[armakh]

I'm by no means an expert, but I've played most of the classes at least once all the way through, and my favorite has been my gadgeteer. I picked a gnome for rp purposes, though I think that many here would favor the hobbit. The gadgeteer is a slow-developing class, but by the end of the game, she can be a real powerhouse, and she doesn't take much developing, which is good for those who either get bored or refuse to "powertrain" their characters. The finished gadgets take a while to become very useful, but by the time you get to Martin's Bluff and can put the porta-potty together, or even Trynton to get the Lava Lamp, she will become very useful.

I think that dex, str, and vit are very important for the gadgeteer. The dex will help your engineering skill go up, and assists with locks and traps, and will make you better with your omnigun. Vitality is good for both hp and especially stamina, and str is doubly important because the gadgets get heavy, and once again for stamina, which is the true lifeblood of your effective gadgeteer. This is also why you should make your gadgie a female-the stamina regeneration items are very important for her. Int will make your engineering skill improve faster and help you fumble your gadgets less, so it can also be a very good skill to work on.

Weaponswise, your gadgeteer comes with all she needs-the omnigun. Damage-wise, the omnigun is all about what bullets you use, so stay away from the regular stuff, and stock up on impaling and medusa stones when you can. However, in the early game, especially, the omnigun is pretty weak, so focus on building engineering skills with the lightning rod, porta-potty, and lava lamp. I personally don't like the jack-in-the box except in emergencies because I'd rather kill stuff than have it run away. By the end of the game, though, your omnigun is a very potent weapon for all of the maladies that it can inflict, especially with medusa stones loaded. Blind, kill, ko are the best ones, imho. A trick that you can use to keep from running out of ammo is to load ammo into both secondary slots; you will reload even in the middle of a "swing" and it saves you having to keep track of it as often.

Gadgets are awesome, and whenever I don't have one, I really miss them. Early on the lightning rod does pretty good damage and really helps build that engineering skill. The porta-potty is wonderful, and should be your staple for a long time. The x-ray scanner can really save on that mental realm mana for your bishop, allowing more room for spells like ego whip and insanity. In addition, the gadgie can "cast" superman, detect secrets, asphyxiation (my personal favorite), tsunami, boiling blood, heal all, and earthquake (I'm prolly forgetting some). In addition, with an engineering skill of 70, you can make tripleshot crossbows.

I also use my gadgie for locks and traps, as there aren't that many skills you need to build. Engineering is of primary importance, and modern weapon and ranged combat need to be up by the time that your omnigun becomes really useful. Don't bother with powerstrike or powercast-they have absolutely no effect on the gadgeteer. Although some may disagree, you don't need to build up any weapon skill other than modern weapons, and no modern weapon will be more useful to you than your omnigun.

If you're patient enough to see them through, a gadgeteer may become one of your best utility characters. They are a pretty easy class that just amazed me by the end of the game.