Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

[DevilDancer]

I figured I'd make a thread rather than posting repeatedly in the what are you playing thread.

This game is good, but I'm 17 hours in and there's still a lot I don't understand. Like:

• Is there supposed to be a healer NPC somewhere? I thought I saw a reference to one, but I haven't found them yet.
• I missed a couple of quest opportunities because I didn't realize they were time based. Is there a list of stuff I should do early in an Act? I don't really want to use a guide for everything, exploring on my own is more fun.
• I don't understand the armor stats at all. Does scalemail really restrict you to 3 dex? That can't be right.

I just went to the Library and found the Storyteller.

Here's my main character, something of a glass cannon. She can hit though.

 

[east1226]

Just resting in the safe spot will fix most health problems. It won't fix death. You need a scroll of raise dead/resurrection for that. There isn't really a dedicated healer. The clerics in cities just sell scrolls, potions, and some items.

Scale armor limits you to a +3 dexterity bonus to armor class. That is what it means. If your character has 20 dex, they have a +5 to AC due to their dexterity. (I think that is right.) If you wear scale mail, then you lose two points of Dex AC from the scale mail because you only get the benefit of +3 as opposed to +5.

As for opportunities lost, the journal has the hour glass icon next to certain quests. That lets you know what you have to do that act. I don't know of anything saying what you have to do early, as opposed to late, in the act.

 

[rastaban75]

Healer NPCs, you mean party members? There are two recruitable in the game, one in Kenabres and one immediately after the Kenabres chapter. The first one is evil (more like a selfish a-hole) and the other good. You can't really miss them.

Otherwise, what East said.

 

[Andyster]

With armor it seems like the consensus is armor really lags behind magic in Pathfinder for this basic reason. Armor conflicts with stats that buff AC compared to mage armor which for one talent you get a ton of points with uncapped dex or cha bonuses to it. Hence the absurdly prevalence of one level monk dips.

Healer wise there’s Daeran in chapter one, who is as close to a dedicated healer as you can get. I tend to just get overpowered murder builds and Tack on a potion or let Ember heal most of the time.

 

[BOP_G_A_Pster]

I haven't played it and know nothing about it.
So I say attack the glowing orange week points of the enemy, works every time.

 

[DevilDancer]

My party is pretty uneven. My main is a beast in melee and Wenduag is great at medium range with throwing axes. Everyone else is just ok so far. Magic is unimpressive so far, but it's still early. I just hit L5.

I could use a tank.

I ran into an invisible succubus last night and had some real trouble with her until my main hit on consecutive attacks. That was the end of her!

 

[BOP_G_A_Pster]

I ran into an invisible succubus last night-

Sounds like fun, does she have a sister?

 

[DeadLazy]

How does WotW stack up against Divinity 2 in terms of gameplay?

 

[Andyster]

How does WotW stack up against Divinity 2 in terms of gameplay?

It’s a lot less video-gamey. It’s much more of a digital pen and paper game. The turn to turn stuff is a lot more prosaic, but the tapestry of how your choices play out over a game is more interesting.

 

[DeadLazy]

It’s a lot less video-gamey. It’s much more of a digital pen and paper game. The turn to turn stuff is a lot more prosaic, but the tapestry of how your choices play out over a game is more interesting.

I thought Divinity played like a pen and paper with a good DM. It allowed you to be creative with spells.

I still think I’ll try this. I like the look of the character sheet.

 

[Andyster]

I thought Divinity played like a pen and paper with a good DM. It allowed you to be creative with spells.

I still think I’ll try this. I like the look of the character sheet.

As someone who dms I know what you are describing but my God setting up that game would be a nightmare to plan. Even just the Fort Joy chapter is insane. Like I have ended up with one off events where players come up with crazy ideas and I roll with them and they go sideways. Like If you really want to you can go buy wrath and kingmaker and play the games. The book you would need for dos2 would be like as big as my house.

 

[DevilDancer]

How does WotW stack up against Divinity 2 in terms of gameplay?

WotW feels less constrained than DoS2. There's more freedom.

The story is a lot more interesting to me.

It's like I've said before, DoS2 felt like a puzzle game to me that rewarded specific actions and strategies in certain battles. I didn't like that about it.

 

[DevilDancer]

Also I didn't get repeatedly eaten by an allegator in the first zone, so that's a plus.

 

[DevilDancer]

So, is lockpicking broken or what? I've failed on multiple 100% attempts.

 

[rastaban75]

So, is lockpicking broken or what? I've failed on multiple 100% attempts.

Never had any problem with it. At 100%, all containers opened. At lower percentages I got what was expected more or less.

 

[DeadLazy]

Demo’ed it on Switch Cloud. Yeah, one day I’ll get to it. Chuck it on the list. I’m not sure I’ll be into a CRPG this year but I’ll play this one day.

I’d buy it for PS4 if I wanted it.

 

[DevilDancer]

Finished Chapter 1, met the queen, convinced her to join the army, got my first mythic levels, got the new cleric NPC. Did a couple of early quests in Chapter 2.

Now I just have to figure out the army mechanic. It's not explained at all.

 

[Andyster]

Finished Chapter 1, met the queen, convinced her to join the army, got my first mythic levels, got the new cleric NPC. Did a couple of early quests in Chapter 2.

Now I just have to figure out the army mechanic. It's not explained at all.

Take the mage general and make sure to max out archers every week. Between the fire attack and archers you can win most fights without much melee.
I’d say stick to one general army till you get to Drezen and don’t rush there. If you need to wait a week to get more archers it’s not a big deal.

 

[rastaban75]

It works a bit like Heroes of Might and Magic, if you played that.

As @Andyster said, get a mage general. Scorching Ray can take you very far into the campaign all by itself, while having some troops to support you. New troops become available each week, but there are other ways to obtain new types of units, based on the strategic decisions you make. This becomes important later on. Getting "Master of Maneuver" when the general levels up is a pretty good idea as it lets you grow your army with more types of troops.

As a whole, it's a pretty forgiving strategy mini-game as it allows you to automaticlly heal a part of your army after a win, based on the "infirmary" size you have. This is shown by a yellow bar next to your general's portrait in the battle screen. As long as it is not filled to the top, you'll get all your troops back.

You won't really need more than two generals for the whole campaign. One will be the main one, the other will provide some support for parts of the map you won't be able to reach quickly enough with the first. At your current stage of the game you can surely do with just one.

 

[DevilDancer]

My strategy campaign seems to be going well enough. I cleared out all the level 1 army fights I could find, but I got crushed when I tried a L4 fight.

On the traditional RPG side, I'm doing Nenio's side quest.

My team is really uneven right now. My main (named DD, of course) is a force of nature on offense, but she's on an island there. No one else hits nearly as hard. Wenduag is good with her throwing axes, and Daeran is an excellent healer, but everyone else seems to just be filler. I'm leveling people with guides, but that's where I am right now - some folks aren't carrying their weight. Hopefully they'll become more effective as they level.

 

[Andyster]

My strategy campaign seems to be going well enough. I cleared out all the level 1 army fights I could find, but I got crushed when I tried a L4 fight.

On the traditional RPG side, I'm doing Nenio's side quest.

My team is really uneven right now. My main (named DD, of course) is a force of nature on offense, but she's on an island there. No one else hits nearly as hard. Wenduag is good with her throwing axes, and Daeran is an excellent healer, but everyone else seems to just be filler. I'm leveling people with guides, but that's where I am right now - some folks aren't carrying their weight. Hopefully they'll become more effective as they level.

If you want my advice I’d take Seelah and Sosiel and have them mounted on tanky mounts and you and Wendy can bring the physical dps, with nuker Ember and controller Nenio.
The unevenness is kind of part and parcel of the mid levels, casters really take a bit to get all their ducks in a row.

 

[rastaban75]

On the traditional RPG side, I'm doing Nenio's side quest.

This is by far the most complex and long companion quest. If there is one thing you'd look info for in a guide, this should be it. It's easy to miss some items from places where you can't go back to. Also, it will take you all the way to the end of the game to complete it.

My team is really uneven right now. My main (named DD, of course) is a force of nature on offense, but she's on an island there. No one else hits nearly as hard. Wenduag is good with her throwing axes, and Daeran is an excellent healer, but everyone else seems to just be filler. I'm leveling people with guides, but that's where I am right now - some folks aren't carrying their weight. Hopefully they'll become more effective as they level.

I agree with Andy on that one. To me, Ember really picks up pace when you get access to a couple of fire-based rings which are both available at the cleric vendor in your main base of operations later on (Arsinoe, Salamander and Pyromaniac rings). Nenio also gets her hands on some very powerful spells later on. She is solid.

I'd like more options as pure spellcasters to be honest. They all seem to have their character quirks that might not fit a party.

 

[DevilDancer]

Camellia is such a bitch.

 

[east1226]

I never had Wenduag in my party. I never saw the interactions with her.

Most of the character arch's have a chance of them dying/you killing them. Camillia was the only one I killed/lost. Good character, but a serious bitch.

 

[DevilDancer]

I booted Nenio for a reconfigured Woljif (alchemist), and it was like a cloud lifted. Party balance feels a lot better with one less caster.

I did Daeran's birthday party, that was entertaining. His story has potential.

 

[rastaban75]

I like archers a lot in this game. You went with Wenduag so you kind of miss the reliability of Lann as a ranged character. He, and another character you'll meet later on are really good in dealing lots of damage this way.

Lann's story arc is rather tame compared to Wenduag's of course.

 

[DevilDancer]

I really appreciate the modular difficulty settings. I wasn't enjoying the campaign so I cranked that down and now it's just a side distraction. But combat is still at medium and feels really good.

 

[DevilDancer]

I think I'm close to the end of Act II now. I just did the Zacharias fight, which was a good example of how different a fight can be with and without buffs. I walked up on him with no idea what was going to happen and got killed, but then reloaded, buffed up, and he didn't hit me once... which is a little surprising on normal difficulty, but I'll take it.

Leveled to 8. My casters got some interesting L4 spells.

My main continues to be a crazy death dealer.

 

[rastaban75]

Act III is the main "meat" of the game in many respects. Probably the largest chapter of the game, the mythic path takes shape, lots and lots of quests, new companions and plenty of crusade management.

Perhaps the only thing you are not going to like is that the game will have a main town from that point onwards. I think you mentioned in the past that you don't really like that sort of thing.

Have you made a decision about the mythic path?

 

[DevilDancer]

Act III is the main "meat" of the game in many respects. Probably the largest chapter of the game, the mythic path takes shape, lots and lots of quests, new companions and plenty of crusade management.

Perhaps the only thing you are not going to like is that the game will have a main town from that point onwards. I think you mentioned in the past that you don't really like that sort of thing.

Have you made a decision about the mythic path?

Yes, I'll go with Trickster. I'm pretty sure I unlocked it properly.

 

[east1226]

Trickster is an odd one in that you can be incredibly evil or just a decent person. It also has two endings. One of which is actually pretty cool.

 

[DevilDancer]

Making very slow progress now, approaching the end of Act II. The problem is I like the turn based combat much more than real time, but it's a lot slower. And turn based is easier/more effective.

Not sure what to do about that. I don't want to be playing this in March. There are too many other games I want to get to.

On a positive note, I recruited the sexy succubus.

 

[Andyster]

On a positive note, I recruited the sexy succubus.

It really is funny that of all the party based romance options she is the most conservative .

 

[DevilDancer]

I've had it with Camellia. Her personality sucks and my build for her kind of sucks too, even though I'm using a guide.

The problem is, she's my best character at chests and traps. What's my alternative if I boot her?

 

[rastaban75]

I've had it with Camellia. Her personality sucks and my build for her kind of sucks too, even though I'm using a guide.

The problem is, she's my best character at chests and traps. What's my alternative if I boot her?

The sexy and conservative, reborn Christian erm Desna-ist, succubus. No kidding, she can be great at that.

 

[DevilDancer]

It's cute that Wendy is immune to domination, since she's such a fanatic for the main character.

 

[DevilDancer]

Well damn, turns out the guide I was followimg for Daeran is broken. It relies on a perk that doesn't exist in the current version, and I found a Steam forum thread full of people complaining about it. So he needs a respec.

 

[DevilDancer]

Wendy is a hoot.

 

[Andyster]

I wasn't sure how this would play on Steam Deck and it's been a pleasant surprise. I started a character specced 1 Monk, 1 Witch, vivisectionist after that using shape shifting and natural weapons with sneak.

My intended crew for all the chaos is 2 good and 2 evil. Seelah and Ember,Wendy and Daeran and a brown fur mercenary who can let Seelah ride a dragon into battle.

 

[DevilDancer]

This came up on shuffle while I was fighting a big bad and I'm never going into a boss fight without it again.


Just hit L11. This game is enormous.

 

[DevilDancer]

I've got three armies roaming around, so that's going well. Just saved Ember from the cultists.

Two problems:
1. I can't figure out how to build a teleporter anywhere other than my main base.
2. I can't seem to raise my army levels past 7. It's like I've hit a wall.

 

[east1226]

Building armies past 7 is really just keep adding units. I don't think there is a hard cap on army strength.

As for teleporter, you can only do that at a level 2 outpost and up.

 

[DevilDancer]

RIP Camilla, crazy bitch.

 

[Andyster]

RIP Camilla, crazy bitch.

I really appreciate how she fucks with player expectations/tropes and there's no greater purpose or fixing her.

 

[Andyster]

Around the battle of Drezen this game starts to feel kind of tedious on a controller. Applying 10-15 buffs before we get started is annoying on keys and mouse but on a controller it’s an awful lot.

More to the point I hope they come up with a better way of handling this at some point. I know it’s in the rules but I don’t think a dm would let you stand around and prebuff everyone.

 

[IgglooV2]

So for you Steam Deck guys, are you using touchpad or gamepad or both for controls? I own this on Steam and have not played it much yet, so this is going to be one of the first games I install on my Deck.

 

[Andyster]

So for you Steam Deck guys, are you using touchpad or gamepad or both for controls? I own this on Steam and have not played it much yet, so this is going to be one of the first games I install on my Deck.

It uses the same controls it uses for gamepad or console mode on the deck. I’m not sure it works with the touch screen at all.

 

[IgglooV2]

OK, I never played the first Pathfinder on a gamepad, so not sure how that works, but it sounds like it should be decent!

 

[DevilDancer]

I gave up on this one on Deck, I'm 100% laptop now.

It's just too complicated.

 

[DevilDancer]

I do have a complaint: the campaign map is a mess. I hate that it's not clear how I'm supposed to access new spots that get noted on the map. Why hide the ball on that? What does it add to the game to make me fumble around and waste time on that?

Nothing. It adds nothing but frustration.

Anyway, I'm making progress on Chapter 3. I think I'm down to 4-5 quests that I a have to finish before advancing the story. All my loyalty quests are up to date.