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| Pillars of Eternity 2 Video-Based Walkthrough by David Milward |
Skills
General Guidelines for Skills
Active and Passive Skills
There is a dichotomy between active and passive skills. Active skills are those that can be directly activated in combat or other in-game situations, although they are occasionally used in conversations and scripted interactions as well. They are Alchemy, Arcana, Athletics, Explosives, Mechanics, Sleight of Hand and Stealth.
Passive skills are used to make skill checks during conversations and scripted interactions. They are Bluff, Diplomacy, History, Insight, Intimidate, Metaphysics, Religion, Streetwise and Survival.
Each character will have an active skill point and a passive skill point to distribute during each level-up, assuming you click on the setting that allows you to customize your party members' level ups from level one onwards. That means each character will upon reaching their 20th levels have had 19 active skill points and 19 passive skill points to distribute. Making the best use of those limited skill points requires extensive planning.
The Watcher's Unassisted Skill Checks
The tables provided by this link provide a very good breakdown of how many ranks in a skill a character needs to make any possible checks for that skill during conversations, but not scripted interactions. But skill checks come in two types, assisted and unassisted. Assisted skill checks means other party members, if they have ranks in the same skill, will passively provide assistance bonuses when the character is making a skill check. I'll get into this shortly.
The other type are unassisted skill checks, which are skill checks that the Watcher has to make by him or herself, without any assist bonuses from the other party members. The first table in the link sets out the maximum skill ranks needed to make any possible unassisted skill check during conversations.
So an approach I tend to use is for the Watcher to plan out his or her skill rank additions on each level-up to obtain the maximum needed for unassisted skill checks for as many skills as possible.
Conversations and Scripted Interactions
Another distinction you need to be aware of is that skills can come up in either conversations or scripted interactions. The Watcher is the character you need to make skill checks during conversations with NPCs throughout the game. As previously mentioned, the tables provided in the link above only provide minimum and maximum ranks needed in each skill during conversations, but not scripted interactions.
You can take my word for it that some of the skill checks needed during scripted interactions can be quite high. But you can usually assign tasks performed during scripted interactions to party members besides the Watcher. So you often want party members to specialize in different skills to be able to obtain the outcomes you want from scripted interactions. Survival comes up a lot during scripted interactions in outdoor areas, but any of them can come into play depending on which scripted interaction.
Assisted Skill Checks
It is usually your Watcher who makes skill checks during conversations. The Watcher can also make skill checks during scripted interactions, although other party members may often take on skill checks during the interactions too. But in the end it is the Watcher who should be your primary reference point for receiving assist bonuses from the other party members. The notable caveat to that is if a party member besides the Watcher carries the thieving responsibilities. I'll get into that soon.
When the character makes an assisted skill check, the game adds up the ranks in the same skill of all the other party members. If the rest of the party members between them only have 1 rank in the skill, the assist bonus they provide is +1. 2 ranks provide a +2 bonus, 4 ranks provide a +3 bonus, 7 ranks provide a +4 bonus, 11 ranks provide a +5 bonus, 16 ranks provide a +6 bonus, 22 ranks provide a +7 bonus, 29 ranks provide a +8 bonus, 37 ranks provide a +9 bonus, and 46 ranks provide a +10 bonus.
Four party members between them have 76 passive skill points. The goal then becomes how to distribute those 76 passive skill points between the other four party members so that they can provide meaningful assist bonuses to the skill checks that the Watcher will be making. There will be a caveat or two to this approach however.
One caveat is that sometimes a party members' build will involve using a certain item, and that item's power will scale according to its user's rank in a certain skill. The natural incentive for that character is to maximize the ranks in that skill. So for example if a party member is using an item where its power scales with the Religion skill, that party member is going to pump up the Religion skill with each level up. Remove that character's 19 passive skill points from the pool, and base your plans on distributing 57 passive skill points (76-19) among the other party members.
Another caveat is that sometimes you need to compromise on just how high a check you may want to make with a given skill. Higher assist bonuses become less cost efficient in terms of the number of passive skill points you'll need to spend. Spending 27 or 29 or 37 passive skill points to make really high checks with a given skill might sound great. But it might be better to spend those passive skill points on multiple passive skills with lower assist bonuses, so that the Watcher can call upon a diverse array of skill checks with a certain degree of proficiency. If there is that high-tier skill check you really want to make, sometimes an Ungeant that provides the right bonus can be just what you need.
The Thieving Character
The last caveat is that if another character besides the Watcher is going to handle the locks and traps, you need to account for that in your plans as well. In my opinion the thieving character needs both Mechanics and a high rank in Stealth. Stealth is necessary if you want to approach and disarm traps that are near monsters without being detected. Getting rid of those traps beforehand will make the battle that much easier. There's also some chests you may want to loot without being detected. Fortunately you can get away with fewer ranks in Mechanics with some careful planning. The reason being that the toughest locks don't require a skill rank any higher than 18, and even those are rare. So your thieving character won't need to be make an assisted Mechanics check any higher than 16, and can use a Thief's Putty for those rare occasions where a check higher than 18 is needed. So in practice the thieving character won't need to add that many ranks in Mechanics itself. That means the character's Stealth needs will be met as well.
The other thing to keep in mind is that Perception is crucial for the thieving character, just so that he or she can even find the traps to begin with.
Now I describe below how I used these approaches, both for the good party and the evil party.
Good Party Skills
Starting Skills
The first step of the process is to take stock of what the core party members' starting skills will be.
Alliria's starting skills include Class-based bonus skills doubled by Berath's Blessings, her Mystic background (+1 Arcana, +1 Metaphysics, +1 Religion), consuming a Luminous Adra Potion (+2 all skills), another +2 to all skills from having eaten Hylea's Bounty, getting all the skills Training passives (+1 all skills), and the Blessing of the Dawnstar:
Active Skills
Alliria easily has enough to make any unassisted Arcana, Athletics and Stealth checks that might come her way. It's tempting to put some skill points into Sleight of Hand, but that would feel like a waste. Especially as most of those unassisted Sleight of Hand checks would occur in Fort Deadlight in a situation where there would be alternatives that work just as well. She puts all of her active skill points in Arcana. She often uses scrolls in battles, and the Arcana skill will increase the Power Levels at which she uses the scrolls. And that includes healing scrolls that will benefit from her Blessing of the Dawnstar that provides a 50% bonus to healing provided.
Pallegina puts 1 point into Mechanics, just enough to raise the assist bonus for Mirke from +5 to +6. She puts the rest into Alchemy. It will increase the healing she gets from drinking healing potions, especially in conjunction with the Glazed Chops she will have eaten. There will also be some scripted interactions where having a high Alchemy score can help.
Eder puts all of his active skill points in Athletics. It will considerably enhance his use of Second Wind when he needs to call on it. It also makes him the natural go to for when Athletics skill checks are needed for scripted interactions. Increasing the Athletics skill also increases the Deflection bonus provided by his Cadhu Scalth shield.
Aloth puts all of his active skill points into Explosives. His Battlemage multi-class gives him a substantial class-based bonus to Explosives to start with, which makes him a natural for it. And there will be some battles where being able to hurl some well placed bombs can make a big difference.
Mirke's starting Mechanics skill is 4. The other party members contribute 13 points in Mechanics. Eder adds another 2 by wearing the Burglar's Gloves. Pallegina adds +1 Mechanics during one of her level-ups. That brings the other party members' Mechanics skill points to 16, for an assist bonus of +6. So Mirke only needs to add 6 points in Mechanics to make a skill check of 16 (4 starting + 6 assist bonus + 6 level-ups). She can use a Thief's Putty if she comes across a door or trap that requires a skill check of 18. She puts the rest into Stealth.
As for the ship companions, I have almost all of them put everything into Athletics. They will use Second Wind as part of their AI during ship boarding battles. But they won't use scrolls or bombs, even were I to put them in their quick-item slots. The one exception is Fassina. I have her put everything into Arcana, as she can sometimes be useful to me as a secondary scroll-user during some battles.
Passive Skills
Alliria puts 3 points in Diplomacy for a total of 10, 1 point in Insight for a total of 8, 3 points in Intimidate for a total of 10, 4 points in Religion for a total of 12, 7 points in Streetwise for a total of 12 and 1 point in Survival for a total of 6. I thus reach the maximums needed for unassisted checks for those skills.
Eder puts 18 skill points into Metaphysics. His build in the good party is partly based on damage reduction, and increasing the Metaphysics skill will increase the damage reduction provided by his Cadhu Scalth shield. Note though that the shield initially provides 5% damage reduction after it receives the Luminous Dissonance upgrade. The formula by which Metaphysics then increases that damage reduction is (Metaphysics * -0.0025) + 0.95. Eder starts with 2 points in Metaphysics after having consumed a Luminous Adra Potion. Adding 18 more skill points for a total of 20 in Metaphysics means that the damage reduction provided by his shield increases to 10%. Adding any more points into Metaphysics would be pointless after that. So I put that 1 remaining skill point into Survival early in the game. That in itself will come in handy.
Aloth puts all of his passive skill points into History. The History skill will increase the bonuses to all Defenses provided his cloak called The Giftbearer's Cloth.
That leaves 38 passive skill points to distribute between two remaining core party members, and with the objective of providing assist bonuses to Alliria during conversations.
She can already make assisted Metaphysics checks at the rank of 13. She starts off with a Metaphysics rank of 8. The other party members start off providing 14 points in Metaphysics skill for an assist bonus of 5. Eder as previously mentioned pumps his Metaphysics skill to maximize the damage reduction he receives from his Cadhu Scalth shield. That means Alliria can easily make any assisted Metaphysics check in the game to a maximum of 15 ranks.
Mirke puts 10 points in Streetwise. She and the rest of the party besides Alliria contributed 19 points in Streetwise before levelling-up. Taking 10 points on level-ups raises that total to 29, for an Assist Bonus of +8. Combine that with Alliria's own Streetwise rank of 12 for a total of 20 on assisted checks. That allows her to make any assisted Streetwise check.
Mirke puts her remaining 9 points in Survival. She'll often be my go to for making Survival checks during scripted interactions. The other party members besides Mirke contribute 24 points in Survival, providing her with an assist bonus of +7. She'll be able to make most if not all of the Survival checks that I'll need.
Once in a while though, Alliria needs to personally make Survival checks during conversations. Other party members besides Alliria provide 19 skill points. Mirke taking 9 points in Survival during level-ups and Eder adding a single point in Survival during one of his level-ups raises that up to 29, providing Alliria with an assist bonus of 8. Add that to her own 6 points in Survival, and she meets the maximum 14 needed to make any assisted Survival checks during conversations.
Pallegina provides the balance through a smattering of skills. She puts 1 point into Insight. The other party members besides Alliria contribute 15 points in Insight before levelling-up. Adding 1 point during a level-up increases that total to 16, for an assist bonus of +6. Alliria's 8 personal ranks in Insight plus the assist bonus of +6 means she can make Insight checks up to rank 14. It's 3 short of the maximum assisted check of 17 for Insight. But Alliria can often use an alternative skill during a given conversation, or can use a Blessed Incense if she really has to make a high Insight check.
Pallegina puts 7 points into Intimidate. The other party members besides Alliria contribute 22 skill points in Intimidate. Adding 7 points raises that total to 29, for an assist bonus of +8. Alliria's 10 personal ranks in Intimidate plus the assist bonus of +8 means she can make Intimidate checks up to the maximum rank of 18.
Pallegina puts 2 points into Religion. The other party members besides Alliria contribute 14 skill points in Religion. Adding 2 points raises that total to 16, for an assist bonus of +6. Alliria's 12 personal ranks in Religion plus the assist bonus of +6 means she can make Religion checks up to the maximum rank of 18. This is well over the maximum rank of 12 for Religion skill checks during conversations. But high rank Religion skill checks can come up during scripted interactions as well, so it's all good.
Pallegina puts 2 points into Bluff. The other party members besides Alliria contribute 14 skill points in Bluff. Adding 2 points raises that total to 16, for an assist bonus of +6. Alliria's 5 personal ranks in Bluff plus the assist bonus of +6 means she can make Bluff checks up to a rank of 11. That's nowhere close to the maximum rank of 20 for Bluff checks. But as long as she can make some Bluff checks while mostly relying on other skills, I can live with that. It's hard to really master the use of the Bluff skill unless the Watcher has it as a class skill, by being a Chanter, a Cipher, a Ranger or a Rogue.
Pallegina puts at least 2 points into History. The other party members besides Alliria contribute 16 skill points in History. But now I factor in that Aloth adds another 19 points because he always puts his passive skill points in History in order to maximize the power of The Giftbearer's Cloth. That brings the total to 35. Pallegina adding another 2 points raises that total to 37, for an assist bonus of +9. Alliria's 7 personal ranks in Religion plus the assist bonus of +9 means she can make History checks up to the rank of 16, just 1 short of the maximum 17. She can always use a Blessed Incense if she really has to make that maximum History check.
Pallegina puts at least 3 points into Diplomacy. The other party members besides Alliria contribute 19 skill points in Diplomacy. Pallegina adding another 3 points raises that total to 22, for an assist bonus of +7. Alliria's 10 personal ranks in Diplomacy plus the assist bonus of +7 means she can make Diplomacy checks up to the maximum rank of 17.
Pallegina has another 2 points to spare. They won't make any difference. Increasing the assist bonus for any other skill beyond what I have set up would require at least another 6 or 7 or even more skill points. So she puts 1 more point into Diplomacy and 1 more point into History, largely for thematic reasons.
Evil Party Skills
It's a similar process for the evil party.
Starting Skills
Zarathos' starting skills include Class-based bonus skills doubled by Berath's Blessings, his Mercenary background (+1 Athletics, +1 Intimidate, +1 Streetwise), consuming a Luminous Adra Potion (+2 all skills), getting all the skills Training passives (+1 all skills), the Infamous Captain passive (+3 Intimidate), the Blessing of the Dawnstar (+2 Religion), and the Savage Cunning (+2 Survival) passive:
Active Skills
Zarathos will have enough to make unassisted checks for Athletics. I decide that Arcana and Sleight of Hand, both with a maximum of 10, are out of reach for him. And that choice is easier since Arcana only helps with 2 unassisted checks. So I decide to have him put all his active skill points into Alchemy. It will make his use of healing potions that much more effective, and buffing potions like a Potion of Ascension last that much longer. There will also be some scripted interactions where having a high Alchemy score can help.
Mirke puts all of her skill points in Athletics. It will considerably enhance her use of Second Wind when she needs to call on it. There will also be a lot of scripted interactions where having a character with a high Athletics score can really make a difference.
Ydwin's starting Mechanics skill is 6. The other party members contribute 10 points in Mechanics, for an Assist Bonus of +4. All I need is another party member to take a single point in Mechanics, leading to the rest of the party contributing 11 points in Mechanics, and an Assist bonus of +5. So Ydwin only needs to add 5 points in Mechanics to make a skill check of 16 (6 starting + 5 Assist Bonus + 5 level-ups). She can use a Thief's Putty if she comes across a door or trap that requires a skill check of 18. She puts the rest into Stealth.
Xoti puts all of her active skill points into Arcana. That allows her to use scrolls with high Power Levels, and that includes healing scrolls that will benefit from her Blessing of the Dawnstar that provides a 50% bonus to healing provided.
Tekehu puts 1 point into Mechanics, just enough to raise the Assist Bonus for Ydwin from +4 to +5. He puts the rest into Explosives. And there will be some battles where being able to hurl some well placed bombs can make a big difference.
As for the ship companions, I have almost all of them put everything into Athletics. They will use Second Wind as part of their AI during ship boarding battles. But they won't use scrolls or bombs, even were I to put them in their quick-item slots. The one exception is Aloth. I have him put everything into Arcana, as he can sometimes be useful to me as a secondary scroll-user during some battles.
Passive Skills
Zarathos puts 1 point in Intimidate for a total of 10, 1 point in Metaphysics for a total of 6, 3 points in Insight for a total of 8, and 5 points in Religion. I thus reach the maximums needed for unassisted checks for those skills. I have 9 skill points left. I'm not keen on Diplomacy, since unlike Alliria I don't see it as a good thematic fit for somebody like Zarathos.
Bluff was a possibility, but the problem is, while it's good for gaining Shady disposition, Bluff options also tend to alienate Xoti since she often considers them "Skulduggery" options too. So I decided to put 8 points in Streetwise to reach the maximum of 12, and which I still saw as a good thematic fit for Zarathos with his Mercenary background and murderous nature. I have one left point. I already have the maximum of at least six needed for Survival. I decided to put it there though. At least it may help with Survival checks during Scripted Interactions.
And if it comes to that, he can use a Blessed Incense if he really needs to make that maximum unassisted History check of 7. There's only 4 dialogues that involve unassisted History checks anyway.
Xoti puts all of her passive skill points into Religion, as she will be using at least two items with powers that scale with the Religion skill.
That leaves 57 passive skill points to distribute between three remaining core party members, and with the objective of providing assist bonuses to Zarathos during dialogues.
Bluff and Diplomacy are dismissed as options, for the same reasons I don't have Zarathos invest any skill points in them.
Mirke puts 12 points in Intimidate. She and the rest of the party besides Zarathos contributed 10 points in Intimidate before levelling-up. Taking 12 points on level-ups raises that total to 22, for an Assist Bonus of +7. Combine that with Zarathos' own Intimidate rank of 10 for a total of 17 on assisted checks. It's not quite enough to reach the maximum of 18 for assisted Intimidate checks. But Zarathos can use an Oil of Allure if he really has to make an Intimidate check of 18.
Mirke puts her remaining 7 passive skill points into Streetwise. Not quite enough to meet my objective. So Ydwin takes 4 points in Streetwise. The party members besides Zarathos contributed 11 points in Streetwise prior to levelling up. Mirke and Ydwin adding 11 points of Streetwise on levelling-up means a total of 22 points, and an Assist Bonus of +7 for Streetwise. And again, it's not quite enough for the maximum 20 unassisted check for Streetwise, but Zarathos can use an Oil of Allure if he has to.
That leaves Ydwin with 15 points for levelling-up. She puts 3 points in Metaphysics. The rest of the party before levelling-up provided 19 points in Metaphysics. Adding 3 more raises that to 22 for an Assist Bonus of +7. It's 2 short of the maximum assisted check of 15 for Metaphysics. But Zarathos can use a Blessed Incense if he has to.
Ydwin puts her remaining 12 points into Insight. The other party members besides Zarathos contributed 17 points in Insight before levelling-up. Adding 12 during level-ups increases that total to 29, for an assist bonus of +8. It's 1 short of the maximum assisted check of 17 for Insight. But again Zarathos can use a Blessed Incense if he has to.
Tekehu puts 3 points into History. The other party members besides Zarathos contributed 13 points in History prior to levelling-up. Adding 3 more on level-ups means a total of 16, and an Assist Bonus of +6 for History. It's significantly short of the maximum of 17 for assisted History checks. But I figure Zarathos will be able to make at least some of the History checks if he has to, even if not all of them.
Tekehu puts his remaining 16 points in Survival. That's 1 point more than is needed for the 29 skill points that provide an Assist Bonus of +8 on Survival checks during dialogues. It also means that Zarathos can make an assisted Survival check of 16 during dialogues, which is 2 more than the maximum of 14. But I do it anyway. Tekehu is my go to guy when I need to make Survival checks during outdoor scripted interactions, some of which can be quite high indeed.
