Pathfinder Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition - now with turn-based combat

[Desiderius]

That insane wizard is such a pushover.

Imagine how much harder he would be if he had some pre-buffs and a quickened good spell ready.

Well, if you trigger the hard to Perceive trap then he gets off his big Summon (4 or 5 Axiomites) while you're dealing with the trap (remember, he's invisible himself, it took See Invis to spot him) shit can get real very fast, especially if you try to retreat into the side rooms which are protected by traps which are even harder to Perceive.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

That insane wizard is such a pushover.

Imagine how much harder he would be if he had some pre-buffs and a quickened good spell ready.

the reason the 'difficulty' in this game is just insane stat bloat is because there's no real combat AI to speak of
kind of sad that a mod for a 22 year old game is so much better

 

[Desiderius]

Getting ready for Unfair Ancient Soul Eaters in Shivering Glade:

Crusader's Edge and Holy Lance (Tristian's second ability for Good Domain) stack, giving him +4 to hit and + 4d6 DR-bypassing damage. Unfortunately only on his Bite.

Having two Clerics (Tristian for his quest, Harrim for his bonus vs Giants, the extra Necromancy DC given by Rod of Undeath to many of his best spells, and the damage boost of Destructive Aura) has it's advantages. Mobs have to save against two Archon's Auras or get -2 atks/saves/AC/dam.

Pets make pretty good tanks if you feed them their buffs. Especially Val's pet Displacer Beast. Melee on top, ranged/casters below, summons to deal with two of the four Ancient Soul Eaters.

Crusader's Edge Sickens Evil Outsiders even if they make their save, while giving you +2 to hit/+2d6 DR-bypassing damage against them.

You can see the Force damage from Edge and the Holy from Lance stacking here. Edge is min/lvl. Fatigue is from making its save on Harrim's Boneshatter, failing save = Exhaustion. Spells that give you something even on a made save are good.

Harrim will be a very good tank vs Zombie Giants, but he's vulnerable vs Soul Eaters. On the other hand he has a very high Fortitude save against their drain ability and the debuffs this team applies help keep him alive in the thick of battle. Linzi doing decent damage thanks to Shatter Defenses and Sense Vitals hitting 4 Sneaks. Important to note that Soul Eaters are not Undead and thus not immune to Fear/Shaken. Dirge + Shatter = key to getting attacks past their reasonably high AC. Leading her off with casting Slow was a poor decision since it's Transmutation and she's wearing mind-affecting/Enchantment buffing gear.

Here's where MC Grenadier really shines. Ain't nothing in VTomb immune from the Curse Bomb and he's coming with a 28 DC. Effectively -8 to all stats.

Well was hoping to demonstrate what happens when they fail a Crusader's Edge save (Nauseated for 1d4 rounds) but -10 wasn't quite enough. You can see here the reward for this fight. Big convenience booster.

 

[LannTheStupid]

the reason the 'difficulty' in this game is just insane stat bloat is because there's no real combat AI to speak of
kind of sad that a mod for a 22 year old game is so much better

You're welcome to make a new SCS for Pathfinder: Kingmaker. If even the TB mod exists then all the tools are there. So... you've started coding already, right?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

the reason the 'difficulty' in this game is just insane stat bloat is because there's no real combat AI to speak of
kind of sad that a mod for a 22 year old game is so much better

You're welcome to make a new SCS for Pathfinder: Kingmaker. If even the TB mod exists then all the tools are there. So... you've started coding already, right?

How dare I expect a developer to actually fully develop a game

 

[LannTheStupid]

How dare I expect a developer to actually fully develop a game

You do not expect it from the developers of Baldur's Gate 2, either.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

How dare I expect a developer to actually fully develop a game

You do not expect it from the developers of Baldur's Gate 2. What do you want from the Owlcat?

I want a game made in 2018 to have better AI than a game made in 1998.

 

[Desiderius]

That insane wizard is such a pushover.

Imagine how much harder he would be if he had some pre-buffs and a quickened good spell ready.

the reason the 'difficulty' in this game is just insane stat bloat is because there's no real combat AI to speak of
kind of sad that a mod for a 22 year old game is so much better

Stats are neither bloated not insane. Later wizards have some pre-buffs and Quickened Spells, but the encounter here is designed around the very high level traps and his Invisibility. He's intended to summon a high level army while you're dicking around with the traps and before you can see him.

 

[Desiderius]

I just spammed the forum with a bunch of attack rolls which would hit on a 2. That can't be true simultaneously with stats being insane.

 

[LannTheStupid]

I want a game made in 2018 to have better AI than a game made in 1998.

Are you sure that without SCS the A.I. in Baldur's Gate 2 is better than in Kingmaker?

I just spammed the forum with a bunch of attack rolls which would hit on a 2. That can't be true simultaneously with stats being insane.

As any true paper towel player will tell you, prebuffing is a sin, and using party force multipliers is a COVID-19 of video games.

 

[Yosharian]

Do animal companions actually receive an Enhancement bonus to their ability scores as they level up? I wonder if casting Bull's Strength even does anything.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I want a game made in 2018 to have better AI than a game made in 1998.

Are you sure that without SCS the A.I. in Baldur's Gate 2 is better than in Kingmaker?

Absolutely.
Do you think it's a coincidence there are no AI scripts for companions?

 

[Desiderius]

Do animal companions actually receive an Enhancement bonus to their ability scores as they level up? I wonder if casting Bull's Strength even does anything.

95% sure yes. The enhancement is to their natural attacks, like a magic weapon. Obsoletes Magic Fang/Greater.

Tested: they do, but it's slow enough that Bull's Strength still does something (2 more STR) and Val's at Feyspeaker 11.

 

[Cryomancer]

I don't think that the IA is that bad. On NWN1, you see undead clerics casting heal on themselves. Wild hunt encounters exploit the sneak attack and a lot of spells and i love it.

 

[Nerevar]

St. Smilodon of the stolen lands single-handedly foiled Vordakais plans with his holy fangs and claws of justice.

 

[Yosharian]

I'm confused by Tristian and his whole Ecclesitheurge thing. If I've understood correctly:

• Ecclesitheurges get a primary domain and a secondary domain, Good and Healing respectively in Tristian's case
• They can prepare any spell from their primary domain's spell list in non-domain slots
  
• They can switch their secondary domain spell list for any other domain's spell list, as long as that domain is one of their deity's domains

From this it follows that Tristian can:

• Prepare any spell from the GOOD domain spell list in his non-domain spell slots
• Switch his HEALING domain spell list for another, such as the FIRE domain spell list

However, this is the GOOD domain spell list:

1. Protection from Evil
2. Protection from Evil, Communal
3. Prayer
4. Forced Repentance
5. Burst of Glory
6. Summon Monster VI
7. Holy Word
8. Holy Aura
9. Summon Monster IX

Can you see the problem? All of these spells, if I'm not mistaken, are already Cleric spells. Therefore, the Ecclesitheurge's ability to prepare spells in non-domain slots is... utterly useless here.

And of course Tristian can obtain the FIRE domain spell list, but he cannot shove those spells into all of his non-domain spell slots because they are from his secondary domain. At least, he shouldn't be able to. Can he?

 

[Desiderius]

I think Forced Repentance is Paladin.

Main thing you get is choice from all your Deity's Domains in your Domain spell slot, where there are usually some clunkers and since Sarenae has Fire you can get some decent nukes to use with your companion quest ability (20 rounds of maximized fire spells). Also get to recover one spell a day like a Sorc/Wiz using Holy Object(?). Touch of Good is a lifesaver if you stay straight Cleric.

But yeah it would be cool to have a primary Domain with some more diverse spells.

 

[Yosharian]

Yes, but can Tristian fill all his 3rd-level spell slots with Fireball, for example? Because according to the rules, he should only be able to use that spell in his Domain slot.

 

[Shadenuat]

You played the game right?

 

[Yosharian]

You played the game right?

I'm at work right now. I was just wondering if someone knew. I never used Tristian before because as soon as I saw how he was built he got instantly trashcanned.

I mean as soon as I get home I can just load up one of my old saves, but there's also the possibility that he might be in a permanently bugged out state since Eccle wasn't fixed til after I stopped playing.

 

[Cryomancer]

Guys, even Jason Bulmahn (the Gigax of Pathfinder) had problem in some encounters. https://youtu.be/TCfFY9JBkLs?t=2092

I had no problem against this Bear using animate dead but as a paladin i belive that the best strategy is drink a potion and run(like he plans to do after being destroyed some times)

 

[Desiderius]

Guys, even Jason Bulmahn (the Gigax of Pathfinder) had problem in some encounters. https://youtu.be/TCfFY9JBkLs?t=2092

I had no problem against this Bear using animate dead but as a paladin i belive that the best strategy is drink a potion and run(like he plans to do after being destroyed some times)

You don't have to run, you can just climb the wall with your high Paladin Athletics. Even if you kill the Bear the Flytrap outside is another level. Can be done, but not intended.

If he liked cRPGs he'd play cRPGs. He's a PnPer at heart. There's a difference. PnPers rely on DMs, cRPGers (these days) end up Googling things but develop more of an intuition than those who can just rely on cues from the DM. You can't expect him to be good at cRPGs, or even minimally competent.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I'm confused by Tristian and his whole Ecclesitheurge thing. If I've understood correctly:

• Ecclesitheurges get a primary domain and a secondary domain, Good and Healing respectively in Tristian's case
• They can prepare any spell from their primary domain's spell list in non-domain slots
  
• They can switch their secondary domain spell list for any other domain's spell list, as long as that domain is one of their deity's domains

From this it follows that Tristian can:

• Prepare any spell from the GOOD domain spell list in his non-domain spell slots
• Switch his HEALING domain spell list for another, such as the FIRE domain spell list

However, this is the GOOD domain spell list:

1. Protection from Evil
2. Protection from Evil, Communal
3. Prayer
4. Forced Repentance
5. Burst of Glory
6. Summon Monster VI
7. Holy Word
8. Holy Aura
9. Summon Monster IX

Can you see the problem? All of these spells, if I'm not mistaken, are already Cleric spells. Therefore, the Ecclesitheurge's ability to prepare spells in non-domain slots is... utterly useless here.

And of course Tristian can obtain the FIRE domain spell list, but he cannot shove those spells into all of his non-domain spell slots because they are from his secondary domain. At least, he shouldn't be able to. Can he?

Tristian's primary domain isn't great for the ecclesitheurge special for using primary domain spells in all slots. Secondary domain swapping isn't implemented exactly but they worked around this by giving you the ability to memorize all domain spells for the diety in the domain slot.

 

[Shadenuat]

If housewife blond romance could throw fireballs at will he probably would have been an autoinclude on every playthrough. As now he's just bestest and easiest to use divine caster with high wish & cha, lotsa heals, lotsa nukes, 2 +BAB buttons, extend spell feat for even more lotsa buffs and nukas and skelingtons and you can even throw him in melee if you dip u know what. And his personal quest gives him special stance that maximises all his flame strikes.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

You played the game right?

I'm at work right now. I was just wondering if someone knew. I never used Tristian before because as soon as I saw how he was built he got instantly trashcanned.

I mean as soon as I get home I can just load up one of my old saves, but there's also the possibility that he might be in a permanently bugged out state since Eccle wasn't fixed til after I stopped playing.

Unless you are heavily optimizing your MC for combat the best choice is just to climb your way out fromt he wall to the side exit.