The difficult start of Deadfire: a new experience

[bugarup]

6 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

Both (Bardatto and Valera boss) have very nice unique armors. One reason why I often solve the quest in the most finite way...

And why I never blatantly copy borrow from builds built around Deltro's Cage.  I like the old pwgra and don't wanna hurt her.

 

...also, what's the difference between pleonasm and tautology?

[xzar_monty]

18 minutes ago, bugarup said:

...also, what's the difference between pleonasm and tautology?

Pleonasm is general overuse of words, and tautology is saying the same thing twice. They do overlap to an extent. "Dark-haired brunette" is pleonasm and tautology, whereas "very unique" is mere pleonasm because "very" is only an unnecessary qualifier, not a repetition of what "unique" means.

[Boeroer]

It's complicated. The structure is basically the same.

Generally speaking (if we look at it from a rethorical standpoint):
You'll use a tautology intentionally as a rethorical device to really emphasize something (for example "first and foremost" - like "this is really the most important point so listen up!"). So it's not a mistake but it's done on purpose.

A pleonasm is just you using a superfluous word and being a bit stupid ("free gift").

Transition may be fluid depending on your language, your region and so on. 
 

[xzar_monty]

Small update: I have now come across a pretty tough fight. It's the one in Dunnage, after you've done some business with the innkeeper and travel from one area to another, in town. A group of pirates approaches you, and a fight ensues. You start surrounded -- which makes the fight tough, because you're also outnumbered.

It was quite tough, but I survived (with Serafen and Xoti down).

But the question is this: I know some people solo the game, even on PotD. How are you supposed to survive that fight if you solo on PotD? I mean, seriously, what level do you have to be at and what kind of choices are you going to make? I don't get it. You're surrounded at the start, you can't use the terrain to your advantage in any way whatsoever.

[Boeroer]

If you solo the game you know that this fight only happens once you had a certain interaction with Harker. You'd simply wait with that until your level is higher. Eamund the Fox isn't that difficult if you're not so underleveled. 

[thelee]

3 hours ago, xzar_monty said:

Small update: I have now come across a pretty tough fight. It's the one in Dunnage, after you've done some business with the innkeeper and travel from one area to another, in town. A group of pirates approaches you, and a fight ensues. You start surrounded -- which makes the fight tough, because you're also outnumbered.

It was quite tough, but I survived (with Serafen and Xoti down).

But the question is this: I know some people solo the game, even on PotD. How are you supposed to survive that fight if you solo on PotD? I mean, seriously, what level do you have to be at and what kind of choices are you going to make? I don't get it. You're surrounded at the start, you can't use the terrain to your advantage in any way whatsoever.

I can't speak for solo, but that dunnage fight becomes a lot easier (ignoring overleveling) when you realize that no one other than eamund has engagement. With micromanagement you run circles around all the rogues while taking out the ranged guys, and then you just need to make sure you have one tanky guy who engages eamund at the start. (optimally you wait for a rogue to wind up an attack like gouging strike, and then run out just before it connects, so they also waste resources)

 

there's a very similarly hard fight after you get the task to get degnos's satchel. you get ambushed on the way back to queen's berth. you can take a violent path. it is extremely hard at the level you are expected to do this on potd. but similarly, only the main guy has engagement, so you can run circles around all the rogues while trying to focus down the ranged guys before they nuke you or swarm you with tentacles; it takes the fight from "for all intents and purposes impossible" to "barely possible with an optimized, rested party."

 

edit: in my ultimate run i was an abject coward for the latter and just completely skipped the quest in the former

Edited March 16, 2021 by thelee

[thelee]

these fights also remind me that i wish obs had done slightly better combat hazard layout design. both the dunnage and degnos fights feature gunpowder barrels. i have managed to use them a few times, but it's extremely hard to pull off, since it's unclear how big the explosion is, and you need to somehow get everyone into position without taking a lot of free attacks (extremely hard in the degnos one). you also need to know in advance that you need a source of fire or firearm. i can see those fights being more doable in turn-based.

 

(in degnos it's still worth blowing up a barrel even without proper prep because one wizard spawns right next to a barrel. obv works better if you can get more than a couple guys at once)

Edited March 16, 2021 by thelee

[xzar_monty]

Ok, thanks a lot for these comments. It appears that soloing on PotD is very much a question of strategy, and not only combat strategy but also metagame strategy, i.e. you have to know where the fights are and what they are like.

[Boeroer]

Indeed. It's possible to go solo on PotD without any meta-knowledge I guess - but you'd be reloading savegames a lot.

Edited March 17, 2021 by Boeroer

[xzar_monty]

Yeah.

Btw, now that I know that both feuding families have a good armor, I feel tempted to try the non-diplomatic approach... Obviously it must be impossible to pickpocket the armors, although there's a CPRG where you can pickpocket a dragon's head if you're good enough. Technically you're supposed to kill the dragon, and its head is just its inventory which it then drops, but pickpocketing is the way cool way to go, in my view.

[Boeroer]

Heh.

Unfortunately you can't pickpocket the armors. You can only loot them from their dead bodies. 

[daven]

I just hired extra party members I think... after dying quite a few times at the digsite on Hard Mode.

[xzar_monty]

Yeah, I suppose that's a viable strategy. I didn't want to do that, so I just chose stealth in the end. The digsite is a total badass encounter. Clearly the hardest thing on this difficulty so far.

[thelee]

9 hours ago, xzar_monty said:

Yeah, I suppose that's a viable strategy. I didn't want to do that, so I just chose stealth in the end. The digsite is a total badass encounter. Clearly the hardest thing on this difficulty so far.

i had a really rough galawain's challenge run once.

 

the boars were volatile and the big drake was hardened. holy crap. a boar dying would take out a party member and i just severely underpenetrated the drake, and the fire breath has infinite uses just on a timer, which is horrible if the drake has a bajillion health and AR (relative to level 3-4 pipsqueaks).

i think i ended up swapping out some party members for some hirelings that coudld just spam Charm or Hold Beast.