GuyNice

I'd say that Blast and Penetrating Blast are a must for ranged wizard with decent MIG/DEX/INT. Just make sure to not equip Rods (because they are slower than wands and sceptres; unless it's Golden Gaze which fires two projectiles at once). The thing is that such a wizard can easily compete with a barbarian in party in terms of total damage done (until the last one gets HoF). Penetrating Blast is probably unworthy only on cc wizard with completely dumped Might. Such wizzy could either wield 1h+shield (and thus no blasts at all) or go for Gyrd Háewanes Sténes or Rod of Pale Shades, and passively dominate/stun stuff. Thanks for the input. The wizard being Aloth, wich he already had blast, I thought it would make sense to upgrade his ability. I pefer using wand and scepter also with him. I also want Aloth to have some CC and some magical damage so I'm trying to mix both, so far so good as the game progress. I like his damage spells. (normal difficulty) It's just that there are so many talents, it's hard for me to make a decision considering I will probably play the game only 1 playtrought because I do not have the time to play more, so I'm trying to make the best out of my decisions. Remember if you are unhappy with a talent selection you can always respec. For me a lot of the fun in this game comes from experimenting, and since Obsidian were good enough to add a respec option you can now do that without starting a new playthrough. There are so many fun and powerful combinations, don't hesitate to try figure out what works better or worse for yourself.

I for one am very happy with Obsidian's proposed changes to buff-suppression. The system in PoE1 (and other similar "item conflict" ideas) is obtuse. Managing items so you don't "waste" buff slots was a chore, especially when switching party members. The news about separate cloak and necklace slots is great too. I'm just loving everything I've seen and heard about Deadfire so far, from big concepts like graphical improvements and companion interactions to subtle rule changes and attention to details.

Or better yet 2 flaming claws (unarmed) to compliment spirit shift and encourage full-melee-dps druid build.

Best euphemism I heard this week. :D Haha, well, I like playing with a full party, so I need to do something to keep things interesting

Cool build, I'm considering a riposte rogue MC for my next playthrough, mainly because I find their power level to be fairly balanced, and the high mental stats are great. I'm not sure about dumping dex though, I personally don't like very slow characters, instead I would keep might at 10 (as the bonus damage is additive with sneak attack and death blows, which makes it comparatively weak) and drop per to 16 in order to have an average dex score. But it's really a matter of taste, your stat spread is completely valid. The DR bonuses from fryth's plated greaves and cloak of comfort won't stack, so I would pick just one of those. There are many options for what to replace, but cloak of missiles (5 burn/shock DR and minor missiles 3/rest) could be a good fit, or perhaps hiro's mantle for retaliation which opens up a different armor option. About Wodewys, I'm not sure what you mean by CC, as nature's mark is a debuff, it doesn't disable enemies or enable sneak attack. At 10% it's also a bit unreliable, not to mention it's potentially replaceable with aspirant's mark. With your high crit rate I would go for We Toki or (if you're keen on battle axes) or a stun-on-crit weapon instead if you want more CC. But then again CC'd mobs can't attack, so no retaliation or riposte. That's why I would probably go for sabres with annihilation instead. I would also seriously consider taking penetrating shot if you're planning to make use of missile scrolls (which i think is a great idea), as vulnerable attack will not work with them. For minoletta's concussive missiles, 5 DR bypass effectively means 25 damage (5 per missile) in the AoE, added to the 15-20 raw damage you should get from deep wounds with decent might and int. As a bonus, penetrating shot also affects the ToTV from Badgradr's Barricade. If you go for sabres and weapon focus ruffian, you can open battles with a (sneak attack) blunderbuss shot (5x6 DR bypass), eventually with something like Silver Flash or Scon Mica's Roar, which provide a nice debuff along with decent damage.

Very cool build, thank you for the guide. For a single Ranger in the party it might be worth going for Island Aumaua and use Twin Sting + Stormcaller + Persistence. That way you have the benefit of opening with Twin Sting and the versatility of Stormcaller/Persistence, against stun immune mobs or powerful single targets/bosses.

Sorry to necro an old thread, but has the way Tempered Helm stacks changed? What about the interaction between consecrated ground and veteran's recovery?

Inspiring Radiance is another exception as the accuracy buff does stack with other sources of accuracy.

On anything below PotD, they can survive almost anything with a little support. On PotD you have to be very careful, they're usually fine as long as they don't need to handle more than 1-2 mobs. That said, with changes to AI in 2.0 and new encounters in White March, I can't justify taking a Ranger on PotD. It's not that they're bad per se, but they don't bring the AoE CC and damage, tanking ability or party wide buffs and utility that you really want. I'm sure someone can get them to work but to me they're a bit of dead weight. If you're not playing on PotD, they're great, in fact any class is on hard and below.

Thank you for the confirmation!

Not sure what the problem is in your game but I can confirm that the monk multiclass talent does apply. I respec'd Hiravias at level 9 with just 1 of the Wildstrike talents and he's hitting for 40-50 pretty frequently. That said, I don't think this is OP since the new AI is much better at targeting your low DR party members. Spirit form is great if you find yourself with an enemy caster/squishy near your druid or if you're just cleaning up stragglers and don't want to spend any per rest spells. I'm playing on PotD so YMMV.

Are you guys planning on releasing updated patch notes? Or do the Aug. 6th patch notes include all the changes in patch 2.0 (beyond the actual expansion content)? Thank you.

I use Durance as a frontliner with weapon and shield style and inspired flame (+10 sword/arquebus accuracy). My party consists of PC Monk tank/dps (dual wield), Pallegina as a tank with Outworn Buckler (+5 all defenses party wide), Durance, custom made Rogue (quickswitching between arquebus/arbalest volleys and pike thrusting), Hiravias (ranged) and Grieving Mother (ranged). I'm playing on PotD and there are many situations where there are so many mobs that they spill over 2 tanks. That's when it comes in handy to have a durable 3rd frontliner (durance). When fighting in tight areas I switch his weapon to an arquebus. I really like using him with sword and shield, not only does he look badass, but he's wielding "Shame of Glory" which has the Marking attribute (+10 accuracy for allies against the target). He's the only member of the party that I could find a reason to use swords on since I don't like that weapon focus group, but Inspired Flame is perfect for it. I should also mention hes wearing Plate armor, and has 78 deflection currently with an exceptional large shield (level 7).