Lasci

Honestly? I think you can skimp on intelligence, but might is pretty necessary here.

How'd you beat the final boss?

Hard mode is generally pretty easy after you get past Defiance Bay. Short encounters are going to be laughable to two Ciphers, but longer boss fights might prove a touch more difficult. You get some cool Cipher conversations with the Grieving Mother, though!

Yes, but they're not so much 'Watcher passives' as 'main character passives' that come from the progression of the story and the choices you make.

They're pretty good. Some of the weapon focus talents are better, but the weapon styles are all fairly well balanced; each of them is perfectly viable. The Utility tree is a little lackluster, however. Most of those go without much use for me; the only worthwhile one among them off the top of my head is Scion of the Flame for certain classes and Deep Pockets for solo runs. The Defensive tree feels lackluster, but I think that's mostly because you need to have so few tanks in your group.

For dialogue options? Are there many, or is it a story thing? Druid can replace a wizard in offensive spells? Cipher to? The classes in this game are nothing like I thought they were. Paladin gets an ability that automatically increases their defenses as long as they keep to the dogma of their order. If you choose all of the dialogue options that are with the order you choose, your main character's defenses skyrocket. This only effects the main character because the main character is the only person who can choose dialogue options. Cipher is arguably the strongest spellcasting class in the game. And the druid is much stronger than the wizard early on.

Blunderbuss with penetrating shot against low-DR targets shreds through the opposition. It's insane. Arquebus is more suited towards high DR targets that you need to have a high damage to punch through.

I'd echo this in saying that it just sounds like you're underleveled and poorly equipped. Try to do all the quests in Gilded Vale and Defiance Bay. Along with Readric's Hold, I think that got me to level ~7?

I'm going to say something unpopular. Go one-handed style. More accuracy, less grazes, more hits to convert to crits. I haven't done the math (and I'm not going to) but it's incredibly satisfying to see a rogue with Ravenwing constantly critting everything.

Force of Anguish for sure.

Tank - Fighter/Paladin Thief - Rogue Melee DPS - Barbarian Ranged DPS - Ranger/Cipher Caster - Druid/Wizard/Cipher Healer/Buffer - Priest Chanter could pretty easily fit into any of those slots and just act as an extra tank. If you're making an all custom party and you're taking a paladin, I strongly recommend making that paladin your main character.

Doesn't the level 1 quarterstaff spell give the wizard endurance regen?

Nice. Couple questions: 1. How did you feel you did before Caed Nua with the phantoms? 2. How'd you beat the final boss? 3. Why two-weapon style... and gunner?

Ranger, rogue, fighter, paladin, and chanter don't really need intelligence. In varying degrees, of course, but still. Intelligence doesn't affect them that much. I will admit that for wizards, druids, priests, and occasionally ciphers, a lack of intelligence can be a bit crippling. I remember putting Hiravias into my party when my main character was a druid and being baffled at how awful his AoE's were. I don't think it's too big a deal, though.

You probably either want a cipher or druid.

One in the prologue, two in Esterwood, and one in Black Meadow.

Using the blunderbuss + pistol is pretty great because you can take weapon focus ruffian and have the flexibility of going between pistol for high DR targets and blunderbuss for squishier ones. Most of the ranged weapons are pretty balanced now. It usually depends what you're looking to do.

Eder should be using a Oidhreacht, a stiletto you get from the first level of Od Nua, and the "door shield" you get from the blacksmith quest and should be the first person to be seen by the enemy so that they focus on him. Pallegina should be using a two-hander that fits with her weapon focus. I think Justice is the best you can get at this point, but I could be mistaken. In general, your party is very defensive orientated. Durance is a priest and they're a very supportive class, so if you're not on hard or PotD he might be very underwhelming overall. Aloth is going to be great for you in boss fights / long encounters / whenever you decide to use his spells, so I wouldn't worry much about him. However, Pallegina is a paladin, and they don't have much raw DPS potential. That's not to say she isn't good! Just, you know, more supportive. The same goes with Kana. You might consider replacing Durance, Kana, or Pallegina with Sagani, Hiravias, or Grieving Mother.

I wouldn't make a Chanter because Kana is excellent and you get him right after Gilded Vale. Go with a rogue or monk.

If you're playing a monk and you don't have Vulnerable Attack, your damage is going to be pretty bad.

waitwaitwait What's the courtesan buff?

Fan of Flames, rest. Fan of Flames, rest. Fan of Flames, rest. Rinse and repeat. You want to spend time working to get 7k to buy the blunting belt (which will serve you throughout the entire run) and the horned figurine for animat summoning 1/day. You can do this by: selling absolutely everything you can to the merchant in the prologue scouring the starting area, Magran's Fork, Black Meadow, and Esternwood for items killing the moon godlike with platemail in Gilded Vale killing the Eder, Aloth, and Durance completing the blacksmith quest with by sneaking to get the supplies with 2 stealth. After that, it should be (relatively) smooth sailing.

I'm balancing a run of all the classes. I'm curious, what's your talent/ability selection? Did you use Turning Fist, Rooting Pain, and retaliation?

Max might and dexterity. The rest of the stats mostly don't matter, but don't dump intelligence. Be a wood elf for the ranged accuracy bonus or aumaua/dwarf for the might bonus. Take Swift Aim for guns, Vicious Aim for bows. Gunner if you need it. Marksman, Swift and Steady, Weapon Focus, and Driving Flight are all useful.