The Pillars of Eternity No Reload Challenge

[Concrete Monster]

Hi all! I know it’s been a while since there’s been a lot of activity on the thread, but I’m keen to get involved if anyone is still around. 

As a bit of background I’ve been addicted to no reload play since I first started with it on X-COM. I’ve read through pretty much the whole thread with great interest, and appreciate all the stories and advice that have been shared. 

For myself I’ve just finished my first full play through of POE with a barbarian Watcher and had a blast. Kinda rushed through from the end of act 2, so there’s still a fair bit I haven’t seen.  I’ve just started my first honest NR run, which I’ll post about shortly.

Until then hello and good luck to all on their runs. 

[Serg BlackStrider]

Welcome on board, Concrete Monster! It's always nice to have another dedicated no-reloader in the Crew! Even tho there wasn't much activities over here lately, personally I'm still in and just about finishing Deadfire for the first time. Alas Gloomy Face was ripped by Wild Boars almost at the very begining (Engwithan dig site) but as I intended I've continued the exploration of the Deadfire to learn a bit more of new game mechanics and when I'll finish that run I intend to start all over again from the beginning of PoE1 with a new char I've already generated - a Cipher (PoE)>Cipher/Priest(Deadfire).

Until then I'm looking forward to follow your run. All the best of luck and safe travels!

[Ivanfyodorovich]

Aye - glad to have you aboard. I've been playing around in Deadfire quite a bit, but waiting for that thread to start on the other forums to begin my NR fun. I will also probably start over a new character(s) in PoE1 to go through with a full NR. 

[Concrete Monster]

Meet Elanna. 

Moon Godlike Priestess of Eothas

Deadfire Slave

 

Difficulty: POTD

Maim before death: Off. Knockout injuries: On. Expert mode: Off. 

 

You’d be forgiven in thinking that being born in the Deadfire Archipelago would be the perfect start for one blessed by Ondra, but fate was to play out differently. Elanna was abandoned by superstitious parents and found herself sold off as a good luck charm to a pirate crew. It was here she spent all of her formative years, until by good fortune she found her chance to escape in a boarding-gone-wrong for her captors.

Tasting the free air for the first time in her memory she devoted herself to the god of redemption. When she heard that the god himself had manifested, and supposedly been killed, she set out immediately to investigate the events unfolding in the Dyrwood.

Elanna has fully embraced the teachings of Eothas, wishing to impart onto the world all of the kindness that she was not shown in her early life. She does, however, still bear the scars of that life, making her sometimes quick to anger when she sees would-be oppressors.

 

 

Having survived the deadly biawic Elanna quickly made her way to the Gilded Vale to find a less than warm welcome. She found comfort in finding a fellow Eothosian, and agreed to try to help him in a search for answers that looked to mirror hers. Likewise Aloth seemed to be a fish out of water in this cold and inhospitable town, so together they set out to help who they could, and find what answers were there to be found.

 

 

Out intrepid adventurer and her new friends. 

 

[Alesia_BH]

Heya! It's me, Alesia- making a sheepish and apologetic return.

Those of you who've known me for years are aware that I regularly vanish, often for long periods of time. My last disappearance was especially abrupt, however, and I feel pretty bad about it. I'm sorry, everyone! Life just unexpectedly took me elsewhere (an ecovillage in Central America, to be specific). I really should have let y'all know, though. Despite appearances to the contrary, I do and always have valued your friendship. Once again, I apologize! (And if it's any consolation, I'm known for Irish goodbyes in RL, too...)

Anyhoo, I'm back now and I kind of feel like playing again. I'm pleasantly surprised to see that this challenge is still active! I see Serg is still posting, as is Ivanfyodorovich. And we have some new friends. Who else is still following along?

Best,

A.

 

[Serg BlackStrider]

Hi, Alesia! Nice to see you back safe and sound! I'm sure, your trip was pleasant and full of new experiences. Meanwhile Gloomy Face is on the verge of finishing his shadow Completionist (except those stupid Mega Bosses)/Trial of Iron/PoTD/Upscaled All/No Berath's Blessings Deadfire run as Lifegiver Druid/Blood Mage Sorcerer (after several failures/restarts along the way and running Pathfinder: Kingmaker as a side trip). Once I'll finish this run I think I'll be ready for a new full saga no-reload run (most likely with Priest of Eothas in PoE following Priest of Eothas/Blood Mage in Deadfire this time).

Edited January 13, 2020 by Serg BlackStrider

[Alesia_BH]

Very cool, Serg! Will you be posting your upcoming run?

(I'm fiddling with a solo rogue now. I'll let you know if and when I'm ready to share!)

Best,

A.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Yes, for sure! I was intending to start posting this new documented full saga run all in this thread (without creating or waiting for separate Deadfire one) right after finishing the full exploration of Deadfire. I'm already familair with nearly all Deadfire content including all DLC - for my very first character graduated from PoE, whom I made Ranger (Arcane Archer)/ Druid (Animist) Beastmaster multiclass, all that remains there is to choose a faction to follow (or move alone) and take a final voyage to Ukaizo (final boss). I was hesitant which faction to choose (they are all kind of "gray" and I can barely justify any of those on the RP grounds) so put that run on hold and start another character to study a class combo which is able to "regenerate" their limited per-encounter abilities (very important for those extremely wicked mega bosses or long SSS arena fights...) - Cipher (Psion)/Wizard (Blood Mage). Cipher (Psion) generate focus passively over time and Blood Mage gain Blood Sacrifice ability to restore a spell level applying a variable raw damage to self and gain passive health regeneration. And finally my current character based again on Gloomy Face - Druid (Lifegiver) / Wizard (Blood Mage) on Trial of Iron. I'm quite fond of Blood Mage subclass but while Lifegiver Druid is a capable healer, druids in general are much less fun in Deadfire compared to PoE in my opinion. That's why I want to run Priest of Eothas/Blood Mage as my next character. Priest of Eothas is a closest to RL myself on terms of favored/condemned dispositions and Blood Mage is just strong. And last but not least, as you might already be well aware, Cleric/Illusionist is my core alter-ego in Baldur's Gate universe.

So the character is pretty much set. All that remains is to finish my current run, which (considering I'm also running Pathfinder: Kingmaker in background) might take a while. Or I might start immediately alongside with you when you'll be ready to share your rogue and finish my current run in background.

Edited January 15, 2020 by Serg BlackStrider

[Concrete Monster]

Welcome back Alesia! I'm glad to see there's still some activity here, I was beginning to think I was on my own. I am a bit behind on updates from where I would like to be, and I think my quality leaves a lot to be desired too; but, the only way to improve is to practice right? Should have another update out soon, and can't wait to see some more runs from the pros!

[Concrete Monster]

The first matter to attend to was to show a local strongarm that that kind of behaviour would not be tolerated. From there, a mother-to-be seemed to have a pressing concern which Elanna felt indebted to resolve. On the way to find Ranga, the trio managed to get slightly lost, and ended up helping cover up for a group of townsfolk down on their luck, being harassed by a bourgeoisie merchant. She hated to tell a lie, but couldn’t stand to see people run into the ground.

The trio had no problems in completing Ranga’s requests and returned successfully to Aufra to give her the placebo potion. This time Elanna couldn’t abide a lie, even in good cause. Aufra took the news well and thanked them nonetheless.

The trio then proceeded north to Valewood to investigate reports of some dangerous animal activity. It was here they discovered Nonton’s treachery. When confronted, the couple admitted all, and were thus granted redemption.

The last small task remaining outstanding was the matter of a smith’s missing shipment somewhere on the road. Elanna and her friends managed to track it down to a bandit group in Black Meadow. Sneaking upon them in the dead of night the party judged them too dangerous to take head on, but vowed to return and mete out justice once they were able. It would have to be enough just to get the smith his supplies for now.

Finally, feeling slightly more accomplished and worldly (and felling the good will of Gilded Vale on their side) Elanna and Eder decided it was time to pay homage to their god. Descending into the Temple of Eothas Elanna was aghast. The temple had been overrun by foul creatures and spirits. A man at the entrance claimed that the priests of the temple remained trapped below in need of a proper burial.

The upper levels were cleared without incident and Elanna and her company proceeded to the lower levels with confidence.

Such confidence soon proved to be unwarranted as the small band was accosted by a large group of spirits and oozes, and nearly met their demise. Eder was the first to fall, being laid low by a spirit with an icy touch who slowed his movement almost to a standstill. Aloth was the next to succumb when all attention was focused on him.

It was only after making a tactical retreat that Elanna was able to finish off the monster piecemeal and revive her two new friends.

In return for their sacrifices the party were rewarded with an artefact of Eothas himself, which Elanna looked forward to carrying into battle. Just as rewarding was collecting the defiled remains of her  fellow priests and consecrating providing them with a proper burial, and hopefully a final rest.

Edited January 15, 2020 by Concrete Monster
Images not working.

[Concrete Monster]

Team update:

Edited January 15, 2020 by Concrete Monster

[Concrete Monster]

Is anyone else having problems seeing my images? I followed the instructions posted by Serg back a ways in the thread and it worked fine for the first post, but my last two don't seem to have worked for some reason...

Edit: Fixed!

Edited January 15, 2020 by Concrete Monster

[Alesia_BH]

Welcome, welcome, welcome, Concrete Monster! I'm glad to see you posting! I'm sorry I wasn't around to greet you when you entered the challenge. Also, please accept my apologies for the response delay to your recent post. It's good to meet you and it's good to see people active.

Best of luck to Elanna! A Priest of Eothas is a compelling choice from an RP perspective, in my opinion. I look forward to future updates,

Best,

A.

PS: I'm almost ready to start posting on my solo rogue. I'll likely start today or tomorrow!

 

[Concrete Monster]

Thanks Alesia! It's no trouble at all, it's great to finally meet you and become part of the team with you all after lurking for so long.

Full disclosure, Ellana's  run is over. I work away a lot and have quite intermittent internet access, so for most of the run I wasn't able to post at all, but I tried to keep up with my drafted posts as best as I could. I would still like to post the run, since it was my first honest attempt and I learned a lot from it. Hopefully there's something to learn for others as well.

Can't wait to see your solo run, it will be great to see things keep rolling here!

[Alesia_BH]

It's good to meet you too, Concrete Monster!

I'm sorry to hear that Ellana's run has ended, but you're more than welcome to post your progress, nonetheless. Your character's story still matters, even if it didn't have a happy ending. I'll note, too, that we have a Graveyard in our Hall of Heroes for fallen aspirants. Ellana will be eligible if you post.

It would be nice to get things rolling here once again. We had great momentum last winter. Sadly, participation dropped off dramatically after I abruptly disappeared. I'll have to leave again once spring comes, but I'll be playing and posting for the next couple month at the very least. And when I do leave this time I'll give everyone advance notice. Between you, I and Serg, we have a good start! Hopefully we can entice a few others to join. @Borco, @Enuhal, @FNGRenegade, @Ivanfyodorovich, @Jaheiras Witness, @semiticgod and anyone else I missed: What are you up to these days?

Best,

A.

NW: I started a solo rogue this morning. I'm excited about her. I'll start posting soon!

Edited January 20, 2020 by Alesia_BH

[Alesia_BH]

Alrighty then: Let's get started! I am officially back in action!

Meet my new character:

Astrid, Pale Elf Rogue (Solo)

Game Version: 3.7.0.1318 with White March I & II, Difficulty: Normal, Settings: Maim Before Death: On; Injuries: On; Expert Mode: OFF, Mods: None

Character Description: Born in the White that Wends but uninspired by the dreary ways of her people, a teenaged Astrid set off for the Deadfire Archipelago, harboring dreams of gold and glory. The Deadfire had something else in store for her, however: instead of a swashbuckling adventure novel, Astrid's life became a rise and fall tragicomedy of epic proportions.

After rapidly ascending to the rank of quartermaster aboard a pirate ship, The Reticent Squid, Astrid found herself accused of treason by her captain, Rai Nui- an Aumaua who had trusted and admired her until he lost his mind to syphilis. When The Reticent Squid was captured -due in no small part to the captain's compromised decision making- Astrid suddenly found herself on the gun barrel end of both pirate law and the law of the authorities. That she is alive today and free is a miracle. If she successfully returns to the Deadfire as she intends it will be a greater miracle still.

Gaming Notes: When this challenge opened last winter I had virtually no PoE experience: I had nary a clue how to play. In the two month that followed I became marginally proficient, completing full party no reloads on normal, hard and potd respectively. After a one year break, I've decided to get back in the action, this time tackling solo play, starting at normal and, hopefully, culminating in a potd no reload run. Having practiced a bit over the last week, I'm confident that I'll have a first success soon. Hopefully Astrid will be the one.

My intention is to cover this run in significant detail, partly for my own reference, but mostly in the interest of soliciting feedback (I'm still learning!). Please do feel free to chime in with an advice! Astrid needs your help!

Edited January 21, 2020 by Alesia_BH

[Alesia_BH]

Astrid, Pale Elf Rogue (Solo)- Entry 1 (Part A)

Astrid's run is off to a promising start. She's completed her early item collection tasks and is now ready to begin her first significant quest, Buried Secrets. Entry 1 will cover caravan camp through the Gilded Vale minor side quests. That may not sound like much, but there's a lot that matters here.

Before I continue: a note. I think I warned everyone that I'm going to cover this run in excruciating detail. That was no lie. My intention is to post in such a way that I and others will be able to replicate. That requires a lot of detail, at least for me. If the minutiae gets boring for y'all, let me know. I'll tone it down and just keep copious off-line notes.

Ok! Let's begin! Astrid's run got off to an auspicious start when she crit-chunked her first foe with her opening swing. May those wolfine chunky-wunks be like the ceremonial broken wine glass at a Jewish wedding and may this run not end in divorce. Mazel tov!

 

I'll spare you the details of the rest of the tutorial. On her first level up Astrid took:

Gasps from the audience, right? Why one handed? Astrid doesn't fight in melee much. She uses scrolls and item based abilities whenever possible. When she does fight in melee, she's either: 1) mowing down hapless tools; 2) landing an opportunistic Jolting Touch via Azureith; or 3) crit stun/prone locking big bad bady-waddies. In the first case, weapon style doesn't matter. In the second two, one-handed is actually better, at least within the levels that Astrid will be playing (she'll be finishing at 9 or 10). What about the late game? Say if Astrid did White March and lots of side-quest? Well, interestingly, in the late-late game there is an argument that one handed is better than two handed, since you can get recovery down to zero either way and one-handed gets the acc bonus. Ok, but what about those great rogue full attack special abilities? Got me there. That's an argument for two-handed style: no doubt.  But tradeoffs in all things, strengths and weaknesses on all sides. I'm not saying that one handed style is better than two weapon in the general case: I'm merely saying that it has merits at certain stages of the adventure and I'm fair convinced that it makes sense for Astrid. Protest if you must. I'll fight you on this with one hand tied behind my back: One hand is enough. 

With that out of the way...

Skill points went to stealth and Astrid went to Gilded Vale.

Leveling up again post tree-talk, we took Dirty Fighting. Skill points went to Stealth and Lore (5pts and 1 pt respectively)

Here's our heroine: At level 3, fresh off a Mechanics skill boosting Laborer's Rest- equipped and ready for an item raid on Raedric Hold. She's sexy and she knows it.

Fine weapons courtesy of the graveyard in Esternwood; Ring and cloak from the Ruins and Hound. Note that there's a crushing weapon in the inventory in addition to the slasher in hand.

Time for some shameless meta-gaming! 

No seriously: I'm embarassed about this. My early route through the game involves random loot table use. That's stupid and I intend to cut it out eventually. But for now: Have you seen my shame? Because I don't: I've lost it all...

Right, well...With a non-offset table, opening the roof bin on the 20th gets you boots of stealth. The third bin down in the Sanctuary entrance hall on the 1rst yields a fine brigandine. Locked chest in the bedroom on the 2nd offers Gloves of Manipulations; Loose stone in the jail cell on the 2nd, a Ring of Searing Flames.

So how do we do all that? By being sneaky-sneaky. To enter the Sanctuary via the ramparts, wait for the patrolling guard to head away from you and then follow him- just don't follow too closely. Stay away from the stationary guard and you're good. All the world is blind to your passing. You can dance on the head of a pin as well.

Into the Sanctuary! The Berath robes look awesome on Astrid. They match her portrait super well. If I weren't adverse to kiting (in PoE) and fog of war play (any game), she'd rock those from here 'till next Christmas.

Using the robes and Int >12 gets us to Nedmar. Then it's down, down, down.

We rest to dispel our fatigue, and then get to work. Astrid waited for the first patrolling revenant to pass going east and then took the second patrolling revenant down in the corner:

Slashing weapons for the revenants; Crushing for the skellies to come.

We let ooze #1 pass heading west, disarmed the trap, and then headed down the hall, hugging the north wall to stay clear of ooze #2.

We lured skelly #1 into the cell and took him down with our crushing weapon. We got him into the cell by letting him soft detect us (when the circle thingy turns red- you know what I mean) and search. It really is advisable to pull this guy because you can end up with up to five enemies on you otherwise. I lost a character to that in my first unposted solo attempt.

Skelly #2 was lured into the same cell using the same method. He was dispatched with the mace. Revenant #2, the stationary one, was drawn away to the south just as the patrolling revenant passed heading west. We intercepted the patrolling revenant at the western end of his route. We've switched back to the fine dagger for the revenants. 

Last Aumaua skeleton: Crossbow bullet to the face, followed by the mace. You know the Olivia Newton John song (Let's Get) Physical? I'm singing Let's Get Critical in my head now because I'm a dork. (Remember what I said about loosing my shame?)  

Footnote: The Youtube video for (Let's Get) Physical is fracking hilarious. Por ejemplo...

So: We free Giacco, grab the fine brigandine and then detrap -but not open- the chest in the bedroom. What's the logic there? We need our Laborer's Rest bonus to disarm the trap, but its the 1rst now and the Gloves of Manipulation won't show up until the 2nd. 

We rest three times in Nedmar's room and then claim our prize. Next, it's the Ring of Searing Flames down in the dungeon. With that, we're outy- like those ugly belly buttons (Apologies if you have an outie but outies are objectively less attractive than inies. Don't blame me: Blame your obstetrician.)

Like the undead that hopefully haunt you obstetrician's dreams, there are revenants and guls near the exit. We let the patrolling bloke pass the stairs going east, break down the middle, and veer north to avoid the oncoming revenant. Surely there are other ways but this is the one I know works. 

Ok. I'm hungry now so I'm going to take a break. I'll be back with the end on Entry 1 soon. Toodle-doodles!

Best,

A. 

Edited January 21, 2020 by Alesia_BH

[Serg BlackStrider]

Looks like a promising start, Alesia! Keep rocking!

Meanwhile, I feel just unbearable itching to start anew myself immediately alongside with Astrid and finish my current Deadfire run in background. I'm such a weakling...

Actually Grim Face is already in Gilded Vale and just joined with Eder and Aloth. I'll post my intro entry shortly.

[Alesia_BH]

Very cool, Serg! Truth be told, I do think concurrent runs would aid our efforts to reboot the challenge.

Who knows? Maybe we'll cross over into Deadfire together. And maybe others will be there with us?

Cheers,

A. 

[Alesia_BH]

Astrid, Pale Elf Rogue (Solo)- Entry 1 (Part B)

Note to self: key lime pie is not dinner.

Note to everyone else: I've eaten and I'm ready to resume. 

So, where were we? Right: minor quests in Guilded Vale, post Raedric Hold: Smith's Shipment and Late for Dinner. (Against the Grain, too, natch, but we don't need to talk about that.) 

Smith's Shipment can be done with stealth using the boots of stealth. Astrid waited at the edge of the scout's detection range, in the position seen below, and then broke when he went back to the campfire. We opened the southerly lootable box first. 

Stealth will also allow you to loot the Shrine of Galawain and the drake skull. The drake skull find is skiddly-diddly because it lets you add burning lashes.

After returning the crate, we bought a Blunting Belt and Azureith's. Azureith's got a burning lash immediately.

With our loot table, visiting the loose rock over by the wolves in Valewood on the 4th yields a Torc of the Falcon Eyes. Consequently, we chilled at the Hound for a while before setting off.

When completing super-easy quests like Late for Dinner, I like to build in miny challenges. In this case we tried to minimize attacks. That went pretty well, given that Astrid is a low level rogue.

One hit nixed the first outlaw with the fine crossbow.

By range targeting the melee bandit with the crossbow and placing an arrow trap along his attack vector, north of the outlaw's attack route, we effectively one hit the bandit.

The next outlaw falls in one hit, courtesy of Azureith's, aided by Dirty Fighting. That's three enemies with three strikes.

Crippling Strike let's us take down the last bandit in two (possibly three- I'm not sure). In any case, we did pretty well. Astrid was pleased. She and I are starting to build trust. She knows I'm only moderately proficient at PoE -and thus semi-likely to get her killed- but she thinks I'm beginning to get the hang of it.

Onto the wolves! The Torc of the Falcon Eyes can be looted with stealth, but Fulvano's Gloves can't be, as far as I know. The wolves were dropped quickly thanks to an Azureith's Jolting Touch. In game weapon damage is a function of usage: There are no absolutes. For Astrid -who has a high crit percentage and takes very few melee swings per battle- Azureith's is a top tier weapon for a long, long time. 

We have the Torc. We have the gloves. Astrid is ready to enter the Temple. Wish her luck!

Best,

A.

Edited January 21, 2020 by Alesia_BH

[Serg BlackStrider]

I hope so too And since you post your run on Beamdog too I hope at least those members who residents there will join us here.

Well, here we are:

Grim Face, Hearth Orlan Scientist (Alchemist) and Priest of Eothas from The Living Lands. Hungry for knowledge he is going to study arcane magic too in Deadfire.

Game Version: 3.7.0.1318 with White March I & II

Difficulty: Path of the Damned, Trial of Iron, Upscaled (All)

Settings: Maim Before Death: On; Injuries: On; Expert Mode: OFF; AoE Highlighting: On; Show Personality/Reputation: OFF 

Mods: None

All in all this is mostly a little bit tweaked Gloomy Face. Dex and Int are the same and I dumped Con to 8 and Res to 10 to rise Per to 20. Actually I run Gloomy Face in Deadfire with such attrubutes and it's quite smooth sailing. Perception is very important in Deadfire for traps/secrets detection and all NPC there are average at that.

As usual for me this is going to be a completionist run (so it will be quite hard to keep pace with Astrid) and I'll also try to keep this run knockout free for all Crew members.

 

OK, lets get started. Grim Face is not a crit based killing machine like Astrid (or Heodan) but quite decent at that nonetheless:

Spoiler

Out of ruins we got a level 2 (Mechanics>4, Inspiring Radiance) and dive back there to disarm all the traps for 325 exp (every bit counts at early stage). Next we made a beeline to Gilded Vale to gather all possible exp while solo (solve a grain dispute, visit all houses, pick all possible tasks). That was enough for level 3 (Mechanics>5, Lore>3, Athletics>1) and we joined with both Eder (Lore>5, Athletics>3, Stealth>1, Rapid Recovery, Disciplined Barrage) and Aloth (Athletics>3, Lore>7, Blast, Chill Fog, Curse Of Blackened Sight, Infuse With Vital Essence).

Back in Valewood the Trio dealt with Wolf pack (Inspiring Radiance+Bless from Grim Face, Curse Of Blackened Sight+Arcane Blast from Aloth, Disciplined Barrage+Knock Down from Eder) and saved Tenfrith with the same approach. Fulvano's Gloves went to Grim Face.

Spoiler

Next we are going to deal with those Bears and start a proper adventure finally.

to be continued...

Edited January 21, 2020 by Serg BlackStrider

[Alesia_BH]

Yay! This run should be great! And I think it's pretty cool that our adventures are completely different: full party versus solo, direct route to Thaos versus completionist. Diversity is good!

Best wishes for a successful adventure!

Cheers,

A.

Btw, you mentioned that Per is super important in Deadfire. I still haven't installed Deadfire, but I had heard that Dex is more important there. That's kind of why I built Astrid as I did: 20 Dex, 17 Per. I figured she could use Blasconn in PoE, giving her 18 Dex and 20 Per in substantive fights, and she'd have the extra Dex waiting in reserve for Deadfire. Apparently I miscalculated? I could have gone White That Wends and 20 Per (since Astrid was born in The White That Wends but came of age in the Archipelago either would have made sense). Would that have been better?

[Serg BlackStrider]

Thanks for best wishes, Alesia! I wish you safe travels as well!

As for Per vs Dex - I've mentioned that Per is important in Deadfire mostly on the grounds that it's a main attribute for traps/secrets detection and all other NPC are pretty average at that (my completionist nature just demands to find all those secrets!). Sure thing, you might create another custom character aloneside with your main for that duty but that's another story (personally I'm mostly use story NPC there and avoid custom mercenaries). Which one of two is more important is debatable and is based on particuar class/build. Personally I awe Dex and I would like to push up both (Dex18/Per20) but to keep Int at least at 15 in my case I would need to dump Res below 10 (which I don't want to do on RP reasons). Con 8 is OKish to survive even on upscaled PoTD. And Might I can get via buffs. Yes, Per is not important for Priest's party buffs and Dex is a key attribute here to launch all of those buffs faster but I want for my Wizards spells to hit reliably too. In my current Deadfire run Gloomy Face is dualwielding Scepters Druid/Wizard (in Deadfire those are one-handed weapons) and does not suffer too much from having Dex at 15. More so, I'm pretty much enjoy how he fare.

So, I'm sure, you'll be fine with Astrid's current attributes in any scenario.

Edited January 21, 2020 by Serg BlackStrider

[Concrete Monster]

Elanna Part III

Note: This is where my coverage goes out-of-sync with my game-play, and as such it's even lighter on in the detail than before. I've found screenshotting and writing much more difficult than I expected, but I look forward to improving in the future.

Having resolved most of the immediate issues plaguing Gilded Vale, Elanna decided it was high time to seek out what information she could from the mysterious Maerwald, the one who could hopefully help cure her of her disturbing visions. The party headed off to his castle, and  after a mishap with some blights outside, managed to make it into the keep.

 

I totally missed my chance for screenshots in this fight, but you can see my positioning. A well-documented spot by now, but it meant that only Eder could be targeted.

A huge mass of spirits filled the  main hall, but with Eder holding fast the two magic users were able to hurl enough firepower across the great hall that the spirits never stood a chance.

 

Descending into the first level below ground, Elanna and her companions were able to quickly find Maerwald. What they found was not what they expected, however. The old man had lost his mind from time and isolation and tried his best to kill them. Once again, with Eder holding the strong point, Elanna and Aloth were able to bring their full might to bear and the fight was won with little issue.

 

Despite Maerwald’s madness, their search was not in vain. Before his death Maerwald gave them one clue to continue. The City of Defiance, searching for the Queen. Elanna and her friends set off.

 

Having made an uneventful journey to the city, the party took a well-deserved rest. Their search would commence again in earnest in the morning.

 

Edited January 21, 2020 by Concrete Monster

[Concrete Monster]

Party Update:

Edited January 21, 2020 by Concrete Monster