Serg BlackStrider

This is just a pure beauty, Alesia! And special thanks for this thorough write up concerning your buffing/nuking approach!

Glad to see Alena making additional content! And performs there nicely, as usual! Maybe Alesia will feel a taste for completionist gameplay someday? As for your question about multiple 'second chance' items - unfortunately I can't comment on that matter since I don't use them trying to go with a zero-knockout approach and is this case it doesn't matter how those items work. But at least I can say that they are a 'double-edge blades'. If, for example, your char will be knocked out having low health as well with a solid blow leading to maimed condition and then granted a second chance by the item with enemies nearby, this could lead to a quick perma-death by those enemies dealing you enough damage to knock out again. I think in this particular case it also doesn't matter much if those multiple items work one after another - it will not help you to survive. For solo run if your char will be knocked out with enemies far enough form him/her this could work since it will de-aggro those enemies, but if enemies are close by the chances are slim.

Love those fireworks! Maybe Alena leans towards Magran a little bit deep in her heart, huh? Keep on rocking, Alesia!

Congratulations, Alesia! Outstanding, impressive and just beautiful run! Champagne for everyone! On a 'At the Mercy of the Tribes' and juicy Dungeon Delver talent - you know that there is no need to fight those Stelgaer to finish this quest. With high Resolve (which Alia is lacking) or decent Twin Elms Reputation (which she has) it's possible to convince Fangs Bright Blood to accept imprisoning Esmar if you have Dungeons built in Caed Nua. Personally I'm always going this way - avoiding unnecessary bloodshed and let Esmar to think of their actions. Later I just free him.

Well, it depends on how you are free on terms of resting/using per rest abilities. Personally, I try to limit my resting and mostly rely on per encounter abilities/consumables. For example in my current run the last time we rest was like right after we got Caed Nua as a Keep two updates ago. Thus we need to use food in a manner I've mentioned here and Potions of Infuse with Vital Essence for Eder when his health drops too low (usually he is the only one who take significant damage). If you are rest-freebie then you are rarely need to use those and just for particularly dire encounters. The scrolls I'm mostly using are of Defense/Protection/Valor, Moonwell, Prayer Against Fear/Bewilderment/Imprisonment/Treachery, Insect Swarm, Paralysis and various Restore Endurance - these I'm trying to collect and buy ingredients for. Others I only use if I find them on my travels. And general approach is, as I've already mentioned, give healing/damaging scrolls to the character with high Might and protective ones to the character with high Intelligence. For Moonwell it is better to have both Might and Intelligence high. Actually that's why I'm trying to have all party members be 'Lore friendly'.

Wow, such a solid progress in one go, astounding! With that pace Alia will face Thaos in no time! (BTW, she looks pretty gothy to me - love it!)

Great! I'm eagerly looking forward for that!

You are making great progress, Concrete Monster! Keep on it! Some note on your party - in my opinion you might want to give Eder some damaging/healing scrolls (those work best with high Might) and hand over those scrolls of Defense/Protection to Aloth/Elanna for better AoE/Duration. ___________ What are you up to nowadays, Alesia? Sailing Deadfire for reconnaissance maybe?

Yeah, you might be right When I'll find something more stylish for him, the Demon will go to the pantry. (and actually Aloth himself might not enjoying wear it, maybe it's just his 'other' instance poke out)

Grim Face (Hearth Orlan, Priest of Eothas) & Co - Part 7 TOC: So we are back in the Keep to resolve a skeletons' attack ('A Call to Court' task also triggered just in time) and since party formation after scripted event is a base №1 (not custom which I normally use) Grim Face ended up in the frontline and was focused by both Skeleton Wizard and Rangers. He managed to cast Inspiring Radiance and was ready to follow with Interdiction but his endurance went down dangerously fast so he hid under Withdraw literally in the last moment (courtesy of his decent reflexes and fine robe he wears which does not constrain his movements too much) when Necrotic Lance was already midair. With him safe the rest of the Crew dealt with the undead without issues in short order. Pallegina hit level 6 (Lore>7, Vielo Vidorio) and we followed to the Duc's Palace to meet Chancellor Warrin and gain a main weapon for Grim Face for the rest of the game (Gyrd Haewanes Stenes Scepter). Defiance Bay: Day 2, Back Again. We started again in Copperlane to finish 'His Old Self' (somehow I lost the pics from that encounter but it wasn't something special - we focused Nyrid with all our firepower and he fell almost instantly even not able to finish a single spell. His bodyguards are also nothing to write home about) and then entered the Catacombs which were properly sanitized (since Grieving Mother took Greater Focus talent early on she could fire Mental Binding right off the bat and that greatly trivialize most encounters). We let Eorn go, talked with Helig of Thein to advance ' A Voice from the Past ' and finished ' Never Far from the Queen '. In order to progress Aloth's personal quest and talk to Moedred we headed to the Brackenbury Sanitarium where ' The Man Who Waits ' got some of our attention too (talked with animancers but not proceed to the North Ward yet). This also let Grim Face to wear Blaidh Golan instead of Fine Robe. Back in the Catacombs we recovered Soulward Amulet from Helig's now completely and irrevocably cold fingers and convinced Dalton to set free Rowyna's soul at long last. Ondra's Gift is next where Dodwyna and her misfits were challenged to recover Vianna's research (and Aru-Brekr for Eder), Waldr lost their last "Three Fingers", then sight, followed by limb sensitivity and shortly after a rowdy head itself, we found Brave Derrin's body and avenged his death and also collected three part of Engwithan Scepter to recover it for Grieving Mother (I'm amazed with her combat performance and skills so she well worth it). Next we sanitized the outskirts of Heritage Hill (except the large group near the tower) and saved Saeda making sure she'll reach the safety in the Cruicible Keep. This brought all except Pallegina to level 7 but since I usually level all party members at once we need a little bit more exp. Returning to the Caed Nua to start ' A Return to Court ' and WM1 content ('Durgan's Battery' quest) solved this small issue just fine. So Level 7: Grim Face (skills(none), level 4 spells), Eder (Lore>8, Armored Grace), Aloth (Survival>3, Deleterious Alacrity of Motion, Essential Phantom), Sagani (Athletics>4, Driving Flight), Grieving Mother (Athletics>5, Pain Block, Silent Scream), Pallegina (Lore>8, Aegis of Loyalty). Time to tie up some loose ends. Forest Lurkers in Woodend Plains and Black Meadow during 'The Parable of Wael' were dealt with via new approach: Eder open with Vigorous Defense>Disciplined Barrage>Knock Down, Grieving Mother cast Ectopsychic Echo on swift legged Itumaak and he delivers it past Lurker. Iben & Co were dealt with as usual by approaching from the West to utilize a choke point there, we buried the scroll as Wael asked and told Grimda it was their God's will. This granted us access to the Elder Archives so we could finish ' The Theorems of Pandgram ' side quest. ' A Return to Court ' quest was resolved peacefully and now we are back in Caed Nua after calming down our folks for +3 Prestige and talking with Marshal Forwyn to start ' The Battle of Yenwood Field ' quest. Since we are at home and already done with easy questing in Defiance Bay, I think, now we are going to explore the Caed Nua lower levels a little bit. Stay tuned! Current Crew state: to be continued...

@Alesia: got it, thanks! And I like your choice/approach for stats distribution. Not purely powergaming but also taking RP grounds into consideration. That's the right way to go in my opinion. Keep on it!

Thanks for your answer, Alesia! I knew about that flat +15 bonus to all defenses and accuracy for the enemies PotD grants. And their increased numbers. I was curious how it changes the mostly stealthy approach your characters perform. In my opinion, those buffed defenses greatly increase importance of Perception attribute. If you miss/graze most of the time it doesn't matter much if you have high Might for damage or Dexterity for more frequent attacks. That's why I prefer this three attributes buffed for PotD - Perception (first of all), Intelligence (for AoE and duration) and Dexterity (simply like fast action speed). Constitution is fine on 8 (for start) or even 6-7 after some more experience under the belt. I'm fine with Might at 10 and Resolve is purely for dialogs (Deflection is easily buffed for any class with consumables/resting bonuses/potions/shields/talents). I also think that if you'll take more 'completionist' approach in your exploratory runs you'll learn the game much faster even taking into consideration increased time spent on them. In any case I'm eagerly looking forward to see you in action soon!

Grim Face (Hearth Orlan, Priest of Eothas) & Co - Part 6 Intro Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 It's been a while since we heard of Grim Face and his merry band. They where quite busy though. With talking, with questing, with poking their noses in all the secluded places. And a one single fight with five harassing thugs during ' Supply and Demand ' side quest. Nonetheless, following all that simple mundane tasks was enough for us to hit level 6. But first things first. In Woodend Plains we just sticked to the road to join Sagani/Itumaak (Athletics>3, Survival>4, Lore>5, Resilient Companion, Predator's Sense, Vicious Companion, Stalker's Link), then proceeded to Stormwall Gorge to hire Hiravias and finally ended up in the Dyrford Village where Grieving Mother took her rightful place in the Crew (Athletics>3, Survival>4, Lore>6, Greater Focus, Biting Whip, Soul Shock, Eyestrike, Mental Binding, Psychovampiric Shield, Ectopsychic Echo, Pain Link). Our stay there was short - just talked with locals and took their quests ('Cat and Mouse', 'Blood Legacy', 'A Farmer's Plight', 'Nest Egg', 'Dream and Memory'). Since 'Blood Legacy' involves some demanding fights, Ogre cave is swarmed with Spiders and I want to hire Korgrak at my Keep but not sure if it's possible without building Barracks first, we postponed to progress further in the village and headed straight to the Defiance Bay for some easy questing/leveling (only let Nyfre flee but not dealt with Medreth for the time being to not ruin our reputation with Doemenels just yet). Defiance Bay: Day 1 First of all we had a city tour, the same as in Dyrford Village - talking, poking, you got the idea. Copperlane: started 'His Old Self', bought The Dunryd Demon for Aloth, agreed to fetch a family armor for Osric ('Rogue Knight'), discovered 'Something Secret' (got a knife for Gordy but handed it to him only after buffing a Survival skill with a scroll and showing how to use it safe so he'll not cut his fingers out), listened to a Dalton's sentimental story ('A Voice from the Past') and offer our services to Grimda ('The Parable of Wael'). First Fires: filched Obsidian Lamp Figurine from Vailian Embassy, collected the Edict of Arrest ('Unwanted') and Penhelm's Affidavit from Crucible Keep and also started 'Missing Sentries', 'Built to Last', 'Cinders of Faith'. Brackenbury: agreed to fetch 'The Theorems of Pandrgam' alone with some jewelry ( ' Far from Home '), learned from Kurren that Penhelm's Affidavit was a forgery and got Osric's family breastplate peacefuly. Ondra's Gift: promised Odda to find her "Brave Derrin' at all costs, were embroiled in a dubious deal by Mestre Verzano ('At All Costs'), dealt with some harassing thugs for Maea (' Supply and Demand ') but then agree with Aefre's terms and made an agreement with the Doemenels for cheaper bitter squash seed prices on Maea's behalf (let Kurren go in ' Hard Feelings ' and lied to Bricanta Doemenel that he was dead - lie for salvation is not a sin). Imatl enlisted us to find a parts of Engwithan Scepter (' Clandestine Cargo '), Marceno - his captain's chest ( ' All Hands on Deck ') and Niah - to expel the spirits from the lighthouse (' The Wailing Banshee '). We are such a benevolent folks, we like to help people and especially to sanitize old gothy castles, yeah! Then our actions were like this: deliver a package to Gareth in Copperlane and hand off a family armor to Osric, buy a medallion from Serel (alone with her ring) and hand it to Thristwn so he could leave back home to his clan, wash our hands of the dispute between Mestre Verzano and House Doemenel and despite of my earlier intentions join with Pallegina to finally build my canon Crew (just can't resist a temptation). Pallegina: Survival>4, Lore>6, Deep Faith, Zealous Focus, Veteran's Recovery, Inspiring Triumph. Speaking with Ambassador Agosti was enough for Grim Face to advance to 6th level: Athletics>3, Lore>5, Survival>2, Aspirant's Mark. As it turned out (I didn't knew that beforehand) this 5 points in Lore were cruicial to advance Eder's quest right now. Normally to gain access to the records one need a reputation in Defiance Bay at least 'Friend' and we are at 'Neutral'. But with Lore:5 we were able to gain access immediatelly and that was enough for other Crew members (except Pallegina) to hit level 6 (Eder: Athletics>4, Survival>4, Superior Deflection; Aloth: Lore>10, Kalakoth's Minor Blights, Interrupting Blows; Sagani: Lore>6, Merciless Companion; Grieving Mother: Lore>7, Draining Whip). Defiance Bay is flooded with experience and even such a pacifist approach allow a full party of six to advance purely from level 5 to 6 in one single day. Now we are going to return to our Keep - some skeletons are threatening it from below - and then back to the Defiance Bay for some a little more 'bloody' work. Stay tuned! to be continued...

I'm curious (I've no experience with lower difficulties in PoE) - how in general PotD has changed the things for you, what caused those reloads? Did you made more fights? Or maybe more questing? More enemies you had to sneak through?

Congratulations, Alesia! Impressive stuff! Grim Face is already preparing a banquet at Caed Nua. It's still in a rather neglected condition, but what does it matter for a fun celebrating party with friends? I don't promise refined treats but Farmer's Spread and Casita Casserole are in plenty. And Darkest Rauatai Cookies for sure! PoTD on itself will not change too much for Astrid if she'll proceed with similar approach in my opinion. Moving over to Deadfire is viable option as it should happen sooner or later anyway and I have pretty dim hopes for a successful blind Deadfire no-reload run. Game mechanics is quite different there so it will take time to adjust. But I'll be definitely happy to be wrong with that and Astrid will claim a title of the first full saga no-reload queen.

One interesting note is that Spider Queen is not the most powerfull enemy defeated by our party at the moment. It's Xaurip High Priest (claimed by Aloth) who is. She just looks horrid but not that dangerous.

Thanks, Alesia! Actually, we were fighting the Queen with all at level 5 already. If you'll look through the pics you'll notice that Grim Face and Durance hit level 5 just after defeating Xaurips and all others after some Bugs nearby. It usually happen a bit earlier but this time I didn't mess with all the Blights/Spirits in the Courtyard (only single Will-O'-Wisp earlier to get Whispers of Yenwood) intending to deal with them after claiming the Keep but they are all gone when it happened (didn't knew that since in all my previous runs I cleared the Courtyard before entering the Keep). And I always take on Maerwald the last, with all level 1 cleared. Just to feel safe in case I need to move out.

Grim Face (Hearth Orlan, Priest of Eothas) & Co - Part 5 Intro Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Now we have our own Keep, but to claim it we first had to endure the swarms of more Ghosts, a bit of Xaurips, Spiders alone with their Queen, various Bugs and some unfortunate Looters. Nothing special: Hit level 5: Grim Face (Mechanics>7, level 3 spells), Eder (Lore>7, Vigorous Defense), Aloth (Lore>9, Survival>2, Expose Vulnerabilities, Llengrath's Displaced Image), Durance (Lore>8, Survival>4, level 3 spells), Kana (Lore>8, Sure-Handed Ila Nocked Her Arrows with Speed). We enter Maerwald's room through the secret side door and when the fight began Aloth cast Chill Fog, Kana applied Scroll of Insect Swarm affecting Maerwald and all three Blights while Grim Face and Durance fired buffs/debuffs (Inspiring Radiance/Interdiction/Consecrated Ground/Bless). Kana followed with Scroll of Defense while Aloth tried Necrotic Lance but missed. Maerwald hit with Fireball but we endured with slight damage received. Small Flame and Wind Blights fell and Maerwald, buffed with Spirit Shield, moved into position to cast Fan of Flames but Eder knocked him down with crit activating Jolting Touch while Grim Face hit with Barbs of Condemnation. Kana is ready to call for Phantom and Flame Blight explode. Phantom hit Maerwald for 22 Freeze damage and that's it. We let Maerwald's soul to pass from the world and claimed the Keep. Now the road to the Defiance Bay is open but first "we must gather our party before venturing forth". For now we are going to join Sagani/Itumaak and Grieving Mother (Durance will stay at the Keep even tho for the moment he has the highest single target damage - 83, most hits - 793, 29 crits, 28 enemies defeated out of total 354 and times knocked out - 0). Eventually Pallegina will replace Kana but I'll not rush for her till we finish Kana's quest. I just want a bit more experience with Chanter since I'm going to make Pallegina Palladin/Chanter in Deadfire. So let's do it, shall we? to be continued...

Grim Face (Hearth Orlan, Priest of Eothas) & Co - Part 4 Intro Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 The Temple of Eothas is finally consecrated. We crafted some potions of Bulwark Against The Elements and Scrolls of Fan of Flames before entering the Temple. First we dealt with some Will-O'-Wisps. Those mass hit Eder with lightning and Confusion but focusing them one at a time quickly sealed their fate. The rest of level 1 inhabitants weren't much of trouble. Level 2 is more dangerous but food buffs, careful positioning at the choke points and some luring is all we need. Not the most elegant approach but effective. As it turned out in the end, we had to fight the restless souls of my fellow Eothasians... If only Xoti were with us now - she could at least harvest the poor souls of the dead by shepherding them into the light of her lantern. But Xoti is out of reach, somewhere in Deadfire. I hope to meet her someday, to easy the burden on my soul... What Wirtan did is horrible, but The Bright God had much to say on the matter of redemption. He could start with burying the Dead Priest's Bones and pray for forgiveness. Eothas is not dead, no matter what others might think for themselves. The most notable loot from the Temple are Minor Cloak of Protection, Minor Ring of Deflection, Cloak of an Eothasian Priest, Gaun's Share Flail and The Pilgrim's Lasting Vigil. Not much left for us to do in the Gilded Vale aside from two Forest Lurkers in Black Meadow and Raedric himself but after some pondering we decided to postpone this tasks and head straight to meeting with Maerwald. to be continued...

Looking good, Alesia! Touch of Rot spell is one of Gloomy Face's favorites too. It's devastating even at Deadfire early stages. One note on Astrid's food buffs - you might want to optimise it a little bit by consuming just one Darkest Rauatai Cookies (+2Con, +1Per, +5Max Health) instead of two - Pearlwood Chicken (+2Con, +10Max Endurance) + Savory Pie (+1Mig, +1Per, +10Max Endurance). Something like this: Darkest Rauatai Cookies (+2Con, +1Per, +5Max Health) Rauatai Sweet Pie (+2Dex, +10Max Endurance) Casita Casserole (+2Int, +10Max Endurance) Farmer's Spread (+2Mig, +1Move Speed) You'll gain most attributes buffed and also +5Max Health/+1Move Speed with minimum suppression this way. It will also allow to preserve her slim figure and agility which is crucial for Rogue cutie! Since " She buys lots of crafting bits because she likes to keep a spread of single use items available at all times. " just keep an eye for Rice, Beer, Fish, Eggs, Sugar, Cocoa, Fruit, Vegetable, Meat, Oil, Milk.

Grim Face (Hearth Orlan, Priest of Eothas) & Co - Part 3 Intro Part 1 Part 2 Anslog's Compass, Xaurip's Camp. We took a position in a bottle neck north-west of camp and applied food buffs, Eder lured Xaurips and we noticed that Xaurip Priest prepared Divine Terror so Grim Face cast Prayer Against Fear followed with Inspiring Radiance+Interdiction, Aloth cast Chill Fog+Combusting Wounds, Durance applied Consecrated Ground+Aspirant's Mark and Eder set Xaurip Skirmisher prone. Our 'Rangers' focused Xaurip Priest and after some Arcane Assault by Aloth only two Xaurip Champions remained, who fell in due course. Only Eder got some negligible damage and that's it. Ippon! Dank Spore Cave. Again Eder lured Sporelings to the Cave entrance. Those are charging Grim Face so after applying Inspiring Radiance+Interdiction me hide under Withdraw, Durance fired Consecrated Ground+Bless and we focused them one by one. Then Eder tanked Dank Spores wearing Hermit's Hat while others shoot from afar. The rest of foes pose no threat and it's safe from now on for Ranga and Ponamu Bird-Scorned to carry their business. On the way back to Gilded Vale we finished sanitizing Magran's Fork of Ludrana's party (again two Goldpack Palladins charged Grim Face so I had to Withdraw), three Wolf packs and some Boars. For the Crew of five level 4 characters it's quite a trivial work. Aloth learned some new spells from Ludrana's Grimoire (Ghost Blades, Fetid Caress, Necrotic Lance). Back in Gilded Vale we where honest with Aufra about Ranga'a mixture and now, after some rest at the Hound (and the Ale Astrid has left for us), we are ready to sanitize the local Temple of Eothas. to be continued...

Grim Face (Hearth Orlan, Priest of Eothas) & Co - Part 2 - Intro. - Part 1 The first objective of our adventure was Raedric's Hold. Esternwood inhabitants - undead and Wichts - are Vessels so Holy Radiance burned them in few seconds. Spiders are a little bit sturdier but fell nonetheless. We met Kolsc there and proceed to the Hold. There we took a sewers entrance (buffed with Duc's Own Beefloaf Eder was able to bend the grates). Large group of Guls, Revenants and Skellies at the entrance was taken down with some more food buffs (Darkest Rauatai Cookies, Rauatai Sweet Pie and Ale) and Eder holding grounds at the side door (those Guls have quite nasty ability - Vomit Blood - which might wipe the whole low level party if applied en-masse). The same approach was taken vs another crowd of undead in nearby room and Eder got Fine Brigandine we found there: Loose Brick in one of the Prison's cells stored Minor Cloak of Protection and we also set free Giacco, an unfortunate member of Kolsc's expedition to the Hold. For now Osrya was left alone (we'll come back later anyway), just like the large group of Oozes at the west. To get to Nedmar we had to wear some Berathian priest robes and pass two checks with guards- one of Resolve 12 (courtesy of Hound resting bonus) and then another of Intelligence 12. Got the master key from Nedmar and loot some Hold's chests for Gloves of Manipulation, Blunting Belt and Boots of Stealth. Not bad, not bad at all! We also hit level 4 there: Grim Face (Mechanics>6, Survival>1, Interdiction), Eder (Lore>6, Survival>3, Two Weapon Style), Aloth (Lore>8, Survival>1, Combusting Wounds, Penetrating Blast). Since (if I remember correct) level 4 is max for party pre Caed Nua we next hired Durance (Athletics>3, Survival>3, Lore>7, Stealth>1, Inspiring Radiance, Aspirant's Mark) at Magran's Fork and proceed east to Caed Nua to meet Kana. In Black Meadow fire priest was invaluable vs Forest Trolls and they drop like flies. The wildlife is quite intelligent and knew their main threat trying to focus Durance first and foremost, but with two Priests in the Crew we endure without losses. Kana joined the Crew (Athletics>3, Lore>7, Survival>3, 'But Reny Darel's Ghost, He Would not Rest', 'Come, Come Soft Winds of Death', Ancient Memory, Gallant's Focus) and we sneaked through the courtyard figthing single Will-O'-Wisp to get Whispers of Yenwood (applying Burning Lash to it immediately): Back in Black Meadow Bandits are not a threat for us anymore (The Disappointer being fixed and in Kana's skilled hands is quite deadly). The whole area is clear now except two Forest Lurkers near Galavain's Shrine (I remember them being a pain in our rears back in Gloomy Face run and we'll come back to that shrine later in the game anyway). Happy with his shipment back Tuatanu sold us Azureith's Stiletto with great discount and we headed to Madhmr Bridge to get Hermit's Hat. Local Xaurips come in small groups so went down easy and pair of Trolls even being sturdier than Forest ones fell nonetheless. Next we are going to visit Anslog's Compass and then sanitize Temple of Eothas back in Guilded Vales. to be continued...

Now that's the pace - Astrid is really Quick&Nimble. We'll name her Astrid The Swift from now on - she earned it! One small downside of such approach is that she left too many foes in her wake for us to deal with... Dangerous enemies, and their very presence threatens the peaceful existence of local folks. Oh well, that's life, I suppose. Let's get to work - if not us, then who else? And we still cope, leisurely but methodically! Quick note of Grim Face & Co: Raedric's Hold is infiltrated and it's Dungeons sanitized already. More details coming soon.

Grim Face (Hearth Orlan, Priest of Eothas) & Co - Part 1 - Intro The Bears are gone down. Since we were going to rest back in Gilded Vale anyway, we went 'all in' vs them. Grim Face placed Repulsing Seal in advance for the emergency sake (if Bears went past Eder), Eder opened with bow shot to start combat, Grim Face fired Inspiring Radiance>Armor of Faith buffs, Aloth hit with Chill Fog>Arcane Blast>Curse of Blackened Sight for mature Bear (Chill Fog target Fortitude - the Bear's highest defense, while Curse target Will - the lowest one). Young Bears went down really quick but mature Bear hit Eder hard so Grim Face fired Iconic Projection and hit Bear with Halt spell to lower their Dex (by 2), Accuracy (by 5) and most importantly Deflection (by 20). Aloth fired some MMM and Bear gone down. Back in Gilded Vale we let Nonton and Ingroed go in peace to build their new (hopefully happier) life, got new recipe from Tenfrith, rest (for Dyrwood's Pride Resting bonus) and enchanted The Disappointer Pistol with Accurate enchantment making it the best and most damaging weapon available for us at the moment. I didn't particularly favor firearms in PoE before but with some Deadfire experience I've changed my mind and not that strict at them anymore. They are partucularly convenient for casters in Deadfire (still need to test how this work in PoE) since they are great for Hit-n-Cast approach, allowing to cast a spell immediately after shooting bypassing recovery stage unlike all other weapons: With all that done now the true Adventure begins! to be continued...

Thanks for best wishes, Alesia! I wish you safe travels as well! As for Per vs Dex - I've mentioned that Per is important in Deadfire mostly on the grounds that it's a main attribute for traps/secrets detection and all other NPC are pretty average at that (my completionist nature just demands to find all those secrets!). Sure thing, you might create another custom character aloneside with your main for that duty but that's another story (personally I'm mostly use story NPC there and avoid custom mercenaries). Which one of two is more important is debatable and is based on particuar class/build. Personally I awe Dex and I would like to push up both (Dex18/Per20) but to keep Int at least at 15 in my case I would need to dump Res below 10 (which I don't want to do on RP reasons). Con 8 is OKish to survive even on upscaled PoTD. And Might I can get via buffs. Yes, Per is not important for Priest's party buffs and Dex is a key attribute here to launch all of those buffs faster but I want for my Wizards spells to hit reliably too. In my current Deadfire run Gloomy Face is dualwielding Scepters Druid/Wizard (in Deadfire those are one-handed weapons) and does not suffer too much from having Dex at 15. More so, I'm pretty much enjoy how he fare. So, I'm sure, you'll be fine with Astrid's current attributes in any scenario.