Enoch

The one suggestion I'll give that's pertinent to this particular subforum is that we're going to have to start tagging bug-report threads with the game mode we're playing in.

That's true, but you get dramatically less overall loot from naval combat than you do from boarding. I did a comparison run once where I sank everything by naval combat and then went back and boarded everything. I remember that the net difference in revenue was about the price of a galleon (though that may've been before they increased galleon pricing). Early loot is worth a lot more than late-game loot. Moreover, the 4.0 update's endless generic faction ships pretty much eradicate such concerns. Everyone can now get as much late-game piracy profit as they want, even if they sank all the bounty-target ships when they were level 6.

Most of the synergies are simply noticing what defenses powerful attacks/spells target, and applying debuffs to those defenses first. E.g., use the Morning Star modal to apply a -25 FORT debuff, then use a FORT-targeting ability like Knockdown or Stunning Blow.

Oh, LOLOLOLOLOL. I re-spec'ed out, and the ability persisted! It's still listed on Aloth's character sheet, even with the ability not taken when I re-leveled him. (He did, however, lose the ability to use it as-designed, in the Guile-using abilities menu.) And it's still working in combat, too. In fact, I think all the benefits of Strike the Bell are happening on basic attacks, as appropriate by type-- in addition to the two-handers applying Dazed, I checked with a ranged attack, and it was getting 3 PEN more than it should. I added a second post-respec save to the Drive folder linked in the original post.

I can confirm that the ability description says 0 PEN in my game, too. Also true of the Walls of Force, Draining, and Many Colors. (Although that's probably appropriate for Draining.) Haven't tested any of them in the wild yet.

Ha, maybe I am! I picked it up on a whim to try it out, lacking anything else that looked like a must-have and knowing that I planned to re-spec Aloth around a different Grimoire in a few levels. Now, with it acting like this, I'm torn on whether I should pull the trigger on that respec, to avoid the exploit, or keep it so that I can follow up on this report if/when they address it in a patch. I guess the responsible approach is to respec, but hang onto a save from beforehand for testing.

Correction: Actually, it doesn't seem to matter whether the target was Staggered or not beforehand. Normal attacks with 2-handed weapons are all applying Dazed. The float-text presents a struck-through Staggered alongside the Dazed notification, which was throwing me a bit.

A character who has Break the Bell appears to be upgrading all "Staggered" afflictions on targets they hit to "Dazed." This occurs on normal attacks, and consumes no class resources-- any enemy that is already Staggered becomes Dazed when the BtB-having character hits it. The enemy's status description then attributes the Dazed affliction to Break the Bell. See save linked below. Aloth (a Spellblade) has BtB. Rekke (Brute) has Spirit Frenzy, which helps apply lots of Staggered afflictions. They are standing near some Bad Doodz for testing. (Yeah, I'm doing Hasongo unusually late in this run.) https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Ve5jNEPY6fhYbDlxf_3cuPvkjgtxlHYd

Bog Oozes. Edit: I initially mentioned Grubs, too, but, upon checking the Bestiary, it seems that they just have annoyingly high Crush AR for when you first encounter them.

Depends on your meta-knowledge level. Glacierbane is pretty well gated, but Last Word is attainable straight out of Port Maje, if you know how to turn the traps off in the Sandswept Ruin. Similarly, Resounding Call is in the Bardatto Vault, which you can burgle relatively early in your Neketaka questing, if you're paying attention to skill boosts. (Might also want to grab the Bounding Boots first, as they make it much easier.) And there's an easily stolen generic Superb War Hammer in the longhouse in Sayuka.

This has me excited to add him to the party when I get to SSS. Current group is built to be most role-playing appropriate to a single-classed Wael Priest Watcher: Brute Rekke (mysterious!), Evil Monk Xoti (constant visions!), Spellblade Aloth (Leaden Key Grandmaster!), and Mindstalker Ydwin (Science!). The plan is for Konstanten to replace Ydwin, while Xoti switches from all-melee to a second-liner, with the Mortars that Ydwin is currently using. Rekke's going to keep Willbreaker, but I should be able to realize some of the same synergies you mention in this thread. I was already targeting Ben Fidel and Long Night's Drink as a replacement for Ydwin's constant Secret Horrors spam.

For what it's worth, I was able to resolve this with the Steam option to "Verify Integrity of Game Files."

Loads of it available if you do the "A Glimpse Beyond" quest. Also, anywhere you fight shadows/wraiths/spectres/etc. E.g., Hall of the Unseen, Oathbinder's Sanctum, the Old City, Onandere the Temptress bounty location, and lots more.

One of the best reasons to play a Ranger, IMO. Pair with a Chanter in the party to nuke enemy Concentration, and stunlock the world.

That applies regardless of source, right? So there's no point in casting Natures Mark on an enemy Barbarian, because the deflection malus won't stack with the one he imposes on himself with Frenzy?

Fighter Confident Aim and Weapon Specialization/Mastery only apply with proficient weapons. There's also the Gauntlets of Reliability that everybody steals from Vektor in Port Maje.

Out of curiosity, what was the issue with this in 4.0? I've used Citzal's a bit, but haven't been paying close attention to the recovery. Does the fix make it faster or slower?

For non-Rathun, non-Voyagers: Equip 6 Double Bronzers. (Basing this on your saying you already sail a Dhow.) Engage enemy. Full Sail until you're within the 250-350 range of your cannons. Turn. Hold. Fire. Jibe. Hold. Fire. Repeat as necessary. You'll need to interrupt this sequence if the enemy manages to injure an important crewmember or trigger a bad random effect, like a fire or a crewmember overboard. If you're engaging an enemy that you clearly overmatch, use Chain Shot until sails are destroyed before trying to sink. (Chances are they'll try to flee.) For Voyagers: Sub in cannons with a wider range interval on one side of your ship. (Long Guns, Royal Bronzers, etc.) These suckers move around too much. Disabling Sails first is usually a good move. For Rathun: Use the same cannon loadout as with Voyagers. These guys like to get real close, set you on fire, then ram and board. But they have low crew numbers, all but one of the spots above-decks, and no spot for a Surgeon. The countermeasure, thus, is Grapeshot. Injure nearly all of their crew, and they're sitting ducks.

"Fun" is probably an overstatement. But it's certainly faster and less tedious than boarding battles. And with 4.0's infinitely respawning high-level ships, the aggregate loot differential between boarding and sinking no longer matters-- no reason to hold off on hitting all those pinatas early (with cannons).

Doesn't seem to me like it'd be an especially synergistic combination. But I suppose it depends-- what do you want to get out of the character? The most straightforward way to go would probably be an offense-driven front-liner who provides Phrase-chanting support and supplements their weapon/fist offense with some fast-casting offensive Invocations. Skald could work here, but Monk doesn't really add much to crit chance, so a Troubadour is probably going to be generating Invocations faster (if you're OK with chanting only 1 phrase at a time, that is). Could use Chanter mostly for summoning. The problem there is that most of the summons have a long cast time, and Monks don't offer much that helps in defenses or Concentration to ensure those summons get off. So ranged is a good idea there, which makes me think Helwalker with the Scepter modal or maybe a Hand Mortar build (Nalpazca for wounds?). Going Tanky is possible, I guess, but apart from Duality/Iron Wheel there isn't much to lend this combination to that.

ctrl-F "crit" here: https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/List_of_unique_weapons_(Deadfire) If Last Word has you considering War Hammers, consider also Glacierbane's "Shattering" upgrade. The weapons that most enhances critical hits is probably the Essence Interrupter, but I doubt that's what you're looking for.

Update: The Steam "Verify Integrity of Game Files" button worked. The world map took a suspiciously long time to load, but I was able to walk out of the Hall.

Alternately, start with Light Armor and move up a step only if/when you find that over-PEN is making too big a dent in your survivability.

Easy, I guess, but not particularly fun. Iron Wheel comes pretty late, and even after you get it, using it means you're not using INT-Duality and Turning Wheel, which are fantastic. Why make everything into a wannabe Paladin? Build the Monk for Offense, keep it alive with tactics, healing, buffs, and equipment (and by killing stuff before it can hit you too much) and you don't have to wait until Whispers for them to put out pretty massive damage numbers.

Happened to me, too-- crashes both on leaving the Hall and on exiting to Main Menu from a save in there. In case another save would help: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AbdqEkGoehzXLOTAj4y9Tf6G3he5n3yp