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Trickster/Soul Blade is pretty good. Mirrored Image and Borrowed Instinct stack for deflection, and you still get tons of damage bonuses from soul whip, sneak attack, and death blows. Obviously won't have the same DPS as streetfighter but the trade-off for better survivability is worth it IMO.

After an attack skill like efficient anguish ithe next normal attack should go to your primary weapon first, so you would strike twice with Stalkers Patience. However my point was more you would push them out of range with efficient anguish so even if you skipped recovery you'd lose the benefit from having to chase down the target. If you keep instruments of pain up all the time then I suppose that's less of an issue, but that comes late and will cost a lot of wounds to maintain while also spamming efficient anguish. Proccing mercy strike on a normal weapon attack with SP will skip recovery to the next attack in the sequence, which if you are using an offhand weapon will mean that weapon. So if you have stalkers patience and tuotilos palm, and proc mercy strike off a normal attack, you will skip recovery and go to the shield bash which is not ideal. And as you say, reducing recovery with two weapon style is nice but given you can skip recovery entirely with mercy strike it doesn't seem that big of a benefit. Maybe nice to have as a secondary weapon slot against high deflection enemies where you can't rely on mercy strike triggering as often.

I'm not a fan of bashing shields like Tutilos Palm with Stalkers Patience because after Mercy Strike triggers it will skip recover to the shield bash attack instead of another attack with the spear. Not sure I follow the logic of using efficient anguish to only attack with the spear. Wouldn't the push effect undermine the benefit of skipping recovery, because now you have to chase after the target?

What is the appeal of Watery Double? My understanding is unless you have the game modded it's not controllable and bugged to not use any of its abilities, so all I end up with is a clone of Tekehu with fairly average combat stats and equipment. Is there a special way you are using the clone?

Fair point about mythical discovery. I usually just find I don't have a pressing need for THAT many mythical weapons by the end game, as I'd normally have a caster or two with a stat stick anyway. For me I prefer the convenience of a faster early game. The mod is great, I couldn't live without it. If you enjoy running FF Monks you'll love the new Forbidden Curses Less Than X condition. Can set it to use FF every time Curses are less than 1 which is a lot less fiddly then messing around with cooldown times. Only issue is the AI only checks the condition at the time of queuing an action, so if it has queued a normal attack and the curse expires after the action has been queued the AI isn't smart enough to change the action to FF and will just follow through with a normal attack. More of an issue with the AI system in general though rather than the mod.

The most valuable Berath Blessings to me are the ones that give bonuses that can't be obtained in the game otherwise (Bonus Attributes, Bonus Skills, Can I Pet Him Anyway?, Unique Item Vendor (in terms of getting extra uniques)) or that are a real pain to obtain normally (e.g Infamous Past). The exceptions to this rule where I tend to skip the blessing are Legendary Crew (not that hard to level up regular sailors to rank 4 and prefer to just keep each sailor on a single role) and Mythical Discovery (I find it too expensive point wise). A lot of the other blessings like bonus gold, fine equipment, upgraded ship, start at level 4, are mostly for convenience in the early game. I tend to pick these up if I have spare points left or if I just want to blitz through the early game as fast as possible. On the topic of mods, one mod I recommend if you like AI scripting is the enhanced AI conditions mod, which adds a lot more AI conditions for things that would otherwise be hard to script (e.g. for buffs that don't provide an inspiration).

Are you people seriously denying Eder a pet?? That Blessing is mandatory!

I don't have an answer to the hit proc percentage question but stalker's patience is one of my favourite weapons, particular on something like Stalker + Soulblade/Trickster or Forbidden Fist + Soulblade/Trickster. Rogue is nice for persistent distraction to automatically trigger ambushing as well as the intrinsic bonus to stealth. Forbidden Fist is nice to prolong the DOT and also to have a crush back-up which tends to be a weakness for most pierce immune foes. If using with a shield it just needs to be a non-bashing shield otherwise the Mercy Strike proc will skip to the shield bash attack. Although it also makes a strong case for single weapon style for the bonus ACC and crit chance. It has me wondering whether, if the proc chance is closer to 50%, it works out faster overall in most fights to go with a non-bashing shield and stalker's patience, than to use a bashing shield with two-weapon style. Might be nice to try out a different shield for once on an FF (perhaps Outworn Buckler for the additional 5% hostile effect reduction, or Xoti's Lantern for the Mortification and Wounds on kill...). Getting a bit off topic though!

If you use Eviee as a pet (which is good for FF anyway) you can skip Wild Orlan and go Hearth Orlan for a bit more hit-to-crit chance or human for extra accuracy on bloodied. Another good weapon on a shadowdancer is Stalker's Patience. Persistent distraction automatically triggers the flanking condition for Ambushing which gives another +10% damage increasing with stealth. Mercy strike also has nice synergy with SF/HBD chains. It's not as game-breaking (in the literal sense) as Mohorā Taga but is less likely to crash your game . I am not sure if the Wounding enchantment is a separate roll - I don't think it is but the DoT should still get extended by FF. Come to think of it, does anyone know if the Wounding DoT benefits from Sneak Attack / Death Blows? If so it might double benefit from those (as it is based on base attack damage so gets the benefit of SA/DB there, and then the DoT gets a further SA/DB boost?). I really like spears on shadowdancers. With the modal + Tutilo's Palm + Persistent Distraction you get three engagement slots which is great with Rymgard's Repulsive Visage and Parting Sorrow. The Spear Modal malus is pretty negligible if you only activate it when surrounded, and if you are lazy you can just take Fast Runner and Long Stride to offset the movement penalty. EDIT: It didn't occur to me earlier but I also really like the role-playing aspect of a Forbidden Fist monk addicted to Mohorā wraps using Mohorā Tanga as a weapon...

Decided to return to the game after a long absence and do another full playthrough. Struggling to decide between playing a Forbidden Fist / Soul Blade, Forbidden Fist / Trickster, or Trickster / Soul Blade. Playing PoTD all upscaled with Community Patch. Playing with official companions (swapping between them all). A few things considerations / things I am looking for: Melee DPS focussed with good defences. On the Cipher MCs, casting will be limited to utility spells (Whispers of Treason, Phantom Foes, Secret Horrors, Psychovampiric Shield, Borrowed Instinct) and Disintegration as the only Shred spell. Prefer weapon + shield (Tutilo's Palm) over WotEP. Weapons will most likely be some combination of Sun and Moon, Stalker's Patience, and Seeker's Fang (on the Cipher MCs). Visually I prefer the spear and rapier over Sun and Moon, but this is not a deal breaker. Prefer classes not well covered by official companions (e.g. Monk, Cipher). Prefer "fast" characters (e.g. whether that be through fast attack speed, good mobility, or both). Things I like / dislike about each combination: Forbidden Fist / Soul Blade Infinite resources (other than mortification). Cipher spells provide a bit more variety / utility. Monks and Ciphers both not well represented among companions in my opinion - provides more class coverage / variety across the team. Lacks the DPS of the Trickster MCs - Sneak Attack + Deathblows is hard to give up. Lacks the mobility of the Trickster MCs (Flagellant's Path not as fun / useful as Escape IMO). Forbidden Fist / Trickster Love the mobility of Escape and Fast Runner + Long Stride. I love the synergy of Stalker's Patience with this combo (Combine DoT effects, Persistent Distraction auto triggers flanking for the spear, 3 engagement slots with spear modal and Fast Runner + Long Stride counteract the modal penalty, extra engagement slots combine well with Repulsive Visage and Parting Sorrow). Lacks the accuracy bonuses of the Cipher MCs (more reliant on Dance of Death which is less reliable if front lining) Finite resources on the Trickster side - while in theory it sounds like fun to zip around the battlefield applying DoTs everywhere, it is extremely resource intensive and most Guile will probably go towards Mirror Image and Escape. Rogue already covered by a lot of companions (assume Eder as Swashbuckler and Maia as Scout). Mirror Image causes FPS stutter which is annoying (I have modded the game to remove the images but still get a small amount of stutter whenever Mirror Image is cast). Trickster / Soul Blade Probably the strongest combo from a DPS and defence perspective. Lacks an attack speed boost, although may be able to make up for this by trading RES for DEX compared with the FF MCs. Lacks the synergies with Forbidden Fist / Monk INT bonuses. Doesn't feel as synergistic in general compared with the other MCs. Weaker Tutilo's palm (from a defensive standpoint) - may be better to dual wield weapons on this combo? Anything I might be overlooking here? Appreciate any insights / opinions that might help me break this deadlock!

Attributes for Forbidden Fist / Cipher are tricky because just about every stat is important. I usually go with the following with the Berath's Blessing bonus (using Savanah Folk Human from the Ixmatil Plains (Philosopher background) because it works perfectly for a monk from an RP perspective and the +1 resolve lets you get to 20 base RES which is the most important stat for a FF monk): MIG: 10 + 2BB = 12 CON: 8 + 2BB = 10 DEX: 12 + 2BB = 14 PER: 16 + 2BB = 18 INT: 12 + 2BB = 14 RES: 20 + 2BB = 22 Is you use custom companions then you can drop perception a few points if you have another character with high perception. If you run with the custom companions I like to have at least 18 PER to detect some of the high level traps in the DLCs. RES is the most important stat as a FF so I always get it as high as possible. Also higher RES means faster wound generation with FF, which means getting the INT bonus faster with Duality (hence why you can exchange INT for RES). I don't find might that noticeable unless you really stack it, and having it low helps mitigate FF self damage. Low-ish DEX can be compensated with Swift Strikes and I usually wear either Cabalist Gambeson (with -10% hostile effect duration) or Devil of Caroc breastplate + eat Mohora Wraps so my recovery is pretty low anyway. If you use Rannig's Wrath rapier until you get Seeker's Fang then that also gives +10% action speed. Low-ish INT can be offset with Turning Wheel or Enlightened Agony if you prefer Iron Wheel for a more tanky character. Strand of Favour also works perfectly with the build and gives another +1 INT. Even though I use community patch I still prefer Beguiler over Ascendant for the Cipher sub-class. Beguiler still gets focus and +20% whip from attacks against sneak attack vulnerable targets and Forbidden Fist applies enfeebles which activates sneak attack, so it is effectively always active. I don't really spam cipher spells with this set-up anyway so the Ascendant seems mostly wasted (plus low INT until I get duality means low ascended duration). The synergies between some of the deception spells (charms, dominates, secret horrors) and the FF enfeebled is also really nice. An alternative build is to just run a no-subclass or Nalpasca Monk instead of FF and drop RES to 8+2 with BB and pump up Might and Int. Works just as well but your disintegrates will be a little shorter but tick for more damage with the higher might. Sometimes that might be better if your disintegrates usually kill the target before expiring anyway.

I have been having the exact same issue. Played over 200 hours before this started occurring so no idea what has caused it to start. Have basically shelved the game until I can find a solution.

Not really sure how to best describe this bug. Occasionally when I cancel a spell cast by a party member, the cancelled spell "jumps" to a nearby party member who will attempt to cast the spell instead. If that party member is in the middle of an action when the spell "jumps" to them, they will cancel their current action endlessly and effectively become soft-locked. See screenshot where my MC single class monk is attempting to cast Ninagauth's Shadowflame (which he of course doesn't have) after I cancelled this spell on Aloth. My MC's current action, stunning surge, is cancelled endlessly and the character is completely locked. Some observations: the endless cancelling occurs even when the game is paused. the particle effect for stunning surge repeatedly builds up causing the game to slow to a crawl. This occurs even while the game is paused. the affected character is completely locked. He cannot cancel his current action, move, or do anything, effectively requiring a reload. The lock persists even after combat ends. While I have observed this bug occurring in multiple fights, in my experience, it tends to happen more frequently during the Lord Admiral Imp fight. I have no idea if this is just a coincidence or if there is something special about that fight which triggers this bug more regularly. EDIT - screenshot now attached.

Your post was a good one, I simply wish to comment on this point. I would argue that any game where everything always happens the same way does not encourage multiple playthroughs, or even a second one, but that's obviously just my view. Just a little bit of randomness in encounters, quests, quest availability, shop inventories, shopkeeper appearances (in the sense of who's where and when on the maps, not in the sense of what they look like) etc. would add an awful lot of spice and replayability to a CRPG. And yes, I understand the extra work this would entail. I often think how lovely it would be if a huge new CRPG title (such as Deadfire was when it came out) contained this type of stuff to a significant extent. You couldn't go to a forum and ask for the location of the best <your favorite thing here> because your game would be slightly different from mine. And yes, I agree it'd be a nightmare for the players who want to check out everything in advance. That's a very interesting point. While there is certainly enough build variety in Deadfire to keep my re-playing it, I have to confess that the actual story progression tends to be nearly identical for me each time (particularly for the first 10-13 levels where I almost follow a prescribed path). While that's partly my fault, sometimes I wonder if it would be better if the game forced me out of my comfort zone every now and then (or perhaps that's what Eothas' Challenge is for ). I should say though that I'm not a big fan of randomized loot. In a game like Deadfire where I might be building around a specific item, I don't want that entire play through to hinge on whether a key item shows up.

Frankly it just sounds like Deadfire is not the right game for OP. The game has taken a very specific approach to its loot system, and (in my opinion) it does it very well in the context of what it is trying to achieve. It sounds like there are just unavoidable differences in how Deadfire has been (deliberately) designed and what OP wants. That's not the game's fault and nor is it OPs - just means the game is not a good fit. A few points: Deadfire has not been designed around a linear loot progression system. Loot that you acquire in the "end game" is not necessarily better than loot that you acquire early. For the most part, all loot in the game has been designed so that, with the right set-up, it will can be effective. This is not to say that loot is useless. In many cases loot can be build-defining (as evidenced through the many builds posted on these forums that are built around very specific items). It is just a matter of finding the right combinations and experimenting with new set-ups, which the game strongly encourages. There is a strong argument that this increases the game's longevity. There is a reason people still theory-craft new builds on these forums almost a year after the game was released, compared with other RPGs that are not as well balanced where people have figured out the most optimum builds within the first month, removing a large reason to keep re-playing the game. The developers have tried to avoid designing items that just give flat bonuses to stats. You won't find many items that just give +5 to stats like you might in some other RPGs. A lot of unique are situationally beneficially, designed to be built around, or require some cost/benefit analysis to get the most use out of. There is, however, enough variety in the loot that you should be able to find an item that works well regardless of your build. I guess in summary if you want a game where you get a +1 sword in Act 1, a +2 sword in Act 2, and so on, then Deadfire is not for you. If you want a game that encourages multiple playthroughs, rewards creativity, and where there is no one clear "optimum" set-up, then Deadfire does that really well.