Kilburn

torkar dead at level 8. my rogue/devoted went down. I wasted lots of potions. arcane knight is pretty broken lol. infuse/alacrity of motion/spirit shield/mirror image.

ya i dont really enjoy the rng fest ship battle mini game personally but if youre going triple crown i agree that you dont really have a choice.

I meant a boarding fight obviously. actually im pretty sure you dont get the same gear. you get less of all the exceptional weapons and armor if you just sink the ship.

You should generally avoid boarding fights because they make no sense - unless you like fights with no special outcome (items or achievements for example) - just for the sake of fighting. Of course on PotD solo combat is not impossible and one don't have to avoid any fight. Plenty of people here did and do solo megabosses. If one can solo megabosses one can solo anything in the game. Doesn't necessarily mean that you can do it of course. Could be possible if you way out level the boarding fight you're doing or figure out some cheese tactic of breaking the game. If you can show us a video or screenshots of you soloing the Vailian trading company expert captain on POTD at level 6 or lower I would love to see it though. :D What do you have against boarding fights? It's a quick and easy way to upgrade to exceptional gear and make a crapload of money.

dont try to board any ships if youre solo. youll be swarmed by 10-20 enemies lol. on POTD the combat will be generally impossible if youre solo IMO but i guess you will be trying to avoid most of it.

My final party is destroying. And i think i was right. for a melee character paladin/devoted is insanely strong. I went with rapiers. normally i think they suck because of a lack of pen but devoted makes up for that. that +20 accuracy modal is so good. Here's the stats at level 6. his flames is pushing 100 accuracy and gibs everything.

Haunting Chains... yeah I don't get it as well. Seems like a complete waste of ability points But maybe I'm overlooking something. Like Fractured Volition - that's also... "errrm?" The problem was eyestrike sucks so my melee cipher was essentially just playing the same as a weaker rogue. Charm doesn't really appeal to me so i'm pretty much done with the cipher for now. curse of blackened sight doesn't appear to have the target restriction like eyestrike so it probably rolls to hit everyone under the template. If soul annihilation was full attack and hit with both weapons.... that might be interesting. Im trying out blood mage now. That will solve the limited number of casts problem you mentioned earlier.

it's powerful because it's a tier 3 affliction, though in all honesty the other tier 3 afflictions can be way worse (though blind can feel punishing because the durations are longer) rogue and ciphers are different combat roles, maybe you just prefer the play style of a rogue? that's fine, but to me the idea of "rogue does everything better [than a cipher]" makes no sense to me because what rogues do is very different from ciphers. edit: also, spells are useful without weapon-modal debuffs, take it from me (700+ hours of gameplay). boeroer is mentioning strategy. -25 debuff can take spells from useful to insanely good, even against targets that have no business being affected by that spell. (i've literally chain paralyzed megabosses with a -25 debuff modal) on PotD I would say that it's only really feasible for non-insanely-good people (nb. in case you think I'm about to gloat, I would also put myself in this "not-insanely-good" category) to beat higher-level enemies at lower levels if the overall encounter is actually targeting your level. What I mean by that is that an encounter might target level 5 but have a few level 8s, at which point I would consider those level 8s eminently feasible. Torkar, meanwhile, is a bounty targeting level 14, which is way above your level, a fact that probably isn't altogether clear because it's probably showing as just three skulls (the max displayable); with downscaling enabled it might not even show skulls despite the fact that it would only downscale to at most level 10. Personally, on PotD+upscaling I would be hard pressed to do it at level 10-11 and, not to sound arrogant or condescending, I would be hella impressed if you could manage it at even that level, much less level 5. PotD encounters are so intense that until I got really used to the quest difficulties I actually refered to this thread https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/98843-level-scaling-difficulty-potdcompilation-thread/page-3 there's a table halfway down that lists the "target levels" for each quest (though this doesn't cover DLCs). For a newish PotD+upscaling experience, I would personally stay away from a quest until you are at least +1 level from the target level. edit: if torkar himself is level 14, he at least has 79 accuracy, so your 80 deflection is a moot point in terms of defense (it just means torkar "only" has a 4% chance to crit you). he probably also has level-scaled weapons, so has +8 or +12 accuracy (up to 12 or 14% chance to crit). add in buffs or perception stat and 80 deflection doesn't seem that notable at all. add in all the other adds he has, and that would quickly obliterate your party methinks. I gotta hand it to obsidian, they're keeping me more interested than pillars 1. I broke the game at level 5 in pillars 1. what is the most useful modal debuff? melee cipher and melee rogue do seem quite similar. rogue has sneak attack cipher has soul whip. They even gave cipher rogue skills to start like mechanics streetwise etc.

why is blind so overpowered? That's a long list of **** it does. Its not much fun when you feel you either win a fight because of blinding the enemy or lose it because you were blinded. I tested cipher some more because of boeroers comments and i still think it sucks. Rogue does everything better. cipher spells are all terrible. I shouldnt need to hit him with morningstar debuff before the spell becomes useful. Is it possible to beat higher level enemies at lower levels? It feels almost impossible. this game almost has an MMO feeling because of that. Keep in mind im playing upscaled POTD with some magrans challenges clicked on. Is it possible to beat Torkar with a party of level 5s? They slice my guy with 80 deflection and 13 armour like butter. Not whining about it, just wondering if it's possible at that level and what party they used.

i think i figured it out. the first time it gives you the dragon pendant. it's possible to get the text more than once but it doesnt give you duplicate pendants.

whats up with eyestrike and wiffing? If it misses the initial target the aoe also doesnt get a chance to roll? pretty crap spell compared to chill fog. duration sucks too.

i didnt test eyestrike. it seems fine but is it really any better than chill fog? I did test the charm a bit. what is so great about it? It's only on one guy when you're usually fighting hordes of pirates in ship combat. and the duration is short. how are you using it that makes it so good? valor echoes seemed good but once again it falls short. it needs to be able to target yourself and also last 45 seconds. i just said biting whip looks good on paper but ya it falls short like cipher always does lol. I think the +2 pen from devoted is better than biting whip alone not to mention all the other amazing passives and skills fighters can take. cipher spells are so annoying to use. arcane knight is just one build i like. i also like devoted/trickster, -10% sneak attack is a small price to pay for mirror image. and although i havnt tested it i think devoted/paladin will be the melee king for obvious reasons. You are power gaming and doing boarding fights? Somewhat contradicts itself. Devoted/Paladin is not really the king of anything. It can be a good balance of defense and offense though or a no-frills tank that can't be disenchanted by Arcane Dampener. King of melee combat is anything with Monk I'd say. Devoted is for players who are too lazy to switch weapon sets or can't let go of their favorite weapon. I mean if you only recently discovered PEN/AR that totally explains why you think Devoted is so good. You have to know that the malus of underpenetration is multiplicative in most cases. So if a Devoted helps you to not underpenetrate then the gain is massive, yes. But you can achieve the same without Devoted. Whisper of Treason is great because it's like taking away an enemy while calling a summon at the same time. Obviously you shouldn't attack the charmed enemy - else it flips back immediately. But you can still apply stuff like Miasma or other debuffs that have friendly fire but don't do damage. The charmed and further debuffed enemy will distract other enemies and get shred to pieces by his former fellows. That's why it's powerful. The only drawback of Whisper of Treason is its short range. Bit it's still doable (with a bit of stealth) to charm enemies from stealth. That is very powerful. The combat starts and the party is still stealthed while the enemies attack each other. Puppet Master is even better because the range is a lot higher. Don't forget that base duration scales with Power Level. That means that a lvl-1 power like Whisper of Treason lasts a very long time after some levels with decent INT (even more so if you are a single class Cipher which I personally value over multiclass ones). Eyestrike is foe-only and lasts quite long for a replenishable cipher power. But the best part is that you are not limited to 2 (or 3) casts per encounter. It also doesn't take too long to cast/recover. Only 3/2 secs. For a Soul Blade you can use Sun & Moon: it applies the raw damage with the first hit and refills focus with these second flail head. Also here don't pick Biting Whip. Pick Draining Whip. Then you can spam Soul Annihilation more often or with more damage. More effective than Biting Whip. I was farming loot with the board fights and upgrading everything to superb. 9 base penetration sabers seems very good. with the modal and good weapons you're pushing 14 or 15 pen before expose vulnerability or other buffs. wouldn't you start overpening everything?? and fighter has lots of other great passive abilities. what is good about monk? does it shine late game? because nothing is jumping out at me when i look at the class. wouldn't sun and moon result in a very weak soul annihilation though? I was thinking the best way to deliver it must be a two handed weapon but i could be wrong.

I was trying to make powerful melee soul blade ciphers BTW. I think if soul annihilation was a full attack it might be viable. as it is it comes up short. does the difficulty fall off a cliff at higher levels? because it sure is difficult at the start if you use the regular NPCs. and the ship combat still keeps me on my toes usually at level 5. the expert captains sometimes still kill me and i need to reload quite a bit.

i didnt test eyestrike. it seems fine but is it really any better than chill fog? I did test the charm a bit. what is so great about it? It's only on one guy when you're usually fighting hordes of pirates in ship combat. and the duration is short. how are you using it that makes it so good? valor echoes seemed good but once again it falls short. it needs to be able to target yourself and also last 45 seconds. i just said biting whip looks good on paper but ya it falls short like cipher always does lol. I think the +2 pen from devoted is better than biting whip alone not to mention all the other amazing passives and skills fighters can take. cipher spells are so annoying to use. arcane knight is just one build i like. i also like devoted/trickster, -10% sneak attack is a small price to pay for mirror image. and although i havnt tested it i think devoted/paladin will be the melee king for obvious reasons.

I want to like cipher but the spells are just not good enough IMO. Too bad because on paper soul whip seems strong to go along with a melee build but cipher needs something else. I didn't know about the wizard/pally combo i just jumped in and started tinkering around with different builds. Dunno, im loving devoted more and more tho, might even be stronger than paladin.

OK. It isn't too hard. The problem is ciphers suck. and i was also not aware of the new penetration system. was probably using padded armor I think. but I was right. paladin/wizards are soooo much stronger. spirit shields is a very strong level 1 spell and infuse with vital essence is great too. My new party is crushing everything. Devoted fighter is also so strong. +2 pen dual wield sabers, what more do you need!??!!?

Ya i'm min maxing and trying out different builds.

I got this message about finding a pendant and that's its still warm like someone was just wearing it from the ruined towers that you can loot. But i cant find the pendant in my inventory after. Does anyone know what that's about?

wow i just beat it. somehow all the skeletons didn't aggro at once this time.

One of "what" posts? Should i upload the save so you experts can construct a party and show me how its done? Do you want videos too?

That's a nice looking barb/spellcaster Not that I am aware of... But have been pinning various unedited portraits (that are somewhat lore-friendly with Deadfire): here Additionally you can look for edited portraits on nexus Here's my evil edit of your avi hooded guy for like an assassin or something

this is definitely wrong. there's 3 melee skeleton warriors this time last time there was only 2. and they have more skull icons this time too. three as you can see. It might have something to do with level scaling, scale up everything. I gained 1 more level and went in there so they over buffed vs if i went in there at level 3? They are literally impossible. I went back to town and picked up all blunt weapons and it makes no difference. what is "last time?" like myself and others have said, PotD got amped up in difficulty. also, encounters definitely are not randomized. the only thing that could be varying it is if you're pulling in a mob from a different encounter by getting too close somehow, a real possibility in that skeleton encounter (there's a skeleton warrior downstairs i believe, and if you don't take the fight to the far left of the area you pull them up the stairs) Ive been playing through the first bit of the game over and over trying out different class combinations. the last time was also on potd with level scaling up only. i started a new play through bleak walker/wizards. ill do some tests when i get there. walk in before leveling up and after and see if the stats change. these guys were insane, one had 65 deflection. good luck even hitting that when most of your party is level 3. I also dont remember them using all these cleave stances and other warrior abilities the last time.

this is definitely wrong. there's 3 melee skeleton warriors this time last time there was only 2. and they have more skull icons this time too. three as you can see. It might have something to do with level scaling, scale up everything. I gained 1 more level and went in there so they over buffed vs if i went in there at level 3? They are literally impossible. I went back to town and picked up all blunt weapons and it makes no difference.

Ya i beat it before no prob. This time i swear it got up rolled big time. These skeletons have 60+ deflection.

I don't lower difficulty. I don't skip fights either. Maybe I should try a party of paladin wizards. Cipher doesn't seem strong enough. I like the 30% weapon damage buff but it's just not enough