omgFIREBALLS

I am, well, me, and I approve this thread. This is far from my area of expertise, so I only have nitpicking to contribute with here. Boeroer, while that is a wealth of creativity out of you, I think you missed that OP wanted a build for TB. I've never tried TB, but I believe I know that you only get one action per turn, so something like spamming Sworn Enemy wouldn't be nearly as smooth as in RTwP. Though, if you want to use it, both its upgrades would be nice for this build. Also the general speed/recovery shenanigans of barbarian might not shine as much. Flame me hard (pun intended) if I'm wrong And this next one I am more certain of... the axe with +2 fire PL is called Magran's Favor. Magran's Blessing is a shield

While browsing statuseffects.gamedatabundle for buffs to filter for my mod, I came across a bunch of buffs related to someone called Nisanga. I believe these are the "Fortune" buffs listed here, and I also believe that list may very well be partly populated by datamined stuff, so nobody's necessarily actually gotten them legitimately. So anyway, since I smelled a +1 stat buff in the air, I tried to figure out just how to trigger this. But, my datamining skills have proven insufficient. In worldmap.gamedatabundle there are three uh... entries? that seem relevant: "DebugName": "RE_Fortune_Teller_Lady_Abimi", "ID": "b2ce0550-0bfe-457b-8faf-0cb73e582474", "DebugName": "RE_Fortune_Teller_Lady_Nisanga", "ID": "99febfc0-de86-4517-84ef-fae2e7bd518e", "DebugName": "RE_Fortune_Teller_Unnamed_Watcher", "ID": "6df163e6-aa2b-415f-a794-680986b92302", However, that's pretty much as far as I've gotten. As far as I can tell, these ID's are not referenced anywhere else (I did a find-in-files search in exported\design and in the lax* folders). Looking at other entries, RE seems to mean Random [Neketaka] Encounter. I can tell you for certain that if they are, they're not something that "simply happens"; much like several other such encounters, there are probably [very specific] conditions that must be met. But, I don't know how to determine what those conditions are. Any 1337 h4xx0r around? Update: As far as I can tell, all random Neketaka street events simply have the condition that you must have visited all districts. These three fortune teller events are similar to all other random events in that they contain this bit: "ValidityConditions": { "Operator": 0, "Components": [ { "$type": "OEIFormats.FlowCharts.ConditionalCall, OEIFormats", "Data": { "FullName": "Boolean CallGlobalConditional(Guid)", "Parameters": [ "82c00560-9f37-41d1-9691-8ff1d19f5697" The parameter at the end being the key part, leading to an entry in globalscripts.globalscriptbundle which seems to be a confirmation that you've visited all districts. Comparing to say the scripted interaction with Laetharn, which also happens "inbetween districts" in Neketaka, the parameters are different. No weird string, just having restored the adra pillar at Hasongo. Well, I also knew that to be the condition from having played the game a lot Anyway, obviously visiting all districts is not enough to get these fortune tellers. Update 2: Current theory is that the GuidString used doesn't actually lead anywhere. I don't know what a GuidString is, but for a random encounter that actually happens, that string returns loads of matches in the relevant .conversationbundle file. In other words, the trigger is fine, but the encounters don't exist.

Thanks, I've uploaded a new version to Nexus. I also checked all player racials before doing so (no other NPC has a special race, right?), and they all seemed properly designed in this respect

I'm embarrassed I didn't think of him in all this brainstorming. Let's see if anything happens if I spam feed him pires pands. Maybe he's the Noober of Deadfire.

The wiki lists six "fortune" buffs among the various odd misc bonuses. It's very possible that this list includes everything someone managed to data mine, and not all of it is available. Still, I decided to do some digging. There are six strings among the status effects (statuseffects.gamedatabundle) along the theme of boon_nisanga_constitution and so on, one for every attribute. Searching various files for nisanga, I found "$type": "Game.GameData.WorldMapEncounterGameData, Assembly-CSharp", "DebugName": "RE_Fortune_Teller_Lady_Nisanga", "ID": "99febfc0-de86-4517-84ef-fae2e7bd518e", (worldmap.gamedatabundle) There are two other fortune tellers referenced above and below her. One is called Lady Abimi, another is called Unnamed Watcher. Judging from other entries in this file, these are random Neketaka street encounters, ones you get when traveling between city districts, like for example the oozes and the well event (I also believe RE means Random Encounter ). Yet, with way more time sunk into this game than I'd like to admit, I cannot recall ever meeting any fortune tellers. Certainly not as random Neketaka encounters. Anyone have any ideas? Your Watcher stands to gain +1 to an attribute here.

Great! You can thank me by confirming this updated file fixes it OutWithTheAuras.gamedatabundle I'm not very knowledgeable about companions/sidekicks, so if there are any other buffs related to them that the mod should hide, do let me know.

Yeah, Rymrgand can also kill you in a scripted interaction in BoW if you taunt him (protip: don't mock him for needing your help). Note that you will physically meet his avatar at some point, and depending on your disagreements, this can lead to a fight. This is a different situation, and you won't be instakilled, but yeah you still need to win the fight.

Nope. Well, I'm playing with No Forced Rests so I guess it's possible this normally causes a rest, but it seems a very unlikely thing, considering there's no "x hours passed" involved. I kept all my until-rest bonuses.

Add Amira's Blessing to the list! +2 dexterity. You get it from solving the Neketaka burning house scripted interaction in a certain way.

Edit: Ok wow, this was easy, but I actually don't see it mentioned anywhere how to get it. Been datamining and scratching my head over this for two hours now. It's not a very tricky thing so I'm sure loads have done it, just haven't shared it with the internet. Step 1: Examine the house, doesn't matter if you fail the perception check. I don't know what the ability check here is, so can't speak for it. Step 2: Enter the house. There are two ability checks available here as well. You don't need to do them. Might even be bad to do. Step 3: After entering the house, you notice the bodies. All you need to do now is flee the house, not pursue the arsonists. You can do all the other things if you want, even try to loot the bodies, as long as you choose to flee the house in the end. Step 4: A priestess of Amira (Hylea) will ask you if anyone survived. If you tell her to check for herself [Cruel], you get nothing. If you say nothing (no disposition) or that you're afraid not [Honest], you get a Huana Charm Belt and Amira's Blessing: +2 dexterity to your party until you rest. And if you find yourself having a dilemma... the arsonists drop nothing special.

I agree with your arguments but disagree with your conclusion. I am playing a video game. I have a computer at my disposal to run intricate calculations in a matter of milliseconds (less? nerds chime in). I therefore want to utilize this power to create a good combat system, and care little about how smooth it would be to replicate it with (or derive it from) dice, pen and paper. Obviously P:K, BG2 etc started in the other end (a TT system that was computerized), but the point remains that I am happy Obsidian did this. PoE combat has, to me, far more nuance (attack roll outcomes, durations) than d20-based systems. I may never understand what the hell double inversion means, but I can still appreciate that this system is simply more enjoyable even if all I get is "more accuracy = more hits". It may not, as you suggest, have appealed to the broader audience, but I hope in the long run gamers will grow to appreciate a system that creates better combat over one that we can still use if we are nuked back to the stone age, even if the exact mechanics are very tricky to grasp. Perhaps in ten years, PoE will be considered an investment in better RPG systems, one that embraced the power of computers instead of making them automate very simple calculations.

I want to make a case for the paladin Lay on Hands upgrades. Originally, they also cost 1 zeal, and I took Greater Lay on Hands everywhere. Since they made it cost 2 zeal, I don't take it at all. I just do not find 8 seconds of Robust being worth paying twice the price. Of course we can't make it cost 1.25 zeal, but I needed to say it... Something I would really like is if an upgrade could make you ignore recovery and cast LoH. I don't mean cast a LoH with 0 recovery, I mean cast a LoH even though you are in recovery. I would pay 2 zeal for that. Oh also, Hastening Exhortation is a pale shadow of its Pillars 1 counterpart. Are you sure you need to lower its duration?

You say glitch, I say par for the course. Unless my character sheet is lying to me, it's stacking just fine here. With everything. In multiple parties. I tend to start my no-rest shortly after reaching Neketaka (because I want one party member to eat shark soup), and have that ceremonial meal in the wilderness on the way to Nomu the Marauder. I kill him, then I go steal dust at the mill, then I go to the herb shop to buy the other stuff, and whip up five potions. But I have done it in different ways and can't recall ever having problems stacking them.

Wait, I think I can turn this into a BG2 anagram as well. Just give me a minute. I'm pretty sure I have it, I just can't formulate it.

Not much more complicated than that. Here's a premade AI setting: Here's one I made myself that I turn on to make my crusader just derp out offense:

As long as it's not turn based, I expect I will binge it. Every RPG is a beautified spreadsheet for me to outsmart and turn into medieval carnage. By the way, you know what came before BG3?

This is an anagram of Action Used, and you know a game in which actions are used? BG2.

Wait what? You have to farm in some way, to expand your AI options? Keep EA out of this thread - new microtransaction concept. OP, regarding your healing concerns: Yes, a herald makes an excellent healer, tried and true. Exalted Endurance and Ancient Memory are constant passive AoE heals, and Lay on Hands is a powerful spot heal.

Actually some good things were made more than 20 years ago, for example the devs of bg2.

I can't say how it compares to those games, but yeah you can program your party's AI. It might look like IF (examples: have x class resource or party member below 50% health), there's also IF NOT THEN use ability y, and if it's not a selfcast you get to specify target (examples: nearest enemy or enemy with most adjacent targets or enemy with the lowest saving throw) You can also assign a cooldown to each command, if you don't want it spammed whenever its conditions are met. You can certainly automate a chanter this way by telling them to use invocation x when they have the phrases for it, and perhaps this invocation lasts a long time so you put a cooldown on it and tell them to use a different invocation the next time they can afford it. That said, using invocations is pretty much the only active part of controlling a chanter other than generic things like move here or attack that, or maybe changing your chants, but you already played Pillars 1 so I guess you know anyway.

I'm loving Contender's Armor with stacked Athletics for smacking stuff fast. You could add that to the mix. edit: It also has a bit of a tribal Huana look, which might be an aesthetic fit for your marauder. And, shameless promotion: The mod in my signature will help filter your buffs so it's easier to see Blade Cascade. I don't actually look for it myself, but since there's no Salvation of Time in my party, it's not nearly as important for me to react to it. Might be easier to simply see yourself swinging like mad.

I'm guessing that OP didn't like having a self-inflicted debuff last longer based on their int

I thought of that too, yeah. And as I said, it looks hilarious when my tiny kith knocks a giant over. It shouldn't happen much, but between the big fat accuracy on that fighter and the Brilliant spam, it... happens. I'm not even debuffing his fortitude. Still unsure about these, because it seems to me that Mule Kick also makes the target briefly untargetable, which is quite annoying. Are you certain it lasts longer?

I know this wasn't for me, but I consider Dorudugan the ultimate of all my melee grievances. He has sky high defenses and resolve. It's very difficult to land debuffs on him, and even if I do, they will have tragically short durations, so I can't really "get the ball rolling". I simply cannot crack him open, and that makes him a boring and depthless boss. But he's not without offensive capabilities, so he can't be blithely whittled down one weak attack at a time either, and so he goes from boring to frustrating. And yet, the fact that I killed this robotic incarnation of poor design choices on Deadly Deadfire PotD difficulty only yesterday, with a melee based party, is the reason I backed down from this argument. I had my tank and my two melee in a triangular formation around him, so that he was flanked without his cleave hitting more than one target. When he cast his fire rain, everyone but the tank ran. As noted, monsters are very good at respecting engagement, so he rarely chased and if he did, it wasn't far. (On the note of engagement, I would only find him half as frustrating if he couldn't trigger disengagement attacks while preparing to rain fire) While I did keep my tank out of fire too, I didn't bother trying to keep big D out of it. My parties are pretty much always five multiclassed Shieldbearer paladins. This comes with respectable defenses - even if this discussion may have made you believe it, I don't build glass cannons, and rather take pleasure in just basking in my tankiness from time to time - but also the cannot-die-Lay-on-Hands, which I can just keep up permanently at high levels since I have a psion in the party who knows that come level 19, she is reduced to an aurabot throwing out Brilliant inspirations. Outlasting is my fetish. A fun thing that is "easily" noticed with Dorudugan is that he can be knocked prone (I mean it's not easy to do, but it's easy to see when it happens, and also hilarious to watch). Maybe everything in the game can, I don't know. As far as I can tell, this will effectively interrupt the target and add some recovery. So, as we speak, I am working on my next iteration of this mass paladin party. The change this time is that the tank will have a new job for Big Bads: If they don't want to hit her, she will whip out a rapier (SINGLE WIELDED, you heard it here folks), modal on and just disrupt the boss with Knock Down repeatedly. Edér is welcome to try it as well.

Meh. I guess as far as PoE goes, you are correct. It's just that at the end of the day, bending over backwards to break engagement and run away is a frustrating effort when all the enemy needs to do is leftclick you again when you return to melee range. Also, do you know a "stereotypical" rogue build that works under these circumstances? I know I was in OP's situation in Pillars 1 and I got told to equip plate mail. It's not about wanting to trade survivability for damage, it's about wanting to survive through elusiveness rather than armor.