Lampros

I succeeded after 5-6 tries to steal the Devil armor. Even with all these shenanigans, it's no gimme

Okay, this is encouraging. Now I will just have to find sparkcrackers.

For instance, at Crookspur, trying to steal Patinated Plate. But the vision radius is way too big. I simply can't get outside of it

My Mechanics guy is quite high. 14 on himself at level 9 now (this is including +2 gloves and the +1 inn rest). With hefty party assist, he can open pretty much anything. The issue is more that I cannot divert guards. But I will try the sparkcrackers trick then. Unfortunately, I think I sold them all - thinking they are useless!

I am having a hard time stealing the high end stuff, and I seem to be unable to escape the AI's vision range. Also, I vaguely recall you can send your main character to talk to whoever is watching the area, and the latter would turn and face you. This no longer seems to happen? Have things changed? Or am I just rusty? Edit: It could be that I am trying to steal things too early. For instance, I am trying to steal the Devil's armor, and my thief is only level 7 and Stealth 7/Sleight of Hand 4?

This was the first time I played Druid; so I had no idea what to get!

Thanks; I don't think I even slotted Woodskin before.

If brigandine isn't the best early, then I should go for plate instead? But doesn't all armor have weakness to some forms of damage? Or do you believe brigandine's weaknesses are worse than the alternatives? Do you mean Patinated Plate? That's quite out of the way though, and I am not sure whether I can get myself there safely too early! I played the game the last time over 2 years ago - August of 2018, says my last Achievement. Yeah, I am going to optimize a lot more this run; I deleted the last save and will run again soon.

I only played up till level 8; and I got to level 8 primarily by running around and picking up XP for discovering locations. So I haven't had the opportunity to pick up high-end stuff. So my tank only had the mundane mail (7 armor?) he had from level 1, LOL! But how do you get those high-end armor at low levels? I guess I am supposed to steal the Devil of Caroc armor? Not enough Stealth/Mechanics - which is one reason I am restarting, among others. But the biggest issue isn't that I am getting crits or even regular hits a lot; I've played PotD in the normal mode, and I've had no problem there with the same set-up. The issue is that everything is at least grazing, and even grazes add up given the equalization of the action economy; so I need to re-tool a bit and add more AoE and/or CC.

Yes, part of the problem is that I still haven't learned to take advantage of the "surprise round." Perhaps I don't micro-manage things well. What was your party composition?

Thanks; I didn't even realize shields have modals. (You can tell how rarely, if ever, I used them in the past!) Edit: Regarding armor, I had such huge Deflection numbers that I thought armor wasn't needed. But the graze range is so large in turn-based!

I am not having issues with crits though; it's that there are so many grazes, and even they add up. I am planning on a lot of the changes you are suggesting when I re-run though. For instance, I should increase their armor from leather or mail to brigandine at the start. I neglected to use the pet completely as a Ghost Heart; and I will change that too. I may also switch Exalted Focus to Exalted Endurance. Also, what do you mean by "Shield Wall"? Is that a particular class ability?

Awesome; thanks!

Is it possible to use relatively advanced spells like Ring Leader and Puppet Master to open a fight? I don't think you have that much Focus. Or is there a Focus consumable?

Has this been confirmed? Can someone else chime in?

Thanks; I will try these spells/abilities and see how they work in turn-based context. I am not sure about stun bombs though; I hate spending money on consumables, and bombs seem not the optimal consumable space in my experience. Also, I;ve never used that cloak - but I will be looking out for it in the future. (I guess I am such a stat whore that I neglect gear with effects!)

This is not exactly an "OP" character!

No Wizard. Can I do something similar with the current line-up? I have Fighter/Rogue, Fighter/Monk, Priest/Paladin, Druid/Chanter, and Cipher/Ranger.

Is that preferable to Boots of the Stone? Or in what character/tactic would Boots of the White be more appropriate? Boots of the Stone has been such a solid option for me that I never looked elsewhere before, so I'd like to hear about alternative foot gear.

Thanks for the confirmation that Riposte does work. As for the Community Patch, I have been thinking about downloading for a while, but I am hesitant for two reasons. First, I am not sure if I like all the changes; and there are a lot of changes. Second, I am now a bit more cautious about modded games, because my last playthrough had a lot of instability just with three mods on (Enhanced User Interface, FG Soulbound Upgrades, and Una's Rarities). Perhaps these issues would have emerged without the mods anyways, but I want to err on the side of caution for now. I looked up, too, and I was disappointed at the lack of attractive options. It seems like going Wizard is the only viable option, as I do not want to play Barbarian nor a pure Cipher. Finally, regarding encasing your guys in heaviest armor and then letting the enemy come to you first: For me the operative question is whether I will get hit with a hard CC if I do this. How likely is this scenario?

I am considering...

Yup. I just downloaded this - though I don't know if it still works! https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/356

Me neither. It's the only high-quality random loot I haven't found though. I've even found Bracers of Greater Deflection multiple times.

Thanks. Will check in-game myself after lunch, too!

Ah, ok; I know that one. What other tools and spells will cause enemy disengagement? I didn't use any casters or hybrid casters in PoE 2 except Chanters, so I am really clueless regarding what I can do as a caster - and I am running a ton of them this playthrough! Edit: I am running Priest multi-class, Chanter multi-class, Druid multi-class, and Cipher multi-class. Any of these guys have spells that cause enemy disengagement? I'd like to keep Chanter invocations for stuns though.