How many quests can be resolved without combat?

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

I'm trying to figure out how far you can get in the game minimizing combat.

 

Obviously in the intro in Port Maje, there are a few fights that seem mandatory (killing the panthers outside Aloth's enclosure, etc.) but once you get to Neketaka, you can actually get a lot of advancement without engaging in combat.

 

Off the top of my head:

 

1) You can raid Arkemyr's vault and get all kinds of gear 

 

2) You can resolve the feuding families peacefully and get two good weapons (though resolving it with violence can give good unique armors)

 

3) Shipwright's Plight discount

 

4) Luca and the Vailian Trading Company contract case

 

5) finding delver's row

 

6)  Harsh Medicine quest in the Gullet

 

7) "Her Last Request" from Mu'Hai's estate

 

Maybe the "Trade Secrets" quest from Prince Arhui 

 

9) Fassina's quest with the gloves 

 

Anything else I'm missing?

 

Basically I'm trying to figure out how much gear I can gather / experience I can gain before I start combat.

 

Are there any particularly stealable magic items in any specific places in Neketaka? I noticed there was a scroll of Raise Dead on the second floor of the Palace, for example.

[bugarup]

The Fort Deadlight quest line you get from Furrante can be done without any combat. If you go with explosives in the end, you also get quite good light armor.

 

 

P.S.: I don't think I ever fought any kith in Neketaka, bluffed my way out of everything. Combat's less avoidable if a quest goes to that undercity dungeon, but even then you could sneak around some encounters, like that overgrown worm.

Edited May 27, 2018 by bugarup

[omgFIREBALLS]

Stolen koiki fruit drama in Tikawara. Though I'm not sure how much this actually counts considering all the ships that might prey on you on your way there.

 

The beginning of The Cornett's Call (acquiring it from Takano or w/e), if you can talk your way out of combat with the first thief he hired. Intimidate check works.

Edited May 27, 2018 by omgFIREBALLS

[Hamhaus]

Ashen Maw during the main quest can be done with minimal combat (I'll try to keep this spoiler free).

 

You first need Mechanics of around 9-10 to unlock the doors and negotiate with an NPC to retrieve a certain item.

 

You also need Sneak of around 10 to sneak past the enemies with no problems of course (Smoke Veil is great to run away if you enter combat).

 

Finally you meet a boss fight which you can avoid by having 14 Survival (theres other checks that allow you to skip it but I fail to recall). Avoiding it lets you get the desired item needed to complete the main quest in Ashen Maw.

 

I completed it by killing only a single wyrm (or drake?) because it was in my way when I tried to sneak through (but some sparking crackers should do the job too).

Edited May 28, 2018 by Hamhaus

[Yonjuro]

I'm trying to figure out how far you can get in the game minimizing combat.

 

Obviously in the intro in Port Maje, there are a few fights that seem mandatory (killing the panthers outside Aloth's enclosure, etc.) but once you get to Neketaka, you can actually get a lot of advancement without engaging in combat.

 

 For a minimal combat run, you can probably sneak by the panthers and finish the quest (that is, find the notes in the dungeon) without fighting them. Aloth is resourceful enough to handle things on his own.

[Tarlonniel]

Aloth is resourceful enough to handle things on his own.

The panthers will die. In a fire.

[pmchem]

This thread is really interesting from the point of view of getting XP before recruiting additional companions/sidekicks, since they join you at your level, but then fall behind if not in the active party.  Recruit them after you're a higher level, so that you don't have to micromanage roster swaps to level out XP as much!

Anyone have lists similar to this thread or anything that was missed?

[omgFIREBALLS]

Something we could add to the list is Sansa's mapping quests. While you can't complete the whole series with zero combat, you can avoid a lot of it. To name an island, you only have to enter and leave its dungeon. You do not have to clear it. Sometimes however there is combat on the way to the dungeon.

[pmchem]

22 hours ago, omgFIREBALLS said:

Something we could add to the list is Sansa's mapping quests. While you can't complete the whole series with zero combat, you can avoid a lot of it. To name an island, you only have to enter and leave its dungeon. You do not have to clear it. Sometimes however there is combat on the way to the dungeon.

If you don't clear it, can you come back later and clear it without missing anything?

[omgFIREBALLS]

I've never noticed anything that suggests otherwise.

[AeonsLegend]

You can get to Neketaka without fighting anyone. As long as you have decent sneak skill you can do all those things without even getting into combat. Haven't tried Hasongo, but the quest there can be resolved without fighting, but I think you can't avoid fighting some of the enemies there.

19 hours ago, pmchem said:

If you don't clear it, can you come back later and clear it without missing anything?

Yes you can. I do this many times. I usually just clear out the world map for the free exp and then do the first 3 mapping areas. I think there's 1 mandatory fight on the third one, with the Laguefath, but they are easy even if they are much higher level than you. This way I am level 8 when I reach Neketaka and can do some quests to get to level 11. Then head onto the Island itself and clear that for the Superb weapons and armor to sell and get my ship. When leaving Neketaka I'm somewhere around level 12 and then just do Fort Deadlight and Dunnage, clear the islands I've discovered because at level 12 they are now easy even if enemy has 90 deflection.

 

Edited May 8, 2019 by AeonsLegend

[Enoch]

On 5/8/2019 at 3:10 PM, AeonsLegend said:

You can get to Neketaka without fighting anyone. As long as you have decent sneak skill you can do all those things without even getting into combat. Haven't tried Hasongo, but the quest there can be resolved without fighting, but I think you can't avoid fighting some of the enemies there.

Yes you can. I do this many times. I usually just clear out the world map for the free exp and then do the first 3 mapping areas. I think there's 1 mandatory fight on the third one, with the Laguefath, but they are easy even if they are much higher level than you. This way I am level 8 when I reach Neketaka and can do some quests to get to level 11. Then head onto the Island itself and clear that for the Superb weapons and armor to sell and get my ship. When leaving Neketaka I'm somewhere around level 12 and then just do Fort Deadlight and Dunnage, clear the islands I've discovered because at level 12 they are now easy even if enemy has 90 deflection.

 

The only wrinkle here is that I'm pretty sure that, if you enable scaling, the enemies are set on a map when you first enter it.  So, if you play with all areas scaled, stepping in briefly and coming back later will have you facing enemies scaled to your level when you first got there. 

[AeonsLegend]

51 minutes ago, Enoch said:

The only wrinkle here is that I'm pretty sure that, if you enable scaling, the enemies are set on a map when you first enter it.  So, if you play with all areas scaled, stepping in briefly and coming back later will have you facing enemies scaled to your level when you first got there. 

You can set it to only scale upwards. So no issues.

[Enoch]

1 hour ago, AeonsLegend said:

You can set it to only scale upwards. So no issues.

So long as the base-level for an area, scaling-wise, is lower than your level when you come back the second time, you're still going to see an effect.  (E.g., area set to scale at level 8+, you enter at level 5, lock the scaling into 8, then come back at 12.)  And that's almost certainly true for the areas in the first Mapping the Deadfire quest stage.  Probably the second, too. 

[AeonsLegend]

Yea but you can complete the first two mapping areas at level 8. (The second one is fixed at level 10 I think). The third one has areas with suberb equipment so they're around level 12-15 (enemies there have between 74 and 90 deflection). One fight is even doable at level 8 on Veteran. The toughest one for this level is the one with the Fampyr from the second mapping area, but can also be completed if you get lucky with drawing the enemies out in small groups. So yes it will "fix itself", but if you follow my route you will go back there 2 or more levels before you break even. Since I clear the areas at level 11.

Edited May 13, 2019 by AeonsLegend

[Nail]

Quite useful info for "The Ultimate", still the major issues are the "hard fights".

[IamNOOB]

On 5/8/2019 at 2:05 AM, pmchem said:

If you don't clear it, can you come back later and clear it without missing anything?

 OMFG I was sure one has to clear all the dungeons to name an island ! Thanks for the info !