b0rsuk

Linux version from GOG, I patched by downloading the new version, renaming old Pillars of Eternity directory to something else, unpacking the new version, and running ./start.sh in the new directory. I didn't move any savegames manually. BUG in 1.03: Hearth Harvest, an unique hatchet found on a corpse on west edge of Wooden Plains, looks quite silly. Normally, weapon images in inventory are small and become enlarged when you click on them (pick them up to place in another inventory slot). After loading my game in 1.03, Hearth Harvest is enlarged ALL THE TME. It looks exactly the same when you're transferring it to another slot as when it's lying somewhere in your inventory. BUGS still in 1.03: Item descriptions still have lines which read like this: Light Armo Heavy Armo 'r' is missing on the end.

But Sagani is HOT. How could you ?

Maybe a patch ? In unpatched game, Plague of Insects cast by Ogre Druids has infinite duration.

Nearly dead ? So what ??? Amazing for my Dangerous Implement ranged monk. Also, I recall someone saying "Bar the Death's Door" priest spell is terrible. Are you so sure now ?

Look, what you want is actually to cause more damage before combat. The same could be achieved by... stronger traps. Why don't you ask for some more expensive but high damage traps instead ? A single powerful trap is less annoying to set up than a dozen of dart traps. And this is why you fix imbalances in your game. Because it's a slippery slope, and people use it an an excuse to break other things in the name of cheese. Two wrongs don't make a right.

I assume Itumaak has wolf-like stats ?

There is at least one scroll which grants area Accuracy bonus. That should speed up your buffing.

Have you read the tutorial pop-ups about engagement mechanic ? The game doesn't have aggro mechanic, because that's ordering enemies what to do. And that would be silly.

I suspected as much, because it never seemed like Sagani is dealing +20 damage when I turn it on. Thanks for confirmation Speaking of DR, I'm starting to think it should work differently. For example if you have DR of 20, it would roll d20 two times and get the higher result. Hmm.

There's the spell Suppress Affliction, which shortens the duration. Also I think killing the fampyr will uncharm your character. It works that way with summoners. I'm giving my Hiravius "Mental Fortress" talent. I'm fed up with it.

I don't want to even share a forum with people who like grinding!

It can depend on how long you stick with few party members. There's a bonus of +10% xp for each member below 6. If you want to level up a long time, get 5 companions FAST.

Or maybe it's just that design has changed. I mean, there was a big fuss about how firearms can pierce Arcane Veil. Blunderbuss was a Peastant weapon, and some quests in the game reflect that. Some item descriptions say such and such weapons are liked by Adventurer and Soldier. But weapon focus groups have become disjoint in the meantime. No weapon appears in two talent groups, unless you want to take Knight and Magran priest talents for +16 Sword accuracy.

"Load Game" is one of biggest enemies of Stealth. If encounters weren't exactly the same you load game (for example because monsters move randomly or traps are in slightly random spots)...

Money is practically infinite in Pillars of Eternity. Number of eternity (and so the number of traps you can place) is limited. You can farm money forever once you have your stronghold. Raids, taxes, even selling stuff from Curio Shop and Botanical Garden. Do you like grinding ? Soon you would have to filter threads about most efficient gold farming etc.

In defense of other skills, if you know what you're doing you can use Lore to great effect. Your back row characters, especially those who are mostly on auto-attack like Sagani, can use Lore for support scrolls. Maelstorm scroll is craftable and great single target damage. Scroll of revival is sweet too. And once you get started with scrolls, you realize Survival can be nice. You get more for from your potion money. Technically it works on "consumables", so some scrolls benefit as well. I haven't tested if it works on traps too, but I wouldn't be surprised. Stealth would be MUCH more useful, if.... a) it made you see what loot enemies have b) levels were designed more with stealth in mind. For example some encounters would have levels to open alternate paths and skips them, others could have "explosive barrels" in the middle of them. Something you could trigger before the fight starts to make it easier, like dropping a rock on someone. Also, in many cases you find useful scrolls and potions right before hard encounters. For instance I remember a scroll of revival before a really tough fight, and potion of bulwark against elements before some elemental stuff. Typically they're hidden. This promotes Mechanics skill. If those silver bullets were hidden IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ENCOUNTER, that would promote Stealth. For instance a room of banshees has a scroll of Prayer Against Fear in it. If you just run inside and kill banshees, the scroll won't be that useful because they're already gone and you're back to fighting something else. But sneak in and get it BEFORE fight... c) speaking of level design, simply having dead ends with monsters but no loot would promote stealth. If you kill monsters that don't seem to be guarding anything, it's all for nothing. d) A big issue is the ability to just charge ahead and then reload once you know what's coming. This could be fixed if monsters randomly moved within a small radius. If you didn't know where exactly each monster is, you'd be more inclined to train Stealth, so you can spy with a thief and pick the right moment to attack. One trick with Stealth is to make the sneaker wear Boots of Speed. They grant +3 Movement Speed, which lets you get away with even lower Stealth skill. You can cover more distance in sight of enemies in less time.

If you could set multiple traps per encounter, that would literally be "pay to win". If you couldn't kill it with a trap, you'd need to use more. Sounds like violence. Or XML. This is actually a great reason NOT to have trap farming. What would you do if some of your traps fail to trigger ? That's right, you'd disarm them and put them back in your inventory. Next encounter, you're setting 30 traps. 10 of them go off, you disarm 20 traps. Repetition, farming, grinding. If you want a MMO, you know where to find it. This is consistent with the game's design. Pre-buffing with potions before combat is not possible. The same arguments that are used for trap spamming in this thread could be used to justify pre-buffing with potions. But but but you don't have to do that ! But it's a single player game ! But you pay money and resources for potions ! But but but it takes time ! The common theme here is: no rituals before combat. This is already in the game. You just need to have these skill points on separate characters.

Flavor-wise, are you so lazy as to use camping supplies when you have a cozy inn (okay, a brothel) right outside ? I know my party would rebel. Hiravius in particular proposed that we watch him having a go with a brothel lady. That surely beats resting in a haunted lighthouse. Can you name some other non-resting areas ?

Envenomed Strike counts per hit !

Both Sagani and Hiravius tend to come with Weapon Focus: Peasant. They can use a spear. Also, Weapon Focus: Peasant is a good fit for Eder as far as flavor is concerned. Speaking of feeling cheated, I spared the vithrack without realizing he held the key to the enchantment. It was consistent with my earlier behavior. Oh well, double axes for Sagani and two staves + Savage Attack for Hiravius.

Imagine the outcry ... Congratulations, you just made all the tank builds/abilities UTERLY useless ... enemies break engagement all the time and the decorum decoy tanks can only tickle them as punishment ... Only viable talents/builds left -- DPS kill them before they kill you .. On top off all that some encounters designed around tank use might become near/trully impossible to win . You broke the game . I hope you are sarcastic, because even Master Below is killable with Eder specialized for DPS. It's harder, but can be done. My Durance cackles like a madman when there are shades around. He wields Whispers of Yenwood.

Right, I forgot about Brute Force. But it's still a mystery how you will be able to beat the Master Below. I suppose you could do it if one of your barbarian trains Lore. "Might Makes Right" style party centered around melee is on my list of things to try. I haven't decided yet, but one thing I know for sure: no druids, priests or wizards allowed ! Basically no pure casters. I will probably avoid Cipher as well. It could be something like this: * Fighter (Eder) * Barbarian * Rogue * Ranger (Sagani) * Chanter (Kana, built for melee) * Possibly Monk, but I don't like the flavor of that class, so if I take him it's likely to be something funky, like Dangerous Implement monk. The whole idea of "get hit to get stronger" is dumb. Loosely inspired by Logen Ninefingers and his party. I could take paladin, but they're too self-righteous and pompous. I'm trying to decide between all-melee and all-physical. Ranger is not melee but is a rather challenging class, and pet is melee, right ? All melee is glorious, but in either case I won't have artillery classes and much use of chokepoints.

Speaking of disengagement attacks, I'm a bit sad AI never seems to disengage. I mean, it makes me sick when people use builds like minmaxed TANK fighter with 2 Might (!!!) and defender mode. Any enemy with a brain would realize that 2 might is not doing much harm, it's pretty much ignorable and suffering disengagement attacks from a 2 Might fighter is the best thing you can do!

0. Send Eder first, no reason to have your entire party endure that corrosive breath opener. I'm a bit surprised summoning is not on your list of cheese. Aside from the area attacks, which the lizard only seems to do at the beginning (1 breath and 1 wing beat), it seems to stick to melee attacks. It might throw a Dominate here and there. Long story short, Chanter summons do a good job at keeping it occupied. Urdel and Gurdel work especially well. If you have a druid, Moonwell is great for both Eder and your monsters. You don't seem to cast Prayer against Fear, why ? Scroll of Youthful Spirits is nice at the start, all your party members get more from potions with +3 to Survival. Sagani is an excellent target for Champion's Boon (from Durance). +10 Might, +10 Perception, +5 DR penetration ! Couple this with Potion of Deletrious Something (-10 endurance, 1.5x attack speed and Marked Prey and things get interesting. In general, the lizard's worst saves are Reflex, and damage type - cold. Blizzard from a druid is particularly sweet - deals damage, and lowers attack speed. I happen to have two druids in my party.

I'll be thrilled to hear how that party fared against banshees or the Master Below.