In my opinion ... (some Spoilers)[G5]

[Lilith]

It's not a perfect build, but it's salvageable. Something to remember about Blessing Magic: you really only need enough to cast the highest-level blessing spell you currently want to use, since having more points will only make the spells last a little longer and won't make them any more powerful.

 

Strength and combat skills are high enough for now, although if you find yourself approaching the encumbrance limit then feel free to put some more points in Strength. Always wear the strongest armour you can find: it helps a little against all kinds of damage, not just physical. If you want a ranged attack, either Battle Magic or Missile Weapons will do (no need for both), although it's more or less possible to get by just with melee. Don't bother investing in Dexterity unless you're using batons.

 

Leadership is already high enough to last you the rest of the game. Investing in Mechanics (up to 10-12 points eventually) might be a good idea, since living tools don't grow on trees and chewing through tools won't solve all your mechanical problems anyway. If you're having trouble with combat, though, that should probably go on the back burner.

 

Anything that can stun you is always going to be bad news. Obviously, equipping loads of stun resistance gear helps, but you really need either mental magic or (preferably) creations to deal with it. Even just 2 or 3 points in a shaping skill is enough to get you some very good creations, and even one or two creations will help to draw fire away from you. If you hate micromanaging them, treat them as disposable: make a bunch of cheap creations just to take hits and die, and have them charge straight at whoever's the greatest threat. Heck, you can even make them without the +2 initial intelligence so that they're AI-controlled, which means no micromanagement necessary (or possible) at all.

 

My immediate advice is to pump either Endurance or Mental Magic and Spellcraft. Endurance isn't as important as it was in G4, but if you're having trouble taking a few hits without dying it'll still have more effect than anything else. Better Mental Magic will let you use many spells that are incredibly helpful for a singleton. Cast Terror on an enemy and beat it to death while it cowers (get your Mental Magic high enough and this even works on bosses!) Cast Dominate on one or two enemies in a pack and watch as their own allies turn on them instead of attacking you. Or cast Strong Daze on the same pack and fight them one by one, on your terms.

[Randomizer]

Essence shield and I think essence armor increase in strength with higher blessing magic and spellcraft. You can greatly increase your armor and resistances that way until you fight creations that remove it.

 

Glaahks and other stun causing creations hurt everyone even with 70%+ stun resistance. You have to face them one at a time or even the odds with creations.

 

Take advantage of the terrain to limit the number of attackers that can hit you, Corners and narrow doorways are the best places for melee attacking fighters.

[Alorael at Large]

Just a small note: even for disposable creatures, I'd highly recommend the 2 int necessary for control. You don't want your creations being idiots in their targeting, and more importantly you don't want them charging and bringing hordes down upon you. The AI can be way too aggressive for a cautious character.

 

—Alorael, has found fleeing creations to be dangerous as well. They often seem to flee straight into danger and danger comes looking for more once they're dead.

[Mea Tulpa]

This is true. The only time I've found the 2 Int unnecessary is in a very aggressive build that's stronger than necessary. For example, the Broken Vlish in G3.

[VCH]

Originally Posted By: Randomizer

Jeff mentioned that one beta tester was using Hard. We used to have several players at that level including Magma Dragoon.

Torment would be too much for me. I'm getting by in Hard. But it does take extra effort and new tactics that I'm not used to.


On a side note: Is dexterity a waste of points? I thought it would help me avoid blows in combat?

[Randomizer]

Dexterity becomes less useful above normal in avoiding blows and almost useless by torment difficulty. Slarty once tried in GF3 building a character to have complete evaison of blows and failed near the end of the first island.

[Delicious Vlish]

Dex is only good if your character frequently uses missiles.

 

Batons are even better in G5 than they were in G4.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Slarty

This is true. The only time I've found the 2 Int unnecessary is in a very aggressive build that's stronger than necessary. For example, the Broken Vlish in G3.

I wasn't really recommending it, just saying it was an option if he hated micromanaging creations.

The one time I've made creations without +2 Int in G5 was when I was trying to kill the Unbound in Lerman's Pass and had just enough essence to squeeze out 3 wingbolts if I didn't give them bonus Int. They did exactly what I'd have done with them anyway: stay in one place and keep spitting Kill spells at the only target on the battlefield. So in situations where there's only one enemy to fight and your creations are going to be disposable, there may not be much need for Int.

Incidentally, Unbound are the one enemy where Wingbolts are still much better than War Tralls, since they do enormous magical damage but have no magic resistance at all.

[Mea Tulpa]

Something I've been contemplating recently. Is it possible to dash through the Depository in the demo, dropping Fyoras behind you to keep the golems away, and grab the Create Drayk canister at the very beginning? If so Drayks become an option for nearly any build. A Drayk you make at level 10, even with no extra points allocated to Fire Shaping, will be close to maxxing out on levels by the end of the game anyway; and of course it will be absurdly strong early on. At 60 essence, it's actually affordable enough to make early, too. While it will never quite equal a War Trall or Wingbolt in usefulness, it provides a nice secondary option.

[Delicious Vlish]

I thought you needed a key to get the dryak canister... In the room with the four canisters that you have to smash?

[Mea Tulpa]

I haven't gone there, so I don't know. That's why I'm asking. :-D

[Lilith]

Yeah, most of the best stuff in there is behind locked doors. It's quite easy to sneak around and get most of what isn't nailed down, though.

[Randomizer]

The canisters are locked up so you need to get the quest from the Trakovites to get their key. You don't have to actually join them though.

 

Still if you are patient and sneaky, there is a great sword and the mental focus charm. I don't have that much patience.

[A less presumptuous name.]

how do you get the key in the first place?

[Randomizer]

Four factions have quests where you are given a Repository key to do them and there is another key that you can find if you search enough.

[RiotGearEpsilon]

Thank you very much for the advice