Kaylon

Since there's no complete list of unique spells I thought about actualizing this thread: Weathered Grimoire lvl 1 - Arcane Assault Jernaugh's Careful Calamities lvl 6 - Jernaugh's Equalizing Burst Zandethus' Dragon-Scaled Grimoire lvl 7 - Zandethus' Draconic Fury Bekarna's Celestial Grimoire lvl 6 - Arkemyr's Brilliant Departure lvl 7 - Bekarna's Midnight Daydream

Yes, for some encounters Gouging Strike might cause such problems, but you're not forced to use it. Sometimes enemies also get stuck and can't reach their destination which keeps them in combat forever, preventing Brilliant from triggering - then you have to aggro them and become invisible again to reset their state... Sometimes it takes a little testing to find the best approach because strange AI behavior can cause some quirks.

No, only Hauany is resistant to might afflictions. That's why a monk spamming WotW has no problems dealing with the merge - the oozes are perma stunned. (You never watched the videos of monks soloing Hauani?). The hardest mega boss for a monk is Auranic (but a monk can also stay stealthed and send unlimited Dichotomus Souls do the job for him).

If there was a reliable way to prevent the splitting of the big ooze then we would have a strong candidate here. A thing I don't understand however, is how the monk can stun with every hit of the WotW, while the rogue can't do it from invisibility.

Using other abilities will leave you visible and exposed to attacks - you might kill faster, but you can also be killed... The Trollhide belt is indeed very useful in long fights (or if you play with Woedica's challenge) to heal the self damage from Dragon's Dowry, but you can have also Lethandria's Devotion in another slot and switch to it when needed.

Another surprisingly good weapon is St.Droga's Skull - it comes with 20% burn lash and also 20% chance to proc burn dmg (50% dmg of the sabre) in a large AoE. Overall it's like a 20% lash weapon with 10% AoE dmg.

A Nalpazca monk with Hylea's Talons can regenerate easily 5 wounds every 6s. With the adra ooze pet (which will prolong your invisibility for another 3s) you can basically spam WotW while staying invisible all the time. If you don't want to play a Nalpazca you can also use a scepter with modal activated + Aldris Blade which will generate a wound with every hit (from self damage) and heal you at the same time (heals on crits) or Voidwheel+Voidward (generates wounds on hit and heals on kills, the ring prevents taking too much raw damage). Also if you don't play godlike you can also add the Mask of the Grotto Deep which adds another powerful dot on hit from invisibility. PS. Keeper of the Flame can also help with wound generation but the AoE damages friendly targets and adds resonance to them (yourself included) which is a bad thing if you plan using Resonant Touch..

It doesn't matter if Dorudugan can hit you from time to time. In PoE2 armor is more important than defenses. If he can't penetrate your armor he won't be able to kill you if you stack enough regeneration.

I never felt the need to have a tank engaging multiple enemies, but I always make sure nobody is squishy in my party. If you already have a chanter in the party then unbroken/shieldbearer is one of the best tanks you can have - but without a chanter he will need a pocket healer to be able to tank the megabosses. If we eliminate the priest with the BDD/SoT cheese, then my final top 3 is: 1. bloodmage/paladin 2. troubadour/paladin 3. bloodmage/tactician

It's possible yo use the command AIForceAttack to make them attack each other but they won't use their abilities. Personally I think Belranga (with all her spiders) has a chance to beat Hauani because she can nearly perma CC the ooze preventing the merge. The weakest is Auranic, no doubt here... Dorudugan will beat however Belranga - while Belranga starts with high defenses, she starts also with low accuracy and damage. Dorudugan has also superior armor and penetration and his explosion will kill the spiderlings, lowering eventually Belranga's defenses even more. Hauani will beat Dorudugan after a very long fight.

Updates: 4. Dorudugan takes full damage from Dragon's Dowry (it seems his ability to heal 100% of the burn damage doesn't apply to lashes), thus no need to switch weapons 5. Against enemies with burn immunity (magma oozes/flame blights) and high level vessels (pierce immunes included) the Red Hand is the best choice 6. The only enemies that can't be killed/destroyed with Dragon's Dowry/Red Hand are the Bog Lurkers and the obelisks - Eccea's Arcane Blaster and/or Gouging Strike are the best options to deal with them 7. Hauani O Whe remains the only weakness so far - from all abilities/weapons able to destroy the target on kill, the only one able to prevent the split 100% of the time seems to be Disintegration.

Yes, Shootist and Harley's damage bonus work with any ranged attack, spells included. The accuracy bonus works only for weapons. You should look on your character accuracy/damage with Scordeo equiped, not on the weapon's description. PS. The Sky Dragon Wurm pet gives accuracy against all distant enemies (works with spells too), but the damage bonus affects only ranged weapons.

It applies unconditionally.

Yes, I discovered it also a few days ago. Also if you stay invisible all the time the damage of Gouging Strike is increased - I suppose the sneak attack bonus is also applied (besides of Ajamuut's Cloak bonus).

Updates: 1. After more testing it seems that dots don't prevent Brilliant Tactician from triggering, thus Deep Wounds and Gouging Strike become important additions to the build. 2. Lover's Embrace + No Quarter (Rakhan Field Boots) become a nice combo to use at the start of a fight to apply an infinite bleed to a powerful enemy (if you switch the weapon after applying the dot the damage of the dot will be cut in half however 😕) 3. Another good ability to use at the start of a fight Thunderous Report from Kitchen's Stove - it can severely damage/kill multiple enemies. PS. Can't edit the initial post anymore

Not companions, but if you want the most talkative party you should bring along also Modwyr, Concelhaut and Nemnok (use Berath's Blessings to unlock Eder's pet slot). 🙂

I didn't test everything, but as long as you can find a spot out of the enemies sight you will be able to restealth and repeat the procedure until you kill all of them. The Splintered Reef is however more tricky because there are many enemies immune to pierce. If you play in normal mode you can use repeatedly Thunderous Report from Kitchen Stove. With Berath's challenge activated you will need the Hand Mortar or the Arcane Blaster to kill them. Auranic is no different, however it will take a little bit to destroy the obelisks because you have to use the Arcane Blaster vs them. The only dangerous obelisk is the terror one, but the Fearless ability will ensure you will be affected by fear at best which won't prevent you from using Smoke Veil. The most tedious is Belranga because if you kill the spiders without her seeing you she doesn't get angry and her defenses won't go down. Each time you shoot her the spiders have to check near her and they become stuck from time to time preventing the combat from ending and you have to use Smoke Veil again. Of course you have always the possibility to use Gouging Strike + Lover's Kiss on her, then wait until she's dead... Like I said previously, only Hauani can't be killed reliably because destroying it won't prevent the split every time.

Don't forget to enchant it at least to legendary before exporting it...

Abydon is not a problem - when you're using abilities the weapons don't degrade. Vela is probably manageable if you withdraw her out of the enemies sight (you can also use Out of Fire to move her to a safer spot). The big problem is Hauani O Whe because it seems the Essence Interrupter isn't reliable to prevent the splitting...

If the enemies lose aggro they're not considered in combat anymore. While invisible (or out of their sight) nobody flanks you and there are no enemies (in combat) left unflanked either. For the same reason Brilliant Tactician triggers at the end of the combat, when all enemies are dead.

During boss fights you start to feel the self damage from Dragon's Dowry and I was thinking about using Devil of Caroc's Breastplate/Fleshmender to have some passive self healing instead of potions. But you're right, for the base setup is not needed.

Yes, tactician is required for fights that can't be ended (bosses) or if you play with Berath's challenge.

There's nothing, then a glimmer... Then you're dead! Build Name : The Glimmer Man Class : Swashbuckler (Fighter/Rogue) Subclasses : Tactician/Assassin Introduction : Pure sniper build using the interraction between invisibility and Brilliant Tactician. Firearms ensure that you can use Smoke Veil instantly and avoid any damage. If you don't play with Berath's challenge activated then Smoke Veil will just end the fight - use it at max range, run out of the enemy's sight, then restealth and come back to finish the target. The build starts working as soon as you get Smoke Veil. Game Version : 5.0 Difficulty : PotD Solo : Yes (or keep your party out of the fights) Race : Island Aumaua Culture : The Living Lands Background : Scientist Attributes : 21Mig/3Con/15Dex/18Per/18Int/3Res Skills : max Arcana (for Spearcaster - required for Dorudugan) Equipment : weapon - Dragon's Dowry (Eccea's Arcane Blaster vs pierce immunes), helmet - Acina's Tricorn, necklace - Charm of Bones, armor - High Harbinger's Robes, cloak - Ajamuut's Stalking Cloak, gloves - Woedica's Strangling Grasp/Gloves of the Dungeon Warden/Killer's Gloves, Ring1 - Ring of the Marksman, Ring2 - Ring of Focused Flame, Belt - Sash of Judgment, Boots - Footprints of Ahu Taka Abilities (required) : Disciplined Barrage - Disciplined Strikes+Escape, Backstab, Smoke Veil, Dirty Fighting, Fighter Stances - Conquerer Stances, Penetrating Strike, Fast Runner, Arms Bearer, Confident Aim, Two-Handed Style, One-Handed Style, Weapon Specialization, Quick Switch, Fearless, Armored Grace, Uncanny Luck, Tough, Improved Critical, Unbreakable, Weapon Mastery Temporary Bonuses : Sharksoup, Nature's Resolve, Alchemic Brawn, Alchemic Guile, Alchemic Wits, Adratic Glow, Rabyuna's Boon Other Recommended Abilities : Gift of the Machine, Effigy's Resentment: Sagani, Savage Cunning, Infamous Captain, Cauldron Brew - Might Pet : Harley (10%dmg/3acc ranged) How it works : Invisibility + Brilliant Tactician Observations : Persistent Distraction doesn't work with ranged. Deep Wounds (and all dots) will keep you in combat preventing Brilliant Tactician from triggering. Deathblows could work in theory (use sparcrackers) but in practice is not worth the effort. Belt of Magran's Chosen is good too, but the blight it summons can prevent Brilliant Tactician from triggering, making you waste more time. Sometimes enemies get stuck in a loop preventing the combat from ending - staying out of their sight and becoming invisible again will usually fix it.

Based on their fighting styles: Hulk could be berserker/streetfighter (or helwalker/streetfighter later) using potions of Form of the Fearsome Brute. Ironman could be devoted/mage casting missiles and beam spells. Cpt could be monk/paladin using Tuotilo's Palm. Hawkeye could be devoted/ghostheart using Frostseeker. Thor could be devoted/monk using 2h axe (1h hammer sucks) and Instruments of Pain. Spiderman could be monk/rogue using Binding Web scrolls.

Besides what was already mentioned, I like using: - facial hair for everyone (aumaua, wood elves, godlike, etc) - special subclasses unlocked for the player - level cap remover