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You can add custom portraits. There are a bunch already made in the various portraits threads, or you can make your own. If you don't care about the parchment color in the dialogue portraits, you can use the Pillars of Eternity choice in the Baldur's Gate portrait generator here: http://www.notra.fr/portrait ... to get you two of the sizes you need, and then you can just crop those to get the other two sizes you need. (I think someone's also posted a tutorial about how to get that parchment color, but I'm not a graphics person so I usually take shortcuts.)

Thanks, what about attributes? Oh, and you don't recommend a Wiz subclass? If you're using weapon-summoning spells as suggested by the post you are replying to, there's not much point to subclassing your wizard side, because you need the school that has the weapon summoning spells. Not sure off the top of my head which subclasses that leaves you with, but it isn't super helpful in terms of the build you are playing. If you were using regular weapons instead, a case could be made for subclassing as an evoker since it gives you +2 PL on evocation spells while not hurting your 0-recovery combat buff spells (but you'd still want to look over the spells you'd be losing out on to be sure). I haven't played a Barbarian/Wizard specifically, but I've played a lot of martial/wizard builds, and I tend to prioritize attributes in this order: PER (to hit, since Eldritch Aim doesn't last long enough to be useful), INT (to make combat buffs and weapon summons last longer -- this includes your martial class short-duration buffs, not just spells), DEX (for attack speed), MIG, CON, RES. Even if Barbarian provides active buffs to some of those, I'd probably still prioritize them in the same order (though I don't tend to dump stats for a front-liner).

I especially like the descriptions (mostly in equipment) where it's not clear whether the damage or effect is being applied to the player or the enemy.

I've e-mailed you both the save file and the custom AI script. However, please note that this problem does not appear to be linked to either this specific save file or this specific AI. I tried multiple characters, and in each case, the "Auto-Attack" behavior pull-down menu is what determines whether the AI script activates or not. If it is set to Aggressive, then the AI script activates normally, but if it is set to anything else, the AI script either doesn't activate at all or waits until you are attacked, per the behavior of the option you choose in the "Auto-Attack" pull-down menu. Ideally, your "Auto-Attack" selection should only affect your auto-attack behavior, and for all other cases, your AI script should control your behavior. EDIT: Oh, and as before, I've only tested this on the 2.1 beta, so I don't know how long the problem has existed.

So.... anybody know whether this is how the AI is supposed to work?

I do not have any mods installed.

I'm not sure if this is a bug or if I'm doing something wrong. I'm using the most recent beta patch, but I don't know how long this problem has existed because I just started trying it a couple days ago. I have a squishy, back-line caster with a custom AI that is only set to cast buffs at the beginning of combat, and to renew them when they run out. Other than that, I handle this character manually. The AI works correctly, as long as the behavior is set to Aggressive. However, this character is really squishy, really fast, and is usually wielding a melee weapon that enhances spell-casting. Which means the instant I'm done casting a spell, he runs very quickly straight for the enemies unless I catch him, and he often attracts attacks or engagement before I can get him turned around. So I figured I'd change the AI behavior to Passive or Defend Self, but when I do so, he stops casting his buffs and just stands around when combat starts with the little "..." icon. (I assume he'd use his buffs if he was attacked, if that matched the criteria described for the specific behavior, but I haven't tested that, because having to deliberately run up to the enemy to activate the AI is even worse than setting the behavior to Aggressive.) Is this how it's supposed to work? Is there a setting that I'm using incorrectly that would fix this?

I don't think there's a problem with posting basic or "cookie cutter" builds, as long as it makes good decisions for that type of build. When a new player is trying to find a build that they'd like to play, a basic build is going to be more useful to them than a concept build that requires some weird interaction between a specific skill and a specific piece of equipment that they can't get until well into the game. Some of the builds that have been posted require an interaction like that, and are built entirely around it, so they don't discuss how to play that build in a general sense. And some of those builds are no longer functional because the equipment no longer functions in that way or the skill has been patched to work differently. There have been a lot of builds that sounded interesting, but I ended up not trying them because they are based around something that sounds like it'll be patched soon. A basic build can help a new player, or an experienced player who hasn't tried a particular class before, learn how to use that class in an effective way (e.g., by helping them not pick useless abilities), and then they can grow their knowledge from there.

I don't think they should remove it for Deadfire, but if there's a third game, I would prefer if they didn't carry it over. I've always disliked this kind of feature dating way back to Final Fantasy 7's limit breaks. If you balance a game against standard character builds that don't depend on Empower, then using Empower makes the game too easy. If you balance a game against the use of Empower, then the game becomes too hard for players who don't use it. The whole reason I play games like this is the theory crafting and experimenting with different builds to see how effective they are, and having Empower as a crutch is problematic. And yes, you can avoid using Empower completely, but the game's been balanced around having it available, though that means different things to different people (e.g., extra resources vs. super-powered evocation spells vs. never using it), so the balance is a bit wonky throughout. I think it would be easier to balance the entire game from beginning to end if you didn't include the option of occasionally turning on superpowers.

This doesn't appear to be consistent. I am still able to create new characters with my previous Berath's Blessings points.

Just to note, that bug has been happening since the game was first released.

Not exactly the solution I was hoping for, but maybe if they had buffed the other styles, it would have resulted in more people complaining about the game being too easy? (note, I'm not one of those people) I wonder what the numeric comparisons look like after this change?

ROFL ... well, that's one way to address the issue. Not quite the direction I was hoping for. It certainly makes me less reluctant to pick two-handers over dual-wield, which I suppose is the issue that needed resolving (from Obsidian's point of view).

In the unlikely chance that you run into an enemy with higher than 18 pierce armor, you could also carry along some hot razor skewers to get you up to 20 PEN even before your active abilities. And yeah, for pierce-immune, switching weapons for a -10 ACC penalty isn't that bad. My devoted builds switch weapons all the time and I've never noticed it being a problem.

Nope, the penalty is still there in the current patch. What got removed was any way to find out about the penalty through the item description. I just tested on an unmodded 2.0.1.0044. Started a new game and put the Defiant Apparel on right before the ship battle started, then ran into the middle of the enemies to get Flanked. If I go to my character screen and hover over the Deflection number, it shows the regular -10 for flanked, as well as -5 for Captain's Eye.

For Defiant Apparel, it should list its penalty, of an additional -5 Deflection while flanked, especially because there's now no way to see that penalty within the item description in the game (though it still exists, and you can see it in your status effects when you're flanked). Even the wiki hides the penalty on another page for some reason. Why Obsidian decided to add a penalty to a pre-order bonus, on an item that you start with, that gets triggered when you are flanked (a status that is common for melee characters all the time, and common even for squishy ranged characters in the starting area, since you've only got Eder to tank for you), and then hide the fact that there's a penalty, I have no idea.

Teclis, we discussed it here as well: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/104238-dual-wielding-full-attacks-and-recovery/ ... with the focus of that thread being that the main issue really is full attacks, rather than the speed differences between the weapon styles, which as MaxQuest noted above gives pretty similar results for auto-attacks.

The spell may have the Elements keyword, but the sword itself doesn't, so attacks with the sword don't gain the Fury's extra penetration. But +10 accuracy on every attack (with the ring of focused flame) is great -- that plus the lash, and the burn damage type, make it a pretty good weapon. And you could switch to another greatsword when facing a burn-immune enemy. The problem is that the druid side doesn't really help much with a weapon-focused build. I still want to use the sword, but my next attempt is going to be by using scrolls of firebrand (cheap to craft, and only require 2 arcana to cast). A devoted/paladin would still have access to Scion of Flame, for example. Or maybe a Psyblade, though I don't think they get Scion of Flame. Just waiting to see if Obsidian does something to improve full attacks for two-handed weapons in 2.1 before I start it.

EDIT -- I didn't notice that this was a thread from May that got bumped. Oh well. My suggestions below were meant for the initial poster. At the very minimum: 1. Move 6 or 8 points from MIG to PER. Extra might won't do you any good if you can't hit anything. As a cipher, PER is doubly important -- you want to hit frequently to maximize your weapon damage to build focus, but you also need to be able to hit with your cipher abilities (including soul annihilation), or you waste all the focus you just spent (very frustrating on a Soulblade, since it's *all* your focus). 2. Take Crippling Strike, and take it early (I'd take it before Escape). It's a full attack that costs 1 guile, which will make it your bread-and-butter attack for building focus. All of the other rogue full attacks cost 2 or more guile, so they aren't as efficient at turning resources into focus. As a side benefit, it has +2 PEN (and +25% damage, but most rogue abilities have that). The only other rogue attack ability that costs 1 guile is Sap, which is a primary attack rather than a full attack (so it might be useful for backstabs, which don't take advantage of full attacks). 3. I really don't think I'd waste 40 focus on Wild Leech when I could spend it on Soul Annihilation instead (or anything else, for that matter). If you're going to spend that much focus as a Soulblade, Borrowed Instinct (for 50) would be much better. 4. As a melee rogue, you'll probably want Persistent Distraction. Unless you spend all your time and rogue resources going invis for sneak attacks (which seems kind of inefficient), it should be pretty helpful, even if you only have the one engagement slot for the enemy you're currently attacking. 5. I probably wouldn't waste an ability point on Penetrating Empower. It's +1 PEN for, at most, a single attack per fight. Crippling Strikes alone gives you +2 PEN, and if you spend your Empower point on resources rather than attacks, you can use Crippling Strikes an extra 4 or 5 times during the fight. And if you use your Empower point like that, you could skip Potent Empower as well. 6. I don't know if you really need to spend that many points on rogue attack abilities, since they all come out of your guile pool, and you've got a couple cheap cipher abilities that can apply status effects. I'd do Crippling Strike (and Arterial Strike, if the Raw DoT builds focus -- anyone know?), plus at least one ability that attacked something other than Fortitude (Finishing Blow/Devastating Blow is good). You can probably make a melee Soulblade work with some effort, but I'd lean toward a ranged build for a mindstalker. For a Soulblade, I'd probably pick a second class that's a little more durable.

I tend to do sabres out of habit, but then stick dual warhammers in my second slot -- it's only -10 accuracy for a devoted to use non-proficient weapons, and that way it covers both crush and pierce at once, for when the 17 PEN from sabre + penetrating strikes isn't sufficient. Devoted/Monk was fun too, since you get fists for free, so you get two different weapons and damage types with your Devoted bonuses. I think every class is proficient with fists, so I wonder if Monastic Unarmed Training would be good enough as a backup weapon for a non-monk Devoted.

With Fyrgist's ship, I was able to do it at level 9 with the starting ship, but with my crew mostly maxed out on ranks after a number of bounties. I had the four iron thunderers that you can get cheap from the shipwright's quest, and I had the Berath's Blessings ship upgrades. No other upgrades, so the total cost was 1000, if you consider the Berath's Blessings upgrades to be free. With that setup, once my crew got decent ranks, I could usually set up a chain reaction -- fire once, to cause an injury or bad status (such as a fire), and then while I'm jibing and holding position to prepare to fire again, the other ship is mostly stuck with dealing with that issue. By the time they've dealt with it, I've fired again and caused another status. For some reason, the iron thunderers cause status effects or injuries more often than I've seen with other weapons (and do damage above their max more often as well). I might have just gotten lucky, but I took out a lot of ships that way pretty easily, and did Fyrgist's ship on my first try, while his ship only got a single volley off. (With other ship set-ups, like wyrmtongues, I did much worse and had to be level 15 or so, and/or have a better ship.) But I sure wouldn't try boarding his ship at level 9.

Why would you need to switch to a two-handed weapon for Soul Annihilation? Its damage isn't based on your weapon's base damage, and you'll build focus faster (and recover faster) by sticking to your dual-wield weapons (if that is what you are using). You could alternate full-attack to build focus then Soul Annihilation to spend it.

Unless there are some really amazing defensive buffs in Conjuration and Transmutation that I haven't noticed, you're mistaken. Evokers keep Enchanting and Illusion, which is where you'll find just about every wizard defense buff other than Arcane Veil. And notably, most of those buffs have 0 recovery, meaning you don't even suffer that penalty. I agree. Most or all of the good buffs are available to evokers. The big question is whether you want to use regular weapons or summoned weapons. Dual-wielding regular weapons can pump out a lot of damage, so it's a perfectly good choice. And if you're spending the bulk of your time in melee and don't need summoned weapons, having +2 PL on evocation spells (+3 with the gloves) for when you do want to cast something else is nice. At that point, just base the decision on what spells you'll actually be casting, and what slots are available after accounting for your combat buffs. My level 1 slots are spent on Spirit Shield anyway, so I wouldn't be casting Chill Fog.

Miscreant's Leather is my favorite armor for a single-class Ascendant (or any non-martial back-line caster).

I'll echo the unanimous votes for Ascendant, and also mention that you can bump up INT to stay ascended longer and DEX to cast more quickly within that timeframe. You might want to try out the Red Hand arquebus, at least for your initial volley.