Enoch

Nature Godlike.

This is also consistent for Potions and Drugs. The tooltips describe a "level" modifier, which is sometimes just Power Level (for pure Healing potions), sometimes just Alchemy skill (for magnitude of non-healing effects, such as the Armor bonus from a Potion of Spirit Shield), and sometimes both added together (durations: 5% longer per PL+ALC). I think all alchemical stuff counts as PL1 as the baseline (i.e., you get a bonus for each PL above 1), but I haven't tested this much with higher-level potions, etc. The Nalpazca bonus functions just like an Empower: all drug durations and drug healing effects (Whiteleaf) are boosted by 10 PLs (generally meaning a +50% duration), but buff magnitudes are the same as that for a non-Nalpazca with equivalent Alchemy skill. Alchemy skill for potion/drug purposes is personal-- no bonus from party assist. Your friends can't help you get high.

You are right that anyone can do the things you basically need a rogue for in most other games, D&D and otherwise. I think that restricting skills to classes might be a step in the right direction when it comes to that issue. Mechanics for example should be reserved to rogues, ciphers and rangers. Avoiding this was a deliberate design goal. It leads you to bad places. If you balance classes against each other, in general, you get a Rogue who is a combat liability that the party has to drag around for locks/traps duty (a.k.a., the classic D&D thief). If you balance the classes against each other for combat specifically, the super-skill class is too good. And if you try to do both, and give exclusive reign over other skills to different classes (Fighters get athletics, Wizards get Arcana, etc.), you greatly disincentivize player creativity in party construction. Indeed, there are good arguments that Obsidian didn't go far enough in divorcing Skills from Class. I probably would enjoy the system more if, say, backgrounds were stronger (or you get to pick more than one), and the skill bonuses associated with Class were removed.

The answer to all your questions is: "Smoke Svef Every Day." Seriously-- it's +5 PER for 180 seconds, and both of those scale up meaningfully with higher Alchemy. (Coral Snuff also works-- it's +3 in each of the mental attributes. Sadly, you can't stack 2 Drug effects.)

Transcendent Suffering probably isn't the best example, as high-level multiclassed Monks basically aren't built to use it. They'll go unarmed early on when the difference is minor, but switch to being weapon users when they start finding the really interesting uniques.

Goes back further than Fallout. Among others, the original Pool of Radiance had an overland-travel map like this.

https://twitter.com/jesawyer/status/994570673883246592

Rather spoilery, but somebody on Reddit has mined the game files to show the number and range of skill checks: https://www.reddit.com/r/projecteternity/comments/8i76al/deadfire_dialogue_options_report/ Which links to: https://wiki.fireundubh.com/deadfire/dialogue-options

OK, results of further testing: Alchemy does effect duration predictably, and magnitude unpredictably. All of this is assuming that the tooltips, where available, are accurate. (I haven't noticed any discrepancies, but there were instances in Pillars 1 when they were unreliable.) I think "Power Level" in the Nalpazca description and "Level" in the tooltips mean Alchemy skill (without Party Assist), plus 1/2 Character level, rounded down. (I.e., 1 for each Power Level after the first, but with multiclasses treated as single-classes.) Nalpazca boosts Power Level by 10 for certain elements of Drug effects, but not others. Duration yes, but most magnitudes, no. The per-tic healing of Whiteleaf is the only magnitude effect I've seen so far that it contributes to. Whiteleaf REF bonus, both Deadeye bonuses, and Ripple Sponge Attribute bonuses appear to be the same as they would be for a non-Nalpazca of equivalent level/ALC. There is, however, something weird in the "level" calculations in my party. Ed and Xoti, both level 3, one multiclassed and one single-classed, are both getting a "level" bonus. The PC (multiclassed Nalpazca) is not. Maybe a protagonist-related bug? Or maybe Eder is bugged in that it should be tracking Power Level like abilities do, and the game isn't recognizing that he's multi-classed? I don't think it's related to the Nalpazca bonus, because the effect is the same on potions where that wouldn't be a factor. Alchemy's effects on Durations appear consistent: 5% per "Level." INT bonus also applies. On magnitude, it varies a lot. Some have tooltips, some don't. I see a clear 10% per "Level" for some stats, 5% for others, and it's even weirder for some. For example, the ACC boost from Deadeye appears to be a flat 5% plus 1 percentage point per ALC rank, the Attribute bonuses for Ripple Sponge are 3 plus 0.25 points per ALC rank, and the Armor bonus from a Potion of Spirit Shield gains 0.2 points per ALC level, all with no adjustment for character level. Conversely, pure healing potions get a bonus from character level, but no boost from Alchemy. MIG bonus is also added to healing, but not to buffs. General Drugs stuff: You can only have 1 Drug effect at a time. Crash penalties vary by Drug. They last from when the effect ends until you either Rest or take another Drug. If you use a different Drug to "recover," the crash penalty from the first one doesn't come back. (I.e., you only have the Crash penalty from the most recent drug you've taken.)

One thing to know is that you can choose the class of the joinable NPCs you meet, from 3 character-appropriate options. A few of them are locked into 1 class, but can alternately be one of 2 different multiclass pairings that include that one base class (e.g., the Paladin can be a Paladin, a Paladin-Chanter, or a Paladin-Fighter).

I've only been able to play the game for a few hours thus far, and one thing I've noticed is that the alchemy skill isn't having all the same effects it did in the Beta. I'm very early in the game, and I haven't been cheating in items, so my observations have been based mostly on Whiteleaf and basic healing potions. Based on quick observations and tooltips, the Alchemy skill longer appears to affect potency of the items-- just duration. (Which, for a basic healing potion, does nothing.) Also the Nalpazca subclass description states that all drug effects are at +10 Power Level, which is the first time I recall seeing Power Level referenced with regard to consumables. I'm not complaining, mind you. Beta alchemy was rather crazily overpowered, so some nerfing was necessary. I'm just trying to figure out what the rules are here. I'm planning to test this more thoroughly this evening (I'll update the thread), but in the interim, I figured it was worth getting a thread started to see if anybody else had observations to share. (Also, it'd be nice if the game had any documentation on Drug Crash effects.)

For what it's worth, the pre-release stream that featured a high-level area had traps that were disarmed with Mechanics of only 12 or so.

Certain attacks-- most notably, firearms-- have the "veil piercing" quality. That means that the Deflection bonus from Arcane Veil does not apply to them. Against all other attacks, it's a very worthwhile Deflection bonus. (Plus Concentration, which is nice.)

I think that's called "being a Paladin." If she were any less than "too consumed" with the things she believes in, her belief probably wouldn't be strong enough to generate magical powhahs.

For what it's worth, this has been nerfed to 1 Wound per 6 seconds. Also, Alchemy in general appears to be weaker. I think it still boosts drug duration, but doesn't seem to make the effects stronger, too, like it did in the Beta.

This one, I think, is normal. (Although I'll admit that I don't know why Eder's line would have a "Result of Pillars 1" badge.) IIRC, this particular line comes after Ed and the Steward tell you what about the statute waking up and killing everybody. He's not asking how you could know him-- he's asking how you could know what has been going on since you've been unconscious. He doesn't know that Berath told you.

I think that's right, but, annoyingly, this particular option (and some others, I think) only appears when you're in the game itself. The Options screen in the main menu is more limited, for some reason.

Contemplatives can work well, but, from what I've seen of Xoti's unique subclasses, they don't seem to be particularly well suited to it. Her wacky wound-generation mechanic seems like a poor pairing with spending half her time in combat doing Priesty stuff. (For a main character, Wael contempatives are really nice, as they have access to some of the same self-buffs that Sages utilize so well.)

Make the Monk a Nalpazca with a Svef problem. (Long-duration +5 PER.)

This kind of thinking is how I ended up playing as a Priest of Wael.

Man, I shouldn't have put entering all those off. Doing 47 at once was a bit much-- haven't had that much fun since my last Windows re-install! Anyhow, thanks for curating, Ethics. I can claim a little credit for being the first to comment about these codes in the "teasers" thread, but that's nothing compared to the work you've put in.

This isn't D&D. This game's system borrowed the 3-18 numerical range out of tradition, but it was not designed to encompass such a wide range of outcomes. 3 is the lowest you can go and still be a heroic (or villainous) adventurer who can reliably jog across a dungeon level (etc.) without incident. The least dextrous person on the planet probably has a DEX of -15 or something.

I suggest not worrying about it too much. Sawyer has highlighted the over-reliance on RES and the Lore skill in dialogues as one of the weaknesses of the first game. My assumption (hope) is that they're going to be more evenhanded this time. The goal should be for every player to have his/her character creation choices acknowledged in non-combat situations to a roughly even degree. Note that, for Deadfire, they can rely more on a far more rigorous skill system, so options that can be "won" only via a high attribute should be more rare. It is probably still reasonable to expect that the mental attributes will be tested more in conversations, while the physical attributes are checked more often in scripted sequences. So maybe it's best to make a high PER/INT/RES main character and make Eder (or whoever) do all the dangerous athletic stuff. Or maybe not-- we don't really know yet what they've cooked up that will be protagonist-only.

Is your Celebrant going to be using the Summoning invocations? If so, you can probably go with the ranged weapon of your choice. If not, you're probably going to be in melee more often than not-- based on my experience with the Beta, 2 front-liners aren't going to be enough to keep 3 mid/back-liners clean. If you don't care much about damage, pick a loadout that increases tankiness. The Dagger modal is nice for this. Might even be worth the ACC penalty of using a shield, if you're going to be doing more buffing/healing/summoning than debuffing/damaging.

"Migraine" is the best route to go if you want to avoid grossing folks out. Anybody who has experienced it will have immediate sympathy, folks won't fear you're contagious, and it's not suspicious if you look and act completely normal the next day.