Boeroer

Yes, Multiclasses are front loaded. They get two resource pools and they get twice the signature abilities right away. The Single Class cannot play out its advantages in the early game (faster ability progression, higher power level, access to highest tier abilities). Those will only have a noticable impact after several levels.

The usual weapon scaling would take care of the base dmg, but the Wildstrike lash would be an impactful bonus, yes. Mostly because it's fixed. I don't think it's a big issue but still... Could be solvable with a scaling Wildstrike bonus? I mean Spiritual Weapons (Priest) scale their lashes, Sneak Attack scales with PL. Why not start Wildstrike smaller (like 5%) and add 5% every 2nd character or Power Level or so (just an example, may be too weak... maybe add 3% every PL - stuff like that). I'd prefer Power Level because it would give SC a slight advantage - like Sneak Attack for Rogues. That would also make Greater Wildstrike obsolete in its current form. It could add a secondary effect though. Maybe just weaker ones of those that Wildstrike Frenzy already gives (besides the on-kill-effect). Wildstrike Frenzy could then add more ooph to those things. And why is WS Frenzy not giving a passive action speed bonus? That would be universally useful for casting as well as fighting with weapons - and it says "Frenzy" in the title.

Spiritshift is def. less impactful than wizard self buffs. Imo there's no definitive upside but more a "druidic" option as alternative for unique weapons + armors. Much like Transcendent Suffering is a more monkish alternative for weapons than a superior option. Thus I think making spiritshift a true modal (like the weapon proficiencies) wouldn't break the balance. Some special cases might need special treatment though. Mainly the cases in which Spiritshift gives a powerful additional bonus (Livegiver's PLs and Shifter's healing). It would also be more systemic solution. All modals should share the same basic mechanic. Because why is Spiritshift a modal but actually behaves like a 1/encounter ability? It's confusing and makes not much sense. I guess it's a relic from early development (maybe Spiritshift was indeed intended to be a proper modal?).

Right. Usually there will be an animation hickup that prevents attacking bc. the Spiritshift forms have no ranged animation for firing the blights (I guess - but not even Storm Blight form works nor do attacks which require no animation at all, such as Riposte). I knew it was janky but I had the same issues with unusual weapons before (like the Citzal Great Sword) which could get resolved with picking other party members or canceling that attack and try again etc. - but this Blights/Spiritshift combo doesn't seem to be salvageable and will be stuck as long as the shift lasts. But it will leave you with a permanent natural Spiritshift weapon... It was just the first thing that came into my head as a potential loophole when I read about "prolong Spiritshift with the help of weapon hits". Another downside of that solution would be that fast hitting characters (see: cat form, a multiclass with Monk, Barb, Streetfighter etc.) and everything that produces hits besides the actual active attacks (Riposte, Swift Flurry, Cleaving Stance, Retaliation like from the Champion's helmet/cape I guess?) and confused attacks on skeletons (abusing Blood Thirst/Swift Flurry/Cleaving etc.) would have an easier time to prolong the Spiritshift - which seems to have the potential for breaking the balance instead of achieving it. Only imo of course.

There is a small hidden problem: Cast Kalakoth's Minor Blights (from scroll or as Wizard), then Spiritshift. Minor Blight (fire) will be replaced with claws but the spell is still active. When it's time the fire blight would get replaced: yo'll get a new blight into your main hand even if you are shifted. This blight does AoE dmg and thus hit rolls. It also works with Driving Flight. Thus you could generate a lot of weapon hits with just one attack. Very niche problem, I know - but maybe a hint that this solution may have some hidden pitfalls. Why not just make spiritshift a true modal like all the other modals? The upside of Spiritshift is Wild Strike and a rel. good armor without recovery - the downside is not having unique armor and weapons. The normal cooldown of modals might prevent abuse (see Shifter) - or maybe it would need to be longer with Shifter, don't know. Or just remove or reduce the shift-healing. For Livegiver maybe the PL boost/debuff while/after Spiritshift should either get removed (doesn't make much sense anyway imo and the Lifegiver already has "no druid summons" as a downside) - or the buff should work like a short-lived drug (+5 PL to rejuvenation, followed by a -5 PL to rejuvenation "crash") that is induced by Shifting und removed by shifting back (just a quick idea that would encourage shifting back and not just stay shifted forever I guess).

Something like that, yes. I never played a Shifter who doesn't want to shift but I suspect that Spiritshift as a backup option will be needed less the more levels you gain - because it becomes more unlikely that you will run out of spells during encounters. I never even looked at the bonus spells of a shifter and that they could be a good fit for some builds that don't have anything to do with Spiritshift. Shifter was cemented as a melee type of guy (with the occasional spell) in my mind. So this idea to take the nice bonus spell selection and just ignore shifting for the most part was kind of refreshing imo.

Iirc OP didn't want to use Spiritshift much (only in emergencies). He picked Shifter mostly because of the fitting bonus spells for the theme. Shifter is the subclass with the most decay(ish) bonus spells. If you don't want to shift in the first place then Shifter has no downside. The upside are the fitting bonus spells.

I tried this some time ago and the dmg bonus per kill gets not applied to both sickles. However, I only killed with the sickles, not with spells.

I felt the same until some years ago. For example I didn't replay games like the Infitiny Engine ones a lot because after I experienced the story I wasn't too motivated to replay the game. Nowadays I enjoy roguelikes or other games that allow for a rel. short while of entertainment - ones that you can start up rel. quickly, play a bit, save, play futher later without the need to fully "immerse" yourself into a deep story etc. I still like games with a good story obviously, but I need to make time for a "proper" playthrough then - and that can't happen too many times a week unfortunately. Smaller games that still focus on a good story (but maybe less hours - or which are more episodic) might be better suited for me. Can't excactly say because there aren't that many games of that kind - but I really enjoyed Deadfire's DLCs which are kind of smaller CRPGs compared to Deadfire. With PoE and Deadfire the major reason why I kept playing them was (besides DLCs which lets you return to a game) this forum: when I discuss mechanics, builds, stories over and over again the chances are much higher that I get an itch to play the game again based on some cool stuff you read here. Or I get asked a question, fire up the game to double-check - and keep playing. Without any engagement with the community I'm sure I hadn't played both games multiple times.

Yes, that's possible. If you plan to pick Two Handed Style then I would pick any good two hander as backup weapon - weapon focus indeed doesn't matter for Firebrand.

I would prefer DEX over PER.

No worries! I'm generally in favor of shorter games (so much stuff to do besides playing games when you have a job, family & kids and stuff like that). I like replayability (of all sorts) though. My hope is that Microsoft wants/needs more small(ish) games for its Game Pass program - which could be a chance for small but enthusiastic teams. Josh is currently working on a small projekt. Since they let him do it (while also being Obsidian's Studio Design Director) I guess Microsoft deems such things worthwhile?

That depends whether you okay with a party or solo. Solo MC is better in most cases. With a party: not so much imo.

Cool. I'm not at home atm - could you check if the Willbreaker's 25% miss to graze enchantment works the same?

That doesn't really affect what I said (Deadfire needed more sales than PoE to make the same kind of profit) - but yes, I'm pretty sure Obsidian looked at PoE's numbers and planned accordingly while believing they could repeat and even increase sales numbers. The budget was higher to begin with, Obsidian reportedly looked at D:OS I --> D:OS II and suspected a similar raise in sales - and then one of the most expensive additions to Deadfire (Full VO) was decided very late in the development process (which made an expensive thing even more expensive) because Feargus felt it had to be done and it would pay off. I think even if Deadfire would have sold as many copies as PoE it would still have been viewed as disappointment. And then it didn't even achieve that. That must have felt like a punch in the stomach... So no wonder PoE3 wasn't really a thing. But I heard at least some rumors among some leading devs that they would like to do a PoE3 (or just a party-based CRPG in Eora that's not really a 3rd installment). The only way I can see that happen is when it's done as a smaller project and maybe in the scope of Game Pass. Josh himself said recently that smaller, faster projects may be a way to go. So... fingers crossed.

Yes, but you have to keep in mind that the budget of Deadfire was a lot higher than that of PoE. So in order to be profitable like PoE, Deadfire would have needed to sell significantly more copies during those 3 months. Late Full VO alone may have shifted the break-even-point by several months.

Game with the second most hours I ever put into a game. My favorite game is maybe still FTL, but I put a ton more hours into Pillars and Deadfire each.

For what it's worth: due to its long breath, Deadfire broke even and then made money for some time now - so according to Josh Sawyer it wasn't so bad after all. But the first disappointment after release and the following months must have been immense. You put all your energy and enthusiasm into a game and then it seems to bomb while competitors sell well. That must be really draining - and maybe lets you doubt that you actually know what you're doing. No wonder Josh didn't want to touch similar games for some time.

With summons, Thunderous Blows, Whispers of the Wind, Resonant Touch and the Long Pain. Also you can just keep them for bonus MIG (Helwalker) and bonus INT (Duality of Mortal Presence). If you later use Instruments of Pain you can use melee weapons at range (base range of the melee weapon * 6) - then you can use your fists or any other melee weapons at range and still use all the melee abilities (like Efficient Anguish, Raised Torment etc.).

I personally only pick a ranged Monk (non-multiclass) when I want to use Hand Mortar/Fire in the Hole. Turning Wheel enlarges the AoE, Dance of Death gives you +12 ACC, Razor's Edge +10 ACC on top, Lightning Strikes add another lash and with the Long Pain you'll have superb crush weapons as backup. Resonant Touch is superb with mortars, Whispers of the Wind, too. I can use Thunderous Blows and two summons, and Stunning Surge almost always crits if you fire into multiple enemies, stunning most of them (if not all with the very high ACC).

Might does not get diminishing returns. The bonus it grants to damage is additive and can get overshadowed by other, higher additive bonuses. But Paladins have not many of those (besides his weapons' quality and Two Handed Style) - so Might is still viable as a source for damage bonuses. For spell-like abilities like Sacred Immolation it is the only damage bonus (because those abilities can't profit from weapon quality or stuff like two handed style) Might (as all dmg bonuses) helps with overcoming high damage reduction of enemies. While more DEX leads to multiplicative dmg increase and MIG is only additive, DEX doesn't help against armors' DR. Same is true for heavier weapons vs. faster ones: while on paper the DPS of light weapons is better, their dmg tend to get eaten up by damage rediction. So one should balance "damage per hit" and "damage per second" Might also makes all your healing more potent (Lay on Hands for example and also Veteran's Recovery should you take that). It also raises your fortitude defense. The most nasty disables you can catch target fortitude, especially later in the game (paralysis and stun for example). Perception always influences attack rolls. All of them - because it influences your accuracy and an attack roll always uses your accuracy vs. enemy's defense. So Sacred Immolation will be influenced by your Perception because SA does an attack roll on all enemies in its area of effect every 3 secs (with every pulse). The effect of high Perception is most visible in the early game because it will be one of the few accuracy bonuses you will have. Later on it doesn't make that much of a difference anymore because you will gain accuracy with every character level, from items and buffs as well. At the same time you can lower enemies' defenses with debuffs/disables. So for me personally it isn't the state I'm most concerned with. Regarding DEX: it's an impactful attribute (in the scope of Pillars' attributes which aren't too impactful in the first place). It is the only thing that not only reduces recovery time but the actual action or animation time. Thus not only helps with swing a sword faster, but you can also react a lot faster AFTER you swing a sword. For example if you are a slow dude and swing your two hander and only afterwards realize your buddy needs healing, you have to wait a lot longer until you can cast Lay on Hands as if you would be a fast guy. So - it's not only about damage, it's also about reactivity, being able to adapt quickly to changing situations. Two Handed melee weapons are not slower than the larger one handed ones by the way. A great sword is not slower than a sword. A morning star is not slower than a mace. The only melee weapons that are faster are the light ones: dagger, stiletto, rapier, hatchet, flail, fist. What makes one handed (bigger) weapons faster than two handed ones is only dual wielding (and two weapon style on top). A shield + sword setup or a single sword setup is as slow/fast as a great sword. Two handed weapons deal more damage per hit (higher base dmg) and get a bonus from two weapon style (15% iirc). So I wouldn't say that Flames of Devotion (FoD) is bad for them just because it could be better with a dual wielding setup. Against high DR the two hander with FoD will perform better with its singular but high dmg strike while a dual weapon setup will be better against low DR foes with the two strikes with lower dmg. Kind Wayfarers prefer dusk wielding because the healing they do with FoD procs twice then. For the rest of the Paladin orders it doesn't matter that much. Flames of Devotion has a whopping +20 accuracy bonus which is good to have especially in the earlier stages of the game. It helps with reliably hitting enemies. Flames of Devotion adds a burning lash to the attack. Lashes are multiplicative dmg bonuses because all the physical dmg you do with the strike (including bonus from weapon quality, crit, might, two handed style etc.) will get multiplied by the lash and added as elemental damage. So if your weapon strike deals 30 slash dmg overall and FoD adds a 50% lash it will add 15 fire dmg. The lash can be raised with Scion of Flame (from 50% to 60%, increase of 20%). And you can add a burning lash to the weapon as enchantment (25%) and also add intense flames as talent (25% iirc). Both of those also get raised by Scion of Flame (to 30% each). So - it can be fun to use FoD even with a Two Hander. If you use Firebrand I would absolutely recommend taking FoD. If you prefer the attack support route with Coordinated Attacks etc. it's maybe not that important to use FoD. Sacred Immolation is a killer ability. It gets influenced by MIG (dmg), INT (AoE size, duration) and PER (accuracy bonus). But it also comes pretty late so it doesn't make a ton of sense to build your whole attributes around it. It will be nice anyway. I'd say your attributes look fine. 15 MIG would also be totally reasonable. 2 points don't make a lot of difference. In this case just go with an attribute distribution that feels best, also in view of your character role. If you think 15 MIG/9CON or 15MIG/12RES sounds more plausible for your Paladin than 17/7 or 17/10 then that's what I would do. You won't feel a noticable difference during combat from 2 points. A skill which is more useful than others imo is survival. The camping bonuses you can get, especially the accuracy bonus vs. certain enemies, are good. See that you reach a certain threshold so that you unlock the second tier of accuracy bonus (+8 iirc) and then put the rest of your skill points somewhere else (etc. Lore so you can use some useful scrolls when the party is in a pinch or Athletics so you have an emergency heal).

Yeah, I tried to keep Reaping Knives with Draining Touch and Minor Blights - like I did with Llengrath's Great Sword. Sadly Reaping Knives will still disappear. But I didn't notice that the new weapon that replaced the r-knives will retain the r-knives' focus harvesting effect.

Reaping Knives always only give 5 focus per hit to the cipher who cast them. But having that effect on multihit-weapons is pretty cool.

<picture of a moon dropping on an archipelago> You know what? With all that stuff we SHOULD be able to fight Eothas and win. Time for one last DLC "Obscured Oversight"...

Resolve checks in dialogue are mostly about some sort of "willpower" - so to speak... or courage. If you got an option that sounded like bullying that's an exception I'd say. Usually those are the [aggressive] or [cruel] dialogue options. Clever dialogue options are often a bit tongue-in-cheek and smarty-pants answers. It can be cringy. But you don't need to always pick the clever option. There are enough non-cheeky ones that you can reach a good disposition count. But Kind Wayfarers or on other words [benevolent] dialogue options are the most convenient to pick imo. They feel the best so to speak. Honest is also sometimes hurtful (a lot less than clever though), but as with clever you needn't to pick every one of them. From memory I would say Resolve is one of the most checked attributes in PoE's dialogue and scripted scenes. For a tank Resolve it's a good stat if you want to stack a lot of deflection (since increasing defense numbers have increasing return) - but if you rely on fat armor + healing mostly and neglect your deflection anyway it doesn't do much - except that it prevents interrupts! Interrupts can be pretty annoying for a slow (fat armor, not dual-wielding, lowish DEX) front liner, especially if you get attacked by multiple enemies, even if they are weak. I had an ultimate run with a solo Barb end very prematurely because of a bunch of whimpy wichts... So I personally would not drop it too low. Maybe check out the interrupt mechanics in the gamepedia Pillars wiki. A Priest with Holy Meditation can help to compensate for low Resolve and prevent interrupts. If you cast it at the start of combat you should be fine even with low Resolve. Later there are even items that can help against interrupts. If you are waiting a bit while the main tank attracts most enemies and then off-tank and flank - then low Resolve is also less of a problem because you won't catch as many (potentially interrupting) hits.