falchen

Yea seems like you'd get that by walking past or avoiding quests and encounters rather than solving them peacefully, basically a speed run of sorts. Doesn't sound like that's what the OP is looking for either.

Wait are you actually trying to play a non combat character, am I getting that right? If so then yea, this absolutely might not be the game for you then. Cyphers get a lot of stuns and disables, and they can brainwash enemies to hit each other but their spell casting resource comes from hitting or shooting guys first. A priest could be played as a straight up buffer or debuffer but there's nothing roguey about those. Same with a chanter/summoner, but even then the idea is that you hit or shoot stuff while your chants give small boosts.

Looks like obsidian is just living up to their reputation... still love you folks though! Is there an ETA for a patch?

Probably related: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/72975-pallegina-negative-defenses/

Obviously the solution to this is pet armor.

I wonder about paladin auras, from reading the entry about stacking am I right in assuming that damage reduction zealous aura would not stack with say, damage reduction from a priest's armor of faith spell?

The penalty is that hefty debuf the ranger gets if their companion drops.

Yup you are pretty much right in your assesments, expect that finding those purple hidden containers is actually tied to mechanics, but you only find them if you are sneaking.

Resolve is used for lying and bullying in conversations. You might like cyphers, a lot of their spells can confuse, disable or charm/dominate enemies, and they work well at either range or melee. Looks like you can avoid a lot of comabt in this as there is an achievmeent for only killing 175 creatures during the whole game too.

No, currently no stat does.

Chanters eventually get a song that speeds up gun reload times significantly.

Unless I am mistaken using the console commands would also disable achievements, for those who care.

Expect it is, if companions with high perception let you notice things in the world or could contribute to conversations this would be different, currently having high perception does not actually make them more perceptive in any meaningfull way though. Outside of combat it is just a number on their stat sheet.

i'm not sure why anyone would call someone grieving mother. "Hello Grieving Mother, how have you been?" "Tell Grieving Mother to come here." "Grieving Mother is my best friend." Surely this isn't what the character is called the entire game? It sounds more like a placeholder name for a game still in development. She's a sort of spirit/ghost thing, she's not just some regular human woman. She's weird, you'll see if you meet her.

Forest elves get an accuracy boost at range as does the marksman talent, priests get early spells and abilities that boost accuracy in an area, paladins get an accuracy boosting aura a bit later. And rather than boosting your own, debuffing enemies defences is also viable.

You are exaggerating... INT and CHAR are worthless all class (except INT for one class) in IE games. But in PoE all stats can be usefull, yes all (even Resolve and Perception : it makes Pallegina a tanky paladin for instance) Of course tank stats are not going to be useless on a front liner, what does Perception do for Aloth or Sagani though? All stats being usefull for all classes is one thing Pillars tried to do but failed at in my opinion.

It's what you call her, but it's not her name. Kind of like the Nameless one from PS: torment or one of many in NWN2.

Rest in the Gilded Vale inn, follow the quest then speak to Eder next to the three. Next head to Magran's crossing, follow the road and you'll find another NPC by a statue. If you don't mind being gamey you could now sneak all the way to Caed Nua and pick up the chanter just outside the keep as well.

They don't need to be min maxed powerbuilds, it's just annoying that so many of them have stats that do absolutely nothing for them. Like so many of the ranged characters/casters have high perception which is a tanking stat, why? Are you supposed to stick Aloth in plate and send him to the front?

Rangers are pretty underwhelming all around, ranged cyphers are great but you'll mostly cast spells, the ranged weapon is there to build focus. If you want a straightforward shoot things till they die kind of character rogue is probably your best bet, though a chanter with the fast reload phrase might also be interesting.

A lot of this is explained in the in game journal, you can also often click on some words in ability descriptions for a detailed tooltip.

The companions are what they are and could be better, this topic is not about that though. Just wondering how everyone builds them and what weapons/armor to pick for each? The spellcasters seem straightfoward enough, not sure about the frontliners though. Like Eder is obviously the tank, with upgraded defender he is getting a ton of deflection already, should I give him shield style to maximize that or maybe dual wielding to compensate for the speed penalty defender gives? Pallegina already comes with weapon focus soldier, that leaves her the option to stick with a two hander like she starts with, or give her a hammer and shield for more defense... Since her damage reduction and accuracy aura wouldn't stack (can someone confirm this?) with Durance's spells which give more of the same I'm thinking the speed and disengagement defense aura is the best for her, thoughs? Not sure what do with Kana, maybe an increased reach weapon so he can hit over the tanks while buffing them with his chants? Sagani has the option to dual wield hatchets, her stats seem better for tanking than dealing damage. Suppose she could use that to keep casters in the back safe if some mob runs up to them...

Only avaliable to evil priests though I believe.

Are there even abilities/spells etc beyond level 12 programmed in? If not removing the cap would be pointless.

Most would be pretty simple to fix I think, like for Aloth just drop some points from per to might or int, for Durance move all that resolve to int, spread Sagani's perception and con between might and dex. They don't need to be min/maxed but currently most companions have stats which do nothing for their role.