Dungeon Siege III - Lucas Montbarron - Walkthrough - Part 2 (Swamps)

Here are general tips for playing Lucas Montbarron in Dungeon Siege III and the Treasures of the Sun DLC on Hardcore. A list of all our Dungeon Siege III posts can be found here.

We won't be hand-holding you through everything, but instead just give tips on situations that we found tricky.

Area 6: Eastern Swamp to Stonebridge Grand Chapterhouse
Bridge from Raven's Rill area

• If you force-save at or on the bridge using the console (see our General Tips), the bridge will be broken when you reload. Double back to another save point and save there, then reload the game to make it reappear.

Katarina

• It is interesting to get Katarina here because if you are level 11+ (on Hardcore we were level 12), all her Abilities are unlocked so you can skip some and grab all upper tier abilities -- unlike Lucas and Anjali, who levelled up from a low level and were forced to pick all the Legionnaire skills before taking Master skills. Keep this in mind when you pick her skills.
• An interesting idea is to wait for everything to unlock before ever selecting her as your companion. Unless she is the active companion, she does not have to spend any of her development points.
• She can waste her Focus on Flintlock Fury by continuing to fire even when there is no target around.
• Depending on your play style, Anjali's sense of justice is probably a better fit for a Lucas / good ending story and for gaining Influence with proper dialogue choices. However, Katarina may be the better battle companion because she will hang back, making tactical withdrawals easier than having to wait for Anjali to disengage from melee.
• If you don't like choosing a companion, use the AddMoney console command to properly outfit all of them at stores instead of grinding for money to outfit more than one companion.

Gas Spores

• From the time you enter the Bioluminescent Caves and into the Swamp, look out for the smaller spores on the ground. They release a gas that occasionally has the ability to heal you at a rate of about +50 per second.

Royalist Camp

• (Katarina Influence Gain) "(Lie) We're just travelers."
• (Anjali Influence Gain) "Let's attack the village."
• When you exit the camp to Gloamwood Bog, Anjali will advise you to speak with Odo about Devonsey. Katarina does not do so here. If you walk all the way back to the Legion Chapterhouse, Odo has nothing to say about it.

Area 7: First Peoples

Bridge to Maru-Yatum

• If you get to the bridge to the clearing where you will meet Maru-Yatum, and it is still down, there will be a brief camera pan to the wheel that extends the bridge. At that bridge, Lucas can use Wind Shear to hit some of the enemies across the bridge first.

Maru-Yatum

• Fighting Maru-Yatum is like fighting Vera in Stormsong Cavern, except harder.
• He has a near-constant stream of minions and will probably take out your Companion early.
• The minions and swamp creatures have low Health compared to the ones you have encountered so far.
• Don't try to revive your companion or you will probably be squashed (on Hardcore) while doing it by Maru-Yatum's fan-bolt magic attack.
• You can get a few quick free hits initially using Heroic Charge, a couple of slashes, and Heroic Charge again. Then get out before minions swarm you or he fires his fan bolt attack.
• You can release prisoners (who, curiously, were imprisoned with their weapons).
• They will die from Maru-Yatum's fan bolt, but Maru-Yatum probably won't target them, so they will probably get hit by it only if you are nearby and Maru-Yatum fires at you. If not engaged, they will shoot at Maru-Yatum.
• You can duck into the cage for cover against Maru-Yatum's fan-bolt.
• The key to this battle is recognizing that Maru-Yatum has two combat modes: Fan Bolt and Ground Aura and each lasts maybe 10 seconds or so.
• He alternates between the two and it's hard to keep positioned while dodging everything to see what mode he is in, so you need to have a sense of what he's doing at the moment.
• His Fan Bolt comes in pulses and you can typically hear it coming. Dodge even if you think you will outrun it while you are running around the perimeter trying to avoid it. Like Vera's attack, EACH bolt causes damage, so if you are up close and get hit by multiple bolts, you're pretty much finished.
• His Ground Aura is damaging, but not nearly as much. Get in, Heroic Charge a couple of times, then get out and heal.
• While you are running from his Fan Bolt, in between the attacks you can Wind Shear Maru-Yaum and his minions. You can't get a good view of the battlefield, so use Wind Shear pointed roughly toward Maru-Yatum.
• Don't let your health get too low because the minions have attacks that can cause Bleeding.
• After the fight: (Anjali Influence Gain) "He's naive."

Area 8: Stonebridge Chapterhouse

City

• Ursula/Supply Lines quest:
• (Anjali Influence Gain) "I'll deal with them."
• (Katarina Influence Gain) "What's the reward?"

Books and Reopening the Causeway

• Dodge around and grab the books. As Anjali says, the armor suits cannot be defeated, only put down. And there are too many of them to make all of them stay down.
• Each time you reach a checkpoint (reading the initial manuscript that tells you about the books, or grabbing one of the four books) all enemies disappear from the current area and all fire turrets stop, so you get a breather.
• If your companion is seriously wounded, just idle. Companions have free health recovery after a while. Apparently this doesn't require Power Orbs.
• Once you get the quest to recover the books, you cannot save your game until you get all four. If for whatever reason you cannot complete the sequence, try force-saving with the console during each checkpoint.
• (Anjali Influence Gain) "He abandoned us.", "The queen is more important."
• (Katarina Influence Gain) "The Meisters are stronger."

Dungeon Siege III - Lucas Montbarron - Walkthrough - Part 1 (Ravens Rill)

Here are general tips for playing Lucas Montbarron in Dungeon Siege III and the Treasures of the Sun DLC. A list of all our Dungeon Siege III posts can be found here.

We won't be hand-holding you through everything, but instead just give tips on situations that we found tricky.

Area 1: Montbarron Estate
Be careful not to advance too far between fights before searching for notes and things to bash. Some locations become blocked and you can't go back. For example, don't light any of the fuses until you go to the other side and loot all the containers there.

Area 2: Raven's Rill
Bogdan

• The trouble with this encounter is the camera angle. If you end up too close to the Chapterhouse door (e.g., if you use Blade Dash to try to clear most of the mercenaries early), your camera might spin or tilt such that you can't see enough of your surroundings. Instead, immediately retreat back across the bridge and lure the Lescanzi out.

Stormsong Cavern

• Vera
• On HardCore, Vera is a very challenging boss for a level 4 Lucas (your level is capped at level 4 until you start fighting her). It is not too hard to clear the rest of the room and to avoid her, but if he is too close to her, every bolt from her multi-bolt fan attack will hit for combined damage that can kill Lucas outright. She can also generate damaging auras, and does not seem to be stunned by Shield Pummel.
• Her swirling bolt attack that follows you around does no damage, but drops a summoning circle at your location. If you are inside it for too long, three skeletons are conjured. You can take advantage of this if you need Focus, Power for your power orb, or Health using Vampirism gear or Live by the Sword.
• When you get close to her, she stops using her fan bolts and starts a chant that creates a damaging aura. Since the fan bolts just force you to keep running and dodging, you want to stay close to her once you have cleared the room.
• When she starts chanting, back off and wait nearby. When she is done, she will be safe to attack until she comes out of teleportation. In the meantime, she goes through a sequence of spells:
• Damaging aura chant.
• Repulsion sphere.
• Summon undead -- The same as the tracking bolts. But since you are close or in melee with her, you probably can't avoid this and will cause the three skeletons to be summoned. Watch out for their spinning sword attack.
• Teleport -- After she has teleported, there is a short cooldown period during which it appears she cannot do anything.
• Anjali as a companion choice:
• Most creatures will have a maximum pursuit range, so you can sometimes retreat and when they turn away, stop and let Anjali shoot at them.
• Anjali tends to cover your retreat (her decision to follow you typically takes a few seconds and she needs to disengage from combat).
• If you have a bunch of enemies in pursuit and they run past her, she can attack then and keep them in hit-interruption, or possibly kill them before they change their combat decision to attack her.
• Give Anjali the Jackal power to further tie up enemies. The Jackal is often the last to retreat and doesn't draw a lot of enemy attention, so they will typically ignore it even if they are taking hits or being blocked by it.
• Give Anjali a lot of Stamina in boss fights because if the boss and minions focus on her, she's usually finished unless you are in a position to take pressure off her.

Gunderic Manor

• You can defer this mission, and the reward Leona offers to help against Rajani later is a unique item, but not superb in any way. It also does not have any special effect on Ranjani, and the Chaos: Withering attribute doesn't seem to do anything special against Rajani (at least not on Hardcore).
• During this mission you will probably get another Ability. If you are playing on HardCore, you might want to choose Heroic Charge because it can do a lot of damage and help you against bosses. Wind Shear is better against mobs.
• The gargoyles shoot fast and hit hard, but your companion is remarkably hardy against them, possibly because Anjali blocks well.
• If you have enough Block and Armor so that your block renders you immune to damage, dodge forward and take point, then just block. They will target you because you are closer, and Anjali can systematically take them out safely at range from behind you.
• The amount of damage you are taking from their attacks is the amount of Block you need. If you have less than that, the shortfall is taken off your Focus when you block.
• If necessary, retreat behind her and hopefully they will switch targets and let you get back into the fight. In the worst case, retreat into a room and try to handle them one at a time at the doorway.
• They dance around so it can be tricky getting close enough to Shield Pummel them. Even if you could, there are several and you'd be taking hits from the others.
• Once you talk to Alise, skeletons will spawn throughout the Manor. The largest concentration is the main lobby. Retreat up the stairs or out the door back into the garden to draw some out first before going back to handle the rest.
• If you are guessing the password at the Magical Guardian door (which you should try at least once to hear the responses), dodge forward into the magic bolt to let it pass you and continue safely behind and away from you.
• Lord Gunderic (Lucas level 6)
• There appears to be no difference whether the Heart of Nagog is destroyed before or after confronting Lord Gunderic, even though one of the texts found suggests that destroying the Heart would make Gunderic more powerful.
• Lord Gunderic cannot be stunned by Shield Pummel.
• Clear the room, then run around and wait for him to execute one of his powers. There is a short cooldown time afterwards which will allow you to get in one, possibly two, swings of your two-handed sword. He counterattacks very quickly, so two swings is probably the maximum you can do against him each time.
• If you can get his attention, you can literally run circles around him while Anjali kills him with her firebolts. Clear any skeletons summoned quickly and attack Lord Gunderic to get him to focus on you.
• If Anjali becomes unconscious, it is not impossible to revive her, but you might need to draw Gunderic to the far side of the room and get close enough so he starts his earthquake power.

Area 3: Mournweald

Wolves

• Wolves run fast, hit hard, and have no hit reaction. Generally you want to hit and run.
• Against a single wolf, use Shield Pummel to keep it stunned.
• Against multiple wolves, Blade Dash right through and behind them so that he ends his Blade Dash with some distance and can immediately dodge or run.
• If Anjali is swarmed, get back and use area effect attacks to take pressure off her and take advantage of free hits.

Elder Drakkenweyr

• Unlike the other Drakkenweyr on this map, it cannot be stunned by Shield Pummel.
• Draw the wolves away first with Wind Shear (if you have it) and fall back. Since they run much faster than the Drakkenweyr, you can fight them separately.
• The Drakkenweyr's boulder throw can stun. Once it picks up a boulder, prepare to run and let Anjali attack unhindered. When it throws, the boulder's path is set, so you can run sideways to avoid it if you are not sure you can time your dodge properly.
• The Drakkenweyr will not go too far from its cave, so you can keep drawing it out, running back, and letting it retreat again. It will turn back even if Anjali is shooting at it or her Jackal is attacking it.
• If you need to build Focus, there is a clump of spider eggs at the nearest Save Point. This clump always hatches two white spiders when you break it, and it always respawns when you load a save game.

Shadowrift - Palefang

• Impossible for Level 7 Lucas on Hardcore WITH the Treasures of the Sun DLC. I don't remember having trouble here without the DLC installed. With the DLC, Lucas could not inflict any damage at all even though there was damage floating text. Using Heroic Charge he could occasionally inflict light damage, but often the small spiders got in the way and wasted his Heroic Charge. In any case, Palefang can heal itself.
• It's possible that focussing on the Attack stat can make this fight possible on HardCore, but that requires too much grinding for money and a specific build based on gear. We won this fight on Normal and then switched back to HardCore.
• On Normal, it seemed easier to handle the spiders and take pressure off Anjali that way while she killed Palefang. Lucas can mass-attack the hordes of small spiders more easily with Wind Shear (if you have it) and Blade Dash.

Area 4: Upper Ravens Rill
Rukkehvahl Causeway

• The smaller stone outcroppings jutting out of the ground can be destroyed for occasional coin drops.

Gunderic Mausoleum

• North of the map, near the wheelbarrow, is a breakable wall.

Rajani

• It is very dangerous to try to revive your companion because Rajani will drop a column of fire on your location. It's not impossible to survive it, but you will need the health to spend doing it.
• Stage 1 is most easily handled by getting her attention, then running circles while Anjali takes her out. It's like fighting Lord Gunderic, except she acts faster.
• Whenever her attention is on Anjali, move in immediately and attack. If she turns toward you, get out immediately.
• Keep moving and don't double back. If you keep moving, you will generally run out of the fire column attack before it can inflict damage. If you are fairly close to her, watch for her to pull her weapon back for a throw so you can dodge her fire bolt.
• After her spear three-attack sequence, and after she uses each of her special powers, there is a brief pause in which you can attack without retaliation.
• Theoretically you can avoid taking damage here if you are very cautious and fairly lucky with your dodge timing. On Hardcore, the main problem is that two hits or a single weapon attack sequence can kill you.
• Stage 2 is about dodging a minefield and attacks that follow you around
• You cannot rely on Anjali because of the barriers and all the danger spots on the ground. She will likely go unconscious early. Do not try to revive her on HardCore unless your Stamina is obscenely high.
• If she casts the ground inferno that follows you, keep running. You will stay just ahead of the eruptions.
• If she casts her multiple blue bolts, just close on her quickly. It seems they will then strike harmlessly behind him. Heroic Charge is good here.
• Once you close with her, just attack as fast as you can as she starts to teleport to her next location
• If you execute Rajani you also get Heaven's Judgement for Anjali. It's main attribute is +65 Chaos: Lightning, which is an incredible boost at this point in the game, but you can do without it and in any case it doesn't suddenly make her a powerhouse in combat. Choose what you like here for how you prefer to have the story turn out.
• Fighting with Lucas:
• For a level 10 Lucas, this battle is basically about staying alive long enough to whittle down her health, so having a lot of Stamina helps. I was not able to complete Stage 2 on Hardcore without seriously focussing on Stamina-providing gear.
• Heroic Charge helps a lot here if you have it since it does a lot of damage and gets you in quickly during her vulnerable cooldown periods.
• Fighting with Reinhart:
• In the first Stage, Mirror Image is probably the safest power to use because it is fast. It will not necessarily distract Rajani from Reinhart, nor will it do a lot of damage quickly. A slow power will let her launch a fire spear or drop an incineration beneath your feet.
• In Stage 2, Mirror Image works very well because it runs quickly to her automatically (you have to find her on the map first after she teleports since you don't get enough of a screen view to see where she is) and attacking her in melee causes her to teleport. Keep dodging landmines and keep your Focus up to have Mirror Image on. Since she's unlikely to be busy with you, the slow (Lightning Bolt) is viable here.

Area 5: The Hall of Heroes
This place is crazy hard on Hardcore without a lot of Stamina, and is probably meant as a grind to give you XP since it is very far between each save point.

• Mobs can spawn with 3 mages or 1 Skeleton Champion, or, if you are lucky, no mini-boss at all.
• Be careful if you think you see only one enemy, because it might be a stack of 2-3 occupying nearly exactly the same position and taking the same action. Normally there is clipping and enemies cannot occupy the same space, but it is apparently not true here. (Witnessed on Hardcore).

Mages

• The mages are the hardest to handle because their bolts move faster than you can run, and can follow you even up slopes and stairs. The magic bolts cannot turn around, so if possible, dodge into and behind them. If there are too many enemies, retreat and draw them with Wind Shear.
• The mages also usually clump together, so if they all fire at you, you could be wiped out very suddenly by their combined bolts. Be careful when approaching.
• Combined with the narrow corridors here, either you can quickly take them out with Wind Shear / Blade Dash, or you need to close quickly and start hacking. But there is another way:
• Retreat and wait for them to all move back to their spawn position.
• Then move forward, but before they come for you (typically you can see them before they notice you), use Wind Shear to hit them from afar (a Wind Shear can go off-screen) and then back off.
• They move slowly, so by the time you are done with any skeletons that have run to your position, you can back away beyond their pursuit radius. Keep doing this until they are dead. If you gave Anjali the Jackal power, her Jackal might also cover your retreat.

Darkomir (level 11 Lucas)

• One of the easier bosses because his actions are predictable and slow. Easier than Rajani stage 2.
• The main risk is the wide radius of his swings and the fact that he hits so hard you can die in literally just one hit unless you seriously focus on Stamina. Even so, if you can survive his lesser hits and heal in between (or not take any hits at all) you can win.
• Lots of room to move and many opportunities for Lucas to run circles while Anjali shoots.
• Keep running circles so you don't get run over by his dash.
• If he attacks, it is usually a double swing or a swing, pause, and dash. If you are attacking him while he is attacking someone else, he swings all around him. If he is focussing on you, it is a powerful chop.
• As soon as you land a hit (usually with Heroic Charge), it is safest to just get out. If he has to turn completely around to face you, you might get in a couple of additional swings.
• The first time he summons skeletons, he will vanish for a while. The second time he does so, he will fight with them. Clear them first, and use Live by the Sword to regain lots of health doing it.

Dungeon Siege III - Lucas Montbarron - Skills (Abilities, Proficiencies, Talents)

Here are general tips for playing Lucas Montbarron in Dungeon Siege III and the Treasures of the Sun DLC. A list of all our Dungeon Siege III posts can be found here.

Lucas Montbarron - Skill Selection and Use

Stances

Sword and Shield

• This is fast swings but up close. The main reason for using this stance is to quickly build up the relatively small amount of Focus needed to use Lucas's Shield Pummel to keep enemies stunned.

Two-Handed Sword

• The range of a swing is actually slightly further than the length of Lucas's sword. And although the third attack in the sequence hits just one target, it still has the usual arc of effect.
• The third swing looks like the most powerful of the 3-attack sequence, but you cannot Empower just that attack with a Power Orb. As soon as you press SHIFT to enable Empowered attacks, the attack sequence starts all over again.
• You can therefore also use this side effect to abort Lucas's attack sequence if you do not want him to be moved forward by the leaping attack.
• The leaping third attack in this sequence can safely jump Lucas over some attacks.
• This is typically the most commonly used stance because most encounters start with a mob of enemies and you will probably want to cut through them with Blade Dash or Wind Shear.

Defensive

• Lucas has basically no ranged attack, so you will need to be good at Dodging.
• If you rely on blocking, you are at severe risk of being surrounded because Lucas is basically a melee character. And you cannot dodge past an enemy, so once you are flanked, you need to be pointed in the right direction to get out. If you are surrounded, you're pretty much done for because too many his will keep you paralyzed in hit reaction.
• Because of this, think carefully before you maximize Blocking unless you are committed to getting an obscene Block score. On Hardcore, even mobs can hit for close to 200 damage once you are out of the Raven's Rill area and into the Swamps.

Abilities

If you are frustrated at not being able to reach Mastery in some or all Abilities because of the tediously slow rate of achieving Mastery, you may want to consider using the console code.

Sword and Shield Stance

Shield Pummel - Lucas bashes the enemy with his shield, dealing 20% of normal damage and stunning his opponent for 3 seconds.

• The main problem with Shield Pummel is that it can push a target out of reach and you will need to run back to engage them. Typically this happens only with mobs / non-bosses.
• Against mini-bosses, once you have cleared their minions you can more or less keep them constantly stunned.
• Enemies with a purple aura drain your Focus, so you may find yourself suddenly low on Focus and not able to build enough with the swings you are making in between Shield Pummels.
• Against big targets and all main bosses, Shield Pummel will inflict no stun.

Shield Pummel > Brutal Pummel - Shield Pummel does an additional 20% damage per rank in Brutal Pummel.

• Assuming that you are using Sword and Shield a lot, then this is okay. But since you really won't be using it that much, this is a waste of points. Also, you are using Lucas's Shield Pummel for stunning. If you can't stun something, your tactics will typically change entirely, especially against bosses where Lucas can't really just slug it out with them.
• In the mid-game, you will probably end up using Shield Pummel quite a bit against cyclopses and other big brutes in Glacern / Glitterdelve, as a safe combo is 2-3 swings + Shield Pummel. However, using it against one enemy type does not really justify prioritizing this Proficiency.

Shield Pummel > Impetuous Slam - Shield Pummel gains a 20% chance, per rank in Impetuous Slam, to knock down opponents.

• I never saw this successfully happen against mini-bosses in the early game.

Heroic Charge - Lucas charges into battle, delivering a powerful strike.

• This is a one-target big-damage version of Blade Dash. Be careful as the charge width seems to be pretty narrow, so you may charge past the intended target to one farther away but more in a straight line from you.
• The effect of closing quickly can basically be duplicated with Blade Dash, so you are basically looking for damage with this ability. It's good for boss fights as those can drag out without the ability to deal a lot of damage quickly.
• There is a limited range, although it is very far.
• You can Charge at no target, and this can help you get ahead of some enemies that can run faster than you can dodge around (e.g., Azunite Assassins).

Heroic Charge > Willful Charge - Lucas gains an additional 20% bonus Ability DPS per rank when using Heroic Charge.

• You get more damage, and that is what Heroic Charge is all about. Since it already does a lot of damage, if you have something better to spend your Proficiency points, do so first.

Heroic Charge > Executioner's Charge - Heroic Charge automatically critically hits any target with less than 10% health. This percentage increases by 10% per rank.

• If they are already almost dead, Lucas really doesn't need that much extra help to finish them off. If you like critical hits that much, you could instead focus on getting your Agility up and increasing your overall chances all the time.
• At 5/5 ranks, you automatically critically hit targets with 50% or less health, which can help you a lot against the main bosses as they have a lot of health even at 50%.

Vanguard's Strike - Lucas leaps into the air and dives down, delivering a punishing attack.

• You jump. This looks aesthetic, but it means you can sometimes safely leap over bolts, beams, and other ranged attacks. About the same execution speed as Heroic Charge, but safer and does more damage.
• There is a limited range.
• You can jump at no target.

Vanguard's Strike > Vanguard's Gale - Vanguard's Strike pushes nearby enemies 1 meter and slows them by 10% for 5 seconds. Each rank adds 1 meter pushback and +10% slow.

• Lucas is a melee character, so pushing something back just put it out of his reach. However, this pushes back nearby enemies, so you could use it to isolate a boss instead of having to deal with minions first all the time.

Vanguard's Strike > Vanguard's Renewal - When Lucas defeats an enemy with Vanguard's Strike, he regains 5 Focus per rank in Valorous Renewal.

• You have to kill something, and only with Vanguard's Strike, to get the Focus.
• Unless you are using the Empowered version, you are probably killing only one target at a time here, so your maximum Focus gain is 5-25.
• In a boss fight, this would mean you killed a minion with Vanguard's Strike, while not regaining enough Focus to pay for your Ability use which would have been better spent on the boss.

Two-Handed Sword Stance

Blade Dash - Lucas dashes forward in the blink of an eye, slashing through any enemies in his path.

• Works on any number of targets. Width of the line is about the arc of his two-handed sword swing.
• Moves in a straight line, immediately stopped by any barrier, boss, large creature, or blocking creature (very rare to see; such as Azunite soldiers).
• This means you could end up right in front of a boss or in the midst of strong monsters.
• If you are close to a corner or opening, you may end up stopped there because you are just slightly too close to it.
• Less likely to happen with the Empowered version, which moves you about in a non-linear path.
• Unless you use the Empowered version, you will typically end up in the midst of enemies. If they don't all immediately fall over dead, you are at risk of getting swarmed. Most mobs will be killed by a Blade Dash, however.
• Retreat down narrow passages such as stairs to funnel enemies into a convenient line for Blade Dash.
• If shooters are straggling too far back, you may want to dodge past your foes and slightly past the shooters, then turn around and Blade Dash the lot of them.
• Either way, turn back to flatten them with another Blade Dash if they weren't kill on the first pass.
• Against bosses, try to Blade Dash past the boss and to a mob enemy behind the boss. That way, you're not right under the boss's nose at the end of your Blade Dash.
• With Vampirism or Live by the Sword, you can get back a lot of health in a hurry with a well-aimed Blade Dash.

Blade Dash > Hemorrhage - Blade Dash deals an additional 20% damage, per rank in Hemorrhage, to bleeding targets.

• This only works on targets that are already bleeding, so for maximum effectiveness you need to have a lot of already bleeding targets. Fortunately you can get up to 8 with Wounding Gale later on. However, you will need close to a full Focus bar, and doing the two-power sequence will basically drain all your Focus.
• This is a long-term investment that won't see any useful return until much later, and even so, most of the time the popcorn minions can be killed by a regular Blade Dash anyway. But if you can wait, it can be worth it. If you can handle yourself in combat, you could possibly start investing in this very early even though you won't see any immediate benefit.

Blade Dash > Lightning Precision - Lucas learns to instantly target vital areas, gaining 10% chance to critically hit with Blade Dash per rank in Lightning Precision.

• If you can't wait for the Wounding Gale/Hemorrhage combination, Lightning Precision offers you something similar, only you get it earlier.
• With the Empowered version of Blade Dash, Lightning Precision will affect everyone whereas Hemorrhage still requires targets to be already bleeding, and Wounding Gale doesn't work against very widely spaced enemies or very more than 8 enemies.
• Lightning Precision won't stack with getting a critical hit in the normal way, but Wounding Gale/Hemorrhage will.

Wind Shear - Lucas slashes through the air, creating a vortex that cuts through enemies in his path. After hitting 8 enemies, the shear dissipates.

• When this becomes available, get it first.
• It is basically Lucas's only ranged attack, and it has off-screen range.
• You can fire it at enemies off-screen to hit them and possibly draw them away from you. Since it has a maximum of eight targets as well as a limited column width effect, you can draw a few enemies at a time. This is valuable for tackling large or dangerous groups in smaller numbers.
• If you are going for the Wounding Gale/Hemorrhage combo, if you do not get this as soon as possible, you will have to spend Proficiency points elsewhere first.

Wind Shear > Wounding Gale - Wind Shear gains a 20% chance, per rank in Wounding Gale, to apply the Bleeding status effect to opponents.

• The main reason to get this is to make a lot of opponents bleed and set them up for a Hemorrhage Blade Dash immediately.

Wind Shear > Slowing Shear - Creatures affected by Wind Shear are slowed by 10% per rank in Slowing Shear

• Mobs are generally mowed down and easily killed by your Wind Shear/Blade Dash combo, or just by Blade Dash alone. No point slowing them unless you need to run.
• It's hard to say if any one boss will be affected, but in general mini-bosses have a limited pursuit radius, and main bosses fight you in enclosed arenas. Neither really benefits from being slowed down.

Earthrending Strike - Lucas slams his sword into the ground, causing an eruption of energy from the earth, damaging all enemies in a cone in front of him.

• Stupidly slow power. Unless you like taking his or being interrupted by hits, you really need to set this up as the enemy is coming toward you.
• It can hit targets behind what are normally barriers against all attacks.

Earthrending Strike > Tremor - Enemies affected by Earthrending Strike have a 20% chance to be knocked down per rank in Tremor.

• Since this power is slow, having Unbridled Wrath on could mean Lucas can keep using this power over and over. And if the opponents are knocked down each time, he could just keep them down and kill them.
• No way this will work on a boss. And you need the Empowered version to have it affect a radius, so you're likely to be swarmed from other directions while you are doing it.

Earthrending Strike > Magnitude - Each rank of Magnitude extends the range of Earthrending Strike by 2 meters.

• Each rank of Magnitude extends the range of Earthrending Strike by 2 meters.

Defensive Stance
The Abilities in Defensive Stance rely on Power Orbs and not Focus. This is both good and bad since in general, Focus is gained only by attacking, but Power Orbs will also start to fill if you are taking hits. Empowered Defensive Stances use 2 Power Orbs.

Graceful Repose - Lucas enters a state of repose, regenerating 50% of his health over the next 30 seconds.

Graceful Repose > Live by the Sword - While under the effects of Graceful Repose, Lucas gains 5% life steal per rank in Live by the Sword.

• If you end up slugging it out, get this. The main problem is that you can't simply go toe-to-toe with just anything.
• Early minibosses who can be stunned are good candidates, as is any mob that is interrupted by your regular attacks. As you progress in the game, these opportunites evaporate as early as the East Forest and the Mournweald.
• Against mobs, you are typicaly outnumbered and depending on your armor rating you might not recover enough health fast enough.
• Against bosses, you typically can't slug it out even with this as their major attacks can often kill you outright in two hits (on Hardcore).
• There are so many ways of inflicting damage on multiple targets that you can quickly recover a lot of health in a hurry, such as with a good Blade Dash. Against a boss, however, you still have to go in and attack. It helps then to start Graceful Repose early.

Graceful Repose > Combat Rage - Disruption of Lucas's Graceful Repose enrages him, granting 5% more Power from damage taken per rank in Combat Rage.

• A mere 5%-25% more in exchange for taking damage. Power Orbs do fill up pretty fast already.
• Theoretically you could fill up your Power Orbs faster and be constantly in Graceful Repose, but Graceful Repose does not stack, and it is a very long way to Mastery to do group healing. You might not gain Mastery until the late game, if ever (if you are good enough that you don't use Graceful Repose often).
• On HardCore, some bosses can kill your max-health Lucas in one or two hits. Graceful Repose doesn't stack, so all the full Power Orbs you have don't matter when it's already on. You could spend it elsewhere, however.

Shield Wall - Lucas shrugs off blows by force of will, increasing Armor by 20% for 30 seconds.

• This ability helps you when you are taking damage, and the proficiencies are related to taking damage. Since taking damage is generally a bad thing, you will not really profit from these abilities unless you are focussing on Armor and Block, which helps you against mobs and when drawing fire from your companions.
• Major bosses will typically be able to blast through your Armor + Block, no matter what bonus you are getting from your abilities. It would be a major oversight if you could get enough Armor and Block to turtle every boss battle and you can expect not to be able to do this on HardCore.

Shield Wall > Deflecting Shield
Shield Wall > Reflexive Defense

• When you activate this and block, you may see enemies simply walk past you and head for your companion. This is both incredibly lousy and incredibly useful. It is lousy because you are not getting the primary benefit of this Proficiency, which is to reflect damage on them. It is useful if you need some time to recover. It works only against melee attacks, though.

Unbridled Wrath - Lucas taps into his inner wrath, regenerating Focus for the next 30 seconds.

• Get this as soon as possible. Focus is not replenished by a save point. Typically it is recovered only by attacking, and when you are low on Focus, attacking one of the major bosses can be pretty dangerous. Get this and spam powers like Heroic Charge and Wounding Gale + Hemorrhage.
• This ability gives you a heck of a lot of Focus and constantly regenerates it over the duration so that if you are not using it, you will be wasting it once your Focus is at 100%. You can typically get your power orbs refilled before the duration runs out.

Unbridled Wrath > Unstoppable Wrath - While under the effects of Unbridled Wrath, Lucas has a 20% chance to ignore interruption from enemy attacks per rank in Unstoppable Wrath.

• If you are too close to the enemy, dodge out and use your two-handed sword to keep them at bay instead of using this. This proficiency lets you ignore the interruption, but not the damage, so you could end up dead anyway if you slug it out against too many enemies.

Unbridled Wrath > Endless Wrath - While under the effects of Unbridled Wrath, Lucas's Focus Regeneration is increased by an additional 10% per rank in Endless Wrath.

• The Wind Slash + Hemorrhage combo can just about empty your Focus in the two seconds it takes to execute both. I highly recommend this Proficiency to try to keep your Focus at least partially filled so you can continuously use powers.

Talents
Devastating Criticals - Critical Hits deal an additional 10% bonus damage per rank.

• It's harder to get criticals when enemies are tougher as the game progresses.
• 50% at 5/5 plus concentrating on Agility and Chaos: Doom could make this talent really shine, but Agility isn't really Lucas's strong trait. He has to go into melee, so Stamina is really important in many boss fights.

Force of Will - Lucas gains 10% of his Will as Attack DPS. Each rank gains an additional 10%.

• Maximize this early. It's a talent that complements everything you do.

Victory Rush - When Lucas defeats an opponent, there is a 4% chance, per rank in Victory Rush, that he will regain 10% of his health.

• A single rank in Live by the Sword will probably get you health back faster than relying on this passive ability that has a maximum 20% chance of triggering.
• It can help you against bosses because except a couple of uber bosses, they typically have minions helping them and you generally need to clear them anyway.
• Still not as good as building up more reliable health-restoring abilities, proficiencies, and Talents. Very good to have since 10% immediately and with no Power Orb use is great IF it triggers, but look into something else more reliable first. If you get this Talent, go all the way to 5/5.

Wrathful Might - Lucas receives a 4% bonus to Attack per rank of Wrathful Might.

• Maximize this early. It's a talent that complements everything you do.

Focused Strikes - Lucas gains a 4% chance, per rank in Focused Strikes, to generate additional Focus when attacking enemies.

• More Focus can't hurt. It will also save you from having to invoke Unstoppable Wrath so much, leaving you Power Orbs to spend on Empowered Strikes and Abilities; or it helps you spam abilities like Wind Shear even more frequently.
• After Force of Will and Wrathful Might, there isn't anything better to spend your points on until the third set of Talents are unlocked.

Rejuvenation - Whenever Lucas is healed, the amount of healing is increased by 4% per rank in Rejuvenation.

• 20% more healing, stacked with 5/5 Live By the Sword is 60% health recovery over time and 30% Vampirism.
• Evasive action is better, but it's like insurance -- When you need it, you won't complain about having too much. It's low-priority, but better than a lot of other Talents especially when you invoke heal so much over the course of the game.

Trade Master - Lucas is able to sell items for 4% more coins per rank in Trade Master.

• You can grind random spawns for gold instead. Or, just use the console command add_money. Even 20% really won't make a big difference.
• This works when you are selling items, which is already at a small percentage compared to what you have to buy them for.

Cull the Weak - Lucas gains an additional 2% chance per rank to critically hit enemies with less than one third of their health remaining.

• A small bonus chance to critically hit something close to dead anyway.
• This is best against a boss because they have enough health that they can stay at 1/3rd or less health for a long while.
• This Talent helps you when you're already winning. I would prefer to instead first invest in something that helps put you in a winning position in the first place.

Death Defying - Lucas gains a 7% chance, per rank in Death Defying, to shrug off attacks when he is under 25% health. Shrugged off attacks deal no damage.

• This is like life insurance. When someone needs insurance to pay out, they never complain about having too much.
• This seems to be a good ability to have against bosses, as even early bosses like Vera and Rajani can bust you down to very low health in a hurry.
• However, the problem here is that (especially on Hardcore) they can sometimes kill you in just a couple of hits depending on your build, so if they hit you hard enough when you are above 25% health, you're dead without this Talent kicking in.
• Especially when you are on low health, you will be taking evasive action instead of tempting fate (and a reload after significant progress defeating a boss) to inflict damage with a mere 35% survival rate while tanking with this Talent. Basically, this Talent is to help you when you miss your dodge.
• Overall, I recommend better tactics and better gameplay than relying on this Talent. But if you have excess Talent points, put it here than in some of the other skills like Trade Master or Cull the Weak.

Focused Rage - Lucas gains a 5% chance, per rank in Focussed Rage, to generate Focus when damaged by enemies.

• Work on your Unstoppable Wrath first because it gives so much Focus and your Focus is capped at 100 anyway.
• This Talent will probably really shine only when you are getting owned by a boss, so get something else more useful first than a Talent that relies on you not dodging or failing to dodge.

Dungeon Siege III - Companion Influence Dialogue Choices and Events

Here are gameplay tips for playing Dungeon Siege III and the Treasures of the Sun DLC. A list of all our Dungeon Siege III posts can be found here.

In general, you will get Influence gains for companions when you have them as your active companion during key plot points. Some dialogues give you Influence no matter what you say. We will omit these since they are impossible to miss.

This guide is being reformatted and is still in progress.

The Search for Survivors
The dialogues for the early side-quests in Raven's Rill that you can do prior to getting your first companion have no Influence events.

Talking to Anjali:
[Anjali] "You wanted justice"

Talking to Odo:
[Anjali] "I believe you"

The Battle for Raven's Rill
Talking to Rajani:
[Anjali] "We're asking the questions" or "Anjali is a legionnaire"

On the Road
Talking to Odo:
[Anjali] "Let's go after Jeyne", "I agree"
[Lucas] "We need more Legionnaires", "You're wrong"

Talking to Katarina:
[Katarina] "To make the clan stronger"

The Root of the Matter
[Lucas] We're with the Legion
[Katarina] "(Lie) We're just travelers"
[Anjali] "Let's attack the village"
[Lucas] "Maybe we can negotiate"
[Anjali] "He's naive" (when speaking with Devonsey at the end of the quest)
[Lucas] "It's all right"

The Grand Chapterhouse
[Anjali] "He abandoned us", "The Queen's more important"
[Lucas] "We should recruit him"
[Katarina] "The Meisters are stronger"

Trouble in the Crypts
[Lucas] "They were stolen"

Supply Lines
[Anjali] "I'll deal with them"
[Katarina] "What's the reward?"

The Tumbledown Court
? [Anjali, Katarina] "If I must" (when speaking with Ibsen)
? [Lucas, Reinhart] "I'd rather not" (when speaking with Ibsen)
[Anjali] "I'm not sure" (when Roslyn talks about the Radiant Youth)
[Reinhart] "Why didn't I see you?", "Not this again"
[Lucas] "That's a lie"
[Katarina] "You need our help"

Ebb and Flow
[Anjali] "It'll save lives"
[Katarina] "It's a risk"
[Lucas] "Not very honorable"

Lord Devonsey's Trap
[Anjali, Katarina] "You're lying"
[Lucas, Reinhart] "I believe you"

[Anjali] "I don't believe her"
[Anjali, Lucas] "No, I won't"

[Katarina, Reinhart] "Yes, I'll try"

[Lucas] "Tell me the truth"
[Reinhart] It doesn't matter"

[Anjali] "No, she's weak"
[Reinhart] "Yes, she is"
[Lucas] "Time will tell"

[Anjali, Katarina] "Odo is right"
[Lucas, Reinhart] "Marten is right

[Anjali] "We'll need an army"
[Katarina] "Use the Causeways"

Majority Rules
[Anjali] "We only want justice", "Don't make a mistake"
[Katarina] "You need allies"
[Lucas] "My actions are enough"
[Reinhart] "I'll respect your decision"

Stolen Shipments
[Katarina] Ask Werner for a reward.
[Lucas] Don't ask Werner for a reward.

Strike!
[Anjali] "We're defending the ironmongers"
[Reinhart] "You're arrogant"
[Katarina] "Impressive"
[Lucas] Choose in favour of the ironmongers
[Reinhart] Choose in favour of the cyclopes

Hostage Situation
[Reinhart] Refuse reward

The Automaton Rebellion
[Anjali, Lucas] Allow the Dapper Old Gent to be arrested
[Katarina, Reinhart] Recruit the Dapper Old Gent

Uncovering the Past
[Anjali] Make Wenzel stand trial, "You're going to jail."
[Reinhart] Don't make Wenzel stand trial
[Katarina] "Whatever you can offer", "You owe us"
[Lucas] "You owe us nothing", "I'm pressing charges"
[Reinhart] Ask Pratz for an apology

On Holy Ground
[Anjali] "I won't spare Jeyne."  / "You're lying."
[Lucas] "I won't spare Jeyne"
[Katarina] "Get out of the way"
[Reinhart] "What do you want?" / "Agreed -- no killing"
[Anjali] "We have unfinished business"
[Katarina] "I could say the same"
[Reinhart] "Surrender yourself"

Dungeon Siege
[Anjali] Leave Fitch in his cell.
[Reinhart] Free Fitch.

Rebirth
[Anjali] "Don't follow me", "Looking forward to it."
[Lucas] "I understand", "We have no choie"
[Katarina] "Any helpful advice?"

(DLC) Shared Destinies
[Anjali, Lucas] "You betrayed a friend"
[Katarina, Reinhart] "You were smart."

(DLC) The Thief of Hearts
[Anjali, Lucas] Expose Sister Jenna

[Katarina, Reinhart] Keep Sister Jenna's secret

(DLC) A Saintly Relic
[Anjali, Katarina] Keep the Ring of St. Hiram

[Luca, Reinharts] Return the Ring of St. Hiram

(DLC) The Agallan Vault
[Anjali, Katarina] Convince Sister Eleanor to join the Legion

[Lucas, Reinhart] Convince Sister Eleanor to stay with the church

Dungeon Siege III - Cheats / Console

Here are gameplay tips for playing Dungeon Siege III and the Treasures of the Sun DLC. A list of all our Dungeon Siege III posts can be found here.

Console
For many reasons, we highly recommend enabling the console. You will need to download some free third-party files to enable the console in Dungeon Siege III and to get the basics of how to open the console in Dungeon Siege III. Here are some useful commands:

modal_close_all

• Closes the console. Without this command, you cannot close the console window and get back to the game.

auto_grant_empowered_attacks 1

• Normally, to use an Empowered Ability, you will first need to repeatedly use an Ability until the "Mastery" bar is full. This represents your experience with the Ability. When you have Mastered it, you can now use Power Orbs to use the Empowered version of the Ability. Some are gold, like Lucas's Blade Dash, which becomes no longer linear but strikes every opponent he can reach. Others are only slightly more useful.
• The problem with the existing system is that it is incredibly slow to achieve Mastery, and for some Abilities, you may not use them enough to ever gain Mastery.
• This console command allows you to use Power Orbs to empower your abilities whether you have Mastery or not. You will not get in-game feedback (pressing Shift, which toggles Empowering an action with a Power Orb, will still grey out an Ability if you do not have Mastery), but it will work fine.
• You will need to execute this command when you first load a game. It lasts until you close Dungeon Siege III.
• You can revert to normal by using auto_grant_empowered_attacks 0

add_money 100000

• Gives you 100,000 gold. You can use whatever value you want, including negative values to reduce gold.
• Tedious but legitimate ways to get gold or gear:
• You can reload a game to try getting a better drop from treasure chests and the like.
• Grind maps to kill spawned mobs for gold and occasional loot drops.
• Look for respawning breakables.
• When you reload a game, shops refresh their content. Use this to rebuild your characters' gear set if you have to. For example, if you are too low on Stamina and bosses can kill you in one hit on HardCore, you may need to get a new set of gear with some focus on Stamina.

add_xp 100000

• Gives your main character 10,000 Experience Points. You can use whatever value you want, including negative values to reduce XP.
• Reducing XP will not undo levelling. You cannot change your Ability/Proficiency/Talent allocation this way.
• Your current companion will not immediately get the XP. When you select them from reserve, they will get the XP, so switch them out, then select them again.

god

• Toggles "god mode" for the main character, which means you take no damage.
• Because you take no damage, you will also not build momentum and recharge your Power Orb from taking hits.
• You do not get healing from your abilities.
• You need to execute this command every time you load a game.
• Use this to get past boss fights quickly. Some events happen after a boss fight but before you can get to a save point. This means if you want to check out different dialogue options or want to try to get a different loot drop from a boss, you would have to re-do a boss fight all over again. Using god helps this along.

modal_close_all; save

• Close the console window, and then execute the "save" command, which lets you save anywhere in the game, not just at checkpoints. You still need to be out of combat.
• The reason the game has save checkpoints is because enemies respawn on the map pretty much every time you reload a game or after some time. If you save near or at such a spawn location, you will be attacked as soon as you load a game. Other than that, it is generally safe to save your game with this console command.

revert_all

• Change all settings to default values.

Dungeon Siege III - General Gameplay Tips

Here are general tips for playing Dungeon Siege III and the Treasures of the Sun DLC. A list of all our Dungeon Siege III posts can be found here.

General Gameplay Tips

Combat

• Blocking
• There is a small Deed reward when you have blocked 100,000 points of damage.
• To do this, you might try blocking without Retribution on (so the enemy won't die), and periodically healing yourself when you recover a Power Orb from taking damage.
• You cannot move while Blocking.
• You do not need to face your opponent to block.
• Generally you will have to have good timing to block if you are going to exchange blows.
• Against non-bosses, it is generally better to focus on attacking since they are very briefly staggered by every hit and you can keep them unbalanced and not able to fight back.
• Against bosses, they hit too hard to block and you will lose too much Focus while still taking damage with every hit. It is probably better to dodge and use your Focus on Abilities.
• Retribution (damaging an enemy that hits you) and Warding (stunning an enemy that hits you) work while you are blocking.
• Dodging
• You do not pick up anything if you dodge past them.
• Dodging is generally better than blocking since it costs no Focus and you avoid an infinite amount of damage. Also, it moves you out of trouble instead of letting enemies converge and surround you. You can dodge in place if you are blocked by a barrier or an enemy. When you come out of dodge, however, typically an enemy will be able to hit you before you can act.
• Companions
• Your companion generally does very well against mobs but not bosses. It is probable that they block very well with computer-calculated timing, whereas you are generally lousy at blocking.
• They retreat / reposition only if you move quite far away from the battle.
• They won't pick up items, only gold.
• They don't pick up healing or focus orbs.
• If you level up while they are unconscious, they will revive because they level up with you, and at level up your Health and Focus are restored to full.
• Save Checkpoints
• There is usually a save point close to a boss. Use that to recover all your health. If you need Focus, wait for a random encounter to spawn and attack them for Focus. Save the game again, then head for the boss.
• Item Attributes
• Look at your play style and focus on increasing an attribute based on your play style. For example, if you use a lot of powers, get more Will. If you block a lot, increase your Block. The more you have of something, the more likely it is to trigger and be useful. Good ones to get are Warding (stuns enemy that attacks you), Vampirism, and Stamina (good in general, but if you rely on this too much you may be taking too many hits).
• For mobs and mini-bosses, Armor, Stunning, and Warding are all very good. Against bosses, however, these are more or less useless. Bosses will typically be able to hit so hard that unless you invest in Stamina, you can die in a single hit (on Hardcore). Also, major bosses (and some minor bosses) are immune to Stunning effects, since that would make it too easy.
• Pay attention to enemy auras and the tips on the load screens. For instance, purple auras drain your Focus.
• Hardcore Difficulty
• Blocking is useless. There is a huge emphasis on Stamina gear because otherwise bosses can kill you in 1 or 2 hits by the time you are almost done with the Raven's Rill area. Even with a lot of Stamina gear, you might only survive one additional hit at best. Once you reach Glitterdelve, the Azunite Assassins can hit for more damage than a boss.
• This is different if you have the Treasures of the Sun DLC installed. For example, we found the early bosses a bit easier, but the Palefang giant spider boss was impossible. For unclear reasons, Lucas Montbarron could inflict NO damage on it even though there was damage floaty-text. And the monsters scaled up quickly, so that the small white spiders that could do over 100 damage (each spider, per hit) against Lucas at level 7 could do about 50 more to Lucas at level 9.
• Probably the only thing HardCore is good for is getting the Deed for taking a total of 100,000 damage.

Shops

• Look for gold-tier unique items in shops as early as Raven's Rill. They are typically strong at the time you can buy them, but not necessarily the best depending on what you are aiming for in your character, and might still not be as good as a blue item.
• When you buy something, you can't immediately sell it back for the full price you bought it for. There's no "buyer's remorse" that is common in games.

Treasure

• Many barrels, tree stumps, and other destructible items respawn when you reload a game.
• Typically you can reload a game and re-open a chest to get a different drop. Chests do not respawn once looted. If you want to get a different drop, don't save your game. Just reload.
• Chests do not drop level-scaled loot, so opening a chest at a later level will not get you better loot.
• You will need a lot of money to enchant gear with the Treasures of the Sun DLC essences, and if you want to try HardCore (because you will need to adjust your gear to survive). For this reason, instead of grinding for gold, use the add_money console command.

Dungeon Siege III - Tips, Cheats, and Walkthroughs

This post lists all our tips, cheat, and walkthrough posts for Dungeon Siege III and the Treasures of the Sun DLC. We recommend you first play the game for a while without any of the tips here so that you can get a feel for the game, and what you like and don't like about it. Then have a look at our suggestions below.

General

• General Tips
• Cheats / Console
• Companion Influence Dialogue Choices (rewrite in progress)

Character Abilities, Proficiencies, and Talents

• Lucas Montbarron
• Anjali
• Katarina
• Reinhart

Walkthroughs

• Lucas Montbarron
• Part 1 - Raven's Rill Area
• Part 2 - Swamps to Grand Chapterhouse in Stonebridge
• Part 3 - Glacern, Glitterdelve
• Part 4 -
• Anjali
• Katarina
• Reinhart