JerekKruger

I can understand that. Glad I could help (if only a little).

Yup. Achievements are only disabled if you enter "iroll20s" into the console. The command "HelmetVisibility false" doesn't require that command to be entered to work. Note that this command will only remove the graphics for helmets worn by those characters you currently have selected when you enter it, so you can mix and match which headgear you remove. It also might be the case that you have to reenter this command each time you load a game (I'm not actually sure as I've never used it).

You can use the console to turn off helms without removing the ability to get achievements.

You're right, we know basically nothing about why Obsidian decided not to fully VO Pillars. I can't comment on the quality of NV voice actors as I've never been able to get into it*. I have no problem with famous actors voice acting in games if they do a good job, it's when they're used as a selling point for the game and don't actually add anything that I think it's dumb. Patrick Stewart in Oblivion springs to mind: it was talked about in press releases, he was quoted as saying he'd never had a role with so much backstory, then his actual appearance in game was incredibly short and his performance was alright, though a little wooden. But it's not a big deal. If the voice acting is good then I too prefer a fully voiced game (preferably with an option to turn it off for later playthroughs), but I probably prefer partial voicing a la Baldur's Gate 2 to fully, but badly, voiced. *I should add this is nothing against NV. I haven't been able to get into Fallout 3 or 4 or any of the Elder Scrolls games.

No reason why not, for whatever reason I just didn't think that was you. I have to admit I always feel a little bad that my characters almost exclusively have low (usually Resolve. There's always this feeling that they'd all be really easy to tempt, or they'd all have addictive personalities. Resolve just seems so unimportant though. EDIT: I hope they improve Resolve in Deadfire.

I never thought I'd see you advocate attribute choices based on dialogue options Boeroer

Of course. Well for non-Deflection saves he'll have +10 from the very start of the game, the equivalent of 5 points of Might or Constitution, and he'll gain +4 quite quickly from getting the first rank in each of his favoured dispositions (you can get Diplomatic and Honest 1 by doing a few easy side quests in Gilded Vale). This gives him comparable or better saves most non-Paladin classes would have and they're just going to get better as you level up. This is true. I'm not entirely sure why the build has such (relatively) high Resolve. I'd probably go with a Resolve of 10 and pump his Might to 18 and use the other two points on Intellect and Perception, or perhaps Constitution.

Does anyone know whether Larian were using professional voice actors? I ask because there's a huge difference between a good voice actor and an untrained person doing multiple characters (and of course the former is more expensive). EDIT: I should add that throwing more money at voice acting doesn't necessarily make it better. The tendency amongst big budget games to use famous screen actors has, in my opinion, made the quality of the voice acting worse in those games worse. Dedicated voice actors do a much better job of delivering their lines in a way that fits the in game situation: a product of more practice at delivering lines without immediate visual queues and, probably, more time spent in the recording booth for the same money.

Well as a main character Paladin with Deep Faith he's not going to have bad Fortitude. I think he'll have 98 unbuffed and without gear at level 16.

With enough levels of Brisk Recitation shouldn't you be able to run both without any down time on either? I have to admit I am always lazy with Chanters so I don't actually know how the linger compares with the chant times for each.

Well it makes killing their adds a lot easier certainly, but once those are gone you've still got to kill the dragon which is no easy task.

There are five categories that all creatures fall into: Wilder, Primordial, Spirit, Vessel and Beast. For example Xaurips and Trolls are Wilders, the various Oozes are Primordials, undead and Animats are Vessels and most animals (and Dragons) are Beasts. When you use this Survival bonus you pick one of the five types and get a bonus to your Accuracy against it. Note that Kith (human, elves, aumaua etc.) are not in any of these categories, and you can't choose Kith when you use the bonus, so if you're preparing for a difficult fight against Kith enemies you should choose a different bonus. I believe you can find out which category an enemy falls into by checking the in game bestiary (once you've filled their entry) or on the Gamebanshee page.

This is a single target DPS druid build. It will, of course, simultaneously be doing AoE damage via things like Returning and Relentless Storm, but the main point was just how ridiculous its single target damage is.

Huh, I wouldn't have even guessed the belt works that way. I guess that's how it gets around the rule about not benefiting from gear.

Because I have nothing better to do: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/84749-whats-wrong-with-druid-shapeshift/

A backer beta date announcement would be great, though I am less optimistic that that's what it's going to be. Still, fingers crossed.

The phrase 'projecting' springs to mind.

I'd recommend buying and installing the DLC earlier rather than later. It's possible some quests will be affected if they are activated after you get Caed Nua (nothing DLC related happens before Caed Nua).

This subforum, in particular this thread, is the place to look. In general the builds in that thread will work fine for the story companions, obviously their stats won't be the same but this isn't a problem for the most part (Durance is something of an exception, since most Priest builds rely on high Dexterity, but it doesn't seem like you're going to take Durance so that's okay).

I think in this case 5 Stealth is simply the amount required to be able to avoid that particular fight. Avoiding other fights will require different amounts.

The only reason I can see that the misuses of real world science are different to the misuses of animancy in Eora is because of the prevalence of a belief in souls in our world. If, like me, you don't believe that I (or any one else) has a soul then the abuses of science are just as evil as those of animancy. Of course, if you believe your essence will go on after your death then that all changes. As a side note: as I understand it souls in Eora aren't really like those described in, say, Christianity. When a person dies in Eora their soul, eventually, returns to the wheel where it is very often broken apart and recombined with other souls before being born into a new person. In general the "person" ceases to exist after death, with awakenings and such being the exception rather than the norm. Basically whilst the soul is fundamental to living creatures, it is not their immortal essence.

Thanks. To be fair, whilst I stand by the content of my posts in this thread perhaps my delivery could have been better.

Good point!

Ectopsychic Echo is great. Foe only, does a total of 200-300 damage* over 10 seconds and if positioned well it can hit a lot of enemies. It works particularly well if you use a Barbarian/Fighter/Monk to use their charge/jump ability to get behind enemy lines, allowing you to get a really good beam attached to them. *Obviously this has to defeat the enemy's Crush DR ten times since it's ten separate hits, but it's still very good damage.

A minor point but I am fairly sure that Waidwen's Legacy is the cause of uncountably many soulless children, not (modern) animancy. Admittedly Waidwen's Legacy is itself caused by ancient animantic techniques, but since the vast majority of people aren't aware of this and these techniques are distinct from the modern animantic tradition I don't think you can really lump them together (certainly the people of the Dyrwood don't). That said I agree that animancy was badly handled. There was exposition where the benefits of animancy were extolled, but pretty much everything we actually saw of animancy was, at best, highly unethical science. I'm not sure I agree that it's unsalvageable, though perhaps the only way to do so would be to have in game recognition of the problems, for example a new organisation of animancers forming who specifically acknowledge the problems with animancy and make it their aim to "do it right".