Best roleplay builds

[Zaris]

From what I’ve seen so far your experience may vary quite significantly depending on race/class/backround/disposition mix. Logically, I thought it may be a good idea to gather other people’s experiences and see what kind of character can be most fun/most immersive. You know, for posterity.

 

For example I’ve had a great time on my first playthrough as a Human/Sage/Scholar/Rauatai, leading this character as a cold manipulator. Especially with all this calling other Rauataians „trenchers”, conversations with archmages, hazanui mentioning my scholar backround and little touches like orlan peddler getting suspicious after being asked about feelings toward Rauatai. Or when people were cautious toward my Shady disposition, making Maia kill her boss, turning Xoti dark as f*ck, unraveling every Atsura’s plot one after another; you can feel pretty nice as a manipulator in this game. Things like that really helped to create a great atmosphere and a believable world. Bit of a shame that there are no clearly evil companions and even psycho Xoti will still get mad at you for being openly evil/cruel, but hey, nobody is perfect.

Unfortunately my next character was Human/Witch/Explorer/White that Wends which turned out to be a major dissapoitnment. It started off nicely with „Going to distant places and killing monsters is what I do” line, but afterwards...nothing. Not a single mention of my classes (apart from really sh*tty Cipher options: savage queen and a slave can mess up with your mind but you, a Watcher and a Cipher can do sh*t, not even resist a talking mace), backround and homeland. Let me emphasise that: Explorer has no dialogues in a game about exploring. If anything this should be the backround with the most choices, alongside Colonist and Raider.

Shaman/Fire Godlike/Mystic/White that Wends is a nice combo on the other side: you can really get that crazy mystic vibe from the very beginning and Magran Priest lines nicely complement Mystic lines.

 

What were your experiences? Did any of your characters „clicked” just right with the game, fitting perfectly with the main plot and other quests? Is any combination you had so bad that it’s better to keep far away from it?

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

Oh, man. 

 

Sorry to say, but no. None of my characters clicked with me in that way :c. 

 

My experience of Deadfire is way more in the stat fest. I really can't remember anything that stood out. 

[InsaneCommander]

Character: Elf/Assassin

Background: Raider/Deadfire

Dispositions: Clever, Shady

 

Pros:

 

I think it worked really well with all the pirate theme and collecting bounties for other factions. I consider Rauatai and the Vailians stupid for believing I'd side with them. The Huana at least had a reason for it, since I was "one of ours" or a "countryman".

 

The Huana fragmented in the end and the invaders left, so it worked really well for the pirates.

 

Cons:

 

The ending said I was sailing home (to the Dyrwood?) but that makes no sense, my character is happy with a seat in the Principi Council.

 

Although my character was happy, I felt sad for Pallegina and it will be difficult to get to the wheel to fix it.

 

 

My next pt will be with a Pale Elf/Sorcerer/Mystic/White that Wends. I'll have the Eothasian fans, Pallegina and Ydwin in my party. Let's see how it goes.

[Verde]

Garret Verde

Heath Orlan Trickster

 

A gunslinger turned illusionist. The Eye of Wael sees through with a Lidless Gaze.

Edited October 14, 2018 by Verde

[Tarlonniel]

My favorite roleplaying Watcher was an Island Amaua chanter from the Deadfire with the raider background. Shady as all get out, always had a wisecrack ready, but determined to look out for the little guy. It worked out very well - lots of reactivity and the interactions with the Queen and Tekehu took on a lot more weight.

[Hawke64]

I guess, any background related to the main factions would work. I played as a stoic human/rogue/drifter from the Valian Republics and a benevolent death-godlike holy blade (can't recall the background and culture). There was enough reactivity to feel it meaningful.

[Verde]

Benevolent Death-Godlike 0_o?

[quaggan]

 I've had a fun experience on my Vailian Cipher (Aristocrat). At the start of the feuding families quest chain, when coming across the boys about to throw down, there was this dialogue option "I know a formal challenge when I see one". It was quite fitting.

 

 I also enjoyed playing a Rauatai character - the amount of faction interaction was quite fun. Zaris described the Rauatai experience quite well, leaving me with nothing to add.

 

 I remember also when I was playing a Moon Godlike, it was fun being acknowledged considering the Huana attitude towards the godlike and their worship of Ondra. When my character was sent to get the Cornett of Waves from Takano, he just handed it over without any trouble to 'goddess' chosen'. Although I wish I had at least one option to call Tekehu 'big brother' or raise the issue of divine incest when he hit on my character :3

[Ophiuchus]

I don't get super heavy into the RP but it makes for some fun nalpazca/shower thoughts. My favorite Watcher RP:

Name: Zevir
Race: Pale Elf (Male)
Class: Cipher (PoE1), Seer (Ascendant/Ghost Heart) (PoE2)

Culture: White that Wends
Background: Mystic (PoE1), Explorer (PoE2)
Alignment: Neutral Good
Favored Dispositions: Benevolent, Stoic, Honest, Diplomatic
Disfavored Dispositions: Aggressive, Deceptive/Shady, Cruel, Passionate
Weapons: Hunting Bow, War Bow, Arquebus
Pet: Ghostly Wolf (Volkhavaar)
Active Skills: Alchemy, Athletics
Passive Skills: Insight, Metaphysics, Survival

In Zevir's backstory, I picture him as a physically weaker member of his Land tribe who made up for his shortcomings via his inborn Cipher abilities: tracking game or predators from a distance in the same vein as Deadfire's scripted encounters; reading the emotions and intentions from traders and outside groups. While his powers made him something of an outsider, he was well regarded for his kindness, especially in such unforgiving climes.

At some point following his maturation, he began experiencing muddled visions of a spiritual nature, which he believed originated from Galawain: dreams of a fractured realm being strengthened: something far removed from the desolation of his homeland. Compelled by this call, his curiosity, and a generous offer from the lord of Gilded Vale, he made his way to the Dyrwood.

I roleplay Zevir as your wandering quiet hero type who moves from place to place, fixing problems while on his mystical journey. He's dismissive and stone-faced toward the malevolent and generous with the downtrodden; and while he lacks (and is uninterested in) political and higher class standards, he'll often serve as a diplomat between two struggling groups. Zevir's also an honest and blunt Glamfellen but isn't above utilizing his deceptive Cipher powers like any other weapon against evil. On the other end, it's rare for him to show his cleverness outwardly and his taciturn demeanor often conflicts with his role as a leader. Being from the White that Wends, he's also very traditional and is highly skeptical of modern advancements such as animancy.

Some highlights from Pillars 1:

Went for benevolent/peaceful options during most side quests.
Defeated Raedric twice.
Released Maerwald's soul.
Sided with the Crucible Knights/Pro-Animancy (he set aside his misgivings and ignorance on animancy since stopping Thaos was a higher priority).
Killed Concelhaut, Llengrath, and all dragons except Sky.
Palled around with Eder, Aloth, Pallegina, Zahua, and a moon godlike Priest of Eothas hireling named Lumina. He found a strong kinship with Hiravias despite the ornery orlan's loose tongue and temperament, and convinced him to follow Wael.
Rescued Vela.
Tempered Abydon.
Sided with Galawain and funneled the Hollowborn souls to the Dyrwood.
Released Iovara from her torment; blanked out Thaos in case he had any contingency plans.

Following the defeat of Thaos at Sun and Shadow, Zevir returned to Caed Nua with his faith (and ultimately purpose) in a state of disarray. The forces that called out to him many moons ago - the instruments of his Awakening and strengthening the Dyrwood - seemed hollow now; and while he still revered Galawain's hunt and Abydon's wisdom, he could no longer worship them. His responsibilities as roadwarden grew to be confining and challenging due to his uncultured wild upbringing, and he often left the keep to wander for months at a time: allowing trusted advisors to represent him in courtly manners.

During his travels, Zevir cast aside his mystic calling and supplanted it with the thrill of discovery and improvement, becoming an explorer. His journeys tested his resolve and ingenuity, and he used these opportunities to make up for his adolescent fragility: training in rugged conditions; becoming a master marksman; rescuing, taming, and raising a wolf companion (named Volkhavaar). Deep down he wondered if this had been part of Galawain's plan.

Then it was all gone: uprooted in an instant: his keep; his wolf; his life.

My Berserker Warlock is a fairly close second to this but that's a story for another day.

 

Edited October 16, 2018 by Ophiuchus

[Tarlonniel]

Benevolent Death-Godlike 0_o?

 

What's so surprising about that?

Edited October 16, 2018 by Tarlonniel

[InsaneCommander]

Benevolent Death-Godlike 0_o?

 

Outrageous! What will we have next? Anti-Hylea Avian Godlikes? Genocidal gods of Redemption?

Edited October 21, 2018 by InsaneCommander

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

^ is that... sarcasm?...

[quaggan]

 Turn on 'show disposition gains' and find out :3

[Verde]

I can't imagine a Death Godlike growing up kind and loving haha.

[Hawke64]

Benevolent Death-Godlike 0_o?

An atheistic Kind Wayfarer, yes. I couldn't act emotionally enough (except for the chats with Berath), so benevolent was the preferred disposition. It went well with the Energetic animation.

[InsaneCommander]

^ is that... sarcasm?...

 

Sorry, I forgot to use "[/s]".

[Tarlonniel]

I can't imagine a Death Godlike growing up kind and loving haha.

 

I made a death godlike who was not only 100% benevolent, but a Bleak Walker (it all tied into her background as a slave). Obviously I'm not above mechanically crippling my characters for RP purposes

[Zaris]

Death godlikes are children of Berath so not exactly bound to be evil. Just very prone to it because of being ugly motherf*ckers.

As for Bleak Walkers I noticed that it’s quite common to consider them as a sort of bunch of psychos, comparable to Warhammer’s Chaos Warriors. For me they aren’t mere brutes but rather people who embrace the true nature of war and conflict, instead of hiding behind honor, loyality or other illusions other warriors use to justify their actions. After all everybody involved in conflict will kill and injure other people, often innocent civilians. And it’s not up to soldiers to be merciful because if there was an option for peace it passed long before they got involved. So if you’re going to be doing horrible things anyway, you might as well go just a little bit further and use that to your advantage. It was never stated if they chose their modus operandi from sheer lust for violence or rather after a logical calculation done by their founder/s. And, unsuprisingly, their attitude leads to lesser violence since many opponents straight up surrunder when they hear who’s coming for them. They use strategy that actually saves the most people, instead of focusing on pretentious moral grandstanding. I prefer that than Maia and Pellagina who pretend to be good while they execute innocents and pretend it’s a suprise for them. But of course that’s only my take.

[InsaneCommander]

Death godlikes are children of Berath so not exactly bound to be evil. Just very prone to it because of being ugly motherf*ckers.

As for Bleak Walkers I noticed that it’s quite common to consider them as a sort of bunch of psychos, comparable to Warhammer’s Chaos Warriors. For me they aren’t mere brutes but rather people who embrace the true nature of war and conflict, instead of hiding behind honor, loyality or other illusions other warriors use to justify their actions. After all everybody involved in conflict will kill and injure other people, often innocent civilians. And it’s not up to soldiers to be merciful because if there was an option for peace it passed long before they got involved. So if you’re going to be doing horrible things anyway, you might as well go just a little bit further and use that to your advantage. It was never stated if they chose their modus operandi from sheer lust for violence or rather after a logical calculation done by their founder/s. And, unsuprisingly, their attitude leads to lesser violence since many opponents straight up surrunder when they hear who’s coming for them. They use strategy that actually saves the most people, instead of focusing on pretentious moral grandstanding. I prefer that than Maia and Pellagina who pretend to be good while they execute innocents and pretend it’s a suprise for them. But of course that’s only my take.

 

Illusions like "the greater good" or "justice".

[Nash]

If it's roleplay builds, one of the ideas I had was to play a character based on the woodland spirit trickster archetype. Someone who was abandoned in the forest as a baby/child and grew up to be a druid who would occasionally prank or trick travellers. Eventually they left their home to see the world.

 

Class: Pathfinder (Shifter/Trickster)

Culture: Living Lands

Background: Drifter

Disposition: Clever & Shady

Main Attributes: Dexterity, Perception, Intelligence

Active Skills: Stealth & Sleight of Hand

Passive Skills: Bluff & Survival

 

Both subclasses match the theme of the character really well, but have no gameplay synergy, making the build fairly sub-optimal.

 

The only thing I couldn't decide on was race. Nature Godlike seems like a perfect fit since it gives a plausible reason for why the character was abandoned and also has that whole plant thing going on, but I'm also inclined towards Wild Orlan because it has a more feral image and yet is still somehow more inconspicious than a Godlike. I also have no other character ideas that use Wild Orlan and it gets bonus points for being a more suitable parent figure for Vela.

 

Any thoughts?

Edited November 1, 2018 by Nash

[Ophiuchus]

If it's roleplay builds, one of the ideas I had was to play a character based on the woodland spirit trickster archetype. Someone who was abandoned in the forest as a baby/child and grew up to be a druid who would occasionally prank or trick travellers. Eventually they left their home to see the world.

 

Class: Pathfinder (Shifter/Trickster)

Culture: Living Lands

Background: Drifter

Disposition: Clever & Shady

Main Attributes: Dexterity, Perception, Intelligence

Active Skills: Stealth & Sleight of Hand

Passive Skills: Bluff & Survival

 

Both subclasses match the theme of the character really well, but have no gameplay synergy, making the build fairly sub-optimal.

 

The only thing I couldn't decide on was race. Nature Godlike seems like a perfect fit since it gives a plausible reason for why the character was abandoned and also has that whole plant thing going on, but I'm also inclined towards Wild Orlan because it has a more feral image and yet is still somehow more inconspicious than a Godlike. I also have no other character ideas that use Wild Orlan and it gets bonus points for being a more suitable parent figure for Vela.

 

Any thoughts?

If you're going Shifter, you should definitely give this a whirl. https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/244

[Nash]

 

If it's roleplay builds, one of the ideas I had was to play a character based on the woodland spirit trickster archetype. Someone who was abandoned in the forest as a baby/child and grew up to be a druid who would occasionally prank or trick travellers. Eventually they left their home to see the world.

 

Class: Pathfinder (Shifter/Trickster)

Culture: Living Lands

Background: Drifter

Disposition: Clever & Shady

Main Attributes: Dexterity, Perception, Intelligence

Active Skills: Stealth & Sleight of Hand

Passive Skills: Bluff & Survival

 

Both subclasses match the theme of the character really well, but have no gameplay synergy, making the build fairly sub-optimal.

 

The only thing I couldn't decide on was race. Nature Godlike seems like a perfect fit since it gives a plausible reason for why the character was abandoned and also has that whole plant thing going on, but I'm also inclined towards Wild Orlan because it has a more feral image and yet is still somehow more inconspicious than a Godlike. I also have no other character ideas that use Wild Orlan and it gets bonus points for being a more suitable parent figure for Vela.

 

Any thoughts?

If you're going Shifter, you should definitely give this a whirl. https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/244

 

Thanks! Looks pretty cool, but I was planning to take on some of Margran's Fires and those don't allow mods. Abydon, Rymrgand & Skaen might be a really fun combo. By the way which race do you think fits the character better?

[Harpagornis]

Oh, you can easily play with Mods using Magrans Fire @Nash:

 

1. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Pillars of Eternity II\PillarsOfEternityII_Data\exported\design\gamedata

 

2. Open global.gamedatabundle (with Notepad++ or similar)

 

3. Search for "ID":"e14ad382-49e9-45f6-840c-488c7c8d0418"

 

4. Now you only have to scroll a bit and change the entry "DisableMods":"true" into "DisableMods":"false"

 

Now you can play the God Challenges with any Mods you like - good hunting!

Edited November 3, 2018 by Harpagornis

[Frak]

If it's roleplay builds, one of the ideas I had was to play a character based on the woodland spirit trickster archetype. Someone who was abandoned in the forest as a baby/child and grew up to be a druid who would occasionally prank or trick travellers. Eventually they left their home to see the world.

 

Class: Pathfinder (Shifter/Trickster)

Culture: Living Lands

Background: Drifter

Disposition: Clever & Shady

Main Attributes: Dexterity, Perception, Intelligence

Active Skills: Stealth & Sleight of Hand

Passive Skills: Bluff & Survival

 

Both subclasses match the theme of the character really well, but have no gameplay synergy, making the build fairly sub-optimal.

 

The only thing I couldn't decide on was race. Nature Godlike seems like a perfect fit since it gives a plausible reason for why the character was abandoned and also has that whole plant thing going on, but I'm also inclined towards Wild Orlan because it has a more feral image and yet is still somehow more inconspicious than a Godlike. I also have no other character ideas that use Wild Orlan and it gets bonus points for being a more suitable parent figure for Vela.

 

Any thoughts?

I vote Wild Orlan.

 

I just don't see the godlikes as tricksters. Growing up as a rarity, they have most likely been more bullied and studied more than anything. Jaded, angry, disillusioned, maybe. I just don't get the trickster vibe. Unless it's a slightly sadistic trickster

 

Orlan can, as he knows what he is. He knows his race and that there are others like him.

[Kaylon]

Gender: Female

Culture: Deadfire Archipelago

Race: Fire Godlike

Background: Aristocrat

Class: Priest of Maghran/Ghostheart

 

or

 

Gender: Male

Culture: Deadfire Archipelago

Race: Island Aumaua

Background: Mercenary

Class: Gold Pact/Soulblade

Those are among the combos with the most special interactions.

Edited November 14, 2018 by Kaylon