The Pillars of Eternity No Reload Challenge

[Jaheiras Witness]

Jazz Wit, Solo Chanter (Hard), Part 20

 

This will be a short update since nothing particularly interesting happened. Completed Dyrford quests and Through Death's Gate. Opponents were hopelessly outmatched so it was more of a waltz than an adventuring session.

 

Here's an example from the Blood Legacy quest:

 

 

 

 

You can see the enemy cipher actually managed to paralyse me near the start of the fight, for a very healthy 9.6 seconds duration.

 

And in all that time, the opponents managed to do 46 points of damage to me. I'm sure I regenerate more than that in 9.6 seconds. They didn't even land a critical hit (to trigger Frenzy) when I wasn't even moving 

 

Then you have these sporelings in Cliaban Rilag:

 

 

 

 

Ok it was a bit cruel of me to drink Wizard's Double. But we have ACC 35 vs DEF 131, for a -96 penalty. They cannot even graze me on a roll of 100.

 

Remember when phantoms were scary?

 

 

 

 

Just rabble now.

 

 

 

 

In fact this is the most trouble I had in this quest:

 

 

 

 

Jazz Wit twisted his ankle leaping across the gap. His Athletics is only 3 and he used a rite when going in, which has long since expired. This means I now have to rest for the first time in forever (I think Raedric's Keep was the last time!)

 

Back at Caed Nua to drive away some bandits:

 

 

 

 

Next up is Searing Falls before returning to Defiance Bay to complete Act 2.

[semiticgod]

@Jaheiras Witness: I ran some numbers. With attack rolls up to 15 being Misses, 16-50 being Grazes, 51-100 being Hits, and 101+ being Crits, we get the following spread for a character that deals 10 damage on a normal hit, and whose Accuracy is 40, 30, 20, 10, or zero points above or below the target's Deflection:

 

 

It looks like every 1 Accuracy below the target's defense imposes a 1.48% penalty to output, while every 1 Accuracy above the target's defense grants a little more than a 2% bonus to output, which steadily decreases as the bonus gets higher. My numbers are probably inaccurate because I only grouped things by 10's, but it looks like we've got a 1.5% penalty for negative Accuracy minus defense, and a 2% bonus for positive Accuracy minus defense.

 

It's definitely less meaningful than Might for offensive purposes, especially when we factor in the importance of bigger hits to overcome damage reduction. Now Perception looks rather unimportant, even for the purposes of reliability.

[Alesia_BH]

On might v perception. Thank you for your perspective on this, Semiticgod. I'll suggest, however, that your model needs additional detail before we'll be able to draw a conclusion. You need to consider:

 

1) the relative value of might with increasing damage bonuses (you've only considered the case of a damage bonus of 0%, which is the optimal case for might; might becomes less valuable as damage bonuses increase, since the might bonus is additive with, not multiplicitive with, other bonuses)

2) the effect of crit multipliers

3) the class of the character and thus the damage and crit multiples available

 

Were you to do this, you'd likely find perception relatively important for rogues, and might relatively important for wizards (focusing on damage only)

 

Of course, there's also the less easily quantified matter of disablers and effect on crit abilities

 

Best,

 

A.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[Alesia_BH]

Arcadia, Moon-Godlike Wizards: Undying Heritage Part 2

 

When we left off, Arcadia and her crew were ready to enter the tower. With two sets of camping equipment left, and one reserved for Missing Sentries, we chose to complete the first floor battle without resting.

 

This battle was fun because it gave us a chance to practice one of our contingency plans. The opening went smoothly enough. We took our buffs, muzzled and eliminated the ranged caster, and then turned our attention to the frontline, using Curse of Blackened Sight->Combusting Wounds->Concelhault's Corrosive Siphon

 

 

 

 

With Alena tapped at 2 and 3 and struggling to be relevant, she found herself approaching the line to apply Divine Terror. Unfortunately, she got too close and attracted the attention of a dargul. Pallegina was free by this point, but the casters had a plan in place for this possibility and now seemed like a good time to put it into action. The priests' standard method of dealing with backline chargers, double divine marks, wouldn't work here, given the dargul's endurance and ability to paralyze. Instead, Alena immediately broke for Arcadia. Arcadia, in turn, fired up her Arcane Veil, a free action, leaving her positioned to follow up.

 

 

 

 

Arcadia applies Gref's Authority, via Gyrd, stunning the dargul, and granting Alena time to equip her shield, drink her emergency Wizard Double potion, and fade.

 

 

 

 

Arcadia adds a Llengrath's and Pallegina closes. By the time the dargul wakes up, he's faced not with a vulnerable priest but with a paladin and a full buffed wizard. He's also on fire, thanks to Alikae. Meanwhile Alena, wizard doubled, is casting at a safe distance. Hooray for teamwork.

 

 

 

 

The final first floor battle was fought with per rest abilities only. Eder charges the backline to neutralize the casters while Pallegina controls the frontline.

 

 

 

 

The casters flank to join Eder as soon as it's safe.

 

 

 

 

With the crew fully rested, the floor two battle is a slaughter.

 

 

 

 

We rescued Saeda, freed the slaves, and destroyed the machine. With one last set of camping equipment, we're ready for Missing Sentries.

 

Best,

 

A.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[semiticgod]

Divinegon, Hearth Orlan Cipher

 

Maerwald summons some Blights early on, which we quickly chop up in order to isolate the wizard. Maerwald actually helps bring them down with his Chill Fog spell. Notice Divinegon trying to charm a Blight right after it blew up, wasting the spell.

 

Maerwald himself is still very dangerous, and he blasts us with a Fan of Flames spell. Zovai's Silver Tide triggers, instantly recovering much of the damage. Moon Godlikes might not be utterly broken, but they are definitely quite strong.

 

Mora Tai, our paladin and primary tank, falls to Maerwald's Fireball, but Maerwald doesn't last long under sustained pressure from two highly offensive-oriented Hearth Orlans and a mage, Rius, with Concelhaut's Parasitic Quarterstaff. Our wizard whomps him.

 

I took an interest in Concelhaut's after hearing @Alesia_BH praise it, but I didn't realize how effective it really was. It might be slow, but it deals massive damage and grants +8 to Accuracy, which is enough to give a level 1 mage remarkable damage output.

 

I exit the game and come back to it later, at which point I discover that I failed to save after defeating Maerwald--our latest save is an autosave. We have to beat him all over again.

 

But this time, we get much, much worse luck. Rius and Divinego, our mage and cipher, fall to Maerwald's second Fireball. Zovai, our Moon Godlike priest, never got hurt badly enough to hit 75% Endurance, which meant Silver Tide never triggered.

 

Silver Tide would have saved us. I guess the lesson is that the Moon Godlike should ideally take more damage, faster, than other party members in order for Silver Tide to be most effective for the party as a whole.

 

We still have our second-best damage dealer, Frost the Hearth Orlan rogue, who helps us dispatch the Blights. We take some damage from the Blights' explosive deaths, though, and Maerwald still isn't done casting Fireballs. Zovai nearly dies to the third Fireball--which actually means the rest of the party gets healed up right quick thanks to Silver Tide.

 

 

Zovai uses Withdraw on herself to avoid death, but it's not necessary--Maerwald made a lot of progress against us, but our surviving characters did likewise, and our party has a lot more Endurance than he does. Frost finishes him off with her flail.

 

Lesson learned. If somebody in the party has to die, make it the Moon Godlike.

 

We kill a few beetles for their shells, but head no further because we already ran out of Camping Supplies and I don't remember what else is on the first level. With the party in good shape, I decide to tackle the bears back at the cave near the start of the game. We probably could have handled this fight even earlier; the bears have terrible Will saves.

 

Charm decreases all defenses by 25, so that zero Will should actually be a 25. That's a guaranteed graze for Whisper of Treason even at level 1--not enough for a fight with three bears in a no-reload context, but enough that we probably could have dealt with this fight right after getting Kana.

 

In town, I wander into a house with two occupants. You know how some characters don't talk to you, and instead just trigger Watcher visions?

 

Yeah, I always thought that meant those characters were spirits. You know, dead people. And I assumed that, since they were dead, they wouldn't notice or care if I tried to steal something nearby.

 

Turns out that those people are all very much alive--it's just that you only speak with them on the spirit level. Which means that stealing stuff starts a fight that we can't run away from due to Pillars of Eternity's combat rules. We only have two choices: fight to the death and win, or fight to the death and lose.

 

The occupants only have one choice: fight to the death and lose.

 

Once we're rested up, I decide to head back to Caed Nua and wrestle with some spiders. Most of them are easy to handle with Whisper of Treason, but the big one will take a little more effort. Fortunately, the queen is stuck behind the little due to how critter circles work, and by firing an Antipathetic Field beam (not to be confused with Ectopsychic Echo, the much stronger, party-friendly level 3 beam) from the side, Divinegon can deal a lot of damage to multiple spiders for just 10 Focus while we're waiting for the big spider to reach us.

 

We blind the queen before she can engage anyone, but it doesn't matter--by the time the other spiders are out of the way, Divinegon has built up enough focus to paralyze-lock the spider with Mental Binding.

 

Ciphers are just plan fun. You can thrash herds of critters with Mind Blades or beam attacks, charm almost anything with Whisper of Treason, and paralyze even the toughest critters as long as your cipher has decent damage output. The spider queen dies without touching us (though Frost did suffer a lot of damage from the other spiders and had to be hidden with Withdraw).

 

We run into some bandits (where did they even come from?) who quickly converge around our tanks, allowing Rius, our Wood Elf wizard, to blind all of them except for the archers near the back. They're pretty sturdy, though, with excellent damage reduction, so only our stronger hits, usually by Frost the rogue and Divinegon herself, deal more than single digits.

 

They don't have any special tricks, fortunately, and we don't suffer any big hits from the crossbowmen.

 

Then I head downstairs, and a small horde of Xaurips rushes us. I don't remember this part, so this is very much a surprise. Divinegon kills one basic Xaurip with her arbalest (targeting the weakest enemies is usually the most reliable way to generate Focus) and charms a Skirmisher, but we've still got a lot of pressure bearing down on Eder. Notice the Wurm to the south--I don't remember fighting those guys here in my other runs.

 

Rius blinds a few of the Xaurips and Mora Tai's Lay on Hands spell keeps Eder safe. Rius splatters the enemy priest with Concelhauts, and the fight is won in moments.

 

But that fight still concerned me--that was a lot of enemies at once, despite being the first fight in the area, and the Wurm was new to me. I've never been this far in the game in PotD mode, and I don't know what's around the corner. The next batch of Xaurips might be much tougher than I remember them being in my other runs.

 

We're better off not finding out. It's not like I know of any important items on this level, or any important sources of XP. I've said that I plan on continuing this run even if I die, as a minimal-reload run, but I intend on playing this as though it were a no-reload run, which means anticipating dangers and gauging unknowns.

 

That Wurm and the priest indicated the presence of significant unknowns. Time to head out!

 

On the way to Defiance Bay, we run into a Forest Lurker (easily dispatched with cipher powers) and a Pwgra, which thankfully shows up on its own. Consecrated Ground keeps the Pwgra's Infestation of Maggots spell from causing anything more than scratch damage, and cipher powers pin it down.

 

We do the March Steel Dagger quest, but again fail to pick the right dialog option (I was hoping there was a way to keep the dagger without being mean to the kid) and we get the wood beetle figurine but not the dagger and the +20% attack speed enchantment I've been hoping for. As usual, we head for the balcony in Brackenbury and climb in to fight the guards. This time, I know not to underestimate them, and have Divinegon apply mental effects fast.

 

Divinegon finally hits level 5 and learns Puppet Master and Ectopsychic Echo. I actually don't see what's so great about Puppet Master when Whisper of Treason is so much cheaper, at 10 Focus instead of 30. Charm applies combat penalties while domination doesn't, but I use charm effects to screw with enemy functioning and distract other enemies, and three low-functioning enemies-turned-decoys are worth more than one high-functioning enemy-turned-ally.

 

So I just use Ectopsychic Echo instead. It already crushes most everything, and it's completely safe. Plus, with her arbalest, she can get the necessary Focus pretty fast.

 

I'm using Frost, our rogue, as our target. Why a rogue? Well, the other party members aren't really available:

 

1. Eder and Mora Tai, our primary tanks, could deal with the disengagement attacks that can come from running past enemies to stretch the beam over the crowd. However, we need them to stay in position to hold the enemies, and disrupting that arrangement costs us control of the battlefield.

2. Rius, our mage, needs Arcane Veil to stay safe in melee combat, and I don't like using Arcane Veil in every fight because we only get two per rest and I prefer to keep my mages in the back. Also, I want Rius casting Blackened Sight as soon as possible, and having her run around would delay that.

3. Zovai, our priest, has the defenses to handle disengagement attacks, but her Consecrated Ground spell follows her around, and if I send her far away to stretch Divinegon's beam across the map, then the rest of the party goes without healing.

 

Frost is therefore our best option. She's the only one I don't need to be in any particular place at any particular time during a fight.

 

We'll be relying heavily on Ectopsychic Echo to do the heavy lifting in future fights. The other party members fulfill some very crucial roles in enemy management and maintaining the party's defenses, but Divinegon is going to be the one landing kills.

[Alesia_BH]

Arcadia, Moon-Godlike Wizard: Missing Sentries

 

I remember the first time I fought this battle on my very first play-through. We were murdered: we didn't have a chance. I found myself thinking that I had wandered into the PoE equivalent of a lich battle. We never went back inside.

 

Now that I know what I'm doing, I understand that there is little to fear from Leyra, with proper preparation. Maybe it is a lich battle after all?

 

To the fight. Seeking revenge on behalf of my very first character, we went resource heavy here. I like turning tables.

 

Our opening was Eder, wood beetles; Pallegina, adra beetle; Alikae, Arcane Veil->Eldritch Aim; Arcadia, Arcane Veil->Eldritch Aim; Cassia, Scroll of Defense; Alena, Scroll of Protection

 

 

 

 

Arcadia follows up with a Scroll of Paralysis. Table turned.

 

 

 

 

Eder had been frightened. And while his accuracy isn't relevant here, we let one of the priests counter that while the rest of the party unloaded on Leyra.

 

 

 

 

The adra beetle brings Shocking Blast- not a good time to be wearing plate, eh justiciars?

 

 

 

 

Leyra falls.

 

 

 

 

We prevail without injury.

 

 

 

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

 

Lesson learned. If somebody in the party has to die, make it the Moon Godlike.

 

 

Arcadia says that you sound like her parents. She's not happy.

[semiticgod]

On might v perception. Thank you for your perspective on this, Semiticgod. I'll suggest, however, that your model needs additional detail before we'll be able to draw a conclusion. You need to consider:

 

1) the relative value of might with increasing damage bonuses (you've only considered the case of a damage bonus of 0%, which is the optimal case for might; might becomes less valuable as damage bonuses increase, since the might bonus is additive with, not multiplicitive with, other bonuses)

2) the effect of crit multipliers

3) the class of the character and thus the damage and crit multiples available

 

Were you to do this, you'd likely find perception relatively important for rogues, and might relatively important for wizards (focusing on damage only)

 

Of course, there's also the less easily quantified matter of disablers and effect on crit abilities

 

Best,

 

A.

I've been wondering about this, because the findings didn't seem right to me. It didn't seem realistic that Perception would be so much less important than Might for the purposes of damage output. In light of this information, Perception does have some potential that Might alone cannot match.

 

1. You mention that Might bonuses only stack additively with other bonuses, and not multiplicatively--that is, Might only modifies base weapon or spell damage, right? The biggest bonuses to damage besides Might are 50% for a cipher (Biting Whip and an Exceptional weapon) and 100% for a rogue (50% from Sneak Attack, 20% from Reckless Assault, and 30% from an Exceptional Weapon). There's also the Backstab Talent for rogues, but I don't think that's worth it for other reasons. For other classes, I just see 30% from an Exceptional Weapon, or 20% from an elemental spell with the right talent. That definitely makes Perception very important for rogues and ciphers, but for other classes, the difference is more minimal. Unless you're using Firebrand, which presumably could be stacked with the flame talent for a 50% damage bonus.

 

If Perception modifies that 30% bonus from Exceptional weapons, while Might does not modify it, then we've got a 3% increase in output per point of Might, and a 2.6% increase in output per point of Perception. Presumably, you need a total non-Might-related damage bonus of about +50% in order for Perception to play a larger role in damage output than Might: you'd need to multiply 2% (the optimal apparent bonus from each point of Perception) by 1.5 in order to match 3% (the base bonus from Might). For really high or really low values for Perception, though, presumably you'd need the damage bonus to equal 100% (since the lower bonuses from Perception would be about 1.5%, which you'd need to double to match Might's 3%).

 

2. What crit multipliers are relevant here? I only know of a single pair of gloves that increase crit damage by another 10%, and firearms appear to have a 30% penalty to crit damage. I'd have thought that critical damage was mostly static at 150% of the norm.

 

3. Disablers are definitely another story. Often, the duration of a disabler is wasted--you only need X number of seconds to kill a troll; not X+10. In this sense, comparing the 1.5% or 2% bonus from a point of Perception to the 3% bonus from a point of Intellect is not a fair comparison. I think it's much, much more important for a disabler to be reliable than long-lasting--in which case it's not whether you land a graze or a hit or a crit; it's whether you land a disabler at all. Of course, Intellect also improves buff durations while Perception does not, so again, we've got extra factors to consider.

 

4. Certain items can impose status effects on hits or crits, which would tip the balance in favor of Perception compared to Might.

 

5. Conversely, certain effects, like a Heart Orlan's Minor Threat or a flail's graze-to-hit conversion, would tip the balance slightly away from Perception.

 

Put all these factors together, and I think we have a fairly balanced situation based on tradeoffs. I'd put it this way: Perception has more potential to improve damage and attack spell durations than Might or Intellect, but cannot improve healing or buff durations. Thus, Perception is a strictly offensive-oriented stat, while Might and Intellect are a mix of offense and defense.

 

I like that Pillars of Eternity imposes tradeoffs. It makes stuff more complicated and more balanced; it's not just about cranking one single stat up to 11 and riding on that.

[Alesia_BH]

Arcadia, Moon-Godlike Wizard: A Voice from the Past

 

Ok! We're almost upto date. All we need to do is cover A Voice from the Past and I'll be ready to play again. Let's do this!

 

First we had to deal with some oozes left over from The Queen That Was. We let the armored warriors handle this- no need to let anyone get hurt here.

 

 

 

 

Note Pallegina's Consecrated Ground. That means we went shopping.

 

 

 

 

We picked up Firebrand, too. Happily, it works with all weapon focuses, so Pallegina, who will wields swords and morning stars, can still use it with bonuses.

 

 

 

 

Let's kill some skeletons.

 

 

 

 

Opening.

 

 

 

 

Progress.

 

 

 

 

Endgame.

 

 

 

 

Finally, Mekrath (Oops! I mean that other subterranean soul-slaving wizard. What's his name?)

 

Knocked him on his butt with Slicken

 

 

 

 

Kept him on his butt with pillars. He made nary a peep.

 

 

 

 

Party status update soon!

 

Best,

 

A.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[semiticgod]

 

 

Lesson learned. If somebody in the party has to die, make it the Moon Godlike.

 

 

Arcadia says that you sound like her parents. She's not happy.

 

Lesson learned. If somebody has to be unhappy, don't make it the Moon Godlike. They're hard to put down!

 

Speaking of which, maybe Silver Tide is the reason there are so many Moon Godlikes in this thread. They were better than other Godlikes at surviving attempts at infanticide.

 

But look on the bright side. At least Moon Godlikes will know to be better parents when they have their own children. (insert trollface icon)

 

I guess this is what happens when powergaming calculations clash with roleplaying sensibilities. This stuff is horrible!

[Alesia_BH]

At least Moon Godlikes will know to be better parents when they have their own children.

 

 

Godlikes are infertile. Arcadia thanks you for bringing that up.

[Alesia_BH]

 

You mention that Might bonuses only stack additively with other bonuses, and not multiplicatively--that is, Might only modifies base weapon or spell damage, right? The biggest bonuses to damage besides Might are 50% for a cipher (Biting Whip and an Exceptional weapon) and 100% for a rogue (50% from Sneak Attack, 20% from Reckless Assault, and 30% from an Exceptional Weapon). There's also the Backstab Talent for rogues, but I don't think that's worth it for other reasons. For other classes, I just see 30% from an Exceptional Weapon, or 20% from an elemental spell with the right talent. That definitely makes Perception very important for rogues and ciphers, but for other classes, the difference is more minimal. 

 

There are a lot more damage bonuses. I'm not in a position to provide an exhaustive list at this time.

 

A superb weapon alone would bring the damage per hit bonus from a point of might to ~2%, while the damage per crit (150%) bonus would be ~1.5%.

 

Stacking additional damage modifiers and increasing the crit multiplier would dilute those further.

 

 

What crit multipliers are relevant here? I only know of a single pair of gloves that increase crit damage by another 10%, and firearms appear to have a 30% penalty to crit damage. I'd have thought that critical damage was mostly static at 150% of the norm.

 

 

Annihilation, a weapon enchantment found on Dulcanale, Purgatory, Resolution, Sabra Male, Shatterstar and The Hours grants a 0.5 bonus to crits. Battle axes also get a 0.5 to crits.

 

Merciless Hand from the Doemenels adds 0.3.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[Alesia_BH]

Arcadia, Moon-Godlike Wizard: Party Status Update II!

 

Ok! It looks like I'm going to do periodic party status updates, rather than embedding them in each post. I prefer the latter method, but it's PITA. Kudos to Serg for doing it!

 

A few comments first:

 

1)You'll note an increase in the proportion of damage done by the warriors. That's largely due to the fact that we fought so many battles without using per rest abilities. Also, we've started letting the warriors use their two-handers in per encounter ability fights, increasing  their damage.

 

2) Damage taken numbers continue to look good. We've still only suffered one knockout (Eder, L3, Temple of Eothas)

 

Best,

 

A.

 

 

Eder, Fighter- (lvl 6): Stealth:0; Athletic:8; Lore:4; Mechanics:0; Survival:4; Abilities: Knock Down, Confident Aim, Disciplined Barrage; Talents: Weapon and Shield Style, Weapon Focus: Adventurer, Rapid Recovery

 

Character Record and Inventory

 

https://imgur.com/BedN0bE

https://imgur.com/z7FFU4C

 

 

Pallegina, Paladin- (lvl 6): Stealth:0; Athletic:8; Lore:4; Mechanics:0, Survival:4;; Abilities: Zealous Focus, Flames of Devotion, Liberating Exhortation; Talents: Weapon and Shield Style, Weapon Focus: Knight, Veteran's Recovery

 

Character Record and Inventory

 

https://imgur.com/JcsSXVf

https://imgur.com/oSVTHDy

 

Arcadia, Wizard (lvl 6): Stealth:0; Athletic:2; Lore:8; Mechanics:0; Survival:4; Talents: Arcane Veil, Hardened Veil, Weapon Focus: Noble

 

Level 1 - Concehault's Parasitic Staff, Chill Fog, Minoletta's Minor Missiles, Eldritch Aim; 

Level 2 - Curse of Blackened Sight, Infuse With Vital Essence, Merciless Gaze, Bewildering Spectacle; 

Level 3 - Llengrath’s Displaced Image; Deleterious Alacrity of Motion; Minoletta's Bounding Missiles; Expose Vulnerabilities

 

Character Record and Inventory

 

https://imgur.com/XLF5BCP

https://imgur.com/u18qgr8

 

Alikae, Wizard (lvl 6): Stealth:1; Athletic:0; Lore:3; Mechanics:8; Survival:3; Talents: Arcane Veil; Hardened Veil, Weapon Focus: Ruffian

 

Level 1 - Fan of Flames, Slicken, Eldritch Aim, Minoletta's Minor Missiles; 

Level 2 - Binding Web, Concelhault's Corrosive Siphon, Combusting Wounds, Mirror Image; 

Level 3 - Fireball, Expose Vulnerabilities, Kalokoth’s Minor Blights; Llengrath’s Displaced Image

 

Character Record and Inventory

 

https://imgur.com/hRgtH10

https://imgur.com/EHSyK5w

 

 

Alena, Priest of Wael (lvl 6): Stealth:0; Athletic:2; Lore:9; Mechanics:0; Survival:4; Talents: Interdiction, Inspiring Radiance, Deep Pockets

 

Character Record and Inventory

 

https://imgur.com/rZsGJj5

https://imgur.com/CXnTpid

 

 

Cassia, Priest of Eothas (lvl 6): Stealth:1; Athletic:1; Lore:8; Mechanics:0; Survival:4; Talents: Interdiction, Inspiring Radiance, Deep Pockets

 

NW: Cassia's Stealth score has declined because I realized that I had forgotten to subtract out her Footpad bonus)

 

Character Record and Inventory

 

https://imgur.com/3BT4OW4

https://imgur.com/qOItnAY

Edited November 27, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[Serg BlackStrider]

The Tale of Gloomy Face: Hearth Orlan, Druid - Chapter IV: Defiance Bay, part II.
 
1. Introduction.
2. Chapter I.
3. Chapter II.
4. Chapter III.

Wandering through the Ondra’s Gift we met Marceno and triggered ‘All Hands on Deck’ task. The fight with Waldr "Three Fingers" and his gang was trivial. Standart opening with Armor of Faith, Blessing, Painful Interdiction, Tanglefoot, Returning Storm, Curse of Blackened Sight, Chill Fog was supplemented with Despondent Blows and Infestation of Maggots. Thugs, suffering all kinds of debuffs were hopeless. Aloth got Drinking Horn of Moderation to further increase an AoE of his devastation spells.

‘Brave Derrin’ was next on agenda and then we fought the first bunch of Animats guarding a piece of Engwithan Scepter. The same opening salvo of buffs/debuffs with some Wood Beetles to help hold the line. Gloomy Face add a Nature’s Mark into the mixt to lower a sky-high Deflection of Animats. Wizard’s Double Potion for Eder, a Curse of Blackened Sight, Expose Vulnerabilities with a bit of Burst of Summer Flame and Animats are already badly injured. Itumaak is the beast with 37 damage on hit vs DR20>Pierce of Animats and he just ripped through while the rest of the Crew barely scratch them. Adra Animat stands for the last but since it doesn’t immune to Prone, its fate is sealed:

We are short of spell casting so a quick nap in Guilded Vale (+2 Resolve as usual) followed and since a Palace Messenger arrived to Caed Nua (‘A Call to Court’), as well as Solmar the Shackler and Gafol the Drunkard all at once, we went there (spent 5000cp to buy and free slaves – Steward was quite pleased of that), spare 1200cp for Gafol (don’t have many other options) and then get Gyrd Haewanes Stenes for Xoti - I find Llengrath's Displaced Image when hit by a Critical Hit (2 per encounter) for her as far more useful than Gref's Authority (1 per encounter) for Aloth, who is a ranged Wizard, or Restore Spiritshift on Hit or Critical Hit (1 per encounter) for myself, since I rarely Spiritshift.
After all those mundane tasks Xoti is 110 exp short of level 6 which we could get by visiting some new areas but I decided not to and just went to deal with the second group of Animats in Ondra’s Gift. This time it went even smoother and we nearly took no meaningful damage at all (Aloth burned a Scroll of Defense alone with our usual buffs). Wood Beetles served as decoys long enough for us to buff/debuff properly. Animats are vulnerable to electrical damage so Returning Storm make wonders. And have I already said that Itumaak is the beast?

Xoti choose a Weapon and Shield Style talent on level up to make it easier for her to apply all those buffs/debuffs undisturbed and we purchased an Engwithan Scepter for Aloth.
Next ‘The Forgotten’. Since Aloth has the weakest defences he was a prime target for enemy’s Wizards and had to apply Infuse with Vital Essence + Llengrath’s Displaced Image to stay on foot. Gloomy Face support him with Nature’s Vigor in addition to Xoti’s Consecrated Ground. Pallegina heal him with Lay on Hands and called for Shades from Obsidian Lamp Figurine to keep those Wizards busy. Aloth sent one Wizard Prone with Slicken and Blind both with Curse of Blackened Sight. Orimanth Hassan spent most of the fight laid Prone by Eder’s Knock Down. Xoti softened them all with Painful Interdiction and strengthened us with the Circle of Protection. Gloomy Face add Insect Swarm into the mixt, was stunned by, I think, some monk ability (I’m not familiar with Monks at all in PoE) but the fight turned in our favor already. Harkeen Willthurm struggled to cast Confusion suffering from the swarm of insects with another Wizard lay dead. Shade chunked him soon after. And few seconds later it was all over. Eder got a new shiny suit.

Some more mundane tasks – ‘A Return to Court’, Lord Byrnwigar’s visit, Nyry the Deft Hand (helped her to escape for the Cape of the Cheat for whatever reason), easy the angry mob of farmers for 1000cp and +3 Prestige, and talked Gathbin’s captain out of fight. Maybe we’ll see each other again, who knows, but I’m always trying to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.
Time to solve Wael’s mystery. We approach from the west forcing the enemy to take a long way around right into the warm embrace of Tanglefoot, Returning Storm and Chill Fog. They are all doomed…

Since our food buffs are still active we dealt with the Lion’s pack right away. Xoti has only two lvl 1 castings (for Armor of Faith and Blessing) so Aloth applied Prayer Against Fear from the scroll and Sagani cast Tanglefoot from the scroll too while I was busy with calling for Returning Storm. Aloth add Chill Fog and Eder sip Wizard’s Double potion. Elder Lion engaged Itumaak dealing heavy damage but Pallegina Lay on Hands him while I cast Hold Beasts. Grateful Itumaak shredded Elder Lion to pieces, another Hold Beasts for remaining Lions and it’s all over – Hearth Harvest is ours. From now on Pallegina could pet Itumaak whenever she like to. She’s his best friend (not counting Sagani).

We buried the scroll of Wael, got access to Elder Archives, obtained the Theorems of Pandgram (need to rest in the Goose and Fox for +1 Mechanic to be able to disarm a trap on the chest), gave the Theorems to Nedyn and stole Heart of White March for  Abrecan Doemenel. Meanwhile Kana returned from the ruins of Ibrel’s Well with valuable Father‘s Teeth amulet

With that done most of the Crew hit level 7 – Gloomy Face gain access to level 4 spells, Eder choose Armored Grace, Sagani>Driving Flight, Aloth>Essential Phantom, Minor Arcane Reflection.
 
 
Current state:

Gloomy Face - Druid (lvl 7); Stealth:0; Athletic:1; Lore:1; Mechanics:8; Survival:4; Talents: Veteran's Recovery>Bear's Fortitude>Superior Deflection; Equipment: Hermit's Hut, Aru-Brekr Brigandine, Minor Cloak of Protection, Minor Ring of Deflection, Ring of Overseeing, Fulvano's Boots, Fine Hunting Bow/Hearth Harvest+Fine Hatchet;

Eder - Fighter (lvl 7); Stealth:0; Athletic:3; Lore:8; Mechanics:0; Survival:5; Talents: Rapid Recovery>Vulnerable Attack>Superior Deflection; Abilities: Knock Down (auto)>Confident Aim>Disciplined Barrage>Armored Grace; Equipment: The Pilgrim's Lasting Vigil, Sanguine Plate Armor, Cloak of Eothasian Priest, Minor Ring of Deflection, Minor Ring of Protection, Boots of Stability, Blunting Belt, Whispers of Yenwood (Burning Lash)+Oidhreacht/Fine War bow;

Aloth - Wizard (lvl 7); Stealth:0; Athletic:3; Lore:9; Mechanics:2; Survival:5; Talents: Blast>Penetrating Blast>Bear's Fortitude; Equipment: Aloth's Leather Armor, Drinking Horn of Moderation, Healing Hands, Minor Ring of Protection, Engwithan Scepter/Rapier+Fine Small Shield;
Grimoire: Level 1 - Fan of Flames, Slicken, Chill Fog, Minoletta's Minor Missiles; Level 2 - Curse of Blackened Sight, Infuse With Vital Essence, Combusting Wounds, Bulwark Against The Elements; Level 3 - Expose Vulnerabilities, Fireball, Llengrath's Displaced Image, Arcane Dampener; Level 4 - Essential Phantom, Minor Arcane Reflection;

Xoti - Priest of Eothas (lvl 6); Stealth:0; Athletic:2; Lore:8; Mechanics:0; Survival:5; Talents: Interdiction>Painful Interdiction>Weapon and Shield Style; Equipment: Plate Armor, Cape of Deflection, Fulvano's Gloves, Minor Ring of Protection, Ring of Overseeing, Gaun's Share+Fine Large Shield/Gyrd Haewanes Stenes;

Sagani - Ranger (lvl 7); Stealth:3; Athletic:1; Lore:7; Mechanics:0; Survival:6; Talents: Agile Retreat (auto)>Resilient Companion>Vicious Companion>Merciless Companion; Abilities: Wounding Shot (auto)>Predator's Sense>Stalker's Link>Driving Flight; Equipment: Footpad’s Hood, Fine Hide Armor, Fulvano's Amulet, Bartender's Ring, Massuk Hunting Bow/Fine Dagger+Fine Hatchet;

Pallegina - Palladin (lvl 6); Stealth:0; Athletic:3; Lore:7; Mechanics:0; Survival:5; Talents: Deep Faith>Veteran's Recovery>Superior Deflection; Abilities: Faith and Conviction (auto)>Flames of Devotion (auto)>Lay on Hands>Zealous Focus; Equipment: Pallegina's Breastplate, Minor Cloak of Protection, Shod-in-Faith, Gaun’s Pledge, Fine Great Sword/Fine Arbalest;

 
to be continued...

Edited November 27, 2018 by Serg BlackStrider

[Alesia_BH]

Gyrd Haewanes Stenes for Xoti - I find Llengrath's Displaced Image when hit by a Critical Hit (2 per encounter) for her as far more useful than Gref's Authority (1 per encounter) for Aloth, who is a ranged Wizard

 

I agree. Additionally, priests can use Gyrd with their deity specific weapon bonus, which gives them a +10 to acc. 

 

On tactical ground alone, I would have given Gyrd to Cassia, whose priest of Eothas bonuses don't include a ranged weapon. I only gave it to Arcadia because it matches her color and looks good on her.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

Btw, great work, as always, Serg!

Edited November 27, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[Alesia_BH]

Where did that black dog come from, Serg?

[Serg BlackStrider]

Where did that black dog come from, Serg?

 

From the Black Hound Inn in Gilded Vale naturally. Speak with Pasca about the inn story, discover that there is a dog on the second floor missing her former master and here we are. No one can look into such dreary eyes indifferently ...

Edited November 27, 2018 by Serg BlackStrider

[semiticgod]

@Alesia_BH: I'm not sure if I've said this already, but thanks for starting up this challenge and inspiring me to finally start playing Pillars of Eternity. I've really been enjoying this game, and the challenge has made my life a little brighter.

 

I appreciate all of you guys joining in. I'm learning a lot and having a good time.

[Alesia_BH]

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Semiticgod. It's a pleasure to have you here. Your contributions and insights are greatly appreciated!

 

(I, too, would like to thank everyone for joining. Thanks!)

 

Best,

 

A.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[Enuhal]

Pausanias, Coastal Aumaua Fighter, Update 3

 

Previous updates:

 

Introduction: https://forums.obsid...23#entry2117034

Update 1: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/106596-the-pillars-of-eternity-no-reload-challenge/page-23?do=findComment&comment=2117217

Update 2: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/106596-the-pillars-of-eternity-no-reload-challenge/page-24?do=findComment&comment=2117408

 

 

We return to the Woodend Plains to fight the battle for Hearth Harvest - which isn't all that difficult by this point. Friedrich blocks the northern path, Pausanias makes his stand to the south, positioning himself in such a way that at least Catalina can still join in. As soon as Friedrich gets to 4 phrases, he invokes At the Sound of his Voice, and Jeanne + Catalina destroy the paralyzed lions:

 

 

 

 

We clear the remaining area and start exploring the Copperlane Catacombs. Trolls and sporelings don't really scare us once lured away from their dank spores:

 

 

 

 

We make our way further in, deciding to let the orlan go, solving Unwanted, and making a deal with Helig - no need to fight here. We peacefully infiltrate the Woedica Temple, and all that gets us to level 7. Time for the lighthouse! For the first battle, Pausanias is able to keep the majority of shadows/shades etc. busy by himself while the damage dealers start taking out small groups - however, some shades just can't stop using their ranged ice attack on poor Ögedei:

 

 

 

 

Still, with the majority of foes grouped up around Pausanias, we have the perfect opportunity to destroy them with carnage + blast. The other battles don't involve any knockdowns, and we help the banshee find peace, claiming our reward. The Man who Waits is next - generally a relatively easy quest, especially with Catalina now having access to Blood Thirst, which allows her to cleave through big groups with low deflection within seconds:

 

 

 

 

As a reward, she gets the final upgrade to her Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer. The Final Act is completed without bloodshed (we make a deal with Ludmilla and blackmail her patron to get some more money, which we use to buy a Deckhand's Uniform and some Rotfinger Gloves). The first group of assassins, while developing an annoying habit of going after Ögedei, doesn't do much:

 

 

 

 

Since I'm going for a very offensive blast with my wizard, I don't have arcane veil, and it shows. It's a experiment, though propably not the best for no-reload play. Still, I am having fun with the blasts, despite them not dealing huge damage. Now, we enter Heritage Hill, burning a scroll of prayer against fear to deal with Leyra - the room is split in two, so Friedrich can tank one side while Pausanias takes the other:

 

 

 

 

Further down south, we run into a bit of an unusual situation when an entire group of new vessels decides to join an ongoing fight. Luckily, Ögedei is on the case with a binding web, giving the others time to adjust:

 

 

 

 

Catalina absolutely destroys the Darguls in Valtas Manor, allowing us to get the Adra Beetle statue:

 

 

 

 

We make an aggressive move towards the final guardians of the tower in order to give Chandragupta and Catalina access to the enemy wizards:

 

 

 

 

The tower is easily cleared, and we send some "food" to Adhelm in order to get this very useful option, granting us a permanent boost to might and endurance:

 

 

 

 

We're done with Defiance Bay for now. Time to head for Dyrford. Here are our level 7 talent picks: Overbearing Guard for Pausanias (I ended up not retraining him) - this means that breaking engagement is now a lot more punishing for our enemies, which is why I bought Shatterstar in the first place - Blinding Strike for Jeanne, Pull of Eora and Tentacles for Ögedei (he already had access to confusion via another grimoire), Blood Thirst for Catalina (this one is so much fun - I don't think I've had this much fun with a build since getting access to a level 13 ranger with fully upgraded stormcaller for the first time), Lo, Their endless Host for Friedrich and Duality of Mortal Presence for Chandragupta (can't pass up these defenses).

 

More updates will follow later today.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Enuhal

[Enuhal]

Regarding Gyrd, one good reason to use it on a mage is if you use the "Blast" talent - the AoE attacks increase the chance to trigger the dominate effect, making it an interesting way to cause havoc in enemy ranks.

 

Otherwise, I prefer to have it on my druid, because against relatively normal but large groups of enemies I commonly open with Nature's Mark + Relentless Storm + Shapeshift and Attack. After the shapeshift duration runs out, if the battle is still going on, Gyrd is useful to get access to that Shapeshift DPS again. To be fair, I rarely end up using two shapeshifts in a battle, but it happens from time to time and I like to have the option available.

 

Edit: Side Note - is anyone else having real trouble using this forum today? I've tried to write up another update but everything is going so slowly (or not at all), despite the rest of the internet working flawlessly.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Enuhal

[Alesia_BH]

Regarding Gyrd, one good reason to use it on a mage is if you use the "Blast" talent - the AoE attacks increase the chance to trigger the dominate effect, making it an interesting way to cause havoc in enemy ranks.

 

 

That's a point. I haven't tried Blast yet. To my eyes it seems like a make-easy-battles-easier ability and I've never been fond of abilities like that. I know Serg is a Blast backer. What's you opinion of it, Enuhal?

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Btw, I feel like I'm the only one who likes Marking weapons. Is there a reason why others aren't fond of them?

 

Best,

 

A.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Alesia_BH

[semiticgod]

Divinegon, Hearth Orlan Cipher

 

Frost, our rogue, finally hits level 4! Notice she's using a flail--I don't know why flails are fast weapons in PoE, but they are.

 

I'm not sure how strong Envenomed Weapon is, but the prospect of massive, unresistable Raw damage three times per day, on a character with extremely high Accuracy, two attacks per round, and sky-high Might sounds very lovely.

 

Time to deal with the thugs by the docks! I had some trouble with these guys in my Normal mode run, so I make a point of taking them seriously. We summon Wood Beetles to hold off the melee goons and apply blindness effects. Frost waits a moment for Divinegon to generate 30 Focus, at which point Divinegon hits her with Ectopsychic Echo so our rogue can stretch the beam over the enemies. Even in PotD mode, it's extremely effective.

 

I think this spell was balanced assuming you were using a stationary party member as a target. Dragging the beam across the screen lets you deal far more damage than you otherwise could. Ectopsychic Echo deals damage over time, so it gives the enemy some time to apply pressure to the party, but Consecrated Ground is enough to keep us afloat.

Here are some shots of our party members' gear. They seem a little under-equipped compared to other players' parties, which I think is a factor of my ignorance of certain key items, but the basics are covered. My custom paladin and priest, Mora Tai and Zovai, are there to tank while our rogue is dual-wielding fast weapons to maximize damage output. The only reason Pallegina isn't using a shield is because she already has a Weapon Focus Talent that gives her +6 Accuracy with her existing sword. As for Divinegon herself, she uses an arbalest at the start of combat for burst damage and then a scepter for faster, more reliable damage.

 

 

Our rogue also has Eder's old mail since it will revive her if she loses consciousness, which I think is a decent tradeoff for the larger recovery penalty (normally I'd equip her with something very light). Notice that Rius has a +2 Intellect horn as well as a +2 Intellect hood--I know this doesn't stack; this setup was a mistake on my part.

 

Also note that we have Scrolls of Defense and Scrolls of Revival distributed throughout the party. I like to keep Lore high on all characters due to the flexibility it brings. Athletics always stays at 1, I don't invest in Stealth at all, Mechanics caps at 6 for a single character, and Survival stays at 1 or 4 until I can get someone to 7.

 

I keep working with Ectopsychic Echo with our rogue as a target. The convenient thing is that Frost seems to only gets the attention of a single enemy near the back, which she can handle for a few rounds safely by taking advantage of Blinding Strike, covering her poor defenses by blinding the only threat to her safety.

Dual-wielding also means she gets two chances at blinding, covering some of the risk of failure due to bad luck, and while she can't go toe-to-toe with a monster for very long, she doesn't have to, because by the time the blindness wears off, Ectopsychic Echo has already done its work. Even when Frost suffers pressure from two enemies, her weak defenses don't need to last that long when Divinegon is ending fights so quickly.

When enemies are spread out differently, however, and sending a party member past the front line will get them attacked by multiple enemies instead of just one or two, I can't use Frost, lest she get knocked out by the sudden pressure. Instead, I use Zovai, which prevents us from using Consecrated Ground on our fighters but also doesn't require our primary tanks to disengage and break the wall, which could invite enemies to attack our fragile characters at the back.

 

Notice that Zovai is confused. I don't know how strong the enemy fungi's Accuracy values are, but apparently even a high-Intellect priest's Will isn't always strong enough to shrug off confusion effects... unless that confusion effect actually targets another type of defense.

 

The same thing happens with our next Ectopsychic Echo target, Frost. I switched to Frost because there were fewer enemies.

 

In both cases, Ectopsychic Echo seems to cancel early. Does confusion end the beam because the target's allegiance changes, and Ectopsychic Echo needs to target a friendly character?

 

Overall, it's a very effective, offensive-oriented strategy that makes a large impact very early on in combat. In the fight with the nearby skeletons, Divinegon is able to one-shot a low-Endurance mage with her upgraded arbalest, then use the Focus generated by that blow to crush the remaining enemies with a beam.

Whenever you can establish an early advantage, the enemy is unable to use its greatest strengths, which means you don't have to deal with certain dangers. But it also means you don't learn how to handle those dangers when the high-offense, blitzkrieg-style approach fails to end fights early. That's not currently a problem for us, since we have a priest and two paladins who will soon have important rescue options in the form of new exhortations, but it means that we're not learning quite as much as we could if we allowed the enemy to punch us around a little.

 

We find two copies of the Nature's Embrace belt, deal with the underground cult quest thingy peacefully (I've never fought them before and don't want to learn how), and get the Engwithan Scepter, which I promptly upgrade.

 

I pick the bonuses against Vessels because Thaos' allies at the end of the game are Vessels. I don't know of any other important options that are useful over a broader range of major fights.

 

I've never done the Parable of Wael quest before, but I decide to try it out. Turns out the enemies are just bandits. We fail to manage the flow of hostiles, and the bandit leader hurries past our tanks to threaten our back line, but Whisper of Treason is a great means of eliminating individual threats, and it's cheap enough that we still have lots of Focus for the big gun.

Mora Tai hits level 5, learning Liberating Exhortation, my old favorite, and Frost levels up as well, learning Finishing Blow in the hopes that it'll help us land some early kills in key situations.

 

We also get the Ring of Eternal Funding, but I don't know how it works. What exactly does it do?

 

Divinegon hits level 6 and takes Weapon Focus: Noble for the bonus to Accuracy with her scepter, while Pallegina takes Critical Focus, which doesn't seem interesting or important but seems like a safe bet. We use a rest bonus to gain Accuracy against Vessels before entering the sanitarium to tear up the flesh muppets. We huddle our casters near the door, fan out our tanks to intercept the enemies before they crowd around us, and then splatter goo all over the place.

 

[semiticgod]

@Alesia_BH: I only know of one Marking weapon, St. Garam's Spark, and I think it's a great option for an introductory blast from arbalests and firearms. It sounds like a spectacular enchantment, because if you have three characters attacking the same target, you've got +10 Accuracy for 2 different characters. If it applies to spells, that's even better.

 

What I'm not sure about is the timing. Does it amount to -10 to all defenses for whichever character the wielder is targeting at any moment? Because if it does, that means you could actually grant +10 Accuracy to different party members attacking different targets by canceling attacks and changing targets in between other party members' actions.

 

I also can't help but wonder if it stacks with other items with the same enchantment. If you had three such weapons and the users were all attacking the same target, would it amount to +20 Accuracy for all three of them?