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abot

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Posts posted by abot

    Level Scaling

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted

    I don't think there is technically unlimited scaling available. In practice though about 30/40  should be enough e.g.
    Level Cap 33 mod
    https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/266
    is setting the limit to 33 player/45 enemies (vanilla is 20/30 IIRC)
    the Surrogate Challenge mod
    https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/705
    is setting it to 29/39

    Help creating a melee Cipher

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted · Edited by abot

    Some notes about death of 1000 cuts, I used it a lot while testing my Surrogate Challenge mod, looking for a way to damage Dorudugan fast enough without 0 recovery cheats.
    DOTC does not work with Ectopsychic Echo (that is a echo only ability), but it works e.g. with cheap & fast cast mind blades, it is great if you have at least 2 enemies to ping-pong between but even against a single boss you can cast mind blades fast enough to prolong death of 1000 cuts every few seconds, and differently from disintegration death of 1000 cuts can last a lot this way even with something with high res like Dorudugan (and you can use Magran belt to summon a hostile blight and ping pong some mind blades).
    With less tough nuts DOTC is ideal to use before disintegration

    • Thanks 1

    Apotheosis - Mod Editor for Deadfire

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire: Modding (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted · Edited by abot

    There is still something weird for me when creating/editing quest objective nodes: I think the default 2 digits ID (e.g. 72) for the quest step title entry and the 5 digits ID (e.g. 10072) for the quest step description are somewhat swapped in Apotheosis , the one created is e.g. 72 but then the field editor seems to look for the 10072 quest step description field instead and an empty field is returned. So far I have added/tweaked the missing e.g. 10072 description field with a text editor but it would be nice to have it fixed in Apotheosis
    e.g. like this
            <Entry>
                <ID>72</ID>
                <DefaultText>Complete the full Slayer path.</DefaultText>
                <FemaleText />
            </Entry>
            <Entry>
                <ID>10072</ID>
                <DefaultText>Find all artifacts and win all fights for the Slayer path in Kazuwari Arena.</DefaultText>
                <FemaleText />
            </Entry>


    {EDIT] another thing that is not a bug, but could be nice to have: I noticed that the game seems to sort the in game quest steps list by string ids, so a way to automatically recalculate the ids from Apotheosis so they keep the sorting as displayed in the quest tree editor would be ace, at the moment you have to painstakingly renumber them with a text editor in the quest and strings tables to sort them

     

    • Like 1

    How to change the power level of an ability

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire: Modding (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted · Edited by abot

    Thanks.
    In my experience setting ObscurateNumbers in Wael challenge to false works with ultimate challenge disabled selecting Wael challenge as separate option, but not if you enable the ultimate challenge.
    I'll try disabling the     ActivateAllChallenges from within the ultimate settings but there are some challenges for which I can't find the equivalent separate toggle inside the ultimate settings (e.g. a toggle for Hylea challenge/Vela which is the most important defining the ultimate IMO, without that it is not even comparable) so I was hoping on a hint to find them somewhere else.
    Basically I wanted to disable Iron mode because it is too punishing/discouraging/a time sink for most players (and that works, basically changing Triple crown to Double Crown) and Wael because it is not much difficult but just annoying for people trying to learn/test new strategies.
    Then I have added more quest objectives (limited to 24 entries for now, no more space for quest events) and more time to achieve them/explore the world (50% extra time available for Eothas challenge)

    [EDIT] Wait... maybe I found it, there is a promising empty ability field and a couple of Vela abilities available...


     

    • Thanks 1

    How to change the power level of an ability

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire: Modding (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted

    I recently discovered this amazing tool and started using it trying to tweak the Ultimate Challenge into something else, in doing so I realized as a suggestion probably a nice improvement for the tool would be to allow for vertical scrolling in the Quests\Events tab or similar where you may need more possible vertical entries.

    Also unrelated but do you have any hint on how to disable Wael challenge from the Ultimate Challenge? I managed to disable trial of iron just fine, but disabling
    Game Data\Global\GodChallenge\Wael\ObfuscateNumbers seems to only work with the separate Wael Challenge, not for the Ultimate Challenge (which does not seem to set it as true by itself)
    Maybe it is just hardcoded somewhere, but I am asking in case I'm missing some obvious setting

    • Hmmm 1

    What Classes (Single/Multi) Are Considered Best For Solo?

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted · Edited by abot

    On 4/12/2023 at 12:21 AM, Shai Hulud said:

    I tried the missile gloves to proc Sea Stories from Whale of a Wand. Doesn't work unfortunatley. I cast it 60 times, and it procs 6 per hit, so the probability of none of those 360 hits proccing sea stories is .95^360 = 9.56 x 10^(-9), so...yeah. Doesn't work sadly. Also does a lot of damage, I did 140ish a couple times with just 16 might, and she has 163 health at L20, so could possibly kill her. Ray of Fire scrolls work well and are relatively plentiful at least. But I wouldn't cast them with max arcana, I tried it and she died lol. With < 10 arcana should be fine, I never got her more than bloodied with 7. Can carry healing scrolls just in case.

    It is easier than this, you can just spam Psychovampiric Shield (or even Telekinetic Burst for a Psion)
    [EDIT] unless you are not talking about spiritualist any more

    • Like 1

    SSS Changeling Dance - How to complete solo with Vela? ALT: How to add Vela to party (both solved)

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted

     

    I don't know, I think it would be feasible with my full buffed build as chanter skeletons chant (and probably the healing one too) still work as cannon fodder so if you rush the enemies you have a good chance Vela is only hit max once.
    But if you are using the community patch / no strand of favor like buffs prolonging then you might not be fast enough killing them.
    Maybe try a monk/troubadour
    also no idea how in this f* editor you can edit/insert a link to a specific video time so remove the h ttps space after copying the link in browser

    h ttps://youtu.be/q9tBtjCur8g?list=PL7Rqzk0KXtVxElgWZQtRXrtYaUO6qH-N4&t=8375

    Psion/troubadour thread?

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted · Edited by abot

    yeah, that battle without 0 recovery is really hard, I'm not sure it is feasible, no durable melee weapons apart monastic unarmed training (or use an axe with bleeding cuts until you break it, then keep punching). maybe something that could help a little is using Magran's belt, the blight(s) is not a real menace and it can contribute to reduce dorudugan mobility as it often attacks also doru, it is an excellent easy target for a first borrowed instinct, once you have borrowed instinct targeting Dourudugan should be more feasible. Maybe alternate punches with soul shock/ectopsychic echo, and chill fog from the grave calling sabre, hard to paralyze him but helps keeping him flanked

     

    • Like 1

    Psion/troubadour thread?

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted · Edited by abot

    Yeah, right resolve is a very subjective feel, it depends on difficulty/party or solo mode of course but also a lot on play style. I prefer to have it less minimized also to help with afflictions duration, and maybe spare one ability slot to increase will to instead choose some other extra spell (e.g. Ectopsychic Echo is always good but often sacrificed for something else)
    [EDIT] oh one last not so well known psion trick: you can easily break engagement targeting one of your nearby skeletons with fast cast cheap telekinetic burst, that will hopefully push you away from danger with no disengagemnt attack and landing the spell on a cheap skeletons is much easier than targeting a tough enemy e.g. dorudugan

    • Thanks 2

    Psion/troubadour thread?

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted · Edited by abot

    Like already told by excellent veterans here, one of the best things from this classes combo is versatility as both classes have auto-refilling resources. So there is not perfect/standard build as it depends on the role you have/like to play. 
    First important distinction is if you play with a party or solo. I'm mostly focused/experienced in solo/POTD upscaled/Magran fires build so maybe I can add something useful there.
    When going solo essentially the build strength is to be able to easily keep your wall of summons always up. This should allow you to avoid being hit as possible, not being hit not only saves your life but most important keeps your focus replenishing at max speed. At higher difficulty it will not be possible to avoid being hit completely in every encounter though so I'm not a big fan of min RES if you are not going to use buff prolonging things like strand of favor, for a no cheat run I'd stay with at least 8 RES
    so In short 
    PER  - the higher, the better
    INT - min. 15, ideal 17
    I prefer to develop INT to be at least 15-16 (the more, the better)
    15 is the minimum INT to be able to have summons last enough to be able to safely recall them before they disappear (brisk recitation on of course), 16 is better/easier and 17 INT or more is the sweet spot that should allow you to cast one Eld Nary (your main multi-target/long range  chanter damage invocation) in-between re-invoking summons.
    Having hopefully summons always up, I prefer to invest psion spell slots on something else than Pain Block, as usually you will be able to invoke new summons before the old ones end or die (also the orcs summons  have already a robust spell available) and if you play with Hylea challenge Vela is not an available target for Pain Block anyway
    Rest of stats I prefer a balanced approach of starting with about 10% little extra speed and strength so 13 STR and 13 DEX, but it depends on how much you sacrifice RES
    As level 1 abilities are the ones you cannot respec, I'd suggest starting with come come soft winds of death + soul shock that will be always of use.
    It's difficult to choose the perfect spells list as some of them may overlap between classes, but there are some always valid suggestions.
    - respec your build abilities according to the challenges you are planning. e.g. keeping Vela alive during oratory of Wael battles is much harder without ancient memory chant
    Tactics at solo/high difficulty level/magran challenges/no cheats should be to start fights from stealth if possible (basically placing a trap) and keep stealth at least until you can build your summon wall, ideally wait to build full focus too before going out of stealth and do direct damage. With very tough enemies/when you are underleveled painlinked summons micromanaging allow you to use summons kamikaze tactic, especially with enemies having disengaging attacks, you can win very difficult battles or at least lower enemy health a lot while still on stealth
    - you should have CC spells available to both paralyze and stun enemies. Personally I prefer cipher mental binding for paralyze/immobilize and chanter it's crash could not be denied for stun/damage (the extra point for increased accuracy is really worth at high difficulty level)
    - you should have at least one cipher dominate spell. I prefer puppet master over ring leader, mostly for the range but also for the reduced cost
    - psychovampiric shield is not only useful to lower tough enemies resolve, you can use it at low level on your summons/Vela fight to get steadfast ASAP. And if you get the whale of a wand you can spam it on Vela, charm her and start the battle from an advantage point far from enemies
    - tactical meld is essential at high difficulty/no cheat to improve both your and your main summon damager (e.g. animated sword summon) / controller (e.g. animated pike summon) accuracy for tough encounters
    - secret horrors is essential not only to try and block enemies abilities, but to more easily land your spells targeting fortitude
    - amplified wave is good, but  screaming souls + skeletons can be strong against heavily armored foes/can target will instead
    - if your build has means to interrupt often (e.g. effort sword enchanted with hemorragic + a fast cast or big area spell e.g. mind blades/amplified wave), thick grew their tongues chant is fantastic

    • Like 1

    Defeating Hauni O Whe AND Dorudugan in BPM (solo POTD upscaled etc.) ?

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted · Edited by abot

    Yeah, killing Dorudugan without 0 recovery from cheesy prolonging some effect is probably one of the most challenging things, not sure it's possible.
    I think with a chanter/troubadour it is essential to try and keep Doru blocked/surrounded by 3 summons while the other ones/the player try to get the fire bombs away from him so he can't move where the bombs can explode and heal him. There are still attacks that you can't control where he fires the terrain, but limiting the bombs healing is already a huge help
    Best way to use the painlinked wurms with him/the fire dragon/the lich dragon or anything super tough with engagement is to move the wurms so they get engaged and disengage them ASAP so they get disengage attack crits, they should die in 3/4 melee hits and do almost 25% of their health as damage
    (unless you are unlucky and you are fighting a vampiric enemy, then painlink is less useful)

    • Like 1

    Defeating Hauni O Whe AND Dorudugan in BPM (solo POTD upscaled etc.) ?

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted · Edited by abot

    It's been a while, so I just re-tested the starting of Hauani battle. There are a few possibilities.
    You can place a trap from stealth as usual (disable AI, click where to place the trap, shift click ASAP to the safe location  so you can enqueue actions and do it as fast as possible).
    Hauani is a little different in that her detection radius is just like her huge size, but even if scary you can place the trap well inside Hauani radius/blob, when trap is near enough the center of Hauani the trap will trigger, I managed to start the fight safely with 14 stealth, a couple steps inside her detection radius.
    Pros of placing a trap from stealth are you keep your stealth so you can cast super fast and send (e.g. painlinked) summons. Problem is if you start applying direct damage to Hauani you and Vela will go out of stealth/Vela will follow you and Hauani has ranged attacks.
    So all in all best strategy is to try and keep Vela to the map border.
    A common way is 1% trigger of Magran belt fire blight. A better way I found is charming Vela, she should be far enough to not run fighting Hauani (if you can't directly charm her use e.g. whale of a wand spamming a spell on her e.g. Psychovampiric Shield). If you manage to charm (5% is not bad) her combat will start and she will stay there when she stops. You can send summons directly while she is still charmed or (better) wait for the charm to expire. She will stay there and you can now place a trap having her not following you any more
    Note: the charming does not always work, I never managed to get it working with Belranga, not enough distance, Vela will try to kill Belranga or Belranga minions
     

    • Like 1

    Defeating Hauni O Whe AND Dorudugan in BPM (solo POTD upscaled etc.) ?

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted · Edited by abot

    About Vela. Best way is usually a trap keeping stealth (usually needs at least 14/15 stealth, the more the better). When in stealth you can hover the cursor on enemy and see detection radius, try to place the trap out of radius first, some enemies (humans usually) are more curious, but most of them turn back fast. When they turn back it is easier to place a second trap inside the detection circle. 2nd best way if your stealth is not enough is stll a trap + a bomb nearby (not a spark one as Vela will be curious about that LOL), so you can throw the luring bomb from a distance and go away faster, you will not always be able to keep stealth but Vela should follow you to safety faster.
    Blue (not yet aggroed) enemies can be done planting a bomb with AI off, shift + click pickpocket 
    If you have enough map space between your position and the enemy you can also try charming Vela (you can use a whale of a wand if you can target her with any spell). It is risky as she will start looking for a fight, but if you are far enough from enemy she should stop nearby. Then she will still stay there until you change map, and that can be very useful (you can even place a trap without her following you).
     

    • Like 1

    Mechanics of duplicate spells (Phantom, Watery Double, Etc.?)

    in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted · Edited by abot

     

    @Shai Hulud
    I don't remember exactly but I think my ultimate challenge run was validated in about 3/4 weeks, and my run was probably one of the slower ones with lots of video footage, but they had a dedicated person at the time so maybe thngs are slower now


    I don't know the implementation details of target groups so I could be wrong, but I don't think you can easily add Vela as automatically scripted target for Withdraw or similar already legit spells/scrolls without allowing other spells too that would make the challenge different/easier (e.g. a cipher with pain block/ectopsychic echo working on Vela  would have easier life)
    Not that it would be much a problem at this point, a challenge patched to allow more classes without obligatory cheese could be very interesting and make more people try it.

    • Like 1
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