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* You can assign hotkeys to abilities by pressing the key in question while hovering over the ability. This is extremely handy with frequently used abilities such as Fighters' Knock Down.
==Character Creation & Early Game Advice==


* Especially on higher difficulties, Pillars is largely a game of finding enemies' weak points and focusing on them. For example an enemy with high Deflection but low Will is better dealt with Will-targeting attacks than physical ones. Weaknesses can (and should) also be created; For example the Priest spell "Divine Mark" targets Will and lowers the target's Deflection, making it easier for your physical attackers to deal with the aforementioned type of enemy.
* The base game's group members cover all classes besides Barbarian, Monk and Rogue who you can pick up in the White March expansion. Recommended level for the White March is around 7.


* The more enemies of a certain type (excluding people) you defeat, the more information you'll have about their strengths and weaknesses. Their detailed statistics and descriptions can be found in the Bestiary section of the Cyclopedia.
* All classes and companions are viable, even on Path of the Damned. Cipher is a popular main character choice as they have the most unique dialogue choices and the Cipher companion is both relatively unpopular and comes in late. Fighter, Paladin or Ranger are all fairly simple if you don't want to micromanage much.  


* Entering "Scouting mode" (alt by default) not only puts your character in stealth mode but also automatically searches your surroundings for traps and hidden objects. Detecting things (and dealing with them in the case of traps and locks) is based solely on a character's Mechanics skill, so one character should focus heavily on it while the rest can spend their points elsewhere.
* The Temple of Eothas dungeon in Gilded Vale is much easier to tackle after you've recruited either some generic henchmen or the Priest and Chanter companions found in the nearby areas of Magran's Fork and Caed Nua, respectively. It's also an option to go around checking new areas for more party members until your group of 6 is full before going for quests or dungeons.


* Detecting traps is a Mechanics vs. trap level check while disarming them is a harder check. There's no randomness; either you have the skill or you don't.
* All characters can be retrained from level 1 for a low cost at most towns, so don't worry about making permanent mistakes.


* Speaking of recruits, hiring "generic" party members at Gilded Vale is actually a good idea; they're inexpensive, help fill out your party, and once you have a full roster of named characters you can use them to garrison your stronghold and run errands for you there.
==General Advice==


* Some tooltips can be a little misleading, for example the Cipher talent Greater Focus ("The Cipher has +10 maximum Focus") is far better than it sounds as it also provides +10 to their base Focus, enabling the use of higher level abilities earlier in each fight.
* Pick up everything you can find and sell all gear you don't need as your stash has infinite space and items can be put in it at any time, even when looting.


* Ciphers leech focus based on damage dealt, so a cipher with a slow but powerful weapon will get fewer attacks but generate more focus per attack.
* Out-of-combat consumables like food don't need to be assigned to hotbars, you can use them quickly by dragging the items to the character model in the inventory screen.


* A Spiritshifted Druid is considered unarmed and using both hands (claws) to attack, meaning their attacks benefit from both the Weapon Focus: Peasant and Two Weapon Style -talents.
* Scouting Mode (Alt by default) acts both as stealth mode and search mode for detecting traps and hidden objects. Object detection (alongside lockpicking and trap handling) is based solely on a character's Mechanics skill, so having one person focus heavily on it is recommended, especially as hidden things are present in almost all areas.


* The difference between "AoE", "Friendly AoE", and "Foe AoE" is really important. Wizards tend to have the flashiest offensive spells, but Ciphers and Druids are also offensive powerhouses and have a much easier time not incinerating the rest of the party in the process.
* Don't neglect crafting and enchanting, they require neither separate crafting stations or abilities and can be done from very early on. Even a simple accuracy or damage enchant helps a lot, and Unique items can be improved too provided you don't try to apply an enchantment type already present on them.


* Speaking of AoEs, high Intellect provides not only bonus range but also some spell shaping; the outer, yellow section of an offensive AoE spell hits only enemies, even if allies are within it too.
* The more monsters of a certain type you defeat, the more information you'll have about their strengths and weaknesses. Check the Bestiary section of the Cyclopedia for their detailed information.


* It's always worth exploring every area fully, some party members are slightly out of your way. After picking up two at Gilded Vale, I recommend fully exploring the areas south and west, there are three more party members to be found between Gilded Vale and Dyrford Village.
* NPCs with gilded names are Kickstarter backer characters and the "visions" you see talking to them are backer-written and irrelevant to the story, so you can freely ignore them.


* For fresh Chanters, get Reny Daret's Ghost and ignore the Skeleton summon. Reny Daret's Ghost does good damage, stuns with backstabs and can be summoned behind enemy lines. The Skeletons instantly crumble to any damage and just fucking suck. You get relatively few new Chanter songs and invocations throughout the game, so make them count.
* Few quests are permanently missable, the main exception being those involving (mid-game location) <div class="spoiler">the Brackenbury sanitarum</div> which should be completed during Act 2. A certain quest relating to an army later in the game seems narratively urgent, but has no time limit either.


* I usually tell people to make their main a Cipher since they're powerful and one of the most dynamic classes, and they have tons of unique dialogue. Way more than any other class, and possibly more than all other classes put together. You also get the Cipher NPC last or close to last.
==Combat Advice==


* Fighters can soak all the damage in the world and can engage a huge number of targets. You get the fighter NPC very early and you don't need more than one.
* Accuracy is the most important offensive stat overall as high Accuracy means not only fewer misses/grazes, but also more critical hits which translate to both higher damage and longer duration of status effects.


* Don't break engagement unless absolutely necessary. Your cursor will turn red if you try to move a character who's engaged in melee; breaking it without using an ability to avoid the disengage attack and they'll eat a ton of damage, often enough to be fatal for non-tanks.
* You can assign hotkeys to abilities by pressing the key in question while hovering over the ability. This is handy with frequently used abilities such as Fighters' Knock Down.


* You're probably going to want to stick with ranged DPS characters because as mentioned in the quote AOE is an issue, and the overall difficulty level of the game is no joke; you can't afford to just soak damage on characters not built for it.
* Especially on higher difficulties, finding and targeting enemies' weakest defenses is key to winning fights. Weaknesses can (and should) also be created and most debuffs help a lot with this, for example the Priest spell "Divine Mark" targets Will defense and its effect lowers Deflection defense, making it easier for your physical attackers to deal with an otherwise hard-to-hit opponent.
 
* Crowd control is very important. Keeping your enemies prone, paralyzed, petrified, charmed or otherwise incapable of acting (or acting for you) makes life much easier. However be mindful that enemies under charm effects will count as allies, so they'll for instance benefit from your buffing spells and avoid the yellow "foe only" parts of area effects.
 
* Keep your enemies flanked if possible to reduce their Deflection defense. Making good use of flanking is especially important if you have a Rogue relying heavily of sneak attacks in your group, although several other common status effects enable sneak attacks as well.
 
* Higher Intellect increases the coverage of your area spells but not the part which can hit allies (red AoE), making it purely beneficial.
 
* Some fights that start right after a scene won't let you get into a proper formation beforehand. A good idea is to put your main tank into the party leader position (click and hold down on their portrait) and from there sort your characters from toughest to squishiest to avoid having your backliners ending up at the front.
 
* Don't break engagement unless you have a good reason to. Your cursor will turn red if you try to move a character who's engaged in melee; breaking it without using an ability to avoid the disengage attack can lead to the character taking heavy damage from free enemy hits.
 
==Class-specific Advice==
 
* The Cipher talent 'Greater Focus' ("The Cipher has +10 maximum Focus") is far better than it sounds as it also provides +10 to their base Focus, enabling the use of higher level abilities earlier in each fight.
 
* Unlike in most RPGs, Monks can wear armor and wield weapons just as well as anyone else without suffering extra penalties. A Monk in medium armor strikes a solid balance between survivability and attack speed.
 
* Barbarians actually benefit from Intellect more than most classes since it increases the range of their many area attacks.
 
* A Spiritshifted Druid is considered unarmed and using both hands (claws) to attack, meaning their attacks benefit from both the 'Weapon Focus: Peasant' and 'Two Weapon Style' talents.
 
* For fresh Chanters, 'Reny Daret's Ghost' is probably a more reliable Incantation than the Skeleton summon due to the fragile nature of the latter. The duration is quite a bit shorter though, so keep that in mind. Both are best used for summoning them behind enemy lines for the purposes of flanking or being a bother to ranged threats.


[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:Games]]

Latest revision as of 15:26, 31 August 2023

Character Creation & Early Game Advice

  • The base game's group members cover all classes besides Barbarian, Monk and Rogue who you can pick up in the White March expansion. Recommended level for the White March is around 7.
  • All classes and companions are viable, even on Path of the Damned. Cipher is a popular main character choice as they have the most unique dialogue choices and the Cipher companion is both relatively unpopular and comes in late. Fighter, Paladin or Ranger are all fairly simple if you don't want to micromanage much.
  • The Temple of Eothas dungeon in Gilded Vale is much easier to tackle after you've recruited either some generic henchmen or the Priest and Chanter companions found in the nearby areas of Magran's Fork and Caed Nua, respectively. It's also an option to go around checking new areas for more party members until your group of 6 is full before going for quests or dungeons.
  • All characters can be retrained from level 1 for a low cost at most towns, so don't worry about making permanent mistakes.

General Advice

  • Pick up everything you can find and sell all gear you don't need as your stash has infinite space and items can be put in it at any time, even when looting.
  • Out-of-combat consumables like food don't need to be assigned to hotbars, you can use them quickly by dragging the items to the character model in the inventory screen.
  • Scouting Mode (Alt by default) acts both as stealth mode and search mode for detecting traps and hidden objects. Object detection (alongside lockpicking and trap handling) is based solely on a character's Mechanics skill, so having one person focus heavily on it is recommended, especially as hidden things are present in almost all areas.
  • Don't neglect crafting and enchanting, they require neither separate crafting stations or abilities and can be done from very early on. Even a simple accuracy or damage enchant helps a lot, and Unique items can be improved too provided you don't try to apply an enchantment type already present on them.
  • The more monsters of a certain type you defeat, the more information you'll have about their strengths and weaknesses. Check the Bestiary section of the Cyclopedia for their detailed information.
  • NPCs with gilded names are Kickstarter backer characters and the "visions" you see talking to them are backer-written and irrelevant to the story, so you can freely ignore them.
  • Few quests are permanently missable, the main exception being those involving (mid-game location)
    the Brackenbury sanitarum
    which should be completed during Act 2. A certain quest relating to an army later in the game seems narratively urgent, but has no time limit either.

Combat Advice

  • Accuracy is the most important offensive stat overall as high Accuracy means not only fewer misses/grazes, but also more critical hits which translate to both higher damage and longer duration of status effects.
  • You can assign hotkeys to abilities by pressing the key in question while hovering over the ability. This is handy with frequently used abilities such as Fighters' Knock Down.
  • Especially on higher difficulties, finding and targeting enemies' weakest defenses is key to winning fights. Weaknesses can (and should) also be created and most debuffs help a lot with this, for example the Priest spell "Divine Mark" targets Will defense and its effect lowers Deflection defense, making it easier for your physical attackers to deal with an otherwise hard-to-hit opponent.
  • Crowd control is very important. Keeping your enemies prone, paralyzed, petrified, charmed or otherwise incapable of acting (or acting for you) makes life much easier. However be mindful that enemies under charm effects will count as allies, so they'll for instance benefit from your buffing spells and avoid the yellow "foe only" parts of area effects.
  • Keep your enemies flanked if possible to reduce their Deflection defense. Making good use of flanking is especially important if you have a Rogue relying heavily of sneak attacks in your group, although several other common status effects enable sneak attacks as well.
  • Higher Intellect increases the coverage of your area spells but not the part which can hit allies (red AoE), making it purely beneficial.
  • Some fights that start right after a scene won't let you get into a proper formation beforehand. A good idea is to put your main tank into the party leader position (click and hold down on their portrait) and from there sort your characters from toughest to squishiest to avoid having your backliners ending up at the front.
  • Don't break engagement unless you have a good reason to. Your cursor will turn red if you try to move a character who's engaged in melee; breaking it without using an ability to avoid the disengage attack can lead to the character taking heavy damage from free enemy hits.

Class-specific Advice

  • The Cipher talent 'Greater Focus' ("The Cipher has +10 maximum Focus") is far better than it sounds as it also provides +10 to their base Focus, enabling the use of higher level abilities earlier in each fight.
  • Unlike in most RPGs, Monks can wear armor and wield weapons just as well as anyone else without suffering extra penalties. A Monk in medium armor strikes a solid balance between survivability and attack speed.
  • Barbarians actually benefit from Intellect more than most classes since it increases the range of their many area attacks.
  • A Spiritshifted Druid is considered unarmed and using both hands (claws) to attack, meaning their attacks benefit from both the 'Weapon Focus: Peasant' and 'Two Weapon Style' talents.
  • For fresh Chanters, 'Reny Daret's Ghost' is probably a more reliable Incantation than the Skeleton summon due to the fragile nature of the latter. The duration is quite a bit shorter though, so keep that in mind. Both are best used for summoning them behind enemy lines for the purposes of flanking or being a bother to ranged threats.