Pillars of Eternity 2 Deadfire - Trying to pick it up, any advice?

[Calemyr]

I bought the game ages ago but never really got into it (PoE 1 was intriguing but frustrating, and often dragged something brutal). I'm trying PoE 2, but I really can't find any particularly useful intel on how to do it effectively. Unlike my old Baldur's Gate 2 days, I don't have the free time any more to play the game 10 times over to test different combinations to determine the most fun. As such, I'd like to beg the advice of veterans of the game here. I'm playing on relaxed difficulty because this is just a way to see a new story and chill, which probably renders most of this irrelevant but I still gotta ask.

What I'm planning on doing is a Soul Blade Cipher with a focus on swords (I hear that Modwyn is a talking sword which has always been a fun touch in previous games). Planning on going multiclass, with either a paladin or a Devoted Fighter as the second class to provide melee abilities to shore it up. Originally planned on going Bleak Walker paladin, but I tend to play a "Starlord" type (Sarcastic and clever "but not 100% a ****.") and it sounds like being benevolent and diplomatic will render the class pretty useless. That's one of the reasons I'm asking for veteran advices: If you play a Bleak Walker paladin completely wrong, but really only want the best out of Flames of Devotion, Lay on Hands, Auras, and passives to augment the Soul Blade.

The party I'm planning is four out of the following: Eder, Aloth, Pellegina, Maia, and Xoti. I want a fun story, so it... sounds like Pellegina isn't a great option, as she doesn't get along with most of them. It could be a funny brand of bickering, though, so I'm not counting her out immediately.

If anyone has any advice on how to get the most of this game as a casual (I've got FROMSoftware when I want to be frustrated by challenge), I would be deeply appreciative.

[Keltest]

Multiclassing cipher tends to be a little strange, because they are in many ways a primary spellcaster. Attacks function to generate resource for them, and most of the damage from the cipher end comes from the spells and abilities, which you will be slowing down if you multiclass. If you want to be a martial cipher, I actually recommend picking rogue as your second class, because the two synergize together pretty well. Rogue gives melee damage via their sneak attack, which they can trigger very reliably because the cipher's low level abilities tend to be debuffs and crowd control rather than raw damage.

As far as party goes, Pallegina actually only really argues with Xoti seriously. She's coolly professional to everybody else, but frankly the bigger concern i would have is

Spoiler: Endgame mechanics

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that come the endgame, the faction-specific companions all become mutually exclusive once the game forces you to choose a side. Its possible to have Maia and Pallegina together in the end, but the game REALLY doesnt want you to do it, and you have to make sacrifices elsewhere to make it happen.

[awa]

the game has a bit of a balance problem the first couple fight can be pretty hard but than the difficulty plummets and you quickly become over leveled. Honestly unless you decide you want to fight the dlc optional mega bosses the game becomes pretty easy latter on. Assuming you got the game from steam their are mods to give you an op magic items or increase your stats to get you through those tough early battles if your still having trouble on the easy difficulty.

edit never mind I missed that someone already mentioned this
A bit of a complication is that maia and Pallegina are both related to opposing factions, certain quests will drive them from the party so unless you are willing to let them dictate major plot choices you may not have them as an option the entire game.

[GloatingSwine]

If anyone has any advice on how to get the most of this game as a casual (I've got FROMSoftware when I want to be frustrated by challenge), I would be deeply appreciative.

Get Chanters.

Chanters are your bard type class, and quite a lot of what they do is summons, which scale very effectively. There are any number of problems that can be solved by throwing a very large number of ogres at them. (In PoE1 chanters didn't ramp fast enough outside of high difficulties, but 2 has fewer but more significant fights where they get to build up their phrases and do stuff).

I can't remember if any of the main companions (apart from one DLC one) can multiclass to chanter, but a lot of the minor ones can.

Also disregard the ship combat minigame and just press the rush to boarding button. Boarding battles are super cool dynamic affairs and the ship combat minigame is not.

[Keltest]

Get Chanters.

Chanters are your bard type class, and quite a lot of what they do is summons, which scale very effectively. There are any number of problems that can be solved by throwing a very large number of ogres at them. (In PoE1 chanters didn't ramp fast enough outside of high difficulties, but 2 has fewer but more significant fights where they get to build up their phrases and do stuff).

I can't remember if any of the main companions (apart from one DLC one) can multiclass to chanter, but a lot of the minor ones can.

Also disregard the ship combat minigame and just press the rush to boarding button. Boarding battles are super cool dynamic affairs and the ship combat minigame is not.

Pallegina actually can become a chanter/paladin or a fighter/paladin.

My personal favorite for her is to do chanter/pally and give her the regen aura and chant to make her a party wide healer. It's not the best source of healing, but its party wide and both classes are also fairly substantial on their own.

As far as the ship goes, its worth pointing out that you actually get more loot from boarding than sinking as well, but its a substantially more risky affair.

[VoxRationis]

Get Chanters.

Chanters are your bard type class, and quite a lot of what they do is summons, which scale very effectively. There are any number of problems that can be solved by throwing a very large number of ogres at them. (In PoE1 chanters didn't ramp fast enough outside of high difficulties, but 2 has fewer but more significant fights where they get to build up their phrases and do stuff).

Also, in PoE2, chanters start combats with enough phrases to use their highest-level spell right off the bat, which is very helpful.

[Calemyr]

Thank you guys so much for the advice.
Turns out I was over-thinking the Bleak Walker paladin. Their default passive never devolves to a penalty, and it's not hard to get the full benefit of it by playing a good person who has no time for bull and a tendency to be clever rather than kind (i.e. careful reliance on clever and aggressive dialogue options with benevolent and diplomatic only when necessary to get ideal outcomes). It's a surprisingly fun character to play in this game, and absurdly powerful. Using Flame Blade to build up Focus and then dishing it out with an Annihilation Strike once that focus has built up is also quite fun and effective.

Spoiler: My Party

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* Eder as a Swashbuckler. Finally figured out how to steal Magran's Shield from the Steps so he works well as both a damage dealer and tank. Uses Escape to charge INTO a fray, however, so I don't think he really understands the concept of the ability. Man is both a charming friend and a great asset in a fight.

* Xoti as a Monk. I've always had a soft spot for Laura Bailey's characters. Everything she does just seems fun, and Xoti manages to be dark and fun at the same time. She's simple enough to play (at least at first), buffing the fists and then going in with twin haymakers. Or one haymaker and a lantern that doubles as a shield for darker terrains. Got the dark ending for her personal quest at first because I didn't want to piss her off, but restarted from an earlier save and got the light ending. Interesting plot, but it didn't last long - had it done before leaving the big city for the first time.

* Maia as a Scout. Good trick shots on both skill trees lets her make use of both resources, and Stinkfeathers allows it to lock down an enemy while giving Maia benefits in gunning it down. Love the whole "spy who's up front about it" schtick, though I imagine that will take a turn eventually. Usually in the party, but sometimes replaced when things get political.

* Aloth as a Battlemage. I'm using his fighter skills more than his magic in combat, due to the long leadup on spellcasting making it hard to use AoEs in combat effectively, while twin scepters boosted by penetrating strike deals solid damage reliably. Once I get rapid casting, I expect that will change somewhat, but right now it's only good for environmental demolition. Between my distaste for casting in the early game and Aloth's lack of appreciation or my clever wit (the rest of the party is amused by the quips) make him the one who usually gets replaced when another member is needed for a job, such as Serafin for the Deadlight incursion.

I have to say, the value of chanters was impressed on me during boarding sequences. I basically took chanter for a class whenever possible for the allies and they're not just useful for organizing sea shanties. I'm pretty certain my run in with Redbeard was way over my level (first boarding fight after the prologue), but their contributions really helped me claim the win. Summons, AoEs, healing, they really were something. Of course, I'm a wimp busy guy who just wants to see the game rather than struggle wimp, so I'm playing on a lower difficulty level and a pure offense has generally proven the more efficient approach thus far. Eder holds as many of the enemies in place while the Watcher and Xoti pick the enemy apart one by one. Meanwhile Aloth picks off the wounded and Maia either helps with cleanup or interrupts any casting being done by the enemy while Ishi plays off-tank.

[Keltest]

Important question, are you playing in Real Time with Pause or Turn Based mode? Primary spellcasters IMO get a lot more value in the latter than the former.

[Calemyr]

Important question, are you playing in Real Time with Pause or Turn Based mode? Primary spellcasters IMO get a lot more value in the latter than the former.

Turn based. Wimp's road, I know, but it's a happy medium between playing a frustrating game of whack-a-mole and sitting back and let an over-designed AI do all the fighting. I can see spellcasters being valuable once they get rapid casting, and the spells get cast where the enemies are rather than where they were fifteen ticks ago, but right now they're a liability in combat.

[VoxRationis]

In my experience, musket-based characters like Maia tend to benefit the most from turning on the turn-based mode. Initiative penalties aren't meaningless, but they lessen the total damage dealt by far less than the prodigious reload times of real-time mode.

[Taevyr]

I specced Maia as geomancer myself: once you get that one spell that casts a shadow clone with limited abilities of the original, you essentially have two gunners for the price of one. And you can better divide arcane and control spells between her and aloth.

[awa]

instant action powers with damage are brutal in turn based

[GloatingSwine]

Turn based. Wimp's road, I know, but it's a happy medium between playing a frustrating game of whack-a-mole and sitting back and let an over-designed AI do all the fighting.

I always enabled combat auto-slow in PoE. The game is pretty designed around RTWP and a lot of stuff feels better when there's multiple things going on at once, but having it in slow mode gives you enough time to mostly play it without pausing.