NotBad

And I'm finished! So my final thoughts, spoilers for anyone who wants to stop reading here!!! Story wise - definitely has some narrative and pacing issues which I won't get into - plenty said about that already all over the place. The story was satisfying however, for me. When I first started my journey (over multiple restarts) I definitely went in feeling 100% pro RDC. The assasinations and Atsura ended that quickly. Something about their presentation felt off to me as well. They almost felt like a parody of their own motivations in the Deadfire. I was then dead set on the Anarchist route. I won't ever get behind slavery, and of course the Huana caste system is probably not much better. No amount of logical loopholes either are going to allow me to believe leaving pirates in control is/was the right choice for Deadfire either. I was left really feeling like I had no good choice and saying a big F YOU to everyone was the best of a bunch of bad choices. That's the route I ended up going with. In the final conversation with Eothas however, he mentioned directly that by not choosing sides, I had effectively lost my own hope in humanity as a redeemable species, which was the exact narrative I was against in relation to the gods as a whole. With current world events, and thoughts that lately occupy my mind a lot, that actually hit way to close to home. I'm judging 3 (maybe 4, but I mean... pirates are pirates) cultures by their actions at a specific point in time, giving no thought to their potential redeemable features for the future, and auto assuming their negatives are going to be what defines them for the future going forward. In that context, Eothas actually felt like the better Hero and and felt/saw more in humanity then I did! If I judged real life humanity the same way and wished chaos upon humanity for all our past actions, I'm essentially accepting that we aren't redeemable as a species either. I'm not mentally there yet. My thoughts on faction choice then got a lot more complicated and I still haven't made my pick yet... Instinctually, I am pro Huana, but that mostly seems like a black and white decision based on it being their land, their home, and theoretically everyone else probably should GTFO or at least work with them with genuine integrity, rather then systematically undermining them for their own gain. In some sense, that is the line. If I come to the conclusion that all the factions are redeemable in some way (again, except maybe the pirates...), then ultimately, it's the Huana's land, soooooooooo... In order to not support the Huana, I'd have to believe that they were so set in their ways, that progress could never be made, but I don't have enough evidence to say that is so, and I'd therefore be back to concluding again that they aren't redeemable, despite their flaws. Anyway, interesting stuff. SSS was a bit of a wash, but I might have also been suffering from a bit of gameplay fatigue by this point. I genuinely expected challenging battles that would force me to use those bloody consumables again. I didn't use them, and I think I only struggled on two arena fights, mostly (some were hard, but not wipe multiple times tear your hair out hard)... The one where you change into a bunch of monsters (cute Obsidian, cute...), and the one where you had to protect 3 research tables I believe from being set on fire were the two most difficult ones. They were mostly mechanically frustrating however, rather then challenging. It's probably because Ancient Memory really is that OP. E.g. most fights really are easily solved by Driving Echoes + repeated Missile spam on Aloth. The research table fight was eventually trivialized because I could cast unlimited amounts of Withdraw on them as well. Though in some sense, the outcome might be the same if I think about it, as without Ancient Memory, I'd probably be using a stack of scrolls instead. E.g. repeated Missile spam would probably just get replaced by repeated Maelstrom spam via scrolls, ditto with Withdraw. Dunno...

Eder as a Swashbuckler tank is as good as Eder as a pure Fighter tank. Don't even stress about it one bit. On normal difficulty, with Berath's Blessings, you'll have a lot of leeway in relation to what is and isn't effective. From that perspective, prioritizing concept over everything else is probably AOK. If you're dead set on being a Sword & Shield Fighter / Wizard who casts buffs and then wades into battle, it will work. For considerations sake, if you aren't fixated on being a Wizard, and more set on being a martial caster who primarily does damage through their weapon and buffs themselves, you might also consider a Cipher (Soulblade) / Fighter. That really fits the theme of buffing yourself and enchanting your weapon to deal damage. But I get you want continuity from your PoE 1 play through, so I'd just ride the Sword & Board Fighter / Wizard idea you have, and just be slightly open to the idea that casting damaging AOE spells might be the occasional more efficient use of your time/turn. To keep on theme, stick to spells that work mostly in melee range. E.g. Ghost Blades (could be considered a AOE extension of your sword for instance), Jolting Touch, Concelhaut's Draining Touch, Torrent of Flame, Minoletta's Precicely Piercing Burst, even Essential Phantom could be on theme, as it essentially duplicates your character and your characters equipped weapon.

Definitely listen to this man first over me, though I think he's got his Aloths and Eders mixed up . My assumption, which could definitely be flawed due to lack of experience, was that since OP wanted to use shields, stacking deflection would be the path of least resistance, no? That's at least where my rejection/objection came from in terms of enchanter. If they didn't decide to stack deflection, wouldn't it make the shield even more redundant in their concept? Assuming PotD, and for my own understanding mostly.

The best good case I can make for them is that the game isn't exactly as friendly to the idea and concept you want out of your character. There is room to both buff your character a lot and sling damaging spells around, so buffing yourself and just swinging with your sword will always be inherently less optimal then buffing yourself and slinging spells instead. It's the primarily doing damage through your weapon part that is the tough one to fix, as the requirement to embrace that concept is only really achieved by deliberately ignoring a lot of the inherent strength and versatility of being a Wizard itself. Three alternatives I can think of that come close to but not exactly to your goals: 1) Design your character similar to how I played Eder in my last play through. Equip a sword & shield, & buff yourself with wizard spells for survivability, and engage a bunch of mobs and then just cast spells on top of yourself until enemies are thinned or you are only left with the boss. I'd stick to Medium Shields in this instance, as to not penalize your accuracy to much with spells, while also providing a good boost in survivability. This sorta sucks though because the Large Shield modal is really good at absorbing reflex based spell damage... Once mobs are thinned, switch to dual wielding a pair of strong weapons for single target damage, and use the fighters full attack skills to leverage this. The advantage gained is not needing to use or skill into single target damage spells at all and you are leveraging both classes fairly equally. You can get away with being a Evoker + Fighter if you go down this route. 2) Play a Trickster (Rogue subclass) + Fighter instead. This is closer to the concept you want, except you aren't a Wizard anymore. Trickster gets access to a few buffs, Mirrored Image, Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage, and Llengrath's Displaced Image, which won't be as strong as the sum of all the Wizard buffs you COULD have access too, but the benefit is, this is a combination designed around actually doing damage with equipped weapons, and not spells. You'll have passives and talents that support doing damage with your weapon. Rogue + Fighters are inherently tanky enough, without all the added Wizard spells. My Swashbuckler Eder was tough as nails on PotD. He wasn't invincible, but being invincible is overrated anyway. Adding the Trickster spells on top will make you tougher then my Eder was, so it should feel satisfying to play as a front line character, who also feels a bit like a spell caster. Sticking to sword + shield will still be inherently weaker damage wise then dual wielding or two handed however. 3) Embrace summoned weapons. Unfortunately, summoned weapons are two handed, so you automatically lose the sword and shield aspect you want from your character. However, in terms of feeling like a Battlemage, within the constrains of what Deafire offers, this is probably your best bet. You cast a bunch of defensive spells, summon Spirit Lance and wreck martial AOE havoc on your enemies. Wizard defensive spells are so good, you don't really need a shield anyway, it's borderline overkill. You do not want to be a enchanter or a conjurer however. Both lose access to Illusion spells, which contain some of the best buffs you want on your character - Wizard's Double, Mirrored Image, Displaced Image, and Repulsive Visage.

I don't think so actually. He mostly uses base Crippling Strike + Penetrating Strike. He also has Knockdown, but rarely uses it over Penetrating Strike resource wise. I didn't take Clear Out or Power Strike, no room. I originally loved the idea of Clear Out + Club modal on crowds, but ultimately, the accuracy boost on mobs was unnecessary/win-more and finicky to get off anyway against multiple fortitude checks.

It definitely helps that one of the jobs in FFT are balanced around using said consumables. A Chemist is a darn decent class from start to finish, either as a secondary job or Mustadio's special machinist job and it's your only source of healing at the start of the game.The precedent to use consumables is already set right from the beginning. Definitely a great example. Priest spells also took time to charge, and you also had things like auto potion etc. which made using consumables painless. I think if I remember right, the purchasable Katana powers were basically better then or equivalent to the rare ones anyway, so that worked out fine too in its own way. It's been so bloody long since I thought about this game. I was very young when I devoured FFT, and not against duping the heck out of those rare Katana anyway >_>... I think maybe Masamune was the best non-purchasable power, with Regen + Haste? Otherwise, there was a purchasable Katana that damaged every enemy in a line, and another purchasable one that provided provided protect + shell. IIRC those were the staples. Ninja's also threw weapons, and THAT was hard to use at first, but even then, I think the second best item to throw was a purchasable axe if I remember correctly, so it was OK too.

I missed responding to this. Kapana Taga + Cadhu is fine for mobs, since for me, Eder's only job against mobs is to survive and hold them in place for Aloth to nuke on top of. I have Eder scripted to switch to sword & board + defensive stance + shield wall when engaged by multiple enemies and then switch to conqueror stance + dual wielding against dispersed enemies + bosses. He has both two weapon style & sword and shield style. I was more curious about which two weapons were worth equipping for single target damage and dual wielding. E.g. Grave Calling was great because it was inherently Legendary, but a portion of it's abilities are vessel/spirit only. What might be a better more universal choice? Based on my brief research, it's probably Scordeo's Edge + Beza's or Tarn's I think? Ignoring immunities of course, I keep Stalker's Patience + Rust's Poignard as backup.

I can't wait to start Kingmaker next, you gotta tell me what you think of it once you get your head around it. If you remember It's even worse then that, often by the time you have the knowledge to know to use consumables, that very knowledge allows you to defeat the encounters without them anyway. That's exactly what has mostly happened for me in Deadfire. Looking online to use consumables to trivialise encounters without prior knowledge sucks too and just feels bad. I think the issue is transparency. Deadfire is a moderately good example. One of my pet peeves is that I can't "scout" monsters stats until the fight actually starts, or I've completed the bestiary, and I'm still fairly lazy about using the bestiary. Maybe lazy isn't the right word, but stopping and reading the bestiary before every fight to remind myself about what this creatures stats or abilities are can feel pace breaking. If I could simply stealth up to enemies, pause the game, highlight over them, and have all the relevant information I needed to make educated decisions, along with hotlinks maybe to greater and more detailed information, I'd probably use different consumables way more. What's killing you, or what could kill you just needs to be more obvious! I don't think it takes away from the challenge or the mystery of the game either. I mean I guess sometimes it would, for boss fights etc. or encounters where enemies show up instead of being presented to you before, but I don't have answers on how to fix that... The game is either balanced around using consumables, in which case make the information needed to use them really obvious, or it isn't, and in that case, just remove consumables, because using them often ends up trivializing content once you "discover" it.

I'm so glad to hear that! I enjoy sharing. Just being on a forum instead of reddit alone is a huge nostalgia trip for discussion. I've learnt a tonne and even if I still feel dense sometimes, I at least now know why I am dense/stubborn because of everyone's advice. E.g. consumables. I swear I will use them properly one day.

At minimum Emeralds are on the loot table, and I am pretty sure Saphire and Rubies are as well. They are sold by the Dimesa in the Treasure Trove. My biggest trap as a noob was actually following builds for my characters + companions verbatim, then 3/4's of the way into the game, finding out I don't have enough Adra Ban to get all the build "necessary" items I wanted to Legendary (which may or may not matter, but from a noobs eyes, it felt like I trapped myself/failed). A good example of this is the popular Pallegina companion build, Tuono e Fulmine. It's 8 Adra Ban alone to get her weapon setups to Legendary. That's a huge chunk of your limited amount, and new players don't know that. Maybe it's okay to leave the Blunderbusses at Superior? As noob, I didn't know those answers. It's a weird tension as well, because Armor needs Adra Ban to get to superior. So things like Miscreant's Leather, Maia's Armor, and Aloth's Armor are good, but if you forgo using Adra Ban on them, they are stuck at Exceptional. Again, on PotD, it might not actually matter, since mobs are probably over penetrating anyway, even if you took these up to Legendary, but in a noobs eyes, having items sit at exceptional was just not acceptable for my noob brain. In reality, saving that Adra Ban for Legendary Weapons is probably more important. I quickly learned in subsequent playthoughs that Armors that are native Superb+ and weapons that are native Legendary are sometimes more valuable then they look, especially in the early game. In some sense build guides almost need disclaimers to new players. They are a natural source of guidance to new players, in what can be a very confusing game, but the guides themselves can be very contextual and self centered when viewed in both a party context and outside of the late game.

I re-read your original post, so I'll dial back and bit and work with that. Let's say you want to be a single class Wizards wielding a Sword and a Shield. The pros of a shield is more deflection. The cons are less accuracy with anything more then a small shield. There aren't a lot of pros to wielding a sword at all however. Swinging your sword won't ever be better then casting a spell, and if anything, swinging a sword would be slightly detrimental, because the recovery from it will reduce your spell casting reactivity. The Griffin's Blade with + 10% spell damage is probably the best Sword you can get in this situation, but you'll basically play like any other spell casting Wizard in Deadfire already. You could definitely be an Evoker here, but you'll play less like a battlemage and probably more like a area of effect damage mage. A front-line Wizard using summoned weapons is different animal. Citizal's Spirit Lance is pretty darn good and worth swinging. You aren't a Sword and Board Wizard anymore however. A MC Fighter or Paladin/Wizard with a Sword + Shield would make a mighty fine tank. In this case, you would focus on defensive spells, engagement slots, concentration, and I'd look at stacking reflex, then possibly just casting spells on top of yourself. If your aim wasn't to summon weapons, Evoker could be pretty good here (but then, be careful of casting spells on top of you, you might double one and possibly die). EDIT: Just saw your last reply - the important question is: Are you using summoned weapons or not? A MC Sword and Shield Fighter + Wizard isn't going to be the best way to do damage through weapons. You're more of a tank then you are a damage dealer with your weapon. Damage through spells is another thing.

You can buy it in the Dark Cupboard, in Neketaka. Are you planning to be a single class or multi class Wizard? Evokers lose access to summoned weapons, so it depends on what type of Battlemage you are planning to be. Losing Transmuation sucks too, but it all depends if you are planning to cast spells + swing your weapon around. If yes, versatility is limited anyway by your characters action economy. You probably won't be able to use every spell you have access too in battle anyway, so being limited by schools is less impactful. If you are purely casting spells? Well then it still depends. You won't lack for something to do, but there are some really good Transmutation spells worth looking at. Namely, Slicken, Combusting Wounds, Arcane Dampener, Pull of Eora, Freezing Pillar, Temporal Cocoon, and Arcane Cleanse.

I'm not an expert by any means, but for a front line battle, the most important Grimoire at the beginning would probably be Llengrath's Martial Masteries. Getting it is only gated by gold. You can get a similar Grimoire (Katrenn's Grimoire) for free, but it's gated by how early you can tackle a certain encounter. That Grimoire alone probably has the majority of every martial spell you want by itself. At a quick glance, it's missing Mirror Image, Wizard's Double and Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage as what might be considered must haves for a front line battle mage. If all you want to do is engage on the front line and swing your summoned weapon around, there is probably enough room to take those 3 spells + all the passives you could probably want and be good to go. After that, it's a bit more complicated. You're still a Wizard, so your options outside of swinging your summoned weapon around are almost limitless. So what Grimoire you want is largely decided by what else you want to do. At minimum, you are probably looking for high impact close range AOE spells. Ghost Blades is pretty darn good early game, as is Torrent of Flame for instance. The Battle-worn Grimoire, purchasable in Port Maje from Alteria is a great early choice. It has Chill Fog, Slicken, Combusting Wounds, Binding Web, Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage, and Minor Arcane Reflection. Grimoire of Disruption is another versatile spellbook. It has Thrust of Tattered Veils, Slicken, Expose Vulnerabilities, Arcane Dampener, Minor Arcane Reflection, and Arcane Reflection. It can be purchased relatively early, or found in Ruined Towers. Using it requires a bit of meta knowledge however. You need to know you are going into a battle where you want to interrupt a spell with Thrust of Tattered Veils, because switching to it to interrupt will probably mean you are to late. I'd either take Thrust as a skill anyway, or use scrolls. Ninagauth's Teachings will give you Slicken, Torrent of Flame and Death Ring. Other spells are good too, but situational based on what you want your character to do. Mercenary Wizard Grimoire (not sure where to find it exactly, outside of Ruined Towers) has Ghost Blades, Mirrored Image, and Arcane Reflection. I don't know all the essential martial spells, but I am sure some one else will step in and provide a list. Best advice? Take those spells first and then when you find a grimoire that provides two or three of those spells, respec out of them and take passives instead. The three above grimoires cover a lot of basic bases however and are a good start and are found easily enough. So don't take those ones :). I haven't recommended any late game Grimoires, because by the time you get them, you'll have a better grasp of what you are doing with your character and will know if the Grimoire suits you are not. Some with special spells are spoilers too, so it's up to you if you want me to list them or not.

Just completed FS, and only have SSS to go now (my third playthrough...)! I'm still terrible at using consumables, but this round, at minimum I was making sure I was always rested with Crusted Swordfish and Hot Razor Skewers. I think I even used potions a few times... My latest mistake was then using Champion's Boon on characters with the food buffs, thinking I'd get another +2 PEN, but I later realized they don't stack. Whoops. That was OK though, Xoti got a lot more mileage out of different spells this round, since the only super necessary ones were Devotions + Dire Blessing. Aloth was a AOE monster pretty much all game. Crusted Swordfish + Driving Echoes was key, as well as paying attention to spells with higher base PEN. Setting up Eder as a Reflex tank was also sublime. Highly, highly recommend this to new players. He could tank almost everything Aloth threw at him. I was sometimes still lost about what to cast against single targets, and still struggle balancing low level buffs versus reserving spells for things like Slicken etc. I also haven't really been struggling on fights anymore, so it's probably moot at this point. Some of those final FS fights were freaking chaotic however. The final boss and the yellow Imp gave me the most challenge. I again mostly put this down to not using consumables properly though or not switching to Crossbows like I trained everyone in for interrrupts........ I really hate that the only good crossbow in the game is locked behind a quest choice I will never make, ever. My MC Beguiler was pretty much spamming Pain Block, Driving Echoes on Aloth, and Ancient Memory. One disappointing part about these fights were the shear amount of immunities and resistances enemies had. I had to adapt from the ole strategy of spam all the debuffs with my MC, which is OK of course, a challenge is a challenge. In light of both fixing Aloth as a damage dealer and enemy immunities however, my MC didn't necessarily feel less relevant, but definitely felt more like an enabler and support to everyone else. Even dominating enemies in FS was finicky. Harder fights seemed to have enemies more spaced out for Ring Leader to shine and Puppet Master just wasn't super impactful when every enemy was both numerous and deadly(ish) and the bosses are (rightfully) immune. A few more questions of course Sorry if some of my questions might seem obvious. I mostly just want to discuss/affirm my experiences with people who also enjoy the game as much as I have. 1) I did diplomacy + insight for my MC. Diplomacy seemed mostly useful for avoiding fights, which in hindsight, I probably didn't really want to do anyway. There seems to rarely be any major reward for avoiding a fight outside of pure RP reasons. The best outcome I had from it was getting into Ori o Koiki super early to purchase a certain ring there and complete Aloth's quest super early as well. Insight also seemed mostly story related, but the revelations it unlocked aren't a surprise anymore. I guess I am asking for confirmation that skipping diplomacy + insight is probably OK next round? I can't think of any item that can be missed without it, or even any quest that you might really really want to solve peacefully that can't be done so in another way. The whole schtick of diplomacy basically feels more like quest shortcuts, which to me, has always been a odd outcome in a game where my goal is to be entertained by content, not skip it. 2) There really is no good replacement for Devotions of the Faithful is there? I'm not stuck thinking it's a mandatory for every play through, but no other class gives a universal AOE accuracy buff does it? Outside of PER Inspirations I mean. 3) Before FS, Adra Ban was a real choke point. So much so, I avoided upgrading the Red Hand to Legendary, just because it wasn't a priority over everything else. Eventually I switched to Veilpiercer, since it was inherently Legendary, and I didn't have to worry about pierce immune enemies anymore. Purging Volley, Supressing Shots and Weightless Draw all seem fantastic as well. After FS, however, that choke point is no longer there. Should I stick with Veilpiercer, or is there another ranged weapon I should be looking at? I'd prefer a dual damage type, because my second slot is filled with the Kitchen Stove + Mordwyr. Ditto with Eder actually. I defaulted to Grave Calling + Rust's Poignard for Adra Ban reasons, and they both certainly seem good enough to me. Now that options are more open though, is there some better combinations for single target damage? He uses Kapana Taga + Cadhu for mobs. Double and triple thanks again to everyone who has replied

@thelee Mind blown as usual haha. Yes, I am getting the elemental PEN talents on Aloth, I take Lightning, Fire and Frost. So if understand right, that makes Kalakoth's Freezing Rake roughly PEN 10 base, but Chain Lightning 11, which is the same amount Meteor Shower has at tier IX? Delayed Fireball is then also a bit better then I thought, at PEN 10 as well? In which case, it's less about finding high PEN spells and more about avoiding low ones in low tiers (AKA Fireball, which would be PEN 8 ) and really paying attention to high ones in high tiers. Was I correct in assuming Blackened Plate Armor lowers all armor? Ditto with any other effect? Got time to test it myself, and yes it lowers all armor. There has got to be some cool multiclass badass frontline pirate themed Chanter who wears the black plate, sides with the Principi and terrorizes the Deadfire in a certain ship.

Alright, so summarizing everything I’ve learned from the beginning of this thread, here are some team improvements I am making: - > Eder Focus change to fit the team dynamic a bit better. Switches between a durable tank for Aloth to nuke on top of, then into a single target DPS for clean up/low body counts/bosses. Thanks @Boeroer for these ideas. Key talents: Persistent distraction Adept Evasion Snake Reflexes Bear’s Fortitude / Determination / Rapid Recovery / Riposte Sword & Shield style AND Two Weapon Style Large Shield Modal Key items: The Bloody Links -> Patinated Plate -> Blackened Plate Armor/Magnera’s Chain -> Question: Does the -1 Armor Aura from Blackened Plate Armor mean ALL armor, or just Slash + Crush + Pierce? If no, then I will probably stick to Patinated Plate or Magnera’s Chain. Chain seems nice for the + 10 WILL/FORT + REF, but Patinated Plate is Legendary (saves Adra) and the stun is great for crowds. Kapana Taga + Cadhu Scalth Grave Calling + Tarn’s Respite/Beza’s Toothed Blade/Scordeo’s Edge (?) / Reaping Knives Upright Captain’s Belt -> The Maker’s Own Power (with Dex resistance) Horns of the Bleak Mother -> Horns of Aurochs Pretty satisfied with this shift, being able to drop Pull of Eora + Binding Web/Slicken + AOE spells recklessly on top of Eder should really alleviate some of my Wizard issues. It really feels like talents from both classes are being leveraged as well. -> Pallegina Mid-range Crusader Steal Serafen’s Hand Mortar + Fire in the Hole, shoot groups with Flames of Devotion (is this a decent idea?). Initially stay out of Aloth’s AOE range, though I am sure she could take a hit or two if needed. For bosses and enemies that dive my backline, switch to Morning Star + Body Blows and Mule Kick the crap out of them. Tactical Barrage over Disciplined Strikes for larger AOE & durations. Fit in Reinforcing Exhortation -> relieve some buff pressure from Xoti so she can better prioritize some higher level spells/buffs in her rotations. Into the Fray to help pull off enemies from the backline? I am still considering a Herald, but really reluctant because trivialising fights with unlimited healing isn’t my schtick. It’s hard not to be tempted by And Hel-Hyraf Crashed, Not Felled by Axe, Weapon summons and Aefyllath Ues Fyr however. -> Xoti No changes, I’ll stick with and give single class Priest another go and work on being more flexible with spells. Alleviating the self-imposed urgency on some buffs by spreading them out will help as well. -> Aloth READ MY SPELLS. I’ve derped here big time and didn’t realise a lot of the spells I was casting were really low penetration spells (e.g. Fireball as one example). Thanks @thelee for pointing this out. From what I can see: Ghost blades, Rolling Flame, Torrent of Flame, Crackling Bolt and Chain Lightning are the only PEN 9 spells? So the second important takeaway is: BUFF Aloth’s penetration! I openly admit, for whatever weird reason, it never occurred to me as a priority to buff his penetration. 20 levels in, and I probably never thought to cast Champion’s Boon or Driving Echoes on him, ever. Full. On. Derp. The priority then changes to getting Champions Boon on Aloth/Pallegina, instead of Eder/Pallegina. Alternatively, a buff sequence of Valorous Echoes -> Driving Echoes on Aloth, Reaping Knives on Eder (later, when needed), and leaving Xoti to focus on Devotions, CoP, Champ’s Boon (Pallegina), Symbol of Eothas, Interdiction etc. leaves a nice balance between party member responsibility, and a clean approach to dealing with penetration on all members. The third takeaway from Aloth is more spells like Slicken etc. which I admit is heavily under used by myself. I think having Eder as a beacon for these spells is going to help a lot. Thanks @Scrapulous for pointing out Ninagauth's Death Ray being Foe only. I foolishly auto assumed it wouldn't be party friendly. -> MC At my third playthrough, I am torn between trying something new, versus perfecting what I have. I definitely appreciate the Beguiler more now as a swiss army knife of utility then trying to pigeon him into any one role. He brings a little bit of everything to the party and really balances things out. I both can’t imagine playing without one, but this game also lends itself to so many interesting possibilities!

Right, so I really need to start using and exploring different spells with the Wizard. I can do that. @thelee I know you are a huge priest advocate, so I might as well grab your knowledge while I can. I am having trouble justifying a full class priest so far for Xoti. I think the Priests buffs are definitely great, but the spells I use most are in tiers I-V, and after then it becomes an action economy issue again. Dire Blessing -> Devotions -> CoP - > Interdiction -> Triumph -> Champion's Boon x2, are already a large portion of actions, ignoring recasts and situation specific spells. After that, I do enjoy Shields of the Faithful, Symbol of Eothas & Hand of Weal and Woe, but the bulk of contributions are definitely front loaded and there are still other spells still worth casting as well (Consecrated Ground, Shining Beacon, Despondant Blows, Divine Mark, Spiritual Ally). A Priest just doesn't lack for quality contributions... I avoided BDD & Salvation of Time (& Ancient Memory) - so that does take away from a single class Priests mid-game power spike. Becoming semi immortal by level 11 and immortal (w/ Cipher) by 13 is obviously busted and not ignorable (unless you choose to ...). I think it comes down to party comp + perspective I guess. In Xoti's case, Multi with Monk is looking quite appealing now. Endurance dance + Duality of Mortal Presence is also a great level 10 power boost for little to no opportunity cost. Boosted Accuracy to land an empowered Interdiction and a solid boost to INT, MIG, DEX, + 15% action speed to get those critical buffs off faster and longer all seem really great...

Separate question about Chanters... Is this a class where it looks like you have a million good options, but ultimately end up never using half of those options in favour of options that straight up work better? I love the idea of things like The Shield Cracks, Not Felled by the Axe, Reny's Daret's Ghost Spake, and a bunch of the Phrases, but I'll be dissapointed if the Chanter basically becomes a Ancient Memory/Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr, Dragon/Weapon/Eld Nary's curse summoning monkey...

More ramblings and thoughts... I've made it to level 20 now and working my way through Beasts of Winter. I think I only have endgame + dlc left. Outside of Disintegrate, my Cipher has definitely taken a step back damage wise. Amplified Wave just isn't cutting it/spammable enough to have a major impact outside of interrupts. On the other hand, he is a swiss army knife of utility. Mind Plague & Pain Block are now my two most used spells. Driving Echoes has been very useful as well. Mental Binding/Secret Horrors/Phantom Foes still useful as always. Ring Leader is clutch of course when enemies aren't immune. He is having a lot of trouble generating focus on fights with low enemy counts. Specifically a very very early encounter in Beasts of Winter was a real struggle resource wise. If Reaping Knives dropped, I was basically starved, which sucked. The Red Hand is struggling basically, though admittedly, I don't have it Legendary yet because I've run out of Adra and it wasn't a priority/problem until now... I still have a love hate relationship with Aloth (Wizards in general I guess really...). Like, the enemies in Beats of Winter are marked with a clear weakness to fire, fine, but his Fireballs seem to just do nothing! It's really frustrating/confusing. He is both OP sometimes with things like Wall of Many colours + Missile Salvo and Meteor Shower, or just doesn't seem to do anything at all. Some fights are so chaotic with enemies jumping right on top of your backline that I'm still getting lost on what to do with him. Amazing when enemies are bottle necked properly at a choke point, but just terrible when not. He is struggling as a debuffer as well, simply because my Cipher has 75% of that covered, both in effectiveness and diversity. With unlimited resources on debuffs, the Beguiler can brute force through high defenses, whereas Aloth is left waiting for accuracy buffs from Xoti, and then still stumped on what to cast after that. Miasma of Dull Mindness is rarely worth casting because Body Blows + Bewildering Blows + Borrowed instinct is enough versus hard single targets, and not large enough AOE wise versus most mobs. Arcane Dampener + Arcane Cleanse are of course useful. I 100% feel like I am overlooking spells or tactics that makes Wizards more then Missile/Meteor Shower monkeys. Xoti is still fine, I am definitely needing to heal less (Pain Block + Greater Lay on Hands just works) and she gets a substantial, albeit slightly boring amount of buffs out now. I wish every fight didn't start with Dire Blessing + Devotions. It's a small complaint, combined with a small nagging doubt about how much she is actually contributing to the party versus another straight up damage dealer. Her biggest felt contribution is enabling Aloth certainly. Pallegina + Eder are AOK too. I think against large mobs, I need to start using Large Shield model more and just allowing Aloth to nuke straight on top of both of them... These two are carrying extended chaotic fights however.

All these replies fill me with joy. This game is such a hidden gem of fun, but also in the most frustrating way. I've read thelee's FAQ at least 3 times over and I still have a million questions and I still walk around the game going "I wonder if this works", or "damn that's cool". Every time I load up this game and not immediately increase the game speed, but just watch my party walk around the beautiful areas, I am so impressed. Is there a satisfying AOE martial class that is not a Barbarian? I am guessing a Mortar Monk as another option. Combat is so satisfying sometimes when I blow up a group of mobs, that I keep getting the urge to go all in on that. The Kitchen Stove Thunderous report attack is so satisfying to use.

Another quick question. Nomad's Brigandine or Devil of Caroc Breastplate on Pallegina (Crusader)? I am using Whispers and have grown to it with Offensive Parry, and I like the idea of the added deflection + immunity to disengagement attacks so that Pallegina can run off and Lay on Hands without risk (and in Whispers case, to great benefit). I've been reading conflicting things about Reckless Brigandine on Eder. The low pierce armor is noticeable and some sources are saying the action speed boost isn't worth it, but this is in relation to a MC character who has Pirate Cosmo + High dex, both of which Eder does not have. Any advice here as well?

Mechanically, how does this work with AOE spells, or does it at all? I went with a Wood Elf Beguiler with the following stats: 10 MIG 8 CON 19 DEX 19 PER 18 INT 4 RES With early gear, it ends up being 10, 10, 20, 20, 20, 5 (I like clean numbers...). My old spread after items was 15, 10, 15, 20, 20, 5. I decided to de-emphasize damage and focus instead on action/recovery speed to spam spells debuff/faster. I'll use Griffin's Blade to make up some of the damage lost on might, and skipped Hearth Orlan's crit advantage because I wasn't 100% sure how much it was getting leveraged. At least 50% of the time in battle, I am not necessarily actively targeting enemies my allies are, so I figured the bonus was probably more niche then it seems. It does help a lot when the fights gets down to 1 tough enemy however...

Thanks again everyone for all the input and help. I have another question... Does Minor Threat on a Hearth Orlan benefit a Beguiler much? I get with an Ascendant, any extra crit with a Weapon is going to get your focus up faster, but with a Beguiler, I'm mostly getting focus through spells which AFAIK aren't affected. It would be helpful against single targets/bosses I guess, and I assume it works with spells like Disintegrate?

Ya, I meant for Priest Xoti. 75% of the fights are her buffing and/or healing, so I was toying with the idea of basically setting her up with the dagger + large/medium shield modal abilities, and just not attacking at all. Not attacking, mostly because her 1 handed Scepter damage is trivial, but getting caught in a recovery period isn't.

Follow up question for anyone still reading. How valuable is Xoti's Lantern, versus equipping her with say... Cadhu Scalth?