GuyNice

This mod can help you edit your attributes (among other things). Doesn't break achievements.

Honestly Wizards and Druids are still really powerful, Priests are a little bit behind (they have several powerful spells, but many weak/too situational ones). I like the fact that they are more limited per encounter now. PoE 1 was impossible to balance even though PotD was much harder than what we have now, simply because you could unload the Vancian casters which packed WAY too much potential power. There is still a lot of balancing to be done, not just the enemy stats and encounter design in PotD, but the abilities themselves vary wildly in power, from pitiful jokes to game breaking powerhouses, many high level spells are terrible compared to lower level ones, etc. But the groundwork is there to build upon. It might take longer than we would like, but Obsidian did a great job overall with PoE, I believe they will do it again, and I for one like the direction they took Vanican casters. That huge per rest battery had to be taken down a notch or ten.

Make sure you click on the AI button, there should be a green dot above it when it's activated. It's working great for me (both the preset AI behavior and my own custom settings).

It's insanely good. Penetration makes a huge difference in this game, and it only costs 1 discipline. I have Eder as a Swashbuckler dual wielding Sabres/Swords and using Crippling and Penetrating strikes, let's just say he's cleaning up mobs quite quickly. Although tbh almost everything does right now.

If you have the points to spare take it with the upgrade sworn rival, so it refunds the zeal cost. Then it's essentially a free +20% damage. But it's quite underwhelming since the bonus is additive, the more damage bonuses you have the less it matters. So again, if you're just trying to maximize damage and have points to spare, take it. Otherwise skip.

Thank you! That is quite disappointing however. I felt like Ishiza was attacking so slowly and weakly compared to what I remember pets doing in PoE. If this is the best as far as Ranger pets go I think I will choose a different main character next playthrough =/

Thanks for writing the guide, I was looking for some info like that. Can you add Ishiza (Maia's hawk)? I was a little disappointed with his damage output and decided to just spec out of the pet damage passives as a result. I hope there are decent damage dealing pets, I'm already theorycrafting my next main character :D

I don't understand the complaints about the pet being a major part of the class. This hasn't changed since the first game. This game isn't BG or D&D or any other game with a Ranger class. In this game the pet is not optional, it is an integral part of the class - more so than attacking from range (melee Rangers are just as viable). If you want a Ranged martial class without a pet you can make a Fighter or Rogue or something (actually there are many more options). I don't see the point of complaining about this since it's definitely not going to change.

I have been crashing consistently after the 2nd conversation with the gods (the one where you first meet Galawain, Ondra, Rymrgand). The game crashes right as the conversation ends. I'm not sure if I can continue the save, or what the cause of the crash is. I've attached the crash log. The crash.dmp and error.log files can't be attached here. Not sure if they are necessary. Any assistance would be very much appreciated. Edit: Managed to get through the conversation without crashing on the 3rd try. output_log.txt

While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, please do not claim to represent "old-school gamers" as a whole. I don't think I'm that old, but I played BG and IWD at the time, and I certainly appreciated PoE (having sunk 450 hours into it) and consider it a resounding success, and am thoroughly loving my time so far with Deadfire (known issues notwithstanding).

If you don't have Full Attack abilities then ranged+1hand combo is totally viable and competitive. I use it on Serafen (full Cipher) and it works really well since I like him to stay at a bit of range since he's squishy (at least until he casts borrowed instinct for +20 defenses), but when enemies close the distance a fast melee attack is superior. Plus it looks cool as hell and fits his character.

Based on my observation in the final release Inspiring Triumph doesn't affect the paladin, only his allies. Still a great ability though, especially for my Fanatic who tends to gib enemies quite often.

I hope this is an area where modding can step in to improve the game (like in Dragon Age: Origins as you mentioned). Official support would be even better, but I don't how realistic that is. I mean if I had my way Obsidian would just keep patching and releasing content forever, but we can't have everything.

The +attribute bonus is amazing. I want to try to earn enough to get that one by the time the import bugs are fixed, so I can use it on my imported character. It's completely insane. permanent +12 attributes, spread around? Ugh, even if you dump resolve or something and ignore con, that's still +8 to offensive stats. Had I known about this beforehand, I would have almost just done a quick <10 hour run to get the 15 points (maybe 18 for the extra skill points) and started my "completionist" character. I think there's some satisfaction to be derived from completing the game without these bonuses, especially the first time around, when you can't meta-game every encounter. But to each their own I guess.

Most of the modals aren't that useful anyway so it doesn't matter too much which weapon spec you take unless you're a Fighter/Devoted.

All Paladins get a bonus to all defenses from the Faith and Devotion passive. This bonus increases with each rank you gain in your favored dispositions (Cruel, Aggressive for Bleak Walkers), and decreases with each rank of a disfavored disposition you gain (Benevolent, Diplomatic for Bleak Walkers). So no, you don't have to be an a*hole in every conversation as a Bleak Walker. You can be rational, clever, stoic or whatever and it would have no effect on your abilities. But if you want to make your +defense bonus you should avoid disfavored dispositions and lean towards your favored ones. There is definitely some wiggle room so you don't have to pick all the cruel/aggressive options.

I was thinking of playing this combo as well but I was worried the self-inflicted raw damage from Berserker would count against the 7 hit limit of Gilded Enmity, so ultimately I rolled a Berserker/Bleak Walker instead. Can you tell if Gilded Enmity is affected/removed by the Berserker self-DOT?

I was looking at the ability descriptions here but there are details missing like resource costs, some of the tooltips cut off in the middle, it's unclear whether some abilities scale based on power level or not etc. I think we will be much wiser in about 2 hours For me the decision to multi class is basically set in stone, I want Mental Fortress, I want the Bleak Walker's FoD, Paladin resistances etc. Whatever you choose I think you won't go wrong, Berserker looks like a great subclass, and you can always use your party members + consumables to negate confused.

In PoE you could respec at any inn for a gold cost that scaled based on character. I expect it to be very similar in Deadfire. I'm also planning a fanatic (Berserker/Bleak Walker) main character, but the ability progression will be based on in game experience, for example do I often have unused rage? pick Barbaric Blow. Am I too squishy? pick a defense passive. It's hard to make these decisions without playing the game for yourself and with missing info on abilities/passives.

I would max Might, higher than average Dex, rest is up to you, depending on if you want to be more tanky or more of a glass cannon. If you want to take full advantage of Flames of Devotion I would dual wield 2 heavy 1 handers (like sabres), since it's a full attack.

Paladin and Stalker seems like a great multiclass combo. Lots of support for your pet and party, with great defensive passives to stand in melee next to your pet. I think Kind Wayfarer's healing FoD would be even better to help keep you and your pet up, while still dealing great damage.

As the hype for Deadfire reaches its peak, I've decided to plan every last detail of my first main character, so I could dive in and start playing as quickly as possible once the game is finally out tonight. While doing so, I decided to also write a bit of a background for him, as a sort of guideline for roleplaying, especially as I decided to roll a Bleak Walker as one of my classes. I thought it would be fun to share it with you fine folks, and to read whatever ideas you come up with, to get in the mood for that precious first playthrough, and maybe to spark the creative juices for the next playthroughs. So without further ado, here is my planned Watcher for Deadfire. Berric Strongarm Race: Coastal Aumaua Class: Barbarian (Berserker), Paladin (Bleak Walker) Culture: The Living Lands Background: Colonist Skills: Alchemy, Intimidate, Survival Attributes: 21 Might, high Intellect and Constitution, low Resolve Berric is considered tall even amongst his fellow Aumaua, and freakishly strong. He fled his colony after killing his parents’ murderer in a fit of rage when he was 14. Running for his life from those he once considered friends has made him mistrustful of others, although he is fiercely loyal and protective of those he holds dear. He has since struggled to contain his rage, which has often led him to all sorts of trouble, and to drug abuse. Aggressive and sometimes cruel, Berric often sees violence as the most effective means to get the job done, and to put a meal in his belly. Having been Awakened, he feels he is the victim of a cruel fate, forced to live with the memories of countless ancestors, many of which he despises. The side effects of his Awakening include sudden shifts of character, as his emotions are often influenced by the memories of other lives, which are not his. After learning the Gods were artificial constructs, Berric has grown cynical and bitter. The savagery with which they protected this secret and manipulated Kith societies has spurred him to match their ruthlessness, in the hopes of ultimately exacting his revenge upon them. This renewed focus has seen Berric hone his own brutal code, from which he draws supernatural power and endurance. Berric has a soft spot for Pallegina, who has always been kind to him, despite his many flaws. He respects and values Eder’s companionship, although they often don’t see eye to eye. While he mistrusts Aloth, he often feels he is one of the few who can understand him, being Awakened as well. Looking forward to reading what you guys come up with!

On the other hand healing seems more important than it was in PoE and Priests are very good at it. On the other other hand Xoti seems better suited to Priesting than Durance. On the other other other hand Druids, Paladins and Chanters also seem well equipped to heal. Personally I will likely have Xoti around as a full Priest more often than not, just to try out all the changes and new spells as I like the class. But it's nice to not feel like I simply must have a Priest around unless I know every encounter beforehand (and have consumables ready).

My Watcher was a pale elf Cipher too! :D I'm going with pale elf priest for Deadfire. Mostly to avoid another "Durance situation". The only reason I allowed him to even exist was because he was my only priest!! lol (...but he was quite the entertaining character...) If it helps your decision it seems Priests won't feel quite as crucial in Deadfire since the whole Inspiration/Affliction system means many more classes can remove Afflictions now, so you won't have to resort to scrolls if you don't bring a Priest with you.

It's actually pretty normal. Lack of balance is a very common problem with games, especially with difficulty levels, considering that in many games difficulty levels are implemented more as an afterthought. Let's just raise monster HP/deploy more enemies without thought, because almost everyone just plays on normal and we can't justify extra dev time for this is not an unusual thing. Agreed, if anything Deadfire seems to be shaping up to be more polished than most Obsidian games at release, the only difference is how responsive and candid Josh Sawyer is compared to basically any other project lead in the industry. Honestly it is so refreshing to have a genuine discourse with a game's developer, I'm willing to forgive far more issues at launch, although the game seems to be in decent shape regardless. I would be far more upset with the issues if they tried to pretend they weren't there. I completely agree that fixing bugs is a higher priority, and I have faith Obsidian will issue meaningful patches not long after release (both due to the nature of the issue and their excellent track record with fixing PoE). That said, I can't wait to dive head first into PotD, warts and all. I think erring on the side of too easy is actually better, since worst case it'll only be a bit harder than Veteran, but you could still make progress. Much better than having your progress completely halted or having to scrap your playthrough due to a badly overtuned encounter on the critical path, at least in my opinion.