Eternity Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pre-DLC Thread [GO TO NEW THREAD]

[IHaveHugeNick]

Good to hear Port Maje difficulty seems fun (and might even be overtuned upwards a wee bit). But the ultimate test is how it fares out after that.

I think that sweet spot for difficulty is you need to be able to explore a bit after the prologue and have a chance to take on minibosses on the south-west part of the map, but everything else should be a no-go unless you go full try-hard and spend some time metagaming Neketaka to slingshot ahead of the power curve.

 

[Rinslin Merwind]

Trying the prologue solo (without Eder), your character build can make some POTD upscale fights mathematically super-difficult; e.g. the ~4 bats on the northwest side of the cave. When I tried a rogue/cipher there was simply no way mathematically do avoid death. I had to wait to sneak around and pick up a crossbow off a corpse so I could sneak attack from range, to take on the revenant & fat zombie combo. It's not earth-shattering, but it's a nice little moment of precarity and a definite step up from 1.00, which is the point. The boars, panthers and drakes at the Aloth meeting area are also overwhelming, and it'll be fun to figure out how to tackle them in a solo POTD playthrough.

When you do assemble a party at Neketaka and set out (level ~8, unless you vacuumed every city quest), it's still really really dependent on where you go with what party at what player skill level. Being able to stick Eder or an actively healing-based Herald (Ancient Memory, etc) up front really makes a massive difference in survivability, for example, allowing you to stand ground against enemy groups that might stomp other parties - and deciding to fight the various minibosses around Port Maje at level 7-8 is also quite different from, say, doing noncombat quests up till Level 10 & decking out in Exceptional gear, stacking consumables and drugs and resting bonuses, and then going to do your first bounties.

Again, I don't blame players who do that, but if you want to enjoy a challenge then you know you want to pace yourself. Actually, i never played with the skull icons on, so I don't know how that factors in either. I just wander around and fight stuff, back out if I'm being overwhelmed, and go back to cities when I get bored of exploring.

Sorry if I asking complicated question, but which rogue/sipher build you using?

 

[Tigranes]

I restarted soon after with a Rogue/Fighter.

With Cipher, I tried Assassin / Beguiler. There's a lot of choices to be made with subclasses - you could use Ascendant instead, and then use the rogue's sneak attacks to quickly reach and maintain the Ascendant status while you fire away damaging attacks. I tried to do a Beguiler combo and pick Deception-based cipher abilities, e.g. using Crippling Strike on the enemy to get the Beguiler bonus on hitting flanked enemies. Ultimately I decided that this time I wanted to focus more on the rogue's martial abilities, and went with Devoted/Assassin. Devoted seems to be a fantastic multiclass pick for almost any melee combat character.

With any of these, right now the key is to go dual-wield and pick the relevant bonuses. As with POE1, rogues are all about maxing crit chance and damage on your gear/skills, but they also have a range of Full Attack abilities (i.e. abilities like Crippling Strike, which fire a 'Full Attack', so if you're holding two weapons that means you get to attack with both weapons). So Dirty Fighting, the Dual Wield feat, the Cipher's +1 penetration with weapons feat, things like that. I focused on only a few Cipher deception active abilities like Whisper of Treason (a godsend when solo'ing early on).

===

BTW anybody tried Witch (Barb/Cipher) on Serafen? I'm running a weird party of Devoted/Assassin PC, Paladin/Chanter Pallegina, Witch Serafen and Wizard Aloth. So that means three melee fighters up front, and it seems like Serafen can't really compete with the PC - partly because of the attribute spread.

I also really want to go two-handed or something, but it feels like, right now, esp. with barbs and monks, dual-wield is the easiest to get the most out of, unless you're building around the Pohaga poleaxe. I'm trying the Whispers whatever POE1 greatsword which is a strong weapon, but the recovery is a killer.

 

[Shadenuat]

Yes, I ran Serafen as Barb and as Witch. Barb he did 80k damage per game, witch around 40k *almost with same gear*. Maybe I built him wrong but Ydwin in Rogue/Cipher did twice the better. I used things like scrapping armor, getting extra accuracy, and stuff, but it often missed outright and just screwed Serafen's DPS and made him often suffer from spell cooldowns.

I also really want to go two-handed or something

Funny enough the biggest damage per hit I got from 2-hander (no AOE) was Berath's Sword (the spell) on Priest/Fighter(Devoted). Before patch anyway, it had 50% acid lash. That's quite insane since it did like 40+ extra acid damage per hit, multiply by Penetrating strike & Fighter stances & Devoted bonuses and whatever other stacking shit you can find. He quite reliably (wearing Devil of Caroc plate) gutted higher level vampires for 120+ damage hits, and that's with kinda bad stats.

The priest part was pretty terrible though, since their casts are long, and you have to cast weapon spell, and shit. Had to spend half of combat by casting all the crap.

Oh and, don't worry, Sawyer fixed it for 20% lash now.

I also ran pure Monk, Naginata-chan with 20 DEX with all 2-handed weapons specs. I used quarterstaff for +20 defence and tried using a pike but there are no pikes. There are... well also almost no staves so I used xaurip superb staff most of the game until I found Nemnok staff. But Nemnok staff be nerfed now too, and there are still no pikes in the game worth using I believe (except maybe Chitzal spirit lance).

In the end I just used Legendary white Pollaxe (shrug)

 

[SymbolicFrank]

Don't be ridiculous, not all encounter was so hard in BG games, only dungeons and locations for high level.

Kangaxx, the Twisted Rune and the Guarded Compound say hi.

Now I know that you didn't played BG2 either because original BG2 level cap is 21 level, while Kangaxx 27 level boss. With throne of Baal he even easier, because party have more trained and have more ways to hurt him.

I just did all three at around level 10 with 2 chars; you just have enough consumables and weapons (protection from undead/magic, Daystar). And getting Daystar requires fighting a Lich as well, so that makes 5.

EDIT: those were about the first things I did after getting out of Irencius' dungeon. With a Thief/Mage and a Ranger/Cleric.

 

[Quillon]

I really want to see if there is some reactivity in the game if you play as Death Godlike Priest of Berath. Anyone tried it?

These reactivity stuff + trying new multiclasses makes me wanna replay this shit again and again but it'll have to wait till I finish a new KCD playthrough, let's see if they fixed that shit with 1.4.3

I wonder if they fixed that you cannot train bows on targets or just shooting, only on living targets and bowmen competition (river with logs). Maybe I was wrong and it was not bug, but realistically any bowmen can train aim on any target random tree or ass of annoying trader alike.

Donno about that but previously non-bugged quests(for me) are bugged now, no option to give game meat to Alex edit: my mistake lol, needed some mushrooms before delivery

Compared to KCD, Deadfire is an RPG QA tested to hell and back.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

I used quarterstaff for +20 defence and tried using a pike but there are no pikes.

I'm 99% sure one of the ships drops a unique pike.

 

[Shadenuat]

Yea but it's not worth upgrading. Casts Woodskin or somesuch.

Checked it now, it's Woodskin this and that, and +power levels when under effect of plant/beast. So they made it better but still not very useful imo.

 

[Orma]

It's just a big fork

Shame there are no other pikes in the game, and not much variety for the other polearms either.

 

[toro]

The amount of autism in this thread is exceptional.

If 5%, 10%, 25% or 50% less damage would be able to fix one of the most retarded combat system ever designed then Josh should cancel his resignation cause the future belongs to Obsidian.

 

[aweigh]

I dig how peeps are posting pictures of their encounters as if any amount of explication can tell someone reading this thread wtf is going on in a random PoE battle.

 

[ScrotumBroth]

It's just a big fork

Shame there are no other pikes in the game, and not much variety for the other polearms either.

Pity weapon designer has a fetish for sabres.

 

[Monkeyfinger]

It's just a big fork

Shame there are no other pikes in the game, and not much variety for the other polearms either.

Pity weapon designer has a fetish for sabres.

But sabres are what pirates use. YARRRRRR

 

[AwesomeButton]

I read about half this thread, for starters. And I watched roughly three hours of let's play

And this is time you don't count as time spent on the game? You really are better off buying and playing blind. This would have given you more accurate impressions for less time spent. Pirate to try it if $50 is such a big investment.

 

[Prime Junta]

Kangaxx

the unclassifiable encounter

impossible until you figure out a way to get the required immunity, trivial once you do

It would be kind of cool if there was a similar one in DF somewhere. Gravlaxx the demilich?

 

[AwesomeButton]

Knowing that you won't or would like the game and writing a review are two different things. Half the regulars in this thread haven't played the game yet they have an opinion on the matter. Just look at Lacrymas,Prime Junta,Roguey and FreeKaner and maybe AwesomeButton. For the last two i am not that certain if they haven't played the game,FreeKaner was saying that he will play it a month or two later. For the AwesomeButton i don't remember if he said it. People constantly talk/write about games that don't play,nothing truly wrong with it.

Now writing a review about the game,based on letsplays and forum chats is a next level Journo skillz !

I played once up to and including Deadlight, and once more from the beginning to the end of Port Maje. I refuse to play on "Normal", that would be just spoiling the game, so I'm waiting for the patch.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Kangaxx

the unclassifiable encounter

impossible until you figure out a way to get the required immunity, trivial once you do

It would be kind of cool if there was a similar one in DF somewhere. Gravlaxx the demilich?

I watched my wife playing where she left Jaheira alone vs Kangaxx and beat him with a +4(?) quarterstaff until he died. She had boosted her magic resistance enough to not care. The other party members were outside the room.

 

[Darth Roxor]

do monsters even exist in some AI groups??

This is a very good question, and my observations show that often they don't.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

Kangaxx

the unclassifiable encounter

impossible until you figure out a way to get the required immunity, trivial once you do

It would be kind of cool if there was a similar one in DF somewhere. Gravlaxx the demilich?

I watched my wife playing where she left Jaheira alone vs Kangaxx and beat him with a +4(?) quarterstaff until he died. She had boosted her magic resistance enough to not care. The other party members were outside the room.

In all likelyhood it wasn't magic resistance, there's spells to get around that (pierce magic? Can't recall), prob just cheesed it with a scroll of protection from undead or protection from magic

 

[ScrotumBroth]

Hahahahaha, the "romance" bit in the bar with Maia. Oh lord. Biofags around the globe must be turning into salt statues from Dumpsterfire love biawac.

 

[Reinhardt]

It's just a big fork

Shame there are no other pikes in the game, and not much variety for the other polearms either.

Pity weapon designer has a fetish for sabres.

Yeah. Tried to make Ydwin with rapier. Ended with dual sabres, because there are no rapiers.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I gave Pallegina pike and estoc.

Imagine how I feel.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

It's just a big fork

Shame there are no other pikes in the game, and not much variety for the other polearms either.

Pity weapon designer has a fetish for sabres.

Yeah. Tried to make Ydwin with rapier. Ended with dual sabres, because there are no rapiers.

One unique rapier was in Family Feud quest, I don't remember which family. Then there's a legendary unique rapier sold at Dunnage, although that one had some weird modifiers.

One of my first findings in the game was a soulbound halberd randomly assigned to some abandoned village or other
Who the fuck uses halberds

I think that one is actually in fixed location.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I gave Pallegina pike and estoc.

Imagine how I feel.

why would u spec her only in weapons that do pierce damage. or you didnt spec her?

 

[TT1]

Kangaxx

the unclassifiable encounter

impossible until you figure out a way to get the required immunity, trivial once you do

It would be kind of cool if there was a similar one in DF somewhere. Gravlaxx the demilich?

Maybe we can do it with mods