Thanks @Fardragon. When reading the wiki for PKM, it lists them as "2-handed" weapon category with a remark that they are "double" and it wasn't entirely clear what they actually were. I had assumed they were to be treated as two one handed weapons and based on your answer I assume owlcat have implemented them that way.
The greater and grand mutagens don't show up until levels 12 and 16, which is pretty deep into the game, so I don't feel like losing Grand Mutagen would be a huge deal. A 5 level dip into armored hulk might put greater mutagen till pretty late, and make grand mutagen out of reach, but would get me medium and heavy armor, martial weapons, and the ability to actually move around in the heavy armor, plus some additional skills marked as class skills (so +3 bonus to those skills). Most of those I could get with just a one level dip, though. Maybe a 2 level dip to get the small speed bump in heavy armor wouldn't be too bad. Maybe it's something changed in the 1.2 beta, but the description for Rage is a flat +2 to attack, damage and will saves and -2 to AC, I noticed the description's in game's different than the wiki. Greater rage boosts those bonuses to +3 and Grand makes them +4, at least according to the in game descriptions in 1.2. I'm still playing around with this build idea in my head, but think a 2 level dip into Armored Hulk could be pretty awesome for a vivisectionist.
Kingmaker uses the "Unchained" version of the barbarian, with it's flat buffs rather than strength buffs. This in effect nerfs two-handed barbarians and buffs dual wield barbarians. It also stacks with "finesse" barbarians.
I would say taking more than two levels of armoured hulk is worthless. That gives access to rage powers via feats. If you want to move faster in armour Expeditious Retreat and Haste are on the Vivisectionist spell list. Personally, I'm a great believer in letting the enemy come to me.
The massiveness of the patch is due to them having to repack everything to help reduce the load times.
Ya, I'm leaning towards the 2 level dip into armored hulk if I try the vivesctionist build. I'm not that concerned about putting off getting the higher level mutagens, since in that time I'll have had the benefits that barb brings to the table.
Was the Barb rage always flat +2 to attack, damage and will? I only just noticed the in game description was different than one of the wikis last night.
Just managed to install 1.2.0o and, well... did this version also screw up the custom portrait selection menu for others here, or is it just me? 'Cause for the love of Gyronna I cannot navigate through my portraits any longer. Smashing the <-- and --> buttons ain't do anything anymore.
Just managed to install 1.2.0o and, well... did this version also screw up the custom portrait selection menu for others here, or is it just me? 'Cause for the love of Gyronna I cannot navigate through my portraits any longer. Smashing the <-- and --> buttons ain't do anything anymore.
Holy crap, they didn't fix that before pushing out the build as stable!? It's been an issue throughout the whole beta. Pretty much only one custom portrait seems to work. If you clean out your portraits folder and import a new portrait it should work. But you'll have to overwrite that portrait to use a different one. I'm kind of shocked they left this issue in, since it seemed to affect everybody.
I just finished for the first time. Charname had 4.2 million experience while only 3.6 are needed for lvl20. A little waste there.
Octavia was lvl18 and the rest of the party was lvl16 by the end. Oh except for Nok-Nok who replaced Amiri in the House. Nok-Nok was lvl14.
All I will say is that I like this game more than any since BG1. The Wild Hunt was annoying but became doable with mass icy prison, great shout and two melee characters with Mallets of Woe. Another fun tactic was to activate the tower shield that makes the whole party (except the wielder/tank/Valerie) greater invisible, enable amulet of Ira and draw the Hunt away from the rest of the party while swinging the Mallet of Woe for all it’s worth. Can’t wait to start another run!
I just finished for the first time. Charname had 4.2 million experience while only 3.6 are needed for lvl20. A little waste there.
Octavia was lvl18 and the rest of the party was lvl16 by the end. Oh except for Nok-Nok who replaced Amiri in the House. Nok-Nok was lvl14.
All I will say is that I like this game more than any since BG1. The Wild Hunt was annoying but became doable with mass icy prison, great shout and two melee characters with Mallets of Woe. Another fun tactic was to activate the tower shield that makes the whole party (except the wielder/tank/Valerie) greater invisible, enable amulet of Ira and draw the Hunt away from the rest of the party while swinging the Mallet of Woe for all it’s worth. Can’t wait to start another run!
Oh nice, never thought about mass icy prison. You do know that the level 4 cleric/alchemist/bard spell freedom of movement lasts for hours, right? By that point in the game you can cast it on everyone who doesn't have an item that grants it.
In the beta and the new release I've noticed some of the enemies using more advanced tactics, like I just had a dryad summon an elemental and try to run away. In my last run through the beta, the wild hunt scouts were using hit and run tactics trying to lure my party into rooms with more mobs. Just wish they'd fix the issue with custom portraits.
I just finished for the first time. Charname had 4.2 million experience while only 3.6 are needed for lvl20. A little waste there.
Octavia was lvl18 and the rest of the party was lvl16 by the end. Oh except for Nok-Nok who replaced Amiri in the House. Nok-Nok was lvl14.
All I will say is that I like this game more than any since BG1. The Wild Hunt was annoying but became doable with mass icy prison, great shout and two melee characters with Mallets of Woe. Another fun tactic was to activate the tower shield that makes the whole party (except the wielder/tank/Valerie) greater invisible, enable amulet of Ira and draw the Hunt away from the rest of the party while swinging the Mallet of Woe for all it’s worth. Can’t wait to start another run!
Oh nice, never thought about mass icy prison. You do know that the level 4 cleric/alchemist/bard spell freedom of movement lasts for hours, right? By that point in the game you can cast it on everyone who doesn't have an item that grants it.
In the beta and the new release I've noticed some of the enemies using more advanced tactics, like I just had a dryad summon an elemental and try to run away. In my last run through the beta, the wild hunt scouts were using hit and run tactics trying to lure my party into rooms with more mobs. Just wish they'd fix the issue with custom portraits.
I always assumed some baddie would dispel my buffs so I went with items for FoM. If that’s not the case then the next run will be much easier. Thanks!
I guess the Wild Gaze causes fear in animals so Okbo was always running off getting into all kinds of trouble.
I just finished for the first time. Charname had 4.2 million experience while only 3.6 are needed for lvl20. A little waste there.
Octavia was lvl18 and the rest of the party was lvl16 by the end. Oh except for Nok-Nok who replaced Amiri in the House. Nok-Nok was lvl14.
All I will say is that I like this game more than any since BG1. The Wild Hunt was annoying but became doable with mass icy prison, great shout and two melee characters with Mallets of Woe. Another fun tactic was to activate the tower shield that makes the whole party (except the wielder/tank/Valerie) greater invisible, enable amulet of Ira and draw the Hunt away from the rest of the party while swinging the Mallet of Woe for all it’s worth. Can’t wait to start another run!
Oh nice, never thought about mass icy prison. You do know that the level 4 cleric/alchemist/bard spell freedom of movement lasts for hours, right? By that point in the game you can cast it on everyone who doesn't have an item that grants it.
In the beta and the new release I've noticed some of the enemies using more advanced tactics, like I just had a dryad summon an elemental and try to run away. In my last run through the beta, the wild hunt scouts were using hit and run tactics trying to lure my party into rooms with more mobs. Just wish they'd fix the issue with custom portraits.
I always assumed some baddie would dispel my buffs so I went with items for FoM. If that’s not the case then the next run will be much easier. Thanks!
I guess the Wild Gaze causes fear in animals so Okbo was always running off getting into all kinds of trouble.
My first game my freedom of movements got dispelled a lot with the monarchs, but not the last game. That first game I just abused greater shout, since they hadn't nerfed it, yet. It was a real race to kill that monarch before he could dispel freedom of movement, but it didn't happen once on my last run. I never had it happen at the bald hilltop event in either game.
Last game I had a hilarious situation where Val had the forest knight's bracers on, then got hit with a spell that causes them to be permanently shaken (I forget the spell name). So she had a permanent +2 morale to attack and saves.
I guess the Wild Gaze causes fear in animals so Okbo was always running off getting into all kinds of trouble.
The gaze affects everyone (unless they have blind fight), it's just that animal companions have such weak will saves they're practically guaranteed to fail. You can protect against the fear effect with heroic invocation; the easiest way to get it is from the Incorruptible Petal glaive, as it's a level 9 wizard spell.
Good to know. Thanks!
Amiri was wielding Incorruptible Petal when I lost her in The House so it wasn’t an option this time.
So this has got to be a bug, but I've noticed that items that boost stats let you qualify for feats. I just used a head band of alluring charisma for Harrim to get Selective Channel.
Apparently 1.2.1 is supposed to fix the portrait issues, will have to try it after work. When I get a chance I'll have to see if feats still work after I remove an item that qualifies them for a feat. I'm starting to think about starting over again. I get bad restartitis.
Ranged Legerdemain definitely gives unlimited unlock attempts. On the flip side, RL gives no experience for remotely disarming traps.
I’m trying a “challenging” difficulty run this time and it’s definitely, um, challenging. Fights that were tough on normal, like the hidden monsters on the swamp witch map, are practically impossible for my 6-7th level party. I’m just starting Troll Trouble and I’m scared for the future.
Ya, I bumped up to challenging too. I still haven't finished a game on it, yet though, since I keep restarting. Man, I don't even attempt the hidden monsters on the swamp witch map for awhile. I normally don't even do the well until I come back after doing the mud bowl and my cleric's level 7. I'll do the venom Hodags then, but leave the owl bears until I get the quest that wants the flower over there, since those guys are crazy tough. I've found things can go south on you really fast on challening with just a couple of crits from a bad guy.
I'm running as a halfling sorcerer with the arcane bloodline, this time. Been pretty good. I had seriously underestimated the usefulness of the grease spell until now. It can be a you win spell in a lot of fights, you just have to be really careful when your frontliners drop an enemy that you manually move them so they don't step into the grease spot.
Anyone tried this Oracle class mod yet? Currently only got the Linux version installed (meaning no mods), but I might reinstall it via Wine instead if that mod is in a playable state. Playing as a Goblin Oracle sounds legit enough for a full playthrough.
Ya, I bumped up to challenging too. I still haven't finished a game on it, yet though, since I keep restarting. Man, I don't even attempt the hidden monsters on the swamp witch map for awhile. I normally don't even do the well until I come back after doing the mud bowl and my cleric's level 7. I'll do the venom Hodags then, but leave the owl bears until I get the quest that wants the flower over there, since those guys are crazy tough. I've found things can go south on you really fast on challening with just a couple of crits from a bad guy.
To be fair, I think that the difficulty of the game is more dependent on your party than on the actual setting. It's a similar situation as in BG2, where a properly built sorcerer can lead the party to victory all by himself. So it's quite possible that someone with a powergaming party can find even unfair easy, while a roleplaying party can struggle on normal.
And yep, grease packs quite the punch, since you can keep increasing the dc with heighten spell.
With the difficulty up to challenging, I definitely notice the enemies get crits more often. One really bad one or a couple in a row can outright kill someone, to the point resurrection is not even possible. It's true that the particular build and party do affect the difficulty, but going up to challenging is noticeable.
I definitely am min/maxed, I took my strength all the way down to 5, I started with 5/18/10/12/10/20. I decided to take Jubilost and Linzi this game, so all us shorties can pal around. I even saved Tartuk and let him be my vassal.
With the difficulty up to challenging, I definitely notice the enemies get crits more often. One really bad one or a couple in a row can outright kill someone, to the point resurrection is not even possible. It's true that the particular build and party do affect the difficulty, but going up to challenging is noticeable.
An animal companion always comes back upon resting, though. And it's possible to have a party with several of them acting as tanks, since early to midgame they'll have a better ac than Valerie when buffed.
If you've got one. I'm rolling with Val, Amiri, Jubilost, Linzi and Tristian this game, so haven't put anything into summoning spells either, since I'm a sorcerer and me and Linzi can't waste spell slots on spells that'll go obsolete. Tristian could memorize some, but I need the other level 3 and 4 spells for other necessary stuff ATM. I'm also just not a big fan of playing druids, either.
Here's a great example of how big a difference bumping up to challenging makes. It took me 3 tries to kill that greater cyclops in the Narl Marches. First 2 times he immediately got a crit while cleaving and dropped Val with 111 damage the first time and 108 the second time. He even did like 55 damage to Amiri both times. This is while fighting defensively and with defensive stance up.
Comments
I would say taking more than two levels of armoured hulk is worthless. That gives access to rage powers via feats. If you want to move faster in armour Expeditious Retreat and Haste are on the Vivisectionist spell list. Personally, I'm a great believer in letting the enemy come to me.
Ya, I'm leaning towards the 2 level dip into armored hulk if I try the vivesctionist build. I'm not that concerned about putting off getting the higher level mutagens, since in that time I'll have had the benefits that barb brings to the table.
Was the Barb rage always flat +2 to attack, damage and will? I only just noticed the in game description was different than one of the wikis last night.
Octavia was lvl18 and the rest of the party was lvl16 by the end. Oh except for Nok-Nok who replaced Amiri in the House. Nok-Nok was lvl14.
All I will say is that I like this game more than any since BG1. The Wild Hunt was annoying but became doable with mass icy prison, great shout and two melee characters with Mallets of Woe. Another fun tactic was to activate the tower shield that makes the whole party (except the wielder/tank/Valerie) greater invisible, enable amulet of Ira and draw the Hunt away from the rest of the party while swinging the Mallet of Woe for all it’s worth. Can’t wait to start another run!
In the beta and the new release I've noticed some of the enemies using more advanced tactics, like I just had a dryad summon an elemental and try to run away. In my last run through the beta, the wild hunt scouts were using hit and run tactics trying to lure my party into rooms with more mobs. Just wish they'd fix the issue with custom portraits.
I guess the Wild Gaze causes fear in animals so Okbo was always running off getting into all kinds of trouble.
Last game I had a hilarious situation where Val had the forest knight's bracers on, then got hit with a spell that causes them to be permanently shaken (I forget the spell name). So she had a permanent +2 morale to attack and saves.
Amiri was wielding Incorruptible Petal when I lost her in The House so it wasn’t an option this time.
I’m trying a “challenging” difficulty run this time and it’s definitely, um, challenging. Fights that were tough on normal, like the hidden monsters on the swamp witch map, are practically impossible for my 6-7th level party. I’m just starting Troll Trouble and I’m scared for the future.