So long as you've recruited the companion, you can put them in advisor role, they don't have to be in the party with you. If you're playing with only active party members get XP, you'll really want to do the projects to level them up in the kingdom interface. Their stat rating as an advisor is based off an attribute (different attribute for each advisor role), so slap gear on them to boost the appropriate attribute and when leveling them up put points into that attribute.
Has anyone tried to do the Sepulchre puzzle with summons or animal companions instead of NPCs? If not, I can’t really think of a way to get past this Ch3 puzzle in a solo run...is 3 the smallest party that can make it all the way through?
Hey guys, I've been playing PF:KM on hard no-reload. I've started streaming my many deaths in Aldori mansion, if you're interested drop by, say hi, and tell me what I'm doing wrong. I've played this game a lot but it has been a while, I think I forgot how often I saved scummed for certain checks! For example not getting the traps at Olegs has proved to be deadly for several characters.
I am playing with a party, and allowing myself 1 merc because, well.. the companions don't have the greatest stats/feat choices. Valerie is the big exception ofcourse, she's my favourite companion for this kind of run as she's always solid and has so many different ways to build her. Anyway, I'll be streaming on twitch and youtube if you guys are interested! I will always attribute the builds I use to the creators of them, if applicable. I will also be making some build videos of my own down the line!
As usual, I don't like "dungeons & kobolds" low level, so I put on story mode for the ch 1 till Stag Lord and face him with circle 4 magic. Only started the "no reload" run on chapter 2. Animate dead on Call of the Wild works differently and more like P&P which I loved. Call of the Wild also adds some new spells like Stop Time, Freezing Sphere and so on. Was a very cool run to variate things and I also created a Draconic companion druid.
Only had to reload when Played with Amiri, since no XP share and an at moment after the Pitax tournament.
Hey everyone! A surprise! I'm going to roll with it, at least until it's still fun for me. There is a chance I'll burn out before finishing the game (because the first-time impressions are still fresh for me), but we'll see.
The aim is to minimize combat reloads to the minimum and count deaths (or death doors).
Meet Lucia, a human Eldritch Scoundrel.
Difficulty settings I'm playing at.
I multiclassed the companions a bit, leaving only Harrim and Octavia without changes.
I have to admit, new classes and their feats - so far - really change how the game feels, how long the fights last, how hard it is. Here, a party which just recently reached the 3rd level, handled the worg pack without any problems.
Now then, something really exciting. I killed the freakin Viscount Smoulderburn with a lvl 4 party, after just dealing with Tartuk! I've been dreaming about this for a LONG time, ever since my first ever encounter with this laughing skull. How did I do that?
But before that, our first Death Door - it happened because the Tremendous Centipede's Poison reduced Regongar's DEX to 0.
We were careful during the rest of that cave's encounters, though.
Tartuk was an interesting fight - I tried a strategy I developed myself: Expeditious Retreat on the main (pre-buff), quick run to the mage/archer, attack or a sneak attack (due to a really high Initiative, thanks to DEX and +4 Initiative feat) and then another attack of opportunity. Amiri's reach weapon + Octavia's sneak shots supported this attempt. Tartuk died, he hasn't even finished the very first casting of his infamous fireballs.
So, the ambush. The plan was to use a wand of True Strike by both Octavia and the main character, tossing it around, while Valerie held the line and kept healing.
I'm so fond of the Eldritch Scoundrel subclass. I read a lot of bad criticism about the subclass around the net, but I wouldn't swap magic buffs and Use Magic Device for more stable damage from sneak attacks. These buffs help with survivability a lot - for example, Invisibility (so far, "Vanish") spells.
Feeling lucky, I decided to take on the infamous rats, still being only lvl 4. And you know what? This party did it. Yes, 5 characters got to the Death Door status but they did it. The main troublemaker ran out of his bombs, Octavia managed to shoot him down from stealth, and then the rest of the party joined in.
I wouldn't recommend handling them on lvl 4 if you're playing without reloads, but this is a min-reload run and I felt ready to experiment. The dice smiled upon me.
The next Death Door involved Regongar during the Silent Pack encounter, but other than that, the party did alright.
I try to limit resting in the capital (or Oleg's trading post), so I continued to the Boggards' area with the Death Door status.
Common boggards were a bit troublesome and Octavia suffered. These additional risks (of losing Octavia and Reg and thus needing to spend a lot of cash) made me play more cautiously.
So I proceeded anyway and enjoyed finally using the Web spell by Octavia (a specialized spell for her). When the big boss could get out of webs, Grease (a specialized spell for Regongar) kicked in. Amiri got a very huge crit here. Harrim also got a spotlight with his Boneshaker.
I've been enjoying the extend and reach rods (extend for spells like Enlarge/Reduce Person and Blur, reach allows Reg to Shock Touch enemies from afar, or, for example, cast Grease from a longer distance), and touch spells by my rogue. I found out touch spells work as sneak attacks when she hits.
I've cleared all the side areas and I'm ready to go for the Stag Lord now (still have 45 days on the timer left).
Party lvl: 5
Death Doors: 7
Deaths: 0
Combat Reloads: 0
Stag Lord was easy. Even while one of his troops sounded the alarm, we dealt with the bandit quickly and effectively. And his father, the druid, was finished in 2 hits - one was from Boneshaker and another was from a 65 damage crit by Amiri. So much for this family.
Oh, for the owlbear - I decided to roll with the dice. I couldn't calm it down but Lucia quietly finished the poor animal without any pain.
Playing a stealthy character has its own perks. Here is Lucia stealing from Crag Linnorm.
Lake Silverstep Village provided what I would call the first serious challenge for the party: nereids, hydras and just other enemies there can quickly send your characters flying. Amiri got the Death Door status fighting one of the first nymphs.
We witnessed the biggest crit damage yet from an enemy:
Lucia tried to cast Vanish there - lesson learned, from now she'll be using a wand or a potion for that purpose.
That said, the cyclop himself wasn't a big threat, and a horde of the undead (thanks to the empower rod) dealt with it.
If there was a hard fight, then it was a fight against a nereid. We used everything we could, and in the end, Regongar, under the Vanish from the wand, kited the enemy water elemental (with Acrobatics + Haste), and everyone used potions of Enlarge/Reduce Person.
Our first "dragon" wasn't difficult. The undead horde handled its first attacks and we quickly finished him off.
Party lvl: 6
Death Doors: 9
Deaths: 0
Combat Reloads: 0
I kept exploring areas I could reach instead of doing kingdom management tasks (the real part of Chapter 2 starts in 41 days after getting the barony, that's A LOT of time). The reward didn't wait too long to arrive: the party reached lvl 7 (!) - if the player starts the Chapter as "intended" and spends 2 weeks on adding another region to their barony and then another 2 weeks on training one of their advisors - they can find a lvl 5 party trying not to miss on a timer with the troll invasion to be a bit difficult to manage. This is a massive difference, and I mean not only levels, but also items I've found in those areas, including a +2 glaive, a +4 CON belt, a +1 saves lucky ring etc.
Of course, it wasn't easy. I would say that I risked a reload in the fight vs Torpor The Great Nightmare. I would name these factors key for the encounter:
- the first sneak attack from stealth with True Strike by Lucia (with a ranged weapon) inflicted Bewildering Injury;
- the undead summons distracted the horse for 1 round;
- Magic Missile spam by Regongar and Octavia;
- True Strike (Reg's Magus spells) and then devastating damage with a two-handed weapon;
- disabling fighting defensively for Valerie.
The horse still got Lucia with its insane fire damage but we won.
A Poisonous Giant Flytrap (960 XP compared to Torpor's 240!) was much easier. Amiri got a nice crit for 92 damage!
The spider mine wasn't dangerous, we just had to be careful around not getting Lucia poisoned.
A lonely Ancient Wyvern brought us the much-needed 7th level (and thus lvl 4 spells for Harrim).
Now I finally felt confident regarding dealing with high-level enemies in the Lonely Barrow.
Party lvl: 7
Death Doors: 10
Deaths: 0
Combat Reloads: 0
We had our closest call yet - actually, I would say I got really lucky there, and this fight is probably not reliably winnable on lvl 7. I'm pushing the boundaries right now really hard, - this area brought bracers +5 to the party. +5! While the best bracers we've had have been only +1. No wonder the enemy, a Dweomerlion, is so strong. Its every attempt to hit didn't miss, it hits too quickly, and its hits dispelled our buffs.
I used all the summons I could before the battle, hasted them during Round 1 in combat. The Grease you can see on the screenshots also was pre-casted before the combat. Unfortunately, it didn't work.
I knew I couldn't use magic during the fight (or it would have activated its teleporting, and sayonara my casters) and we just persisted until the end, losing summons, then losing party members. In the very end, our damage just barely - I would say barely-ish - outscored theirs. Reg's orcish trait to last 1 extra round after getting to 0 health really helped here. I can't see how I could do this fight, say, with a wizard as the main character, at this stage of the game.
Party lvl: 7
Death Doors: 13
Deaths: 0
Combat Reloads: 0
Wisps are not a big problem when you still have your buffs on. Rest more often, and you'll be fine.
We finished the spider invasion and helped Kaessi. After killing another monster for Amiri, the group reached the 8th level. 8th level. Before the Baldhill event was truly over.
I enjoyed using new spells (such as Fear) against Greater Enraged Owlbears and the Scythe Tree. It was fun to see several rays by one Scorching Ray cast inflicting sneak damage. No death doors, yay.
Also, Amiri got 6 hits in one second. You just love to see it.
Party lvl: 8
Death Doors: 13
Deaths: 0
Combat Reloads: 0
Wisps are not a big problem when you still have your buffs on. Rest more often, and you'll be fine.
We finished the spider invasion and helped Kaessi. After killing another monster for Amiri, the group reached the 8th level. 8th level. Before the Baldhill event was truly over.
I enjoyed using new spells (such as Fear) against Greater Enraged Owlbears and the Scythe Tree. It was fun to see several rays by one Scorching Ray cast inflicting sneak damage. No death doors, yay.
Also, Amiri got 6 hits in one second. You just love to see it.
Party lvl: 8
Death Doors: 13
Deaths: 0
Combat Reloads: 0
Comments
Here's where you can find what attribute affects each advisor type.
https://pathfinderkingmaker.gamepedia.com/Advisors
Don't scroll past the positions if you don't want spoilers about where to find the advisors.
I am playing with a party, and allowing myself 1 merc because, well.. the companions don't have the greatest stats/feat choices. Valerie is the big exception ofcourse, she's my favourite companion for this kind of run as she's always solid and has so many different ways to build her. Anyway, I'll be streaming on twitch and youtube if you guys are interested! I will always attribute the builds I use to the creators of them, if applicable. I will also be making some build videos of my own down the line!
youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpu3uNHVegvNUlLPplaFfg
I suggest youtube as it has better quality!
Happy hunting and try to avoid rolling that 1!
As usual, I don't like "dungeons & kobolds" low level, so I put on story mode for the ch 1 till Stag Lord and face him with circle 4 magic. Only started the "no reload" run on chapter 2. Animate dead on Call of the Wild works differently and more like P&P which I loved. Call of the Wild also adds some new spells like Stop Time, Freezing Sphere and so on. Was a very cool run to variate things and I also created a Draconic companion druid.
Only had to reload when Played with Amiri, since no XP share and an at moment after the Pitax tournament.
The aim is to minimize combat reloads to the minimum and count deaths (or death doors).
Meet Lucia, a human Eldritch Scoundrel.
Difficulty settings I'm playing at.
I multiclassed the companions a bit, leaving only Harrim and Octavia without changes.
I have to admit, new classes and their feats - so far - really change how the game feels, how long the fights last, how hard it is. Here, a party which just recently reached the 3rd level, handled the worg pack without any problems.
But before that, our first Death Door - it happened because the Tremendous Centipede's Poison reduced Regongar's DEX to 0.
We were careful during the rest of that cave's encounters, though.
Tartuk was an interesting fight - I tried a strategy I developed myself: Expeditious Retreat on the main (pre-buff), quick run to the mage/archer, attack or a sneak attack (due to a really high Initiative, thanks to DEX and +4 Initiative feat) and then another attack of opportunity. Amiri's reach weapon + Octavia's sneak shots supported this attempt. Tartuk died, he hasn't even finished the very first casting of his infamous fireballs.
So, the ambush. The plan was to use a wand of True Strike by both Octavia and the main character, tossing it around, while Valerie held the line and kept healing.
I'm so fond of the Eldritch Scoundrel subclass. I read a lot of bad criticism about the subclass around the net, but I wouldn't swap magic buffs and Use Magic Device for more stable damage from sneak attacks. These buffs help with survivability a lot - for example, Invisibility (so far, "Vanish") spells.
I wouldn't recommend handling them on lvl 4 if you're playing without reloads, but this is a min-reload run and I felt ready to experiment. The dice smiled upon me.
The next Death Door involved Regongar during the Silent Pack encounter, but other than that, the party did alright.
I try to limit resting in the capital (or Oleg's trading post), so I continued to the Boggards' area with the Death Door status.
Common boggards were a bit troublesome and Octavia suffered. These additional risks (of losing Octavia and Reg and thus needing to spend a lot of cash) made me play more cautiously.
So I proceeded anyway and enjoyed finally using the Web spell by Octavia (a specialized spell for her). When the big boss could get out of webs, Grease (a specialized spell for Regongar) kicked in. Amiri got a very huge crit here. Harrim also got a spotlight with his Boneshaker.
I've been enjoying the extend and reach rods (extend for spells like Enlarge/Reduce Person and Blur, reach allows Reg to Shock Touch enemies from afar, or, for example, cast Grease from a longer distance), and touch spells by my rogue. I found out touch spells work as sneak attacks when she hits.
I've cleared all the side areas and I'm ready to go for the Stag Lord now (still have 45 days on the timer left).
Party lvl: 5
Death Doors: 7
Deaths: 0
Combat Reloads: 0
Oh, for the owlbear - I decided to roll with the dice. I couldn't calm it down but Lucia quietly finished the poor animal without any pain.
Lake Silverstep Village provided what I would call the first serious challenge for the party: nereids, hydras and just other enemies there can quickly send your characters flying. Amiri got the Death Door status fighting one of the first nymphs.
We witnessed the biggest crit damage yet from an enemy:
Lucia tried to cast Vanish there - lesson learned, from now she'll be using a wand or a potion for that purpose.
That said, the cyclop himself wasn't a big threat, and a horde of the undead (thanks to the empower rod) dealt with it.
If there was a hard fight, then it was a fight against a nereid. We used everything we could, and in the end, Regongar, under the Vanish from the wand, kited the enemy water elemental (with Acrobatics + Haste), and everyone used potions of Enlarge/Reduce Person.
Our first "dragon" wasn't difficult. The undead horde handled its first attacks and we quickly finished him off.
Party lvl: 6
Death Doors: 9
Deaths: 0
Combat Reloads: 0
Core Rules
Minimal Reloads
The Episodes:
Pathfinder: Kingmaker
DM Wyvern Plays Pathfinder: Kingmaker (Imperial Edition) - Episode 4
DM Wyvern Plays Pathfinder: Kingmaker (Imperial Edition) - Episode 3
DM Wyvern Streams Pathfinder: Kingmaker (Imperial Edition) - Episode 2!
DM Wyvern Plays Pathfinder: Kingmaker (Imperial Edition) - Episode 1!
Of course, it wasn't easy. I would say that I risked a reload in the fight vs Torpor The Great Nightmare. I would name these factors key for the encounter:
- the first sneak attack from stealth with True Strike by Lucia (with a ranged weapon) inflicted Bewildering Injury;
- the undead summons distracted the horse for 1 round;
- Magic Missile spam by Regongar and Octavia;
- True Strike (Reg's Magus spells) and then devastating damage with a two-handed weapon;
- disabling fighting defensively for Valerie.
The horse still got Lucia with its insane fire damage but we won.
A Poisonous Giant Flytrap (960 XP compared to Torpor's 240!) was much easier. Amiri got a nice crit for 92 damage!
The spider mine wasn't dangerous, we just had to be careful around not getting Lucia poisoned.
A lonely Ancient Wyvern brought us the much-needed 7th level (and thus lvl 4 spells for Harrim).
Now I finally felt confident regarding dealing with high-level enemies in the Lonely Barrow.
Party lvl: 7
Death Doors: 10
Deaths: 0
Combat Reloads: 0
I used all the summons I could before the battle, hasted them during Round 1 in combat. The Grease you can see on the screenshots also was pre-casted before the combat. Unfortunately, it didn't work.
I knew I couldn't use magic during the fight (or it would have activated its teleporting, and sayonara my casters) and we just persisted until the end, losing summons, then losing party members. In the very end, our damage just barely - I would say barely-ish - outscored theirs. Reg's orcish trait to last 1 extra round after getting to 0 health really helped here. I can't see how I could do this fight, say, with a wizard as the main character, at this stage of the game.
Party lvl: 7
Death Doors: 13
Deaths: 0
Combat Reloads: 0
We finished the spider invasion and helped Kaessi. After killing another monster for Amiri, the group reached the 8th level. 8th level. Before the Baldhill event was truly over.
I enjoyed using new spells (such as Fear) against Greater Enraged Owlbears and the Scythe Tree. It was fun to see several rays by one Scorching Ray cast inflicting sneak damage. No death doors, yay.
Also, Amiri got 6 hits in one second. You just love to see it.
Party lvl: 8
Death Doors: 13
Deaths: 0
Combat Reloads: 0
Wish you would record video / stream your LP!
Catch the rest of the Let's Play here:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1177888/#Comment_1177888