PrimeJunta

^ Excellent run-down, as usual. One thing that I think is worth mentioning is the choice of weapon and weapon focus. It's basically between Ruffian (pistol, blunderbuss) and Soldier (arquebus). Pros and cons: Arquebus pros: Better range Better damage per projectile (i.e. better against high-armour targets) Available early Arquebus cons: Not many unique ones in the game (the best you can get is something you enchanting yourself, which is still pretty good) Not as much absolute damage potential as the blunderbuss Ruffian pros: Lots of unique weapons with special capabilities, making for fun builds Blunderbusses? Blunderbusses! There is a pistol available extremely early, but it is terrible unless you figure out how to 'repair' it using herbs, body parts, and small rocks Ruffian cons: Pistols are kind of meh unless you're going for a specialist build Blunderbusses only available mid-game I'd go with Ruffian as the default choice anyway. As to classes, there's one more thing to consider (mild spoiler follows): I like guns in Pillars. The sound is especially satisfying.

NWN 2's companion AI settings have various flags for item use. Personally I always leave them off as I hate it if limited resources are used unnecessarily, as they usually are. That said, I don't use consumables all that much either, and when I do, it's for a "planned fight." I'm in fact kind of pushing myself to using them more as they're pretty interesting and you can craft a lot of them easily.

Yeah the shared health pool was a disaster. You had to baby the pet like you wouldn't believe, and the ranger would keel over most of the time anyway. The current system is much better, I actually like rangers now. One of those ideas that sound cool on paper but really don't work when you get down to it. They put a lot of work into it, said that it was difficult to implement, and over a lot of the beta it didn't even work properly, so I'm especially glad they had the rocks to drop it when it was obvious it wasn't working.

So you think a class that's designed to need all 6 attribute scores is well designed? Wow. Of course, I'd have thought it was obvious to everyone. Why? Because it means that if you vary the attribute distribution, you'll get materially different builds which will play in different ways, and I like variety. D&D might as well not have an attribute system because there's really only one optimal way to distribute the stats for each class. There won't be an optimal stat distribution: instead, there will be a big bunch of them, each of which requires a different set of equipment and tactics to make it work. That, incidentally, was Josh's objective when designing the classes. He didn't completely succeed for most of them, but some do make you think about the stats. The barbarian, monk, and paladin are notably successful in this respect; the caster classes less so. (CON is still too dumpable IMO except for monks and maybe barbs who kind of expect getting wailed on a lot.)

Interesting research there. Thanks. Have you tried varying the deflection differential between the striker and the tank also? I haven't, but I have a gut feeling that it's a factor too. I've switched Rings of Deflection around and moving one from the defender to the striker appears to make the AI target the striker less.

I like classes that make full use of all or at least many abilities. If there's an obvious way to minmax it's kind of dull. One good thing about barbs is that they do just this -- you want Per to get carnage to hit, Mig to make it do damage, Int to give it as much range as possible, Con and Res to be able to stay standing while you do your thing, and Dex to hit as often as possible. What to choose, what to choose...?

Mechanically it would make sense for the ranged attack bonus, but an Ocean Folk human was more thematically appropriate so I went with that.

A stat distribution by itself doesn't really say much, it's what talents and items you pick. Paladins aren't that great for DPS compared to rogues, fighters, or barbs; all of them have more talents that boost it. I'm kinda afraid that your beefy DPS paladin will end up not being able to do much paladin-y stuff (very small auras, very short Lay on Hands and exhortation durations), while not being as robust as a fighter or anywhere near as hurty as a fighter or rogue. From where I'm at, the fun with paladins is all in the support abilities, and then finding ways to use them effectively. I'm totally in love with the Darcozzis and their Inspiring Liberation. My next project is figuring out how to make the best of Zealous Charge though.

Ahh, LOL no, I kinda doubt they stack with themselves. It would get ridiculously powerful fast. Worth a test though! Hmmm... how would this sound for a party themed on coordination? Front line: Pallegina with Shame or Glory and Outworn Buckler, stacked Flames of Devotion Grieving Mother with Cladhaliath enchanted for Marking, build skewed to raw damage Edér with Blade of the Endless Paths Itumaak Second line: Sagani with Stormcaller, talents split between pet-coordination and straight damage Commendatore Petucci with St. Garam's Spark, built as above Aloth with Cgadob's Hazel, built for maximum Blast damage It'd be a little low on CC potential, but Aloth and GM should be able to get the job done between them. Or, I could replace her with Zahua or the Devil of Caroc, and just use scrolls and potions to make up for the lack of a second caster. I think that way Aloth would be pretty busy casting to get much shooting done though...

According to Torm51, Marking and Coordinated Attacks do stack. Which wand would this be? Edit: Looked it up, Cgadob's Hazel. Thanks for the tip!

Argh, I didn't check for that. The numbers flicker quite a bit in the thick of the action. So probably not. I shuffle items around a quite a lot as new ones come in. I don't normally keep Durance in the party which means I want one or preferably two Rings of Unshackling (or the same enchantment on something else). Ring of Overseeing unless I swapped armor with Aloth and gave him one instead. Used various gloves, among others Archer's. Didn't think of using Boots of Zealous Command on this one but they're an extremely good idea. I'm currently playing with it a bit more to see how it shapes up. So far so good... Edit: come to think of it, it'd be kind of fun to make a Coordinated party. Cladhaliath, Shame or Glory, St. Garam's Spark, and Blade of the Endless Paths all in use at the same time. Give Pallegina Coordinated Positioning too. If it works like you say it does, that way most people would get an extra +10 - +20 ACC most of the time without any particular intervention...

This is a variant of the Darcozzi Forward Observer: it makes use of the paladin's unique ability to stack Accuracy on allies in the same way. However, it plays very differently as it is an aggressive ranged striker rather than a relatively passive leads-from-the-front tank. It's built around another Marking weapon, namely the St. Garam's Spark pistol. It's a much more active build as it has relatively high DEX. Stats: MIG 16 CON 6 DEX 15 PER 16 INT 18 RES 6 Talents: Flames of Devotion! Intense Flames! Zealous Focus! Liberating Exhortation! Inspiring Liberation! Scion of Flame WF: Ruffian! Gunner Coordinated Attacks! Sworn Enemy Gear: St. Garam's Spark with Burning Lash. Stack Int any way you can, it's crucial. PER and MIG come next. Light armour. Strategy: Have as much of the party as possible target the same enemy (everyone gets +10 ACC from St Garam's Spark and +10 ACC from Coordinated Attacks on top of the +6 from Zealous Focus). Use the Liberating Exhortations at suitable moments for another +10 for selected characters for a pretty extended duration. When a suitable moment presents itself, hit with Flames of Devotion (haven't tallied up the full bonus from Intense Flames and Scion of Flame but it's pretty significant). If necessary, prepare with Sworn Enemy. For extra lulz give one of the frontliners a Marking weapon as well (primary or secondary) so the Commendatore gets a +10 bonus on those Flames of Devotion too. Should mesh well with a chanter (Sure-Handed Ila), and benefits from two or three hard-hitting front-liners. Might be interesting to try a party with Kana and Sagani, with Sagani supplying the extra front-liner and serious damage potential of her own. Pros: Active character -- high Dex, light armour. Significant damage potential when it counts. Ranged character, which leaves room in the front line for another hard hitter. You can round off the paladin abilities with either offensive or defensive ones as you like. St. Garam's Spark is way easier to acquire than any of the other Marking weapons, so you can get rolling with it sooner. Cons: Somewhat fragile. Misses out on Outworn Buckler. Not as good alpha-striker potential as a ranged paladin built around a heavier ranged weapon. I just briefly tried this build and it seems to work, but haven't played extensively with it.

I'm currently playing with a Darcozzi Forward Observer pally, and it's very effective and loads of fun. She's quite tanky, but the point isn't tanking, it's maximising ally Accuracy, and it really works extremely well.

Happy New Year. Mig 15 Con 10 Dex 6 Per 14 Int 19 Res 14 My reasoning? Dex is dumpable because she doesn't need to act much: just being there and pointing is enough, and most of the time the Exhortations wouldn't need to be chain-cast either, as timing is more important for them than speed. Int OTOH is super-important because I wanted the Exhortations (and Lay on Hands) to last as long as possible. The rest I split evenly between Mig, Per, and Res. I could possibly have left Mig at 10 and split the difference between Per and Res, but there it is.

Not so, you get the call from the steward as soon as you've finished the Temple of Woedica in the catacombs.

I maxed out Int for the durations and AoE's, but especially the durations. Just slap on the Exhortations at the start of the encounter and watch Pallegina and Edér wreck things. Dumped Dex as action speed isn't much of an issue for this role. Edér with the speed boots + exhortation is also a seriously effective mage-killer, even without the Marking and Coordination.

Yeah, stupid magic item crafters, don't know what they're doing.

I don't respec.

That'd work for me too. They could even keep the 1/encounter limit.

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep an eye out for Golden Gaze. I haven't had much trouble with the endurance cost from Dangerous Implement. Fights rarely go on long enough for it to be a problem. I just hit WM and absolutely facerolled the Stalwart ogres with this L7 party -- I recall having a lot more trouble with them with a L8 party I used before. Hiravias is surprisingly effective in spiritshift form actually.

I couldn't wait for WM2 and started another game with the DFO as PC. And yeah baby it rocks. I just hit level 7. Struggled a bit to get there because I wanted Shame or Glory as early as possible, and those forge knight were... not easy at level 5 (party at the time was PC, Edér, Pallegina, Aloth, Kana, Durance). Got splattered all over the walls before I figured out a way to beat them, but I eventually did, although I did have to go back and rest once. My current party is -- Front row: PC - the DFO. Shame or Glory + Outworn Buckler. Planning on using that Marking pistol you get from completing Heritage Hill as the #2 weapon, currently I have nothing in that slot. Edér - built around dual-wielding sabres for maximum hurt. I hadn't tried this before and it's kind of fun; I was planning on replacing him with Zahua once I get around to WM but I'm actually really liking this build so maybe I'll keep him. He wears high-quality light-medium armour (currently some fancy scale mail I picked up from the Endless Paths), and is relatively robust, requires little micromanagement, and puts out a LOT of hurt. He's currently wielding Resolution and Blade of Prix, will probably upgrade one of those to Bittercut when I get it (if I'm keeping him). Secondary weapon is Leadspitter, for use on slash-immune critters. Pallegina - got her Tidefall and stacked everything on Flames of Devotion -- Intense Flames, Scion of Flame, Burning Lash - with her. She also provides more Lay on Hands and a Reviving Exhortation plus Zealous Endurance. Secondary weapon is an arquebus. Also a fun build. Back row: Aloth - tried another slightly different build with him: stacked everything on implement damage. He's wielding the Engwithan Sceptre enchanted to the max, has Blast, Penetrating Blast, Dangerous Implement, and WF: Noble. Pretty serious pew-pew-pew damage with him too; spells mostly CC. Hiravias - stacked everything on Wildstrike (notice a theme here?). Mostly because I never could figure out what to do with him other than cast spells, just to see if it works. Wildstrike Corrode, Spirit of Decay, Greater Wildstrike. He's surprisingly lethal when wildshaped actually, but I only recently got him so haven't had time to experiment much with the tactical possibilities. Other than that, he's got a wand. GM - nothing that special here. Gave her WF: Peasant and that one pretty nice hunting bow from the Endless Paths, Marksman, Pen Shot, and other archer talents. Will upgrade to Stormcaller once I get it. Overall I really dig this. With the DFO, Edér's and Pallegina's to-hit percentages are almost always deep in the green, it's not unusual to see 90-100%, and they have the damage output to match. The party is also remarkably robust and feels all-round balanced; there's relatively little feel of difficulty swinging up and down (unless I knowingly go after stuff early, like doing Winds of Steel or going after Tidefall) -- and I'm not actually using heavy armour on anyone. (I did have Kana tagging along until I completed Time and Tide, and he was wearing Crucible Knights Officer Plate; I wanted to see how he'd work out in the front line. He didn't. Not all that hurty and not all that tanky.)

No big loss methinks.

Yeah I lovehate Civ V. It's one of the most just-one-more-round addictive games I've ever come across, but it really could be so much better (and some of the predecessors were, in those respects). In particular, it has way too many positive feedback loops. Once you break through, you become unstoppable. I've looked at the graphs of all the games I've won, and there's always one point where my curve takes off, blasts past the competition, and after that it's all over bar the shouting. Or else you get the short end of the stick and get steamrolled by Attila or Ashurbanipal in the early game. (I usually play at King difficulty which means that I'm fairly severely outgunned early on; where I can muster at most two or three combat units, neighbouring civs field armies of ten, twelve or so.) The only difference is when that happens. The Fascist England game was actually one of the rare ones it took until Renaissance -- at that point I was number 3 after Poland and the Shoshone, but then I built a navy and took the Shoshone capital which was on the coast; that gave me a comfortable lead over Poland, and that was pretty much that. Some earlier iterations of the series made Happiness much harder to manage for large civs, which made it possible to turn the tables much more effectively. In Civ V it's really not a problem as long as you pay attention to it. OTOH they didn't have as many toys to play with, and Civ is all about the toys. (Also, navies are way OP in Civ V, ever since you could use them to take cities -- and the AI isn't able to play them effecively. I've taken to playing on Pangaea maps lately to make things a bit more challenging. Trouble is, that tends to make the early game not-much-fun if you happen to have someone aggressive for a neighbour. All too often you get stuck with unwinnable wars that drain all your resources or kill you outright, what with the production bonuses the AI gets.)

Yeah, I know. I just do the evil playthroughs anyway and have a shower afterward. I just finished a game of Civ V with a domination victory, while playing as Protestant-Fascist England, and it left me feeling really dirty. To make it worse, my final move was dropping a nuke on Attila. (To be fair, he had been repeatedly attacking my allies for a quite a while, and that aggression cannot stand.) Completely different feelz than from the cultural victory I got as Buddhist-Communist Indonesia. Attila is a big mean meany-head.

Oh, you get caught up in the Modron Maze too?