Incendax

I stacked lashes and hit for 100+ with my Sacred Immolation, and you can get instant LOH by not auto attacking so much. Or for a support Paladin, Shield + Firearm also gets you instant LOH. Hand Mortar is quite nice for this.

Which companions tolerate an evil run? I want to do an evil run after my current bog standard benevolent run, but I figured I would have to take mostly sidekicks and maybe Serafen.

Yeah. If you get Tekehu before talking to the Prince he doesn’t explain his watershaper Gullet mission until a little later (and you have to ask him). If you talk to the Prince first, the Prince makes it abundantly clear. So Tekehu definitely joins you for a reason. Getting away from the guild is just a bonus.

He seems more autistic than psychopathic. I really felt for him, and thought it was a nice touch that he was flanked by two ciphers who were presumably feeding him observations.

Spoiler alert. It’s Eder.

Any Sage is a bucket of fun. Nalpazca for the good drugs, then Illusion or Enchant to flavor. This gives you so much flexibility, from being insanely tanky with Illusion defenses, to solid DPS with offensive buffs, or even just swapping to Int and standing back with a few fireballs when you get bored of punching people (Illusion and Enchant do not give up Evocation). You just have an answer to almost everything, and can mix up your play style if you get bored.

I agree that he is the Durance of Deadfire. The writing is not quite at Durance level, but he starts off intentionally obnoxious and has the most character growth in the entire game, especially if you push him towards being dutiful. The author definitely made me “feel” strongly about his character, and many of those feelings were not positive. But much like Durance, that’s the point. My only actual complaint is that “coming of age” stories tend to be predictable. But Ondra can get really funny if you romance him.

I feel there has been a very important missed opportunity for Pallegina. She knows the gods are fake, but at the very least they are powerful entities that meddle in the lives of the people around her. Her personal backstory involves being the victim of a goddess and mostly "escaping" that fate by her own choice. So, I was genuinely surprised that she reacted so negatively to Xoti when the young woman started suffering beneath her nightmares. It makes sense for Pallegina to grumble when Xoti is being naive about the gods, but this was an amazing opportunity for Pallegina to sit down with Xoti and basically say "Hey, I know what it's like to be victimized by the gods. Let me help." Xoti would naturally resist, but if the Watcher sided with Pallegina on this point it could have turned into a beautiful side plot where Xoti slowly has her faith challenged and Pallegina could become almost motherly towards her. It would strengthen a low-religion playthrough (Skeptic Eder, Skeptic Xoti, Pallegina). It would make Pallegina seem less petty (Pallegina dislikes Xoti for... being a victim). It would be a great character building moment for both of them.

You can stealth past the boars using the ladder, then go around to the north ramp to skip the wurm. But, beating the dungeon without winning those fights makes them vanish. Which you might like, or dislike, depending on if you are trying to “clear” maps or just win the game.

Yeah. "Self: Not Present" should be a Target Type for anything that could possibly buff you. Then it would simply cast that spell when it is not there.

Diplomacy and Insight. Always useful and informative. Bluff OR Intimidate if you are playing that kind of character.

Stat Blessing is nice but not OP. Skill Blessing is the real powerhouse, giving every one on your team +2 to their starting skills. And if you make everyone a multi class then that is a LOT of skills. It can trivialize the early skill encounters.

Playing a Marauder build based on the Engaging Eder concept. Can confirm that Riposte transmits Spell Disruption. It’s also hilarious.

Yeah. I had this happen in my game, and agree that it is nonsense. I would have been fine with such dire consequences if his Saint's War Armor had trigged and they had a funeral scene or even a line of dialog acknowledging his tragic death at the hands of pirates. But there is nothing for your dear old friend.

Eder was deeply depressed in POE1. He just put a good face on it, like many people with depression do. It was one of the best characterizations in the game.

Also, the gods are not well balanced people. They are ideals taken to extremes, and have difficulty even understanding things unless you explain it to them in the terms of their own portfolios. Like scorpions crossing a river, it is their nature to sting.

This doesn’t seem like a build, so much as a general guideline for getting almost any character to 16 solo.

It is exactly the same as POE1, minus the adventures. But there is the catch up mechanic. So just play with them and they will catch up. And eventually DLC will make is to that you can max out everyone even with the penalty.

Recovery time is killing you. Give your Paladin a Shield + Blunder or Pistol.

Old Siec + Mercy + Sacred Immolation does work fine, provided you can handle the raw damage since the heal happens after the damage. So your health effectively bounces up and down. I can see someone accidentally bouncing too low and ending up dead before the healing lands, though. But not too often.

This is mostly the Burn Baby Burn build, though that one preferred Magrans over Sun and Moon. It’s fairly class neutral.

Pfft. Drizzt is clearly a Cipher with two sabers and Time Parasite. =P

There is no correct answer, because it is a sliding scale based on your accuracy, enemy deflection, frequency of being bloodied, and how many other conversion items you have. But I do feel that Orlan requires less micro, and applies in more situations.

I enjoy both games, but I definitely prefer this. 99% of POE1 you could simply leave and rest. Individual combats only mattered if you tried to see how far you could go without a rest. Also, conserving your resources encourages using less resources and doing more boring auto-attacks. HOWEVER... I would like a semi-health mechanic so in battle healing is not infinite. You could regain it between battles, but cannot heal forever within a single fight.

Yeah. Charming a Ranged DPS is amazing. Charming the guy rushing your squishies is the second nicest thing. There is even some benefit to charming a melee at your chokepoint just to waste time and keep tank damage minimal.