KDubya

Why use two handed weapons? If its for role playing reasons great but if its for game mechanics I'm confused. Flames of Devotion are a full attack so they greatly benefit from dual wielding. Dual wielding counteracts the attack speed malus of armor allowing heavier armor to be used Barbaric Blow is also a full attack which benefits from dual wielding Use of Modwyr soulbound sword would clear the berserker confusion, else its level ten before you can take it as a pally. dual wielding lets you get two unique weapons instead of one The magran flaming axe adds to your fire powerlevel which greatly boosts your FoD Another question is why combine Berserker with Kind Wayfarer? Berserker is the best Barbarian but it comes with the confusion, which becomes a design goal to overcome via skills or equipment. Kind Wayfarer heal allies via FoD and heal enemies as well when confused. Combining these two means you can only make use of one half of your powers at any time. This is especially damaging at low levels before you can clear confusion and when the game is the most difficult. Would a Bleak Walker or Goldpact not work better with a Berserker? Actually role playing wise I'd have to think that a Berserker/Bleak Walker fits well with the belief that violence solves all problems and berserker raging violence works faster so its best. A stoic berserker just sounds conflicted.

Sinking the ship is still the easiest way, max double bronzers for the win!

In PoE I got the vibe that the different origin locations were more geographical and cultural. In DeadFire I get the vibe that the different origin locations are racially based.

Yeah but the game acts as if anyone with the Deadfire as a background is a Huana not a pirate. In PoE I really liked going with Island Aumau for 'armed to the teeth' and the Raider background to be a pirate. Now when I do that I get a dumb ass 'walking in surf' ability and get treated like I'm a tribal.

How does adding new DLC content work with the vanilla game already getting you to max level? In PoE you were maxed at level 12 and the DLC added content and levels to where you ended up at level 16 (or at least that's what I think it was). In DeadFire I hit max level 20 with the base game. How does the addition of more content and thus more exp get around this or does it just mean that I'll hit max level that much sooner? Is the rate of exp gain reduced or do I need to get a mod for that?

I found a maxed out Junk with sail and hull upgrades to be the best ship combat. Close to range turn to port or starboard hold fire jibe jibe jibe hold fire repeat I also found removing sails as a waste. The enemy can still fire, its not as if I can maneuver such that I am out of their firing arc. I can't 'cross the T' and fire raking shots avoiding their broadside, while they are immobile due to the loss of their sails. Taking out the hull always works and minimizes the amount of return fire that I receive. Boarding tends to result in the entire enemy ship firing firearms at my MC and killing them. Always seemed safer and faster to just sink the ship.

I suppose so but I always felt more of a desire or need to go after Irenicus and not so much of a reason to go after an unkillable 300 foot tall statue.

I started with AD&D in 1979 so to me 2nd edition IS D&D to me. Baldurs Gate recreated my childhood gaming experiences and dit it superbly. That said the game mechanics of PoE are better. Its much better to have your fighter swing in real time and get incremental speed increases rather than a massive jump from 1 to 3/2 attack per round. Also deflection and a separate armor value is better than Armor Class. Character building is way better in PoE. Mage battles were better in Baldurs Gate, mages were to be feared. The meat of any game are the quests and the story/characters. It is here that Baldur's Gate reigns supreme. Maybe it is standard fantasy fare but so what? It does it well and standard means it works. Becoming good in spite of your being a Bhaalspawn or embracing your evilness makes for a great story. Transforming into the reaper/stalker gave great in game power but had a cost of moving towards evil. Staying good in the trials of hell had actual sacrifice, you lost stats while going for more power shifted you rightfully to evil. The story in PoE and Deadfire just never pulled me in like Baldur's Gate. Kids without souls is a bad thing but why should my character care and how is it my problem to fix? DeadFire is even worse; I 'die' and come back as a first level guy whose companions also somehow become first level as well … and changed class …. and now I'm a pirate ….If I do every quest and explore every island except the main plot no one cares, there is no sense of urgency to chase after and engage a 300 foot tall god. If DeadFire had me come back as Thanos and had me rebuild the Leaden Key as a force for evil or good depending on my choices that would have been a good story.

I think the setting would have been better without any elves or dwarves. Should have stuck with Obsidian's unique races Aumau, Orlan, Godlike and humans. Would have made for a much tighter narrative.

Single weapon DPS, here we go: Let's discard classes that massively benefit from full attacks and dual wielding; No Paladin No Rogue I'd also drop Monk as fists are better than a one handed weapon, I just feel bad trying to make a Monk without fists. So we have these to choose from: Barbarian - frenzy adds damage, attack speed, stagger (via spirit frenzy), extra armor, on kill attack speed, heal, Berzerker adds penetration, hit to crit, and armor, leap adds mobility. Has some on crit effects like interrupt Soul Blade - Soul Annihilation is a primary attack, soul whip adds extra damage, extra penetration available from passive, useful Cipher buffs, charms and damage spells. Works well with a minimal investment into the Cipher class. Fighter - Devoted adds penetration and crit damage, most fighter abilities are now primary attacks, armored grace is great, disciplined strikes is great, lots of good defensive abilities and passives, gets regen. Skald - more crits = more phrases, gets regen, group buffs and spammable powers. Can work well with a very focused set of abilities; go with one main chant and one or two invocations to save the picks for the other class. Pretty much any combination of the four classes above would make for a good single weapon DPS build. I wouldn't go for a Berzerker/Skald unless you have cleared the Confusion as the chants affecting both your team and the enemy is not a good idea, also most of the chanter invocations are foe only and making them affect everyone is a big malus. The problem is that unless you really need crits for something to proc, like a Skald, going with a harder hitting, soon to have more penetration, two hander works better than the single weapon style usually.

Why a dagger instead of tuotilio's palm? The shield should deal fairly comparable damage while you're hitting with it at all, which you can often avoid due to spamming torment's reach, and gives much better defenses. A dagger would hit harder and faster than the shield and benefit from two weapon style. You'd only switch to it when you needed the extra deflection, which I'd think would be rarely since the illusion spells will generate so much. You'd use fists most of the time. A dagger does 10-14 base while the shield does 8-10 and your fists do 16.5 average per hit (I forget the range) To generate the three wounds needed for Torments you'd probably have to auto attack two or three times, the glory days of perpetual monk abilities are gone

I'd go with dagger in the offhand and fist in the main. At least on one weapon set any way. It'd let you activiate the dagger modal for more deflection while still having one fist for the better dps.

The fighter/Priest of Wael will get some really good defense as the Priest of Wael gets access to the best illusion spells plus all the priest spells plus all the Fighter abilities. Make it an Unbroken for even more defense. A Paladin/Priest of Wael also gets some crazy defense available.

All barbarians get access to interrupting blows which I think is 50% interruptt on crit. In reality a dual wielding berserker with his inherent hit>crit from frenzy will probably stop a spell caster as easily as a Wizard Slayer. A Berserker/Rogue will have even more interrupting as the Rogue strikes all interrupt. The malus of no healing from potions is big, especially early game when it is toughest. That 25% chance to resist the spell that will save your life is also a big problem.The two less armor compared to a Berserker is huge in mitigating damage and Barbarians get hit frequently and easily due to proximity to melee and low deflection. With more levels you get enough of a health pool to outlast the damage but early its different. I want so badly to come up with a good use of the Wizard Slayer but it ends up with a plain Barbarian being better. The main niche is combos where the Berserker confusion is really bad like a Chanter that buffs and heals the enemy. If they extend the effect of 'spell disruption' to power usage which also included any and all abilities then you'd have something that'd be worth the hassle other than for the challenge.

Like Ryzak said just concentrate on being a Berserker with soul whip for a nice damage boost, the penetration passive, soul annihilation and Whispers of Treason. You basically frenzy and then auto attack with some soul annihilation thrown in. For stats what you have is OK, maybe drop a few from Resolve and add to Intellect. Modwyr is the sword you'll want to clear the confusion. I prefer the shout instead of barbaric blow. The club modal gets you a nice will debuff that helps early game on PotD when trying to land a charm/dominate. Heavy armor works well with dual wielding and the extra armor from Berserker and thick skin stacks and gets you into the territory of armor being very worthwhile. I'm not sure if that Cipher power that transfers armor from target to you stacks with the Berserker armor boost. Its a solid melee build that is low on the micro, lots of good passives and on kill effects.

Does the will / reflex lowering gets propagated via Carnage? I assume no, but asking just in case. Carnage does not propagate anything anymore, so the weapon debuffs are single target only. I've got a midlevel Ravager - Wizard Slayer/Shattered Pillar who uses two handed weapons, primarily morningstars to use the fortitude debuff and the monk primary attacks like FoA and Torments Reach. The spell disruption is useful but the lack of healing is a real problem. Being about dead and resisting the priest's heal or sanctuary spell is a problem. Its different but not necessarily strong. If I was to make a dedicated Wizard Slayer I'd want dual wielding and some inherent regen. So either a Fighter multiclass or go with a Chanter multi, probably a Troubador as you don't have extra buffs for summons or inherently more crits to help a Skald. Its definitely a self handicapping type of class, not a powergamer choice in any manner.

Sounds like a 'Git Gud" situation. The debuff from bonded grief is minor for having a free replaceable attack pet that never needs to rest nor gets injuries. It usually doesn't die anyway on PotD. My thought is if the pet is still alive at the end of the fight I did something wrong At low levels casters run out of spells but once you get to the mid levels you'll have 10+ casts per fight which is plenty. Wizards and Druids can also cast their best spells right away, even as an alpha strike while a Cipher needs to build focus before they can cast and then needs to build more focus before they can cast another. Ciphers look good in comparison at low level but at mid level and beyond they get left behind by the casters as they reach their stride.

After the latest patch I am having a similar problem with Pellagina as a Paladin (five suns)/Chanter. Sometimes she switches chants on her own to the chant A which is her default/original chant. Sometimes she stops gaining phrases and just stays at 0/4. Never re-spec'd her or any character.

If they wanted to do this they should have had DeadFire max out at like level 12 or so. First DLC take it to level 16 and second takes it to 20. There is no way to go higher than 20 now with DLC as you are demigods at level 20. They should have had you be a reincarnated Watcher set some time in the future from PoE, or maybe had you be Thaos who comes back to either finish the job or set things right.

Monk fists are small weapons in terms of attack speed have the same base damage as great swords and get an 80% bonus. That more than makes up for anything they don't get from weapons, Far far more. Monk fists do 16.5 average damage, swords do 16 and great swords do 22. Fists do a lot of damage but they do not do the damage of a great sword. The 80% boost requires a single class monk who is level 19+ who takes 'Prestige' or is a Nature Godlike with Wellspring in effect. A Legendary weapon just needs you to find or buy it. Full attacks are what makes dual wielding so much better, well that and the inherent +30% attack speed from dual wielding without any ability. The abilities are balanced - two handed style = one handed style = two weapon style - and the weapons themselves are pretty well balanced. That extra free +30% just makes dual wielding better. Its a lot better now that Fighters have mostly Primary attacks as do Monks. Not sure why Paladins are the masters of dual wielding with their super spam worthy Flames of Devotion being a Full Attack and they get zeal on every kill at power level VI. Some sort of damage, penetration or accuracy malus would be better for dual wielding. maybe make enchantments on two handers stronger or give them additional penetration maybe.

With a Junk and full double bronzers you can drop a Galleon in three broadsides. No reason to waste time with sails or crew damage just sink it and be done. When they lose thier sails they can still fire cannons. As long as they have a few crew members they will still fire cannons. Enemy ships usually have the weaker, faster reloading cannons so the time needed for you with your eight turn reload double bronzers to jibe, hold, fire and then jibe, hold, fire gives them enough time to just keep reloading the one side and firing back at you. They need a system that takes relative position and the wind direction into account. The compass thingy just comes across as half assed.

I'd pick what you like. If you do come across an immune guy just have a different weapon on switch. Pick one with an accuracy bonus and single wield it. You'll have +12 +5 -10 = +7 net accuracy.

I always assumed that Eothas broke the sword when he stepped on you in the trailer. That's where the pieces come from.

Not being able to out manoever a ship with no sails is another big problem with the whole ship combat system. Give me a reason or benefit to use chainshot and remove sails. Let me manouver such that I'm perpendicular to their ship such that I fire raking shots, not have me expose myself to raking fire. I'm hoping that in the first DLC they totally revamp ship combat and at least give us a plan view of two ships and let us manouver relative to the other ship to take advantage of wind direction and raking fire.

No cheese to me means walking down the center of the ramp and taking on all the enemies at once. I'm not good enough to accomplish that even with a party of Eder and Xoti with upscaled Potd and starting at level 4 on creation. Couldn't with my Wizard Slayer/ Shattered Pillar or my single class Shattered Pillar. Had to pull the mobs back to the stairs where Xoti was in the back and the other two where up front. On the subject of what is fun I've found most everything is pretty fun. If fun is defined as the ability to solo the game then I'm not qualified to answer as solo play requires cheese or at least abuse of the AI in order to pull it off and I don't find that fun.