So, I got this game in the Sierra bundle up on Steam. I'd been hearing about it for a while, so it was this and Space Quest that got me to buy the bundle. After a bit of looking around, I decided I really wanted to bring a Tesla Gun to bear against Dragons, so I decided to go for a Firearms / Gunsmith / Electricty / maybe Explosives build. I ended up going with the Miracle Cure background, which leaves me with a fairly low strength, which I'd need in order to actually pickup my guns. The Strength of Earth spell looks like it might be sustainable on my character indefinitely, and would be much more efficient than buying strength regularly. But is my tech aptitude going to get in the way here? Or is it not going to make enough of a difference? Second, I presume it's safe to say that buying up skill ranks requires a permanent stat? I can't just have a 5 Dexterity, and then slap on some spell or rings that give me +4 Dex, and then buy my Dodge up to rank 2? Lastly, do explosives use the Throwing skill? I'm not playing horseshoes, but 'close' still counts, so I'm not sure if it really makes a difference. I don't know if I'll be sparing points in Explosives for grenades if I also need to raise my Dex and invest in Throwing. Also, do they have an AoE? I chucked a grenade at an enemy next to Virgil, and while he had the exploding animation, he didn't take any damage.
No, it doesn't get in the way. Unlike most spells, the +4 attribute ones can be used regardless of technological aptitude. Additionally, as far as I remember, you can apply Strength of Earth more than once for a +4/+8/+12/etc. boost, Intelligence allowing (active continuous spell slots are Intelligence/4). The only thing to mention is is spells add 5 magickal aptitude, but this can easily and entirely be offset by sticking more points in tech colleges or skills. Nope, you're wrong on this count. You can buy skills with temporary attribute bonuses are active (equipment, therapeutics, whatever), and your skill level will return to that level whenever you hit the same attribute levels with those bonuses. For example, with two Charged Rings, you can equip two and use a character point for the second level of a Dex skill (Dodge, Melee, etc.) if you go from 5 to 9. The you take the rings off, and your skill drops back down. Re-equipping the rings returns the skill level to the 2 character point investiture level. Explosives do use the Throwing skill, apart from the set explosives like Plastique, Time Bombs and Dynamite. I think they pretty much all have AoE, but I also think the skill roll vs. Dodge is separate for each individual - so you're not going to hit every individual every time. I think they also have different size AoEs, so the effect will be more marked with different explosives. It's been a while since I've used explosives, so sorry if my recollections are a little vague. Have fun with your build!
I'm guessing then that the skill roll vs. Dodge for avoiding explosions is based on my Throwing Skill? I guess I'll need to spare a few more points in Dex then. It'd be nice to hit at least Rank 3. Also, I confess I'm surprised that you can purchase skills based on temp stats. Honestly, it does make some degree of sense that skills work in the manner you have described, but I've never played a game that handles skills like that.
Yes it's based on your Throwing skill, so the higher it is the more likely you are to hit, through 3 character points worth with expert training is from my experience pretty good. And yes how the skills work is a little unusual, people also use temp Intelligence to purchase tech disciplines through things like a Intellect potion, which again I think works regardless of aptitude - which works just as the skills do (though with disciplines you can still see them on the character sheet when your Intellect drops back, with skills you can't see them until you're re-boosted). It all depends on how happy you are with choices that can be considered a little cheesy, or don't make much sense given the game lore (magick with tech being a big no-no by the lore, but having some exceptions where they work well together).
The magick and tech together is a little lore unfriendly, however the whole cheating stat up things makes sense. You can't perform a certain feat quite as well without certain equipment as you could with it. In this case, your equipment being Charged Rings. It sorta kinda works for boosting your stats with temporary potions, though I do feel that's a bit more iffy than a piece of equipment you can wear all the time, especially when you're boosting your intelligence. But then, being able to learn elementary electronic development because I punched a bear 20 times makes even less sense