The Pillars of Eternity No Reload Challenge

[semiticgod]

Gray Sidoh: No Per-Rest Abilities Run (three paladins, three ciphers)

 

We head to Burial Isle to see how much experience we can get before jumping through the hole, which I'm reasonably certain is the point of no return in the main questline. The local spirits seem considerably tougher than I remember, but none of them are tough enough to withstand three simultaneous beams from Ectopsychic Echo.

 

 

We're still not quite at level 9, and I'm not sure the experience at Sun in Shadow will be enough to get us there before Thaos, so I decide to do one last quest before jumping down the hole: the optional high-level mercenaries from the Caed Nua stronghold questline. I think we have the numbers to deal with them, but the Mercenary Gunslinger at the start surprises me with an 89-damage hit. If that was a critical hit, it could have been a one-shot kill!

 

 

I can't help but wonder how a solo character could handle that kind of risk. There's always a chance of a high enemy attack roll.

 

We take a lot of damage, but the Mercenary Gunslinger's incredibly slow rate of fire more or less dooms him. Nearly killing a party member doesn't mean as much if you can't actually finish them off. We squash him with Ectopsychic Echo.

 

 

God, I love that spell. The next batch of enemies has excellent damage output, but not enough to kill anyone, and we only need a few seconds to clear the field with our ciphers.

 

 

But these guys are still really tough; they have big numbers and are pretty hard to kill even if they're mostly just brute force grunts. I hate to think what a similarly high-level enemy spellcaster would be like in this area.

 

I decide I'd rather not find out. This area seems too dangerous to be worth an extra level for Thaos; I honestly think it might be harder than the final boss, just based on how strong the earliest enemies are.

 

There's nothing left to do without entering Whitemarch or whatever. I decide to finally jump down the hole. Before we go down, we rest at the Suite of Worldly Wonders at the Goose and Fox for the Lore bonuses, in case we can't get our Lore high enough to use Scrolls of Maelstrom.

 

The Animats down here are really sturdy against slashing and piercing damage, but their poor damage reduction against crushing damage makes them excellent candidates for--you guessed it--Ectopsychic Echo.

 

 

Then I see a Shadow Drake, and I realize this area's going to be much tougher than it was on Easy mode.

 

That is, until I realize that I can stun the beast with a Silent Scream spell.

 

 

Another Shadow Drake shows up in the next fight, and I choose a stronger option: Puppet Master, to turn the drake against the other enemies. Even drakes have pretty weak Will defenses, at least for a party with high-Perception ciphers.

 

 

The Shadow Drake blasts us when the domination effect wears off, but all we have to do is dominate it again and then paralyze it with Mental Binding when it's the only enemy left.

 

 

We have finally reached level 9, and while not everyone in the party has 10 base Lore, two of our ciphers still have enough Lore to use Scrolls of Maelstrom thanks to the rest bonuses from the Suite of Worldly Wonders. The scrolls aren't a game-changer, but even a slight boost in strength could make the difference between victory and defeat.

 

It's time.

 

Thaos is waiting.

[Alesia_BH]

@Semiticgod. Excellent work! I loved the Raedric fight. It was excruciating to read (since I was terrified that you were going to fall in a battle that you had learned about from me) but enjoyable in the end. Well done! 

 

Best of luck with Thaos! You've got this!

 

@Jaheiras Witness. It's good to know that I'm not the only one who chickens out on that skuldr king fight...

 

Best,

 

A.

[Jaheiras Witness]

Haha yeah! It’s a tough fight but doable with Wizard’s Double potions. Just an unnecessary risk though for no-reload so just decided to skip it.

[Alesia_BH]

@Semiticgod. Have you noticed Aegis of Loyalty yet? For fights like Undead Raedric, the thing to do, I think, is have a paladin with Aegis of Loyalty, wearing The Hand and Key.

Edited November 14, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[semiticgod]

@Semiticgod. Have you noticed Aegis of Loyalty yet? For fights like Undead Raedric, the thing to do, I think, is have a paladin with Aegis of Loyalty, wearing The Hand and Key.

That's a good idea! I don't think I have the Hand and Key in this run; it's not our inventory and I don't remember getting it. If we did find it, it's been sold in favor of custom-enchanted plate mail for all three paladins. I considered getting Aegis of Loyalty, but didn't think it would matter much in the final fight, so I went with Reinforcing Exhortation.

 

Whenever someone mentions a key item in this thread, I have to look it up because I don't know which items are which. Partly it's because I don't remember the names, but it's also because I haven't even heard of some items. I'm missing a lot of technical knowledge about game resources, so I don't really know all the tools available, or how to get them. In fact, I think Ilfan Byrngar's Solace is the only item whose name and location I know!

[Alesia_BH]

That's a good idea! I don't think I have the Hand and Key in this run; it's not our inventory and I don't remember getting it. 

 

The Hand and the Key is pretty hard to miss. It's on a bright, gold, gleaming body on Od Nua Level 2.

I considered getting Aegis of Loyalty, but didn't think it would matter much in the final fight, so I went with Reinforcing Exhortation.

 

Good point. Thaos spams an AoE charm spell on Hard (probably on PotD, too). I don't recall seeing it on Normal, though.

 

On Hard or above, forced to choose between Aegis of Loyalty and Reviving Exhortation, I'd probably go with Aegis of Loyalty and pack some extra Scrolls of Revival. In Ashoka's run, I skipped Aegis of Loyalty. I came to regret that.

 

 

Whenever someone mentions a key item in this thread, I have to look it up because I don't know which items are which. Partly it's because I don't remember the names, but it's also because I haven't even heard of some items. I'm missing a lot of technical knowledge about game resources, so I don't really know all the tools available, or how to get them. In fact, I think Ilfan Byrngar's Solace is the only item whose name and location I know!

 

If it makes you feel any better, I'm only, like, half-a-step ahead of you. I learned about Ilfan Byrrngar's Solace from you!

 

Best,

 

A.

Edited November 14, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[semiticgod]

Gray Sidoh: No Per-Rest Abilities Run (three paladins, three ciphers)

 

Time to deal with Thaos and finally learn the big secret truth thingy behind Pillars of Eternity. Here is our fully-buffed party at the end of the game, both record screens and inventory screens. The spoiler below has 12 screenshots, so if you want the key details: We have three paladins decked in full plate and fast weapons with shields, and three ciphers with cloth armor, two bows, and a wand. Basically, the paladins are designed to be tanky healers, and the ciphers are glass cannons using ranged weapons. Everyone has high Might and Scrolls of Defense, Potions of Infuse Vital Essence, and healing scrolls. The paladins have high Resolve to improve their defenses; the ciphers have high Dexterity and Perception but low Intellect to maximize damage output.

 

 

That's our strategy in a nutshell. The ciphers do big damage, and the paladins keep them alive.

[semiticgod]

Gray Sidoh: No Per-Rest Abilities Run (three paladins, three ciphers)

 

Before I decide on our opening spells for the final battle, I check the resistances of Woedica's Headsman and Woedica's Judge. I notice that the executioner has no bonuses to its defense against domination effects, so I start out with Puppet Master. We get a critical hit!

 

But... nothing happens.

 

 

I double-check the executioner and realize that while its list of resistances doesn't mention domination effects, its list of immunities does.

 

So, we've wasted 30 Focus right off the bat, and Rius takes a bit of damage from a disengagement attack, since she had to get so close to cast Puppet Master. Fortunately, the judge and executioner don't like to run around very much, and Thaos himself prefers to stay in one place while he casts spells, which means our ciphers are relatively safe just by scurrying away a short distance. Zovai engages the judge, Gray Sidoh engages the executioner, and Lothra engages Thaos, ensuring that our ciphers don't have to worry about getting chased--and establishing our ideal positioning at the beginning of combat.

 

We proceed with a Scroll of Defense and Scrolls of Maelstrom on the executioner, whom I deem the more important target (though I don't really know). The damage is a little disappointing; the judge and executioner appear to have some pretty sturdy resistances against elemental damage.

 

 

The damage is still much better than anything we could do without burning Focus points, however, and slightly better lucky gets us a much bigger hit soon after (we have multiple scrolls for just this occasion).

 

 

Unfortunately, our positioning isn't as strong as I thought it was. Rius is well within range of Thaos' spells, and takes massive damage from a single crushing blow.

 

 

Our ciphers' strong Reflex defenses, courtesy of high Perception and Dexterity, are probably the only reason she didn't get killed in one shot. Rius immediately switches to drinking a Potion of Infuse Vital Essence, and Lothra begins casting Lay on Hands to bail her out; I don't know how much time we have before the enemy can land another hit on Rius while she's vulnerable.

 

Our paladins keep using defensive scrolls and such to ensure we stay safe while our ciphers steadily deal damage to the executioner. But despite consistently landing hits, the executioner is still in fairly good health even as we steadily run out of Scrolls of Maelstrom. Eager to bring it down, we try a Detonate spell, and while the damage is massive, it becomes clear that the executioner's base Endurance is extremely high--even now, it's only at Injured! We have a long way to go still.

 

 

But our party is still in good condition, and as long as the party doesn't have to dedicate attention to its defenses, we can continue making progress. The executioner approaches death.

 

 

Thaos lands another heavy hit, this time on Lothra. For a moment, I think we can bounce back from it just like we did with Rius, using Infuse Vital Essence and Lay on Hands. Then we finally slay the executioner--and discover that it does area-effect damage on death, finishing off Lothra before she can recover.

 

 

Overall, it's a net gain, since we can always bring back Lothra (we have some Scrolls of Revival in addition to Reviving Exhortation). But then Thaos launches another big damage spell at us, and Viora is down to 19 Endurance.

 

Okay, we can't let Thaos keep blasting us with damage spells. We need to spread apart so he can't hit so many people at once; it's drawing too much attention away from our attacks and forcing us to spend precious seconds keeping the party afloat. Thaos is targeting Vivenne, so I have Vivenne run to the northeast.

 

But we move too late. Another damage spell comes from an unknown source and finishes off Viora. Two ciphers down.

 

 

But Vivenne's disengagement works out for us in the long run: by luring Thaos over to the northwest, we can safely revive both Rius and Viora, who are now a safe distance from both Thaos and the judge. Lothra and Gray Sidoh engage Thaos, and while Thaos can deal massive damage even on grazes, the two paladins can take a lot of punishment before they get in danger. They're sturdy enough to hold him off, at least for a little while.

 

 

We use a Scroll of Moonwell in case Thaos takes very long to subdue, then use our favorite damage spell, Ectopsychic Echo. He has surprisingly little Endurance; we've only applied modest pressure and he's already at Injured.

 

 

Realizing the danger, or perhaps just noticing that Vivenne is unusually close to him, Thaos disengages from Gray Sidoh and Lothra and chases our ciphers. However, this doesn't let him escape the beam, and when our paladins chase him down, Thaos re-engages our paladins instead of continuing to chase our ciphers. Thaos therefore remains inside the beam, and eventually the damage catches up to him. Thaos is forced to use Minor Intercession to stay alive, which shuts down his spellcasting.

 

 

I don't know how Thaos' "Soul Jump" thingy works, but since it appears to absorb damage, I'm guessing that you have to keep dealing damage to it in order to keep him hiding and therefore inactive. Our paladins keep attacking him in the hopes that it will prevent Thaos from leaving his shell to continue casting spells, while our ciphers switch gears and turn to the judge. I don't know if you need to kill the judge and executioner to beat Thaos, but getting rid of the distractions is definitely useful--I don't want two giants stomping all over us. The judge's physical attacks are mostly harmless against Zovai's extremely high Deflection, but its spells are very scary indeed.

 

 

Since I'm not sure our paladins are dealing enough damage to keep Thaos in his shell, we use another Ectopsychic Echo to deal constant damage to Thaos' "Soul Jump" thingy. The judge doesn't take much damage per hit due to its excellent defenses, but since we have multiple fully functional characters to gang up on it, the damage builds up over time.

 

 

Thaos stays inactive, and while the judge deals some damage, it's not fast enough to overcome our party's generous supply of healing options. We finally bring down the judge.

 

 

Thaos leaves his shield (I'm guessing all damage to his shield is dealt instead to the judge and executioner) and takes a few big hits from the tail end of Ectopsychic Echo. He throws out a Confusion spell, but we quickly cure it with Liberating Exhortation, and Thaos quickly finds himself caught between two Ectopsychic Echo beams.

 

 

Thaos casts Instill Doubt, but all that does is impose some light penalties; it doesn't actually disable anyone, much less kill anyone. All the while, Ectopsychic Echo continues to crush him.

 

 

Thaos simply doesn't have the defenses to weather that kind of pressure. Our ciphers bring him down.

 

 

Done! We return the souls to their intended bodies, ending the Hollowborn epidemic, and I accidentally skip the epilogue text about Raedric's second defeat.

 

One Normal mode run of PoE with no per-rest abilities, complete.

[Alesia_BH]

Ashoka: Pale Elf, Kind Wayfarer- Entry 13: Gratuitous XP Hunting

 

Ok! First, I'd like to apologize for the dearth of updates of late. My wifi is very slow here in Costa Rica and that has made playing more fun that uploading pictures. Posts have fallen so far behind that I have an entire successful run from beginning to end that I haven't even started covering yet. Before we get to that, though, I need to finish up with Ashoka.

 

So where were we? Right: Post Through Death's Gate.

 

After completing the Through Death's Gate quest, Ashoka was eager to secure the aid of The Dozens and resume the hunt for Thaos. I, however, was a bit concerned with her party's lack of experience. It's not that I doubted her, mind you, it's that I doubted myself: I wanted an XP cushion to compensate for my manifest ineptitude with a game that I'm still just learning. And so our intrepid heroes were reduced to minor questing in and around The D. But first, some storyline work: The Man Who Waits.

 

The Man Who waits quest is the easiest of the three chapter 2 storyline quests, but I always save it for last. The story just makes more sense to me that way. You pick up clues in Heritage Hill and Through Death's Gate: then and only then should one see the man himself, The Man Who Waits, Thaos.

 

Quick question before we get to the action: Does this seem a little Spellhold to y'all or is that just me? I mean, an arch villian infiltrating a sanitarium- setting up a mid adventure confrontation with the plot line's central antagonist? There's even a battle involving released inmates. This is not a critique. "A good artist borrows, a great artist steals," as Picasso said.

 

Anyhoo: To the fight. This was very straight forward. I'll cover it in a wee-bit of detail, nonetheless, if only to remind myself of the tactics that we were using at this stage of the adventure.

 

Here we see the battlefield, along with Pallegina's active effects. We're using Zealous Focus and Zealous Endurance to subtly bias the combat math in our favor. Holy Radiance and Circle of Protection are among our preferred buffs. Curse of Blackened Sight, Expose Vulnerabilities, and Interdiction, our standard debuffs. And as you can see, we also like to eat.

 

 

With two paladins and a fighter (supported by a stupid, goofy adra beetle that I hate but can't yet ween myself off of) our front line is formidable. Strange Mercies and Consecrated Grounds (now from Pallegina's boots, Shod in Faith) give the line plenty of passive healing. And with two Scion of Flame priests -each with a bundle of single target burn damage spells- the occasional backline charger gets scorched quickly. Most fights are very easy: the front line bulldozes, the second line bombs away, if the front line is breached, the breachers get scorched. Simple.

 

 

After completing The Man Who Waits, we were ambushed once again by a group off assassins, replete with backline chargers who are effectively Aloth-seeking-missiles. Kudos to me for finally figuring out the Aloth doesn't need to run around in circles every time this happens: he can fire up his Hardened Arcane Veil and Llengrath's and easily stand his ground.

 

 

Moving on...

 

Our next stop was Od Nua levels 3 through 5. I'll focus on two battles here: Zolla on L3 and the drake on L5. We'll cover Zolla first.

 

With the party at level 7, I felt confident enough to angle for some style points here. Instead of using the choke point, we claimed the center of the battlefield and worked from there. Here's the opening: Ashoka goes west, Eder goes east, the adra beetle gets parked to the north, near the ogre druid, while Pallegina readies Firebrand and prepares to charge.

 

 

Pallegina makes her charge, and we have a secure pocket. Aloth and Cassia rush in to claim it. Doesn't that look cooler than hanging out in a doorway?

 

 

By now, Pallegina and the adra beetle have finished the druid and the western ogre is flaming chunks, thanks to Ogrnd and Cassia. Aloth turns his attention to debuffing Zolla in preparation for the finish.

 

 

Dazed and with her vulnerabilities exposed...

 

 

Zolla doesn't last long.

 

 

Onto the drake. This fight was ridiculous. Drakes look scary, but they're usually pushovers. I have a terrible habit of squandering resources on these fights. Case in point: here we are running Scroll of Defense, Scroll of Protection and a bunch of potion buffs for a fight that lasted seconds.

 

 

We're still buffing and the thing is already dead. Lesson learned: a scary animation doesn't necessarily mean a scary enemy. Not all winged things are dangerous. Save the potions for later

 

 

I'll post on Ashoka's next quest, The Bronze Beneath the Lake, soon.

 

Best,

 

A.

Edited November 15, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[Alesia_BH]

Congrats, Semiticgod! I knew Thaos would fall!

 

Best,

 

A.

 

Btw, I've alway been inclined to focus on forcing Thaos into the statue before turning my attention to the Headsman. Why do you prefer to attack the Headsman first?

Edited November 15, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[Alesia_BH]

(You can't dominate the statues, as you noticed but, interestingly, you can dominate Thaos- at least with Gyrd Haewanes Stenes!)

Edited November 15, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[semiticgod]

The basic assumptions behind this run were that (1) ciphers have crazy offensive potential if they're min-maxed, and (2) paladins could cover the vulnerabilities of a glass cannon-type cipher.

 

Apparently, both of those assumptions held. Ciphers have crazy offensive potential because so many things synergize with each other: high Might and Accuracy increase weapon damage, which increases Focus gain, which can be used to fuel damage spells that are also magnified by high Might and Accuracy, and high Dexterity speeds up both. A min-maxed cipher is extremely fragile, but its weaknesses can all be covered. Using ranged weapons lets them avoid pressure (their damage spells are already long-range anyway), Lay on Hands is a quick fix when a cipher accidentally takes damage, and Liberating Exhortation compensates for a low-Intellect cipher's poor Will defenses.

 

The party didn't have a broad range of options--we only had two classes in the whole party, and every party member was practically a carbon copy of another one--but this synergy alone was enough to grant the party incredible power while still making it resistant to key threats.

 

I wonder if there are other party setups based class-specific synergies. I notice that rogues get a massive 50% damage bonus against blinded targets, and that mages get two long-lasting, wide-ranging blindness spells at levels 1 and 3. But I don't see a defensive synergy in that pairing--maybe a single priest could accompany multiple rogues and one or two mages?

[Alesia_BH]

Any thoughts on your next run, Semiticgod?

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

I wonder if there are other party setups based class-specific synergies. I notice that rogues get a massive 50% damage bonus against blinded targets, and that mages get two long-lasting, wide-ranging blindness spells at levels 1 and 3. But I don't see a defensive synergy in that pairing--maybe a single priest could accompany multiple rogues and one or two mages?

 

 

High Int mages can be tanky for significant lengths of time. Ashoka's defenses were excellent, but Alikae's were arguably superior for much of the adventure. Alikae at L7, for example:

 

Edited November 15, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[semiticgod]

Btw, I've alway been inclined to focus on forcing Thaos into the statue before turning my attention to the Headsman. Why do you prefer to attack the Headsman first?

Because I'd only fought him once before! I have no idea how most of this game works.

 

Does he stay frozen until the judge and executioner fall? When the "Soul Jump" absorbs damage, where does it go? Because if it goes directly to the judge and executioner, then that would mean you could bypass some of their damage resistances by targeting Thaos instead.

[Alesia_BH]

 

 

Does he stay frozen until the judge and executioner fall? 

 

 

 

Yes.

 

 

 

When the "Soul Jump" absorbs damage, where does it go?

 

 

What do you mean, exactly? Where does the damage go if you attack Thaos when he's in stasis, while the statues are alive, but after he has jumped? I think it goes to the Magical-Land-of-Wasted-Effort, but I'm not sure.

 

(I alway ignore his body once he's in stasis and inhabiting the judge.)

 

Best,

 

A.

Edited November 15, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[semiticgod]

I've had several ideas for my next run. I think I'll bump it up to Hard, and I'd like to try White March, but that seems like it would end in failure. Since I've already got one no-reload complete, I think I'll take it easy and focus more on learning the game than getting another entry in, so I might continue the run as a reload run if it fails as a no-reload run, just so I can do some more experimenting on my own.

 

I'd like to try a high-Intellect, low-Might mage specializing in disablers combined with a bruiser-type thief for sneak attacks on blinded critters, though we'd still want healing options and immunities. I've had enough of paladins for a while, which leaves priests, but I don't usually find priests as interesting as other classes.

 

I'm also curious about the potential of firearms, but the weapon speeds seem absolutely terrible. Look at how much slower every firearm is compared to other ranged weapons according to the wiki:

 

 

Unless you're dealing with an enemy with extremely, extremely high damage reduction, faster weapons with lower damage would come out on top simply because they strike so much more often. What good is dealing 20% more damage if you attack 50% fewer times? That's a 40% loss in damage output.

 

Testing suggested that you could cut the firing rate of a pistol in half by switching weapons instead of reloading. That could only be done once per gun per battle, since you'd have to switch back to reload (switching weapons doesn't reset any reload timers), but it would give an edge at the start of combat, which would be very nice for minor battles that don't last as long.

 

That being said, I'm not sure any of this would be allowed. The entire concept of firing a gun more than once seems completely anathema to the challenge.

 

After all, this thread is for no-reload runs.

Edited November 15, 2018 by semiticgod

[Alesia_BH]

I'm not an expert -I only have a little more experience than you- but this is the impression I'm under:

 

1) Averaging across all enemy types, bows offer the best ranged DPS. Persistence is the best, some say.

 

2) Firearms have their uses, nonetheless: A) They penetrate Arcane Veils; B) They get over the top of DR; C) They're superior when you're looking to one shot a dangerous, low endurance enemy, such as a mage; D) Some have useful abilities, like the marking enchantment on St Gram's Spark; E) They're a good choice for warriors who open with a ranged volley and then close in melee, since reload time becomes irrelevant.

 

I'm sure someone more experienced could add.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

Btw, I'm not sure I understand your point regarding weapon switching. Can you clarify? At the beginning of combat, the gun is always loaded. You shoot. You switch, holstering the empty weapon. If you switch back, you still have to reload, with a full timer. Where is the time saving, exactly? Do you mean equipping two firearms and switching between them? Shoot one, switch to the other, and shoot that one? That would be fair. There's nothing wrong with carrying two distinct loaded guns, emptying them, and then reloading them one at a time.

 

(An island aumaua with quick switching could be a cool gunfighter, I guess)

Edited November 15, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[semiticgod]

@Alesia_BH: Yes, I'm talking about switching from one loaded gun to another, and then reloading them after combat. Firing a pistol consecutively takes about 8 seconds between each shot; switching from pistol to pistol takes about 4 seconds between each shot, but you'd have to reload them later. Now that I think about it, it probably wouldn't be a big deal for anyone except for a rogue combining it with sneak attack bonuses, since you'd only get 1-3 switches before you were reduced to a normal attack rate.

 

So, bows are generally better than guns, as far as I can tell. Even the chanter's reload bonus for allies doesn't seem to change that. But, considering how many enemies are resistant and sometimes even immune to piercing damage, I've actually found that wands are more reliable if you don't already know for certain what the next enemy's resistances are going to be. My ciphers used wands for most of the game, only switching to bows when we got very special bows like Persistence and Borresaine.

[semiticgod]

Maybe I'll try a double monk, double rogue, double mage party. With the right talent, monks can deal 5% extra melee damage as fire damage per 1 Wound, and with the right talent, you can get 1 Wound for every 8 damage instead of every 10 damage. Wounds only last 20 seconds, so that 5% extra damage won't last forever, but a monk that continually takes damage can have very respectable damage output. I was thinking I'd make both monks into Moon Godlikes, since their high Might and high Constitution would synergize with the party-wide healing from Silver Tide. They'd be able to take a lot of damage without being in serious danger.

 

Honestly, Moon Godlikes seem like the best race by far. That extra healing scales so well with Might, and the fact that's it's area-effect and can trigger multiple times (once per encounter, but that's for hitting 75%, 50%, and 25% Endurance each) means that a party of Moon Godlikes would effectively have regeneration going on at all times, and it triggers automatically. I mean, put together a party of Moon Godlike paladins and what else needs to be done? They'd be virtually invincible. If all of them get blasted by some horrible spell, all of them trigger the healing simultaneously.

[semiticgod]

Now that I think about it, I'm kind of tempted to jump right from Normal to Path of the Damned mode with a team of Moon Godlike paladins just to see how sturdy they really are. But I don't want to get into the habit of going for "trophy" runs like I used to; I've walked that road before and it tends to suck the joy out of living.

 

Still... It might be fun to try. It sounds like a very simple, breezy party to play.

[Alesia_BH]

I've actually found that wands are more reliable if you don't already know for certain what the next enemy's resistances are going to be. My ciphers used wands for most of the game, only switching to bows when we got very special bows like Persistence and Borresaine.

 

Implements can work, although, averaging across all enemy types, the elite bows will offer superior damage, as I understand. I, too, appreciate the flexible damage types of implements, although piercing immune enemies are generally unthreatening, at least to a party with varied weapons.

 

The one implement that I'm inclined to signal out is Gyrd Haewanes Stenes, specifically for priests.  Priests can get a +10 bonus to accuracy with certain weapon types, based on their deity. None get bonuses with hunting bows, sadly. With soul bound weapons, like GHS, however, the weapon type no longer matters: if you take the ability, you'll get the +10 with the soul bound weapon, even if the type doesn't match (my understanding is that this is intended behavior). So, in Alikae's run, we had a priest of Wael named Alena. Alena took Incomprehensible Revelation and Weapon Focus: Noble. She soul bound GHS, which has excellent accuracy bonuses on it's own, without need for enchantments. The result was an impressive accuracy for a priest. This is unbuffed at L8:

 

 

(GWS is available early, with no risk and virtually no effort)

Edited November 15, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[Alesia_BH]

Now that I think about it, I'm kind of tempted to jump right from Normal to Path of the Damned mode with a team of Moon Godlike paladins just to see how sturdy they really are. But I don't want to get into the habit of going for "trophy" runs like I used to; I've walked that road before and it tends to suck the joy out of living.

 

Still... It might be fun to try. It sounds like a very simple, breezy party to play.

 

It could be interesting. I've been making a point of sticking with the games' NPCs, with minor adjustments, since I prefer to work within those limitations, but there's nothing wrong with custom parties. If you'd like to try it, feel free.

 

I do think you should up the difficulty, possibly to PotD. Setting aside the final battle, I didn't notice that much of a difference between normal and hard, honestly. And once I understood those differences, they became unproblematic.

 

So far, PotD has been surprisingly straightforward. It has forced me to focus on accuracy and positioning more: that's it.

 

Knowing what I know now, I probably would have gone from my normal NR straight to PotD. 

 

Best,

 

A.

Edited November 15, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[Jaheiras Witness]

Well done semiticgod on your first completed run!

 

Regarding firearms, the Quick Switch and Gunner talents help. If you want to go all-in, you could go island aumaua and take the Arms Bearer talent to have 4 loaded guns at the start of combat. It’s specialised but effective, a Cipher would generate huge focus from that for instance and could spend the rest of combat casting spells. Or if you could accompany with an AoE effect, a rogue could do devastating sneak attack damage.

 

Btw when you are up against very high DR enemies, in future you could try raw damage (e.g. Silent Scream) which ignores DR, or damage over time weapons/effects (e.g. Persistence) to which only a fraction of DR applies (25% I think, or something like that). And if you presage with Combusting Wounds, even better .

[Alesia_BH]

Well done semiticgod on your first completed run!

 

 

 

I know! I do think this calls for celebration. This is our first completed run in a new challenge- one that has kind-a-sorta taken off in a very short time, despite the low traffic on these forums. It's a big moment for Semiticgod, of course, but also for the challenge and the community.

 

Congrats, Semiticgod! And thank you so much for sharing!

 

If there are any lurkers out there, now would be a great time to introduce yourselves, and offer congrats for our first success!

 

Best,

 

A.