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Vorad

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Posts posted by Vorad

  1. Hey all, I have noticed that if I turn on gods challenges, after the combat is resolved and the mobs are killed in an area the encounter does not end. This has happened to me on several occasions when I eliminate a group of mobs yet I still remain in combat. The same combat would end right after the group of mobs is killed if the gods challenges are not on. I must assume there is something going on with the challenge of Berath perhaps there's a conflict with the fleeing from combat challenge (but I'm not fleeing though!). This happens if one chooses to fight the mobs in the first cave right in the shipwreck area when game starts or when one engages the animals in front of the digging site near Port Maje.

  2. Hey guys, I have been playing potd only so far, under different setups but it's always been with a full party. Lately I have given it a try to manage TCS + all challenges on, but so I am a bit disappointed by my comp. So I was wondering if anyone has managed to beat the game with all challenges turned on and if yes, under what comp.

     

    The toons I've tried so far are:

    1. Trickster/Ascendant - too squishy. I was hoping that through early blindness/daze I would be able to mitigate damage and counter with sneak attack + skillspam when ascended but due to the increased stats of minions the debuffs in the eraly game most of the time graze (even at max perception), so there's not much going on there in the early stages.

    2. Devoted/Ascendant - too slow gathering focus, again early game is a problem cause crits rarely happen.

    3. Paladin/Ascendant - same issue as with fighter really

    4. Paladin/Trickster - it's has been decen't 1v1 but in the early dungeons there are cases when you get mobed and then it's gg.

    5. Devoted/Trickster - similar to 4.

     

    I have come to the conclusion that 1-3 can be quite powerful as one approaches midgame and they escalate during lategame, however generally any kind of ascendant build seems it's suffering through the combat of the early stages.

     

    So to keep it short, which of the possible comps (single or multi) that may be found in the class build thread of this forum section, could possibly deal hands on from the beginning with combat?

    Thanks in advance.

    PS: So far I gather that if I want to do TCS + all gods challenges, I might have to forfeit every single early encounter through stealth and apply metagaming...
     

  3.  

    I don’t think this combination really qualifies as an issue, but by now I know better than to put forward rational arguments when it comes to the game’s balance.

    My issue is unlimited Suppress Affliction + BDD + Salvation combination, this make 2 guys in your party immune to everything, death, afflictions ...

     

    To my knowledge when it comes to suppress Affliction, it only affects debuffs currently running on the char. If a debuff is reapplied then a new combat check is made and suppress won't work unless recast. Last time I noticed this was vs Fampyrs spamming domination on a playthrough I had a few weeks ago. For as long as resource count is limited (perhaps a rework on current resource renewals).

    • Like 1
  4. How does the double barreled arquebus work really nicely with devastating blows? The ability only applies to 1 shot?

    Correct! Apparently it's not considered a full attack (I had to check it), I was under  the wrong impression. Sneak damage and deathblows apply as per usual to both shots, but not the case for devastating blows.

  5. For me 3 "defensive" 2 "offensive" worked best for synergy in PoTD at least, the RP part is purely speculative, but personally I opt to pick the existing companions for their backstories.
     

    1. Watcher: Rogue(basic)/Cypher(ascendant) armed with arquebus and then switch to dual pistols. This would give me a high alpha damage to boost my focus real quick and then switch to dual pistols for dps. All damage bonuses from rogue apply in order to gain even higher focus. Now when it comes to cypher spells he's got some nice damage dealing and heavy crowd control and what's best with ascendant those become spammable for the duration! This was my favorite main in pillars 2 compared to other spellcaster/multiclass options (used to play wizard in pillars 1 heavily focusing in cc). Druids/Priest/Wizards they all got nice kits but are a bit more traditional even as you multiclass them.

    2. Eder: Rogue/Fighter, early hand weapon + shield, focusing on surviving, engaging multiple enemies and punishing them for breaking engagement! Later on (high levels/gear) you can switch him to dual wield and dish out considerable damage while still being rather sturdy due to fighter kit. Making him a pure fighter would give me little extra compared to all the extra damage % he gains from rogue kit.

    3. Pallegina: Paladin/Chanter, early hand weapon + shield, buffing and debuffing, support role. Later on she scales nicely with more persistent aoe from poth paladin and chanter kits.

    In short both 2. and 3. are there to hold the line, soak up damage but they do it in a different style.

    4. Teheku: Druid/Chanter, early hand weapon + shield, aoe heals + aoe cc.

    5. Aloth: Rogue/Wizard: aoe cc role primarily and occasionally dps through weapon summons.

    Also the rogue synergy for 1. and 5. helps them not only to dish out damage but also escape and reposition through the "cheap" evasion.

     

    Perhaps there are fancier builds out there focusing on extreme powerplay but overall I had a great fun in PoTD with this group. RP wise there are many rogue subclasses for my taste but I really like it when my main is able to deal 200+ damage on a single volley and then spam spells like crazy, or when a nasty teleporter jumps me I am able to jump back away from danger.

     

    If you get bored of Palleginas tutoring on Vailian law and order bla bla bla (Although RP wise I prefer the Vaillian ending just bored of Palleginas rambling), I did switch her for Xoti: Monk/Priest, when she gain minor avatar she becomes a beast able to aoe buff your entire party with some of the most powerful buffs in game and dish out considerable damage through her monk synergy. I did max her core weapons since they have nice enchantments... and the low penetration on sickle was not a problem with +2 penetration buffs and  -2/-4 Armor spells.

    This was just one of my several PoTD playthroughs, which was both satisfying from an RP perspective (this time no labrat companions) and also did not feel week in the powerplay.

    Hope it helped, and that you enjoy the game as best you can!

    PS: I do not wish to spoil although this section of the forum is "spoiler friendly", but I could give a few guidelines further regarding my main's gear. I was using a double barreled arquebus (you fire two shots before reloading) this gives a good alpha strike but even better works really nicely with devastating blows as a finisher. Furthermore you can go dual wield aoe blunderbusses which target reflex and deal slash/pierce damage (counters mass units and extremely handy vs immune to piercing undead), also my 3rd kit was dual pistols one of them dealing raw damage and the other gives you speed bonus. You may check the wiki for more accurate info regarding weapons.

  6. I assume most people must have some experience from good old dnd and later the computer versions with baldurs gate, icewind dale etc etc... the "empower mechanic" as is in PoE2 didn't exist back then and yet we had great fun!
    However it's just a new game feature, and especially in a single player environment the player has a choice on how his game session should progress. The gameplay should offer choices in multiple levels, so that different kinds of players can actually have fun while playing it! If someone is unhappy that this mechanic exists they can simply skip using. I know I am skipping it because that's how I enjoy my potd but that's purely personal preference.

    It's a single player and not an mmo! Other players using the mechanic does not affect my own game session at the slightest!

    PS: All this unnecessary crying and moaning only goes to show the complete intolerance and lack of acceptance, towards an entire group of players that simply wish to play the game differently from the rest, even though their actions in game have no impact on your gaming sessions at all... in the end we all hypocritically adore liberty...

    • Like 1
  7. Steadfast is a nice weapon on paladin, I'm constantly criting with sunlance for 150+ piercing and 75+ burning(flames of devotion) with Pellagina add the aoe from sacred immolation and she's good to go. The problem is you gain steadfast quite late in the game. If you aim for aoe with sacred immolation another source of healing to counter the raw damage would be gaun's share which you gain really early in game. However Vital essence acts as a heal to both health and endurance. you can keep your health high after every fight by using it. Dropping some con and res in favor of int + using int item/enchant will benefit you more on the long run since both healing hand and immolation + scrolls will profit from it.

  8. I have been successful with:

    Interdiction + weakened upgrade

    chill fog vs mundane slicken vs spellcaster groups

    returning storm/relentless storm

     

    The rest consists of melee usually paladin, chanter, cyhper/rogue

    combusting wounds (ring chanter)

    vielo vidorio( flames of devotion)

     

    In case of "boss" fights the melee will cast scrolls of valor/defense

  9. In most cases you can funnel the opponents through doors/passes so you need 1-2 frontliners to bodyblock them, hence support paladin is perfectly fine for that job. Later on where there are some open spaces especially in white march wilderness you have a large array of aoe crowd control spells with wizard/druid so you can manage the situation if the "smart" AI decides to try something nasty.

    • Like 1
  10. I put the ring on the chanter actually (I also give him the other ring which restrains afflictions), since the wizard is better kept busy landing debufs and cc from the start while chanter can use items/scrolls while he chants. Also the ring casts CW as autohit.(I'm sure it's a bug but until they fix it...)

     

    Last time that I checked( about 1 week ago) CW was ticking fine from Dragon chant and Blights + blast, but I don't think it was ticking from the missile scrolls, I tried several times with the higher level missile scrolls and I didn't notice any ticks on screen from CW so there still seems to be an issue...

    • Like 1
  11.  

    A speedy wizard with the Rod of Pale Shades (Spell Mastery Expose Vulnerabilites and Pull of Eora), Interrupting Blows and Mourning Gloves is really powerful without using a single per rest spell.

     

    By the way it's perfectly cool to use a ranger with Swift Aim + Driving Flight and Golden Gaze to proc Expose Vulnerabilitiies. ;)

    Assuming ranger is procing Expose Vulnerabilities i would go for Pull of Eora - Debuff with Rod of Pale Shades - into Minor Blights madness :D

    During my playtrough with blaster i havent used Minor Blights much , but whenever i did it felt ... too strong ? 

     

    It's even better if you land a combusting wounds before Blights, because then the multiple ticks per target from Blights + blast will procc the CW 2-3 hits and most mobs are dead.

  12.  

    There is a healing invocation for chanters also their dots can be very useful in order to trigger multiple ticks of combusting wounds(since it will tick from each dot and all ticks stack and you can just give the ring to the chanter to cast it), they can be durable while providing nice buffs/debuffs constantly, they are my go-to offtanks for quite some time.

     

    Is combusting wounds good now? It was considered broken and terrible for a long time(DRs negated it and/or it was just not functioning) didn't know that changed. Still, there are way better/faster ticking DoTs than a Chanter's.

     

    It's ok-ish pile up enough dot's on target and it's a decent amount of extra damage source, it does work and it ticks out of any source of damage dot or direct but it will show only on screen and not on the combat log. It's mostly useful for long fights. With chanter you can gain from 2 up to 4 ticks per 3 sec due to double dragon chant stacking.

     

    My party consists of wizard(dps,cc), cipher(melee, dps, cc), paladin(tank, support), priest(support), chanter(off-tank, support), druid(dps, cc). Usually the chanter holds the frontline with the paladin and the cipher(carefully positioned for beam attacks), I find it hard to replace him with another class for the given role(frontline support) since he provides me with a rich array of tools(chants, summons, invocations) while at the same time he can be sturdy enough to hold the line while my wizard casts safely from the backline.

     

    However in the lategame when paladin gains sacred immolation perhaps double paladin might be preferable to chanter + paladin.

  13.  

     

    Oh yes the same thing can be said for nazi soldiers... hey they didn't have a choice they followed orders.

     

     

    Which is why most nazi soldiers were not charged with war crimes, it was the higher ups that were.  The rank and file were allowed to live out the rest of their lives like anyone else.  And hey, only page 3 before Godwin showed up!

     

    Tell that to several of my compatriots who's families were slaughtered by the nazi soldiers who invaded my country during ww2. Sure no trial charged them guilty but does that mean the verdict was fair; they still committed crimes against humanity. Even common criminals nowadays manage once in a while to get clean from justice due to "lack of evidence" while innocents might rot in jail the justice system is not angelically created.

     

    By that analogy also the jihadi terrorist the "rank and file" soldiers who rape and murder in the name of their representation of God, they shouldn't be judged for their crimes if caught alive because hey they just follow orders from their "imams" and their religious fanatical warlords, they shouldn't even have been captured and interrogated to begin with.

     

    Apparently commenting on such matters It all boils down in the end on where you are from and what's your history.

  14. Never underestimate the strength of peer pressure. Mob mentality is a powerful thing, and it's clear from the flashback that he was worried they'd turn on him if he looked weak. What was he supposed to do:

     

    A) attack an angry mob by himself with no weapons trying to defend a town of craven traitors and be instantly killed.

    OR

    B) throw a damn torch at a house and at least look like he's taking part

    Oh yes the same thing can be said for nazi soldiers... hey they didn't have a choice they followed orders.

     

    Actions have consequences... in the end everyone pays one way or another, directly or indirectly.

     

    The villagers made a choice and they payed for it afterwards.

    The zelots (Harmke and friends) made a choice and they too payed the price.

    The Devil payed for her choices as well.

    And the watcher... he too faces his troubles of the past... when he meets Iovara and Thaos for the last time.

     

    Actions and consequences...

     

    On the main question regarding Harmke alone I chose not to lie to her after reading his soul, after all she deserved to know the truth and Harmke deserved to be punished for the crime committed. The end does not justify the means conscious or not he participated in exterminating an entire village of unarmed civilians women, children and elderly. I wouldn't justify him just as I wouldn't justify the nazi, the bloscheviks and the jihadis!

     

    The appropriate solution would be to arrest him and present him in front of the local landlord, trial him in a fair trial and provide proof of his crime. If charged guilty punish him according to the present laws.

    • Like 1
  15. @OP troll: Don't comment on Hellenic philosophers if you are totally clueless. Socrates was sentenced to death and forced to consume poison he did not "commit" suicide he was forced to take the poison. The verdict of the joke trial was: 1) Enemy of Athenian Democracy, 2) Corrupter of youth and 3) Indoctrination on new divinity(preaching about new "gods"). For all these 3 charges he was "found" guilty (with fake witnesses) on a farce of a "trial". Do not talk about other people's ancestors and historical figures if you got no clue or ties whatsoever to begin with. You don't even know our language let alone our ancient history and philosophy. If you have to use propaganda to enforce your joke beliefs about a game like PoE and in doing so if you have to "quote" historical figures and distort their teaching to enforce your point of view( a basic trick of propaganda) then do so with personalities from your own culture at least.

     

    Now back off, I'm reporting this trash thread.

  16. Keep in mind that most armor types are weak against corrode in comparisson to Slash e.g. medium and heavy armors for instance. Also the mere fact that this weapon as a sabre has the highest base damage in comparison to the rest of the 1 handers makes it a worthy choice vs some of the 2 handers like Greatsword or Poleaxe, since you won't loose much base damage and on top of that you can profit from having a shield. At the moment I'm running a cipher with bittercut + Black Sanctuary + shoed in faith + Sanguine Plate etc etc, and I'm quite happy with the damage + focus it generates while at the same time it's not as squishy as 2 handed frontliner.

     

    To sum up, most of the times you'll do corrosive damage simply because most enemies/armors have lower DR in comparisson to slash. Secondly it's a sabre and it has a really good base damage threshold the highest of all 1 handers and very close to a 2 hander, thirdly you can carry a small shield offering better protection and 1 more slot of durgan with all the beneffits it grants I think all these 3 mixed toghether make it a better choice than the +3 on average base damage and the 15% 2handed damage tactic of the 2 handers. Maybe in the case of bittercut vs tidefall just maybe tidefall might generate a bit more dps due to raw dot but for the survivability the shield might be better still.

  17. for as long as even a single crowd control ability is effective there can be no true hard fights, a single aoe prone with buffed accuracy is more than enough to end even the hardest fights. If it's not prone then it's stun or paralyze or petrify and even if all these would fail I really like the disable provided by the new wizard "vortex" spell accompanied by a wall spell and high interrupt and all 3 can be cast in less than a second with speed buff + clothes + high dex wizard... it's just gg.

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