training Engineering skill??

[hayaku]

Hi... im a little stuck with my gadgeteer’s engineering skill. With every level up, I have usually put 2 points into it, but since it just about NEVER goes up through natural use, it is stuck in the 50's while modern weapons and locks'n'traps are well into/above the 80-90's.

I have acquired a few nice gadgets recently that require engineering skills of 60 or 75 to use... at the rate I'm going I wont be able to use them for another 10 levels, so I am going to try and train the skill.

the problem is, I have found that just about nothing counts for it. I have had it go up a few times through use of the lightning rod, but despite hundreds of X-ray scanner uses it had not advanced even once. So my question: does anybody know what gadgets are good for training the engineering skill? if anybody has had to train it before, what method did you find was most effective?

thanks a lot

[ 04-17-2005, 11:49 PM: Message edited by: hayaku ]

[Loudhy]

Hi hayaku.

I never trained engineering. I only put 3 points into it and used the lightning rod often. At Lvl 10 my gadgy normally has engineering 70 or more ( I usually create the triple crossbow at this time ). On the other hand my modern weapon skill is not as big as yours ( don't know your level ). So maybe I only use the rod much more often than you instead of the gun.

At Lvl 10 my gadgy has IQ = 70 , Dex = 70 and Senses 91. I only pump up senses, after that I only build up Vit or Str to get a huge amount of stamina.

I never had any problems building up the engineering skill this way.

Greetings

[img]graemlins/monster5.gif[/img]

[Scatter]

if you use the Gad to keep up Detect Secret ("searchlight") and X-Ray ("X-Ray Scanner"), and in battle always put up a Hypnotic Lure ("Lava Lamp") that will help imensely. In fact, if you have all your magic types cast non-damage magic every battle, they all will increase their skills faster. And use the Lightning Rod, as Loudhy says.

[Nightowl2]

Yeah, aside from points at level gain, the only way to train engineering skill is to use gadgets, and use them often. So start using whatever you can to build it up. Lightning rod early on is very good for this. Of course, after you hit 75, only points will do.

Nightowl2

[hayaku]

if you use the Gad to keep up Detect Secret ("searchlight") and X-Ray ("X-Ray Scanner")

that’s the thing..... I feel that in a deliberate attempt to curb "power training" the developers made it so that easily abused training methods simply counted for nothing. the way I speculate they did this was simply by nullifying the contributions of certain spells and gadgets that were open to abusal. As stated, I have used X-ray enormously and am quite confident that this is one such nullified object. Of course, I could be quite wrong, however I have noted this effect quite clearly with certain spells and I assume in this case, it also can apply to gadgets.

The question was more in the direction of, if anybody has had to powertrain engineering before, and if so, what they found was guarenteed to work at higher levels.

that said.... I could always go back to the monistary and lightning-rod crabs all day [img]smile.gif[/img]
I was just interested in a more efficient course of action.

[SpitBall]

hayaku wrote: "I feel that in a deliberate attempt to curb "power training" the developers made it so that easily abused training methods simply counted for nothing. the way I speculate they did this was simply by nullifying the contributions of certain spells and gadgets that were open to abusal."

Hmmmm....

At first, I was tempted to say that Hay. is wrong, because I have seen my spell-casters and Bard (no Gadgeteer, but the model is the same) gain tremendously in their early development from repeated use of spells and instruments....

....then, I considered the plight of my poor Bishop, who looks back on his days a robust Priest with such nostaligia. It seems that no matter how many Acid Splashes the sap tosses, he gets no bump in Alchemy. The new Acid Bomb, however, seems to have a different result...

[babar]

I think you can only increase your skill by using a non-combat gadget if 1) the power level (random) of the subsequent result is greater than the previous or 2) if sufficient time has past that some duration of the previous result has expired. The same goes for sure for real spells. So a level 2 x-ray "cast"/gadgeted over a level 4 x-ray has zero percent chance of increasing engr skill unless the level 4 x-ray has already spent some fraction of the duration. I guess it's also possible that 1) is irrelevant and a skill increase can only occur after a 'casting' has completely expired. So in effect, you can't just sit there and fool around with your gadgets, but if you stop every once in a while while the other party member sharpen their swords, eat, pee, pick their nose, whatever and x-ray some female party members while they are not looking did I say that ... heehee just kidding ... then you might have a chance for a skill increase.

Aside from that, it helps if your gadgeteer is not clumsy or dumb as rocks (DEX, INT).

[Scatter]

Yes, Babar, "1)" is correct. With spells it's easy; just cast one at PL1, then 2, etc. until it's at 7 again, as long as it was expired enough to begin with. Gadgets and Instruments, however, have no control--if your first use is at PL7, then you have to wait until it wears off. Luckily, Detection and X-Ray are both fairly short in duration...
But no, there is no power-practise for Engineering, unlike every other magical skill (well, except Fire--i don't count Light--and Water).

EDIT: actually, there is one for water; get sick at the Monastery Coffin and cast CLC.

[ 04-18-2005, 07:45 PM: Message edited by: Scatter ]

[Loudhy]

@hayaku

I didn't use the lightning rod for "training" . I only use it often instead of the gun for killing those animals and bad guys. No use without reason. And I don't stay longer than necessary in a map. I simply walk the way to victory .

Searchlight and X-Ray Scanner are much too late in the game for me to build up the engineering skill. By the time my gadgy can create a searchlight, his engineering is about 90 or more.


[img]graemlins/monster5.gif[/img]

[ 04-19-2005, 12:56 AM: Message edited by: Loudhy ]

[Scatter]

That was one of the reasons i started going through contrary to the walkthroughs and heading for the Ump camp first.