Kaylon

To add to what Boeroer already explained very well: the rogue can also generate free focus from misses through Riposte/Outward Spikes (from shield) or through disengagement attacks (from Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage) the SA bonus is affected twice by the weapon bonuses (when is generated and also when is applied), thus a rogue can generate the highest dps with SA another alternative to Tuotilo's Palm is Magran's Blessing which can also generate free focus through its damage shield (which is considered a shield attack and benefits from the Burning Strike enchantment and other damage bonuses including sneak attack/deathblows); the dmg shield targets reflex which can be lowered using flail's modal. Of course the monk can also generate free focus through Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming (Sun and Moon is very good for that) and even some disengagement attacks (with Left Hand of the Obscured equipped), however his SA damage is lower overall. A good ring to use is the Ring of Focused Flame which affects the first head of the flail (to avoid misses from SA) and also the damage shield.

If you feel that having permanently 40%dmg bonus and +3PL to your spells isn't important, then you can use a normal cipher, of course. It allows to use Soul Annihilation continuously, while benefiting from the shield, dw and PL damage bonuses at the same time. Steel garrote/street fighter - resilient and high dps character who drains health with every attack Blood mage/assassin - the bloodmage has unlimited access to invisibility and healing (through draining weapons) and can backstab over and over again. Helwalker/paladin with SI - besides having the highest passive defenses and good melee damage, Sacred Immolation becomes very potent due to mig, int and pen bonuses from the monk, while the self damage is removed with Clarity of Agony.

Soulblade/trickster with Sun&Moon/Tuotilo's Palm, arcane archer/ascendant with Frostseeker, dual wielding steel garrote/street fighter, blood mage/assassin with draining weapons, helwalker/paladin using SI....

In PoE1 any class can pick Persistence and Boots of Speed and kite most encounters. After that you're left with a few encounters which require careful planning and consumables, but are doable by probably any class. The paladin can tank (with strategical positioning) and beat 99% of the encounters (without scrolls), while for the remaining 1% he needs to kite (the high level bounties are harder than the dragons...).

For a berserker/devoted the Voulge is the most reliable weapon for both single and AoE dps. Static Thunder, Bolting Strikes and the shock/slash damage are hard to beat. Amra is flashy because can easily destroy packs of weak enemies, but it has poor single target dps and against very resistant/immune to slash enemies you will struggle with your fists.

I tried also spells/scepter/mortar & Sungrazer (over 200 shots) without succes (melee hits with Sungrazer can proc Return Orbit even multiple times in a row). However Blunt Rock works very well (also in AoE with mortars). Double Strike from Scordeo's Edge works with spells/implements but has no effect on reload weapons.

A few more bugs to fix if it ever gets an update: Sacred Immolation AoE duration isn't affected by PL (only the duration of the self damage); also the self damage part is considered ranged and is increased by ranged damage bonuses (pets, etc) Indecisive from Orishia doesn't work Fire in the Hole/Hand Mortar trigger Powder Burns twice per attack (needs more confirmations)

I tried to trigger Return Orbit/Double Strike while shooting with a blunderbuss and it doesn't seem to work. On the other hand it's very easy to get frenzy with a blunderbuss and Lover's Embrace in the off hand.

You're right, I unchecked "Only Scale Upwards" while Level Scaling remained activated. Then indeed, if you play without scaling at all the encounter becomes much more forgiving.

I tried the encounter without scaling and there's no difference. However I think you have a mod because your enemies are much weaker...

I play always upscaled thus I can't tell if there's a difference. However I'm still interested in your strategy because I find this encounter very difficult to beat without great passives. Personally I don't find herald boring because it's a very versatile class - you can use summons, invocations and play easily as 1h/s, 2w, 2h or even ranged. On the other hand, I consider very tedious to pass half of the time to buff or maintain the buffs as a caster...

Tactician/Berserker is solid in a party, but certainly not made for solo. Also, for me there's a big difference between a class able to finish the game solo (by skipping content and avoiding fights) and a class able to complete the entire game solo (meaning he can beat any encounter in the game). For example a blood mage can't beat the Changeling's Dance encounter without heavy exploits and I certainly wouldn't rank him first. My top 5 would be: forbidden fist troubadour/paladin blood mage/paladin tactician/assassin forbidden fist/psion (or forbidden fist/soul blade with the CP)

No, I'm using just the Unity Console.

For me it hits twice all enemies in the AoE:

I never observed it until now, but in my game both mortars are bugged and trigger Powder Burns twice per attack. It happens just with the mortars, not with the regular blunderbusses. Can anyone confirm it?

It's not the ultimate combo because the dot doesn't generate wounds fast enough and also because you damage yourself. The ultimate combo uses the synergy between Keeper of the Flame, Saint's War armor and Imagined Pain (with whatever weapon in the main hand). Personally I think Magran's Favor with Bleeding Cuts is still the best option overall even if the mortars look flashier. Mortars have low dmg and acc, can't trigger Swift Flurry and are under performing if the enemies are not close. In other words I don't consider them OP compared to the melee version, thus no need for nerfs.

Another great find! I wonder if it's possible to make the double merge multiple times with the same character for unlimited PL. Anyway, being able to use the powerful effects from the trinkets every fight is already huge.

Don't know if this trick is known, but it's useful especially for people who try to solo Changeling's Dance encounter. At the start of the fight you lose the bonuses from items, however you can keep the bonuses given by some items at the start: Shifting Chroma (from Pearlescent Rhomboid Helstone) Kaul's Stance (from Eager Blade) Drawing Parry (from Duskfall) First to the Fight (from Furrante's Breastplate) Pelt of Many Kinds (from Changeling's Mantle) Indecisive from Orishia should have been also in the list but it's bugged. Bravado from Gipon Prudensko is removed when the armor is replaced. Special mention for Nemnok's cloak and monks. If the monk has Iron Wheel activated at the start of the fight and if his life is increased by more than 30% then he is able to trigger Spirit Shield from the cloak.

I did a few more tests and you can avoid the curse if you're invisible or withdrawn when the table is destroyed. So the easiest way to beat the encounter is to let the enemies destroy the tables and then proceed as usual.

The blight has no duration and is very easy to proc with multi hit weapons (and you can proc it even before the fight by shooting yourself with dual blunderbusses and Rakhan Field Boots). With Rekvu's Scorched Cloak you can also have free heals for your cipher until the end of the fight. But of course it's always nice to be able to extend the buff for the entire fight.

VS high resolve enemies I think it's easier to use a fire blight from the belt of Magran's Chosen as a battery for your cipher.

Yes, you can withdraw them - with maxed arcana and enough scrolls it shouldn't be too difficult. PS. There's a second method to kill Hauani (without the arbalest) - using the withdraw trick. The tactician can become confused easily from Powder Burns and then withdraw one of the oozes to prevent the merge, while killing the other.

Here is one of the most powerful parties you can build - works very well on AI and each character is a real powerhouse on its own. Berseker/Devoted with Lord Darryn's Voulge - melee AoE dps Priest/Bellower - Support/damage dealer Helwalker/Ghost Heart with Frostseeker - ranged single/AoE dps Soulblade/Trickster with Sun and Moon & Tuotilo's Palm/WotEP - melee single/AoE dps Paladin/Bloodmage - tank/damage dealer If you have the Community Patch then you can play instead: Ascendant/Arcane Archer with Frostseeker - ranged AoE/CC Forbidden Fist/Trickster - melee single dps

It's not a downside if you're using the invocations as soon as you have enough phrases or if you just use the most powerful invocations.

The bellower works well with a priest/wizard who can prolong every buff (the +5 PL buff of the bellower included) for the entire fight (using SoT/WoD). The priest has a slight advantage because of better buffs, Barring Death Door and also because SoT is easier to use. Sasha's Singing Scimitar (with Refreshing Finale enchantment) allows to use Empower every fight on Her Tears Fell Like Rain. Empower will trigger the enchantments from the Robes of the Weyc (Muse of Mistery, Omnipotence), Weyc's Wand (Attuned Channel, Follower of the Obscured) and the Least Unstable Coil (all tier 3 inspirations if Her Tears.. hits 6 enemies). Then all those buffs can be instantly prolonged using SoT/WoD for the entire fight which won't last very long. After the first cast of Her Tears... you switch from Sasha's + Weyc's Wand to Blightheart and all the kills (combined with Muse of Mistery and Brilliant) will restore the phrases very fast allowing you to spam Her Tears... (or alternate with Storm of Holy Fire if needed).