Learn about active and passive skills in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, including Alchemy, Arcana, Athletics, Explosives, Mechanics, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth.
Walkthrough
- 1Skill Checks: At certain points, you will face skill checks for specific outcomes. For example, a check requiring knowledge of the natural world might use the Survival skill. Conversation checks use your character's skill rank. Other challenges may use the party member with the highest rank or all party members.
- 2Party Member Bonuses: Other party members contribute bonuses to skill checks based on their total skill points:
- Total 1: +1 Bonus
- 3Total 2-3: +2 Bonus
- 4Total 4-6: +3 Bonus
- 5Total 7-10: +4 Bonus
- 6Total 11-15: +5 Bonus
- 7Total 16-21: +6 Bonus
- 8Active Skills: These are used in interactions with the game world and scripted events.
- Alchemy: Increases the Power Level (PL) of Potions and Drugs by +1 for each point invested. Increases poison potency by +1 PL per two points.
- 9Arcana: Required to use scrolls; a character needs an Arcana score equal to twice the spell level (e.g., Arcana 8 for Scroll of Confusion). Every two points add +1 PL to a scroll.
- 10Athletics: Used in scripted interactions for climbing, jumping, or strenuous activity. Provides a 1/encounter healing ability called _Second Wind_, restoring 15 Health + 5 x Athletics (e.g., +20 Health at Athletics 1, +50 at Athletics 7).
- 11Explosives: Each point adds +1 PL to bombs and reduces the likelihood of accidents when handling them.
- 12Mechanics: Used for picking locks and handling traps, with a minimum skill required for each. Each point adds +3 to a trap's Accuracy when setting them. Trap PL scales with character level, not Mechanics skill. Mechanics is not used to spot traps; that is done through Perception.
- 13Sleight of Hand: Governs Pickpocketing. The base difficulty is based on the item's property and modified upwards by the owner's level:
- CL 1: +1 Difficulty
- 14CL 2: +2 Difficulty
- 15CL 3-4: +3 Difficulty
- 16CL 5-6: +4 Difficulty
- 17CL 7-9: +5 Difficulty
- 18CL 10-12: +6 Difficulty
- 19CL 13-15: +7 Difficulty
- 20CL 16-18: +8 Difficulty
- 21CL 19+: +9 Difficulty
- 22Stealth: Used automatically in Scouting mode to get closer to enemies without being spotted and increases the time it takes for enemies to become aware of your presence. Used in scripted interactions to avoid encounters or start at an advantage.
- 23Passive Skills: These are primarily used in conversation checks. There are 9 passive skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, History, Insight, Intimidate, Metaphysics, Religion, Streetwise, and Survival.
- Bluff: Ability to tell a convincing lie.
- 24Diplomacy: Ability to persuade others. Frequently checked in conversation.
- 25History, Metaphysics, Religion: Knowledge passives checked less commonly.
- 26Insight: Intuit emotions and motivations; overlaps with Perception.
- 27Intimidate: Persuade through threats of violence.
- 28Streetwise: Ability to fit in and know what to do in less savory social situations. Another frequently checked speech skill.
- 29Survival: Failures in scripted interactions tend to have bad consequences, making this skill important to have in your party.
Tips
- Consider party composition for knowledge-based passive skills like History, Metaphysics, and Religion, as they are checked less often.
- Ensure you have a character skilled in Survival, as failures in scripted interactions can have significant negative consequences.
- Mechanics skill is crucial for interacting with locks and traps, but Perception is used to spot them.
- Sleight of Hand difficulty increases significantly with the target's level and item type.
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