Pathfinder Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Game of the Year Edition

[Nas92]

Any way to deal with the fucking crystals without getting at least two petrified party members? The only thing that works is Polar Ray insta-killing them because of the Dex damage. That is if the insane Subsonic Hum even lets me get the spells off in time. I've read somewhere that Freedom of Movement prevents petrification, but I'm fairly certain that I've had Freedom of Movement and got petrified by them before. I've also read that Mind Blank makes you immune to the Subsonic Hum, gotta try that. Still, these are level 8 spells and I don't have a lot of those, I hope there's a better way.

Takes three rounds to get petrified.

Kill them first (vulnerable to sonic with very low reflex) or you know get your own saves up slacker. Well-versed ftw.

Hum doesn’t have infinite range. Use some tactics, Wrath isn’t a blobber.

Well-versed is for bards and skalds, right? I don't have any unfortunately. I guess I'm forced to just buff Bear's Endurance Mass and whatever else I may have before every fight, drown them in summons maybe and hope RNG is on my side? Maybe doable, I guess, I just need to keep my archers and casters away and hope RNG is on my side.

 

[Serus]

Merging is gay

But gay is the new rp... forget it, i'm not Zed.

 

[Desiderius]

Any way to deal with the fucking crystals without getting at least two petrified party members? The only thing that works is Polar Ray insta-killing them because of the Dex damage. That is if the insane Subsonic Hum even lets me get the spells off in time. I've read somewhere that Freedom of Movement prevents petrification, but I'm fairly certain that I've had Freedom of Movement and got petrified by them before. I've also read that Mind Blank makes you immune to the Subsonic Hum, gotta try that. Still, these are level 8 spells and I don't have a lot of those, I hope there's a better way.

Takes three rounds to get petrified.

Kill them first (vulnerable to sonic with very low reflex) or you know get your own saves up slacker. Well-versed ftw.

Hum doesn’t have infinite range. Use some tactics, Wrath isn’t a blobber.

Well-versed is for bards and skalds, right? I don't have any unfortunately. I guess I'm forced to just buff Bear's Endurance Mass and whatever else I may have before every fight, drown them in summons maybe and hope RNG is on my side? Maybe doable, I guess, I just need to keep my archers and casters away and hope RNG is on my side.

What? That’s a joke since they seem to be designed to be weak to Sonic Bard/Skald abilities that don’t come up that much.

Your tank/melee toons shld already be designed for resilience - there’s a gazillion ways to boost saves, use them! Then you can light them up from range with Longbow (50 ft) and Reach nukes (Rods or meta) and/or just figure out what they aren’t immune to and apply those conditions.

 

[Desiderius]

Normal spells are spell level + casting stat.
Mythic spells are spell level + casting stat. For abilities it's MR + casting stat.

It's not inherently weaker it's just that you need to stack equipment and class bonuses past normal and mythic are not supported well here (neither are things like class auras/abilities or hexes). Even for spells certain magic schools get far more DC bonuses than others

But Hexes bypass SR and many have an effect even on made save. Once saves/AC are lowered with one Hex then other effects can be stacked on.

 

[Shaki]

I have nothing to play so decided to see how the game looks after all these DLCs. I just finished "Through The Ashes" mini campaign, and now I wish Owlcat would make a whole game like that, low level focused, less epic. Despite the writing being as bad as in the main game, it managed to be a really fun experience. There is a specific feeling of "adventure" low level stuff has, that just can't be replicated by campaigns where you're The Chosen Lord King Commander Lvl 100 Demon Annihilator.

 

[Nas92]

In the Ineluctable Prison, outside the Warden's Room and near the area of the boss fight there's a perception check that reveals a button that appears to do nothing. I'm guessing there must be a purpose to it, but I haven't noticed anything.

 

[Desiderius]

To get outside to fight the big wurm?

 

[Nas92]

No, this is just outside the place where you fight the Hand. A circular nook with a symbol on it

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Any way to deal with the fucking crystals without getting at least two petrified party members? The only thing that works is Polar Ray insta-killing them because of the Dex damage. That is if the insane Subsonic Hum even lets me get the spells off in time. I've read somewhere that Freedom of Movement prevents petrification, but I'm fairly certain that I've had Freedom of Movement and got petrified by them before. I've also read that Mind Blank makes you immune to the Subsonic Hum, gotta try that. Still, these are level 8 spells and I don't have a lot of those, I hope there's a better way.

I had to massive alpha strike them. What helped was my strategies revolved around Elemental Barrage, so I was able to use damaging cloud spells to trigger its divine damage repeatedly. Leading Strike is very helpful for getting past their DR for the same reason. It's usually how I would finish them off. If you need more time than 2 rounds to kill them, Shield of Law and Ice Body will stop the stun affect. I bet that the pit spells will allow you to divide and conquer. Blade Barrier should work too, particularly since they're so slow.

 

[Yoomazir]

What's a good class, in terms of mechanics, for the improved Gold Dragon mythic?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

What's a good class, in terms of mechanics, for the improved Gold Dragon mythic?

Barbarian

 

[Nas92]

I'm doing Nenio's quest right now and holy shit. Anyone who managed to complete these puzzles without a guide needs to get a free Mensa membership or at least an official recognition for having the patience of a saint.

 

[boobio]

 

[mediocrepoet]

I'm doing Nenio's quest right now and holy shit. Anyone who managed to complete these puzzles without a guide needs to get a free Mensa membership or at least an official recognition for having the patience of a saint. the same autism as Nenio.

 

[kangaxx]

I'm doing Nenio's quest right now and holy shit. Anyone who managed to complete these puzzles without a guide needs to get a free Mensa membership or at least an official recognition for having the patience of a saint.

I never bothered with that character's quests. Maybe the most annoying character I've ever encountered in a game, including Minsc.

 

[DannyRope]

Apparently, according to an Owlcat dev on Reddit someone in the team really loves puzzles and while they were aware most of the playerbase hate puzzles the best they could do to pacify that team member was to put most of them on Nenio's quest so that they could be skipped. It must be someone high in the hierarchy if the rest of Owlcat has to indulge this person so.

I liked the very first puzzle on the Shield Maze, simple enough and to the point and the solution is on the very dungeon you're trying to clear without being as insulting as the dragonclaw match the symbols kindergarten "puzzles" from Skyrim. I mean, you do have to match colors but it's not as obvious. That's it.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

It must be someone high in the hierarchy if the rest of Owlcat has to indulge this person so.

Probably Mishulin or whatever that guy's name is.

 

[Yosharian]

I like puzzles too. I don't like Owlcat puzzles.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

I like dungeon puzzles, but they need to fit thematically. Puzzles in the first dungeon are perfect. Little optional things that aren't wildly elaborate to unlock special prizes is just right. A treasury should be secret and the means to get into it as subtle as it is secure. That makes sense. It's practical. An entire structure dedicated to an elaborate crystal node mechanism which ultimately allows you to access the roof is tedious and dumb.

 

[ferratilis]

Unlike romances, puzzles definitely belong in crpgs, and add to the sense of adventure, as well as breaking up the monotony of constant fighting. Combat is number one, of course, but it would get stale if that's the only thing you do. The problem with Owlcat is that they overdo their puzzles, a more balanced approach would improve some of the puzzle heavy sections.

 

[Yosharian]

Puzzles that are contained within a single location and well-designed:

Puzzles that involve visiting 23 different locations across the entire map and/or require a cyberpunk memory dive into the developer's head to figure out what the fuck they were thinking when they designed it:

Puzzles that involve Nenio:

 

[Nas92]

Apparently, according to an Owlcat dev on Reddit someone in the team really loves puzzles and while they were aware most of the playerbase hate puzzles the best they could do to pacify that team member was to put most of them on Nenio's quest so that they could be skipped.

That's a weird choice to make it part of a companion's quest. The game actively encourages you to do all the companion quests, not to mention that Nenio's companion quest is necessary for the "true" ending, which I'm not pursuing, but still.

What I'm wondering is that no one playtested these puzzles? No one told them that this is maybe a bit too much? Or did they make them as shitty as possible to tell that higher-up that people hate his shit?

 

[Average Manatee]

Nenio's tile matching puzzles scattered across the map are OK. Its something that most people can probably figure out the rules to. Though there was a puzzle that I'm pretty sure had two solutions but only one was accepted.

Her dungeon is a fucking joke though. You basically have to spend 30 mins guessing till you get the first puzzle of each kind right and then spend another 30 mins to figure out what the "rules" of the puzzle were so you can apply it to the harder versions. Then after another 30 mins of trying to solve those puzzles you realize the rules you made up were not the rules that Owlcat made up and just look up the solution.

Someone should make a mod that lets you bypass them with an INT check. That would make it a real CRPG experience.

 

[Nas92]

Nenio's tile matching puzzles scattered across the map are OK. Its something that most people can probably figure out the rules to. Though there was a puzzle that I'm pretty sure had two solutions but only one was accepted.

Yes, I also remember more than once that according to the rules my solution should have been accepted but only the Owlcat approved solution actually solved the puzzle. Good to know I'm not the only one. I can't imagine how fucking frustrating that could have been without guides, there must have been people who decided that those weren't the rules after all and fucked around with the cumbersome interface unfit for tile puzzles for another two hours or so.

 

[DannyRope]

What I'm wondering is that no one playtested these puzzles? No one told them that this is maybe a bit too much? Or did they make them as shitty as possible to tell that higher-up that people hate his shit?

A good puzzle in an RPG campaign must follow the three clues rule. That is, any given puzzle must have at least three clues that are stand-alone hints toward the solution. None of the puzzles featured in Wrath of the Righteous follow that rule. Then again, from what I gather, Owlcat's core game design is to assume that players are going to follow guides to complete their games so that they don't have to make a good job of putting good in-game optimization advice (instead people follow characters' builds from Youtubers such as cRPG Bro and Werglia) or well designed puzzles.

Probably Mishulin or whatever that guy's name is.

Whoever is responsible for the puzzles in Nenio's companion quest, I'd bet that person loves trains and/or Sonic the hedgehog.