[Ranger / Rogue abilities question]

Every ability with a dot is an upgrade from a normal debuff ability. The only exception I can think of is Ring the Bell with one handed weapons. However, most backstab builds use 2 handed weapons because backstab only works on the first strike... so it is only relevant if you aren't using two handers and are doing a One handed Weapon build. Dual Wielding doesnt get the offhand attack to backstab so usong two weapons and backstab isn't the best idea. Ranged weapons give bonus Pen and two handers add a stagger affliction with their upgrades. IIRC.

 

Arterial Strike has an alternate upgrade in debilitating strike. This adds a secondary affliction to crippling striker's hobble, which is distracted.

 

Blinding Strike has confounding blind which doesnt DoT, but adds a stacking deflection debuff to the target for each time they are hit while the blind is going on. This is very common in the rogue's tree.

 

Honestly, for a backstab build id prefer confounding blind anyway. Whittle their deflection before stealthing and popping them with Killing blow. No armor means more damage.

 

Then there is smoke grenade vs pernicious cloud. One is sickens (grenade) and the other DoT (pernicious).

 

The only thing I'm not sure about is Deep Wounds, but it likely breaks stealth too.

 

The stealth rogue can work with every ability, but not every ability upgrade. You can be an upfront mDPS with dots, or a backstab build with more debuffs and burst damage. Is the trade off worth it? I dont know. I think both builds are viable though.

 

Dot build is nasty though. My Rogue/Troubadour just rips through baddies on Veteran. He is like Drizzt in BG1 with the Gnolls. Of course it might differ on PotD, but I dont think the difference between these two difficulties is that great at the moment.

 

 

the question is just when you're building around back stabbing predominantly and not around utilizing your pet - why do you want to be a ranger in the first place and not just rather go rogue, or rogue wizard or something

[Ranger / Rogue abilities question]

i am not sure if i like marked for the hunt much to be honest....because when fighting a lot of enemies the mark can appear anywhere,  but i usually want to exactly select which target to attack and which target the pet attacks... the pet might also have to run around a lot...so i am not sure its worth it

 

Also remember that for aeterial strike the target has to move for the dot - but if your pet engages the target it wont move a lot...

 

The eye gouge also says the dot lasts until combat ends...that seems pretty great to be honest, no need to reapply

[Change initial companion class/multiclass selection]

It says you cannot change this selection - can you maybe do it through the console? Or only by adding / removing individual abilities?

[Ranger / Rogue abilities question]

The rogue blinding strike upgrade seems neat because it does dot and allows for sneak attack so both pet upgrades should work? +80% dam

[companions rank]

Ps: i like when you basically make any advance on pallegina shes like nope never gonna happend....

[companions rank]

Id probably exchange maia for aloth or xoti (mechanicly shes week, maybe she works better as geomancer) but as someone has mentionned pallegina (still said her return was so badly written), tekehu, serafen and maia all represent one of the 4 major factions in the game....while i love aloth and eder they both feel a bit misplaced.

 

Xoti is interesting...if only i could take 6 characters

[Where are the pirate pets?]

I find only cats and dogs - where are the parrots and monkeys?

[ranged dps]

Depends what u mean by ranged dps? Like a sniper with weapons? Definatly maia...she has a huge range...but no aoe capabilities.... if u want aoe nukers take aloth and tekehu.... i just had a fight where i was literaly swarmed by 20-30 enemies and these are the harder fights and maia is pretty useless here...

[Reselect Class Choice for Companion]

i mean reselect if they are a single class or which multi class, and which multiclass - i am not aware you can do that.

 

I think thats not a great design decision because of course it will take some time to figure out how things work, what you like, dislike etc... i am not necessarily unhappy with the choice but would like to try something else.

[Reselect Class Choice for Companion]

i think it would be nice if we could also re-select the initial class choice for the companion when we reset their skills...it usually takes a few levels to see if something works out or not....

[Brightness]

Is it just me or are a lot of areas incredibly dark? 

[Pallegina and the Kind Wayfarer ending...]

I assume regardless of endind she always gets the same abilities? Man her special passives and the fod speed boost was so much better in POE1

[Pallegina and the Kind Wayfarer ending...]

What bothers me is that whole intro storyline is unbelievably lazy and bad writing....and then she just shows up at VTC and just joins....they either just couldnt bother or run out of time

[Maia Rua to multi or not to multi?]

I think rogue has some nice additions....the eye gouge applies sneak and dot which is nice for the pet

[Inquisitor vs Psyblade]

Psyblade is stronger but has less group utility.... i tried an orlan 1h psyblade with 80-90% hit to crit for a while....was very reliable

[Which cipher spells/passives for a ranged cipher?]

On a lot of cipher skills the penetration value seems to be missing

 

Silent scream seems kinda underwhelming for the amount it costs and disintegration is kinda a better version of soul ignition

[Symbols of Death]

Its just bad design in my view that u have to actively read click on the items for them to be counted as 'read'...pretty sure i havent read the 3rd tablet either actively because there is no need to complete the quest for the priest which u encounter first

[So what does the beta patch NOT fix?]

Is the patch recommended or rather wait?

[What is your worst single-class in Deadfire?]

 

Ranger has only 1 function imo - take out / interrupt mages and priests....great for that and alpha strikes....bad for everything else

anyclass with a ranged weapon can do that

But the ranger and companion are better at it

[Which cipher spells/passives for a ranged cipher?]

Which talents and spells do you pick for Serafin or another ranged cipher that is part of the group?

 

There is a cipher talent that increases spell penetration - does this apply to all spells outside of raw damage (because some spells don't have penetration values for example soul shock or soul ignition while mind blade / mind lance do?)

 

Which spells do you think are useful?

 

Deciding also between mind blades and soul shock as a spammable.... mind blades does less damage but the range/jump is really nice...in a lot of fights enemies seem to be scattered all over the place a lot of times....

 

I am also wondering if its worth taking things like silent scream or mental binding in addition to whispers of treason - because you can just whisper of treason everything and its basically "stunned/paralyzed" as well....(unless it has specific charmed resistances)

 

Pain link and borrowed instincts seem the best buffs...

 

any other tips / thoughts?

[Could someone please ELI5 penetration to me?]

i have a question to this as well - some abilities show a penetration value while others do not (often spells with magic damage do not show a penetration value)....do only weapons work through the penetration mechanics?

[[POTD Difficulty] Launch NOT tuned discussion thread]

what is the console command to switch from veteran to path of the damned and vice verca? is it the same as pillars 1 - difficulty 3 = path of the damned?

[What is your worst single-class in Deadfire?]

Ranger has only 1 function imo - take out / interrupt mages and priests....great for that and alpha strikes....bad for everything else

[Party Management / Moving in areas with several maps]

It would be kinda nice if it was possible to switch party members on the fly for conversations and if you could move to another map area without having to go to an exit every time.... when moving inside a bigger city / zone, having to run back and forth all the time to gather party members for specific dialogues / quests can get a bit tiresome....just a small improvement

[What does reputation actually change?]

Is there a difference if factions (dis)like me? Like access/no access to quests or such and on what level of reputation will you start noticing a difference?