Need Advice on PC and Party Comp

[Killyox]

now is dumping int for resolve something you need to do for Path of the Damned? because I said it before but I will say it again, I WILL NOT BE DOING PATH OF THE DAMNED ANY TIME SOON so I don't really care about build necessities for that game difficulty.

tl:dr  play what you like and how you like

 

You don't need to dump ANYTHING for POTD and even on POTD companions are perfectly viable.

 

Take stats however you like. If you don't want to dump then don't it will be just as good.

Edited September 11, 2015 by Killyox

[KDubya]

The main reason I dump intellect is to get the thug type dialogue options that need a high resolve.

 

Not needed and many will say that it is not a good idea anyway

[Ymarsakar]

Dumping stats doesn't get a person through Path of the Damned. Better tactics, party composition and equipment, first movement attacks, those provide the edge at higher difficulties.

 

Dumping stats has little to do with overcoming high difficulties, it has more to do with min max perspectives. Like when people ask for stat builds on the forums here so they can get the optimum builds.

 

Int has a bonus above 10 and a malus at 9 and below. So dumping it in favor of X, would mean your aoe and durations would go down. This is all part of optimizing the build or at least arguing about strengths and weaknesses. Unless a person just takes a randomized roll of the dice and not care what happens later on, they will be doing some min maxing with their stats. It's just where the minimum should be is where the argument is. Some think 3 is the minimum and 18 is the max that should be obtained. Others think 10 is the minimum instead.

 

Without a basic or deep understanding of game mechanics, there is little possibility anybody new to Pillars will be able to verify the information or advice they get from here. Equally good, equally bad, an equal mix of the two, it's hard to say. Depends on the outcome.

 

<B>The main reason I dump intellect is to get the thug type dialogue options that need a high resolve.

 

Not needed and many will say that it is not a good idea anyway</b>

 

I might need to try that out, since the vanilla resolve and int dialogue options seem very un interesting to me.

 

<B>My one concern is that the prone on crit effect from Tall Grass might be too small. In that case I'll just have to pick a different weapon</b>

 

KDubya prone or crit on hit weapons are hilariously fun to use. Even if the duration is minor, it still interrupts them and stops them from moving or doing anything.

Edited September 13, 2015 by Ymarsakar

[rheingold]

To be honest for a rogue you don't even need high strength. I'm more of a role player myself, but I've had really good results with an Orlan rogue with 10 str, 18 dex,16 per and 14 resolve. Everything else set at 10. The resolve is there for role playing purposes, but I dont notice a huge difference between this character and my early ones who had much higher strength. This is on hard difficulty for what it's worth. As other people have said go with what makes you happy. Just a point about a rogue, you generally only get the rogue companion fairly late as opposed to just about all the other classes which are easy to get. It can make it a lot easier depending on your play style having a rogue PC.

[Ymarsakar]

To be honest for a rogue you don't even need high strength. I'm more of a role player myself, but I've had really good results with an Orlan rogue with 10 str, 18 dex,16 per and 14 resolve. Everything else set at 10. The resolve is there for role playing purposes, but I dont notice a huge difference between this character and my early ones who had much higher strength. This is on hard difficulty for what it's worth. As other people have said go with what makes you happy. Just a point about a rogue, you generally only get the rogue companion fairly late as opposed to just about all the other classes which are easy to get. It can make it a lot easier depending on your play style having a rogue PC.

 

What kind of weapons did your rogue use?

[rheingold]

Dual wielded sabres. Didn't need strength or vulnerable attack. Character while not a power build with the stats was a beast. Just like the good old days with the ie games - strength is not needed for most rogue builds. The resolve also adds a bit of deflection and will saves, so it's not a wasted stat. I'd imagine that a rogue with an estoc would also be rather unpleasant though, and wouldn't need strength either.

[Nobear]

not sure why you would dump a recommended stat for a non recommended one;  also this is again for a normal play through...

 

Those recommendations were thought up, as everything else was, by game designers. It reflects their vision, which doesn't always translate perfectly into how things actually work out once the whole game is programmed and put together. If you want to play the game according to how the designers originally envisioned things, nobody is stopping you, but then why ask advice from players who have actually experienced how things work out in practice? Some posters, like KDubya and jsaving, have outlined very good rationales to your question based on how things actually work.

 

 

now is dumping int for resolve something you need to do for Path of the Damned? because I said it before but I will say it again, I WILL NOT BE DOING PATH OF THE DAMNED ANY TIME SOON so I don't really care about build necessities for that game difficulty.

 

First, no need for the all caps. People are trying to be helpful here.

 

Second, anything that works for the hardest difficulty will also work for lower difficulties. That is why posters have been mentioning their experience with PoTD. It's not because they haven't been listening to you, it's because it shows an even higher level of certainty that their advice will work for you in any difficulty.

 

Third, as others have mentioned, since not even PoTD requires min-maxing, it follows that lower difficulties don't either. Therefore, "do whatever makes you happy" is honestly about the best advice anyone could give you for the non-PoTD difficulty you intend to play on.

 

If you still desire advice, there is plenty you can soak up that's already been written for you on this thread, as long as you're not resistant, and realize that advice for harder difficulties certainly won't lead you wrong in lower difficulties.

[Ymarsakar]

The recommended stats have also changed several times over the game's patch history. That's why I think it's superior for a person to understand the basic game mechanics over following recommendations by rote or like a zombie. To a newcomer, if the game recommends X and players recommend Y, there's no individual authority for the newcomer to rely upon to judge that, other than the authority of player vs game designers. Once a person gets experimental and test/actual experience with something, then they obtain their own independent individual authority to judge for themselves what is what.

[Artyom87]

Hi guys iam currently downloading the game on steam. So excited, i just now found out this game already came out, i thought it hadnt.

 

My nub question: Ive read that the paladin is a good PC choice, and iam planning on making one. My question are the stats. I read here that dex and per arent that important. Does that mean I could drop them as low as possible like you'd do in BG1-BG2 ???? Like would that negatively impact anything important?

[Ymarsakar]

Every stat affects combat in a way. They rebalanced drop stats, so you aren't going to get like charisma or something like that where you can drop it in BG 2 and face zero combat penalties. Min maxing in pillars is more about risk vs reward. You take a penalty somewhere in return for a goody somewhere that benefits your build or flavor more.

 

In BG2 for example, if you had greater than 18 strength, your melee damage went exponentially up. If you had extra attacks on and attack bonuses, even more up.

 

Here the attack stats broken down between 3 different attributes: might, dexterity, perception

With defensive stats being generally intellect, resolve, and constitution. I say generally because every stat contributes to your defenses, your save rolls. You should read the game wiki about the various game mechanics so you can have a good foundation to start character building in Pillars.

 

Here's a more updated build list for you so you can check it out and experiment.

 

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=416939844

 

I'm not going to rewrite the paladin build and tactics talk that can be found on these forums, but if you are interested, look through the archives for threads about paladin builds.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Ymarsakar