Belfaldurnik

As it only modifies Holy Radiance, there are not enough use cases for it. For Vessel killer priests it's fun, though.

Well, player has been asking lots of questions in Steam's forum, too, is playing at Normal mode only and still being afraid of making decisions, such as whether and when to do side-quests or fights. I disagree with the "most certainly" part you mention. Multiple quests are started within that inn. I don't think new players won't visit the inn only once while being busy in and around Twin Elms.

Once more: You can start Act III, visit the inn, do a lot of side-quests, then kill Raedric. And when you return to the inn, you will meet the person that informs you about the undead. However, if during Act III you never visit the inn again, not even after killing Raedric, you won't meet the person to talk to. You may wonder about Raedric's undead attacking Caed Nua, however.

Well, that only applies to someone, who doesn't enter the inn more than once and therefore may not discover the person to talk to.

That last part doesn't sound right. There is no need to finish the Raedric quest before Act III. And you don't miss anything either, if you handle Raedric very late. The F...d V...r will appear nevertheless for one part of the solution related to Raedric.

Ah, Temple of Eothas in Gilded Vale and the Lightouse of Ondra's Gift. Well, the Spirits in there. Shades with high Deflection, who hit well and, if not killed quickly, may summon Shadows to aid them. Phantoms and Spectres. To give all your characters armor with high DR is a good choice. To increase Accuracy and damage, such as with added Burn damage, is another choice. Trying to hide Eder behind a shield can be the wrong decision, because Eder is much better with the implicit +12 Accuracy bonus of using only one single-handed weapon. Stay close together, so you stay within the range of all Priests support spells, Paladin aura, Chanter's phrases. In case of doubt, return later.

Even a few years into the future, topics like these will still help other players.

Well, what does the journal say about the Undying Heritage quest? After Icantha it should say: Now that I can understand the Engwithan language, I can return to machine at the top of Teir Nowneth and do something about the curse affecting Heritage Hill.

Then remains the problem that a watcher, who has completed Heritage Hill, which requires the instructions from Icantha, has learned the Engwithan language from her already. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/74057-problem-with-endless-paths-of-od-nua/

As I've posted at Steam - is it you who opened the very similar topic there? - Icantha teaches you the Engwithan language to operate the machine at the top of the tower. That is unrelated to the Endless Paths of Od Nua. Several spirits give you some hints, then you can give the talking door a good answer: http://guides.gamepressure.com/pillarsofeternity/guide.asp?ID=29967

Which door is it? One door on level 13 can only be opened after drawing knowledge from Maerwald.

Consumables are not needed for PotD. Food and/or drugs can be very helpful against the dragons and other boss-like enemies, however. And keeping a few potions and scrolls in your quick item slots can be a good idea for other fights, too.

Exactly my thoughts. Just for the record, I've unlocked all BG achievements including the LOB playthroughs. No interest in doing LOB solo, however, and there isn't a separate achievement for that anyway. My comments on the LOB runs can be found somewhere in the Steam forum. As off-topic as it may be, the enemy stats for LOB mode are even weirder. HP are increased by factor 3 +80, not only +80. Soloing the BG series requires much more kiting than PoE.

From the three options you've presented, they don't differ in essential ways. You've not commented on them either. A wizard with Weapon Focus Ruffian doesn't rule out using the nice summoned weapons, such as Citzal's Spirit Lance. Melee wizard is painfully micro-management intensive. By the time your wizard has prepared for battle casting self-buffs, more efficient companions have done most of the work already. And then you still may need to stay out of trouble and avoid ranged attacks, because boosting your defenses would require casting additional spells first. A quick Monk outperforms a melee wizard, because the Monk is ready for battle immediately and causes the enemies serious problems while even getting stronger from support and wounds. As yourself whether you want to play a melee wizard for more than 9-11 levels, if you plan to do also The White March? Rather, I would aim at a versatile wizard. Build a wizard that can adjust to your requirements and contributes whatever is most helpful. The full show from crowd control to area damage or self-buffs to contribute melee/ranged attacks, if necessary.

Tell more. I'm familiar with the BG series, too, including a very few solo runs, but would you really solo the BG series on Insane or even Legacy of Bhaal mode and continue into Throne of Bhaal even? Lots of cheese and meta-gaming required, both early and for various encounters throughout the game. Absolutely no fun to fight Alchra Diagott or Kangaxx.

Then explain your earlier comment, please. Right, and I haven't referred to "max attack speed", but starting with increased attack/action speed is worthwhile.

No. It's a long time before you can get items to enhance your action speed or reduce your recovery (such as via durgan steel). Too many build guides don't start at level 1 and work their way up, but present a retrained level 16 character using highly enchanted equipment.

Cail The Silent is not much of a dragon, though. http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Dragon About the Paladin, you start with -10 Deflection compared with a Fighter and base RES 10. That's a lot if you jump into the fray instead of hiding between more specialized warriors. However, if you use a shield, you lose the Accuracy advantage of wielding one single-handed weapon. -12 Accuracy is a lot. Another -5 compared with a PER 10 Fighter. Together with slow action speed due to DEX 10, well, performance won't be pretty. Anyone can use a shield, such as against dangerous foes. Increased RES and Superior Deflection is the way to go with frontline Paladins. Cautious Attack is class-neutral and highly interesting, because you can toggle the extra +8 Deflection when necessary. Plus, if you stay close to your companions, your aura is large enough to not need increased INT. The base 4.0m range covers the Paladin and at least three companions standing next to eachother. And that is without any INT bonus from items. About Monks. OMG, quick Monks with Interrupting Blows are a real threat to almost every enemy. They don't need increased PER if attacking with fists and investing into unarmed dual-wielding bonuses. A bit support from a Priest and or potions. It's awesome.

Your base attributes are far from "optimal" yet for my taste, and you haven't told which difficulty level you play at. That would have been interesting. You only mention you "are unsure", and indeed the attributes and weapon choices are puzzling. Though, different people play the game differently. Let's start with the Barbarian, which you refer to as "pure dps". You've sacrificed RES by -5 to reduce the low base Deflection down to 10. You could have reduced RES to 3, because the two remaining points don't change the world anymore. What is your personal experience with that Barb so far? Have you had to keep him out of trouble? I think so, and the same will happen in the White March. Unless you're playing the easier difficulty modes. For Path of the Damned and a true frontline Barb, you would need to shift the attributes a lot. You've increased CON quite a bit, increasing the very high base Health/Endurance even further to compensate something. What is it? DEX is far too low on all your warriors for my playing style. With increased PER and one single-handed weapon you would benefit from heavily increased melee Accuracy and could aim at doing crits more often, then use a weapon that triggers effects on crits, such as the We Toki battle axe. Even more so, if receiving support. Barbarian's Carnage attacks get more accurate than normal Accuracy eventually. Next the Paladin. I don't agree with giving a two-hander user MIG 18 instead of increased PER for an Accuracy bonus. Paladin may use Sworn Enemy on key enemies, okay, but you face an Accuracy penalty if wielding two-handers and another -5 compared with a Fighter. Fighters with increased DEX/PER clearly are the better two-hander users in the game. They become so interesting, one can even build them as dual Soldier/Adventurer to exchange Great Swords/Estocs as necessary. Such a 2H specialist is especially good with the St.Ydwen's Redeemer as a Vessel killer - as an alternative to a Priest of Berath with The Pallid Hand talent and very high Accuracy with Great Swords/Maces. Last, your Fighter seems to match the cowardish approach of hiding behind a shield, adding even +2 to RES and trying to survive instead of disabling attackers quickly. You haven't told enough about how you play that fighter. At least you haven't invested into raising CON. High INT can be worthwhile with reliable hits and long knockdowns, but reduced PER and a shield are detrimental then. Kinda strange to raise MIG so much instead of making the fighter hit well and faster. I think you're wasting potential.

D'oh! I've learned about the recent price increases in the Steam forum and then also discovered the 20% increase on the backer portal. As I've been playing with the thoughts of becoming a slacker backer, now this won't happen anymore.

Bear's Fortitude could be beneficial, but I haven't had any data to know that I would be facing highly dangerous attacks against Fortitude. Similarly, I've used Boots of Speed and a movement speed bonus chant for a very long time instead of choosing Fast Runner. First a caveat: Trying to do a replay based on someone's hints or suggestions bears a high risk of spoiling your fun. Pillars of Eternity is awesome enough to play it multiple times and discover your own possibly different solution. Once you are past Maerwald, there are tons of options. How to reach and defeat Maerwald, there are not so many solutions per class/build, I think. Next, there may be Chanter specific topics somewhere in the forum. Post #2 in this topic mentions a few ideas, for example. Some choices are very obvious, some maybe not. Up to level 16, my choice has been an 18/18/6/13/13/10 Wild Orlan Drifter from The Living Lands. Not godlike, because I wanted to be able to equip headwear, and because the option to raise defenses is nice. As one can see, I've been afraid of dumping DEX to 3. Invocations trigger recovery, so beware. Similarly, PER and INT both are increased a bit, because I think both are beneficial. Instead of investing into RES for Deflection, I've chosen talents such as Superior Deflection, Weapon and Shield, items to add +12 to Deflection - and I've chosen the cruel/aggressive path (including Berath's Boon) through the game most of the time, so no need for peaceful resolution during dialogues for a very long time. Early skill focus has been on Stealth, Mechanics for traps/locks and Athletics. Some as required for side-quests or good results in scripted interactions. No big issue though, since retraining is possible, affordable and not forbidden during solo runs. With almost 500,000 money, there are no financial limits. Eventually one doesn't need Stealth and Mechanics anymore and can transfer those skill points into Lore and Survival, for example. For the chants, I've concentrated on the level 1 phrases in order to complete the requirements for the first summoning invocations quickly. From the various summons I've chosen most of them to be prepared for various types of enemies. Not the human skeletons, but even the three Wurms are fun and helpful as ranged attackers in various encounters. And the summoning figurines one can buy or find, too. The Visage of Concelhaut has been my only late game summoning item. Typical playstyle has been with the help of split-pulling of enemy mobs, since often enough it would be too dangerous to defend against more than two attackers at the same time. If player likes using potions (and knows about the game's odd behavior with regard to trying to drink potions in the heat of battle, possibly facing additional interrupts) and other consumables, often more direct assaults are possible too, though. The Dragon Trashed, The Dragon Wailed is not a safe solution for every battle, however. For the last few essential battles, I've retrained to 18/16/5/18/6/15. Still not completely min-maxed. Possibly a few wasted points here and there, such as on DEX and INT, but I have had to start somewhere and try something to gain experience - kinda feared that I would need to kite for an unknown period of time and use a bow for ranged attacks. As a big fan of high DEX characters, going down to low DEX is a huge hurdle, I can tell you. As the melee weapon to use mostly, I've preferred some that restore Endurance - possibly not necessary for a low DEX melee attacker. I've not done much testing. Later dagger and shield with weapon focus Peasant. I've unlocked The Unlabored Blade - again in the newly opened Stalwart Mines - lots of fun doing that despite the time it takes. As the ranged weapons of my choice, I've unlocked Stormcaller and later used Persistence in the second weapon slot to contribute some damage while watching my ogres or animated weapons doing most of the work. Armor I've used those with highest DR. Late game mostly He Carries Many Scars with enchantments. I've used Refined Durgan Steel enchantments only very late due to lack of experience with the dragon battles. It's also been the first time I've carefully taken notes of all the places where to find Durgan Iron ingots. In all previous playthroughs I've never been interested enough in spending time on them. The most annoying bug I've run into is the non-working per rest abilities granted by items. I've posted about that in the tech support forum. Quitting and reloading is required for the abilities to appear, but maybe even that doesn't work always. I mean there are some items that grant priest spells, and it would have been fun to use them, but if facing such a bug, that has been disappointing. There ought to be another patch to fix that.

According to the Steam forum: Fixed by verifying/repairing local installation cache.

CON 3 is not an optimization at all, because the high risk from reduced Health/Endurance and Fortitude defense is anything other than an "optimal" choice. Even if you're very familiar with the various encounters in this game and have learned how to keep such a character out of trouble, either with the help of companions that compensate the character's shortcomings or with extra micro-management - such as keeping increased distance to enemies or joining combat later. CON 3 is a borderline customization to cater someone's specific playstyle.

Kindly follow the instructions posted at: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/72439-must-read-how-to-report-an-issue/ State your operating system details, upload the requested files that the linked document mentions. If the "black screen crash" upon loading a savegame file is reproducible, be sure to upload the savegame file that causes that problem, so somebody could check it. Or upload a set of savegames files. And yes, patience is the key when encountering runtime issues that don't affect everyone.

http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Great_sword - be sure to get and unlock the St.Ydwen's Redeemer, if you will play The White March. Eder doesn't need a shield on Easy mode. If you are going with Soldier weapons, let Eder specialized as a Ruffian - for Sabres, Clubs. For a Fighter wielding two-handers, it's also viable to learn Weapon Focus Soldier and Adventurer, since then you can use also Estocs and other adventurer weapons with a +6 Accuracy bonus.