Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Yes, it’s fine to read.

So PF is affected by all this ancient baggage. It has an interesting use of kits which existed since before AD&D 2e but then AD&D 3e moved this stuff into feats. And besides, some base classes and prestige already feel like kits or multiclasses in 3e. So depending on your dedication you may get to a rather similar result by getting, say, Inquisitor ranger kit or multiclassing Priest/Ranger adding some special feats and prestige classes maybe.

I understand that this may help both casual and math-loving players but in case of PF game it looks very daunting. My wife was fine with playing RPGs like Dragon Age or even Pillars of Eternity but Kingmaker instantly looked like it was on completely another level. And the game itself isn’t (much) more complex than DA or PoE but it frontloads you with questions like which priest domain are you going to use out of this dozen or which feat out of 50 do you want. There is an option to take a default character but then you can’t choose race, visuals or even name. In tabletop you’d probably have a master who’ll say “Ok, you’ll be Inquisitor and I’ll manage creation and couple of initial levelups for you till you get a feel for the game” but here in Kingmaker those kits certainly do not help much.

I love archetypes that change the stat requirement. Most do suck, sadly, but handful are just cool, as they open up the class to other races.

The second DLC is out today:

Seems it is a separate mini campaign where you create a new character. The result of the campaign can then be imported into the main game and have consequences there. Interesting approach. Maybe I’ll have to reinstall…

I’m playing through this on my second play-through, currently in chapter 5. The game is vastly improved. I haven’t experienced any game or quest breaking bugs, but there are still a couple of oddities. Load times are vastly improved, but now in chapter 5 they’re starting to tick up as the save game gets bigger and bigger. Zoning into your marketplace is still the longest. It used to take an agonizing 35 seconds at launch. Now it’s down to 17s. Most other loads like the world map, kingdom management, and random encounter maps are sub 5s.

The new NPC they added in the first DLC is pretty interesting with a cool backstory.

Thanks for this - I forgot I was enjoying my second play through but it was still getting several patches a week so I thought I’d best wait just a bit longer. I’m not doing anything right now, so getting back to my level 3 party is probably where I should be, as I was really having a great time.

I’m in Season of Bloom right now after starting after the 1.2 patch. Very smooth, no issues, and anything that might be an issue seems like they are going to be ahead of me on. I hope they address Chapter 5+ with the next patch.

I can see this game having legs if they can bring quality campaigns and writing without being handicapped by the Kingdom Management.

I also have a Level 3 Evil Party at Olegs on Unfair started to romance the DLC NPC after I try to sweet talk Nyrissa off the ledge.

The PERFECT setup that holds true to tabletop (based on my reading). Make sure you hit immersive mode in the ingame options then turn back on all the dialogue options. Also lets you fix mistakes and things like reassigning your portrait. The only thing that you can’t modify is your/mercenary race and the stats/race for your companions.

Requires Unity Mod Manager : https://www.nexusmods.com/site/mods/21/

Install this and then run it, Install. You must do this after every official patch in order to keep everything clean and compared to some modding, squeaky clean. Then drag the zips of the mods into the appropriate place

Fast Travel (133% Exploration): https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/1

Respecialization : https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/7

Craft Magic Items : https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/54

Weapon Set Hotkey (bound to ` for me): https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/75

Visual Adjustments (fix that inquisitor hat, cloak that overlap what is equipped, also remove backpacks and hoods): https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/35

Toggle AI and Stealth Hotkey (LeftAlt): https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/72

PnP Goblin Race & Portraits:

https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/70

https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/83

Kingdom Resolution : Lets you fix the balance between adventuring and project times. 100% Event, 100% Project, 1day% Kingdom Ruler, Allow Skip Turn/Claim Outskirts Anywhere

https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/36

Portraits:

https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/58

https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/5

Bookmarked, thanks. Planning my first playthrough of this whenever I tire of Anthem :)

Bel what are you playing as lead? I’ve been running Pillars turn based but I am tempted to get back in.

Aasimar Hospitalier. Very happy with it, much better than the Flamewarden I played on my first playthrough. I found a great custom portrait for her, too.

Just completed the “Varnhold’s Lot” DLC. Took me 11 hours playtime and I ended with level 9 characters. Enjoyed it quite a bit, but maybe not as much as the main campaign. Towards the end there were a number of annoying and hard encounters, but they seemed to be optional.

When I now load a save from the main campaign, I get the option to import the result of the DLC.

Some minor spoilers (things I wish I knew before starting):

Make sure the 4 characters you make work well on their own without the two NPCs you start with as you’ll just have your own 4 characters for the final part of the DLC. Fighting a bunch of level 13-16 monsters with just 4 characters at level 9 was difficult.

Is the end of the game “fixed” (i.e. playable without bugs) now? Did they also tone down the repetitive respawning encounters? That’s probably the only reason I haven’t dived into this.

Yes, I completed it without problems.

You mean the random encounters when travelling? There’s fewer and fewer of those as the games goes on. By completing a few special kingdom projects (from your Warden advisor iirc) , the random encounters can be completely eliminated.

I have to admit I have exactly the same questions as Dess…I am in the middle of a hardcore Pillars 2 campaign but… I would love to see this finished,

I bought season pass yesterday and restarted the game.

I was playing a monk, and got to the second act, but I’ve come the realization that I don’t actually find monks interesting to play. I’ve never completed a D&D-ish game with a monk, but for some reason I keep trying.

So, I restarted with a Tiefling Knife Master, since Rogues tend to be my go to class, and stabbing people with knifes seems fun. We’ll see how that goes. I might try a Ranger for the Varnhold’s Lot DLC, though.

I just got to the House at the Edge of Time, and… my interest is waning fast. I’ll try to push through. The whole “dual phase” of the House combined with never being sure which phase you’re in was a terrible design decision.

Now imagine it being completely buggy and broken at the same time, and you are right where I stopped playing my first run. :/

Alright, I figgered it out. So the HatEoT has two phases. We’ll call them “Reality” and “First World.” The way you tell which phase you’re in is to look for the mirrors. They only appear in the First World, and once you reveal them on your map, you can always see them if you’re in the First World even when they’re out of range.

Moving into the fog switches you back and forth from Reality to the First World and vice-versa. The lantern only allows you to ignore the fog. To further complicate things, moving up or down a level in the House also changes your phase, I think to Reality every time. Loading a game may also change your phase as well. Always check the mirrors to figure out which phase you’re in. They’re on every floor of the House.

There are three large encounters with the Wild Hunt in the House. There’s a big one on the 2nd floor to the NE that occurs in both phases, which, if you don’t understand the phasing as I didn’t, gives the impression that they’re respawning. There’s another big encounter with the Wild Hunt in the room with the Wriggling Man in the First World phase.

I found it much easier on this second play-through, but then that’s to be expected. The first time I was level 16 and had poorly optimized feats and classes. This time I was level 18 with all the teamwork feats and a pimped out Nok-Nok, whom I foolishly disregarded in my first play-through. That said, it wasn’t a cake walk, but nothing like that stressful mess the first play-through was. Of the two mini-bosses, one as a one-shot, one took about three tries. The final boss of the House was also a one-shot.

I’m hopeful I’ll be able to kill the Final Boss of the game without lowering the difficulty like I had to in the first play-through.

Yay I did it. One-shot!

Screwed up my romance with Kanerah, though. :(

aggh! Don’t tell me! I am playing this non stop last day or so. First chapter still…