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Incline Age of Decadence - Tips, Tricks and Spoilers

Kem0sabe

Arcane
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
13,076
Location
Azores Islands
We should have a place to discuss spoilers, quest solutions, etc.

Question about the Aurelian outpost and possible approaches for a Praetor, the quest log makes mention of a loremaster and a fine robe as a means of getting inside, maybe non violently. Anyone know if this works or not? the lore master robe from the vendor in town doesnt seem to work to this effect.
 

veevoir

Klytus, I'm bored
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Jan 15, 2015
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Riding the train, high on cocaine
Shadorwun: Hong Kong BattleTech
You need loremaster robe, not a fine one. It is also good to be prepared for questions - I believe earlier quest gives you an opportunity to get impersonation intel from an actual loremaster... if you play your cards right.

Still, get a 2h axe, poision the fucks and go full lumberjack on them.
Worked fine in beta. Not the best political outcome though.
 

Drowed

Arcane
Joined
Dec 28, 2011
Messages
1,676
Location
Core City
I'm starting a loremaster playthrough now. (My last save was a mercenary/fighter.)

So... Wich guild/path should I choose to have good use of Lore/Persuasion/Etiquette?
 

Drowed

Arcane
Joined
Dec 28, 2011
Messages
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Location
Core City
I think it kind of depends of what you want out of the game. For starters, are you going for a fighter or a talker?
 

Goral

Arcane
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The Real Fanboy
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May 4, 2008
Messages
3,552
Location
Poland
I would say start with training and then choose Imperial Guard and go the full-combat route. You will learn a lot about the game this way which will also help you once you switch from a cold weapon to persuasion and manipulation.
 

t

Arcane
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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
I'd say either mercenary/full combat meaning no points into int/cha and a really heavy emphasis on one weapon skill and dodge/block. Or the full talker, focusing on the 3-4 skills from the faction you choose.
 

Jaedar

Arcane
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Project: Eternity Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pathfinder: Kingmaker
So I have a breather apparatus, but it needs to be charged. I also have a "large module" which seems like it should be able to charge it. But I can't do it.
What gives?

I need it to explore the abyss. Is it just wrong size? Do I need AAA battery and not AA?
 

Elhoim

Iron Tower Studio
Developer
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Oct 27, 2006
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2,878
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San Isidro, Argentina
So I have a breather apparatus, but it needs to be charged. I also have a "large module" which seems like it should be able to charge it. But I can't do it.
What gives?

I need it to explore the abyss. Is it just wrong size? Do I need AAA battery and not AA?

Wrong size, use the small ones like the one at the mine.
 

Jaedar

Arcane
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Project: Eternity Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pathfinder: Kingmaker
There are others, for example you can get 3 of them (I think) from the sewers in the slums, with the right skills.
I see.

Unfortunately, I need to buy a second glove of the dude in the pass before he sold me two of his. I haven't found the sewer entrance. The dude in the slums want 1000 gold to pass. I don't have that kind of money (any more).
 

Kem0sabe

Arcane
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Mar 7, 2011
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Location
Azores Islands
I see.

Unfortunately, I need to buy a second glove of the dude in the pass before he sold me two of his. I haven't found the sewer entrance. The dude in the slums want 1000 gold to pass. I don't have that kind of money (any more).
You access the sewers through a well in the slums, there a guy next to it who wants to do a deal with you.
 

JudasIscariot

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IV Republic of Polandia
Serpent in the Staglands Codex USB, 2014
I think it kind of depends of what you want out of the game. For starters, are you going for a fighter or a talker?

I'd like to play a stalker/sneaky character with minimal amounts of combat. I like the CYOA assassin segments when I can kill dudes with Critical Strike although I find myself in more combat situations than I'd like but I think that's just my curiosity getting the better of me :D
 

Jaesun

Fabulous Ex-Moderator
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MCA
I assume the Loremaster is a more talky and slight fighter? And a Merchant would be all non combat (you will need to back this up with lots of non-combat alternative skills)? And also I'd assume the Merchant would be the most dialogue heavy (of which I like, I'm a gigantic story fag).
 

t

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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
There are four guilds, commercium, imperial guards, forty thieves and boatmen of styx. As a loremaster you don't start in any of them, so you can be a pure talker and join commercium or a pure fighter and join imperial guards. Probably it's easiest to treat loremaster as a talker for starters.

Oh and there are three other "guilds" -- noble houses. So just pick your poison :)
 

Jaedar

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Project: Eternity Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pathfinder: Kingmaker
I assume the Loremaster is a more talky and slight fighter? And a Merchant would be all non combat (you will need to back this up with lots of non-combat alternative skills)? And also I'd assume the Merchant would be the most dialogue heavy (of which I like, I'm a gigantic story fag).
Lore master can join any guild I think. You may have to kill some fools before the assassins want you though.
 

Kem0sabe

Arcane
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Mar 7, 2011
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13,076
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Azores Islands
This game looks awesome. Goes to show what codexers can do with some duct-tape and bubble gum... and years upon years of development time :smug:

2015_10_14_00001.jpg


2015_10_14_00004.jpg


2015_10_14_00007.jpg


2015_10_14_00008.jpg
 
Last edited:

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Some quick stuff:

Merchant and Mercenary are good first-time picks.
Merchant is the most straightforwardly 'predictable' talker faction in Teron, whereas the Thief, for example, has many different ways to solve quests so people can get a bit lost vis-a-vis skills. Mercenary is the easiest to go full fighter and beat shit up and not die too many times doing it.

Start specialised then branch out. Even if you start out with 4 STR/CON and most of your points on noncombat skills, once you get the hang of things, and especially as you get to late Teron / Maadoran, you'll be able to start investing in the gear and skills to make yourself not entirely useless at combat, and vice versa. In contrast, if your very first character wants to do a little of everything, he will. Sadly, just like in real life, being a little bit talented at shooting guns and a little bit at sneaking will result in dead yous.

What can you expect from each 'class'? Thief, Assassin, Merchant, Praetor and Mercenary begin 'in' their own faction in Teron, although you get opportunities to backstab/etc.
  • As a merchant, expect to talk a lot. Persuasion, Etiquette, Streetwise often go together; Trading does get used in conversations. But other skills will also have their uses.
  • As an assassin, you have multiple means of taking out your target. You can go full combat; you can focus on sneak and critical strike to succeed in in-dialogue backstabs, and maybe support that with skills in Impersonate and Streetwise for infiltration.
  • Praetor again supports everything from a full blown talker - e.g. with lots of Etiquette and Persuade - silvertonguing his/her way through the elite - to the full blown fighter.
  • Mercenaries tend to be fighter-oriented and will be easiest that way, though this isn't necessary. Most predictable builds would focus on combat, alchemy and crafting, maybe some streetwise.
  • Thieves get a lot of options, which cater to burglar thieves (Lockpick/Sneak/Steal often work in tandem here), combat thieves, and even talker thieves (Impersonate/Streetwise with some burglar skills). Any such grouping would ensure that your thief survives Teron in some way. Probably.
Grifter, drifter and loremaster begin a little more flexibly, and are open to many combinations. Keep in mind, of course, that most characters will end up working with the factions outlined above.
To be extra clear: every background can support everything from the most talky to the most fighty. But if you're just starting out, that's my suggestion of the most predictably survivable options.

How to assign attributes? It is not easy to increase your attributes later, so choose carefully. The HP you start with as a result of your CON is basically your HP, for example. Some tips:
  • STR is important, because many heavily armoured enemies will have enough DR to threaten even an axe-wielding fighter (axes having the most pure damage output). It is not uncommon for, say, a low-STR dagger-wielding thief to discover that his high DEX/PER allows him to hit the armoured centurion 4 times a turn, but he's doing 1 damage a turn because of the DR. So think about how much you want to be fighting; what weapon you will be wielding; and whether you have other ways of bypassing DR (e.g. hammers' special ability is to reduce DR may mean you are OK with 4 STR).
  • DEX is very important for the obvious reason: AP. In this case it might help you to know the typical AP spread of your weapon type. E.g. if you want to wield the largest two-handed hammer types, consider that a normal attack is 6AP (meaning fast=5, power=7). So you might want to try and hit 11AP rather than 10. This is important with bows/crossbows due to reloading; e.g. with a hand crossbow, a normal shot is 2AP and reloading is 3AP, so you might want 10AP rather than 9. Keep in mind every weapon type has multiple subtypes with different AP spread, of course. Dexterity is also used quite frequently in conversations, e.g. for running away.
  • CON is dump-able, but that depends, just like STR. You will generally be dodge-fighter or block-fighter (see below). A dodge-fighter relies on getting hit very infrequently. If you go all out on pumping your dodge, you might get into fights where they hit you only ~20% of the time. Block fighters can rely on heavy armour and shield to mitigate damage. You will have to decide how much you are going to focus on these defensive skills, and how far the extra HP gets you. Just personally, I tend to put CON up with blocks and down with dodges; if a dodge dude, lightly armed, is getting hit frequently, then he's not going to survive very long anyway.
  • PER is very important, because AOD is a bit stingy with THC (to-hit chance). Now, THC is also dependent strongly on your weapon skill. In any case, it's not infrequent to get into fights and see that you have sub-50% THC, hovering over an enemy, even with decent PER. So your decision here depends on how much you'll invest in your weapon skill; whether you're going for 'swing many times' or 'swing few times for big damage' tactics; etc. Perception is also used quite a lot in dialogues, e.g. to spot hidden things in the environment.
  • INT is important for everyone, but especially for talkers, because (1) there are many INT checks in dialogue especially when you want to pull a fast one, (2) it controls your skill point gain, and talkers tend to need more skill points because they need to invest into quite a few different skills.
  • CHA is not a dump stat. (Well, none of these are.) Charisma is often checked alongside persuasion, streetwise, etc., so if you want to be a talker you do want to have high charisma as support.
Dodge vs. Block. Choose one. Anybody who is going to get in a fight will need one of those two. Nobody really needs both. Why? Dodge is about wearing light armour and not getting hit, because heavier armour has "Armour Penalty' (which is actually a penalty to your dodge). Lighter armour have very low DR. So you don't want to get hit. Block is about getting hit, but reducing the damage. You'll usually go with heavy armour and a shield; you can't dodge for shit, but you might find that they hit you for 8 damage and you have 9 DR. It's generally inadvisable to combine these. (Corollary: that means two-handed weapons, light armour and dodge typically go together. Not always, but typically.) So you can see that picking one at the start is important for your gear choices, other skill choices, and your fight strategy. A block fighter will sometimes charge into the fray, and even if his one-handed sword isn't doing a whole lot, his allies (you do fight with allies a fair bit in AOD) will take the enemies down. A dodge fighter might do the opposite.

Finally, I am pretty sure I don't need to tell Codexers this, but pick your fights. Almost every fight in Teron is avoidable. For some, every fight is avoidable. Sometimes, non-combat solutions get you a similar level of rewards. Sometimes, that might mean leaving a quest unsolved... because hey, you can't fix all the problems in the world. Maybe another version of you, rolled in some alternate universe, could.
 

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