the following game plan:

Northern Mines (control baton) -> Sealed Lab / Ancient Crypt (skill points + Leadership belt) -> Holding Two (reaper baton) -> Icewalls/Western Workshop (vampiric lance)

From there it should be much smoother sailing than my current melee guardian...I've already slightly messed up my save by joining the Takers before getting training from Halm/Dig anyways...

Edited March 15, 2021 by kuo
ahhhhh

[TriRodent]

With enough energy/essence, airshock from just outside their range works wonders on pylons...& lets you accumulate all sorts of light blue crystals