This thread is intended to serve as an alternative to the main PF: KM megathread, where those who are just starting out in the game and those who have questions about it but want to avoid being bombarded with way too much info can turn to for help and to share their own advice.
Please do not post "solutions" or outcomes to any quests in the game here at all, unless it is in order to assist with a common problem or known bug. In doing so, please indicate clearly and surround in spoiler tags. Gameplay tips, the game's mechanics, etc. -- these are the kinds of things I'd like to restrict this thread to.
I haven't gotten very far in the game myself, but I have restarted once due to a serious bug (see below), so I think I have enough tips accumulated to offer up.
- The first thing I want to say is that if you've already started a new game, but did so before the last hotfix/patch, consider completely starting all over again. This is because, due to a horrifying bug on Owlcat's part, one of your companions later on in the game can actually clone herself, resulting in all sorts of fucked up and broken behavior that may or may not be solvable by the developers with another hotfix. From everything I've read, if you just bite the bullet and start a new game with the latest patch installed, it's not a problem and won't happen.
- When starting a new game, the difficulty options are crucial for shaping the way the campaign's experience is going to go for you. You will notice things like "percentage of damage done to characters" is set at something like 80% by default (!). Others like how accurately according to PF rules critical hits are applied to your party can be altered, too, and all these should be considered and set carefully. I prefer everything set to Normal, including critical hits, damage received, and I even set encumbrance to affect my party's movement. Otherwise I feel like I'm cheating, but that's just the purist in me. I did allow for Death's Door, which avoids character death at zero HP unless that character is hit with another deadly effect while they're down. Don't ignore these options!
- Obviously you also shouldn't ignore your inventory right away. While most characters are equipped with decent-enough starting equipment to get you through the tutorial, don't forget to add things like CLW potions to your belt (yes, it's intended that only one potion per "slot" is allowed) and to consider other weapons and armor you find along the way.
- Speaking of Encumbrance, it can be a little confusing how it works at first. Depending on how you set the above-mentioned options when you started your game, having too much stuff in your shared inventory may have a minor to major effect on your party's performance. Remember that the total weight calculated by the game includes everything in the shared portion AND everything each of your characters is currently wearing/carrying. Once that sum total reaches certain thresholds, more and more severe penalties can begin to apply, including affecting Fatigue, which can seriously lower a character's STR and DEX until slept off. So don't just vacuum every single set of armor that you see, assuming you can just sell it all off. That may be true, but how do you sell something when you're dead?
- Pay close attention to certain weapons and other items, because sometimes they may not work the way you assume. One example is the difference between a light crossbow and a shortbow: characters with low STR will benefit from the former much more than the latter, because, as laid out in the PF rules, the crossbow doesn't rely on STR to apply its full damage. Conversely, for fighter-types with high STR, equipping a composite longbow will greatly enhance his damage with that weapon since it does rely on STR. Just swapping items in and out of your character's doll and observing their numbers either way can reveal a lot.
- Using Abilities can be a little confusing simply because of the nature of the game's UI. Spells are easy enough to see but don't forget to click the 'A'bilites tab and the 'B'elt tab to reveal all your options in a fight. I don't like the way this works because it's easy to overlook that you left something like Defensive Fighting activated after a fight is over, but eventually, if you're OCD like I am, you force yourself to habitually click these tabs far too often to be sure everything is perfect.
- Switching weapon sets can be critical to your success in combat, but it's a little awkward, too. Click the very top of the tab representing your desired set to actually switch to it, then (I guess) close the tab again until you're ready to switch back. There may be keyboard shortcuts for these but I haven't bothered with that yet. The timing of switching between, let's say, a longbow and back to your main melee weapon set is extremely important, because if you forget to do it and attack with that bow again while in melee range of an enemy, you may incur an attack of opportunity and have your face smashed in. I like to generally open with a volley of missile fire, a single shot ONLY for each of my fighter types, then immediately switch sets and have them advance to engage. Generally, standing at distance with other archers has proven to be a bad strategy. It may work for you, but the game likes to pepper you with archers cleverly placed at times so use caution.
- Don't forget the Charge ability. All fighter-types get it right away and it can be very effective. It does have a countdown timer of I think about three seconds in order to activate, but as long as you have an unobstructed line to your target, and are within a certain distance, you get attack bonuses that can make a nice difference. Tactics!
- Casting spells is very straightforward. Remember that many characters (all in PF??) use a "shared" spell slot number, meaning that if you have three casts left each of, say, Sleep and CLW and Hypnotize for your bard, as soon as you cast one, you're down to two for all three. This is the same for sorcerers. I have yet to obtain a real mage into my party yet, so someone else can comment about the way their spell slots work. Also, as the game's tutorial tips lay out, Clerics have the ability to immediately convert any of their spells into a Cure-type spell commensurate with its spell level. Just right-click the spell in order to do that.
- Moving around on the overland map should be straightforward, too. You obviously click the arrow in the direction you want to travel, and other directions become visible only when you come upon a crossroads or discover some sidetrack. The game is slightly linear in this aspect, but in my opinion as long as there are plenty of directions to choose from, it still feels open. Needless to say, prepare for wandering encounters.
- Camping is one of the most confusing parts of the game. I have yet to figure out all of its functionality, but I think I have the basics down. First of all, slight spoiler:
Camping out in the wilderness can be dangerous, and there are some pre-requisites for doing so. You have to have certain roles assigned, such as Hunter, otherwise the rest will take longer, be less effective, or just not work. It also helps immensely to have someone who is skilled enough help to camouflage your camp. Otherwise, if you're discovered by wandering monsters during your rest, you get no rest benefits and must all fight Fatigued (I believe). So experiment by swapping characters around to the various slots to make sure you've got them placed optimally. Don't forget that even in order to set a camp, which you do so like in a building game by placing the camp's outline somewhere on the screen where there's enough room, you have to have camping supplies (which are heavy). Do you camp where you are or head back to safety? Choices and consequences, my friend.
- Leveling up is generally a no-brainer. You can't click 'Next' on each screen until you've made your choices, but as we all know, especially in any D&D-type game, those choices can be critical. Consider carefully, especially, what Feats you take. If, when choosing what new spells to select, you can't actually see the spell list, that means your game hasn't been patched. Turn auto-update in Steam back on to apply the fix.
- There is one quest early on in the game that caused quite a lot of problems due to its difficulty. It's a side-quest, technically, but one that everyone goes to almost right away.
I hope these help someone and I'll add more as I come across/think of them. Thanks for any contributions.
Please do not post "solutions" or outcomes to any quests in the game here at all, unless it is in order to assist with a common problem or known bug. In doing so, please indicate clearly and surround in spoiler tags. Gameplay tips, the game's mechanics, etc. -- these are the kinds of things I'd like to restrict this thread to.
I haven't gotten very far in the game myself, but I have restarted once due to a serious bug (see below), so I think I have enough tips accumulated to offer up.
- The first thing I want to say is that if you've already started a new game, but did so before the last hotfix/patch, consider completely starting all over again. This is because, due to a horrifying bug on Owlcat's part, one of your companions later on in the game can actually clone herself, resulting in all sorts of fucked up and broken behavior that may or may not be solvable by the developers with another hotfix. From everything I've read, if you just bite the bullet and start a new game with the latest patch installed, it's not a problem and won't happen.
- When starting a new game, the difficulty options are crucial for shaping the way the campaign's experience is going to go for you. You will notice things like "percentage of damage done to characters" is set at something like 80% by default (!). Others like how accurately according to PF rules critical hits are applied to your party can be altered, too, and all these should be considered and set carefully. I prefer everything set to Normal, including critical hits, damage received, and I even set encumbrance to affect my party's movement. Otherwise I feel like I'm cheating, but that's just the purist in me. I did allow for Death's Door, which avoids character death at zero HP unless that character is hit with another deadly effect while they're down. Don't ignore these options!
- Obviously you also shouldn't ignore your inventory right away. While most characters are equipped with decent-enough starting equipment to get you through the tutorial, don't forget to add things like CLW potions to your belt (yes, it's intended that only one potion per "slot" is allowed) and to consider other weapons and armor you find along the way.
- Speaking of Encumbrance, it can be a little confusing how it works at first. Depending on how you set the above-mentioned options when you started your game, having too much stuff in your shared inventory may have a minor to major effect on your party's performance. Remember that the total weight calculated by the game includes everything in the shared portion AND everything each of your characters is currently wearing/carrying. Once that sum total reaches certain thresholds, more and more severe penalties can begin to apply, including affecting Fatigue, which can seriously lower a character's STR and DEX until slept off. So don't just vacuum every single set of armor that you see, assuming you can just sell it all off. That may be true, but how do you sell something when you're dead?
- Pay close attention to certain weapons and other items, because sometimes they may not work the way you assume. One example is the difference between a light crossbow and a shortbow: characters with low STR will benefit from the former much more than the latter, because, as laid out in the PF rules, the crossbow doesn't rely on STR to apply its full damage. Conversely, for fighter-types with high STR, equipping a composite longbow will greatly enhance his damage with that weapon since it does rely on STR. Just swapping items in and out of your character's doll and observing their numbers either way can reveal a lot.
- Using Abilities can be a little confusing simply because of the nature of the game's UI. Spells are easy enough to see but don't forget to click the 'A'bilites tab and the 'B'elt tab to reveal all your options in a fight. I don't like the way this works because it's easy to overlook that you left something like Defensive Fighting activated after a fight is over, but eventually, if you're OCD like I am, you force yourself to habitually click these tabs far too often to be sure everything is perfect.
- Switching weapon sets can be critical to your success in combat, but it's a little awkward, too. Click the very top of the tab representing your desired set to actually switch to it, then (I guess) close the tab again until you're ready to switch back. There may be keyboard shortcuts for these but I haven't bothered with that yet. The timing of switching between, let's say, a longbow and back to your main melee weapon set is extremely important, because if you forget to do it and attack with that bow again while in melee range of an enemy, you may incur an attack of opportunity and have your face smashed in. I like to generally open with a volley of missile fire, a single shot ONLY for each of my fighter types, then immediately switch sets and have them advance to engage. Generally, standing at distance with other archers has proven to be a bad strategy. It may work for you, but the game likes to pepper you with archers cleverly placed at times so use caution.
- Don't forget the Charge ability. All fighter-types get it right away and it can be very effective. It does have a countdown timer of I think about three seconds in order to activate, but as long as you have an unobstructed line to your target, and are within a certain distance, you get attack bonuses that can make a nice difference. Tactics!
- Casting spells is very straightforward. Remember that many characters (all in PF??) use a "shared" spell slot number, meaning that if you have three casts left each of, say, Sleep and CLW and Hypnotize for your bard, as soon as you cast one, you're down to two for all three. This is the same for sorcerers. I have yet to obtain a real mage into my party yet, so someone else can comment about the way their spell slots work. Also, as the game's tutorial tips lay out, Clerics have the ability to immediately convert any of their spells into a Cure-type spell commensurate with its spell level. Just right-click the spell in order to do that.
- Moving around on the overland map should be straightforward, too. You obviously click the arrow in the direction you want to travel, and other directions become visible only when you come upon a crossroads or discover some sidetrack. The game is slightly linear in this aspect, but in my opinion as long as there are plenty of directions to choose from, it still feels open. Needless to say, prepare for wandering encounters.
- Camping is one of the most confusing parts of the game. I have yet to figure out all of its functionality, but I think I have the basics down. First of all, slight spoiler:
CAMPING IN THE FORT IS FREE AND AUTOMATIC. You don't need to have camping supplies to do it, you restore all spells while camping there, and you receive some free healing while camping there. SLEEPING IN THE BED UPSTAIRS IS NOT THE SAME THING. I discovered this by accident reading the game's forums and slapped myself in the face upon doing so.
Camping out in the wilderness can be dangerous, and there are some pre-requisites for doing so. You have to have certain roles assigned, such as Hunter, otherwise the rest will take longer, be less effective, or just not work. It also helps immensely to have someone who is skilled enough help to camouflage your camp. Otherwise, if you're discovered by wandering monsters during your rest, you get no rest benefits and must all fight Fatigued (I believe). So experiment by swapping characters around to the various slots to make sure you've got them placed optimally. Don't forget that even in order to set a camp, which you do so like in a building game by placing the camp's outline somewhere on the screen where there's enough room, you have to have camping supplies (which are heavy). Do you camp where you are or head back to safety? Choices and consequences, my friend.
- Leveling up is generally a no-brainer. You can't click 'Next' on each screen until you've made your choices, but as we all know, especially in any D&D-type game, those choices can be critical. Consider carefully, especially, what Feats you take. If, when choosing what new spells to select, you can't actually see the spell list, that means your game hasn't been patched. Turn auto-update in Steam back on to apply the fix.
- There is one quest early on in the game that caused quite a lot of problems due to its difficulty. It's a side-quest, technically, but one that everyone goes to almost right away.
The dreaded spider swarm cave. A patch has been applied that helps this a lot. The alchemist in the Fort warns you of its difficulty and gives you a small number of Alchemists Fire potions to use on the swarms. Do so liberally. Equip every character in your party with as many of these in their belt slots as you can, and rain them down on the swarms at every opportunity. Be sure to take out the giant spiders, as well, ASAP, because if you get flanked by them and one or more of the swarms they can put a real hurt on you in short order. If you run out of the potions, you can turn to the Everburning Torches as makeshift melee weapons which WILL affect the swarms, in addition to, of course, spells such as Burning Hands, if one of your characters has it. This fight may take you a couple of attempts, but it's very do-able now with those changes.
I hope these help someone and I'll add more as I come across/think of them. Thanks for any contributions.
Last edited:
