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I think you should finish the game for the first time, in a serious way, without using any kind of exploits/mods. After that you won't feel guilty anymore and you can play just for fun, pass over the boring parts quickly and explore things you missed the first time.

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity takes off on historic 1st powered flight on another world.

This is very likely to be the heart of your problem and your non-enjoyment of Deadfire. There has been quite a lot of talk about the translations, and some of them appear to have been really, really bad. It's such a shame. A bad translation can totally ruin a book, a game, a play etc. (I have worked in book publishing for over twenty years, and translation is my speciality. This is the area that I know a lot about.) I understand you a lot better now. I have not played Deadfire in Italian, but knowing something about the overall quality of the translations, I can understand why the writing may look very poor in translation. Again, as I said, it's such a shame.

The Soul Mind focus generation of SC Psion is better due to Power Level - but you will still have more casting downtime compared to Psion/Troubadour. The (not that much) better focus generation cannot compete with the dual resource generation. Also phrase generation doesn't stop on getting hit (or crit) which is a nice backup - and unlike chanting Soul Mind doesn't stop after invocations. I played Psion/Troubadour and it was one of the most entertaining classes I used because it was so versatile: damage, CC, debuffing, summons, healing, support - he can do it all and is also his responsiveness is great if you invest into DEX and you're not armoring up like crazy. I had almost no "waiting" time. Weapons can be pure "stat sticks". It also helps that a lot of the Troubadour's invocations are 0.5 sec casts which makes it all more dynamic. Another plus of the Troubadour: 1 empowered invocation per encounter via Sasha's Singing Scimitar. Late game: combine with the Weyc's Wand. The good thing about he Psion/Troub (always something to do) can also be a bad thing for some people: because he won't work with AI so well he needs attention. For me that's okay if it's the MC and I'm fine with micromanagement in general. And I even a SC Psion would need that anyway so maybe in this case it doesn't matter when it comes to comparing the two. I'm usually an advocate for Single Classes because I think they are underrated in party setups - but in case of Cipher in general I'm not that much. The high level abilities aren't as impactful imo as the ones of Wizards, Priests and Druids for example. Time Parasite can be very cool - but it doesn't help the focus generation of the Psion like it would do with the other Cipher subclasses so there still would be more downtime where you wait for more focus. And SC Psion's weapon attacks are really nothing to write home about (no Soul Whip bonus for example). I haven't played Psion/Wizard so I can't say how nice it is - but I would assume it would be more fun than SC Psion, too. Speaking of Wizard: If I were playing with a party and did another Psion/Troubadour, this time I would bring a Deboniare/Wizard along. Nice synergy: the first mass-charms (Ring Leader or The Lover Cried Out - doesn't matter) while the latter already prepares and then fires off a friendly-fire AoE spell on the charmed enemies with 100% crit conversion. No PEN issues, good dmg. Also a nice thematic fit imo.

The nice thing about psion troubador is you have infinite, constantly regenerating resources, that you can use to periodically cast cipher powers and chanter invocations. So you can just alternate between casting cipher and chanter powers. I've never played a SC psion, but I imagine it wouldn't be as versatile. Even though your focus regeneration would be a bit faster, you wouldn't have a second set of abilities to fall back on. The nice thing about chanter is that you can summon meatshields, and then cast cipher powers on them. Soul shock is particularly good since it only costs ten focus, has a decent AOE, and does pretty good damage.

Dunno if this is useful to anyone but I figured I might as well post it here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2220432833 Any feedback is appreciated.

I don't want to inadvertantly expose kids to a pedophile horse though. Regarding reaction videos, I have no idea why people watch those beyond bad taste. This thread is different because yall aren't colossal dip****s like youtubers (almost) unfailingly are. Additionally there's dialogue between people here, which significantly changes it from YouTube dip****s.

Wedge fries are death. And I hate to admit it, but KP probably has a point - in the real world, those "bits" that have been sitting in the fryer all day are very likely to be burnt fossils instead of the idealized version Steven always gets. Give me some good shoestring fries.

Most of their employees in Belgium might be Dutch-speaking, although I assume that their work-language is English by now, with three studios over the world. Owlcat definitely have my respect for working on text-heavy crpgs with a group of mostly Russian employees ( I assume) and small budgets. I actually backed WOTC and I'm curious to see what follows.. but don't know if it's going to be my cup of tea.. I tried DOS1 and DOS2 and put them away after 1 or 2 hours. I can see how people might appreciate these titles and I am certainly looking forward to BG3, but if I compare these games to POE1 and POE2 I think they are inferior in every aspect: The PoE's outclass them in setting, world building, lore, art design, combat gameplay, companion depth, itemization and dialogue for sure. I cannot speak to the pacing of the other recent CRPGs, but it might be Deadfire's biggest design flaw. However, providing a compelling main story in an "open world" is a notoriously challenging task (look at the elder scrolls titles...).

SU again. Steven and Connie got real close, he found his mom's home video, and he took a test. May be more I'm forgetting.

Yes, very good. The shock damage also helps to circumvent a lot of PEN issues, too. Look at Iron/Steelclads. The modal + Enduring Dance to counter the acc loss is bonkers. Very viable setup. Also achievable so early. Once you get Borrowed Instincts you rarely need to turn the modal off even. Just go full speed all the time. Stuff like Kitchen Stove (Thunderous Report usually ascends you right away if you hit a few enemies with it) or mortars (AoE blunderbusses from Serafen) are also very good (dual damage, target reflex). Watershaper's Focus + Blast also great if you can hit multiple crowded enemies. The AoE jumps one time, too and Ondra's Wrath generates focus when it procs, ascending you at once. Rod + Bmast also usually suffers from PEN issues but Hammering Thoughts + Thunderous Blows do help a lot.

Ascendant/Helwalker is supergood imo. Tops SC Ascendant easily for me. Offensive phrases are great in combination with "The Champion" invocation because you can interrupt enemies via chants then. With Brisk Recitation that means interrupts in an AoE every 3 secs (on crit). Yet the best phrase to run all the times is Many Lives Pass By imo. It comes late though. I mainly used Killers Froze Stiff as invocation. Its duration can be so long on crits that you can perma-paralyze enemies. Because Cipher's Lingering Echoes (+20% affliction duration) also works with the invocations. Her Revenge is also very good at all times. Ben Fidel's Neck stacks with nearly all other debuffs so that's a good alternative when enemies are immune or resistant to Killers. The Charming invocation is also good. In the early game I could spam Killers + Soul Shock all the time nearly non-stop without enemies being able to do much - except die.

Boeroer, always the

Yeah, kinda sad about Black Jacket, think its a nice kit. Borderline OP in Turn Based ...even moreso if you're willing to exploit some mechanics.

Yes that's fair. I've actually done my share of complete playthroughs with no or minimal cheese. I just came very late to the party in terms of all the exploits that the community discovered over time - and my jaw quite literally dropped with some of those. But I've recovered now . I know when I want to play builds "in a serious way" as you say, and I when I want to have fun discovering how much the game lets us get away with.

I was more addressing the "terrible idea" in your post, not that other class combos can do more dps (at least until they get knocked over, hehe). I don't think Crusader is a terrible at all. It may not be very exciting in most cases but def. not terrible. Especially not for beginners. I think Crusader is a good pick for a beginner if you really want to roll a Devoted multiclass. Somehow Devoted is very popular among new players (while Black Jacket es extremely unpolular). I guess most players initially dislike the idea of switching weapons but rather like to "marry" themselves to a certain weapon. Fantasy tropes and all that. On the other hand Devoted isn't that impactful on the lower difficulties anyway (which would be difficulties a beginner might choose)... eh I've run into an argumentative dilemma... 🤔 😄

A damn shame this doesn't work solo. 😛

firearms result in the deaths o' tens o' thousands o' americans per year. the thing is, the mass shootings and death-by-cop incidents get all the media attention. the number of unarmed individuals of color who are killed by cops per year, on average, is in the 20s. number o' death by cop incidents total per year has remained disturbing constant since at least 2015. mass shootings average ~350ish per year, with the use o' long guns accounting for only a small fraction o' those hundreds. etc. we got a firearms problem in this country. we also have a police violence problem. unfortunate, from our pov, we do a terrible job o' educating selves 'bout the problems beyond the lurid details and the headline grabbing details. HA! Good Fun! ps 'bout 60% of total firearms deaths in the us per year is suicides. am knowing many do not believe such a number is relevant, 'cause is a matter of choice, but suicide is most easily thwarted by making access to the means o' suicide a smidge more difficult. coal gas ovens. honest do a quick search for coal gas ovens and suicide rates in the US and UK. suicide, as difficult as it is to accept, is an impulsive act. reduce access to means o' killing self even a little and you save many people from suicide, from a choice they would not make if they took even a little bit more time to reflect. edit: adding an npr link which is tending towards brevity over depth. a quick read for anybody interested in our suicide observations.

really dumb, but I laughed:

Don't worry guys, the games you lose will eventually be on sale on GOG. Just wait a few decades...

Even if Lance is cool, ultimately I think that in Turn Based mode attacking with a weapon rather then casting is inefficient. Both actions will take the same chunk of time (round), but a spell tends to be more impactful then a single attack, even with the coolest weapon.

And that's one big turn off for me.

Not really, you do not know, how much energy the CMOS needs from battery to stay alive. It could be few years, it could be a decade or two. It still does not solve the main issue. When the battery is done, you lose access to all of your legal purchases. And in case of PS4, including your physical media.

I opted not to play the DLC of the game until both expansions were out and their steam achievements were patched in. Towards the end of Gorgon I hit the level cap without trying very hard, now there's less incentive to try out the sidequests in Eridanos for their own sake since there's no mechanical reward. In NV you were only liable to hit the Level cap of 50 provided you knocked off 95% of content in the base game and DLC. A completionist would only hit 50 after confronting Ulysses and with nothing else to do except to head into the Hoover Dam endgame. What is especially galling is the number of 150-point skill checks. These are sprinkled throughout and, in an obnoxious move, have been retroactively added into the base game. 120-point checks would have been fine but 150-point checks are taking the p**s. You only get 350 points to spend in the first place, aside from the skill-group bonus. You could fix this level cap issue by having some sort of mastery levels, where experience over the cap grants only skill points. So your level reads 36+X or something.

The ranged weapons you and Boeroer discussed are very nice indeed. But personally on my Transcendant I loved using Grave Calling (saber) + Kitchen Stove (blunderbuss, mentioned by Boeroer) combo. Kitchen Stove Thunderous Report offered instant Ascension, while Grave Calling was used to melee a bit, particularly with vessels present, but mostly to manually kill skeletons summoned by Herald Pallegina (preferably summoned in front of the party and weakened with Aloth's Fireball or some such, when the enemies reached them). This generates party friendly aoe paralyzing Chillfogs, that even provide focus as they tick aoe damage on enemies! Going melee usually wasn't a big problem, besides those paralyzing Chillfogs, I've also used quick Mental Binding quite a bit (duration is solid with Turning Wheel boosted Int). Eventually I moved to Seeker's Fang rapier main hand. Seeker's Fang creates a raw mini-disintegrate effect whenever it crits an enemy. And its Spider's Flurry per encounter cone attack is another method to instantly Ascend - and potentially mini-disintegrate 3+ enemies at once (3 attack rolls per target, so decent chances for multiple crits). Also zooming across the battlefield with Flagellant's Path and instantly destroying squishy enemies with Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming boosted full attack on arrival (with no Recovery!) is a lot of fun! So do not discount melee entirely.... Edit: As for Dichotomous Soul, these are nice summons. But you sacrifice action time and 4 wounds to summon... I like being at max wounds to maximize Int (and burning lash). So it wasn't for me.

If you are talking about the English versions and really believe that then I can't take your criticism seriously when it comes to the quality of writing. Might turn out that WOTC has novel prize worthy writing now... I tried Kingmaker and the quality of writing and the non-funny goofyness were so bad that my toenails figuratively curled upwards. D:OS games are not that much better, but sti better. I cut the devs some slack because English is not their mother tongue and I assume the Russian version is much better. I mean the German version of Deadfire is pretty bad, too - so maybe comparing the English version of Kingmaker with the English version of Deadfire is a bit unfair - but still: I have to play them in English since my Russian is not good enough anymore - so I can only compare that. Same problem with Larian (also not native speakers and my French... you have to excuse it ;)). Yet PoE and Deadfire are like... leagues better in that regard. That doesn't mean that one has to like that kind of writing or that it makes it more popular or easy to consume - but in terms of quality its objectively better and there mustn't be a single genuine discussion. Of course that doesn't make PoE or Deadfire "better" games. D:OS 2 sold a ton more than Deadfire - and Kingmaker was also more successful. Which leads to the assumption that they did more things right for the average audience than the Obsidian games did. Unfortunately non-goofy writing and non-cartoony graphics are important to me. I don't like 3D in party RPGs. It always looks too cartoony and also generic to me. Maybe WOTC is better - I didn't look at it until now. I love the more gritty, artistic approach Obsidian did - even if it comes with huge downsides (loading times, performance issues...).

By the way I just rolled a Devoted/Bleak Walker with the Chromoprismatic Staff and did a 170-dmg crit with FoD, followed by a 204-dmg Clear Out, nearly two-shotting the dummy I was attacking before I could even finish the 5 consecutive hits. The Helm of the White Void did not work on the FoD attack itself, but with Helm of the Falcon, Devil of Caroc and Abraham as well other shenanigans I get to a recovery time of only 2.5 secs (from 4) which is cool. FoD accuracy was 134 in my case. Clear Out had 114. That's better than I expected tbh. I use the community patch which moderately addresses some of the Paladin's and Fighter's subpar abilites though. So grain of salt and all that.

Well, their weapon switch is a Free Action and since you could collect a nice arsenal, with pearls like Kitchen Stove with its Thunderous Report, Whispers aoe or Run Trough attacks and several other weapons with mighty per encounter abilities, it can be very strong. Even moreso if you combine it with an Assassin and spam those special abilities under stealth (also Free Action) with +25 Accuracy, +4 Pen and +50% Crit damage (and possibly backstab). Also, you can freely switch between an offensive setup and sword & shield to be well protected before the enemies move and attack... and next round you ditch the shield to attack and then re-equip it again...

In TB a Black Jacket can switch weapon sets as a free action - which means he can attack with the most offensive weapon setup and then afterwards freely switch to the most defensive one to await the attacks of enemies.

Cought me!

I like the idea of a Spamming Surge but that sounds more like a Soulblade ability

That is indeed nice. Iirc this only works with summons that are not on auto-AI right? So for example normal skeletons will work, but skeletons from Many Lives Pass By (great phrase with Brisk Recitation for a Psion/Troubadour by the way: enemies will not come at you because you're throwing skeletons at them without even blinking) cannot be targeted. By the way: combining mass-charm with multi-summmons (e.g. Ancient Weapons + Many Lives Pass By) lets you create an army of flipped + summoned allies that can gang up on few remaining hostile enemies - which can be extremely powerful. And right before the charmed ones flip back you shower them with an AoE from the Debonaire/Wizard. Perfect synergy: an SC Paladin with Divine Retribution who then gets +2 Zeal for every summon that gets killed (by enemies or your own spells).

Sailor Moon After Dark, episode 190:

Looks like I've got quite a few options. I'll have to consider which one I'll take, but I'm leaning towards a Furyshaper/Ancient. I've played a ranger and a ranged chanter most recently so I'll make a melee character this time.

It's an RPG - you are not supposed to be able to pass 150 point checks, perhaps aside from one or two. Overall, I agree that some rebalance for DLCs would be nice.

Too bad you have to go to Deadfire to get the Strand of Favor.

If I was going with a devoted battlemage, I'd probably pick estocs, particularly if you're playing on PotD. They have great PEN, and there are fantastic estocs available, from beginning to end of the game. And you could also pick monastic unarmed training for the pierce immune foes.

It's glorious! 🤘

New photo colorizing technique uses skin reaction to light for life-like results Kinda cool to see the modernized images.

For Balance : Firebrand isn't viable as an ultimate weapon as it is. It is good but not enough. The spell is perfectly fine as a Tier 2 utility spell to get a weapon that deals elemental damages (very important Vs certain foes). That's why I won't change it. Parasitic Staff isn't as strong as ultimate Weapons, but its unique enchant makes it suitable for certain builds. Such as Bloodmage indeed. But that's why I think it doesn't need a buff. For Wizards, it is fine to use it sometimes but switch to other Conjured 2 handers such as Citzal Lance or Warding Staff if necessary. Power Level scaling is a tempting idea but I'm conservative about Keeping the char level instead since it is way easier to balance (PL stacking and differences between Multiclass and Single Class would be a pain).