GameBanshee Forums

Do they grant permanent stat increaeses? Or are they simply buffs? Never used them before.

Thanks in advance!

Apart from the schematics you pick up in the Ruins toward the end of the game they are buffs; last a good amount of time though, and they stack with each other..

All-in-all, do you consider them worth it?

Depends. What followers do you plan to take along? Jayna Stiles will eventually learn 4 schematics Therapeutics.

I would recommend it, but then again, you can certainly solo the game without it and invest your points in better disciplines.

I'd say they were worth it, but since my first run through the game I've played without a level cap, and also modded the game to allow followers to get to level 7 schematics. As only the PC can use found schematics I always taken therapeutics to the max along with Chemistry.

I plan to take Marcus with me, and maybe one extra person. Certainly not Jayna, since I feel that she doesn't pull her weight in combat and I spend more effort keeping her alive than anything else.

So, the points necessary aren't worth it to get the later-on permanent schematics?

No, because the permanent bonus is a found schematic, and is found at the same site as both necessary ingredients (one of which is unique in the game, so by definition this is a one-shot schematic).

I usually take the ingredients and a potion of intelligence to the Tarant university bookseller; if you're practiced enough, you can buy the necessary books (

Spoiler

five Chemistry and four Therapeutics

) and mix the ingredients, all on one dose. And you can do this even with 100% MA, so anything less would work as well.

Thanks! Exactly as I suspected then.

I must admit I hadn't taken glitch exploitation into account, the books shouldn't stack, and MA characters really shouldn't be able to use them.

galraen wrote:I must admit I hadn't taken glitch exploitation into account, the books shouldn't stack, and MA characters really shouldn't be able to use them.

You positive that that is a glitch? I always thought it was normal that the books stacked. I don't see why MA character shouldn't be able to use them. High MA grants you a % crit failure if you equip tech items, that's it.

Given the theme running through the game I think that MA characters being able to use the books has to be at least an oversight, and them stacking shouldn't have been possible. All just my opinion of course, but it has heavily influenced my playing of the game.

I've never used more than one book at a time, and when playing an MA character which is already far too easy, I've always stayed away from them completely. By the time an MA character gets past 50% MA, tech objects, from my perspective, should be an anathema.

Not that anyone else should take any notice of my quirks, but it does have an impact on how I answer questions.

Thanks for clarifying.

I can see how this could be an oversight, and yet, none of the versions of the unofficial patch have addressed this. It is unfair to the technological characters though.

Speaking of which, I need to start my aptitude-neutral playthrough.

galraen wrote:Not that anyone else should take any notice of my quirks, but it does have an impact on how I answer questions.

Perfectly understandable, sir; I certainly make no secret of my own anti-follower bias. or that I'm a bit of a *shudder* powergamer at heart.

galraen wrote:Given the theme running through the game I think that MA characters being able to use the books has to be at least an oversight, and them stacking shouldn't have been possible...

I've never used more than one book at a time, and when playing an MA character which is already far too easy, I've always stayed away from them completely. By the time an MA character gets past 50% MA, tech objects, from my perspective, should be an anathema.

From what I'm given to understand, the tech books have always been designed to stack; the idea being that without the level cap breaker, points are scarce enough that one can't possibly invest in every tech college.

So if one wants to use a found schematic that requires investment in a discipline one doesn't have the points for, one can go buy one or more technical manuals to make up the shortfall. The perma-stat-booster is a good example of this, if in this instance one's playing choices led one away from therapeutics and/or chemistry.

As far as high-MA characters being able to use them as well, it compensates for the fact that only the PC can make use of found schematics, and not their tech-minded followers. If Magnus could build his own war gauntlets, I wouldn't need to, now would I?

The only exploit I'm actually indulging in is the use of the potion of intellect. Pre-Drog's latest bugfix, each tech manual was worth one point of expertise per point of IN at time of purchase, and kept that bonus even after the potion wore off. The bugfix readjusts each manual's value afterward, but still allows me to purchase fewer manuals if I have the speed to buy and use them on the spot.

FWIW, when I play as a magic-user (which admittedly is about 90% of the time) this particular schematic is the only one I permit myself to indulge in. I justify it by saying that they really knew how to build things back in the day... but really, it's a concession to the min-maxing munchkin inside of me, screaming to be let out.

TwoHandedSword wrote:From what I'm given to understand, the tech books have always been designed to stack; the idea being that without the level cap breaker, points are scarce enough that one can't possibly invest in every tech college.

Fair enough, I stand corrected; the techies do need something to balance the imbalance in favour of magic I guess.