Boeroer

I actually don't know if nowadays hirelings' Deep Faith is somehow influenced by the MCs actions. Bit in this case it doesn't matter because it's a purely offensive character.

You can look it up on the Wiki. All items have a section about aquisition. https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Pillars_of_Eternity_II:_Deadfire_accessories https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/List_of_unique_armor_(Deadfire) Early good armors can be The Bloody Links (buy), Devil of Caroc's Breastplate (steal or buy), Patinated Plate (steal or buy), Nomad's Brigandine (loot), Casita Samelia's Legacy (loot), Deltro's Cage (loot), Miscreant's Leather (loot), Sharpshooter's Garb (Maia) and Garari Cuirass (buy). "Good" may depend on what you are looking for. A melee tank can make good use of the Sharpshooter's Garb obviously as a Sharpshooter doesn't want to wear the Patinated Plate. It is very easy to loot the armor of very tough/overleveles foes (like the guys that will drop Nomad's Brigandine) if you simply hire a single Assassin/Bleak Walker with Ring of Focused Flames, Zealous Focus, FoD, Brand Enemy, Gouging Strike and Smoke Veil. Pick up Bounding Boots and Lover's Embrace and then just sneak/jump up on the enemy with the loot, hit him/her/it with a single-wielded FoD with Lover's Embrace if the defense is very high or Gouging Strike if not. You will have 12+20+25 ACC for that FoD attack which ususally is enough to hit even way overleveled enemies, then Gouging Stike (if not used right away) and then Brand Enemy (which is an auto.hit), then Smoke Veil. If things become too hot then use Smoke Veil in between and Brand Enemy afterwards, then Smoke Veil again. Retreat quickly so you're out of sight and let the enemy die. This shouldn't take too long because Lover's Embrace + Gouging Strike + Brand Enemy stack (I haven't met an enemy who could outheal it forever on their own - although Ogres with unlimited healing potions sure will extend the process significantly). When the guy with the loot drops dead simply sneak/jump in like advised (with pausing/unpausing/cancelling the leap) and loot the stuff, then jump away or use Smoke Veil to stop the encounter, leave the map. That way I can even get Reckless Brigandine etc. very early. Can be a bit tricky at times and sometimes needs a reload, but it's not too bad and rewarding. After that you can retire the Assassin/Bleak Walker because his job is done.

To get the most of of the Arcane Archer variant (I mean circumventing the frustrating omittance of the second and third imbue projectile) I personally would use Watershaper's Focus from stealth to open combat. First use Imbue: Web once the enemies got lured to a spot or gathered around the tank. Then later def. Imbue: Pull of Eora. That way you will not drop only two Pulls (initial + Driving Flight) but three (init. + DF + Watershaper's Focus build-in jump). It's very hard for enemies to escape three parallel pulls that were applied with sky-high ACC. Also there will be three times the Blast damage of the rod which very often triggers its enchantment "Ondra's Wrath" which might ascend you right at the spot. Because you shoot this one from stealth you will have nearly no recovery (stealth offers a -85% recovery time bonus). You can then switch to Frostseeker. Sure, there will be switching recovery, but I think it's absolutely worth it. Because of that I was thinking about an Arcane Archer/Black Jacket with 0 switching recovery and four weapon slots (Frostseeker/Watershaper's Focus/Spearcaster/Essence Interrupter) to cover all resistances/immunites of enemies and be able to interrupt at the spot. Penetrating Strike and Disciplined Strikes would be nice to have for Frostseeker. And you wouldn't need to cast a bunch of debuffs/buffs like the Ascendant would. But I think Ascendant is more up your alley if you want to focus on Frostseeker. By the way: since you are scaling Arcane anyway it would be a crime to use Frostseeker and not use scrolls of Avenging Storm from time to time. It's just too good. Speaking of Cipher again: Biting Whip is pretty bad in the vanilla game - I mean compared to Draining Whip. If you install the Community Patch you will have a more balanced Biting Whip ability. That mod also fixes an annoying bug of the Arcane Archer: all his damaging Imbue shots (Missiles, Fireball and Death Ring) won't scale their PEN - so they become rather bad at higher levels because they can't penetrate anymore. The mod makes it so that the PEN of imbue shots scales with your Arcana skill. This helps to keep them viable until the end. And on top you'll get unique passive icons for every class in the game as sugar coating. Even if Black Jacket isn't your thing I would still encourage you to try Spearcaster at some point just to see how it is with an Archane Archer. It's Rune Shot enchantments gets bonus ACC from the Arcana skill and it stacks with the Arcana-induced bonus of the imbue shots, giving you absurd amounts of ACC (with an Imbue or Accurate Wounding Shot). It can be very good against enemies you want to interrupt very reliably with the modal. You don't need to commit yourself to it, just try it out some time.

I think I'd go for Ghost Heart. None of the suggested multiclass options has a summon (besides Monk) that would clash with the Spirit Animal Companion, you won't suffer Bonded Grief which you really don't want to experience when aiming for crits (because -10 ACC, ouch). Also you can often drop the AC directly in front of the enemy you want to shoot at, immediately getting the ACC bonus from Stalker's Link. And if the enemies are too far away at least you can drop the AC off behind the enemy lines which makes it less of a hassle to reach the enemies. As a multiclass there's usually lots of great abilites to pick from so it's maybe nice if you don't have to invest into the AC too much. A Sharpshooter may have 15% crit conversion from >4m distance (which isn't bad at all) but also +10% recovery time - which means that while you are more likely to crit per shot you are also shooting more slowly which in turn means less crits in a given time. Also you'd have to invest more passives into the AC in order to make it more sturdy or heal/revive it so you don't suffer Bonded Grief. But I'm sure both would be fine.

Frostseeker is absolutely viable. You want to generate as many crits as possible to tight groups of enemies (like pulled together by Pull of Eora or assembled around a tank. Helwalker will work (Lightning Strikes, Duality:INT, MIG, Enduring Dance), Cipher (Borrowed Instincts, Phantom Foes, Eyestrike), Rogue, too (the crit AoE profits from Sneak Attack and Deathblows). Even Fighter (Devoted, Disciplined Strikes) is doable. Paladin will get +20 ACC on Flames of Devotion with the Ring of Focused Flames which will also help with crits (and Zealous Focus, too). Eternal Devotion also works with the Frostseeker AoE I believe. An Arcane Archer can pull crowds together by himself (Imbue:Eora) but it's maybe best to leave that part to a wizard who can cast simultaneously and just keep firing arrows. Also Frostseeker will omit two of the three projectiles if used with Imbue shots which is a bit lame imo. Even a SC Ranger is nice. With Twinned Shots and Driving Flight you are producing up to 12 hit rolls per shot which is pretty great in combination with Avenging Storm (from Heaven's Cacophony or scroll). Highest ACC you'll get with Ranger/Cipher if I'm not mistaken. The frost AoE also generates a lot of focus.

Just pause right when the target circle appears and then abandon the cast of Leap (hit X button). You'll not alert anybody (no noise and no hit rolls) but will land with the usual animation while the game is paused, fully stealthed. Now you can loot everything with 0 points in stealth. The use of Leap is not consumed - you can use it as often as you want. It's obviously hard to time the pause right, so I simply pause before casting Leap, then frantically unpause/pause until I see the circle at the target. A bit hectic but you don't need to do it often.

You can't throw th Sparkcrackers too far away. But with Bounding Boots you don't need Sparkcrackers: go into stealth (make sure you are undetected), hit pause, target your jump right next to the chest (not too near to the guard) and then hit unpause/pause/upause/pause until you see your dotted circle apprearing at the target location. Then abandon the Leap by clicking the X button. You will appear at the target location even during pause, fully stealthed and can loot the chest without getting noticed. You won't even consume the use of Leap. Note that very often you can unlock a chest out of stealth just fine and nobody will get offended. It's the actual taking/stealing that will annoy them. The Leap trick can also be used to "sneak" past enemies and so on. You need no stealth and no Sparkcrackers. Of course this is an exploit. If you want it to do the "proper" way you need Sparkcrackers and okay-ish stealth (or meh stealth and some stealth items).

I just thought since it's daggers + Swift Strikes + Two Weapon Style + Heating Up there should be very little recovery left so that even with the short duration of Blade Turning you'd be able to squeeze in two strikes in between or so. Didn't try and I don't recall Mike's INT, but maybe with some +duration food and items as well as INT gear + Duality...? May very well be that it's boring (I mean triggering the same ability over and over again sure is) - but I also guess that Blade Turning stuff is easy to set up as AI script? Doesn't even have to be activated all the time. Only once Mirke is bloodied maybe? So you'd have normal attacks + Riposte if you're rel. healthy and switch to Blade Turning + few attacks in between once you're not doing great. Just an idea.

Shouldn't Shadowdancer with Streetfighter be quite nice in combination with Blade Turning? You will be flanked but melee attacks will get redirected while you can sqeeze in a few attacks on your own - because your recovery is so short...?

PoE and Deadfire are different. They are kind of "faux"3D: all the maps, backgrounds, buildings etc. are high-resolution, pre-rendered, handdrawn backgrounds that get enriched with 3D objects such as trees, enemies and the party. That leads to some funny things (try to cast a Rolling Flame up some stairs - that aren't really stairs but it's a flat picture) but imo it looks really beautiful and way better than a complete 3D environment. So there can't ever be a rotating camera whether Unity3D supports it or not. No idea about Pathfinder:Kingmaker. I also don't think it's a shame. Rotating cameras tend to confuse players' sense of direction. I absolutely prefer a fixed one. Being able to zoom in and out is great though.

If you want to use your dual pistols frequently then a Cipher makes a bit more sense than a Chanter. Since a Cipher needs to use weapons in order to gain focus for his powers in the first place (if not Beguiler or Psion).

Afaik it does not.

Maybe it doesn't proc further and it's just that with Whispers of the Wind and Sun&Moon + Fire in the Hole there's so many procs that it's hard to tell what triggered which.

Aaaand he's back! Welcome back @Aarik D! Hope you pick up your old handle.

Tested a bit further and it seems that even special procs from the melee weapon get triggered by Fire in the Hole's AoE if it gets used by Swift Flurry. At least I see a LOT of Extinction Events from Sungrazer going off whe I use it as my melee weapon in the offhand. Phew...

Hi, since Swift Flurry always procs attack rolls that are done with the main hand even if the offhand triggered it (see Sun & Moon in offhand and Battle Axe with Bleeding Cuts in main hand: lots of Bleeding Cuts from Swift Flurry without the recovery malus) I thought I'd give it a shot* and try if that also works with a ranged weapon in the main hand (and a melee weapon in the offhand obviously). And it does! Forget the times when you thought you couldn't use Fire in the Hole with Swift Flurry - you can! It even seems that Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming procs from the ranged weapon can proc additional procs. It's pretty crazy, I can tell you. Other good ranged weapons for this: Current's Rush (High Tide is powerful once it procs) Hand Mortar (with Blinding Smoke + Avenging Storm: ridiculous) Blunderbusses (every pellet seems to be able to trigger another shot) Tried it with SC Monk with Whispers of the Wind (awesome) and also with Monk/Ranger using Driving Flight (higher chance to get proc-chains with Stunning Surge: also great. Especially nice is that you can combine it with Hunter's Claw which also works ranged weapons in the main hand- Using a blunderbuss or mortar lets you get those stacks pretty quickly. Enjoy! *

You need a hell lot of mechanics for that. Don't think you can have that at lvl 8 when you're not optimized for lockpicking. With BErath's Blessings you can buy it right away though.

I think the most obvious application is not wanting to get hit by disengagement attacks. For Monks who want to be very mobile it can be benefical to be able to disengage without too much risk early on in the game and improve that later without the use of unique items etc. But as I said: +5 Reflex is okay.

It does stack with Tumbling and all other sources of defl. against diseng. att. though. That means it's def. not worthless - even if it's worse than Tumbling. But that's no surprise since it's tier 2. Thus, as a Monk you can stack very high amounts of deflection against disengagement attacks, especially when multiclassing: if you multiclass you get Fast Runner, too - which also stacks with the rest as well. The only things that make all those abilites around +def. gainst diseng. att. truly useless are Nomad's Brigandine and Gipon Prudensco because they do not make you immune to engagment (see Grog pet or certain other stuff) but instead they give you immunity against the disengagement attacks themselves (basically 100% crit+hit+graze to miss conversion). In my opinion it doesn't need a boost. But +5 Reflex is hardly making a big difference so I personally wouldn't oppose that bonus.

I don't know how Ciphers and Chanters work in TB mode but you had lots of fun with a Troubadour/Psion in RTwP mode because you never stop casting: once phrases are depleted you cast with focus - if focus is depleted you cast with phrases again. And both classes start combat with some focus AND phrases so you can cast right away. The "downside" (not really) is that you almost never use any weapons - because you don't need to. If you focus on the shorter casts (some Cipher spells do have short casting times and most offensive Chanter invocations have) I suppose you will have little downtime in TB mode...?

Gipon Prudensco is a padded armor. And obviously it's an exception because it has some very good unique enchantments that help with tanking (giving you more deflection AND immunity to flanked which means 1 more AR and 10 more deflection than a char who gets flanked) and also comes legendary.

The correct name would be "The Wall" - it's the modal that you get when picking the weapon proficiency for large shields. It's one of the best (if no the best) modal for tanks because it makes ranged attacks and AoE damage almost meaningless due to the hefty dmg malus (that stacks with the ones from grazes and underpenetration). I suspect often it's all the high PEN shots of enemy rogues/rangers and such that will bring down your tank, not so much the melee attackers. Leather armor on a tank is not sufficient at all. Def. put all AR you can get on a tank.

A non-Soulblade Cipher can cast Ring Leader from stealth and out of combat at lvl 18. Level 17 if he takes the passive Greater Focus. An Ascendant can reach that point at lvl 14 due to his increased maximum focus. Picking Keen Mind doesn't help in this special case (in RTwP at least) because the +10 "starting" focus only gets added once combat starts. So if your Cipher is supposed to cast opening CC from stealth in order to initiate combat he should be an Ascendant I think.

Usually all offensive spells (usually spells that require a hit roll but also auto-hits like Minor Missiles or Sworn Enemy) that don't rely on resources you won't have to out of combat (wounds, focus, phrases) can be cast from stealth. The second point is kind of obvious (can't cast an invocation that costs 5 phrases if you don't have any phrase for example) but maybe that's what causes a bit of confusion when it comes to seeing a general rule. I personally think that for example Whisper of Treason is an excellent spell to use from stealth in RTwP. You basically place a summon (kind of) right into the ranks of the enemy. It has rel. short range so you need decent stealth in RTwP. Later Ring Leader is just superb for the same reasons.

The Mage Slayer's passive that prevents the usage of potions and scrolls? Fits "picky eater" and "illiterate". Don't know if one can separate this from the arcane resistance though. Cowardice from Debonaire Tactical Dilemma from Tactician