Whew, Do I Stink at This Game . . . Advice?

[Feo Takahari]

Actually, I know why I stink at RPGs. I can never figure out which stats to up in which proportions, so I always choose some to ignore and some to balance equally, and make up for the resultingly weak characters by searching for holes in the enemy A.I. Now that Spiderweb has finally eliminated such underhanded tactics as "door-fu" (see Avernum 4 strategy guide), I am beginning to have difficulties. What I am hoping for is some advice as to what I should be doing differently.

 

On my most recent attempt at Geneforge IV, I (Tristam, or the Warrior if you prefer) reached Moseh with my equipment as follows:

 

Oozing Sword

Steel Breastplate

Shaped Shield

Fyoraskin Cloak

Volcanic Fetish (just for the armor bonus)

Girdle of Strength

Piercing Gauntlets

Jade Band

Shaped Greaves

Clover Boots

Lucky Charm

Shielding Trinket

 

Unmodified, my stats were 11 Strength, 5 Dex, 3 Int, 7 End, 9 Melee, 8 QA, 9 Par, 10 Lead, 9 Mech, 3 Lck, and everything else exactly what it had been at the start of the game. (i used the Tinker's Bauble and other items to get around my relatively low Mechanics.) Having seriously screwed up my ending with canisters in G1, I only used the Spellcraft canister. As early as possible, I bought two levels of Create Fyora and made a Cryoa, balancing its stats equally and using a Student's Belt to invest more essence in it than I would normally be capable of, with the side effect of giving me zero essence to use in combat. I had no other creations. Oh, and I played mostly rebel, with just enough shaper goodwill to get the "Repair Moseh" mission.

 

I would have liked to follow Matt P's walkthrough and kill Eliza or Shaftoe while sparing Moseh, but as it is I am not tough enough to defeat any of the three in combat. I can talk Moseh into surrendering without a fight, but that leaves me stuck working with the Shapers, who I've already pissed off quite a lot. And yes, I destroyed Eliza's neo-pylons, Shaftoe's servant minds, and Moseh's machinery before trying to take them on. Care to help the idiot?

 

P.S. On second thought, I think I've figured out how to beat Moseh. But still, he isn't the toughest fighter in the game, and my stat problems tend to get exacerbated the higher I level up.

[Xelgion]

Don't boost Dex.

 

Repair him, you can work for both sides and get all the loot.

 

THEN kill E&S for big loot. (An artifact, the Holy Guardian Claymore and a recipe)

[Dikiyoba]

You can spare Moseh and still work for the rebels, provided you help the rebels with their next big quest in the fens.

 

Dikiyoba would get some intelligence (switching to the girdle of intelligence will help, but probably not enough) so you can make more creations, since you will not survive alone. (Having about 140-150 essence to create a wingbolt in the next section would be awesome.) Dikiyoba also recommends switching to lodestone greaves and nimble sandals (but the second one only if Dikiyoba is remembering correctly about being luck is pretty worthless in this game). Your leadership and mechanics are fine--you're supposed to rely on items for the most difficult places. Put a point or two into blessing magic so you can cast speed and then use it constantly.

[Xaiya]

When you make a creation, don't boost any stats.

Only have the two in intelligence so that you can control it.

 

Multiple creations can do better than one uber creation in this game.

 

Also, remember that this game can be beat without attacking anything.

[Lilith]

Well, you picked what's generally considered the hardest class in the game to play, so that's part of your problem.

 

For a physical combat class like the Warrior or Servile, endurance is much more important than strength or melee skills. In fact, it's one of the two most important stats in the game, because Endurance and Intelligence are the only stats with an effect that increases with your level. My servile had 17 endurance by the endgame. It's quite possible to get by without training in combat skills at all until Chapter 3, where there's a trainer who you can pay to teach you those skills.

 

Warriors generally have it tougher than serviles, because it's harder for them to use magic, but it's also hard to get by without any magic at all -- haste is incredibly useful, and speed pods are expensive and limited in number. Cheaper shaping skills are less useful than you'd think, because essence is more important than shaping skills, and warriors don't get any more essence than serviles do. Even so, creations will make your life a lot easier, and it'll probably do you some good to boost Intelligence so that you can make something better than a lone cryoa.

 

What I've said about Endurance and melee classes also goes for Intelligence and shaping classes, by the way. For a Lifecrafter, it's perfectly viable to put every spare skill point into Intelligence, plus just enough Blessing Magic and Healing Craft to cast all the spells you're using, and some Leadership and Mechanics for non-combat stuff.

[Feo Takahari]

What's pathetic isn't that, after the twentieth attempt to kill Monarch with my semi-revised character, I'm giving up and playing Bioshock. What's pathetic is that I'll probably end up buying G5.

[Acky]

Yeah pretty much.

But don't feel bad Bioshock is one of the best games ever made

 

I agree with dikiyoba about the wingbolt. Its arguable the best creation in the game. You could also lower the difficulty. Or use cheat codes or the editor. useing blessing magic would help as well.

[The Flaming Cuckatoo]

The only editor I used made me into a god-prospective... it was, er, unusual, and very funny when someone said I was a mere novice, etc.

 

Of course I played the game once without cheating, or what's the point? But I have to say, I enjoyed crushing everyone and everything that got in my path.

 

Is this a sign of too much canister use? (I don't even use canisters!)