[Raederic's Hold on Path of the Damned (Vid Included)]

So I've been playing PoE on Path of the Damned on my channel, and I recently completed Raederic's Hold on Path of the Damned. Holy. God. Was it rough. I have to say, I'm really, really enjoying the combat and the necessity to prepare for every fight. That being said, the boss fight was omg difficult. There were something between 3-4 Champions (2 handed fighters with crazy DR and deflection), 2 Bodyguards (rogues), 1-2 Archers, 2 Priests, 2 Archmages, and Raedric himself (2 handed fighter again). It. was. brutal.

 

The strategy that eventually worked was backing into a room and spamming traps at the choke point. I think I need more magic in my party and less temporal DPS. The DR/deflection for mobs on PoD is extremely high, but magic protection seems to be a lot lower? Is that about right?

 

Anyways, I've been having this feeling of accomplishment for a bit now, and I wanted to share that feeling with you! A great, tough fight, and I'm glad I was able to pull it off! (note, I'll be uploading the episodes one at a time for my channel, so the boss fight will be up probably towards Friday)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQiIVln0LGQ

[Weapon Choices for Cipher]

I go with an arbalest for my cipher. I try to get the first shot off in the battle. I can literally use three/four focus talents just based off that one shot. It's insane how much damage an enchanted Arbalest can do.

[Ranged Rogue or Ranger with Mechanics?]

^ Tabletop vet.

 

Every point, even if it looks insignificant, is important. In these kinds of games, things tend to snowball. 1 point now + another stack from something else will usually reap huge rewards.

 

IMHO, go full DPS/Survivial/Stealth with your Ranger and go mechanics with your rogue. People say there are no archetypes in this game, but the best way to play it, especially on PoD, is to stick with the archetypes.

[Character creation stat distrubution]

So I'm going to be making a guide on character creation pretty soon, and I wanted some input on my basic philosophy on character creation:

 

Tank (Fighter): Perception and Resolve to max, leaving most else at base levels

Temopral DPS (Monk,Ranger,Rogue,Barbarian): Might and Dex to max (In-game tip says monk should focus on const because he needs wounds for his abilities, but why would you ever want your dps character to be in the direct line of fire?)

Magical DPS (Wizard,Cipher,Druid): Might max, 1-1 Dex/Intellect, or straight max might/max intellect

Support (Priest,Chanter,Paladin): Intellect max, then Dex/Cons split? Not sure here. Thinking Dex for action speed (no one wants a slow as hell healer), and cons just to keep them alive a bit longer?

 

 

[Wizards Get Better?]

I've found that one of the major problems is that enemies bee-line for the wizard the moment he uses a single spell. Hell, in a certain quest, enemies bee-lined for him eve before he used spells!

[So what's everyone's favorite class thusfar?]

I started off with Ranger, and I have to say that I'm unimpressed. Of course, I threw way too many points into perception. Should have just maxed out Dex and Might instead. I figured the interrupt would be really good against spell casters, but now I regret not having super high action speed.

 

The adventurer I hired was really good. The wizard is obviously a fun class, as in all DnD based games.

[No way to increase accuracy? Seriously?]

I think it's worth considering the ramifications of having accuracy dependant on increasable modifiers. I remember playing DA:O (though there isn't the crazy stat increases in this game), and all challenge was basically worthless because of the crazy combos you can pull.

 

I'm playing on PoD difficulty, and I think that the value of the priest and chanter cannot be understated. I think 1 Priest, 1 chanter, and 1 DPS mage is a must in every party.