Geneforge 5
FAQ/Walkthrough
Version 0.3
By Matt P
Email: Elementalizard@aol.com
Geneforge 5 and all names are copyright Spiderweb software 2008.
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Table of Contents
0. Quick Hints
1. Character Creation and Development
-Classes
-Statistics discussion
-Creations
-Resistances
-Spell discussion
2. Construction Places
-Recipes
-Enhancements
3. Walkthrough
4. Teachers and trainers
5. Notable item list
6. End Note
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0. Quick Hints.
What items should I hold on to?
Hold onto Swamp Herbs and Research Notes. Other than that, try to hold
onto ingredients if you'd like to make a few good items (I'd recommend the
artifacts).
The artifact items:
Mandrake Tincture
Demon Bile
1-2 Shaped items of each type of armor
Perfect fyora/drayk/drakon Scales (and some rings)
Vlish tentacles, roamer fangs, artila eyes, eyebeast eyes
Some Gemstones and herbs
Glaahk Eyes and Roamer Fangs (other bits can be used elsewhere, but
these are great for some high-level artifacts).
Artifact ingredients:
Crystalline Fibers
Essence-infused Iron
Mandrake Tincture
Pure Quicksilver
Solidified Flame
Ur-Drakon Skin
Unmelting Ice
Should I hold off using a canister until I find a trainer?
No. Unlike Geneforge 2, using canisters does not affect the extent you
can train a skill. You should, however, hold off on using skill points in
melee skills, magic skills, and shaping skills if you'd like to purchase these
points from a few sets of trainers. Note that they are made available in
towns in this order, so don't hold off too much if you use a certain skill
How many canisters can I use before getting bad effects?
Because of the way Geneforge 5 is set up, using more canisters won't
really change too much for you. Use as many as you need.
Is it OK to steal?
Stealing- it's not a crime if you don't get caught. Even when it is a
crime, it's often worth it (ooh- look at that juicy mandrake tincture). Take
anything that isn't bolted down if no one can see you and provided it's worth
money (at least initially). Boldly steal very valuable items, up to 5 each
level. Try not to get caught very much or the town might go hostile on you.
Shaper or Rebel?
Do them both. The game is entertaining enough to merit at least two play-
throughs. In terms of powergaming, if you try to maximize your return from
quests, stick to the middle. I tend to do pro-shaper quests as the rewards
are a bit better, but give pro-rebel opinions. Fence-sitting is quite
possible, especially since various checks are made with leadership taken into
consideration.
Which faction?
There are five total factions which give significant endings- Astoria,
Alwan, Litalia, Ghaldring, and Taygen. Of these, three are rebel (Astoria,
Litalia, Ghaldring), and two are shaper (Alwan and Taygen). The quests are
not completely exclusive, so you can do several of these without overlap,
especially at the beginning. Rawal provides an ending, but it's pretty weak.
I'm a powergamer. What's the best route to ALL POWER?
Unlike Geneforge 4, the game doesn't need too much fence-sitting to be
highly profitable. Three of the five factions will give you the time of day
if you're moderately a rebel. You can get Alwan to help if you have a nearly
neutral attitude when in his lands, which opens up an area or two. Taygen is
the only stickler, only talking to moderately pro-shapers. By the time you
reach his lands, most of the quests are pretty cut and dry.
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1. Character Creation and Development
Classes: You can survive with any class in the game. Some are easier than
others, and which you finally go for will depend on your playing style.
Here is a summary of the characters. Under HP/SP/EP which correspond to hit
points, spell points, and essence points I give a rating on the growth rates
of these characters, with 1 being great, and 3 being really bad. There are
some differences between identical stats at low levels due to different
starting values, but these are fairly minimal at high levels (with the
exception of the guardian, who starts with a lot of essence points- enough for
an extra clawbug or two- but has a slow growth rate) HP is a function of
level and endurance. SP and EP are functions of level and intelligence.
HP SP EP Battle Magic Shaping
Guardian 1 3 3 Top Low Mid
Warrior 1 3 2 Top Low Mid
Infiltrator 2 1 2 Mid Top Low
Agent 2 1 2 Mid Top Low
Shaper 3 2 1 Low Mid Top
Lifecrafter 3 2 1 Low Mid Top
Sorceress 3 1 2 Low Top Mid
Servile 1 3 3 Top Mid Low
Shock Trooper 2 1 1 Mid Low Top
What is the most powerful class?
Shaping is quite powerful in GF5. Magic is also quite powerful, and battle
skills tend to be a bit weak comparatively. That said, I feel a balance
between everything can be taken. My personal favorite classes are magic-heavy
with some shaping, so the sorceress goes well with my play style.
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Statistics: Statistics are the bulk of what makes up your character.
Statistics affect the strength of your spells, your creations, and melee
damage, determine how much damage your character can take and give out, and
your success in dealing with traps and people. I divide statistics into five
main sets- Major statistics, combat arts, spell casting, shaping, and "other."
Major Statistics:
Strength: Affects the amount of armor your character can carry, the damage
your character does, and your character's stun resistance. You should only
invest in it when you need to wield a bigger weapon or use nicer armor without
suffering an AP penalty. Each point of strength increases your to hit with
melee weapons by 5%, and gives one more damage die. A total of about 13
points is all you will ever need to use the heaviest, big items.
Dexterity: Affects your ability to dodge (5% increase per point), your
attack position, your to hit % with missile weapons, and your acid resistance.
This one may be more useful if you like using missile weapons, but can be
safely ignored.
Intelligence: Affects the mental resistance, energy and essence of your
character. For any and all magic-users or creation-makers, this skill is
essential and greatly affects your strength and longevity. It's no good to
run out of spell points in that critical battle, or to not have enough essence
to make the help necessary to survive. Nearly every character will want to
invest in this skill so as to be able to act beyond melee weapons. I'd
recommend about by end game 20 for magic/creation heavy characters, and above
10 for all others, just to be able to cast spells and be supported with a
decent sized army.
Endurance: Affects HP and poison resistance. A bit less necessary than
Geneforge 4, I'd recommend about 8-10 points by end game for those characters
with a substantial creation force, and maybe a few more for meleers.
Combat Arts
Melee Weapons: Determines the damage and to hit % for hand-to-hand weapons
like daggers and swords. Each point provides one more hit die and a 5%
increase in your to hit %. Hit dies for weapons can be calculated by taking
the higher number from a weapon and dividing it by the lower number. So a
weapon that does 5-25 damage has a hit die of 25/5 = 5. Each point of melee
weapons increases its damage range by this amount. So a weapon with 5-25
would increase in damage by 1-5 per point of melee weapons. Weapons tend to
be weaker than spells in this game, but you never need to worry about running
out of energy with melee weapons. If you're not playing a melee-focused
character, you may want to wait off till you can buy some points in this skill
from Guardian Manola.
Missile Weapons: Determines the damage and to hit % for missile weapons.
Most characters will find spells to be superior to missile weapons, but for
characters with poor spellcasting abilities, you may want to use missile
weapons to take out dangerous things like turrets and enemies that like to run
away from you. Batons are very powerful in the late game, so consider buying
some points in this skill from Guardian Manola.
Quick Action: Gives a chance to do two attacks in melee, and also makes you
act faster in combat. If you're not engaging in melee attacks, this one isn't
useful except for the bonus to initiative.
Parry: Reduces physical damage, and gives a chance of completely avoiding
all damage from a single attack (approximately 2% per point, depending on the
strength of the enemy). This one is moderately more worthwhile to purchase
from Guardian Manola for everyone, as the added defense doesn't hurt, any
money can be plentiful by the end game.
Spell Casting
Battle Magic: The main damaging spell class, battle magic is a potent
school of magic whose spells include the lowly firebolt to powerful kill
spells. As such, in general this spell class is mainly useful for those
characters who intend to do damage with spells- those who don't want to depend
on creations/missile weapons/other people to do their dirty work from far
away. This school of magic tends not to be very essence-intensive, though
several of the spells are energy-intensive (like ice spray). Increase this
skill to access more spells and increase the damage die of those spells.
Blessing Magic: The buffing spell class, this group includes shielding and
blessing spells, as well as haste, a few aura spells, and a few multi-casting
spells. For characters that use creations this spell group is among the most
useful, and they will want to invest at least up to accessing Mass Energize.
Increase this skill to access more spells and to increase their duration (and
strength of effect for some).
Mental Magic: The "other" spell class, this group includes a buffing spell,
some debuffing spells, charm/stun spells, and the unlock spell. Solo
characters will love the spells offered by this group, especially the "daze"
family of spells. Getting enough points to use daze and strong daze is
preferable for many characters, although it's not necessary.
Spellcraft: Makes every spell you have more effective- a longer duration,
greater damage, and stronger blessing. Very nice. Expensive for most
characters, it is easiest to improve this by training with Quothe, and
snatching the free points as they come. Essence charms augment this skill as
well, and they can be very plentiful if you're vigilant. If you're playing as
a shocktrooper, guardian, or warrior, this skill is probably too expensive to
invest skill points in outside of purchasing from Quothe. Otherwise, invest
in this once you've maxed out the spells you want.
Shaping
Fire Shaping: Allows you to craft fyoras, cryoas, roamers, pyroroamers,
drayks, cryodrayks, kyshakks, burning kyshakks, drakons, and ur-drakons.
These creations are a versatile group with potent attacks, and 7 points will
allow you to make everything. You can also get several points from items.
Shaper-friendly characters can train in this skill in the third region of the
game.
Battle Shaping: Allows you to craft thahds, corrupted thahds, clawbugs,
plated clawbugs, battle alphas, battle betas, rotghroths, corrupted rotghroth,
war tralls, and shock tralls. These are your meatshields, able to take a lot
of damage and give it out in kind. They are a melee-focused class (other than
the tralls), and have received a boost in GF5. 7 points will allow you to
make everything. You can also get several points from items, and friends of
shapers can add to their skill here in the third area.
Magic Shaping: Allows you to craft artilas, plated artilas, vlish, charged
vlish, glaahks, ur-glaahks, wingbolts, unstable wingbolts, gazers, and
eyebeasts. These creations are generally fragile but very powerful. Many of
their attacks have ancillary effects. As before, 7 points will allow you to
make everything. You can also get several points from items, and friends of
shapers can add to their skill here in the third area.
Healing Craft: Allows you to cast healing spells of all sorts. Generally a
necessary group, this spell set is made very interesting by the inclusion of
regeneration aura, my personal favorite aura spell. Healing spells like
banish affliction remove nasty effects like lightning aura. Cleanse group
will do it all, too.
Miscellaneous
Leadership: Leadership addresses your skill at talking to people, getting
them to do what you want, and controlling creations. You will want 5-6 early
in chapter 1, and 8-9 by mid-chapter 2 in order to do most everything. Beyond
that, fewer points are required, and you should have enough equipment to
augment your leadership (+2 in chapter 2) as required. 11 is the most
leadership I've seen required.
Mechanics: Mechanics addresses how skilled you are at unlocking, disarming,
and breaking things. Living tools can be rare in the game, but aren't quite
as critical. You will want about 8 points by the first area, and probably 10
by the second region. Augment further with items like infiltrator equipment.
This may make some areas a bit more difficult, but will save you several skill
points. Items requiring more than 14 mechanics are few and far between.
Luck: Increases your resistances by a healthy portion (about 3% per point),
increases your dodging ability by 2%, and your to hit by 2%. May influence
the drop rates of enemies, though this effect is much more difficult to
measure. I recommend investing two points in the beginning of the game, but
holding off on further investment till you have enough skill points to cash
them in elsewhere.
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Creations:
Fire shaping:
Fyora: The intro creation, the fyora does fire damage. It's great for early
on, but not too much in area 2.
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Resistances: These determine the amount of damage you receive from a specific
attack. In general, higher numbers are better. However, it's usually better
having a single item with a massive bonus rather than several items with
moderate bonuses given the way the game calculates damage.
Resistances are affected by stats and armor/equipment. Below is a table of
resistance bonuses given per point of a stat or of armor:
Resistance Str Dex Int End Luck Armor (Bonus per point)
FR +1/2
CR +1/2
ER +1/2
SR +5 +3
MR +5 +3
PR +5 +3
AR +5 +3
Note that Stun, Mental, Acid and Poison resistances give a chance to
avoid damage completely, and are not damage-decreasing resistances.
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Spells
Battle:
Firebolt: The staple of all mages, firebolt does fire damage and costs no
essence. It's the ultimate spell to fall back on if you don't have a missile
attack. It will serve you well for the full first chapter but once you get
ice spray you probably won't use it again.
Burning Spray
Searer
Ice Spray: The staple of mages throughout the rest of the game, ice spray
does cold damage and costs no essence. It's much more expensive than
firebolt, but kills things quickly enough so as to not have to worry about
that, usually.
Lightning Aura: An odd new spell. This spell does energy damage to an
opponent, and continues to damage them for the next few rounds. It's kind of
similar to poison/acid in that respect, but does more damage.
Essence Orbs
Acid Shower: Bathes all of your nearby foes in acid. Doesn't do too much
damage at the beginning, but continues to damage everything else thereafter.
Still, watch out as most enemies will attack you since you hit them with a
potent spell.
Kill: Damages a single enemy with a very potent magic attack. This spell
is very expensive to cast, but does huge damage. Mages can cast this one in
lieu of ice spray and will do a lot of damage.
Aura of Flames
Blessing:
War Blessing: You gain a bonus of 20% to your to hit, and probably add four
levels of damage with this spell. Its duration is determined by your
spellcasting strength. A staple of spellcasters and creation lovers,
Protection: With this spell, enemies are 10% less likely to hit you and the
spell recipients.
Essence Shield: Acts as a permanent (for a single map) bonus to armor and
to HP. Very useful for solo characters, who don't have anything better to
spend their essence on anyway. Those characters should cast this spell (or
its higher level equivalent) on themselves every time they enter a hostile
area. With this spell, the recipient gets a bonus of ~30-50 HP, and enemies
are 30% less likely to hit you. If you're in a hostile area with an essence
pool, cast this on everyone.
Speed: Speed is less useful in GF5 than GF4. This spell gives you a 25%-
33% chance of having an attack only cost 3 AP.
Spine Shield: Spine shield is THE spell that makes meatshields
worthwhile. Cast this spell and all of your party now does damage when it
gets hit. At a strong enough level, the damage is substantial and may even
be higher than the damage taken. I have killed rotghroths with a few thahds
and this spell. Even on your PC this spell is worthwhile for 1 on 1 fights.
Definitely try to get and use this spell.
Mass Energize: Casts a low level regenerate, haste, and war blessing on
the recipients. Though not as effective as some other spells, these bonuses
are still excellent. This is a very potent spell in the hands of
shocktroopers.
Steel Shield: If you're in a hostile area with an essence pool, cast this
on everyone.
Essence Armor: Casts a stronger version of essence shield on your
character. Again, best for solo characters. If you're in a hostile area
with an essence pool, cast this on everyone.
Elemental Cloak
Battle Roar
Mental:
Daze: Stuns low level enemies, preventing them from acting until they are
attacked or until you 2-3 turns have passed. The staple of solo
lifecrafters.
Mental Barrier: Helps protect your characters from daze, terror, and charm
spells and abilities. Useful for some circumstances.
Wrack: Increases the damage done to an opponent.
Unlock: Unlike previous games, the unlock spell is less critical than
before. It still has its uses, but you can get by with lots of mechanics and
living tools instead. In fact, that's somewhat preferred, as otherwise
you'll lose out on a bit of exp. I've made it through the whole game with a
shocktrooper, never once casting this spell.
Terror: Does some damage and scares enemies. Scared enemies will either
freeze in one spot or will run away. For mentally weak enemies, this spell
is quite nice. It occasionally works on golems.
Dominate: Takes over an enemy's mind, forcing it to fight on your side.
Can't be used on shapers. Use it on strong foes to get a potent ally.
Essence Shackles: A slowing spell. Highly useful on tough, one-on-one
fights. Cast this a few times on an enemy, and they'll lose half of their
turns, enabling you an effective doubling of your attacks. Coupled with
speed, it's great.
Strong Daze
Charm
Mass Madness: The cream of the crop for mental magic spells, this spell
will charm weak enemies, daze stronger enemies, and slow even the strongest
enemies. As such, it's great to cast when you're being swarmed (like in a
few key shaper forts). It's quite expensive to cast, so you'll only get a few
uses out of it before you have to flee.
Healing
Minor Heal:
Cure Affliction: Removes some level of acid/poison on a character.
Augmentation: Adds a healthy amount of HP to the target for as long as you
stay on the map where the spell is cast. Adds ~60-80 HP. Only costs essence
Heal:
Regeneration: An impressive spell that's good to cast when you need to
heal in between combat. This spell will heal you a few HP every round, which
may be enough to keep you alive during combat. The essence cost for this
spell is great for casting outside of combat when things are calm.
Group Heal: Casts a heal spell on everyone in your party. Good for
emergencies, but lower level heal spells are less expensive in general.
Banish Affliction:
Major Heal
Aura of Cleansing:
Mass Restore
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2. Construction places: Enchanted anvils are potent artifacts that allow you
to modify your weapons and equipement significantly. You can also make some
extremely powerful items on them.
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Recipes:
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Enhancements:
Item On Armor On Weapons
Blessing Crystal Armor bonus To hit bonus
Runed Amethyst +5 AR Acid Damage
Charging Stone +5 CR Ice Damage
Runed Ruby +5 FR Fire Damage
Ivory Skull +10 TH (for all) Curses Opponent
Tiny Orb of Mist +10 to dodge Quick action bonus?
Runed Onyx +5 ER Slows Opponent
Steel Spine damage attacker Bonus Physical Damage
Ethereal Bindings +5 SR Vampiric Touch
Golden Crystal +5 HER Large damage and to hit bonus
Of these, I recommend putting golden crystals on all of your game-end
equipment (e.g., final artifacts, powerful armor, etc.). For your weapons,
the ivory skull is very useful, as is the runed amethyst. Golden crystals can
also be used as desired,
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3. Walkthrough
Name of Area
Q: Quests available
I: Items of Note
S: Skills and spells available (If a character's name is provided, then he/
she is a trainer and will train a skill for gold)
O: Opinions available (talking to these characters will influence your rebel/
shaper standing), or quests which change the opinion of rebels/shapers
towards you.
$: Merchants who will buy from you, notable items on sale
Text description of level.
AREA 1- The Demo
Map:
A6
/|
A7 A0 A5
| | |
A2-A1-A3-A4
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A9
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B0
Pacification Fields (A0)
Q: Escape the Fields, Enter Minallah, See Rawal
S: Firebolt, Minor Heal, Create Fyora
O: Mehken
You wake up, disoriented. Proceed forward, grabbing everything of value (if
it says a value greater than 0, grab it! For instance, grab the crystals and
tools where you're attacked by bugs). You'll need a lot of money early on to
procure training in the various arts. Get equipped when the demo tells you,
then proceed south. You'll find Mehken, a servile who will help you through
this area. You're then attacked by some bugs, kill them. Continue on, and
you'll gain a point in firebolt. Hit Thrasher, and he'll calm down. You'll
be rewarded with a point in minor heal, and can heal at the pool to the north.
Continue east, and you'll get a point in create fyora. You can make one if
you'd like. Continue east through the door, grab the living tool. You can
use it to open the door east, or you can just boost your mechanics up to the
point of going through without any issue. Your reward is a speed pod.
Continue south, and go through the doors. Calm the few creations if you can
(add to your leadership if you'd like better success), and continue south.
Fight off the worms, and continue. You have a choice now to get past the next
obstacle- the mechanics/stealth route, and the fighting route (such options
are typical for Geneforge). The mechanics route entails you turning on the
crystal in the room near here, which turns on a pacification pylon and makes
the roamer peaceful. The other route has you fight a bunch of bugs. Try to
do both routes as you'll gain some minor loot and experience. Continue west,
and Mehken will talk with you, giving you the option of changing your opinion
towards rebels and shapers. Note that the best route to go for opinions is
moderate, so that most options are available to you. Continue west, and
you'll face the boss of the area- a vlish. Kill all the things you can, and
Rawal will break in after a bit, killing everything else. You'll then be able
to go to Minallah. First grab whatever loot is around, then head south.
Minallah (A1)
Q: Twixx, Thahds in the Workshop, Workshop Mines, Shrouded rogues, Mad Flaming
Fyora, Private Kahl
I: Thirsting Gloves, Shielding Band
O: Roamer Calming, Twixx, Captain Valenta
$: Barcott, Lazzaria
You mostly want to head west to Isenwood's Spire prior to attempting much
here, as most people won't talk with you until you talk with Rawal. You're
blocked briefly along the way by a reputation encounter. Calm the roamer if
you'd like, then head west to Isenwood's Spire
On returning from Rawal, talk with everyone here. Keeper Cooper would like
you to find a servile for him, Twixx. Twixx is hiding to the NW. Go there
and calm Twixx down (or kill him for shaper rep). Barcott will trade with
you, and also gives you a quest to clear out thahds in his workshop. Lazzaria
is the town blacksmith and will sell you stuff. She also gives you a quest to
clear out her workshop of exploding mines. With adequate mechanics these
mines should present no problem for you. Then go south and touch the sporebox
to disarm the pylons. Lazzaria gives you a bronze shortsword and chitin
shield for your troubles. Two quests can be found to the SE- to defeat some
shrouded rogues (look at the sign to get this quest), and from captain
Valenta, to kill a mad, flaming fyora. Valenta will also ask you a reputation
question. Completion of Valenta's first quest (the mad fyora) gets you 200c.
He then gives you a quest to find Private Kahl, who is in the west foundry
core. Doing so gets you a shielding band and some pods. The locked rooms to
the SE hold several nice items. The room with the clawbugs has a lever you
can pull which nets you some thirsting gloves, which gives you the ability to
steal HP from foes (rather, you regenerate when you hit them). You can also
head to the east and kill some rogue thahds.
Once the presence is cleared, Mind Shimp will tell you to attempt the
training halls.
Isenwood's Spire (A2)
Q: The Presence, Storeroom Rogues, Crystal for the Forge, The Shadow Road,
Agent Micheline
I: Vat Shoes, Shaper Robe
S: Intelligence, War Blessing, Daze, Essence Infusion, Guardian Manola, Shaper
Bruel, Sage Fefer
O: Rawal, Agent Alurha
$: Tinker Thule
Gevik leads you to Rawal. Along the way you get attacked by some thahds,
kill them. Rawal will talk with you, then puts you in your place. A central
objective of the game is to break Rawal's control. Then Rawal gives you an
option- to betray Mehken. Do so for the maximum benefit (gives a bonus to
intelligence). If you don't Mehken will accompany you through the demo of the
game, though her help isn't that useful. He then unlocks for you the spells
war blessing and daze. Rawal then gives you a quest- to defeat the presence.
Ask for supplies, and you'll get 500c. Rawal then unlocks two trainers-
Shaper Bruel and Sage Fefer.
Continue along, picking up quests here. Agent Alurha asks you about your
opinion of the shapers, but won't do anything for you until you finish the
quest for Rawal. The locked doors nearby hold minor goods including some vat
shoes Shaper Bruel asks you to clear out the nearby storeroom of rogues. Do
so and you'll be able to keep what you find (cheapskate). You can talk with
Tinker Thule, who will let you use a canister of essence infusion. Sage Fefer
asks you to deliver a crystal to a blacksmith.
There are a few challenging areas here. To the NE is a vat that spits out
fyora. Kill them, and the last drops a perfect fyora scale. Combine it with
a gold ring at the forge to make a decent protection ring. South of Alurha is
a wingbolt. If you can time it right, you can get past it and enter an area
where you get some info about your origins. The room to the south holds
several excellent items, however you'll need a lot of mechanics to grab them
(12 or so). Come back later and claim your shaper robe!
Once you have beaten the Presence, come back and talk to Guardian Manola.
She will train you in melee skills, though at significant cost. Rawal will
give you training in create roamer, essence shield, and searer in reward. He
also opens up the area beyond the demo by giving you some papers, and a quest
to find the shadow road. Alurha will also give you a quest to find agent
Micheline.
Foundry Promenade (A3)
Q: Three Pylons
I: Student's Belt, Blessed Bauble
S: Create Fyora
O: Krog
Talk to Private Savage. He asks for your help in pacifying the rogues, by
reactivating the three pylons. From the soldiers, head into the central rock
area, then reactivate a pylon. Kill the rogues around it for added
experience. Do this for all three pylons to clear the level. The soldiers
give you some minor loot as a reward. Nearby the thahds you will also find a
book of create fyora, which helps.
Other things of note here include a shrouded thahd to the NW. Kill it and
grab the student's belt for a bonus to your intelligence. Pull the nearby
lever and head to the building slightly east. Kill the fyorae, including the
shrouded fyora for a blessed bauble necklace. The last foe of significance is
the shrouded worm to the SE. Kill it, then head to the building to the SE.
Krog the thahd has taken up residence in Barcott's workshop. You can either
chase them out (rebel option) or kill them (shaper option). Naturally killing
them gets you more loot. The final item of note is the path to the forge to
the NE. The path is blocked by two fyorae.
Testing Halls (A4)
Q: Herbs for Phipps
I: Grounded Robe, Shielding knife
S: Finish the testing halls
$: Master Phipps
Here you will find an anvil. It is guarded by two roamers who get agitated
as you get close. You can kill them for more experience than calming them, so
go ahead and do so. Master Phipps is the master of the forge. Give him the
crystal for a runed ruby. He will buy your stuff from you, and will let you
use the forge if you're suitably convincing. He will also give you a quest to
get some saltweed and wiremoss for him, telling you about a recipe in
exchange. Go ahead and enter the forge for some nice goods. Use all you
blessing items, as you'll get better stuff eventually.
If you want to (or are told to by Mind Shimp), head into the testing halls.
Talk with the mind to be allowed entry. You are presented with two options-
mechanics path and the battle path. The mechanics path makes you maneuver
around some pylons to tap a spore box. The battle path makes you fight a
spawner. Try to do both if you can. Next you choose between battle and
stealth. Stealth forces you to get past some roamers. You can kill them if
you'd like, you can claim a grounded robe as a reward if you do. The battle
path takes you to some worms that poison you. If you haven't bought cure
affliction, then you might find this fight to be a bit tough. You get a
discipline wand and a shielding knife for your troubles. Your last challenge
is to upset a thahd. Talk to the furious thahd and tell him that the other
thahd wanted to have you laugh at it. It will charge off and fight the mauler
thahd. Kill the winner. You can now access the control panel for a reward.
Choose between healing spells (cure affliction, essence infusion, heal),
battle arts (searer, speed), or shaping arts (create fyora, create clawbug).
I strongly recommend taking the shaping arts, as clawbugs will wipe the demo
area clean of foes. Speed is not nearly as useful as it used to be so there's
not too much of a reason to go for it.
Foundry Core East (A5)
I: Fyoraskin cloak
S: Wrack
The presence starts out here. I'd recommend first hitting everything south,
then going through the doors. They close behind you. Head north, and kill
the fyorae. Two of them dropped fyoraskin cloaks, though I don't know if
those are consistent drops. Continue to the NE, and you'll find some mines.
It's actually better to let them explode with their contents than disarm them,
so go ahead and do so. Head to the control area, and disarm the pylons. Head
to the control panel which allows you to weaken the boss of the area. You can
sabotage the power supply (2 tools), getting a lot of experience, and making
the coming fight a fair bit easier (it's not that tough, so don't fret if you
can't do it). Continue west, and again you cace some hostile machines.
Either turn the machines off by touching their crystals, or kill the monsters
they summon (the latter is better, as the monsters have a fair bit of loot).
Grab the canister of wrack and continue to the center, heading a bit north to
reach a healing pool. Then head south, and you'll find the presence-fyora.
It'll attack you, damage it enough and it'll try to grab the controls. If
you've sabotaged them, the fyora receives a lot of damage. Kill it for a
wand.
Foundry Core (A6)
I: Coated Cloak, Ironwood Shield, Grounded Shoes
S: Create Artila
The foundry core holds the third appearance of the presence. Prior to
engaging it, search the area. The infirmary to the north holds an ambush by
some beetles with a coated cloak in their nest. The lever requires a fair
number of tools but provides you access to a create artila canister. In the
center south you'll also find the evil fyora Captain Valenta wants you to
kill. Do so for a perfect fyora scale. Then head west, through the locked
doors and kill the artilae for an ironwood shield.
When you're here to take on the final presence, go north. Either calm or
kill the turrets. You'll reach a locked door. Go south and either kill or
pacify the rogues. Grab the key off the body, and go through the door.
You'll find a servile there. Hurriedly head south, and use the geneforge-
this breaks the fuzziness in your mind, giving you a point of intelligence,
and lowers the servile's shield. Now you can kill it (and use the pylons, if
you'd like help). For your effort you get some grounded shoes. Loot the
area, then head back to Rawal with the good news.
Foundry Core West (A7)
I: Nimble Sandals, Carnelian Gloves, Thorny Chitin, Grounded Robe
S: Create Thahd
This is where the presence appears for the second time. To the SE you'll
find some pools. That's an excellent place to cast some essence spells.
You'll meet up with Sergeant Lysette here too. She's not too helpful until
the presence arrives, then will help you fight the foes. First I'd recommend
clearing everything out of here first, then heading to the NE. You'll find
Private Kahl there. Escort him out, making sure he survives (even if the area
is cleared some enemies will spawn).
Time to take on the presence. You can recruit some help if you'd like, then
head to the NW, and enter the doors. A power conduit starts to charge up some
clawbugs. Kill them (one drops some nimble sandals, excellent footwear for
this part of the game), and head south. You'll find some carnelian gloves
(great for magic-users) and the lever to open the control center. Head to the
NE this time, recruiting some more soldiers if you'd like. This time you face
a servant mind. It summons several batches of bugs. Kill them, surviving
through two swarms, and the mind lowers its shield. Kill it, and claim your
thorny chitin as a prize. Then hit the attached room to find a bunch of
levers that lead to the locked rooms nearby. Pillage them for a canister of
create thahd, a grounded robe, and other minor loot.
Foundry Repository (A8)
Q:
I:
S:
O:
$:
You won't need to come here for quite some time.
Whitespires Pass (A9)
Q: Jelinek's Inn
I: Stunning Blade
S: Create Roamer
O: Mehken
$:
Head to the west. You'll find a fellow named Jelinek. He has a bandit
problem. Fix it for him, but don't let him get killed! Head inside the inn,
and eventually Antonia will make a bunch of noise and charge on out. Antonia
drops a steel broadsword and a stunning blade on death. Loot the rest of the
inn for a few items. Make sure to hit the lever behind the pillar in the room
Antonia was in- this opens up a new region with a healthy bit of gold. Tell
Jelinek of your success for 250c. There's a nice supply cache to the SW of
the inn, with a canister of create roamer.
Head to the pass- you'll meet Mehken again (or if she accompanied you,
she'll leave now), who will get you opinion one more time prior to
disappearing. Sergeant Noblet will talk with you- show him you papers, and
make him give you some stuff.
==========================End of Demo! Buy the game! $28 for many hours====
A9 B2
| |
B0-B1
North Mera Road (B0)
Q: Koski the Brigand
I: Vat Chitin
S:
O:
$:
Head west and you'll find Modell, leader of some refugees. He asks your
help in taking down a nasty bandit to the south. You'll find Koski to the
south. You can maneuver past him if you'd like for some coins, or you can
attack him. He will call for help in the form of brutal thahds, so be wary.
Kill them all and tell Modell. The refugees leave and you can grab the stuff.
To the SW you'll find several clawbugs, raomers, and a vlish or two. Kill
them all and disarm the mines for a vat chitin. Next head east, and Sergeant
Tasha will be quite unfriendly towards you.
Mera (B1)
Q: See Astoria, Info for Micheline, Papers for Rawal, Noxious Powders, The
Lost Anvil
I: Demon's Bile
S:
O:
$: Abderra, Lel, Juergen (swamp pants, polar fur cloak, girdle of strength),
Dorgum (shaped items)
Mera is a major city. Sergeant Schick will stop you and tell you to speak
with Astoria. You might as well head north there right now. Several people
will trade with you, including Abderra. Juergen sells some nice items as
well, including some swamp pants which are good for low-strength characters.
You can get several quests as well. You can grab a bounty quest to kill
some roamers from a sign just south of the entrance to Haria-Kel. Agent
Micheline is in the Hall of Appeals. Talk with her and fulfill Agent Alurha's
quest. She gives you a quest to find the shadow road. She also wants to know
the names of trakovites. You can betray Lel if you'd like, though I wouldn't
unless you know for sure you don't want to join the trakovites. Juergen is a
servant of Rawal, and asks you to give him some papers you find in Helft. I
wouldn't since the papers are better given to others. Denna is in the inn.
She will help you if you steal some noxious powders from Haria-Kel. Do so for
your "reward"- you'll be able to exact revenge later if you'd like. Dorgum is
the smith here, and asks you to find a magic anvil. It is located in the east
shadow road.
There are several notable items to steal here. Juergen has a number of
minor items in his room. Enter the storeroom at the south and disarm the
traps (Need a fair bit of mechanics- up to 12 for the best items) for some
demon's bile (very cool!), ethereal bindings
Haria-Kel (B2)
Q: Baston's Room, Murkwood Assassin, The Lost Ornk, Find Gorash-Kel
I:
S:
O:
$:
Here you'll meet Astoria, one of the faction leaders. Astoria is best
described as aligned with the "Awakened". Head to speak with her first. She
is speaking with a chap named Baston. Baston is an assassin and attacks.
Talk with Astoria after killing him and she gives you your first quest, to
investigate Baston's room. Do so, being sure to check the jar. Tell Astoria
what you found, and she'll send you to the Murkwood to find the assassin's
party. Astoria also opens up Sage Quothe as a trainer. Quothe is quite
valuable, and will train you in magic skills, as well as spells and shaping.
Captain Herzen will talk to you, giving you a quest to hunt the bandit
Bennhold. This quest is the first of a string of quests to find the mythical
bandit. Masha has no quest, but is part of the Sholai (from Geneforge 1).
Sergeant Flesch also gives you a quest, to retrieve an ornk for him. Sage
Quothe will give you a series of quests dealing with the unbound. The first
is to go to Gorash-Kel and sneak inside.
If you're stealing the powders for Denna, head to where Quothe is, and
inspect the east cabinet. Grab the powders when Quothe isn't nearby.
Mera Fields (B3)
I: Reflecting Shield
S: Thorny Aura
$: Stollen's Junk Shop
The roamers here are part of a bounty quest. Kill them, focusing on the
nesting roamers. Go around and kill all you see. To the SE is a building.
Go in it and you'll be ambushed. You'll find a reflecting shield for your
troubles. The only place of major note here beyond the roamers is Stollen's
junk shop. He will sell you items to the north and south. The south door
holds a recipe for a wand and a vlish tentacle (neither of which is really
worth the 400c), the north door holds a canister of thorny aura. I'd buy the
north door and leave it at that. You can steal the items in his boxes if
you'd like.
Northeast Fen (B4)
I: Vat Shoes, Coated Cloak
S:
The fens hold unbound. Be careful. Search the area, being sure to disarm
the mines (the spawning mines summon very nasty foes and hence it's probably
best just to disarm them), and grab any swamp herbs. A body near the center
holds some vat shoes and a coated cloak.
Kaz (B5)
Q:
I:
S:
O:
$:
Mera (B2)
Q:
I:
S:
O:
$:
Mera (B2)
Q:
I:
S:
O:
$:
Trainers
Shaper Bruel (Expensive)
Create Fyora
Create Thahd
Create Artila
(Pretty Average):
Minor Heal
Cure Affliction
Sage Fefer (Slightly Expensive)
Firebolt
Burning Spray
Daze
Mindshield Aura
War Blessing
Protection
Essence Shield
Guardian Manola
Melee Weapons
Missile Weapons
Quick Action
Parry
Sage Quothe (Exorbitant)
Firebolt
Burning Spray
Searer
Ice Spray
Lightning Aura
Daze
Mindshield Aura
Wrack
Unlock
Terror
War Blessing
Protection
Essence Shield
Speed
Thorny Aura
Minor Heal
Cure Affliction
Heal
Regeneration Aura
Group Heal
Create Fyora
Create Roamer
Create Thahd
Create Clawbug
Create Artila
Create Vlish
Battle Magic
Mental Magic
Blessing Magic
Spellcraft
Amazing Games. Many Cheats. Such Wow.
