kraving

One of my intended playthroughs is a melee cipher Watcher, so that was definitely in contention.

Ah, yeah, that makes sense. Thanks, I've never used a monk before (nor completed a playthrough with WM1&2). Figured there was a mechanical advantage in there for dual wield. I'm sure I'll find a spot for both giant flaming swords and a monk, though they may not be together!

Given the new Firebrand belt from the Deadfire DLC - thoughts on focusing on that and leaving Bittercut(s) for other characters? I've never played monk, so wondering if using a two-hander and having the belt slot claimed would seriously undermine this build.

Now that I've read up on monks a bit, I think including one in a party would really help me change things up. I like the "Monksterlash" - I've never used a fire godlike due to Battleforged being pretty broken when I was playing (*cough*Carnage*cough*). I also like the concept of a stun/interrupt/debuff dual wielding barb; however, both in one party might make the party a bit too trash-mob focused... For my Eothasian priest party, I was planning on Eder and Pallegina up front. Could go Dozens instead of Knights, add a Vile Loner's Lance/Cladhaliath (respec to warhammers once Godansthunyr shows up) barb up front. Eder could go less tanky. For the cipher party, a pally and Monksterlash (well tankier monk respeccing to monksterlash in mid-levels) up front. Melee cipher that can make better use of the close range powers, and put on an antipathetic laser show easier in tighter quarters without having to shoot through a front-liner. Not a lot of gear-sharing issues between monksterlash and annoying barb, so could definitely run both in this party, likely pushing the cipher back to range...

I've yet to play a monk at all, so including one might be a good idea. I do like a lot of their class abilities, I just haven't taken one for a test ride yet. I've played a couple parties through to level 4 or 5 to get back a feel for the game, including my first time using a barbarian. I used the barb as an offtank, which was alright, but also made me think that having a more damage/carnage focused barb would be much more fun - which would mean having more melee in the party. I think my "party rut" is strongly due to my previous complete playthroughs being in v1 - the classes I use reflect the companions you can access fairly early in the game (less Kana - chanters tend to be a little too passive for my preferences.) I need to get used to thinking more "flexibly" about builds, given that we can re-spec characters now. Nothing stopping me from switching a character from an early-ranged to a mid-game melee build, or vice versa. I'm liking the melee cipher concept a lot - open with a pistol shot, then close in with sabres and mind-lasers. Has a nice piratical feel to it, perfect for Deadfire. (Sorry Serafen, your spot has been claimed by my Watcher!) This has certainly jumpstarted my thought process, so thanks!

Like many here, the excitement of the Fig campaign has made me ponder what sort of Watcher I want to import from PoE1 to PoE2. My answer has been: lots! I've got a list of characters I want to run through the game over the course of the next year. However, I have become mired in building parties with the same general template, and I would like some suggestions on different PotD-ready parties I could use for my multiple playthroughs. Some background: I've yet to play through WM 1 & 2. I bought them a couple months ago, but work & school has afforded me no time. Happily, I will have more time soon! I haven't completed a playthrough since v1 I play on PotD I'm not a big fan of the rogue class design, so generally not interested in having any in party While I'm pretty heavy into combat micro-management, I'm not a fan of characters built around rotating through a bunch of guns for super high damage My stuck-in-a-rut party that I perpetually gravitate towards: Main Tank - often a Watcher paladin, or a fighter Off Tank - fighter/barbarian/paladin with lower defences and Spellholding gear (Sanguine Plate & Shod-in-Faith) Support Priest - typically the Mechanics guru due to trap spells Wizard - blaster with CC and debuffs Druid - shapeshifting at low levels, and AoE doom at high levels Cipher - ranged My list of Watchers I want to run: Shieldbearer Paladin - well-meaning, anti-animancy tank. Dozens faction. Eothasian Priest - he's the god of rebirth - of course he's coming back! Animancy-curious. Crucible Knights. Cipher - will straight-up murder for personal power; all for animancy. Doemenel. Barbarian - try out a more damage-focused barb A more offtank/dps Bleakwalker or Kind Wayfarer pally My request: some party compositions that break the above mould of two heavy tanks up front, with a bunch of ranged squishies in enchanted clothes in the back, that also employ one of my desired Watchers. There's a ton of cool gear that I've never really used b/c I don't use a lot of melee characters - does anyone have experience with melee-focused parties? Is a "brute squad" filled with medium-and-heavy armour wearers a good time, or does it get tedious with more people getting punched in the face, and generally lower damage? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'm looking for any inspiration available!

Thus far, it seems like multiclassing is the way to go; characters don't appear to lose a lot from dipping a level into another class. Sure, you delay power gain in your main class - so do more side quests! Mechanically, piling up passive bonuses/buffs/debuffs seems prudent, particularly for PotD (the only way to play!) TANK - Paladin/fighter. Impervious pally tankiness, plus buff aura, plus pseudo-priest support utility, plus Sacred Immolation ... then tack on some auto-healing, engagements, and a couple knockdowns. This build might work better with a few fighter levels. SUPPORT - Priest/chanter dip. All the tastiness of a priest... plus customizable buff/debuff auras. MELEE - Barbarian/cipher dip. AoE melee monster, with debuff shouts and some durability... plus extra damage from whips, lasers, and CC. RANGED - Cipher/rogue dip. Just a sniper cipher with sneak attack. BOOM HEADSHOT. WILDCARD - Wizard/chanter dip. AoE blasting, CC... plus customizable buff/debuff auras. Translated into potential companions: Eder or Pallegina tanking; Xoti or Mysterious Blue Man (if he's a chanter) as support; Serafen locking down the barb/cipher spot; Aloth a shoe-in at wizard... leaving cipher/rogue as a strong main character candidate. Hmm. Might need to do a cipher run of PoE1... I typically play paladins, but it looks like there'll be competition for that tank spot even without the main character factored in.

I have definitely had Azzuro show up when I did not have the merchant stall built. I had all upgrades except the stall and the dungeons built at the time.

I'd like to clear up a few things for people, as I just did some testing thanks to the misleading "always the 17th!" info: There is no universally guaranteed spawn date when these gloves will show up in a particular container. Not everyone will find them on the 17th, or the 19th, or whenever. I haven't tested enough to say that the gloves will definitely be on a loot list for any particular container, however, it does seem like they are. For the game I tested on, they showed up on the 15th of every month in the container on Raedric's desk, and only on the 15th. The loot spawned is based on the day of the month, not the game day or hour (e.g. Day 47, Hour 9) or a set repeating pattern (e.g. every 20th day.) The daily loot list is not altered by weird mini-months, such as the 3-day long Summer Rising holiday. Those 3 days of Summer Rising will have the same loot spawns as the first 3 days of a regular 20-day month, and the daily loot spawns will remain the same for the following regular 20-day month. Loot is "set in stone" based on the particular day of the month that the container is opened. Not, for example, the day you first load a map. This means that you can rest between opening chests on the same map to score loot from different days on the loot list. You can loot Raedric's desk chest on 15th, and the bedroom chest on the 16th, and get the loot on the specific container's list from the 15th and 16th days, respectively. My testing was done by snoozing in Nedmar's room, as I had already kill Osrya in the game I was testing. For future games, the best bet would likely be to NOT peek in the secret stash in the prison cell, choose conversation options that let you snooze with Osrya, and then "map out" the daily loot lists for the secret stash, Raedric's desk chest, and the bedroom chest by resting a day at a time.

Purgatory is in the possession of Archdruid Rehtsin (sp?), leader of the Ethik Nol. Or someone in that room, at least - AoE looting, and all.