Really really struggling leveling Crime and Chaos

[Lampros]

After 3 months in a new campaign, Crime and Chaos just hit level 3 - and the other 3 paths are level 5 (Power and Glory almost 6). So how do I get Crime and Chaos to catch up? I am not good at dodging the Guards, so I don't ever want to be Wanted. It seems it's impossible to level this particular path without becoming a true, unscrupulous criminal?

And what am I missing if I end up not leveling Crime and Chaos?

Edit: Also are Assassination missions worth unlocking? I avoided unlocking them, because I read somewhere that they block from getting more named item drop quests?

[Galahad]

Originally posted by Lampros:

After 3 months in a new campaign, Crime and Chaos just hit level 3 - and the other 3 paths are level 5 (Power and Glory almost 6). So how do I get Crime and Chaos to catch up? I am not good at dodging the Guards, so I don't ever want to be Wanted. It seems it's impossible to level this particular path without becoming a true, unscrupulous criminal?

And what am I missing if I end up not leveling Crime and Chaos?

Edit: Also are Assassination missions worth unlocking? I avoided unlocking them, because I read somewhere that they block from getting more named item drop quests?

They don't block. I managed to get all the named items.

Tiltren:
Judgement — 2h axe (Vanquish Eligann's Troop - Guard)
Mutiny — 2h axe (Vanquish Eitlingarde's Followers - Inquisition)
Rogue — 2h mace (Vanquish Rojen's Coterie - Brotherhood)
Claret — 2h Tiltren sword (Vanquish Mission Diewer's Gang-Outlaws)
Elderguard — dagger (Vanquish Vesunna's Pack - Trackers)

Arthes:
Joras — axe (Vanquish Bartes' Gang - Brotherhood)
Misery — mace (Vanquish Meliance the Traitor)
Purgatory — mace (Vanquish Abbot Selestius - Inquisition)
Strongblade — sword (Vanquish Claressia - The Legion)

Vertuse:
Avenger - bow (Vanquish Eleora's Cohort - The Legion)
Liberator - bow (Vanquish Finna's Pack - Trackers)
Crocsting - spear (Vanquish Thenevon's Pack - Trackers)
Fervor - sword (Vanquish Sylla's Inquisitors - Inquisition)
Basher - mace (Vanquish Kothelyn's Band - Outlaws)

Ludern:
Traitor's Ax - ax (Vanquish Maudeg's troops - Outlaws)
Fredegund - 2h sword (Vanquish The Old Crone's Crew - Outlaws)

Also, assassination contracts are very useful in the late game, they generate not only guards and bandits, but also inquisitors and other factions. Useful to get the item you need. I collected several inquisition sets this way.

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Galahad:

Originally posted by Lampros:

After 3 months in a new campaign, Crime and Chaos just hit level 3 - and the other 3 paths are level 5 (Power and Glory almost 6). So how do I get Crime and Chaos to catch up? I am not good at dodging the Guards, so I don't ever want to be Wanted. It seems it's impossible to level this particular path without becoming a true, unscrupulous criminal?

And what am I missing if I end up not leveling Crime and Chaos?

Edit: Also are Assassination missions worth unlocking? I avoided unlocking them, because I read somewhere that they block from getting more named item drop quests?

They don't block. I managed to get all the named items.

Tiltren:
Judgement — 2h axe (Vanquish Eligann's Troop - Guard)
Mutiny — 2h axe (Vanquish Eitlingarde's Followers - Inquisition)
Rogue — 2h mace (Vanquish Rojen's Coterie - Brotherhood)
Claret — 2h Tiltren sword (Vanquish Mission Diewer's Gang-Outlaws)
Elderguard — dagger (Vanquish Vesunna's Pack - Trackers)

Arthes:
Joras — axe (Vanquish Bartes' Gang - Brotherhood)
Misery — mace (Vanquish Meliance the Traitor)
Purgatory — mace (Vanquish Abbot Selestius - Inquisition)
Strongblade — sword (Vanquish Claressia - The Legion)

Vertuse:
Avenger - bow (Vanquish Eleora's Cohort - The Legion)
Liberator - bow (Vanquish Finna's Pack - Trackers)
Crocsting - spear (Vanquish Thenevon's Pack - Trackers)
Fervor - sword (Vanquish Sylla's Inquisitors - Inquisition)
Basher - mace (Vanquish Kothelyn's Band - Outlaws)

Ludern:
Traitor's Ax - ax (Vanquish Maudeg's troops - Outlaws)
Fredegund - 2h sword (Vanquish The Old Crone's Crew - Outlaws)

Also, assassination contracts are very useful in the late game, they generate not only guards and bandits, but also inquisitors and other factions. Useful to get the item you need. I collected several inquisition sets this way.

Thank you for the clarification!

Also, other than assassination contracts what else can I do to level up quickly in Crime and Chaos, if I don't want to play hide-and-seek with Guards?

[Galahad]

Unfortunately, at the end of the game you will be constantly wanted, since the path of chaos gives a 5% chance to crit for each wanted point (25% in total) And this is a very strong buff and maximizes your crit chance to 100% for almost any fighter in the game. So train yourself to steal everything that is lying around and then sell it to a buyer or launder it in a chest. Also, my advice is to save up precious stones. Sell them and then immediately steal them back. This way you will never need money.

[Townsend]

Craft a Stack of Fortune, e.g. 200 Akhedian Throwing Knives, something expensive.
Use the Banner Trade Fair and Sell those. Steal them back. Pay off the Guard.
Those 200 would get me 5 or 6 Wanted and cost a little under 10k to score 15 Crime and Chaos points. I used this from 8 to 12.

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Galahad:

Unfortunately, at the end of the game you will be constantly wanted, since the path of chaos gives a 5% chance to crit for each wanted point (25% in total) And this is a very strong buff and maximizes your crit chance to 100% for almost any fighter in the game. So train yourself to steal everything that is lying around and then sell it to a buyer or launder it in a chest. Also, my advice is to save up precious stones. Sell them and then immediately steal them back. This way you will never need money.

Does this mean I am constantly fighting Guards? Ugh...

Originally posted by Townsend:

Craft a Stack of Fortune, e.g. 200 Akhedian Throwing Knives, something expensive.
Use the Banner Trade Fair and Sell those. Steal them back. Pay off the Guard.
Those 200 would get me 5 or 6 Wanted and cost a little under 10k to score 15 Crime and Chaos points. I used this from 8 to 12.

Again, does this mean I need to constantly fight Guards to have high Crime and Chaos?

I don't know if I want to do that. Can I just avoid maxing out this path and still do well in the end game?

[Spawnling]

1) Assassination quests are quite good, as they allow you to fight other factions -> you get their weapons and armor

2) Crime and Chaos was always a grind for me (and the rewards aren't worth it to me), but assassination quests help to slowly and steadily level the path without being wanted.

3) The 25% bonus crit chance at 5 wanted were great in the base game, but with the Brooches from Pirates of Belerion, where each gives +15% crit hit and -1 movement, you can reach 100% crit chance without the path bonus.

[Spawnling]

Originally posted by Lampros:

I don't know if I want to do that. Can I just avoid maxing out this path and still do well in the end game?

The problem with the Crime and Chaos path is that while the rare dagger and shield rewarded are cool, they are not unique.
So no upgrading and thanks to the way found items work in this game they are 1 level below your party level. (So max level 12, when you are level 14)

[mrak20105]

Originally posted by Lampros:

Originally posted by Galahad:

Again, does this mean I need to constantly fight Guards to have high Crime and Chaos?

I don't know if I want to do that. Can I just avoid maxing out this path and still do well in the end game?

Do not rush with the passage of the Path of Theft and Chaos. For example; during my passage ALL paths were level 12, and the Path of Theft and Chaos was level 4. And only then, it became the norm for me to cut out any units, both Guardians and Inquisition. When you pump up All Paths except "Chaos", you will have finished Greenworld, and there will be a place where it is easy to reset the wanted stars. In addition, you will have a measure "Pretense" on the standard in the camp, which makes you invisible to the guards for one day.

[Arctuhris]

Originally posted by Lampros:

Does this mean I am constantly fighting Guards? Ugh...

I don't know if I want to do that. Can I just avoid maxing out this path and still do well in the end game?

1) With careful leveling/gearing, I was able to get 5 of my mercs to 100% crit without any boost from Crime path (2 archers, 1 fighter, 1 Vanguard, 1 Cutthroat). I was able to get the 4 of the other 5 mercs in my party above 80% crit, and so by wearing Bandit's Focus on their helmets, they are also at or above 100% crit. The other merc on my team is a Wrongdoer w/ Erkshet's mace and STR 178, so she is getting x2 auto-crit on all enemies with less STR.

In short, it is entirely possible to rock your whole team on 100% crit without using the Crime buff, but it's not easy to gear, and requires careful planning to not put too many points in movement. My fighter and primary archer are literally at 100, and two of my other mercs are at 80 and 81, so *just* squeaking by with Bandit's Focus. And this is all at level 13, with Titles on everyone plus some lucky extra +1 AP events in camp. So, again, doable, but not exactly easy.

2) You can totally skip the Crime path and miss almost nothing. There is 1 legendary light armor helmet that looks kinda cool, and one shield that is okay. Only the helmet can be upgraded, so everything else you get is worthless unless you do the missions at max level, and even then, there's nothing there that I would use. Gameplay wise, you'd be missing out on several puzzle rooms and ton of lockpicking. In the grade scheme of the game, it's really not very much, and IMHO nothing to worry about if you don't feel like grinding out the Crime path.

3) When you're level 13, every fight is a joke, so destroying 20 guards in 2-4 mercs' actions takes a couple minutes. The loot is pretty good, and you'll want/need some of the armor sets to hit 100% crit on everybody, so in my experience, fighting the guard takes the place of running missions during the endgame. But, again, not something you really need to do unless you want to.

[Galahad]

It is not necessary to fight with guards. At least I do not like senseless killings in the game. That's why I avoid these fights, I have ponies whose equipment reduces the radius of aggro in the game and I use the flag ability, which removes the wanted level. Also, according to the quest in Greenmir, you can find a shelter that reduces the wanted level. I constantly walk at 5 stars but have never killed a guard.
People are right when they say that 100% crit chance can be achieved without using the path. But this is not a mix of maxed characters. I spent extra points on strength and running. I have everything calculated to perfection. But I'm weird. My characters' damage is simply excessive. I already kill everyone with one hit on the maximum difficulty level, and it doesn't matter if it's 2000 damage or 1000.

[mrak20105]

Originally posted by Galahad:

It is not necessary to fight with guards. At least I do not like senseless killings in the game. That's why I avoid these fights, I have ponies whose equipment reduces the radius of aggro in the game and I use the flag ability, which removes the wanted level. Also, according to the quest in Greenmir, you can find a shelter that reduces the wanted level. I constantly walk at 5 stars but have never killed a guard.
People are right when they say that 100% crit chance can be achieved without using the path. But this is not a mix of maxed characters. I spent extra points on strength and running. I have everything calculated to perfection. But I'm weird. My characters' damage is simply excessive. I already kill everyone with one hit on the maximum difficulty level, and it doesn't matter if it's 2000 damage or 1000.

Perhaps you don't kill guards because they are too easy? Perhaps you have accumulated such incredible strength to kill Inquisition Patrols? Otherwise, who is the enemy for whom this superbly honed build is? Bandits or maybe Deserters? Oh, I forgot -- you are against murders, but do you at least defend yourself from someone? Do you protect caravans from bandits? With politeness and humble request? Maybe with chorism? ;

[Galahad]

Originally posted by mrak20105:

Originally posted by Galahad:

It is not necessary to fight with guards. At least I do not like senseless killings in the game. That's why I avoid these fights, I have ponies whose equipment reduces the radius of aggro in the game and I use the flag ability, which removes the wanted level. Also, according to the quest in Greenmir, you can find a shelter that reduces the wanted level. I constantly walk at 5 stars but have never killed a guard.
People are right when they say that 100% crit chance can be achieved without using the path. But this is not a mix of maxed characters. I spent extra points on strength and running. I have everything calculated to perfection. But I'm weird. My characters' damage is simply excessive. I already kill everyone with one hit on the maximum difficulty level, and it doesn't matter if it's 2000 damage or 1000.

Perhaps you don't kill guards because they are too easy? Perhaps you have accumulated such incredible strength to kill Inquisition Patrols? Otherwise, who is the enemy for whom this superbly honed build is? Bandits or maybe Deserters? Oh, I forgot -- you are against murders, but do you at least defend yourself from someone? Do you protect caravans from bandits? With politeness and humble request? Maybe with chorism? ;

As I said, maxing damage numbers is redundant in this game. There is no point in making characters like that. I just love maxing characters, I love numbers and calculating everything. I spent hours in taverns searching for the perfect characters with the two necessary traits. I finished the game a long time ago, so I'm just waiting for the new DLC (that's why I liked the Pits so much, it was at least some kind of challenge) Now I'm just collecting weapons and armor sets of inquisitors, alazars and other factions. I can't get the damn inquisitor shield for the build with the "Strongblade" sword.

[mrak20105]

Originally posted by [/quote:

As I said, maxing damage numbers is redundant in this game. There is no point in making characters like that. I just love maxing characters, I love numbers and calculating everything. I spent hours in taverns searching for the perfect characters with the two necessary traits. I finished the game a long time ago, so I'm just waiting for the new DLC (that's why I liked the Pits so much, it was at least some kind of challenge) Now I'm just collecting weapons and armor sets of inquisitors, alazars and other factions. I can't get the damn inquisitor shield for the build with the "Strongblade" sword.

Paladin's Scutum? The one that sets fire? Ah! Probably after completing the last mission in Drombach, the Inquisition Patrols disappeared? ;))) I stopped my last playthrough because this enemy disappeared from the world map. All that's left is to go to drinking establishments and ask: "Do you have a quest to kill inquisitors?" I have this shield lying around, unused. Because even without Strongblade, there are enough weapons. The question is not - how to kill? The question is - Who will go and where is he hiding? (This is if in the fog) I just replayed the fight, because 3 inquisitors in a row came out of the fog and attacked 1 thug. ;)))

[NightRe@PA]

In Gosenberg at the church with a cemetery (after the People's Fellowship quest), there is a bed where you can sleep which reduces wanted level by skipping 8 hours in game. Go to the arena next to the church and steal the skill upgrade books, dodge the guard and steal the books from the other Arena as well and then you can sell the books to the Rook merchant in the boat, Then you just repeat the whole process again

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Spawnling:

1) Assassination quests are quite good, as they allow you to fight other factions -> you get their weapons and armor

2) Crime and Chaos was always a grind for me (and the rewards aren't worth it to me), but assassination quests help to slowly and steadily level the path without being wanted.

3) The 25% bonus crit chance at 5 wanted were great in the base game, but with the Brooches from Pirates of Belerion, where each gives +15% crit hit and -1 movement, you can reach 100% crit chance without the path bonus.

Thanks; I guess I will just luck the Assassination quests and then try to level that way.

Originally posted by mrak20105:

Do not rush with the passage of the Path of Theft and Chaos. For example; during my passage ALL paths were level 12, and the Path of Theft and Chaos was level 4. And only then, it became the norm for me to cut out any units, both Guardians and Inquisition. When you pump up All Paths except "Chaos", you will have finished Greenworld, and there will be a place where it is easy to reset the wanted stars. In addition, you will have a measure "Pretense" on the standard in the camp, which makes you invisible to the guards for one day.

That is welcome news then! I didn't know there were safe havens where I could reset the Wanted status. Also, wow - the Pretense banner action sounds awesome!

Originally posted by Arctuhris:

In short, it is entirely possible to rock your whole team on 100% crit without using the Crime buff, but it's not easy to gear, and requires careful planning to not put too many points in movement. My fighter and primary archer are literally at 100, and two of my other mercs are at 80 and 81, so *just* squeaking by with Bandit's Focus. And this is all at level 13, with Titles on everyone plus some lucky extra +1 AP events in camp. So, again, doable, but not exactly easy.

But isn't movement essential? I thought you need over 20 for the Pirates DLC?

Originally posted by Arctuhris:

2) You can totally skip the Crime path and miss almost nothing. There is 1 legendary light armor helmet that looks kinda cool, and one shield that is okay. Only the helmet can be upgraded, so everything else you get is worthless unless you do the missions at max level, and even then, there's nothing there that I would use. Gameplay wise, you'd be missing out on several puzzle rooms and ton of lockpicking. In the grade scheme of the game, it's really not very much, and IMHO nothing to worry about if you don't feel like grinding out the Crime path.

Good to know!

Originally posted by Arctuhris:

3) When you're level 13, every fight is a joke, so destroying 20 guards in 2-4 mercs' actions takes a couple minutes. The loot is pretty good, and you'll want/need some of the armor sets to hit 100% crit on everybody, so in my experience, fighting the guard takes the place of running missions during the endgame. But, again, not something you really need to do unless you want to.

We shall see! I am only taking 8 mercenaries, and some claim it's still difficult with so few in region-locked?