Hulk'O'Saurus

Why, one of the achievements in PoE is Ultimate Solo :D. It wouldn't have been there if it wasn't viable. Of course solo no reload is doable, too. But that ship was sailing a long time for me. Now I can't remember all the traps. Sometimes I die to traps. Not combat, mind you xD. I'd say, give it a go. Play on it's highest difficulty solo, and soon you will be getting the hang of it. You can literally have two characters--one doing recon and the other one repeating the most successful tactics. I actually think that in this regard Pillars is less complex than the BG franchise. There's still stuff you have to mind and think about, but I find solo play, or at least reduced party size to be more fun for me.

If you're asking specifically about this particular build then it likes to use more defensive gear. Things that give additional protection against Prone/Push attacks, maybe consider Paralyze/Petrify attacks, more base defenses, raw stat increases like the Deadfire Cannoneer Belt. I am considering getting the Valian Captain Hat, too. Always eat your food. Don't forget to rest for bonuses--I use +3 Perception from the Keep quite often. You can activate Llengrath's Displaced Image and Arcane Veil at the same time at the beginning of the fight. That's a huge boost and you can follow with Scroll of Defence/Protection and have Potions of Major Recovery waiting. Various Prayers are obligatory in the appropriate situations. Most, if not all of the build's offence comes from how you stack your skills. In the video you can see Eldritch Aim into Enervating Terror, into Delayed Fireball, into Gaze of the Adragan, into Precise Burst. You should pay attention to what defenses are debuffed. Enervating Terror applies a nerf to both Fortitude and Will, so landing Gaze of the Adragan is easier. Then those Reflex based nukes will likely always crit, and with increased damage from the Petrification. You can do more once you read through all your spells and decide what type of defense you want to nerf, but for that, I think, you can better choose yourself. One very simple interaction is to use Chill Fog which will reduce Accuracy, Deflection and Reflex, as well as immobilize certain slower enemies like Blight and Revenants, then use Minor Blights--which will target Reflex and almost always crit. You can add scrolls on top for more interesting combinations--Scroll of Paralysis is particularly useful, as it applies a very strong debuff through Will. Things like Arkemyr's Dazzling Lights apply a nerf to Will that can be followed by other debuffs after. I have both Dungeon Delver and Merciless hand, although I don't know whether they actually influence spells xD. More fire damage through that one talent, extra item slots and the rest is defensive stuff. As a side result the build also does a fair amount of damage with Firebrand, but I like to use that when facing ones or twos, instead of spending spells. Figurines also help in that situation, or when you want to buff fully and need to buy time, or bait enemy Paralysis/Petrification.

It doesn't get better with Deadfire. I can confirm your observations are 100 % correct. There's less to think about in Pillars, albeit the second one can go into details, but those tend to be rather trivial outside of Megabosses. That's why I play solo or in party of two and pick *gasp* non meta classes. The first time I played BG:EE I put it on Insane. I had a lot of fun with that game(I am yet to play the second or even Spear of... what was it... Dragonbone?) and it felt like I needed to change my approach every time I went up a level. In the beginning it was mostly Sleep, but that had to evolve. I am of the opinion that Pillars' franchise doesn't actually have enough variability in builds, classes and statuses. It has good polish, especially the second one, but oftentimes I've wanted more. That's why I can jump into games like Balrum or Underrail and have fun there in a way Pillars can never do it for me .

I like to use Wizard. You can check the rest of the Pillars vids there and see if this is something you want to play. If you notice, every spell for damage only crits. The gameplay of the build is slower as it needs to rest more often and always keeps it's stats optimal, but once it goes off, it goes off. There's more things I can tweak, which I will do in the future x). If you're planning a POTD Trial of Iron mode you have to be really careful with traps. Quite often you can get one shot.

I understand. That makes it more complex now that I think about it. Because you can't really force the oozes to move all the time after you after they split. I suppose your plan here is that you 'withdraw' one and then move away? Then rinse and repeat? That, considering you're most likely using sword and board will be tough on the focus. Jailer's Gloves gives a similar effect. It's 1 time only, but who knows... it might help.

It may, indeed, be just that - a wonky interaction. It would have been cool if you could do it on demand. But as it is, I can't force it all the time.

Crystal Eaters won't be the biggest concern. Although they can paralyze one character, having a Deflection wall will largeley trivialize them. They can also drop Freezing Pillars, but you can move your characters around for that. There will be one Vithrak, but he will be body blocked by his own. The real problem is going to be the spirits. You will need Scroll of Protection, Defenses, Prayer against Fear, and optimally Devotion of the Faithful(lvl 7) because the Caen Gwlas will have high defenses. All of them also teleport around and will seek your squishier ones, so keeping them tight against a wall is a good idea.

So both Paralyzed and Petrified decrease Deflection and Reflex by 40 and set Dexterity to 0. Unconscious from Call to Slumber does the same and it target Will. Petrification also increases damage received. Gaze of the Adragan is an incredibly fun skill.

The Skaen Temple can be rough. Potential paralysis and a few other potent debuffs for the team. A lot of Barbarians that Sicken you on contact. You can opt for peaceful solution, though, if you enter through the shop. There's also one place in that wilderness full of dryads and ents... whatever the names, so I suppose you should equip every scroll and potion you can craft if you're feeling lucky. Digging in the Endless Paths until the floor with the Fampyrs(lvl 8, I think) is also a possibility. Doemenel's questline is quite doable right about now, too.

If you add Underrail to the list, I will hold your beer.

I believe that Evasive Roll COULD do disengagement attack on enemies. While I have not actively sought after that particular aspect of it, if you watch video bellow at 5:40 mark, you will notice that an engaged enemy suffers a disengagement attack when the ranger changes positions with Evasive Roll. I am not exactly aware how that is, though. Edit: I've also noticed something similar with Spirit Tornado, although, again, I can't confirm right now. I suspect if you terrify with a different character, the enemies may suffer a disengagement attack.

Consider Scroll of Moonwell, Scroll of Protection, Potion of Major Recovery, Scroll of Defense. Chill Fog works well here, as the enemies don't really have high Fortitude, so you can Bllind them more easily.

I think you can negotiate a peaceful solution there but I can't tell you more because I've never done it x).

Cheers, man. Thanks!

In the Sea Lashed Crypt....? I can't remember any cypher gizmos there.

The things we learn, eh...

Scrolls are the great equilizer. Use your scrolls.

^The least technical class.

It isn't per se, but it largely trivializes the game.

Dexterity is the most important stat, in my opinion. Go nuts with your per rest resources. You can literally rest with enemies next room without consequence.

You should be asking yourself whether you can have fun with them, or not. Cheese is irrelevant if you'll be having fun x).

Troubadour spamming Eld Naries with Sasha's Scimitar x). Have a few other nukes for different occassions and you should be fine. But *gasp*, no summons? You're leaving the best part out.

In PoE, I think some of the more influential developers have come to the conclusion that a lot of the statuses in BG are superfluous. To an extent I agree, but not so much as to end up with too few(for I think we have too few statuses). While that it would be a big discussion in itself, if one ever started, I agree that mechanically a lot of the CC effects in BG are interchangeable and function similarly. That leaves you with fewer statuses and spells that inflict them, but they can be just as meaningful. One thing you won't find, other than Petrification, is one button wins combat. What you can do is check the in game encyclopedia or online wiki and write all of them down, together with their effects. All of them have several effects, but the stronger ones override the weaker if you're stacking them. Various prayers--available on scrolls, and the respective Priest abilities will deal with some of the nastiest. Other than that, you could stack so many defenses on some characters that they may become nigh untouchable in this regard. You should always dread Petrification. In Deadfire it's a pale shadow of it's old self.

Quite frankly the best thing in Deadfire for me is the combat polish that is so sorely lacking in PoE. In PoE you can Paralyze a stack of enemies, only to find out that one of their strikes, be it a crit or a Prone has come through AFTER you've Paralyzed them. These details are in combat only, though. Despite, I am not altogether liking combat in Deadfire. It becomes too overwrought with details and back and forth balances/nerfs/patches. There almost hasn't been a single game update where they touched something and didn't screw something else, as well. Combat in Deadfire feels a bit cumbersome, segmented and heavy and classes have lost a bit of their single player identity, because the game pursues balancing system more akin to an online game--a given class absolutely needs to be viable in any situation, albeit Chanters clearly have advantages over everything else in this regard. In contrast combat in PoE is quick and decisive. You don't need so much beating around the bush and you can be effective while minding less details. Statuses are deadlier and more meaningful and a successful two handed attack leaves enemies well chunked. PoE is more subtle in it's world building. The gods feel distant, mysterious and powerful. There's generally a bit more attention to detail--Twin Elms and the cultures residing within are generally better than Neketaka. That is not to say that Deadfire doesn't have good artistic qualities. Some of the characters, like Onekaza and Aruihi are very well done, but the whole feel that Deadfire gives me is more granular than PoE. The 2d design of the game is not that better than PoE, which still looks quite good. We've gotten a lot of new and improved visual effects in the 3d, but a lot of people have mentioned performance cost. Combat polish is the best bit, and the jerky world presentation, story pacing and lack of subtlety are the worst for me in Deadfire.

I've mostly soloed Deadfire, and so I wanted to sink enemy ships, because to board them I'd need my build to be at 20. Instead I use the guns to get quick early boost in XP and cash from bounties.