Ophiuchus

It only deals friendly damage if the wielder is Confused.

Seer's been my main since beta and I've finished PotD /w upscaling on it several times, and with different variations (Ascendant/Ghost Heart being my favorite). It has a rocky start compared to other multiclasses since your ability points are spread pretty thin but it really starts to shine at levels 10 and 13. Marksman + Marked for The Hunt + Borrowed Instinct + The Empty Soul + Marksman's Ring + the BoW helm that adds +10 to affliction accuracy makes you a CC and Charm machine (also works well with Beguiler Seer). Toss in Secret Horrors and Mind Plague to lower Will and Fortitude for additional CC and Disintegrate. Tranquilizer Shot combined with Driving Flight and dual blunderbusses or a bounce weapon gives you some nice utility to add to your array of debilitating effects. You'll be fine.

Hhh-HAH!

Does the weapon's information window show the stats for a base sword? If so it might be bricked. https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/105920-downgradingdisenchanting-of-quality-and-unique-gear/

The bricked items bug is making me paranoid that I'm not getting the right loot, which has put a stall on future playthroughs.

I had the same impression from that exact scene.

Whittle down her concentration with your melees' attack abilities and lower her Fortitude and Reflex (the morning star and flail modals work well, respectively). Make sure Aloth has an accuracy buff, then cast Slicken, then Combusting Wounds, and Wall of Flame. Slicken stacked on top of itself can lock the beast down for a good while, and you can use her big hitbox to avoid affecting friendlies. You'll also want to use effects that increase PEN and lower her armor, then follow up with Fire-based attacks. On my last run, I used the Wizard combo with Geomancer Maia wielding The Red Hand and spamming Tranquilizer Shot to nullify her buffs. Slicken ensured she couldn't get up to recast them, and she went down quickly. On the defensive side, you'll want to mitigate her strong DoTs. Scrolls of Moonwell and Consecrated Ground should do the trick (I think they stack unlike Pillars 1?). I typically don't bother to get the spirits' buffs since the walk there is a bit of a pain.

This the PoE1 thread. D'oh. That's what I get for subclassing Nalpazca again.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oy. That one. I had to use Withdraw on my casters and let the beefier units take the hits: not a glamorous way to do it, but it worked.

I'm only about 50 percent through the DLC and am enjoying it a great deal on PoTD. All those "too good so I'll squirrel it away forever" items have been getting some good use, and I find the enhanced mechanics above and beyond the base game encounters. Currently running: Eder (Swashbuckler off-tank) Konstanten (Howler tank and debuffer; kind of a weird build but it works) Mirke (Shadowdancer with dual daggers) Xoti (Priest) My Watcher (Seer (Cipher/Ghost Heart).

Yeah, the cost is prohibitive. I treat it as a per-encounter ability.

Leap is a bread and butter ability on my Berserker Warlock. After the buffs are nice and stacked, and my beefier characters positioned, I'll leap into the center of a group and follow it with Torrent of Flame or Death Ring. It's extra spicy during boarding battles.

Just out of curiosity, does Mirke have anything to contribute narratively? I know it's off-topic, but I've been avoiding sidekicks for this reason and would be interested to know if they're worth having along from a storytelling perspective. Konstanten was great in S/S/S and I hear Ydwin has some good BoW content; not so sure about Mirke and the others Mind I'm only a few hours in so there might be more.

An exp slider would do the trick.

Rime construct fluid, anyone? Even Mirke wouldn't touch that stuff (her words, not mine).

I'm rather enjoying the path of our favorite three-eyed, nihilistic bovine. On my current playthrough I hired a Rymrgand merc to get a feel for the subclass as it would progress, then swapped him with Vatnir at level 16. It starts off pretty clunky but once you get a good rhythm for lowering Fortitude (I have Rekke use Clear Out with a Morning Star (plus Enervating Blows) while Vatnir casts Interdiction) it's got some power behind it: Touch of Rot's DoT scales well with Power Level; Noxious Burst is a good spike; Death Ring is foe-only and is fine at cleaning up trash. Freezing Pillar, Symbol of Rymrgand, and Pull of Rymrgand offer solid crowd control and utility, and can be combined to make a frosty kill zone.

Deadfire Tweaks mod includes an option to tone down some of PoTD's defenses while retaining enemy composition. https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/72?tab=description

Some misc. pointers: Opening fights from Stealth gives you some big advantages in the earlier stages of combat: you can throw sparkcrackers/cast Dazzling Lights (Wizard/Trickster) to ball up nearby enemies, give yourself time to scout ahead, and adjust your party formation accordingly. Using abilities while in stealth mode also significantly reduces recovery - beneficial effects don't break stealth so you can stack Priest buffs or chug potions faster. Barring a few exceptions (certain passives and gear), Weapon Specializations only grant modal abilities (certain ones may or may not be good for your build) so don't be afraid to rotate your arsenal from time to time. Traps are downright useless other than for occasionally luring enemies. They're also a good source of income and exp early on. Always have a character with high perception and mechanics for spotting and disarming traps. They don't have to be on the same party member, though this makes it more convenient. If you have spare cash, make a habit of buying consumable and upgrade ingredients whenever possible since they're typically sold in small numbers. Shops also reset their inventory once per day so you can get around this with some patience. In that vein, I'd avoid selling ingredients. Hirelings always start off at a maximum level one lower than your main character. If you decide to hire a mercenary, try to do so immediately after leveling up, and always select the closest level. This will ensure they stay as close to your level and exp as possible - you don't want them to lag behind.

Nice idea. It would gel with the game's attribute system, which was designed to avoid break points.

Shower thought: It's astounding we don't have a pegleg club.

Thank you, so much, buddy! Sure thing. Thanks for the effort - especially the cool particle effects. I used the war bow on my Geomancer with phantom summons and it was a blast.

I still haven't used this one. Do you have to kill Rust to get it?

You could also use it to gain Energized on a character (e.g. Monk using Thunderous Blows, or any character on whom a Priest casts Champion's Boon), then switch to another weapon of your choice. I really like that particular ability Sage: Thunderous Blows -> Swift Strikes -> Citzal's Spirit Lance. Game over, man!