Kaylon

Well, you tested an endgame build with a high level bounty and I suggested the best option for that. My point however was you don't have to drop mig/con to optimize a monk, but instead his resolve. Before getting the amulet you can always use a priest with Holy Meditation or Celebrant's Gloves. And if you solo it's best to keep res at 10 with items, dex at 3 and spread your points between mig, con, per and int. In ch.2 you can get rather fast the ring from Darzir which allows droping base resolve to 7 and then run with 17 base in your 4 main stats.

Of course monks shouldn't drop mig/con, the optimum is to dump res and use instead an item with +conc (try Lost Periapt of the Winding Path) like I said previously.

It's not clichée builds, it's optimized builds. You can always pick a different route, but it won't be better. PS. I remember this fighter build you mention, but he soloed only on easy...

You need more than 10 stealth to backstab... Ideally you want stealth lvl = (enemy lvl + 3) to maximize your stealthing potential. Also for TCS you don't need to do every encounter - in fact many people who picked rogues did it because they were able to skip more encounters than any other class... You should focus on killing casters/ranged attackers first. The melee attackers can be killed 1 by 1 at choke points if you have stunning/prone weapons. If none of that works then use confusion scrolls or use hit&run with a bow...

On ranged characters con/res are low priority - you don't have to choose between dex and per. The only debate is for melee characters (who can also dump con/res once you have defensive mindweb)... Tanks can dump dex/int and once your their defenses are maxed they can lower con and increase int. Rogues can dump int/res (when they get the aggro they run - they don't need conc). Int helps only their afflictions which aren't needed in a party. Barbs/monks can dump dex (dw and their speed buff will compensate) and once they get items with +conc (Celebrant's Gloves, Lost Periapt of the Winding Path) they can dump res too. Also all characters have a limited number of special abilities and if you want to make them count you don't want them to miss/graze - and for that per>dex... PS. With firearms I would never bother without the quick switch trick - and for that you don't need dex or any kind of speed.

Personally I found amusing the fact that a monk goes to the prostitutes...

Llengrath isn't very difficult because you don't have to tank. You pick Persistance, Shoot on the Run, Marksman, Fast Runner and you run around shooting them using your pets/summons as distractions. AoE spells won't hit you but you have to make sure that you can resist/tank the targeted ranged attacks they have (even if they won't be able to use them often on you if you keep on running)

In my first post about the attack speed 2.0 I was wrong about DW part - I added the correction later (https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/83777-attack-speed-20/?p=1795215) but I couldn't edit the first post anymore. In fact each weapon has its own speed and the bonuses on a weapon don't affect the other. In your case you'll have: recovery (both weapons): 50%(base for DW) + 50%(plate) - 20%(armored grace) - 15%(durgan) = 65% speed weapon 1: 1.2(enchantment) x 1.15(durgan) x 1.15(gloves) - 1 + 0.2(talent) = 79% speed weapon 2: 1.15(durgan) x 1.15(gloves) - 1 + 0.2(talent) = 52% Which means the speed enchanted weapon will attack with no recovery, while the other one will have 13% recovery...

Like for confident aim you see nothing on the character sheet. I had to do it the hard way checking enough hits and trying to understand the description "25% damage range guaranteed" - it reduces the difference between the max and min damage (the damage range) by 25% (the min damage is increased by 25% of that difference) - now it makes more sense and it's also what I observed during the test...

Ok, here's MIG vs PER... We'll see what happens over 100swings... First let's call relative accuracy (RA) the difference between your accuracy and enemy's defense. 1) if RA<0 then at least 15 attacks are misses and +1per adds a hit instead of a miss every 100 attacks 2) if 0<RA<15 then 0-15 attacks are misses and +1per adds a crit instead of a miss every 100 attacks 3) if 15<RA<50 then you never miss and +1per adds a crit instead of a graze every 100 attacks Most melee fighters can do 200+%dmg/hit and 280+%dmg/crit, thus 1per adds at least 200-280% dmg every 100 attacks. In the first case +1mig adds at most 3%x85=255%dmg while +1per adds 200%dmg every 100 attacks In the second case +1mig adds 255-300%dmg while +1per adds 280%dmg every 100 attacks In the third case +1mig adds 300%dmg while +1per adds 230%dmg every 100 attacks For spells or when the damage modifiers are small the accuracy adds less dps. For classes like fighters, rogues and even ciphers the accuracy can add even more dps than mig.

I tested a little more the buff from Comtessa's Gage and here's how it works... If you do 26-38dmg with your sabre the game does 38-26=12 and adds 25% of that to your min dmg - with the buff you will do 29-38dmg instead of 26-38. Overall it's a 4.5% multiplicative increase of your melee dps. The class who benefits the most from it is of course the rogue... Confident Aim works diferently - it increases your min damage by 20% - in the sabre example that would be 31.2-38dmg - which is a 8% multiplicative increase in dps... I'm not sure however how they stack with each other...

Dex in theory adds a straightforward increase of your total DPS, however things are not that simple... Here's an example: Let's say your superb weapon does on average 20dmg every hit with 10mig/dex. With 20mig it will do 24dmg every hit instead - that's a 20% increase in dps. Now if you increase your dex by 10 your dps will be increased by a straightforward 30% which is better than 20%... But... What happens when you hit an enemy with 15DR? With 10mig/dex you'll do 5dmg/hit while with 20mig you"ll do 9dmg/hit - that's a 80% increase in dps from mig which is far better than the 30% increase from the dex...

When you're out of the aggro range of the enemies and you fire your weapon the combat will start only if you hit them. And since projectiles don't travel instantly the game will consider you out of combat and your per encounter abilities will be refreshed.

Lilith's aura doesn't seem to work as intended... If you wear the cloak and another item giving +2 stealth the entire aura disappears, not just the bonus on yourself. Also if the companions affected by the aura have also items with +stealth the aura bonus will be suppressed - which doesn't seem right considering how auras are supposed to work.

If you want less than 175kills and less than 10rests during the game you can't do every quest and stealth is a mandatory skill. As for perception you can never have enough while constitution adds just more fortitude.

The xp will be lost if you don't have WM but the xp in WM is enough to reach max level. My advice is to let your quests unfinished once you reach lv12 - you'll reach max level sooner in WM and you'll benefit from high level abilities/spells a little longer and you can upscale the content if you fear it will be too easy.

1. Look for posts/videos about pacifist runs to find how to finish the game with minimal fighting 2. You can avoid combat completely or you can tank and kill them even in potd if you're well equiped (plate armor, rymrgrand mantle, ring of minor protection/deflection, worn buckler, fulvano's boots, gauntlets of accuracy, whispers of yenwood) - high fortitude/deflection will avoid perma stun 3. With a pacifist run is doable - someone on the forum did it in potd (however he used a rogue to be able to avoid a few fights) 4. being revived counts as ko

For a solo cipher the strategy is really simple - start the encounter with your hardest hiting ranged weapon, switch to weapon and shield and retreat to a point where you can fight one enemy at a time. Cast eyestrike on the first enemy (with 18int it should last enough to replenish your focus again) - which will lower his accuracy by 41 and his attack speed by 15% (you can use also a potion of wizard's double for hard encounters) giving you enough defense to tank anything... At higher levels you can replace eyestrike with mental binding and silent scream - try to keep your enemy perma paralized/stunned - and switch to dual wield for more focus/dps. Another strategy is of course using charm/dominate on the first enemy to use him as a shield and to block the path to you and shoot the ones behind (casters/ranged attackers) with a bow. If you can't find a spot to fight a single enemy at a time you have to pull them one by one or skip the encounter until you're strong enough to tank more of them. VS enemies immune to charm, dominate, stun, paralysis you can use later stasis shell to block the path to you. When you have to fight many ranged attackers use confusion scrolls. PS. The description of whisper of treason says it's fast but it has just average speed.

You need 3 in both honest and diplomatic to reach max defenses.

It always interrupted.

The retaliation from the shield stacks of course with everything... But if you have all three on armor two will be suppressed.

Lavender's Wreath and binding rope effects don't stack with retaliation right now - don't know if it will be fixed on 3.03 because I saw nothing in the patch notes.

The average difference between the dps of these weapons is of course very small (+/-1-3dmg depending on targets) and depending on DR/rng you'll get different results. If you get a higher than average number of criticals purgatory might come on top, if a target has low corrode DR bittercut might come on top... If you compare purgatory to a normal sabre the average difference on crits is 8dmg - and if you crit on 50% of hits that's only a 4dmg increase in dps compared to a sabre without annihilation.

Only cruel and aggressive give penalties. The others are neutral and it's recomended to upgrade them too because they can open new dialogue options (especially honest and benevolent).

Distracted doesn't trigger sneak attack.