Path of the Damned with all NPCs?

[Idleray]

Having clocked about 15 hrs play on normal, I decided "what the heck, it's time to go hardcore" and started a new game on PoTD with a rogue. The combat was too easy on normal and playing hard for 2 hours still gave me that feeling, so I jumped straight to PotD.

 

So far I just cleared the temple dungeon in Gilded Vale (PC rogue, Eder, Kana, Durance, Aloth, + hireling Ranger because I can't access other NPCs yet) and I gotta say it's fairly tough but a lot of fun.

 

I enjoy having to micro my rogue to get the best results, but I'm worried about a few things, namely whether NPCs without their min-maxed stats can handle PoTD.

 

I've not completed an actual playthru on normal yet so I haven't experienced the NPC interactions and their stories, but I also want to do a PoTD playthru because I find tough challenges fun to overcome.

 

The question here is, which NPC setup is the best to do PoTD with? Which talents/skills are must-grabs? How viable is having a PC rogue going to be?

Edited April 5, 2015 by Idleray

[pi2repsion]

I have been thinking of trying a companion-only PoTD game as my second playthrough but as I haven't finished my first yet, these are just the thoughts I have made with no PoTD experience to back them up.

 

More enemies and buffed stats means that doubling down on blasting is probably going to get me killed rapidly, so the challenge will be battlefield control and keeping my own team buffed to the gills in the tough fights. That also means that per-rest abilities are fine as expect it to be unlikely that I'll be able to win any fights that are tough on hard without being fully rested on PoTD anyhow.

 

That means I want a fighter, priest, and wizard, no questions asked.  Fighters are the best tanks with the highest engagement limit and I don't want to go without. Priests have the best healing and buffing. Wizards have the most CC and after a few levels have a superior resource system to Ciphers, as they don't have any downtime regenerating resources to cast spells in combat but can keep on casting so long as their spell slots hold out, and moreover wizards can cast spells much more quickly than anybody else due to Deleterious Alacrity of Motion.

 

So if I'm not playing one of those three classes, that means Eder, Durance, and Aloth are guaranteed a spot, and even if I am playing one of them, a second might be worth having.

 

For the remaining two slots, it is much harder and will depend on my main character. Practically the only one guaranteed to NOT get a slot is Pallegina. While an interesting companion and one I am enjoying while playing on hard, she and her auras just don't cut it when compared with e.g. a Chanters chants and invocations or a Cipher's paralyzation/domination abilities, and since I'm planning on a spells/rest heavy party anyway, how about the our druid friend? Then again, the ranger's fox might be excellent to catch the attention of half the mobs, leaving them on a wild fox-chase, and she's a pretty good ranged damagedealer herself...

 

But fighter, priest, wizard. Those are the classes I definitely want covered in a companion PoTD.

Edited April 5, 2015 by pi2repsion

[boon]

The NPCs can handle PotD. You'll be fine!

[DIXI]

Yes, you don't need to have a min-max party to complete PotD. NPCs companions are totally fine.

 

Min-max parties are mostly for people that either wants a custom party OR for the people that are playing on ironman.

[Exoduss]

Tho there is huge difference between trully min maxed char and random recruit you can make with focused attributes to his class and then there is NPC companions with mostly random stats :D 

[Lasci]

Grieving Mother is great on PotD as well. Kana functions very well, too. I never tried to use Sagani and Hiravias has awful intelligence, but the druid petrification spell is quite nice nonetheless.

[Blackthane]

Aloth is extremely useful for clearing ghost types on PotD with Fan of Flames. I think part of the "wizards are weak" mentality stems from druids taking Scion of the Flame (which any class has access to) and ciphers having per encounter abilities from the start. The 3rd factor contributing to a basis conclusion is that the remaining 4 party members are 1 level higher than your first 5 members when you recruit them. So Hiravias will end up having 7 level 1 spells while Aloth only has 4. That doesn't mean Aloth is useless, as his stats might suggest, since I cleared Caed Nua on 1.02.  In 1.03 his Cursed of Blackend Sight is foe only, which is a nice no brainer debuff. Personally I haven't used Eldritch Aim on PotD much, though I think that's going to change soon. 

 

Thus far, PotD's only hard part was sticking to 5 default members and clearing Caed Nua at low levels to get access to the other 4 members. Once that was done Temple of Eothas and A Mother's Plea were really easy (the spores were near impossible before clearing Caed Nua). Even the level 2 stronghold encounter with wyrms was easy. I'm confident given another month or so players will discover ways to dominate Caed Nua at low levels even further.

 

My main cipher isn't min-maxed either. He has Con 3 and, Int 18 (huge regret here) and Res 9 (doubly so here). Yeah I get lots of duration and AoE bonuses (for a cipher...=/) at the expense of endurance, deflection and concentration. In fact, if I pull through PotD without Eldritch Aim I'm doubting the usefulness of Int for a party wizard. Even if duration spells have their place in PotD, at level 9 once wizard's level 1 spells become per encounter I'm more likely than not to put Int at 9 or 10 on my future wizards. 

 

I didn't use food and didn't have the resources to buy camp supplies, let alone enchant equipment. I did get the first summon item from Gilded Vale's merchant and it was useful in being a 2nd tank while Aloth ran around roasting ghosts. And I do split pulling for some ridiculous battles. However, for a scripted ambush involving high level 8~10 bandits, I simply know that I can't do it at level 4 for the time being. 

 

And mechanics need to be 7 or 8 to get the Obsidian Lamp. Something I'm working on currently. 

[Ehrgeix]

Having clocked about 15 hrs play on normal, I decided "what the heck, it's time to go hardcore" and started a new game on PoTD with a rogue. The combat was too easy on normal and playing hard for 2 hours still gave me that feeling, so I jumped straight to PotD.

 

So far I just cleared the temple dungeon in Gilded Vale (PC rogue, Eder, Kana, Durance, Aloth, + hireling Ranger because I can't access other NPCs yet) and I gotta say it's fairly tough but a lot of fun.

 

I enjoy having to micro my rogue to get the best results, but I'm worried about a few things, namely whether NPCs without their min-maxed stats can handle PoTD.

 

I've not completed an actual playthru on normal yet so I haven't experienced the NPC interactions and their stories, but I also want to do a PoTD playthru because I find tough challenges fun to overcome.

 

The question here is, which NPC setup is the best to do PoTD with? Which talents/skills are must-grabs? How viable is having a PC rogue going to be?

 

I'm running through PotD with a Druid PC - haven't made any other PCs, just using companions. The temple below Gilded Vale was the hardest map so far (shades teleporting to PC/Aloth), and I'm in the middle (?) of Act 2 now, just cleared out the lighthouse, first real dragon (the one for the fragment of Godhammer quest), etc. I dropped Kana for Sagani, and haven't run in to Grieving Mother yet, but it's pretty much smooth sailing.

 

I maxed out deflection talents on Eder, totally ignored any damage stuff, and did pretty much the same on Pallegina when I got her, with the exception of running Zealous Aura. Prioritized accuracy on Sagani, Aloth, and Durance and I have them backlining with good ranged stuff. My Druid is sort of midline now - I have a (freezing lash enchanted) hatchet + small shield with the weapon & shield deflection talent, and +cold/lightning/fire damage.

 

In terms of required stuff, I think very little. Deflection on Eder, Fan of Flames on Aloth, and the healing circle thing on Durance (level 2 priest spell) are all you really need. It's just not really hard enough to require a crazy level of minmaxing.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Ehrgeix