Akimbo

They're still overpowered.

Don't really understand Ciphers. They're really OP and Obsidian decided to buff their health? The focus nerf wasn't significant past the first few levels.

Yeah, I probably am. Sue me for being .... over 40 ... and liking this sort of game. I should say that I recognize a few other people here whose handles I recognize from back then. Gromniir. Wanderon. And some others a bit more vaguely. There are plenty of people who liked the DnD IE games from back then. And heck, it wouldn't surprise me if some of those are old enough to have played the even older SSI gold and silver box DnD computer games as well. Wow, Wanderon is on these forums? Obi-Wanderon, now that is a name I haven't heard in a very long time...

I don't mind min/max, but when people get insulting to others who don't subscribe to the same gameplay style it's a little sad. Back on topic, I think the "correct" answer would actually be "both". You use the Arbalest vs high DR opponents or for the initial alpha-strike. You'd use the warbow vs. lower DR enemies, or with some levels under your belt, it'd be possible to replace the Arbalest with a Warbow altogether assuming you can set up sneak attacks constantly, use DR debuffs and know where to find the good bows early on.

It's not about confusing the two. It's about believing that some of the design choices (relative to attributes) seemingly made for the sake of differentiating PoE from DnD were and are wrong. I don't disagree entirely. I was thinking more about the stereotypes that seem to be thought of here on the forums. Such as people disputing that Barbarians shouldn't have high Intellect, because they're Barbarians. Also, people refer to might purely as a Physical trait, whereas might can refer to intellect just as readily as physical might. Not sure what the actual description for might is in-game, but a lot of opinions seem to be based on the old DnD style tropes. PoE may not have got attributes entirely right, and they're clearly based on DnD foundations, but I appreciate them more than I do DnD's system.

Wizard and Cipher's base endurance has been raised from 30 to 36, and per level from 10 to 12. - Cipher is already OP. Doesn't need this buff. Sanguine Plate's Retaliate mod has been replaced with Spell Holding: Frenzy. - Now worthless. Please reconsider this change, you've already nerfed Retaliation! Otherwise it seems pretty cool.

Seems to be a lot of people who confuse PoE with DnD still.

Since they're basic firearms that load via the muzzle, you need two hands to reload one efficiently. This is why in real life people would wear a brace of pistols, so you could load several and unload them (relatively) quickly in turn. This is effectively what quick-switching weapon sets allows you to replicate in game. The idea of dual wielding pistols is cool, but not really viable if you think about the mechanics and would also be somewhat overpowered as far as balance goes, which is likely the reason they were changed.

If it affects any spells I have a feeling it will only be the ones which are treated like missile attacks, e.g. Necrotic Lance. IIRC, there was a thread which had a list of spells which worked with Penetrating Attack, so I assume it's possible some will work with this too.

I've definitely seen the opposite statement on these boards. Retaliation is seperate from melee attacks entirely (i.e. it doesn't use your weapon stats), thusly it doesn't proc anything from your weapons and it doesn't proc draining. Though it DOES count as a melee attack so something like Carnage WILL proc from it. Riposte on the other hand does count as a full melee attack and so WILL proc draining.

I'd pick the Arbalest, that way you can take Gunner and don't need penetrating shots. Not only that, but the bonus talents on the warbow just aren't that good. If you wanted to use a bow, there are better choices out there. If you want damage, the Arbalest is superior in this case.

This tends to happen with only one opponent, they ignore engagement with my Chanter who is beating their heads in with Tidefall and they just wander off to attack my back lines. Since my ranged Chanter (I have two) is running the frost traps phrase I back off the target, the enemy is slowed/chilled and they get cut down by my melee Chanter...but they don't turn around to engage. p.s. I don't use engagement talents/weapons. I micro my melee fighters to keep engagement. This doesn't happen a lot, but it's been very noticable from some of the undead enemies. (Usually the vampires, however their name is spelt.) your melee characters will get atacked by the mobs no matter what , it just how the game works i think and it makes sense : Why would enemy bash a tank when squishy rogue is hiting them in the back , meanwhile going for backline wouldnt make much sense as they would need to get trough tanks and all the cc , just turning and attacking that annoying melee guy is realistic and sensible . And thats why no matter how much you micro : Hold The Line + Guarding Weapons are non negotiable for tanks They're totally negotiable. My point is they ignore engagement, even when they are being directly attacked by my melee character. They then walk into my back lines, trying to hit a ranged character, while my melee character follows them, hitting them in the back until they die.

This tends to happen with only one opponent, they ignore engagement with my Chanter who is beating their heads in with Tidefall and they just wander off to attack my back lines. Since my ranged Chanter (I have two) is running the frost traps phrase I back off the target, the enemy is slowed/chilled and they get cut down by my melee Chanter...but they don't turn around to engage. p.s. I don't use engagement talents/weapons. I micro my melee fighters to keep engagement. This doesn't happen a lot, but it's been very noticable from some of the undead enemies. (Usually the vampires, however their name is spelt.)

Voted Chanter - Because I wanted to melee, but have something more to do than just swing a weapon.

Just wondering if anyone else is having this problem since the latest patch? I've not had problems with engagement before, but now I have enemies just running off, my Chanter chasing and hitting them from behind as they run, while they ignore him and go after my Wizard or Priest...

I disagree with all my heart. One of those in front and five glass cannons in the back. I "sacrifice" even more on my fighters. You better listen to Akimbo because he speaks truth. Seems to me that Akimbo isn't playing on PotD, where the damage your fighter tank puts out is completely negligible. On everything up to hard, yeah.. no need to minmax. No need to even create your own fighter because Eder can tank just fine. If you build a character like a tank in the OP, then your fighter will put out negligible damage on any difficulty level. It's still overkill, even on PoTD to build a tank like that. Might 10 Constitution 10 Dexterity 3 Perception 15 -5 Intelligence 3 -12 Resolve 15 -5 22 points saved cost = -10 deflection -Duration on skills that don't matter so much. Using a Wild Orlan we get - Redistributed: Might 18 (+1 from location included) Constitution 10 Dexterity 17 Perception 15 Intelligence 3 Resolve 15 If you want the deflection, but don't want to entirely gimp might: Redistributed #2: Might 17 Constitution 8 Dexterity 10 Perception 20 Intelligence 3 Resolve 20 (+1 from location included) That said, is it wrong to build an entirely tank focused character, with 5 glass cannons? No, of course not. I just think that it's overkill to do so and personally prefer a stat allocation like one above. p.s. It's also funny that you assume I'm not playing on PotD

Graze* the word is "Graze"...not "Grace". On topic: This build sacrifices too much. You're over-tanking. Having a meat-sack who can't do anything other than get hit isn't really helpful. With all the deflection talents you can pick up, you'd probably be better off dropping PER and RES to around 15 each, Dump INT (The duration increase isn't that useful for a Fighter), possibly dump CON (If you're taking all tank talents, you should be avoiding most hits), raise Might and Dex.

3 teleporting shades is close to that , solo play tests cheese to its limits nothing to do with actual class NOTHING , no wizard will be played like solo character in proper party and again ill repeat solo is biggest cancer devs could add to this game , and they did it , inject their own creation with cancer how fcked up that is Soloing IE games has been around since BG so... More on topic: Just can't see the point in trying to melee as a Wizard, their buffs aren't good enough and in the time it takes to buff, the fight will usually be half over.

I chose the Savage Attack talent at a lower level, just levelled up and for some reason it's in the list to be picked again.

From my experience, by the time you've cast those buffs most fights would already be over; those that aren't would have benefited more from a Wizard doing something Wizardy instead of buffing himself through the roof to only be at the low end of mediocre in melee.

Even after the nerf to Arbalests I'd never give mine up for a bow. I use a wood elf rogue, with an arbalest that opens up the fight using hobbling shot. I chunkify most casters instantly with the initial shot (70+ damage regularly). To make the most out of it though, you need the gunner talent and a chanter with the phrase for reload/shot speed. If you really wanted to use a bow I'd go with the Hearth Orlan (I feel like you'd want more crits with the weaker, but faster weapons) There are some decent bows, there's one on the 4th or 5th floor of the Endless Depths that iirc stuns when you crit. There's also a decent bow available for sale in Copper Lane. There is a better bow available later on in Twin Elms I think, but I haven't seen it yet. Off the top of my head if you go the bow route, I'd want to pick up: Hobbling shot Dirty Fighting Improved Dirty Fighting Penetrating Shots I'd say these were "must haves". Then there's: Marksman Talent for +6 accuracy depending on which weapon set the bow you want to use is under I tend to find myself skipping these skills early on though in favour of Gunner since I use slower weapons.

Since carnage makes a "to-hit-roll" and can graze/crit, I think that it can interrupt. It is essentially just a set of free attacks at all those in range. I know for example that it can proc the Tall Grass pike's knockdown on crit ability. http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Combat#Interrupts.2FConcentration The wiki doesn't explicitly mention carnage, but it does say that "If a character is hit while performing an action such as casting a spell, attacking an enemy, or reloading a weapon, a Concentration roll will occur and, if the roll fails, the action will be Interrupted."

He doesn't mean player use. He means if you're exploring and you see a trap, or rather don't see it. Since endurance regens out of combat, tripping the trap doesn't really have any consequences. I think the counter to that is: You lose a tiny bit of xp for not disarming. You don't get to keep the trap after disarming it. (So you lose out on money if you just trigger them.) You will probably take some health damage as well as endurance damage. May not be much but can still be annoying.

Ogres have low concentration and are very much worth interrupting. Other than that though, I've never really noticed myself interrupting anything that had an effect on the fight. It's actually better to focus more on stuns or prone-on-crit (Arbalest / Some unique weapons)

Uhm, for crit builds Arbalest are the best, as they have a passive chance to knockdown on crits. In fact, outside of niche conditions, Arbalest are still the best ranged weapon hands down. Depends on whether you want CC or damage. Plus there are stun on crit unique bows and ranger has stunning shots. Still never found a use for bows, I am however running a chanter for the reload phrase. Probably explains why Those 70+ damage initial hits instantly chunkify a lot of enemies.