u/fernxqueen

This is my first time playing the game and I'm almost done with Act 1. I know you have to lock in companions at the end of it, so I've been rolling with my intended final party composition which is a custom main, Sebille, Lohse, and Fane. I got the Hall of Echoes scene after finishing the Braccus Rex Armory (source collars were not yet removed at this time, not sure if that matters). Everyone got Bless afterwards EXCEPT Sebille (it's not in her Skill tab at all), which has been kind of annoying since besides the random source pools, I only found the one fountain and this game wants me to use Bless in basically every quest, so having only three people who can use it only once each has been pretty inconvenient (like with the pigs). Is this a bug? If so, any idea how to fix it? I tried searching but couldn't find anyone else mentioning it. I'm playing the vanilla Definitive Edition on PS5.

I'm playing PoE1 for the first time, following a guide which is directing me to now complete the assault on Raedric's Hold. The problem is, the guide creator's party is Level 6 (which seems to be the recommended level to complete this) but my party is not even Level 5 yet? And this is after jumping ahead and doing some extra stuff in an attempt to farm XP.

I've cleared the following maps:

• Valewood
• Gilded Vale (finished/turned in all side quests)
• Magran's Fork
• Anslög's Compass
• Esternwood
• Black Meadow
• Madhmr Bridge
• Woodend Plains

I've recruited the following companions:

• Edér
• Aloth
• Durance
• Kana
• Sagani
• Hiravias

I've also:

• Cleared the first level under Caed Nua, became master of the keep, and begun upgrades
• Cleared all of the Stormwall Gorge except for the Feral Druids
• Unlocked and visited Raedric's Hold, Aedelwan Bridge, and Searing Falls (also killed one of the drakes in the latter)

Currently, my Watcher and Edér *just* hit Level 5 and the rest of my party is Level 4, so it seems like I'm missing quite a lot of XP? Any suggestions?

Also, not a huge deal, but I have significantly less gold than the guide indicates that I should have. Like at no point have I had even 2k at one time. I've only been able to afford the first three upgrades to the keep and a robe for my Watcher.

Basically I have this idea for a character who as a child was the sole survivor of a plague in her village, and subsequently has become a somewhat vengeful priestess of Talona. Since Talona is not a deity option in the game and the most "evil" I can realistically play is probably neutral, I had the idea that she's in fact cursed by Talona and unbeknownst to her, a chosen of Kelemvor (who took pity on her, given his own history with being cursed). I want to focus on necrotic + poison damage rather than summons, so it seems okay lorewise as she wouldn't be running afoul of the undead thing.

I'm thinking I want at least 6 Death Cleric for Reaper and Inescapable Destruction passives (plus Toll the Dead + upcastable Inflict Wounds), but I don't really care about higher level cleric spells beyond the flavor they provide. I'm not interested in spamming Spirit Guardians, either (it might be strong, but it's also boring). I will probably want her to be more of a melee caster/martial hybrid (still undecided about weapons — maybe daggers?) as I don't enjoy playing pure caster or pure martial builds very much.

Reading up on Talona lore, it seems like there are two directions I could go in: druidic (Blightlord vibes) or stealth/assassin. Circle of Spores adds a LOT of flavor but I'm not sure it offers much utility if I won't be summoning — I haven't touched this particular subclass. Rogue playstyle is a bit underwhelming to me, but Gloomstalker Ranger would ​add some stealth shenanigans + poison resistance, isn't MAD, and offers extra attack if taken to Level 5.

I have a ton of equipment mods so not worried about gear optimization, just trying to get the general flavor right. Any other combinations/splits worth considering?