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heldred

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Everything posted by heldred

  1. I'm contemplating one more run, but before I start anything I want to make sure the "major patches" are over. I think the additional content is done (thank you), but I was wondering if any final balancing was going to be tackled? In short, are we looking at the final product (outside of bugs)?
  2. My ATF... Fighter/Wiz... (really doesn't matter the specialties, but I like vanilla wiz for spell selection) Step #1: Activate Tactical Barrage Step #2: Buff... with rapid casting: Deleterious, Eldritch Aim, Infuse Vital, Llengraths Displaced, Flame Shield, Ironskin, Llengraths Safe, Citzals... Step #3: Walk into the middle of mobs (your stride is basically maxed) ... be sure Mob Stance is active Step #4: Activate Clear Out Step #5: Watch everyone in your party stop what they are doing to say, "I thought only Meteor Shower did that kind of damage..."
  3. You were in my highest deflection post when I recommended Nalpazca/Blood mage as the closest. The problem is his cleave. You will need at least 240 Deflection for that to reliably miss you. It's pretty easy to reach 230 deflection without 1.pet, 2. food, 3. rest bonus as screenshot below(also my character is a no MC so deep faith is not maxed), so I assume it's really easy to reach 240 Deflection. All u need to do is casting Arcane Veil -> Blood sacrifice -> Arcane Veil -> Blood sacrifice and so on. Animancer's Enegry Blade is the best weapon for the build because it ignores AR. IF only Cadhu Scalth didn't look like a rotting cucumber... when will we ever get the ability to transform items? (think pet machine for items...) Oh yeah, and the Animancer's Energy Blade looks like a unicorn turd on a fancy hilt... (can you tell, I'm not a fan of the artwork?)
  4. I never understood the point of making weapons hard to upgrade (both resources and gold), since it just reinforces the need to carefully plan which weapons to take for late-game play. I feel like there are some interesting exceptional and superb items I skip, since it is more efficient to focus resources/gold on other items.
  5. I agree, the game needs a patch 4.5 balance check... too many sub-classes are rubbish. Then again, a few mods address some of these shortcomings.
  6. Just be a Wizard/Paladin or a Fighter/Paladin... it does everything better, except healing, which can be done as efficiently with scrolls/potions. My problem with the Priest in POE2 is all of the spells take forever on recovery (or maybe it is me). I just feel like my wizards can buff up 6+ spells to god status, while the priest is still recovering from its first spell. Even nuking the wizard "feels" more fluid over the priest. Add in the fact that you don't have to buy a single spell as a wizard and it is clearly superior to the priest... Oh yeah, I could make a case for a Druid being a better healers, which makes the Priest an odd choice. Yeah, come to think of it, the devs really didn't show any love for the priest in POE2 (to be fair, they were gods in POE1). After hundreds of hours of play time, they really should have a patch that adjusts the priest's cast times and includes 2 free spells for each level... then it might be close to wizard.
  7. Mythical Eager Blade became my favorite weapon on a Pali/Cipher (soul blade). I think with razor skewers, weapon modal, and hammering thoughts he hit 21 AP at times. It was great fun...
  8. I haven't soloed since POE1, since I like using full parties to experience as many different builds as possible on full play-throughs. My goal on every play-through is zero deaths. Because of this goal, I tend to build tankier-builds that can deal with anything without party support. With that said, of all the boss fights, I felt that Dorudugan posed the greatest challenge in both POE1 and POE2. If you are equipped with heavy (heavier) armor and you have group/individual buffs, none of its melee attacks are a real threat (especially if constantly healing on the group). The real challenge with a group (a diverse group, no repeat builds) is keeping them all alive for the entire fight. I didn't use Revku's on anyone either, since it was more fun making everyone "concerned" about the fire attacks. My plan was a good old-fashioned face-tanking and it took about 18-20 minutes. Every minute had my attention, healing anyone who dipped below 2/3rds health (spells or scrolls) and considering the placement and range of fireballs (shift position or stay put). My unintentional "exploit," which was really just the best attack I had available, was Soul Annihilation. I smiled every time it hit and cursed every time I whiffed at full focus. Anyone else tackle this colossus with a full party and manage "zero" losses? If you did, I really want to hear your experiences and tactics.
  9. With 5 people hammering on the colossus, it was a fair trade-off for any fireballs that fell close. The fireballs were probably on a 2-3 minute timer (not accurate, just recollection), since we definitely had a lot of team to deliver a beating between fireball salvos. Also, it made healing way more efficient having everyone in range to benefit from a single heal. Most of the time, only 1 or 2 fireballs the fell near the colossus, regardless of the fact that the entire team was in melee range. There were even some times where the fireballs all landed far away (whole team in melee range), but this happened only when we were just to the right of center of the map (if there is any correlation with positioning... it could be just luck of the draw).
  10. Brand enemy heals him. Yeah, I ran it once without and once with, and it looked as if my Pali's DPS outpaced the heal with 2-hander, but without running a log, it is simply an observation. Thankfully, the colossus fell either way.
  11. War Caller (troubadour) was a great support character for heals and damage. Heals can come from Winds of Death or Mercy Kindness, with Mercy and Kindness later. Your damage comes in the form of: 1) Deltros Cage + brisk recitation + Her Revenge Swept across the land = Lightning small AOE (good damage, that keeps coming back to cast in longer fights) . Note, if you want to switch weapons you can use Lord Darryn's for extra Lightning PL, but I got lazy and just kept sword and shield. For armor, I went plate because I like the added defense. 2) Her Tears Fell = positional Ice DPS blast, that offers good burst damage and as a fighter your can fearlessly wedge yourself against your target and hit it with a multiple bolts of ice Great synergy as a fighter by taking Tactical Barrage + Refreshing Defense (start with this each fight) since it buffs accuracy and intelligence, which helps AOE radius and buff times. For abilities, focus on PER, STR, INT Pathfinder (streetfighter for more offense or trickster for more defense) - I went streetfighter originally and specced only Gouging Strike and Escape as my active abilities as a rogue (just spam Gouging Strike) and focus on taking as many passives as possible (dirty fighting, deep wounds, persistent distraction, tough, etc.). On the Druid side, I went Shifter, invested only in storm spells, and took Greater Wildstrikes for added DPS. Cast avenging storm from scroll to add to your DPS onslaught, but Natures Terror (auto spell for Shifter) is all you really need in most fights. By the time you hit the highest levels, you don't even bother to cast anything since you have diminishing returns on spells, since it is usually more efficient to just cast one spell and commence the beatings. For abilities, focus on STR, CON, DEX, and PER... you need almost everything, which makes it tough. I usually go 15 STR, 15 CON, 15 DEX, 15 PER, 8 INT, 10 RES If I do a third run, I might try trickster version of Pathfinder since I tend not to be bloodied too often to benefit from Streetfighter perks. This build was a monster for melee DPS and would destroy back row targets.
  12. I feel like Huana and Helfire battles were a lot like "learning on the job." The Huana battle frustrated me the moment I watched the two massive blobs reform back into Huana... yeah, that was definitely upsetting. The key for me was that I had the entire team attack Huana in melee. Once Huana split, I moved my two toughest tanks (fighter-wiz and paladin-wiz) between them, with the two focusing on one holf, while my other three party members threw everything at the other half. Wall of Many Colors can help slow down each half (a well placed one might hit both), but some of it is luck with the positioning on the split. I did the battle a couple times and became frustrated if couldn't wedge one of two team members between the two halves. Once you know you need to move quickly on the split it becomes easier. You can also use summons (tendrils, clones, avatars, etc.) to keep the halves split. Finally, if you have a bunch of pieces, don't be afraid (with high defenses) to dump you own AOE nukes on top of yourself, while someone on your team dropping a heal... hey, it beats watching those smaller pieces reassemble into bigger chunks.
  13. Face tanked it with a full party of fighter-casters... Inquisitor, Battlemage, Spell blade, Arcane knight, and Contemplative Basic strategy: Stay in a tight formation for efficient healing - tough to retreat as a group with fireballs and fire surfaces, but managed zero deaths. Select the right weapons... basically no slashing. I never bothered to debuff him or cast any spells other than defensive buffs for team (+deflection, +armor, and healing). Key skills: Soul Annihilation and modal for Estoc Key items: any +Fire Armor (rings and some armor), passive healing (shields), and passive debuff (Blackened Plate) Honorable mention Skills: Gouging Strike (1x start) and Wall of Many Colors (2x or 3x towards the end, once near death), and Hastening Exhortation (to allow quick mobility for people who can't cast Alacrity) Scrolls and potions: healing (critical) and accuracy (helpful) Note: I did not cast any offensive spells, other than Wall of Many Colors
  14. After completing my third, and possibly final, run through POE2, I wanted to share my thoughts on the game and highlight some effective classes. I like to play “tankier” characters with flexibility, which usually means multiclass warrior-casters. My final team was effective start to finish and cleared every mega-boss, without needing to reroll into specific skills or use large amounts of scrolls (more on that later). This was my line-up, without going into too much detail: INQUISITOR: Paladin (Goldpact) / Cipher (Soul Blade) – main Weapon Preference: Great Sword (WOEP), Estoc (Eager), and Blunt Weapon (your call on preference) to deal with certain creatures Armor: Switch between plate (One Dozen), leather (Miscreant), and papped (Gipon) depending upon the battle PROS: +Reliably unloads DPS – especially in long boss fights +Achieve high AP between Exalted Accuracy, Hammering Thoughts, and Weapon Modals +Endures damage quite well +Achieves high defenses across the board +Decent flexibility with casting (only focused on Secret Horrors, Borrowed Instinct, and Disintegrate) CONS: -I always focus on PER and take Exalted Focus, hitting consistently with Soul Annihilation was literally hit-or-miss (random number generator my arse…) -Attribute spread is tough (PER, DEX, STR… INT, RES, CON), but as your main, with Berath’s Blessing, you can manage -Starts slow, but post level 9 becomes a force to be reckoned with SPELLBLADE: Rogue (Trickster) / Wizard (no subclass) Weapon Preference: Spear & Small Shield (Stalkers and Best Defense) or Sabre & Stiletto (Scodero and Rust's) Armor: Switch between plate (Blackened) and cuirass (Casita), depending upon the battle PROS: +Reliable burst DPS +Helpful DPS-trickle in long battles +Incredible flexibility (damage caster, self-buffing caster) +Great defenses (Trickster and Wiz buffs) +Works well in the pack or alone (destroying back-line casters… if they weren’t incinerated by casting… but I tend to melee more, since it is more fun), +Frugal point spender because of grimoires and only need 2-3 active rogue abilities (escape and gouging strike) which enables picking up lots of helpful passives (dirty fighting, riposte, bears fort, combat focus, persistent distraction, deep wounds, tough, luck, improved crit, etc.) CONS: -Look out if this character becomes charmed… but food or items can fix that scenario… almost too easy to make immune to mind effects -Starts slower, great mid-game, and good end-game power BATTLEMAGE: Fighter (Devoted-Pike) / Wizard (Blood Mage) Weapon Preference: Sword & Shield – plenty of options (while buffing), then Citzals to crush all…. Armor: Plate (your choice… I liked the looks of new red plate) or Devil (situational, all fine with Wiz Buffs) PROS: +Great AOE melee (CItzals + Alacrity + Clear Out + Mob Stance …. Or Mule Kick) +Good long-term DPS with BloodMage/Fighter combo +Good Accuracy +Very tanky (with buffs, over the top – within 3 seconds can have Eldritch Aim, Mirror, Alacrity, Iron Skin, Citzals Lance, Arcane, Citzals Martial, etc.) +Good defenses +Quick buffer if specced right +Grimoire (Citzal’s, Katrenn’s, Brawler’s, etc.) makes for a purpose built, frugal point spender, which enables great passive/active picks +Flex-ABLE: can always switch Grimoires and nuke away or CC CONS: +Starts slowwwww…. Needs Citzals Lance to truly shine (for me) ARCANE KNIGHT: Paladin (Goldpact) / Wizard (Evoker) Weapon Preference: Sword & Shield (when being defensive), buf for fire-casting DPS used Axe/Flail (Magran's and Sun & Moon) Armor: Plate (Patinated) or something lighter (Furrante's) if buffed PROS: +Decent melee damage +Great caster +Good Defenses +Can be very tanky +Flexible moving between melee or caster +Strong all the way through the game +Arcane 15 enables top level spells to be cast +If you have 2 paladins you can either buff each other (if you spec that way) CONS: +Attribute spread, but usually go with STR: 15ish, PER: 15ish, DEX 15ish, INT: 15ish, CON: 7ish, RES: 7ish +Skill spread… go Offensive Grimoires and cherry-pick defensive spells (Mirror Image or Llengrath’s Displaced, Iron Skin, Arcane Reflect, etc.). CONTEMPLATIVE: Monk (Helwalker) / Priest (Skaen) Weapon Preference: Unarmed & Small Shield (Palm) or Unarmed & Unarmed Armor: Nomads and finally Kahako Nihi +Starts solid +Good survivability, but not as high as others +Decent defenses +Good healing, especially with Arcane 15 for backup scrolls when needed +Good DPS, unarmed scales fairly well into the late game CONS: +Good, but for me, never great… most likely to be dropped if I did another run… probably back to a Druid/Rogue or Chanter/Pali +Used Skaen’s powers less than I thought… would almost respect Wael for more defensive flexibility Total damage in descending order: Inquisitor, Battlemage, Spellblade, Arcane Knight, and finally Contemplative Prior play-throughs I also enjoyed playing: Herald, Pathfinder, Warlock, War Caller, and Holy Slayer What I liked best about POE2? – To be clear I very much enjoyed the game… enough to sink close to 400+ hours into it! +Flexibility of classes and multiclass combos +Game played slightly differently when I sided with different factions +Large amount of content – it felt like a grand adventure +Great settings/artwork, especially two of the expansions +Always enjoy the POE combat systems… although I liked POE slightly better for combat and mechanics What I liked least about POE2? – Just trying to make the next game better (#POE3) -Plot wasn’t as strong as POE (obviously an opinion) – However, I appreciated the option to use Wael’s body to crush Eothas… he had it coming. -Final battles on Ukaizo were weak or a least felt uninspiring, especially once you fight some of the Mega Bosses. -Lack of items… wow, it is so hard to make 4 great weapons for each weapon type? Great items, not just unique… I think Warhammers, Maces and Clubs should have their own expansion. Looking beyond weapons, there were plenty of mediocre magic items (rings, capes, etc.), but only a handful of standouts. Finally, I won’t miss the “tribal” and “pirate” artwork styles of the armor and weapons… yeah, subjective. -Inability to customize colors or appearance of items (always an issue for me) – need the Pet Machine for Items! -Melee felt less impactful over time, especially when compared to a party of casters unloading burst-damage or CC. To remind myself how potent casting was, with the party above I would just put everyone in light armor and have everyone cast their highest-level nuke (not even empowered), -How about some great items for killing the Mega Bosses? Felt like the rewards were lacking considering the challenge. Let's be honest, if the Animancer's Blade falls from some nameless thug, the Helfire Colossus should have dropped a Holy Avenging Vorpal Weapon... just saying. Maybe I will mod that if I have some free time. Mega Bosses (in order of difficulty): Belranga – tanky party, with good DPS, made this an easy encounter… if you have summons (chanter-troubadour) it is also easy. Sigilmaster – face tanked this encounter, with two party members harassing Sigilmaster, while DPS-melee trio took out the sigils. Incredible food can make this encounter even easier to mitigate certain effects. Huana O Whe – this battle is all about positioning and to keep movement to a minimum, while separating the various blob parts. Consistent DPS on big pieces and AOE-spells on the smaller parts. Helfire Colossus – I grinded this battle the first time through and completed it with 4 out 5 party members unconscious… it took me seven (7) runs to make it through with zero deaths. There is a fair amount of luck involved with this battle, to survive with zero party deaths. One bad role can end a party member below 80% health. Healing potions and scrolls were very, very helpful for me. I face tanked the encounter, keeping everyone together in a tight pack for efficient healing and moving between fireball storms. I don’t know if this victory would have been possible without Soul Annihilation and to a lesser extent Gouging Strike, Wall of Many Colors, and Brand Enemy. Thanks again to the Dev Team for another great game!
  15. 4.5 second cast time... if that is still the case, I would skip. My goal (as a melee wiz) is to buff 4-6 spells in under 2 seconds, but that's a personal preference.
  16. Yes, pure Wiz for teh winz... Seriously, I agree, the craziest DPS machine past level 14 for me is pure Wiz. What’s odd, is I keep finding lower level spells, when cast at PL9+ are scaling really nicely. Even more powerful is the Wizard’s ability to just switch grimoires and adapt to any situation... no other class comes close to the DPS, utility, and fun factor.
  17. My biggest issue is with things that require little to no thought to make OP... PL8/9 Monk abilities are still fire and forget monstrosities (all melee should be envious) Avenging Storm... please remove this scroll or weaken it compared to Druid version Personally, I wish all PL8/9s were equally powerful (like monk) and the devs could make the game more challenging (besides monsters with high AR and Fort). Otherwise, blunt force fix (nerf) is last resort for the outlier...
  18. Both range and melee are great, multiclassed. I like melee better and my choices are: Streetfighter/Druid shifter -nasty damage, low micro Priest of Skaen/Assassin -invisible terror, but higher micro Streetfighter/Paladin -decent tank, good dmg Trickster/Paladin -good tank, decent dmg Wiz/Streetfighter -most versatile, does everything well I played all of these through the entire game, but the Priest/Assassin (under 30 hours). Unless you are really a min/maxer, you can safely play with any race, weapon, weapon style, and stats (within reason). For skills, look at the “builds” sticky post for the “must have” choices. Really can’t go wrong and you can always respec with ease.
  19. First off, thanks for the insightful analysis... you can usually observe the effectiveness of powers, but always better to have the numbers. Regarding monk fists, I think mythic level power is a bit over the top, since the bar was set at legendary (or so I thought). For monastic unarmed training, it seems pretty damn good for a low level power that by design, or oversight, scales a little too well.
  20. Yeah you're lazy It's always worth it to at least cast Shining Beacon. Also, for groups, Berath uses his PL8 spell instead. Fair call on PL8 spell, well played.
  21. Ok, this is just me, but... Breaths targets Fort, which makes it less than optimal for bosses and I would never waster it on regular mobs... For a T9, I don’t see the point of building around a spell to make it effective, like debuffing Fort, but I might be lazy.
  22. All the monk needs, another OP feature. Monk is so OP, even the lesser version of its power is OP... love it.
  23. Fun build, thanks for sharing! On a separate note, I cringe every time I see, “13 Arcana for Avenging Storm.” Dear Devs, could you actually leave some class defining abilities alone? Imagine the outrage if we added Heartbeat Drumming scrolls or potions of Citzals Martial Power... then again, they might as well, then we can have a consumable-driven classless progression system (sarcasm off).
  24. To be fair, any class is serviceable if played by an experienced POE gamer. The real issue, when we talk about avoiding classes, is that many classes: 1) Are overshadowed by more powerful classes. For example, a pure Druid is ok, but a single class Wiz does everything better (except healing, but who needs that if you are a god) and has more flexibility (due to broader spell selection and grimoires). 2) Lack interesting, CLASS DEFINING, skills past PL 7. Thank goodness I finally have access to my PL 9 fighter skills (/eyeroll). Even worse, a class defining skill (e.g. Sacred Immolation) is neutered or becomes a liability unless built around the weakness (which often entails items or multi class options). I don’t understand, there are spells that can erase a screen of enemies in one cast, but the devs are worried about a zero-range pulse AOE on a melee class? 3) Scolls that take away the wow factor of a class. I think part of my reason to hate on single class Druids is that anyone can cast Avenging Storm... wth? There are entire builds that exploit this scroll. Just to be clear, only a single class Druid gets Avenging Storm... AND... any and all classes through a scroll... sigh. Suggestion, make arcana have diminishing returns that slightly improves spell/scroll casting and cap scrolls to PL5 and under.
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