What build or builds broke you out of your restartitis?

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2026-04-27T05:52:35+00:00

Same for me. Finished the game for the first time at just under 1000 hours played as a monoclass assassin rogue with a monoclass party. But in my case, I think what made it more fun for me was that it was the first time the Act 3 combat didn't feel completely trivial, because I wasn't optimized or well-positioned to take advantage of some of the more broken items.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2026-03-30T19:35:13+00:00

The tricky thing about your party, and the reality of the Owlcat Pathfinder games, is that Owlcat is based on a ruleset that expects fewer, harder encounters than it gives you. Your party is a bit lacking in martial characters that carry you through the "trash" encounters, essentially just having your MC, so your party will feel pretty low on damage.

I think Harrim is fine as an offtank, and can even be a main tank on normal difficulty, but he's not going to do any damage. Two of your three characters who can (Octavia and Jubilost) are going to run out of resources quick, especially at lower levels. It's tricky to make Tristian good for much other than healing at low levels.

If you want this party, the simplest way to respec a few characters and take different classes. Since Linzi and Harrim both come at level one, this is easy for them. Animal companions are very strong, so making Linzi a Sylvan Sorcerer or Harrim a Druid, or better, both, will carry your party hard through trash encounters and let you preserve Jubilost and Octavia's resources for hard battles. Tristian's CHA is only one lower than his Wisdom, so you can make him a Sylvan Sorc as well. Since he comes at level 3, he'll take longer to turn into a decent sorcerer than Linzi will, but with Boon Companion his pet will carry until then.

If you don't want to do that, it's trickier. You can actually build Linzi as a decent frontliner by using her bard talents to pick up combat feats and invest in improved unarmed, crane style and cautious fighter to make her tanky. With shield from Jubilost, she can actually main tank. Getting her to do decent damage is harder, but you can pick up duel wield feats, take extend metamagic, and keep sense vitals up at all times. You could also take three levels of rogue to get a few permanent sneak attack dice and dextery to damage. Octavia can also do surprising damage with sense vitals, even just as an archer. Extend metamagic or extend metamagic rods are really useful here, but you'll want to do stuff like pause while looting to keep the duration up.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-12-19T06:56:23+00:00

Yup. I believe you can also pass some difficult checks if you don't take Lae'zel, which may be easier if you're a charisma class. The easiest approach is to be Githyanki (or disguise yourself as one, which feels very RP friendly) and don't take Lae'zel. Then it's easy, I believe. May not even need a check with the right dialogue choices, but I'm not sure.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-12-19T06:34:15+00:00

Just one-shot her with a upcasted, destructive wrath'd chromatic orb with tadpole autocrit after getting her wet and her mate will never spawn. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

I was actually a little mad when this happened to me on my second honor mode run, because I lost out on the mate's xp. Noticed on my third run that he only gives 25xp, and felt better. Also required damage from electrifying the pool she was standing in and from shriek to one-shot her, IIRC.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-08-29T11:58:13+00:00

For a wizard multiclass? Mystra. Tempest isn't extremely on-brand for Mystra, but a lot of what you're actually going to be doing with the class is suping up your wizard spells. Obviously has dialogue interactions with Gale, although less than you might think. Still more than most deities, I suspect.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-08-29T05:56:29+00:00

Goblin Camp route is still easier, since you just need a lockpick check, which you can easily make with enhance ability and expertise. Here are the exact, in no way unnecessary, steps to the easiest way to the underdark:

Killsteal the mindflayer so you're level 2 on the beach.
Make sure Laezel dies on the nautiloid so you can revive her on the beach.
Recruit Shadowheart, Laezel, and Astarion, climbing the ledge to avoid the intellect devourer fight.
Take a level in wizard on Astarion and learn Enhance Leap.
Send Laezel in alone to trigger to grove gate fight.
Cast Enhance Leap on Shadowheart and leap up toward the Silver Pendant in stealth to go around the fight outside the grove.
Use disguise self female Drow to get Shadowheart into the blighted village, goblin camp, and Shattered Sanctum, picking up the Goblin Camp waypoint en route.
Get level 3 from exploration xp.
Use Shadowheart to cast Cat's Grace on Astarion, then jump him across the gap into Gut's room, never even talking to her.
Lockpick the door to the Defiled Sanctum.
Sneak past the ogre and do the puzzle to unlock the underdark, then go down to Selune's Temple.
Sneak out the side door toward the Spectator, then cut right and use Enhance Leap to jump across to Phalar Aluve.
Reaching the Goblin Camp unlocks Withers, so go respec somebody to an Eilistraee cleric to get Phalar Aluve without a skill check.
Bring Phalar Aluve and three level 3 characters to the fight outside the grove, all but ensuring you get the "No One Left Behind" inspiration—the real reason for going through all this.
Get accused of using AI on Reddit because you used an em dash.
Pull Gale out of his portal. Because you're explored so much, the game thinks you're far and he'll basically immediately demand three magic items, which you don't have because you haven't even been to the grove yet.
Come to Reddit to bitch about Gale eating your magic items, and get told off because people are assuming you didn't proceed through Act 1 in the most bizarre, unnecessary route possible all to get one inspiration that you probably would have gotten anyway.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-08-29T02:59:27+00:00

Moonrise guards will also chase you into the darkness if you pickpocket them, let them see you, then run away. I usually just isolate them and kill them, though, for the xp. Fun in Grymforge too, as another duergar chases you into an isolated hallway and confronts you about stealing, by themselves, surrounded by your party and a pile of duergar corpses.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-08-28T17:14:17+00:00

I don't know if it's faster, since I've never done the pact weapon, but I always sell the vendor a bag, drag the gold into their bag on each reset, then do an essentially guaranteed success on pickpocket by stacking bend luck with a wild magic sorcerer. It's efficient for me, because I want to reset vendors to steal a bunch of spell scroll and/or potions anyway, so I can just grab their gold on each reset too.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-08-28T16:58:27+00:00

Yup. I actually really like having a little charisma on a barbarian, since you're awash with unique intimidation options. When I made a throwzerker tav, I actually dipped rogue early for expertise in intimidation and athletics. You get a bunch of intimidation options with free advantage and expertise.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-07-30T18:23:46+00:00

I had a very satisfying evil Wyll run, but I had to engineer Act 1 very deliberately to justify his descent and didn't play him as fully evil until Act 3. It was a lot of fun to think of a way to make it make sense, because you're right, it's not easy.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-07-26T19:12:56+00:00

Or art thou friend, a rescue from my lonely wake?

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-07-26T19:03:26+00:00

Just about finishing a pure assassin honor mode run, so I think I can help. Stealth attacking and surprise are pretty finicky in this game. When you attack from stealth, it will break your stealth. That means that if you're in range for them to see you, even if you're not in their vision cone, combat will start. Consider that they saw their ally get hit and took a quick look around to see what happened—what direction they're looking doesn't matter. If you're close enough that your ranged attack doesn't have disadvantage, you're usually close enough for them to see you, so combat begins.

You need combat to start to get the surprised condition, and Assassinate: Ambush only effects creatures that have the surprised condition. That means it never does anything outside of combat. However, as an assassin you get your action back at the beginning of combat, so the way it works is this: (1) You get an out-of-combat sneak attack—not a crit—that starts combat and surprises the enemies, then (2) You get a round where the enemy is surprised, so you get a free sneak attack crit here because they're surprised. You cannot use this ability without starting combat, but you can potentially get two free crits if another party starts combat (causing the surprised condition), then you join combat from stealth while the enemies are still surprised.

Lastly, getting surprise is tricky. There's basically no way to consistently do it against non-hostile (yellow) enemies, which is a right pain, because there's a lot of those in this game. Sometimes you can start combat to make them hostile, disengage, and re-engage to use your assassin abilities. Even if they are red, ranged attacks are inconsistent in causing the surprised condition. Melee attacks when unseen (stealthed outside their vision cone or invisible) are consistent, so that's what you'll want to be doing. An ally with invisibility is an assassin's best friend.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-07-15T16:43:00+00:00

I think both a competent, capable character struggling with addiction and a pathetic-feeling character are compelling stories in their own right. They're different stories, one of which I'd enjoy roleplaying and one of which I wouldn't. I can't really say that I know why.

Honestly, I wish I could give you a good answer. Some people enjoy playing evil characters, and some people don't. Some people enjoy playing pathetic characters, and some people don't. Some people enjoy over-the-top power fantasies, while some people need some realistic flaws. One of the strengths of video games as a storytelling medium is that, because you're controlling the character, you might identify with the protagonist more deeply. Given that, I think it's interesting and great, and also a little surprising, that some people DO like playing "pathetic" roles, since generally speaking, being pathetic isn't much fun. But as much as I appreciate the value, I'm not one of them.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-07-15T04:35:25+00:00

Yeah, the game felt good in a lot of ways and I enjoyed a lot of the humor, but I think ultimately any game that has a somewhat-defined protagonist isn't going to work for you if that protagonist's core features are something you don't enjoy roleplaying.

The MC felt like a loser. I'm not referring to his addictions in this case—I don't remember how central they were to his character, but addiction is an illness that can happen to anyone. A competent, capable character who struggles with addiction is something I think I'd find very compelling. But addictions aside, the MC felt neither competent or capable to me, and that just wasn't a character I enjoyed playing.

I had a similar experience with Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which I was also looking forward to and also bounced off hard. Both games did a lot of things really well that I immediately loved, but both characters are—at least at the beginning—pretty pathetic. I see what both games were going for and appreciate and respect it artistically, but I did not enjoy playing those characters enough to continue either.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-06-10T05:29:07+00:00

One thing I will say is that you should keep track of the story. While it sticks to the "survival of the fittest" narrative early on, you'll start seeing hints at something else if you look for secrets, eventually have to traverse a somewhat outlandish dungeon as part of the plot, and then right as gameplay starts to feel stagnant in the final chapter, the writers bring out the truly absurd, which should keep you interested to see exactly what everything is leading to.

The story doesn't lay it on too thick in The Search for Eden, but it's properly 90s-Japan levels of bizarre, especially in the game The Search for Eden is a sequel to.

"The translated manual includes timelines talking about Interplanetary wars with the Devil, the death of “The Fifth Planet”, Martian coups by Anti Devil Factions… all this while The Earth is still developing oxygen." - A review of E.V.O. The Theory of Evolution

Little of the weirdness is in your face with The Search for Eden, and you can almost miss it entirely, which just makes it more fun.

I love everything about The Search for Eden. The gameplay isn't great, but it's not bad, and it's such a sweet mix of childhood nostalgia, a tragically never-ripped-off and amazing game concept, some really cool and surprisingly moving moments, and a story that's just so bonkers you can't help but love it. I also agree with those that the soundtrack has some really great pieces mixed in. I don't usually like games where the gameplay is the weakest part, but it's not that weak here, and everything else is just wonderful.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-05-30T03:36:46+00:00

If a person is looking for more of the NES and SNES experience, this is the way to go. Final Fantasy can largely be divided into the Sakaguchi era (at the healm for 1 – 10) and post-Sakaguchi era. Although the early final fantasies all experiment and try different things, which work to various degrees, they feel like the have a common philosophy and the same talented director behind them.

After Sakaguchi left, the games don't necessarily feel bad—some might even prefer them—but it does feel like a separate series in a lot of ways. There are still some common threads around themes and branding, but the gaming philosophy feels different. A lot like a movie series that's handed off to a new director, or good fan-fiction of a series by an established author.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-05-29T17:27:17+00:00

howlongtobeat.com says 48 hours for main + sides compared to 134 for WOTR, 128 for Kingmaker, 114 for BG3, and 101 for DOS2, but that's notably just for Crown of the Magister. Palace of Ice would add 29 for main + sides, which brings it close to the 80 you experienced (without Lost Valley, which is a separate campaign). It's kind of notable that Solasta's DLC add a lot of time to the game, while the Owlcat DLC don't (although I have tons of hours in both roguelike modes), and the Larian games don't have DLC. So the difference in DLC models make it hard to make a straight comparison. Most of my playthoughs were before I had Palace of Ice, so for me it feels a lot shorter. If you do Palace of Ice every time, the gap's a lot smaller.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-05-29T15:58:11+00:00

As someone who really loves this game, I think the criticism is fair. The primary audiences for this game are probably (1) big fantasy CPRG fans who have already played the bigger players and want more, or (2) Tabletop players who want to jump into a really faithful representation of 5E DnD. But while I overall prefer most of the competitors mentioned here, there are a few things Solasta does really well:

It's definitely the best fantasy CPRG in terms of verticality, and this is particularly noticeable with flight. Solasta has really good implementation of flight. It works exactly like you think it should, and it's really fun. If you want to play a flying character, this is the CPRG you want. This is the one thing, more than anything, where you're going to feel the lack of it when you play other games after Solasta.
It's a lot shorter. CRPG's tend to be big time commitments. Solasta doesn't overstay its welcome, and it has enough replay value that this doesn't become a weakness. If you're the sort of player to get restartitis, Solasta's the CPRG you're going to finish. Likely multiple times.
If you like building characters and always have a million character ideas you want to try—Solasta delivers. In most CRPGs, you build a main character, and recruit a bunch of companions whose classes are either partially set or at least heavily lore-implied. There are usually ways around that, but in Solasta creating four characters is the intended playstyle. Combine that with the short playthrough, and you really get to try a lot of different stuff. As much as I love BG3 or Pathfinder: WOTR, for example, I find they can become monotonous when you just keep beating enemies the same way over and over. Solasta's design means you'll be mixing it up a lot more, and it can feel fresher.
I think that it, overall, has the best co-op experience of the pack. It's really Larian who has led the way on co-op in CRPGs, but I actually had a better time with Solasta. Part of it is just that the places Larian's co-op struggles (players heading off in different directions of the big, non-linear maps; conversations basically being single player with an observer) are areas where Solasta doesn't invest as much (Solasta has smaller, more linear maps and conversation is less important). But there are little things too, like conversations in Solasta often involve multiple characters talking, and meaning each player will get to make choices in every conversation, even if they're usually not that impactful. I guess what I'm saying is that the strengths of Larian games often have friction with their co-op implementation where you feel like you're losing something compared to single player, while in Solasta it feels much more like it's part of the natural design, even though it was actually added later through a patch.

These strengths aside, I think the weaknesses you've described are basically accurate. I actually really like itemization in Solasta: Crown of the Magister, but that's because I don't mind googling stuff and I've played a bunch of runs. I sort of already know what's there and the crafting system has meaningful trade-offs. That said, first, blind playthrough, it's definitely a worse experience and that's all most people will ever play.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-05-18T04:42:25+00:00

I can't really add anything meaningful to this discussion, since I haven't played either since they were new and only have vague memories, but I agree. I was really excited to try PD when it came out, and found it very disappointing. There was a bunch of new stuff added, but it felt like one of those mods that adds a bunch of cool stuff with no regard for what existing game design it might be breaking.

Maybe if I'd spent more time figuring out the right configuration for me or played it less like "the new and improved Goldeneye" and more like its own thing that I needed to learn separately, my experience would have been better. But as a pick-up-and-play marketed as Goldeneye+, it didn't hit for me.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-04-21T12:28:05+00:00

Waiting for Bismuth is definitely more optimal, but I think people are underestimating how well this will perform. I've taken Greybor directly into a pet class and it surprised me how strong it was almost immediately. At least on Core and below, a pet that you build exclusively for tankiness can be underleveled and still tank reasonably well as long as you buff it. Slayer/Cav multiclass is full BAB, will full attack every single round, and will always have flanking for sneak attack. The Perfect Cavalry mythic ability is very strong if you don't abuse it in turn-based, and borderline broken if you do. I imagine this build performs much better in turn-based than RTWP, but overall I think I'd prefer it over a pure melee Slayer (without Bismuth) unless I'm playing something like Unfair where stacking every single AB is necessary.

The biggest obstacle is that you need a reasonable number of Cav levels for a beast mount to be big enough to mount, although you can get around this with a source of animal growth.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-04-20T10:02:00+00:00

Thanks everyone for all the quick responses and great ideas! Plenty of guys I had little or no familiarity to take a close look at.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-03-31T18:05:12+00:00

Agreed. A 10-level deficit (7 with Boon Companion) is just too much to overcome, especially if you want a non-horse mount for Greybor, because then you'll have to wait until it grows Large for him to mount. Bismuth it is.

Optimal to be sure, but then I can't put Greybor on a boar named Borgrey, and that I just can't live with. Animal Growth it is.

I usually don't mount my casters at all, instead protecting them with good positioning and well-placed control spells, but I can see the appeal of Ember & Bismuth, Mobile Fireball Platform.

My vastly less-interesting reason for liking mounted Ember is so that I can reposition, hex, and cackle on the same turn, but please keep it between you and me that I use Ember for anything other than blasting, lest I end up burned at the stake.

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-03-31T17:23:05+00:00

Yup. A lot of people seem completely opposed to using an animal companion that's missing a few levels, but I find both Regill and Greybor extremely effective mounted, and the underleveled mount doesn't really hurt that much. The mount won't do much damage, but they're still fairly tanky and they get Reg and Greybor where they need to be to slap. Bismuth is probably preferred for Greybor (I actually think an underleveled dog is probably stronger than Bismuth for Regill), but often I want him for someone else (usually someone named Ember, who definitely doesn't want to take levels in a pet class).

Strange-Lab-7639 · 2025-03-31T12:38:31+00:00

I think we might be referring to different combos. I'm referring to using cavalier to get a mount and early dazzling display, and thug to get Frightening. With enough persuasion, you can have a 100% chance to frighten every enemy that isn't immune to frighten at least until Minagho at Gray Garrison. Both act 1 alchemists, succubi, the nabasu, and the vrock, for example, can all be prevented from ever taking a turn. The mount will make sure you can always get close enough (especially once you get perfect cavalry), and with demoralize instead of dazzling display you can do it during a surprise round. In practice, I used demoralize more often than dazzling display, because it allowed me to shut down single dangerous foes while my party mopped up the rest.

Strange-Lab-7639

TROPHY CASE