Yosharian

I just can't see that INT is optimal compared to MIG, DEX and PER, which are extremely effective stats for this class. Any remaining points should go into increasing survivability (probably CON). That said, I wouldn't dump INT either, not unless I was going extreme min-max. Leave it at 10. Or maybe 7-8. But do what you want, it's your game

The problem is, my Watcher is dumping everything into Metaphysics to maximise damage from Chromoprismatic Qstaff. So I can't really do the whole dabbling in lots of skills thing on him... I suppose I could abuse respec.

Speaking of passive skills: I have definitely seen Survival and Religion checks during scripted interactions (when you can send 1 party member). But I haven't seen such a check for Streetwise. As for dialogues: afaik they only assist. Hmm.

From combat point of view: 1). Regarding investing "a little": Some scrolls aren't like the others. In the sense that they don't benefit that much from higher Arcana score. E.g: Withdraw, Circle of Protection, Revive the Fallen. So having just 7 Arcana on 1-2 of your characters is quite enough. As for alchemy - after all the nerfs there is little point to invest into it half-way. I.e. either max it, or don't put any points at all. 2). Maxing arcana has the following benefits: - higher accuracy for Spearcaster - synergy with Arcane Archer - higher PL with scrolls. This is especially great for stuff like Scroll of Moonwell, Meteor Shower, Maelstrom and so on. Stuff that gets increased both magnitude and duration. As for Alchemy: - higher restoration from health potions - longer potions and drug durations - lesser drug penalties (as Kaylon already mentioned) ~ more potent poisons. Although their accuracy is still quite low. Plus many of relevant enemies have either high fortitude or immunity vs poison... 3). Sleight of Hand had no in-combat use for me. As for non-combat: it allows to steal Ring of Marksman without killing those sailors (which although is not hard, but might be undesirable RP wise); Aside from that... there was maybe only one check were I would take SoH dialogue option over alternatives. 4). Passive skills for your party members are only useful in the sense of skill-assist for MC, or if they use some item that has some properties that scale with this skill. Like Giftbearer's Cloak and History. Aside from combat use, there are also non-combat skill checks.Here is the list of such checks for the base game. So in order to pass the majority of such checks, Watcher might want to have: - Alchemy: 0? + 15 (assist) - Arcana: 10 + 8 (assist) - Athletics: 7 + 4 (assist) - Bluff: 13 + 7 (assist) - Diplomacy: 10 + 7 (assist) - History: 7 + 10 (assist) - Insight: 8 + 9 (assist) - Intimidate: 10 + 8 (assist) - Mechanics: 5? + 4 (assist) (note: this doesn't include trap checks) - Metaphysics: 6 + 9 (assist) - Religion: 12 + 0 (assist) - Sleight of Hand: 10 + 5 (assist) - Stealth: 4 + 6 (assist) - Streetwise: 12 + 8 (assist) - Survival: 6 + 8 (assist) Also it's fitting to remind that skill assist is subject to diminishing returns: companions total skill -> assist 1 -> 1 2 -> 2 4 -> 3 7 -> 4 11 -> 5 16 -> 6 22 -> 7 29 -> 8 37 -> 9 46 -> 10 Here's the original post by nstgc. If party members have 46 combined history it will assist you with +10. On the other hand if they have 22 combined history, 16 arcana and 8 religion, it will assist you with +7 history, +6 arcana and +4 religion. That's 17 assist points instead of 10. Meaning that for such checks it's often better to spread companion skill points relative even, and additionally take into account the thresholds. In the end it doesn't matter if companions have 22 or 28 streetwise, since you will get the same +7 assist. ---------- Additionally, a note can be made about checks in jungle when you can send one character forward for investigation. It's usually a good idea if he has high survival, high perception and somewhat decent stealth; because the game can check two of these at once. Wait so Companion passive skills cannot be checked at all? They can ONLY assist? That seems odd because i distinctly remember the game allowing me to use other party members to do skill checks...

Ahh ok

Because

No

Damage removes charm/dominate? Since when?

There are checks that go over 16, but I get the idea

I'm not really interested in drugs, though. I'll probably get something else. Athletics maybe.

Can you elaborate?

Oops double post.

Fair enough. Switched to Arcana, then. Also swapped Diplomacy to Intimidate, and Survival to Streetwise. Streetwise is checked more often.

Do you fancy the idea of throwing bombs? Because as far as skill checks go, I can think of... one Explosives check in total. And it wasn't important. Are bombs useful enough to warrant their use over something like Arcana, which is known to be excellent? I.E. do they do decent damage?

Thanks. According to the Wiki, you can obtain Ring of the Marksman without Sleight of Hand: "Queen's Berth: Dropped by Royal Deadfire Company sailors on top of The Wild Mare during A Bigger Fish" This is the skill setup I'm considering: Watcher (melee gish): - Arcana (to use Avenging Storm) - Metaphysics (using Chromoprismatic Staff) Trickster tank: - Athletics (using that belt that grants +1 Second Wind use) - Diplomacy Ascetic glass cannon: - Alchemy - Survival Evoker: - Explosives - Insight Templar melee DPS/healer/buffer - Mechanics - History (using giftbearer's cloth) So, I'd have the following covered: Active: Alchemy, Arcana, Athletics, Mechanics, Explosives Passive: Diplomacy, History, Insight, Metaphysics, Survival And, I wouldn't have these: Active: Sleight of Hand, Stealth Passive: Bluff, Intimidate, Religion, Streetwise I'm wondering if Explosives is really worth it. Considering swapping it for Stealth on my Evoker. Or maybe another Arcana user? Also, I figure that if I desperately need to pass a Bluff check, or something like that, I can always just switch out one of my team for one of Deadfire's Companions, and just use them as a temporary skill check-passer.

So, I'm building a 5-man custom party and I'm wondering what the best arrangement of skills would be. I'm asking partially because I know some of the skills were nerfed/changed since I last played the game, but also because I never quite figured out the most optimal way of distributing skills/skill points. 1) With respect to consumable-based skills such as Alchemy and Arcana, should each character dabble a little in them, or should one character specialise? 2) Again with respect to those consumable-based skills, what is the advantage from maxing those skills? (as opposed to putting just enough points into them to be able to use the relevant items) 3) How useful/important is Sleight Of Hand, really? 4) Passive skills: are all of these able to be used effectively by non-Watcher characters? If I give one of my non-Watcher characters Insight, for example, will that be useful? Or, are certain Passive skills significantly worse than others, for non-Watcher characters? If you have any other information, suggestions, advice, tips regarding skills, I'd be grateful.

I don't think you need to dump Might. Just try to keep it around 10. That's what I'm doing.

Can anyone confirm if Devil's Breastplate still counters the Confuse effect of Berserker Frenzy?

Oathbreaker's End.

It's not a cheat, it's role-playing that 30+ intellect stat!

I almost feel like the single class abilities HAVE to be OP because multi classing is just so fun.

Ok, thanks!

I wouldn't know cos I don't use Devoted =p

Chronoprismatic Quarterstaff. When you absolutely, positively got to kill every mofo in the dungeon, accept no substitutes.

Unequip all the armor before entering the fight, so the double ends up naked?