How to Create The Perfect Party for Tenebrous Depths in Pathfinder Kingmaker
Pathfinder: Kingmaker has just been upgraded to the Definitive Edition. This adds in an official turn-based mode and changes the balance of many encounters. The console release includes Beneath the Stolen Lands featuring the Tenebrous Depths mega-dungeon. While it can be tackled during the main game, there is also an option to explore it independently as an endless dungeon.
With Tenebrous Depths being completely random there is no overall best party, but there are still many hallmarks of a strong team. Players should also keep in mind what the purpose of their current run is: defeat a boss for special items, get to the lowest floor possible, or challenge the final encounter. Each will call for a few tweaks of composition, such as concentrating on exploration or combat.
Players will create their main character who must be in the party at all times. They have just enough gold to hire up to three mercenaries but can gain a total of five after earning more money or selling items. Mercenaries cost more the higher level the main character becomes, making it a good idea to fill the party at level 1. Players can buy some items from Xelliren the dragon and Honest Guy, mostly staple wares like scrolls, potions, masterwork and magic gear, and common wondrous items like Cloak of Resistance, Ring of Protection, Amulet of Natural Armor, Bracers of Armor, Headband of +2 Mental Ability, and Belt of +2 Physical Ability.
The feast laid out on the long table will fully recover the party once per floor, and will only reset when descending deeper into the dungeon. It is also possible to camp inside the dungeon, although there tends to be limited space to set up. Because all party members are generic made characters they have no camping specialization like the main cast of Kingmaker.
By default Beneath the Stolen Lands uses Last Azlanti mode, which restricts to a single autosave when exiting to the main menu. This can put a lot of pressure to play carefully, as deaths and mistakes will be permanent. This mode can be toggled off before starting but will be locked in once inside. The dungeon has infinite randomly generated floors with an assortment of enemies and dangers. Each party will face only a single boss, at which point they can choose to retire by leaving the Tenebrous Depths waypoint or die within the dungeon. Before doing so, players can store artifacts on the small table for their next party to inherit. A party that has collected all 21 key artifacts can fight the final boss, the Spawn of Rovagug.
The six members should try to divide the following roles among themselves. A character can probably cover two or three duties without stretching thin.
Scout
The dungeon will have lots of traps and secret passages. The scout will focus on spotting these hidden treasures with high Perception. Their job will also be much easier if they can move quietly with Stealth and disarm with Trickery. Rangers, Rogues, and Inquisitors are naturally adept at this; but Bards, Slayers, and Monks can also build around this function. Scouts will want to have light armor with no armor check penalties and a reasonable amount of Dexterity to compensate. Spells that allow for concealment, sight, and movement will be useful. This includes Invisibility, Expeditious Retreat, and Aspect of the Falcon.
Loremaster
It is very important that one or more characters can identify magic, items, and monsters. This can help discover weaknesses and understand the situation. This is broken into Knowledge Arcana, Knowledge World, Lore Nature, and Lore Religion for various creatures. Inquisitors, Bards, and Wizards are great at covering all of these fields. However, nearly every class can focus on one or two of the aforementioned skills. For example, Alchemists and Rogues will have so many skill points or Intelligence bonuses to make up for a skill not receiving the +3 class bonus.
Tank
A member of the party should build for high armor class, hit points, damage reduction, and saving throws of all types. While not a requirement it is handy to have a good amount of attack, Persuasion, and Mobility. This will allow them to safely wade through the enemy and scare off foes with Demoralize, or better yet the Dazzling Display feat. The tank will want to lead the party’s advancement and often be in Fight Defensively stance. Fighters and Paladins are great tanks out the gate, while Rangers and Slayers can select a combat style like Menacing or Weapon and Shield to augment their tanking. Clerics, Bards, Magus, and Monks can also build around tanking with use of spells or special ki powers. Among good spells include Mirror Image, Displacement, and Stoneskin.
Melee Damager
This form of damager gets close to the enemy, hits hard, and either has enough defenses to survive or tries to withdraw. They may have reasonable armor class and hit points, or can slip away with Mobility; the most deadly melee characters will want high Will saves so that they cannot be confused or mind controlled. Otherwise, they will want to focus entirely on attack and damage. Barbarians, Magus, and Rogues are masters of this role. It is also very easy for other classes to focus on melee attacks, especially Fighters, Rangers, Paladins, Monks, and Slayers. There are plenty of Cleric and Inquisitor Domains or Sorcerer Bloodlines to augment melee attacks.
Ranged Damager
The other type of damager tries to keep a safe distance and pepper the enemy with missiles. While attack and damage are key, they shouldn’t totally ignore their armor class and saving throws in case of sudden ambushes. Fighters and Rangers wielding bows are natural archers. Inquisitors, Paladins, Rogues, and Slayers can utilize their powers via ranged attacks. Alchemists and Magus also have archetype selections that can make them a great ranged damage dealer.
Blaster
The blaster has a slightly different objective to the ranged attacker: instead of dealing concentrated bursts, they try to use more area of effect damage. This will mostly come from Wizard and Sorcerer spells like Fireball or Stone Call. Alchemist’s Bombs, Cleric’s Channel Negative Energy, and special archetype Bardic Performances can also do the job. Because of how confined the dungeon can get, it is important to carefully time nukes to avoid scorching allies. At times one can also focus a spell at a tank with Evasion and hope they save against any damage.
Healer
This role will try to heal wounds and remove negative status. In most cases, this is best done after the fight is over, but some nasty debuffs should be remedied during a fight. Clerics are the undisputed masters at healing, but others like Bards, Druids, Inquisitors, and Alchemists can adapt. While Cure Wounds will make up the spell foundation, Restoration, Remove Disease/Curse/Paralysis, and Dispel Magic should be at the ready. Many of these spells require a caster level check against the difficult class to cure successfully.
Support
The support character will grant buffs to the party’s attacks, damage, armor class, and saves. They should apply actions that have durations of hours or minutes before a fight breaks out. Others that have short 6-second round durations can be cast once in battle. Bards have an array of support magic, as do Clerics, Druids, Wizards, and Sorcerers. Inspire Courage is one of the simplest ways of boosting attack and damage. Other good candidates include Resist Energy, Enlarge Person, Heroism, Barkskin, Haste, and Protection From Alignment.
Controller
This role will hamper the enemy by manipulating the terrain or using actions with high difficulty class. For example, the Druid might use Entangle on the ground and cause more havoc by summoning creatures. Or more direct Wizard, Sorcerer, and Cleric spells include Snowball, Glitterdust, Hold Person, and Blindness.
Combat Maneuverer
Very similar to the controller, this battle master concentrates on weaken the enemy for just a round or two. They maximize their Strength, size, and reach to allow for Bull Rushes, Tripping, and Sunder. Fighters and Monks will have bonus feats to increase their maneuver probability. While not directly using combat maneuvers, some of the Rogue and Slayer talents can grant similar debilitations.
In summary, many classes can cover multiple party tasks at once. One man’s Rogue could be an expert watchman and archer, while another a close quarters brawler. Players could make whole teams of Clerics or Bards that act differently. By mixing together skills, feats, and spells a diverse team will be ready to tame the Stolen Lands.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker is currently available on PC and soon PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.