I hate these games

Umm.. what kind of advice are you looking for? I would be glad to help. =D

I can't help you unless you go a bit more in depth with whatever your problem is, and what you want advice on.

Ive got advice that I need (although it doesn't really have to be from a pro.

Here's my problem.

These games should not have been party based, the monsters or whatever you make is just lame and makes the game stupid. The game would be much more fun as a solo wanderer, like fallout.
I love these games, but in a way which makes the games not fun to play. I like playing these games as a solo guardian. The problem is that the whole first 3rd of the game is easy and fun, but later the game gets too tough and becomes so hard I can't play it.

The advice I need is what stats and strategies should i go with for a solo guardian in say gene forge 3-5. I know that gene forge 2 just max parry, but that makes for a boring game so i won't play that game. Geneforge 1 is unplayable and the only reason i finished it was because the moderators on the forums helped me get to the finish. It was too hard for solo.

So I would like to play solo as a guardian in gene forge 3 as its more balanced than the first 2 and more playable (not as much 1 shotting). What would be 3 stats that I could work around. For me I was thinking of 3 being-Melee/strength (to get a naturally high chance to hit), endurance (to withstand punishment) and luck for helping my defense. Naturally i will keep parry at a lvl of 8 as its not major for this build and quick action I won't forget but will let items increase its bonuses.

So what I want to know is is that a possible chance of making it through the game or should I just forget it. Im probably going to go with the latter as these games just aren't as good as Avernum.

I wouldn't take luck over 2 considering that its cost progressively raises. Consider that every 2% armor you get +1% in all resistances, so always wear the best armor if you play a solo guardian. I read that people won the game with it, but for me sounds too difficult on torment. In Geneforge 5 I had a shock trooper kind of melee oriented, and there were difficult fights even with tons of creations. I don't know why you don't like creations, by the way. Also, if you play solo guardian, you should try to find ways to increase mental magic (at least you can charm something), or maybe go dexterity and missile-based (wands and crystals use dexterity for hit chance and damage). In Geneforge 4 the serviles are easier to play solo (they have better magic and weak shaping), and in the first 3 agents are much easier too (and they can make a melee focused build, with good mental magic, good melee and weaker battle magic). Just ideas, I didn't try them myself.

Also, there are FAQs on GameFAQs for all Geneforge games and lots of suggestions for builds, you can also check the forums at Spiderweb.

Yeah Im gonna stay away from it then as Ive already restarted these games well over 10 times. The game really seems like when it was made, jeff wanted to make it a solo game, but then decided halfway through that it would be a party game as agents can solo the game, but guardians can't and neither can shapers. I don't know, maybe its just me, but just like a lot of jeff's other games, they are way too fucking unforgiving.

Your choice :) personally I finished the whole series with shaper oriented chars, playing always on torment and I found them mostly easy, except parts of the last game. But I admit I went for the most powerful route in character building. If I'll play the series again I'll play solo, maybe as guardian.Only I refuse to play in non-torment mode, so I'll see.

If you ever do have ANY luck on using a guardian solo, Id be glad to know what tactics you used. Ive had no luck so far from the forums on this game as everyone only plays the game as an agent or shaper.

Till then, while Avernum and Avadon are still unforgiving, they are much easier to get into :)

The main reason I had trouble playing guardians before was because I thought that you were supposed to put points into intelligence and a shaping skill like battle or fire shaping. One of the only things that I learned from the forums was that you should put points into intelligence but not shaping skill as they say you will find items thats give points to shaping skills along the way.

So what are you saying when it comes to creations? I know I should stick with 4 stats that I specialize in, can they be what I had for before-Strength/Melee, Endurance, Intelligence and luck because that was what I wanted to use for my stats for this guardian? I really wanted to try that for gene forge 3 if it works.

I usually play as an Agent, but I rarely put points into luck after it prices up to 2 points per rank. You will need strength and endurance, that is for sure. Even as an agent I ended up putting a lot into it just so I could carry everything I needed. Stick with either the ranged or close combat skill and ignore the other completely. If you go as a ranged guardian, you will have higher damage output, but will also want to put a lot of points into dexterity, and will have to make sure you have enough batons/thorns/wands on you at all times. If you don't intend to use magic, don't put any points into it.

For Magic, Blessing magic is very potent in G3, because of spells like steelskin and essence armor, and more importantly, mass energize. It might be prohibitively expensive to rank up to that point, however. Healing counts as shaping, so it should be easier to rank up in it than it was with my agent, and there are a number of crucial spells in it. At any rate, there are a couple of spellbooks over the game that you can read that will boost your healing skill if you have enough ranks in it to understand them, which makes it one of the easiest skills to rank up. There is a challenge area on the first island (testing halls, I believe) where the palyer can get a bracelet that increases their shaping power, and gets stronger with each challenge you complete (five challenges in all). It will greatly boost your shaping skills when equipped, and can enable even lowly agensts (who have the worst shapings skills) to use some of the more powerful creations when equipped. When the creature is doen being made, remove it and equip soemthign mroe appropriate if you wish.

Utilize Greta and Alwan as well as you can. They get mroe powerful as they level up and their attribute increases do not require an essence investment, this can make them invaluable if you don't have the right skills, enough essence, etc to solo play. If they get taken out, they will go back to where you found them (or the inn on the third island, if you have reached that point) but will keep their experience. You may alos consider investing at least enough points into fire shaping to get a fyora. While weak at first, keep in mind that they become more useful as they level. even an unaugmented fyora can be useful (if fragile) late game if it has leveled enough times. try to keep your creations alive if you can. Pick up max training in cure and minor heal from the first village asap, it will help immensely. Vlish, terror clish, drayks, and rotgroths are very useful creations to have, but you might have to use cannsiters to get some of them. pick up a fyora or two asap, and consider adding a vlish (or replacing one or more fyoras with vlish/terror vlish) later on, when you have item(s) that boost your magic shaping skills.

Hope that helped.

I need advice. I did something very stupid. I just couldn't stand that Litalia insulted my guardian and ran away so I changed the scripts a bit. I really didn't want to wait until later to remove her, so I made her vulnerable when in the script where she is talking. While normally she would have the text read from jeff, I instead proceeded to backstab the creatures that are there. The problem is that didn't work. After 5 seconds they all ran away and the game crashed. Will I still be able to play the game?

I also heard that jeff's physical character is in one of the gene forges, is it possible to meet him?

Thanks so much for your advice, It has helped me quite a bit. I only have a few questions. I am having a bit of trouble with the last fight on island 1 with the monster. I only tried it once, but was wondering if anyone might happen to know which creation would serve me better in that fight. I have some skill in magic creations so Im considering taking an artila through the game but I want to know if I should do that. Ive heard that on the forums a lot of the geneforge games have been recommened with using disposable creations. Im not sure if that is true for 3, but Im told that is true for 4 and 5. Is it possible to take an artila through the game from lvl 1 to the end. Im skeptical. Any info would be cool.

Disposable creations are something a Shaper can easily get away with, considering how cheap their skill ranks are to buy. Basically, it is a good idea to replace creations if the creations you craft will be a higher level then your existing ones. Shapers can aford to lose creations because they will be gaining ranks in shaping skills about as fast as their creations are leveling. Agents cannot do this, because if they did, they would be summoning increadibly weak creations-they need to keep everything they can alive, because they can't really afford to replace their creations. Guardians are somewhere in between, but personally I would lean in the direction of trying to preserve your creations if at all possible bbeacause it really pays off in the endgame.

As for using artillas, I have never really used them extensively. They have good damage output, but they are increadibly fragile, and you will start to feel the fragility of your weaker creations in the endgame when there are all sorts of powerful creations and spells being thrown around. Fire creations might be good, because they can shoot and fight in melee, which makes them flexible against creations that are resistant to their ranged attacks. Vlish and esp terror vlish (you will have to get a cannister to unlock them, alas) are amazing, so you might want to replace your artilla with a vlish or terror vlsih when you can, because they have a great ranged attack, and can poison and curse. That being said, taking an artilla all the way through the game is definately possible. I always take my Fyora with me to the end of the game, and let me tell you, when they get up in levels, with no increase in essense cost, it is a great feeling.

I give in. These games are too hard for me. I tried doing the quest where you fight against the worms. It failed miserably. I convinced the guard to join but it failed. 3
artilas versus me, a creation and a guard is too hard as the artilas one shot anything. This has got to be the most ridiculous unbalanced game ever. This means that along with gene forge 1 and 2, gene forge 3 is unplayable as a guardian.

I must have retried these games 30 times altogether and have yet to enjoy my experience. Im moving onto better games.