As Kiros mentioned, there are several encounters in the game featuring fully named parties. Those were kickstarter rewards.
“Anvils” are the item’s maximum enchantment load, and AFAIK you can’t really top it on most items since the max general enchantment is Superb (6 anvils), one element (2 anvils) and one bane (4 I think ?). That’s for regular weapons/armours at least, I guess with unique weapons that come with built-in enchantments those could take up anvils.
Likely the things you’re missing are shown in the bottom-right window instead : each enchantment has a level requirement and components you need to gather. The Level requirement is easy to miss (I didn’t notice that bit until the mid game).
Ah, that makes sense.
I didn’t pledge much beyond the “get a copy of the game” level.
To be fair, we’re not talking about a little beyond that level - I just checked, and we’re talking about three people who each pledged $5,000 to design an enemy adventuring company. And each of those crazy NPCs with a silly soul-backstory was $1,000. Bless them for making this game happen, but wow.
They’ve just dropped another patch, I think, or at least a hotfix. No patch notes I can see.
You know, flashing back to the past would have gotten you XP in Planescape: Torment. Here, squat. I’m eventually going to stop reading them. Also, the graveyard plaques.
Yeah, I agree on both of those. I did a few of them then quickly got bored. I can barely bring myself to read long text that has to do with the storyline, much less one-off backstories that are mostly not very interesting.
So yeah, thanks for the heads up on this game 
I am enjoying it immensely.
Itumaak, leave the pig alone!
Sagani’s fox just needs to stop molesting my pet pig.
I’m actually finding the combat a bit more difficult than people seem to be suggesting, possibly because I started with a wizard. My wizard plus Aloth may be a bit too much glass cannon in the early going–with their relative fragility, friendly fire, and bouncing spells, they’re often more of a hazard to their poor, lone meat-shield than the enemies. When not accidentally roasting Eder, Aloth is usually getting pounded into the dirt. I’ve begun to suspect he has an aggro bonus to represent his mouthy personality.
I think combat can be pretty damn tough (I’m on hard difficulty) - I have found that having two solid melee types helps keep my back line pretty safe most of the time. I also have my main character, a druid, that can switch to melee to try to prevent enemies from getting to Aloth and the other more squishy types.
If you haven’t found other NPCs to join you yet to bolster your front line, I’d recommend creating a new character in a tavern to join you.
My swag arrived today.
AFAIK there aren’t really any melee NPCs early on besides Eder - the bard is okayish but his defense stats and low dps means he takes too much punishment to really be effective at off-tanking more than one weak mook at a time. I know there’s a paladin out there somewhere too, but I haven’t found her (besides, paladin NPCs are kinda crap, since their defense doesn’t get boosted way the hell up by reputations the way a PC Pally’s is).
So, yeah, if you’re not a slab of beef yourself, I’d really recommend putting down the 250 for a lvl 1 Warrior, Barbarian, Monk, Ranger_with_the_tanky_pet or well-stated Chanter in the first village as soon as you’re out babby’s first dungeon. Monk might be best since they don’t require much in the way of equipment and thrive on taking boots to the head.
Explaining how to get the Paladin NPC. Note that this is the last NPC available. No real spoilers, but inside the hidey-text for those who care to avoid anything spoiler-like.
You have to go to Defiance Bay and all the way to Ondra’s Gift (the dockyards). Go to the Vaillian Trading Company and she will complain in your general direction. Go inside and talk to the manager, and he’ll give you a stupidly small quest - but keep on your toes. Pallegina will offer to join once the quest is complete, basically regardless of what you do.
About her qualities:
Overall, she’s a strong character but if you get her at higher levels she might not have the ideal benefits for your party. Paladins benefit from a lot of customization, and she can be a bit squishy. However, she’s overall fairly tough, will do a good bit of damage, and has some useful talents to support the group.
FWIW, I picked up the Paladin before both the Druid and the Cipher, and I think a good portion of people will see that order (just depends whether you explore the city or the wilderness first). Either way, she’s one of my favorite hangers-on, even without the rep bonuses: low maintenance, good passive, can handle melee, and the few activated abilities she has feel worth using.
This game has the longest epilogue of any game I have ever played.
Even if you go straight to the city, Ondra’s Gift is irrelevant. Further, she’s the only companion who can only join in Chapter 2, and even if you do decide to explore in that order, she still will take longer to get as all the other companions.
What triggers chapter 2? I thought it was gaining Cad Nua
You see a giant city and don’t immediately explore the entire thing? I am so confused. 
No. Chapter 2 triggers upon entering Defiance Bay.
Given that the devs badly built the companions, it’s often best to pick them up early. The exception is Eder, as you want him to be level three when you add him. Explanation:
[spoiler]If Eder is level three when he joins (which means you need that much xp whether or not you’ve actually leveled up) he gets a free Weapon Focus: Ruffian talent, which is actually one of the better talents in the game overall. There’s no clear reason why, and he doesn’t get a talent upon levelling if you have him join at at 2. However, it’s very easy to ding 3 by the time he joins. All you need to do is to rescue the cook north of the village and then talk to the innkeeper and the cook again, then continue to story.
The other companions tend to be poorly built and don’t seem to have any extras, so its in your interest to grab them early and make better choices.[/spoiler]
Looks like to advance the plot I’m going to have to choose a faction in Defiance Bay. I guess I’ll go with The Dozens (which do not even involve ‘yo mamma’ jokes) because they’re basically neutral. The Doemels are too dickish in their criminality, and, well, actually the Knights didn’t actually offend me but I assume I’m supposed to take it that they have huge sticks up their butts.
As for your party members, I’ve got like three people who have stories that require me to keep them in the party until their plot triggers, and then I’ve got the Paladin who makes a good blocker with Eder, so I’ve really only got one rotating slot.