Concordance

I recently completed the game with Zero Knockouts on Hard and the achievement unlocked after using the machine at the end. I can verify that Chanter and Figurine summons dying does not count towards the achievement. This is further reinforced by the fact that people unlock Zero Knockouts during Triple Crown Solo runs, which are not possible without lots of dead summons. It's worth noting that ranger pets count as party members for the purpose of the achievement. Also, anything that automatically revives a downed character (e.g. Second Chance) still counts as a knockout.

The menu option "Disable Auto-Attack" does not seem to stop characters from automatically acquiring new targets after killing, confusing or charming the existing target. As a result, characters break positioning, attack charmed party members and do all sorts of undesirable behaviour the player specifically opted out of by enabling this option. This is easiest to reproduce with melee characters. Steps to reproduce: 1. Find and engage a group of enemies in melee. 2. Assign each party member a target. 3. Observe character behaviour when target dies. Result: Characters automatically attack new targets when the original target dies. Expectation: Character goes idle after killing target.

It's worth noting that while PioE's undead is based on classic fantasy undead, they are distinguished by unique lore. Classic undead is driven by the need to feed to remain "living", or the need for revenge to be laid to rest. PioE undead are all stages of the same disease, that demands they feed not to stay "alive", but to stop their body from decomposing and their memories/intelligence from slipping away. Without feeding, all undead degrade into Skeletons capable of no more than standing around and attacking the first living thing they see. Classic Vampires drink human blood to remain alive and fuel their magic powers. Fampyrs consume living essence, either directly from freshly deceased bodies or from stored souls, to maintain their intelligence, self-awareness and flesh. Darguls are not "alpha ghouls", they are an earlier stage of the disease. They still have their personality and memories, but reduced mental faculties. They consume essence to preserve what they have left. Classic ghouls are feral beasts who eat flesh to keep their soul anchored to their body. Guls are feral beasts as well, but they eat to avoid decomposing into walking skeletons. Obsidian makes the names similar, but different to make you draw the association with existing concepts ("ducs must be rulers, like dukes!"), yet pay attention to differences (dukes are hereditary monarchs, PioE's ducs are elected officials). It's a common technique employed by fiction writers to ease readers into the world, and it works well for those who care about immersion.

I found that the following tactics work wonders: A) Give your squishies a weak unenchanted ranged weapon in the second slot for fights against opponents with Dominate. The best option is the unique The Disappointer pistol with its Very Slow reload, 0.66x damage and -13 accuracy - failing that, a hunting bow will suffice. B) Once Aloth can cast Arcane Reflection, cast it at the start of every fight and keep him the closest to the enemy spellcasters, right behind your tanks. It almost never succeeds in dominating or charming the enemy casters, but it can successfully defend against several Dominate casts. Enemies seem to have cooldowns on their individual spells, and you will end most fights faster than their Dominate cooldown wears down. C) If anyone does get dominated, use the priest spell Repulsing Seal to safely disable them until Dominate wears off. D) If you have a Cipher, you can Dominate your party member to turn him to your side. You can't control the party member until the spell wears off, though.

In my experience, it is not possible to immunize against Paralysis, Petrify, Charm or Dominate, so it's not really worth defending against to begin with. Even with 100+ fortitude and will and +50 defense from priest buffs, my main tank still got petrified/dominated... on Hard. Dominate/Petrify doesn't seem to miss often, if ever, and it whether crits or grazes doesn't really make much of a difference - you either have ways of dealing with it, or you die. The best way to deal with Dominate is by disabling your Dominated party member, Petrify can be avoided by confusing/disabling/focus firing Crystal Eater Spiderlings and Adragans, and banshee Paralyze can be avoided by using chokepoints and either keeping away squishies (so only tanks are paralyzed) or wearing some armor on your squishies and clustering everyone together (so everyone is paralyzed but banshees can't teleport to the squishies)

I agree with most of it, except for a few things: 1) While the Wands/Rods/Scepters are disappointingly similar to each other, I don't think they're useless. With Weapon Focus: Noble, you get Fast and Average weapons covering all three types of damage in both melee and ranged with low recovery time, which is important for Wizards, Druids and Priests. It's also worth noting that the Wizard spell, Kalakoth's Minor Blights, spawns a Wand in the caster's hand. Its duration is long enough to last several fights, it can crit and it has crazy powerful synergy with Dangerous Implements and Weapon Focus: Adventurer. Implements would be amazing for Rangers if they counted as "ranged weapons" for the purpose of Ranger talents. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, they do not. 2) Noble weapons are actually great for your main tank (assuming it's not Eder). +5 Accuracy is great for landing Knockdown/Clear Out with the ability to swap out to a Mace for Crush damage and DR penetration. On top of that, there is a Rapier that grants +17 accuracy and +1 engagement on level 2 of endless paths (can be acquired at level 4 with a party), which made it my tank's main weapon for most of the game. Daggers are also an alternative set for crit rogue builds, due to their base +accuracy and all named weapons boosting either crits or accuracy even further. 3) Two-Handed weapons generally have better DPS, as long as you have high-ish accuracy and are not being interrupted - while the main tank should stick to weapon & shield at all times, the offtank(s) can swap to 2H as soon as they're no longer being hit. It is theoretically possible to interrupt-lock enemies by bashing them with two-handed weapons due to their high interrupt value (esp. morningstars), but I have not been able to pull it off on Hard, let alone PotD. The closest I could get to interrupt-locking was a naked rogue dual-wielding Fast weapons.

You can complete this game on the hardest difficulty solo (though using cheesy tactics), so I wouldn't worry about your party composition much. From a story perspective, Durance is a much more interesting character than Kana, in terms of party interactions and personal quest.

Best way to advance the quests of both Durance and GM is by repeatedly resting at Ranga's campfire in Anslog's Compass. After you complete her quest, she allows you to rest for free as much as you want, and it counts as "camping" for the purpose of their quests.

Priest starts with 10 less accuracy compared to Fighters/Monks/Rogues/Rangers. This talent merely brings the priest's base accuracy up to that of other frontliners, for two weapons only, each covered by a different Weapon Focus. It's pretty good for a caster who wants to melee, but abysmal compared to an actual melee damager.

I was under the impression that both money and XP is in short supply in a Pacifist run. Upon reading the other thread on Pacifism, this appears to be false - in fact, 175 kills allows for plenty of sidequests and even some dungeon crawling. So far on paper, this run looks doable. A tankish rogue or a Bleak Walker paladin should be able to clear the critical path in relative comfort, using FoF scrolls against Shades and figurines+petrify traps against Thaos. Chanter summons are not affected by the Chanter's stats, so a Chanter with Fleet of Foot could theoretically complete the game while resting only once. Sounds pretty fun, too - I'll give it a try after 1.05 drops.

I'm curious if it's possible to do a "Restless Pacifist" run, combining Triple Crown Solo, 0 knockouts, <175 kills and <10 rests into a single run Stick to the critical path, non-combat sidequests only. Talk your way out of a fight whenever possible, sneak past enemies and bait different groups into each other when available. Pump Mechanics, Sneak, and Athletics, perhaps even take Wound Binding to reduce the number of health-related rests. Fatigue is not an issue as long as you don't run out of Goldrot Chew. All of the above sounds doable, and even RP friendly. It would not be hard to roleplay a Watcher who can't sleep due to nightmares and foregoes anything that would strain his tired body any further. The main problem I see with it this is that you would have a very hard time getting your hands on any figurines (due to pacifism), and an even harder time recharging any of them (due to only getting 8 rests total). As far as fights along the critical path go, I think the biggest problem would be Thaos. Pacifism severely restricts the amount of XP and money you can get, and more importantly, the figurines you can get your hands on. Has anyone managed to pull this off? Does it even sound doable?

Using your analogy - what if the robot was part of a group of robots, could grant men untold power or wipe out entire civilizations, and the only thing keeping it in check were the other robots? If the only thing capable of hurting the robot were other robots, what could the humans possibly do about it? Even though Eothas possessed a mortal body, he was not slain by mortals. Waidwen was described as if not invulnerable, then nearly impossible for kith to defeat in battle. He was killed by a weapon made under the guidance of another God, who proceeded to kill off the engineers to ensure it would not be used against anyone else. So it was not really the kith who killed a God, but another God acting through mortal hands. Woedica is also told to have been subdued by the other Gods. I am not sure if the available lore explains exactly who brought her down or how, but the Gods in the Council of Stars appeared to take credit for it. So if the gods are real, have real power to bestow boons and dish out punishment and cannot be harmed by mortals, does it matter that they were created by Engwithians? One way or another, they are now a force of nature that you have to reckon with - just as not believing in cold does not stop you from freezing to death, ignoring the Gods won't stop them from punishing you.

The problem with making a DPS priest is threefold: 1) Low base accuracy for the class 2) Shortage of direct damage abilities 3) Low health and endurance. You can build a Damage-oriented priest and have a lot of fun with it, but keep in mind a DPS priest will still fall short of a rogue, barbarian, monk or DPS fighter in damage output. If you really want a combat priest, Priests of Skaen can take a talent that gives an accuracy bonus to Slilettos and Clubs, and a baby version of Sneak Attack. Combined with Weapon Focus: Ruffian, you will get +16 in passive accuracy. This brings the Priest's accuracy to par with High Accuracy classes. Where a fighter would have 36 accuracy with a stiletto at the cost of one talent, you have the same at the cost of two. In combat, use Inspiring Radiance for the +5 accuracy, followed by Painful Interdiction and/or Seals to apply debuffs that trigger Sneak Attack. Your damage output will not be amazing, but you'll be able to contribute to damage and crowd control (via Seals) in easier encounters and hang back while buffing/debuffing in the harder ones.

It's pretty doubtful that you can hit level 12 before Act 3 without the bounties/Endless. I did literally every possible quest that I could find prior to finishing Act 2, and that included every bounty and level ten of Endless and I just hit 12 after doing one of the first available bounties in Act 3. On my current playthrough, I'm about 20% through Act 3 and I just hit level 10 using the +50% XP requirement option with IE mod. Actually seems almost right. Not quite, but almost. I did all sidequests sans one, all bounties and Endless Paths down to level 14, and I was a few thousand XP short of level 12 before Act 3. I would have hit level 12 if the RNG had given me more stronghold adventures by that point. I felt that the sweet spot on Hard for level 9-15 of endless paths was a level 10 party of 6 characters, and most of the "trash" fights in Act 3 would probably be more interesting at level 8-9. Even the Sky Dragon is not balanced for a level 12 party - I almost made a beeline for the Sky Temple as soon as I heard there was a dragon there (since I wanted his eyes for Superb enchants), and it felt like Eder could have solo'd the beast when I got there. Assuming Obsidian does not do any major balance changes from this point, I think my next playthrough will be a 4 character party on Hard with 50% XP gain. Hopefully this can make the intense experience I had with the average level 1-5 encounter last at least halfway into Act 2.

Has anyone tried to do a completionist playthrough (complete all quests as soon as available) without using the stronghold at all? It would be interesting to see whether that still lands you at level 11-12 before Act 3.

How did you deal with the Adra Dragon?

The problem I have with the revelation that Gods are man-made is: they seem to live up to everything humans think they are. They appear to have the fickle personalities humans ascribe to them, and capable of giving out great rewards and greater punishments. They also appear to be omniscient, and while individual gods are not omnipotent, each God commands enough power over the world to be able to destroy civilizations on his own. Whether you believe in the Gods or not, but they still exist and they can still help you or kill you. If the Kith tried to rebel against their celestial masters, they could be wiped off the face of Eora in a heartbeat. The only dilemma I see is whether to keep this knowledge away from kith, lest they attempt a rebellion and the whole world ends up suffering for it - which, funnily enough, ends up in me agreeing with Thaos yet having to kill him anyway.

Iovara had led her own cult to spread awareness of the Gods' man-made origins, but she also admits they have real power. The two dryads also attest that the Gods are not to be trifled with. If you renege on your promise to any of the four gods, you find out for yourself just how much power they wield over the mortal realm. If the Gods have real power over kith, nature and souls, what does it matter that they were man-made? The game seems to make a big deal out of this, but I don't see a practical difference.

There is nothing to gain by holding Esmar in your dungeon. I held him in a 40+ prestige 40+ security stronghold for over two weeks of in-game time and nobody came for him. You either kill him or let him go. Gramfel seems to escape within a day no matter what, 0 security or 40.

Aside from three fights (a band of vampires, an ancient dragon and an immortal priest), the game does not seem to be balanced around high level parties at all. I hit level 11 before beginning Act 3, and I spent most fights auto-attacking without using a single spell. It would not matter whether I had a party of 6 or 4 -- even my tanks (Eder and Kana) could auto-attack through most encounters without running any risk of dying. This was on Hard difficulty, but it probably would not make much of a difference on PotD - outside of bossfights that bend the rules, my tanks were just too beefy and my spells too powerful for anything to stand a chance. I think XP gain could be cut in half and the game would benefit from it immensely. You would need to bring out scrolls and potions or possibly even cheese the three fights I mentioned, but otherwise you would find Act 3 much more enjoyable with a level 8-10 party.

Aside from giving you another peaceful option for defusing a standoff in Twin Elms, the dungeon is a useless monkey sink - just like the rest of the stronghold. Thankfully, money is abundant in this game so you need not worry about it.

The combat log in both cases showed the Barbarian activating Heart of Fury and hitting my offtank once, for about 33 damage. The actual hit was over 100+ after 16 damage reduction. The main tank had too high deflection to get hit by any of the enemies in warden bounties. None of the enemies looked like they could cast Death Ring or Detonate (which make low endurance characters explode), so the one-shot blow came from the Barbarian only.

I've run into several Barbarian-class enemies in the Warden Bounties and they appear to be capable of one-shotting my party members with Heart of Fury. Namely, combat log shows the Barbarian using Heart of Fury to deal 33~ damage with a single standard hit (no crit), but the target character takes well over 130 damage. This is with a full level 12 party on Hard, on an offtank with 16 DR and 130~ endurance. My offtank had not lost anywhere close to 30%, let alone 90% of his endurance in one shot since the Adra Dragon. In both cases I have encountered this, the barbarians were dual-wielding Fine battle axes. Assuming the AI barbarians are using the same ability as the level 11 Heart of Fury for player barbarians, this kind of single target burst makes no sense. Is this a bug or one of those "save or die" hazards, like Petrify?

The top floor battle is optional. You can talk a certain NPC into visiting the lighthouse after you have explored its entirety. The NPC removes the banshee and completes the quest, skipping the top floor fight.

Did you succeed? I could not sneak through the door due to the ambush spawning ghosts right next to the door.