Boeroer

But... Konstanten *is* a skald, so what Kaylon said about non-offensive chants doesn't apply to Konstanten: I also think it doesn't apply to Bellower either since the invocations that profit from PL most are the offensive ones that deal damage.

Check out Spirit Lance + Mule Kick for laughs. Clear Out + Lance is quite jawdropping. Also Spellblade is nice. You can give him a rod + Blast, I'd recommend Watershaper's Focus, and then apply Deep Wounds, Arterial Strikes, Gouging Strikes and most notably Toxic Strikes in an AoE. Once Ondra's Wrath gets triggered it gets all the goodies from Rogue like Deep Wounds, Sneak Attack, Deathblows etc. That way you can apply rogue stuff in an AoE with rel. little Guile before (or after) you run out of wizard spell uses - which is nice in the early game (where spell uses are so scarce). Nannasin's Cobra Strike has high base damage and is very good with a Spellblade. Very powerful single target tool. Concelhaut's Draining Touch (do not learn it, use it from a grimoire and switch the grimoire after summoning in order to keep it for the whole fight) has the highest base damage of any one handed weapon afaik and targets Will instead of Deflection. It also weakens the enemy and drains health. Give Aloth a club + modal in the offhand, summon Draining Touch and switch grimoire, cast Miasma, then attack the debuffed enemy with Full Attacks like Crippling Strikes. He will have absurdly low Will and Draining Touch will nearly always crit, doing very high damage. So - Aloth can be great with all his possible multiclasses.

What bow was it? War or hunting bow? And some unique one or a "normal" one?

Yes, that's most likely the reason. The first time I played Chanter I couldn't find my skeletons anymore after upgrading. The upgrade changes the icon (sometimes drastically) and the name and the Power Level tier in which it is sorted into (I, II, III, IV and so on - on the action bar). Urdel and Gurdel, once upgraded, is named "for they to enjoy stomping your head" but the icon should be pretty similar and easy to find on the bar (just red instead of orange). Hel Hyraf turns into "the shield cracks" which has a broken blue shield on a green background (iirc). That's pretty different from the original Hel Hyraf icon at a glance. If you didn't even upgrade those on Konstantel then something is off though.

Yes. Also Faergus as Firgist, Josh Sawyer as Telfor and so on...

No idea where that is. Never used something like that.

If you take Bloodmage you will be fine. Recently there was a confirmed single class Bloodmage who sucessfully did the Ultimate Challenge for Deadfire (which is so much harder than with PoE). So: totally viable for normal solo game.

Correct. If theycan't engage you you can't break it. Doesn't prevent you from engaging them of course.

Cadhu Scalth with high Athletics or Bronlar's Phalanx do give you higher deflection than the Ward (every point of added deflection has increasing returns). But it will surely also work well with the Ward. Casita or (Gipon Prudensco) are the best to raise your deflection, right.

Entonia Signet doesn't care how many enemiey you engage. It's the other way round: It counts how many enemies do engage you. So if you fight enemies who don't have engagement (like tigers or so) it does nothing.

On the website the damage of Exceptional (+30%) is included because the blade comes exceptional. If you substract that you get the base damage.

If I'm not mistaken then WotEP's base damage is only 9-15 (average 12). A normal Great Sword has 18-24 (average 21). Let's add the lash to the base damage because it's multiplicative, too: WotEP: 14 vs. Great Sword 21. so WotEP has roughtly 67% of the damage output ot normal Great Swords. 130 vs. 150 doesn't seem right. If the great sword does 150 then WotEP should do around 100. I mean if I'm not having nasty brain farts atm... The overall dps will still be higher (as long as you are getting attacked in melee) because you get those awesome free attacks without any recovery from Offensive Parry (they also profit from Sneak Attack and all that). But an Unbroken without Shield and with WotEP will have lower deflection and reflex and also only gain 5 engagement slots max (Unbroken + Hold the Line + Persistnt Distraction + Reckless Brigandine + Blackened Palte Helmet: bad looking combo ) without Defender Stance. That's why I like WotEP better with non-Unbroken.

Most of the bugs that are now in place were introduced with patches (especially when introducing new features which is to be expected).

It is. @Phenomenum found a way to mod it out and will most likely include it in the next Community Patch version (if it comes ;)).

It's a primary attack with +20 ACC and +100% dmg. So dual wielding doesn't do anything. It's better for Riposte and Mob Stance tough. I mean if you can still stack enough deflection or lower enemies' ACC.

The problem is that the code first checks for keywords such as "burn" that might be attached to the weapon or ability attack roll. And if it has those and the enemy is immune the rest (like PEN vs. this might be better than vs. that and stuff) doesn't get checked at all. First weapons themselves didn't have such keywords and players complained a bit since it would make sense that certain weapons should profit from Scion of Flame, fire Power Level boosts and so on. So they got those keyword. Then this problem appeared and never got fixed. It's also hard to mod away, but possible (with secret keywords iirc). So it's only the weapons that have such a keyword that suffer this "bug". Bows against skeletons should deal slash damage though.

If I'd use Steel Garotte instead of Unbroken I personally would use Whsipers of the Endless Paths (Offensive Parry) + Riposte since I'd get a lot more draining attacks that way than from disengagement attacks (that come on top of that of course once I'd use Repulsive Visage). You can divide the combat in two parts that way: Tank all enemies that want to attack you and use Beacon, Eternal Devotion and Offensive Parrty/Riposte to dish out dmg (and drain). Once it's too much to take use Repulsive Visage to scatter them and deal disengagement damage. You can even switch to another weapon set I guess (e.g. Amra + Bleeding Cuts) right after casting Repulsive Visage because the recovery malus doesn't matter for disengagement attacks and the base dmg of WotEP is quite low compared to other great swords. That is if switching doesn't cancel engagement briefly (didn't test). Unbroken is all about engagement and disengagement. So it makes sense to build an Unbroken/Trickster and abuse the disengament mechanics with Repulsive Visage and at the same time profit from Sneak Attack, Deathblows and Deep Wounds while debuffing everybody who's engaged passively with Persistant Distraction. Both fulfill a bit different roles for me. I'd use the Unbroken to hold as many enemies as possible while punishing them, too. It's more of a "CC by engaging" approach. The Steel-Garrote/Trickster cares more about himself.

Apprentice's Sneak Attack affects all the AoE hits of Kalakoth's Minor Blights itself (not only the initial target but all in the AoE) - but not the Blasts that follow the AoE hits. If you combine it with Dangerous Implement you can get stack +40% dmg bonus for the Blights' AoE hits (not the Blasts) which isn't bad at all. Or you could skip Apprentice's Sneak Attack and counter the loss of endurance by Dangerous Implement (and Alacrity presumably) with Veteran's Recovery. But Wizards can also use Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon and Infuse with Vital Essence for healing endurance and health. I personally would use Dangerous Implement and Apprentice's Sneak if I would be playing a Blights Wizard. Keep in mind that Blights + Blast is best if you use it in combo with Combusting Wounds. You can also wear Rings of Searing Flames (can have two for 6 Combusting Wound casts per rest) if you want to spare your spells for something else.

Nay, that's your animal companion. The pet is stuff like Concelhaut's Skull. THey can't left behind and they don't die. So if they disturb the gloves you will never see the solitary buff I guess. You can of course unequip them. Although Concelhaut's Skull is very good and summons in general are very useful when soloing - don't know if that's worth it for the solitary buff. Afaik all those things (summons, pet and animal companion) cancel the effect of the gloves. Pet may have gotten fixed, but I doubt it. You could test without any pet and with leaving the animal companion far behind.

For a Spartan vibe I'd use Bronlar's Phalanx (and Gladiator Sword - which is rather good for a tankish, high deflection build actually). If you pick spears: there's one that has pierce/slash which can be your backup weapon: Kahua Hozi - 8 ACC isn't too bad since disengagement attacks have higehr ACC (+10 +20 if I'm not mistaken) and Unbroken kan have Disciplined Strikes (+5 PER/graze to hit/hit to crit) and Dirty Fighting (hit to crit) which results in a nice 32.5% hit-to-crit conversion. If combined with Confident Aim you also get a great graze-to-hit conversion. I never had problems with the lower accuracy. Also because with Persistent Distraction you lowers all engaged enemies' deflection by 10 through flanked anyway and automatically. Also Kapana Taga helped me since it gives you +4 ACC per engaged target which is of course very nice. The effects of "the Wall" in combination with party nukers and with ranged enemmies is just too good to pass for me. From the top of my head I can only come up with "One Dozen Stood" armor with the great "Dont let him Through!" and the "Stall for Time" enchantments - which is kind of redundant with Overbearing Guard - but still. Don't really remember - I know the burn damage from Keeper of the Flame is causing friendly fire. But I never had problems with Sungrazer. I tanked as the only tank with only enemies around me - so the AoE never really reached my party in the first place - and the combo of the Wall + Adept Evasion most problaby wouldn't let me notice if I hit myself. But I think it's foe-only. Did a quick test with a Shadowdancer + Sungrazer yesterday evening and noticed no friendly fire with Sungrazer. The reason I don't use it regularly is that actually the whole kaboom becomes rather annoying (visually) after some time. Can't see anything... Same when I used Grave Calling + Chilling Grave and the paralyze against vessels: too many VFX...

It is very nice in a party. I did nearly the same setup you listed but used Kapana Taga (so I could get +2 more engagement and have dual dmg) and a large Shield (Cadhu Scalth - lowers all damage via Metaphysics, alöso looks great with Reckless Brigandine) + modal "the Wall". Because in combo with Adept Evasion you can shower your own Unbroken/Trickster with AoE spells that target Reflex and he will almost never get a scratch while the enemies die. You can use Escape and Charge to move anyways. I also used Riposte since Vigorous Defense stacks with Mirrored Image so they miss a lot (not good in Turn Based mode though). Hold the Line + Kapana Taga + Shield + Reckless Brigandine + Persistent Distraction would give an Unbroken 7 engagement slots without Defender Stance if I'm not mistaken. I think 5 or 6 is most reasonable - more is not worth it. So I wouldn't pick Hold the Line then. A spear with modal like Stalker's Patience is a great alternative (does more dmg than Kapana due to raw DoT and only has 1 less engagment slots). Then Hold the Line could be good. Sungrazer can also be nice. If you are surrounded and get attacked a lot Riposte may quickly trigger one of the AoEs of Sungrazer which get all the Sneak Attack bonuses etc. Same thing with the disengagment attacks. I used White Witch Mask for most of the game (can spare you a but of Guile and boosts the Trickster's Illusions and looks good withthe Brigandine) and later the Champion's Helm. With Armored Grace, Abraham pet and Reckless Brigandine you get pretty good speed for a fat Brigandine setup. The terrify/disengagement effect does no work 100% of times. But often enough to be quite effective.

That is late(ish) game stuff. I prefer to judge a class combo on the early game as well - if a new player is asking. And Helwalker's increased damage received + Blood Sacrifice is accessible right from the start which can lead to some nasty surprises. Of course: if you already know some stuff then it's no big deal. It's just so that such experiences can be pretty frustrating for a new player. Thus I recommend Arcane Knight. Instruments of Pain is very good since all it does is to multiply your weapon's base reach with 6. A pike has 1.8 meters reach so you get a melee reach of 10.8 meters. This allows you to switch targets way more quickly without engaging and moving around which can raise your damage output considerably. It also prevents you from getting attacked too much. You can still use all melee abilites. So: no-brainer. Yesterday evening I did compare the two variants again in-game (also with Draining Touch and again my favorite combo with Swift Flurry/Stunning Surge atm: Sungrazer + Sun&Moon). Not at max level though because then the effect of Swift Flurry is of course way better when you are overleveled. Sage can totally wreck weaker mobs and is super fun in those crowded encounters. But you have to watch out (without potion shenanigans). Several CRE_Tigers may overwhelm him quickly if you make a mistake. Arcane Knight also does a good job with mob damage but is slower - but at the same time is very sturdy. If placed against 6 or more CRE_Tigers he has a rel. easy time surviving. He also has an easier time against tougher foes. The +20 ACC on FoD and Brand Enemy do help a lot here. I wouldn't pick Sworn Rival with a Lance user I think - since he will hit several enemies most of the time anyway and you maybe don't want to spend your time applying Sworn Rival to all enemies you want to hit. So instead I would pick Brand Enemy for the hard-to-hit foes and give them the Death Sentence (Brand Enemy is an auto-hit). Anyhow: I'd say it depends on the role in the party. If you need another sturdy body who also does good dmg and CC (also spell dmg due to burning lash from Eternal Devotion and potentially Blightheart) but can also heal and support then Arcane Knight. If you want to mop the floor with mobs (pun intended), be less sturdy for bigger parts of the game but have more offensive potential and have lots of fun when Swift Flurry procs then Sage. Needs more fiddling. I like both combos a lot (with diverse subclasses). By the way: a gamebreaking combo with Sage is to use Scordeo's Edge with Blade Cascade and Adaptive + Draining Wall. Once you have enough duration of Blade Cascade you can summon the Lance and attack with 0 recovery and +20 ACC. It's some micro though. I totally recommend the Community Patch. Not only does it fix Forbidden Fist and several other weird things (like Backstab and proper keyword distributionfor Priests etc .) but it also has unique icons for all passives which makes leveling up way easier in the eyes and brain. Whoha... who may have drawn all those icons... It is a conservative mod which means it doesn't induce powerful munchkin stuff. It fixes some stuff and it merely enhances the balancing and buffs stuff that is too weak and nerfs stuff that is gamebreakingly strong. But only moderately. I'd say it makes a great Deadfire even better. Without Munchkin vibes. But you can also switch on/and off individual parts of the "patch" and only use what you want from it. See my sig for download. I would also highly recommend the Enhanced UI mod. I have nothing to do with it but it's superb - especially for new players. It doesn't alter the mechanics but only adds some very handy UI infos to popups and tooltips. I wouldn't want to miss it.

It's not intended that they regain their charges via stashing but an oversight. So it's a little bit cheesy.

Did you use a pet or summons?

Yeah - Draining Touch with Miasma and Swift Flurry is indeed cool - but it is out I guess because OP wants to use Spirit Lance mainly. Corrosive Siphon + Blood Sacrifice is not specific to Sage. Every Bloodmage can do it. However Corrosive Siphon with a Helwalker is very good. But Blood Sacrifice with a Helwalker is bad. It's tricky as I said. But yes: can be lots of fun. I think Arcane Knight is a lot more forgiving though. Hard to kill even in the early game and good synergies and damage. Inspiring Triumph (stacks with everything) + Wall of Draining + Virtuous Triumph with Spirit Lance + Eternal Devotion is pretty great as well. You'll usually get enough refund to not run out of Zeal too early if you are the main damage dealer. And I just love the Ring + FoD. +20 ACC attacks are great. Another nice alternative to Bleak Walker is Steel Garotte by the way: draining life with Spirit Lance (and also on the early game with Parasitic Staff) is very cool as a Bloodmage. I generally think that Sage needs a bit more knowledge to really shine. Maybe after a restart...