Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous General Discussion, Playthroughs and Minimal/No Reload Thread

[Antimatter]

Each of the 3 should be fine but in order to decrease the chances of mimicking party members, I think you should have a look at a non-spoiler list of them, such as:

• Cleric
• Fighter
• Fighter (Armiger)
• Monk (Zen Archer)
• Oracle
• Paladin
• Ranger (Espionage Expert)
• Rogue (Eldritch Scoundrel)
• Shaman (Spirit Hunter)
• Slayer
• Warpriest
• Witch (Stigmatized Witch)
• Wizard (Scroll Savant)

But there are also races (subraces) involved. And their alignment. These factors can be pretty spoilery in certain cases.

 

[Xzarloxara]

Interesting, I went ahead with a Ley Line Witch for now, but have not gotten very far. I may switch to sorcerer before I get too far since that is not on the list... And I like them a lot. I may also try a druid since they aren't on the list either.

 

[Serg_BlackStrider]

I was thinking about something along the lines of a Sorcerer, Druid, or Witch, but I would be open to other classes. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm currently (at the same time with P:K) running through WoTR with Sylvan Sorcerer (naturally I'm a spellcaster guy and Sylvan Sorcerer, somewhat mix of a Sorcerer and a Druid, is my most favorite class). There is a Witch NPC in WoTR (and quite a lovely one) but not a Druid (though you could make fine Druid with some very early NPC).

p.s. ouch, for some reason Antimatter's post was hidden from me and he wrote the whole list of available NPCs classes... Nevermind then =)

 

[Xzarloxara]

I think I finally settled on a class (after creating about 4 different characters). A Kitsune Sage Sorcerer. At the moment, however, I want to whine about a bit of bad design in the first dungeon. There is this really stupidly strong water elemental that I can only safely beat by using cheese: use a hit and run tactic where I shoot it and then run away until it stops chasing me, and then repeat. This is really an annoying thing to have to do. I think maybe they could have picked something a bit less resilient for this encounter. Probably something less damaging too. That thing barely needs to look at the group to kill them instantly, especially with that freeze effect, and with its damage reduction and plentiful elemental immunities it is extremely hard to hurt for a level 2 party...

 

[Antimatter]

That water elemental is a menace to society.

This is how the Last Azlanti challenge by Owlcat Games results looked:

My personal experience was that I didn't have much trouble fighting it after completing Kingmaker - but of course, it required my party to use all their scrolls and potions etc. I agree the design is questionable. You'll be surprised, but there will be many similar difficulty spike-type enemies further. So you'll need to use all those spell penetration, resistance piercing, buffing and debuffing spells you have.

I wonder why you picked INT-based sorcerer and not CHA-based one.

 

[Xzarloxara]

I wonder why you picked INT-based sorcerer and not CHA-based one.

Mainly so I could have more skill points available on the main character. She has all the lore and knowledge skills covered, and as class skills too. With the background I choose (healer) she even gets to use her intelligence instead of wisdom for a bonus to her lore skills. She also adds a point to persuasion every other level at her current intelligence. The one thing I do miss a bit is her lack of perception training, but I guess other people can cover that. I also plan on hiring a Druid as a mercenary, because I am interested in that class as well. The other class that was very tempting to me was a Witch. I was specifically thinking about making my Witch into a Winter Witch prestige class, but I think that may have to wait for another run. Another reason I chose a Sorcerer over a Druid was that I really wanted a kitsune as my main and they don’t make very good Druids. They do make very good Witches, though. I do like Sorcerers a lot, but the temptation to try something new, like a Witch, is strong. I just hope I can settle on a class soon so I don’t get restartitis…

 

[m7600]

I love this dialogue

 

[alice_ashpool]

I think I finally settled on a class (after creating about 4 different characters). A Kitsune Sage Sorcerer. At the moment, however, I want to whine about a bit of bad design in the first dungeon. There is this really stupidly strong water elemental that I can only safely beat by using cheese: use a hit and run tactic where I shoot it and then run away until it stops chasing me, and then repeat. This is really an annoying thing to have to do. I think maybe they could have picked something a bit less resilient for this encounter. Probably something less damaging too. That thing barely needs to look at the group to kill them instantly, especially with that freeze effect, and with its damage reduction and plentiful elemental immunities it is extremely hard to hurt for a level 2 party...

The safest is enlarging, heroism and bulls strength (via scroll) and hasting (via potion) Seelah and giving her a glaive - reach + the Str bonus + damage size up means you can overcome the DR. Should take around 4 rounds on core. Either Lann or Wenduag can tank with potion of protection from cold, reduced person, potion of faith, cat's grace and barkskin.

Other people can just chill at the back. You can actually kill the endboss, take her glaive and go back to kill the water elemental if you want.

 

[alice_ashpool]

Also Keen Kitsune Sage Sorc is great. Charisma is dump stat material with Healer background. Would rather a Keen Kitsune Wizard though, personally, because of the 1/2 round metamagic and the faster spell progression, but that's just me.

 

[Xzarloxara]

So, I finally settled on a class for my character, and have started to explore the city a bit. My main character is a Kitsune Sage Sorcerer, and I hired an Oread Primal Druid as a mercenary (she has a pet smilodon). In kingmaker I usually focused on spell focus feats for my casters, but due to the number of demons out there, I am instead trying to take spell penetration ASAP. They still often have trouble with demons, but slightly less trouble now. My first move after returning to the city was going to the market square. I had a lot of trouble there with the various enemies, especially the shadows, and shadow demon. After finishing most things available at the square I returned to the tavern and had to defend it from a demon assault. That was a fun battle, in which Lann scored a key critical hit against the main enemy, the minotaur, for 40 damage! After this I fought some enemies in various miscellaneous places and things weren't too bad until I returned to the market square to take care of some unfinished business. I was quite surprised to find that new enemies had spawned there. The hardest new enemy was a Nabassu; nasty thing, with its level draining and mass paralysis, not to mention the ghoul entourage it had. I also summoned a Vrock and had to fight it too, which wasn't too bad I guess.

I do wonder if I should be paying any attention to the mythic path stuff, though. so far I have encountered several mythic path choices in dialogs and am trying to follow the non evil ones, just to keep my options open.

This is a really hard game but it has been fun so far, if a bit frustrating at times...

 

[Xzarloxara]

By the way, this is what my characters look like:
My main, Absoli, in Fox form.

Absoli in Human form.

Hrene my Druid Merc.

 

[mlnevese]

Now i have to fight the urge to make a kitsune ranger and call him Robin Hood

 

[Antimatter]

Looking at the start of @Xzarloxara's playthrough, I got pulled towards Wrath, and decided to roll with an unusual character for me. I had played the game for about ~40 hours when it had been released, so I know about the game's start and initial companions, this is why I got interested in an evil playthrough. The concept initially came from Jaethal, my favourite NPC from Kingmaker, so I wanted an undead character and a scythe. Then I looked at potential Mythic paths, and while the Lich was an obvious choice, I didn't want to sacrifice romances and party interactions. The Demon and The Devil also looked a bit off due to RP reasons. So I found a solution - a Trickster! Chaotic Evil alignment still allows me to try evil NPCs, namely Wenduag and Daeran (whom I both found quite unique when I first played), and maybe I'll be able to figure out the secret of Camellia.

Inspired by Hrene and her smilodon, I also wanted a mount. A black horse called Binky sounded very fitting for the concept. So this is Arcane Rider Dhampir Lucius, at the beginning of his journey. This class will provide a lot of fresh experience for me (I have limited experience with Regongar from Kingmaker), but I'm up for the experiment.

So far (Lucius reached the Water Elemental room, but won't attack it just yet), I'm really liking the increased melee damage output and the high speed Binky provides when I want to reach lonely shooters or enemy wizards. Also, having a person with high Athletics is a big plus.

 

[Xzarloxara]

My character started recently saved Kenabres and started Crusading. Shortly after that, Hrene made a mess with her spells. This is Spike Stones, Spike Growth, and Sickening Entanglement spells all placed on top of each other. They made VERY short work of a band of marauders. Also, having finally reached level 7, she is now able to ride her Smilodon!

 

[Antimatter]

How to kill the dreaded Water Elemental in the starting dungeon? Just buff to the max (Enlarge Person, Bull's Strength, Mutagen - Dexterity for the tank, Mutagen - Strength for the damage dealer) and pray for misses for the elemental and hits for your party.

 

[Serg_BlackStrider]

In my current Last Azlanti/Hard run I've managed to kill it buffing Kitty with Mage Armor+Resist Cold & Blur potions, Enlarge Person+Bull's Strength+Heroism Potion on Seelah with Marching Terror Glaive and Lann shooting from afar. Seelah also could step back after each attack and then use Charge to improve her chances to hit. To my great surprise it works =) And I've even got an achievement for that))

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

How to kill the dreaded Water Elemental in the starting dungeon? Just buff to the max (Enlarge Person, Bull's Strength, Mutagen - Dexterity for the tank, Mutagen - Strength for the damage dealer) and pray for misses for the elemental and hits for your party.

View attachment 3197
View attachment 3198

You have such a brave horse, I see Binky dealt some damage too!

 

[Antimatter]

I rushed through a few areas because I knew I could gather my party (before venturing forth), and added Daeran & Nenio to the team. We reached the 4th level. My party: MC (Arcane Rider), Wenduag (2 Vivisectionist / 2 Fighter), Camellia (default 4 Spirit Hunter, a very helpful class btw which I'm still discovering), Seelah (1 Vivisectionist / 3 Paladin, obviously quite out of place with the evil MC but fills the slot of a party tank), Daeran (default 4 Oracle, just an amazingly helpful character due to all the healing), Nenio (default 4 Scroll Savant), and Binky of course.

I enjoyed having Woljif as a companion when I first played, but with so many melee warrior types this playthrough, I felt like dropping him for some better party balance. Poor tiefling! On a positive note, Lucius finally can rip enemies with his scythe!

Here is my party arriving at the market in its full glory (and yay for cat pics!):

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

Dhampir was chosen for flavour of the themed playthrough I assume, but are there any particular race bonuses or restrictions etc?

Knowing your approach to past games, I'm also curious if there are any particular self-imposed rules and conditions to this run? How did you handle the very customizable difficulty setting?

 

[Antimatter]

Yeah, the dhampir race certainly added an extra layer of challenge: healing spells harm the character (and his horse btw, as it's also undead) instead of helping, and it takes a while to get a good source of Inflict Wounds scrolls/potions. On the other hand, a dhampir takes no penalties from energy drain effect, gains a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease and mind-affecting effects.

As for rules, playing as an evil character and picking evil options in dialogue feels like a big change on its own. Here is an example of how it feels in the game from the story perspective:

The screenshot shows the influence of both Urgathoa (the goddess of the undead) and the Demon Mythic choice.

I play on the Core difficulty level, which enables certain difficulty-based achievements (in this game, Core is much harder than Normal).

Edit: Also, I'm going to respect party deaths. Scrolls of reviving cost 6k gold each in this game, so if a character dies, I'm going to spend money on reviving them, instead of just reloading and hoarding money to buy all those expensive items such as armour or weapons.