the streaker

I guess because reach weapons are missing the benefits that some of the other weapons have. Also, if you build him as a "ranged" character, you lose another tank. It's all a finely balanced tradeoff (which I don't think a lot of people appreciate about this game, which is a shame). Ranged - big hits (highest DR bypass), slow (low DPS), highest accuracy, most safe from afar, best ability to focus fire targets for improved party killing speed. Reach melee - medium DPS, medium DR bypass, medium safety, medium ability to focus fire, cannot tank if built squishy. Melee - highest DPS (unless target has high DR), weakest DR bypass, least safe, very limited ability to focus fire, acts as a tank (blocks enemies).

Strictly strictly speaking, according to the storyline, Hiravias's powers most likely stem from his own soul, just like Aloth, so they are both similar and both can be considered "mages."

Awesome. Any indication of GOG sales? I hope these games are successful enough that they can keep making more. The engine doesn't even need to hange, all you need is a good story, interesting locations and interesting characters.

OK but none of that is math, just some talk without any numbers to back it up. The damage calculations in this game are known, so it shouldn't be too hard to prove. If you're so sure of the rogue > ranger, surely you've checked them already?

Chanter works well as a tank because his chants are not slowed by armor penalty, and a few of them are pretty good at short range when in melee. Cipher's focus gain is directly proportional to armor penalty, and in range he can wear plain clothes and focus fire more easily.

Just did, but if you can show with some basic math why the ranged rogue does better, I'll gladly accept it. Otherwise what's the point in debating this if you can't see reason or show facts?

Streaker, anything that doesn't have a pike there isn't much a tank can do. The melee dpser will have to engage at close quarters and can't fight behind the tank like pikeman. They have lower deflection so the A I will turn to them. ...unless I am missing something I think you give the AI too much credit. Anything that is engaged with tanks will not move elsewhere until the tank disengages (typically, there are some exceptions). So under normal circumstances, your bear should be engaging one enemy. In the meantime your ranger is dumping a load of damage on this same target, as well as (hopefully) at least one or two other party members, because focus fire makes sense regardless of the pet. The times my pet dies, is usually because I've made a mistake with controlling the enemy.

Is it just me or are there more than two statues around that central dais where you fight Thaos, which could/should awaken on harder difficulties? On PotD it should be a battle royale between you and the entire Terra Cotta army, shouldn't be able to kill Thaos in 4 hits with one character on the hardest difficulty.

How do you keep anything alive in melee? Smart positioning around the main tank, friendly buffs, enemy debuffs. Cipher, priest and wizard have countless options.

Really? I'm not in the mood to discuss it again here either, but what about this that proves you wrong: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/78939-class-builds-ranged-ranger-ranged-rogue-melee-rogue/

The accuracy is actually 12 lower compared to a superb bow. Damage is great though (but the duration is very short and you miss often). Yeah I'm not sure why I said that, it's actually closer to 22 lower, since a good shooter/mage probably is an elf with marksman talent. So it def needs an accuracy buff.

I recommend against ranged rogue. Ranger with a gun is far better in terms of dps. Also with a 3-gun backline, you set yourself up nicely to benefit from chanter's reload buff chant.

Agreed that there should at the very least be some hesitation before these people blindly jump into the hole after you. Regarding Torment, I'm going to be harsh and say that it was just an 'okay' game. The story is great compared to almost any other game, but story is typically not the only (or even main) focus of a game. If you really wanted some good storytelling, there are many books that will give you something far better than PS:T. The gameplay part of that game is just a bit too lacking for me to consider it great.

I've been dicking around with the druid, because I like them, and the shapeshifting isn't too bad if you look at it as secondary to the spells. Throw an insect plague, activate the storm spells, then go inside for some melee while everything else does its work. The accuracy is no worse than your druid sitting behind shooting a bow, and the damage is much better. Not for those battles where you're going to empty your spell repertoire like a maniac.

Sorry you're right, I recognize my mistake now. When he said: I did not realize that he actually meant "how can I build a sub-optimal fighter with some measure of RP." Again, my mistake!

Why create one? Why not? Not every decision is strictly based on maximum combat efficiency. lol, you're just begging for an argument, aren't you? It's the character builds forum and the guy specifically asked about the viability of a fighter dps build, so I gave him the answer. Don't need to visit the character builds sub-forum for sub-par roleplay characters, that belongs over in the story section.

@ikkyhirschYeah if you want your dps guy to be able to absorb a lot of damage, then fighter (or monk) is the way to go. If you get a cipher or a rogue, the usual tactic is to let another fighter attract all the attention while you flank from the side and kill things one by one.

I don't know why you'd create one. Certainly you can make one just fine, since there are a bunch of good melee skills that are available to all, but the fighter's strengths and class-specific talents are geared towards defense and knockdown. The only dps-specific benefit is the weapon specialization and mastery, for total of 1.25x damage. You can get more than that with a cipher on top of all the cipher powers, or with a rogue on top of all the other rogue skills, or get a barbarian and add a lot of AoE damage.

Yeah I tend to agree. Lead Spitter with penetrating shot on a cipher is fantastic, only having to switch against VERY high pierce DR since the base damage of blunderbuss is so much higher than arquebus. Unique arquebuses, on the other hand, blow. They're only the clearly better choice for rangers (usually).

If ToE2 is to ToE1 what BG2 was to BG1, we're in for the greatest game of all time. One would assume with the proven success of the first one, they'd be able to invest more heavily in the second, much like how the BG saga progressed.

Geeze, 3 threads in a row talking about these gloves that do peanuts damage!

I did the first round of bounties on my first playthrough, Trial of Iron, and would not recommend it. The ogre one with the endless insect swarm had me sweating bricks, I was nearly toast.

You can also just duplicate your shield in IE mod, and add one copy to each weapon slot.

I think the grieving mother and durance are the only two companions that have to be in your party for an extended period of time in order to develop their quests. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the rest of the characters give you quests right away.

Just to clarify, I was pretty sure the whole of Engwithan civilization was not sacrificed to create the gods. During the final flashback, you see thousands of people in a chamber being sacrificed to create a god, not an entire civilization. Also, the watcher's soul was (I thought) an Engwithan in a past life, part of the Leaden Key, so obviously not every Engwithan has gone into the adra.