[Path of the Damned Shades]

No, you got me all wrong, i was actually being sincere and trying to justify my own use of that strategy for tough fights.

[2 tanks and 3 ranged dps possible?]

Maybe he haven't realized the utility of the priest yet, i used to think that racial maximums were way more important than they actually are, does that make me an idiot?

 

If even after many experienced players told him otherwise he still insists on giving this advice then i'll fully back you if you call him an idiot.

[Path of the Damned Shades]

Ain't actually not fighting mobs that don't give significant loot the best strategy of them all?

[2 tanks and 3 ranged dps possible?]

You really like calling other people idiots don't you?

[Will this game kick off a new wave of DND games?]

D&D 3E (or Pathfinder for that matter, since it's basically the same thing) might have serious flaws... but they're still a hell of a lot better, in terms of ruleset, than *any* non-action CRPG for which the designers made the rules from scratch. That I know of, anyway.

 

While i don't like it's "feel" i believe 4e DnD to be a better system for CRPGS than 3e/PF.

[Path of the Damned Shades]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't you try and avoid pointless battles in Ironman? You can complete this quest without having to fight at all in the last level.

[Which class has most unique dialogues?]

I don't think i got any specific dialogue or reactions neither for my fighter nor my rogue, so i would avoid those two.

[Path of the Damned Shades]

Lighthouse still has doors in both levels, i'm starting to think developers intended doorblock to be a feature for those that like to use it.

[Let's make the list of the easiest zones (HARD, PotD)]

I might be missing something here, but why don't you just play PotD if you think hard is too easy?

 

 

This seems like a no brainer.

 

 

Because, he does not want the whole game to be harder (Ie Caed Nua), just the main quest.

[What skills are most useful for party members?]

This thread might help, i asked those same questions a while ago.

 

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/76662-how-many-skillpoints-in-each-skill-possible-spoilers/?do=findComment&comment=1648179

[2 tanks and 3 ranged dps possible?]

I kinda agree with I had almost that same party in my first PotD however i had a pally instead of a second fighter.

[Casual vs Hardcore. Correlation between experience and difficulty.]

By the definition of hardcore gamer some people use in this thread speedruners would qualify as casuals.

[Will this game kick off a new wave of DND games?]

A DnD game with the new ruleset could really work since it's not that different from 2nd edition.

 

What I actually would love a Pathfinder game, but i fear that Paizo will force them to use their setting and i kinda find it to be a low quality politically correct clone of Forgotten Realms.

[Too Easy?]

 

... What?

 

First of all, I sincerely believe that most people are idiots. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that people are actively getting dumber. But even so, I refuse to believe that Pillars of Eternity is "really hard" for most "normal people". Especially if we by "normal people" mean people that play actual games, because alright, I'll admit that my mother's farm hero saga-addled brain would probably find PoE pretty difficult.

 

And second, it's not "somebody" that "figured out a way to cheese through a fight". Most fights you don't even need to think about cheesing. Are we playing the same game? Because unless you're actually lobotomised, you can barge through the game like a drunk, never checking the combat log, never knowing what things really do, and just sorta wing it. On Hard.

 

You know, my friends from Uni who played it the found game to be hard on hard and extremely punishing on PotD. Since they are actually studying engineering i have a hard time thinking of them as lobotomized idiots.

[Deflection - what is enough?]

Yes, i observed that too. Maybe he can target fortitude with his attacks like the barbarian.

[Deflection - what is enough?]

I had eder as my main tank in PotD-Ironman, game was still too easy.

 

 

You are a hell of a player then dude, most of my IRL friends actually found that hard was really hard. Even I don't think I'd be able to Ironman PotD without a lot of cheese.

[Harder than a Pillar: A Fighter's Handbook]

If the idea of building a deflection tank was not in the minds of the developers, why would they make it so easy to reach invulnerability in the default difficulty level?

 

Even without min maxing, a fighter who just picks picks some no brainer talents (Defender, wary defender and weapon and shield) and following the game advice to pump resolve, will still be able to get mostly grazes and no crits in normal/hard. The problem is that to maintain that playstyle in PoTD you are required to make some sacrifices, there's not other way around it.

 

You may think that PotD is meant to be played with sub optimal builds and by not abusing the AI, but most players don't care if something is cheesy, they just want an effective character to help them get their achievements, this guide helps them do that imo.

 

You should write a RP/Play Fair guide and put your builds in there, i'll even be glad to offer my advice on that since i know a thing or two about RPing too, but talking about this in this thread is moot.

[Harder than a Pillar: A Fighter's Handbook]

Well there seems to be a heated debate about how a tank should be, instead of addressing the posts one by one I'll just state some things.

First and foremost this is not an RP guide, so arguments like "tanking this way is not realist" or "This is a cheesy build" are not valid.

Many here believe that a tank should be able to do more than just tanking, i don't since this is all about the dedicated tank. And while It is possible that hybrid is more effective than a dedicated tank, it requires more micromanaging to work. Still, i appreciate the feedback and I'll use the advice while writing the hybrid guide.

 

I have updated the main post, thanks to everyone who participated in the thread. I'll add KDubya build once i get to write about the hybrid fighter.

[Casual vs Hardcore. Correlation between experience and difficulty.]

Hardcore players should never play a game on normal for starters. If your first run is on hard i bet you are definitely gonna get enough challenge to have fun, if you are still finding it easy just play PotD or try to "play fair" by not abusing the AI (Don't split groups, doorcheese, etc).

[What class do you play as?]

Big stupid fighter and proud. I am training for triple crown with a rogue though.

[Let's make the list of the easiest zones (HARD, PotD)]

Anything main quest related actually, but this happens in any RPG without a scaling system.

[Deflection - what is enough?]

100 is a comfy number.

120 is enough for most of the game.

140 is going to rock everything but the Adra Dragon, basically.

 

I concur, 140 means you'll only gonna get grazed on a a hit, even by drakes and elder bears and 95 is the absolute minimum to avoid crits. This is only for PoTD though, for lower difficulties 120 is more than enough (That's the main reason Edér is good enough for Hard but struggles in PotD).

[Path of the Damned Shades]

There are actually no shades in the way to Maerwald, only phantoms and shadows, also getting Kana and an early botanical is are good reasons to do caed nua first.

[Harder than a Pillar: A Fighter's Handbook]

How much accuracy would you say is enough for PoTD, finding that number would really help me fine tune the guide. Also i do have some doubts about the weapons, hatchet is the king in early game, and then you can trade it for the spear that is in the same group. I'm not really sure if grace to hit is actually better than the extra accuracy, i could be wrong though.

[Path of the Damned Shades]

So Im currently in the temple of Eothas. Party is 4 members of me(Paladin Tank), Aloth, Eder, Durance. Level 4 each.

 

First floor was okay.

 

2nd floor. I thought the Shadows were going to be a huge pain, but once I cleared that bottom room with 6 shadows, I figured it wasnt that bad.

 

Then I got to the middle-ish room with 4 Shadows and 2 Shades.

 

Killed the Shadows, thinking that I was about to wrap that battle up, until I started to try and kill the Shades.

 

I couldnt hit them no matter how long I tried, and then they resummoned the Shadows. Got raped.

 

Question. How exactly do I deal with these Shades?

 

I know Aloth Fan of flames or w/e its called, the cone fire thing, is very effective against the Shadows, and Im guessing the Shades, however I only have limited use, so I need to make sure my hits count against the Shades. I also know Durance can buff accuracy, which I guess helps, but I still cant get rid of the final 2 shades.

 

I also used the positioning of having 2 melee guys in front, and 2 casters in back, right in front of a closed door, so that the Shadows teleport outside the room (But I dont think that is helping as much as I thought it would, since they open the door)

 

My best attempt was killing all the Shadows except for 1, (thought that maybe they only rez Shadows if all of them were gone, which Im pretty sure Im wrong on) and then killing 1 Shade. But the fight went on for too long and died.

 

How do you deal with this?

 

I actually did the temple of Eothas after Caed Nua, the extra levels help a lot.

 

If you still want to do it now, you should try to doorcheese + chillfog, Also if you are the one who is tanking just give Edér a great weapon turn on barrage and knock the shades down, Flank+Prone has to make them go down faster. And btw you should recruit a rogue and give him the Anslog arabalest, the sneak attack opening will get one shade to low endurance or kill it outright in a lucky crit.