globalCooldown

You know what, that's what I'm gonna tell myself, that he's name after caffeine and is on the adventure purely because he just wants a decent cup of tea... Actually, I believe according to the in-game pronunciation guide of Aedyr/Dyrwood names..."w" is pronounced like "u" and "y" is pronounced like an "ee" sound. So, Cafwyn could be pronounced like "Cafueen," which sounds even MORE like "Caffeine", especially if you gloss over the "u" sound.

Huh. Depending on how highly you value companion dialogue and/or pinching your pennies, you might just want to use Aloth. A paltry 12 Might, but you're not prioritizing Might. Not sure what his Perception looks like after all these godsdamned patches everywhere, but I think his Int is decent at least.

I do know that it's possible to get the achievement on Easy, at least in theory. It says nothing about difficulty, after all! When it comes to buffs, I prefer "fire and forget" over "scramble to cast at the start of combat"; paladins and chanters are right up my alley. I don't think not having reliable priest access will hurt me that much. As for paladin, not sure if I should duck out of the way to get Pallegina, make a custom paladin from an order that approves of nonviolent solutions (Kind Wayfarers?), or both. Upshot to Pallegina is, her personal quest can be settled on the way to more important things. Really am on the fence about bringing Aloth along just for the personal quest; on the one hand, every drop of exp is precious, but on the other, he IS kind of gimped without access to rests. Speaking of companion quests that are on the way, can Hiravias' personal quest be settled nonviolently? Normally I let him insult the Dude into a fight, because it satisfies my infantile sense of humor. So far, it looks like either going Cipher for cc or Ranger for pet-tank. And a good point about exploration exp! I shall be sure to duck my head into every place that won't get me in a fight.

If you like ludicrous buffs, rolling with multiple Chanters is fun! If you want "interesting" over "minmaxed" then try just playing with weird character concepts, or take abilities you wouldn't normally take and build around them. Fire Godlike who refuses to use anything that deals Cold damage? A money-grubbing pansy who wants all the cash and credit without exerting the effort? Or maybe you could finally be the one to get use out of that "Monk Multiclass" ability that increases unarmed damage for non-Monk classes?

I personally enjoy the idea of chanter tanks. My own fights tend to devolve into people running all over the dang place, and having a Chanter in the middle of all your party members (as opposed to chilling in the back) means their chant buffs can reach more party members. "Tanking" is surprisingly easy; as long as you have a good Constitution and a few supporting abilities, you can tank. Personally, I slapped Veteran's Recovery on Kana. That, heavy armor, and the buffs he's already cranking out for himself due to chanting, and he's pretty good!

See that achievement there? I wanna get it. And in a month or two, I'm going to be livestreaming my attempt to get it. I'm already keeping notes on one playthrough I'm doing, trying to figure out my path through the game. It's tricky to figure out a game plan when you can only rest a certain number of times! So, anyone want to give me suggestions? Example: builds, paths to take, what quests to do vs what to ignore? Thoughts thus far: High Athletics will be useful, so I won't have to rest as much. Talking my way out of fights to save my party's Health will be useful. To that end, I may want to invest in high Resolve, since Resolve is used a lot in dialogue checks. GOLDROT CHEW. If I'm reading the tooltip for it correctly, it decreases your fatigue. Which means, it holds off that exhaustion debuff. Wound Binding and Field Triage will probably be a lot more useful than normal. Priests, Druids, and Wizards are going to be less useful than normal in early game, since they can't rest to refresh spells. Consumables that increase max Health will be valuable; I'll probably have to power through some adventuring with the Exhaustion debuff no matter how well I do. On the same note, gear that increases Constitution will also be valuable. If I want to change my party, I'm going to have to do it by recruiting some schmuck at the tavern and cheesing it that way. Going back to Caed Nua means travel time, and travel time means fatigue, and fatigue leads to Exhaustion. I may be able to complete sidequests that happen to be in my way. Every piece of exp is valuable when you're avoiding combat like the plague, but I won't be able to go out of my way to get that exp, because...of combat. I think it's possible to do this on Easy? Strongest candidates for my Watcher's class right now are Ranger (for pets, who don't run out of endurance) and Cipler (for ludicrous amounts of cc). Cilant Lis and Valewood, I can fart around in; if I manage my items and my lone Watcher well, I should be able to at least take out the bandit camp and rescue the cook. As long as I don't rest until I get to Gilded Vale, I'm good. HAVE to rest in Gilded Vale to advance the plot. Maybe try to nonviolently solve the Windmill quest before resting at the inn? Act 2, I should probably knock out Heritage Hill and the Sanitarium before even thinking about going for Cliaban Rilag. Probably don't want to side with Dozens, since one of their quests involves a dungeon crawl outside the Defiance Bay area. Probably not doing Hylea's appeasement quest, as that involves a journey to her temple. Berath's involves two big fights, one of which is outside of Twin Elms anyway, and Galawain's involves a dungeon crawl. Rymrgand's, however, can be completed with stealth and dialogue! And as for companion quests: Aloth: If I bring him along for the Temple of Woedica, he'll give me his quest, and I can then go immediately to the Sanitarium to complete it and advance the story. The problem is getting through the Catacombs to the Temple, AND the Sanitarium itself, without being able to refresh his spells. (He's going back to Caed Nua to watch paint dry after that, though.) Eder: Depends entirely on if I can get my hands on the records in the short, short time I will be in Defiance Bay. We can't threaten the records keeper, remember; we want to avoid fights! Once we get the records, though, the rest of the quest is conveniently located beside the main plot. Durance: His quest advances when you rest with him in your party. Which means his quest is dependent on something I want to avoid doing. Plus, his spells refresh on rest, so keeping him in the party will handicap me. Kana: Endless Paths? Ain't nobody got time for that. Sagani: Can be completed nonviolently, but her final quest marker is aaaaaaall the way in the Northweald--a location I will be avoiding entirely, since I won't be chilling with Hylea. Pallegina: The only problem will be getting her into my party. Once she's there, everything she needs to do is nonviolent and right in the path of the main questline. Hiravias: Everything he needs for his quest is conveniently located in Twin Elms and Burial Isle. As long as I can avoid a fight with the Dude at the end, I should be able to do this! The only problem is, his spells are once per rest...which may or may not be such a big issue so close to endgame. Definitely doing this if I hit level 9 and get per-encounter spells; otherwise it's the Aloth problem all over again, because once I'm on Burial Isle, there is no way I'm not going down that Pit. Grieving Mother: Her quest is dependent on resting while she's in the party, sadly. Might get some progress on it, at least; she's a cipher, so I see no reason not to keep her around. Zahua & Devil of Caroc: Hahahahahaha you actually think I'll have time to go to the White March. That's funny.

Looks like we have a case of the "clbuttic mistake"

http://dayofthedoodles.tumblr.com/post/120621442396/behold-the-worst-written-line-of-all-time Linking an amusing tumblr post of horrible writing. Only linking, though. Be aware that it contains mentions of NSFW things.

For Durance you should use the quarterstaff Llawran Stick. Its the same as Durances default staff but with 1.2x attack speed. Huh. I'll consider it, next time he finds himself in my party.

I tend to like to have my characters with one melee and one ranged weapon apiece. From there, I determine weapons by how they're grouped into those proficiency feats (Adventurer, Soldier, etc), enchantments on weapons I have on me, weapon speed, aesthetic appeal, and what sort of weapons the character had when they joined my party. So my party weapons ended up looking like this: Main: Estoc (I love you, Blade of the Endless Paths), Wand Aloth: Rapier, Scepter Eder: Saber & Large Shield, War Bow (for those times when he can't get into melee for whatever reason) Durance: that swanky unique Quarterstaff he came with, Rod Kana: Great Sword, Arquebus Sagani: Dagger & Hatchet, Hunting Bow Pallegina: Great Sword, Pistol Hiravias: Spear (spiritshifting wears off!), Wand. Pretty sure I prioritized other things other than weapon proficiency for him. Grieving Mother: Dagger & Stiletto, Crossbow Devil of Caroc: Rapier & Dagger, Rod (I got her at level 12, so I made her good at using the superb-quality uniques I accumulated) Zahua: HIS BARE FISTS, LIKE A REAL MONK!!! and also a hunting bow

Back up. Your Aloth only needed to boost his Constitution by 2? Doesn't he have a base score of, like, 10?

Just something I want to contribute: my first playthrough was an orlan merchant from Aedyr, and Aloth still exposition-dumped about haemnegs on me.

Can you do that? I'm really curious now. There's not a Skulldr before the Xaurip, there's one basically *right* next door to the Xaurip. No, I meant, go back to Cilant Lis to give the skuldr meat to the xaurip after you've already left Cilant Lis and have been mucking around in the main campaign for a bit.

Is no one going to mention that....

Actually, I second the "repeatable combat areas" thing. PoE doesn't give exp for merely killing monsters, so you have no worries about grinding. Besides, it'll let us try out tactics! I just gave Aloth the Rhymer's Summon for sh*ts and giggles. I want to take him, Kana, and my chanter PC and start a skeleton war.

Can you do that? I'm really curious now.

I get the feeling the array of stats was toodled with so that nothing truly felt like a "dump" stat. Every stat is valuable, and you want them all, even if some are higher-priority than others. As for using Might to intimidate, I think it'd be most effective if, say, two mechanically identical Might-dependent dialogue options are presented, the only difference between them is that one reads "flex your muscles to demonstrate your physical strength" while the other reads "conjure some wind and dramatic backlighting to illustrate your magic might".

I'm ambivalent. It WAS cheesy, but I like cheese. I cheesed summons all over the Very Definitely Final Boss and it was amazing. Never tried Path of the Damned solo, but...I do know it's supposed to be really effing challenging. So, yay for being that?

While I'm generally okay with Gilded Vale as-is, I agree with the title line of this thread nonetheless. I want reactions to my barbarian's stink, or my chanter's voice. My first playthrough, I was from Aedyr, and aside from Aloth basically saying "oh thank the gods it's someone I can relate to" no one reacted--which is weird, because aren't Dyrwoodans supposed to still hate Aedyrans on some level? Oh, and let's not mention that I own a fricking keep and collect taxes! No comment on that? Why not?

Someone should really dig into the game files for this. Personally, I got the Dismantle ending for Aloth. Should be noted that when it came to Iselmyr, I was pretty consistent in choosing neutral options. However, I had Aloth in my party for most of the game due to my Rolling-Flame-Pinball Addiction, and for a lot of non-personal-quest-related conversations, I pushed him toward truthiness.

What Katarack said. If you don't murder the xaurip in Cilant Lis, you can feed it the skuldr meat in exchange for its spear. Or you could murder it. Or you could just leave it alone entirely. Or, you could be like me, pawing through my inventory to get myself in order for the Very Definitely Final Battle in the Very Definitely Final Dungeon, when you come across the skuldr meat and wonder what in the world you forgot to do before going past the point of no return....

Oh hey, a sequel suggestion thread. Let me throw my two pand up here: Move out of Dyrwood for the sequel. We'll get to see new areas of the world! Besides, if the sequel was in Dyrwood, you've got to write around aaaaaaall the possible things the Watcher did, and while that would be cool to see all our choices carry over like that, it would also be a huuuuuge undertaking. Respec system--but don't make it free and unlimited. Make there be a hefty in-game price tag on it, at least. That way, people who hate respeccing can still feel like their decision to stay clean carries weight (in the form of a full coinpurse), while those who totally gimped their character trying to learn the system aren't up a certain unfavorable creek without a paddle. Personally, I'd be interested in romance, but it would have to make sense for the character--you're not going to woo someone who isn't interested in your gender, or someone who's happily married. It should also be romance you work for. Party members aren't going to fall for you if they're watching paint dry back at your keep all day (looking at you, Bioware). Speaking of the Keep: there should be some story incentive to take care of it, not just mechanical. Open up new (non-bounty) quest lines after we get a town going! Or have us defend it! Endless Paths were fun, but my main story drive to go down there was to protect my keep! And speaking of the Endless Paths: I'd like more dungeon crawling. The crawls you DO have are really interesting, and the PoE team does a great job of telling a story with the environment! More environment-storytelling, please! Fix elf eyebrows. Maybe I'm the only one who's noticed this, but the 3D models for elf characters have eyebrows that look like they're sticking out to the sides of their head at certain angles. Aloth has a lovely portrait, but his model looks like his eyebrows (and only his eyebrows) are permanently wolf-spiritshifted. People in other parts of the forums have complained about weird and wacky stat arrays for the companions. Either give companions better stats, or find a way to make it clearer that the stats are supposed to be that way (ex. character joins with a particular build that works well, story significance of attributes, etc) Another thing that may just be me: I make extensive use of the Notes tab of PoE's journal. If we're really going over the top with this wish list, make the Notes a bit easier to use (new lines without creating entirely new dated entries, editing or inserting text without backspacing furiously to one particular part) A Wait function. In the White March, I can't do one particular quest because every time I pull into town, it's the wrong time of day. MODDING SUPPORT. There is a small, but vocal, group of players who want to make the game feel even more like Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale, and while those games are great, they're not Pillars of Eternity. There's also a lot of people who'd undoubtedly love to tell their own stories within the setting. Modding tools are always fun, and they can keep a game alive for an impressive amount of time. More ladies. The current companion roster is a sausage-fest. I would personally like more writing for a smaller group of companions. In most games, I pick a dedicated party and stick with it throughout the game; in Pillars of Eternity, I mixed up my party frequently, just to learn more about my companions! Which means, in turn, experimenting with how to run those characters, which leads to a great sense of accomplishment when I'm mopping up with two Chanters belting out buffing songs and no Cleric in sight. I'd draw the line at one companion per class, max, and leave it at that.

Huh, that's interesting. Maybe Constant Recovery has a time limit on it now because in long grindfests of a fight, fighters can take a ludicrous amount of time to die? (In my experience, enemy Fighters need to be CC'd or somehow distracted if you want to let loose on the back row, and I never had to heal Eder mid-combat after he hit a certain level.) Does seem a little odd that Veteran's Recovery doesn't have that time limit, though.

Not going to lie, I spent most of the day on the Pillars of Eternity subforum, contemplating whether or not it was viable to use the new expansion's toys to teach a wizard kung-fu. I was so tickled by the idea, I blogged furiously about it on multiple platforms. Congrats on your peppers, though!

I really want to know who Pallegina is, personally. For some reason she reminds me of Amanra from the Age of Mythology campaign....