Hiring right away or soloing to level 4 and hiring lvl 3's? (POTD)

[QuiteGoneJin]

I always try to hire asap from selling that ring and everything from the caravan / Cilant Lis. Am I doing it wrong?

[KDubya]

I also  like to try and get to the inn at level two so I can hire level one guys. Then go back to the starting area and clear the traps and the rest of the monsters. That way the hirelings are just 3000 experience behind me.

[QuiteGoneJin]

never thought of saving the traps.

[PIP-Clownboy]

Usually hire trapmonkey mage and/or a Barb ghostbuster asap. 

[zeldagaiden]

Is there a way to get quick money at lvl 1 to fill out a party of hirelings?

[KDubya]

Is there a way to get quick money at lvl 1 to fill out a party of hirelings?

 

Sell all that you can to the merchant in the caravan at the start of the game, he pays more than anyone else.

[JerekKruger]

I only really use story companions, but if I did go with custom ones this:

 

I also  like to try and get to the inn at level two so I can hire level one guys. Then go back to the starting area and clear the traps and the rest of the monsters. That way the hirelings are just 3000 experience behind me.

 

Would be my thinking. The one weakness that custom companions have is only being hireable at a level lower than the main character, and since experience required for a level up is not linear this leads to a larger experience gap. Ideally you'd also want to hire your companions with your main character dead on 1000xp.

 

Is there a way to get quick money at lvl 1 to fill out a party of hirelings?

 

If you have the backer ring (Gaun's Share) then you can sell that to Heodan for about 1500g. The Disappointer (the unique pistol you find in the hidden cache near the 

Glanfathan camp) can be sold for about 150 as well (it used to sell for a lot more). Beyond that make sure to return to Heodan before interacting with the waterskin but after exploring everything else on the first map, and sell anything you don't need. The reason for this is Heodan pays more than any of merchant in the game.

 

That said, without Gaun's Share it might be difficult to get enough money to hire multiple (or even one) custom companion straight away,

[zeldagaiden]

I only really use story companions, but if I did go with custom ones this:

 

I also  like to try and get to the inn at level two so I can hire level one guys. Then go back to the starting area and clear the traps and the rest of the monsters. That way the hirelings are just 3000 experience behind me.

 

Would be my thinking. The one weakness that custom companions have is only being hireable at a level lower than the main character, and since experience required for a level up is not linear this leads to a larger experience gap. Ideally you'd also want to hire your companions with your main character dead on 1000xp.

 

Is there a way to get quick money at lvl 1 to fill out a party of hirelings?

 

If you have the backer ring (Gaun's Share) then you can sell that to Heodan for about 1500g. The Disappointer (the unique pistol you find in the hidden cache near the 

Glanfathan camp) can be sold for about 150 as well (it used to sell for a lot more). Beyond that make sure to return to Heodan before interacting with the waterskin but after exploring everything else on the first map, and sell anything you don't need. The reason for this is Heodan pays more than any of merchant in the game.

 

That said, without Gaun's Share it might be difficult to get enough money to hire multiple (or even one) custom companion straight away,

 

Which maps ahead have good lootables without fighting interaction? I do have Gaun's Share, as I normaly can rush to Gilded vale, sell my belongings and hire 4 doodes. I now want to hire 2 more doodes, which make me need +500g. Where do you folks think I can find those 500g, without adding much experience to MC and not engaging in fights (I think I can take out the one spiderling with a small stash inside temple of eothas alone)?

[draego]

In Magran's Fork at the bottom left there is a fine weapon you can get without any fighting. 

[zeldagaiden]

I also thought of rushing änslogs compass to get to a couple of lootable encounter free locations

[Boeroer]

Yes, there's a fine arbalest for example that you can get without a fight.

[JFutral]

I am just about half way through Act 2 in PotD/Expert Mode. My biggest regret early on was actually trying to completely fill out my party. By the time I got to Gilded Vale (not knowing the trick to sell everything at the camp! Good tip to remember!) I think I had enough to sell and pick up two or three (I'd have to boot the game to remember better) companions. Then I went back and cleared out the previous area, ran all the side quests in the Vale that were easy enough, and built up to a total party of 5 to start the temple ruins. A bit of the way through that I picked up my 6th.

 

The reason I think this was a mistake is I think (unless I don't understand how experience is distributed, which could absolutely be possible) I hobbled everyone's leveling up possibilities. I don't think it is a coincidence that you only really get two jNPCs early on. It made getting everyone to level three extremely difficult and some encounters were just impossible before that. Or maybe I should have made my main character a fighter type instead of a wizard. I can't remember which major battle it was, but pretty much everyone was healing faster than I could do damage no matter the buffs or protections.

 

I think I just got everyone leveled up enough for the main quests again and get further than the Ogres in Endless Paths. I tried one of the bounties and got spanked pretty well for a solid 40 or so restarts (yes, i get like a dog with a bone sometimes). Finally everything rolled in my favour. I figure I'll wait a little longer before the next bounty.

 

All that to say I think getting a party of 6 early on is over rated, even if somewhat fulfilling to have a full party.

 

Joe

Edited January 15, 2017 by JFutral

[zeldagaiden]

I want to do it in terms of convenience, so the whole party will level up at the same time (except PC). It's not mandatory but I'm curious on how to achieve it.

[Boeroer]

Well, you sell everything you find to Heodan. He pays a lot of extra money, way more than any other merchant. So every potion and item you find you should sell to him before you fetch Sparfel's Waterskin. Then you should have enough money to make a beeline to Gilded Vale and recruit 5 additional adventurers. It's best to hire asap so that the exp gap to the MC is very small.

 

Exp gets spreaded evenly. If you have 6 party members every member will get 1/6th of the exp you gain. So, obviously a solo char wil level more quickly than a whole party. But there's enough content in the game to level up 6 guys long before the end of the game.

Edited January 15, 2017 by Boeroer

[JFutral]

Yeah, the convenience thing was big on my list, too. It just didn't work out as strategically as I thought I would. Somewhere around level 7/6 or 8/7 it ll starts to even out a bit in terms of having a strong party to tackle most things. But it sure was hell trying to get there. I think  I made it harder on myself than I needed to. I probably could have waited until at least level 3 or 4 before filling out my party fully. That's about when you have found enough gak to equip the party dcently enough. I mean, you have to sell off some useful stuff to get marginal benefit. IMO. YMMV.

 

Joe

 

eta: Or I could just be really bad at this game. I can't discount that. I have found myself enchanting and crafting a whole lot more than I did before.

Edited January 16, 2017 by JFutral

[Blades of Vanatar]

Quest XP is gained dependent upon how many characters are in the party. So gathering more allies early on greatly increases your chances of survival and will net you more XP. Early battles only net minimal XP which isn't much of a factor until you reach level 4 or so.

 

So I like to sell everything to Heodan for max cash. Then run through the ruins with only killing the skuldrs and spiders. Then you hit level 2 once you enter Ciant Lis. Don't do a thing from there except for sneaking your way to Gilded Vale. Avoid the Aloth encounter by entering the Inn by the 2nd story entrance. Talk to the innkeeper, then hire 5 level 1 hirelings. Then immediately rest to trigger the dream sequence. Then talk to the hanging Dwarf chic. Then go back to the Valewood and start clearing everything. Then go back to Gilded Vale and talk to the couple to gain more XP. Then talk to the innkeeper to gain even more XP for rescuing the cook. This way you receive larger chunks of XP by having a full party. I usually clear the surrounding areas NOT including Raedrics Keep and enter Caed Nua at level 5 MC, level 4 for all Hirelings. Then I tackle the keep.

Edited January 16, 2017 by Blades of Vanatar

[KDubya]

Quest XP is gained dependent upon how many characters are in the party. So gathering more allies early on greatly increases your chances of survival and will net you more XP. Early battles only net minimal XP which isn't much of a factor until you reach level 4 or so.

 

So I like to sell everything to Heodan for max cash. Then run through the ruins with only killing the skuldrs and spiders. Then you hit level 2 once you enter Ciant Lis. Don't do a thing from there except for sneaking your way to Gilded Vale. Avoid the Aloth encounter by entering the Inn by the 2nd story entrance. Talk to the innkeeper, then hire 5 level 1 hirelings. Then immediately rest to trigger the dream sequence. Then talk to the hanging Dwarf chic. Then go back to the Valewood and start clearing everything. Then go back to Gilded Vale and talk to the couple to gain more XP. Then talk to the innkeeper to gain even more XP for rescuing the cook. This way you receive larger chunks of XP by having a full party. I usually clear the surrounding areas NOT including Raedrics Keep and enter Caed Nua at level 5 MC, level 4 for all Hirelings. Then I tackle the keep.

 

This is pretty much what I do as well.

 

After going back to the starting area and doing the quests in Gilded Vale I like to make for the Anslog's Compass and clear that first then clear the other wilderness areas complete. Will pick up Kana and then go back to do Raedric's and full clear kill everyone there.

[JFutral]

Just saying that in PotD on Expert mode I found it more difficult to win battles with a lot of lower level characters than fewer higher level characters. So it doesn't really help to have a larger party if they just aren't strong enough to do damage, much less kill.

 

But like I said, too, I could just be bad at this game. If you've done this already, let me know how. It kicked my butt. My most successful strategy was setting traps and drawing the enemy out across them to at least soften them up. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't if they had healing of any sort (self or a battery of clerics).

 

YMMV,

Joe

[Blades of Vanatar]

Larger parties can give CC options which help negate strong enemies on PotD, making encounters much easier.

[zeldagaiden]

Just saying that in PotD on Expert mode I found it more difficult to win battles with a lot of lower level characters than fewer higher level characters. So it doesn't really help to have a larger party if they just aren't strong enough to do damage, much less kill.

 

But like I said, too, I could just be bad at this game. If you've done this already, let me know how. It kicked my butt. My most successful strategy was setting traps and drawing the enemy out across them to at least soften them up. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't if they had healing of any sort (self or a battery of clerics).

 

YMMV,

Joe

 

One thing I've learned out of playing several runs of 4 man squads in PotD is that not every fight is for you. Actualy, most of the fights early on just aren't for you. You lack numbers and options to deal with open map fights, although when you can create chokepoints it can go "ok". Just skip stuff that you can't handle just yet, come back later. There's fights that you might wana try out the power of your party (with the 2 friggin lumbering hulks for example, can't remember their name, I generaly get my ass handed back to me), but there's really no need to go there at the time you find them. It's all about timing, it keeps the thing interesting and most fights you can choose at what time in the game you take them, wether you're looking for a challenge or can't be arsed to handle such a tough fight (1 lvl difference is a huge deal)

[Blades of Vanatar]

I find the tougher fights early on really just need a combo of all your abilities. Tackle the harder fights fully rested. Cc/Debuff for big tough enemies, AoE/Cc for large groups of weaker. That's my general rule of thumb anywho...

[JFutral]

Yeah, I've noticed the difference one level can make! I may be coming from too much Diablo/NWN/BG in this case, but if you aren't killing things early on, how in the world do you get enough experience to level up soon enough? Particularly when the Vale is your primary base. The few side quests there are don't award that much.

 

And I am really talking PotD/Expert mode. Nothing was difficult under that difficulty.

 

Joe

 

eta: I will say only recently did I understand that, particularly with the cipher, much of the CC skills are fairly enemy agnostic. I had to change my thinking from "mental" effects to... IDK... something else. I mean really, how do you muck with an undead's mind?

Edited January 16, 2017 by JFutral

[JerekKruger]

Yeah, I've noticed the difference one level can make! I may be coming from too much Diablo/NWN/BG in this case, but if you aren't killing things early on, how in the world do you get enough experience to level up soon enough? Particularly when the Vale is your primary base. The few side quests there are don't award that much.

 

The majority of experience in PoE comes from completing quests, not killing enemies, so it's all about finding ways of completing quests without having to do much combat. For example, there's no quest that requires you to fight the Forest Lurkers in the Black Meadow, or even most the Trolls, so you can skip them till later. Also there's a way to complete the stolen cargo quest for the Gilded Vale smith without aggroing the bandits (and since they are all kith you get 0 experience for killing them anyway).

 

As I understand it, there's a standard path in solo PotD for minimising the number of fights you have to get to Maerwald. I believe you can basically do it with just one fight against spirits (the ones in the Throne Room) and for that you spam scrolls of Fan of Flames to burn them down asap. For Maewald himself, I believe the trick is to pull him into other groups of monsters on the first floor of the Endless Paths as they'll fight each other. Once you've killed Maerwald you open up all the Act II maps and the extra experience they provide (in particular Defiance Bay has a load of higher xp quests that require little or no combat).

 

eta: I will say only recently did I understand that, particularly with the cipher, much of the CC skills are fairly enemy agnostic. I had to change my thinking from "mental" effects to... IDK... something else. I mean really, how do you muck with an undead's mind?

 

 

As with everything that seems odd in Eora, you can explain it away with "souls did it". In the case of undead, all undead are vessels, which are simply souls which have been attached permanently to physical objects, but which aren't truly alive. Whilst spells like Whispers of Treason and Puppetmaster sound like they're all about mind control, remember that Ciphers are actually masters of manipulating an enemy's soul. As such those spells are simply the Cipher hijacking the soul of the vessel and taking control of it.

[JFutral]

Hmm. An RPG that doesn't require combat. Are you sure? That sounds wrong.

 

Joe

[JerekKruger]

As a dyed in the wool Murder Hobo, it goes against everything I believe in, but strangely it is the case