Pathfinder: Kingmaker Question/Tips & Tricks Thread

Originally Posted by purpleblob
Yeah, that's the one I'm talking about too.



You need to kill it with negative energy e.g. inflict wound spell.

And thanks for the tip! That's literally the only thing I didn't try.

Cold iron also works. At least it did this time. I actually remember having to use negative energy last time though, which I only tried because someone on the steam forums suggested it.

At the end of the game, more or less …. I have *never* played a game that is this unbalanced. I simply can't continue. My magic users are useless, as are my melee/combatants. I should also say that I have played Pathfinder and I understand the rule system fairly well, so it is not 'lack of understanding the rules. I am an average player though, and play on "normal". The last part of this game has taken me from great enjoyment to loathing…takes a lot to do that. What were they thinking?? I really have no idea how to proceed - and I don't have the energy to try a dozen times to get through every encounter.

I agree, balance is a travesty in this game.

Yeah the end game is a total disaster. I'd say its more satisifying to finish the game in chapter 6 (skip the optional chapter).
@booboo I found Jubilost the most effective.

Originally Posted by booboo
At the end of the game, more or less …. I have *never* played a game that is this unbalanced. I simply can't continue. My magic users are useless, as are my melee/combatants. I should also say that I have played Pathfinder and I understand the rule system fairly well, so it is not 'lack of understanding the rules. I am an average player though, and play on "normal". The last part of this game has taken me from great enjoyment to loathing…takes a lot to do that. What were they thinking?? I really have no idea how to proceed - and I don't have the energy to try a dozen times to get through every encounter.

Spoiler

I have entered the kingdom again after defeating Nyrissa and now have the Lantern King's "curse"…only access to 0-th (!) level spells+wands+scrolls…I don't have super powerful wands or scrolls, so my spell casters are essentially useless. BAB reduced to 60% or less, enemies have major chance so critting you etc etc. My monk's attack bonus went from about +26 to +19… I could buff that to about 32 before…but no high level buffs. I need a natural 20 to hit Hunt units (AC: 43+). Amiri and Valerie are barely better. I can't buff, except from low level scrolls which barely help - the ones I could buy are pretty useless too. Clearly I have an inadequate party - I used basic classes (nothing overpowered or munchkiny) and just developed the NPC's as they were given to me. We're all 16th level now. The Hunt has guaranteed force damage - which always hits you. Their powers are all intact - instant paralyse…yes, I can use freedom of movement, but the party are so weak that barely helps. Example: I had my monk, Valerie and Amiri (raging) (plus haste from a scroll) attack *1* Hunt bow guy…they couldn't kill him after about a dozen rounds, and all the time I was being attacked with no stoneskin or buffs…*bang* dead. I have no cold iron weapons (they have high DR except for cold iron…15) except for pathetic +1 weapons, which can't actually hit. My monk's hands are considered cold iron for DR so he should be able to hit them…but even with extra attacks per round at max bonus, misses almost all attacks. So, I can't damage them, but they deal out huge amounts to me. I tried switching to Story mode (!)…I still died?! Something is seriously wrong with their design or balance. So….how do I proceed? I am bitterly disappointed that a game I thought so much of has turned into this. The game has become one encounter after another, with overpowered enemies, with no obvious counter in my cases.

You are supposed to do content as you did during Chapters 1 to now. Each segment you finish will remove part of that curse and make your units stronger.

Originally Posted by Archangel
You are supposed to do content as you did during Chapters 1 to now. Each segment you finish will remove part of that curse and make your units stronger.

Only to face…

Hm, for me the enemies in this chapter were quite weak. And as stated before the course gets weaker with every of the 4 (?) cleared maps.
So when returning to the capital I was back at full strength.

I had trouble initially but then got used to playing as low level. For me its the waves of wild hunt encounter that really soured the experience. So. Damn. Tedious.

I think my biggest problem is the amount of busy-work involved with Kingdom Managment. While it's elaborate and interesting in theory - the actual implementation is taking away the momentum when you're out exploring.

It bothers me, because the game oozes potential in a big way.

Add coop and de-emphasize the personal Kingdom Managment stuff - and this would be superior to both Baldur's Gate and Pillars of Eternity.

It's ambitious beyond the size of the team and budget involved.

Certainly a very ambitious project, that's why I'm so upset about the end game - really shows things getting rushed out.

In terms of kingdom management, you don't have to feel forced to give up on exploration. You deal with main quests and explore available regions first then you can spend all remaining days of curse counter to look after the kingdom.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
Certainly a very ambitious project, that's why I'm so upset about the end game - really shows things getting rushed out.

In terms of kingdom management, you don't have to feel forced to give up on exploration. You deal with main quests and explore available regions first then you can spend all remaining days of curse counter to look after the kingdom.

It's not so much the time limit as it is the fact that I have to actively return to interact with a ton of mostly superfluous NPCs for trivial events to occur.

I never really know if it's something important or not.

The long loading screens and the text-only presentation don't really help matters.

Don't get me wrong, I think the game is very good overall - but there's a mountain of questionable design decisions involved.

Personally, I love challenging encounters - but this game is truly bizarre when it comes to the jumps in difficulty. There's no discernable pattern to any of it.

It's jarring on a level that's beyond "old-school". Not sure what the line of thinking was here, but it's not working for me as well as I would have expected.

Sad to say, as I love most of it to bits.

Originally Posted by Darth Tagnan
It's not so much the time limit as it is the fact that I have to actively return to interact with a ton of mostly superfluous NPCs for trivial events to occur.

I never really know if it's something important or not.

The long loading screens and the text-only presentation don't really help matters.

Don't get me wrong, I think the game is very good overall - but there's a mountain of questionable design decisions involved.

Personally, I love challenging encounters - but this game is truly bizarre when it comes to the jumps in difficulty. There's no discernable pattern to any of it.

It's jarring on a level that's beyond "old-school". Not sure what the line of thinking was here, but it's not working for me as well as I would have expected.

Sad to say, as I love most of it to bits.

I actually liked the fact you have to return to capital regularly. I am a baroness after all, not just a simple adventurer anymore.

I found loading time reduced heaps with 1.1.

What I didn't like was projects that locks my PC out for 7/14 days. Why can't I look after other kingdom things during those days I'm in capital?

I didn't find the encounter balance uneven, with the exception of the last 1.5 chapters.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
I actually liked the fact you have to return to capital regularly. I am a baroness after all, not just a simple adventurer anymore.

I found loading time reduced heaps with 1.1.

What I didn't like was projects that locks my PC out for 7/14 days. Why can't I look after other kingdom things during those days I'm in capital?

I didn't find the encounter balance uneven, with the exception of the last 1.5 chapters.

Such is how we all differ

Personally, I think I'm taking an extended break from the game.

Then again, I shouldn't be gaming at all!

Originally Posted by booboo
At the end of the game, more or less …. I have *never* played a game that is this unbalanced. I simply can't continue. My magic users are useless, as are my melee/combatants. I should also say that I have played Pathfinder and I understand the rule system fairly well, so it is not 'lack of understanding the rules. I am an average player though, and play on "normal". The last part of this game has taken me from great enjoyment to loathing…takes a lot to do that. What were they thinking?? I really have no idea how to proceed - and I don't have the energy to try a dozen times to get through every encounter.

Spoiler

I have entered the kingdom again after defeating Nyrissa and now have the Lantern King's "curse"…only access to 0-th (!) level spells+wands+scrolls…I don't have super powerful wands or scrolls, so my spell casters are essentially useless. BAB reduced to 60% or less, enemies have major chance so critting you etc etc. My monk's attack bonus went from about +26 to +19… I could buff that to about 32 before…but no high level buffs. I need a natural 20 to hit Hunt units (AC: 43+). Amiri and Valerie are barely better. I can't buff, except from low level scrolls which barely help - the ones I could buy are pretty useless too. Clearly I have an inadequate party - I used basic classes (nothing overpowered or munchkiny) and just developed the NPC's as they were given to me. We're all 16th level now. The Hunt has guaranteed force damage - which always hits you. Their powers are all intact - instant paralyse…yes, I can use freedom of movement, but the party are so weak that barely helps. Example: I had my monk, Valerie and Amiri (raging) (plus haste from a scroll) attack *1* Hunt bow guy…they couldn't kill him after about a dozen rounds, and all the time I was being attacked with no stoneskin or buffs…*bang* dead. I have no cold iron weapons (they have high DR except for cold iron…15) except for pathetic +1 weapons, which can't actually hit. My monk's hands are considered cold iron for DR so he should be able to hit them…but even with extra attacks per round at max bonus, misses almost all attacks. So, I can't damage them, but they deal out huge amounts to me. I tried switching to Story mode (!)…I still died?! Something is seriously wrong with their design or balance. So….how do I proceed? I am bitterly disappointed that a game I thought so much of has turned into this. The game has become one encounter after another, with overpowered enemies, with no obvious counter in my cases.

As me and @purpleblob mentioned previously either in this or some other thread:

Originally Posted by Darth Tagnan
Such is how we all differ

Personally, I think I'm taking an extended break from the game.

Then again, I shouldn't be gaming at all!

I'm halfway through my 2nd run now, but I'm actually planning characters in NWN2 while doing it. It's been a while since I played it, and this game reminded me of how much I enjoy making complex characters in D&D 3.5, and I still think NWN2 is second to none in that regard.

It's just a shame most campaigns saddly the player with paper-thin NPCs that can't really be modified. I would have loved a more open system where I could either build multiple characters from scratch, or modify the companions a lot more (turning Khelgar into a Dwarven Defender for example, or Sand into an Arcane Trickster or.. you get the idea).

Now that I am nearing end game (doing Pitax chapter atm) I must also agree that Kingdom Management is more of a chore than fun. I think they needed to cut out 50% of time spent on it from the game. Lower all time requirements for leveling up advisors and conquering new lands and cut down the time between new main missions happening.

Being able to pause any time skip to deal with critical events is a must. I waste so much time saving the game before doing anything because just as you give a unpausable 14 day order 2 days later a critical event can popup that will give you negative stats for next 12 days of "ignoring" it.

Then you need to be able to take out advisors from tasks they are doing to put on more critical tasks they are needed for. Either have their current tasks canceled as a result or maybe their amount of progress being reduced by % while they are on pause and when progress gets to 0% they are automatically failed like if you just ignored them.

Loading time as said needs to be improved. When advisors come and tell you to choose something, game needs to tell you immediate results before you choose. Atm I just save the game every time I got an advisor wanting to talk to me and load the save if the result of my choice ends up something immediately stupid.

These are just some problems with kingdom management. Settlement building is also both too complex and not complex enough. There are way too many buildings that just give stat bonuses instead of giving proper ingame results. Also kind of irritating that you need to upgrade everything (and that shit lasts for 14 days) to make any even remotely interesting building (like those giving bonuses to solving Problems/Opportunities). I can even understand why your guy is important and locked when leveling up ranks for advisors and kingdom, but for upgrading settlements into towns and such, no King does that shit. You got local governors for that.

I understand the feeling from some who would prefer the exploration part without the kingdom management but why they did not choose the automatic management in this case? Still, I really think it helps to feel tied to the region. Sure it has its tedious moments but I liked it in general.

For me the most glaring issues are the still the "timers". Not because they are a real threat when they happen and they are known but because I never know when one will happen. It is difficult on a first run to judge. There was times I was wondering if I could go far and hesitated. I still mind that.

A lot of great CRPGs had tough first runs. This is part of the "real CRPG" genre, and the sign of a complex, good game. If everything was easy the first run then that means something is wrong or the game overall is too easy. They could put more tutorials and more warnings and still people would mess up a first run with mechanics like these. It's part of the game. I'd rather that over something simplistic that you nail 99% of on a first run any day.

We all have different beef with this game lol. Suffice to say though, Kingmaker is so chock full of content, there are many issues but more to enjoy

I'm beef-less so far on my second run but I'm not playing again until the 6th so I can at least see the new companion in this run. Currently in Chapter 5.