Ophiuchus

With that comp, you'll cover most of the bases. I'm a bit concerned about PEN since you're playing on PoTD: you'll probably want to spec Tekehu as a Druid/Chanter for the Hel Hyraf's Invocation (-2 AR) and give Xoti Champion's Boon (+5 MIG, +2 PEN). Later on, when money and resources aren't a big deal, you can also eat Hot Razor Skewers or Crusted Swordfish for PEN bonuses to physical attacks and spells, respectively. On that note, you might get better mileage as an Assassin/Evoker for the +2 PL bonus to Evocation spells. Blood Mages generally have low MIG (for less sacrifice damage) and focus on CC and Afflictions. an assassin/blood mage can learn expose vulnerabilities for -2 AR or any perception affliction for -1 AR. Not quite as good as Hel-Hyraf's upgrade (The Shield Breaks basically has no expiration in any decent fight), but does mean that they don't *need* it enough to roll a theurge. (also a blood mage can keep spamming expose vulnerabilities until it connects) remember that a blood mage with blood sacrifice will almost constnatly have a +1 PL bonus, which is half way to a subclass bonus, except you also have no excluded schools or recovery time penalties. (no echo chance, but i'll take spell regen over random evocation echo) True. I'm curious how OP is running his Spellblade: figured it would be damage-oriented so they might not have the action economy to juggle invisibility, damage, and support stuff.

With that comp, you'll cover most of the bases. I'm a bit concerned about PEN since you're playing on PoTD: you'll probably want to spec Tekehu as a Druid/Chanter for the Hel Hyraf's Invocation (-2 AR) and give Xoti Champion's Boon (+5 MIG, +2 PEN). Later on, when money and resources aren't a big deal, you can also eat Hot Razor Skewers or Crusted Swordfish for PEN bonuses to physical attacks and spells, respectively. On that note, you might get better mileage as an Assassin/Evoker for the +2 PL bonus to Evocation spells. Blood Mages generally have low MIG (for less sacrifice damage) and focus on CC and Afflictions.

With that in mind should I look at dropping xoti potentially? I'm bouncing between various stuff atm but here's some general thoughts: Xoti's Priest subclass is a bit borked (imho, it's one reason why Priests get a bad rep in this game) with few traditional/general purpose spells compared to other kits. The class (in general) starts to shine around PL4 with Shining Beacon, Devotions for the Faithful, and Triumph of The Crusaders - Crusaders grants +5 MIG and 80hp base on kill, which is pretty spicy. At PL8 you'll gain access to Hand of Weal and Woe, which offers superb healing (25hp base per second for 10 seconds). All things considered, I would use a Priest in tandem with a supplementary healer - like Herald - since you'll want some breathing room for buffs (Dire Blessing, Minor Avatar) and solid damage spells (Storm of Holy Fire, Spark the Souls of the Righteous). Pallegina's kit is more offensive-oriented than other Paladin subclasses, which puts her at a slight disadvantage as a tank compared to a hireling or MC. Even then, her variant of Sworn Rival takes forever and a day to cast, and its damage isn't anything to write home about. Unfortunately she's also a base Chanter, which is objectively worse than a Troubadour. This isn't to say she won't work as a tank - her racial ability grants Resistance to PER and INT afflictions, which can be useful. All in all, I think your party setup would work well with Herald Pallegina and SC Priest Xoti. If you're not against modding, I'd recommend checking out the Pillars 2 Nexus for mods that add subclasses to companions. They're super useful if you want better optimization and party banter/RP at the same time.

I would go Herald since it offers a lot of support. Swashbuckler Eder has plenty of defense and self-sustainability - adding another X/Fighter to your composition might make it too defensive and devalue the use of a dedicated healer.

I agree with Omeganova's thoughts on replacing Rot Skulls with Enervating Terror or a variant like Secret Horrors. It's a fun flavor spell but like they mentioned, it clashes with the summoned Greatsword and feels clunky. It's also been devalued since affliction attacks don't work with the AoE, and a mid/backline Priest would probably benefit more from a stat stick. The only small qualm I would have with Enervating Terror is the Weakened effect slightly devaluing Berath's Quickening by overriding Sickness but it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I should've mentioned this in my last post but I dislike non-Chanter summons so I'm impartial to the Incarnate(s) and Call of The Grave. Edit: I'm also glad you replaced Spreading Plague with Infestation of Maggots: you can raise a family in the time it takes for it to bounce.

(I hope you don't mind me copying and pasting this from the Nexus.) ---------------------------- The god(dess) of death, cycles and doors, I thought that spells that overwhelmingly emphasise the cycle of life and decay as well as bit of rebirth would be most appropriate. The priest’s new holy power is called Berath’s Quickening and inflicts DOT Corrode damage as well as the Sicken affliction. The priest of Berath’s passive grants him +2 Power Levels with Corrode/Decay spells and a once per encounter ability Slow the Wheel which is a more powerful version of Arduous Delay. The priest is penalised by making him receive 15% more damage from all sources. Significantly buffed Incarnate(s) under party control. Holy Power: Berath’s Quickening Passive: Berath’s Touch Spells by PL: Touch of Rot Autumn's Decay Infestation of Maggots Their Putrid Stench Wafts Across Rot Skulls Rusted Armor Call of the Grave (Calls forth a powerful skeletal vessel to join the party) Symbol of Berath (Affliction type changed to Enfeebled, making it much more powerful), Delay the Wheel (An AOE greater duration version of Barring Death'S Door) Hand of Berath (has small AOE and reduces enemy Power Levels by -10), Chosen of Berath (Constitution Affliction Immunity, +3 Penetration with Decay/Acid Spells) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- In your early version of Priest of Berath, I combined it with a Greatsword Devoted and completed a whole run (including DLC). I'm grateful for these changes since I've wanted to make such a build since beta but it was always too slow and clunky to get off the ground. Your new version feels better balanced and more interesting for single class, though I'll probably do a second Berath/Greatsword run since I dig that Death Knight style. I haven't been able to test this stuff but I've got some good experience with Priest of Berath so here's some thoughts: I'm glad you removed the Enfeebled affliction from Berath's Quickening. It was ludicrously overpowered, especially for a baseline ability. Sickened still fits the theme well, though it'll be a bit annoying versus enemies resistant to CON afflictions. Slow the Wheel is a nifty ability. I like such effects and will definitely fit this into ability chains. Their Putrid Stench Wafts Across and Call of the Grave: The former is like Deadfire's version of Corpse Explosion so I like how you incorporated it; I doubt I'll use Call of the Grave as a melee multiclass but I like it more than Garden of Life. Symbol of Berath, Delay the Wheel, Hand of Berath: Dammit, Stardusk. I'm going to start a third run to use these spicy abilities. I like them all. Chosen of Berath: Looks good and it's more interesting than vanilla upper level single class passives. More bonuses to Acid/Decay are always appreciated.

Traps could definitely use some love and Rogue or Ranger would be the ideal trap master. I head-designed a similar Rogue Bounty Hunter subclass but with per-PL trap "spells" and bonuses to Explosives; penalties were maluses (like lower defense or accuracy) when fighting non-kith foes. A shame I can't get beyond the basics of modding or I'd make it a reality.

*casts Minoletta's Ameliorating Missiles*

I can't vouch for TB either, and I agree with Kaylon. Trickster/Soulblade is one of the most satisfying "magical fencer" types you can get in Deadfire for the reasons he mentioned. A lot of forum regulars don't like using Cipher powers with the kit but I find slotting a few (cheap and early) game changers makes it more engaging: Mind Blades for triggering Combusting Wounds, Whisper of Treason, Secret Horrors, and such.

On AoE effects being borked: Maybe I'm just shooting into the wind here, but the component StatusEffectComponent.InclusionConditions was added to v4.1.0.0023. Curiously, it's not listed in the Game Data Formats Documentation or in the gamedatabundles.

I hadn't seen this one before:

YEP, I just skip it now after the first time because the fps is so bad. It's an issue throughout the game (I guess I play on a potato?) but especially bad in the SSS arena. That and the annoying backtracking for offerings makes SSS a slog on subsequent playthroughs.

Refresh my memory: will the -10 to all defenses from the Ben Fidel upgrade stack with those Fortitude debuffs? I want to try a cheese-free Howler soon.

I like to RP my Warlock as a Patrick Bateman type.

My main Watcher is a Pale Elf Seer who pledged to Galawain in PoE:1 so BoW and SSS spoiled me too much. FS is fun but I wish the dungeon had been a map screen longer - something about it feels "missing" in an MGS:V sort of way.

I want to believe in Everett's many-worlds interpretation. There's a dimension where bajillionaire Ophiuchus and Obsidian (developers of Fallout 3 and Fallout 4: New Vegas) made Arcanum 2 a reality.

I'm nearing 730 hours in Deadfire and still haven't fought the Guardian of Ukaizo because I always feel bad for the guy and free him. Maybe one day. They acnowledge the presence of the animal quite frequently which I appreciate: helps in bringing the animal into the story and ties it to the main character. @Ophiuchus Looking at your pets name I make a guess that you too made an attept to name it to fit White that Wends background. ha! I constantly struggle to remember how my rangers name is pronaunced. Sort of. I've been using "Volkhavaar" as a pet wolf name in RPGs since my UO days. I found it through an RP name list in an AOL message board ages ago. brb...need to go drink my Ensure.

Ranger has a lot of great dialogue throughout the game.

I'm hopping into BG:EE since I never played the original. It's going to be a fun ride since Deadfire's mechanics have spoiled me.

I played around with your Skald mod, and had a blast with a Harbinger Trickster. Good work, Stardusk.

I could not get this thing to work for me! Shame because I’d really like to. Anyone have a helpful guide on how to use? It hasn't been officially updated in a while but there's a fix, which still works with the current version: https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/7112276-unity-console-for-poe2-30-bugs/ Make sure to save before using UC. It's been having issues "storing" progression tables since 4.0. For example, I changed Aloth into a Blood Mage/Sharpshooter and respeced him several levels later. The respec defaulted him to a single class Conjurer with no starting abilities so I had to use UC a second time to fix it. Edit: I should also mention UC can be a resource hog at times. I often disable it by removing the pillars.py file.

Could you also use Helm of White Void on Bleak walker for even more acc, since I think FOD applies an affliction (Sickened)? You're correct. Helm of the White Void is insanely good on a variety of classes.

Art theft is the best way to make money early on. With enough STR (I think that's the right stat - it's been a while) you can pick up and store oil and water barrels - useful for setting up ambushes. You can use the same feature to store locked chests in case you can't immediately open them.

Not gonna lie: I read that as a motivational speech you'd find in an anime.

AoE weapons still won't apply afflictions - curiously, the effects of Stalking Cloak and Ring of Clenched Muscle work, though.