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Pathfinder: Kingmaker- Wrath of the Righteous out now!

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Posts

  • LoserForHireXLoserForHireX Philosopher King The AcademyRegistered User regular
    I've finally managed to play a game all the way to Act IV. As a Demon. And I have to imagine Act IV plays a bit differently if you're not a Demon.
    'Cuz there are a lot of people going 'Oh, hey, it's you, go right on ahead'. I imagine those big gates between sections of the city are going to be an obstacle to non-Demons.

    Also, Seelah and the Hand of the Inheritor were very unimpressed by the fact that I'm known in the Abyss as Nocticula's New Favourite.

    they're just jealous

    "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to give into it." - Oscar Wilde
    "We believe in the people and their 'wisdom' as if there was some special secret entrance to knowledge that barred to anyone who had ever learned anything." - Friedrich Nietzsche
  • ThawmusThawmus +Jackface Registered User regular
    HoI is an asshole and it would take a lot to convince me otherwise.

    Twitch: Thawmus83
  • GiantGeek2020GiantGeek2020 Registered User regular
    So having reached the crusade section in Wrath I can safely say that outside of the lich play through I am never going to do crusade mode again.

  • WotanAnubisWotanAnubis Registered User regular
    So having reached the crusade section in Wrath I can safely say that outside of the lich play through I am never going to do crusade mode again.

    I like the Crusade Mode well enough, but I also feel like it drags the pace of the game down way, way too much.

    So I'm conflicted on if I'm gonna do that stuff all over again if I ever do a second playthrough.

  • ThawmusThawmus +Jackface Registered User regular
    I keep watching patch notes to see if they'll ever completely rework crusade mode and I keep seeing nothing so I'll keep using the half of Combat Relief that lets me auto-win crusade battles.

    I would love to just turn it off but turning it off means you can't get relics and you can't do decrees, which were the actual fun part of crusade mode.

    Twitch: Thawmus83
  • Martini_PhilosopherMartini_Philosopher Registered User regular
    Thawmus wrote: »
    I keep watching patch notes to see if they'll ever completely rework crusade mode and I keep seeing nothing so I'll keep using the half of Combat Relief that lets me auto-win crusade battles.

    I would love to just turn it off but turning it off means you can't get relics and you can't do decrees, which were the actual fun part of crusade mode.

    Having played the TTRPG version, I can say that when Owlcat decided to directly copy this part from the adventure path but not the Mythic character part is one of the greatest disappointments and aggravations I have about the game.

    And it's not like Olwcat couldn't see that people had all kinds of problems with it. It was well known on the Pathfinder forums. Even the most junior of game designers can see the many, many flaws in it.

    But no, it got copied word for word.

    All opinions are my own and in no way reflect that of my employer.
  • ThawmusThawmus +Jackface Registered User regular
    Thawmus wrote: »
    I keep watching patch notes to see if they'll ever completely rework crusade mode and I keep seeing nothing so I'll keep using the half of Combat Relief that lets me auto-win crusade battles.

    I would love to just turn it off but turning it off means you can't get relics and you can't do decrees, which were the actual fun part of crusade mode.

    Having played the TTRPG version, I can say that when Owlcat decided to directly copy this part from the adventure path but not the Mythic character part is one of the greatest disappointments and aggravations I have about the game.

    And it's not like Olwcat couldn't see that people had all kinds of problems with it. It was well known on the Pathfinder forums. Even the most junior of game designers can see the many, many flaws in it.

    But no, it got copied word for word.

    I honestly don't know that much about the TTRPG Crusade stuff because our GM started handwaving it real fucking hard when it was revealed super early that it wasn't fun. Like I think we managed the army a lot going into Dresen and then after that he was like "nope I'm done with that shit you guys just do adventuring, let's not waste time on stuff that isn't fun."

    The nail in the coffin was that our characters were so powerful that our Druid would just cast a couple spells and oh look the enemy army is gone now. They're dead. They died. The land literally killed them. Why is our army ever away from Dresen at this point?

    Which is really how Owlcat should have handled Act V.

    Twitch: Thawmus83
  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    I started replaying Wrath last week, this time as an Eldritch Archer Trickster. I'm not sure if the difficulty has been toned down since launch or if I'm just gotten a better understanding of the game, but it sure feels like Normal difficulty is a lot more manageable this time around. The last fight in Act 2 gave me fits as a Cleric/Angel, but this time I killed him before he got to his turn in initiative. Likewise, the Act 3 Dragon hunt, which also caused several reloads, I accomplished in two rounds my first try. It's almost to the point that I'd consider replaying on Core next time around for the achievements.

  • DecomposeyDecomposey Registered User regular
    I'm doing my first play through as a Witch Lich, and its been insane the whole time. Running my main character and Ember means most enemies spend the fight napping until the rest of my team gets to them for most of the game. Then in late game one of main difficulties is level draining enemies, which means nothing when the frontliners who get hit with it are undead.

    I'm approaching end game now and its insane. Oh you made your will save against my explode your heart spell? That means instead of instant death, you only take 190 points of damage. Lucky you.

    Before following any advice, opinions, or thoughts I may have expressed in the above post, be warned: I found Keven Costners "Waterworld" to be a very entertaining film.
  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    Decomposey wrote: »
    I'm doing my first play through as a Witch Lich, and its been insane the whole time. Running my main character and Ember means most enemies spend the fight napping until the rest of my team gets to them for most of the game. Then in late game one of main difficulties is level draining enemies, which means nothing when the frontliners who get hit with it are undead.

    I'm approaching end game now and its insane. Oh you made your will save against my explode your heart spell? That means instead of instant death, you only take 190 points of damage. Lucky you.

    I like the idea of Lich so much and I want to try one once, but I'm a wimp who can't bring himself to do Evil things in most games. Never even did a Renegade Shep run in Mass Effect.

  • ThawmusThawmus +Jackface Registered User regular
    Terrendos wrote: »
    Decomposey wrote: »
    I'm doing my first play through as a Witch Lich, and its been insane the whole time. Running my main character and Ember means most enemies spend the fight napping until the rest of my team gets to them for most of the game. Then in late game one of main difficulties is level draining enemies, which means nothing when the frontliners who get hit with it are undead.

    I'm approaching end game now and its insane. Oh you made your will save against my explode your heart spell? That means instead of instant death, you only take 190 points of damage. Lucky you.

    I like the idea of Lich so much and I want to try one once, but I'm a wimp who can't bring himself to do Evil things in most games. Never even did a Renegade Shep run in Mass Effect.

    I struggled quite a bit with my Devil run in this game. Someday I'll come back and continue it. I'm kinda hoping the game gets patched a whole bunch more before I do.

    Twitch: Thawmus83
  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    Terrendos wrote: »
    Decomposey wrote: »
    I'm doing my first play through as a Witch Lich, and its been insane the whole time. Running my main character and Ember means most enemies spend the fight napping until the rest of my team gets to them for most of the game. Then in late game one of main difficulties is level draining enemies, which means nothing when the frontliners who get hit with it are undead.

    I'm approaching end game now and its insane. Oh you made your will save against my explode your heart spell? That means instead of instant death, you only take 190 points of damage. Lucky you.

    I like the idea of Lich so much and I want to try one once, but I'm a wimp who can't bring himself to do Evil things in most games. Never even did a Renegade Shep run in Mass Effect.

    You can actually do a surprisingly neutral/coldly pragmatic lich playthrough(you only really need to be aligned evil to complete the final part of the class quest), but obviously since we live in a world of religious degenerates who take offence to things like using the corpses of their family to work the fields, they have some hangups about liches no matter how well-behaved you are.

  • Dr. ChaosDr. Chaos Post nuclear nuisance Registered User regular
    edited April 2022
    Evil is some of the most fun you can have in video games, go for it.

    Taking shortcuts, stealing, punching anybody who looks at or talks to you funny.

    Always been consistently more interesting to me than the same old heroes journey anyway.

    Dr. Chaos on
    Pokemon GO: 7113 6338 6875/ FF14: Buckle Landrunner /Steam Profile
  • DecomposeyDecomposey Registered User regular
    Yeah I don't take any of the 'Rawr me evil murder everything' options. I save my evil for when I need to be evil, when its to my advantage. When I think its more advantageous to take one of the other alignment options, I use them instead. I actually do a lot of capitol g Good. I heal the sick, rescue children, free slaves, and defend the weak and downtrodden, all that jazz. At one point an angel was following me around and he had nothing but praise for how I was behaving.

    Even with all that, my alignment ranking is so deep into Neutral Evil that only game limitations keep it from slipping off the chart entirely. But that's ok, Urgathoa keeps sending my Lich signs to express how happy she is with how things are going.

    Before following any advice, opinions, or thoughts I may have expressed in the above post, be warned: I found Keven Costners "Waterworld" to be a very entertaining film.
  • DrascinDrascin Registered User regular
    Terrendos wrote: »
    Decomposey wrote: »
    I'm doing my first play through as a Witch Lich, and its been insane the whole time. Running my main character and Ember means most enemies spend the fight napping until the rest of my team gets to them for most of the game. Then in late game one of main difficulties is level draining enemies, which means nothing when the frontliners who get hit with it are undead.

    I'm approaching end game now and its insane. Oh you made your will save against my explode your heart spell? That means instead of instant death, you only take 190 points of damage. Lucky you.

    I like the idea of Lich so much and I want to try one once, but I'm a wimp who can't bring himself to do Evil things in most games. Never even did a Renegade Shep run in Mass Effect.

    Honestly, my experience with the first game is that for the writers in this studio, you don't even need to pick Evil tagged options to be an absolute fucking monster. Just picking the Lawful ones will often have you acting in ways that would have any DM worth their salt kick you way south of the Neutral line faster than you can say potato.

    Steam ID: Right here.
  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    Drascin wrote: »
    Terrendos wrote: »
    Decomposey wrote: »
    I'm doing my first play through as a Witch Lich, and its been insane the whole time. Running my main character and Ember means most enemies spend the fight napping until the rest of my team gets to them for most of the game. Then in late game one of main difficulties is level draining enemies, which means nothing when the frontliners who get hit with it are undead.

    I'm approaching end game now and its insane. Oh you made your will save against my explode your heart spell? That means instead of instant death, you only take 190 points of damage. Lucky you.

    I like the idea of Lich so much and I want to try one once, but I'm a wimp who can't bring himself to do Evil things in most games. Never even did a Renegade Shep run in Mass Effect.

    Honestly, my experience with the first game is that for the writers in this studio, you don't even need to pick Evil tagged options to be an absolute fucking monster. Just picking the Lawful ones will often have you acting in ways that would have any DM worth their salt kick you way south of the Neutral line faster than you can say potato.

    When I played as Aeon, there were a fair few options that were Lawful and also seemed kinda dick moves. Part of your Mythic Quest is you have to lay down judgments upon lawbreakers in your city, and how you respond to them determines what sort of Aeon you become. At first, all the "True Aeon" (Lawful Neutral) options seemed overly dickish, but when I paused to consider I saw where they were going with it. The point is, you're leading a military entity, not a bunch of civilians. Most of the laws you enforce seem overly harsh, but on the other hand, it would be extremely scummy if some people got preferential treatment just because they know the Commander. And the payoff is absolutely fantastic. Once I saw what happened after the first set of judgments, I was all in.

  • ThawmusThawmus +Jackface Registered User regular
    Drascin wrote: »
    Terrendos wrote: »
    Decomposey wrote: »
    I'm doing my first play through as a Witch Lich, and its been insane the whole time. Running my main character and Ember means most enemies spend the fight napping until the rest of my team gets to them for most of the game. Then in late game one of main difficulties is level draining enemies, which means nothing when the frontliners who get hit with it are undead.

    I'm approaching end game now and its insane. Oh you made your will save against my explode your heart spell? That means instead of instant death, you only take 190 points of damage. Lucky you.

    I like the idea of Lich so much and I want to try one once, but I'm a wimp who can't bring himself to do Evil things in most games. Never even did a Renegade Shep run in Mass Effect.

    Honestly, my experience with the first game is that for the writers in this studio, you don't even need to pick Evil tagged options to be an absolute fucking monster. Just picking the Lawful ones will often have you acting in ways that would have any DM worth their salt kick you way south of the Neutral line faster than you can say potato.

    Yeah if anything, a lot of the [LAWFUL] responses in this game are pretty pathetic. Trying to stay lawful for an Aeon/Devil run is painful, every now and then I gotta go, "I'm sorry but I have to kill you because the laws of some dead country say so."

    Meanwhile they wrote Regill to be the ruthless pragmatist that I want to be.

    Twitch: Thawmus83
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    The second DLC for Wrath of the Righteous, Through the Ashes, released today.

    Similar to Varnhold's Lot from Kingmaker, it's a separate side-story (which, BTW, I love as an idea). In it, you take the role not of a mythic hero out of legend, but of one of the regular denizens of Kenabres who managed to survive Deskari's attack during the opening moments of Wrath.
    Through the Ashes is an entirely distinct experience from the main campaign and the previous DLC, where you played as a hero imbued with incredible powers. This time, you will take on the role of a regular person, a citizen of Kenabres, who managed to survive Deskari's attack on the city. With extremely limited access to resources, no decent weapons, and no safe place to rest, you must focus on survival, think strategically, use the environment against the strongest of enemies, and try to lead your small group to safety while danger awaits around every corner. You will meet two new companions and a number of helpful NPCs who won’t join the fights but may be helpful with other tasks if you learn their strengths and weaknesses. Hide, scout, and use everything you can find to lead your new friends through the ashes of Kenabres.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygYesIWfwWQ

    I am extremely down for this.

    They also indicated that the 3rd DLC will launch in July, and that they're planning a second Season of DLC for Wrath.

  • RiboflavinRiboflavin Registered User regular
    I started this recently on normal with a half-elf Rogue. I love attacking an enemy with the NPC Rogue. The Back-stab-atitus is a deadly malady. Really enjoying it, still in ACT II. I didn't think I was going to enjoy crusade mode but I'm starting to get the hang of it despite picking a Ranger General.

    Couple Things:

    1) I play turn based. I have a bug where sometimes combat initiates and it acts like open doors are closed and neither enemies nor allies can pass through. The doors are not blocked by people, this is a bug. Usually I reload and start combat over. It is annoying. It did help when a Minotaur got stuck behind an invisible door and my ranged people plinked away until it was dead. Anyone else run into this?

    2) I started the crusade with one army and use it for everything. However I want to start a second army but I can't get it up levels because now all the enemy armies would wipe my new army. Any tips on leveling a new army when all the enemies are red to it?

    3) Just a comment, my Rogue has a +6 dex mod and improved initiative but still goes after enemies about half the time. It's like +10 is not enough. Gotta get that 1st flat footed backstabby. Do enemies get crazy initiative or in scripted fights are their initiatives just set mega high?(ie. the game cheats for some fights)

  • AspectVoidAspectVoid Registered User regular
    Riboflavin wrote: »
    I started this recently on normal with a half-elf Rogue. I love attacking an enemy with the NPC Rogue. The Back-stab-atitus is a deadly malady. Really enjoying it, still in ACT II. I didn't think I was going to enjoy crusade mode but I'm starting to get the hang of it despite picking a Ranger General.

    Couple Things:

    1) I play turn based. I have a bug where sometimes combat initiates and it acts like open doors are closed and neither enemies nor allies can pass through. The doors are not blocked by people, this is a bug. Usually I reload and start combat over. It is annoying. It did help when a Minotaur got stuck behind an invisible door and my ranged people plinked away until it was dead. Anyone else run into this?

    Back during my playthrough last year, I had a number of times where a character would get stuck. What I found was taking it out of turn based mode for a few seconds and then turning turn based mode back on would fix it.

    PSN|AspectVoid
  • ThawmusThawmus +Jackface Registered User regular
    Riboflavin wrote: »
    I started this recently on normal with a half-elf Rogue. I love attacking an enemy with the NPC Rogue. The Back-stab-atitus is a deadly malady. Really enjoying it, still in ACT II. I didn't think I was going to enjoy crusade mode but I'm starting to get the hang of it despite picking a Ranger General.

    Couple Things:

    1) I play turn based. I have a bug where sometimes combat initiates and it acts like open doors are closed and neither enemies nor allies can pass through. The doors are not blocked by people, this is a bug. Usually I reload and start combat over. It is annoying. It did help when a Minotaur got stuck behind an invisible door and my ranged people plinked away until it was dead. Anyone else run into this?

    2) I started the crusade with one army and use it for everything. However I want to start a second army but I can't get it up levels because now all the enemy armies would wipe my new army. Any tips on leveling a new army when all the enemies are red to it?

    3) Just a comment, my Rogue has a +6 dex mod and improved initiative but still goes after enemies about half the time. It's like +10 is not enough. Gotta get that 1st flat footed backstabby. Do enemies get crazy initiative or in scripted fights are their initiatives just set mega high?(ie. the game cheats for some fights)

    Unless there have been massive changes to crusade mode, I haven't looked, you can't really get a 2nd or 3rd army up and running properly until Act III. But yes, you will want to save some battles for your weakest army to get XP from.

    Twitch: Thawmus83
  • BurnageBurnage Registered User regular
    A good rule of thumb for the Pathfinder games is that whenever you want to ask "Is the game inflating the value of this statistic for an enemy monster?" the answer is "Jesus Christ yes".

  • htmhtm Registered User regular
    Elvenshae wrote: »
    They also indicated that the 3rd DLC will launch in July, and that they're planning a second Season of DLC for Wrath.

    Given the many, varied sanctions currently in place against Russia and Russian companies, this is pretty amazing. How are they even collecting revenue from international customers?

  • AspectVoidAspectVoid Registered User regular
    htm wrote: »
    Elvenshae wrote: »
    They also indicated that the 3rd DLC will launch in July, and that they're planning a second Season of DLC for Wrath.

    Given the many, varied sanctions currently in place against Russia and Russian companies, this is pretty amazing. How are they even collecting revenue from international customers?

    They're not in Russia. Or at least their Headquarters is not. They are in Cyprus.

    PSN|AspectVoid
  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    AspectVoid wrote: »
    htm wrote: »
    Elvenshae wrote: »
    They also indicated that the 3rd DLC will launch in July, and that they're planning a second Season of DLC for Wrath.

    Given the many, varied sanctions currently in place against Russia and Russian companies, this is pretty amazing. How are they even collecting revenue from international customers?

    They're not in Russia. Or at least their Headquarters is not. They are in Cyprus.

    They've also gone radio silent on any "political" issues to concentrate on "family and friends." Basically keeping their heads down and not drawing attention to themselves. Pretty common for content creators in Russia/Belarus I've seen the last month or so.

  • Dr. ChaosDr. Chaos Post nuclear nuisance Registered User regular
    edited April 2022
    More Pathfinder WOTR DLC!
    Alexander Mishulin: We already announced, that the second DLC is coming on April 21st. The third DLC that will feature endless dungeon mode is going to be released somewhen in July. What is even more important, we don’t want to stop with these content and we are going to make several more adventures in the world of Pathfinder and those will be included in Season Pass #2 that is coming later in 2022, including the first DLC that is to be launched this Fall.

    Also sounds like employees have been moving around so that good news for anyone worried about those of them located in Russia during the current situation like I was:
    As for the studio itself Owlcat Games was originally established as an international company and we had employees all around the world. After the pandemic started and the team switched to remote work the process of relocation started almost on its own. Right now we are actively helping our employees to move to different places like Cyprus, where our HQ is located, a new office in Armenia and other European countries where they can focus on work and creativity. We already have successful experience of decentralized and remote work for the last two years and we believe that the team will continue to create great games further.

    Dr. Chaos on
    Pokemon GO: 7113 6338 6875/ FF14: Buckle Landrunner /Steam Profile
  • SproutSprout Registered User regular
    Looking at the patch notes from today, there's a couple of things in there about fixing issues with going through doors in turn-based mode. So hopefully that works a bit better now.

  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    edited April 2022
    Riboflavin wrote: »
    I started this recently on normal with a half-elf Rogue. I love attacking an enemy with the NPC Rogue. The Back-stab-atitus is a deadly malady. Really enjoying it, still in ACT II. I didn't think I was going to enjoy crusade mode but I'm starting to get the hang of it despite picking a Ranger General.

    Couple Things:

    1) I play turn based. I have a bug where sometimes combat initiates and it acts like open doors are closed and neither enemies nor allies can pass through. The doors are not blocked by people, this is a bug. Usually I reload and start combat over. It is annoying. It did help when a Minotaur got stuck behind an invisible door and my ranged people plinked away until it was dead. Anyone else run into this?

    2) I started the crusade with one army and use it for everything. However I want to start a second army but I can't get it up levels because now all the enemy armies would wipe my new army. Any tips on leveling a new army when all the enemies are red to it?

    3) Just a comment, my Rogue has a +6 dex mod and improved initiative but still goes after enemies about half the time. It's like +10 is not enough. Gotta get that 1st flat footed backstabby. Do enemies get crazy initiative or in scripted fights are their initiatives just set mega high?(ie. the game cheats for some fights)

    Been replaying this the last few weeks, so I think I can help here.

    1) This is a bug from a few patches ago, as I understand it. They've been trying to fix it the last couple of patches, and the patch today mentions it, so it's something they're aware of. Switching out of Turn Based mode solves it, so just run your group into the room and then switch back. Also FWIW this issue is a lot less pronounced after Act 2.

    2) I wouldn't worry about starting a second army until Act 3. There's more ways to beef up your armies then, and lots more low level enemy armies to fight. You even get periodic spawns of weak armies that will approach and siege you, plus you have opportunities to just give your generals a bunch of EXP.

    3) I don't think the game "cheats" in terms of Initiative order (I had one particular boss fight that I completely trivialized thanks to it rolling last in initiative) but it will absolutely boost enemy stats and defenses into the stratosphere or just send you up against enemies twice your level.

    Part of the problem is that you're a Rogue, which only gets 3/4 BAB. You need every edge you can get to hit a boss's AC if you're not a full BAB class like a Fighter. Make sure you're pre-buffing, since at this point your minute/level buff spells are actually going to stick around for a few fights. Even then, sometimes attacking directly just isn't the answer. If they have a low Touch AC (many bosses and enemies with high regular AC do) then use Touch Attacks and Ranged Touch Attacks to cut them down. Scorching Ray, for example, works great at that. Even cantrips like Ray of Frost can hurt if Woljif casts them, since he'll proc the Sneak Attack damage too.

    I don't use Rogues very much so I'm afraid I can't offer much advice there. Maybe look into the Dazzling Display feat line? Oh, and if you're dual wielding, make sure you've got the feats for it. The attack penalties you take otherwise are going to make you pretty much useless. Oh, and pick up the Outflank feat on all your party you intend to put in melee.

    If you'd like, I can make some suggestions on some builds I've used. I wouldn't consider them highly optimized or anything, but they got me through Normal difficulty. I don't have one for Rogue, but there's other ways to get Sneak Attack.

    Terrendos on
  • RiboflavinRiboflavin Registered User regular
    Terrendos wrote: »
    Riboflavin wrote: »
    I started this recently on normal with a half-elf Rogue. I love attacking an enemy with the NPC Rogue. The Back-stab-atitus is a deadly malady. Really enjoying it, still in ACT II. I didn't think I was going to enjoy crusade mode but I'm starting to get the hang of it despite picking a Ranger General.

    Couple Things:

    1) I play turn based. I have a bug where sometimes combat initiates and it acts like open doors are closed and neither enemies nor allies can pass through. The doors are not blocked by people, this is a bug. Usually I reload and start combat over. It is annoying. It did help when a Minotaur got stuck behind an invisible door and my ranged people plinked away until it was dead. Anyone else run into this?

    2) I started the crusade with one army and use it for everything. However I want to start a second army but I can't get it up levels because now all the enemy armies would wipe my new army. Any tips on leveling a new army when all the enemies are red to it?

    3) Just a comment, my Rogue has a +6 dex mod and improved initiative but still goes after enemies about half the time. It's like +10 is not enough. Gotta get that 1st flat footed backstabby. Do enemies get crazy initiative or in scripted fights are their initiatives just set mega high?(ie. the game cheats for some fights)

    Been replaying this the last few weeks, so I think I can help here.

    1) This is a bug from a few patches ago, as I understand it. They've been trying to fix it the last couple of patches, and the patch today mentions it, so it's something they're aware of. Switching out of Turn Based mode solves it, so just run your group into the room and then switch back. Also FWIW this issue is a lot less pronounced after Act 2.

    2) I wouldn't worry about starting a second army until Act 3. There's more ways to beef up your armies then, and lots more low level enemy armies to fight. You even get periodic spawns of weak armies that will approach and siege you, plus you have opportunities to just give your generals a bunch of EXP.

    3) I don't think the game "cheats" in terms of Initiative order (I had one particular boss fight that I completely trivialized thanks to it rolling last in initiative) but it will absolutely boost enemy stats and defenses into the stratosphere or just send you up against enemies twice your level.

    Part of the problem is that you're a Rogue, which only gets 3/4 BAB. You need every edge you can get to hit a boss's AC if you're not a full BAB class like a Fighter. Make sure you're pre-buffing, since at this point your minute/level buff spells are actually going to stick around for a few fights. Even then, sometimes attacking directly just isn't the answer. If they have a low Touch AC (many bosses and enemies with high regular AC do) then use Touch Attacks and Ranged Touch Attacks to cut them down. Scorching Ray, for example, works great at that. Even cantrips like Ray of Frost can hurt if Woljif casts them, since he'll proc the Sneak Attack damage too.

    I don't use Rogues very much so I'm afraid I can't offer much advice there. Maybe look into the Dazzling Display feat line? Oh, and if you're dual wielding, make sure you've got the feats for it. The attack penalties you take otherwise are going to make you pretty much useless. Oh, and pick up the Outflank feat on all your party you intend to put in melee.

    If you'd like, I can make some suggestions on some builds I've used. I wouldn't consider them highly optimized or anything, but they got me through Normal difficulty. I don't have one for Rogue, but there's other ways to get Sneak Attack.

    Some suggestions would be great. I wanted to go straight rogue but I'm not sure that is doable now. In Act II I was slicing and dicing and in ACT III I miss more than I hit. I haven't been buffing alot though my cleric does like to cast prayer and I almost always get a haste. So a couple other things:

    1) Summon Nixie Prankster does not always summon a Nixie Prankster, I guess the jokes on me for wasting a turn. I assume this is a bug. Sometimes it works fine.

    2) When I attack I see number like 12 vs 20 miss. These aren't what I would expect for to hit rolls. Like it can't be a roll of a 12 vs ac 20 because some of my people can't get a 12 because of BAB. What do these numbers mean?

    3) Does the summoned trickster war pony actually do anything useful?

    4) I did a decree or something that let me upgrade a keep to a bastion. I thought it meant I could upgrade them all but after I upgraded the 1st one the option left on the others. I stupidly upgraded the one right next to Drezen so I can build a teleport circle right next to my teleport circle. Do you get to upgrade the others at some point?

  • ThawmusThawmus +Jackface Registered User regular
    Rogues have a really rough time in this game, mostly because a lot of the monsters have very little to no Dex bonus to their AC, so even when you do things to deny that bonus, it's a drop in the ocean. In addition, what you may or may not be noticing, is that a lot of the monsters have abilities/immunities that keep them from losing their Dex bonus to a lot of effects that normally would.

    Re: 2) 12 vs 20 means you rolled a 12 and needed a 20 to hit and welcome to one of the things I have ranted about incessantly with the balancing in this game.

    Twitch: Thawmus83
  • captainkcaptaink TexasRegistered User regular
    edited April 2022
    On your second question, it's the unmodified d20 roll. It's telling you need to roll a 20 to hit. Depressingly common for 3/4 BAB classes.

    captaink on
  • captainkcaptaink TexasRegistered User regular
    edited April 2022
    Trickster was one of the better mythic paths though. I know it has lots of choices but some of them end up being totally busted if you take 2 or 3 abilities deep into the skill tree. I think one makes all attacks skill checks or something?

    Edit: I was thinking of Athletics but it's not until you get the Greater Mythic Trick at mythic rank 7, so pretty late. It makes your BAB equal to your ranks in Athletics.

    captaink on
  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    Riboflavin wrote: »

    Some suggestions would be great. I wanted to go straight rogue but I'm not sure that is doable now. In Act II I was slicing and dicing and in ACT III I miss more than I hit. I haven't been buffing alot though my cleric does like to cast prayer and I almost always get a haste. So a couple other things:

    1) Summon Nixie Prankster does not always summon a Nixie Prankster, I guess the jokes on me for wasting a turn. I assume this is a bug. Sometimes it works fine.

    2) When I attack I see number like 12 vs 20 miss. These aren't what I would expect for to hit rolls. Like it can't be a roll of a 12 vs ac 20 because some of my people can't get a 12 because of BAB. What do these numbers mean?

    3) Does the summoned trickster war pony actually do anything useful?

    4) I did a decree or something that let me upgrade a keep to a bastion. I thought it meant I could upgrade them all but after I upgraded the 1st one the option left on the others. I stupidly upgraded the one right next to Drezen so I can build a teleport circle right next to my teleport circle. Do you get to upgrade the others at some point?

    1) I can't speak to that particular spell. Truth be told I've barely used summons on my Trickster replay. Summons are mostly useful for gumming up the ground and keeping enemies from targeting you or your companions, not for dealing damage or casting spells anyway. It is entirely possible that spell is bugged.

    2) As Thawmus said, that means you rolled a 12 and you needed a 20. Typically if you see this when you or your companions attack, you're doing something wrong (summons will see this all the time). Without asking a bunch of questions to determine the exact problem, here's a few tips.

    a) First of all, make sure you're buffing thoroughly. Bless, Prayer, Haste, a Bard's song if you've got it, etc.
    b) Make sure you have the two-weapon fighting feat if you're dual wielding.
    c) If you picked up Piranha Strike, you'll want to turn that off against high-AC enemies.
    d) You and all your melee companions should have the Outflank feat.
    e) Even doing everything right, however, some bosses just have such high AC that you're only ever going to hit on a natural 20. When that happens, try to target their Touch AC, since that's often lower.
    f) Another thing to try is brilliant energy weapons, if you happen to find one, since they ignore most armor and shield AC bonuses. I think Finnean used to have this property when he gets upgraded to +3, but he might not anymore.
    g) Some enemies have an array of dispellable buffs on them when combat starts. Examine them and see if they have things like Mage Armor and Shield active, and if so, try to have someone like Sosiel or Daeran cast Dispel Magic (or the Greater variant) on them to clear those away.
    h) Ember should have the Evil Eye Hex, which at level 8 will let her apply a -4 AC penalty to an target. Even if they succeed in the saving throw, they still get the effect for a single turn, and she can extend that with Cackle. She can also apply Misfortune Hex, Fortune Hex, and a few others, and the one Cackle per turn will keep them all going. Generally, if you're using Ember in boss fights, she's Hexing and Cackling, not casting spells.

    The only other suggestion I can think of would be to post a screenshot of one of your attack rolls (you can mouse over the attacks in the combat log to see more information about your exact attack roll and enemy AC). If you're missing an obvious hit bonus or something, perhaps I'll see it there.

    3) Yeah, sorry, never bothered with that summon.

    4) You'll get more chances to upgrade keeps soon. I don't know what exactly the trigger is; it might just be every month or two.

    If you'd like to take a look, HERE is a link to my Eldritch Archer Trickster build. I'm by no means an expert when it comes to min-maxing pathfinder, but I'm quite confident this build is viable at least up to Core. On Normal difficulty, I haven't really had a challenging fight since maybe the dragon in Act 3. This guy can pump out a truly absurd amount of damage thanks to Arcane Weapon Enhancement and Elemental Barrage. Basically, the Weapon enhancement lets you add bonus elemental damage to your attacks (say, fire and frost), and Elemental Barrage does (mythic rank)d6 extra damage every time you hit with a second elemental damage, which happens every time you hit.

  • RiboflavinRiboflavin Registered User regular
    Thawmus wrote: »
    Rogues have a really rough time in this game, mostly because a lot of the monsters have very little to no Dex bonus to their AC, so even when you do things to deny that bonus, it's a drop in the ocean. In addition, what you may or may not be noticing, is that a lot of the monsters have abilities/immunities that keep them from losing their Dex bonus to a lot of effects that normally would.

    Re: 2) 12 vs 20 means you rolled a 12 and needed a 20 to hit and welcome to one of the things I have ranted about incessantly with the balancing in this game.

    This is a little frustrating as I love Thieves.

    I have a +8 dex bonus and wpn finesse. I can't remember If I'm lvl 9 or 10 so lets say 9. so

    +6/+1 at 9
    +14/+9 with finesse.
    +16/+11 with a +2 dagger

    I feel like that should hit things more often than not especially since I don't attack unless I am flanking or get them flat footed. This seems a bit broken with enemy ACs. I did have 2 wpn fighting but I went back down to one weapon in hopes I could hit things. I mean a 14 hits a 30 unless I am calculating incorrectly. I looked up a Tarrasque it has an AC of 40 surely its overkill with enemy ACs in this game.

  • ThawmusThawmus +Jackface Registered User regular
    Riboflavin wrote: »
    Thawmus wrote: »
    Rogues have a really rough time in this game, mostly because a lot of the monsters have very little to no Dex bonus to their AC, so even when you do things to deny that bonus, it's a drop in the ocean. In addition, what you may or may not be noticing, is that a lot of the monsters have abilities/immunities that keep them from losing their Dex bonus to a lot of effects that normally would.

    Re: 2) 12 vs 20 means you rolled a 12 and needed a 20 to hit and welcome to one of the things I have ranted about incessantly with the balancing in this game.

    This is a little frustrating as I love Thieves.

    I have a +8 dex bonus and wpn finesse. I can't remember If I'm lvl 9 or 10 so lets say 9. so

    +6/+1 at 9
    +14/+9 with finesse.
    +16/+11 with a +2 dagger

    I feel like that should hit things more often than not especially since I don't attack unless I am flanking or get them flat footed. This seems a bit broken with enemy ACs. I did have 2 wpn fighting but I went back down to one weapon in hopes I could hit things. I mean a 14 hits a 30 unless I am calculating incorrectly. I looked up a Tarrasque it has an AC of 40 surely its overkill with enemy ACs in this game.

    The AC's, SR's, and BAB's for monsters in this game are extremely overblown.

    The long and the short of it is that the design decision was made so that the monsters would live long enough to do their challenging bullshit. I believe strongly that this decision was made with RTwP in mind rather than TBM, because if you do some of these fights in RTwP it's less obnoxious to see a monster get attacked a hundred times in a very short timeframe and just get gibbed after a minute.

    What I hope they do in future games/content:

    1. Give the monsters more hp instead of higher defenses
    2. Give the monsters different stats for TBM.

    Keep in mind that AC's and so forth did get kinda ridiculous in the Tabletop version of this adventure path, but needing a nat 20 to hit something was just not a thing. It should never be a thing.

    Twitch: Thawmus83
  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    So, I did a quick check of my archer's attack at the start of Act 3 and I was around +20 with the usual buffs. Figure if you add Weapon Focus and Heroism (Ember and Nenio can both learn this one) you're basically there, but you can also benefit from the Outflank teamwork feat I mentioned before. Still, just that +4 is a pretty big difference.

    It's a little cheesy but if you have Sosiel, you can give him Impossible Domain: Community. That'll give him a 1/day buff he can use to give everyone an attack bonus equal to his Wisdom mod, which should be at least a +6 by now. It's great for boss fights.

  • ThawmusThawmus +Jackface Registered User regular
    So I was just starting up a new game, cuz I got the itch, and....are there still no mods for adjusting the monster stats in this game? No mod to give them a bunch of hp and reduce their defenses and attacks? Not even the really bullshit ones?

    The difficulty options are okay but they really don't give me what I want.

    Twitch: Thawmus83
  • RiboflavinRiboflavin Registered User regular
    'm tempted to start over as a Bard to play Bufferman but I am too far in to start over. I plan on doing one chaotic good play as trickster and then one lich run as some flavor of evil.
    Anyone run a pure Bard?

  • SproutSprout Registered User regular
    Riboflavin wrote: »
    'm tempted to start over as a Bard to play Bufferman but I am too far in to start over. I plan on doing one chaotic good play as trickster and then one lich run as some flavor of evil.
    Anyone run a pure Bard?

    If you download a respec mod you can basically recreate your character from scratch. You can't change your mythic path (like if you wanted to go from Angel to Trickster) though.

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