prototype00

You are in fact, wrong. As Boeroer pointed out earlier, left behind companions get less, a point I’ve made clear since the start.

Errm nope? I just did absolutely everything else before heading to Twin Elms. It’s actually a bit boring, but unfortunate since this is my perfect playthrough party.

Yeah, right? You sure that wasn’t the case because you hit Max level by Act 2 and then they eventually caught up with the extra XP? It’s very easy to mistake one for the other.

The Stronghold adventures that you could only assign to one of the out of party PCs, that would only complete when the rest of the party completed a quest that gave even more xp, driving the others non-quester out of party PCs even further down into the xp hole? Brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that? I’m actually not so broken up about the build-a-PCs or the sidekicks. It’s the main story characters that concern me. Serafen probably isn’t going to make it into team A in my playthrough, but I don’t want to hesitate when I do bring him out.

So in PoE I, I had my favourite party, we all did (For reference, mine was Pallegina, Durance, Grieving Mother, Hiravais and Kana). But I ran into an issue when I wanted to switch things up, y’see not only did I have to learn the other new character’s groove, he/she was often a whole level (possibly 2?) behind the rest of the party! It really turned me off experimenting and switching (funny for such a small thing) Now we come to Deadfire, with its 5 person party. With a smaller party there are going to be more remedial cases than ever! Would it be so hard to just have everyone in the extended party have the same bloody xp? Anybody else feel like this? Is Obsidian doing anything? No PC left behind and all that?

Thanks KDubya, that is perfect, basically what I was looking for. Just curious, a couple more questions if I may? 1. If we use Torments Reach Instead of just Autoattacking, will that be equally as potent? I recall Torments Reach was great last time. 2. Is it possible to cherry pick the good Cipher passive (Thunderous blows) and then just stick to Monk for the active abilities, or does Power Level prevent that? 3. Is the amount of penetration that the multiclassing gets enough for most combats with Hel Hyraf picking up the slack? (I was probably also going to multi Pallegina) Thanks so much for giving basically the thesis on monks before the game is even released! (Shifter/ Helwalker/ Moon godlike is basically for the innate heals which are massive thanks to Might, then it’s just a Shapeshifter for the most part combat wise, just with Swift Srtikes).

Since I can only stand here on the jetty and gaze longingly at those marvelous beta ships whisking across the bay I'd just like to beg a crumb of information: With all the changes happening thus far has anyone tried out a Monk (Shattered Pillar) / Cipher (Soulblade) multiclass thus far, and: 1. How does it play, would I be better off going straight Monk (Shattered Pillar) or Cipher (Soulblade) 2. If I replaced Shattered Pillar with Helwalker, would it... work better? 3. Between this and a Druid (Shifter) / Monk (Helwalker) which I hear is also mucho synergistic, which one would you pick 4. Good races for any of the combos I mentioned? Thank yee all so very kindly for the answers! prototype00

Ah, so you play more like Melee Cipher than off Tank Monk? (Ie you let your tanks engage, them flank’em for massive damage)?

The low Con worries me a bit. I remember playing a high Con monk back in POE I and that was already a bit of a dicey proposition.

Is Soul Annihilation considered a spell effect then. Hmm can’t dump Res then, as you say.

I remember hearing some good things about this particular combination, good Damage output, good penetration, able to not concentrate on Res and just on Mig/Dex/Con/Int instead. Don’t have the beta though, would anyone like to volunteer their thoughts?

I have to say I was looking forward to the Druid/monk. I too lament the lack of synergy but it is what it is. For preference I think I will proceed with a Monk (Shattered Pillar)/Cipher (Soulblade) instead, which I hear has full synergy with their effects.

Yeah, probably. It also might have something to do with the first character in the party lineup (which was Eder). I've switched it around and booted up a old save and its back to the checklist loot.

Arrgh! Now no matter how much I rest, the loot doesn't reset after I reload the save. I must be messing up somewhere...

I've restarted the game, wanting to get one more run in before Deadfire, and gosh darn it if the loot isn't completely weird again! I'm at the top floor of the temple of Eothas, and no matter what manipulation I try: 1. Resting until the next day, exiting and re-entering 2. Changing up the main character (putting him first) the darn thing is a minor ring of deflection, and won't budge! I took reasonable precaution, I quicksaved before opening every rando loot container, and reloaded before trying something different, so why is this happening? prototype00

So in the interest of planning out what my Monk Watcher is going to multiclass with in Deadfire, which are the good combinations for Monks? Monk / Soulblade Cipher I hear is good, as is Monk / Barbarian, but what other synergistic monk combos are there, in your estimation, Obsidian community?

Thanks very much for the confirmation. It is a shame, but I hear Monk/Soul blade Cipher also rocks so might give that a go...

Hello, don’t have the beta, but just wanted to check if Transcendent suffering had any interaction with Spiritshape unarmed attacks? Cheers for the confirmation!

Maybe Skald for melee synergy or tribby for the songs. Rogue for sneaky fighting? Rogue trickster gets some wizard illusion spells but reduced sneak attack. Druid for a mix of support and offensive magic? D&D1E bards were just fighter/druids after all, not that I need to go that old school. Thoughts? For the Druid combo, you probably won't even have to have your MC do it. The Amaua Companion Tekehu is a Chanter/Druid. So they can probably handle the Melee-Chanting.

Since the effective power levels of both Shapeshifting and Transcendent suffering will be lower, they might allow them to stack? (Also Bears doing Chuck Norris Kicks ala Torments's Reach) In any event it's a question I posed directly to Josh's Tumblr page.

Monk Druid! By all the fake gods of Eora, please let Spiritshape and Transcendent Suffering stack!

If I can't make the Druid/Monk work in this iteration, I will be sad indeed.

Y'know Boroer, I was pretty confused as to why they were doing this too, but your mention of Soulbound equipment made it all click! So many people were complaining that Soulbound weapons lacked zing in the first game, well now they are the best thing going. Makes total sense!

Because the game doesn't come out for a while and you have to talk about something and I like speculating about the numbers?

Hmm, thought I'd ask, how does the level cap rising to 20 change the current wisdom concerning break points?