Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous, Part 4

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

2 hours ago, Gorth said:

In my first play through, I rely a lot (maybe too much) on the default leveling of companions and try to made best, educated guesses for my main, while sticking to the "theme" of a happy go lucky Barbarian looking for fights, women and wine. That being said, the advise to change Seelah from having wet dreams about swords to horses instead was gold, it worked miracles for her party utility. No longer the lumbering walrus arriving long after the fight is over. Listening, learning, sometimes adopting and adapting my team without it becoming a group of strangers for me

I'd probably look into respec or turn the difficulty down, because there are a lot of feats and abilities that are near essential the games doesn't reccomend/won't select. Teamwork feats for example are really strong but unless you're playing a class that gets them as bonus feats, no teamwork for you. The other big one is spell penetration, which is almost essential to spellcasters given that a ton of enemies in wotr will have spell resistance.

1 hour ago, majestic said:

By the way, since you mentioned Ember and casting fire spells.

If you give her one level of Cross-Blooded Sorcerer, that'll be an immense boost to her damage. Why? Looking at the Sorcerer and bloodline progressions, you might get the impression that only makes sense if you stay pure classed, or at least add levels in whatever prestige class that allows you to continue your bloodline, right? Well, no. Draconic bloodlines have a funny little aspect: They flat increase the damage per dice rolled of their associated element by 1, and it stacks. If you pick up the Gold, Brass and Red bloodlines from adding a level of Cross-Blooded Sorcerer and the mythic ability 'Second' Bloodline, you get +3 damage per dice rolled as long as it is fire damage.

Make sure to give her a Skill Focus so you can pick Loremaster. It is fixed now and you can add spells from other classes, if you do that you can get Creeping Doom from the Druid book or Sirocco from the Wizard book. Selective Sirocco lets you plaster the entire screen with a damaging and crowd controlling firestorm and Creeping Doom summons a swarm of swarms to tank for you. Find swarms annoying? Yeah, enemies do that too. In fact, there are encounters that were designed to be ridiculously problematic, but a single cast of Creeping Doom auto-wins them. 

 

Loremaster works now? Great.

I think some of the fixes/nerfs make the bloodline arcana only work with sorcerer spells, but it is likely I have mod-brain and am thinking of Call of the Wild in Kingmaker which did substantially change the way I played Kingmaker and WotR. Hell, I remember thinking of making a bloodrager with blooded arcane strike and riving strike only to find that those feats weren't in WotR. 

[majestic]

51 minutes ago, Gromnir said:

regill is not doomed as a sacred huntsmaster by any means, though 12 levels is likely the best option and then add two more o' something else. 'course chances are sosiel and lann is in party and so you already have two wisdom havers. regill has a wisdom o' 13. is only so much wisdom boosting gear to go around and 13 is not an ideal start point regardless. best domain powers is either level or wisdom linked... or both. max o' fourteen levels o' sacred hunstmaster. regill is godclaw, so law, protection, strength and war? none o' those is great for domains so need add impossible domain.  if the goal for regill is build a mounted support caster with domains, then lann is a already a far better option. even so, 12 or 14 levels o' sacred huntsmaster for regill is not a bad idea.

Yeah, I can't think of many scenarios where I'd have Regill in the party outside of doing his quests, but the same is true for many of the companions. Probably all of them except Ember and Lann (whenever he fits into the party as Sacred Huntmaster).    

45 minutes ago, KP From Another World said:

Loremaster works now? Great.

You win some, you lose some. Can now take the spells, but you can no longer take feats out of order/without prereqs. So no more Loremaster for Improved Improved Improved... Critical. Well, without playing a Trickster - with a Trickster MC you can improve Ember's ray crit range to ludicrous levels because picking up the regular Improved Critical via Rogue Trick works. 

[Gromnir]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

Yeah, I can't think of many scenarios where I'd have Regill in the party outside of doing his quests, but the same is true for many of the companions. Probably all of them except Ember and Lann (whenever he fits into the party as Sacred Huntmaster).    

 

is the problem we got with regill, 'cause as much as we would like to have him in a party beyond his companion quests, am almost invariably diminishing our party efficacy by bringing him along. is not that regill is weak or useless, but there are gonna be better options.

HA! Good Fun!

[Gorth]

New patch (1.4.0y) on Steam. No idea if GOG version (the one I have) has been updated

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1184370/view/3225161106688762145

Not going to to quote the patch note here. The list of bug fixes is 3 light years long

[Gromnir]

7 hours ago, Gorth said:

New patch (1.4.0y) on Steam. No idea if GOG version (the one I have) has been updated

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1184370/view/3225161106688762145

Not going to to quote the patch note here. The list of bug fixes is 3 light years long

we mentioned a few o' the fixes earlier and one which stood out is one of the animal companion changes. the gore attack has been addressed, but more significant is that any critter with a gore attack now receives a free trip opportunity. dogs and wolves were attractive mount choices in wotr 'cause medium-sized characters could mount 'em eventual and the canines boasted a free trip attack. boar, elk, mastodon, and triceratops, according to owlcat, now have a free trip attack... as well as other individual benefits beyond what dogs and wolves offer. 

btw, likely the best tank mount choice for a small fellow such as regill, previous to this patch, were the leopard (boar deserves consideration.) leopard received a free trip and it had a fantastic ac which made it more tanky than all but a handful o' the player character builds exploiting the busted doubling of charisma and dex bonuses. leopard is able to tank on difficulties up to hard as long as you layer it with all the standard spell defenses such as barkskin, magical vestment and all the rest o' the all but essential pre buffing nonsense. daredevil is your animal companion archetype for bestest tank 'cause o' the immunity to flanking.

if the gore animals receive their trips same as leopard, wolf and dog, then am gonna serious need to reevaluate 'em, 'cause such an addition sounds kinda too good to be true.

HA! Good Fun!

Edited September 1, 2022 by Gromnir

[Gorth]

Yeah, I noticed the choice of companions for missions getting harder and poor Regill just doesn't have a uniquely useful niche(for me). Working with the HoMM Lite system, trying to clear a way to Drezen (which I keep hearing as 'Dresden' when the NPC's talk about it)

Keeping an eye out for generals that comes with a bonus to army size from the first level, as 4 stacks of troops just trumps most other leader abilities at early levels. Haven't run across sieges yet though

Cleared out the two caves at Lepers Smile. One had a bunch of insects and the other a bunch of undead. The later kept getting up on their feet until I grabbed a wand stuck somewhere in the middle of the fight. It gave me good and evil options, but I did the Barbarian thing and stuck it in my bag. It may be worth something some day.

Edit: Ember was literally standing on top of the wand, so she just had to bend over and touch it (because I clicked on it out of curiosity *cough*) to take what I assumed was a necromancer out of the fight.

[Gorth]

Speaking of patches... noticed this on the GOG forums in the wotr patch note thread: (someone was asking about the large size of the 1.4.1 beta patch)

2) Yes, it is a big update to the underlying code, prepping the way for the upcoming 2.0.0 (Enhanced Edition) version of the game, that is currently scheduled to be released on September 29, 2022.

 

Which I guess gives a date for a major update?

I ran unto a small problem. Where the heck did the crusader camp go??? Last thing I know, it had relocated to the bridge across the river when my army took that place (that's where I last visited it). But after Lepers Smile, I can no longer find the camp anywhere on the map? Also, Kenabres (sp?) has become effectively inaccessible (because I wanted to check as a last ditch resort of the camp had migrated there). I can enter the local map and click the North Gate location, but it just loads for a while, giving me a load screen and then kicks me back to the city map. I would like to access a vendor and get rid of a bit of corruption at some point

[ShadySands]

If you just cleared Leper's Smile then the camp should be just beyond it I think. It's been a minute.

Downloaded some mod to add more stuff to Kineticist so I'm doing a Void Kineticist run. Just finished the Shield Maze/Gray Garrison, picked up Woljiff, and now about to head out into Kenabres.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

8 minutes ago, ShadySands said:

Downloaded some mod to add more stuff to Kineticist so I'm doing a Void Kineticist run.

Dark Codex?

[ShadySands]

2 minutes ago, KP From Another World said:

Dark Codex?

That and Kineticist Elements Expanded. I should have said some mods, since there are two.

[Gorth]

20 minutes ago, ShadySands said:

If you just cleared Leper's Smile then the camp should be just beyond it I think. It's been a minute.

Downloaded some mod to add more stuff to Kineticist so I'm doing a Void Kineticist run. Just finished the Shield Maze/Gray Garrison, picked up Woljiff, and now about to head out into Kenabres.

I'm heading to bed now (it's 2:20am), but I'll check out the area outside Lepers Smile tomorrow

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, ShadySands said:

That and Kineticist Elements Expanded. I should have said some mods, since there are two.

Oh ****, last I looked that was just aether. I'll have to use that when I get around to my next runs.

[InsaneCommander]

10 hours ago, Gorth said:

New patch (1.4.0y) on Steam. No idea if GOG version (the one I have) has been updated

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1184370/view/3225161106688762145

Not going to to quote the patch note here. The list of bug fixes is 3 light years long

I tried this new patch on GOG and it is stuck on beta. There is a "bug report" label on the right side of the screen and the version number on the left. Apparently it is very buggy too. Luckily, it was possible to return to the earlier version.

 

Drezen - Part 1

Spoiler

Despite her breakdown, Irabeth made a daring speech right in front of Drezen's gate, under a rain of arrows and fire. Talk about a successful Persuasion test.

I had no idea where to find Arueshalae, but I ended up going to the prison first and I'm glad I did it since now I have a cool companion with ridiculous high stats and another Trickery specialist, the first being my main character. That is important because Woljif ran away with the Conman ring (I know, don't mock me...) and he was the Trickery guy for the team.

Some fights were really annoying, apparently the Hold button doesn’t work properly. I noticed this when fighting the enemies that can level/ability drain and I tried to send some summons first, but Seelah and her horse are too honorable to use even skeletons as cannon fodder.

The Nabasu was not a problem since I could kill it from the tower, but the Shadow Demon Votaries are a different matter. The only way I could avoid their spells was with Grease and a rain of arrows. Even Zgur the Gnawbone was easier, since he got Frightened by my character's Dazzling Display and kept running away. He was so scared that he phased through Sosiel and the small kitchen door in the tavern. Demon powers, right?

 

I had to stop halfway through the first map when I noticed it was two hours past midnight.

What can protect me from the ability drain? I actually don't know if the spell (Shadow Putrefation?) is considered poison. Would Delay Poison work?

Edited September 1, 2022 by InsaneCommander

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

44 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

I had to stop halfway through the first map when I noticed it was two hours past midnight

Ain't that a fun time.

For the future runs when the EE drops I'm just going to mod the **** out of the game and go full ridiculous. Thinking about doing a gestalt run(s) because it's an interesting (and very broken) concept that will play weirdly with the mythic paths. I want to do a dhampir lich but am trying to decide between being more rogue (or vivisectionist)/wizard or magus/wizard. Conceptually she is going to be a power hungry bastard looking to seize what she couldn't inherit, so I'm torn between a noble fencer type or a more duplicitous thief type, with the vivisectionist in the latter also adding some scientist vibes to the concept. Not so much concerned with raw power (gestalt already breaks that lmao) as much as I am a concept that fits what I'm going for.

[ShadySands]

I don't know if void is working as intended because my void blast is negative energy but it's listed as a physical blast instead of energy. Which may be correct, I haven't checked and currently in a dentist chair, but not what I was expecting.

E: looks like it's supposed to be energy and gravity is physical. Gravity is correct but void is wrong in the mod.

Edited September 1, 2022 by ShadySands

[InsaneCommander]

About romance:
 

Spoiler

I've been trying to avoid it* but it seems my character is too charismatic for it. Lann has already fallen hard for her, even though I'm absolutely sure I didn't select any romance options. With Galfrey I once avoided what looked like a romance option, just to get an achievement when she reacted as if I was hitting on her anyway. But the funniest moment was when I told Sosiel that I had worried about him, an option that did look to imply something more, but still seemed to make sense since he is one of the companions more ethically aligned with my character and so I imagine he is one of her closest friends. He friendzoned her immediately.

And then I met Arueshalae. One of the dialogue options that appeared was particularly interesting, so I had to choose it. It seems it was love at first sight. Despite her being a demon, Desna's blessing makes her more trustworthy than all other suspicious people I've met through the game. Even Sosiel has a dark side, so having a demon as the potentially more reliable npc is not what I would have expected. Or so it seems.

*For no especial reason, though I don't see this character trying to romance the Queen without knowing her well.

Edit: I thought I would start a romance with Daeran during his quest, with an option I selected when he was half naked in his room, but nothing happened. Either he is not into women like Sosiel or he is into Camellia, since he really liked the suggestion of dancing with her.

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by InsaneCommander

[ShadySands]

Some romance spoilers

Spoiler

Sosiel and Cam only like men

Lann is supposedly super pushy, never played a female (he only likes women) but seen a lot of complaints that just being nice to him gives him the wrong idea

Daeran, Arue, Galfrey, and Wendy all go both ways.

Also, Galfrey isn't a full fledged romance. I think it boils down to mythic path, not already being in a romance, and maybe 2 dialogues.

 

Edited September 2, 2022 by ShadySands
Sorry for typos, had a tooth pulled and am heavily medicated

[Gorth]

@ShadySands the camp was indeed just next door to Lepers Smile!

I hope Kenabres becomes accessible again at some point, as there is at least one unresolved side quest taking place there.

As for romances...

I noticed both Daeran and Sosiel seems to want to flirt with my big, masculine barbarian. Come on Owlcat... I'm in this for the wine, *women* and fighting

 

[ShadySands]

It does become accessible again but only a few locations and I think they may all be related to later quests. Which quest is it?

[Gromnir]

more romance spoilers

Spoiler

...

maybe not fair. admitted am not a fan o' crpg romances thus far, but 'cause am always trying to be open to the possibility o' improvement, we invariably explore at least one romance if we play a game more than once.  has been a fool's errand every time.

one exception: we found ravel's doomed and likely unrequited love for tno to be moving and poignant, but thanks to bioware's bg2 scheme, such is not what most players think o' when we reference crpg romance. more's the pity.  

 

HA! Good Fun!

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

23 minutes ago, Gorth said:

@ShadySands the camp was indeed just next door to Lepers Smile!

I hope Kenabres becomes accessible again at some point, as there is at least one unresolved side quest taking place there.

As for romances...

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I noticed both Daeran and Sosiel seems to want to flirt with my big, masculine barbarian. Come on Owlcat... I'm in this for the wine, *women* and fighting

 

 

 

Well then you've got (companion spoilers)

A silly little cat, a demon, and a serial killer

[InsaneCommander]

16 minutes ago, KP From Another World said:

Well then you've got (companion spoilers)

  Hide contents

A silly little cat, a demon, and a serial killer

 

Spoiler

A cannibal cat, right?

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

3 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

A cannibal cat, right?

 

Yes.

You can literally call her a silly little cat, which for some reason made me hysterically laugh when I found out

[Gorth]

3 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

A cannibal cat, right?

 

I wonder if I can name it Hannibal?...

@ShadySands I don't remember the name from top of my head (I'm at work atm), but it's related to the dragon scale I picked up in act 1, you have to find more info about the silver dragon.

[Gromnir]

19 minutes ago, Gorth said:

I wonder if I can name it Hannibal?...

@ShadySands I don't remember the name from top of my head (I'm at work atm), but it's related to the dragon scale I picked up in act 1, you have to find more info about the silver dragon.

is sooper ez to miss second part, but is not in kenabres but leper's smile... and if you missed the requisite trigger, you are not barred from returning.

HA! Good Fun!