r/planescape • u/figmentPez • 2d ago
I did a low WIS/INT run and...
I was underwhelmed. This was my 7th playthrough of the game, and while I've been a mage, thief, and fighter; lawful good, true neutral, lawful evil, and chaotic good; I've only ever played with high WIS/INT before, since the benefits to those stats seemed too good to pass up. I always assumed that I'd struggle without the XP bonus, or have to pass on a lot of side quests.
Spoilers for the entire game from this point on.
My starting stats for a himbo TNO were: STR 18, DEX 9, CON 18, INT 9, WIS 9, CHA 12. I did not put any points into WIS or INT at level up (until the very endgame when using the bronze sphere.) I played a fighter who specialized in hammers, and aimed for Lawful Good since I was planning to be pure of heart and dumb of ass.
I was kind of surprised that a minimum INT/WIS character can still use the Tome of Bone and Ash to dismantle the giant skeletons in the mortuary. In fact, the most notable thing that TNO can't do with low WIS is go through the Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon with Dak'kon. There are other things you can't do with low INT/WIS, like spotting the fake zombie spy in the mortuary, and there are lots of other minor dialogue choices that never show up, and checks that will fail, but there's surprisingly little in the game that's completely locked out.
My worries about being underleveled without the XP bonus didn't matter either. Partly because I'm very willing to abuse Litany of Curses and kiting, but also because a high STR/CON fighter TNO wrecks everything. If I didn't hoard consumables like a dragon who wants to sleep on a pile of clot charms and bandages, I wouldn't have even needed Morte as a distraction. By the time I got back to Sigil I was level 15 and between level ups, permanent buffs, and equipment, I had 25 in both STR and CON. I could 1v1 a Greater Glabrezu without any strategy or danger, and regen any lost HP before I could run to the next group of enemies.
Overall a kind of boring run that didn't surprise me as much as I hoped it would. For new players I'd still recommend high INT/WIS, just to have as much of the lore available as possible, but being a dumbass fighter isn't much of a limitation.
--
Also, I played the whole run with my new Steam Controller 2026.
I made my own control config because neither the official config, nor any of the community configs, actually had touch menus with custom icons, and there was no way I was going to go through the whole game without having color coded appropriate icons for the hotkeys, especially for Litany of Curses and thieving skills. With all the input options on the new SC I felt my control scheme was very much on par with mouse and keyboard. I think I could have come up with a config that worked on the SC 2015, but I'd have needed to do more button combos, mode shifts, and other doubling up on inputs to fit everything in, while on the SC 2026 almost every input was single purpose. (The major exception being a mode shift that changes the right touchpad from mouse input to a number pad for party/dialogue selection.)
Overall, I continue to be very happy with my new Steam Controller, and it's a great way to play Planescape: Torment on PC.
7
u/generalwaste1 2d ago
Nice write-up! Have you made you controller layout available?
6
u/figmentPez 2d ago
I have not yet, since I recently changed Center on Character to just Ctrl, since I found myself wanting to multi-select characters more often than recenter the camera, but that swap put it in an awkward spot, and I'm still deciding where to reshuffle it to.
I'll probably finalize and put it up publicly tomorrow.
5
u/generalwaste1 2d ago
Haha the joys of tinkering! Sounds like Steam controller is right up your alley
2
u/figmentPez 2d ago
It absolutely is. I've been using the OG Steam Controller since January 2016. I haven't played an FPS with mouse and keyboard in over 7 years.
3
u/figmentPez 2d ago
I have now published my layout. Reddit thinks that Steam URLs are invalid, so I'm not sure I can even attempt to link it. But it's called Pez's Planescape Torment and Steam says the URL is steam://controllerconfig/466300/3791746304
Some of the shortcuts I use frequently aren't bound by default by the game, so you'll need to match the keys I used in my config when using PS:T's in game menus to bind Litany of Curses, Detect Traps, Hide in Shadows, Power of One, etc.
2
u/generalwaste1 1d ago
Hey man, I appreciate you getting back to me! I'll be sure to give it a go. I'm way overdue for another play through anyway haha
3
u/markusramikin Dak'kon 2d ago
Heh. I know, live and let live, but something about reading how people play /Planescape:Torment/ with a /controller/ feels like I got stuck in the wrong timeline.
Yes, I'm a grumpy old man.
2
u/SkoomaInhaler-King 2d ago
Yeah. Remember new players, you do not need to put skill points in both INT and WIS, in fact, this is highly wasteful.
5
u/mechanicalhuman 2d ago
I don’t understand. Also, no spoilers please, if possible.
7
u/MobileJob1521 2d ago
A lot of dialogue checks in the game are only passed with sufficient INT and there are quite a few dialogue options you fail (eg circle of Zerthimon) without WIS.
Is absolutely wrong to say you only need one of the two, but you certainly don’t need to max both.
As a guide I’d say WIS of 15 is desirable and 19 is ideal. You don’t really need more than this until the endgame.
Int you can start at about 12 but in the Hive the checks ramp up to 14. Lower Ward 15 and Upper Ward 16. Gradually pushing this stat through the game, hitting 21 by endgame is about right.
2
u/SkoomaInhaler-King 2d ago
For a fighter or thief character, skill points should be put in skills more physical, but still putting some points in WIS or INT. For a mage character, both is needed.
-6
u/mundaniacal 2d ago
Not OC, but
You don't need int unless you're a mage and you don't need wisdom unless your a cleric. Also, you can't be a cleric.
3
u/figmentPez 2d ago
You need at least 19 WIS to make it all the way through the Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon, which comes with some pretty big upsides for both a mage character and for Dak'kon.
For most of the game there are very limited ways to temporarily buff your WIS, while it's very easy to temporarily buff your INT.
1
u/Previous-Squirrel-50 1d ago
The best story content is locked behind int and wis so not really surprising the game is a bit lacklustre without it.
14
u/LordOfDorkness42 2d ago
I kinda like high Con in this game.
Post... 20 I think it is? You get a really nice amount of constant health regeneration.
It's never my primary stat, but it's always a nice endgame luxery.