Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous, Part 6

[Sarex]

Just get this item.

[Gromnir]

4 hours ago, HoonDing said:

Is it worth investing in spell focus: abjuration to reliably dispel. It hasn't worked at all so far (of course Camellia is worthless using it)

I groaned when that balor dispelled my entire party's buffs, similar to the final boss of Icewind Dale

@Sarex mentions the goggles of pure sight, which is a good for one attempt and should be de rigueur for many boss battles. 

brilliant inspiration, the azata equivalent, as well as the fortune hex and sosiel's luck domain ability will allow you to reroll and take the better result o' rolls including dispel checks, which is also beneficial. there is an exploit involving the fortune hex + cackle which will result in being able to extend the duration of the hex.

there is an earthbreaker purchasable in act 4 which allows at will greater dispels at character level, so for a legend it becomes a bit op. 

woljiff and greyboar, if they ain't multiclassed, can become useful dispellers by taking the rogue dispel talent. the dispel on sneak attacks is not greater dispel but is gonna be per attack and will be based on slayer or rogue level which is why multiclassing impedes. a dual wielding greyboar and woljiff is gonna get a whole lotta attacks. 

am not sure o' your mythic. merged spell book lich and angel has heightened cl and lich additional gets something called corrupt magic. aeon is dispelling buzz saws... eventually. not surprising, tricksters get a cheaty skill for dispelling. legend with the aforementioned earthbreaker is win, and legend also provides one o' the few options for exceeding cl 20 as you may add mystic theurge prestige class. 

aside, you will face a couple boss battles in which your party buffs is guaranteed to be dispelled, so...

ultimately, based on the wonky manner in which owlcat implemented pathfinder mechanics, dispel is a huge advantage if you are able to pull it off, but on higher difficulties it is a challenge to manage boss dispels unless you are a merged spellbook lich or angel, legend with the earth breaker, trickster or aeon. as such the game obvious ain't designed to make dispel required. wotr mechanics lacks subtlety and for the most part is 'bout stacking your party ab and dc to stratospheric levels and applying as many irresistible debuffs as possible. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20VjisjtWv0

HA! Good Fun!

Edited July 22, 2023 by Gromnir

[InsaneCommander]

12 hours ago, Sarex said:

Just get this item.

I had it and still couldn't dispel the buffs on the Azata's quest boss.

[Gromnir]

23 hours ago, InsaneCommander said:

I had it and still couldn't dispel the buffs on the Azata's quest boss.

is why @HoonDing mentions spell focus... and presumably spell specialization. dispel is a modified cl check. on core difficulty the boss in question is an outsider level 39, and owlcat decided that means his caster level is also 39.

you need a merged angel/lich with school mastery: abjuration, spell focus: abjuration and spell specialization: greater dispel, as well as a couple bits o' gear which boost caster level, to have a meaningful chance o' dispelling buffs on the boss in question... or you need be a trickster... or aeon. obvious your azata ain't a merged spell book angel/lich. is why we mentioned how on higher difficulties for the late game bosses it isn't worth the effort to dispel.  makes more sense to just stack ab/dc and add debuffs.

the boss in question also shows up in the aeon mythic, so if you wanna see the battle go a bit different, you may go the aeon route and create character with high initiative and a whole lotta melee attacks. 

btw, for a considerable amount o' time after release, it were not difficult for an azata party to dispel all buffs o' the azata quest boss 'cause aivu benefited from the same broke maths as the azata mythic boss. aivu's dragon level were her caster level. 

HA! Good Fun!

[InsaneCommander]

13 hours ago, Gromnir said:

is why @HoonDing mentions spell focus... and presumably spell specialization. dispel is a modified cl check. on core difficulty the boss in question is an outsider level 39, and owlcat decided that means his caster level is also 39.

I actually considered creating a specialized merc for this battle alone.

13 hours ago, Gromnir said:

the boss in question also shows up in the aeon mythic, so if you wanna see the battle go a bit different, you may go the aeon route and create character with high initiative and a whole lotta melee attacks.

That is exactly what I'm planning. My Aeon pt will be with a melee character.

Since we are talking about Aivu, I finally got Havoc dragons for my army, but now the crusade is basically over. The poor guys will have no fun.

As for Daeran's quest:

Spoiler

I checked some guides because I was not happy with the result. I didn't wanna kill anyone, so I agreed to hand him over to the authorities. But apparently there is another option that was not mentioned in the guides. Piotr returned to Drezen and said that as long as Daeran is by my character's side, they will be happy with it. I guess the Commander will be attending a lot more parties than she planned after the Crusade is over.

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by InsaneCommander

[HoonDing]

There's a big new patch that installs 3rd party tracking software

I'm considering uninstalling if I can't avoid this "update".

[Sarex]

I think you can stop patching, especially if you are on GoG. Do wonder why they added that and if other games use it.

edit: reading up on it, I don't know why it bothers you that much, it's nothing special as far as tracking is concerned. Steam/GoG have much worse tracking, not to mention other games. Also if you want to get around that, just block the game in your firewall and you can still get the latest updates and not worry about your data.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Sarex

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Yeah **** that. I'm not launching the game until they at least put in an opt-out button.

[Sarex]

5 minutes ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

Yeah **** that. I'm not launching the game until they at least put in an opt-out button.

Don't trust the Russkies? Did you patch it already?

Edited July 24, 2023 by Sarex

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

10 minutes ago, Sarex said:

Don't trust the Russkies? Did you patch it already?

I don't trust anyone who wants to put spyware on a device.

Haven't downloaded the update and am considered uninstalling the game when I get home.

[xzar_monty]

Odd, indeed. I wonder why they want to do it, and why they want to do it now. (No, no war-related Russkie conspiracy theories implied, although I'm not buying anything from Owlcat ever again.)

[Sarex]

13 minutes ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

I don't trust anyone who wants to put spyware on a device.

Haven't downloaded the update and am considered uninstalling the game when I get home.

Fair enough.

Here is an explanation they posted.

Here is the current EULA in the game before the patch and the new one.

 

edit: although it seems to me like they make back down on this because of the backlash, so if you are against it maybe a good way to protest by uninstalling to force their hand.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Sarex

[Gfted1]

This latest outrage is concerning section 3?

[xzar_monty]

@Sarex, thanks for the effort and for posting that info!

My computer has heavy adblocking on so I hardly ever even see any ads, and I would never consider clicking on one no matter what, so I suppose the program would do nothing on my computer, provided that it works as stated. I'm not going to update anyway.

Some of the language on that questions and answers page is downright hilarious, e.g. the last question: "Why is the weight of the patch so big?" I love that. No mockery intended: I'm certain to sound equally silly in several languages.

Edited July 24, 2023 by xzar_monty

[Sarex]

8 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

This latest outrage is concerning section 3?

Yes, they added an API call that sends info to Appsflyer regarding when you started the game from which platform and your OS version. They combine that info with when you clicked the ad to install the game.

@xzar_monty I'm pretty sure they didn't install any 3rd party software, they are just sending data to that company.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Sarex

[xzar_monty]

8 minutes ago, Sarex said:

edit: although it seems to me like they make back down on this because of the backlash, so if you are against it maybe a good way to protest by uninstalling to force their hand.

Where would it be possible to witness some of this backlash?

[Sarex]

1 minute ago, xzar_monty said:

Where would it be possible to witness some of this backlash?

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1184370/eventcomments/3812910932503680049?snr=1_2108_9__2107

[xzar_monty]

Apparently this spyware addition breaks EU law for "GDPR" -- don't know if that's true, though, I know almost nothing about this stuff. But if true, bad call from Owlcat.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Good news

[bugarup]

Yuck. Should have read the patch notes before clicking install. GOG allows patch reverting, but I kind of want to scrub it off my machine completely.

 

P.S.: someone tech-savvy should test if ad sh†t was truly removed. Could be very well damage control lies.

Edited July 24, 2023 by bugarup

[xzar_monty]

Wow. Looking forward to an "I don't know, I was already drunk at the time" explanation from the CEO, or something. I applaud the owning up, though ("Honestly, it was deserved").

[Gfted1]

I encourage everyone to throw their cell phones out too, they are snitching on you BIGTIME!

[HoonDing]

Good for them, would've been annoying to quit right after killing a dragon

[bugarup]

14 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

I encourage everyone to throw their cell phones out too, they are snitching on you BIGTIME!

Oh, I know. That's the reason I use that thing only for music, phone calls, some (paid, ad-free) games for unavoidable queues and keep its email separate from ones I use on PC. I also know just how bad google tracking is, and that Windows does it too, but just because I have a mild parasite infestation does not mean I must be okay with every parasite that wants to come my way. 

Edited July 24, 2023 by bugarup

[Sarex]

I still don't think this was that big of a deal, it should have just been optional. Although I did not expect them to backtrack this fast. Guess they must be afraid of bad press...one bad thing plus being a Russian dev, does not make for a good recipe.