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The Pillars of Eternity No Reload Challenge

Alesia_BH
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Alesia_BH

Alesia_BH

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Veteran friends! Heeding Jaherias Witness's advice, we headed south to Mahdmr Bridge before entering the Eothasian Temple. We now have ~2300cp to spend before descending. What's the better investment at this stage? Cape of Withdrawl (for Aloth) + Blunting Belt (for Ashoka) or Minor Ring of Deflection (for Ashoka)? 

 

I'm leaning towards Minor Ring of Deflection now, Cape of Withdrawl ASAP, and Blunting Belt later. Does that make sense?

Edited by Alesia_BH
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Alesia_BH

Alesia_BH

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I'm still pretty early in the game, and it'll be a while before I'll be able to start my first no-reload run. I notice that you can create custom party members at the first inn--it seems expensive and the hirelings are low-level, but it looks like a great way to expand the player's options for the early game. Do many people use full-custom or majority-custom parties?

 

I've considered starting over and experimenting with a more diverse party, but I'm right before Defiance Bay, and I've heard that gameplay gets much more complex in the next chapter.

 

Noted. It probably is wise to complete a full run before NRing (although I always admired Grond0's approach: his first completed BG playthrough was a NR- it took many, many months).

 

I was just eager to see you posting  :grin:

 

Feel free to share your early discoveries. I'd love to hear them. We can use the "Any interest in starting a No Reload Challenge?" thread as a temporary Adventurer's Lounge.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

(Oh! And, yes, people do frequently use full custom parties. But the NPCs are well written and they have quests. With the exception of Durance -who makes Anomen look like Chris Pratt- they're fun to have around.)

Edited by Alesia_BH
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Alesia_BH

Alesia_BH

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Ashoka: Pale Elf, Kind Wayfarer- Entry 3: Madhmr Bridge and the Eothasian Temple

 
After consulting with an affable yet regal chap, and a disciple of a woman warrior from a distant, nay, forgotten realm, Ashoka recruited Kana and visited Madhmr Bridge before descending into the Eothasian ruins.
 
At Madhmr Bridge (and on the roadway there) it was Cassia's time to shine. She defeated the last spider...
 
 
seemingly all of the looters... 
 
 
and, finally, the xaurip high priest.
 
 
You go, girl! But take it easy on the killin'- you can't pile all the bodies all the time. Leave some for the rest of us kind folk!
 
All of these fights were completed without #per/rest spells, IIRC, save the xaurip high priest. We were headed back to the Hound anyways, so there was no downside to letting Cassia and Aloth razzle-dazzle. Cassia went Armor of Faith->Blessing->Holy Radiance, Aloth added a spell or two, I think, but he may not have gotten past his AAs (This battle ended sooner than expected).
 
Near Madhmr Bridge, Kana used his summoning chant for the first time and we got to see one of the many RPG notification lines that would be way cooler in real life than it is in a video game.
 
 
Anyhoo. With Madhmr Bridge complete, Ashoka and crew found themselves flushed with coppers and on the brink of level 4. We purchased a Minor Ring of Deflection, along with some food, and headed into the temple.
 
The temple quest was a mixed bag. We completed our first semi-major quest, which was cool. But we also suffered out first knockout, which was not cool. First the good stuff.
 
Our first fight took place in the spider room. We used an archway to good effects here, allowing us to take down a gaggle of spiders with ease. Ashoka used her Flames of Devotion, Eder brought Knockdown, Kana fired away with his arquebus, and Cassia did the Cassia thing: killing things with a dead guy's staff. Everyone is on point expect for Aloth who is, I don't know, pulling an Agnetha?
 
 
Level ups all around soon after. Ashoka took Strange Mercy; Eder took Sword and Shield Style; Aloth added Penetrating Blast and Curse of Blackened Sight; Kana chose Reny's Ghost and Weapon Focus: Solider. Cassia leveled up, too, but she didn't get to choose anything, since she had reached 3, not 4.
 
The only other battle of note on level 1 was an encounter with four skuldrs. The first two were taken by the door, the last two in open field. This proved much easier than expected. No real damage here- despite Aloth going all Agnetha again.
 
 
Ok. Onto level 2. On level 2, we took on very nearly all comers, save the skuldr king who was left for another day.
 
Against the spirits, we maintained a tight formation (and, no: I'm not talking about Aloth's butt this time...). Strange Mercies from Ashoka kept everyone healthy and happy.
 
 
Things didn't go floey until the battle near the inner sanctum. Kana was stunned by a phantom very nearly immediately and then he was doused with aerial ooze from the slimy-slimers. Cassia, wearing chain, couldn't bring her Holy Radiance into play soon enough and Ashoka's Strange Mercy arrived a millisecond too late. This was our first knockout of the campaign (but surely not the last).
 
 
The prebuffs here were Resting Bonus: Spirit Accuracy, Resting Bonus: Laborer's Rest, Ale, Sweet Rautai Pie and Savory Pie. We also ate the Duc's Meatloaf and Pearlwood Chicken left over from the Tenfrith quest. Spells cast included Armor of Faith->Blessing->Holy Radiance from Cassia and Arcane Assualt->Combusting Wounds->Necrotic Lance->Minor Missiles from Aloth. All except Kana finished near full health.
 
 
Final fight: cloak spirits. Standard tactics here, no damage worth reporting. We again finished near full health, thanks to Strange Mercy.
 
 
Our next stop is Caed Nua. Wish us luck!
 
Best,
 
A.
Edited by Alesia_BH
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Serg BlackStrider

Serg BlackStrider

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Looking good, Alesia! Watch out for those Spirits in Caed Nua. I wouldn't call myself a veteran or even an advanced PoE player but your choice to purchase the minor ring of protection seems reasonable to me (even though I remember them, alone with capes of protection, being quite a common loot). Blunting Belt is nice but useless vs status effects which those Spirits will be eager to throw at you. Stay on guard!

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Enuhal

Enuhal

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Well, you won't get higher than level 4 before Caed'Nua (maybe doing Raedric's Hold would get you there, but that idea seems crazy to me), so I think you're ready. I usually spend my first bit of money on weapon/armor enchants and some specific fine weapons/armor (and inn resting buffs), but deflection is always good to have as well.

 

Regarding custom parties: Custom characters will generally be one level below your main character, but they usually have better stats than the official companions, and you can get different classes early on. Since a lot of people enjoy testing out unusual builds in PoE, custom parties are at least somewhat popular. Even if one prefers to use official NPCs, filling up your party to full size right away with 2-3 custom companions is very useful to make the early game easier (and, at least on PotD, the early game is propably the hardest part of the game except for specific lategame content). Once you make it to Defiance Bay, you can relax - it will get much easier to gather experience, gold and items. There's another short difficulty spike in early chapter 3 (at least that's my opinion, others may disagree with that).

Edited by Enuhal
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Jaheiras Witness

Jaheiras Witness

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Raedric’s Hold will get you tons of loot but no more level ups. Level 4 is as good as it gets for Caed Nua.

 

Money will soon become a non-issue so no worries with purchasing what you want. Just bear in mind that stuff like minor rings of x and capes of withdrawal will soon become useless and/or plentiful.

 

If you are not already, start eating like a glutton. Food is so cheap and you should buy inns out of their stock of the good stuff (it will replenish the next day). Really there is no excuse for all party members not to be under the effect of at least 2 foodstuffs (MIG/CON/DEX enhancing is already available from Black Hound) AT ALL TIMES. Yes I’m serious. And washed down with some ale. And later some drugs thrown in as well. These are essentially the only prebuffs available in PoE, so make use of them.

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Borco

Borco

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Just dropping by to say good luck to all the challengers! 

 

I'll be watching this thread with interest and, who knows, I may resurrect my PoE install and give it a shot myself. I’ve never actually finished the game (mostly due to loss of interest at various stages), but seeing your adventures unfold could just be the right incentive.  :cat:

 

Have fun!

 

B.

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summatsupeer

summatsupeer

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Our rangers (who start with wounding shot and add resilient companion as their next talent) are called Amria and Megaira:

 

 

It is great to have you with us, Enuhal! I wholeheartedly share your love for Rangers. That's why Sagani with Itumaak are both the must for my Crew

 

Just wondering what your strategy is against enemies who are immune to pierce attacks? Its always put me off having too many bow/gun users.

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Hulk'O'Saurus

Hulk'O'Saurus

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Good to see this thing taking off ;).

 

I don't think I'll be able to make another PoE/Deadfire run ever. I am playing solo wizard at the moment, but chances are after I am done with him that'll be it for me for the entire franchise. I can still post a vid or two, maybe it will give you an idea on how to manage a particular fight x). 

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Serg BlackStrider

Serg BlackStrider

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Our rangers (who start with wounding shot and add resilient companion as their next talent) are called Amria and Megaira:

 

 

It is great to have you with us, Enuhal! I wholeheartedly share your love for Rangers. That's why Sagani with Itumaak are both the must for my Crew

 

Just wondering what your strategy is against enemies who are immune to pierce attacks? Its always put me off having too many bow/gun users.

 

Rangers are not forced to use bows/crossbows only (personally, I'm not using guns at all in this game) so there are other options available when enemies are immune to pierce attacks (wands/rods/scepters). This might be a bit out of picture thematically but it's just silly to hit a brick wall with bare fists when you have an option to pick more suitable tool...

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Enuhal

Enuhal

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Our rangers (who start with wounding shot and add resilient companion as their next talent) are called Amria and Megaira:

 

 

It is great to have you with us, Enuhal! I wholeheartedly share your love for Rangers. That's why Sagani with Itumaak are both the must for my Crew

 

Just wondering what your strategy is against enemies who are immune to pierce attacks? Its always put me off having too many bow/gun users.

 

 

Aside from the things mentioned by Serg BlackStrider, here are some more points:

1) Enemies with full immunity to pierce attacks are quite rare. Honestly, only certain types of blights (flame blights, for example) come to mind (though it's been a long time since I played this game, so I might be forgetting something). Other enemies, such as forest lurkers, skeletons or adra animats, might be very resistant, but especially with slow ranged weapons, getting some damage in is still possible, especially if you lower their deflection, allowing you to crit a lot.

2) Rangers generally have high accuracy, and abilities such as wounding shot can be used in melee combat, so equipping a decent melee weapon is a viable option if needed.

3) Adding a lash to ranged weapons or having a weapon such as stormcaller can add other damage types other than piercing even to bows/crossbows (interestingly enough, just like Serg BlackStrider, I also don't use guns in this game).

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Alesia_BH

Alesia_BH

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@Borco. Thanks for stopping by! It's good to hear from you. And, yes: It would be great to see a run from you!

 

I can understand why you lost interest in PoE the first time. For long, long, long time Baldur's Gate players such as ourselves, PoE was bound to feel odd, even disappointing, at first. That's not because there's anything wrong with PoE, mind you, it's simply because BG has -for our micro-community of almost absurdly devoted players- become an undeniable and incomparable standard. Once you get past the comparisons, though, and accept PoE on its own terms, it's pretty cool. The story is great, and the combat is engaging enough to sustain interest for at least a few NR runs. It's worth trying.

 

Anyhoo, please do get in on the action. Enuhal, Serg, and I could us some company. And since Semiticgod is still noodling around, prepping, I'm all alone on Team Neophyte. Fire it up, B!

 

@Hulk'O'Saurus. I'm glad the challenge is taking off, too, although we still have progress to make. Right now, this feels a bit like a group of tight-nit kids who have ridden their bikes to another neighborhood to play somewhere else for a change. If this challenge is going to endure, we'll need to recruit some resident PoE players. A little skill demonstration could help -and I certainly could benefit from a tutorial or two- so, by all means, feel free to share a video, when you get the chance. Your support and participation is appreciated- whatever form it may take!

 

@Jaheiras Witness. Thanks for the tips! I've been using food items since my first play-through. They made sense to me, given the math, but I feared I was alone in the dark on that. Glad to hear that it's a well regarded move. As for the Minor Ring of Defecltion, I'm aware that it will become obsolete, based on my prior playthroughs, but in NR play an item that helps at a particular stage -whether that stage is early or late- can be worth the cost. We don't have the luxury of focusing exclusively on endgame power, as you well know! Anyhoo, thanks again!

 

@summatsupeer. Thank you for the comment. And welcome to the party! Any chance that you'll enter a character?

Edited by Alesia_BH
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Enuhal

Enuhal

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Liresh, wild orland Shieldbearer of St. Elcga, update 1

 

Previous updates:

 

Introduction: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/106596-the-pillars-of-eternity-no-reload-challenge/?do=findComment&comment=2111091

 

 

This last session showed me just how rusty I am when it comes to this game. I kept mixing up areas and forgetting about important encounters. While I at some point remembered to use inn resting buffs, I completely forgot about food. Despite all that, I'm still alive.

 

Things start out easy enough - I finally remember that I should've gone to Esternwood right away to pick up a fine arbalest at the graveyard, which I do without any trouble (having a priest turns early vessel encounters into a cakewalk). Next, I turn to Magran's Fork, where I encounter this mage who doesn't survive my initial burst attack:

https://imgur.com/vMH9wI0

I'm feeling great about my party when I suddenly walk into one of the four most dangerous enemy groups in early PotD - the boars in the center of Magran's Fork. I'm somewhat out of position, with my vulnerable party members way too close to the action. I also miss a lay on hands on one of my wolves, so both of them die almost immediately, heavily reducing the impact of my rangers. What should've been my trump card, charm beasts, completely misses. My druid Kerion, while doing some great damage in his cat form, gets knocked out, which leaves me with only my cipher Andur as a serious damage dealer (the two rangers being affected by bonded grief, which can be a huge issue in the early game):

https://imgur.com/oadK6zv

One of the adult boars goes after the priest Elissa, and while moon godlike priests are great at keeping up their endurance, when she gets close to getting knocked out, her health is also super low. I fear for her life - but she ends up making it, knocked out but not dead:

https://imgur.com/m1SM3Ep

Well, that was certainly unpleasant. Luckily, the remaining parts of Magran's Fork, the entirety of Madhmr Bridge and the Black Meadow provide no such challenges. With my piercing damage heavy party, forest lurkers can take a while to take down, which is why I make sure to spam a bunch of debuffs at them, lowering their deflection (though thanks to expert mode, I have to count on my intuition for such things):

https://imgur.com/9aIBbl0

We also learn that Nature's Mark and Divine Mark don't seem to stack. Oh, and our custom party members reach level 3, wich grants our rangers predator's sense, while our cipher gains mental binding (crucial!) and amplified thrust.

 

Anslög's Compass is next. We make sure to equip the helm providing immunity to confusion on Liresh before facing the dank spores:

https://imgur.com/otGoa6x

The xaurip camp is approached from the south, we have some accuracy versus wilder resting bonuses and start by increasing accuracy with inspiring radiance and blessing while setting up our animal companions and Liresh in a defensive line. The horde approaches:

https://imgur.com/Riw1OX8

And seconds later, after the opening salvo and two quick aoe spells, almost all of them are gone, having dealt basically zero damage to us:

https://imgur.com/7z0TmQj

Liresh levels up and takes up hold the line (while I agree that such talents are overrated, I like them for this party composition) and I take a quick trip to Raedric's Hold and Caed Nua for the exploration XP before making my way down into the Temple of Eothas. Enemies without teleportation or ranged attacks are easily blocked off from reaching our vulnerable party members by luring them back to doorways. We take full advantage of being in a dungeon area for once (couldn't do that against the boars, really). On the second level, however, we encounter Nr. 2 and 3 on my personal list of the four most dangerous early PotD encounters: The groups including two shades and a bunch of shadows. Shades do a ton of frost damage at range, and shadows tend to teleport into the backline - luckily, they also don't have a lot of hit points. Survival provides us with accuracy against spirits, and we do really well with our ranged attackers getting healed up by the very powerful consecrated ground spell:

https://imgur.com/Ahu7r7A

Both battles are successfully braved, which makes me feel better about my chances. The skuldr kings and their allies are laughable in comparison, as they simply can't get access to any vulnerable party members:

https://imgur.com/tX7QKG7

However, in Caed Nua, things almost fall apart again. We clear the outside areas without much trouble (also applying a corrosive lash on one of our now 3 fine arbalests and a "fine" enchantment on Liresh's brigandine), but with Liresh at half hp, I foolishly decide to move on to the main hall. Why, you might ask? Well, completely forgetting about the most dangerous encounter in the keep (and Nr. 4 on my list) will do that to you. Our problems are similiar to the ones encountered in the boar battle: While we can take out shadows very quickly, our wolves are very squishy, and without them, our damage is severely reduced. I also don't have a lot of spell levels left, and Liresh ends up getting stunned a couple of times in a row, so things start looking very badly:

https://imgur.com/YMYgHR8

Luckily, I soon realize that I simply have done a poor job with focus fire - all of my remaining enemies are heavily wounded. The battle is actually over only seconds later - all it takes are a couple of shapeshifter attacks and another salvo of arbalest bolts:

https://imgur.com/Pxy2mka

Relieved, we return to Gilded Vale to rest for the resolve buff and fight our way through to Maerwald. As soon as combat starts, our entire party leaves his room:

https://imgur.com/qO8jCjj

We wait until Maerwald actually moves forward - his blights aren't as fast, and he's isolated at the front, so we make our move and kill him almost immediately:

https://imgur.com/S9woh9b

The blight are quickly taken care of, and we rush through the Woodend Plains to finally enter Defiance Bay - safe at last.

 

Oh, and we get our custom party members to level 4. Phantom Foes and Draining Whip for Andur, Vicious Companion for our rangers, Interdiction for Selissa and Wildstrike Shock for Kerion.

Edited by Enuhal
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Alesia_BH

Alesia_BH

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Ashoka: Pale Elf, Kind Wayfarer- Entry 4: Caed Nua Part 1

 
With the party anxious about the assault on Caed Nua, Cassia called in a favor from the secret circle of Eothasian priests. Somewhat to her surprise, they sent the hearty and hale, former Deadfire Archipelago raider, turned shining light of Eothas, Ogrnd.
 
 
The first battle on the grounds of the keep went well, for the most part. The spirits murdered Kana like he was Durance off in the woods thinking he was going to get some, but aside from that, it was all good. Divine Marks from Cassia and Ogrnd kept the spirits a' droppin'.
 
 
(Kudos to Aloth for pointing his butt in the right direction this time.) 
 
 
To the flame brights. This was easy. (And, yes, yes: I can take a hint. Add a burning lash or two...)
 
 
Right! Onto the Showdown in Hoedown Hall (Are hoedowns even a thing in medieval halls?). This went pretty well, actually. No one got murdered- not even Kana. 
 
In preparation for battle, we used the Rite of the Untamed Wild to get everyone to Survival 4 just before resting. That meant Accuracy v Spirit all around, on top of Laborer's Rest. When we awoke, we ate some yummy-yums and headed into the fray.
 
Predictably, the spirits came straight for Kana. In the early stages of the fight, we concentrated on keeping Kana on his feet, while eliminating the phantoms one by one. Inspiring Radiance from Ogrnd, and double Divine Marks from Ogrnd and Cassia, allowed us to make quick progress. Ogrnd tossed a Suppress Affliction  in the hope of getting Kana back in the game, out of stun. This worked (maybe, I guess?). But he was still getting hammered (and not in the good way).
 
 
Frustrated, Ogrnd tossed Kana a Withdraw so we wouldn't have to worry about him anymore.
 
 
Freed to focus on killing, the party did just that. Here we see Ogrnd using his last Divine Mark while Cassia, now tapped at 2, adds some gratuitous buffs. 
 
 
Arcane Assaults, Combusting Wounds, and Minor Missles from Aloth helped Ashoka and Eder clear the field. And now for the finish- with Kana back in the action.
 
 
Fin!
 
 
That felt good! Next stop: the dungeons. If you have any advice on facing Maerwald, now is the time!
 
Best,
 
A.
Edited by Alesia_BH
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Alesia_BH

Alesia_BH

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Excellent work, Enuhal! I definitely intend to borrow your Maerwald strategy. I picked up a number of other tricks as well. Great post!

 

Cheers,

 

A.

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Enuhal

Enuhal

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Good work with the spirits so far! My advice for Maerwald - don't fight the battle on his terms, run out of his room and around a corner immediately (you have to be fast, otherwise he might be able to get a spell off) and things will get much easier.

 

Edit: Seems like we posted that at exactly the same time ;)

Edited by Enuhal
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Hulk'O'Saurus

Hulk'O'Saurus

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Maerwald is considerably easier if you use Bulwark against the Elements Potions and/or spells. Increasing reflex/fortitude defence is also very helpful. 

 

Here's a way you can grind a few guard at Raedric's for cash. I like doing that, because I like using scrolls. Essentially stacking Blind into spells that target Reflex most of the time. 

 

Edited by Hulk'O'Saurus
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semiticgod

semiticgod

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Maerwald is considerably easier if you use Bulwark against the Elements Potions and/or spells. Increasing reflex/fortitude defence is also very helpful.

I've gotten the impression that Accuracy, Deflection, and Endurance were the primary factors in combat; I hadn't thought about the roles played by saving throws (I know they're not "saving throws," but they're called Fortitude, Reflex, and Will). In Baldur's Gate, disablers often lasted for 10 rounds, longer than most fights, which meant they were instant game-enders in many cases. I thought that since stun effects and so forth only lasted a few seconds in PoE, by contrast, they could generally be ridden out. How important are Fortitude, Reflex, and Will in PoE?

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Alesia_BH

Alesia_BH

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Ashoka: Pale Elf, Kind Wayfarer- Entry 5: Caed Nua Part 2

 
We made it! 
 
 
And with surprising ease. It turns out Maerwald is a push-over even on hard, after all.
 
First, the spiders. Eder and Ashoka formed a wall here, allowing Aloth, Cassia, Kana, and Ogrnd to plink away in safety. Since Eder and Ashoka both have low deflection scores for this stage of the game, they were nearly untouchable. And any damage that Eder took was quickly healed by Ashoka's Strange Mercies. Easy-breezy.
 
 
Maerwald, too, was easy-breezy. We attempted to implement Enuhal's suggestions, but it didn't work out quite as planned. Maewald got stuck behind a flame bright, and so we had to fight them together, despite our best efforts. No matter. An opening salvo, including double Divine Marks from Ogrnd and Cassia, eliminated Maerwald before he could take offensive action.
 
 
Just clean up after that. Yippy-skippy!
 
 
The attentive ones among you will have noticed that we have a new party member, Sagani. I usually don't use Sagani, but since we have a couple of runs active featuring rangers, I thought I'd take the opportunity to learn the class. I'll be relying heavily on Serg and Enhual for tips on building her. Tell me what level 4 Sagani should look like and we'll go from there
 
Oh! And if anyone has a comprehensive list of Defiance Bay delivery quests, now is the time to share. We bought the labrador retriever- he's totally our mascot now. We'd like to fetch, fetch, fetch all day long.
 
Best,
 
A.
Edited by Alesia_BH
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Alesia_BH

Alesia_BH

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Quick Note on Ashoka's Game:
 
As some of you know, I have, in recent years, taken to announcing theme songs for my NR characters. By title alone, it should clearly be Dilettante off St. Vincent's album Strange Mercy. But since that song doesn't really work, I've decided to go with Fear the Future by St. Vincent- the title here alluding to fact that even if we somehow, someway make it through PoE, we'll have to face PoE 2: Deadfire, a game that I don't even own yet.   
 
 
This shouldn't be taken to imply that the run is hopeless. Rather, it's intended to highlight the extent to which this run will have to be a communal effort, if it is to be a success. So yes, gentle friends: keep the tips and advice flowing. Let's get there!
 
Best,
 

 

A.
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Alesia_BH

Alesia_BH

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In Baldur's Gate, disablers often lasted for 10 rounds, longer than most fights, which meant they were instant game-enders in many cases. I thought that since stun effects and so forth only lasted a few seconds in PoE, by contrast, they could generally be ridden out.

 

 

I thought that, too, when I first started playing. I see it differently now.

 

Losses in Pillars of Eternity tend to be deaths by a thousand cuts. Lost attacks can add up and subtlely tip the math against you. And even if nothing catastrophic has happened, you can slowly, gradually, find yourself at a dog-in-a-burning house moment.

 

https://imgur.com/a/ZkuUOhx

 

As in BG, I find it wise to understand the mechanics of incoming attacks, note the defenses they target, and buttress those defenses whenever possible. But it will take time -possibly a lot of time- to understand every attack and counter. That insight underlies the approach I've taken to learning the game.

 

Stage 1: Use a dual-paladin, dual-priest, high deflection, heavily armored party to insure high damage absorption, along with abundant healing and resurrection capacity- allowing me to view a lot of content and study attacks, while staying alive and making progress.

 

Stage 2: Leverage accumulated knowledge of attacks to develop focused (as opposed to brute force) defensive strategies and re-allocate resources towards offense as knowledge permits use of subtler defensive methods

 

Stage 3: Find an optimal balance between broad based defense, battle specific defense, and offense  

 

So far, it seems to be working- I'm definitely making progress. We'll see how it goes.

 

Best,

 

A.

Edited by Alesia_BH
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Alesia_BH

Alesia_BH

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Ashoka: Pale Elf, Kind Wayfarer- Entry 6: Temple of Woedica

 
Progress! Ashoka has completed the Temple of Woedica quest and reached level 5.
 
Upon arriving in Defiance Bay, we recovered Ossric's family armor, choosing the peaceful option.
 
 
We retrieved our quest reward, left the city, completed some minor tasks in the Guilded Vale area, and then, finally, descended into the catacombs.
 
The party now tends to divide itself into two teams. Team A consists of Ashoka, Eder, and Cassia: Team B Ogrnd, Sagani, and Aloth. Itumaak moves between the two. Both teams contain a priest, meaning both have their own Concentrated Ground and Inspiring Radiance. Team B is squishier, but they can also deal damage quicker, and Ogrnd, with his shield equipped, is serviceable as an emergency tank. Both groups are self sufficient, although Team B could, in theory be over run.
 
Here we see an ideal situation, with Team A, aided by Itumaak, engaging in melee while Team B provides ranged support, enhanced by Ogrnd's spells.
 
 
Of course, it can't always work that way. Sometimes Team B will have to engage enemies at close range. That's exactly what we did in the focal battle of this quest: the troll/sporeling encounter over by the Woedica hood.
 
We could have used the bridge here, but I was very confident heading into this fight and I saw it as an opportunity to practice open field, close quarter tactics in a safe environment. I'm glad I did that. The battle was satisfying, fun, and educational.
 
We took our Rest: Accuracy v Primordial bonus and ate some food. We then engaged with Team A leading the way. Concerated Ground from Cassia and Strange Mercies from Ashoka -combined with high deflection and heavy armor- made Team A very nearly untouchable. At this stage, we see Team A making progress on the sporelings, while receiving support from Team B. The line is starting to break now, though, and Team B will soon have to defend itself.
 
 
Ogrnd fires up Consecrated Ground in preparation for Team B's stand.
 
 
Looking good- although that troll on Sagani will soon become a problem.
 
 
Sagani, whose bow is no longer needed, breaks for safety while Team A finishes up its foes and prepares to join Team B to close.
 
 
Ogrnd takes a well earned Withdraw after  heavy tanking duty. Sagani re-engages, now at a safe distance. 
 
 
Fin!
 
 
A little sloppy -that troll should have never reached Sagani, for example- but passable and satisfying. We're getting better. I'll fill you in on the level up choices and recent item moves in our next post. Toodles-doodles!
 
Best,
 
A.
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