Eternity Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire + DLC Thread - now with turn-based combat!

[TedNugent]

What are the best single handed weapons to use? Did most of you end up using more than one weapon set depending on the foe? I feel like the modal recovery penalties are rough.

What I was most worried about was making sure I had at least 100% penetration against all basic armor types.

My suspicion was to use something like a warhammer, since it has both crush and pierce, so it should be able to go up against 5 AR on both base brigandine and plate, and a modal for another +2 if it is absolutely necessary, or if I wanted full penetration against those targets.

Alternately, I was thinking running a piercing weapon set like a spear, sword or rapier and a mace set specifically for plate might work, but that seems like more of a pain in the ass than just running a hammer by itself. It would require two sets of weapons for essentially the same result.

I'm wary of slashing weapons because they have no hard counters in the heavy armor tier and don't seem to have any other benefits.

Am I being retarded? The big thing is that you're basically capped on penetration and weapon quality scales linearly with armor quality.

Also, for close combat, are one handed, two weapons, or two handers favored overall?

Is using a shield trash? The malus for using one in offhand (-12 accuracy and the base shield debuff) seems pretty severe considering the deflection bonus is quite low on base shields. The modals also don't seem all that great.

 

[Grunker]

I usually have at least two weapon types on melee damage dealers.

 

[TedNugent]

I usually have at least two weapon types on melee damage dealers.

May I please ask which types?

Does it matter much?

 

[Grunker]

I usually have at least two weapon types on melee damage dealers.

May I please ask which types?

I think I’ve basically used all types at one point. I love sabers for dual wielding because raw damage bonus is hard to come by in Poe. I enjoy builds that include March Steel Dagger. For defense or casters, I often go Hatchet since they give +5 deflection. I’m not fond of Stillettos or Maces since I never seem to miss the Pen.

Tidefall, The Hours of St. Rumbalt and Stormcall are standout uniques, but two-handed.

 

[Grunker]

Lol, I only just realized it’s the Deadfire thread. Ignore the above.

Are you playing RTwP or TB?

 

[TedNugent]

Lol, I only just realized it’s the Deadfire thread. Ignore the above.

Are you playing RTwP or TB?

Rtwp. Unfortunately the mechanics are different enough to where I think your advice on poe won't really apply.

I was pretty agnostic about weapon type in poe1, ended up with a dagger. In poe2, penetration is a thing. I'm quite nervous about the under penetration malus specifically against heavy armor. There were a lot of "paladin" mobs with plate running around in POE1, but I know it's yaaargh pirate time and that may be less common.

Unless TB is that much better, but I figured I should play it at least once in it's original format, even if Rtwp isn't necessarily my thing. It makes me nervous to just slap a TB system on it.

Weapons I'm considering strongly:
Sabres (shit tons of unique weapons to choose from, modal +pen)
Stilettos (good base pen)
Maces
Warhammer (leaning here)

My perspective would significantly change if I went for Devoted instead of unbroken, making spear and sword significantly more appealing. Just not sure about that, seems devoted would be better with a 2 hander or dual wield of the same weapon.

 

[Grunker]

No, my advice on PoE definetely won't apply. For example, the penetration mechanics are pants-on-head retarded in PoE2, so you need to make sure you have enough penetration on literally everyone. Once you clear the required threshhold penetration doesn't really matter anymore though. So yeah, you should be nervous about penetration. It's one of Deadfire's worst mechanics.

I like TB much more than RTwP. I'm generally a fan of RTwP, but Pillars' systems weren't really design for RTwP to my mind.

 

[Grunker]

The thing is, TB and RTwP have massive differences. In RTwP, reaction speed is king, so you need to stack that shit everywhere you can. In TB, it literally doesn't matter at all, so any ability that gives you something at the cost of reaction speed is probably good.

 

[TedNugent]

No, my advice on PoE definetely won't apply. For example, the penetration mechanics are pants-on-head retarded in PoE2, so you need to make sure you have enough penetration on literally everyone. Once you clear the required threshhold penetration doesn't really matter anymore though. So yeah, you should be nervous about penetration. It's one of Deadfire's worst mechanics.

I like TB much more than RTwP. I'm generally a fan of RTwP, but Pillars' systems weren't really design for RTwP to my mind.

That's definitely what I feared, on both points. Is rtwp shit in this game? I was able to stomach it in both Baldurs Gate and POE1.

I'm heavily leaning towards either sabre or Warhammer in that case. I like warhammer because it strikes against AR5 on both plate and brigandine, and it can get full pen with the modal, but there are so few unique warhammers in the game...there's only 3, and the best one is expansion only.

Conversely, AR and penetration enchantments scale linearly, so I doubt I'll be able to get full pen if enemies have a lot of enchanted gear.

 

[Grunker]

It's the same as in PoE1, more or less. It's just that I would play PoE1 on TB as well if I could, since I don't like how Engagement and other mechanics work in RTwP.

Sabres are generally very good in my experiences. Are you playing Chanter you said? There's a unique sabre for Chanters that is really cool if you're playing on RTwP. Deadfire's itemization is insanely good.

 

[Yosharian]

I have two builds which use 1H + shield which I consider to be competent

Link in my sig

 

[TedNugent]

I think I'm going to be a faggot and play rtwp, maybe TB would be good for a second playthrough if this game isn't as much of a slog as poe1.

What's the deal with chanters? I used Kana Rua for quite a bit in POE1, but I didn't really read about the mechanics, I just got the impression he was putting out buffs periodically and had powerful summoning spells later in the engagement. I wasn't sure how his chants work, if they affected reaction time or swings or if they just happened automatically while you fight.

The only resource that I really understood was that he built up resources for progressively more powerful spells as he does stuff.

 

[Yosharian]

Turnbased is crap, don't bother

 

[Grunker]

I think I'm going to be a faggot and play rtwp, maybe TB would be good for a second playthrough if this game isn't as much of a slog as poe1.

What's the deal with chanters? I used Kana Rua for quite a bit in POE1, but I didn't really read about the mechanics, I just got the impression he was putting out buffs periodically and had powerful summoning spells later in the engagement. I wasn't sure how his chants work, if they affected reaction time or swings or if they just happened automatically while you fight.

The only resource that I really understood was that he built up resources for progressively more powerful spells as he does stuff.

Think of Chanters as auto-attackers with passive aura buffs who once in a while casts a spell.

Basically every so often in combat their aura gives them a casting resource, and once they've built up enough of that, they can cast a spell.

 

[Grunker]

Also regarding our discussion in the other thread: if you start Deadfire on PotD, don't get dissuaded by the difficulty. If you can beat the starter island on PotD, you can beat the whole game. Nothing except some optional megabosses will ever be as hard as that starting island.

 

[Yosharian]

Veteran is way better than POTD

 

[Grunker]

You're insane. Deadfire's biggest problem is that it is too easy, even on PotD. Can't imagine what a cakewalk it must be on Veteran. Don't play this game on lower difficulties

 

[TedNugent]

Veteran is way better than POTD

How so?

Is this analogous to hard on POE1?

Question - does potd scale base stats, or does it only scale mob levels?

 

[Yosharian]

Also Ciphers are way better than Chanters for that build-up-over-time concept

 

[Haplo]

Sabers are still a top choice, though.
Grave Calling is one of my favourites. Scordeo's Edge is the powergaming choice for many characters. There's even the Animancy Blade that deals RAW damage if you're that troubled by Pen.

Battleaxes are sick vs bosses due to awesome bleed modal. Magrans Favor is one of my favourites.

I also like rapiers a lot - with the modal the have awesome accuracy, crit a lot - and when dual wielded with the modal, they are almost as fast as normal speed weapons without modal.

There's also a nice stilleto you can get from an assassin.

Longswords are.. ok I guess.

IMO Warhammers are a bit of a trap. Sure, good pen, but low damage. A dedicated tank weapon I guess. Problem is, I don't believe in characters that are only tanks in Deadfire, consider them dead weight. With the addition of multiclasses, everyone can be a sturdy tank and still pump good damage and/or offer support/buffs/debuffs.

Good news is that you don't have to marry one weapon type (unless you go Devoted). Even if you do, the popular choice is to pick Monastic Unarmed Training in order to always have a Bludgeon backup weapon - your firsts.

 

[Grunker]

As someone who mained a tank in Deadfire on the first playthrough I can attest that they're more deadweight here than in the first game - even when paired with useful multiclasses like Chanter.

 

[Yosharian]

Veteran is way better than POTD

How so?

Is this analogous to hard on POE1?

Question - does potd scale base stats, or does it only scale mob levels?

It's just more enjoyable IMO

 

[Yosharian]

As someone who mained a tank in Deadfire on the first playthrough I can attest that they're more deadweight here than in the first game - even when paired with useful multiclasses like Chanter.

Nonsense, tanks are viable

 

[Yosharian]

You're insane. Deadfire's biggest problem is that it is too easy, even on PotD. Can't imagine what a cakewalk it must be on Veteran. Don't play this game on lower difficulties

POTD is just inflated stats, the game isn't harder it's just more monotonous

 

[Grunker]

Firstly, your opinion on what is good is kind of clouded by the fact that you're playing on Veteran.

Secondly, everything is viable in Deadfire. But tanks are neither as fun nor as good as in the first game.