Ideal Shaper Build?
| Author | Topic: Ideal Shaper Build? |
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Apprentice
Member # 384
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 05:59
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I've been playing as a loyalist shaper and pretty much cleaning house up to the end of Dhonal Island. Gull Island is kicking my ass though, and I'm wondering if I've either missed stuff in previous islands that I should be using, need to upgrade my shaping skills, or use spells that I've been ignoring. Any critical items/spells/creations for a mid-late game shaper? Posts: 38 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 06:04
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What's your difficulty level? What creations do you have? -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 384
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 07:39
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I'm on normal, dragging around Alwan, two vlish, a glaahk, a searing artila and a cryoa. Up till Gull Island I was able to smash through pretty much anything, using Alwan as a meat shield and using ranged creations - I'm in Makers End right now, having met with the shaper in the western tower, staring at a room filled with 5-6 pylons and just about screaming. Posts: 38 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 5785
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 07:55
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First: What the hell are you doing with so many creations? On normal you can just mae one creation (preferable the strongest type) and pump it up, then bless it and speed it. With a few nice moves it can take care of everything for you. Second: Those pylons can be turned off with help from Khyrryk, othervise theya re a real pain. Stand in the dooropening and make sure that only one pylon can see you, then speed all your ranged attackers (or attacker, if you go with only one creation), hit it hard and then step back so that it can't hit you. Repeat untill all are dead. -------------------- "..The seventh wave of Thrall stumbled and climbed over the slippery, piled dead and Mazzarin saw The Watcher with them and at last knew the number of his days." Posts: 522 | Registered: Wednesday, May 4 2005 07:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 08:20
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The Searing Artila and Cryoa are probably well out of their depth on Gull. I'd say absorb them. You might want to evolve the Vlish a few points up. My Shaper used four or five creations plus Greta most of the time. That was on Torment, but I don't see any real reason to suffer along with just one on Normal just because you can. The XP penalty is quite small, and the loss of power that results is amply made up for by the extra thingpower. So I'd get some more creations. Glaahks work well in pairs, and the more Vlish the better -- though you should probably be trading them in for Drayks by now. For me, Vlish start to fade well before you can get Gazers, and Glaahks don't have ranged attacks, so Drayks need to fill in for a while around your stage of the game. If you need more essence, invest in more intelligence. Then just use Mass Energize all the time and you should be fine. [ Tuesday, May 31, 2005 09:18: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ] -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 2045
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 11:35
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Actually, I played the Loyalist Shaper and pretty much cleaned up with only Alwin and a Battle Beta. I did a bunch of work on the anvil so my armor was great and with Alwin's acid sword we did great. I did the Rebel side with an Agent and Greta and no creations at all. Posts: 6 | Registered: Tuesday, October 8 2002 07:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 11:51
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For Agents, even Greta is strictly for companionship. You're an army of one. I find the same for Guardians, though other people somehow manage to play Guardians well with a few creations. But with a Shaper, the whole point is to make a little monster army! Doing that is one of the main distinctive things about the Geneforge games! I say, if you want to play with a single creation, play a Guardian. If you're a Shaper, make the best army you can (even if that sometimes does mean just a couple of tough beasties). And if that makes the game too easy, crank up the difficulty level. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 384
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 12:37
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Yeah, SoT, the "zookeeper" or "general" shaper is really what I'm going for here. I would have been playing with drayks a lot sooner if I'd known where the first canister was - now that I've got it, things should be a little easier. Any suggestions as to the ultimate gear? Posts: 38 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 549
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 17:59
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I find it is best to use only one type of creation, either fire or magic, since they both have ranged and melee units. Then you can put the points you saved into other skills like healing craft, battle magic, leadership, and mechanics. Posts: 227 | Registered: Thursday, January 24 2002 08:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, June 1 2005 04:17
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Yeah, most people agree specialization is the way to go. This means people usually choose either Fire or Magic Shaping, and the poor old Battle creations get left out. Most people think they're just not as good, though there are some Clawbug fans. I prefer Magic, because I like attacking from range and I find Artilas and Vlish very effective. Vlish especially are clearly the best tier-two creation. Fire is good because you have both ranged and melee at every tier, but the creatures tend to cost more in Essence. As to gear, the list of decent choices is very long, but the principles are pretty obvious. For a classic 'zookeeper' Shaper, it's everything for the creations, and your own needs don't count. First of all get gear that raises your Intelligence. Next in priority, wear stuff that buffs up your creations, even if it drags all your own stats down to zero. Apart from collecting all the crystals you possibly can, and maybe raising your Dex or Missile Weapons a couple of points to keep them reasonably effective, forget completely about your own offense. You can throw in the odd spell or baton or crystal attack to finish off wounded enemies, but your main offense must be from your creations. One point to note is that you only need to wear stuff that raises Shaping Skills at the actual moment you are creating something. Leave it in town, dress up to make a new critter, then dump it and put on other stuff for actual operations. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 384
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written Wednesday, June 1 2005 06:37
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Yeah - I see what you mean about items like the transference robe, although I like to have enough APs to cast buffs/heals mid-combat. The "dead-weight" shaper isn't my cup of tea really. How much +INT gear is there in the game? I've found a +2 belt, but wearing that means I can't wear the Creator's Belt. There's a charm you can find in the Benerii-Eo Vat Core that give you +1 to INT (Essence Charm), but I'm drawing blanks on anything else. Posts: 38 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, June 1 2005 06:53
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The Essence Aegis gives +1 INT, I believe; and there is the Skein of Wisdom. Then eventually there is the Omnicharm, though by then it doesn't matter. And it can sometimes be worth swapping the Girdle of Genius even for the Creator's Belt, at least for a while. One point to note about stat-lowering items: if you are going to use a canister that might raise a stat, and your stat is currently at zero, you might want to drop the items that are lowering it before touching the canister. I think I've had problems with canisters not actually raising my Endurance, and the only problem I could see that might account for it is that my Endurance was zero when I hit the canister. (It did NOT seem to be just that my actual Endurance was negative so the gain didn't show up: I tried to check for this, and I thought I ruled it out.) -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 5731
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written Wednesday, June 1 2005 12:24
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There's also the Essence Charm which is +1 INT. And I seem to remember a piece of equipment (not belt or shield) which gave +INT.... anyone else remember seeing that? I want to say it was a pair of gloves... Posts: 107 | Registered: Tuesday, April 19 2005 07:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 3357
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written Thursday, June 2 2005 01:34
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The Gruesome Charm gives +2 intelligence (although -2 endurance) edit: SoT already said about the skein of wisdom [ Thursday, June 02, 2005 01:35: Message edited by: artificial orange ] Posts: 76 | Registered: Saturday, August 16 2003 07:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Thursday, June 2 2005 04:11
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How could I forget the Gruesome Charm (shudder)? But it's completely worth it. Just try dropping it before hitting an Endurance canister. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 3357
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written Thursday, June 2 2005 04:17
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The Forbidden Band gives +1 Int also Posts: 76 | Registered: Saturday, August 16 2003 07:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 5731
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written Thursday, June 2 2005 04:29
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quote:um... why drop it before the canister? Posts: 107 | Registered: Tuesday, April 19 2005 07:00 |
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His Mighty Tentacle
Member # 627
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written Thursday, June 2 2005 04:31
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Because if something is at zero, the stat boosts don't work. This has been driving me crazy. I am glad somebody figured it out. -------------------- If I could make just one wish, I would want a tasty vlish. Geneforge IV. Still no tasty vlish. Posts: 1104 | Registered: Tuesday, February 12 2002 08:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Thursday, June 2 2005 06:09
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Hey, where in G3 can you get the Forbidden Band? Maybe I saw it once in an earlier game ... or did I? -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 2245
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written Thursday, June 2 2005 06:38
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quote:It was in Geneforge 2... you got it in Medab for discovering the cure for the servile disease. -------------------- VIVE LA TAKERS! VIVE LA REBELLION! VIVE LA GHALDRING! Posts: 522 | Registered: Friday, November 15 2002 08:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 3357
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written Thursday, June 2 2005 07:44
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quote:according to the "Book of Answers", it's at Chadwick Prison (although that's probably a bit late to be of much use, and only for rebels). Posts: 76 | Registered: Saturday, August 16 2003 07:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Thursday, June 2 2005 07:50
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That would be it; I only played one Rebel game. Thanks. I can't remember now whether I wore it or not. Probably. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 3357
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written Thursday, June 2 2005 07:52
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judging by a search through the items file, that's all there is for intelligence boosting items Posts: 76 | Registered: Saturday, August 16 2003 07:00 |