Question Beginners Guide for Pathfinder: Kingmaker?

[JSimenhoff]

I just picked up Pathfinder. I'm in desperate need of another world to disappear into, and this iso got pretty favorable reviews from my friends. I started playing, spent hours on the character creation screen (as I'm known to do), and ended up with a bad ass sword saint. My favorite kinds of builds in any RPG are either summoner class (necromancers, warlocks, summoners, etc.) or high dex tanks (monks and other classes with high dodge and a high chance of crit). In any case, I'm blazing through the campaign on normal, but I'm getting the sneaking suspicion I have no idea what I'm doing.

I don't know when I'm casting spells. I don't know when spells take effect. I don't know if I'm executing actions in the correct order. Should I pause after every attack? How the heck do I properly use the Inquisitor class??

I have so many basic fundamental questions about how to play this game. I'm pretty experienced with this genre, having played Baldur's Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights, Divinity Original Sin 2, and many other classics.

Can I get some help? Does anyone know a good guide, in written or video, for learning the game fundamentals?

 

[Zloth]

I had a hard time learning it, too, until I got the turn-based mod. That helped quite a bit because I could see action/result right together instead of having a mash of everyone's actions all happening in a stream.

 

[JSimenhoff]

Oh wow, this sounds exactly what I'm looking for. Looks like we already wrote about this.

 

[Zloth]

It's quite well done, too. I would have expected something making such a fundamental change to be doing constant tweaks to deal with issues but it's been stable and exceptionally bug free! Of course, "turn based" means slower play so your play time is going to go up.

The only mod that's more important, IMHO, is the one that lets you swing the camera around. That's an absolute must-have for when battles happen in inconvenient spots.

 

[Krud]

I'll have to check out that turn-based mod. I think I also might have to start my game over, as I've made a mess of the kingdom-management portion, which was the only aspect of the game unfamiliar to me. The rest I think benefits from knowledge of the Pathfinder pen-and-paper game system, though I'm not sure what the easiest way to do that is without playing it. (I forget how much the game offers, info-wise. I know there's a free SRD online where you can look things up.)

 

[JSimenhoff]

So many stats! I never played Pathfinder pen and paper, but holy moly, it's like you have to have a PhD in mathematics or something. I kind of just gloss over and say "well that number is higher, good" and move on.

 

[randyl]

Steam has some very good guides. If you go to community guides and searching "beginner" several decent articles come up. There are also a lot of specialized articles for combat, class specifics, and others.

This article [Pathfinder Bootcamp], which is a core rule synopsis, I've found useful. It's full of little tidbits like pointing out like bonuses on gear usually don't stack.

Here are a few others. There are several articles of each type so explore further.
Build Suggestions: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1610341706

Detailed City Planning: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1580642020

Kingdom Management: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1534683229

 

[JSimenhoff]

Steam has some very good guides.

This list is perfect. Thanks much!