Returning Player : PotD party composition advices :)

[Lonlon]

Hello everyone,

I finished the game once in PotD just after the release back in the days, and am willing to plan a second PotD playthrough with all the new content (DLCs, patches, etc).
I am not interested in turn-based mode, I'm a BG fan and love the original gameplay as it is.

I'm looking for some advices on party composition (I dont want to play solo because I want to experience several classes gameplays and I like the lore tied to companions).

Back in the day I had : 
- a Bleak Walker/Assassin main character (kind of a rogue gameplay with big sneakattacks and all that stuff)
- Xoti as a Priest
- Eder as a Fighter Tank
- Aloth as a Wiz
- Tekehu as a water druid
- Serafen as a Barb
- Pallegina as a Paladin (less used)
- Maia as a Ranger (less used too)
I used to switch my team comp every now and then to experience different gameplays and different banters/stories/quests.

For this new run I want to experience other kind of gameplays (maybe monk or chanter, or even druid : I like Tekehu's subclass but was a bit frustrated he could not use fire spells).
At first I was about to make a monk as my main char but I remembered Xoti can be a monk (also I like Xoti a lot as a companion, lorewise, and I find her quite useless as a priest).
Also i'm wondering if Tekehu makes a good chanter (since he cannot do summons), and I liked him as a druid... So, idk.
Also I figured out there are new subclasses, so i'm kind of undecided and need your advices !
I dont want especially OP stuff (the kind of stuff you look for when soloing the game) but I want kinda strong main char, even if he has to be the support guy at the beggining.

Any advices guyz ?
Thx
 

[Frak_the_2nd]

The new subclasses are fun, maybe a little stronger than the old. Do try them!

People will advice you to multiclass. This is heretical advice - some will even claim that canon Eder is rogue -, but will probably be a fun thing. So maybe consider multiclassing your chars. "Multiclassing will spice up your party", they will say. Which is just another way to say: Do drugs!

 

Oh don't listen to me. I'm also a big fan of Elex (the game, not the drug) so I'm likely a masochist!

 

Edit:

Signature: Nerf Gorecci Street!

 

Edited March 13, 2022 by Frak_the_2nd

[Lonlon]

I like the idea of multiclassing but always fear I would miss out on some endgame spells/abilities because of the multiclass limitations.
I'd like to have multiclasses but also singleclasses characters. Also i'm wondering what is strong and fun as MC, and what is strong and fun as SC.

[Frak_the_2nd]

If I wasn't doing my current run as a mage-slaying barbarian, I would likely have gone with a Forbidden Fist monk as main. It is pretty strong, and I like the lore. Think about that. You can always multiclass Xoti, so she's a mix between a priest and a monk.

Or maybe I'd go with a Durance-like bellower (chanter), so I can shout at all the heretics and harlots.

 

I'd say, try to find something you'd like to RP as, then bild you char around that.

[thelee]

Are you only running Obsidian NPCs and sidekicks, no custom? If so that limits suggestions a bit.

Some thoughts: I might recommend a mainchar druid, because the only built-in SC option is Tekehu and like you say his subclass is so altered it's quite a different experience from other druids. Ancient is a great subclass to try, the mushroom summons can really carry you in the early game (and still tank well in the late game).

Psion is a fun new cipher subclass - it's wildly different from a normal cipher. Some people underestimate just how different it is, so I always try to argue to give it an actual shot - being able to regen focus automatically means you can sustain casting of lower powers indefinitely. It also is a great, easy basis for a caster/caster multiclass, since you no longer have an action economy issue of needing to attack with weapons - you automatically regen focus just by casting spells from your non-cipher MC. (edit: beguiler can also sustain focus casting with deception powers, but psion can do it with any power. psion also gets a unique interrupt that is cheap and superb for spamming and messing up bosses)

Xoti as monk can be very powerful, OP (but most monks are OP anyway). Her subclass is a bit underwhelming early on, but with whispers of the wind and ajumaat's stalking cloak, killing enemies will rapidly refill your wound count and let you spam whispers of the wind a lot. 

Any kind of non-Tekehu chanter will also be a good experience. Tekehu's chanter subclass is... not super amazing. Losing summons hurts the chanter a lot, very much a core part of being a late-game chanter. It can be nice to get all those free invocations, but as a single-class it's actually real bad because you have way too many ability points and abilities that you're never going to use because you have too many; it works better as a multiclass when you're getting those invocations for free and you can use those freed-up ability points to build up the druid side better. Fortunately, between konstanten, fassina, vatnir, and pallegina you got good availability of chanters so you don't have to roll a mainchar as a chanter to try it out.

edit: though tekehu as chanter has a particularly powerful OP strategy - ppl discovered that if you have sasha's singing scimitar and empower avenging storm, every single lightning bolt will trigger sasha's singing scimitar's empower-based abilities. tekehu's the only chanter that has avenging storm innately as an invocation - everyone else would have to rely on scrolls or the special helmet.

Edited March 13, 2022 by thelee

[Lonlon]

Thanks a lot for those advices and insights.

A question comes to my mind when thinking about MCs : I remember back in the days that MCs could not learn the two last tier of spells/abilities of their classes, is it still the case with DLCs ?
Also I never thought about using Konstanten, fassina and the-last-one-I-dont-remember-the-name because I found they where not written as greatly as other companinons. I it still the case ?

[thelee]

4 hours ago, Lonlon said:

Thanks a lot for those advices and insights.

A question comes to my mind when thinking about MCs : I remember back in the days that MCs could not learn the two last tier of spells/abilities of their classes, is it still the case with DLCs ?
Also I never thought about using Konstanten, fassina and the-last-one-I-dont-remember-the-name because I found they where not written as greatly as other companinons. I it still the case ?

unless you add a mod, MCs are still locked out of tier 8 or 9 abilities. Frankly, it would be way too OP to let MCs do that, the trade-off of sometimes zany MC combinations is to give up tier 8 or 9 abilities, or else there's no point in doing SC.

 

Konstanten, Fassina, Ydwin, Rekke, Mirke all have gotten a bit more reactivity with the DLCs, in particular Konstanten for SSS and Fassina for FS. They're still not going to be as much as "full" NPCs like Eder or Serafen, but it's quite a bit more than the blank slates they used to be.

[crdvis16]

Mirke has some funny stuff to say before a lot of the SSS fights.  She's by no means as talkative as Konstanten (especially outside of the crucible) but it's worth bringing her along for a chuckle.  She's my vote for sleeper best sidekick.

[Lonlon]

Thx again

I'm wondering about my race choice atm and I like the idea of moon godlike but i'm wondering if the AoE healing scales with anything as my character levels-up, or if it become quickly obsolete.
Also I understand that Nature Godlike is always strong but feel like Death Godlike could be very strong in tricky moments (with the +3 PL while near death). Am I wrong ?
Also, the downside of not beeing able to wear helmets.. idk what to think about this..

What are your thoughts about this ?

Edit : I found out that Moon Godlike's Heal scales +10% with PL with community patch, is it enough to make it viable ?

Thx

Edited March 15, 2022 by Lonlon

[Constentin Lévine]

Death Godlike PL bonus is very situational, I mean at less you are planning to abuse of Baring Death Door, or if you have a great amount of health, it is not easy to keep the near death status for a long time. But it is possible however.

Nature Godlike PL bonus is easy to get, but in comparison to bonus from helms (generally +2 to 1 stat, + some bonus, or equivalent) I personally think +1PL is low. Before, the bonus was too high in my opinion, +2 PL is more strong than the helms give. If you want a "stacking-PL" character, it is a good choice, in other case it is nice (especially for caster because how to PL work).

Moon Godlike can be useful, vanilla game Moon and Fire godlike scales badly but CP correct that. It is maybe nice with an healer like Herald, or a regenerating tank. 

For a Bleak Walker/Assassin, maybe Moon Godlike can be cool, other godlike seems (to me) not great. In my concern, I would choose another race to equip a helm, early and at mid-game, they are already really good.

[thelee]

10 hours ago, Lonlon said:

I'm wondering about my race choice atm and I like the idea of moon godlike but i'm wondering if the AoE healing scales with anything as my character levels-up, or if it become quickly obsolete.

aoe scales, but nothing like poe1. https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/227477-pillars-of-eternity-ii-deadfire/faqs/76599/races

Quote

Godlike, moon: the first time you get dropped into Hurt, Bloodied, and Near Death you release a healing aura that heals +10 health (scaling with PL and might). 

early on, this is crazy good, like a huge fraction of your party health, but by end-game even your squishies might easily have like 250-300 health and your moon healing only got up to like maybe 15-18 health from PL+might scaling. 

it's not nothing; i would not consider it completely obsoleted, but it does suffer in the comparison to some helms out there. that being said, moon godlike gets a +1 PL bonus from the heart-chime amulet, and bonus PL is hard to come by.

 

7 hours ago, Constentin Lévine said:

Fire godlike scales badly but CP correct that

CP takes a bit of a different tack; for me, the whole purpose of the fire godlike is the bonus +2 fire AR and the <50% health +1 AR, and that scales with you the entire game, provided you're using it on a class who's gonna have decent AR.

 

7 hours ago, Constentin Lévine said:

Nature Godlike PL bonus is easy to get, but in comparison to bonus from helms (generally +2 to 1 stat, + some bonus, or equivalent) I personally think +1PL is low. Before, the bonus was too high in my opinion, +2 PL is more strong than the helms give. If you want a "stacking-PL" character, it is a good choice, in other case it is nice (especially for caster because how to PL work).

IMO when i discovered that helm of the white wind applies +10 accuracy to so many things (on top of some additional minor enchantment) it has really hurt the meta for godlikes. it's real hard to compare against such a huge accuracy swing that is so generally useful. they've all become very niche racial bonuses now. nature godlike is def one of those victims. early on I would consider it S-tier, but now I think it's mostly useful if you want to be a monk or a monastic unarmed training build (real hard to get generic stacking PL to boost fist quality otherwise), or if you already have reserved the helm for someone else (in which case I think +1 PL is pretty decent, in contrast to constentin).

[Lonlon]

Thx for the insight

Another question : I like Eder as my main tank, would you advice to play him as pure Fighter, or Fighter/Rogue ?

[Boeroer]

I personally like him better as Fighter/Rogue with a Cadhu Scalth and Kapana Taga. Because later on he can "passively" apply distracted to all engaged enemies (and you can engage a lot with Guardian Stance + Persisantent Distraction + Chadhu Sclath and Kapana Taga: up to 7 engaged enemies) and more importantly he becomes almost impervious to AoE damaging attacks with the combo of large shield modal, Cadhu Scalth enchantment and Adept Evasion (turn 100% grazes to misses for reflex-based rolls). And also Slippery Mind has its uses. Also important: Escape can be used to move around quickly and it allows Edér to move around even if the large shield modal is active (which makes you stuck and doesn't allow walking). Riposte is a nice addition for a high-deflection character, too. I also use the club modal - so if I can lower enemies' Will by 25 just by doing a Riposte that's cool and requires no action. 

[Lonlon]

Seems strong indeed ! I'll definitely do that. Thx

I'm now wondering how I can fit any kind of chanter into my party composition. I never played with a chanter before and heard it was quite strong to have one... What would be your suggestions ?
main char as a chanter (MC or not..) ? Pallegina as a MClassed chanter (will she be some kind of melee chanter, tank ?) Tekehu ?
Thx !

Edited March 16, 2022 by Lonlon

[thelee]

1 hour ago, Lonlon said:

Pallegina as a MClassed chanter (will she be some kind of melee chanter, tank ?)

if you don't know what to do, it's very very hard to go wrong with pallegina as a herald. tekehu's subclass is a little weird, konstanten has weird stats and uses a skald, fassina combines it with a wizard, vatnir combines it with a priest the latter two require a bit more care. a herald, on the other hand, is very easy to be powerful and resilient.

[dgray62]

On 3/14/2022 at 9:24 AM, thelee said:

unless you add a mod, MCs are still locked out of tier 8 or 9 abilities. Frankly, it would be way too OP to let MCs do that, the trade-off of sometimes zany MC combinations is to give up tier 8 or 9 abilities, or else there's no point in doing SC.

Yes, an assassin shadowdancer, zipping around with WotW boosted by the assassin bonus, backstab and high PL level sneak attack/deathblows would be insanely OP.