Kaylon

Sorry but that list makes absolutely no sense. On what are based your rankings? DPS, survivability, burst damage, melee, ranged, solo, party, end game? Also what's the difference between top tiers and low tiers? And are we talking about builds or classes here, because if a class performs well only because of an item it should be mentioned.

It seems the +1 penetration from the Devil of Caroc effigy works only when attacking from stealth/invisibility...

It was hitting twice only vs the main target. I don't know if it was a bug or not but if it stays like that it will become garbage vs single targets.

The invisibility breaks if you do damage, but it could be interesting for a backstabbing rogue...

Keeping the same damage as in PoE1 I think is ok - you can even name your mod PoE1 Dragon Trashed

The best are Rakhan Field Boots which allow to teleport to an enemy and do a full attack once per encounter - huge for assassins who can backstab instantly from stealth at the start of a fight. Don't know how they're obtained however.

If you don't have high accuracy/hit to crit and especially an attack doing multiple hits, then it's better to get lightning strikes...

Yeah, it's a very solid build with no weaknesses and great damage.

For the quest "Dirty Laundry" you have to talk to the spy upstairs in the Luminous Bathhouse. By saying that you are ready the game fades out and you are naked down in the bath and have to talk to two new NPCs. This transistion removes all resting bonuses. Its part of the VTC faction quest line and I think you can do this after "Storms of Poko Kohara" ... destroying the adra pillar or not doesn't matter. I'm not sure if its needed to do Hasango main quest too. I stumbled upon it pretty late, as I did the quests late in the game when I was already Level 20. But it should be possible to do this quest and forge the swords early and then start stacking resting bonuses. other things to mention: 1) wounds I did my "no rest" run as a solo Warcaller, who only invested skills in Athletics/Mechanics (50:50) and History. Having Berath's Blessing, Hylea's Bounty and Irwenas Bonus (+5 to class skills, +3 to other skills), collecting all Training buffs, using items/pets with skill bonuses and skill boosting consumables help a lot with skill checks for preventing wounds. But on one island there was a forest map encouter with a cave behind it (which is needed to clear the island for naming it). There you need high Sneak or Survival skill (at least higher than I could reach with item bonuses), so I took the wound for failing it (-5 Fortitude defense, -3 corrosive AR). To prevent this you need to invest in Survival/Sneak skill. Or you plan to get it (its not a bad wound), because there are items that give bonuses when you have a wound (like interrupt immunity). 2) sigils Getting the Wardstones is crucial, because without resting you can not clear curses. You can find Wardstones for Atrophy/Darkness/Nightmares by searching ruins. Just save and load until you get them - i got all three while still being on Maje. The wardstone for Mortality can be gotten at Nemnoks lair and I think one other location. If you don't have a wardstone try using Dragon's Dowry - with this weapon you can kill most sigils while staying out of their range, as they are immune to piercing damage but not fire damage. The Luminous Adra potion clears wounds and gives +2 to all skills until rest (so wounds shouldn't be a problem), don't know if the skill bonus stacks with the oils however. The cursed totems can be destroyed from stealth with a ranged weapon (some are immune to slash/thrust so you need to have always a scepter in your stash), so Wardstones aren't really required.

Then a graze nullifies 100% dmg bonus, while a severe under-penetration nullifies 300% damage bonus...

Have you also used Voidward? I suppose you need 3+ enemies who take full damage to be able to heal completely...

Yes, Casita Samelai's armor and the Cloak of Greater Deflection are great replacements to use before you get the final gear. The best tactic to land Borrowed Instincts is of course pick the enemy with the lowest will defense, then cast Tenous Grasp (lower focus used so you can spam it until you get at least a graze) which will lower their will by 20, then cast Borrowed Instincts (or you can try also casting first Psychovampiric Shield to lower further their will if they really have great defenses).

Personally I would run Mith Fyr + Ancient Memory. Don't know if Old Siec works with spells - if it does then it's probably the best option once you have enough dps.

If you have a character with enough stealth/mechanics you can steal the items from the vault. Valera is alone at night and can be murdered with no consequence for his armor and another sword. Ezzali is never alone and killing her will make everyone hostile, however her armor is not worth unless you specialize in electricity magic.

To resume it, the new version does 2pierce + 2burn dmg/tick, while the old version did 5pierce + 5burn dmg/tick. With 30mig/int you will do now (on average and only as a troubadour) 14.4dmg/tick, while before (at max level) you were doing 48dmg/tick.

Very usefull guide. So if you do the quests/actions which force resting and then take the "one time" bonuses it's possible to keep them until the end... Another good food is the Shark Soup which gives immunity to mig/con/dex afflictions (coupled with svef, I think, makes you immune to all afflictions).

The Gift from the Machine and the Effigy bonus are activated both after Hasongo. Don't know about Woedica's power.

The Bluff check works. The bluff has nothing to do with the robes or the passphrase and it works only on the first floor.

My understanding is we have to wear Arkemyr's Old Robe or give the correct passphrase to avoid the fight in his manor, however neither of this options works. Here's a link with my savegame: https://www.dropbox.com/s/f2da0k5lja2mxzh/Vhailor%20%28PerikisOverlook%29%20%280fca34c7-ab82-4e6e-b781-70d25269a411%29%20%28764328812%29.savegame?dl=0

Drugs are unlimited at the shops (but you have to wait 1day to restock). But a simple resistance to intellect afflictions should remove the confusion. (And as a barb it's the best choice as the other is already covered by Unflinching.

The flail has 10% chance to cast Meteor on hit and it seems to proc from Dragon Wailed/Relentless Storm...

I didn't say good items should be obtainable only at the end, but there should be always a challenge. You could get them at lower level but then it will be a reward for smart playing.

I think there are too many unique items in shops... For me, they should be obtained almost exclusively from quests or enemies (with the difficulty adapted to the power of the item).

Yes, you can consider Empower being basically a caster ability.

I strongly recommend to use fists. Much more accuracy and dps. Anything could work, I suppose, but fists are just way too good. Fists are better at the beginning when you don't have good enchanted weapons. From the mid to end game however, the enchantments are far superior to whatever marginal advantage the fists have.