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Dick Burglar
Mar 6, 2006
The classes have very little synergy, and serve different functions. You're far better off being a dedicated caster or dedicated puncher.

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Vermain
Sep 5, 2006



Straight Monk is also one of the strongest single classes in the game when built properly. Xoti's subclass admittedly doesn't do her many favors, but it ain't terrible, and the raw strength of Monk more than makes up for it.

Sylphosaurus
Sep 6, 2007
What is a properly built Monk? Is it high Perception and Might or what?

Hulk Smash!
Jul 14, 2004

I'd say it's somewhat dependent on your subclass and the difficulty level you play at but, yes, I would tend to boost Dex and Per. I like Hellwalkers so I leave Mig at 10 and get a boost to that from the subclass.

Don't neglect Con too much since you want to get hit to build Wounds and still live (unless you're a Shattered Pillar, where you'd build Wounds by doing damage)

Honestly, it's hard to go really wrong with Monks. They're a strong class that basically breaks the game over their knees at high levels.

The Obsidian boards have a bunch of builds for all classes if you want to dive into that madness.

Vermain
Sep 5, 2006



Sylphosaurus posted:

What is a properly built Monk? Is it high Perception and Might or what?

High DEX/PER with Turning Wheel, Swift Flurry, Heartbeat Drumming, and Thunderous Blows (preferably with the axe from SSS to swap in to grab Energized). Helwalker is ideal, but it requires you to build more defensively than normal and play with an abundance of caution/micromanagement so that you don't explode. Absolute minmaxing would involve being a Nature Godlike with someone slapping a Body Inspiration on them every fight, since Monk fists are the only non-summoned weapons directly impacted by your overall PL (which is another reason why multiclass Monk tends to be quite mediocre). If you take Prestige along with that, a single class Monk will have fists with +95% damage, +26 ACC, and 14 PEN. You can pound basically anything in the game into paste through pure autoattacks, and that's not even taking into account powers like Whispers of the Wind or Iner Death.

Vermain fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Oct 9, 2020

Dick Burglar
Mar 6, 2006
Swift Strikes provides a body inspiration, quick, so you don't even need to have someone else slapping one on them.

Of note: druid wildshape forms do not work the same way as monks, so multiclass shifters do not have that issue. Druid wildshapes and ranger pets scale purely by level, and as a result they cap out kinda weakly and cannot be boosted by PL buffs. You can still put out the hurt with wildshape claws, but you can't optimize them to the extent you can do with monk fists.

Dick Burglar fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Oct 9, 2020

ilitarist
Apr 26, 2016

illiterate and militarist

Hulk Smash! posted:

I'd say it's somewhat dependent on your subclass

And why wouldn't you play Carlos Castaneda Monk? It's both powerful and thematically interesting. You are weaker when you aren't drugged but an easy solution is to always be high.

Avalerion
Oct 19, 2012

Problem with that is that your drug effects can be dispelled, dunno how common that is in practice though.

Giga Gaia
May 2, 2006

360 kickflip to... Meteo?!

ilitarist posted:

And why wouldn't you play Carlos Castaneda Monk? It's both powerful and thematically interesting. You are weaker when you aren't drugged but an easy solution is to always be high.

are there any conversations or story elements that acknowledge that you are horribly high all the time or is it just the combat bonuses?

ilitarist
Apr 26, 2016

illiterate and militarist
Sadly none that I've encountered. Just combat bonuses. In general I don't think there are a lot of subclass-specific dialogue options, just priests and paladins.

2house2fly
Nov 14, 2012

You did a super job wrapping things up! And I'm not just saying that because I have to!
Convo options for if you were currently under the effects of alcohol or drugs would be badass. I loved when Old World Blues did that

Zulily Zoetrope
Jun 1, 2011

Muldoon

Dick Burglar posted:

The classes have very little synergy, and serve different functions. You're far better off being a dedicated caster or dedicated puncher.

Monk is probably also the class that cares the most about Power Level, and Priest is up there as well. If you multiclass either of those, you'd better have a killer combo lined up.

Avalerion posted:

Problem with that is that your drug effects can be dispelled, dunno how common that is in practice though.

I played through one game as a drug wizard and the only encounters where I noticed it happening were against Fampyrs. Boy were those a pain in the rear end, though.

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

I've hit decision overload, I've gotten missions that I've realized are gonna cause me to eventually side with one faction or another, and I have companions who are invested in those factions and oh God I just want to keep everybody happy :gonk:

Khizan
Jul 30, 2013


Jerusalem posted:

I've hit decision overload, I've gotten missions that I've realized are gonna cause me to eventually side with one faction or another, and I have companions who are invested in those factions and oh God I just want to keep everybody happy :gonk:

There is an option to go it alone and not side with a particular faction. You've got to farm up a bunch of specific items so you can avoid having to rely on a factions resources. Minor spoilers: It's arguably the worst ending, though. By refusing to side with one of the powers all you really do is ensure that nothing changes between them.

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

Yeah I'll definitely end up siding with one of them, probably the Huana I think, they're not perfect but the other factions seem to have far more obvious flaws.

Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 01:23 on Oct 11, 2020

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

How Doers get more done
Fun Shoe

Jerusalem posted:

I've hit decision overload, I've gotten missions that I've realized are gonna cause me to eventually side with one faction or another, and I have companions who are invested in those factions and oh God I just want to keep everybody happy :gonk:

You can usually do the first few missions for each faction. The game is fairly clear about when you've reached a point of no return and can't side with other factions still. So if you want to be a mercenary and do the first couple of missions for each faction that's generally doable.

algebra testes
Mar 5, 2011


Lipstick Apathy

Khizan posted:

There is an option to go it alone and not side with a particular faction. You've got to farm up a bunch of specific items so you can avoid having to rely on a factions resources. Minor spoilers: It's arguably the worst ending, though. By refusing to side with one of the powers all you really do is ensure that nothing changes between them.

When the game launched there was a bug and this is the only ending I have seen!

Man I really gotta replay this game huh. Its my favourite game I never replayed.

2house2fly
Nov 14, 2012

You did a super job wrapping things up! And I'm not just saying that because I have to!
If you only played it at launch you've got 3 badass DLCs to try out as well. Before you start a new game make sure you click the little imp head on the title screen...

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

Man, I love that Tamau at Tikiwara is such a huge piece of poo poo. I proved his innocence because the notion of "let's just frame and execute this ONE person and that'll be the end of it and we'll all benefit!" never sits well with me, but I dug that doing the right thing didn't just magically make everything better.

Miftan
Mar 31, 2012

Terry knows what he can do with his bloody chocolate orange...

Jerusalem posted:

Man, I love that Tamau at Tikiwara is such a huge piece of poo poo. I proved his innocence because the notion of "let's just frame and execute this ONE person and that'll be the end of it and we'll all benefit!" never sits well with me, but I dug that doing the right thing didn't just magically make everything better.

He's also right because the caste system is some absolute bullshit as it's actually handled in most places. Roparu Revolution when

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

The other guy was also right insofar as harvesting the seeds and growing more of the fruit they needed to live would be a good thing, but he tried to get to that laudable goal through some incredibly lovely, petty bullshit that I couldn't be a party to.

Zulily Zoetrope
Jun 1, 2011

Muldoon
I forget if it's made explicit anywhere, but I got the impression that Koïki is very difficult to farm intentionally, and more commonly sprouts "in the wild." Eating the fruit whole means you'll dump the seeds into a mound of fertilizer when you next take a poo poo. It's less efficient than planned agriculture, but probably beats a guy whose entire knowledge of the subject is "put seeds in ground." Say what you will about tradition, but it tends, on the grand scale, to shy away from actions that starve entire populations to death.

Selenephos
Jul 9, 2010

Hmm.

Any potd tips on turn based mode? It's not that I'm dying constantly but more that battles take forever with most of my attacks being grazes than anything doing real damage. My PC is doing okay but all of my companions are really struggling, probably due to suboptimal DEX.

Should I swallow my pride and drop to Veteran and save potd for an all custom adventurer party?

Air Skwirl
May 13, 2007

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed shitposting.
The 1/2 health mod that gets mentioned every other page should help with fights taking too long.

Starks
Sep 24, 2006

Don’t forget to turn up the speed as well

GrumpyGoesWest
Apr 9, 2015

About to play deadfire again. Does the history creator include everything that could carry over from the first one or is there some cool poo poo that it won't include. I don't mind playing the first one again but I've played it to death.

Air Skwirl
May 13, 2007

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed shitposting.

GrumpyGoesWest posted:

About to play deadfire again. Does the history creator include everything that could carry over from the first one or is there some cool poo poo that it won't include. I don't mind playing the first one again but I've played it to death.

I think there's some very minor poo poo that you can only carry over from a save, but it only affects a couple lines of dialog, no new quests or new solutions to quests or items or anything.

Wicked Them Beats
Apr 1, 2007

Moralists don't really *have* beliefs. Sometimes they stumble on one, like on a child's toy left on the carpet. The toy must be put away immediately. And the child reprimanded.

GrumpyGoesWest posted:

About to play deadfire again. Does the history creator include everything that could carry over from the first one or is there some cool poo poo that it won't include. I don't mind playing the first one again but I've played it to death.

I believe tempering Abydon and deciding the fate of the ghost lady you meet just before fighting Thaos are missing, but just about every other possibility is there.

GrumpyGoesWest
Apr 9, 2015

Cool thanks. Off to sail the seas once again!

The Lone Badger
Sep 24, 2007

Zulily Zoetrope posted:

I forget if it's made explicit anywhere, but I got the impression that Koïki is very difficult to farm intentionally, and more commonly sprouts "in the wild." Eating the fruit whole means you'll dump the seeds into a mound of fertilizer when you next take a poo poo. It's less efficient than planned agriculture, but probably beats a guy whose entire knowledge of the subject is "put seeds in ground." Say what you will about tradition, but it tends, on the grand scale, to shy away from actions that starve entire populations to death.

On one of the islands controlled by the rautai a couple of people are talking about their koiki crops and the one who's crop succeeded realises that caste doesn't matter anymore and they can share.

Jay Rust
Sep 27, 2011

What would be the order to complete Pillars 1 content in such a way that makes sense story-wise, so that I’m not off breeding chocobos or whatever when I should probably be solving a world-ending threat?

ilitarist
Apr 26, 2016

illiterate and militarist
I don't think such order exists. DLCs are side story that happens during the main story gameplay-wise, as in hero levels and item power. But story-wise it should probably happen after the main campaign. I think it makes most sense story-wise to go chase DLCs after Act 2, as in after the animancy hearing. Works gameplay-wise too.

Furism
Feb 21, 2006

Live long and headbang

Jay Rust posted:

What would be the order to complete Pillars 1 content in such a way that makes sense story-wise, so that I’m not off breeding chocobos or whatever when I should probably be solving a world-ending threat?

In the old thread somebody dug up a post from Obsidian QA:

quote:

My recommended playthrough is;

Complete Act 1 (1v1 the bear, it is ones test to become a man/woman)
Progress through Act 2/Od Nua until character level 7
Enter the White March Pt.1 (no scaling)
Transition into the White March Pt. 2 (no scaling)
Return to Dyrford around level 11/12 to complete Act 2/Od Nua
Begin Act 3 (with scaling)
Complete the game
High five yourself for being so awesome

The smiles will be unlimited
-Sking

2house2fly
Nov 14, 2012

You did a super job wrapping things up! And I'm not just saying that because I have to!
My own recommendation is:

-Main quest/side quest at your leisure until the main quest asks you to pick a faction
-White March 1!
-Back to the Dyrwood after finishing the WM1 main quest
-Progress the main quest, do all the locations on the map except for Elms' Reach
-White March 2!
-Back to the Dyrwood after finishing WM2
-Do Elms' Reach and all that follows

Side note 1: Endless Paths. The only thing stopping you from progressing through this is your level; every now and then you'll be called back to Caed Nua, just do some Endless Paths while you're there

Side note 2: You get a quest called A Call To Court, followed by a quest called A Return To Court. You can do Return To Court whenever, but the quest that follows that, save that quest for after WM2 for maximum coolness

Side note 3: The optimal way to do act 1 is to do the main quest before any side quests, because there is a progression mechanic with the stronghold which gives you goodies based on the passage of turns, and turns advance whenever you advance a quest. The more uncompleted quests you have when you unlock this part of the game, the more turns you'll get, and the more goodies you can get. This doesn't make a huge difference to anything, but if you're a completionist you don't wanna look back at all those wasted turns and wonder what could have been...

2house2fly fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Oct 16, 2020

a fatguy baldspot
Aug 29, 2018

Would a wizard/fighter evoker/devoted be good?

Dick Burglar
Mar 6, 2006
The problem with gishes like fighter/wizard is that you're constricted by the action economy. Yeah, you can swing a sword or throw a fireball. And that's the problem: you can either swing a sword or throw a fireball. I suppose you could open with spells to soften up your targets then switch to sword to finish them off, but the best multiclasses are ones that compliment each other's abilities. A melee class with a cipher, for instance, helps the cipher build focus, and the cipher class actually provides a decent bit of beefing up your melee capabilities. Or you have chanters bolted onto various classes, because chanters can be built to do a lot passively, so you don't actually have to worry about their action economy very much. Two melees work fine because melees tend to have fewer actives anyway, and their passives are usually complimentary to the other class.

The best fighter/wizard is going to be a wizard who focuses on buffing defenses and using the wizard's summoned weapons to maul people in melee. There's even a grimoire you can buy/steal from The Dark Cupboard (I think that's where it is?) that has all the relevant spells.

Dick Burglar fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Oct 17, 2020

Heithinn Grasida
Mar 28, 2005

...must attack and fall upon them with a gallant bearing and a fearless heart, and, if possible, vanquish and destroy them, even though they have for armour the shells of a certain fish, that they say are harder than diamonds, and in place of swords wield trenchant blades of Damascus steel...

a fatguy baldspot posted:

Would a wizard/fighter evoker/devoted be good?

Fighter/wizard has some really strong combos at high levels, but I’d go vanilla wizard. Evoker would cause you to lose out on some nice spells you can throw down that put out constant damage or cc over time while you fight with your summoned weapons, and it would only give bonuses to spells that don’t mesh with the fighter skill set.

Captainicus
Feb 22, 2013



I think most people prefer generalist wizard, but you still have access to a lot of good spells as evoker - you still have spirit shield / mirrored image / llengrath's displaced image / ironskin as far as defenses go, so there's some good buffs there. It isn't a perfect combination as the only thing a fighter really contributes to your spellcasting is the barrage buff. You could use into the fray and defender stance to draw in multiple enemies if you want to fire off aoe spells at them. There isn't a huge amount you are getting from devoted, specifically, though. Evoker wants to deal damage with spells, devoted wants to deal damage with their favourite weapon. I'd personally say either focus on evoker and blasting spells and go for tactician or unbroken, or focus on buff spells and fighting with your weapon and go generalist wizard/devoted.

Heithinn Grasida
Mar 28, 2005

...must attack and fall upon them with a gallant bearing and a fearless heart, and, if possible, vanquish and destroy them, even though they have for armour the shells of a certain fish, that they say are harder than diamonds, and in place of swords wield trenchant blades of Damascus steel...

Fighter/wizards can still be really versatile and maintain *action economy efficiency* with spells like chill fog, freezing pillar or the various walls, so they’re not just melee, but most of those are forbidden to evoker, if I recall.

If you want a more blasting focused multiclass that can still do melee, assassin/evoker might be good. You still keep wizard’s defensive buffs, and now you actually have synergy between your subclasses. You won’t be tanky, though, even with wizard buffs. You’ll do a lot of damage and have really reliable disables, though, and once your spells/invisibility run out, you can always summon the spirit lance and go to town in melee.

Heithinn Grasida fucked around with this message at 02:51 on Oct 17, 2020

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Ravenfood
Nov 4, 2011

Dick Burglar posted:

The problem with gishes like fighter/wizard is that you're constricted by the action economy. Yeah, you can swing a sword or throw a fireball. And that's the problem: you can either swing a sword or throw a fireball. I suppose you could open with spells to soften up your targets then switch to sword to finish them off, but the best multiclasses are ones that compliment each other's abilities. A melee class with a cipher, for instance, helps the cipher build focus, and the cipher class actually provides a decent bit of beefing up your melee capabilities. Or you have chanters bolted onto various classes, because chanters can be built to do a lot passively, so you don't actually have to worry about their action economy very much. Two melees work fine because melees tend to have fewer actives anyway, and their passives are usually complimentary to the other class.

The best fighter/wizard is going to be a wizard who focuses on buffing defenses and using the wizard's summoned weapons to maul people in melee. There's even a grimoire you can buy/steal from The Dark Cupboard (I think that's where it is?) that has all the relevant spells.

Fighter wizards (go plain or blood mage, not evoker) are pretty good though, because wizard is such a low-effort class as far as skill points go. They get free spells from their grimoires so can just spend all of their points on fighter skills or passives while still getting most of the power of a wizard. Like you said though, all multiclasses are still best around building to a single utility, which means mostly using the buff/debuffs and then going to town with summoned weapons in melee.

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