Question: If I don't bother finishing the Umpani quests can I keep sergeant Glumph the whole game? I am considering dropping Vi and Sax for RFS and Glumph. I can't stand their whining anymore.

And I thought I would share this little trick.

Here is really easy way to get Madras from 30 to 70 in engineering:

You must have a canned elemental or the summon elemental spell ( the user cannot have the lowest initiative in your party ).

**Be sure to equip Madras with any items that increase dexterity and intellegence if you have them. Items that increase his strength / piety / vitality ( for more stamina ) would be a good idea too.**

1. Go to the mountain wilderness and go to the spot where Bela is.

2. Wait untill Bela flies down toward the mountain path and stop him ( by getting close ) when he reaches the exact point where he starts to turn around.

3. Now you move above Bela on the path ( in otherwords, if you are facing down the path, Bela should be in front of you and the campfire should be in back of you ).

4. Now make sure combat is in continuous mode and enter combat.

5. Summon an elemental and target it with one of your party members before combat ends. If all goes well you should make the elemental hostile. Switch quickly to turn based combat.

6. Run around Bela down the path. The elemental should be blocked by Bela. Now you can cast spells or shoot at him and the elemental will just stand there.

7. Use Madras lightning rod on the elemental. When the elemental gets low on health heal it. When Madras gets low on stamina cast stamina on him.

8. Repeat #7 untill Madras is at 70 engineering.

You can also use this technique to train your spellcasters in areas like fire, air, and water realms which aren't easy to powertrain any other way.

This is also the easiest way to kill Bela with indirect fire.

If you do nothing for 2 rounds combat will end and the elemental will vanish.

[ 06-21-2005, 11:48 PM: Message edited by: TinyMage ]

My answer to your question is; just don't have any RPCs!
There are places Glumph won't go.

I think Vi & RFS-81 have the fewest complaint areas. I tend to pick my RPC's early and stick with them as long as possible, even dragging them through areas they don't like via portal/teleport.

Cute training trick!