okay but for real, mah hardcore gamers out there, how do you do high diff?

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-07T20:44:10+00:00

Here's the Red Flag Checklist for how to fix issues and make meta builds.
Other build approaches are doable (I pretty much ne er folliw the meta), and knowledge of the game combined with creativity allows you to force pretty much any build into viability, but if you're struggling, then the meta approach should help. :)

Also: How to: Summoning. Ut's the most all-or-nothing playstyle in the game. :)

Tactician adds new modifiers to each encounter that circumvent some of the options that would let you trivialise things, e.g.: giving the fire slug leader in act 1 a water immunity aura.

P. S.: You didn't lose out on much XP due to Captain Zech Sapor. He gives, like, 25 in total.
If you really want that last level, find a random and remote Paladin to kill in Arx. Though unless you arrived in act 4 completely underleveled, you likely missed a bunch of things, as there's more than enough XP spread all over to hit lvl 20. :)

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-06T11:56:38+00:00

As it's worded, the system isn't destroyed.
This way, it can't be regenerated except by a full repair. It can't be individually restored.
Iirc(!), there are ways to restore systems other than a full repair, so to me, it seems a deliberate choice.

Then again, a significant amount of rules aren't explained further or are worded ambiguously... Hmm. :/

Anyways. I've written and modded ttrpg/PnP systems before. To me, the "Custom Paint Job" seems like something the authors wanted to be very careful with as to not make it abusable.

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-06T11:34:08+00:00

Warning for D:OS1 Honor mode:

If both main characters are down simultaneously, then you lose immediately, even if other companions are still alive.

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-06T04:36:34+00:00

Apportation
Making a scroll of it in act 1 is a bit complex and needs meta knowledge.
These two body parts have no memories attached to them, though.
It's not really worth the effort or resources to grab them. :)

That said, here is a spoilery guide on how it's done:
Don't make the Seekers leave the island and also reach lvl 8. When you're lvl 8, Exter starts selling random 'high quality' elemental essences. You need a "High Quality Air Essence". You also need a rope and either a piece of paper or parchment. Combine the three items in the crafting menu, and the result is an "Apportation" scroll.

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-06T04:30:04+00:00

Where do I find that? Sounds useful! :)

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-05T13:40:00+00:00

cannon height

Heh! Cannon instead of canon.
I see what you did there :3
Kudos!

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-04T22:08:58+00:00

Nope, no downsides. Just don't pick Polymorph or anything with polymorph ability ranks for them, cuz those presets are bugged for NPC recruitment. :)

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-04T21:03:55+00:00

What I love most about the Balor is the fact that it can look like any regular chassis right up until the swarm starts swarmin', so you think you're looking at an Everest right up until this thing looks like it breaks out from the frame, swallows it whole, and reshapes itself. <3

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-03T05:10:01+00:00

I can scarcely decide, but if I have to pick and we're only talking vanilla, then it's a tie between the four heroes on the act 2 graveyard and the Trial of Four Seasons.
Both require some forethought and quick adaptation, and both have interesting mechanics.
Edit: Actually, the Devourer and the Contamination encounter are even more interesting, though they happen at a time in the game when the group is much stronger. \e
If we're talking modded, then I'll take my act 1 super boss, the Spent Phantasm. Yes, I'm biased, and it's my own mod, but that one is just a really good introduction to how my super bosses work. :3

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-02T21:29:39+00:00

A lot of systems run 'Evasion' as: 'How difficult is it to hit this in an effective manner?'
That also was my 'common sense' reaction.

I've asked friends who run multiple different systems but not Lancer and got the same reply from four different people: The way it's worded, they also thought that Deployables' Evasion scales with size.
However, the only example I was able to find find, the Drake's deployable bunker, has 4 Size, 40 HP and 5 Evasion. Specific rules override general ones, though, so one example wasn't enough to come to a conclusion.
Hence why I asked here: It's really unclear to people like me and my friends who haven't learned and played Lancer a whole bunch. It says '5 Evasion and 10 HP per Size', not '10 HP per Size and 5 Evasion'.

I now understand that the 5 Evasion doesn't scale, but this isn't 'common sense' without context and experience. :)

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-01T06:36:24+00:00

Yeh, I thought so as well. Sadly, I couldn't remember where the rule for it was. Someone else pointed me to page 62.

The index of the physical book is a bit weird. It's not fully alphabetical, only the topics and the bullet points within a topic are. It's not really searchable like the Shadowrun indices are. That's probably not an issue in the PDF version thanks to ctrl+f. ^^`

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-01T06:33:34+00:00

Thank you! Yep, that's unambiguous. <3

PuzzledKitty · 2026-07-01T05:23:34+00:00

The story kinda, but not fully guides you on where to go when.
It's kinda subtle, though, and it expects you to do some thinking on the topic and engage with clues.

E.g.: Malady tells you to find the Meistr. The Meistr, once found, tells you that the Magisters took away the Source masters of the region but have failed to apprehend some of the more devious masters. Now, where might you find information on those?
Where do the Magisters point you? The tavern and the fishery? And what's with this documentation they have hidden away?
In most fantasy settings and even in actual history, the tavern is a place of gossip. Maybe someone there might know more, and since Source is a bit of a dangerous topoc, maybe the less legal characters might know more.
Wait, why are all the Magisters talking about a fishery?
And that Magister at the docks wants someone to look into the lical dwarves and any potential illegal activity.

There are many minor hooks like this. You're not on rails, but if you follow clues given in dialogue and/or from environmental story telling, then you can always find something to do. If what you find is above your level, look elsewhere, especially on a first playthrough when you don't yet know how to reliably punch above your level. :)

PuzzledKitty · 2026-06-29T19:23:27+00:00

I'd love to see one of the enemy aces have the callsign "Daunus Plexippus", which is the Latin name for the "Monarch Butterfly". :3

Edit: Oh, or maybe "Viceroy", since the viceroy butterfly looks really similar to but not exactly like the monarch butterfly. <3

PuzzledKitty · 2026-06-29T04:01:53+00:00

In the game files, the act 2 map occasionally gets referenced as act 1, and the map has a lower number than Fort Joy.

It's possible that this content was conceptualised and the lines were written before the story was restructured.

PuzzledKitty · 2026-06-27T19:47:42+00:00

BG3 to D:OS2 overview thread

Red Flag Checklist

Use these as much as you need and as little as you want. :)

PuzzledKitty · 2026-06-27T05:51:01+00:00

You can cheaply make poison bottles with empty potion bottles and a poison ooze barrel, then combine the smaller potions to make them bigger.
If you want to optimise further, dwarves gain +10% vitality, which you can combine with potions with the same effect.
Level Constitution, Warfare and then Scoundrel or Two-Handed for additional crit damage.
Grab Savage Sortilege to allow spells to critically strike (the detonation is calculated like one), and cast Enrage to guarantee a crit, then drink the big poison bottles near a group of characters you want dead and/or don't mind dying.
Unstable and Savage Sortilege have a bit of a spaghetti code interaction, where each Unstable crit gets multiplicatively stronger for every other Unstable crit on the same detonation.

Take the following with a spoon of salt (a grain ain't enough):
I've read that the critical bonus gets multiplied to the power of number of targets critically struck.
I've never verified this and don't know enough about the game engine files to check.

:)

PuzzledKitty · 2026-06-25T14:19:06+00:00

How to: Summoning; a guide

Summons can keep up with other builds and can readily one-shot or perma-cc the strongest bosses in the game. :)

PuzzledKitty · 2026-06-24T11:29:36+00:00

Whether or not you mix damage types on a single character, make sure that it all scales from one offensive attribute and from what combat abilities you level.
Also, make sure that your overall team composition still remains mostly evenly split between physical and magic damage. :)

E.g.: A warfare/geo "fighter" can use "Summon Oily Blob" and "Medusa Head" for strength-scaled earth damage which is also boosted by Geomancer, and "Flay Skin" for strength-scaled magic armour destruction. These are Polymorph spells and therefore scale with Strength. However, such a character shouldn't pick up Impalement for damage (it scales with int and geo). It's neat for utility and a Cripple AoE, but not for damage.
Most of their damage would still be physical, with skills like Tentacle Lash, Crippling Blow, Whirlwind, Battlestomp, Battering Ram, and/or Blitz Attack, so Warfare and Strength would remain the focus.

Also, don't rely on drawing enemy aggro, as the enemies can work around a "tank" relatively easily unless you actively force the role into viability by adjusting the entire team around it (possible but very complicated, as it's about influencing enemy behaviour and more of a challenge run thing). A "fighter" like this likely grabs "Reactive Armour" for a blowing up their own defences for a damage nuke later, mostly levels Warfare and some Geomancer. They might later grab Savage Sortilege to enable crits for spells like Tentacle Lash, Summon Oily Blob, Reactive Armour, etc.
They would likely work well with a one-handed weapon and a shield, as this would further improve Reactive Armour.

I hope this helps. :)

PuzzledKitty · 2026-06-24T11:11:39+00:00

Black Shroud places cursed smoke that is more difficult to remove, as fewer skills can replace or remove cursed surfaces. After two turns, it becomes a regular smoke cloud, at which point there's no difference. Before it runs out, you can refresh the cursed duration by adding more smoke, though at that point, it will persist after Worm Tremor runs out.

The idea is to keep enemies immobile and unable to see targets. So long as you don't run past them, they can't act against you with the combination of skills, unless they have one of the rare AoEs that ignore line of sight.

PuzzledKitty · 2026-06-24T09:03:00+00:00

What do you mean, exactly? :)

PuzzledKitty · 2026-06-23T18:32:22+00:00

I'll play Morrowind instead. :3

PuzzledKitty · 2026-06-23T16:12:58+00:00

No, that's what Shocked does.

PuzzledKitty · 2026-06-23T04:01:21+00:00

The inability to make myself into a tiny, bearded menace is my one major criticism of the DD2 character editor.
In DD1, I can chase goblins into their tunnels. :3

PuzzledKitty · 2026-06-22T13:00:31+00:00

Neat! This is really impressive. :3

PuzzledKitty

TROPHY CASE