Kaylon

Another issue with the summons is the fact that not all of them are affected by the Animancer's Cat. And talking about summoning in general, I don't know how hard it's to implement, but I would like to see the empower bonus or any PL bonus above your current one affecting the level of your summoned creatures/weapons.

The 5% chance to miss is a fumble and the 5% critical chance is a sucker punch - both can be caused by bad/luck or other factors which are not taken in account by the game. If you compare the toddler to the veteran, looking only at the critical/miss chance doesn't give the full picture. The toddler will miss 19 out of 20 hits and his crit (1 every 20hits) will never be confirmed and will do just normal damage which is very small or is completely absorbed by his target. On the other hand the veteran will hit probably 19 times out of 20 for big damage and will crit at least once for at least double damage which will largely compensate the fact that he can miss once every 20 attacks. PS. Even in reality, if you let a toddler slap you, most of the time you'll feel nothing, but once in a while he will land one that you'll feel - that's his critical.

The idea of flanking is the defender will avoid hits less effectively vs multiple attackers, thus he gets a penalty. Saying that not all attackers should get the same bonus is not right to me because the defender won't face all the time to the same attacker while the other(s) stabs him to death in the back. In a real battle nobody will let someone at his back and instead will move trying to keep enemies in front of him. In a game such behavior would be hard to implement and thus, no matter the position, all attackers share the same bonus.

Another item I like to import is Violet Redemption which you won't be able to use otherwise... PS. Make sure you don't export items generated with the console because if you import them it's considered cheating too and achievements will be deactivated.

I think there are at least 6 fixed (without the ones in Ukaizo) and you can get more as random treasure or loot from enemies (grater sand blights, Belranga's spiderlings). Belranga's spiderlings are unlimited but have a very small chance to drop adra ban (probably around 1%) so you have to kill hundreds of them (before they kill Belranga themselves...) - it's probably the best spot to farm adra bans with a specialized party if you want to play legit. If you only care about the achievements you can just save your game, enchant the item you want, equip it on a lvl1 hireling, export him, reload your game and import again the hireling with the enchanted item.

I can confirm that Voidward doesn't reduce the damage taken from Voidwheel. Heal on kill and the regen from Devil of Caroc's breastplate are two easy ways to regain your health back.

Yes, you don't refill completely Vanishing Strikes but you lose 1 guile every 10-12s and with a pool of 10-12 guile you can remain invisible for 80-120s which is enough for the great majority of fights. Also you have always empower at your disposal to replenish resources for more extreme fights.

The viable possibilities in a party are: - single class assassin - at high level you can use Vanishing Strike and stay invisible while attacking (high intellect+Ooblit and brilliant buff can help you stay invisible the entire fight) - best played with 2 weapons and spamming Gambit - assassin/bloodmage - at high level you can use Arkemyr's Brilliant Departure and then Blood Sacrifice to restore it back (use a weapon with draining to heal you back or have Old Siec chant from a chanter) Restoring guile with brilliant isn't viable in a party because you need 12s to gain back 2 guile, which is very long.

Unless you're a skald or a troubadour you can forget about offensive invocations because they take long time to recharge. For the common chanter the most efficient invocations are the buffs and the summons (only animated weapons are worth at high levels because they're the only summon scaling with your level) which usually last until you get your phrases back. For chants the best are Ancient Memory (strong passive healing), Aefyllath... (very strong if if your main damage comes from weapons), Old Siec... (works great if you have a party with lots of AoE dmg or a bloodmage), Her Courage... (for more tankiness), etc - these should be your main options depending on your party.

You have to interrupt their action to restore discipline - that means you have to hit them during their attack phase. If you hit them during the recovery phase it doesn't count as interrupting their action. To interrupt a melee attacker it's very hard because the action window is very short. Casters are the main candidates for interrupting (when you're successful they also lose their spell).

Monk/ranger with Scordeo's Edge is really a good combo. Because of the high accuracy and One Handed Style you will crit a lot and trigger Heartbeat Drumming/Swift Flurry very often, increasing also the chance to trigger Blade Cascade faster. You don't need Stunning Shots at all because a monk can cast Thunderous Blows with Slayer's Claw equipped and gain Energized. This build is also very effective for spamming Efficient Anguish or Stunning Surge. With two weapons you will crit less often and unless you're able to spam a full attack Scordeo's Edge itself will swing at a lower rate compared to 1h style.

The great sword, the pike and the quarterstaff have all the same base damage 18-24. (WotEP is an exception because of the AoE). Voidwheel comes with 15%dmg from modal, 20% lash and a powerful proc with 25% chance to trigger. The Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff has 15% dmg/spd fom enchantment (with 20 metaphysics) and a 12% lash. You could argue that Voidwheel has an accuracy penalty with the modal activated, but even without the modal the damage is superior and most of the time your accuracy is so high that it won't matter. But for normal use the staff is a better weapon because the speed and the damage reduction are both great. Dragon's Dowry is a great weapon because it has high penetration, a big lash, it's very safe (you shoot from range and you have no recovery with it) and it's probably the best assassin weapon if you don't play a soul blade. The soul blade with Voidwheel backstabs for instant full focus and the next Soul Annihilation hits for 600dmg without counting dots or Necrotic Heart (which can add another 200 dmg when it procs and also instantly replenishes his focus).

The melee weapon with the highest damage potential is Voidwheel because it has two lashes (10% raw + 10% corrode) and has also 25% chance proc Necrotic Lance which gets all the weapon bonuses. And the class with the highest damage/hit is the assassin/soulblade - with full focus you can deal 600+dmg/hit without counting the dots.

I recommend picking Darcozzi instead of Goldpact because the long lasting damage shield will add to the damage dealt by your weapon/spells and will shorten the fights considerably. Brand Enemy with high strength will deal 10+dmg and will add nicely to your overall damage. Your main offensive invocation should be Her Revenge... You can use Sun and Moon as weapon to debuff reflex on enemies. You should get also Bardatto's mace because it gives robust inspiration each time a summon is killed (works best with Many Lives Pass...). Another great weapon for solo is Keeper of the Flame which deals great AoE damage with high religion (with your armor/defense you will take just minor damage from it). You should lower constitution and resolve a bit and max intellect instead because you want to keep your buffs/summons as long as possible. The only summon you should get are the Animated Weapons because they're the only ones scaling with your level. The ideal is to have the damage shield, Eternal Devotion up the entire fight and Brand Enemy on as many enemies as possible.

I recommend you ascendant/ghost heart with bear pet (the pet can become a burden sometimes). Elf with 19mig/dex/per, 15int, 3con/res (if you feel confident) or 19per,15mig/dex/int, 11con,3res if you want to be a little sturdier and background Scientist/Mystic/Scholar. For bows you have Frostseeker (main weapon) and Essence Interrupter (second weapon). (Veil Piercer and Aamina's Legacy are also worth mentioning because they can give better results in some fights. ) For the rest: - armor - High Harbinger Robes/Fleshmender/Changeling's Mantle - head - Acina's Tricorn/Thaos' Headdress (Horns of the Aurochs*) - neck - Torc of the Falcon's Eyes/Charm of Bones/Elewys' Locket - back - Three Trolls Stiched (Rekvu's Scoarched Cloak*) - rings - Ring of the Marksman + Ring of Prosperity's Fortune/Chameleon's Ring - belt - Sash of Judgement (Belt of Magran's Chosen*) - boots - Boots of the Stone/Footprints of Ahu Taka - pet - Harley * Using Frostseeker will summon very often a fire elemental if you wear the Belt of Magran's Chosen. If you have Rekvu's Cloak activated the elemental will heal you instead and also give you another 10% cold dmg (Horns of the Auroch). The fire elemental can be used also to buff yourself (Borrowed Instinct, Body Attunement, Wild Leech...) For skills pick metaphysics (For Essence Interrupter) and arcana (for Avenging Storm). For abilities Eyestrike+Marked Prey, Lingering Echoes, Fast Runner, Marksman, Biting Whip, Two Handed Style, Phantom Foes, Hammering Thoughts, Evasive Roll, Marked for the Hunt, Psychovampiric Shield, Pain Block, Protective Companion, Stalker's Link, Resilient Companion, Driving Flight, Borrowed Instinct, Tough, Tactical Meld, The Empty Soul, Survival of the Fittest, Improved Critical, Disintegration, Echoing Horror, Evasive Fire, Ancestor's Memory.

I don't understand how people get killed by his AoE - you just need 10 shock AR to reduce its damage by 75%. With high reflex defense you can even resist it or reduce the damage even further. Also if he uses mostly his buffs you won't even feel he has Wild Mind.

The Wheel was called the cycle of reincarnation. In PoE2 it turns out that engwithians built a machine in Ukaizo which helped regulating the cycle of reincarnation (which always existed) and also allowed gods to receive souls. The destruction of this machine means the gods won't be able to receive souls anymore, losing their power and influence over mortals (that's what Eothas wants). The problem is the Wheel was heavily affected by the machine and can't return to the initial state without help. For that reason the mortals will have to find new ways to restore the flow of rebirth or they will also disappear.

You have to lure the dragon close to them.

You're right, even if it has no logical explanation. Because Borrowed Instinct or Judge don't stack with Hunter's Claw or Marked Prey, I assumed they all suppress each other.

Bows benefit a lot from very high accuracy, either to compensate Swift Shots penalty (hunting bows) or to trigger procs (war bows). The combo with the highest accuracy in the game is the cipher/ranger. The cipher provides the best accuracy in the game (Borrowed Instincts + Tactical Meld) as well as debuffs (Eyestrike/Phantom Foes + Psychovampiric Shield) and as an ascendant you can benefit almost all the time from 40% dmg bonus (Ascended + Biting Whip). Last but not least, the cipher has very good synergy with the pet which can become a much better tank/damage dealer, without mentioning CCs and Disintegration . VS multiple enemies the best bow is clearly Frostseeker which can proc the AoE up to 6 times/shot with Driving Flight for incredible AoE dps (you can use the Ring of Clenched Muscle to apply for multiple easy debuffs). VS single targets the best dps bow overall is the Essence Interrupter because of its shock damage (which ensures easy penetration almost always) coupled with Swift Shots. Also as an archer you should absolutely invest in Arcana and use scrolls of Avenging Storm for mass destruction.

Ascendant/barbarian is also my choice and you can pair Modwyr with Watcher's Blade for very fast focus generation/kills. However the berserker is hard to keep alive because the cipher doesn't provide any self healing and I don't recommend it. The ascendant will benefit from all the speed bonuses (Eager Lover + Frenzy + Bloodlust + Blood Thirst) to cast lots of spells very fast while ascended. Make sure to max Athletics and get the Undying Burden belt for 2 free insta heals per fight and Abraham pet for Health on kill and armor recovery reduction. For attributes max might (it helps with damage and healing), constitution at 10 (a few points to survive one more hit is not worth it), dex at 10 (a few points will make very little difference with all your speed buffs), resolve can be left at 10 or lower and the rest of points can be spread between perception and intellect.

In PotD high level enemies have over 100ACC and it's really difficult to maintain your defenses over 150 for very long. The riposte is just some free damage from time to time, it helps mostly vs trash mobs and in the end it will represent maybe 10% of your own damage. If you want to tank in Deadfire you need to have good defenses and passive healing, while your armor should be always higher than enemies penetration.

Hunter's Claw doesn't stack with Marked Prey. For that reason Nature's Resolve + Marked Prey/Devotions for the Faithful is always the better option because you can have the same accuracy without restrictions. I usually pick Hunter's Claw just to get the bonus accuracy/dmg vs vessels ( always good to have against skeletons, animats, vampires) and then respec out of it.

The weapon with the highest damage per hit is Stalker's Patience. Upgraded it does 15% dmg per tick (3 times with 10int). The dot doesn't stack with itself, but for riposte it doesn't matter.

Even if all faction have flaws, I consider siding with Huana the most satisfying ending because it solves most of the problems (Neketaka/Gullet improved, huana's life&traditions preserved, VTC continues research in a reasonable manner, trading continues with RDC and pirates become a transit company). Not the best ending for Tikawara, but not the worst either...