guildwriter
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So after some testing I think the reason why Brilliant and Invisibility can work together the way they do has to do with a peculiarity in certain fights in this game.
There are some fights where once combat starts, it cannot end until all hostiles are cleared from the map. Examples of maps like this are ship boarding, lots of SSS fights, and certain fights in FS. Even if the enemies can't see any hostiles and deaggro, you are still in "combat" mode and can't reset the fight and your resources.
(I can think of a couple of reasons why someone might design an encounter like this intentionally but they seem pretty marginal. It's so prevalent, especially in later content though that I feel like it has to be intentional. This obviously ignores Berath's Challenge which is this exact behavior all the time.)
In a normal fight where you can drop combat using invisibility, this trick will not work. Once enemies are out of their "aggro" mode combat will end and Brilliant will flash on once because combat is still going on but there are no party members in combat and no enemies in combat, which technically triggers Brilliant. But Brilliant shuts off right after because combat is also done. Using Gouging Strike in normal combat with multiple opponents never allows you to trigger Brilliant by going invisible because enemies will aggro if a nearby "friend" gets damaged and run towards them. So the check is never fulfilled. The megabosses and other fights like that allow all members to leave the fight, but combat not to drop, which means when Brilliant turns on, it will not shut off. For general play this doesn't help much, but for the fights where a solo rogue probably couldn't win without resource generation it's golden.
That's my theory on how this all works based on observing the video Kaylon recorded and doing my own testing on some generic fights.
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14 hours ago, Kaylon said:
Using other abilities will leave you visible and exposed to attacks - you might kill faster, but you can also be killed...
This is part of why playing Assassin solo is so much fun for me: finding the limits of every encounter and trying to maximize the efficiency. The way fights feel can change dramatically based on approach wheras a lot of the other solo approaches can feel incredibly facerolly due to the way they create degenerate value.
Smoke Cloud shooting is definitely safest overall, I just can't play like that for long without getting bored.
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Brilliant triggered by invisibility? Well now I have a new build to play after my SC Assassin! Great find.
I'm really curious to see what the limits are on this. One of the biggest problems I ran into with the Assassin/Skaen was extracting every bit of value from limited resources. I'd probably consider the following changes if going through a full run through:
- Pernicious Cloud in the build somewhere to avoid fatigue if you're going for a serious playthrough. You can clearly potentially every fight by shooting once and going invisible but it will get super tedious. You're going for a super high might and int so this will work nicely with it.
- Arterial Strike - Another fight texture choice. Works incredibly well with kiting. Pair with Boots of Winter for added hilarity.
- Harley is interesting. I wonder how effective DoC, Ooblit, and Shadowing Beyond could be. Your DPS throughput/overall efficiency could be higher by consistently funding more resources per re stealth. Especially relevant on fights where you can't LoS enemies and are back in the fray once you drop stealth. There are a lot of these in the DLC.
- Gipon Prudensco or Fleshmender seem like decent options as well depending on fight.
- I would consider Trollhide Belt or Upright Captain's Belt. The second is insurance if you fat finger restealth and you get grabbed. Prevents a midair death.
Unless Obsidian has fixed the way shipboard combat and other such fight setups works, I don't recommend Infamous Captain if trying a Ironman run. There are fights where it will pre trigger combat during the cutscene and then you'll die without being able to do a thing.
Lots of ways to tinker with this!
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I'd personally like to see some method of resource generation for each class for longer fights.
And some love for the Assassin class.
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Sorry I guess. Haven't played them since launch, but it was for the accuracy, crit and penetration bonuses from stealth, which others have mentioned. I never particularly thought it was a great combination for the first ten or so levels though due to your limits with entering stealth. Unless it's been changed since then too, it only works with spells that are single bursts of damage, or at least it only works with the first hit of multi-hitting spells, and then they hit normally (in this case, weaker than a single class Wizard). I think Ass/Evoker is OK if you're a) Empowering (I never do) and b) only care about alpha strikes, and using non channeling and non multi-hitting spells. I think a straight up Evoker is a lot more powerful over the course of a fight and requires a lot less micro if you're focusing on spells. The Ass/Evoker seems to play better as an actual hybrid style, and not just a nuker.
Having played both substantially I'd say that Evoker just isn't worth it. Sure it's cute when the double fireball lands but it's just a bonus. I value the flexibility a lot more as I've found the +2 PL on evocation spells doesn't significantly change the math on fights. Yes it will do more damage, but not enough to change the fact that you're likely going to have to cast twice anyways to blow out the target.
As far as the viability of Assassin/Wizard, the class is plenty strong and frankly can clear most of the game+DLC solo potd upscaled if it really wanted to. You'd be surprised what little micro is required when every mass cc lands and you can just AoE to your heart's content and then backstab to clear stragglers.
Assassin doesn't need scaling damage on backstabs as much as they need a way to regen Guile points. I think damage scaling on backstabs would be trickier to balance as on the lower settings the character could effectively trivialize content without too much effort (not sure how the scaling goes on normal).
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Given all the information so far, I now have follow-up questions that, again, I will trade hugs and spare puppies for any insights:
- Can I get max rep with my companions if I run Eder, Aloth, Pallegina and either Xoti/Teheku? Will it work?
- Are there any build recommendations for companions (even those I've linked) that are OK to use with current patches? Not having played at all, I'm completely in the dark on what changes the patches have brought. I've tried to read through it, but without context, it's hard to make sense of what ability changes will impact builds, if that makes sense.
- Does anyone have any advice on skill allocation? I've seen history is needed on someone for the giftbearer's something or other, and Arcana is apparently better than bombs or something? I assume the person with highest perception needs mechanics? Are there any massively important stat skill checks that I should definitely be aware of that I need to build around? A soulblade weapon not used in my party is unimportant, but if there's some gamebreaking thing I'm going to miss because I've got 13 RES instead of 14 or something any forewarning would be amaaazing!
- Does this revised party combo make sense: Eder - Swashbuckler, Pallegina - Herald, Xoti/Teheku - Heals, debuffs, buff, kind of mid-line support, Aloth - Bloodmage or some kind of dps variant (evoker etc), MC: Assassin combo with Paladin or Assassin with mage (if this case, then Aloth may go cc focused mage build)? Again - anyone willing to help guide me through builds would be nominated by me as person of the Year, 2018!
- Rep shouldn't be an issue. Not everyone on that party is going to get along as Pallegina won't get along with Xoti or Teheku. But it shouldn't be too much of an issue.
- The setups depend on how you want to play. Personally I run something like Eder as Swashbuckler, Pallegina as Herald, Xoti as Cleric and Aloth as Wizard and Teheku as Chanter. Personally I think you have a lot of support and would consider some kind of auto attacker that can help carry damage, but if you're going Assassin/Wizard then you can carry damage by yourself if needed. I think my character has 80-90%+ of damage and kills.
- If you go Assassin max Stealth and some conversation choice that you like. Giftbearer's is good choice for sure if you want. My personal play style is to rely on stealth and smoke veil to prevent damage (untargetable means everything misses including friendly and hostile AoEs. Only rays can target through stealth). So the way I play ends up tanking my deflection and saves for as much offense as possible. One of the reasons to use Modwyr and DoC breastplate.
- There are no mandatory stat checks that can't be worked around. It's mostly fluff or a way to avoid a fight or save some rep. I will say that you should have someone get Athletics as high as possible to deal with Whernu Cleft when it comes along if you go there. You can generally use a mix of consumables and rest buffs to get through most checks.
- Your approach is similar to my team. Eder as Swashbuckler(main tank, hold engagements), Xoti as Priest (offtank/heal/buff), Maia Rua as Geomancer (The Red Hand autoattack brokeness and cc), Ydwin as Mindstalker(damage/cc/buff/debuff). I run this because if you play right, you don't really need more than one tank and a bodyblocker (Xoti). The way I end up playing is pseudo solo honestly and many times I don't even get my party involved except to cleanup or hold things in place. Sparkcrackers and Nina's Shadowflame and some of your best friends. I like Ydwin for the additional damage and control but almost anything works in the fifth slot.
- Reccomended stat priority for Assassin/Wizard is Dex and Int. Dex so you can cast and attack quicker (and pop Smoke Veil ASAP). Int to make everything last longer and larger AoEs. If you have BB I recommend raising Might as well (exception is Blood Mage as the Might bonus affects the self damage. I've almost killed myself with one Blood Sacrifice). I don't reccomend fully tanking Resolve or Con personally but YMMV. Per is nice to have but I wouldn't call it mandatory. I like Wood Elf for the stats and the Dexterity Affliction Resistance.
Assassin/Wizard is squishy but it gives as much as you're willing to put into it. Shadowflame from stealth will more often than not paralyze everyone in the group. You can chain shadowflame and other AoEs after that to blow apart the entire group and use your high powered Rogue attacks to wipe out the survivors. If you really want to add insult to injury, bring in your party once everyone is paralyzed and just mass nuke with Aloth and Xoti/Teheku all blasting away. Eder can enjoy the pyrotechnics with a pipe and beer and greet anyone who tries to break out to the backline.
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Bleak Walker/Assassin still probably has the highest damage alphas in the entire game. What changed is the difficulty of things and how much HP/Armor enemies have in general. On PotD upscaled at level 20 it's not uncommon to see enemies that have 800+ hp putting them well outside the one shot range. That's why that build is nerfed, it can't trade as efficiently as it once did. It could probably do normal PotD solo but I digress. It's totally viable for party play though on any difficulty.
Since you like doing massive damage let's talk some other options:
- If you don't mind babysitting a character, break out a Helwalker/Streetfighter. Swap Serafen for Xoti. Helwalker will give you +10 Strength through Wound stacking giving you the potential to hit 35 Might for a whopping +75% additive damage bonus. Use the blunderbuss modal to apply flanked to self and get blooded and watch this character just absolutely vomit damage. Xoti is there for BDD + Salvation of Time when things get hairy because this character goes splat real quick. With Pallegina can give the Chanter boost to reload speed and the action speed boost from monk means this character is going to just ream things.
- You can change Helwalker for Goldpact if you want something that can stand and fight better. Or Wizard if you want more flexibility. Barbarian is an option if you want to make Carnage hilarious. Priest if you want to handle the buffs yourself (go Death Godlike for maximum living on the edge, the PLs will boost Sneak Attack Damage on top of your abilities).
- My personal favorite is Assassin/Wizard or Blood Wizard. It gives you strong single target Alpha strikes or solid AoE Alphas that you can chain together. The Assassin bonus applies to most everything so not only do spells like Fireball get better, but you can also make it much easier to land AoE CC which is especially relevant on PotD as it can be much harder to consistently land that sort of thing. Not the absolute best damage wise but highly versatile. I like rocking Modwyr and Rust's Poingard, picking mostly Rogue Talents and abusing Grimoire swapping (Ninagauth's or Concelhaut or Llengrath's).
All of these would work with your party. I'd avoid Cipher on Serafen as Wild Mind is absolutely tilting when it adversely affects things. He's solid as a pure Barbarian. I'd recommend Maia + The Red Hand for solid ranged DPS as another option.
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You can either right click Modwyr and click on the "Talk to Modwyr" button at the bottom where Bind Soul used to be. Or click on your main character and click the talk icon on the action bar while she's equipped.
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If you need to group up people on ship battles here are the some locations I recommend to force enemies to group:
- A corner near the enemy helm
- Stairs
- If you're still using the starting sloop, a corner next to the door leading below decks
The first is good because if you kite the enemies correctly, the LoS issues will force enemies to either path right up onto the same deck as you or cluster on the stairs. Stairs are great because there aren't many ways up to you and hit detection gets super wonky on inclines allowing you to oftentimes hit many more people than you might think. The corner next to the door works well as it LoSes a large section of the map.
For most ship fights your priority should be to wipe out as many targets as possible before worrying about causing max flanking. Especially the ranged units which will be spread out.
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I actually value Dex and Int as the highest priorities on my Rogue builds. Dex allows for more actions to be taken and makes the character feel much more responsive as a result. There's a fair amount of ways to buff Accuracy as well so dropping Per isn't that much of a big deal. Most people like to shortchange Might. But if you can swing a +30% additive damage bonus that's pretty huge. Especially as it helps DoTs.
It really comes down to what you're trying to do and what you're trying to maximize as a result.
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It's a case where Infamous Captain fires at the start of combat and when you start ship boarding you are already in combat. Typically the enemy sailors are stuck in some sort of emote sequence that is timed to end as the camera panning stops. Infamous Captain seems to short circuit this causing the emote sequence to break. As the fear generated by Infamous Captain isn't long and the camera panning takes something like 10-15 seconds, it's enough time for the enemy to exit the fear and start taking combat actions. It's not uncommon for the enemy crew to be able to finish 1-2 spells/attacks before the player can assume control.
For party play this isn't much of an issue to be honest unless the enemy ship dramatically outlevels you. The real trouble happens if you're solo and playing something that relies on self buffing or some other non passive form of self defense. I've been killed before I can perform a single action before as a result.
Infamous Captain also will break stealth at the start of combat for the main character as it counts as a hit calculation. If an enemy cipher has Psychic Backlash you can end up stunning yourself immediately. Honestly for some characters I don't think it's even close to worth it.
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You miss The Willbreaker, Shining Bulwark, Blackblade's Hood (Aeldys) or Fleetbreaker (Furrante).
I suppose you could stealth steal the first two. The rewards on the other hand . . .
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Stop I have PTSD.
[it is a good idea though - I think it will suffer a lot more though in instances where your movement is constricted. See SSS fights and pirate ship boarding fights.]
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I wouldn't run it solo until they fix the penetration scaling issues with imbue spells as Fireball is going to be one of your primary methods to trade efficiently. Once they do I don't think this will have too many issues on PotD but upscaled might be a bit much in some cases. I don't think it's capable of taking on megabosses at any point. Here's some basic theorycrafting:
- AA + Goldpact or Wizard/Blood Mage
- Either one works well for different reasons. Goldpact gives more armor and defenses and healing. Wizard will give more summons, damage, CC, and buffs. I'd probably go with Wizard personally as you are unlikely to outlast boss fights and the damage potential of Wizard is far higher than Goldpact.
- Most dangerous portion of most fights is going to be surviving the alpha strike. Will need to eliminate ranged and casters as fast as possible. Melee is nothing to worry about so long as you have space.
- Weapon Sets: Essence Interrupter, Watershaper's Focus, Scordeo's + Bronlar's Phalanx
- Essence Interrupter covers armor holes and offers fresh bodies, Watershaper's Focus for the additional bounce when you use Imbue, and Pistol and Shield for when you need to stack as much deflection as possible.
- Footsteps of The Beast - Will allow you to kite melee indefinitely so long as you have more stride, thus negating them entirely.
- Consider having Kitchen Stove and Amira's Wing around for mass AoE damage.
- Giftbearer's, DoC Cuirass, Acina's Tricorn, Ring of Marksman
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Yeah I've found that some ships just have crew with nothing on them. Real cheapo captains!
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So I've been doing some testing over the days on this and I can confirm that this is the case now. Here are some shots of the aftermath of boarding ships to get us started:
Default Ship loot starts with the flag of the ship and the follows with money and so on. When you board a ship the extra loot you obtain comes at the start generally. As you can see in the screenshots, the amount of extra loot you can obtain can be significantly higher than what you get from sinking the ship.
But many people report that they get random amounts of loot from sinking or boarding ships. So what explains the discrepancy?
I believe what happens is that ship boarding will grant you the extra loot that is dropped by NPCs you kill during combat. This is confirmed by the fact that in many of the instances I found significant extra loot, there was also a lot of pickups spawned by dead enemies. There are cases where some ships don't spawn any loot on the people who are killed. In fact, all Huana ship NPCs don't drop any extra loot at all ever! The only time I've managed to get a Huana Ship NPC to spawn loot on death was with the Huana Vengeance ship.
That being said boarding ships that have Captains of level less than 8-10 is generally not worth it. Those Captains only drop normal loot. Once you get past 10 everyone starts dropping Exceptional or higher. This is a bit more relevant now that ships spawn infinitely. Early on I'd reccomend just blowing everyone out of the water anyways because the loot is poor, the xp is better for crew with sinking, and it's just quicker once you know what to do.
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Tested this over and over just now. Only time I can get the Bushwhack stun to occur is opening out of stealth. Every attack from smoke veil does not proc it ever.
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Haven't tested using them recently but the numbers at 20 are pretty underwhelming compared to Arcana IIRC. Again, consumables in general don't benefit from much aside from the PLs gained through the skill. There are global bonuses like Devotions or Assassin that will interact with them but things like stats will have none.
If the rubric is PoTD upscaled I don't reccomend them.
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I'd argue that Trickster is the better option of all the rogues. That was my original observation and I think it's been backed up by other people trying it out.
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I honestly couldn't say, never tested blinding strike as a method. I do know Chill Fog works so that's really bizarre.
Only thing I can think of is that you can't be flanked yourself in order to get Brilliant Tactician. So make sure you're positioned properly.
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Yes, resistance to resolve and intelligence afflictions will block the penalties of being flanked for Tactician. So you can make Streetfighter work with Tactician that way. Though you can't be flanked at any point to allow for Brilliant to work. So while you can block the negative effects, it won't necessarily let you get Brilliant.
Yes all enemies. It gets a bit wonky if there are non hostile people in the scene as well but generally that's how it works. There are enemies immune to flanked, but my understanding is that it doesn't necessarily block the flanked gained by perception afflictions. That being said there are enemies that are immune/resistant to perception afflictions.
Three pieces of gear that prevent flanking:
- The raper is Squid's Grasp which is bought out of Dunnage. Be ready to spend an Adra Ban to get rid of Calmo's Curse though.
- The club is Kapana Taga which is looted off of Fyrgist who sails around the Black Isle. Make sure you sink him with cannons. Boarding is bugged with him and doesn't drop the weapon.
- The armor is Gipon Prudenesco and is acquired through the Principi Vengeance ship fight. Make sure you have no more than one positive rep with the Principi before you drop your rep with them. Wipe out the Undercroft and/or kill Talfor who is part of Degnos' quest. Or use the mod on the forum to spawn the ship.
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I've used it a lot recently. Can confirm it still works.
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1&2) There are some high skill checks in the DLC which require more or less maxed Arcana or Alchemy. Not required but it makes things easier. Otherwise I'd say there's little benefit to splitting unless you're doing something like Stealth (which can be at 12 or so, after that you can just dump in something else). The PLs do help the consumable skills a lot since they generally don't get benefits from many other sources.
3) It's pretty bad unfortunately. It's nice for flavor dialogue options but actual gameplay is meh. Pickpocketing explosives onto a target only works on passive or friendly people. Even the BB that expands the loot tables doesn't do much. It is necessary in one instance to get Ring of the Marksman, but you only need 7 for that. Can also pickpocket Deltro's Cage Helm.
4) Here's an explanation of how skill assist works in Deadfire. There are quite a few Watcher only checks in the game but those are usually in specific cutscene sequences. Normal dialogue benefits from assist most of the time.
My Tips:
1) Bring someone with high athletics. It helps avoid gaining extra wounds and in the case of one area, prevents the death of MC causing a game loss. Whenura Cleft isn't mandatory but it gives access to two nice items. I hate resting so that's why I value this.
2) Arcana is busted and you can do degenerate things with it.
3) You need to detect the trap on the ground to disarm it usually. Make sure someone with high Per is with the mechanics person. Or just memorize where every trap is and carry lots of Luminous Adra potions.
4) Notable skills and item combos (scales with skills)
- Casità Samelia's Legacy - Intimidate (Gain bonus Deflection)
- Giftbearer's Cloak - History (All Defenses Except Defection)
- Stalker's Patience - Sneak (+Damage against Flanked)
- Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff - Metaphysics (+Damage and Action Speed)
- I Got Lazy Go Google
- Claduh Scalith - Athletics and Metaphysics
- Ruata's Walking Cloak - Survival
- Spearcaster - Arcana
- Ngati's Tusk - Survival
- Mohorā Tanga - Survival
Not exhaustive but a good start.-
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You don't get the point. It's ok to recommend stuff, even multiple times - when it fits a topic or a question. Putting it everywhere (and even open multiple fake help threads which are only there to boast about how awesome your build is) - that's when you start to look like a pretentious phoney begging for attention. If you think this is necessary then please go ahead.
You're a better person than I am Boeroer.
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[CLASS BUILD] The Glimmer Man (Sniper Swashbuckler)
in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!)
Posted · Edited by guildwriter
Clarity
I don't know what scenario Kaylon or you tested, but I just recently tested a fight in the Old City where I hit a Greater Earth Blight with a Gouging Strike and retreated. There were enough enemies of varying distances to "ping pong" constantly between the hostile and passive state. Differing move speeds also contribute to this.
I have gotten the scenario that Kaylon describes to trigger in other areas like with the Bardatto quest in The Hole. There the distances are short enough that enemies can ping pong back into place and deaggro to cause Brilliant to proc.
It is more accurate to say Brilliant *can* trigger between DoT ticks but it's variable on the encounter setup. This will definitely make SSS and FS potentially non passable for this build as it lacks certain efficiencies to get past the fact that enemies do NOT go passive in some of those fights, even if you are invisible. Something I have found through substantial testing and trial and error using my Assassin/Priest of Skaen.
Note that this was in regular PotD with no challenges.