Viability of Nalpazca?

[Opheleus]

Greetings, folks.

 

I'm gearing up for my second playthrough and, being a big fan of Zahua (and monk being my main in PoE1), I'm thinking of rolling a Nalpazca monk as my next character. I dig the lore behind 'em and the mechanics surrounding 'em are pretty neat, but I'm curious as to how they actually perform. I'd like to go for a more tanky build, as my previous character was more or less a glass cannon. Furthermore, I'll be going down the PotD route; previously went with Veteran, figuring the difficulty would be similar to the first game - but evidently that was not the case (especially with 2 ciphers; made most encounters trivial).

 

With all that said, has anyone had experience with a Nalpazca, and if so - what'd you think of it? Would you guys recommend going pure monk, or multi-classing it?

 

Appreciate any and all insight/suggestions.

 

 

[Katarack21]

I've also been giving this hard consideration; as I'm going through my first game I'm examining the different drugs and the crafting costs/ingredients associated with them and considering how it would work with a Nalpazca, but I haven't actually played one yet. I'm curious what the board thinks of them.

[Climhazzard]

Drugs give crazy high stats on a high alchemy Nalpazca, and there's an amulet you can get from the bounty to kill Lady Espero that will give you the whiteleaf effect every time you rest, which somewhat negates the downside of Nalpazca.

 

If you don't mind managing your drug supply then Nalpazca is probably the best monk so go for it, just put a few points into athletics then stack alchemy like crazy.

 

Oh just so you know, arcane dampener is a critical weakness for Nalpazca because it suppresses your drug effect and automatically puts you into the -100% healing debuff.  It's really only an issue against a few groups of fampyr though.

Edited May 22, 2018 by Climhazzard

[Opheleus]

Drugs give crazy high stats on a high alchemy Nalpazca, and there's an amulet you can get from the bounty to kill Lady Espero that will give you the whiteleaf effect every time you rest, which somewhat negates the downside of Nalpazca.

 

If you don't mind managing your drug supply then Nalpazca is probably the best monk so go for it, just put a few points into athletics then stack alchemy like crazy.

 

Oh just so you know, arcane dampener is a critical weakness for Nalpazca because it suppresses your drug effect and automatically puts you into the -100% healing mode.  It's really only an issue against a few groups of fampyr though.

 

That sounds promising. So you'd recommend going pure monk, then? I've heard that the higher-tier monk abilities are pretty strong, but I've also heard that monks multi-classes rather well with many other classes.

[Lokithecat]

Monks generally aren't gear dependant, which makes them a bit of an inexpensive character.  If you needed to buy drugs for your fights (worst case, I'm sure you get loads as loot / pickpocket) you shouldn't have any issue keeping yourself stocked.  With High Alchemy scores you could be getting the benefit of Helwalker (+10 Might) without the draw backs (+50% Damage taken).

[Sotnik]

Nalpazca gives you great bonuses with NO maluses at all (beside the arcane dampener that was mentioned).

 

As for the sub-class... Wait, is the game so boring that no specific build is attracting you?

Then try Human Nalpazca Streetfighter with blunderbusses on a constant crash focusing on Confounding Blind. Let me know the results .

[Enoch]

I'm playing a Nalpazca-Wael contemplative right now.  I recommend it-- the roleplaying fits nicely, the "free" Wound generation pairs well with opening combat with a Priest buff, and the defensive Wizard spells are always fantastic (especially with Dance of Death). 

 

I'm probably being a little too conservative with the drugs-- they're fairly plentiful, and the cost (they range from 80-250 cp/dose in stores) is pretty negligible by mid-game.  The annoying thing is having to spend time in combat dosing up, in instances where the game throws you right into the fray from the travel map (e.g., ship battles). Alternately, with a full party, you can get by in a lot of fights in spite of the "not high, but not crashing" penalty.  (The crash penalty, though, is pretty brutal-- after you've dosed once for the day, you pretty much have to chain doses until naptime.) 

Edited May 22, 2018 by Enoch

[Voltron]

Correct me if I am wrong but not all drugs can be running together, no? I remember yesterday I wanted to use 3 drugs before fight (not on Monk) and they just canceled each other and I had only one running on.

Or maybe it's just UI thing next to your portrait....

[Enoch]

Correct me if I am wrong but not all drugs can be running together, no? I remember yesterday I wanted to use 3 drugs before fight (not on Monk) and they just canceled each other and I had only one running on.

 

Or maybe it's just UI thing next to your portrait....

Correct.  Only 1 drug or drug crash penalty may be in effect at any one time. 

 

The game doesn't document drug stuff very well.  Had to figure out a lot of the mechanics via experimentation.  Which I suppose is thematically appropriate, but still rather annoying.

Edited May 22, 2018 by Enoch

[Voltron]

 

Correct me if I am wrong but not all drugs can be running together, no? I remember yesterday I wanted to use 3 drugs before fight (not on Monk) and they just canceled each other and I had only one running on.

 

Or maybe it's just UI thing next to your portrait....

Correct.  Only 1 drug or drug crash penalty may be in effect at any one time. 

 

The game doesn't document drug stuff very well.  Had to figure out a lot of the mechanics via experimentation.  Which I suppose is thematically appropriate, but still rather annoying.

 

 

Doesn't that make Nalpazca kind of.... bad? Only one drug for all the alchemy investment just for one drug. Not to mention many potions have from start as potent effects as mid alchemy drug.

I thought you can be on several drugs at once :/ One is little....meh imo.

[Enoch]

 

 

Correct me if I am wrong but not all drugs can be running together, no? I remember yesterday I wanted to use 3 drugs before fight (not on Monk) and they just canceled each other and I had only one running on.

 

Or maybe it's just UI thing next to your portrait....

Correct.  Only 1 drug or drug crash penalty may be in effect at any one time. 

 

The game doesn't document drug stuff very well.  Had to figure out a lot of the mechanics via experimentation.  Which I suppose is thematically appropriate, but still rather annoying.

 

 

Doesn't that make Nalpazca kind of.... bad? Only one drug for all the alchemy investment just for one drug. Not to mention many potions have from start as potent effects as mid alchemy drug.

I thought you can be on several drugs at once :/ One is little....meh imo.

 

Drugs can also be applied outside of combat and last long enough to cover several encounters.  I'm not sure what potions you're comparing them to, but they feel pretty strong to me.  At 10-ish alchemy, one shot of Taru-Taru or Ripple Sponge is equivalent to 3 1st-tier Inspirations; Svef gives Immunity to 3 different types of Afflictions (plus a high PER bonus); etc.

[Dorftek]

Also Alchemy applies to potions as well. My favourite skill in the game. I think I have 10 in Alchemy atm and my deadeye drug gives me +17% Acc for around 500sec. That's pretty neat!

 

Svef is nothing to sneeze at either.

[Bugged Wolf Companion]

If you are up for micromanagement storing/buying and using drugs then Nalpazca probably best class overall in terms of power.

[Opheleus]

This has given me a lot to think about - lots of good suggestions and info. Thanks, all. 

[jakesmurf]

Nalpacza is probably the strongest monk subclass, and monk is probably the strongest class overall in the game... so... probably TOO viable?  

[QuiteGoneJin]

I actually had a blast trying multiclassing with corpse eater barbarian as you can heal with the debuff with eating corpses. Plus a drugged out barbarian hobo who eats the faces of his victims is hilarious (bath salts build).

Edited May 23, 2018 by QuiteGoneJin

[Aerlinah]

Do Nalpazca monks have stronger drug effects? I was under the impression that it only had increased durations.

[seed_ls]

Strongest disadvange of Nalpazca it is: https://pillarsofeternity2.wiki.fextralife.com/Arcane+Dampener

 

cos thats spell aplays to ur drugs...

[Lokithecat]

Arcane Cleanse is probably no good also...

 

Do the increase duration of benefical effect spells benefit drugs?  Feels like it would.

[Uni]

Arcane Cleanse is probably no good also...

 

Do the increase duration of benefical effect spells benefit drugs?  Feels like it would.

I think INT makes drugs last longer(and dampener certainly blocks the effect) so that spell should be able to extend it. But its not like getting 10-20s more for a drug matters much when they last minutes anyway.

[Enoch]

Do Nalpazca monks have stronger drug effects? I was under the impression that it only had increased durations.

Mostly true.  The healing effect from Whiteleaf is the only drug quality (other than durations) that is affected by the Nalpazca bonus. 

[Sotnik]

 

Do Nalpazca monks have stronger drug effects? I was under the impression that it only had increased durations.

Mostly true.  The healing effect from Whiteleaf is the only drug quality (other than durations) that is affected by the Nalpazca bonus. 

 

Does it mean that Alchemy affects only the duration with the other drugs?

[nomenome]

whiteleaf is crazy on a nature godlike nalpazca with maxed alchemy. It can regen like 20/s for 1000 seconds. 

[Enoch]

 

 

Do Nalpazca monks have stronger drug effects? I was under the impression that it only had increased durations.

Mostly true.  The healing effect from Whiteleaf is the only drug quality (other than durations) that is affected by the Nalpazca bonus. 

 

Does it mean that Alchemy affects only the duration with the other drugs?

 

No.  Alchemy affects both the duration and intensity of drugs.  And it can be significant-- Ripple Sponge at 0 ALC gives +3 to all three mental stats.  At 20 ALC, it gives +8. 

 

Durations are affected by both ALC and Power Level (+5% per each). 

 

The Nalpazca bonus is +10 Power Level, which it why it influcences durations, but not effects.  (Except for healing.  This is consistent with how Empower works for spell effects, generally.  See this thread, for reference.)

Edited May 23, 2018 by Enoch

[Sotnik]

Another probable drawback of Nalpazca and drug abuse in general: your non-combat interactions on the world map and upon entering a location are affected by crash debuffs most of the time. If anyone paid attention, please confirm.

Edited May 23, 2018 by Sotnik