Serg BlackStrider

This. The Stormcaller reduce foe's Shock DR by -6 and if the result will be the lowest value of Pierce/Shock DR of the enemy, then this decreased Shock damage reduction will be taken into calculation. The Heart of the Storm's +20% Damage bonus is applied to the base Shock damage of Stormcaller (see Damage Resolution here).

I think, the reason is that the fight itself doesn't start instantly but with a split-of-a-second delay (you might also notice that you can't use combat-only spells immediately after your foes goes red but only after a message 'Combat start' in the Log window). Since that opening alfa-strike with ranged Flame of Devotion is out-of-combat it doesn't count as per-encounter uses. edit: ouch... Alesia was quicker than me.

That makes sense to me. I like Rending, though. Rending is just flat +3 damage while Stun is huge debuff (-4 Dexterity, -4 Intellect, -4 Perception, -30 Deflection, -30 Reflex) and also allow Sneak attacks. The subsequent damage might severely surpass Rending bonus.

I would suggest Borresaine (for Stuns and self healing) alone with Engwithan Scepter (for pierce immune foes).

==> Current state: to be continued...

The Tale of Gloomy Face: Hearth Orlan, Druid - Chapter VI: Endless Paths 2-6, Dyrford Village and Crossing. It’s been quite a time after my last update, mostly because there isn’t much to write about Endless Paths early levels – just non-stop fighting with overall the same buffs/debuffs with slight variations or even just an auto attacks. Level 2 – Xaurips’ Territory. Prayer Against Fear since their Priests like to cast Divine Terror. Tanglefoot + Form of the Delemgan for 8DR vs Pierce and immunity to Stuck. Dire Blessing for Hit>Crit conversion. Chill Fog for AoE Blindness and damage. And Pallegina is a beast with Flames of Devotion>Arbalest’s Prone inflicting Crits when needed. When Slicken isn’t an option (Wyrms or other creatures immune to Ground effects) Calling the World’s Maw do the same (send them Prone) and also apply respectable damage as well. For the main fight of the level we applied Moonwell, Dire Blessing, Prayer Against Fear, Chill Fog, Tanglefoot, Returning Storm and called for Shades to hold the front line alone with Eder. That was pretty much enough to spell their (enemies) doom. Some Slicken, Sunbeams and shooting later it was all over. Level 3 – Ogres. The most difficult (tough) opponents so far especially alone with those fellow Ogre Druids. We use Slicken, Curse of Blackened Sight and Despondent Blows to keep them at bay. Calling the World’s Maw and Twin Stones (AoE Pierce damage vs weak Reflex) control and hurt quite reliably. Aloth’s Duplicate (Essential Phantom) is also notably accurate (many Crits) and deadly with Shock damage. For Matron Mother Ardulace (Zolla) we add a food buffs to our already solid common ones and lure her with others outside of her lair. Not quite a choke point but also not an open space either. Form of the Delemgan buff, Tanglefoot, Returning Storm, Slicken, Despondent Blows is solid combo with some Arcane Dampener to cease Zolla’s buffs. As a result Xoti now wear a new nice outfit (Rundl’s Finery) to further improve her casting/shooting power. It’s also pretty neat looking! Level 4 – Trolls/Slimes/Beetles. Mostly on autopilot and only started to use per-rest abilities at the end when some of us had health in ‘yellows’ already. Sagani got a major weapon upgrade (Persistence) giving her Massuk Hunting Bow to me. And we make sure to not forget come back on level 3 with Resolution Sabre for Llawran’s Stick from the secret chamber. Level 5 – Xaurips&Drake. Pathetic. I somewhat borrowed Alesia’s approach there – Bugs/Shades for distraction, Moonwell, Armor of Faith, Devotions for the Faithful, Scroll of Defense, Returning Storm, Knock Down from Eder for Drake and he never recovered (though he managed to breath Eder for 66 damage before falling Prone/Stun). We found a Stalker’s Torc for Sagani and Ilfan Byrngar’s Solace for myself in his treasure hoard. Level 6 – Skeletons/Darguls. Mostly trivial even though there are mages and rangers among them. Level 7 is a Blight’s territory with some spirits and should be manageable but I was a bit sick with dusty dungeons and non-stop fighting, thus longing for fresh air desperately. Onto Dyrford Village through the Woodend Plains (which we finally cleaned of remaining Forest Lurkers), then beeline Stormwall Gorge (hired Hiravias and sent him in Caed Nua). In Dyrford Village we talked with locals gaining quests and purchased an awesome The Hours of St. Rumbalt for Pallegina – now, with her high accuracy, she is able to crit->prone her foes reliably not only with Arbalest shots but also in melee. We let Nyfre go and killed Medreth since my reputation in house Doemenel is horrible anyway. Most of the Crew hit level 8: Gloomy Face (Body Control), Eder (Two Weapon Style), Aloth (Weapon Focus: Noble), Sagani (Weapon Focus: Peasant), Pallegina (Weapon Focus: Soldier). Then we cleared the Korgrak’s cave from spiders (found Ring of Deflection nearby for myself and Cloak of Minor Missiles inside for Aloth: +5DR vs Burn/Shock never hurt) and carefully persuaded him to join the defenses of Caed Nua. The Iron Brand are no match for us and Sagani got a Stag Helm which suits her nicely. Next we secured a Dragon Egg for Hendyna and killed the pack of Wyrms. Trio of Forest Lurkers forced us to use Bugs/Shades/Maura’s Writhing Tentacles to hold the line while we shoot Pwgra/Menpwgra from afar and Xoti now own the Boots of the Long March – she is a style lass and not wear some garbage. To resolve a Blood Legacy we swap Aloth for Grieving Mother. I always struggle whom to take in my core Crew (the rest of it is rock solid, no questions) – I like both and one of them is always a Seven One. Just like Valygar… When I ran a Cipher MC, I took Aloth, another run – Druid – it was Grieving Mother. But since this run is going to advance in Deadfire eventually, I want to get my own developed pre-history for Aloth there. So this time I invited Grieving Mother for Blood Legacy quest only. We enter Dyrford Ruins through the Trygil’s shop and take a shortest pass to Wymund to preserve our per-rest abilities. Xoti hit level 8 after fighting some Bugs alone the way (Inspiring Radiance). Grieving Mother cleansed Aelys of the transfusion and the fight ensured. Their opening Pillar of Holy Fire was devastating but Moonwell, Lay on Hands and Holy Radiance fix the damage. We called for Beatles to get Wymund and Priest busy and concentrated on Preacher/Mind Breakers. With them gone it was just a clean up phase. We sent Aelys to the local Temple of Berath in a hope Priests will help her to hide from Lord Harond and then, unlike with the Raedric’s Hold, where we only killed his personal bodyguards, wiped out clean all the Skaenites without a single thought of regret. Lord Harond himself was spared to bear the burden of his sin for the rest of his life Now, with all Dyrford Village quest lines finished, we are going to advance Sagani’s personal quest so Searing Falls and Pearlwood Bluff are on agenda. ==> (damn pics limit...)

I think, that's abnormal. The only way to get injury is either be knocked out in combat or in scripted iterations. Grieving Mother got one after she cleansed Aelys of the transfusion in my current run but I believe it's count like scripted iteration. And Eder was knocked out once getting another injury. Apart from these two cases, I don't remember I have ever received any. Maybe in Cilant Lis saving Haedan (scripted iteration). Under what circumstances Alyssa got one? edit: In PoE2 walking on a trap could also result in injury, and it's possible during a combat if she walked over a trap maneuvering the battlefield. And a combination of Combusting Wounds + Wall of Flames gives you a Serious Burn. I don't know if it's also true for PoE1.

I haven't run Expert mode myself but have most of those options off anyway and according this info there will no more Maim Companions Before Death, AoE Highlighting and Show Relative Defenses (i.e. the % popup on enemies comparing their known defense scores to your accuracy when you target them with weapon or spell) and other easy-of-use options. The Upper-Left window, showing their current status effects is still available, I believe. So all in all, it's not a big deal, especially for BG experienced player. It's really convenient to have AoE highlighting but when you get used with game mechanic you'll be fine with it Off. And for melee heavy party you don't need it On either.

The Crew grows up, wonderful! Welcome onboard, Ivanfyodorovich!

Feel sad for your loss, FNGRenegade... the team seemed to be promising. Better luck next time!

Yeah, that's exactly how I play too. Feel far more RP this way (reminds me my Planescape: Torment times).

Nice crew you get there, FNGRenegade. Looking forward to see how they will fare. (Nerdy note - TCS means Triple Crown Solo run, so that's not applicable to your current run).

@Alesia: all the best with an exploration of the unknown! And according to my feelings, Alyssa's portrait perfectly suits her class - she definitely seems ... unusual to me.

@Alesia: your impression with Ciphers is pretty much close to mine (I've ran a main character Cipher once and had Grieving Mother another run). I barely used beam spells (it's quite a chore to micro them) and mostly shoot with bow/wand/scepter, building focus for crowd control/defensive spells. I like a general concept of a class though and think it would shine in multiclassed character in PoE2.

Yuppers! We'll open another thread in the PoE 2 forum when some of us are ready to transition. I'd prefer to have at least a few of us active and ready to post on the day the thread opens, to get things off on the right foot. I'd be happy to accommodate others on the timing. Arcadia is ready for export. I'll hold her in reserve until someone else is ready to go. I don't think, it's a matter of 'spoilers' that should be taken in consideration here. If one doesn't want to be spoiled, he will not follow a PoE2 part no matter where it will be posted - here or in PoE2 forum. At the moment we all (except maybe Enuhal) are newbies in PoE2, so each and every post of PoE2 will contain spoilers. And we all play at a very different pace. So if we are interested in our friends runs - we read their posts, if we want to avoid spoilers - we skip them. At least for some time. But that somewhat diminishes all their efforts then... Moreover, some of us usually concentrate on main quest and minimize side-questing, others prefer a completionist approach, so the former will always witness some spoilers following the other runs. Personally, I would prefer a one joint thread here since in my opinion it's more convenient - like on Beamdog's forums. If a majority will decide otherwise though, I'll not complain... too much.

I got mine (Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - Obsidian Edition with all three DLC) for $34.99 in May. Usually there is big Christmas discount on Steam so you'll not wait too long.

I concur, welcome on board, FNGRenegade!

Glad you've made it through, @semiticgod! One note for the future if you have not yet found out yourself already - casting Circle of Protection and applying Scroll of Defense sumultaneously is pointless, unless their AoE not cover all the characters or you want a wider AoE, since they are not stack. Scroll has better Def and duration overall.

Congratulations, Alesia! Your Thaos' fight is no less then a jewel of art and beauty. It's an unspeakable pleasure to witness such thorough approach.

I concur, out of those two options Monk would seem more interesting.

Sorry for thy loss, Jaheiras Witness... I guess, one of the many other reasons (unlucky events, RL distractions etc.) of premature end of no-reload run is when it begin to seem too easy... Sure thing, it's just a game, no need to take it as a hard work - there is no fun at all in that case. But I think, a certain degree of concentration doesn't hurt in any case. I might be wrong, but it seems to me that Dragon Thrashed became both a boon and a bane for you... It was a great run nonetheless and I hope to see another one from you.

The Tale of Gloomy Face: Hearth Orlan, Druid - Chapter V: Raedric’s Hold. I’ve thought that it’s time to deal with Raedric already. And check my luck if I can get those famous Gloves of Manipulation. Before going to the Hold we’ve purchased The Dunryd Demon for myself and Hermit’s Hat went to Xoti. We also hired Glanfathan Soul Hunter, a special guest who came by at the moment, to help us protect Caed Nua. En route to the Hold we explored Woodend Plains a bit more where we dealt with a lone Pwgra but Forest Lurkers were left alone again (for now). My goal for the Raedric’s Hold was a quiet infiltration. Not a single guard should be killed – they are just soldiers on duties after all. And as it turned out after Kolsc claimed the Hold they all stayed out there with a new ruler. That’s fine with me and people of Gilded Vale need protection – I can’t stay there forever. We enter through the sewers once again, free Giacco, got some Berathian Priest Robes and talked our way through to Nedmar twice. He gave us Burnished Steel Key and we sneaked through the throne room to Ygrid’s bedchamber. Removing the trap on the chest there gave us enough experience for Pallegina to advance up to level 7 (Liberating Exhortation). With a pumping heart I opened the chest and… Yay! The Gloves of Manipulation! This is the first time ever I put my hands on them. Pallegina found a Minor Bracers of Deflection in nearby room, we applied some food buffs and took an audience with Lord Raedric. He was astonished by our quiet infiltration capabilities (his guards were ashamed) and we listened his end of story, learning some new things about Kolsc et all. But he wasn't convincing enough so a fight ensued. Eder>Wood Beetles, Pallegina>Scroll of Protection, Xoti>Scroll of Defense (it has better protections and duration than Circle of Protection spell), Aloth>Scroll of Valor, Gloomy Face>Returning Storm. Next round Xoti>Blessing followed with Painful Interdiction and Dire Blessing (just a misclick here, no need for Blessing), Aloth>Slicken, Gloomy Face>Autumn's Decay. At some moment all enemies except Archer and one Wizard were either prone or stunned, Aloth depleted his Arcane Assaults and then we just mopped them all with auto attacks: All what is left is to casually loot the whole castle and check what Osrya is now about. Apparently, she is not quite happy with the change of the ruler but since she doesn’t attack us on sight I left her alone. Well, for level 7 party this quest is not challenging at all, so, I think, next time I’ll try it a bit earlier. At least pre Defiance Bay. Now, since I don’t want to go for main quest until I finish all Act I/II side quests, I think, I’ll try my skills on Endless Paths a bit. Current state: Gloomy Face - Druid (lvl 7); Stealth:0; Athletic:1; Lore:1; Mechanics:10; Survival:4; Talents: Veteran's Recovery>Bear's Fortitude>Superior Deflection; Equipment: The Dunryd Demon, Aru-Brekr Brigandine, Minor Cloak of Protection, Minor Ring of Deflection, Ring of Overseeing, Gloves of Manipulation, Fulvano's Boots, Fine Hunting Bow/Hearth Harvest+Fine Hatchet; Eder - Fighter (lvl 7); Stealth:0; Athletic:3; Lore:8; Mechanics:0; Survival:7; Talents: Rapid Recovery>Vulnerable Attack>Superior Deflection; Abilities: Knock Down (auto)>Confident Aim>Disciplined Barrage>Armored Grace; Equipment: The Pilgrim's Lasting Vigil, Sanguine Plate Armor, Cloak of Eothasian Priest, Minor Ring of Deflection, Minor Ring of Protection, Boots of Stability, Blunting Belt, Whispers of Yenwood (Burning Lash)+Oidhreacht/Fine War bow; Aloth - Wizard (lvl 7); Stealth:0; Athletic:3; Lore:9; Mechanics:2; Survival:5; Talents: Blast>Penetrating Blast>Bear's Fortitude; Equipment: Aloth's Leather Armor, Drinking Horn of Moderation, Healing Hands, Minor Ring of Protection, Engwithan Scepter/Fine Rapier+Fine Small Shield; Grimoire: Level 1 - Fan of Flames, Slicken, Chill Fog, Minoletta's Minor Missiles; Level 2 - Curse of Blackened Sight, Infuse With Vital Essence, Combusting Wounds, Bulwark Against The Elements; Level 3 - Expose Vulnerabilities, Fireball, Llengrath's Displaced Image, Arcane Dampener; Level 4 - Essential Phantom, Minor Arcane Reflection; Xoti - Priest of Eothas (lvl 6); Stealth:0; Athletic:2; Lore:8; Mechanics:0; Survival:5; Talents: Interdiction>Painful Interdiction>Weapon and Shield Style; Equipment: Hermit’s Hat, Plate Armor, Father’s Teeth, Fulvano's Gloves, Minor Ring of Protection, Ring of Overseeing, Gaun's Share+Fine Large Shield/Gyrd Haewanes Stenes; Sagani - Ranger (lvl 7); Stealth:3; Athletic:1; Lore:7; Mechanics:0; Survival:6; Talents: Agile Retreat (auto)>Resilient Companion>Vicious Companion>Merciless Companion; Abilities: Wounding Shot (auto)>Predator's Sense>Stalker's Link>Driving Flight; Equipment: Footpad’s Hood, Fine Hide Armor, Cape of Deflection, Bartender's Ring, Minor Ring of Protection, Massuk Hunting Bow/Fine Dagger+Fine Hatchet; Pallegina - Palladin (lvl 7); Stealth:0; Athletic:3; Lore:8; Mechanics:0; Survival:5; Talents: Deep Faith>Veteran's Recovery>Superior Deflection; Abilities: Faith and Conviction (auto)>Flames of Devotion (auto)>Lay on Hands>Zealous Focus>Liberating Exhortation; Equipment: Pallegina's Breastplate, Minor Cloak of Protection, Minor Bracers of Deflection, Shod-in-Faith, Gaun’s Pledge, Justice/Fine Arbalest; to be continued...

In this video (max level upscaled PotD) Thaos do use Dominate at least three times (8:23, 11:18, 13:23). But in other videos he definitely use confusion, instill doubts, pillar of holy fire, cleansing flame etc. far more often.

Congratulations once again, @Enuhal! I'm impressed with the pace you've breezed through the game!

This one? Or are you talking about the poverty run thread itself (not a build thread)?