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Zenicetus

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Everything posted by Zenicetus

  1. Yes, I just tested it with a +3 ring of protection against piercing (among other things) and that's how it works. A flat increase.
  2. This is.. not. I think. Okay, I just tested it, and it does work at least for individual damage types. Eder is currently wearing a ring that gives +3 DR against pierce (only). On his character sheet, I can see his DR stats for piercing damage change when I take the ring on and off. I haven't found any other DR buffing trinkets in the game. They seem to be rare (or I'm just unlucky), and maybe they're all individual damage type protections like this. Edit to add: No, wait... I'm wrong. It doesn't work on the percentages. It added +3 directly on top of the calculated DR of the armor.
  3. Two ways I've found for protecting a squishy caster when the back line is infiltrated: 1) Use a Rogue, either melee or ranged (ranged will be closer to the casters). Rogues have special disengagement skills like Escape and Fast Runner. Combine that with trinkets like Cape of Withdrawal, and it's easy to break out of combat, unless actually stuck in place by a web or some other attack. Since the enemy will already be engaged trying to kill your caster, the Rogue will get the sneak attack bonus. 2) Or... use a Druid in the back line along with your other casters. He can instantly turn into animal form as a strong melee defender.
  4. Well, you have Invisibility on a limited basis. But the real "individual stealth" in this game is based on extending the discovery timer in party stealth mode. So an additional mode isn't really needed (IMO). You just need a character that can work the timer better than the rest of the party. Take your Rogue, give him or her max points in Stealth, and add some + Stealth trinkets like rings and capes. Now that character's yellow discovery circle in stealth mode is slowed way down, compared to the rest of the party. That's your individual stealth mode. To maximize the ability, add as many speed buffs as you can (ideally, Boots of Speed), so you can run into a room solo, and loot or kill before you're discovered. It's all running on a timer, which makes this different than a "perma-stealth-until-combat" Rogue in IE games, but it does work.
  5. I agree the combat can get repetitive in Act 2, although if you take on new scripted companions as they show up, you'll at least get some new spells and abilities to play with. I am finding a difference in Act 3, mainly the frequency of enemies attacking with Charm, Dominate, and Petrify spells. Tank 'n spank doesn't work so well, when Eder is the first one to get petrified and taken out of action. Suddenly the situation is fluid, with a large group of enemies infiltrating around the sides and rear. I have to continually alter the attacks, as party members move in and out of being Charmed/Dominated/Petrified. I know some people find takeover spells frustrating, but I like the challenge of managing a fluid situation. Well, as long as it doesn't turn into a full wipe! It may fall back into a more standard pattern before I finish the game, once I figure out how to deal with it better than I am now. More +Will buffs and trinkets, focus-fire on the main dominators, etc. At any rate, the combat did change a bit once I got out of Act 2. As for the main story, yeah... it's not all that compelling. The only aspect of it I find interesting is the personal survival bit ("Am I going slowly mad?"), which maybe isn't played up as much as it should have been. The "save the world" part of it just isn't grabbing me, because the game hasn't given me much reason to care for the towns and the people I'm meeting. Could be better, but I'll give it a 7 out of 10 so far, about average for CRPG's, and that's enough to finish the game and see how it ends.
  6. If I understand this correctly, the special damage modifiers also scale up when DR is increased by enchantments of various types. In other words, taking Leather armor as an example: Base Leather Armor: DR 6, Slash 9 (150%), Corrode 3 (50%) Now if we apply a +4 DR buff to make it Exceptional Armor, we'll have the following, with the modified types replacing the base stat when applied: Exceptional Leather Armor: DR 10, Slash 15 (150%), Corrode 5 (50%) And any additional buffs like belts, rings etc. that add armor DR will work the same way, using the percentage modifiers for the advantages and disadvantages, right? P.S. Yes, definitely check the bestiary for how these stats are listed for various creatures. it was a big help once I figured that out; electrical damage for Animats, corrosive for Ogres, etc.
  7. For exploring and looting, you can do a lot with a Rogue maxed out for stealth with both points in it and + stealth bonus gear, used together with movement speed buffs. Boots of speed on a stealthed Rogue are amazing for sneaking into a room and unlocking/looting a chest with enemies nearby. I didn't find boots of speed until later in the game, but there are potions and scrolls you can use for speed buffs, and some character classes have movement speed-enhancing spells. I would still take a full size party (or close to it), because there will be times when you either can't avoid combat for an important quest, or you just screw up and get discovered. You'll also want whatever speed-buffing spells and scrolls are available from party members. That might mean using all custom party members, since the scripted companions don't come with very high stealth to start off with.
  8. The way I see it, the Rogue's "ability" is speed and movement, not so much the per-encounter or per-rest abilities. Those are just there for attacking primary enemies, then it's all move and stab in synergy with the caster debuffs. I already spend enough time managing the caster spell slots. I'm enjoying having one melee character where I don't have to do much of that. Also, I don't think of auto-attack as being boring, because a Rogue working melee sneak attacks will kill most targets very quickly. Then it's time to move again. It's only boring if I'm using a Rogue with a ranged weapon, where he's basically a fixed turret. Instead, I'm having a blast with my melee Rogue, dancing and slicing his way through the battle zone. The only problem with the Rogue that I can see, is that the Backstab talent is available right off the bat, and it encourages people to think in old IE engine terms about Rogues. Invisibility doesn't last long enough to use it very effectively, and the uses are limited. There is also an entirely different stealth mechanic based on high points in stealth to delay the discovery timer, combined with speed buffs so you can move very quickly for an attack from stealth with the sneak attack bonus. It's like the devs couldn't decide which mechanic to support. I wouldn't mind if Backstab and Invisibility went away completely, although I suppose that's not a popular view.
  9. Just echoing the other advice to plan your main character in synergy with the rest of the party. With that in mind, you might enjoy playing a Rogue. I'm having a lot of fun with mine, especially in the later game with speed and disengagement gear to move around and help control the fight. I have more than enough spells available from the rest of the party, so I don't miss having just a few abilities to fire off during combat. You can do creature summons after finding a figurine or two, and use spell scrolls with high enough Lore if you want to mix in a little magic. But that's probably a waste of time for a Rogue, when you could be moving and stabbing. Ciphers are fun too. I'm enjoying what Grieving Mother does in the party, although she's a little too good, even when used as a melee off-tank in the party. It's certainly a good candidate if you want a 50/50 mix of melee and casting in one main character, P.S. I have no experience with Barbarian or Monk, so take all this with a grain of salt.
  10. What's your definition of high fantasy? If it means no hint of superior modern-day technology (or something close to it), then that sure doesn't apply to PoE. I just went through a dungeon where the final room involved a big electrical apparatus. I don't recall the Book of the New Sun series as being much different from the way PoE treats a world where a superior high-tech civilization based on science was lost in the distant past, and still has some resonance in the world. I think PoE is dancing very nicely on that line between a pure Tolkien approach and the way contemporary authors have handled a mix of science and magic. BTW, I'm not actually thinking that this is a future Earth. I'm just saying nothing I'm seeing in the game so far, rules it out.
  11. What happens if you reinstate a companion parked at Caed Nua after the party has gained several more levels? I swapped out Kana after finding Pellegina somewhere around level 5, I think, and the party is now level 9. I haven't done anything with the Endless Paths yet, and I'll probably pick up Kana for that before I finish the game. Does he auto-level to match the party, or stay at the level I left him? I've sent him out on a few adventure quests in that minigame, but that can't be enough to match what our party has been picking up for XP.
  12. True, but there are crossover genres with science fiction, where what looks like high fantasy is either "science so advanced it looks like magic," or some blend between traditional fantasy and sci-fi explanations. And sometimes that takes place on a future Earth. Two examples would be Gene Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun" series, and the more recent Richard K. Morgan "A Land Fit for Heroes" trilogy. Both take place on a radically transformed future Earth with a vaguely Medieval high fantasy culture. The world of Eora in PoE is probably just a typical Tolkien-esque secondary world. But with all the references to old technology, the resemblance to present day Humans and so on, I don't think a future Earth could be completely ruled out, unless the devs make it more explicit. The "two moons" actually remind me of Morgan's idea of a Saturn-like ring around the earth, caused by the fragmentation of the original Moon during an epic war.
  13. I'm in the "current classes are enough, and could use more development" camp. Adding more classes would mean more dev time spent on balancing and testing those classes, instead of tweaking the existing ones. Can't have both, with limited studio resources. I like it when a player has the freedom to dream up a character concept like "Swashbuckler" or "Necromancer" using the existing classes, instead of it being served up on a plate as a full class. All we need are enough spells and talents that allow that kind of thing.
  14. I'd like to see this feature too. I wouldn't use it very often, because I think it adds to immersion when I walk out of a dungeon and time has passed. The randomness can be interesting; I've never liked games that force day/night cycles so you're always exploring graveyards at night, etc. But I would use it to set daytime for areas like Copperlane when dealing with outdoor merchants. It doesn't feel right to have everyone standing around hawking their wares in the middle of the night.
  15. I can see the argument, but it's predicated on something that won't apply to most players making their first run through the game -- namely, that they can actually avoid ever being hit, so the reduction in total DPS during the fight actually matters! A Rogue knocked out on the floor isn't contributing any DPS to the party. By the mid-game, a Rogue can use Exceptional grade Padded Armor with 8 DR +4 DR additional, which is decent protection in most fights. The recovery penalty is 20%, and yes that limits the total DPS compared to no armor. But again, that only matters if the Rogue is able to dish out that DPS during the full extent of the battle, and not get knocked out. Which again, is related to how good you are at the game. One final point: If the Rogue in the party can take care of himself, without needing frequent "heals" (endurance recovery) from the casters, then it's less micro-management during the fight. And those endurance spells can be used on other party members.
  16. It's the Flail that's a fast weapon, which doesn't make much sense to me, because it's so similar in size and weight to a Mace. I don't see how you could swing it any faster. Maybe the devs just felt there should be one fast weapon with crush damage?
  17. I'm sure that's true for an experienced player, especially if they've been in the beta and have learned all the game mechanics inside and out. For someone like me doing my first play-through, new to the game, I think I'm doing okay by using just padded armor! I'll try cloth if I replay the game, or if it makes sense for the expansion(s).
  18. Right, a melee Rogue should be the last member of your party to make an attack, after enemies are locked up and engaged, and hit with spells by the rest of your party. As the "party leader" I do initiate combat with a ranged weapon for the sneak attack-from-stealth and early hit bonus. Might as well, since I'm in the front of the formation when exploring in stealth mode. But after that opening pull, I immediately switch to melee weapons and RUN AWAAAAY behind my lines, and wait to circle around until my potential targets are already engaged.
  19. Yes, I can usually get to the side or behind an enemy Eder is engaging, and get hits without the target immediately turning away from him and attacking me. Not always, but most of the time. If I'm having more success than you are in that situation, it could be due to several things... just guessing here: 1) I'm using fast weapons like rapier and stiletto that don't have massive hits like 2H weapons that might pull more aggro. Just lots of smaller hits, although they do crit often. Some of the damage is also spread out over time, like Deep Wounds. 2) I'm often attacking enemies that aren't only getting hit by Eder, but also by caster spells for debuffs, stuns, knockdowns, etc. If the aggro is shared among several different members of the party, maybe I'm not drawing as much? Also, I use a tank + offtank front line (Eder + Pellegina) and they're both usually engaging more than one enemy. So again, my target might be getting more aggro focused on the tanks than on me. 3) I use abilities like Blinding Strike and Crippling Strike as often as I can, at least on the more dangerous enemies, so they aren't in a good position to hit back. Anyway, just some guessing there. And I can't always avoid pulling aggro when trying for a sneak attack. It just works more often than not, and often enough to get away with lighter armor.
  20. I'm playing a melee Rogue main. It's my first exposure to the game (after a false start up to level 4 and re-start), so take this with a grain of salt, but I think it's probably not far from general consensus on Rogues. The idea with a melee Rogue is to maximize sneak attacks, which means you never want to be the first thing an enemy focuses on (other than an opening pull). You don't need the protection of heavy armor because you're not supposed to be continually hit. Instead, you want to be dancing around the outskirts of the battle, getting sneak attack hits on enemies your main melee characters are engaging. You need just enough armor to survive a hit when you do get engaged directly, but when that happens, you don't want to keep fighting in a direct engagement. You want to escape, disengage, have another party member get the aggro, then dance around and come back for a sneak attack. The Rogue is a DPS build too, so you also need the fastest recovery time you can get between weapon swings. That means lighter armor, but not so light that you can't survive one or two heavy hits while maneuvering for sneak attacks. Or surviving direct damage spell attacks if you're off chasing down an enemy caster. The way I approached this in the game was by taking leather armor for the first few levels, which seemed like a good compromise between protection and attack speed. Especially since I was new to the game and making a lot of mistakes! By the time I got up around level 5-6, I had access to enchantments and the higher-grade armor. So I switched to enchanted padded armor with some DR bonuses. There is at least one unique Exceptional set of padded armor you can get as a result of a quest around that point, or you can buy something close to that and add the enchantments yourself. Right now, padded armor seems like a good match for where my Rogue is in the game. The short version is to stay as light as you can, with armor that doesn't get you continuously killed. And keep your Rogue moving! Don't get caught up in extended, direct aggro and you won't need heavy armor.
  21. Well, there aren't many traps in the game that totally block off progress, and XP is very easy to gain in other ways. Making it a PITA to manually move your party around traps is just a reminder that, hey, one party member still needs to work on their mechanics skill. It also preserves the idea of traps being dangerous, while still allowing your party to continue moving forward. Having everyone just casually waltz past armed traps without player intervention might feel a bit cheesy. Or (like you said), after he levels up enough, Eder can just be used as a minesweeper.
  22. I assume if you're using two Priests, then their Holy Radiance (and upgrade versions) should stack for damage? If you position them both behind the front line so the two AOE circles overlap, then that could be awesome against the enemies especially vulnerable to it. Regarding firearms, just remember that they all have shorter range than bows, and you'll probably want to keep your priests fairly centered in the party for max benefit of the Holy Radiance AOE. Wait for a target to get close enough before shooting, or the Priest will automatically run into firing range.
  23. Well, that tactic is also minimizing your chances for sneak attacks, since you'll be more directly engaged. The reason I can afford to run my PC Rogue around in padded armor is because I'm using a front line of tank (Eder) and offtank (Pellegina) to hold aggro, while my Rogue dances around the edges with fast weapons stabbing at a high rate on the enemies engaged by the front line. Or making a quick run at a Wizard causing trouble in the back of the enemy pack, because he's also optimized for disengagement and buffed movement speed in combat. He's a DPS monster, racking up by far the highest number of kills in the party. And he's not that hard to keep alive in padded armor. I just keep him moving and disengaging when necessary. This game allows any and every possible build, which is great, and I'm not going to say you're doing it "wrong." That's too absolute. And I can imagine some role-playing back story for Rogue ending up that way. But I think it's safe to say that you're really not taking advantage of a Rogue's natural abilities.
  24. Based on how I'm using Durance in my game, I'd suggest a reach weapon like quarterstaff. I usually have him standing directly behind my front line (tank + offtank), where his Brilliant Radiance AOE can reach forward of the tanks. That ability would be less useful if I had him more to the rear with a ranged weapon. Close to the tanks, I can still get a few hits in with the quarterstaff's long reach if I'm trying to conserve spells. But frankly, he's so useful as a spellcaster that I don't think of him as a weapon user, and it would be a waste to put any talents into it. He almost never runs out of spells, because he and Aloth are the only ones carrying all the scrolls we find as a backup. I would probably use this same setup as a main character Priest.
  25. I agree with that general view of playing RPG's, but I think there is still a flaw here, related to the map layout and where and when you find these quests. It assumes a type of player who explores every new area as much as possible, dipping into quests here and there, building up a backlog of uncompleted quests. That's mostly how I play. I don't want to miss anything, and it doesn't bother me to have a bunch of different uncompleted quests to finish. Others might play in a more linear or "vertical" fashion, finding a quest and running straight down that line to the end. This can even extend to clearing each individual map before moving to any others, unless it's directly tied to that one quest they're following. That can lead to ignoring the Knights and the Doemenel factions until after the branching point. A good game design can handle both types of gamer. All it would have taken here, is a simple confirmation screen with an alert to the seriousness of the choice.
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