Stacking rules govern how multiple bonuses or penalties for the same stat are applied in Pillars of Eternity and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.
Overview[ | ]
For the exact same stat, a character can simultaneously benefit from...
| Pillars of Eternity | Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire | Category | Sources of bonuses in this category |
|---|---|---|---|
| any number of bonuses from | any number of bonuses from | Weapons |
|
| one bonus from | any number of bonuses from | Equipment |
|
| any number of bonuses from | any number of bonuses from | Passive sources |
|
| one bonus from | one bonus from | Active/modal sources |
|
Penalties (negative bonuses) are tallied up according to the same rules, completely independently from bonuses - so you could have both a bonus and a penalty from active/modal effects for the same stat.
In-game description[ | ]
Stacking rules control how bonuses and penalties are added together. For simplicity, the game distinguishes two source categories of bonuses: passive and active.
Most passive bonuses come from equipped items (including weapons and shields) and passive abilities. If an effect has no duration and does not need to be turned on or off, it generally is considered a passive bonus. All passive bonuses stack with each other.
Active bonuses come from spells, items, and abilities that must be activated. This includes modal abilities that are toggled on the action bar, such as weapon modals, paladin auras, and a fighter stances. Active bonuses use the highest bonus to a statistic and suppress all equal or lower bonuses.
E.g., if a wizard spell grants +3 to Deflection and a paladin's aura grants +5, the highest active bonus is +5, with the +3 being suppressed. If the same wizard spell also granted a bonus to Dexterity, it would apply unless it was also; trumped by a superior Dexterity bonus from another active/modal source.
Suppressed effects[ | ]
When a character is affected by multiple non-stacking bonuses for the same stat, only the highest of them is applied, and the rest are suppressed. Their durations still run their course though - when the duration of the highest one runs out, its place is taken by the next highest one that hasn't run out yet.
Note that only the specific bonus in question on the specific character in question is suppressed, not the application of the whole source (e.g. ability/talent) that it came from. If one source causes multiple bonuses for different stats, some of them can be suppressed while others are active - and if it causes a bonus for the same stat on different characters, it can be suppressed on some of them but active on others.
Again, the same goes for penalties.
Equipment in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire[ | ]
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire treats equipment bonus as a passive effect and allows stacking. Effects that modify the character's stats and defenses are stacked additively and will not be suppressed. Pet bonuses are generally treated as equipment with the sole exception that similar pet bonuses do not stack with each other.
Effective stacking of status effect penalties/bonuses[ | ]
Status effects are active abilities that modify a character's attributes, defenses and combat stats. While status effects that modify the same defense or combat stat directly do not stack, it is possible to stack penalties/bonuses on a given defense indirectly, by affecting the governing attributes. Additionally, differently-named bonuses do stack (ex. "+5 to ''All'' Defenses" is not the same as "+10 Will"). Below is a list of Status Effects that stack on each other to provide a high bonus to a defense (Will chosen at random):
- Holy Meditation is the base spell we use to boost Will defense by +15. It affects will directly and will suppress all other spells that have the same effect.
- Circle of Protection provides a +15 bonus to all defenses. Since the bonus is not Will defense specifically, it will stack with all other bonuses.
- Finally, Crowns for the Faithful grants +25 direct bonus to Resolve. It does not suppress active effects that provide bonus to Will, but indirectly grants +50 bonus to Will (2 Will per point of Resolve).
In the end, combining those 3 spells will provide a total (stacked) bonus of +80 to Will.
Percentages[ | ]
Multiple stacking percentage bonuses/penalties are added together before they're applied.
For example if you have a 30% bonus and a 50% bonus for the same stat (from stacking sources), the stat in question would be increased to:
value = base × (1 + 0.3 + 0.5) = base × 1.8
and not
value = base × 1.3 × 1.5 = base × 1.95