Madscientist

Based on the observed and documented data mentioned in another thread, do you feel this will cause the vast majority of players to choose those classes even if they didn't want to? Well, only a very small number of all players is in this forum. The people in this forum are the ones who know the game best, because they discuss about game mechanics and very powerful or very useless combinations all day long. I do not know what most players do, because I am also one of the freaks who likes to discuss game mechanics and OP builds. I guess that most players play very different than those players who have the most posts in this forum. If you ask yourself what most players are doing you will not find the answers here. If obsidian has data of all players, like which classes they play, which difficulty setting, how long they play and how often they see game over, I do not know them. Those data would be the only safe source of information if players prefer or avoid some classes. And even then we would not be sure why they do it because when creating a char players do not write why they chose this char and not something else.

Copied from thr other thread: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MaxQuest has found the damage formula. I post it here so you do not have to search those threads for the formulas. ------------------------------------------------- FinalDamage = (RolledDamage * DamageMultiplier + AdditiveDamageBonus) * PostAdditiveDamageMultiplier DamageMultiplier is influenced by: - weapon quality bonus (e.g. fine/exceptional/superb) - weapon type bonus (e.g. sharp) - bonus damage talents (e.g. two-handed style, sneak attack, soul whip) - crit bonus - over-penetration bonus PostAdditiveDamageMultiplier is influenced by: - might damage coefficient - modal malus (like -50% from daggers modal) - graze malus - under-penetration malus As for AdditiveDamageBonus, am not completely sure but it can include flat damage bonuses; think of Novice's Suffering from PoE1. Question: Now, how are these multipliers actually calculated? Additive or multiplicative? Answer: additive with a big twist: - all damage coefficients are broken into steps - now, if it's value is above 1, the step will be (value - 1) - and if the value is below 1, the step will be (1 - 1 / value) - after that all these steps are added up, into one big coefficient - if the value of this coefficient is above 0, the group multiplier will be (coefficient + 1) - and if the value of this coefficient is below 0, the group multiplier will be [1 / (1 - coefficient] ------------------------------------------------- This is for the second version of the beta. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I did understand the formula of PoE1. But regarding damage and speed, its impossible for me to tell what is the final effect of a modifier when there are several other modifiers as well.

oh what, that's insane. Sawyer went from "attributes don't matter" all the way in the other direction now? Unbelievable Well, the formulas have gotten more complicated. You can look here: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/94713-compilation-thread-balance-classes-feedback-game-mechanics/ ( The damage formula can be found if you scroll down a bit ) Some things are multiplicative, some thing are additive and penalties get a double inversion. The math is really complicated now and I am not a math expert, but I guess it means: - might is more importent than before - weapon modals that reduce damage are also multiplicative, like might - penalties have a really big effect on the end result but they also have diminishing returns ( one penalty has a big impact, but several penalties together have a smaller impact than the addition of the penalties if everyone was calculated alone. result: The game favours extreme actions for damage and attack speed - stack bonusses like crazy and avoid all penalties to have a maximum effect, even one penalty gives a large drop - If you already have a penalty you might as well add some more. You have ruined your maximum effect anyway and penalties have deminishing returns, so if different penalties for the same thing ( damage, speed) give a bonus for different things the profit might be worth it. ( e.g. attack speed malus from armor with high AR + attack speed bonus from something that raises your defenses) This leads to some strange results, like you should use 2h weapons naked while you can dual wield in heavy armor. 2h weapons have a long recovery and if heavy armor adds +X% recovery the time between attacks gets super long. Dual wielding has short recovery so adding +X% recovery adds only a little bit time.

You talk about the fact that monk special attacks do not use the transcendent suffering bonus for unarmed attacks, I guess. If it is in PoE2 ( I did not test it ) we should report it as bug. The enchantment of a weapon ( acc and damage ) is used in PoE1+2 when you perform monl special attacks with a weapon, I guess. ( I did not test it. )

Well, on top of what boeroer already said, bittercut uses the best of 2 damage types, the damage is increased by spirit of decay ( works because it is corrode/slash damage in that order, does not work for weapons that deal physical/elemental damage like durance staff) and you have a 30% lash. My suggestion: - weapon slot 1: unarmed for crush damage - weapon slot 2: dual wield swords ( slash/pierce damage). Maybe sword+shield if you want a more defensive alternative. In PoE2 penetration vs AR has a very big effect. With 2 weapon sets you can deal any physical type of damage and you can summon a ranged weapon if you want ( long pain fist, can use all special attacks but its crush only). No need to waste a talent for more weapon slots. I asume the acc loss for special attacks with fists is a bug that will be fixed. Was this already posted in the bug forum?

The menagerie is great. Now my crew has something to eat when they run out of food. Lets see if all of my pets survive the game

I used the console command to test some things in the beta, but I still have a question: - When you write "auto complete commands" I assume that you can see what you are writing, When I pressed the key, I could write things, press enter and something happened. But there was no text when writing so I had to write blind. Only when I pressed enter I saw my writing and often it was wrong because I had to alt+tab between the game and this forum and remember those commands that can be very long. Is there a way to see what you are writing? - I have a german keyboard but the ingame options show the english keyboard. This is not a problem for most letters, but for some special characters it is. I think I set the console to another key, I think it was ä, but I am not sure. The fact that I do not see what I write makes it worse. So I have to press a key, type something blind and press enter to see it this was the key for the console. When the full game is released and I play it in german, will the options menu show the german keyboard so I can see which key does what?

I really like computer RPGs but I will definitely not take vacations for a game. Everybody knows that sport is the only thing to take vacations for I had a marathon yersterday and tomorrow comes the next race.

I guess I will start to play at release. I wish I could wait some patches, but I look at this forum every day and I will be completely spoilered anyway if I don´t play. The next question is if I should play in english or german. Probably I will play in german and more than half of the time I will be posting bugs. I have finished my last game (Okami) on friday and now I have the problem what to do next. If I start a new game I will not be able to finish it in a week.

To show some respect to the undead I will practice my skills in thread necomancy I was thinking about the perfect party for an undead noble: - The bodyguard: mountain dwarf, goldpact knight, either single class or multi classed with fighter He does not mind working for an undead as long as he gets paid. She points in the direction and he swings his sword that way. He gives cynical comments about everything all the time, but you cannot understand any of his mumbling because of his massive beard. He has only one problem: His boss has forbidden him to sing songs about gold and beer all the time. - The herald: aumaua single class troubadour Whenever she has an official meeting, she is introduced by her herald who recites her full name with all of her titles and achievements. This takes several minutes because she is obsessed with collecting titles. People who know her never forget to bring some earplugs and they never take them out before her herald stops talking after an eternity or two. She listenes very carefully and she has already killed several former heralds because they have forgotten one of her titles or pronounced part of her name wrong. The new herald has to explain her several times every day: "No, you cannot eat my summons. They dissolve when they die." - The necromant, human single class wizard He is her "doctor". He made her become undead and he makes sure that she stays in good shape. He is very happy with his work so far. While being alive technically, he used his dark magic to prolong his life ( at the costs of others ) and his goal is to become a lich or even better, a god. He consideres her as a mix between his daughter and his test subject for optimizing his own immortality. While he is half mad, obsessed with power and looking more rotten than she does, he is a very powerful mage who will burn everything to ashes that stands in his way. - The dark priestress: hearth orlan priest of skean, single class or multi class with rogue She is still young, but she had to work hard as a slave until she killed her master with his own knife when he tried to rape her. She follows this group because she adores their cruelty, deception and the absolute will to destroy everything that stands in their way. In some sense she worships them more than Skean himself. The others are very nice to her and they treat her almost like she is their own child. They do their best to teach her the art of killing, torturing and convincing others to do what you want. Thats it for now. Once the full game is out and I am familiar with the game I will post a full build.

- Some subclasses change the cost for abilities. ( corpse eater barbarien, chanter subclasses ) Edit: I think soul blade ciphers have reduced costs for shred powers. Maybe I have forgotten some more. The talent tree preview for those classes show the default ability costs, not the adjusted ones. expected behaviour: The costs for all abilities should be shown correctly for all subclasses every time you look at the talent tree. - Wizard subclasses lose 2 spell schools but all spells are shown normally. ( This was also the case for priests when they were missing spell schools.) expected behaviour: You should see what spells you will miss. Having the spells you cannot learn greyed out would make it clear what you will miss when chosing this subclass.

How does this spell work? Lets say a char has 10HP, you cast the spell on him, he gets hit for 100 damage but survives because of the spell and then you heal him before the spell runs out. Does the char survive and does he get all damage taken when the spell ends ( so you have to heal at least 91points to stay alive after the spell)?

PoE1 had several unique weapons for every type and the penalty for using a different weapon is only 10acc. I think it is not such a great risk to play as devoted for the first time. It is not BG1+2. Did anyone play a paladin there in the first playthrough and really regretted later NOT taking greatsword profiency?

I will take as main char whatever I want and I use those companions I find most interesting. I cannot tell if I will use more or less casters, but I will use more spells. In PoE1 I used only the per encounter abilities in most fights. In PoE2 everything is per encounter so it is more likely that I will use many spells in most fights.

If I make a monk it will be a melee shattered pillar. Each attack produces several wounds, so I can spam torments reach all the time. With the upgrade my attacks stunn all enemies in front of me and I also produce several rooting pains with every attack, damaging and interrupting all enemies around me. Of course you get nothing from abilities that give a bonus per wound. ( PoE1 monks could get lash damage and DR per wound.)

I want to like the berserker, but it looks like only priests can cast an int inspiration on somebody else and I do not like the idea that I have to cast a spell every fight just to remove the downside of my main char. I play always with a full party and it is very likely that my other chars will stand close to him sometimes. Same thing for Nalpazca. I can understand why people say it is the most powerful monk, but I do not want to find and use tons of items ( drugs) all the time. My playstyle: Not PotD, full party, no cheating ( console codes ), no mods ( except bugfixes maybe ), completeonist and it will be hard to find somebody who plays slower than me. I am also guilty of hoarding items, up to the point that I felt almost guilty for using a health potion during a boss fight in a different game. Often I have to fail a fight before I consider using a potion or scroll because "maybe I need it later" or " I am sure I can do it without" and then I complain that some fights are very hard. Idiot me

The shield stacks? I thought it just gets refreshed so you cannt absorb more than 30damage from one chant to the next. The shield chant sounds very useful in any case. Regarding things that prevent death: I really dislike chars that need to be at low health for max power, even if they are very powerful. This means no death godlike berserker/streetfighter for me and also no assassin/helwalker who reflects the huge damage he takes. The opposite would be interesting for me: a char who stays passively at full health. Maybe something like a chanter/fighter: heavy armor, constant recovery, winds of death or ancient memory dual wielding draining weapons.

- I want to play without the game tells me how difficult it will be. I like how it was in the good old times of Gothic 1+2. You can go whereever you want right from the start, but most things will destroy you right away. Somebody might tell you that you should stay on the road and go to the next town, but you are free to attack a demon at lv1 armed with a wooden stick. - I also want that floating numbers gone because I can see it in the combat log. This was also a problem in PST. The floating numbers were very irritating there, but it did not have a combat log at all. The screen was full of numbers and I still had no idea who was hitting who. For my first playthrough I want to go without difficulty indicators and without level scaling. Find out the difficulty by attacking them and think about coming back later when you see game over after a few seconds.

If anything, PoE1 had the opposite problem: You reached max level when only half of the game is over. PS: I don´t mind if this thread gets closed. Nothing useful will com from this nonsense.

my answer is: Yes, the gods of Eora can do this. BTW: what do you mean with "to defy your genes"? The interaction of genes and the environment determines the brain structure of an individual. Being able to learn and to adapt to different situations is part of the brain as well. While most animals with a complex brain (including humans ) usually care for their children, they will definitely not sacrifice their own life for somebody else in every case. PS: You should watch "Ghost in the Shell". ( the anime movie from 1995 that was an inspiration for matrix, Deus Ex and other things). There is lots of action but there are also many philosophical discussions. Among others there is also a discussion that AI and humans are just programs that are build to maintain and reproduce oneself. A great movie everyone should watch.

My opinion about that: - Thousands of years ago people kiled each other in the name of this god or another. ( like today ) - The engwithans researched this and came to the conclusion that gods do not exit. - They thought that the absence of gods is reason for most bad things in the world and they started to find a way to create gods. - Finally their research was successful and they created the gods as manifestation of ideals of a perfect society. ( They sacrificed tons of people to create gods, so much for the theory that gods prevent violence. ) - The people who created the gods ( Thaos among them ) wanted to spread the new religion ( because they thought it sysbolizes the perfect society ) and they wanted to hide the fact that the gods were created ( because it might lower the importence of gods ). They founded the leaden key and Weodeca gave Thaos the powers he had becuase she supported that goal. The next part is complete speculation: - When creating the gods, the engwithans did not know what exactly the result will be nor could they control the actions of the gods. All they knew was, that they wanted to create something that symbolizes an ideal concept they had. - The gods are creatures with a free will, they can do whatever they want. They were created with a specific personality, but they are able to learn and to adapt their actions to the circumstances. - The gods are powerful soul constructs, but they are not all powerful. They do not know everything about what happens in the world and what the other gods are doing. - When the gods were created they did not know what to do. They discussed with each other and declared some kind of rules for themselves. When a buch of newborn kids invents some rules for themselves, this ruleset will hardly be perfect. Also each god decides to follow those rules or not according to his her own preferences because there is no outside force to enforce these laws. So the gods follow their own ruleset, unless one of them thinks that it gives him/her a big advantage and (s)he can get away with it. - I consider the following things as evidence that the gods have a free will and their actions are not controlled or programmed by the engwithans: + Ondra destroyed the engwithan culture. ( Did they really plan to destroy oneselves? ) + Abydon sacrificed himself to prevent this. ( They planned from the start that one god gets killed by the actions of another god? ) + The other gods kicked Woedeca off her throne. + Magram conspired with Woedeca to kill Eothas but later she worked together with the other gods to prevent Weodecas comeback. (Maybe she plans to get rid of all other gods one after the other to be the only power around.) + Each god has a different idea of what should be done and nobody could predict which of those plans gets finally done. ( e.g. the gods tell the watcher what to do with the stolen souls, but they cannot predict or change which action (s)he takes. Maybe you do something completely different than any of them wants, like you try to use this power to become a god yourself. They can punish you if they do not like your actions, but they cannot control your actions.)

I can think of many different ways to combine two martial classes and martial class+caster. But do you know a good combination of caster+caster? When I look at wizards, priests, ciphers and druids, many of their spells seem similar and losing the top level spells seems to be a bigger disadvantage than having more low level spells. Druids and priest have healing, buff, debuff and damage spells themselves, so a single class covers all areas. Wizards and ciphers lack healing, but their top level spells are also very powerful. Only exception would be the chanter ( if you consider him as caster ) because half of his "spells" are passive their active spell resource recovers over time. So a chanter/priest could be the ultimate party buff machine. At the moment it seems like we are in the same direction as NWN2: Rule of thumb: multi class martials, single class casters.

I assume that the shield modal should make you only unable to move but not give you an affliction. The game automatically ceates a link when a text uses a word with a cyclopedia entry. Sometimes this can lead to links in positions where they should not be. Maybe they should replace the word "immobilized" in the first image with another term that implies the same but does not have a link, like "unable to move". I do not think that using a shield should lower your dex.

I did some thinking about a barbarien/cipher here. https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/96916-rp-build-the-blood-countess-a-real-vampire/ Corpse eater seems nice RP wise, but game mechanics wise its terrible. Each ability costs 1 rage more and you can eat a fallen enemy to regain 3 rage. I think you can eat corpses twice per encounter, each eating gives you 3 rage back and it takes forever. The biggest problem is that you need to kill enemies first before you can eat them. It is better to use your rage for killing as many enemies as possible ( with the lower cost you can use them more often) and if something is still alive after this you finish them with auto attacks. Berserker is the best barbarien class, but you have to deal with your confusion. Barbarien without subclass would be the second choice, the rest is terrible. Remember that you also are a soul blade. If you use their special attack, your weapon damage of this attack generates focus which is immidiately consumed to cause raw damage. That means you should not wait for max focus before using it because this does not increase damage. So it might be a good idea to use soul annihilation every second attack. Your first attack is an attack that generates focus and your second attack generates more focus and uses it to cause more damage. ( unless you want want to cast a spell of course. ) regarding the other stuff: - I am not sure about stats myself. - We do not know the final talent trees yet. - Tons of things will be changed when the game gets released.

My 2 cents: I think the "C" in "CRPG" stands for computer. Personally I regard this "computer" as electronic divice in the broadest sense, so it includes also consoles or mobile phone games. So the "C" shows only that it is an electronic game, as opposed to a table top game. So I consider all of PoE, Skyrim and Final Fantasy as crpg.