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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Sept 21, 2022 6:15:28 GMT
I did not engage with that a lot. My party might have taken part in the defense once or twice across two playthroughs. I think there were only two or three attacks per playthrough at most.
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Post by docrob on Oct 16, 2022 17:45:23 GMT
I did not engage with that a lot. My party might have taken part in the defense once or twice across two playthroughs. I think there were only two or three attacks per playthrough at most. I’ve had at least 4 or 5 already? I think one of the issues with PoE 1 is that it takes too long to get some of the companions. The original level cap was 12, and I was level 9 by the time I had all the ones in the standard game. I’ve just popped over to the DLC to pick up the others, and I’m probably going to be 10 by the time I have them all. |
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Oct 17, 2022 18:32:34 GMT
From the wiki:
- "The events are partially dictated by the Prestige and Security of the house, its purchased upgrades, and hirelings in the player's employ."
and
- "Attack losses and frequency decrease with higher security. The threat of attacks is the most important reason to keep your security level as high as you can afford."
I think outside of the three party members in White March they are all either in the early areas or somewhere close to Defiance Bay or in the city itself. You should be able to grab everyone you want quite early. Only the people from the expansion are kind of locked until you are a reasonably high level (apparently level 7).
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Oct 17, 2022 19:24:24 GMT
I think I had one early invasion by spirits for which I wasn't really that prepared for and lost some upgrades, then a second one much later that was no problem and that was it. But I did a lot of the endless path levels early on to rule out this potential attack vector.
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Post by simple on Oct 17, 2022 23:31:47 GMT
Yeah the endless paths are well worth getting into if your party is strong enough.
I think I did it in stages in between main quests on the surface to build up my levels and gear.
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aubergine
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Post by aubergine on Oct 17, 2022 23:46:30 GMT
I’ve been off this for weeks while doing my show, bumping the thread had made me want to get back into it! I’m probably at the stage of the game where some endless paths are a thing.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Oct 18, 2022 8:19:18 GMT
Take Kana with you, I think his main quest has some triggers down there.
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Post by docrob on Oct 21, 2022 21:43:19 GMT
From the wiki:
- "The events are partially dictated by the Prestige and Security of the house, its purchased upgrades, and hirelings in the player's employ."
and
- "Attack losses and frequency decrease with higher security. The threat of attacks is the most important reason to keep your security level as high as you can afford."
I think outside of the three party members in White March they are all either in the early areas or somewhere close to Defiance Bay or in the city itself. You should be able to grab everyone you want quite early. Only the people from the expansion are kind of locked until you are a reasonably high level (apparently level 7).
I’ve been buying upgrades all over the place! I’ve actually only got a few left. re: the party members - you can pick up Aloth, Eder, Kana and Durance quite early, and Sagani probably earlier than I did. But you have to do most of Defiance Bay before you can get Pallegina, and Hiravias and Grieving Mother are in areas you don’t go to until afterwards. I don’t doubt that you could collect them all reasonably early if you know where you’re going (as I just have in the DLC zones), but if you’re like me and you can’t move on until you’ve rinsed everything, you don’t run across them as part of the story until a fair bit later. |
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Oct 25, 2022 2:00:38 GMT
Yeah, you're right. On my first playthrough I just went with the default party. And I still had to check on where exactly some of them are for the second one.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Oct 25, 2022 7:06:09 GMT
In PoE II, there are recruitable sidekicks (like regular party members, but a bit less fleshed out in the dialog department), which are very easy to miss. One for example is a shopkeeper that only becomes available after having done a certain quest, that doesn't even directly involve them.
At first I didn't bother with them, but then I realized they defend your ship when you are boarded, so now I take them into the party regularly to distribute their auto-leveled skillpoints.
Oh, and PoE II also has a concept of sailors, which are NPCs that you can hire to help sailing your ship, such as cannoneers, deckhands, etc., and although you can recruit such NPCs in every port, there are also special ones that you meet in towns and during quests. Can also be easy to miss.
Probably just talk to everyone with a name and expect that you can hire them somehow.
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Post by docrob on Nov 21, 2022 13:02:26 GMT
What level is best for fighting the Adra Dragon? My guys are all level 12 (I have the expansions) and despite doing all the recommended things (spreading out the party, buffs, debuffs, etc) I just had my arse handed to me again. I was actually doing quite well - Dominated it so that it killed its own adds, had it surrounded, but it took precisely one Tail Whip to kill half my party and reduce the others to about 25% HP. Managed to stay alive for a bit, thanks to repeated charms, domination, healing and resurrections, but I was always delaying the inevitable, and two breaths later everyone was dead. Not sure what you’re meant to do against attacks that do in excess of 200 damage.
I know that you can not fight the dragon (and that if you don’t you can get an ability that helps later) but even so, it seems impossible.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Nov 21, 2022 16:37:26 GMT
It is immune to Shock and Burn, has other DRs of 28, except Slash and Freeze, which are at 21, so try to use these two damage types if possible. Try using potions, scrolls and food for stat boosting. Its breath attack does Corrode damage and checks against Reflex, its Wing AoE attack (probably what you mean with tail whip) does Crush Damage and checks against Fortitude, and the Fear Aura checks against Will. Also rest in a good place like Caed Nua's chapel or Celestial Suite in Twin Elms for additional bonuses. It's own Will resistance is not that high, so try to use debuffs/charms that target Will. Paralysis for example can be very useful. Also try to lower its accuracy by blinding and dazing it. Otherwise it helps to have a character with revives (Durance, Pallegina, Kana or a custom made character, or somebody good with scrolls) out of range with a high slash damage bow. And check all the potions and scrolls you have in your inventory that boost Deflection or Damage Reduction, such as wizard's double, bulwark against the elements, etc. Then there is also a little bit of luck involved. You can only try to get your relevant stats as high as possible, but when you fail to paralyze or prone or blind due to a bad roll, can't really do much against it. Just reload and try again. It's the second hardest fight in the game after all (much harder than end boss), and it's optional. Kind of like the "weapons" type enemies in FF7.
Oh yeah, something that is always overlooked is recovery speed and accuracy reduction. On your casters, try to get recovery speed up by wearing lighter armor and use only small shields to have no accuracy penalty.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Nov 21, 2022 23:16:28 GMT
I forgot something. Equipment bonuses don't stack, so if you add +2 resolve and another +3 resolve item, you only get +3. So check your equipment to see if you don't have any wasted slots due to this.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Nov 22, 2022 6:45:12 GMT
I'd assume the hardest would be the dragon in White March? Or something at Crägholdt? Never engaged with either one.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Nov 22, 2022 22:54:01 GMT
Yeah, there is a fight against one of the legendary wizards (that has spells named after them) and their TWO dragon pets along with other henchmen. The dragon pets are each obviously a little weaker than the Adra dragon (mostly because of lower resistances), but the whole fight felt much harder. The quest that leads to that fight can only be started when The Siege at Crägholdt and The Iron Flail quests are completed. Even then you can miss it. The dragon in White March is easier than the Adra dragon in my opinion, because it has relatively weak fire resistance. It's harder than the sky dragon, though, which is the easiest fight of all dragons, even weaker than one individual dragon pet from the fight I mentioned above. Also, docrob I forgot that there is a skill you can learn during the Master Below quest that drastically lowers accuracy and defenses of the dragon for 15 seconds. Not sure if you already have it or not, but it could well be the tiny additional boost you need to make it through the fight.
I think a good damage dealer against the Adra dragon could be Hiravias or another druid with Weapon Focus Peasant & Two Weapon Style (natural arms of spiritshift form count as unarmed and two weapon wielding), Spirit Shift Cat (or Stealgar for Hiravias), Wildstrike Freeze, Greater Wildstrike Freeze and Secrets of Rime. If I remember correctly, there was also an item that further increased Wildstrike damage. This would do slash and freeze damage at the same time with a very high attack speed and good accuracy in cat form. Out of Spiritshift, the druid could cast AoE spells that do freeze damage or raw damage. Maybe also take Apprentice's Sneak Attack to boost damage even more when you manage to blind or paralyze the dragon.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Nov 23, 2022 16:06:43 GMT
Yeah, I remember kind of stumbling through the Sky Dragon on my first playthrough on the first try. Only on Normal difficulty though.
On the second playthrough I had Hiravias built pretty much like you describe and that was indeed very powerful damage output. But he always remained comparatively vulnerable. After a while I started to use him more for area-of-effect from the backline and waited for opportunities to let him jump into the fray.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Nov 23, 2022 18:12:45 GMT
My main character was also a druid. It was very useful to be able to either do a lot of melee or AOE spell damage. I often played druid tag team with Hiravias. We didn't really need any other damage dealer and could make great use of buffs this way. Durance, Pallegina, Grieving Mother and Kana as Buffs/Debuffs and Healers and we could rip through almost anything. Sometimes used Eder as tank if there were lots of hard hitting melee enemies instead of Kana or Pallegina, but usually Pallegina could do tank well enough.
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Post by damagedinc on Nov 23, 2022 18:28:49 GMT
Looks at thread
Seems interesting
Like the look of the game
Switch reviews
Oh dear
Sounds like this is more for the PC. Suprised as divinity 2 was mode than playable
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Nov 23, 2022 21:32:08 GMT
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Mar 2, 2023 19:25:19 GMT
I'm starting to warm up to Pillars II. I have been playing it on and off for a while, but the story didn't grab me and visiting random islands and dealing with usually boring people in unremarkable places and situations, didn't win me over. Not bad, just not good enough. Tough even then it was rather pretty and some of the environmental effects like weather and lighting are really good.
But now that I have arrived in Neketaka and visited a few of the districts it's starting to click. Visited the Gullet and that has led me down to the Old City, which has proven to be quite enjoyable with decent atmosphere, some challenging encounters and some good loot as well. Eder just got a new Saber.
I'm playing with a Beckoner/Tactician multiclassed Dwarf. I'm not sure about the Tactician-part of it, but creating a little swarm of Drakes has certainly proven helpful as they are pretty good at focussing down enemies quite quickly. I'm essentially building a tanky Chanter who gets to summon more but weaker pets.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Mar 2, 2023 23:38:34 GMT
Yeah if you go breadth first approach on PoE II, it might be a bit boring, because of the many smaller side island stuff. But the main story is ace in my opinion, and how they weave the many factions into it is pretty well done.
I should probably also continue my playthrough. I'm kind of stuck in a somewhat boring puzzle area at the moment, though.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Mar 3, 2023 7:23:24 GMT
I'll probably not even try to do a completionist playthrough this time around. I'd rather do another playthrough later with a new character and some things left over.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Mar 3, 2023 8:54:59 GMT
Not a bad idea, actually. Unfortunately, it's already too late for me, as I've explored all the islands already.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Mar 19, 2023 12:49:08 GMT
I have now finished the Addon to PoE2 "Beast of Winter". It's quite good. There's only one area I didn't like much, kind of a portal maze with some toggle switch puzzle. One could also say that the environments are a bit bland, but they actually managed to integrate some variety here and there, despite the restrictions of the location the events take place in.
I realize now that I should probably have started in hard mode, because the fights are a bit too easy. The main antagonist went down without having ever been able to perform a single attack. Some fights against large enemies take a while, because they have a lot of health, but my team can basically stunlock them and is more or less completely safe during the whole fight. Minion enemies are too weak to even bother with.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Mar 20, 2023 19:26:25 GMT
So far I find the difficulty to be about right, but it can vary a lot. The most difficult fights I did have so far were two engagements down in the Old City and one large battle against some larger ship with 10-15 lower level enemies. In the latter case I just got swamped in too many bodies. I'm not sure, but part of the problem might have been that I hadn't levelled my non-party characters at all.
Other than that even engagements against small groups that are ahead by more than three levels are doable on Normal.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Mar 20, 2023 22:20:23 GMT
I'm not sure, but part of the problem might have been that I hadn't levelled my non-party characters at all.
Yeah, I also made this mistake at first. You don't even have to take them with you adventuring, just from time to time include them in the party to level them, then immediately switch them out again, if desired.
I guess my problem is also that I explored all the islands before moving the mainquest along much, so I'm now max level with all chars and the main story is still pretty low level stuff.
Also, mule kick is just OP. If you have a char with high accuracy, good initiative, and this skill, you can basically keep even large enemies like dragons or avatars of gods completely out of the fight, at least in normal difficulty turn based mode. You could even keep multiple enemies out of the fight like this if they are close together and you have a weapon with AoE.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Mar 21, 2023 19:09:16 GMT
I'm not sure, but part of the problem might have been that I hadn't levelled my non-party characters at all.
Yeah, I also made this mistake at first. You don't even have to take them with you adventuring, just from time to time include them in the party to level them, then immediately switch them out again, if desired.
I guess my problem is also that I explored all the islands before moving the mainquest along much, so I'm now max level with all chars and the main story is still pretty low level stuff.
Also, mule kick is just OP. If you have a char with high accuracy, good initiative, and this skill, you can basically keep even large enemies like dragons or avatars of gods completely out of the fight, at least in normal difficulty turn based mode. You could even keep multiple enemies out of the fight like this if they are close together and you have a weapon with AoE.
I just stopped today's session with all of "the other people" in my party and handing out equipment and deciding what to skill and not getting confused about what their equipment and already existing skills are, is a bit much. But thankfully I actually really like this character building system, so levelling up everyone is definitely engaging. Not as much as with the actual party of course as there is no real investment, but still.
I have finally visited Serpent's Crown and after finishing up everything in Neketaka I'm ready to head out again. I'll probably go looking for the Sanctuary Islands and collect some bounty money in Dunnage, perhaps talk to Furrante, and then head for Hasongo. About 60 hours in I think.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Mar 23, 2023 18:15:38 GMT
I'm just back from Hasongo and ready to go to Serpent's Crown, report on everything and then head out again. Though I wouldn't mind exchanging the Defiant for a Galleon first. 100k isn't nothing.
I "visited" Crookspur Island and after leaving behind a lot of dead slavers then headed to Dunnage as Director Castol wanted me to meet with Furrante. It seems the way I dealt with Crookspur broke a few quests. Not that I mind. I seem to be stumbling about quests everywhere I go. No, no, I'll try to avoid any more distractions and then head to Magran's Teeth.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Mar 23, 2023 19:08:48 GMT
I'm still commanding a Dhow only and I'm not sure if I'll ever upgrade. You are catching up fast to me in the main story, I've just finished He waits in fire quest.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Mar 24, 2023 5:30:31 GMT
I would have had the 100k by now, especially after handing in a bunch of bounties at the Radiant Court, but the nameless "Merchant" on Crookspur had a good, but very expensive armor and it was pretty clear that I would never return there, so I just grabbed it. I would probably have to do a few more bounties to get the money for the Galleon together. But it seems more efficient than buying more and more upgrades for the basic ship. I only bought whatever I could get relatively cheap or what I got for free. I think I got a better hull through the Bardatto-questline at some point.
Perhaps I'll actually try and engage with the ship combat then. The one time I have tried it, I was mostly just dumbfounded. It seems superfluous, but also quite slow and frankly unexciting. Too separate from the rest of the game I guess.
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