heldred

Hi there... it appears you like single classes, so my recommendations will revolve around that requirement. My single-class recommendation is: 1) Monk - this is arguably the most powerful single-class in the game. It hits hard from the start, has incredible T8/T9 abilities, and some of the best passives in the game. 2) Paladin - swap this instead of fighter, since it can tank just as well, buff, off-heal, and provide one of the best passive heals in the game. Won't be flashy, but can stop oncoming traffic. 3) Wiz - make this a blood mage, since recycling abilities/spells are important for some megaboss strategies 4) Druid - great healer, great speedcaster (shifted), consistent damage, great synergy with stacking PL gear (Lord Darryn's and Deltro's) and access to one of the best T9 damage spells in the game (Maelstrom) 5) Priest - becoming a cheddar prerequisite for some megabosses (Salvation and Barring), but still can add some buffing (slow) and healing (ok), while laying down spells that are replicated by scrolls. Access to T8/T9 powers are great ways to end standard battles in 10 seconds... I know you mentioned a dislike for Cipher, but as a single-class, it has some of the most powerful skills in the game, especially in a party... Ancestor's Memory and Defensive Web are borderline broken in parties. Scratch that... broken if you build around this skills. Cipher is a consistent contributor start to finish, especially if spamming Mind Blades, Whispers of Treason, and later Ringleader... add in Disintegrate and Death from 1000 Cuts (boss killer), and you have a great contributor to any team setting. I just played through on POTD Deadly Deadfire+ and without my CIpher, the megabosses would never have fallen... (side note of Salvation of Time, Barring Deaths, and Ancestors is crazy in group play). If you have no interest in megabosses, I would dump the priest. However, if you are completionist, I would chuck the Paladin for the Cipher (makes lower levels slightly more challenging, but in the end game, the Paladin offers nothing compared to the Cipher). Hope this helps... and never be afraid to start over, you would be shocked how quickly you catch-up because you already know the game.

Yeah, I respectfully disagree. 1) Any class can own Nerisc with fire... um. just craft 5x scrolls of any of the following: Holy Fire, Meteor Shower, Great Maelstrom, etc. (super weak to fire). The only difference is, a Wizard could face tank it with 3 buffs and not need to leap around... or bother with Revku's gear. 2) Any class can own Nerisc... in a variety of fun and creative ways (without scrolls or consumables), it doesn't make the class design any better or worse, it is just tactically making use of the right gear and skills. 3) A SC Wiz can own Nerisc faster I think, especially with the right PL spec gear, buffs, skills, and grimoire picks... possibly stun-locking him with the right roll to prevent Llengths going off. 4) A SC Druid, dropping 2 Maelstroms and the right gear/spec shifted might be able to do it as fast as the Wiz, but might need to drop some healing. To my earlier point, I think the priest class has a lot of junk... super slow buffs (recovery) and few signature spells, that everyone takes. Again, any class in the game can solo anything with some thought, including Priests, but it definitely wasn't a well developed class.

1) Priests are nowhere near what they were in POE1... to be fair, besides Monks, what is a "clear" standout for performance? (opinion, moving forward) 2) Priests are perceived to be "fine" because of a few spells (BDD, SOT, T8/9 Signature spells, some summoned weapons, etc.) 3) Priests (without mods) are mediocre due to horrific cast and recovery times for a lot of spells, combined with multiple substandard spells littering every level 4) There are a handful of good spells and you ultimately end up with homogenized shi-te (that is French, for bad...) each play-through, regardless of deity 5) In addition, the Druid is in many ways a better healer... so that title is gone 6) Damage dealer? Well, my money is on a PL-ed Wiz, but that is just me... and let's not forget grimoires. 7) So what is a Priest good for? Besides being a trick build for Monks and other nacho-cheese fun (see point #2), I find myself hardly ever picking it since a Druid or Wiz does it better (and often faster). I guess role-play... In short, nothing is going to change at this point in the dev cycle, but Priests were poorly constructed from the start and were probably overlooked due to a few standout spells or the stigma of being true deities in POE1. Can you play them and be effective? Absolutely, but that doesn't excuse the noticeable flaws in their design and implementation...

Enjoy the game, but feedback is a gift: HIT: Graphical and sound upgrades, definitely added to the combat experience. HIT: Multi-classing choices definitely pushed me to play a few more runs. HIT: Large selection of spells and abilities. MISS: I miss the endurance and health system from POE1 - it was truly a brilliant idea. While we are at it, I'm not a fan of PEN and Armor system. MISS: Main storyline was rubbish... as were the companions... too many sidekicks and not enough depth. MISS: Consumables that replicate signature abilities... cheapens certain classes/spells. MISS: Large number of useless (situational) spells and abilities.

I agree with many of the points above... some random thoughts Monk (Hel) / Rogue (Tricks) - I like trading the imperceptible reduction in DPS for added survivability (Offense Single 10 / Offense AOE 5 / Defense 7 / Utility 5) Monk (Hel) - T8/T9 abilities makes this a difficult DPS class to overlook (Offense Single 10 / Offense AOE 7 / Defense 6 / Utility 4) Barb (Zerk) - T8/T9 and carnage make for a potent melee combatant (Offense Single 8 / Offense AOE 9 / Defense 5 / Utility 4) Druid (Shift) / Rogue (Street or Tricks) - Storms + shifted melee is potent... plus Druid offers great utility (Offense Single 8 / Offense AOE 7 / Defense 7 / Utility 9) Pali (Bleak) / Rogue (Tricks) - Good DPS, decent support, and high defenses (Offense Single 7 / Offense AOE 4 / Defense 9 / Utility 6) Fighter (Devoted - 2HS or Estoc) / Cipher (SB) - Good AP & ACC, flexible build, good defenses (Offense Single 8 / Offense AOE 7 / Defense 8 / Utility 7) Fighter (Devoted -Pike) / Wiz (Blood) - Great defense, great AOE (Citzals), good accuracy, etc. (Offense Single 6 / Offense AOE 10 / Defense 10 / Utility

If there weren't so many things completely resistant to Pierce (fully resistant is a stupid mechanic to any game), I still like Stalker's Patience.

I would consider the following party (with the understanding you want all ciphers): Cipher (sb) / Fighter (tact) - Primary Tank / Secondary CC / Secondary Damage / Buffs Cipher (ascendant) / Mage (blood) - Secondary Tank (self buffs) / Secondary CC / Primary Spell Damage Cipher (beguiler) / Priest (wael) - Secondary Tank (self buffs) / Main CC / Secondary Spell Damage / Secondary Healer Cipher (ascendant) / Druid (lifegiver) - Primary Healer / Secondary Spell Damage / Support CC Cipher (sb) / Monk (hel) - Primary CC / Melee and Spell Damage / Buffs The group has lots of CC, buffs, self-buffs, regenerating resources, and some tankiness... For stats use Mig: 16-18, Con 8-10, Dex 8-10, Per 16-18, Int 16-18, Res 8-10... I would suggest weapon and shield until after level 10ish, then use what you want, but I like the extra deflection. For armor, go as heavy as you can until after level 10ish, then use what you want, but I like heavier. For Fighter, take, Knockdown, Fighter Stance, Rapid Recovery, Focus, Tactical Barrage, Vigorous Defense, Conquerer, Armored Grace... For Wiz take a couple buffs, like Spirit Shield, Mirror, and Veil., then take a Grimoire with Damage/CC... For Priest you have good self buffs and some CC (wael), then supplement some damage spells Pillar of Faith, Shining, Pillar Fire... and 1 or 2 heals... maybe a debuff, but not necessary with CC For Druid you have good heals (lifegiver), then grab some damage (insects, storms, and some frost/ice) For Monk take swift furry, thunderous, duality, turning wheel, iron wheel, enervating, heartbeat Key Cipher spells... mix and match, but helpful for everyone to have at least one buff, two cc, and two damage CC: eyestrike, whispers, mental, phantom, secret, puppet, mind plague, ring leader Damage: mind blades, silent scream, detonate, amplified, disintegrate Buffs: pain block, borrowed, ancestors Go forth, CC, cast damage spells, and have fun. By level 10ish, you should be unloading 1-2 CC, and 3-4 Damage Spells... later on (level 16+) just go all damage, since CC just slows you down.

General conclusions are based upon three parameters: 1) Renewable resources: Monk, Cipher, Chanter, Wiz-Blood, and Fighter-Tact 2) Tankiness: Combination of inherent defenses (Fighter-Tact), buffs (Wiz), debuff-buffs (Cipher), passive heals (Chanter, Fighter), CC (Cipher,Wiz) 3) Damage output: Which needs to be in two forms... a) Efficiently doing damage for regular battles (Wiz), and b) High Pen and DPS for megabosses (Monk) After playing multiple POTD runs, my thoughts drift towards: 1) Monk-Hel (best option, due to upper-tier powers handling bosses, but weakness is you still need to manually build tankiness) 2) Wiz-Blood / Fighter-Tact (best versatility, good buffs, good defensive options, but need to build PL/AR-pen for mega bosses) 3) Fighter-Tact / Chanter-Troub (safe, but slower, with great passive healing and consistent resources) 4) Wiz-Blood / Cipher-SB (Wiz buffs + Cipher buffs/debuffs... this one has great potential, but blossoms level 10+... SB is for Megabosses) 5) Fighter-Tact / Cipher-Ascended (good overall option, could be swayed to make it SB for megabosses) 6) Cipher (would need to manually build tankiness, but T8/T9 skills would be great for bosses) 7) Wiz (buffs cover tankiness, but arcane dampeners can be rough... the T8/T9 spells are nice, but not needed for bosses, which is why multi option is better) 8)) Wiz-blood / Monk-Hel (This combo rocks most battles and without access to T8s/T9s its potential falls short on megabosses) This is what comes to mind if we are talking Solo, POTD, and Megabosses. If you drop the megabosses, then anything is viable with thoughtful tactics and minimal cheese.

Skip the fight... what fun is that? The next thing you are going to tell me is you spare the lives of the Bardattos and the Valeros... Gorecci Street is an entertaining, challenging fight that offers multiple ways to win (solo, party, from stealth, overlapping debuffs, etc.). I tend to always use a group and the easiest way I've learned to clear it at lvl 4 is with the "bow-salvo" approach to even the odds. Head-to-head, without any trickery or tactics is a rough fight, especially from the northern approach (a few bad rolls will end your adventure). I can't fathom paying money to avoid a brawl That should be a challenge: Pugilist or A Glutton for Giving Punishment (never talk your way out of any fight and settle all interactions with combat... maybe for POE3).

Gorecci Street 101... 1. Level 4 Group (min) 2. Take 5 people (main + 4 mercs or main + eder + xoti + 2 mercs) 3. Come from the South (significantly easier than northern approach) 4. Enter in stealth 5. Move to South-West corner of the main screen (near the corner of the southern most house) 6. Primary weapon is (Weapon + Shield) / Secondary weapon is (Bow) 7. Start with BOWs... From stealth, target the nearest looter from maximum range. Everyone fire on first guy... he will only last for 2 salvos 8. Everything will aggro, but you have one less looter to deal with. At this point, if you have a tank, switch him/her to Weapon + Shield and position a little ahead of party. 9. If you have Slicken or Chill Fog (preference), NOW would be a good time to cast right in front of your tank or most forward character - Everyone else fire on the next approaching looter with Bow (should be 2 that are close and another 4-5 approaching). Take two shots max, and switch to Weapon + Shield 10. Spells... Damaging or CC are ideal to spam since most of the mobs are going to move closer to you (in a nice clump), especially if your Chill Fog has ruined their ranged casters/guns 11. Wolfpack tactics are a must, right until the last looter falls. Which means focus your weapons/spells on closing down targets, then moving to another target. 12. Stand in the middle of the square and savor the smell of blood, gunpowder, and low tide... better known as the smell of victory. Honestly, it is one of the hardest battles in the game if you are unprepared or don't take it seriously.

1) Main character: Wizard >>> A great choice and some suggestions: 1) Use a shield, at least until level 10ish, 2) Use heavier armor, at least until level 10ish, 3) grab key buffs at level-up, like Spirit Shield, Infuse, and Llengs Image (low level defenses), 4) grab a damaging grimoire, that has all offensive (damage, dot, cc) spells, and 5) think about a specialization for keyword (Ice, Fire, Poison/Decay, etc., but usually Fire or Ice) and select the appropriate weapons (e.g., Magran's Ax = fire), and regarding specialization, 6) go Blood if megabosses in your future, or Vanilla for broader spell access, or Evoker for chance to double-cast. 2) Tank: Shieldbearer-Troubadour (found this on the forum) >>>Another solid choice, that can still provide some offensive options. This combo's power ranking starts to subside slightly in the outer levels, due to slower DPS/Casting. However, renewable resources are great for longer battles (megabosses) and the survivability, coupled with renewing chants/spells is ideal. 3) Ranged dps: ??? Thinking bow ranger I have read mixed reviews on this class >>>There is nothing wrong with any class (I like Ranger-Arcane / Wizard), but for pure Ranged DPS power... I would take a pure Druid or Fire Priest (since you already have a pure Wizard for main) 4) Healer: Any guidance would help >>>You really don't need a dedicated healer, especially with your Shield/Troub in the mix. If you did want a dedicated healer, a Lifegiver Druid is quite possibly the best option... To give your Druid some additional firepower, a multi-class Lifegiver/Monk might be interesting, since it give you renewable resources for outer levels... especially if you have another pure caster for your #3 spot. Just remember, there are no bad decisions and often times the "most uber" class may not be the most fun to actually play. Any of the choices above (made by everyone) will be fun. Enjoy!

For Riposte... maybe 1) Two Foils or maybe one Foil and one Sabre facing each other, but one foil tip down and the other foil on target (pointed straight) 2) A foil extended out, facing the left side of the icon, pointed at around 45 degrees. Below the foil image is the gradually decreasing opacity at 90 degrees and 135 degrees it is barely seen. Not great options, but maybe triggers a better idea. Thanks for the effort!

Yeah, I dislike games with lots of hidden math or unavailable calculations. I do realize each mob/target will have different impacts, but we should have a baseline available for everything.

I am still waiting for a cup of coffee, so go easy if I miss the obvious... my question to the community: "What calculations do you wish were on your character screen (inventory or character)?" I wish we had: Chance-to-Crit (I feel like I have all sorts of stacking +% chance to crit, but I never really know how effective this is, unless I take the time to literally breakout a spreadsheet and hope Thelee or MaxQuest gave me the right math in an old thread. I would really like one place that shows +% chance to crit on melee and spells... I know it won't cover everything perfectly, but it would be helpful) Chance-to-Parry (Again, it would be great to know how hard a character is to hit, even if it is a fair estimate) Chance-to-Resist Melee (maybe we don't need these...) Chance-to-ReflectSpell (we could combine Reflect/Resist into one category, but it would be helpful) Chance-to-Resist Spell (see above) Chance-to-Resist All (like Uncanny Luck skill... I can't recall if anything else is like this in game- maybe the least important) Resistance to (Fire, Ice, Poison, etc. - e.g, Paladins are immune to Poison with Righteous Soul skill, is that an automatic 100% resistance to Poison?) Category Resistance Ratings: (e,g,, Dexterity Afflictions = Weakness, Resolve Afflictions = Normal, etc.) Category Resistance Bonuses: (e.g., Paladins receive +20 Defenses to Resolve, Might, and Dex afflictions) By the time I reach mid-game, between stacking items and skills, I find it hard to tell what is impactful or what has lame diminishing returns. Ok, so if this information is sitting somewhere on my character sheet already, I apologize and blame it on a lack of caffeine. However, I swear I find myself asking these questions every time I play. Cheers!

I think the damage of Delayed Fireball (DF) is substandard, for a couple of reasons... 1) I think 4.5 sec cast time is crazy for spell that has an inherent delay (should be 3.0 secs like standard Fireball, but just an opinion) 2) Same old Penetration of 7 (compared to standard Fireball) - yeah I know, every spell is basically Pen 7, but it could use a bump here, if no increase in damage 3) It does do higher base damage (compared to standard Fireball), but you need to consider a player can spam 2-3 spells (with 2-3x the chance to hit or crit) in the same time it takes to cast and wait for this spell. It feels like this spell has a 5-6 second delayed explosion (or maybe I am impatient... scratch-that, I'm impatient), but I couldn't find a tooltip or online reference to the precise delay... more hidden Obsidian math Anyway, I suppose the use of DF comes down to play-style. For me, the edge-cases of casting from stealth or timing with Pull of Eora are interesting considerations, but become less important in a game where most battle are settled in under 10 seconds (post level 10ish, when these spells become available).