Kazuma

^ At least you didn't say 8-track. Can't say vinyl as that seems to be making a comeback of sorts. Though it never really died with collectors. I suppose I don't listen to music much myself. I do once in a great while when I'm doing some repetitive task and I need a distraction. Though, a podcast or audiobook works better imo. When I do listen to my music collection I'm reminded, sadly, of all the time I've wasted in MMO's. I mean what's more mindlessly repetitive than that?

Healing invocations = Level 0 Cantrip as a full round action? Seriously though Invocations sound like a drag. At least for a tank build that dumps dex. On another note I'm sitting here wondering why I just started this playthru without grabbing the update. /sigh I should of went to sleep hours ago.

Ice Ice Baby is popular?! Kidding. I know what you mean. Pop culture back... in the late 80's? Early 90's? I can't remember now. Him and MC Hammer.. Must find another song to get stuck in my head now. *edit* Incidentally Ambassador of Pain is the type of song I'm in the mood for now and again. Though sometimes it's just the cause of a headache. Getting old.

Cool Looks like Rogue, Barb, One Hand, and some misc ability tweaks. Not sure how much of a change any of it is. But I'm kinda surprised that Chanters didn't get their own buffs/heals? I thought that was part of the basis of Chanter tank builds? Or was that just a bug fix rather than a balance change?

@dambros - oh? Guess there should be patch notes around here somewhere. I'll have to look for those and the actual patch in a few. *edit* doesn't look like the notes have been posted yet.

@KDubya Yeah, I was looking at one of the chanter builds and was leaning towards having at least 1 in my party. But then I got sidetracked (or rather I had to refocus on RL) so I haven't really worked out anything in regards to my party. Gotta say your suggestion sounds very tempting. The problem is I'm not familiar with the mechanics enough to judge how I should redistribute stats when substituting companions in a build. I might be over thinking things. Are there stat prereq's for certain skills/gear? Putting that aside is there a particular role that you'd favor for the MC? I'm guessing Paladin as they get bonuses for depositions? Unless that ability is specific to Pellaginna. Speaking of the next patch is there an expected release date or will it properly be done when it's done (tested)? I assume that you're waiting because some mechanic that effects your party is coming? *edit* Derp, some of my own fridge logic here. Somehow the thought of respeccing companion stats got mixed into my thought process there. Partially to blame is DnD and many other CRPGs where you gain stats as you level. So, yes, I was over thinking things. If you guys say X companion will work for a build I just have to follow the skill/gear suggestions of the build. Though I suppose the latter might need adjustment from time to time. Come to think of it that mindset crept into some of my other posts in this thread. /sigh. Would the Bleak walker build be alright for the MC of that party? Not sure where I'd fit Zealous Endurance in there though.

I came for the explosions, but was sorely disappointed. This is the Trashman build. Not the Trashcan Man build. Joking aside I'm surprised one handed style wasn't already a thing? (or did it just not have a compelling buff?) *edit* Derp - the OP does say that this is a buff to the ability in 3.03 so it's safe to say it was already there.

Nice necro there. Assuming that the game files haven't changed due to patches in the last year+ I'd venture to guess you'd find a similar file named after the npc handling the Doemenel quests. Well assuming they exist in the same area/map. That appears to be how the directory structure is organized from the above quote. I haven't played in that long so I can't really confirm anything (don't remember the npc name to start with). That all said it's not like the quest was written with double crossing in mind, right? So it's not like you'll get a reaction out of anyone for having done so. If all you want is to get an ability.. why not just add it to your character through the console? It's probably less likely to break anything compared to modifying game resources. The downside being you'd disable achievements but then I don't see how one can claim modifying game resources to get the same effect is not in fact cheating. If you knew what you were doing you could probably modify a convo file to allow you to get infinite quest rewards by modifying the state check in a similar way. That's a fairly common bug in these sorts of games after release. Infinite money/xp exploits are usually just a matter of discovering dialog trees that aren't properly checking the token/variable that indicates quest competition. But either way you should backup your saves and any files you tinker with. There's a chance you could crash the game if you managed to get variables outside their expected range. Or there could be unintended consequences if it's used down the line in another quest/convo. You might break something and not realize until hours later into your playthru. /shrug. To me using the console seems like the less risky choice.

Well, as I said I don't care about achievements. I mean my copy is from gog and I don't use galaxy so there's no achievement tracking to begin with. Afaik from looking at the nexus mod page posts the current version isn't compatible with 3.02 and they're working on getting it to work for the upcoming 3.03? I'd rather not have to downgrade or wait. So I'll just skip companion banter if the regular console commands do not persist.

@mosspit Yeah, I've gotten that far I believe. I think I've actually finished eder's quest. Not sure on Aloth's. I might not have been using him. Thanks Yeah, I'll go all custom then. Not going to fool around with mods/console commands that I haven't confirmed work (or might break in a future patch). Time to break out the spreadsheets when I have the time I guess.

I appreciate the devil is in the details but I wasn't asking for all new builds or anything. Just which pinned builds happened to work well with the MC builds I was considering running. I'm not stuck on having the best party. I just want one that works well together and can clear PotD without too much trouble. One thing I did like about my MC during my first playthru was per encounter abilities as a cipher. I don't remember the details about resting but from what I've gathered there is a limit to camping supplies you can carry? Chanter speed buffing is still a thing? I think I took advantage of that on my first run. Ah, there we go. So Devil of Caroc is innately immune to poison? That would indeed be a good pairing with bilestomper. Is it very hard (or possible) to make a hireling that's immune to poison in the early game? Guess I need to read your thread on bilestomper a little closer. *edit* Oops, I guess I missed the mention of the Devil at the end of your build description. By the sound of it is an innate as she's a construct. I'm guessing making a hireling immune would take so much commitment in gear/abilities that I'd practically be running a second bilestomper?

Ah, Derp. I guess that's true. I don't know why that didn't occur to me after reading that characters at the stronghold get %75 xp. If I built my party around the idea of being 5 man then the official companion being a bit underleveled won't matter too much I suppose. Now I feel silly for making an unnecessary constraint. Just to clarify from the wiki you can have up to 8 custom adventurers, but is there a max number of companions/custom chars you can have at the stronghold? I'm guessing not since there is already a cap on how many custom you can add. It's too bad I'll miss out on banter but such is life. Though I suppose I'll have to take care with certain triggers for companion quests? Will I miss out on starting companion quests if they aren't in the party for certain events? I seem to recall there was something like this for eder?

Are the changes to companion stats persistent? I found an old thread from march that said the game would reset any adjustments you made. Is this still the case? I'm also a little confused about IE_mod. I was under the impression at first that you needed the mod to enable the console. But perhaps it just adds/overrides console commands? Personally I'm just looking to change companion stats and I don't really need all the other features of IE_mod. It would be great if I can just use the builtin console commands and I don't care about achievements.

I was about to ask if my assumptions on companion respecing was correct but I found a thread from march on the subject. I'm assuming that it's still not possible to respec companion attributes with a mod? Sounds like they have (or had) the game update companion stats every time a save was loaded (due to a rebalance of their stats). Seems like they could have simply checked if the stats were the old values and only reset them if they were. Though using simple versioning would probably suffice as well. But I digress. If this is the case I suppose it's possible that companions added after the rebalance could be changed? I'm not sure on the timing but perhaps the DLC characters can be changed? Wishful thinking. Otherwise changing anything other than attributes is possible upon recruitment, yes? The wiki wasn't clear on this but it seems one of the patches added this, correct? Though I suppose you might be able to write a mod that would update companion stats after a save was loaded... off to nexus. (Sorry for the possible double post, I'm still under moderation as a new account and I didn't want to derail another thread) *edit* I must be blind I didn't even notice Clerith's response until now - 1) Yeah, I'm starting to see that's the case. I have found a few hits on reddit but I haven't found any that go into much detail. 2) In retrospect I guess I could have phrased my question better. I was actually meaning to ask what companions, and their respective builds would synergize with an MC using one of the builds I listed. That said it's good to know about the convo stats. In another thread here it was said you can get by most with some optional gear/buffs. So to answer your question I'd prioritize combat stats. 3) I have a horrible habit of following walkthroughs and deciding on how to proceed with quests based on the rewards. I'd like to blame it on some older CRPG's putting you in punishing boss battles that were much easier if you had just gotten that missable doodad. The reality is that I'm a completionist and don't often do multiple playthru's. At any rate I'll just have to look those up as I go. The thread on random loot tables should help some.

Cool, I'll definitely make use of this on my first playthrough. I know it's a bit spoilerish but I've played through part of the game already and I don't like the idea of missing out on something great for a build due to rng... or timing in this case. Thanks to all that contributed to this!

Thanks for the response. I just woke up so please correct me if I foobar anything - (Also keep in mind I'm not really familiar with these skills do, why I asked if there was an up-do-date source, is the wiki maintained?) Party 1 Me - Juggernaut - Iirc the OP of this build mentioned using 1-2 openers at 1 wound, spammed a frontal cone, and used a line attack that is the namesake of the build. I believe FoA was the AoE Debuff added to the build later? I'll have to refresh my memory on this. I don't think I'd necessarily mind having such a rotation and I'd rather like having a mobility ability to rush at mobs that broke through the front line to attack the back. Are the number of wounds clearly visible on the UI? Custom Barb - The problem with Maneha is that they are from the second dlc. Putting that aside what would be a good build here? I probably couldn't handle your Immortal Marytr build (the idea of letting anyone get knocked out on purpose is at odds with MMO healer xp). Your leech build sounds more suitable for a main tank? (correct me if I'm wrong). Interrupt Barb might be more along the lines of what you were suggesting. Though that build seems ill suited for Maneha due to stats/race? In the end I'm thinking the barb would have to be a custom char. Eder - Lord of Pain? Custom Priest - Fire Priest seemed like the obvious pick for Durance until I looked at stats. Seems like that will be a sticking point trying to use these companions. Same with AndreaColombo's support priest. I'm having a bit of deja vu here. Perhaps using builds and companions is really not doable? Ok, so custom again. Grieving Mother - Speedo? Devil of Caroc - Mad Hornet? Ok, I'll stop here for the moment. I've all but convinced myself that I need to just do a Hard playthrough with the companions I want. I wanted to try to do everything on one game, as I'm usually not one to replay an rpg, but it seems like I have to choose - Either side stories or a custom PotD party? One thing I'm sure of is my itch to break out the spreadsheets again. I suppose the alternative would be to make the MC a solo oriented build that can carry the official companions through the game? It would also alleviate the need to rush to get the ones I want asap. Though having Kana + Durance for buffs/heals would probably be ideal?

TL:DR - Nvm, I've decided to do an all custom party. Learned a lot thanks to everyone here. So naive this post was. Custom vs Companion it's all the same in the end. Though companions get +1 level that helps early on. I went back and answered some of my own questions in case others had the same ones. Yes, another one of these threads. Please bear with me. Another game in my backlog that I never did finish for one reason or another. Back when the game had just released I spent a fair amount of time trying to plan out my party in a spreadsheet with all custom characters. This time I'd like to play PotD and use the story characters as much as possible while using current builds from the forums here. My problem is that I really don't remember anything about the game mechanics (probably wouldn't be helpful considering the amount of changes by the sound of it). Some of the builds here briefly mention what other builds they might synergize with but certainly not all and even then I can't be sure it's still the case. 1) So my main question is there a good up to date resource for the game mechanics and gear? That said I'm trying to avoid going down that rabbit hole too much and spending a lot of time trying to min/max. I'd rather not spin my wheels too much and just get to playing. So, I looked through a good number of builds and narrowed the MC down to one of the following - The Juggernaut Schemer's Needler Bilestomper or Chillfog (Though I'm not sure how these work in practice with other melee) 2) Can anyone make some suggestions on which characters would work best for one of these MC's? I know that might be a bit of a loaded question. In that case maybe it would be easier to say what to avoid? Rather can someone suggest which companions, and their respective builds, would compliment one of the above MC builds? My bad. Edit - /Facepalm It really is a loaded question. In the end I'd suggest doing some solo runs with different builds just to learn mechanics and the game so you can figure out whatever works for you. Many, many options. 3) Last question - Is there a good place to read up on missable/one-of-kind gear/buffs? I'm assuming much of the gear listed on these builds are one of kind so it'd be nice to know which ones are so I can look for alternatives when there are overlaps. Edit - Random Loot https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/80015-all-poe-random-item-day-checklist/ Missed Stuff https://www.reddit.com/r/projecteternity/comments/416gvd/list_of_easilymissed_stuff/ Thanks in advance. Most of the mechanic threads linked in the old build thread are... well old. I mostly just want to avoid a party composition that is frustrating to play (i.e. positioning micromanagement due to friendly fire or duplicating roles/debuffs that don't stack). P.S. Ok, I lied, one more question. Iirc keeping mobs on the tank was somewhat tricky in the early game. I remember spirits teleporting to the back line being a problem. One I don't remember if there was a solution to? I'm assuming there is a way to deal with that? As chokepoints probably don't work well when they can teleport. /shrug. Maybe it's not even a thing anymore.