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| Pillars of Eternity 2 Video-Based Walkthrough by David Milward |
ALLIRIA, F MOON GODLIKE ARCANE KNIGHT (KIND WAYFARER / BLOOD MAGE)
Stats
Abilities
1st Level - White Flames: Automatically obtained on becoming a Kind Wayfarer. This is one of the foundations for the build. It's an enhanced version of Devotion of the Flames that also heals all allies within a radius greatly enhanced by a high Intelligence score. The amount of healing is increased by Fire Power Levels, and Fire Power Levels will also increase the power of her Fire-based Wizard spells. The good party is set up so that passive Health regeneration very often recoups any Damage taken by the party round to round during combat. But I often use this when the party has collectively taken some hard hits, like from a highly damaging enemy spell.
Sworn Enemy: It provides Accuracy and Damage bonuses against a single enemy that the Paladin chooses, and lasts until that enemy dies or combat ends. It's an ability of choice against bosses.
Thrust of Tattered Veils: It's basically a single-target Interrupt that can come out in a flash. It can be useful in some situations, and is not in any of the Grimoires that she will use regularly.
2nd Level - Spirit Shield: It gives her an enduring +3 boost to her Armor Rating, and comes out in a flash with no Recovery. It also adds +1 Concentration.
3rd Level - Deep Faith: Faith and Conviction provides a stable +10 bonus to all Defenses. Deep Faith increases those bonuses as long as the Paladin builds up Favored Dispositions and avoids penalties from building up Disfavored Dispositions. And for a Kind Wayfarer that means an onus to build up Benevolent and Passionate Disposition, while avoiding Cruel and Shady Disposition.
4th Level - Zealous Aura: She'll activate Zealous Focus, which gives everyone in the party +5 Accuracy. I'll leave Zealous Endurance for Pallegina when she joins the party.
Arcane Veil: It provides a +50 bonus to Deflection, although firearms or other Veil-piercing attacks will ignore that bonus. The starting duration of 12 sec may not sound like a big deal. But high Intellect and an increase in Power Levels as the game progresses will see its duration increase markedly. And then a well placed Wall of Draining (after taking that on the 19th level-up) will increase its duration immensely, usually for the rest of the fight. I take it on level-up because it won't be available through any of the Grimoires that I have in mind for her.
5th Level - Infuse with Vital Essence: It instantly adds +5 to both Constitution and Intellect, and has a quite significant duration. It's pretty much the first spell almost every Wizard has to cast first, as the Intellect bonus will increase the duration of any buff thereafter, as well as the duration of any other spell. The bonus to Constitution will be welcome for any Wizard multi-class that includes martial abilities as well. And that is especially true for a Blood Mage, who frequently has to take Damage in order to recover spells for re-use. She takes it on level-up as it won't be available through any of the Grimoires that she'll be using.
6th Level - Two Weapon Style: It decreases Recovery Time by -15% with Weapons when using a Melee Weapon in each hand. Dual-wielding means two healing bursts when a Kind Wayfarer uses Flames of Devotion, which pretty much makes fighting with two weapons in each hand obligatory.
7th Level - Shared Flames: It gives everyone +15% Burning Damage with Weapons for at least 8 sec (and more accounting for Alliria's high Intellect). It is usually the preferable choice to Eternal Flames. A possible selling point for Eternal Flames is that, while its bonus Burning Damage only applies to the Paladin who used it, it extends to all of the character's attacks. That includes spells, not just weapons. And for an Arcane Knight, that means that bonus Burning Damage could also apply to her offensive spells as well. But in practice I found it a rare situation where the need to cast offensive spells followed after using White Flames. My use of offensive spells tended to be in situations where I could keep the enemies under crowd-control and rarely needed to use White Flames. Shared Flames therefore works for me.
Combat Focus: Adds +1 Concentration at the start of combat. It is very often an obligatory passive for spellcasters.
8th Level - Brand Enemy: It upgrades Sworn Enemy so that it inflicts 4 Burning Damage every 3 seconds on its target. It is keyworded to Fire, so that Burning Damage will be increased by the bonus Fire Power Levels that Alliria accumulates through several of her items. The alternative, Sworn Rival, has a certain logic to it as it will recoup the 1 Zeal spent when the enemy dies. An effective way to use it is to tag an enemy with it, kill it quickly, recoup the Zeal, rinse and repeat as you make your way through enemies one by one. But that requires a dedicated level of micromanagement I didn't want to bother with.
9th Level - Inspiring Triumph: It raises all of the party's Defenses by +12 whenever she lands a killing blow.
10th Level - Exalted Focus: It upgrades the Focus modal so that it also provides a 5% chance to convert Hits to Critical Hits, in addition to the party-wide +5 buff to Accuracy.
Essential Phantom: It creates a phantom of herself that fights on its own A.I., but has the caster's armor and weapons. I take it on level-up because it isn't available through the Grimoires she uses.
11th Level - Scion of Flame: It adds +1 Penetration to all of her attacks that are key-worded to Fire, including White Flames, Fireball and Sacred Immolation.
12th Level - Aegis of Loyalty: Fights against foes that can Dominate or Charm, which include Ciphers and Fampyrs, can be especially problematic. Alliria will at some point acquire a weapon that will completely immunize her against Intellect Afflictions. And that in turn allows her to put a Melee Hit on a party member with a Intellect Affliction, and Aegis of Loyalty will end the Intellect Affliction for that party member.
13th Level - Practiced Healer: Increases Healing by 15%. It will augment both her White Flames and her Moon Godlike racial healing ability, Silver Tide.
Rapid Casting: It increases Action Speed by 10% when casting spells, which is very handy for any Wizard-based character.
14th Level - Inspired Path: It adds +1 Zeal, which means more White Flames and Brand Enemy, and decreased cost of using Sacred Immolation when I gain that power.
15th Level - Tough: More Health is always good for any character, but it's especially good for a Blood Mage who could always use a larger pool of Health to draw on when using Blood Sacrifice.
16th Level - Virtuous Triumph: It's a passive that has a 25% chance of recouping +1 Zeal whenever the Paladin who has it scores a killing blow. It's pretty much a no-brainer for any Paladin.
Improved Critical: It adds +10% Damage to Critical Hits.
17th Level - Improved Critical: It improves Critical Hit Damage by 10%, making it an obvious choice for a character build that is predicated on scoring Critical Hits as often as possible.
18th Level - Righteous Soul: It completely immunizies her against diseases and poisons, which can come in handy during some battles.
19th Level - Stoic Steel: It increases her Armor Rating by +1 for each 6 sec that she remains in the same spot without moving, and to a maximum of +3. That will often come into play when she's in pitched battle with either a boss or numerous enemies. It ends temporarily should she move. As a passive it will stack with all of her other Armor Rating bonuses.
Wall of Draining: It creates a wall that drains at least 1 sec of beneficial effects of all enemies who touch it, every sec. And every drain also adds at least 1 sec to the duration of the caster's beneficial effects. Alliria, up until this point, simply kept Arcane Veil going with the help of Blood Sacrifice when she was immersed in Melee combat. Getting this spell allows her to take things to the next level. She'll rely on Zandethus' Dragon-Scaled Grimoire during melee heavy fights. She'll start with Infuse with Vital Essence followed by Blood Sacrifice. She then casts Zandethus' Draconic Fury followed by Blood Sacrifice. I check to make sure my 7th-level spell has been recouped. If it hasn't, I repeat Blood Sacrifice until I get it back. I proceed with the rest of the sequence once I do get that 7th-level spell back. I put up Llengrath's Safeguard, Spirit Shield, Flame Shield, Eldritch Aim and then Arcane Veil. I then carefully place the Wall of Draining to catch as many enemies as possible, with the intention that the Wall massively pumps up the duration of all of the buffs I just put up.
20th Level - Sacred Immolation: Scores hefty Burning Damage to all enemies within a large radius surrounding her, which is increased by Fire Power Levels, and in frequent pulses. But each pulse also inflicts Raw Damage on her. The composition of the good party makes it work. Eder will activate his Take the Hit beforehand. Alliria can prolong both the Take the Hit status effect and Sacred Immolation exponentially with Wall of Draining. Half of her Health losses from using Blood Sacrifice and Sacred Immolation now get passed off onto Eder. But Eder in the meantime has the Raw Damage he takes reduced by some of his Damage Reduction bonuses, including his use of Guardian Stance, his Cadhu Scalth, and his Forgetful Night food bonus. And the Raw Damage now gets reduced even further when Alliria hands over the Voidward Ring to him. And very often the Damage will be so minimal that Pallegina's healing auras will usually suffice. The set up lets Alliria have her cake and eat it, and Sacred Immolation will very often reduce masses of enemies to ash over the course of the battle.
Inventory
Sun and Moon: Purchased from Dimessa at #10 in the Radiant Court in Dunnage. The +2 Fire Power Levels during day time is the key benefit. I can roll with the +2 Frost Power Levels by emphasizing the Shadowflame spell from Ninagauth's Teachings at night time. I will add the Solar Excellence enchantment, which will mean a 5% chance to repeat either White Flames or Fireball when I use them. I will also add the Golden Sun enchantment, which will mean a little bit of Health restored when the weapon hits with Burning Damage. Every little bit helps for a Blood Mage.
Modwyr: Purchased from the Spindle Man at #10 in Old City Ruins. Alliria binds it after some extended conversation with the sentient blade, and makes it part of her secondary weapon set for the rest of the game in conjunction with The Eye of Wael. The sword, once it is fully upgraded, provides complete immunity to Intellect Afflictions. She'll go to her secondary weapon set whenever the good party is faced with enemies capable of Intellect Afflictions, such as Fampyrs. The sword in combination with her Aegis of Loyalty passive allows her to end an Intellect Affliction for any of her party members with a single attack.
The Eye of Wael: She equips it in the off-hand of her secondary weapon set. She adds The Hundred Visions and Shrouded Strike. She does sometimes use Illusion spells, particularly those from the Iron-Clasped Grimoire when she gets it.
Zandethus' Dragon-Scaled Grimoire: Purchased from the Spindle Man at #13 in Delver's Row. It has Fireball, which can serve as the offensive spam spell during daylight hours. It also provides Flame Shield and Llengrath's Safeguard as buffs. The key point is that it provides a unique 7th-tier spell that can only be used through the Grimoire, Zandethus' Draconic Fury. It adds +15% Slashing Damage and 15% Burning Damage to the caster's Melee Attacks for at least 30 sec. And it has a chance of Terrifying any enemy who Grazes or Hits her with Melee Attacks during that period.
Iron-Clasped Grimoire: Looted from Concelhaut at #2 in The Orrery of Bekarna's Observatory. The key point is that it is only through this Grimoire that a Wizard can use the unique spell, Concelhaut's Crushing Doom. It is probably the best single-target spell in the entire game. It attacks for Crushing Damage multiple times over the course of its duration, and it can knock its target Prone with each Hit. Alliria as a Blood Mage can use Blood Sacrifice after each casting so that she can actually have multiple Concelhaut's Crushing Dooms pinning down a boss monster. The other spell of note is Concelhaut's Draining Touch. It causes the next Primary Attack to both damage its target and heal the Wizard. Of itself, it's no big deal since it only works for one attack. But if you cast this spell, and then cast Summon Phantom, the Phantom will have the draining touch as its primary weapon and be able to use the draining touch to heal itself with each attack for as long as the Phantom lasts.
Ninagauth's Teachings: Found in a chest at #10 in Arkemyr's Vault. It provides Fireball, which will be one of her key spells. It also provides a unique spell that is available only through the Grimoire, Ninagauth's Shadowflame. It inflicts Freezing Damage in an area-of-effect that is equal to that of a Fireball, but it also Paralyzes its targets. It's a good alternative when faced with foes who are immune to Freezing Damage, or when I'm having to conduct a battle during night time.
Heart-Chime Amulet: Received as a reward for completing The Man of Chimes Quest. The amulet itself provides different powers depending on which type of Godlike is wearing it. A Moon Godlike enjoys +1 Power Levels during night time. That can mean even more power put behind Ninagauth's Shadowflame when I use it at night. It can also help augment the power of abilities like White Flames, to partially make up for the loss of the +2 Fire Power Levels from Sun and Moon during night time.
Cloak of Greater Deflection: Purchased from the Well-Supplied Traveller at #5 in Port Maje. The +7 to Deflection, along with other numerous bonuses she can apply, helps her to tank and use spells from the front-lines despite wielding two weapons instead of a shield.
Furrante's Breastplate: Obtained after killing Captain Furrante to conclude the Honor Among Thieves Quest. It starts off with providing Concentration at the start of each combat. It also emits an aura whereby the wearer's allies suffer 10% less Damage, but the wearer's own Damage received increases by 15%. I enchant it with Love of Life instead of First to the Fight. The former increases the Healing received by allies by 10%. That will increase even more the Healing provided by Alliria's own White Flames, and the Healing provided by Pallegina's numerous healing auras and abilities. I also enchant it with Vigorous Protector, which reduces the +15% damage penalty for the wearer to 10%. It's an easy choice over Intervention, which is a once per Rest power.
Firethrower's Gloves: Purchased from the Well-Supplied Traveller at #5 in Port Maje. The +2 to Dexterity is clearly welcome, as it helps her attack faster, cast spells faster, and Recover between actions faster. The +1 to Arcana will increase the Power Levels with which she uses scrolls. The +1 Evocation Power Levels will stack with her bonus Power Levels from other sources when she repeatedly uses spells like Fireball and Shadowflame.
Ring of Focused Flame: Stolen from a chest at #3 in The Dark Cupboard. The +10 bonus to any Attacks that have the Fire-keyword make it a no-brainer for a Kind Wayfarer / Blood Mage. That bonus to Accuracy will apply to White Flames (Flames of Devotion) and Sacred Immolation from her Paladin abilities. And it will apply to Fireball, a spell she can cast repeatedly as a Blood Mage.
Kuaru's Prize: Purchased from Kipeha at #8 in Ori O Koiki. The +1 Intellect, +1 Perception and +5% Damage with Spells all augment her role as the offensive spellcaster in the good party.
Girdle of Eoten Constitution: Obtained by defeating Beina while pursuing a Bounty against her. The +3 bonus to Constitution means maximizing the pool of Health she can draw on as a Blood Mage to fuel her spells. It also of course makes her more resilient in combat generally.
Vithrack Silk Slippers: Purchased from Vessatraz at #8 in the Spun Terrace. Cast any spell while wearing the slippers, and there's a 5% chance that spell will cast a second time. You can't bank your chances of winning a fight on that 5% chance coming off. But when it does happen, a double-cast Fireball or Ninagauth's Shadowflame or Deathring or Concelhaut's Crushing Doom can be absolutely devastating.
