cycl0ps

I am a doofus. Found it.

Okay, been looking for it, but where can I find Dexgames's profile portrait? a) I could not find it in any previous portrait pack. b) Have we made a Pillars II watercolor of it yet?

I gave up playing this game on normal due to boredom at autoattacking and winning. I am trying hard, but my god, stun, stun, plague of insects, dominate, repeat. I don't even fear the bruisers, the drakes, or swarms of enemies unless they are some sort of caster, then I pretty much know I am going to have to reload over and over until the gods of RNG see fit to allow me to win. How is save scumming fun? What am I missing? I know I can counter these spells, but this is still a RNG issue. Lemme give you an example. I have a level 6 party at the Pearlwood Cliffs, and I can clear the cave with ZERO problems. I can even clear the fire drake cave at the area before with zero problems (once again, bruisers are stupid easy). But at Pearlwood, there is the group of drakes and manwgpyza (or whatever dumb name they are), and 2 seconds in it is insect plague time, which kills my casters in about 3 seconds with A BILLION RAW DAMAGE! How is this a balanced lvl three spell? To compare, Aloth's fireball hits for ****ing nothing. Okay, so I try again. This time I am ready. I cast suppress affliction, which people seem to say helps. It doesn't. Unless I group my casters right next to my tanks. So, my casters are fine, but my tanks eat it. Furthermore, this time, two drakes decide to break aggro and attack my healer. He dies. Then Aloth dies. Better luck with the ****ty engagement system next time. Reload! Is this fun yet? What am I missing? Seriously, I fireball dudes, and BAM!, barely ****ing injured. LIGHTNING BOLT... barely injured. ****ing bug swarm, that **** kills in seconds. BALANCE! Aloth does as much damage as my ****ing paladin tank. BALANCE! A level three, AOE, RAW DAMAGE spell that renders half a team useless in one cast, this seems like game design done right. What were they thinking by making Wizard spells so underwhelming in comparison? Is this fun yet? What am I missing? I have started this game over about a dozen times. I WANT to like it, but all spells (every goddamned one) doing jack **** unless it stuns or is plague of goddamn insects, makes for a save-scummy, boring experience. This is not to mention, in addition to stuns and the most balanced spell ever made in any game ever, plague of insects, the other broken spells: paralyze, petrify, a billion forms of domination. I just quickload the moment one of my guys gets petrified. Gameplay by RNG. Fun! Yeah, they are grouped tightly. Time for a strategic FIREBALL! ...barely injured. fun... What am I missing? How to like this game?

Yeah, I blew a bunch of consumables, and that did the trick. I was being too stingy I suppose.

So, I'm at Caed Nua and there are phantoms. Huge groups of them. I have developed the perfect strategy: save scumming! But seriously, wth am I supposed to do. My party is level 3. I have a party of six. I play on hard mode because every other fight is a breeze. Furthermore, I DO NOT walk in expecting to autoattack my way through. I begin a fight with them by doing my best to have Eder engage at the front and PRAY TO THE GODS OF RNG THAT HE IS NOT STUNNED. Then my custom characters move up to melee engage and I PRAY TO THE GODS OF RNG THAT THEY ARE NOT STUNNED. Knowing that the spirits have low HP, I have Durance cast Bless for +ACC followed by the Armor Buff for DR followed by the AoE heal over time, while I PRAY TO THE GODS OF RNG THAT THE MELEE FRONT IS NOT STUNNED. I have the Chanter guy sing the +FORT song knowing that stun works against FORT, while I PRAY TO THE GODS OF RNG THAT THE MELEE FRONT IS NOT STUNNED. I then, if everything is absolutely perfect and the RNG Gods have decided I do not die I move Aloth into position for a flaming cone, while I PRAY TO THE GODS OF RNG THAT THE MELEE FRONT IS NOT STUNNED, and while I PRAY TO THE GODS OF RNG THAT THE MELEE FRONT DOES NOT MOVE AND GET HIT BY ALOTH'S SPELL! And then I watch as he misses most of the spirits with the spell and dies. Yay... Then some people get stunned, and I lose. Then I reload. Repeat 10 times or so, and I win sometimes. What am I missing? Also, if I am missing nothing, is this to be expected: easy as hell fights interspersed with grueling, non-tactical RNG? I played all that infinity **** back in the day, and there was always a strategy, always a way. Here, I must be missing something.

Thanks so much for the advice. One question, however. I don't understand the 10 RES. It seems that with 3 RES I am getting hit by every attack; however, with 10 RES I am STILL getting hit with every attack. Wouldn't it be better, since I am getting hit either way, to put those points into CON?

Okay, so I think I have something I can work with: Pale Elf Barbarian 2 Handed (Soldier Weapons) Medium Armor Str: 18 Con: 9 Dex: 20 Per: 10 Int: 18 Res: 3 I do not plan on building this character around dying lol. Also, running on hard difficulty for the playthrough. Will this work?

Indeed. Help!

Here's my problem: I want to play melee, I want to play on a higher difficulty, and I want to be unique in the party. Since Eder is going to be in my group, as he is one of the most praised companions in the game, and he is a fighter already, my unique, non-fighter options are rogue, barbarian, chanter (kind of), paladin, and monk. 1. Rogue: By all accounts on this forum, rogue sucks. A trash tier damage-dealer who needs to be microed regardless. The viable suggestions for rogue involve some sort of scroll-reading psuedo-caster. Yeah... I wanted to MELEE. Not serve as a low-rent caster. Next... 2. Barbarian: All right, a barbarian! A BOOKISH barbarian with genius intelligence? Wait, what!? Okay, whatever... I'll bite. I still get to jump in with my huge two-handed weapon of doom, right? Wait... I don't? I shouldn't do that because Heart of Fury and crit mechanics necessitate pirouetting around Florentine style with two fast weapons? Jesus... Okay, I can just pretend the class is named Fencer instead of Barbarian. Oh, one more thing, many barbarian mechanics revolve around getting killed. Because... that's fun and sensical? Sorry, at this point the class flavor is too damned counter-intuitive. Next... 3. Chanter. Chanter? Oh, I hear they can be viable tanks. Cool! But that really means that they pretty much never really hit anything hard and simply "cast" songs in heavy armor. Not melee at all. Next... 4. By all accounts on this forum, paladin sucks as well. Worse tank than a fighter? Check. Worse buffer than a Priest? Check. Hits like a wet noodle? Check. Next... 5. Monk. I guess I will play a monk. Sigh. The thematic sellout to the otaku, waifu, japanofile types who used to show up with their Oriental Adventures sourcebook to play 2nd Edition. I blame TMNT - but I digress. Time to roll a monk. TIME TO UPPERCUT A DRAGON LOL! A few hours into the game, and I remember I hate monks and just can't get into the game. Wait a month and repeat the thought process above. So, I have started the game a number of times but just can't get into it. Any help? TL;DR Are there any serious builds I can choose that dish out significant damage hand-to-hand (preferably with a big-ass 2-hander) that require neither goofy mechanics (i.e. scrollthief and the incredible dying barbarian)? Can I choose one without severely undercutting maximum potential? Also, can I do it without being Eder part 2?

Looks like I am making a paladin, but I have a couple of questions: First, does the following stat distribution look good for an all-round frontline support/tank: 16 Str 10 Con 10 Dex 16 Per 10 Int 16 Res I didn't want to dump any stat for RP concerns. I see many people dump Str for a full tank build, but I want to support as well, which means I need to land death blows, do some damage, and, most imporantly, heal. Also, I left Int at 10 because I hear that the auras' AoEs are measly to begin with, and Int does little to help. Also, these stats give me +12 in all defences. Does the above look viable for what I want? Second, what order is good for RP? I am leaning towards BW because I like to play aggressive characters, but the cruely aspect turns me off a bit. Many of the others are a bit too stoic/rational for my taste. However, will I gimp myself in choosing BW by acting in ways contrary to the story. I don't want to feel I need to make dumb decisions just to support my order's requirements. Also, what order get the most dialogue interaction/references? The least? Any advice or comments would be appreciated.