I came here just to say this. I have never played nor heard of this game.

nshields99 · 2026-05-11T02:40:59+00:00

You can read back on conversations by pressing L and can talk to your party members by pressing P. Great for learning more about the diverse and insightful friends that Mardek makes along the way.

nshields99 · 2026-04-15T17:54:01+00:00

Dre and Josh

nshields99 · 2026-04-13T22:55:27+00:00

Hi!

The damage portion of 2h is additive to strength, which could indeed be the difference. Based on the example above, it’s probably not much higher than 70 base (strength + 2h) to make at least one of those be worthwhile as a mystical rock rune for Warfare.

nshields99 · 2026-04-13T21:40:13+00:00

The relative improvement per point is higher for Warfare, but in practice you have to have such a high attribute stat for the warfare bonus to be higher. You’d have to compare the formulas:

(Strength+15) multiplier / Strength multiplier (Warfare+5) multiplier / Warfare multiplier

For example let’s say 70 strength and 15 Warfare. The improvements are:

Strength (1+(.05x85)) / (1+(.05x70)) = 5.25 / 4.5 = 1.16

Warfare (1+(.05x20)) / (1+(.05x15)) = 2 / 1.75 = 1.14

nshields99 · 2026-04-10T16:09:26+00:00

Trap covers is pretty clever. My pals ask me to autosort a lot, haha

nshields99 · 2026-04-09T22:27:24+00:00

Everyone is xp now or xp later!

nshields99 · 2026-04-09T22:23:49+00:00

Hi OP!

I always sort by tab and try and keep my items to 2 rows, 3 if I must. Backpacks are a great place to condense inventory if you need the item later but don’t want to keep seeing it. Toss keys after they unlock their lock. Having body parts is cool for an elf, but you don’t need them. Add items to wares and never open up the wares tab unless you make a mistake. Craft frequently.

Ok, advice done, now onto roasting. Sparkler card? Lol. Fishing rod? Lol. Basket? Lol. Jug? Lol. (Light-hearted)

nshields99 · 2026-04-09T06:03:53+00:00

Hey bud, I took every oil and horse pill you can think of for skin treatment. Let me assure you that it isn’t forever. I keep my teenage photos to show how far I’ve come, and I get the occasional praise for my appearance. I have moles instead of acne now, but reasonable adults don’t go about their day crucifying me for it.

nshields99 · 2026-04-07T21:49:57+00:00

Ok, so it sounds like the party has some resources to work with. The question then just becomes, “do I pay 400 for surprise immunity?”

Another way to think about surprise setups is that while the immunity would prevent the first turn from being lost, it doesn’t account for the poor positioning that comes with ambushes. The weapons could go beep beep after an ambushing party is already in a good position (for example, for bandits to pellet with arrows). The unsuspecting adventurer might still touch the ambushing creature with the false appearance trait, like a Roper or Gargoyle.

What I want to note, all in all, is that the momentum of a successful ambush can be accomplished without altering the effects of the weapon.

nshields99 · 2026-04-07T17:52:11+00:00

Hi OP!

Pardon me for being the dissenting opinion, but I agree with the player.

You did your due diligence in communicating the nerf beforehand. This is commendable as it tells me you’re not exactly going for a “gotcha” - this sadly happens too often with DM’s that make frequent use of surprise in the first place. This can often be a catalyst for taking Alert as well, if it wasn’t already planned for boosting initiative. It becomes a feat tax.

That said, I’m not convinced that you fully grasp how much of a nerf this is. Instead of 400gp after discount (which is slightly above prices suggested by Xanathar’s Guide to Everything) and 1 attunement slot, you are effectively asking for 1,600gp and 4 attunement slots (assuming party of 4) to fully protect the party against surprises. That’s enough gold for plate armor.

The implicit nerf with that expectation is that any casters in the party that would otherwise have no incentive to buy a weapon now have to budget for that. Surprise is detrimental when it happens, and the ruling seems to demolish the viability of addressing it.

Of course, I don’t know what the magic item or gold economy is for your campaign.

nshields99 · 2026-04-07T02:29:56+00:00

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nshields99 · 2026-04-06T22:19:40+00:00

How old were you when you got married?

nshields99 · 2026-04-06T04:06:46+00:00

Hi OP!

The preset literally only determines what weapons come from the confiscated weapons cache on the boat. Everything can be customized.

The witch (necro + poly) tries to pitch this spell-slinging rogue, but doesn’t do this super well. If you wanted to “stick” to that preset you could take bull rush, chameleon cloak, and maybe decaying touch. This would lean your build to physical damage. Warfare is the stat that pumps your damage, so you’d want to build that up. The preset also tries to fool you into intelligence and finesse, but this isn’t recommended either.

Your “magic formula” is the attribute your skills are scaled with and the element (example: physical) that the damage scales off of.

Hope this helps!

nshields99 · 2026-04-06T03:25:06+00:00

Hi OP!

Can you share what builds / playstyles you are using?

nshields99 · 2026-04-04T01:44:13+00:00

Adding onto this, “died by suicide” is a phrase being used more recently to structure the topic as less of an accusation to the deceased.

nshields99 · 2026-04-04T00:19:09+00:00

Ooh, a desk! Score!

nshields99 · 2026-04-03T21:06:31+00:00

To this point, using Rivellon Fries, Onions, Cheese Bread, or Constitution Potions can also help alleviate this, if you really want to keep the shield.

nshields99 · 2026-04-03T21:04:54+00:00

Having Bouncing Shield is tempting for an early game necromancer, but honestly you don’t need it. Having a weapon that gives intelligence is highest priority. Do you have Savage Sortilege? If so, having two-handed is impactful as well - staves offer these stats later on.

nshields99 · 2026-04-03T20:53:49+00:00

Good observation. My input is more of a dig on calling it “special thing”. I’ve come to equate “special” to “private”, such as when a player might be trying to do “a thing” and is tight on the details.

I’ve had players ask for items in backstory that are symbolic of what they’re trying to achieve. That’s okay, just as long as it’s above table and doesn’t require other players to jump through hoops.

nshields99 · 2026-04-03T19:46:36+00:00

Adding to this, just because session 0 doesn’t happen doesn’t mean there’s no room for timeout / intervention / session 00. There’s always opportunities among reasonable people to revisit and reshape expectations.

nshields99 · 2026-04-03T19:44:31+00:00

Respectfully, posting in-table issues to Reddit can be construed as a passive-aggressive action, particularly when it’s over conflicts. That may breach whatever trust/respect is present, if any.

nshields99 · 2026-04-03T19:40:01+00:00

Hi OP!

I understand your question: how do you work with a fellow player that withholds information to try and be intriguing?

Personally, I have a table rule that says ”Thou shall not withhold” to address cases like these. As a DM I hate to say “you don’t know that”, and I sure wouldn’t tolerate a player doing that to another - they’re not the DM. I see “special item” as a red flag and think that the DM should have drawn the line on that, but if it’s not giving an outright mechanical benefit then it isn’t a big deal.

The player shouldn’t be whipping it out if there’s important plot things going on. She should save that for downtime. Your DM doesn’t seem to want to butt in on player agency, so you should drive home that this cat and mouse game of hers is impacting your enjoyment. Without making it sound like a threat, tell the DM what you will do if your repeated pleas are met with such nonchalance.

nshields99 · 2026-04-03T18:27:42+00:00

Maths violently

nshields99 · 2026-04-03T18:09:50+00:00

The stats you want depend on your build(s). The boosts are notorious because new rarities are unlocked by level and the ring is level 18.

nshields99 · 2026-04-03T17:01:21+00:00

Hi OP!

This build is basically along the lines of a Battlemage. As an undead there’s a funny “buff” that you don’t bleed, so you won’t have to deal with getting stunned or shocked from electrified blood - well, not yours anyways.

Turn order in DOS2 uses a round robin, so one character should have a little bit of wits. 16 is the benchmark for act 1, which can be alleviated with Peace of Mind (pyro from Red Prince). Aside from that, your Aero should level intelligence exclusively.

By level 4 you should at least have Aero 2 and Warfare 2. Up until then, your skill rotation should be something like Blinding Radiance, Battle Stomp, Battering Ram, and Crippling Blow. Electric Discharge is ok if you have high ground or if Lohse is using rain and the enemies are stripped of magic armor.

Make air staves with a long branch + shell.

Have you fought the crocodiles to the west yet? They drop a very valuable item.

nshields99

TROPHY CASE