WilliamAbbott

Sorry to double post but I'm uncertain how to edit my original post. Just wanted to iterate that I discovered that this bug had nothing to do with class or the PC itself. The bug is exclusively when using a gun. Both Serafen using a Blunderbuss and my PC using a Pistol experienced this bug however my Priest that was using a Scepter did not. As soon as I got my favourite Pistol legendary I put it on my Priest and began experiencing this initiative bug. I also tested this by swapping my Cipher and Chanter weapons to Bow/Sabre respectively and they no longer experienced this bug until I put the Pistols back on them. I also started a new game as a Cipher and used a Crossbow having no issue and then as soon as I equipped a Pistol I began to experience the bug. So at least as far as I can tell the bug is exclusively tied to guns. I tested both a Pistol and Blunderbuss and consistently experienced this issue at every stage of the game but using any other weapon I did not. I didn't test an Arquebus so I'm uncertain if it has the same issue. All in all though I will just avoid using the gun weapons and I can avoid this bug.

Hmm okay well I appreciate your reply. I feel like I must have some other bug then because that definitely isn't consistent in my game. For example when I start the game as a Level 1 Troubadour I start the fight with 3 Phrases. However as soon as I level up and learn the "Gernisc Slew the Beast but Soon Faced its Kin" summon I start combat with 4 Phrases and am able to summon them turn 1 despite their base cost still being 3 Phrases. Once I learned "Oh, But Knock Not on the Door of Urdel and Gurdel" I still started battle with only 4 Phrases being unable to summon them at the start of battle but as soon as I gained level 8 despite not learning any spell with more than a 4 Phrase base cost I started battle with 5 Phrases and could now summon the ogres. This is why I believed it was based on levels. Similarly on my first Troubadour when I leveled it normally to unlock "The Great Wyrm Flew O'er the Mountains" I would start every fight with only 7 Phrases and could never cast it turn 1 at any point in my game. However, when I started a fresh game and used the console to start at level 20 I began every fight thereafter with 8 Phrases and was able to summon it on the 1st turn. If it indeed is supposed to work as you say then I would be fine with that since then I have a set factor to work around, however that has not been a consistent aspect of my game so it still leads me to believe that for better or worse I was experiencing some kind of bug. I did manage to finish that playthrough though so for now I'll probably just stick to other classes. Thanks again for your reply!

Not sure if this is an actual bug or an intended feature since the game doesn't really explain these things. However on my normal Chanter with no subclass I always start combat with enough Phrases to cast my strongest ability on turn 1. However if I play as a Troubadour or a Beckoner my spells cost an additional Phrase to cast and the UI shows my max Phrases are 4 but I only start combat with 3 forcing me to wait a turn before I can utilize my strongest summon. This kind of awkwardly alleviates itself as you level since once you reach level 3 you will suddenly start combat with 4 Phrases and be able to cast your Rank 1 spell on the first turn. But this issue continues onward as when you get the Ogre summon you again will only have 4 Phrases at the start of your turn despite the spell costing 5 and your UI showing you as being 4/5 Phrases. To my knowledge from looking around online Chanters are supposed to start turn 1 with max Phrases which is why I feel like this is a bug since it makes playing a Chanter inconsistent and awkward when you are hitting new power levels despite most classes feeling more powerful. This becomes more of an issue as you reach max level since summoning the Dragon for example becomes impossible to summon on turn 1 since you never start with enough Phrases which makes the summon feel more tedious to use then just summoning the Armaments turn 1.

So I don't really understand what happened, I've played through hours of the game on several different characters with no issue and now suddenly when I made a new Cipher I was getting an issue where my initiative at the start of combat was much higher than what is listed. For example I have 5.5 initiative on my Player Character and the first battle we begin it starts at 6. But then the next battle I am in my initiative is suddenly at 11. Sometimes this bug compounds on itself and I'll start combat with 20+ initiative despite making no action. Even starting a battle with my Cipher in stealth where he has 0.9 initiative along with Xoti and Aloth my Player Character will start the fight with 3 initiative despite the other two starting at 1. Saving and reloading before every single battle seems to reset the issue but it's getting really tedious. It only affects the first turn of combat so I know it isn't the end of the world, but there are a lot of battles where getting off that Eyestrike early in the first round plays into my strategy and if I forgot to save/reload before the battle then it disrupts the consistency of the game for me. I've verified files and reinstalled the game and I don't have any mods installed. I originally thought this was a Cipher issue because when I reloaded one of my earlier Cipher games both my Player Character and Serafen were experiencing the issue but on another file my Player Character Priest doesn't have this bug. Giving up on my beloved Cipher I started a new game as a Chanter and between the first fight with the boar and the beetle in the cave I had the bug again. I really love this game and I want to play it to the story's end but this bug has kind of spoiled things since I only really enjoy the turn based combat. If anyone knows of a fix or has any advice I'd appreciate your knowledge. Going to try one final reinstall deleting any lingering files manually but if that doesn't fix the issue I guess I'll just wait until some kind of fix is found.