Using food, potions, enchanting, crafting - what's your strategy?

[wanderon]

Ok - chronic restarter here (but I don't consider that a bad thing ) I had some minor surgery yesterday and have a couple of weeks off so I'd like to move a team beyond the places I have already been and I'm curious about how others use or don't use enchanting, crafting and items.

 

 I have started a gazillion characters give or take a few since the original Beta - many of which did not even get to Act 2 - only one of which reached Act 3 and dabbled a bit in WM1. Many were abandoned after a new patch gave me an excuse to do so and others because they just didn't feel like "the one" I'd like to take beyond places I had already been or they didn't seem as good as my current new character idea but I digress...

 

What I'd like to know is how you handle use of items and enchanting. My use has been extremely limited - almost never. In fact IIRC the ONLY enchanting I have done thus far is upgrading the Disappointer to remove the "terrible" malus if I had someone on the team I wanted to use a pistol. Mostly this is because even with the low levels most of my teams reached by the time I did a few Defiance Bay quests I already had more unique weapons/armor than I could use so it seemed a waste to enchant lower level weapons/armor early on.

 

Another reason I have not used enchanting is fear that I'll use up limited supplies of one thing or another altho I don't really know if there is much chance of that occurring especially at low levels. As for crafting I don't think I have ever done so at all.

 

Potions or other stat boosting items like food etc I rarely use other than the occasional endurance boost to keep someone in the fight a bit longer - The advantage of a single point of con or other attributtes is just not very clear to me especially for XXX number of seconds and hence I simply horde them in case I need them later (just like I did in the IE games).

 

Early on in the Beta I played on Normal but by the end I was mostly playing on hard - and when the full game was released I did the same thing and it's been a very long time since I started on anything but hard now. I am unlikely to ever play on PoTD but I used to play a lot of No-reload IE games (play on "Core" but almost never finish) and there's a chance I might do the same with PoE on ToI eventually. 

 

My characters are not min-maxed (lowest attributte score being 8 and typically no more than 2 of those) I also play almost entirely with provided companions occasionally creating a single adventurer to help out in Act 1 until I can fill out the group with companions and send any adventurers to the Keep.

 

So how do you handle enchanting and item use and when do you start doing so?

[falchen]

Enchanting wise only save the superb/legendary components and durgan's steel, you'll have enough of everything else. Bumping a fine or unenchanted weapon up can be quite usefull as can adding a lash, for armor I like adding a stat bonus for something I'm not getting from another piece of gear already.

[AndreaColombo]

I usually decide the builds and equipment for my full party before starting a play through, so I know exactly which gear to enchant and how beforehand. I generally stick to that plan and rarely do any enchantments beyond the planned ones.

 

Food, I use Rauatai Sweet Pie and Pearlwood Chicken on everyone; Casità Casserole on casters and Paladins.

 

Potions, I use DAOM all the time; Major Endurance if needed; Llengrath's Displaced Image occasionally.

Edited March 8, 2016 by AndreaColombo

[Heijoushin]

Yeah. You can go crazy with the fine/superior stuff and the elemental damage. You'll have those components by the bucket-load by the end of the game (assuming you're a completionist). As Falchen said, you only need to save the superb/legendary components and durgan's steel for your final set of weapons and armour.

 

If memory serves me correctly, you find a lot of components in the Endless Paths especially.

 

Food I only really use before tough battles. Or if I'm playing ironman mode and want to be extra careful. Problem is, if you haven't cleared the game, it's hard to known where the tough battles are (you have to do a bit of meta-gaming;)

 

Some of the high level scrolls (like resurrection and paralyze) are likewise useful for tough encounters.

 

Don't think I ever really use potions, but I suppose they could be extra healing if you don't have a healer character.

[demeisen]

Quite often the game does give you some in-game hints about difficult upcoming battles.  Sometimes it's in the dialog with NPCs, and sometimes in environmental cues.  They are there to pick up on if you look.  Also, upon detecting the first monster in a pack, you can often send a high-stealth character around to scout out the whole situation to know what you're getting into, if you suspect it might turn nasty.

 

I hope this isn't my memory going bad, but I think they might have made the food and drug effects stronger than they were in the V1 game.  I use them now for hard fights.  You can get +2 food easily enough, often with a +10 endurance bonus.  The +2 stat bonuses seem to stack with each other, so you can munch on both beefloaf anf pearlwood chicken, say.  And they also stack with items giving +stat bonuses.  I use the food because I play similar to the OP: non-minmaxed, using the story NPCs, on PoD.  Most of the content is easy even on PoD, but sometimes there are some rough, barely-scrape-by battles, and every little bit helps.

 

I haven't tried enchanting yet, but probably will.

[Teioh_White]

I generally just buy all the food/drugs out whenever I hit a shop. I don't exactly try and farm it or anything, but if I'm in a merchants inventory, I'll clear them out of those and any crafting mats they have.

 

I don't hesitate to Lash and Fine/Superior things, you get plenty of them and they help a lot. Normally first things I 'fine' are the Plate mails you get off those backers in Gilded Vale.

 

As for potions, is there some way to get enough crafting mats to make that an every battle sort of thing? Even buying all the mats when I see it, and still don't have enough to just make popping haste potions every encounter. I generally resort to using Svef as a make shift, just popping out the real deal when I know a rougher fight is coming up.

[AndreaColombo]

^ if you are referring to DAOM, it is possible after entering Act III; in Act II it might be feasible but also tedious (I find it tedious enough in Act III already.)

 

In the Ethik Nol cave there's a merchant that sells 5 a day. If you solve Rinatto's quest in his favor, he'll be at the Celestial Sapling and sell, among other things, Skaenbone (3 a day if memory serves.) Opal is sold by shady nighttime merchant in Ondra's Gift, and the lady merchant in Dyrford who asks you to fetch a dragon egg for her.

[Trashos]

Playing PotD, I haven't found that I need food or potions that much. I usually keep a couple of Endurance potions on each character just in case.

 

Enchanting:

I have kept notes of the strengths and weaknesses of most dangerous opponents in the game and I enchant my weapons accordingly.

 

For example, ogre druids give me trouble, but they are weak at Corrode Damage, so I enchant some weapons accordingly. Another example, blunt weapons are most useful against skeletons, some blights and animats (talking about the base game). Skeletons don't give me trouble, so I enchant the blunt weapons with vessel/shock for animats or spirit/freeze for earth and rain blights. I also have some weapons enchanted especially for dragons.

 

For financial reasons, I only enchant the named weapons that my group are going to be using for a long time, plus a couple of substitute weapons for special occasions.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Trashos

[wanderon]

Well I broke the ice enchanting a sword for Eder in Act 1 yesterday and the world did not collapse in on itself so I guess it's safe to continue. 

 

I have a hard time deciding on weapon focus in the game and often I just put off deciding until later and choose some other talent instead - I kind of wish there was a way to put your own grouping together.

 

Is the restriction that does not allow you to use food etc during combat new? (Having never used them I have no clue but I think I recall that you used to be able to do so)

 

My party has just entered the keep and are about to go searching for Maerwald. My PC is a female wood elf ranged rogue with arms bearer currently using - war bow, pistol, and best two weapon melee available and I "think" I want to go to Dyrwood early on and have Eder, Aloth, GM, Durance, and _________??? - undecided - maybe the druid maybe the pally maybe switch all of the remainder in and out over time.

[falchen]

I have a hard time deciding on weapon focus in the game and often I just put off deciding until later and choose some other talent instead - I kind of wish there was a way to put your own grouping together.

 

You can both create wholy customizeable henchmen at any inn as well as respec your character and any companions you pick up.

[Ymarsakar]

I don't use food or drugs on the first playthrough. I just collected them. Enchantments, I also tended not to do. Which decreased my dps since I recall I only used lash effects if the unique already had them. Thus many weapons I was testing didn't have lash effects on, cutting down the melee dps.

 

These days, I use the food for a few attribute buffs, since they are cheap. And I put lashes on weapons I use. It's easier because I know where to buy some missing crafting ingredients as well. And if none of that works, I just console in the stuff.

 

It's not a hassle I want to deal with, vs playing the actual game. By now, I know pretty much what level of difficulty needs certain times. I try to make it as challenging as possible, within the six party framework. But I also like playing games solo, to really enjoy the class tactics.

 

The restriction about food in combat is new. That way you don't need to take up a quick slot with them, just use inventory slots. Easier to look at.

 

For people like me who don't like to spend resources, but tends to hoard/collect them and then never uses them, it's easier to drop the investment cost by consoling resources and money in. That way I usually can try things out and learn how the system works. Otherwise, I just never use them. Since I never used the buffs at the start of the game, I didn't adjust my playstyle to them later on at harder fights either. So I was planning on saving stuff for later, but usually that never works for me, because games need me to learn how to use them early on, certain buffs and tricks.

 

 

I generally just buy all the food/drugs out whenever I hit a shop. I don't exactly try and farm it or anything, but if I'm in a merchants inventory, I'll clear them out of those and any crafting mats they have.

 

I don't hesitate to Lash and Fine/Superior things, you get plenty of them and they help a lot. Normally first things I 'fine' are the Plate mails you get off those backers in Gilded Vale.

 

As for potions, is there some way to get enough crafting mats to make that an every battle sort of thing? Even buying all the mats when I see it, and still don't have enough to just make popping haste potions every encounter. I generally resort to using Svef as a make shift, just popping out the real deal when I know a rougher fight is coming up.

 

Did you do that with vancian casters like priests/druids/wizards in the past? Use alacrity and pots most of the them before the boss fights.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Ymarsakar

[wanderon]

 

I have a hard time deciding on weapon focus in the game and often I just put off deciding until later and choose some other talent instead - I kind of wish there was a way to put your own grouping together.

 

You can both create wholy customizeable henchmen at any inn as well as respec your character and any companions you pick up.

 

 

I'm referring to your own choice of WEAPON grouping for the weapon focus and weapon specialization talents not party grouping 

[Ymarsakar]

 

 

I have a hard time deciding on weapon focus in the game and often I just put off deciding until later and choose some other talent instead - I kind of wish there was a way to put your own grouping together.

 

You can both create wholy customizeable henchmen at any inn as well as respec your character and any companions you pick up.

 

 

I'm referring to your own choice of WEAPON grouping for the weapon focus and weapon specialization talents not party grouping 

 

 

He means that if you make a mistake with your weapon focus, it's not game over. You can just fix it later. So pick now, try it out, see if it works, if it doesn't, respec at shopkeepers or Caed Nua. +6 accuracy makes a bigger difference early level, than it does later. Although accuracy is still pretty good all the time.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Ymarsakar

[wanderon]

 

 

 

I have a hard time deciding on weapon focus in the game and often I just put off deciding until later and choose some other talent instead - I kind of wish there was a way to put your own grouping together.

 

You can both create wholy customizeable henchmen at any inn as well as respec your character and any companions you pick up.

 

 

I'm referring to your own choice of WEAPON grouping for the weapon focus and weapon specialization talents not party grouping 

 

 

He means that if you make a mistake with your weapon focus, it's not game over. You can just fix it later. So pick now, try it out, see if it works, if it doesn't, respec at shopkeepers or Caed Nua. +6 accuracy makes a bigger difference early level, than it does later. Although accuracy is still pretty good all the time.

 

 

I am aware of that altho since I mostly RP my party I would be very unlikely to take advantage of it - Gee I used to be better with a sword and bow but now I'm better with a club and wand doesn't really fit my playstyle - nor does the idea of having a character with different stats & skills depending on where you are in the game (or a whim) - not that there's anything wrong with that - just not my style.

 

What I'm trying to say is I guess I find the weapon sets a bit too restrictive from an RP standpoint - I'd like to be able to choose a bit more freely and not have my choice of melee weapons dictate the ranged weapons I use or vice versa.or the choice of a single weapon only allowing certain other weapons if I want to make use of the bonus. I would gladly trade a group of 3 of my own choosing even if it was restricted in some manner rather than to only be able to choose a non varying group of four or five together.

 

It's not a huge deal to me sometimes I just don't take weapon focus or I take it but still use weapons from outside the group as I please altho I have probably only seen someplace between a third and half of the game at this point so it's possible it will come into play later on and I'll have to adjust.

 

ATM my biggest goal is simply not restarting and attempting to get through the entire game prior to SoD being released...

[Ymarsakar]

I found that it was better for me to just use whatever weapon fit the class, and not worry too much about weapon focus talents. That's why I like wizard, his summoned weapons are universal. I delay picking weapon focus until probably level 5-7 now a days.

 

The system is already much better than it was in more restrictive rpg rule sets like BG2 or Torment. There, you could get Axe. And that was it. Get a sword? No way, can't even use it.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Ymarsakar