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Tryharding through Kingmaker, a guidebook to hell, by Pink Eye.

Pink Eye

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----Work In progress. Will be updated daily, on my own pace. Once the guide is complete I'll get rid of this disclaimer----
The purpose of this guide is to provide information for beating the game on unfair. I will not be going over build optimization. I will be going over each chapter individually. I will also cover kingdom management and ways to optimize it. This will be my first actual guide for Kingmaker, so excuse any mistakes I make.
Prologue:
The prologue area is difficult in early unfair, as early unfair is highly dependent on dice rolls. If your build is having issues, I highly suggest just restarting and trying a different build.
First assassin encounter is scripted for you to win. During the early days of Kingmaker, it wasn't uncommon for spell casters and other squishy characters to get one shot in the very first encounter. Developers rectified this by imposing heavy penalties against the first assassin.
See the following screenshots. The assassin is attempting to attack me with a -3 STR and a -3 attack bonus. In the next screenshot the assassin has a -3 DEX to AC
BRjj1FZ.jpg

rElfznN.jpg

Second assassin encounter can be cheesed easily. Linzi is one of the many abusable invincible NPCs in the Prologue. Simply initiate the fight, walk back, then let her deal with it. However, she will lose this "power" when joining the party, so don't depend on it after the encounter.
qnBm1fl.jpg
After that will be your first actual encounter. Now, this encounter can either make or break your run. Depending on what type of class you started off with, the approach for this encounter would be different. Instead of going over each class and the different tactical approaches, I will instead only focus on my character. My character is a two handed fighter. So I will going over the tactful approaches that a two handed fighter will use in this playthrough.
Before engaging the encounter, it is prudent to be made aware of Linzi and Tartuccio's daze cantrip. The daze cantrip is super effective in the prologue area. It has unlimited uses, and is effective against human enemies.

Now on to the encounter. Tartuccio has magic missile, right click it. Whenever you right click a spell, you are telling the AI to auto cast it, until that spell runs out. Next, select Linzi, then right click the daze cantrip, after that play her bard song. Select Tartuccio and have him target the melee assassin. Select Linzi and have her target the very same target. Grab your main character and have her charge into the melee assassin.
Example:
tOWsZS1.jpg
Depending on how lucky your melee character was on that charge, that assassin should have been one shotted. If not, clench your cheeks, and prepare yourself. Because a lot of missing and whiffing is about to ensue. My character managed to kill the assassin on charge:
7jV26Do.jpg
After the assassin dies, pull your melee character back, then have him charge into the ranged users. Should be a matter of mowing down the remaining two assassins. If you managed to get through this encounter unscathed, congratulations.

Next encounter isn't really a encounter. As Amiri will take care of business. Just sit back and watch. Fun fact, in this specific instance Amiri is benefiting from the unfair difficulty modifier. As she is receiving a +4 to attack rolls. You can abuse this in the last encounter in the prologue area.
See:
q4jIDh6.jpg
After that, the next encounter is a bit tricky. First select your allies, then place them into sneak mode. Make sure Linzi has Daze on auto caste, and make sure Tartuccio has magic missile on auto cast. If Tartuccio ran out of magic missile, no big deal. Just have him auto cast Daze instead. Also make sure Linzi is playing her Bard Song. After you have everything set up, unpause, then jump over. If you're lucky the assassins wouldn't have spotted you, if they did spot you, no big deal.
Example of setting everything up before jumping over:
iVneDHx.jpg

If you did not get caught, you can have your melee user charge into the first assassin that is in proximity to you. If you did get caught just walk over to them like so:
qxL6zge.jpg
Sadly, how this encounter plays out is up to RNG. Just clench them cheeks and pray. Once all that is said and done, you will meet up with Jaethal, she is very important in ensuring you make it through the rest of the area. Her undead state will allow for some cheese later. For now though, we still have two encounters to go before then.

The next encounter after Jaethal is a pain, however it isn't too bad. As by this point you should have access to a scroll of Bless, scroll of Shield of Faith, Jaethal's Divine Favor, and her inquisitor abilities, specifically Justice. Jaethal should also have access to guidance. Prebuff with the listed items and spells, then have Jaethal cast guidance on everyone. Have Linzi play her bard song, if she ran out of bard song, no big deal. Just have her auto cast Daze. Tartuccio should have ran out of magic missiles, if he has, have him auto cast Daze. After you have prebuffed, have Jaethal go forward, bring your melee fighter back, then have him charge. Again since this is unfair, anything can happen. Just clench them cheeks and pray.
Easy peasy:
nGzEYBm.jpg
Ok, and now remains the hardest encounter. The damnable slime fight. By the way, if you need help figuring out the statue puzzle, here is a good way of figuring it out, courtesy of Trashos: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/pkm-rigorous-solution-of-the-statue-puzzle.131037/
Now the slime fight may or may not cause you trouble. It all depends on how lucky you get with them rolls :) Daze won't work on the slime. However, if you solved the statue puzzle successfully, you should have gotten a magic missile wand. Have Tartuccio equip it, then have him auto cast it. This way he can at least be useful. Linzi will just have to use her crossbow. Make sure you prebuff with Guidance and Divine Favor. Afterwards have Jaethal move forward, like so:
qRroN2z.jpg
Then have her fall back. Select your melee fighter and have them charge. Select Linzi and Tartuccio and have them attack. Now clench them cheeks and pray. Ideally you want Jaethal to take the first couple of hits, while having your melee fighter charge in for free hits.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy:
rnfPX0D.jpg
We're home free boys. Last two encounters can be cheesed. I will show you how. First grab your team, then turn their AI off. Have them stay behind. Grab Jaethal and have her walk outside, then lock the door behind her. Like so:
m0p20pO.jpg
Then have Jaethal initiate the encounter with the assassins outside. Whether she dies or not, matters not. What matters is the Tiefling Broad that shows up. Once she shows up she should be able to take care of business. The Tiefling broad is invincible and receives the benefit of the unfair difficulty modifier:
8MSarm1.jpg
Okay! Now for the final encounter! This is super easy to cheese. Simply grab your team then put them in sneak mode, leave Jaethal behind. Next, you are going to place the team in a nice comfy spot. Specifically a spot where the enemies can not reach them, or see them. Afterwards grab Jaethal then have her initiate. Finally, you can now sit back and afk. As the Tiefling broad should take care of business. Amiri should eventually show up and take care of business too.
Here is where I usually place my team:
Vzi6L7N.jpg
Here is Jaethal initiating:
yv9RJmg.jpg
And that is how you clear the prologue area on unfair.
Character sheet for the curious:
B63uEu8.jpg
By the way, worth mentioning that my experience is 500. If you wanted to, you could potentially cheese the prologue area for more experience. Here is Desiderius's guide on that: https://steamcommunity.com/app/640820/discussions/7/1630790506920383184/
 
Last edited:

Will Zurmacht

Educated
Joined
Nov 5, 2019
Messages
59
Usually I crank the difficulty way up in this style of game since Normal is typically the mouthbreather setting (e.g. Pillars), but I found Kingmaker to be so tightly tuned that going even a bit above Normal started requiring an unfun level of minmaxing to be viable.

So kudos to the devs for actually balancing a game around Normal for the typical hardcore gamer. Shows a very solid understanding of their systems and how to implement them.
 

Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
9,514
Location
Grand Chien
You need to make those images much higher resolution, 1920x1080 is far too small for me to be able to make out the important details. Has to be 4K at least, and good job choosing the .PNG file format which dramatically raises file sizes for virtually no discernible increase in quality over JPG
 

Monkeyfinger

Cipher
Joined
Aug 5, 2004
Messages
778
Usually I crank the difficulty way up in this style of game since Normal is typically the mouthbreather setting (e.g. Pillars), but I found Kingmaker to be so tightly tuned that going even a bit above Normal started requiring an unfun level of minmaxing to be viable.

So kudos to the devs for actually balancing a game around Normal for the typical hardcore gamer. Shows a very solid understanding of their systems and how to implement them.

Something custom between challenging and hard is best for a blind playthrough by an experienced RTWP player imo.
 

Pink Eye

Monk
Patron
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
5,797
Location
Space Refrigerator
I'm very into cock and ball torture
You need to make those images much higher resolution, 1920x1080 is far too small for me to be able to make out the important details. Has to be 4K at least, and good job choosing the .PNG file format which dramatically raises file sizes for virtually no discernible increase in quality over JPG
1920X1080 is the resolution that my monitor supports. I didn't know how to directly upload screenshots, so I posted to imgur then posted here. I will fix that.
 

Pink Eye

Monk
Patron
Joined
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Messages
5,797
Location
Space Refrigerator
I'm very into cock and ball torture
You'll get at least one brofist from me if you cover the whole game with this level of detail.
I am doing a playthrough in conjunction with the guide. I want to make sure I cover everything. As the sneaky developers may have changed something before my last playthrough. So it will take time, please be patient.
 

Pink Eye

Monk
Patron
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
5,797
Location
Space Refrigerator
I'm very into cock and ball torture
You need to make those images much higher resolution, 1920x1080 is far too small for me to be able to make out the important details. Has to be 4K at least, and good job choosing the .PNG file format which dramatically raises file sizes for virtually no discernible increase in quality over JPG
1920X1080 is the resolution that my monitor supports. I didn't know how to directly upload screenshots, so I posted to imgur then posted here. I will fix that.
Never mind. I don't know how to directly upload screenshots. Sorry.... I am going to start on chapter 1. Chapter 1 is the most fun, as there are many things you can do in early unfair. I think I'll just be posting the guide in posts within the thread. Originally I wanted to post it all in the OP, but then realized I didn't like that idea.
 

Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
9,514
Location
Grand Chien
You need to make those images much higher resolution, 1920x1080 is far too small for me to be able to make out the important details. Has to be 4K at least, and good job choosing the .PNG file format which dramatically raises file sizes for virtually no discernible increase in quality over JPG
1920X1080 is the resolution that my monitor supports. I didn't know how to directly upload screenshots, so I posted to imgur then posted here. I will fix that.
Never mind. I don't know how to directly upload screenshots. Sorry.... I am going to start on chapter 1. Chapter 1 is the most fun, as there are many things you can do in early unfair. I think I'll just be posting the guide in posts within the thread. Originally I wanted to post it all in the OP, but then realized I didn't like that idea.
Imgur is not the issue, it's your high res PNGs automatically downloading everytime the page is crawled, that's the issue
 

Will Zurmacht

Educated
Joined
Nov 5, 2019
Messages
59
Something custom between challenging and hard is best for a blind playthrough by an experienced RTWP player imo.

To clarify, I meant basically blundering into the game with a typical tank and spank approach using unoptimized story companions, no strong focus on synergizing spells, feats, gear, prestige classes etc.. With this kind of laid back approach even Normal puts up a challenge to folks who for example have Pillars Path of the Damned games on farm mode. If you wandered into Kingmaker thinking you'd start out on the highest difficulty and muddle your way through battles, this game will anally annihilate you.

That said customizable difficulty is a good feature and more games that cater to the hardcore crowd should include it.
 

Pink Eye

Monk
Patron
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
5,797
Location
Space Refrigerator
I'm very into cock and ball torture
You need to make those images much higher resolution, 1920x1080 is far too small for me to be able to make out the important details. Has to be 4K at least, and good job choosing the .PNG file format which dramatically raises file sizes for virtually no discernible increase in quality over JPG
1920X1080 is the resolution that my monitor supports. I didn't know how to directly upload screenshots, so I posted to imgur then posted here. I will fix that.
Never mind. I don't know how to directly upload screenshots. Sorry.... I am going to start on chapter 1. Chapter 1 is the most fun, as there are many things you can do in early unfair. I think I'll just be posting the guide in posts within the thread. Originally I wanted to post it all in the OP, but then realized I didn't like that idea.
Imgur is not the issue, it's your high res PNGs automatically downloading everytime the page is crawled, that's the issue
Any ideas on how I can fix this?
 

Pink Eye

Monk
Patron
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
5,797
Location
Space Refrigerator
I'm very into cock and ball torture
----Work In progress. Will be updated daily, on my own pace. Once the guide is complete I'll get rid of this disclaimer----
Chapter 1:
Before I begin I think I should at the very least tell you what builds I am planning to use. For companion builds I will be referencing Roahin for inspiration. You can view his builds here: https://af.gog.com/forum/pathfinder_kingmaker/companion_builds/page1?as=1649904300
Speaking of builds, Yosh has builds too! You can check them out here https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1528413526 :obviously:
For the main character I am shooting for a two handed fighter with a couple of dips into slayer. This is by no means an optimized unfair build, this is just fun to me, and sounds cool. Believe it or not, you don't have to min max that much to enjoy unfair. As long as you optimize your stats, and pray that the dice rolls are in your favor, then you should be good. Also, I forgot to mention, but if there is one absolute feat that you will need on your melee fighter it would be improved initiative. This feat can make a huge difference.

Without further ado, let us begin. Before leaving the prologue area, a couple of things. First, make sure you loot everything before talking to Jamandi. If you are over encumbered, then use the weight to value ratio for loot. In other words, if something is worth less than its weight, then leave it behind. Since my character started with high strength, I can afford to take most of the loot. Second, Lady Jamandi will interrogate you about the events that occurred. She will question your character's motives. How you explain your character's motives is important, as it defines the starting companions you get. Ideally, you want Valerie and Jaethal. Valerie is useful for tackling swarms early. As for Jaethal, I just like having her around.
Lawful Neutral gives you Valerie. Chaotic neutral gives you Harrim.
XHu1RqU.jpg
Good gives you Linzi. Evil gives you Jaethal.
MNfDp2R.jpg

Ok. Now, if you followed Desiderius's exp abusing guide and managed to succeed on speech checks, you will be level 2. If you didn't abuse the exp setting, and didn't succeed on the speech checks, then that is ok! You should have around this much exp:
YsGpO9X.jpg

Before leaving, first make sure you rest. After resting, you can now head out! First "random" encounter will trigger. Way back when, this random encounter used to be brutal. Instead of thylacines this encounter would have wolves! Wolves! Yeah, it was brutal back then. Anyways how this encounter plays out is, again, dependent on them dice rolls. Since we are not level 2 this fight is going to be super dependent on dice rolls. Just squeeze them cheeks and pray.
Here is how I did it:
daNnHax.jpg
I first gathered Amiri and myself, and moved them back. I then selected Valerie and turned her fighting defensively on. I then had Valerie move forward. I also selected Jaethal, turned her Judgement - Justice on, then had her move forward. After the thylacines focused Valerie and Jaethal I then selected Amiri and myself and had them charge. Now remember, this is unfair, and we're still level 1. This might take a couple of tries...
Well I barely made it through...
SYT0WCT.jpg
Still no level 2 :(
Wja7SaU.jpg

After you get through the random encounter make sure you rest. Ok, now for our last challenging encounter on unfair. The bandit encounter at Oleg's trading post. I assure you once we reach level 2, unfair does ease down.

Before we even consider attempting the bandit encounter we need to do a couple of things. First drop all of your loot on the ground. Yes, all of it. We want to be as light as we possibly can. The logic for doing this is so we can move at quick speed. Once you are done with that, equip Amiri with a better armor piece. Her hide armor only gives 4 AC, that won't do, get rid of it. After that equip Amiri with a great axe, which you should have looted from the prologue area. The reason for doing this is because her oversized bastard sword does induce penalties.

After you have sorted out your gear situation, grab your team put them in sneak. Then move them to the gate, like so:
zMxxw6o.jpg

Now for the prebuffing stage. Select Jaethal and have her cast guidance on the team. Then have her cast divine favor on herself. Grab Valerie and have her move forward, she should be the one to initiate the encounter. Engage with Valerie then have everyone collapse on a target. Now squeeze them cheeks and pray. Lots of praying in this guide, ah well, level 1 unfair is stupid. It can't be helped.
v58pEwL.jpg
You might be wondering,"Why fight them?" Well if you let them run away, the next encounter will be a pain in the a. It's best to deal with the three bandits here and now, so when you set up for the final encounter you won't have to deal with as many bandits.

Phew
2KKK2Cn.jpg

After dealing with that cluster fuck, you should now be level 2! Yay! Level up, then go pick up all of your loot. Talk to Oleg and sell all of your loot, including the armor braces, but keep your potions and scrolls.
I am going to over some stuff you need to say when speaking to Oleg. After that I am going to cover some other stuff you need to do in order to prepare for the final encounter.
Pick option 3 in order for Bokken to help you, as this is a prerequisite in order for him to join you in the final encounter.
KvwTx4a.jpg
Pick option 1 for Oleg to throw a surprise fire bomb at the bandits
beZ0mLY.jpg
Buy your fighter a half plate
WqqC5oR.jpg
Also don't forgot to buy masterwork weapons for those that need it.
Pick option 2, after that there should be a speech check to get him to join you in the final encounter
uNWnW8o.jpg
vyZX7ss.jpg
qLw6Pen.jpg
OpKw8ZR.jpg
dtcaWw6.jpg

Once you are done with all that. Go talk to Oleg, and tell him you're ready for the attack.
Tips:
Sometimes Oleg can get lucky and kill a whole bunch of bandits with the fire bomb, sometimes he won't.
q7QaVM7.jpg
You can kite the bandits to the bear traps, as the traps can immediately kill them
7AB5EHu.jpg
Bokken CAN die, so be careful with that
Squeeze them cheeks and pray. Also there isn't much time to prebuff here, so you are going to have to make do
Oleg is invincible, so he can tank a couple of bandits
Bokken's fire bombs can incur friendly fire

If you managed to pull through that encounter, congratulations. This concludes part 1 of chapter 1.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Pink Eye

Monk
Patron
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
5,797
Location
Space Refrigerator
I'm very into cock and ball torture
----Work In progress. Will be updated daily, on my own pace. Once the guide is complete I'll get rid of this disclaimer----
Chapter 1:
This is the point where the game starts to open up. So much so that it can overwhelm players. However, you need not be intimidated, we have goals! Before we head out, make sure you pick up Bokken's quest, and also make sure you talk to Oleg's wife. She has a quest for us. Buy a masterwork longspear and a masterwork bardiche.

Moving along, I am now going to discuss my pathing for the early game. First and foremost we won't be doing any questing just yet. There are some places we are going to go to first for easy exp and gold. I'll showcase these areas in order:
We are first going to go here. It is a story book location. Pass all the checks and you get a lot of good experience and some loot. It might require some tries though.
GeY2rCT.jpg
This is the most important piece of loot from that area.

pMevm9q.jpg
Here is the next area we are going to go to next.
XcgY8lm.jpg

You might be wondering why Old Sycamore? Well, early game is all about absorbing whatever exp and gold you can get your hands on. It just so happens that Old Sycamore has "easy" encounters that are worth doing. Also, this is where that longspear and bardiche will come into play. More on to that later. For now we kill some elk!
Don't hold your breath by the way. The elk do have the potential to one shot you, such is life in early unfair
NZ06Pfo.jpg
"Easy", as I mentioned earlier this might take a couple of tries.
fr87rVQ.jpg
Now to hunt some frogs! Charge em down and mow em down.
v4dPOF1.jpg
More frog hunting! Same tactic as before.
HocBA5y.jpg
More elk hunting! These elks are a bit above the last frogs, simply charge the elks down and mow them down.
vLd66YB.jpg

Rest of the encounters will be saved for later, as we are not strong enough. For now we are going to equip those reach weapons that we bought earlier. First select Amiri and have her equip the bardiche. Select Jaethal and have her equip the longspear. Next we are going to find a nice and comfy spot to set up our choke point. I will show you a favorite of mine.
uIU1bO5.jpg

Now we pull aggro and pray. This one took me a solid amount of tries before I got it.
UlHH6KG.png
Phew
9GelAyo.jpg

Same idea for the next encounter. Look for a nice comfy spot that makes for a good choke point, then dig in. Again this will take a couple of tries, early unfair is brutal, it is what it is.
VCtOuTM.jpg
Easy peasy lemon squeezy, lads.
s3rSwTL.jpg

Ok we got a couple more encounters to go through, then we're done with this area.
Elks. Charge em down, and mow em down. If you die, just retry.
CHaKaSe.jpg
Wolves. This fight is highly dice dependent. Just charge on through and hope you get it, otherwise just retry until you get it.
CTB9NuG.png
Thylacines. This encounter is right next to the mites entrance to Old Sacymore. Simply sneak, then try to get your allies here. Ideally you want to set up in the manner that I have, with Valerie in the front:
jAsP8Pt.jpg
KF6heyB.jpg

Don't forgot Bokken's quest! The kobolds are near the shambling mound area, simply engage conversation, then ask about the radishes, this should lead to this. Once you get here pick option 1 to get some easy radish.
RRBE2Bn.jpg

Back to killing!
Thylacines. For this encounter you should be able to find a good choke point between a shrub and a rock. This forces them to come at you one by one. This specific encounter is near the kobolds and the shambling mound:
u11r601.jpg
48RmyRl.jpg
More elk hunting:
C8crqnP.jpg

Ok, that should be enough killing. Team is super low on HP. I will now head on back to Oleg's trading post. However, this may cost you a couple of tries. If it does, don't sweat it, it's unfair. Anyways this concludes part 2 of chapter 1.
 
Last edited:

Trashos

Arcane
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
3,413
The important thing for a guide (other than the routing) is to pinpoint and provide the crucial info for each challenging fight. What tactics to use etc.

I am not on Unfair yet so I am not reading the details, but that is what I am going to be looking for once I am on Unfair, in order to compare notes.
 

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