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I do if you're a completionist type player who doesn't want to spend as much time at level 20. It doesn't affect the early game as much as the mid/late so you could still add it in without too much difference if you want to.
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Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire |OT| Josh Sawyer's Pirates!
- Thread starter Anno
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I do if you're a completionist type player who doesn't want to spend as much time at level 20. It doesn't affect the early game as much as the mid/late so you could still add it in without too much difference if you want to.
I'm using the reduced XP mod from the steam workshop on my current run (I believe it's about a 30% reduction) and I'm liking the pacing. I just finished Beast of Winter and most of my party hit 14 at the end. I still have both other DLC's to go, everything after Hasongo in the main story, Crookspur, Bekarna's Folly, the watershaper's guild quest in Neketaka, and a bunch of other random island stuff. There's no risk of running out of content/xp sources without hitting 20 with that sort of mod.
Quick question for all of ya'll. Probably best to only click if you've finished the game as it's pretty far into it. Thanks in advance!
So finished the quest line for the ghost ship, Fonferrus. I decided NOT talk my way out of it because I think the Deadfire probably doesn't need a ghost ship wandering around killing random crews. One of the tougher battles in the game so far, had 2x 3 skull fampyrs and 1x fampyr seer (mage fampyr?) and it was really satisfying to go all out with everybody on board. Immediately afterwards though, a cutscene triggers before I get a chance to loot. Is that intentional? Am I missing anything by not being able to loot after the battle? I'm dying to know if Lucia Rivan had something or not....
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Unless I'm just misremembering I think the "loot" is just the fancy sword becoming usable.
Ah, I returned that shit to the guy who was guarding it. It's probably a good sword, but he asked for it back so I gave it to him. Hopefully that wasn't a mistake!
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Looks to be a bug fix patch. Initial patch notes:
- Various typos in Forgotten Sanctum have been resolved.
- Certain conversation prerequisites will no longer be incorrectly locked or unlocked in specific circumstances.
- Prepared chants are now removed when respeccing a character.
- Fixed issue where companion game objects were not removed if they left the party on the World Map.
- The player will no longer be returned to the main menu on transitioning to or from Nekataka.
- Characters are no longer reaching 0 HP and becoming invincible.
- Due to the universal fix of assuring companions do not stay at 0HP and invincible, they will also not die if they leave your party due to going below deck.
- Ciphers will receive focus for their first attack when attacking from stealth.
- News on the Main Menu no longer displays out of date information.
- The visual effects from Garrote originates from the correct hand.
- Beguiler Focus will regenerate properly.
- Fixed a bug with Wall of Frost displaying 0 base penetration.
- Slippers of the Assassin no longer deactivate if player kills two targets at the same time with an AoE ability.
- The journal will no longer display incorrect data when opened the first time after loading a save.
- Disarming traps with multiple characters will no longer give multiple trap items.
- (quest/story related)
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Doors to The Scriptorium and both wings of the Halls Obscured no longer remain locked if Tayn and Llengrath have been killed before the first encounter with the Oracle.
[*]Maerwald will no longer summon a Vela Clone while on Hylea's Challenge.
[*]Maerwald's Soul Crush ability is no longer missing its string.
[*]Revelating Missiles no longer hits Allies as well as Enemies.
[*]In the Hall of Reconfiguration, the Frightened Child's Imaginary Friends no longer bleed when struck with weapons.
[*]Addressed issue where the Enchanted Armor in the Quarantined Section was remaining highlighted as an interactable when animated.
[*]Salvation of Time cannot be empowered anymore.
[*]Fassina is present in the Dark Cupboard if Forgotten Sanctum DLC is not installed.
[*]After completing the Rauatai Coup, the Watcher can find Netehe and return the Huana Tablet to her.
[*]Llengrath now remains in the Temple of Revelation after the events of the Forgotten Sanctum.
[*]Enemies and Companions in the Drowned Barrows will either become knocked out or die as is intended.
[*]Attacks with extra AoEs (Citzal's Spirit Lance, Whispers of the Endless Paths) will now have correct recovery when used with attack abilities.
[*]The correct end choice will trigger after defeating Oracle and choosing the option to give Wael's body to Councelhaut.
[*]The Courier's Calling encounter no longer triggers without Maia in party.
[*]Shimmering Dreambeast now has a visual Shimmering effect to reflect its Shimmerstep ability.
[*]Fixed a bug that was causing Lord Darryn's Voulge to be not obtainable if not picked up the first time the shipwreck encounter is triggered.
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I didn't know Beguiler was bugged so I'm glad that I've put my Mindstalker build on hold.
I really would like to see tweaks for Arcane Archer and Forbidden Fist, along with some ranger buffs. There's a bunch of subclasses that should be revisited. I'm sure someone will mod them after patches end but would rather Obsidian do it first.
I really would like to see tweaks for Arcane Archer and Forbidden Fist, along with some ranger buffs. There's a bunch of subclasses that should be revisited. I'm sure someone will mod them after patches end but would rather Obsidian do it first.
Aye, subclass balance is still not great. Some are clearly better than others. It's funny you mention beguiler though, because Cipher is probably one of the best classes when it comes to all the subs being interesting and strong (the original 3 anyway, the new one seems too restrictive with how damage pauses focus gen).
Also on the topic of ciphers, my current run has convinced me that a cipher along with a 2h char with willbreaker is just too good of a combo to ever passup. I have my watcher as a helwalker/bloodmage nuking the will defense of whoever he hits, then ydwin having an easy time landing debuffs and charms. It's lovely.
Started this game shortly after it came out, but didn't have the time to drop on a game like this. So, I stopped playing it early on to avoid having long gaps in play time that would make me forget the story details in between playing.
Now that I have time to consistently play(and not much other games to play), I'm gonna jump back in. I'm starting over and want to create a class that can somewhat represent a Necromancer. What are my options for that? An emphasis on Ice/Cold abilities + raising Undead would be perfect.
Now that I have time to consistently play(and not much other games to play), I'm gonna jump back in. I'm starting over and want to create a class that can somewhat represent a Necromancer. What are my options for that? An emphasis on Ice/Cold abilities + raising Undead would be perfect.
There is nothing that really fits that to a tee, but I'd go with something like a Chanter/wizard or even chanter/druid. Chanter is the class with the most summoning options, and they do have some undead varieties early on (skeletons and wraiths) but you are likely going to want to replace those with beefier summons later on. Wizard and Druid are the caster classes that have the most cold damage options, and chanter itself has at least one or two frost damage invocations.
I'd probably go Troubadour/Blood Mage for that type of build. Any wizard spell with Kalakoth or Ninagauth in the name is likely to be frost damage.
Chanter/Wizard, 100%.
For Wizard, I would recommend Blood Mage and try to keep spell usage to the first few levels of spells. There's good stuff at the upper levels, but they're costly with the BM ability and because it refreshes a random used slot, using spells from a lot of different levels can make it frustrating getting a spell back in the level that you want. The first three levels each have a ton of fantastic spells and are cheap to get back. Thematically, I'd say that Thrust of Tattered Veils/Chill Fog/Spirit Shield, Miasma of Dull-Mindedness/Fetid Caress/Necrotic Lance, and Llengrath's Displaced Image/Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage/Noxious Burst. You should find a grimoire pretty early on that has a spell called Ninagauth's Shadowflame at spell level 4, which is one of the best spells in the game. It's basically an ice Fireball with no friendly fire that paralyzes and fits your build perfectly. It should be the only level 4 spell you need.
For Chanter, Troubadour is generally considered better than a generic Chanter. The skeleton summon is alright, but they become very good meat shields once you get the upgrade that has them split into small skeletons at death. The dot chant fits thematically, and At the Sight of their Comrades will help you and your allies resist your AOE attacks (Chill Fog, Miasma) if they end up in the overlap. When you can get the ogres, go with them, they're maybe the best summon in the game -- you can pretend they're undead until you get the chant that autosummons skeletons. At the same level, you can get The Long Night's Drink, which is incredibly useful because it reduces enemy Fortitude by a huge amount, and all of your ice damage spells target Fortitude.
That should take you to like level 10, so it should be a good start.
Did my game bug out at the end?
after I got to Ukaizo, I didn't have to fight the Guardian of Ukaizo. I freed the watershaper dragon earlier in the game, and he comes for a short scripted event on the boat. But was that the final boss he fought? I'm looking at a walkthrough of the quest and it doesn't say that the fight is avoidable. I guess that's cool? But I actually really enjoy the big boss battles in these games...
What is your system config? Game is running fine for me, any crashes are rare. It's hard to give concrete advice without knowing what you're running as everyone doesn't have the same experience.
If you're not running it on an SSD, I would highly recommend doing so.
Edit: I wish there was a discord for PoE2 that was reliably active. Reddit and Obsidian ones are more or less dead or move at a snail's pace.
If you're not running it on an SSD, I would highly recommend doing so.
Edit: I wish there was a discord for PoE2 that was reliably active. Reddit and Obsidian ones are more or less dead or move at a snail's pace.
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I think I'm about to close the book on my first run. Playing on POTD (upscaling enabled) I'm finding the combat in the expansions too challenging for my non min-maxed party. My solutions are either to turn down difficulty or to move on, and I think I'm okay with the latter. My first character, the shifter/ranger is still pretty good, but I think overall is outclassed by a lot of potential combat builds and ultimately most of my party is that way, since I kinda just picked as I went along instead of tried to figure out the most effective way to do combat. Plus, I'd really like to try running some characters as alternatives, notably Aloth who seems really non optimized, and a few of the companions who I like but probably could have afforded to get earlier on in the game.
Also, school starts next Tuesday so it's probably time to close the chapter here. I'm thinking about doing a Pillars 1 + Pillars 2 run sometime in the future, with a new character concept and really focusing on combat mechanics. Pillars 2 has made me more of a believer in good combat in CRPG's.
Also, school starts next Tuesday so it's probably time to close the chapter here. I'm thinking about doing a Pillars 1 + Pillars 2 run sometime in the future, with a new character concept and really focusing on combat mechanics. Pillars 2 has made me more of a believer in good combat in CRPG's.
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I again recommend this FAQ if you want to get more into the (sometimes weird) intricacies of the combat system. Pretty sure the same person did one for PoE1 as well.
The expansions definitely have the most challenging combat in the game, but shouldn't be a brick wall at level 20 even with an underoptimized party. And even if you are level 20, there's still a good chance there's powerful gear in the corners of the world you haven't explored yet. Food's always another big one that people always sleep on, too. +2 penetration with spells/weapons or immunity to a particular fight's most common affliction can turn super challenging fights into a relative breeze.
Man this naga fight in Seeker Slayer Survivor fucking sucks.
And the next fight isn't any better. I'm starting to think this DLC just isn't for me. Just dumping you into encounters with a bunch of mobs that can wreck you from range is getting old real fast.
And the next fight isn't any better. I'm starting to think this DLC just isn't for me. Just dumping you into encounters with a bunch of mobs that can wreck you from range is getting old real fast.
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Thanks to both of ya'll. I did make it through Beast of Winter, but I think that's because my interrupt game was on point. I'm really struggling against the early Forgotton Sanctum stuff and also can't even make it through the first fight of Seeker, Slayer. I might see how much farther I can get on Forgotton Sanctum.
The first fight of SSS wasn't too bad, you just have to take down the totems ASAP. For all the fights after though I've had to resort to the same strategy: start from stealth, have cipher dominate someone, then have my entire party pop creature summon trinkets and unstealth. If no party members get nuked down within the first 10 seconds then it's probably a win.
Finally completed BoW in my current run last week and am a third of the way through Forgotten Sanctum. Figure I will try my hand at SSS afterwards. Man, this game is so great!
The additional lore is excellent and fills out so much of the original story. I was never as incensed or annoyed as the more vocal part of the greater PoE community seemed to be but I remember being somewhat disappointed. I'm finding myself more at peace with the way PoE2 ends and find it hard to complain.
I played around with a couple of custom test builds (off-tank Loremaster, DPS/affliction-based Universalist) and am happy with how they turned out. I'm thinking I'll add them in my next runs once Arcane Archers and Forbidden Fists get tweaked.
The additional lore is excellent and fills out so much of the original story. I was never as incensed or annoyed as the more vocal part of the greater PoE community seemed to be but I remember being somewhat disappointed. I'm finding myself more at peace with the way PoE2 ends and find it hard to complain.
I played around with a couple of custom test builds (off-tank Loremaster, DPS/affliction-based Universalist) and am happy with how they turned out. I'm thinking I'll add them in my next runs once Arcane Archers and Forbidden Fists get tweaked.
Tons of stuttering and occasional freezing, terrible load times on a mid-range ish computer (gtx 1060, i5 6500, etc.). Unity must be a really terrible engine.
Ended up reinstalling it on an SSD, hopefully this will bring the load times down to, you know, less than 30 seconds per area.
I went ahead and finished the game yesterday. As mentioned above, I wasn't really feeling my party when I started doing the DLC content so I went ahead and saved that for another run. I guess you can kind of think of it as a 'vanilla' + Beasts of Winter Run, which is good because I heard that Forgotten Sanctum can change your ending quite a bit. Regardless, the game was amazing and the ending I got was pretty good actually, even though it was kind of bittersweet, especially considering I didn't use any guides to get the ending I wanted, I just played it organically and let things roll out how they might.
The only real regret was
In fact, I enjoyed the game so much that I reinstalled PoE1 and started up a new run. Path of the Damned this time -- after reading the guide and settling on a character concept (Implements/Melee mage). My hope is to try to play this character through PoE1 and Deadfire by the time summer hits.
Edit: Pillars 1 looks rough compared to PoE2! I didn't expect it to look that bad since it hasn't been that much time, but the gear screen, for example, shows the models looking so much worse! Interesting to see the evolution.
The only real regret was
Pallegina leaving me after I sided with the Huana. Maia didn't leave me when the Ranga attacked me so maybe I had a less good rep with Pallegina in the end. Regardless it seems like she got to go home with her honor restored so I didn't feel too bad but I'm sure she'd never want to see my character again after we let her down for the 2nd time!
In fact, I enjoyed the game so much that I reinstalled PoE1 and started up a new run. Path of the Damned this time -- after reading the guide and settling on a character concept (Implements/Melee mage). My hope is to try to play this character through PoE1 and Deadfire by the time summer hits.
Edit: Pillars 1 looks rough compared to PoE2! I didn't expect it to look that bad since it hasn't been that much time, but the gear screen, for example, shows the models looking so much worse! Interesting to see the evolution.
Turn Based mode confirmed, and is launching on the 24th (in two days!)
https://www.pcgamesn.com/pillars-of-eternity-2/pillars-of-eternity-2-turn-based
Sounds like Sawyer was pretty involved in this.
https://www.pcgamesn.com/pillars-of-eternity-2/pillars-of-eternity-2-turn-based
Sounds like Sawyer was pretty involved in this.
I've been following Sawyer on Twitter recently, and he always posts pics of his PoE TTRPG game. I was wondering if that was influencing the direction (confirmed in the article). This is exciting. I've been trying to fill the PoE2 hole in my life since 'finishing' the game. Might have to circle back this weekend.
I mentioned earlier that I wanted to try Tyranny after finishing PoE2, and I started a playthrough this weekend. It's easy to miss all the production values in a game like PoE2 when you take it for granted. I don't think I'm one for pomp and circumstance, but man Tyranny feels so lifeless/budget comparatively. It's hard to get past.
I mentioned earlier that I wanted to try Tyranny after finishing PoE2, and I started a playthrough this weekend. It's easy to miss all the production values in a game like PoE2 when you take it for granted. I don't think I'm one for pomp and circumstance, but man Tyranny feels so lifeless/budget comparatively. It's hard to get past.
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Surprised it's coming out so early. Pretty cool. Probably won't be my preferred mode unless they magically fix some issues I have with turn based combat, but I'll definitey give it a shot just to see what all changed.
It'll be perfect to take for a spin when/if I get around to a 2nd playthrough but I generally prefer RTWP. It might have the effect of making some builds more or less viable so that's kind of exciting from a theorycrafting kind of perspective.
I'm pretty knee-deep in Pillars 1 right now and I have to say there are definitely things I like more about Pillars 1 on second examination. There are also things I don't like too, though. Playing them so close in succession reminded me of how much I like certain P1 characters that don't really get a great analog in POE2.
fuzzyset The biggest complaint I have about Tyranny is that there are just too many encounters of the same type. Otherwise the game is great though, it's short enough that you can really have different things happen each playthrough. Also the magic system is something else -- very refreshing.
I'm pretty knee-deep in Pillars 1 right now and I have to say there are definitely things I like more about Pillars 1 on second examination. There are also things I don't like too, though. Playing them so close in succession reminded me of how much I like certain P1 characters that don't really get a great analog in POE2.
fuzzyset The biggest complaint I have about Tyranny is that there are just too many encounters of the same type. Otherwise the game is great though, it's short enough that you can really have different things happen each playthrough. Also the magic system is something else -- very refreshing.
Really neat, definitely going to give turn based a try whenever I find time to replay the game.
Has the new ship UI that leaked around the same time made its way into the game yet (4.1?) or no?
Has the new ship UI that leaked around the same time made its way into the game yet (4.1?) or no?
I don't know if it'll be out officially but I played on the beta branch last week and it was in for me.
If it sells more copies in the long run then I'm all for it. I don't see myself dabbling in it but can't knock Obsidian for continued development. Hoping class tweaks will come along in time but if not, we have mods for that.
So finally going to start my playthrough, what are the best resources for character / party builds?
Main PC is going to be a wizard, any recommendations on stat allocations?
I plan on playing on veteran (or whatever is one tier up above normal).
Any must dos when it comes to party or skill allocations? Pretty sure Eder (tank), Xoti (support) and Maia (damage) are locks. Debating on the 5th character. I'm assuming I need an offtank so thinking that I'd go with Pallegina but Serafin seems like an interesting character.
Any and all recommendations regarding class / skill selections is appreciated. Thanks
Main PC is going to be a wizard, any recommendations on stat allocations?
I plan on playing on veteran (or whatever is one tier up above normal).
Any must dos when it comes to party or skill allocations? Pretty sure Eder (tank), Xoti (support) and Maia (damage) are locks. Debating on the 5th character. I'm assuming I need an offtank so thinking that I'd go with Pallegina but Serafin seems like an interesting character.
Any and all recommendations regarding class / skill selections is appreciated. Thanks
This guide is a good resource for thinking about Deadfire's mechanics in detail, but it's not really a party composition guide, and imo it's targeted more at players who have been around before and want to move toward Path of the Damned mode than a new player trying out Veteran.
Reddit and the Obsidian forums have lots of character build suggestions.
For stat allocations on a wizard, it depends a bit on what you want the wizard to do. Intelligence is great for any wizard -- it will expand your AoE effects (and the safe zone for spells that otherwise target all combatants) and prolong the statuses/crowd-control conditions you inflict. Might is important if you're going to be a blaster or throw on a defensive spell and rush into melee, less so if you plan to focus on crowd control. Dexterity's significance will scale with the number of long-cast spells you want to select (for a blaster-type, that could be a lot). Perception is similar in that if you're focused on slower, bigger spells, it's really important that they hit. Resolve is safe to dump. Constitution is also not so important because you can use either range or spells to cover your low health pool.
Eder (tank), Xoti (support), and Maia (damage) is already a well-rounded party. You're right that an off-tank will be helpful in some encounters, and Pallegina as a Herald is pretty ideal for that role, but with some equipment selection and targeted spells, any of your characters can fill that role in a pinch. If you like the look of Serafen, go ahead and try him out.
As far as class recommendations, the main one with the group you mentioned is that Xoti is best as a single-class priest, and Maia is best as a scout.
Skills-wise, I wouldn't stress too much. You want someone to focus on mechanics for lockpicking and someone else to focus on stealth so you can steal (stealth can also be fun for a wizard sneaking up and dropping an empowered fireball on unsuspecting enemies). Diplomacy, insight, and intimidate come up a lot in dialogue choices, but frankly all the options get a good amount of reactivity. And it's nothing that dramatically changes the course of your game.
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I have a hard time thinking a situation in which you wouldn't go Swashbuckler on Eder. As both tank or damage, the fighter/rogue mix has amazing synergy.
for Serafen I prefer just going pure chanter and playing him as a ranged char, but the barb multiclass option is good too. You can play it a bit like a battlemage, as ciphers have some buff spells with very short cast times.
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Yeah, Swashbuckler Eder is hard to argue against. For Serafen just be aware that his Cipher subclass is super swingy in a way that can occasionally lose you a fight if you get unlucky. It's fun if you like some randomness and can be played around to an extent with good positioning.
Also 4.1 is out with a load of bug fixes and what's described as an "Open Beta" for the turn based mode. So probably expect some wonkiness there if you start a TB game.
Also 4.1 is out with a load of bug fixes and what's described as an "Open Beta" for the turn based mode. So probably expect some wonkiness there if you start a TB game.
I agree with Anoregon. Swashbuckler is a good multiclass combo. You can play it as a tank without losing much of interest compared to the pure fighter, and the rogue skills are very useful if you prefer to take him in a more aggressive direction.
One of the things about Deadfire's ability economy is that because class abilities mostly use the same class resource pool (e.g., a rogue's "finishing blow" and "strike the bell" both cost Guile), you want to be thoughtful about how many active abilities you take. You won't be able to use them all in a single battle. This works out well in a way for multiclassing, because even though you get fewer abilities within a given class, you may not actually want the extra class abilities that bad compared to either what's available in your other class or the passives that any class can take.
Honestly Ciphers are just broken -- disintegration is basically a death sentence to most enemies in the game if it hits, even on PoTD mode. It was my #1 source of restarts too because it kills your party members permanently if their HP is reduced to zero because of it.
So take Serafen. I also think he's one of the better-written characters in the game.
So take Serafen. I also think he's one of the better-written characters in the game.
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Playing as a wizard is great because it will spare you from the temptation to use Aloth, who should never have been in the game.
Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated. Last question, don't think I have a POE1 save anywhere. Does importing a save do anything meaningful? Is there a preferred default state?
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There are a handful of incredibly minor choices that you can't replicate without a save. Really nothing at all worth worrying about.
If you remember close to what you did in Pillars 1 you can go to the options menu and there's a save state creator that you can use to customize your default state.
if you sacrificed him to the blood pool in 1 he won't show up at all
regarding patch notes, seems beguiler was tweaked/fixed again so it's high time i get back to starting that cipher/rogue playthrough.
arcane archer's imbue costs are too high imo and am hoping a patch tweaks them. I downloaded the new Dynamic Priests mod and am looking forward to many priest combos that I've been working on. Turn-based seems like it's being received fairly well, so I'm hoping that the introduction of it translates into good sales and future support for PoE2.