Character Creation

Character Creation for Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is covered on this page. On this page we walk you through Races, Subraces, Classes, Multiclass, Attributes, Skills and more. You can also use the Character Creator tool (below) made by /Explosivity on Reddit.

Difficulty

There are five levels of difficulties settings in Pillars of Eternity 2, they are Story, Relaxed, Classic, Veteran and Path of Damned. You can also select three game rule modifications, Trial of Iron (only one save slot), Expert mode (disables the help features) and Level Scaling.

Game Mode

You can chose Turn-Based Mode in POE2 since patch 4.1. (Beta-Version)

Real-Time with Pause Mode

Turn-Based Mode

Characters can all act simultaneously.
Pause is available to give more time for difficult decisions.
Recovery Time mechanic dictates how frequently characters can perform actions.
Duration of effects count down in real-time.
Party Member AI is available to help automate character actions.
Re-Targeting option is available to change the target location of a spell or ability after it has begun.

Character can only act on their turns.
Recovery time becomes "Initiative" — Lower Initiative means acting earlier in a round.
Reload Time modified "Initiative" and these weapons will reload between turns.
Spells with longer cast times will complete their cast at a later point in turn order.
Duel Wield auto-attacks are now Full-Attacks and no longer affect Recovery Time.
Durations are converted to last number of "rounds".
Effects that tick, pulse or occur over time have had their potency scaled to match a per-round value.
Magran's Challenge adds a time limit to turns intead of limiting pausing.
Party Member AI and Re-targeting are disabled.

Legacy

In Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire your main character, from not the game mechanics but the lore point of view is the same person whom you played in PoE I. So even before actual character creation (choosing their gender, class, etc.) you'll be asked for legacy - a set of your decisions for certain quests and situations in the previous game. You can just import your PoE I save file, choose from several predefined histories, or create your own Pillars of Eternity I History (WARNING: link contains huge spoilers for both games) by choosing each decision manually (not all quests and situations in PoE I have any output for Deadfire, so manual creation is not so tedious as it seems to be).

Gender

Choice between male and female isn't important, it only determines some conversation options.

Race

Classes

Classes in Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire are a factor that determines your character's abilities, attributes and how they will develop as they increase in level. In Pillars of Eternity 2, your characters can have one additional class on top of the base class, and a subclass, selected at 1st level. (for example, your character can be a Battlemage if he/she has both Fighter and Wizard classes.) Each class has a Power Source, and each time you gain a level in a Class you increase this power.

Base Classes

Barbarian

Subclasses: Berserker | Corpse-Eater | Mage Slayer | Fury Shaper

Roles: Crowd Control & Defender

Power Source: Rage

Chanter

Subclasses: Beckoner | Skald | Troubadour | Bellower

Roles: Support & Crowd Control

Power Source: Phrases

Cipher

Subclasses: Ascendant | Beguiler | Soul Blade | Psion

Roles: Crowd Control & Striker

Power Source: Focus

Druid

Subclasses: Fury | Lifegiver | Shifter | Animist | Ancient

Roles: Crowd Control, Support & Striker

Power Source: Nature

Fighter

Subclasses: Black Jacket | Devoted | Unbroken | Tactician

Roles: Defender & Striker

Power Source: Discipline

Monk

Subclasses: Helwalker | Nalpazca | Shattered Pillar | Forbidden Fist

Roles: Striker & Defender

Power Source: Mortification, Wounds

Paladin

Roles: Support & Defender

Power Source: Zeal

Priest

Roles: Support

Power Source: Faith

Ranger

Subclasses: Sharpshooter | Ghost Heart | Stalker | Arcane Archer

Roles: Striker & Defender

Power Source: Bond

Rogue

Subclasses: Assassin | Streetfighter | Trickster | Debonaire

Roles: Striker

Power Source: Guile

Wizard

Roles: Crowd Control & Striker

Power Source: Arcane

Class Comparison Tables

Class Stats Table (Base)

All values are at Level 1 with 10 points into each Attribute and don't include any bonuses from any Race, Class or Subclass. Accuracy is the same on all characters at level 1 and EVERY Stat in the table goes up by +3 at each level, except Health, which is different for each Class. When Multiclassing players will average each Stat between the two Classes they chose and round down to find their starting values. Once they begin leveling they will gain +3 to each Stat just like Single Class characters. They will also gain an average of Health per level, based on the Classes they selected. For example, if one Class has +12 per level and the other has +8, they will gain +10 Health per level.

Class
Barbarian	46 Base +16 per level	20/20	15	30	20	15
Chanter	40 Base +10 per level	20/20	20	20	20	25
Cipher	38 Base +8 per level	20/20	20	20	15	30
Druid	40 Base +10 per level	20/20	20	25	25	20
Fighter	42 Base +12 per level	20/20	25	20	20	15
Monk	42 Base +12 per level	20/20	20	20	25	25
Paladin	42 Base +12 per level	20/20	20	25	15	25
Priest	40 Base +10 per level	20/20	20	20	20	25
Ranger	42 Base +12 per level	20/20	20	20	20	20
Rogue	40 Base +10 per level	20/20	20	15	30	20
Wizard	38 Base +8 per level	20/20	20	15	20	30

Class Skills Table (Base)

All values are at Level 1 with 10 points into each Attribute and don't include any bonuses from any Race, Class or Subclass. Every level you will get to add one point into one of the left 7 Skills and one point into one of the 9 Skills on the right. If a player Multiclasses, he/she adds together the totals from each row listed below and then divides by 2. This means that if you have 2 Athletics in one Class and 0 in the other you will have 1 Athletics. If the number is 0 for both Classes, then the value remains 0. Then add any Cultural, Racial or other bonus AFTER this is complete to find your final value.

Classes
Barbarian	-	-	2	-	-	-	2	-	-	2	-	2	-	-	-	2
Chanter	-	2	-	-	-	2	-	2	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Cipher	-	-	-	-	2	2	-	2	-	-	2	-	2	-	-	-
Druid	2	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	-	2
Fighter	-	-	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	2	2
Monk	2	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	2	2	-	-
Paladin	-	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	2	-	2	-	-
Priest	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	-	-	-	2	-	-
Ranger	2	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
Rogue	-	-	-	-	2	-	2	2	-	-	2	-	-	-	2	-
Wizard	-	2	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	-	2	-	-	-

Mutliclassing Information

Power Sources and Power Level

Each Class has its own "Power Source". Barbarian, for example, has Rage. Rage determines the effectiveness of many of the Abilities in the Barbarian Ability Tree. Rage increases the damage of abilities, the number of Projectiles, Penetration and other effects, such as Duration. Increasing the effectiveness of Rage is called gaining a "Power Level". This is the case with all Power Sources, allowing players to Multiclass without feeling too much of a damage reduction in their Abilities.

When playing as a Multiclass character there are obvious benefits over a Single Class character, but not everything is better. For example, you gain a Power Level for each 2 levels you gain when you are Single Class. When you are Multiclass this becomes every 3 levels. This means that you won't have access to higher level Abilities as quickly if you Multiclass, because you unlock the next tier of Abilities each time you gain a Power Level. This is one of the biggest downsides to Multiclassing, and it can make early parts of the game harder until you are geared up.

Secondly, Multiclass characters cannot access Ability Level 8 or 9 of either Class they play because their Power Level only increases every 3 levels instead of ever 2. This is another huge downside of a Multiclass character, because the best and most powerful Abilities are at the bottom of each Tree. Be sure to preview these Trees when making your character so you can see what you'll be missing out before confirming during Character Creation. This alone makes a case for a Single Class character.

multiclassing_table

Power Source by class

Power Source Points and Combat

Each Class uses its Abilities with the Power Source Pool of that Class: Rage, Arcane, Discipline, Bond, etc. Abilities cost varying amounts of Power Source Points, which will replenish out of Combat. Instead of giving each Ability a certain number of uses like they did in PoE, now the player is free to decide how to spend his/her points in whatever combination makes sense for the victory. Wizards and casting Classes can only cast a certain number of each level of spell per encounter, but they no longer need to Rest to replenish these. Players can also use an Ability called "Empower" that will allow them to increase the effectiveness of an Ability or regain half of their max Power Source Points. This can only be used once per encounter per character and replenishes upon Resting.

If you are a Single Class, every 2 levels you will gain an extra Power Source Point. If you are a Multiclass character you will gain 1 Power Source Point for both Classes every 3 Levels, regardless of how you leveled up each time. This means that at level 7 if you are a Single Class character you will have a total of 6 Power Source Points to use for you Abilities per encounter (you begin the game with 3). If you are a level 7 Multiclass Character you will have a total of 10 Power Source Points (5 in each Class). This means Multiclass characters will have much more Abilities to use, albeit with lesser effectiveness.

Health, Defense and Skills

Another important point to note is that when you create your character, it will start with a certain amount of Health, Deflection, Reflex, Fortitude and Will to begin the game. When you Multiclass you begin the game with an average of the 2 Classes you chose (rounded down). Each time you level up you will gain +3 to Deflection, Reflex, Fortitude and Will. Whether you Multiclass or play as a Single Class, it makes no difference. You will gain +3 to each per level.

Health is handled a bit differently. Each Class has a fixed amount of Health they begin the game with (Base Health), as well as a fixed amount they gain per level. When you Multiclass you average the Base Health of your two Classes and that is what they start with. Each time you level up you will gain an average of what those two Classes would have gained. Let's do an example:

Let's say you are playing a Barbarian and a Wizard (Warlock). Barbarians get 46 Health and Wizards get 38. Averaging that out you can calculate you will begin the game with 42 Health.
Barbarians gain +16 Health per level and Wizards gain +8. Averaging that out we get +12 Health per level.

Skills are handled much the same way, and each Class in the game begins with a certain amount of points into each Skill. To calculate how many points in each Skill you will have, you simply need to add together the total points in each Skill for both Classes and then divide by 2. The exception being that Skill points added with Culture are not affected by Multiclassing and will give their full value.

Attributes

The fourth step of creation is assigning attribute points. They are an important part of gameplay and cant be changed later, so think twice before you make the decision.

Some attributes not only affect the combat, but also the conversation with NPCs. The attributes in Pillars of Eternity 2 are:

Might: a character's physical strength.
Constitution: a combination of the character's overall health and endurance
Dexterity: a character's hand-eye coordination, balance, and overall grace
Perception: a character's senses as well as their instinctive ability to pick up on details
Intellect: a character's logic and reasoning capabilities
Resolve: a character's internal drive, determination, fearlessness

Note: in turn-based mode, Dexterity works a little different. The Higher the dexterity, the lower initiative you have and will act before other characters. You can also move further each turn.

Culture

Different cultures in Pillars of Eternity 2 gives your character different bonuses and starting gear, also some extra dialogue options.

Aedyr: Resolve +1
Deadfire Archipelago: Dexterity + 1
Ixamitl Plains: Resolve +1
Old Vailia: Intellect + 1
Rauatai: Constitution + 1
The Living Lands: Might + 1
The White that Wends: Perception + 1

Background

Backgrounds provide a skill boost. The backgrounds you can select are dependable on your chosen culture, some backgrounds are only available to certain cultures, while others are available to all cultures.

Background	Availability	Skill	Description	Specific Background
Aristocrat	All except The Living Lands	+1 Diplomacy +1 Bluff +1 Intimidate	Your family belongs to the upper crust of society, and your upbringing provided you with many advantages over the lower born. You have had access to a first-rate education, and are no stranger to extravagant parties, dances, hunting for sport, and the political concerns of the landed nobility.You've lived your life amongst the nobility. Your days have been marked by lavish meals and extravagant parties, your conversations peppered with talk of pedigree and bloodlines.
Artist	Old Vailia	+1 Mechanics +1 History +1 Insight	You were born with a natural grasp of aesthetics, and you have since cultivated it by endeavoring with your work to capture life in all its facets.You've always felt driven to express yourself creatively. The structure and rigid control of other pursuits have never satisfied in the same way.
Clergy	Aedyr Deadfire Archipelago	+2 Religion	You answered a higher calling, giving up the freedom of secular life for the spiritual rewards of devotion to the divine - a life of vestments and the study of holy texts and the spreading of the truths they hold. Piety and prayer are the cornerstones of your public life, and you encourage the same in others.
Colonist	Aedyr Old Vailia The Living Lands	+1 Survival +1 Athletics +1 Alchemy	You left your homeland some time ago, surrendering the familiarity of home for the great unknowns of the unconquered frontier. You were part of a group that founded a fledgling colony in a distant land.
Dissident	Aedyr Ixamitl Plains Old Vailia Rauatai	+1 History +1 Intimidate +1 Stealth	You've never taken well to people telling you what to do. What began as a rebellious streak has developed into full-blown indignation for authority figures and power structures, and you've taken every opportunity along the way to express your dissenting opinions. You've made a name for yourself as a troublemaker. Disrespect for authority and a lack of care regarding the rules are recurring themes in your life.
Drifter	Any	+1 Sleight of Hand +1 Bluff +1 Streetwise	It's a rare thing for you to stay anywhere for any length of time. You've passed from town to town, moving on when it suits you, the open road the closest thing you've had to a home. You never quite fit in no matter where you go. Each new town is just a place to rest briefly before moving on to the next. You are more comfortable on the road, traveling the world.
Explorer	Deadfire Archipelago The Living Lands The White that Wends	+1 Survival +1 Diplomacy +1 History	Your whole life you've lived for the thrill of discovery and exploration, finding irresistible the siren call of the far reaches and unknown places of the world. Many live their lives perfectly content within the confines of one small town, but to you such a fate would've been a death sentence. You find the siren call of the horizon irresistible. You cannot help but wonder what lies beyond the next hill or wave, and you've built your life around finding out.
Hunter	All	+1 Survival +1 Mechanics +1 Alchemy	You've made your living in the wilds, dedicating your hours to perfecting the cadence of the hunt - the long intervals of stillness and waiting, the frantic exertions of the chase, the sudden punctuation of the kill. You live for the thrill of the chase. Whether for glory or for sustenance, you have made your living taking the lives of wild creatures.
Laborer	All	+2 Athletics	Like many commoners of able body and apt mind before you, you learned a complex skill and then struck out on your own to ply your trade. Your life has been spent in the study of your craft. You trained and prepared, hoping to hone your skills and ply your trade.
Mercenary	All except The White that Wends	+1 Streetwise +1 Athletics +1 Intimidate	Combat ability of any kind is a skill in high demand in a world where much of the wilderness is untamed and many borders are contested. Battle is your trade, and you have thus far been fortunate enough to survive its perils. Blade and battle is your way of life. You solve your problems by pulling out your weapon and applying force.
Merchant	All	+1 Streetwise +1 Bluff +1 Diplomacy	Whether it was a silver tongue, a head for numbers, an ability to appraise others, or simply happenstance, until recently you made your living as a merchant, parting person from coin in trade for your wares. You've traded goods from all over the world, pairing items with buyers of all kinds.
Mystic	The White that Wends	+1 Religion +1 Arcana +1 Metaphysics	There are those who find inspiration in books and houses of worship, and there are those for whom it is more personal - perhaps not even a choice at all. The spark of divine inspiration revealed a path to you, and since then you've traveled it in search of fulfillment. You've never been able to explain how the universe guides your path. Behind every task you undertake is a feeling of cosmic direction.
Philosopher	Ixamitl Plains	+2 Insight	Abstract thinking, the clash of ideals, notions of good and evil, right and wrong, and the pursuit of ultimate truth - these are the things that have always made your blood flow and your mind race, so much so that you've arranged your life such that you can while away your hours contemplating elusive answers and challenging accepted beliefs. You are most at home inside your own head, analyzing the nature of the world and its inhabitants.
Raider	Deadfire Archipelago	+1 Streetwise +1 Athletics +1 Stealth	You've always taken what you wanted - didn't matter what it was or who it belonged to. By most laws this is theft, but you've never had much use for any laws besides your own. You've spent your life on the wrong side of the law. What you want, you take, and what was theirs has a tendency to become yours.
Scholar	Ixamitl Plains Rauatai	+1 History +1 Arcana +1 Metaphysics	You have always been dazzled by letters and numbers, facts and figures, problems and stratagems. In academics you found a way to surround yourself with what interested you, and since then you've largely spent your time trying to better yourself through the acquisition of knowledge. For you, knowledge is a relentless pursuit. You hoard each kernel of information as though it were precious metal, and time you don't spend learning is time wasted.
Scientist	The Living Lands	+1 Explosives +1 Metaphysics +1 Arcana	The laws of the natural world are pieces of a puzzle to you, and you dedicated yourself to putting it together - unraveling its mysteries, revealing small truths to bring larger ones into focus. The rules that govern the world are a set of alchemical formulae to you, waiting to be discovered and manipulated.
Slave	Aedyr Deadfire Archipelago Old Vailia Rauatai	+1 Survival +1 Athletics +1 Streetwise	Few people truly understand what it feels like to be forced into the service of another, stripped of freedom and dignity alike, but until recently, this had been your lot in life - hard labor, chains, and the ceaseless gaze of a master. You have never known freedom. Shackles and chains have bound your existence, and someone has told you what to do your entire life.

Join the page discussion Tired of anon posting? Register!

- Anonymous
  13 Nov 2018 00:59
  cannot wait for xbox1 release so excited i prefer this game over red dead redemption 2 any day
  Reply Replies (1)
  10
  +1
  2
  -1

Search Results