Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous, Part 6

[Sarex]

I've been cheating a little bit this time around. I don't want to go through the market district fights with low health (like last time) and juggle resting at the inn vs how much time I spend to get to it, to be able to finish all the time sensitive quests in 3 days, so I've been using the toybox to rest. I really dislike time sensitive quests in these types of games.

[xzar_monty]

2 hours ago, Sarex said:

I've been cheating a little bit this time around. I don't want to go through the market district fights with low health (like last time) and juggle resting at the inn vs how much time I spend to get to it, to be able to finish all the time sensitive quests in 3 days, so I've been using the toybox to rest. I really dislike time sensitive quests in these types of games.

You don't have to rest at the inn, just rest on the city map. For some strange reason, I started a new playthrough, and I just finished the Gray Garrison. I never had to deal with the attack on the inn, just like I didn't have to deal with it last time, only on my first playthrough. I agree that traveling to the inn to rest would be a nuisance and would probably lead you to having to do that battle.

[Sarex]

50 minutes ago, xzar_monty said:

You don't have to rest at the inn, just rest on the city map. For some strange reason, I started a new playthrough, and I just finished the Gray Garrison. I never had to deal with the attack on the inn, just like I didn't have to deal with it last time, only on my first playthrough. I agree that traveling to the inn to rest would be a nuisance and would probably lead you to having to do that battle.

You rest at the inn because it takes less time, so you can rest more than once. There is an optimal way to do it, but it's a pain in the ass.

Edited August 6, 2023 by Sarex

[xzar_monty]

1 minute ago, Sarex said:

You rest at the inn because it takes less time, so you can rest more than once. There is an optimal way to do it, but it's a pain in the ass.

Does it? You could be right. Anyway, I rested twice in the city and was able to avoid the assault on the inn.

[Sarex]

Just now, xzar_monty said:

Does it? You could be right. Anyway, I rested twice in the city and was able to avoid the assault on the inn.

You miss some fights and items if you skip it. You can go back to the market district after the defense and it will have new enemies.

[xzar_monty]

Yeah, I've heard about that. I'm not interested in that side of it; I can't imagine any of the items being crucial, and the XP is likely to be negligible. (There are far too many fights the game anyway, I'm happy to miss any that I can.)

[Sarex]

Was anyone able to save all the courtesans on higher difficulty? I just gave up and lowered the difficulty for the fight. Seems like the AI is programed to target the npcs in that fight.

[xzar_monty]

38 minutes ago, Sarex said:

Was anyone able to save all the courtesans on higher difficulty? I just gave up and lowered the difficulty for the fight. Seems like the AI is programed to target the npcs in that fight.

So it's an achievement -- is that why you're asking? I certainly was not. It does look quite unlikely, given how close some of the courtesans are to the demons when the fight begins.

[HoonDing]

So on the highest difficulties, can you still make Nenio one-shot enemies with illusion spells or are enemy saves just too high? Even goat girl boss would've fallen if not for the immunity.

I'm at the beginning of chapter 5 and picked legend, when I'm done I'll reload and try the gold dragon.

I can already tell I'm really going to miss the "completely normal spell" and improved crit feats when I replay from the beginning.

[Gromnir]

7 minutes ago, HoonDing said:

So on the highest difficulties, can you still make Nenio one-shot enemies with illusion spells or are enemy saves just too high?

yes.

have mentioned previous but it bears repeating that overcoming wotr difficulties is not 'bout crafting clever tactics. in spite of all the options available, wotr is not complex. the game is crude. all you need do is stack buffs of your party's ab and dc numbers while simultaneous adding debuff to foes. on the highest difficulties to make nenio one-shot demon lords, make sure you got all the mind effect and illusion boosting gear possible, and consider having a court poet in party for the int boost. the madness domain and hexes also become indispensable for debuffing. is worth considering a single level of crossblood sorc. etc.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[bugarup]

Completely normal spell + Bubblebuffs mod = giant cheat and I love it.  

In other news, beer mug Azata summons aggroed next room tenants in that big circular room in Blackwater, who all rushed in right through the walls. The party was buffed up to the gills so wasn't big deal, but from now on that "Control Summons" option in toybox stays ticked, cheaty or not. (Also, missed such a chance to name shaman's wolf "Day Tripper"). 

In another playthrough, had the druid polymorphed into Shambling Mound, found "Grapple" toggle among its abilities, toggled it to see what it does, and what it does is break turn-based combat - when it is its turn, he slaps the other guy with its appendages and everything halts. Turn-based on/off, slap again. On/off, slap! Like four times, and then I regain control and slap the guy another four or five times, guess because we're hasted? I have no idea what is happening here and why but I like it.  Makes sense too, Shambling Mound has a lot of appendages and they all are made for slapping. 

 

Edited August 7, 2023 by bugarup

[InsaneCommander]

Nenio's quest is over. Even with a guide, it was one of the worst experiences I've ever had with games. Some lights in the central puzzle were bugged and it took me some time to understand that they were actually on, despite not appearing so. I had to switch to TB in the last battle because the game doesn't pause when Arue/Seelah use Quarry/Mark of Justice. Or is that dozens of notifications appear every time it pauses and I can't find out if they already acted? I need to check the settings.

For this act I still need to upgrade the last stat (MIlitary) and attack Threshold. The meeting is not triggering so I'll probably do the Midnight Isles quest that I wasn't even sure I'd do.

[Sarex]

13 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

For this act I still need to upgrade the last stat (MIlitary) and attack Threshold. The meeting is not triggering so I'll probably do the Midnight Isles quest that I wasn't even sure I'd do.

Idk, it's not that riveting gameplay wise, it's worth it to do it early on for the gold and some weapons.

[InsaneCommander]

On 7/31/2023 at 12:24 PM, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

I think if you go into the features tab on your character, you'll see Animal Companion with a number next to it. Try increasing that to see if it increases the animal companion level.

This worked. But I had to save and reload for the "+" level up sign to appear.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

5 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

This worked. But I had to save and reload for the "+" level up sign to appear.

Good to know, I thought it would.

I think the game gives one "freebie" level to animal companions without taking Boon Companion because when I run a gestalt character(s) with companions on load the "+" is usually there. Not sure if it's unique to me or is an unintended mod effect, I think @ShadySands is the other player itt that does gestalt so maybe he can confirm.

[ShadySands]

I don't think I've encountered that but I rarely play with levels. Usually when testing a build but I rarely do that anymore.

 

[InsaneCommander]

1 hour ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

I think the game gives one "freebie" level to animal companions without taking Boon Companion because when I run a gestalt character(s) with companions on load the "+" is usually there. Not sure if it's unique to me or is an unintended mod effect, I think @ShadySands is the other player itt that does gestalt so maybe he can confirm.

Just saw that. Made a Colluding Scoundrel 1/Thug 1/Wizard 18 and the animal companion reached level 2 without Toy Box. I got it to level 20 in the features tab. I took a level of Thug because this was a merc, but even with a main character I might do it instead of waiting for Trickster sneak attack just to see the enemies running away when the battle starts, if I understood correctly the Trickster Mythic Persuation trick.

This looks good for my future pt. Colluding Scoundrel seems an appropriate choice too, can't wait to make the enemies attack my companions. I'll pretend they won't like that.

[HoonDing]

I went straight to level 33 as legend. Don't really need a party anymore I guess.

[InsaneCommander]

Finished the game. The battles in the Threshold were considerably more difficult, with the exception of the last one, which was ridiculously easy. They should have made act 5 closer to that. The last boss basically died with a non-metamagic Hellfire Ray, since I tried to use Evil Eye first.

Spoiler

I forgot to use a key to visit Areelu’s lab. Apparently nothing important was missed since she explained to me what I would have learned. Hilor was killed in his quest, but reappeared in the Threshold and the ending slides.

The ending slides were great, with the exception of Areshkagal’s mask, that I was supposed to discard? Well, hilarious anyway. Nocticula became the Redeemer Queen and Regill didn’t last long.

Oh, and the achievements are still totally bugged. I had already gotten some for defeating bosses on Core, even though I played on normal, and now I got the Aroden one, for beating the game on Core + Last Azlanti.

[HoonDing]

I got to fight Caydan Cailean... and won.

[kanisatha]

9 hours ago, InsaneCommander said:

Finished the game. The battles in the Threshold were considerably more difficult, with the exception of the last one, which was ridiculously easy. They should have made act 5 closer to that. The last boss basically died with a non-metamagic Hellfire Ray, since I tried to use Evil Eye first.

  Hide contents

I forgot to use a key to visit Areelu’s lab. Apparently nothing important was missed since she explained to me what I would have learned. Hilor was killed in his quest, but reappeared in the Threshold and the ending slides.

The ending slides were great, with the exception of Areshkagal’s mask, that I was supposed to discard? Well, hilarious anyway. Nocticula became the Redeemer Queen and Regill didn’t last long.

Oh, and the achievements are still totally bugged. I had already gotten some for defeating bosses on Core, even though I played on normal, and now I got the Aroden one, for beating the game on Core + Last Azlanti.

Yeah I forgot to mention the ending slides in the summary of my game. I loved the ending slides I got. Only Camellia and Wenduag didn't end up in particularly good places, as was to be expected, but everyone and everything else worked out really well.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

10 hours ago, InsaneCommander said:

Finished the game. The battles in the Threshold were considerably more difficult, with the exception of the last one, which was ridiculously easy. They should have made act 5 closer to that. The last boss basically died with a non-metamagic Hellfire Ray, since I tried to use Evil Eye first.

  Reveal hidden contents

I forgot to use a key to visit Areelu’s lab. Apparently nothing important was missed since she explained to me what I would have learned. Hilor was killed in his quest, but reappeared in the Threshold and the ending slides.

The ending slides were great, with the exception of Areshkagal’s mask, that I was supposed to discard? Well, hilarious anyway. Nocticula became the Redeemer Queen and Regill didn’t last long.

Oh, and the achievements are still totally bugged. I had already gotten some for defeating bosses on Core, even though I played on normal, and now I got the Aroden one, for beating the game on Core + Last Azlanti.

How do you feel about the "sekrit" ending?

Personally I think it's worse than the mythic specific stuff.

[InsaneCommander]

1 hour ago, kanisatha said:

Yeah I forgot to mention the ending slides in the summary of my game. I loved the ending slides I got. Only Camellia and Wenduag didn't end up in particularly good places, as was to be expected, but everyone and everything else worked out really well.

I was actually surprised I managed to save everyone. The Queen, the Hand, Irabeth...  Well, except for the evil characters. Camellia and Wenduag didn't even appear in my ending slides.

53 minutes ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

How do you feel about the "sekrit" ending?

Personally I think it's worse than the mythic specific stuff.

I didn't try to get it, and it wouldn't fit my character.

Or are you talking about the post credits scene?

Spoiler

Being good, I ended up appealing for mercy and convinced Pharasma with a Diplomacy check. But isn't Areelu simply back in the Abyss, assuming she can reach it from the Maelstrom? Or is that impossible?

 

[Sarex]

1 hour ago, InsaneCommander said:

I didn't try to get it, and it wouldn't fit my character.

If you had the post credit scene that should be the secret ending.

[HoonDing]

The little sympathy I had for Areelu Vorlesh evaporated quickly when I went full legend.