In comparison to bashing, influence seems to have far less gain, for far more risk of loss, and far more difficulty and time consumed.

Discuss

I influenced from about level 21 to 55.. dwarves in SG and RH. Great exp, I got ~10 levels a day. It doesn't seem to be of much use for high levels, though.

Also, it's biased towards the uglier races with eq recovery bonuses rather than the higher charisma races that you'd expect to do better.

You get just as much experience as killing the denizen. I make the krokani in that Castle paranoid, then kill them if I feel like it. Double experience that way. Usually, my bashing is limited by the fact that so many people bash there at once. If there's someone bashing, I can just influence, and not slow them down really, and still get plenty of experience.

It isn't that much harder, really, if you have two or three skills.

Yeah, that's the sucky part. I hate how much level 1 EQ bonus helps, let alone level 3. EQ bonuses matter ten times more than charisma when it comes to influencing.

I agree for high levels it isn't very efficient, but it is fairly easy. Unlike bashing there's no random element whatsoever - you can't be jumped by aggressives and they can't do anything that isn't predicted on a perfect timer that you can bypass entirely.

Miakoda is good experience and gold, but the fact I have to basically walk into a room of people talking and bash is a bit of deterrent. Guards are alright, providing there are enough that haven't already been empowered.

Bring on the high-level Serenwilde influencing grounds!

Find it takes significantly more bromide/sparkleberry, than it would health, though.

No crits, is probably why. And you have no eq bonus. (I really, really like my eq bonus, but it isn't fair, truly. )

I find it takes me about the same *shrugs* I can bash dwarven miners without sipping bromide though, and sentries, and disciples of Xiim. Beauty + Sun Totem is quite a bit of regen. They don't give that much xp, but there's TONS of them, and they are so easy to influence, and noone else ever competes with me there

The only request I'd make to the Divine to change things is to include levels of ego regen along with racial regen Of course, it would make Viscanti ungodly good at peaceful village influencing when they already hold the village, but whatever

And while I'm at it, Merians should get racial regen in flooded rooms =\\

With level one equilibrium (As a Faeling Hartstone) I don't need to sip bromide against the normal monks in Tosha. I could to speed up the process (Since I'd be meditating afterwards), but I'm not inclined to. In the higher levels it does seem to have far more risk even after Superego (But this is based on my experience against Miakoda), but I suppose that does compensate for the times that I could clear out all of Faethorn effortlessly.

And I -still- don't know how you beat Miakoda unless Trans Influence boosts influence power instead of cycling the three begging/whatever types. It makes me want to buy 100 credits for Mythical just to see.

Also, it'd be great if someone would stop moving because it lost an ego battle, but maybe that's just my laziness talking (It gets HARD to discern your monk out of 20 on the lower level. Maybe I ought to code someone where it brings up the number tag that I beat in a separate window).

Imperial Merian, FTW! It's the second best reason that I keep Rauros as a Merian, despite how much they suck as fighters.

Influencing as a Hartstone member is suckier than influencing as a Celestine. Eventually I worked with the laetitia balance so that if my connection speed was good (and it usually wasn't) I could influence, chant laetitia and influence again before the mob could react. With Laetitia I was really in little need of any bromides at all. Commune members just don't have anything that equals laetitia at all.

The experience also isn't super past mid levels. Once you're level 60 or so you can do villagers, faethorn knights and whatever else like that without getting much at all. Problem is, there isn't much to advance to after that. Certainly nowhere comparable to upper level bashing grounds.

That is true but then they added that stupid Laetitia balance. Now, you can't solo influence with Laetitia, because it won't cure you the second time. So you either go without it every other time or wait a second before chanting and risk getting hit.

I like influencing as a Hartstone, but that's only with Lightning facepaint. So.. I had to get like 50% Virtuoso Stag and my current Virtuoso Influencing to do much of anything. Without superego I think I'd be too scared to influence though.

As for bashing areas. I'm really fond of Tosha, but like half of the realm is susceptible to begging (Which ain't bad because otherwise we'd have to weevil/rat/quest for our funds). Maybe we need a higher area like you said that represents a mixture of the influencing types so far. Of course that means I have to delve into my paycheck and get at least Mythical Influencing, but that's how it goes. We really do need areas with roleplay strong implications though if something is to come out, but this is Lusternia so that's going to be priority.

And pssh, you cheating Celestines. Laetitia isn't necessary if you were Merian in the first place.

You're right. They need to nerf merian influencers. Maybe -2 Cha and +2 Con.

Jairdan is lvl 74 solely from influencing just about. As a faeling, with trans influence, True Heart, Sun Totem, Demesne Influence, and Lightning face paint, it was pretty much cake. It shoud be noted I reached like 60 when faeling had the XP penalty.

Influence is definitely an alternative to bashing, since almost no one is ever in Tosha (welll, except Hendrix now, but that's because I enticed him over to the darkside ) and they go down in 4-6 attacks, and there are so many monks that the place usually resets by the time you reach the last few monks, so you just run back to the top and start all over.

If I had Lightning in Stag I'd switch races in a hurry so I could influence better. Mugwump is good but I'd rather have a higher charisma so I wouldn't have to sip so much bromide. I -think- I've got all the other necessary influence skills specific to the Hartstone. I forget what else I was going to say.

I finally know who you play.

No you don't! I'm really uhm... Nami.

Oooh, that's good then. Then I can outguild Syrel because he didn't pay the 20 credits interview fee.