Pathfinder: Kingmaker

They fixed Trickster Persuasion 3 Trick so that the enemies’ self Coup de Gras attempt takes a whole round instead of happening at the start of battle.

So it is slightly less ridiculous.

Looking at the patch, yeah blaster casters got hit hard, and this kinda sucks coz they never were that great anyway.

Looking up the new archtypes, the new Witch archtype Hag of Gyronna seems...kind of busted?

Mainly because of that Hag Crony. Apparently it can cast any of its spells an unlimited number of times...including Haste. Meaning if you have a Hag of Gyronna in the party you'll have access to Haste all the time.

OTOH, I don't really like the Witch class in general. So even this might not be enough to make me want to start a Witch playthrough. Maybe a merc Witch.

Edited by M84 on Dec 4th 2023 at 5:30:46 PM

Alright, downloaded Lord of Nothing and completed a playthrough of the standalone campaign.

I gotta say, I enjoyed this one a lot more than Through the Ashes. The enemy encounters, barring that first bullshit fight, are overall more forgiving. It helps that your party is also getting into midgame power territory. You're not Mythic of course, but you're becoming a viable party. You also get experience from fights, though most of your exp will still come from completing quests.

Penta's great. Both from a character perspective and from a gameplay perspective. The main game didn't have a Bard story companion, so that's one thing Lord of Nothing has over it.

Another way this DLC is better than Through the Ashes was the greater enemy variety. While Through the Ashes pitted you against the same demon mobs the main game pitted you against, Lord of Nothing has you facing brand new foes.

I also respecced my main to play around with one of the new archtypes, the Hunter's Tandem Executioner. My brief experience with this class makes me almost want to start a main playthrough with it. It was that good. Seriously, who needs spells — the Tandem Executioner maximizes the benefits of the class' most powerful feature (namely your pet).

And I haven't even gotten to whatever this stuff unlocks in the main game yet!

So. Yeah. I recommend this DLC.

Edited by M84 on Dec 17th 2023 at 10:13:18 PM

Owlcat making the rounds because one of their position opening mentions using AI to design their concept art.

After a long break, I finished my Trickster / Demonslayer Ranger run and started what will be an Aeon / Sohei Monk run.

It's startling how much easier the prologue and Act I are when you get a horse right from level 1. You move further, have more attacks and attacks of opportunity, have an easier time dodging and tanking damage...too bad Ki powers kind of suck.

Haven't been able to play much lately, but I'm in Act III of my Aeon / Sohei Monk run. Overall it's been fairly smooth. I'm still only at Mythic Rank 3, but I'm already liking Aeon a lot. Attack Gaze is an incredibly useful if simple effect — buffing your party's Attack rolls while potentially debuffing your enemies' Attack rolls for a whole combat? Yes, please.

The only issue is an RP issue. Turns out being true to the ways of the Aeon means being a bit of a ruthless asshole. You're like a fantasy Judge Dredd.

Almost done with Act III of my Aeon run. One thing I did differently this time was actually make a mercenary character. I went with a Skald since I've heard good things about it and wanted to see what it was like.

Totally different as it turns out. The power boost a Skald can grant your entire party with Beast Totem Rage power is ridiculous. Giving all of them Pounce on Charge is a major gamechanger. Even the loss of spellcasting doesn't matter much. My Skald isn't a slouch in melee combat too since I built her to make good use of the Gravesinger Greataxe.

I built a merc since I already spoiled myself on a certain character leaving for good in the Aeon Path, and I wanted a similar party member who could the same role if not better.

Played as Aeon to Devil and have fun. Pathfinder games are probably my favourite new cRPGs.

Almost done with Act IV on my Aeon run. Decided to build a Brown-Fur Transmuter Arcanist mercenary to see how good a buffer the class really is. Turns out, pretty good.

It's too bad there's not enough room in my party for my preferred Companions, a Skald, and a Brown-Fur Transmuter.

Alright, been a couple days, so a double post isn't too disruptive.

Finished Act IV and completed the Mythic transformation (ie got to Mythic Rank 9) for my Aeon Commander.

It's startling just how much more powerful the Aeon becomes once they get Perpetual Gaze (no more daily limit to Gaze use) and their Aeon Bane becomes better at damage dealing and dispelling. I still think the Merged Angel was more powerful, but seeing the Aeon Commander charge into battle tearing through an entire enemy party by themselves is pretty cathartic.

Heck, the hardest part of the Baphomet fight at the end of Act IV was not beating him before one of the other party members had a chance to fire a Midnight Bolt at him.

Oh, and the optional boss fight with Mephistopheles was also really easy thanks again to Aeon Bane. The boss didn't even get to act before my party finished him off. Just like with my Azata run, this fight netted me so much I hit level 20. So now I get to play around in most of Act V with a nearly maxed out party at level 20 and Mythic Rank 9.

Edit: I also got the achievement to unlock Devil Path without really meaning to do it. I just had to pass a 52(!) Diplomacy check. Sosiel helped with that. But I reloaded after getting it since I still wanted to do the Aeon run and I hadn't built up a character who can make full use of Devil.

Edit 2: Also decided to start a new run. Finally doing an Evil run. Going for a Lich Wizard.

Edited by M84 on Apr 22nd 2024 at 9:49:25 PM

Another couple of days, another update.

So I put my Aeon run on hold for a bit since I've already gotten to level 20 and Mythic rank 9. Right now I'm trying to get through the early game of my Wizard Lich run, at least until the point I actually become a Lich.

It's quite a different experience doing an Evil run. Instead of Lann, I picked Wenduag for example. I'm also treating Seelah worse too.

But geez, Wizard's a pain to use as a starting character. The cantrips suck and the spell slots at the start are too few. Sure, Grease makes most encounters easy, but I have so few spare slots to actually cast it. Still, I know the payoff later is good.

I've gotten through the prologue and am in Act I. I finally realized I should do Woljif's quest asap before even going to the marketplace. The quest has no mandatory combat encounters, offers a decent chunk of exp for that level, a decent bit of gold if you have enough Perception, and on the way you get Finnean. There are a couple encounters in the Marketplace that are extremely difficult without a Cold Iron Ghost-Touched +1 weapon like Finnean.

Edited by M84 on Apr 23rd 2024 at 11:46:18 PM

Currently on Act 2 of my Wizard / soon-to-be-Lich run.

Right now I just finished the Leper's Smile area. I gotta say, using a Wenduag Child of the Manticore Shifter equipped with the Swarmbane Clasp made the whole area much easier. Unlike with Ulbrig who has to get close to the swarms to attack them — thus running the risk of being confused — Wenduag can keep some distance. And those spikes deal a ton of damage to the swarms. It also helped that I had several party members who could cast Unbreakable Heart a bunch of times.

Oddly enough, my least favorite bit of this run right now is my main character. All I've been doing with him for the most part is spamming CC spells like Grease while buffing the party with Haste. It's effective, but it's not that interesting to actually play.

I never liked using Nenio much in my previous runs, but I am having an even harder time finding reasons to use her in this one since my main is a Wizard and has all of the Knowledge and Lore skills.

And I'm now a Lich.

The jump between a plain old Wizard / Eldritch Knight to Lich Wizard / Eldritch Knight is something else. Heck, just Vampiric Blade alone has made my Knight Commander a much more potent combatant. Exsanguinate is great too, though admittedly Angel's Bolt of Justice is more powerful. The False Grace and Bone Shield spells plus Vampiric Blade make my Lich so tanky he doesn't even need a pet mount like most of my previous builds. A good thing too, since Wizards don't have an archetype that grants a pet.

I almost don't want to go back to my Aeon run yet so I can keep playing around with Lich some more. Maybe I'll finish Act III before going back to Aeon.

Edit:

During the Battle of Drezen, I did the Evil thing and unleashed vescavors on the city. I can't say I recommend it unless you're trying to unlock Swarm-That-Walks. Sure it gets rid of some of the enemy encounters. But it replaces them with vescavor swarms. Which in some ways could be even more annoying, especially if your party doesn't have anyone with Unbreakable Heart ready.

Edited by M84 on May 1st 2024 at 11:23:15 PM

And that's Act III done. So far it's been the easiest Midnight Fane run yet. Funny how turning your whole party undead whether it's through using undead companions or the Blessing of Unlife trivializes so much annoying shit in the Fane.

Those damn crystals that spam stunning effects? Not a problem.

The Coloxus who spam Mind Fog? Not a problem.

The Nabasu and Bodaks and the demons whose name I forgot that spam Enervation and a certain bonus boss who inflict Level Drain and Ability Damage effects? Not a problem.

That certain secret room full of swarms that cause confusion and insanity just by being near you? Not a problem.

Healing isn't an issue either, between having two members who can Channel Negative Energy (my main with Dance Macabre and Staunton Vane) and having several of my main party members learn Mass Inflict Wounds spells and Harm.

And now I'm making excuses to continue in Act IV just a bit longer even though I still haven't finished my Aeon run yet. What can I say, Lich is just that fun to play.

Edited by M84 on May 9th 2024 at 10:46:01 PM

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1184370/view/4201372129464233507

Are product pages like Steam allowed to be posted here? In any event, the final DLC for Wrath of the Righteous, A Dance of Masks, will be released on June 13. In addition to having a new quest line focused on returning to Kenabres in a later chapter, there's more content for each companion & extra for your love interest, an arena where you fight more mythic enemies, a new weapon type, the ability to switch between one-handed & two-handed grips for weapons, and 11 more new class archetypes. After June 13, I'll need to redo my Rageshaper Azata & Vanilla Fighter Lich runs and start doing the other mythic paths. It also means I'll need to do the new Kenabres quest 1st before I kill off Regill & Camelia in Act 4.

Edited by KRider on May 9th 2024 at 8:27:09 AM

Geez, that's a lot of content. Maybe I'll do a fresh Azata run for it. I'll wait and see what the new archtypes are.

I wasn't really sure what I was doing with my first Azata run, since it was my first run period. In particular I made a melee Azata build, meaning I didn't make the best use of Zippy and Favorable Magic.

Alternatively, maybe I could finally do a Demon Path run instead.

Edited by M84 on May 10th 2024 at 12:00:14 AM

It's the new archetypes that I'm waiting for the most. Lord of Nothing also had 11 archetypes on top of its quest content so that's a lot of builds or themes to think of. Hopefully there's a new fighter archetype that keeps Armor Training for when I redo my fighter lich.

I'm currently doing a Fighter-Mage Lich build too, following one I found online. About the only issue was needing to take Eldritch Knight levels, since the first level of it doesn't progress your spell levels. But the better base attack bonus is pretty much necessary if you want to run a fighter mage. Besides, the Lich's Merged spellbook and Dark Rites special ability more than make up for losing one level of spellcasting progression.

Still, definitely looking forward to the moment I hit spell level 25, since that's when it's possible to use Extend Rods and the Greater Enduring Spells mythic ability to make one round per level buffing spells into 24 hour buffing spells. Particularly Haste.

What also got me wondering for Dance of Masks is whether the extra dialog only applies to your living party members (w/c is most likely) or do the Lich's undead party members get extra dialog too, especially Kestoglyr as it feels like there's more to him compared to Staunton, Delamere and Ciar. He even has extra dialog w/ the ghost in Baphomet's Labyrinth in Act 5.

The Graveguard in general don't get much extra dialogue.

Which admittedly is fitting. They're undead slaves. The Lich Commander raised them to fight, not banter.

It ties into the whole theme of the Lich Path: the Knight Commander is becoming something increasingly cold and detached from the living, uninterested in "petty" things like idle conversation.

True. W/c made my Knight Commander Lich funny as I roleplayed his alignment as True Neutral & the clashing tones between his ending page, Woljif's & Daeran's good endings that I got w/c resulted in the image of an aasimar & a tiefling going into pub crawls w/ a death knight.

Oh, my Lich Commander is fairly decent to his party companions too. He's not an asshole, just detached and uncaring about crossing moral lines. Though I do rp being harsher towards Seelah and using her less in the party.

I mean, I'm not roleplaying Order of the Stick's Xykon here — my Lich started out as a Wizard, not a Sorcerer.

The one time my Lich Commander was a jerk, it was because you need to be a jerk to recruit a certain Graveguard.

Edited by M84 on May 10th 2024 at 12:48:12 AM

Excellent, I've had a playthrough on hold in the Abyss for a few months now, waiting on the last DLC. Gonna enjoy this.

Almost done with Act IV on my Lich playthrough. Geez, at this rate I might just catch up to my Aeon playthrough soon. But I just reached another threshold of power for my party.

See, I've finally gotten to a point where it's possible to make 1 round / level duration buffs into 24 hour buffs. My combined caster level is 22, the Lich's Darkest Rites ability adds 2 more caster levels, and the Arcane Exploit Potent Magic I got as an Exploiter Wizard lets me add 2 more caster levels to up to 5 spells. I've also got 2 Lesser Extend Rods and 2 regular Extend Rods.

So right now I can boost up to 5 such spells. Right now I've got a 24 hour Haste on my whole party and 24 hour Greater Invisibility and Divine Power (stolen Cleric Secret via Loremaster) on my Lich Commander. Once I get the Robe of the Seven Sins from the Treasures of the Midnight Isles content, I won't even need the Potent Magic exploits either.

Still, I think I'll get back to finishing up the Aeon run after I finish up the Treasures of Midnight Isles stuff in Act IV for Lich.

Edited by M84 on May 13th 2024 at 4:53:51 PM