Vorad

I'm only afraid of big aoe burst with similar builds especially when it comes to pets since their dr even with talent is abysmal. That's the only reason why I was thinking of a moon godlike. The procc from shoes is really good vs sustained damage hands down best source of healing but something to counter big bursts(especially aoe) so far I have noticed silver tide is quite effective even when compared to lay on hands/chain healing. Ideally I would like my priest to focus on buffing instead of healing so aoe heals are not high on priority list for me let alone the fact that silver tide is instant cast even if the char is prone/unconscious/etc.

2 minor corrections: Elemental Endurance is +10DR to Fire and Cold, and Suppress Afflictions does work against Dominate as of 2.03. Lapsus there my bad. So have they officially fixed it then? That's good news.

Very nice build and well written as always! My only concerns when it comes to ranger is his pet survivability vs heavy aoe(shoed in faith + pet talent help a bit but...) Would you think perhaps moon godlike would be a better race? Since in that case you still gain your much needed dex buff and on top of that you gain more aoe heals(high might profit) for you and your pet. Yes you loose the headslot so in the end you gain same base stats as before and the only difference is: 3 aoe heal pulses(which are useful in all encounters) vs 5 dr fire/frost(situational) + head(tempered helm:decent item overall). edit: Also it's worth to note the ring of unshackling when it comes to suppress affliction vs dominate it won't work because the dominated target is not considered a party member for the purpose of the spell(unfair).

yes but he's not immune to prone

Obvious troll/flamer not only food deprivation. This thread is pointless. /delete thread please

I beg to differ the reasons are just as important. Tagging and entire community as "merely nostalgic" would be nonsense to begin with. The purpose and the reason are equally important when we are to judge someone or something. Generalization or nihilism in order to support ones opinion would be nonsense as well if not albeit chauvinistic.

@Quillon: I was replying to your statement regarding "PoE's having 2D backgrounds are just for nostalgia and/or money reasons, not because 3D limits such things." I don't know whether you choose your words poorly on that one or you literally meant it as written. Assuming it's the second case then that statement is over-generalized and certainly far from truth since... as I mentioned some of us prefer the hand painted 2d style isometric graphics for purely aesthetic reasons and it has nothing to do with nostalgia this however doesn't mean you won't find some people nostalgic about bg/iwd/torment etc(I for once personally am not although I respect those guys since after all they paved the road for the next generations), it just means not everyone is nostalgic, some of us prefer 2d photo-realism instead of 3d graphics when it comes to rpg/strategy/tactical games(Similarly I wouldn't like to play a 2d fps, I find the graphics on new "Metro" to be superb for example and if it was 2d I wouldn't even consider buying it). edit: Especially when it comes to tactical combat when comparing any kind of isometric game to 3d camera rotate game in my opinion the isometric wins. Appart from crpg games up till now most successful rts games even though they make use of some kind of 3d they still are isometric mostly with fixed camera when it comes to pvp(where combat/tactics really matter) I really doubt they are doing it just for nostalgia reasons due to age of empires/starcraft/total war 15-20 years ago. It's simply easier for most of us to manage our party/armies(crpg/rts) in isometric rather than in 3d camera. Compare PoE party combat to DA:inq tactical view... sorry but the second one in my opinion is just a joke and a poor implementation. On a previous post Fenixp gave us some nice screen shots of both approaches PoE(isometric) vs DA:O(3d rotate) most of us would agree it's more convenient to manage your party in isometric view(aside the aesthetics), there are those who might disagree fair enough to each his own I guess... the moral of the story and I conclude is that: Isometric approach it's not just(if ever was) about nostalgia it's far from it actually.

ah I haven't tried it with spelltongue just the spell itself from priest or ring, perhaps with spelltongue it refreshes on every hit in which case it would be really nice. Te pala buffs would really be superb on him yes admitably those are among the best single target buffs in game. Keep up the good job!

Yet another interesting build, good job! I have to make one remark only regarding the "supress afflicion" last time I checked it after the new patch a few weeks ago, it seems it only suppresses current afflictions. I was using it to prevent early game stun/confusion and casting it beforehand wasn't helping at all, the spell was only suppressing current active afflictions so I could only cast it after my guy got stunned then it would suppress it but only the current stun which meant another minion could re-stun him after suppress was cast rinse and repeat. It seems it can't work proactively. On a second note paladin's liberating exhortations seem to work a bit differently because in that case not only it would suppress the active afflictions but it also provides full immunity to any new attempts while the duration lasts.

^This x1000 Nothing could hurt PoE worse, imho, than converting it to a WoW-like 3D environment. 3D is the reason RPGs gave up on storytelling and lore-building. Makes no sense. If devs focus on action & gameplay(usually with TPS/FPS RPGs) more than storytelling and lore-building that's on them not on game's being 3D. Original fallout 3 was gonna be 3D and that was the natural progression. PoE's having 2D backgrounds are just for nostalgia and/or money reasons, not because 3D limits such things. It's called aesthetics and it's different from person to person although we can agree to some extent that some things look naturally ugly and some things look naturally beautiful. You can disagree all you want some people value more the paintings of Michelangelo of several centuries ago to the 3d art of the 21st and it's not due to nostalgia they just have been and still are beautiful. Furthermore photorealism techniques have been perfected through the years while real time rendering has still a long way to go. How can you claim is just nostalgia by the way? Have you personally spoken to every one of the 500.000+ buyers of POE and 100% of them told you it's just nostalgia? It's just nostalgia in your own personal opinion and in my own personal opinion it just looks way better. Noted the word personal? In the end beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Mate there is not a single word on my post where I claimed that magic should not be "epic". What I said is that if magic becomes powerfull this will result in players loosing interest in other classes(and that's bad for a game) and most importantly powerfull magic as I said earlier must take it's toll on the caster and the world alike so feel free to implement it but you must pay for it and I believe that's one of the "epic" aspects of magic to begin with after all nothing comes for free. Magic can be "epic" however "epic" magic cannot in my opinion be available to any spellcaster exactly because it's supposed to be so epic. So while the lore of magic can be enriched and should be enriched in PoE by a lot no really a lot, magic practitioners on the other hand which consists of the average player character should be kept at a medium leash with a promise of some epicness in the very high end of the spectrum... Again if you read my previous post carefully you'll realize what I truly mean I even suggested a few ways to make magic more interesting and a bit close to how I felt about it in the dnd system, some metamagic feats or perhaps spell interactions would be interesting and might add some flavor because quite frankly to me as well, after having played wizard as main several times... magic the way it's implemented so far is a bit boring if not a bit wow-ish or dota-ish in an obviously bad way but again this is not a trivial matter and after all the devs got to do what is best for the overall gaming experience there is always a compromise to be made.

The problem with powerful magic is that characters that don't have access to it, will be underwhelming. People already complain about pure damage dealers and how they are unbalanced comparing them to a late game spell caster(and they are right). So making magic more powerful would have consequence on class diversity. I have to agree that magic is not breathtaking so far but if there were to be implemented more powerful spells with "epic" outcomes then the spellcaster should be equally of "epic" skill and of course really powerful magic should take it's toll on both the spellcaster and the world itself... something which I really doubt we'll see, perhaps we might in POE 2(there is to hope). Overall I believe it's a matter of balance and as the good old saying goes... "with great power comes great responsibility..." that of a God I presume and even though our fictional characters are powerful they can hardly be considered gods even by PoE standards of a God. Combinations of spells triggering different effects might be interesting something similar to the magica system or higher level spells having a random factor incorporated in the model might make magic more interesting but I really don't think the game engine will ever go on that direction... that would not be PoE any more. Overall spell casters and magic are "decent" they are not breathtaking but still maybe if they include some kind of "metamagic feat" allowing the player to intervene at an extent on how his spells might affect the world might make it a bit more interesting... and it wouldn't take away from the overall spirit of Poe to begin with.

Yep totally agree, I really miss those guys too... even that slimy, backstabbing thayan wizard. Garrick really that's how bad he was the only reason why I remember his name. I never bothered having him on party perhaps as a pet I might consider but there were no pets back then... I can't say I miss Minsc either... but Viconia is a completely another story

Pro tip: From someone who only plays potd, if you really think reflex is better than fortitude or will AND if you really think having average stats overall is better than maximizing on the most valuable ones for a tank(deflection, fortitude, will) then you should really stop using console on your "potd" runs. I have stated carefully on my last post but you were busy trolling it seems: The really nasty stuff(like many afflictions paralyze/petrify or dominate) target fortitude/will while persistent damage targets deflection most of time and by maxing those yes you guessed it you become a ... tank. Would it be even better if we could max reflex as well? Yes it would and guess what maxing all stats at 18 would have been even better! In an actual game however you have two options either go average stats overall or min/max. While average stats might be ok vs all creatures in easy/hard in potd is a different story. It's really easy to grasp the concept just google simplex algorithm/linear programming it's all there for the past 100 years. As for the breath attacks from dragon that target reflex, with faith and conviction + scroll of defense reflex is more than enough to cause a graze add in there moon goodlike with max strength and you are at 100% hp right after the dragon wasted his breath. Yes that's right that's why might is maximized in that build 1) better fortitude 2) better healing from racial + lay on hands + chain healing 3) better damage on sacred immolation. If you really like roleplaying then sure go with 12 might, 13 con, 12 dex, 13 perception, maybe 15 resolve, 12 intellect you could carry a 2hander as main weapon I'm sure it will do wonders in potd or TC solo for what matters. Then again after a while the difficulty even of most hard encounters drops dramatically due to meta gaming. Again I have already taken the time to actually answer to the obvious question in my first post before those were even being asked. But people are busy trolling and flaming based on fallacies instead. Therefore I will just repeat by quoting myself and for the really lazy ones and trolly ones and flaming ones I have already highlighted the important parts so it's as easy as kindergarten. gl hf!!!

Paladin suffers from the same issues he suffers in earlier games of the gender and dnd before that. You need good stats overall in order to be able to do everything good overall which is impossible to achieve to begin with. I think one cannot hope to be able to defend at the same time cause weapon damage and on top of that have enough utility synergy in the same build... in the end the character will end up mediocre. I personally have given up the idea of melee damage on paladin simply because first of all there are classes which can do it better and secondly because there are things that paladin can do better than others and that's his defensive potential and his utility overall. Therefore personally I try to capitalize on these two aspects which in stats reflects to max might, resolve, intellect, remaining in constitution. Accuracy through perception is not a big deal because you get a +6 accuracy aura and furthermore there are many cheap ways of increasing your accuracy in game many spells and scroll of valor(+15 accuracy aoe) comes to mind. You can't increase your might or your intellect that easily as for resolve especially if your main is a paladin that will be very useful. Dexterity mostly affects either attack damage dealers(and as said earlier there are classes that can do it better) or spell casters spamming spells and paladin doesn't belong on any of these categories therefore going for dex again in my personal opinion is a waste. usually: mig 18 con 15 dex 3 per 3 int 18 res 18 (one could opt for a balanced spread between con, dex, per but after the buff to con and fortitude being more important than reflex I opt for con instead). In late-game with sacred immolation(+ flame utility talent) you will be able to dish out a decent amount of aoe damage without even needing to spam spells or swing weapons wildly and maxing int + might would certainly help while at the same time you are as sturdy vs damage as a... tank. Add in there moon goodlike racial and you're good to go. The only drawback would be lower reflex but usually the nasty stuff attacks your fortitude and will to begin with so that won't be a problem add in there faith and conviction and reflex gets back to average which is more than enough. The only case where I would consider dumping intellect as a viable option might be in a solo run and even then I'm not sure because although in early game you don't gain that much from intellect in lategame it becomes really viable(so perhaps a respec before and after Act 1 might be in order) EDIT: Before Act 1-2 you could go with a heavy melee spec max might,perception with flames of devotion with dual sabres for really nice alphas and after Act 1-2 one might switch to the above build for more sustain and lategame potential.

AFter finishing it successfully with the optimized party TC you could try a potd run(perhaps TC again) with the premade companions this time, that's what I did and I actually had fun although going on encounters underleveled is not an option any more cause of bad stats, Aloth's accuracy and interrupt are laughable, also the range of spells for both Aloth and Durrance, the devil got some nice immunities but she count's as wearing full plate for the purpose of armor speed penalty etc etc... overall it was fun though.

Glad it worked well in the end!

I really enjoy PoE, and will pick up the last expansion, but I gotta' say that nothing I've ever played is remotely close to Witcher 3. It's the new bar for RPGs in every category, imo. I've lost count of my playing hours (somewhere north of 100) and have yet to get bored--which I consider an incredible achievement on the part of CDPR. It's a different approach, I don't think they can be compared since the game mechanics are actually different in many aspects. Both are rpg but they bring the rpg to the computer through a different engine each with it's cons and pros therefore comparing witcher to poe would be unfair... you could compare witcher to dragon age however and yes we do know the result of that comparison I would dare say that I actually enjoy playing PoE more than I used to enjoy playing BG for more than 15 years!!!(I started BG 2-3 months after it came out) Congratulations Obsidian! Keep up the good work!

Congratulation to the OP keep up the good job! Well done so far!!! I had the same problem the first time I went there. I thought that was actually the hardest fight of entire game but on my second playthrough. I figured out that my main paladin alone could take care of the wizard and all his weapons surrounding him. So I had the paladin there level 11 tanking them like a boss while the rest of my party monk, wizard, druid, priest started from stealth position outside the door and began cleaning up with mostly aoe(full premade game companions rp ftw this time no powergaming)... it seems they are still affected by slumber by the way so it took 1 slumber + the aoe from druid + wizard vulnerability and blights etc. The priest cast buffs for the 4-5 first rounds. For as long as the paladin had 150+ deflection and 120+ fort/will he was able to take all the punishment, this time I didn't use any checkpoint at the door either(and I didn't roll moon goodlike paladin cause it would have been even easier I suppose). PS: scrolls of defense and valor apart from usual buffs of priest where used by the paladin and monk. So I had crown + shield for the faithful + scroll of defense + valor immediately on in the first 1-2 "rounds".

soulbound weapons should be as useful as the rest of the unique weapons just like stormcaller is. Adding merely a lash does not pay off for the weak x% on hit/crit attribute. Sure if you land that it's nice but they are so situational anyway I'd rather equip Tidefall or any high end non-soulbound Greatsword for that matters.

No one is actually forcing you to do anythin... no really... Now we all love b :dancing: bies but we don't go wild screaming about it in the streets or in the forums Anyway back on topic, the safest bet for anyone interested to actually kill the Alpine or the Adra dragon is to reach max level fully geared/rested/fed and then head over there and "end them rightly".

There is a pair of gloves in wm which give +1 dex and -10% armor speed penalty and they stack with the rest. So a fighter on heavy armor can attack with almost no armor speed penalty(5%) not sure though if these gloves are better than good old attack speed +15% gloves(which I'm using on my heavy armored frenzy monk and quite happy so far) nvm Boeroer beat me to it

3 dex 3 per pally is fine I have done 2 play-through after white march release one with npc pallie(darkozzi moon) and one with main char goldpact island aumaua. For as long as you go full might + accuracy aura you'll do just fine plus in the very hard encounters you will be using scroll of valor + priest buffs whill will pump up the perception/accuracy even more. You could probably sacrifice a bit of constitution for some perception but it depends on playstyle in the end. I usually go max intellect, resolve, might the rest in constitution(usually 15) especially if your main is a pallie then even reflex won't be a big deal due to faith and conviction plus the real nasty stuff targets fort/will and with the above stats those are 120+ each unbuffed when combat starts. My only regret is that island Aumaua seems to under perform in comparison to Moon Goodlike due to racial. In most fights in the early game with 2 front-liners(e.g. paladin + monk/chanter/paladin... fighter) you can do just fine simply by body-blocking/funneling. In the lategame paladin also gains nice aoe damage and because of max might + int that's more than enough to keep a bunch of enemies busy. Plus what I usually do just after the pallie gathers enemies around him the wizard or druid(or cipher) cast their aoe cc from stealth position. For me I would dare go as far as claiming that I personally cannot play a paladin effectively any more without actually maxing int,might,res sadly in order to do so you need to dump the rest. If I go for more rp style stats(all positive average between 12-15) the class feels to under-perform in my opinion. This with regards to paladins cause monk is a bit different for example.

Aoe heal as racial is too hard to pass by. I decided to switch from moon goodlike paladin to an Island Aumaua and I really regret it, the prone/stun defense doesn't come even close to 3 powerful(max might ) bursts of aoe heal. Certainly one can play the game even in potd without any kind of hard optimization but some players take extra pleasure on optimizing on top of the rpg element. That being said while there are classes that would be more effective by min/max e.g. wizard there are also classes that profit from a "balanced" all around stat spread e.g. monk.

Nice build especially for soloing! Hopefully we can see more interesting clubs on next part of white march. Just a quick notice regarding "Empowered Interdiction" the +10 works only for the daze part of the spell and not for the weaken. I used to run it a lot on my priest and a few days ago I noticed it doesn't work as I thought it would so I have dropped it.