PotD Rogue + Druidshift: Lessons Applied for Fun and One-Shot Kills

[Gilmoy]

I start a parallel PotD run as my 1st-ever Rogue! and a parallel thread for it
As I peck at my 2 saves in alternating fashion, their thread bumps will also leapfrog.

The recent Druid shifter thread reminds me that I've never played Druid yet.
So that's my 1 hireling for a full party of 6.
I choose Druid werebear + Corrosive, to fully test the concept.

Early run. We were only L3/L2 for most of the fighting below.
Talky quest-ends in Gilded Vale just leveled us up to L4/L3, for next post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thematic #0: Logging From the Start
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[_] Cipher: log from start of game to Maerwald in Od Nua 1
[x] Cipher: log from Od Nua 1 through White March 1

This new run gives me a chance to fix a loose end.
[x] Rogue: log from start of game
[x] Rogue: log party XP, total coppers, per-rest spells per fight

I log map contents in Sheets on a 2nd monitor: monsters, quests, craftings, etc.
But in my Cipher run, my log starts just after Maerwald, and omits all before that.

So in this Rogue run, I log from the opening screen's Encampment.
Caravan Master Odema is the 1st entry

Logs aren't identical, because most loot drops are randomized.
But monster encounters, plants, and cache contents are scripted, and thus the same.

I also learned more about my own logging method.
It dawned on me that I could actually track my exact copper expenses.
Hence my 'ct' = "Coppers, Total" column, which is a simple SUM from top to bottom, always, at every moment, exactly matches my Inventory, Currency figure.

I already did log all loot income, vendor buys, inn rests, and craftings.
The only expenses I omitted were:

+ mundane sells (= of 30+ non-enchanted weapons, armors, hides per batch)
+ Aloth paying to learn spells from grimoires

Adding both sufficed. Similarly, I already logged total XP per quest steps only, but not:

+ XP per Bestiary entry (for first-k monster kills of each new monster type)
+ precise XP for all 1-6 party members
+ small-party XP bonuses

I add 6 columns for 6 party slots, and now I track all 6 members' XP precisely.
This revealed the small-party XP bonuses. (I could look on the wiki, but I avoid it.)

As a fringe benefit, my Rogue's current XP doubles as a clock
I don't log PoE1 dates. (Egad.) To annotate a non-sequential log entry, her XP suffices.
After Caed Nua, I (shall) log turn numbers, but they dovetail with quest completions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Class is Strong, or Player Got Better?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thematic #1 is to play a full party of 6. It's not hard, once you know they're there.
Finish talky-parts in Gilded Vale to L3, get L3 Edér and L3 Aloth.
Hire L2 Druid as werebear + Corrosive.
South to Magran's Fork, L3 Durance.
East through Black Meadow to Caed Nua, L3 Kana.

West to Black Meadow, clear it(!).
At L3/L2, we "easily" kill 6 Forest Trolls + 2 Forest Lurker.
I use my newly-learned mobile warfare skills from the Cipher run, and it works.
Set trap line far enough. Lure, snipe + run, use their tether radii to subdivide.
We have no action-stopper, so the 1 troll fights back, but at L3 its stats are oddly blah.

Similarly, the Smith's Shipment bandit fight was not too bad. (= I died only twice )
Bandit Leader was a Barbarian, and self-nerfed with Frenzy.
My Druid was already Maimed = 1 Health, so she set up far back as a pure archer.
Her first shot reveals her, and Barbarian AI fixates on her as the "easiest kill".
We couldn't stop Barbarian from running right through our line -- so we killed him.
Barbarian Poorly Used is a crit-sponge, AI Barbarian can't stop player crits either

The moderate lesson throughout PoE1 is: Use low-Deflection classes wisely.
Don't rush into melee as 1st line-stopper, you will get crit-locked and die.
This applies to Barbarian, Rogue, Druidshifter, and even Cipher, Chanter, and the casters.

The emergent solution is: Join as 2nd sacker.
Let Somebody Elsér ;-) set a 1st Line and (af)fix monsters' melee attention.
Pause, then commit your high-DPS low-Deflection guys to flank and overwhelm.
The best way to negate your low (early) Deflection is to never be attacked at all.

Weirdly Hilarious #1: The NW corner of Black Meadow has 4 Forest Trolls.
Before the Smith Shipment fight, I scouted 1 Outlaw (sword + shield ~ Fighter?).
During the fight, he reached his tether radius and turned away.
After the fight, he wasn't at the campfire! Where did he go?

He walked all the way west to the edge of the map, and stood amongst the 4 Trolls!
They aggro each other! As I snuck into view, they all wake up and fight each other!

An AI L3 Fighter is amazingly durable (but also, "L3" Forest Trolls are weirdly crappy).
Fighting 1-v-4, he lived for ~2.0 real minutes, enough time for my 6 shooters
to reload repeatedly and kill all 4 Trolls with ranged fire. We finally kill him ourselves.

West to Magran's Fork. A Goldpact Paladin will also fixate on a Maimed Druid
She chased her a half-loop around the north of the ruined silo, as my other 5 ran west.

South to Anslög's Compass, rest (to unmaim Druid), clear it.
My L5/L4 Cipher team had enormous trouble with the full Xaurip and Gul swarms.
But my L3/L2 Rogue team grinded them down without much incident.

I think it's partly from Rogue + Druid bear, but mostly because of me, the player.
I'm simply better at fight prep. Briefly, I didn't get swarmed, because I knew not to.
Set up far enough away, Nimbly Run Away, let half of them walk away.

Then it's an easy 6-v-1, or a manageable 9-v-4 with no enemy ranged/cast threat.
With numerical advantage, commit the 2nd sackers, and enjoy the show.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rogue's Gimmick is the -100% Health Debuff
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cipher's gimmicks are Charm and Paralysis. You can build a team around that.
Rogue's gimmick seems to be to kill things dead ASAP.

Rogue as 2nd flanker always gets Sneak Attack bonus damage.
+50% doesn't sound huge, but in practice it's magnified to almost Gimmick-class.
PoE1's (your Damage - their DR) mechanic can be a small difference of large numbers.
A mundane 1H weapon might Graze for (8 - 8) = one-digit MIN, or Hit for (16 - 8) = 8.

Add Rogue's +50%, and it's big compared to that small difference.
(24 - 8) = 16 becomes chunk damage, which rapidly scores kills (vs. L3/L2 fodder).
L3 Edér's job is to not-die and hit for 4, 5, 5, 7, ... etc.
L3 Rogue's job is to chunk for 18, 19 and a kill, 16, 22 and a kill, 15, ...
It puts her on a different tier of efficacy. And that actually is the gimmick.
It does seem to work at least as well as, or even faster than, Ranged Cipher.

At L2, I pay 1 talent point for Rogue Backstab for massive alpha-strike in Stealth.
At L2, a Rogue can sneak up adjacent to any 1 Young <Beast> without winding to red.
Then a Sneak Attack Backstab with a Crossbow routinely hits for 75(!).
That's a one-shot kill vs. Young Wolf, Young Boar, Young Bear, and early Bandits.

It doesn't work vs. adult Beasts, Troll-class, and casters because they see you too fast.
[_] I suspect I could do around-the-corner Stealth ambushes in dungeons with corners.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Druidshifter as 2nd Sacker
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
L2 Druid has only 3 L1 per-rest casts, so that's not my offense regardless.
I went all-in on shifting, to test the concept.

+ (core) Spiritshift Bear, INT 16 for +24% ~= 18.7 seconds (enough for 4-5 attacks)
+ L2 Wildstrike Corrode +30% (other talent choices at L2 are kind of meh)

The +30% vaults her into the same tier as Rogue's Sneak Attack.
Both of them average chunk damage of 20-25 per Hit.
That swiftly kills Troll-class, and one-shots fodder like Xaurips.

She functions very well in the 2nd sacker role.
Bow alpha-shot, then use the recovery time to choose whether-to-shift.
+ Sometimes she steps back and shoots again, etc.
+ Sometimes she steps forward and clicks modal Shift. On next tick, she joins melee.

This cadence naturally gives Edér time to step forward first and affix 1-4 enemy melee.
Exemplar: the xaurip camp swarm in Anslög's Compass.
- Lure Xaurip Skirmisher, Sneak Attack snipe and run
- alpha-volley vs. Xaurip Skirmisher (kill), all run backward
+ all xaurips tether-turn and walk away, snipe Champion in back
+ 1 Champion + 4 Xaurips re-engage, Priest + 1 Champion don't

Now it's 6-v-5, and they have no ranged threat, and not much melee threat.
Aloth goofs off with L1 Fan of Flames, solely because I want to.
He won't ever have that fun in a real fight later on.

Druid bear one-shots 4 Xaurip in 4 swings, ending the fight.
She had enough timer left to attack a 5th time, if needed.

This is admittedly an ideal case. Not even I expect it to scale up to later fights.
But it's more fun than a sad Bowbarian or Bow-only Druid.

I didn't fully grasp what Druid's Health = (4 * Endurance) "Very Low" means.
Briefly, it means that Endurance attrition swiftly leeches her Health down.
4 bad fights suffice, even if she never gets knocked out. That's a low bar.

4 bad fights might take 1/2 or less of 1 map.
Then you must clear that map + 2 more with her Maimed or really-dead
I did that once, and learned it. Druid doesn't have Barbarian health.
Druid('s human player) must put on a wiser hat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next: Temple, then (Maerwald or Raedric)?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are newly L4/L3, with a full team of 6.
We have cleared Valewood, Magran's Fork, Black Meadow, and Anslög's Compass,
and all of their quests.

No uniques yet (except Larder Door from the smith).
No Fine-tier weapons yet, nothing worth enchanting.

Insufficient coppers to buy the Ivory Wurm Figurine, or Ponamu's soulbound weapons.
IIRC, I must (acquire and) sell Raedric's armor to buy toys.

I'll finish the Temple of Eothas in town.
It's tough with only 3, in noob playthroughs where you don't know to leave town early.
I've never done it with a full team of 6. It'll be fun!

[Gilmoy]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Durgan's Battery Tells a Mystery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Generally, clear every map completely, and take every loot. (But we already do that.)
Read every NPC bark, magnifying-glass bark, and every note/journal/book in loot drops.
Watch every Watcher cutscene animation.
Remember all of it

NPCs who show an ellipsis "..." icon draw from a finite set of 5-12 canned phrases.
For example, there's 1 set of Stalwart Villager phrases,
1 set of Flames-That-Whispers Ogre phrases (if you've made peace with Matron Beregan),
and so on.

I like to poke them repeatedly until I exhaust their repertoire of new phrases.
Many NPC barks provide only backstory, for world immersion.

+ A few barks are tied to quests you haven't finished yet.
You could learn about a quest this way.
Completing those quests disables these barks.

+ Conversely, some quest steps unlock new barks.
Opening Durgan's Battery unlocks some barks about it being open.
Having Devil of Caroc in your party unlocks some barks from villagers who fear her.

Durgan's Battery is filled with these barks and Watcher cutscenes.
It provides a more accurate glimpse into their final days.

For L1 The Great Hall, it coyly suggests intrigue between the 3 komendants.
This fits with the Stalwart villagers' legends (as told in their barks).
But later, it morphs into a story of a still-unified defense against ...
an unknown threat of overwhelming physical force.

It's not truly resolved here. Hence White March 2 exists!

~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Great Hall (Durgan's Battery L1)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are L10.55, still at 66% Health, 38/70 per-rests.
My party are Zahua, Maneha, Kana, Rogue main, Aloth, Devil of Caroc.

Scouting around reveals new foes, unique to the Battery.

+ Battery Shieldwall/Defender/Priest

A step above Skeletal Fighter/Ranger, with +2 levels, better stats, and heavier armor.
They're not difficult alone, but they do take several hits to kill, which costs time.

+ hallway, 2 Battery
+ Feasthall, 6 Battery 3 Ice Blight: 2 Urdel 1 Thunder, -1.5% Health
+ chapel, 6 Battery 3 Ice Blight: 2 Urdel, -2%
+ grand hallway, 2 Priest 6 Ice Blight: 1 Urdel 1 Thunder, -1%

Everybody inevitably takes 1 Crossbow shot each.

+ storage, 5 Battery 2 Wraith 3 Shade 1 Battery Siren: 2 Urdel, -0.6%

Battery skeletons become quite obnoxious when they combine with Spirits behind them.

Battery Siren is a Cean Gŵla with +2 levels, +6 Accuracy and defenses, and 12-18 DR.
Her Shriek has ~10m range, 50-60 damage + Stuck, and a fast cadence.
In total DPS, she's roughly equal to Lagufaeth Broodmother using its blowgun non-stop.
Like Broodmother, Siren usually appears with an entourage of lesser Spirits and Batteries.

The morbid implication is that the Battery defenders never left their posts.
They became ... these things, and they're still on duty.

+ Armory: Garodh's Chorus (Unique quest helm) -- Kana wears it
- Badgradr's Barricade (Unique medium shield) -- it doesn't fill a need in my party

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pattern: Bamf Attack
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Bamf" is the sound effect of a teleportation, esp. Nightcrawler in the old X-Men comics.
WM1 introduces this as a new "boss fight" pattern.
It's meant as a new challenge for players who made it this far.

A. On trigger (usually when player crosses a tripline on the map), new monsters appear!
B. Watcher cutscene spirits don't vanish, persist. On trigger, they become real Spirits!
C. Statue-like graphics are rendered non-interactively. On trigger, they become monsters!

This elegantly defeats my normal pre-battle prep. That's surely the point.
- cannot scout them
- cannot lure 1 of them
- cannot [A]ttack them to pierce dialogue armor
- cannot set up far away from them, with safe retreat

By scenario construction, the trigger may force us to stand at ground zero.
When the fight begins, we're already surrounded. We could:

a) send the 1 fastest runner, run away very fast
b) use a Rogue with Escape, run until trapped, teleport 8m and keep running
c) sacrifice 1 party member to be Knocked Out, set up the other 5-6 safely far away
d) accept the trap, stand in the middle, fight our way out
e) accept the trap, stand even closer, fight our way in

A well-scripted attack can invite an epic battle, as a worthy climax to a tricky level.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Great Hall's Exit Door
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bamf trigger is to click the door itself, ergo you're adjacent to the door.

- you cannot run away
Even Zahua with Move Speed 4 +2 (L3 Long Stride) +3 (Boots of Speed) = 9 gets caught.

- you cannot stand
The best niche in the wall seems to be the north corner, which is roughly triangular.
Your front line might be 4-wide.
But Spectres throw Stun, and preferentially target your Chanter, then your Wizard.

With a full complement of Figurine usages (we have 5), this is probably winnable.
I had only 1 Figurine usage left, and I'm not resting just for this 1 fight.

+ you can run toward

PoE1's game engine is not a solid modeler.
It does not compute volumetric intersections between you and a partially-open door.

I strongly suspected that each door is modeled as a simple Boolean:
fully closed, or fully open, with no transition state.

+ pack all 6 followers against the door
+ click door, pause
+ space-space until the hallway behind the door lights up, indicating logically open
+ order all 6 to walk right through the logically open door, before it animates :o

Visually, it looks like you walk through wood. Logically, the door is already fully open.
I tried it, and it worked, exactly as I envisioned.

+ 3 of 6 walk through while Fragment of Marunn is-still-appearing
+ 2 of 6 get jammed with Marunn as she appears, but it's OK, they melee her anyways
+ Bronze Horn Figurine's 1 Animat distracts all Spirits' nasty ranged debuffs
+ 1 of 6 walks around those 3

Then it's a doorway fight
We still take -10%(!) Health to 45%, use -6 per-rests.

Dominate works vs. Spirits, they're not immune like Vessels are.
Devil uses Darzir's Ring of Changing Heart to bag 1 Bitter Spirit 1 Wraith.

~~~~~~~~
The Mines (Durgan's Battery L2)
~~~~~~~~
There's a bridge, with a balcony facing it, within missile range!
We aggro the peanut gallery! They shoot back!

+ bridge and balcony, 12 Battery 1 Siren: 3 Urdel, -2% Health

The barks herein tell a tale of overwhelming force snapping bones and breaching walls.
The Workshop door is locked at L13(!), we skip it for now.

+ ore platform, 4 Beetle 4 Ooze: 2 Bones 1 Urdel, =0%

We collect all Durgan Iron Ingot Quest items for later use.

+ main road, 11 Battery + balcony, 1 Siren: 2 Urdel 3 Thunder, -1%

The Siren is sole survivor, floating alone on its balcony.
I hate fighting 1 Siren with no summoned fodder, because of the unavoidable DPS.
To solve that, I lure Battery skeletons halfway to the balcony, and split up the 1st Ogres.
Urdel + 1 stays to fight Batteries.
Gurdel + 5 run back to the balcony.
Batteries have modest 80 Fortitude, Kana's The Thunder Rolled scores reliable Stuns.

+ mines, 3 Bitter Spirit: =0%, Rime and Frost Traps got all 3
+ mines, 3 Beetle 2 Ooze 2 Bitter: 1 Urdel, =0%
+ tunnels, 4 Bitter: =0%, Rime and Frost Traps got 3 of 4

Rime and Frost Trap crits Bitter Spirits for 15-22.
3-6 Trap hits kills a Bitter, even while it's invisible.
My 2 speed guys can walk in zigzags in front of slow Spirits, and lay down a minefield.

Inevitably, we explore the entire map, and bumble into both scripted bamf attacks.
I ponder it deeply, and choose to pick up the gauntlet.
It will be an epic and grueling slugfest. That's exactly what makes it valuable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Workshop Key Fight (Bamf Attack #1 of 3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deep in the tunnels, you find a Watcher dialogue.
He has a Key to the Workshop. In the Workshop is a Stone Dial for the exit door.
We could burn 1 Rite scroll to skip this fight, but I'd rather fight it.

As an exercise, I meticulously prepare foods, traps, and Quick Slots.
I've hoarded potions all game long, it's time to spend some.

+6 Duc's Own Beefloaf (+2 Might)
+6 Pearlwood Chicken (+2 Constitution)
=5 Speckleback Jerky (+1 Perception, +1 Intellect) -- already had these

Oops, Devil of Caroc doesn't use Food. OK, I use 5 and keep 1 spare.
I had to look up how to drag-and-drop food from Inventory onto your (C)haracter torso
to eat it without using a Quick Slot. Also, you can eat 2+ foods, all in 0 time.

-1 Dart Trap (Devil of Caroc) -- hits Wraith for 2.5 Pierce (MIN), it sucketh
-1 Poisonous Cloud Trap (Rogue main) -- Event Log calls it Death Ring Trap

A trap destroyed Shadow!
A trap destroyed Spectre!

This trap is awesome! I got that one for free, by disarming it.

-2 Potion of Wizard's Double (Kana, Caroc)
-1 Potion of Merciless Gaze (Rogue)
-2 Scroll of Fan of Flames (Zahua)
-1 Scroll of Protection (Rogue)

Take the key, end dialogue.
The bamf attack begins with all Spirits appearing as momentarily friendly.
I pause and use [A]ttack to pierce their friendliness.

It occurs to me that we walked through three crowds of
Watcher-spirits-that-persist to get here, and that all 3 crowds have bamfed.
The trap isn't just around us, it's blocking our retreat, too.
Hence the only safe "retreat" we shall have is to kill everything here, and stand.

+ crowd #1, 2 Spectre 2 Wraith 1 Siren
+ crowd #2, 2 Shade (+2 summoned Shadow) 1 Wraith 1 Siren

This fight takes a bizarre turn in the very opening.
Wraith has Abduction (1 per encounter):

+ pike-range 1.8m can reach past your front line, or over the side of a staircase
+ Teleports target + itself ~20.0m sideways, far from support
+ Stuns target for 3.0s (but I got 6.6s twice)

Apparently, every Wraith in PoE1 has this attack all along.
We've fought Wraiths before, and never seen it.
I suspect it's a high-level "monster talent", and is disabled when we're low-level.
This is the first time I've ever seen this attack vector.

Wraith from crowd #1 Abducts Maneha, Stuns her for 6.6s!
Now she's halfway between crowds #1 and #2, and #2 can see her!
Wraith from crowd #2 Abducts Maneha, Stuns her for 6.6s!

We fight 5-v-all.
Maneha fights 1v2, far off the screen. Surely she's doomed, right?
I must click their floating border icons to toggle between 2 disjoint fights.

+ Spectre throws Stun on every ranged hit. This is priority #1.
It also has very long range (to 20.0m?), far beyond a Bow/Crossbow's 12.0m.
We alpha-strike 1 Spectre from set-up, and accept its Explosive Death dings.

+ Fan of Flames kills 1 Shadow
+ that Trap destroys 1 Shadow 1 Spectre, probably saves us all
+ Aloth casts L2 Bewildering, L4 Essential Phantom to buy time
+ grueling melee kills 2 Wraith 1 Spectre 1 Shade

The Sirens from crowds #1 and #2 spiral in toward each other.
Inevitably, they end up side-by-side, for interlocking Shriek DPS.
Both are too far to target Maneha. They must gravitate to more targets.

~~~~

Maneha rides out ~10.0s of overlapping Stunned, 0v2 vs. 1 Shade 1 Wraith.
They crit-debuff her, but ... they can't hurt her.
She wears Exceptional Breastplate for DR 12, and Wraith hits for 4, 5, 5, 7, ...
She still gets beat down to ~30 Endurance. I thought she was doomed.

+ first got-crit bestows Flame Shield from Belt
+ Belt's Torrent of Flames, for hate's sake I spit -- oh hey I live
+ Shade dies from Flame Shield's counter-Burn, she never targeted it once
-1 Potion of Major Endurance
+ solos 1 Wraith

She wins her fight! She rejoins the party, and helps melee the 2 Sirens!
She's not alone in this cave with you. You're alone in this cave with her!

~~~~

+ 1st Ogres
+ Ogre killed Battery Siren
+ we wipe crowds #1 and #2, -17% to 28% (1 green 1 yellow 4 dire), -4 more per-rests
+ we have Ogres, let's go get another one

+ crowd #3, 2 Shade 3 Bitter 4 Wraith 3 Siren: +3 = 4 Urdel, -10% to 18%
-6 per-rests
-2 Scroll of Twin Stones (Kana)
-1 Potion of Major Regeneration (Maneha)
- Aloth gets Stuck by a Siren, knocked out (Bruised Ribs), we finish 5v4

Maneha uses Firebrand and melees the 3 Sirens, as they target 3rd and 4th Ogres.

I didn't plan to wipe all 3 crowds in 1 long fight, but I always say that.
-15 crafted foods, -5 potions, -5 scrolls, -14 per-rests, -27% = 18% Health, 1 KO'd.
I've not spent potions and scrolls like this, before or since.

The entire fight takes 194.9s. Duc's Own Beefloaf has 105.1s remaining.
We are totally spent and wrecked. It is an epic semi-climax to The Mines.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Workshop and Rest (14th)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Owning a Quest key in your Stash prevents you from earning that door's lock XP

+ Workshop, 4 Wolf 5 Troll: 4 Urdel 1 Thunder, -0.8% Health -- from the floor?

Even with 4 dire (= Health < max Endurance), it's only Trolls.
I think walking on the frozen floor during combat damages you over time.

+ barricade, (new) 2 Bitter 2 Shade (+2 Shadow) 2 Wraith 2 Siren -- no

That's enough for 1 awake-time. Aloth has 0/0/2/0/1 spells, 4 of us could die from 2 hits.
We must retreat all the way to the stairs-up to find safe ground to rest.

We camp in Durgan's Battery L2 The Mines. Our 14th awake-time:
+ lasts 4 days 2 hours (from Day 43 Hour 13 to Day 47 Hour 15)
+ earns 10.7k XP each (from L9.8 to L10.9)
+ clears Galvino's Workshop, L1 The Great Hall, most of L2 The Mines
+ kills Lafda, Firedorn, Laenric, Fragment of Marunn, and the 5-Siren five-'L'-lllllama
+ attains 1,720 kills = 122.86 kills per rest

Also, I find that a 2-Rogue party is perfectly viable, and quite strong.
Devil of Caroc is nearly as lethal as my Rogue main.
We miss Durance a tiny bit, but not really. All he ever did was shoot his Arquebus(es).

- Caroc's Stealth 9 looks like a bad deal, a gimmick that fails.

She can't sneak much closer to monsters before they see her.
She certainly can't sneak within 2.0m range for Backstab.
Hence she doesn't even have Backstab.

Her one flaw is that her Deep Wounds works only 1 time per fight, not on every hit.
Maybe it's specific to Bittercut (Unique Sabre).

[Gilmoy]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Mines: Beetles and Barricade (Bamf Attack #2 of 3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our 15th awake-time begins. We are pristine at 100% Health, 51/51 per-rests.
+ Zahua's War Club has 18/20 L3 Cause Weakened
+ Kana's One-Eyed Molina's has 20/25 L3 Cause Stunned

I should send Zahua into melee more often against foes with low Deflection.
But he also wields Persistence (war bow), and its DoT is too good to lose.

The breached barricade has spawned a new enemy group of Spirits.
I think this is scripted after you enter the Workshop and advance the Quest.
I cleverly sneak around to attack them from the side.
Devs cleverly anticipated that every player will think of this

+ mine cart tracks, (bamf) 3 Bitter 5 Beetle: 2 Urdel, -0.5%, and concatenate with:
+ barricade, 2 Bitter 2 Shade (+2 Shadow) 2 Wraith 2 Siren:
+1 = 3 Urdel, -0.5%, -2 per-rest

But their ambush actually works out to my advantage.
Slow beetles are almost no threat, and earn time for free Ogres.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hall of Remembrance (Bamf Attack #3 of 3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Without specifics, explore entire map, read everything, gather every loot.
Then you'll "solve" this as a byproduct. It's a self-contained 1-floor puzzle.

The 3 statues accept 3 loot items, which makes them not do Something Bad.
You can learn the Bad Things via hard ways, and either shrug it off, rest, or reload.

At the end of the Hall, pick up Nightshroud (Mace, soulbinds Priest or Rogue).
I pondered this, and accepted the fight, but on my terms.

0. Set up 5 in the hallway outside the door
1. Send Devil of Caroc solo, with Escape to maybe bypass the bamf trap
2. Devil collects Nightshroud
3. Immediately soulbind Nightshroud to my Rogue main, as Thematic Game Test

I must see its tasks and stats.
It feels more appropriate to bind it to my main.
I do expect to swap out Devil later, and I don't want to strand a soulbound in storage.

Yes, this instantly translates Nightshroud from the altar to the hallway
The (I)nventory screen supercedes individual followers' spatial map positions.
It's a leaky abstraction that makes almost no difference in any actual game situation.

Nightshroud L1 has 10% to cast Blind on Hit or Crit, and needs 13 Cause Blinded.
In practical terms, this roughly equates to Land 200 hits or crits in melee.
Her Hits do chunk damage of 30-40, which means this is also Deal 6,000 Damage.
Wow, that's 1 order of magnitude harder than other soulbounds' Deal Damage tasks.

4. Devil sneaks (in Stealth) toward door, using pause-single-step until tripline
5. bamf attack, 6 Fragment of Pargrunen 1 Fragment of Exandru

+ Devil stops beyond detection range, does not attack, stands idle
+ the other 5 shoot and run, hold the 2nd doorway
+ 2 Urdel, -2.5% Health, -1 per-rest = L2 Bewildering
+ go back for the ones who walked away
+ at end of fight, Devil finally shoots from Stealth, one-shots the 2nd Wizard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Mines' Exit Door
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read everything in the vicinity.
Only 1 arrangement is grammatically correct. Then do what it says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fast Chanting with L1 Chants
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I somehow played Kana from L3 to L10.9 without any tactical chant switching.
His default chant never changed much:

+ Let Me Go = { L1 Wengridh, L2 Rime and Frost, L3 The Dragon Thrashed }

This is meh because it's 3 different ideas, thus mediocre at all 3.
Now that L3 Urdel and Gurdel need 5 chants ASAP, I value proactive chant control.

+ fast = { L1, L1, L1 }
It doesn't even matter what they are, just that they're fast, fast, fast.
I even bring back Come, Come Soft Winds of Death because it's a fast L1.
With a 2.8s L1 chant time (at 18 Intellect), I get 1st Ogres in exactly 14.0s + start gap.
Now Kana shoots, switches, shoots, switches, and gets 1st Ogres while reloading.

+ damage = { Dragon, Come }
This is a compromise, accepting less damage for uninterrupted Ogre coverage.
It takes (3*2 + 2*1) * 2.8 = 22.4s + 1 Recovery(?) to reach 5 chants, within Ogres' 30.0s.
This fits a melee-heavy support style, where we Engage and stay to fight.

Both DoT chants do stack (quietly) with themselves.
Only 1 copy of each debuff appears in enemies' lists, but both copies do apply damage.
You can stack only 2 copies of each (per Chanter ), since linger < chant time.

Hence { Dragon } would deal more damage, but it takes 28.0s + start gap to reach 5.
That leaves a 3-6 second hole in Ogre coverage.
It might be fine if we're fully mobile, not so much if we're already in melee.
This is one pitfall of high Intellect: longer chant times means fewer summons per epoch.

+ bravery = { L2 One Dozen Stood, L1 At the Sight of Their Comrades }
Useful against monsters with Fear auras.

+ sour = { L2 Rime and Frost, L1 Wengridh }
Useful against invisible Bitter Spirits

I learn the mechanics of tactical chant switching.

a) Outside of combat, if you have no chant selected, you can select 1 ..
b) ... but if you have 1 chant selected, you're locked into it until next (f) below

That helps you on Chanter creation, first hiring, or any re-hire, only.

c) At start of combat, Chanter does not chant yet
d) After 1st combat action(?), Chanter begins a pre-chant duration, is not chanting yet
e) chanting begins, Ancient Memory coverage begins, current chant is locked for 2.0s
f) while chanting, you can click any other chant, like any other modal talent
g) chant switch keeps current chant counter, discards the partial chant in progress
h) chant switch begins another pre-chant duration, then begins the new chant
i) casting any invocation stops chanting, then invocation time, Recovery, pre-chant time
j) chant switch + invocation, in either order, is a "free" switch

+ I begin combat with 'fast' chant selected
+ Kana is 2nd sniper, to start his chant clock ASAP
+ at 5 chants, switch to 'damage' or 'bravery', invoke Urdel and Gurdel
+ at end of combat, switch back to 'fast' chant, else (b,e) locks in a slower one

Active chant management works very well, and makes the party synergy stronger.
Now I get early 1st Ogres, seamless Ogre recursion, and situational support chants.

~~~~~~~~~~
The Foundry (Durgan's Battery L3)
~~~~~~~~~~
Sneak around and read everything before fighting.
You will read the name Clîaban Rilag. It's not relevant here, merely backstory.
I suspect it becomes meaningful in White March 2.

+ workroom, 4 spirits 1 Siren
+ corridor, 11 Batteries: 4 Urdel in 5 fights, -4% Health to 94%, =0 per-rests

+ corridor, 7 Batteries 6 spirits 2 Siren: 2 Urdel, -6% to 88%, -3 per-rests

Maneha's One Stands Alone (+20% Damage if adjacent to 2+) + Firebrand
dealt some massive 50-pt Burn Carnage hits to the Sirens.
It's fun to watch that show once, but I don't choose to repeat it.

+ globe room, 10 spirits 4 Siren: 2 Urdel in 3 fights, -7% to 81%

Sometimes you melee a Siren, and she turns away from an Ogre to face you.
You can't outrun that ranged attack. Grit teeth, eat 2-3 Shriek, kill her ASAP.

+ The White Forge

It's anticlimactic on 1st entry. Walk in, explore everything.
6 Forge Guardians are rendered as non-interactive, like background art.
(The wiki says 4, but PotD must add +2 more.)

It's another simple 1-floor puzzle, using loot items you find throughout this floor.
I'm missing 1 of 3 items. I realize I saw it earlier, and deliberately left it behind.

First I take a detour, before we all level up again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Retraining Skills
~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are L10.967, only 301 XP from L11. Any 1 quest step would level us up.
I planned all along to "eventually" retrain skills.
If we level up to L11 and then retrain, it costs an extra -1.5k for 6.
Equivalently, retraining right now is like a +1.5k loot drop.

We take the cute shortcut from L3 White Forge up to Durgan's Battery outer ledge,
jump across to Battery Watchtower, and trot back to Stalwart.

I learn that:
+ retraining fully heals, like a rest
- L1 stats and class points are locked in stone, cannot be retrained
- retraining a Wizard loses all learned spells in grimoire, must pay to relearn them all

This fits poorly with the buy-all-spells strategy.
I can't justify ever retraining Aloth in this run. Well, that's why we test.
In a future run (if ever), the buy-no-spells extreme could be more flexible.

Rogue main: (A+)
- L6 Bloody Slaughter ==> Savage Attack -- to test something new
- L8 Spirit of Decay ==> Secrets of Rime -- stacks with Freezing Lash
- L10 One-Handed Style ==> Weapon Focus: Knight -- Good Friend (Crossbow)

Her ranged DPS improves by slightly more than +20%, her melee DPS by nearly that.
That's a quietly spectacular return for 1 fixed retraining fee.

Kana: (C-)
- L4 White Worms Writhed ... ==> And Hel-Hyraf Crashed ...
- L8 Rejoice, My Comrades! ... ==> Shatter their Shackles ...

Alas, Hel-Hyraf targets Fortitude, so it's virtually never useful, either.
Shatter fills a need against 3 debuffs that prevent running away.

Zahua: (A-)
- L2 Hold the Line ==> Heart of the Storm -- stacks with Lighting Strikes
- L5 Soul Mirror ==> Duality of Mortal Presence

When he joined (and replaced Edér), I feared getting swarmed 2v3+ and Flanked.
But that never happens. He melees only when we already have numerical advantage.
So he trades two utterly useless class-or-talent points for 2 useful ones.

Duality isn't exciting, but it gives amusing tactical options.
He can pause-and-switch it just before a Fortitude attack lands, then switch it back.
That helps vs. enemy Fighter Knock Down, Wraith Abduction, and so on.

Edér, Druid bear, Durance, Sagani:
I don't need to retrain them now. I can do it just-in-time, as they rejoin later.
Hereafter, I simply don't level them up with their saved XP.
Then they stay L9-L10 in stasis, regardless of their offline XP gains.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mastery Spells
~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the way back, we visit Galvino to finish A Fisherman's Penance for 3,192 XP.
The +532 XP each levels up all 6 to L11.

From my grimoire logging, I know to pick 2 L6 spells not in any grimoire.
Aloth promptly pays to learn 5 L6.
That instantly covers 7 of 9 L6 spells on the wiki.

For Aloth's Mastery spells, I pick 2 spells that are terrible as per-rests:
L09 Mastery = L1 Eldritch Aim
L11 Mastery = L2 Merciless Gaze

I would never spend 1 per-rest on either of these. I don't quaff the potions, either.
But as per-encounters, they're a reliable benefit in every fight.
In particular, Eldritch Aim's +15 Accuracy helps Confusion and L5-L6 AoEs get Hits.

L1 Chill Fog and L2 Bewildering Spectacle are strong contenders,
but not always applicable. Sometimes we're running, some foes have Immunity.

By similar reasoning, Durance takes:
L09 Mastery = L1 Blessing
L11 Mastery = L2 don't know yet, but probably Divine Mark

~~~~~~~~
Large Hall (Bamf Attack #1 of 2)
~~~~~~~~
We return with +12% = 93% Health, from 3 retraining heals and 6 L11 gains.

On the way in, you pass a Watcher spirit platoon that persists.
At the door, you pass Watcher reserves that persist.
Where's the worst possible location for the tripline?

Within the room, go through the interaction until the 2 choices:

a) reach for the object
b) leave it alone for now

Recalling L2 The Mines, you can anticipate that (a) is a trigger for ... an epic!
Something moans and snarls outside.

In preparing to accept that fight, I recall Galvino's Workshop 1st room.

0. Send Devil of Caroc alone, her Escape might suffice
1. set up 5 by the grand hall's doors, prepare a 1st-seen decoy

2. Devil sneaks to the tripline
3. (bamf) 6(+2) spirit 2 Siren, (bamf) 4 spirit 1 Siren

4. (decoy) 3 Wood Beetles from Oaken Scarab Figurine
5. (decoy) Aloth L4 Confusion, Essential Phantom
6. platoon fixates on decoys, Devil runs right past them, doesn't need Escape

3 Urdel, -4% to 89%, -1/5 figurine, -1 per-rest.

Zahua's War Club gets +1 = 20/20 L3 Cause Weakened vs. a Spectre.
At L4, it gains Accurate 4 (+15 Accuracy, +15% Damage).
It replaces Exceptional (+8, +30%).
Its L4 task is Crit for 300 Damage, so the +7 Accuracy outweighs the -15% Damage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
The White Forge (Bamf Attack #2 of 2)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The script should be familiar by now. It's thematic!

0. Send Devil of Caroc alone, with Escape, +1 = 5 Move Speed, and 93+ Disengaging
1. set up 5 by the stairs, prepare a 1st-seen decoy

2. Devil inserts the 3rd loot item
3. (bamf) 6 Forge Guardians, 3 Fragments of Exandru, Marunn, Zoltun

I knew it was the "non-interactive" Forge Guardians.
I wasn't expecting all 3 komendants, but it's appropriate.
It's oddly satisfying to see that they were allied all the way to the end.

4. 2 Wurms from Ivory Worm Figurine -- actively fly them to block space
5. Aloth L2 Binding Web, all shoot and run
6. Caroc Disengages from 1st Forge Guardian (and gets hit), runs right out

It's a routine hallway fight, then a sprint-chase for the stragglers.
Forge Guardians are formidable, but finite. Hit them enough times, etc.
3 Urdel, -7% to 82%, -1/5 figurine, -4 per-rests.

Caroc still hasn't achieved a Disengage-Miss-Riposte combo.
Forge Guardians have Accuracy 90+, so they're not the best test subject.

Talk to the adra pillar.
It inevitably reminds me of the SF theme of uploading:

+ SF: to upload a human intellect into a computer, esp. to survive for millenia
+ or heavy Gs of acceleration to outrun that missile
+ AD&D: to embed a wizard's Magic Jar within the rock walls of a cylindrical tower

Choose an ending for the uploaded spirits of Durgan's Battery.
One of the choices makes the White Forge recipe slightly cheaper, from 4 Ingots to 3.
That means you can Durganize 5 items instead of 4.
I save all of mine for later, as I'm certain my current gear is not worth the investment yet.
White March 2 might contain even more ingots.

You have completed Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part 1.
To begin the next chapter of the story, rest in any location outside of the White March.

That's a delightful way to advance the story.
I have four good reasons to return to Dyrwood now:

1. Caed Nua's Treasury, with 6 missions of loot and 42(!) turns of production
2. The Grey Sleeper quest
3. Od Nua 9
4. Torn Bannermen

Also, there's the obvious point that WM1 is now fully cleared.
There are no more quest steps here, no more fights, no more loot.
We must seek new challenges upon new maps.

[Gilmoy]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
White March 1 Post-Mortem
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I carried all 3 WM* followers in the same party for all* of WM1, as a Thematic Game Goal.
It works well enough. They contribute sufficiently to be a fully viable party.

Of their individual quests, I made minor progress.
[x] (WM1) Devil of Caroc: yes
[~] (WM1) Zahua: pretty sure I did not
[_] (WM1) The Grey Sleeper: no
[_] (WM2) Maneha: definitely not

Looking back on it, having Maneha immediately equip The Grey Sleeper was sub-optimal.
It actually has nothing to do with Durgan's Battery or The White Forge.
I lost Maneha's decent Arquebus ranged damage for no real benefit.

On the other hand, we did win anyways. Grey Sleeper is an adequate weapon.
Its L1 bonus (10% Paralyze on Hit or Crit) is the strongest debuff of any soulbound (yet).
It does combine with Carnage, so she is the perfect host for it.

I return to Stalwart Village and talk to every villager.
A few new barks are unlocked that mention the White Forge.
Haeferic buys me another round of 6 Ale.

For the next fun task, I shall take a real shot at Torn Bannermen.
Also, I want to see the other two soulbounds in action.

- dismiss Maneha, I won't need her again until Gilded Vale (or Heritage Hill)
+ rehire Edér with St. Ydwen's Redeemer
Its L1 task is 0/200 Damage Spirit or 0/1,000 Damage enemies.

- dismiss Devil of Caroc
+ rehire Sagani with Stormcaller L1 0/250 Deal Shock damage

Still no room for Durance. I think he's an Act 3 guy vs. Leaden Key.

I thought I would retrain Edér for 2-handed offense.
But I haven't fully tested his current build, and it deserves a real test.
So I kept him verbatim, after all.

= L04 Weapon and Shield Style -- still
= L07 Overbearing Guard -- dunsel so far, no enemy has ever Disengaged

However, I've learned that monsters with target-fixation on a back-rank guy
will often path-plan poorly to run past/around/through a blocker in their way.
Then that blocker can create 1 Disengagement attack at the start of each fight,
through movement alone, by "body-bumping" a running foe. Edér can do that.
Even if works only 1 time per fight, it's like a 3rd Knock Down.

= L08 Weapon Focus: Ruffian -- Sabre and Pistol, hence Fellstroke
= L09 Fearless -- an oh-crap class skill, great when he needs it

Situational, but arguably useful because of it.
Only the nastiest enemies (Drake, Death Guard) have Fear aura, or similar.
Then they hurt the party twice over, because they're strong, and we're debuffed.
It's good to have 1 rock who's immune to that.

I add a "chore" talent, as part of the St. Ydwen's test:
+ L10 Arms Bearer -- for Bittercut (Sabre) + Ilfan Byrngar's Solace (shield)
Then he still has his high-80s Deflection + Reflex mode.

Similarly, I keep Sagani verbatim.
= L07 Driving Flight -- damage isn't great, but it spreads Stormcaller debuffs
- L09 Arrow Sense -- no ranged ever targets her, but it might beat 1 spell later
+ L10 Heart of the Storm -- stacks with Stormcaller's Shock damage

From Stalwart arrival to Stalwart departure, we have:
+ spent 12 days 7 hour (from Day 37 Hour 10 to Day 49 Hour 17)
+ rested 3 times (1 Gréf's Rest, 2 camp)
+ gained +27.8k XP each (from L8.8 to L11.1), or slightly more than 2x our entering XP
+ acquired ~85k coppers, bought almost nothing
+ met Galvino, opened Durgan's Battery, and finished WM1 for the 1st time each

I still haven't Durganized any equipment. Decision analysis has me Paralyzed.
Onward!

[Gilmoy]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stalwart to Crägholdt Bluffs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Returning to Dyrwood says "12 hours", and takes exactly 12 hours.
There is no surreptitious 90-hour surcharge, as in our 1st Crägholdt-to-Stalwart travel.
Maybe that was a 1-time intermission for the White March 1 voice-over.

Hence there's no free rest included, either. We keep all damage and rest bonuses.
We have 94% Health, 43/55 per-rests.

I have L11.1 Zahua(*), Kana (Ogres), Rogue main (Mechanics), Aloth (AoEs),
and L10.4 Edér(*) and Sagani(*), field-testing (*)soulbounds.

I recap our 6 soulbounds' progress:

L4 (00.5%) 7/300 Deal Crit Damage: War Club of the Mataru (Zahua)
I should aggressively send him into melee vs. ~70 Deflection or lower.

One-Eyed Molina's Gold-Fingered Spike-Flinger (Kana):
L3 (21.0%) 21/25 Cause Stunned
It's a slow task. Even all of WM1 wasn't enough to finish it.
He needs targets with low Deflection, or low Fortitude with The Thunder Rolled.

L1 (nil) 0/13 Cause Blinded: Nightshroud (Rogue main)
L4 (nil) 0/? Drink beverage in Eastern bar: Company Captain's Hat (Rogue main)
It has scored a few hits and rolled 1 "Activating Blind", but it missed.
I'm guessing there are about 5 Eastern bars, none here.

L1a (nil) 0/200 Damage Spirit: St. Ydwen's Redeemer (Edér)
L1b (nil) 0/1,000 Damage enemies: ibid.
L1 (nil) 0/250 Deal Shock Damage: Stormcaller (Sagani)
Both are in Pristine Mint condition, unused. This map is their field trial.

Itumaak is back!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another Guy Just Inside Aggro Range
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.5 real months ago, I wrote:

Originalmente postado por Gilmoy:

I run all 3 Skeletons north to the cliffs, and let them die far from us.
That gives me a 10-second preview of the AI's tactics ...

... and re-homes 1 Mercenary Warmage just outside the SW camp!

We try to pick him off alone, but he wakes up that camp.
I've pondered the 10v7 fight, and knew to go big right away.

+ SW camp, Warmage, Marksman, Berserker ...
- oh carp (the fish), Ivory Wurm, Bronze Horn, L5 Call to Slumber
+ ... Gunslinger, Soldier, Warpriest, Soldier, oh koi
- L2 Bewildering, L4 Essential Phantom, L5 Ryngrim's Enervating Terror
- 1st Ogres, L3 Expose Vulnerabiliites, -2 more per-rest, 2nd Ogres

-4% Health, -10 per-rests (including 2/2 figurines). I also wrote:

Originalmente postado por Gilmoy:

I should have spent more spells to save some Health.

[x] did that, it works

And now we've cleared a toehold in the Bluffs, and we can use mobile tactics.
(25%) L1 250/250 Deal Shock Damage: Stormcaller (Sagani)
It took 1 big fight.

At L2, it gains Bulwark of the Elements (2 per rest).
Its L2 tasks are 0/5 Kill kith druids or 0/25 Kill enemies.

+ Zahua was trapped 1v1 vs. Mercenary Soldier, took minor damage, hit him back.
Soldier had the 1h Sword problem of hitting for (MIN) 4, 5, 4, ...
Zahua wears Exceptional Plate for exactly this usage case.

Torn Bannermen drop Fine and Exceptional-tier gear.
Mercenary Warmage has Grimoire of the Elements, with spells to L6.
Aloth learns L5 Torrent of Flame.

More deeply, it's about as epic as a WM1 bamf fight, and equally winnable.
We're viable here, we can do this.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Ground Camp
~~~~~~~~~~~
Crägholdt Bluffs is a 3-layer cake, with a ground slab, a middle slab, and a top slab.
Torn Bannermen fill most of the ground slab with their camps.

I sneak north (to the middle slab) and scout Field Infirmary and siegeworks.
I already know the Drunken Orlan.
In this run, Stealth 2 means I cannot sneak east past the 2 road guards.

+ siegeworks 1 Sergeant (Paladin), road guards Berserker(+1), Soldier: 2 Urdel, -1%
Sagani scores +1 = 1/25 kill for the Berserker.
Rogue main gets +1 = 1/13 Blinded.

This is my new game-within-the-game: Sagani shall maximize kills for Stormcaller L2.
Hence I carefully log all damage dealt to every foe, estimate their total Health,
have everybody else switch targets or cease attacking, and let Sagani deliver the kill shot.
It's an imperfect art, as I learn it on the fly.

+ Orlan's tent chest: It's locked at L14! I have only Mechanics 12.
High-Level Content Scaling will surely give me more L13-L15 traps and locks.

+ patrolling, 1 Gunslinger (Rogue): =0%, +1 = 2/25.
He has 0 DR, I think we alpha-killed him.

Alas, this causes the Drunken Orlan to go hostile (while still asleep).
But anyways, a Rogue main has no peaceful or sneaky option, so the fight is inevitable.

With the road guards removed, I scout east to Training Grounds and Cave.
I plan my next fight carefully.

The Drunken Orlan quietly cramps all retreat from east to west, even asleep.
He ignores us, but other Bannermen will wake him up, and then he joins.
Ergo, he must be first, while he's alone.

+ lean-to, Drunken Orlan (Monk): -1%, -1 per-rest = L1 Slicken, +1 = 3/25.

Zahua + Wengridh is barely faster, and leads him on a chase.
While he fixates on Zahua, he runs around the rest of us like we're traffic cones.
Full alpha-volley, Itumaak body-bumps him, Prone deprives his actions.
He has L13 The Dichotomous Soul, so I knew to not let him invoke it.
Sagani's Wounding Shot DoT tick got him, but it counts +1 for Stormcaller.

His Key unlocks the chest, but it's a letdown.
All damage was from his Soul Mirror reflecting our own shots.
Aloth Crits himself with his Fine Arbalest + Freezing Lash.

+ road camp, Berserker, Pyromancer, Gunslinger,
Warpriest(+1), Warmage(+1), Veteran(+1), Soldier(+1): 4 Urdel, -3% to 83%, -1 per-rest

The first melee drifts slightly out of our control, as new Bannermen run up and join.
Thereafter, when we go back for 1 more, we get 1 more at a time, grr.
+4 = 7/25 on Stormcaller, for the last 4 in a row.

The -1 per-rest is L6 Ninagauth's Freezing Pillar, to test it once.
It sucketh at this tier. It misses vs. 82-117 Reflex, or Grazes for (MIN) 2.4.
Its total output was perhaps 20.0 damage across 3-4 guys. That's not worth an L6.
Aloth has 1/1/1/0/2/1 spell usages remaining, I must hoard them for better than that.

Event Log says: Ancient Death Guard killed Mercenary Marksman
Wut? Write that down, write that down.

+ campfire, Marksman, Berserker, Sergeant: 2 Urdel, -3.5% (all on Edér), -2 per-rest

Berserker fixates on Edér and ignores Ogres, a bad match-up.
Overbearing Guard triggers once, but misses.
+140 = 485/1,000 L1 Damage Enemies on St. Ydwen's. It goes quickly.
Zahua (Persistence DoT), Ogre, and somebody else steals all 3 kills.

+ dice table, 1 Soldier: 2 Urdel, =0%, +0 Itumaak stole the kill
+ dice table, 2 Berserker(+1): 2 Urdel, -3.5% to 76%, +1 = 8/25, Aloth Blast stole 1

Itumaak can Crit for 30, which makes his damage unpredictable.
I underestimate a Carnage AoE radius, and take 2 unneeded hits.
Rogue gets +1 = 2 Blinded.

Torn Bannermen are turning into skeeball paper tickets in their own camp.

+ Training Grounds, Soldier: 2 Urdel, -1%, +61 = 627/1,000 but +0 Ogre got him
+ Veteran(+1), Chanter: 2 Urdel, -0.2%, +1 = 9/25, Itumaak stole 1

Hapless Chanter is an L13 Torn Banner(wo)man with low Deflection and low Fortitude!
Kana rolls a Stun outright, all cease attacking to milk chants for Thunder x2,
+3 = 24/25 Stunned. Thinking back on it, she heals herself by chanting.
We could have run away, let her heal, and hit her over and over again

Now I'm sad I completely missed that tasty cheese in the heat of the moment.

Ancient Death Guard killed Mercenary Warmage

It stole another kill! I assume this is part of the ongoing siege.
The map must be populated with 2 teams of units.
Some wake up and meet each other.

~~~~~~~~~~
Siege Plateau (middle slab)
~~~~~~~~~~
Both roads from ground camp to here go uphill. Non-roads are cliff faces of unit height.

+ patrolling, Crothar (Ogre with a Name): 2 Urdel, =0%, +1 = 3 Blinded
Two are better than one.

+ promontory camp, 3 Pyromancer(+2), 2 Warmage(+1): 2 Urdel, -0.5%, +3 = 12/25

These guys are comically bad. They burn themselves and each other with AoE fire spells.
Warmage's Torrent of Flame kills 1 Pyromancer.
Then that Warmage is 1 shot away from being +4, but it Disengages to suicide by Ogre.

+ road intersection, Sergeant(+1), 2 Marksman(+2), Soldier(+1): 3 Urdel, -6% to 70%
Sagani bowls a strike for +4 = 16/25.
Edér gets +82 = 839/1,000, takes nearly -4% by himself.
Alas, not killing targets ASAP means they get 1-4 extra swings each.
Sometimes they fixate on an Ogre, sometimes they ignore them.

Mercenary Warpriest killed Mercenary Pyromancer

Surely from a Torrent of Flame or similar, while they stood side-by-side.
I scouted both of those guys in this road group, but both vanished and never returned.
See below for this Warpriest's ongoing saga.

+ siegeworks, Dwarf Brawler (Monk): -1 Farmer's Spread, 1 Urdel, -4%, -1 per-rest

Every Monk scares me, because of +2 Move Speed and very high stats.
This one chased me from siegeworks to dice table, and did activate L13 Dichotomous.
The -1 per-rest is L5 Call to Slumber as sledgehammer, it gets 2 of 3, easy then.
The Fire Duplicate chases Kana out of the AoE, we have to rescue him separately.

This is my 1st-ever victory over a Monk and both Duplicates.
Ogre, Zahua, and Edér's Knock Down get the kills.
Zahua gets +41 = 109/300 Crit Damage, Edér gets +103 = 942/1,000.
Torn Bannermen do have 300-400 Health each, it's the one thing they're good for.

Duplicates are Spirit, so Edér also got +74 = 74/200 Damage Spirit,
but he'll clearly finish the other option first.

+ siegeworks, Human Brawler: =0%, 1 Urdel, -1 per-rest = L5 Gaze of the Adragan

Speaking of sledgehammers, I must test this one. It works!
8.4s seems short, but in an 8v1, it gives you 2.5 free swings each, and many crits.

+ siegeworks,
Soldier(+1)^, Berserker(+1), Warpriest(+1)*, Chanter(+1), Warpriest(+1), Veteran(+1):

5 Urdel 1 Sound of His Voice, -3% to 61%.
Kana and Rogue main now red, Edér yellow, 3 green.

Sagani sweeps all +6(!) = 22/25.

Soldier^ completes St. Ydwen's Redeemer +23 = 1,000/1,000 L1 Damage Enemies.
At L2, it gains Holy Power (3 per rest), exactly like Good Friend (crossbow).
Its L2 tasks are Kill 10 Vessels or Kill 50 Enemies, egad.

Warpriest* completes One-Eyed Molina's +1 = 25/25 L1 Cause Stunned.
At L4, it gains +25% Attack Speed (which means Recovery), -25% Reload Speed.
Plugging into the PoE1 Speed Calculator, I get, in frames (where 30 frames = 1.0s):

005 = nop
045 = attack
075 - 25% = -18.75f recovery
030 = armor recovery (-40% tier, equal to Breastplate)
180 + 25% = +45.00f reload
=====
335 + 26.25 = -7.3% DPS

That's a terrible level "upgrade". I'll empirically test it, by timing his shot cadence.
The wiki confirms that the -25% Reload Speed portion is a bug.
Unofficial patches exist to fix it.

Its L4 task is Deal 600 Damage to Enemies, so I guess friends and Charmed don't count.
From observation, shots in the first ~0.5s of each fight don't count, either.
The workaround is to lead with his Exceptional Crossbow, then switch to Molina's.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Siege Boss Fight
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's an initially-friendly-dialogue, guarding a ramp up to the high slab.
We can [A]ttack and run, or talk through it and then run.

He wields some f-bombs, with AoE damage to all family members near your speakers.
He reports that Concelhaut employs dead men walking and fighting like the living,
but Event Log already broadcast that.

+ send Zahua with Move Speed 4+2 = 6
+ end dialogue, all go hostile, but combat has not started yet (you can save and Stealth)
+ the 2 ranged 3 casters are beyond visual range, can't see you either

Don't bother to re-Stealth. The melee guys have already target-locked you with abilities.
Simply run, faster than they can follow.

I really wasn't expecting my 1st scouting peek to wipe them in 1 long fight.
But they're so tightly bunched that they all turn away together, and all re-engage together.

+ Gunslinger(+1): Urdel 1-2, +1 = 23/25

This initial segment is the wackiest open-field sniper duel ever.
With fast chanting, Kana shoots twice, and gets 1st Ogres while reloading.
All Bannermen beeline to Ogres, and ignore us like bystanders at a marathon.
In turn, we abandon all safety, boldly chase our shots, and coexist with them.

Everybody shoot Gunslinger, reload, repeat. We get him entirely with ranged shots.

Mercenary Warpriest killed Algul
His saga continues! Also, we learn the new name Algul, surely an improved Dargul.

+ Berserker(+1): Urdel 3-4, +1 = 24/25

We retreat somewhat to be near one of the ramps, but mostly we stand and shoot,
and are utterly ignored. All (including the Ogres) focus fire on Berserker, got him.
He kills 1 Ogre. Kana gets +75 = 75/600.

+ 2 Soldier(+1), 2 Veteran, Commander<+1>: Urdel 5-9, -1.5%, =0 per-rest

The fight morphs into a static duel of ranged attrition.
I find 2 bushes on the map exactly 2 Ogre-diameters apart.
They merge into a 4-(Ogre-)wide wall.
AI path planning never finds a trivial path around the bushes, and they queue up and pass.

We focus fire on 2 Soldiers with "only" 105 Deflection each.
Then we grind down 2 Veterans with 112 Deflection each.
Finally we kill the Commander with 113 Deflection. Edér scores +1 = 1/50 for him.

Kana unwarily takes 1 Into The Fray from a Veteran, for -1% of the damage.
That's what he gets for chanting closely behind the 2 Ogres.

Sagani completes +1 = 25/25 L2 Kill Enemies on Stormcaller(!)
At L3, for a Ranger, it gains 10% chance to cast Returning Storm on Hit or Crit.
I think this is not the full spell (30.0s, 5.0m AoE around Sagani), but only 1 single strike.
Its L3 task is cute: Rest in the lair of a sky dragon.

Commander drops The Golden Scales (Unique Medium Armor, Superb = DR 13)
with Shining (-2 Stealth) and Reflecting (10% ranged attacks reflected).
Sagani wears it now.

I realize while typing this just now that Commander also drops a Quest Key.
Surely that unlocks an L13 chest I couldn't pick! I must go back for that.

+ Marksman, Pyromancer, Warpriest<+1>, Warmage: 2 Urdel, -6% to 55%, -1 per-rest

Warmage's Ninagauth's Bitter Mooring kills Marksman.
Persistence DoT gets Pyromancer, just as Edér is swinging for the kill.
Edér does get +1 = 2/50 for the Warpriest.
Warmage runs up to melee an Ogre, kills himself with his own Fireball AoE.
These guys are nuts, they worry me. I can't get kills when they kill each other!

~~~~~~~~~~
Keep Plateau (top slab)
~~~~~~~~~~

+ barricade, 1 Warpriest<+1>: 1 Urdel (but he ignored them), -1% on Edér, +1 = 3/50

This is the Event Log hero! At his feet are 3 loot drops, comprising:

+ his Mercenary Pyromancer comrade, whom he killed with some AoE
+ 2 Algul, of which we read when 1 died

I didn't realize it then, but this completes the Torn Bannermen. We got them all.

+ When we were L7, they looked insurmountably beyond us.
+ At L11, we use them like toothpicks for side bets.

Sagani completes Stormcaller L1 and L2, entirely using Torn Bannermen.
Edér completes St. Ydwen's Redeemer L1 from Bannermen health.
It's my 1st time ever for Bannermen and both of these soulbounds.

I guess this lifts the Bannermen's siege by force.
But Concelhaut's defenders don't know that.
Now we must wipe them, too, just to enter through the front door.

Scouting reveals ... Ancient Death Guard and Algul, both Vessels.
Can Edér complete St. Ydwen's L2 before we enter the keep?

It's implied that Torn Bannermen couldn't beat their way through these guards.
It'll be fun! We can go on!

[Gilmoy]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad Result with a Small Benefit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Originalmente postado por Gilmoy:

+ Rogue's Good Friend (crossbow) crits herself 1 time, which triggers
Company Captain's Hat's L2 Confused on herself, for 14/15 activations

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2966952936
At L3, it gains Immunity to Confused, so this odd situation cannot happen again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good Result with a Small Flaw
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Originalmente postado por Gilmoy:

+ Lagufaeth in Ice Cave: -3% to 30%, -3 per-rests to 20/60.
Kana and Maneha take 1 more hit each. They can't hide in that small cave.

Kana starts this fight with a rare double-proc and both-hit:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2966953818
One-Eyed Molina's Gold-Fingered Spike-Flinger at L3 has both:
+ L1 15% Cause Prone (Accuracy +15 vs. Reflex 64)
+ L3 15% Cause Stunned (Accuracy +15 vs. Fortitude 60)
It follows that, 2.25% of the time, both will proc on the same hit.

Kana's 67 Accuracy (at the time) gives (0.68 * 0.72) = 49% chance of a both-hit.
So the Prone-Stun double should happen about 1% of the time.

The flaw is that it counted +0 = 8/25 for L3 Cause Stunned.
I think I did that to myself, by unthinkingly switching to his backup Arbalest for a 2nd shot.
To get credit, you must (still) be wielding Molina's at the instant of the Event Log line
"Kana (Stun) hits Lagufaeth."

Other soulbounds that count activations use the same rule.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fun with Rime and Frost Traps
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Originalmente postado por Gilmoy:

Rime and Frost Trap crits Bitter Spirits for 15-22.
3-6 Trap hits kills a Bitter, even while it's invisible.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2966953982
It's like using flak to shoot down torpedo planes

[Gilmoy]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dead Men Walking and Fighting Like the Living
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The top slab of Crägholdt Bluffs contains the keep of Crägholdt, and a courtyard.
We sneak up the ramp to the top slab, meet walking patrols, and lure them out 1 at a time.

+ patrol, 1 Ancient Death Guard, 2 Urdel, =0%, +1 = 1/10 Kill Vessels
+ patrol, 1 Ancient Death Guard, 2 Urdel, -0.5% to 54%, +0 Deep Wounds stole the kill
+ plateau, 1 Ancient Death Guard, 2 Urdel, =0%, +0

Ancients are similar to Death Guard from Od Nua 8, but with +5 levels (and thus +15/+15),
small stat bonuses on top of that, and 459 Health, like Trolls.
Even fighting them 9v1, each one needs 45+ seconds of beatdown, hence 2nd Ogres.

Edér joins melees to count coup for St. Ydwen's Redeemer 1/10 L1 Kill Vessels.
He activates its 25% Destroys Vessels for the +1 kill, which saves some time.

The Destroys keyword means simply 30.0 Raw damage (* your Might bonus).
It doesn't mean an automatic kill.
Other occurrences of Destroys, such as Poisonous Cloud Trap, work the same way.
Edér averages perhaps 9.0 damage per attack, so Destroys saves him 3-4 attacks.

Destroys on a weapon follows the timing pattern for any activated ability:

+ Hit or Crit
+ logs "Activating Destroys Vessels"
+ ~~~~ 1.0s delay ~~~~ (during which an Ogre could steal the kill)
+ logs "Edér (Destroys Vessels) hits ..." (this particular ability cannot miss)
+ shows its special animation, applies 35.4 or 38.1 Raw damage (depending on Might)

Ancient Death Guard has its peculiar abilities, which are worth deconstructing.

+ Wizard L3 Fireball (1 per encounter?)
+ Fighter L7 Clear Out (1 per encounter?)

These are their only ranged/AoE threats. We snipe and run to avoid both.

a) 2h Great Sword, 83 Deflection, hits for chunk 10-20 damage past your high DR
b) 1h Sword + Large Shield, 107 Deflection, hits for 1h MIN damage

The sword-and-shield version can't make progress vs. Itumaak + Kana's healing.
The Great Sword variant will slowly beat down Itumaak or an Ogre, but also dies faster.

+ Frightening Aura with 12.1m range and ~3.0s tick

The -20 Accuracy from being constantly Terrified essentially adds to their defenses.
But there's a trick of positioning that beats it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shooting at Maximal 12.2m Range
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monsters of different size are represented by footdisks of 3(?) different radii.

+ 0.50m radius = all kith and small creatures
+ 0.75m(?) radius = medium monsters like Lagufaeth, Death Guard, ...
+ 1.00m(?) radius = large monsters like Ogre, Troll, Drake, ...

Wield a Bow with "12.0m" range, and consider some typical ranges to a target T.

a) 11.25m = your targeting circle is tangent to medium-sized T's footdisk center
b) 12.00m = your targeting circle is tangent to T's footdisk perimeter
"tangent" means they share a pixel, with zero gap.

c) 12.10m = your targeting circle has a thin gap outside T's footdisk
"thin" means 1x - 2x the pixel width of a footdisk's perimeter's dashed line.

d) 12.20m = your targeting circle has a fat gap outside T's footdisk
"fat" means 3x - 4x the pixel width.

- Case (a) is what the game engine "wants".
When you order a shooter to move-and-shoot, it will try to advance to here.
In most fights, you don't care about these distinctions, and (a) suffices.

+ Case (d) is a valid shot.
Micro (or nano) every shooter's movement, and you can get them to stand here.

Ancient Death Guard's Frightening Aura has 12.1m range(!).

- Cases (a) - (c) are within its range, and your shooters will be Terrified-locked.
Each tick renews Terrified for 11.x - 15.x seconds, every ~3.0s.

+ Case (d) is beyond its range. Your shooters can stand here with impunity.
If they don't have Terrified, they never get it.
If they do have Terrified, it gradually expires.
Eventually, all of your (d) shooters are brave again, and resume regular service.

Each 7v1 duel thus reduces to a stable configuration.
The Terrified group are hopelessly within Frightening Aura's range.
- 1.0m = Itumaak + Ogres in melee
+ 1.0m = Edér in melee with Fearless (Immunity to Terrified)
- 7.0m = Kana, to heal them (= his 4.0m aura * Intellect bonus)
- 9.0m = Aloth with 10.0m Wand Elawen Ein

The 12m group stands outside the Frightening Aura.
+ 12.2m = Rogue (Good Friend), Zahua (Persistence), Sagani (Stormcaller)

Aloth could join the 12m group and reload his secondary Arbalest.
But I'm content that he "only" Grazes for MIN 1.9 - 2.4 damage at a Fast cadence
to maintain Elawen Ein's mild debuff (-5 Accuracy) on the current target.

I switch Kana to an anti-Fear chant, but in hindsight it doesn't help much.
Even with One Dozen Stood Against the Power of the Saint reducing Terrified duration,
the near group is still Terrified-locked for 4.4s every 3.0s, and can't clear it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Siege-Wrecked Courtyard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The structures are literally wrecked by trebuchet stones and other siege damage.

+ fountain, 1 Algul 1 Ancient: 4 Urdel, -4% to 50%, -1 per-rest, +2 = 3/10

All of the damage is from Algul's ghastly Vomit Blood AoE (1 per encounter).
It seems to be a 10.0m narrow cone with 6.0s Paralyze + 60.0 Corrode over 7.0s.
I underestimated the sheer length of the cone, and it bags 5 of 6 of us.
Now we have 2 green, 1 yellow, 1 red, 2 dire (Kana 124 Health, Rogue 146).

+ plateau, 1 Ancient 2 Algul: 2 Urdel, -1%, +3 = 6/10

It occurs to me that Algul (without its AoE) is a sack of Health with only 84 Deflection.
All shooters with soulbound melee switch for easy credit on their tasks.

* Edér already thereat
+ Zahua +11 = 150/300 L4 Deal Crit Damage
- Rogue +0 = 3/13 L1 Cause Blinded, and she hits for too much damage

To maximize Edér's kills, I have him mop up as sole attacker.
You can estimate monster health by its health bar dots:

- 1 dot_ = (00-25]% Health remaining (half-open interval, excluding 0.0, including 25.0)
- 2 dots = (25-50]% Health -- Barbarian's Blooded activates right around here
- 3 dots = (50-75]% Health
- 4 dots = (75-99]% Health
- 5 dots = (99-100]% Health

+ at 1 dot, Cancel ('x') all DoT attacks: Rogue Deep Wounds, Zahua Persistence
+ near 0 dots, cancel all attacks except Edér -- this includes Itumaak and both Ogres
* every enemy ability tick goads all of your idles to auto-retaliate, cancel all of these

In particular, every Frightening Aura tick makes Itumaak retaliate.
Pause, nod, select all except Edér and cancel, so that they stand idle again.
Itumaak stole several prior kills while training me, like Yoda on my back.

+ staircase, 3 Ancient 1 Algul: 4 Urdel, -2.5%, +2 = 8/10
Zahua +72 = 222/300 from Crits, Rogue +1 = 4/13 Blinded

Edér was literally 1 swing away from all 4 kills, but got only 2 of 4.
+ 1 Ancient disengaged from Ogre, and died from that instead
+ Itumaak's auto-retaliation stole the Algul kill by ~1-2 frames of animation

My Rogue main, with Sneak Attack and Deathblows, hits for 40-50 chunk damage.
Even Alguls wilt under that barrage, and so she uses them up too fast.

~~~~

By the fountain, we collect two loot drops already on the ground.
These are the Mercenary Marksman and Mercenary Warmage from Event Log earlier.
They must have walked into the staircase group of 4 Ancients, and died fighting.

- It seems unbelievable that these two walked up the ramps and past all of the patrols.
+ I suspect they start the map on the keep's staircase, and walk down into the courtyard.

We have no way to test that, nor to deduce it from any post-mortem.

There's naught else alive in all of Crägholdt Bluffs outdoors.
I trust that there are more Vessels inside.

We gird ourselves, and ... enter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crägholdt: Scouting the Cave
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Earlier, after the ground slab's Training Grounds fight, we did enter the Cave to scout it.
Sneaking around reveals a large arena-like cave, with two new foe types:

+ 1st semi-circle: 2 Void Seer, 3 Steelspine Magus
+ 2nd semi-circle: 2 Void Seer

We nod and sneak out, with zero data on their stats or abilities.
It's the worst of all possible tactical set-ups:

- outnumbered (of course)
- no room to run
- no niche to hide
- their spells (surely AoEs)
- we're injured

I kick that can down the road, and go fight Crothar and the siege plateau.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crägholdt: Publish or Perish
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We enter with 47% Health, 28 per-rests. Aloth is down to 1/1/1/0/0/0 spells.
I hope to scout a bit, then rest.

Peeking at the Map immediately shows the Cave, as scouted earlier.
It's all connected from the inside.
Hence the possibility arises that we could dismantle it from the inside out.

Accept the (unavoidable) cutscene invitation to talk to Tanoss, an apprentice.
Peek into every lab along the way.
All rooms, plus the hallway guards, are friendly to you (for now, e-he-he).
This is, indeed, an all-talk-y information-gathering phase, unless you blunder.

+ hall guards, patrolling: 2 Void Seer
+ Uariki's Lab: 10 Animated weapons, Uariki (Aumaua Wizard apprentice)
+ Pelden's Lab: 8(?) Algul, Pelden (human Wizard apprentice)
+ Sabel's Lab: 5 Steelspine Magus, Sabel (Dwarf Wizard apprentice)
+ Tanoss' Lab: 7 Thralls, Tanoss (Vithrack Wizard apprentice)

Choose the dialogue options that don't lead to hostility and an early fight.

An unpleasant big picture emerges from the apprentices' dialogues and notes.
Concelhaut's idea of becoming a Wizard is to pit his apprentices in a ruthless race.
Briefly, the first one to attain mastery shall promptly kill the others, and thus graduate.
All of them seem to accept this arrangement, and plan to win the race.

Tanoss offers a deal that is (ahem) consistent with this world view.
I defer that, and explore the rest of the map.

Concelhaut's door tells you to do that task first.
I am not ready to see Concelhaut.

A wall lever opens a tunnel to the Cave!
We can do this first, and keep everybody friendly!

It goes awry, even ... chaotic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crägholdt Cave: Serendipity from Chaos
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

+ tunnel, 1 Ancient 1 Void Seer: 1 Urdel, -1.4%

This was a truly unique oppportunity, which may be non-reproducible.
An intricate chain of events occurs, like a Rube Goldberg machine.

01. standard 9v1 vs. the 1 Ancient Death Guard, Edér gets +1 = 9/10
02. we have Ogres, let's go get 1 more
03. Void Seer chases us, we run
04. where did it go, we step through doorway to go looking for it
05. ... and come face-to-face with it following us that far

06. it declares point-blank L7 Tayn's Chaotic Orb, we can't outrun it now
07. Edér-as-target stands still, flush against the outside wall of Pelden's lab
08. all scatter to >5.0m from Edér, to give it 0 jump targets -- or so I think

09. Tayn's Chaotic Orb hits Edér, then ...
10. ... jumps through the wall into Pelden's lab
11. ... and hits 2 of Pelden's friendly Alguli, twice each, bouncing back and forth

12. standard 7v1 vs. the Void Seer, but +0 Sagani stole the kill
13. meanwhile, those 2 Algul gallop into the hallway past us, still friendly

I pattern-match that behavior, and realize they're homing on a distant target.
Team Pelden is distinct from Team Cave, and now these 2 are awake and hate Team Cave.
Even from ~50.0m away through 3 doorways and 2 turns, they know where to go.

Hah! They function as free attention-binders, for 1 suicidal sortie.
If we follow them in, we could milk their lifespans for some free hits.
This is a time-limited opportunity, hence we must go if we're going.

+ tunnel, 1 Steelspine Magus: those 2 Algul, 1st Urdel, -0.2%, +0 Algul got it
+ cave, wild furball: 2 Algul die, 2nd Urdel die, -1 per-rest = L1 Chill Fog, we run
+ tunnel doorway, 3 Seer 1 Magus: Urdel 3-4, =0%

Edér is-swinging for all 3 Void Seer kills, but all 3 are stolen by Sagani,
Aloth's Bloody Slaughter, and Aloth's Blast. Finally he gets the Magus for +1 = 10/10.

Overall, my plan works. The 2 friendly Alguls are the perfect wild weasels.
They absorb all of the Cave's worst spells, giving us free data, shots, and time for Ogres.
We retreat in good order, hold a doorway, and wipe out 5/7 of the Cave with nil damage.

+ Steelspine Magus with Wizard L5 Citzal's Spirit Lance becomes formidable,
with Accuracy ~105 (from Superb +12), 50-60 damage, frequent Crits up to 80,
and Blast AoE. They slaughter Ogres in only 4-6 hits each, and Itumaak in only 2.
Yet Ogre recursion is already the perfect foil, as we simply extend 1 fight so long
that Citzal's and Flame Shield quietly expire on time.

+ cave, 1 Magus 1 Seer: 1 Urdel, -0.6%, Zahua +8 = 230/300 Crit Damage

That finishes the Cave. We pay a total of -2% Health to 45%, and -1 per-rest.
A frontal assault from the Cave entrance looks infeasible, due to their alpha-spell damage.
Luring them from the inside is surely the correct approach.

I had one lucky break when a runaway Chaotic Orb recruited Alguls to "my" side,
but I also seized the day by recognizing it in realtime, and aggressively following them.

I wonder if this is reproducible. Even if I could lure a Void Seer to the same doorway,
there's no way to guarantee that it picks Tayn's Chaotic Orb as its 1st action.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Reviving Edér 5 Times
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now that no soulbound needs to count kills, we can revert to killing enemies ASAP.
And yet -- a new game-within-a-game arises!

At L3, St. Ydwen's Redeemer gains 5% Pillar of Faith on Hit or Crit.
Its L3 task is truly strenuous: 0/5 Be revived during combat.

Now I rue binding it to a Fighter with Constant Recovery.
Edér must take damage faster than his healing, all the way to Unconscious.
Done improperly, this could consume 1/3 of his Health per Unconscious.
Then it could take all of the next 2 awake-times, and the next 1-2 rests.

+ I have 5+ Revive from scrolls and Remembrance Ashes mission loot.
Even without Durance's L5 Revive the Fallen, this part is easy.

+ Edér's Constant Recovery has finite duration of ~60.0s.
I could wait it out by stalling vs. 1 low-threat monster, esp. by healing Itumaak.
Then swap Edér in, and have him take damage without retaliating.

+ I wonder if Second Chance on an armor counts as +1 "be revived".
From its wording, I think it would.
I shall revert Edér back to his original Saint's War Armor, just to test that.

+ Fighter has Health = 5x Endurance.
Ergo, even with no healing of any kind, Edér could survive at most 4 Unconscious
in 1 awake-time. Then he would be at dire Health, and couldn't survive a 5th.

+ I could always pay to retrain him for a full Health heal, instead of resting.

- I cannot do any of this now, with Edér's Health red and on the brink of dire.
He would die outright before 1 Unconscious. It must wait until after we rest (our 15th).

What a fascinating puzzle!
It really does feel like a heroic Noble Deed, demanding great sacrifice.
It almost saddens me that I shall cheese it by gaming
a succession of weak monsters with nil threat.