TheMetaphysician
-
Posts
415 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Posts posted by TheMetaphysician
-
-
Another question: In posts about a year ago, it seems that Fulvano's blunderbuss was bugged and never procc'd charm. Is that still true or does it work now?
-
MaxQuest, another question for you: you suggest using some Spell Holding items (Shod-in-Faith, Swaddling Sheet, Celebrant's Gloves), which seem like a waste to use on him if he isn't getting critically hit most every fight. Do you stick him up front, or does he get crit most of the time even in the back? Where in the back?
-
Like confusing your own guys, and some other stuff. I found some reports of different things and didn't know what to believe.
-
So, the last time I played was before the deadfire items came in, so I'm looking forward to using them. I read some posts that the Company Captain's Cap was bugged, but then that there was a bugfix in the very last patch update. But I've read some confusing stuff about whether it is really fixed, or fixed all the way.
Those who've played since the last update, can you tell me whether the Cap is working completely or is still bugged in some way? Just so I'm not surprised.
-
All soulbounds still benefit from the priest weapon-specific accuracy talents (Incomprehensible Revelation for Wael, etc.), right? So wouldn't you take that even for the Eothas priest, if you are using the soulbound scepter and Abydon's Hammer?
Also, does Aggrandizing Radiance stack with Minor Avatar?
-
Why didn't you use the Archer's Gloves AND the Cloak of the Frozen Hunt? Do they not stack?
-
I saw in comments around the forums that are now years old that Combusting Wounds wasn't working at all. I figured a patch would have fixed that, but I loaded up a save and tried using Combusting Wounds, and it seemed to do nothing -- no damage appears in the combat log for characters who are affected by Combusting Wounds. Is it true that Combusting Wounds is still totally broken, or could it be doing damage that doesn't appear in the combat log?
-
I just love being bigger than everyone, so Amaua for me. Of the two, coastal has the best racial ability (resistance to Might afflictions), so that's what I go with.
But I have to have the mod that unlocks facial hair for everyone, so I can have a huge beard too.
-
Yeah, it should work just fine. The Blazing Fury upgrade to the arquebus might be less valuable, just because action speed is less valuable in turn-based. You could throw on a heaver armor if you like for the same reason. But neither of those changes affect the central ideas of the build.
-
Hey, has anyone reported the fact that Pallegina can't select Sworn Rival/Brand Enemy upon level up -- despite the fact that such abilities (with one of those and Wrath of the Five Suns) exist in the code, and that Goldpact Knights can upgrade their Gilded Enmity ability -- as a bug? I think I will if no one else has.
-
Isn't this version 4.1 (the actual version)?
Yes, thanks, fixed. That was left over from copy-pasting another build for the format. Pretty sure it was one of yours.
-
1
-
-
I'm thinking of playing Pillars 1 again, and want to use a priest I actually like, instead of Durance. Thinking of modding Grieving Mother into a priest and using this build. I've not had luck modding the attributes, though, so I'll be using her attributes. She has good Int and Dex, but mediocre might (11). Is that a build-killer? Or is the extra 7 or so Might just a moderate power-reducer?
-
Here's one:
Build Name: Pallegina, The Fire-Breathing Drake
Subclass(es): Paladin (Frermas mes Canc Suolias)/Chanter
Pallegina becomes a fire-breathing drake, and a queen among drakes. She breathes fire herself in the form of the Dragon’s Dowry arquebus, summons an army of fire-breathing drakes to her side, and confers upon her allies a hint of her own fire-breathing abilities (with the Mith Fyr chant and Shared Flames).
Author: TheMetaphysician
Game version: 4.1
Difficulty: PotD, not for soloCompanion: Pallegina
-
2
-
-
I have long thought that we’ve needed more builds designed for companions in our build list; too many of the builds we have must be used with the main character or a hireling. I’ve also noticed lots of interesting build ideas for companions that people have mentioned briefly in a thread somewhere but then never written up, and so they do not appear on the build thread. So I’ve decided not to feel bad about writing up builds when I got the basic idea from someone else. I got the idea for this Pallegina build from user mporubca on this Reddit thread.
This build is designed for Herald Pallegina. It isn’t quite as cool or flavorful as the Tuono e Fulmine build, but it is still both effective and flavorful, and more importantly fills a very different party role and playstyle than that build does. The roleplaying thought is this: despite the fact that Pallegina has a conflicted relationship with her status as an avian godlike, she still cannot help but feel a certain innate kinship with the beasts of the air – in particular, the great fire-breathing drakes. Her personality seems to fit: she’s a bit of a fire-breather in her interactions with others.
The Fire-Breathing Drake
===================================
Difficulty: PotD v. 4.1
--------------------------------------------------------------
Solo: not intended for solo
--------------------------------------------------------------
Class: Paladin/Chanter
--------------------------------------------------------------
Race: Pallegina’s
--------------------------------------------------------------
Background: Pallegina’s
--------------------------------------------------------------
Stats: Pallegina’sSkills: Whatever the party needs. I think Intimidate fits her and fits the build.
Weapon Proficiencies: None especially needed
--------------------------------------------------------------
Abilities (!=important, r=recommended, (a) automatic)
PL 1 (levels 1-3)Paladin
(a) Sworn Enemy/Wrath of the Five Suns (!)
Deep Faith ®
Retribution ®
Chanter
(a) (whatever she starts with)
PL 2 (levels 4-6)
Paladin
Zealous Auras (!)
2-handed weapon style (!)
Divine Purpose
Chanter
Wurm summon invocation (!)
PL 3 (levels 7-9)
Paladin
Eternal Devotion OR Shared Flames (!)
Sworn Rival OR Brand Enemy (*see note below)
Aegis of Loyalty
Chanter
Reload chant (!)
PL 4 (levels 10-12)
Paladin
Exalted Focus (!)
Scion of Flame (!)
Chanter
Mith Fyr chant (!)
Wurm summon upgrade (!)
PL 5 (levels 13-15)
Paladin
Inspired Path
Iron Gut
Chanter
Drake summon (!)
Rapid casting
PL 6 (levels 16-18)
Paladin
Virtuous Triumph
Chanter
Quick Summoning ®
2 of: Old Siec, They Shielded Their Eyes, Seven Men chants
PL 7 (levels 19-20)
Paladin
Pick something – whatever
Chanter
Drake summon upgrade (!)
Pick something – whatever
---------------------------------------------------------------
Items (!=important, r=recommended)
Weapon Set 1: Dragon’s Dowry (! - +Volatile Runelock (!), Blazing Fury (!))
Weapon Set 2: Magran’s Favor, Sun and Moon
Head: none (godlike restriction)
Back: Rekvu’s Scorched Cloak (!)
Neck: Dragon Pendant (!)
Armor: Sharpshooter’s Garb is best; but since this build pairs well with other gun users, it may be in use by one of them. Just pick a light armor you like.
Waist: Belt of Magran’s Chosen (for the build theme; Sash of Judgment is probably better)
Hands: Lots of options; Aegor’s Swift Touch and Rekvu’s Stained Grasps stand out
Rings: Ring of Focused Flame (!), Ring of the Marksman ®Boots: Lots of options; nothing stands out
Pet: none (companion)* Note regarding Sworn Rival/Brand Enemy: it offends me that there is in the code a version of Sworn Enemy that has both the Wrath of the Five Suns and Sworn Rival (or Brand Enemy) upgrades, but we can’t actually pick it when leveling Pallegina. And since Wrath of the Five Suns is worse than Sworn Rival/Brand Enemy, her class’s signature ability actually makes her worse than a typical paladin. So I just console in whichever version of the ability I would pick at power level 3, giving her the Wrath of the Five Suns with either the Sworn Rival or Brand Enemy upgrade. It doesn’t make or break the build, but it is nice to have. If achievements matter to you, you could use the Unity Console and then uninstall the Unity Console when you are done.
The idea here is that Pallegina becomes a fire-breathing drake, and a queen among drakes. She breathes fire herself in the form of the Dragon’s Dowry arquebus, summons an army of fire-breathing drakes to her side, and confers upon her allies a hint of her own fire-breathing abilities (with the Mith Fyr chant and Shared Flames).
Fiery Gunner. The basis of her personal damage is the interaction between the Dragon’s Dowry, the reload chant, the Ring of Focused Flame, and the paladin’s Flames of Devotion. The ring’s accuracy bonus applies to the arquebus’s regular attacks, and of course to any flames of devotion attacks. When upgrading flames of devotion, pick Eternal Flames or Shared Flames depending on your party setup; if she’s the only one benefitting, of course pick Eternal Flames; if you have like 2 other gunners or something, shared flames might be better overall.
You get another damage boost once you add the two upgrades for Dragon’s Dowry: Volatile Runelock (takes the burn lash to +30%!) and Blazing Fury. Both give fire self-damage, however. How do we deal with that? If you have a ton of passive healing in the party, you might just ignore it. My solution, though, is to throw on Rekvu’s Scorched Cloak for fire immunity. The injury you want is Serious Burn: it gives -3 burn AR, which doesn’t matter with the cloak, so the only downside is the -2 dex. You can get that easily after you rest if you have a wizard in the party; just take Pallegina’s armor off, throw a grimoire on the wizard with fireball in it, and fireball her over and over until she is knocked out, and she’ll revive with a Serious Burn.
Queen of the drakes: party support. As you would expect from a herald, a lot of her value comes from party support. She summons other drakes to do her bidding, which is why she has chosen the wurm and drake summon invocations (and their upgrades) – no ogres or floating weapons for her! She wears the Dragon Pendant for a further drake family summon. She also gives her subordinate drakes (including party members) some of her powers. She grants fire damage to their attacks with Shared Flames (if you pick it) and the Mith Fyr chant. Her other chant is the one that boosts reload speed, and so she pairs especially well in a party with other gunners and ranged attackers.
Miscellaneous thoughts. This is a fun and low-micro build, for the most part. Shoot Wrath of the Five Suns at a caster and focus it down, interspersing flames of devotion to keep up the buff from either Eternal or Shared Flames, then rinse and repeat. (It is pretty easy to write an AI routine to do that.) The addition of Rekvu’s Scorched Cloak to handle the self-damage from the Dragon’s Dowry upgrades adds some fiddlyness to the build, for a couple of reasons. First, Blazing Fury is per-rest, so you’ll want to be resting regularly to use it often, and then you’ll need to fireball Pallegina anew each time you do that. Also, the build is basically complete at level 12-13; you don’t get much you need after that, but Rekvu’s cloak comes relatively late. You can go without the upgrades to Dragon’s Dowry before you get the cloak, or just eat the self-damage if you have good passive healing. She does have very high defenses for a ranged character, so she’s as well-suited to eating the damage as anyone you’ll find.
-
3
-
-
The last time I tried to use Wrath of the Five Suns on Pallegina, you didn't have the option of upgrading it to Sworn Rival or Brand Enemy, since the Wrath of the Five Suns upgrade replaced those.
I was just perusing through some gamedata files, though, and came across abilities names "Wrath_of_the_Five_Suns_SwornRival" and "Wrath_of_the_Five_Suns_BrandEnemy". Can Pallegina now upgrade to those?
Edit: so I did some testing. I still can't select those for her on level-up. However, I can add those abilities via console. I haven't tested whether they work in combat.
-
There's an upgrade to that ability that makes it work with ranged weapons.
-
1
-
-
Driving flight is really good, and yes it does on-hit effects.
Monk with dual blunderbusses (still a cowboy theme, right) and stunning surge is totally awesome, since there are so many hits you usually get a crit and refund the cost of stunning surge.
-
It is weird that this strategy works (full attack abilities like whirling strikes and clear the path, with one melee and one ranged weapon), when some other full attack abilities don't. When I put hunter's fang (a full attack ability) on Maia, with mortar in the main hand and dagger in the off, and went up to an enemy, clicked on hunter's fang -- it only attacks with the dagger.
-
For example. Also Penetrating Strike works with ranged weapons - good for mortar. You can also use Clear Out. So you can go multiclass.
Or single class Rager: Whirling Strikes works with Hand Mortar if you put a melee weapon into the offhand (like Clear Out).
Any rogue with Hand Mortar (and Blinding Smoke) is also great. First shot distracts, second shot already Deathblows in an AoE.
Babarian with Heart of Fury.
Ciphers get a ton of focus with it when targeting a group.
I was just wondering whether whirling strikes would work much the same way as Clear the Path. I imagine the current bug prevents the raw damage from being applied multiple times to everyone in the AOE, though. And I wonder if the DoT would stack anyway.
-
Really, any, but especially something I could use with a companion. Maybe especially with Maia, but really any of the companions/sidekicks. (The reason I say "any" is that I'm happy to use the Unity console to change companion classes.)
I could do the Clear the Path thing with Rekke as a fighter.
-
Boeroer, do you know any other tricks to use just the Hand Mortar (not dual-wielding)? I've got an extra Hand Mortar around and I'm trying to figure out how to use it, since I decided Kitchen Stove's Wild Barrage made it the better offhand weapon for my monk.
-
So, Avenging Storm + Fire in the Hole + Kitchen Stove + Wild Barrage + Stunning Surge is awesome.
I think maybe having Kitchen Stove + Wild Barrage in the offhand is better than the hand mortar in the offhand when you are using Avenging Storm, since you get +2 bounces with 4 hits each, for 12 procs of Avenging Storm. And Kitchen Stove + Wild Barrage is better than the hand mortar in the offhand with Stunning Surge until this bug gets fixed, since you get stuns on 3 enemies. Bonus: Kitchen Stove has a reload speed bonus, which makes it a good offhander.
I'm actually thinking the Kitchen Stove might be better than the hand mortar in most situations. Maybe if you manage to really cluster up lots of enemies, the mortar is better. Or if you really don't want to rest all the time, then Wild Barrage won't be available much -- that's probably the biggest reason to prefer the hand mortar.
-
How about Powder Burns? Does that proc Avenging Storm too?
-
I think this is a problem. A freakin' web should catch anyone who walks into it.
-
2
-
Has the way stronghold adventures get decided been changed?
in Pillars of Eternity: Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)
Posted
On the wiki, it says that the game rolls 2 1d50s and adds those to prestige, and then you get no adventure for 1-25, minor 26-50, etc. That matches my prior playthrough experience. But this playthrough seems to be different. I have prestige 36, and have been reloading and rerolling adventures. It is the second one I've gotten. I'm getting average adventures every single time. I've done it at least 30 times. But if the wiki is right, sometimes I should get a minor one, and sometimes I should get a major one, since I should sometimes roll outside the 51-75 range. Anybody know if they changed the way stronghold adventures are generated?