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Lactose Intolerant Armored Arcanist - Solo Upscaled Path of the Damned with Balance Polishing Mod Class: Goldpact Paladin Blood Mage Game Version: Real Time With Pause. Made to play with Balance Polishing Mod and the Community Patch, but will work basically the same without. POTD Solo Viable: Yes, all Upscaled. Megabosses: I farmed Belranga, Dorudugan and Auranic for their mythic stones, without honor. Didn't try Hauani. Companion: Nope. -----WHAT IS INTERESTING ABOUT THIS BUILD?----- For some time now, I've been trying different ways to build a Wizard that could solo at max difficulty, with all the Balance Polishing Mod components including nerfs, and without using anything that could be remotely considered as cheese. BPM already deactivates the funny business around Wall of Draining, Salvation of Time, Strand of Favor etc. On top, it changes Blood Sacrifice to prevent healing for 6 fixed seconds after using the ability. So I built around those parameters. I also didn't want to use Grimoire Imprint shenanigans at all. So I'd like to finally share this build because it does all that I intended in a deceptively simple and brutally effective way, although it's not the fastest at solving encounters... but it's all automated, which is nice. I will detail briefly the proposition and how it works below, and then I'll put the stat/equipment details etc. Please note that Balance Polishing Mod makes it slightly better (e.g. buffed Fire Godlike passive AR) but it can play just as well in vanilla. The core proposition is simple and stays the same from start to finish, it just gets better as we go and grab more gear and abilities: -Pile up an absolute truckload of Armor Rating through passive/active abilities and items, to push the vast majority of incoming attacks into severe under-penetration (-75% damage). You'll still find a few enemies that have Penetration 24-26 on a Graze/Hit (!) but that's rare and manageable. -Pile up high defenses that are easy to maintain through only a couple casts (basically only passive defenses plus Infuse with Vital Essence and Llengrath's Safeguard) to push the vast majority of incoming attacks to Misses (0% damage) and Grazes (-50% damage). You'll still find a few enemies that have autohits and miss-to-graze conversion but that's manageable. -Have max Resolve (35) and Ring of the Solitary Wanderer to cut all hostile effect durations short (approx. -80% duration). -Have a big health pool and some reasonable sustain healing (23hp per 6s, nothing to write home about) to stay bloodied almost all the time (to always trigger Fire Godlike passive +2 Armor Rating and Blood Rage +10 Accuracy from Akola's Apex Ward, more than negating the Large Shield malus). -Use the Large Shield Modal to further neuter any ranged/Reflex targeting attacks (-50% damage). -Offensively, use Concelhaut's Draining Missiles or early on, Corrosive Siphon, to transfer enemy health to our health. -Convert some of that health to replenish spells and repeat the whole process until there is no more enemy health to steal, which means there are no more enemies and the encounter is won. So here is the full breakdown of a high-level encounter: -Ideally, approach enemy from stealth, find a nice position to make a stand. This build likes being out in the open because it can't be flanked (Kapana Taga) and wants to be engaged by 5 enemies to get max defense bonus from Entonia's Signet Ring. Stay in that position for a few seconds to build the 3 stacks of Armor Rating (Stoic Steel). -Begin the encounter by casting Brand Enemy on a priority target (ideally a healer, or an annoying squishy). At this point, we start with defenses in the 170s-200s and Armor Ratings between 21 and 27 (Mythic Magnera's Chain, Stoic Steel, Kapana Taga, Akola's Apex Ward, Gilded Enmity). Not too bad. -My AI script will switch on The Wall modal, start casting Infuse with Vital Essence, Blood Sacrifice until under 50% health, then Llengrath Safeguard. At this point, we have the defenses as per the screenshot above, all in the 200s and minimum Armor Rating is 24 (!). Incoming damage is minimal and importantly, very predictable. Even Bloodied we still have around 250 health. -Then the AI script will chain cast Draining Missiles, prioritizing enemies by lowest Fortitude, and keep casting Blood Sacrifice in-between to keep us Bloodied and full of spells and maintain uptime on Vital Essence and Safeguard. Apart from Safeguard, we want to only ever cast Ability Tier 2 spells to maximize Blood Sacrifice's usefulness. Draining Missiles are very good because they always do the same damage even on Grazes, and having 6 projectiles means they'll always do something. We love consistency and predictability. It is also important to not have too much dexterity in BPM, to have Draining Missiles fired just when the -100% Healing debuff clears out - projectile travel time and target distance play a role there too, so I went conservative with my dexterity, doesn't matter. -Draining Missiles benefit from Brand Enemy +damage so we want to selectively put this on high-priority enemies, but keep some zeal for occasionally casting Lay on Hands if needed on long fights, to reset our primary resource pool i.e. Health. -The encounter will slowly solve itself as enemies fall. There is actually some upside to taking enemies one by one: we limit the level of extra threat generated by the Blood Mage passive when enemies are below 50% Health. So we keep everybody nice and healthy to keep incoming damage under control while we remove threats one after the other. To my surprise, I never had to reload a fight once with this build doing everything on Upscale, even doing tons of mistake (forgetting to pick Stoic Steel on a respec in Splintered Reef, forgetting about The Wall modal in Trial of the Naga, having the script break causing my toon to dumbly autoattack in melee the Ancient Liche Battlemage for 10mn...). It also punches quickly above its level, .e.g I went to facetank Torkar at level 14 without any trouble. With all the little synergies, the math is in its favor to somehow always comes out on top, never being really in trouble. You might wonder if it also works well when enemies can do a lot of Raw DMG. Well, Frightened Child didn't pose any problem, same for all the Vithrak luminaries, the Oracle of Wael... Just a no-cheese, no-nonsense, slow and steady achiever. -----STATS & BUFFS----- Race: Fire Godlike Background: Ixamitl Plains – Hunter FINAL STATS WITH ALL PERMABUFFS AND NO-REST BUFFS AS OF 5.0 (without combat buffs): Might 14 (8 Base +2 Berath +1 Gift from Machine +1 Rabyuna’s Boon +2 Alchemic Brawn) Constitution 23 (15 Base +2 Berath +2 Alchemic Brawn +3 Girdle of Eoten Constitution +1 Hemp Pet) +5 Infuse with Vital Essence Dexterity 15 (7 Base +1 Godlike +1 Rabyuna +2 Berath +2 Alchemic Guile +2 Amira’s Blessing) Perception 19 (14 Base +2 Berath +2 Alchemic Guile +1 Savage Cunning) Intelligence 18 (13 Base +1 Godlike +2 Berath +2 Alchemic Wits) +5 Infuse with Vital Essence Resolve 35 (18 Base +1 Ixamitl +2 Berath +1 Effigy Resentment Pallegina (sorry, bird lady) +2 Alchemic Wits +2 Nature’s Resolve +2 Rikuhu’s Blessing +2 Rabyuna +1 Cauldron’s Brew +2 Token of Faith +1 Solitary Wanderer Ring +1 Boots of the White) ADDITIONAL PERMABUFFS: Food: Hylea's Bounty Adratic Glow All Trainings Dawnstar Blessing Luminous Adra Potion Nature’s Resolve (Accuracy) Savage Cunning (Survival) Galawain’s Gift Magran’s Blessing Immunity to all Sigils Infamous Captain, Bonus Skills, Champion Stats, Port Maje vendor, Fully discovered Map, Bonus Money… invested all 105 Berath’s Blessing Points SKILLS Mechanics 13-ish then max Athletics, Diplomacy 12-ish then max Survival. -----ABILITIES----- ACTIVE Paladin: Gilded Enmity, Brand Enemy. Lay on Hands. Zealous Aura, Exalted Endurance Wizard: Mirrored Image (for early game). Infuse with Vital Essence. Llengrath's Safeguard. PASSIVE Common: Weapon & Shield. Tough. Improved Critical. Spell Resistance. Bear's Fortitude. Bull's Will. Snake's Reflexes. Paladin: Deep Faith. Retribution (optional). Divine Purpose. Iron Gut (optional). Inspired Path. Righteous Soul. Virtuous Triumph. Stoic Steel. Wizard: Spirit of Decay (for Corrosive Siphon in the beginning). Farcasting. -----GEAR----- Weapon Set 1: Kapana Taga (Mythic , All Comers, Lone Champion), Akola's Apex Ward (Mythic, Hunter's Vigor, Hide and Tooth). Weapon Set 2: doesn't matter. Head: Nothing. Neck: Token of Faith. Chest: Magnera's Chain (Mythic, Padded Underlayer, Magnera's Commitment). Cape: Cape of the Falling Star. Grimoires: Iron Clasped (primary), Ninagauth Teaching (for Death Ray - early on or when we need more burst damage), Arkemyr's illuminating discoveries (not needed). Gloves: Bracers of Greater Deflection. Rings: Solitary Wanderer + Entonia's or Ring of Protection for fights with few engaging enemies. Boots: Boots of the White (to mitigate our only AR weakness, Freeze). Belt: Girdle of Eoten Constitution. Pet: Hemp (+Constitution and +Fortitude is good). That's it. I'm also happy to give the AI scripting details if needed, or pointers on the early game. I haven't posted a video to spare you the lengthy fights but let me know if you'd like to see it in action. Let me know if you have any comments or questions!

@thelee you can even use Greater Maelstrom as a trap-like tool to pull enemies and start getting damaged by it while you already got the spell back and are casting the second one along with your wizard buddy casting salvo or meteor shower cast at an obscene power level. Then everything else

with the right party, a non-summon focused SC chanter is still brutal thanks to that tier 9 invocation that regenerates a class resource. you need a spellcaster-heavy party, probably single-classed. imagine this opener: 1. from stealth, druid and wizard cast great maelstrom and minoletta's missile salvo. 2. combat begins, use chanter's starting phrases to immediately restore those casts to the druid and wizard. 3. re-cast greater maelstrom and minolett's missile salvo. 4. you've just finished most fights in the game. including some boss fights, if you empower those opening spell casts. you can also have chanter with weyc's robe and empower the invocation (even though it doesn't benefit the invocation) to accelerate the chanter's chants; or have sasha's enchanted to restore all phrases, so you can quickly do the tier 9 spellcasts a third time. then you'll probably be able to clear out all but the megabosses in the game. edit: you probably don't even need a party. the tier 9 spells are so good that even if you have only one druid, wizard, or priest (though priests should drop symbols) that it makes it worth picking up that invocation as a SC chanter. edit 2: i did this in my last run and it kicked butt

Heya trolls, denizens, lurkers and y'all that are our community! Welcome the newest member to the Mod Squad from the midst of the OBS community: @Mamoulian War! Play nice and don't spill too much sand ... party may begin

Last day before end of Holiday break. Sifted through some email and took the hound for a 12k run ... now just chilling in the roost

For about a week or two now I have been looking into H0 model train stuff. I'm at a point now where I am seriously considering if I can make space for something. Just throwing around random ideas in my mind, scribbling down some possible layouts, etc. A part of me still hopes that I will drop that idea again, because the costs will be astronomical. The cool trains alone are already in the 200 to 300 bucks ballpark. Then the rail layout will be very pricey too, depending on the amount of switches and special pieces. And that's just the bare minimum -- would have to build a custom table for the setup, deal with the electrics, just get things running. Not to forget the amount of research I still have to do for this. It would be quite a big project that would occupy me for a couple years for sure.

yep after a while my rule of thumb became, don't use that tornado invocation in any fight with high-level kith wizards or fampyrs. they will use spell reflection, and even if the battlefield looks clear at the moment, the invocation bounces so slowly, they'll probably pop it up while it's in flight. i think Her Tears are area effects, technically, instead of projectiles. e.g. like rolling flame instead of necrotic lance. though this reminds me of the most ignominious party wipe i've ever done. empowered Her Tears, split-second before the invocation casting completed my skald got confused (don't remember, but i think it was one of those high level shadow-type creatures that can do that). of course my party was clustered next to each other, that was a ton of damage in an instant that instantly wiped out everyone (incl chanter from the smaller additional shards upon impact) and killed Vela, to boot. never had a fight go so quickly from "absolutely winning" to "instant loss" so quickly.

In my experience it's spell reflection that does you in with this invocation. I once wiped out my entire party casting it at Nemnok with a SC Bellower with obscenely an obscenely high PL as well as lightning lashes from Sasha's and Deltro's helm. While it's fun to use, I never use it against spell casters any more. Her Revenge or Her Tears works much better against them as they don't seem to be reflected, at least in my experience. Never wiped out a party with them!

In a preview of wild card weekend, muh Boys played like utter dog**** against the Commies.

Well the Marines are division of the Navy.

Glad I am not alone! A quick kudos to the Obsidian Support Team. After posting here, I submitted a support ticket and they reached out to me. We are going back and forth on suggestions on fixes (nothing working yet), but if something does work, I will post here with the workaround/fix. Thank you.

You can google for good seeds, if you want.

Nope, they're all Navy. Navy uniforms and ranks which are completely different from the Marines. I'm guessing it was a style choice because they clearly had military access and advisors and the internet. Obviously, a minor thing overall but to me it stuck out.

Ticket prices are $12-16 in these parts. Matinee is the only way to go.

No, if the season has a good ending, I don't care. But most of those Netflix shows have cliff-hanger endings which make you want (or need) another season, which then never comes. It just sucks.

Re: The 1.1 Open Gaming License | DMDave on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/posts/76837590

One of the orange cats: "This is my singular walking pace and not even treats will make me go faster." Black and white cat: "I will use the high ground."

We Finally Know How Ancient Roman Concrete Was So Durable : ScienceAlert

@Keyrock it's not that it's bad... it just feels like he's a bit out of his league (after listening through it)... The original

You might want the Physicker's Belt for builds in which you want to maximize healing while minimizing self-harm. It would be good, for example, for a paladin build in which you are planning on using the sacred immolation ability.

This is why it was so smart for Obsidian to establish a couple of their own IPs, namely Pillars and Outer Worlds. Now they're not beholden to any IP owner. People talk about wouldn't it be cool if Obs did another D&D game or another Fallot game? Sure, but I'd rather they just focus on their own IPs for the exact reason of avoiding situations just like this.

I don't see any reason why studios keeping making deals with WotC. They are clearly untrustworthy partners. As recently as last month both Hidden Path and OtherSide released statements that WotC was very happy with their work on their D&D games. So these cancellations are obviously a money thing, in that Hasbro decided they would not make enough money for them. Hasbro stock is down 40%, and they're pulling back their investments to try and prop up their stock. An they're doing it by sticking the knife in the backs of their D&D video game contractors.

Testing if I can post after reseting cookies on Safari edit: it worked, thank you @majestic edit2: I have finished all Menace Dungeons in FFXV. Learned all food and I am still missing two fishes to complete the Archives. I still need to visit one optional dungeon, to have 100% of datalog full. And I need to defeat Omega and Adamantoise, and finish Episode Ardyn on A+ rating to have 100% of the trophies. So if I’ll be lucky, I might be finished before the end of the week.

I'm playing Grim Dawn again. At this point most of you are already aware that the game is awesome. This time around I'm running a Purifier, guns akimbo style. I've mainly been investing in Inquisitor and have only dipped into Demolitionist to get Fire Strike to replace my default attack. My attack speed is already ludicrous and it's only going to get more ludicrous.

Josh Sawyer did an interesting talk on armor systems recently, with particular bits on PoE and Deadfire. nothing terribly new if you've been on reddit or on the forums here for a while, but it's interesting just to see how he thinks

r.i.p. bozo

Slowly re-adjusting for time zones. Dealing with all the laundry and such from travels, and also trying to catch up on a few things as it goes. Thought I'd try running a print but apparently the jetlag stopped me realising I hadn't quite put in enough resin before printing...