KDubya

Well we're trusting them to make it more difficult. It'd be nice if it didn't take the form of over-nerfing. Everyone wants to feel powerful, not weak, but it's also better when you are fighting worthy opponents. If you want to feel powerful - god mode Gandolph - there are many different difficulty levels to choose from, you have storymode, easy. normal and even veteran. There is only PotD for anyone wanting some sort of tactical challenge. Why do people want to play on PotD and be super powerful in order to feel better about themselves? They need to change what abilities are full attack and which are primary. Charge and FoD should be primary not full. Monk fist damage needs a review. Their base damage is higher than slow one handers like battle axes and they attack at the speed of the fast one handers like daggers. Transcendent Suffering seems to add too much damage. At 20th my single class Shattered Pillar has +95% damage and that's before I activate Wellspring of Life. Dual wielding could use a lower penetration or reduced damage on the off hand or reduced accuracy on the off hand. In PoE on PotD you could go with the story companions, avoid the OP Vancian casters, avoid resting too much and have a nice challenging game that required some planning, team synergy and such. In DeadFire you'd be hard pressed (impossible??) to make a team that doesn't faceroll the game.

I recall the same thing. Not to mention the Rauataians have two millenia of expertise weathering storms, so I imagine they simply rebuilt the huts in a way they know is better at weathering storms. You are both correct, that is exactly what they did. And they did it by completely disregarding what the indigenous population wanted, and completely ignoring their culture. Because Rauatai knows better. Truth. It's reminiscent of the British colonial rule over India and their "civilising mission". Exactly and that is why the Rauitai are the best long term benefit for the DeadFire. A civilized modern empire is better than stone age savages with oppressive cultures.

A single class monk gets so many monk abilities though while a multi has to make some hard choices of what to take and what to skip in both classes. Plus faster access to the good powers is really strong. The final "teleport across the screen and kill everything while generating enough wounds to do it again (thank you Shattered Pillar )" is just pure power fantasy. You are a Jedi slaughtering mooks wholesale. You have become death, the destroyer of worlds. The problem is everything is so good and the enemies are so easy that the entire game becomes trivial. You are the Herald of Berath, the 'Angel of Death' but come on we want some challenge

I just went with whatever the best armor was based on the abilities. Style counts too, even on PotD I'd go Valian Frock Coat instead of robes for my monk until I got some cool armor. My Shattered Pillar used the light armor Fleshmender as it had a nice regen. Serafen had a high intimidate skill so he got the medium armour that added deflection based on that skill. Basically dual wielding can wear heavier armor as can Fighters with Armored Grace. Anyone with extra armor from abilities would want to go with heavier armor to double down on the armor advantage. Naked is only an extra 30% from over penetration which can be overcome with a mere six points of constitution. A 50% armor malus needs 17 points of dexterity.

The helwalker will have possibly +10 might and +50% from Turning Wheel, that's if and when you get injured enough for ten wounds. At which point you are also receiving +50% damage so you'd best have some healing. At this point you are auto attacking. At 20th level my Shattered Pillar has +95% from Transcendent Suffering so we'll use this as baseline. Shattered Pillar gets to five wounds from the first Flagellant's Path which takes the first few seconds. At this point his damage is +95% +25% (turning wheel) +50% (skyward kick) for +170% damage and skyward kick generates enough damage to replenish the three wounds to do this forever. The teleport death attack generates enough wounds to allow usage continuously until everything is dead but makes it hard to calculate. The helwalker has +95% from Transcendent +50% turning wheel +30% (+10 might) for +175% damage, takes +50% damage and needs to take 80(?) points of damage to get the first ten wounds. If you spend the wounds on attacks or abilities you need to wait to take damage to get more. The beauty of the Shattered Pillar is that you don't need to suffer any damage, you just start attacking and it just gets better. As you spend the wounds you do damage which gets you more wounds and activates more Rooting Pain and so on forever.

A Shattered Pillar still gets a +25% lash which is plenty, especially since you replenish wounds with doing damage instead of taking damage. You can cast Skyward Kick forever as it'll generate the three wounds needed to pay the cost and get you +50% damage and +3 penetration. You can set the AI to use Skyward Kick all the time and you'll never run out of wounds to fund it. No other Monk can generate wounds that fast forever. Heck you can go with a Morningstar with the body blow modal on and get +25 to hit with a -25% damage and crit to your hearts content. Skyward Kick is even a Primary attack so you don't get penalized for using a two hander. Make it a Devoted and get even more out of a crit.

Blood Thirst works with spells. So after a kill you have both Blood Thirst and Blood Lust in effect for ten seconds plus Intellect bonus.

Shattered Pillar is hard to beat. As long as you do damage you get wounds to do more damage. It works great at all levels, not just when money is limitless like the drug monk. Unfortunately the power level nine teleporting kill everything ability is so brokenly powerful that its hard to justify not going single class Shattered Pillar. Plus multis miss out on the power level eight upgrade to Flagellant's Path that knocks enemies up in the air which is pretty fun. Another good combo is Bleak Walker/ Berserker. Lots of on kill effects and at level ten you can get rid of the confusion. Also has a few armor increasing abilities that can get you a pretty good armor rating. Plus its a good role playing fit.

Except that locals will lose their culture and self identity under RDC. Just look around, there are plenty of examples there already. Also, they did that with all other weaker nations whom they've conquered - Rauatai is a militaristic war machine that grinds everything into same looking apathetic "goo". Not true if you choose director Castol. They'll stay, establish permanent settlements, improve trade and build a research academy at Ukaizo for animancers all over the world to study it. Who cares if the locals lose their culture and identity? Not all cultures are equal and an oppressive caste system pales in comparison to a meritocracy like Rauitai. Castrol was OK with slave trading which is hard to spin as being good. The Valians also were down with terrorism (blowing up the powder storage). The Royal DeadFire Company just wants a coup and takes care of the DeadFire better.

I think the Royal DeadFire Company is the best choice for the DeadFire. Order and stability assimilation into a cosmopolitan empire everyone protected under the Law Is there to stay The locals will be assimilated into the empire and become equal citizens, not slaves or princes depending upon the randomness of birth but have a true meritocracy where ability and drive make the difference. The Huana are bad as they are weak, petty monarchists with a caste system that enslaves most of their population under the guise of 'culture and tradition'. They are stone age savages who need to be dragged into the modern world. Not to mention that they are racist against anyone not Island Aumaua from the DeadFire. The Valians are only there to strip mine the place and move on to the next profit center. The Pirates rape and pillage all they come across, which the game does a poor job of actually showing pirates as the bastards they are rather than some sort of libertarian Captain Jack Sparrow. I can't understand how people here equate the Royal DeadFire Company with fascists. Civilizing the wastelands of the world is how civilization spreads.

I liked to sacrifice Durance as he gave +1 con and +5% hit points which effectively gave you +10% health. Add in the Gift from the Machine and you get another +5% for +15% health. You justify it for the power you gain. As a Bleak Walker anything that makes you more powerful helps you solve problems faster and even without violence as the mere threat of your power can stop the fight before it starts. Honestly most every RPG lets you play Neutral Evil (the most power and benefit for you) while choosing the 'good' path. Usually the 'good' path gets you the best companions, the best items as rewards, the best experience gain and the best gold. Being 'good' usually all ways pays better.

I agree. There should have been more consequences to your actions and choices. Do missions and bounties for the Rauitai and the Valians and Huana dislike you. They should have had it more like Fallout New Vegas where the Legion would hunt you if you helped the NCR too much, and then had a reset point in the plot where you could join the Legion or whomever. As it was I took every bounty and killed ships on every side and everyone loved me for it. I was thinking of lots of different build combos to try but as easy as PotD is and as broken as most classes are, its probably better to wait for some balance polish and maybe even a DLC.

I'd go Shattered Pillar instead of drug monk. Making and taking drugs all the time is just a pain in the ass. I'd go single class as well. Higher power level = more fist damage, accuracy and penetration. More monk abilities are better than a few Cipher spells that take too long to use. At higher levels you get the upgraded Flagellent's Path that also knocks everything into the air. Use that after activating Lightning Strikes and Thunderous Blows. You now have five wounds so spend them on the power level nine teleporting whirlwind of death spell and watch the screen explode. If anything is still alive just use the five wounds you gained and do it again. The only thing that might be a better mass killer would be something with Fighter who uses Charge all the time but their uses are limited by Discipline while wounds are limitless.

The half duration on their own buffs and the ability to resist positive buffs and heals from their team mates just makes for a bad joke. If you want to kill casters in the back, and everything in between as well, just use Charge or Flagellent's Path. My team doesn't need to rest after battle but they sure do need a shower to wash off all those exploded gibs from one shotting the enemy parties.

My batllemage Aloth on PotD dualwielded the Wael scepter and the whale of a wand and shot things while using Disciplined Strikes in between casting spells. Once I got the Grimoire with the freezing fireball that paralyzes I pretty much just stuck with that. Had swords on switch that I could bang out a few charges if I wanted to. I see no reason to keep him as a single class mage, just Disciplined Strikes and Armored Grace are enough reasons to give up power level eight and nine spells, which you can just pump Arcana to 15 and make scrolls if you really want meteor swarm. PotD in general was pretty easy once I leveled up to ten or so. I had Eder as a fighter/rogue with dual pistols and dual daggers who stayed drunk and mean. Most of the time he just stayed and shot things while my Shattered Pillar killed everything (that power level nine teleporting whirlwind ability is stupidly OP)

The thing is people can nerd out and be OP on normal or even veteran difficulty. PotD should require some tactics not just roflstomp everything.

But that requires sparing Harmke and he deserves to die if anyone does. That decision was one of the few ethical dilemmas in the first game, reducing that to a powergaming gear choice is terrible game design.

I placed one trap in five different battles and got the achievement. You can only place one trap at a time, placing another removes the first.

More mooks would help. 1.) Terrain - There are lots of slog zones, poison gas and what not. Getting rid of chokepoint doorway battles is good as it was way too easy for the player to abuse. 2.) Grimoires - if you want different spells carry multiple grimoires and actually switch in combat. A grimoire gets you two free spells per level which is like 14 - 18 free abilities as you'd need to spend a valuable ability to get a spell. I use offensive spells frequently with Aloth and do not find them terrible on PotD. I also hardly ever use empower, mainly just as a recharge in case I run out of spells in a long fight. 3.) Rest/Injury - I preferred the dual health/endurance system as I liked the attrition style but that it now gone and won't be coming back Balance changes I'd like to see: 1.) Re-tool which attacks are Full and which are Primary. I think Rogue abilities should all be Full attacks as a dual wielding Rogue is iconic. Make this for backstab as well. Paladin attacks like FoD should be Primary not Full. Paladins are two handed weapon users and sword and board not dual wielders. Fighters should have Charge changed to Primary, not sure of the others as I only use Charge. Cleave needs to be re-tooled as nothing should be able to proc itself. Monks actually have mostly Primary attacks - Force of Anguish, Skyward Kick, Torment's Reach so no change needed. Swift Flurry needs to not be able to proc itself 2.) Add some malus to dual wielding like a reduced penetration or reduced damage in the off hand or something 3.) Have shield mastery reduce the accuracy malus from shields or something in order to make shield use a better option. At least give it to Unbroken Fighter subclass. 4.) Have enemies see farther. Its entirely too easy to sneak up with no stealth. Heck you can enter visual range and then stealth and move up and ambush the enemy.

If you are going with Dance of Death I'd suggest going for Trickster as the illusion spells will help a bunch with the not getting hit part. Rooting Pain works well as long as you are spamming something that uses wounds like Efficient Anguish, Torments Reach or Skyward kick. As a multi abilities are tight so I'd focus on one or two of these. If you avoid the self proccing abilities like Swift Flurry everything else is not too far out of whack for balance.

If you got to keep the ships after boarding it'd further break what little economy there is. Instead of the compass like ship heading, they needed to have a grid plan view showing distances, wind direction, facings and what not. Give a reason to destroy sails and outmaneuver the enemy instead of the current broadside every time. Maybe they can greatly expand on it in a DLC or something.

Its not three jibes in a row, its showing the three turns that it takes to do a jibe ...... You fire portside , then do a jibe, then hold or half sail for a turn, then fire starboard, then do a jibe, then hold or half sail for a turn, then fire portside ..... Its nine turns between firing the same cannons and takes eight turns to reload.

Don't think it matters a jot, unfortunately. And maybe it's best that way. It's a big boat, so it makes sense they are slower to turn around than a dingy, and skill only gets you so far. Why keep jibing back and forth like that, though? And for that matter, why double bronzers? May as well stick with iron thunderers or royal bronzers and fire more frequently. Okay, admittedly with a fully-equipped junk with double bronzers you can probably just fire, jibe, fire -> win. But the distance "goldy locks" zone is more narrow on the double bronzers, and it's kinda nice to mostly be able to just turn around and fire from the start without needing to close distance. Honestly, I'm very pleased with the Iron Thunderer cannons. Pretty good damage, great range (200-500m) and reloads in only 4 turns. If I were to upgrade, I'd probably go for the Imperial Long Gun instead. Better damage, not too bad reload speed, and fits better with Fire -> Jibe -> Stop -> Fire. If I were to go for close distance instead, the Royal Bronzer looks like a fine choice. This gets into min-max area, and I don't really like that. However, by comparing: Iron Thunderer x2 (4 turns each) = 12-18 dmg Double Bronzer x1 (8 turns each) = 12-15 dmg ...without the need to close to 250-350m first. Wish we could buy a pack of Haeferic's Nose. That is one hell of a gun. Jibing back and forth gets you to fire one side and then the other. Double bronzers might have a small range band but they hit harder than anything else and match well with the slow jibe speed of a Junk and Galleon. With the 3 turn jibe taking 8 turns to reload lets you fire as fast as you turn. Anything that reloaded faster would be wasted unless you never jibed and just fired from one side but why do that? With a two turn jibe like the Dhow you'd have seven turns between firing so you'd need to use something other than double bronzers or waste a turn in there.

I have the Magistrate's Cudgel bound to Serafen Barbarian/Cipher. I got the first upgrade from damaging judged enemies no problem. Second upgrade is "apply 0/30 afflictions to enemies" I can't get the number to increase. The soulbound effect "Fair Trial" is casting a random inspiration whenever I get an affliction so nothing here to help. I've casted Tenuous Grasp and Puppet Master and never have gotten the counter to increase from 0/30. Bug or am i doing something wrong?

Hi, sounds good. Thanks. ) Do you think it could be viable to multiclass with chanter like "shattered pillar/troubadour" for some "nice to have" passive utilities to get a little bit more survivability as a shattered pillar? I thought it should be easier to stay unnoticed behind the enemies and dont get hitted while my tank gets all the attention. xD Or do you think that is way too much experimental for a casual like me? Thanks again! Anything is viable, even on PotD with a full group of story companions. Solo is another animal though, I don't go for solo as it requires cheese but YMMV. If you find something fun go ahead and try it, worse case you re-start. Not sure a Shattered Pillar/Troubadour staying in the back would be all that synergistic. The Shattered Pillar needs to cause damage in melee to generate wounds, not sure if that works with Long Pain ranged fists. A Skald mix would work with both benefitting from melee damage and crits. A Beckoner would not be optimal as the Monk doesn't get any group buffs that'd help the summons. A Troubadour used in melee range would work but their benefits don't require or benefit from close proximity to the enemy. Once you get a few levels under you the risk of getting alpha striked goes down a bunch. Early on you'd need illusion spells (Trickster, Wizard, Priest of Wael) or a pumped up constitution to avoid the firing squad.