Noqn

Sorry. It's the number of skill checks throughout the game, sorted by requirement and grouped by whether it's for the Player or a selectable party member, and whether you get a bonus from the rest of the party or not. Just fun statistics.

I know, I wrote that in my post: ___ In which case the remaining five Passive skills will be at 0 points each. You'll also find that benching that particular character drops your Bluff bonus to zero, which doesn't exactly make for flexible party management. Just so that we are clear about the frequency of selectable checks and to put things into perspective, here are the total number of (passive) Player checks w/assist and total number of crew checks: Player w/assist Bluff: 166 Diplomacy: 178 History: 77 Insight: 188 Intimidate: 157 Metaphysics: 58 Religion: 50 Streetwise: 95 Survival: 35 Crew w/ assist (+ Crew w/o assist) Bluff: 9 (+ 1) Diplomacy: 3 History: 11 (+ 1) Insight: 9 Intimidate: 5 Metaphysics: 2 Religion: 22 (+ 2) Streetwise: 9 Survival: 57 (+ 4) Notice how there are only 10 selectable Bluff checks in the entire game? Besides Survival and to a lesser extent Religion (which together cover 63% of all selectable checks), there's practically zero reason to specialize in passive skills. Most of these can be passed with evenly distributed points anyway, such as the two Metaphysics checks, both at 5. Even if you go for the more optimized approach of spreading the character across two skills each (and "only" sacrificing one passive skill), the party management issues still remain. If are talking about a custom party, that's obviously not an issue, but I presume that's not what OP was asking for.

Unassisted Player checks (no bonus from crew): Assisted Player checks (with bonus from crew): Unassisted Selectable member checks (no crew bonus): Assisted Selected member checks (with crew bonus):

Assuming you are talking about conversation checks, in general it's way more beneficial to spread points evenly, at least in passive skills. In conversations, the Player gets an assist bonus (most of the time) to their skills based on total points of the rest of the party: Crew Total Bonus 1...........1 2...........2 4...........3 7...........4 11..........5 16..........6 22..........7 29..........8 For example, if Player has 4 Bluff, and the rest of your crew has total of 12 Bluff, the total score is 4 + 5 = 9. So it doesn't matter if a party member has exceptionally high points in one skill, only the average matters. And as you can see from the table, you get diminishing returns at high skill levels, so "specializing" a party member in a certain skill for a high total is suboptimal. If you try to even out the total by giving everyone else low points, you'll find the skill dropping radically whenever you remove your specialized member from the party, which is a massive inconvenience. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however. The abovementioned formula is also used for calculating lockpicking difficulty with Mechanics, so you get much more benefit from a single character with a lot of points in Mechanics. Scenario 1: Aloth has 11 Points in Mechanics, everyone else has 1 each (total 4). Lockpicking Level: 11 + 3 = 14 Scenario 2: Aloth has 3 Points in Mechanics, everyone else also has 3 each (total 12). Lockpicking Level: 3 + 5 = 8. Both parties spent 15 points in Mechanics, but the first is significantly better at lockpicking. There are far fewer Active skill checks than Passive ones, so it's not crucial to put points into those just for story purposes. There are also checks in scripted interactions where you select which party member should attempt the check. It'll still be assisted, but in these cases you benefit if that character's own skills are high. A lot of these checks are Athletics and Survival, so it might be worth giving someone a few extra points in Survival. There are a couple items that increase in potency based on specific skills, such as Xoti's weapons. Depending on how high you prioritize min-maxing and passing conversation checks, you might want to put extra points in skills for characters that use those items. However, it's worth mentioning that not all of these items have very noticable scaling. Total number of checks per Skill:

Yep.

I thought so too. I decided to made a mod that gives the ability to the player if they empowered Woedica: https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/409/ There are two downloads, the main version which grants the ability only to Steel Garrote & Priest of Woedica players/party members, and the alternative version which grants the ability to the Watcher even if they didn't pick Steel Garrote/Priest of Woedica.

Yeah, there's an ability Woedica_Soul_Power Soul-Power "By your hand, souls dedicated to Woedica were empowered by the ancient Engwithan machine in Burial Isle." It is used in four Progression Tables, with the note "Reactivity - Woedica Soul-Power": (As expected, the ability is only granted if the global variable n_Ending is equal to 5, that is to say you empowered woedica.) PT_NPC_Priest_BASE_Woedica PT_NPC_Paladin_Tank_SteelGarrote PT_NPC_Paladin_Ranged_SteelGarrote PT_NPC_Paladin_Offensive_SteelGarrote The characters that use these tables are Inquisitor Lödwyn (CHA_27_PW_Inquisitor) and Steel Garrote Initiates (CHA_27_PW_Steel_Garrote_Initiate) Basically if you empower Woedica, encounters vs. the Steel Garrote will be harder, but sadly won't affect the Player.

Yeah, there's no randomness involved. If you upgrade let's say Wits of Death's Herald from Tier 1 to Tier 2 after Hasongo, it will always grant you Tier 2 Intellect Inspirations. It is possible the ability will stay at the same Tier after a conversation if you didn't pick enough of any "flavor". This might've happened to the guy who originally speculated about RNG, thinking his ability had been upgraded when it wasn't. Quicksaving after a God convo and casting the ability on a random crew member on your ship is a convenient way to test if it works Since Tier 3 Inspirations are quite rare, it's often what people go for.

Looking at it now, it's probably going to have to be the third option since the other two require overwriting the entire Paladin progression table. Appending abilities is painless and won't cause compatability issues.

I misremembered about Wrath of the Five Suns being auto-grant, and it turns out there is gamedata that implies that Wrath of the Five Suns was once a passive like Gilded Enmity, which obviously would have been be a lot cooler. { "$type": "Game.GameData.GenericAbilityGameData, Assembly-CSharp", "DebugName": "Wrath_of_the_Five_Suns", "ID": "a9f07686-a064-4733-82f6-37dd1784c77a", { "$type": "Game.GameData.GenericAbilityGameData, Assembly-CSharp", "DebugName": "Wrath_of_the_Five_Suns_BrandEnemy", "ID": "2df1aa92-df90-4a01-bb58-f4b94943b280", { "$type": "Game.GameData.GenericAbilityGameData, Assembly-CSharp", "DebugName": "Wrath_of_the_Five_Suns_SwornRival", "ID": "b6ebb36d-5552-44ed-acf0-a5cbd910c901", Makes it easier to justify replacing FoD with VV and keeping Shared Flames and Eternal Devotion as upgrades, like Kind Wayfarer.

Yeah, I agree that it should've been integrated like Kind Wayfarer's Flames... but since Vielo Vidorio is explicitly designed as a standalone ability, I think it should be kept as it is. It's also worth noting that Pallegina's Wrath of the Five Suns isn't auto-grant nor integrated, so the origianl design is at least consistent with her current abilities. imo it feels best to remove the bonus leash and keep the 1 Zeal cost, making it closer to Shared Flames. 1. Replace Flames of Devotions. 2. 20%, as Flames of Devotions. 3. 20%, as original. 4. 2.5m radius, same as Shared Flames and Kind Wayfarers AoE. 5. 1 Zeal, as original.

I checked the convo files and it turns out that it's decided by global variables (n_Watcher_Ability_X_Aggressive, n_Watcher_Ability_X_Sassy and n_Watcher_Ability_X_Diplomatic) and won't necessarily correspond with Disposition icons! (Though they can be good indicators.) tl;dr is that you need at least 3/2/4 responses of your flavor of choice after Port Maje/Hasongo/Magran's Teeth, respectively. You then get the ability based on which flavor count is highest. If two flavors share the same count, Diplomatic takes precedence, then Sassy and last Aggressive. So you have to look out for other flavors as well. Post Port Maje Ire of Death's Herald (Might) : At least 3 Aggressive responses, more than Sassy and Diplomatic ones. Wit of Death's Herald (Intellect) : At least 3 Sassy responses, more than Diplomatic and not fewer than Aggressive. Mien of Death's Herald (Perception) : At least 3 Diplomatic responses and not fewer than Aggressive and Sassy. Post Hasongo + Might : At least 2 Agressive responses, more than Sassy and Diplomatic ones. + Intellect : At least 2 Sassy responses, more than Diplomatic and not fewer than Aggressive. + Perception : At least 2 Diplomatic responses and not fewer than Aggressive and Sassy. Post Magran's Teeth + Might : At least 4 Agressive responsesand more than both Sassy and Diplomatic ones. + Intellect : At least 4 Sassy responses, more than Diplomatic and not fewer than Aggressive. + Perception : At least 4 Diplomatic responses and not fewer than Aggressive and Sassy.

I lost a Captain's Banquet to Dirty Laundry on my first playthrough, which is managable but still really annoying. I sure would have been pissed if that was a run with Hylea's Bounty. But more than anything, I think forced rests highlights how per-rest rewards is fundamentally bad design. I'm considering making a separate mod that nerfs the bonuses but making them permanent. What's everyone's opinions on this? ____________ Dawnstar's Blessing from +50% Healing to +10% Healing from +2 Religion to +1 Religion Nature's Resolve from +10 Accuracy to +3 Accuracy from +2 Resolve to +1 Resolve Alchemic Brawn from +2 Might to +1 Might from +2 Constitution to +1 Constitution Alchemic Guile from +2 Dexterity to +1 Dexterity from +2 Perception to +1 Perception Alchemic Wit from +2 Intellect to +1 Intellect from +2 Resolve to +1 Resolve Amira's Blessing from +2 Dexterity to +1 Dexterity ____________ Optional Package: Repeatable per-rest bonuses made permanent. Brothel Bonuses (Still mutually exclusive) Luminous Adra Potion Adratic Glow ____________ Optional Package: Shrine/Scripted Food Bonuses made Permanent? Good Food, Better Friends from +2 Constitution to +1 Constitution from +5 Defenses to +3 Defenses Ngati's Blessing from +2 Constitution to +1 Constitution Rikuhu's Blessing from +2 Resolve to +1 Resolve ____________ And probably alternative versions with permanency but without the nerfs.

I don't think it's good practice to arbitrarily limit abilities just because Brilliant exists.

I'd like to hear others opinion on this, but I prefer Eyestrike at lv1 and Whispers at lv2 for the purpose of respeccing. Eyestrike remains cheap and potent (and the Mystic's only Perception affliction besides Searing Seal), while Whispers is cheap but outclassed and potentially replaceable by Ringleader/Puppet Master. I think it's preferable to have option of removing Whispers, especially since Ciphers have so many desirable lv1 Talents.

The bounce damage falloff gets real bad at high PL, but I'm not sure if dual-class Ciphers even get that many bounces? Mind Blades should benefit from 5 PL at lv 19-20, which is 2.5 extra bounces, rounded down to just 2 (at most 3 if you get Acute or Brilliant) extra bounces.

Shoutout to @Kyberus for their Stacking Modals mod.

By the way, small fix to display the dmg/tick for Disintegration, and view the correct total damage after duration modifiers. { "$type": "Game.GameData.StatusEffectGameData, Assembly-CSharp", "DebugName": "Disintegration_SE_RawDamage", "ID": "50ebdc84-eedc-456d-865d-b8a0be40d966", "Components": [ { "$type": "Game.GameData.StatusEffectComponent, Assembly-CSharp", "BaseValue": 48, "ApplicationType": "ApplyOnTick" } ] }

You might already have had this in mind, but consider splitting the patch into different packages like the original, something like Community Patch Addon - Fixes (e.g. Shattered Pillar Lesser Wound fix). Community Patch Addon - Basic (e.g. Pallegina Five Penetration buff.) Community Patch Addon - Extended (e.g. Scroll bonus accuracy.) Community Patch Addon - Keywords

Patch out: https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/354?tab=files

You are absolutely right, I'll upload a new version with vanilla pray/eat rests and keep the current main version as an optional download.

I checked the conversation file and both nodes that give you the bonus also trigger the Rest function, removing your food bonuses etc. I thought this would be covered by No Forced Rests but it turns out that I forgot to search and batch convert all instances of the plain Rest function. In my defense, this scripted interaction is literary the only time a conversation uses the Rest function. (Wael, you sneaky fker.) I've uploaded a patch for this interaction, you should be able to keep your food bonuses now.

Path of the Damned, the highest* difficulty setting. (The scale goes Story-Relaxed-Classic-Veteran-PotD) *though there are several extra options to further increase the difficulty, such as Ironman mode.

Ha, yeah! Can't get worse than Wael's incarnate! ...

Forgot to write it but this is a great initiative, Elric Galad !