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jtbehnke

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Posts posted by jtbehnke

  1. I've been wondering how to build Aloth in Deadfire.  From what I understand, wizards are a class that DOES have strong benefits for staying single-class, namely some VERY powerful spells in the top tiers.  On the other hand, multiclassing is pretty darn fun, and some companions can become quite powerful when they multiclass, as Pallegina and Tekehu demonstrate in the excellently written Tuono e Fulmine and Tāwhirimātea, The God of Storms builds (P.S. You're awesome Ascaloth!).

     

    So...what about Aloth?  Is it better to keep Aloth as a single-class wizard?  Or would it be better to convert him to a Battlemage (multiclassing him with Fighter) or Spellblade (multiclassing him with Rogue), and if so which of the two multiclasses is better?

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  2. Lately I've gotten the itch to play Star Wars: DroidWorks again, a game I greatly enjoyed when I was younger.  Unfortunately, this game is at least 20 years old by now! :smalleek:

     

    I know with the power of emulators and stuff old games may be played on a computer, but I've also heard that DroidWorks has problems that even using an emulator can't fix if the computer runs over 100 Mhz (i.e. any modern computer like mine), but also there seems to be folks on the web who say they can get it to work, so I'm left confused in the middle.

     

    Could I somehow find and get this game to work via emulators and enjoy it again, or is it simply too old to work without buying a used copy, rebuilding an old computer and finding an old copy of Windows 95?

  3. Let's also not forget that the very idea of fighting Rymrgand to get out of his realm is something most kith wouldn't comprehend as an option. I mean, you're in the physical presence of the divine, in the heart of his own realm. If it were any other mortal in that position, they'd immediately bow down and beg for his mercy, no matter how cruel, and that's what Rymrgand expects you to do as well.

     

    But the Watcher is no ordinary mortal. Whether because returning from death has dispelled the fear of the end for them, their being on first name basis with the pantheon has made them realize they're not as impressive as they boast, or because the Watcher is JUST. THAT. CRACKED. They're the only one who's seen outside Eora's current paradigm and thus can create a solution Rymrgand doesn't expect.

     

    It's almost like the Gordian Knot story, in a way. Dozens of kings fail the challenge because they think the knot HAS to be taken apart by hand, and Alexander the Great wins when he realizes "that isn't the only option" and just cuts it in half with his sword. So too in Beast of Winter: Rymrgand says "Serve me and you can leave, or stay here forever," and the Watcher simply asks "Why don't we just fight for it?"

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  4. The goal of something like a Lifegiver/Beguiler would be to build as “pure” a caster as you could. Beguiler’s main bonus is to be able to regain focus from casting spells on enemies that already have afflictions. So the idea would be to open with tangle foot to hobble everything, then cast cipher aoe control spells non stop. You could fight in melee, but you won’t be amazing at it.

     

    Soul blade / Lifegiver won’t be the strongest melee character ever, but with firebrand you’ll have good accuracy, decent penetration (scion of flame boosts all attacks with firebrand) and quite respectable damage from soul annihilation. Then you can still make great use of control powers on the cipher side, but they’re less of a focus.

     

    Neither combo will be a minmaxed power build, but there are synergies to be found either way. So it’s up to whether you want more focus on melee damage or ranged, aoe control.

     

    Thanks again, this is super helpful!

     

    If I want to hold another weapon beside Firebrand (like, say the Whispers of the Endless Paths or the Twin Eels), could I get away with it, or should I be ALL FIREBRAND ALL THE TIME?

  5.  

     

    A solid suggestion, though at this point we're getting into Star Wars Expanded Universe semantics.  Most people just know Jedi as Knights and haven't heard of Consulars!  :geek:

     

     

    Nah Consulars are common even outside of EU. They are officially more of the Old Republic thing, though. But current canon goes way beyond the mainstream movies.

     

    Okay.  I was just kiddin' around!  ;)

  6. Quick question regarding the Blade of the Endless Paths and Whisper of the Endless Paths in both Deadfire and PoE1.  I've heard conflicting reports that not finding the pieces of the Blade of the Endless Paths aboard your ship in Deadfire is a bug or not.

     

    I was under the impression that the pieces of the Blade, along with those of the Whispers of Yenwood, were in your cupboard if you recovered both weapons in Pillars of Eternity at some point.  The Fextralife article here, however, seems to indicate that you have to deliberately fail the Blade of the Endless Paths task and not reforge the sword so you get the pieces in Deadfire, and if you DO reforge the sword in the first game, it's lost forever.

     

    So...which is it?  Is this a bug or a feature?  I want to know before completing the first game, so I know whether I have to fail the quest or not.  I'm a bit of an obsessive completionist, so the idea that I can't get the Whispers of the Endless Paths if I'm too thorough with doing quests in the first game bugs me, to say the least!

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  7. Livegiver is the best healer in the game bar none cipher is crowd control and some damage Oracle would be a nice support character that makes everyone around stronger and healthy while locking down enemies with mind spells (consider beguiler for cipher). Overall more a jedi sage/counselor character than a knight though.  

     

    A solid suggestion, though at this point we're getting into Star Wars Expanded Universe semantics.  Most people just know Jedi as Knights and haven't heard of Consulars!  :geek:

     

    Beguiler DOES look interesting, especially for mind tricking.  I was thinking about replacing one of these Cipher powers with Mental Binding, as it's been the Cipher power I've used the most in the first game.  I may also want to look into Valorous Echoes and Ancestor's Memory to buff my allies.  What say you?  

  8. Okay, here's a revised list.  Sticking with Lifegiver for now:

     

    Level 1: Nature's Vigor, Sunbeam/Whispers of Treason

    Level 2: Soul Shock

    Level 3: Iron Will

    Level 4: The Moon's Light, Firebrand/Draining Whip

    Level 5: Two-Handed Style

    Level 6: Recall Agony

    Level 7: Nature's Balm, Burst of Summer Flame/Hammering Thoughts

    Level 8: Purge of Toxins

    Level 9: Secret Horrors

    Level 10: Puppet Master

    Level 11: Moonwell, Scion of Flame/Silent Scream 

    Level 12: Form of the Delemgan

    Level 13: Cleansing Wind, Rapid Casting/Body Attunement

    Level 14: Borrowed Instinct

    Level 15: Uncanny Luck

    Level 16: Garden of Life, Sunlance/Amplified Wave

    Level 17: Disintegration

    Level 18: The Empty Soul

    Level 19: Nature's Bounty, Weather the Storm/Echoing Horror

    Level 20: Rusted Armor

     

    I'm setting this up right, right?  My understanding is that you get two pools of points at level-up: one for active abilities and one for passive ones, so I may have the wrong abilities in the wrong spots.

  9. You could build around firebrand. Oracle looks like a pretty decent choice for that, since firebrand can have its accuracy boosted by the ring of focused flame, meaning you can use savage attack without penalty. That’s really good for soul annihilation, since it gets a much bigger damage boost from savage attack comparable to other abilities, but also is affected more by accuracy than normal attacks. Firebrand also has sort of a lightsaber feel to it as well. It’s probably not the strongest build in the world, but it should be a more or less perfect jack of all trades, offering good support, control, healing, durability, aoe spell damage and single target melee damage at need.

     

    :w00t: Why didn't I think of that sooner?!  That's a GREAT idea!  I already like using Firebrand thanks to the Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannonner in the first game, so why WOULDN'T I continue to use it after multiclassing with the class that has it as a spell?!  Plus, a jack-of-all-trades is EXACTLY the kind of character I enjoy playing in games like these!  Thank you!

     

    Hmm...I should probably shuffle some stuff around to include more fire-based stuff like Sunbeam and Scion of Flame.  Having taken a closer look at the Druid subclasses, I think bigwillystyle's suggestion of going with Animist instead of Lifegiver is worth taking.  No real penalties to worry about, I can just pick the healing spells on my own (and Animist has Moon's Light anyway), and it thematically fits more with the idea I had starting out.

     

    "Animists are the most common druids in Eora. See life in all facets of the world, animists draw power from the complex web of connections between plants, animals, the weather, and even humble rocks and soil."

     

    "For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship."

     

    Sounds pretty similar, no?

  10.  

    One word: Privateering.

     

    Both those orders are mercenary types, so attacking the ships of whichever factions they haven't allied with is easily roleplayed.

     

    That's a fair point. Though I do like the idea of the character having some stronger ties with the organization itself - maybe even being born into it (Deadfire culture). I could still make Goldpact work pretty well with that - there was a pretty rigorously upheld code of ethics aboard pirate ships regarding fair shares for fair work. 

     

     

    A good way to look at it!  It fits very well with the Goldpact Knights' stance on payment being a binding contract.  If the Prinicipi are paying them more than the RDC or VTC, then the Principi is who they will side with.

     

    Keep in mind that Watcher has spent years away from his/her paladin order, so the code of conduct may have became quite flexible for him/her. So there is no reason why Bleak Walker or Goldpact could not decide to support Principi out of simple sympathy for their cause, even when there is no contract from them strictly speaking. It would not go against any of their dispositions.

     

    Precisely.  As I said, the conviction that grants Goldpact Knights their paladin powers is that payment is a binding contract, that personal sympathies and stuff shouldn't cloud the basic issue of who is paying you for what.  For the Bleak Walkers, they gain their powers from their belief in total war.  Even if they aren't being paid (but they often are), nothing less than completely crushing whoever their pointed at is acceptable, so even if the Bleak Walker Watcher doesn't necessarily give two hoots about the Principi's internal and external conflicts, if the Principi have hired them, the piracy is merely an opportunity to display the notorious brutality their order is known for.  That said, Bleak Walkers also work because they're kinda ****, so robbing and murdering on the high seas probably would sound appealing to them, Principi or no Principi.

  11. Thank you, thundercleese!

     

    Knowing that, here's another attempt at picking stuff:

     

    Level 1: Nature's Bounty, Sunbeam (may swap this with Winter Wind to fit the White that Wends origin)/Whispers of Treason

    Level 2: Soul Shock

    Level 3: Iron Will

    Level 4: The Moon's Light, Woodskin/Draining Whip

    Level 5: Two-Handed Style

    Level 6: Recall Agony

    Level 7: Nature's Balm, Infestation of Maggots/Hammering Thoughts

    Level 8: Secret Horrors

    Level 9: Puppet Master

    Level 10: Purge of Toxins

    Level 11: Moonwell, Form of the Delemgan/ Silent Scream 

    Level 12: Body Attunement

    Level 13: Cleansing Wind, Plague of Insects/Borrowed Instinct

    Level 14: Rapid Casting

    Level 15: Uncanny Luck

    Level 16: Garden of Life, Rot Skulls/Amplified Wave

    Level 17: Disintegrate

    Level 18: The Empty Soul

    Level 19: Nature's Bounty, Weather the Storm/Echoing Horror

    Level 20: Rusted Armor

     

    I sort of combined bigwillystyle's suggestions with 1TTFFSSE's Banshee build, one of the more complete cipher multiclass builds I've found.  It's a starting point so it can be revised to be at least "workable."  I know I want to use a greatsword as my primary weapon of choice, and I'm not sure if the picks for the cipher side of the build are the most appropriate, since the Banshee appears to based more on ranged fighting, rather than getting into the think of melee with a sword.

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