Eternity Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire + DLC Thread - now with turn-based combat!

[rusty_shackleford]

uhhh I'm pretty sure you're just supposed to go to the VTC HQ during the day and walk in

 

[AwesomeButton]

Hey Rusty, someone asks exactly that question about freeform using of tools on objects in the world in this stream at 19:36: https://m.twitch.tv/videos/119024818

"Thoughts on using adventuring tools ingame to access secrets or alternate paths, point-and-click style?"

 

[Nano]

One on one, or in the audience with the reps?

I know the Prince said I can't meet her again until I complete his task.

But like I said, I already saw the queen during the audience.

Are you sure you didn't feed Pallegina to the blood pool?

 

[TedNugent]

Okay, well, I figured it out, the choices you make in PoE1 don't actually prevent you from getting Pallegina. I just had to choose none of the companions at the Queen's audience and I was able to find her then at the VTC. If you pick Maia, she's not there.

Now I'm going to go make sure I can grab Maia as well.

Ironically, telling them you don't need any help is the only way that you can get both companions, it seems.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Okay, well, I figured it out, the choices you make in PoE1 don't actually prevent you from getting Pallegina. I just had to choose none of the companions at the Queen's audience and I was able to find her then at the VTC. If you pick Maia, she's not there.

Now I'm going to go make sure I can grab Maia as well.

I was able to get both of them in all my playthroughs without issue.

 

[TedNugent]

For whatever reason, when I selected Maia at the court, she wasn't at the VTC. When I told them I didn't need help, she was there. Go figure. I specifically went back to verify.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

I could always pick up Maia at the Rauatai compound and Pallegina in VTC. Dont' know why they bothered making you choose in a first place.

 

[TedNugent]

I could always pick up Maia at the Rauatai compound and Pallegina in VTC. Dont' know why they bothered making you choose in a first place.

To trap you into making a mistake?

Funny thing is, I would've been fine with it being a mutually exclusive choice, it's just odd how they did it.

 

[Haplo]

As far as I remember, I could pick both during the audience.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

It's really odd especially since aside from Eder they're the best companions powergaming wise. Maia is best single target damage dealer and Gina is super versatile, I've played her everywhere, as full tank in the front, as main healer in the middle, and in the backline in the quasi-Bard role supporting Maia with offensive buffs and it always work good.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Yeah but using pallegina requires you to have her in your party so nobody would want to do that.

 

[Lambach]

I've never had a pure cipher in Deadfire and I did fine.

I dunno, I've always found a pure Cipher is something I couldn't live without on PotD. You get a spammable AoE ability that shuts down enemies from using any hostile abilities as early as Character Level 5 (Secret Horrors). No other Class has a level 1 ability that remains extremely helpful even during the final base-game boss fight - just let those giant statues that the Guardian of Ukaizo summons tear each other up by casting Whispers of Treason on one of them over and over, zero resource expenditure from the rest of the party required. They also have the two best single-target damage abilities in the game, ideal for beefy high-armor enemies and bosses alike, Disintegration and Death of 1000 Cuts. Etc. etc.

 

[TedNugent]

Yeah but using pallegina requires you to have her in your party so nobody would want to do that.

Other than her saying Gellarde all the goddamn time, and looking weird, she's actually more tolerable than most of them. I used her in PoE1.

Considering that the Vailians are everywhere in Deadfire and are at least as annoying as Pallegina, it is a minor sin. Plus, she hates Serafen and Tekeha, the two most annoying characters so far. I actually find her inability to wear a hat more annoying than anything else.

 

[Haplo]

I've never had a pure cipher in Deadfire and I did fine.

I dunno, I've always found a pure Cipher is something I couldn't live without on PotD. You get a spammable AoE ability that shuts down enemies from using any hostile abilities as early as Character Level 5 (Secret Horrors). No other Class has a level 1 ability that remains extremely helpful even during the final base-game boss fight - just let those giant statues that the Guardian of Ukaizo summons tear each other up by casting Whispers of Treason on one of them over and over, zero resource expenditure from the rest of the party required. They also have the two best single-target damage abilities in the game, ideal for beefy high-armor enemies and bosses alike, Disintegration and Death of 1000 Cuts. Etc. etc.

Eh, but you can have Whispers from the start regardless (and you harvest Focus faster as a MC). Secret Horrors comes pretty quickly anyway.
You do get Disintegration as a MC also. Though I will give you that waiting for Disintegration, Borrowed Instinct, Mind Plague and Amplified Wave to come online as a MC is painful.

But I'm willing to suffer through it in order to:
1. Have FAR stronger martial presence. For example wield The Seeker's Fang much more proficiently.
2. Harvest Focus much faster.
3. As a Transcendant, have WAY longer durations on all powers, including Disintegration (easily twice the time if you also factor the Forbidden Fist ability) AND aoes (at least until end game - when Shared Nightmare surpasses it). This means short duration powers like Mental Binding are barely worth it on SC, while awesome on a Transcendant
4. Better Penetration and potentially also damage on powers (particularly if Helwalker)
5. Potentially faster casts and/or Recoveries (particularly if going with Streetfighter - personally not a fan; Barbarian is another option) - single class eventually catches and surpasses this with Time Parasite - but again nearly end game.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

For whatever reason, when I selected Maia at the court, she wasn't at the VTC. When I told them I didn't need help, she was there. Go figure. I specifically went back to verify.

Women, am I right or am I right?

 

[TedNugent]

Well, the funny thing about Palladina is that she has about 4 different ways she can ragequit your party mid-game, so yeah, definitely a timebomb.

Yes, Pallegina, I love those goddamn republics. Anything for them.

Why was this bitch so intent on the Dyrwood trade deal if she loves Vailia so much anyway?

Also, a Palabu that hates people talking about their faith.

I've gotten over Xoti, I think she's quiant. Gina is quite a hardass about nonsensical stuff.

 

[Nano]

Why was this bitch so intent on the Dyrwood trade deal if she loves Vailia so much anyway?

All the returning characters from PoE1 are way more uptight in Deadfire. It's annoying.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Optimal party is Watcher - Eder - Maia - Ydwin - FREESPACE. One of the companions I don't hate goes in the last spot(Xoti, typically.)
Never realized how many deadfire companions I strongly dislike. Ydwin because she has a lot of dialogue for a sidekick and is important to the overall narrative.

Really can't believe they didn't make Ydwin a full companion but instead made the gay fish and gay furry companions.
I use the original pillows portraits too, I hate the deadfire portraits. All the returning characters got fat or ugly or fat and ugly.

 

[tripedal]

Really can't believe they didn't make Ydwin a full companion but instead made the gay fish and gay furry companions.

Truly, one of the most bizarre choices in video game development history. Super interesting, highly marketable, ties in with the most interesting aspects of the world...

 

[AwesomeButton]

Something that Sawyer brings up in his retrospective of Deadfire is that they aimed at addressing players' disgruntlement over sidekicks not feeling complete enough, by devoting each DLC to one sidekick. Not only by having the DLC story being relevant to that sidekick, but also by giving him/her more reactivity and conversations outside the DLC, within the base game quests and areas.

Since a companion and a sideckick are differentiated by three things - amount of reactivity, personal quest and character arc, and romance-ability, this DLC treatment takes care of the only one difference that really matters to me.

And TBH if they had turned Ydwin into a cheesy "stuck up scientist discovers and is transformed by true love" story, would that have been any better?

Mirke, the only sidekick without the treatment, was really an NPC which the team really loved so they promoted her to a sidekick (it's mentioned at least twice during pre-release Q&A sessions on their Twitch). Probably that was the most arbitrary choice as opposed to the others who were rather demoted from companions, and that likely was why Mirke was left as she is.

 

[Haplo]

A priest like Xoti is kinda mandatory for me due to Salvation of Time and Devotions of the Faithful.
For some builds, Barring the Death's Door is really good also.

Although I also like Aloth (SC Wizard) or Fassina (Sorceror).

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Sidekicks are okay, they do the job and keep their mouths shut. Stat wise Ydwin is quite decent others not so much.

 

[Yosharian]

It's mandatory to murder Xoti at the nearest available opportunity

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Put this on the backburner bit, so still haven't left the first island. Finished the dungeon/zone where you find Aloth. It was a decent area. While per encounter casts are helping with the mediocrity of wizard spells, I'm not enjoying how the most powerful thing I can do is summon a weapon and fight with it. Not very wizardly. Chillfog is great, but I'm underwhelmed by the synergy it has with Combusting Wounds. Fighting the urge to restart as a Cipher. Thinking maybe compromising by trying a Cipher (Psion) / Wizard hybrid. Not optimal, but I'm trying to eek out an enjoyable caster out of POE's systems. There are some wizard spells that seem interesting and would actually like to use and several that appear as good synergies with cipher spells too.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Moving from per-rest to per-encounter just made most spells feels incredibly underwhelming.
Sawyer can identify problems, but he absolutely sucks at fixing them.

iirc, wizards are terrible for dual-classing. You want to get your higher level spells ASAP, and dual-classing locks you out of your best spells.