Elric Galad

For most martial classes, the ressource cost of most High Level Abilities seems to be a problem. They are usually less cost effective than level 1 ones. It starts from around tier IV and is even more apparent on tier VIII and IX. Furthermore, SC lack ressources compared to multi, and Paladin does not have a gamechanging passive. All these stack to explain Paladin SC problems.

Perfect synthesis. For the later part, I would say that PL bonus to special attack seems fine. Multiplicative bonus to damage are always great. In addition, spells need more scaling because they don't benefit from magic weapons scaling. However, martial classes rely less on active abilities and more on passive. I would be nice that a couple of key passive could get more benefits from PL, such as the current +5%/PL to sneak attack damages.

An adult dragon should be able to turn the tables. I think the current principles are very good. They only require some tweaks IMHO. Some people would still prefer versatility, some others would prefer an adult dragon as long as they don't feel gimped with it.

Martial multiclass get up to 18 ressources per battle vs 13 for single class. Empower refill makes it even worse (28 vs 18 !!!). I think it's OK that multiclass gets more ressources per battle (since their abilities have lower PL), but the current gap is too high. For casters, I think PL makes more difference and they can ultemately use quite a lot of ability so the current system is more or less OK, except their early game which is a bit harsh. Ciphers and chanters might have a good use for PL, but the fact that they gain actually equal or less of their own ressource than multiclass is a bit weird (since Martial/Cipher and Martial/Skald tend to generate more focus). What I would suggest is the following : Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Rogue, Paladin, Chanter and Monk Single Class should receive +2 ressources for each combat. Empower (and maybe Brillant Inspiration) shall provide twice the amount of ressources. Wounds should be excluded from this since monk would already benefit from Mortifications. Druid, Wizard and Priest Single Class should choose a cantrip at creation. This cantrip should be one of their 1st level spell from the list. They would get 2 uses per combat for this spell (separate cast from other 1st level spell). Wizard changing their grimoire would keep this spell, and casters won't be able to cast it with their normal 1st level pool unless they pick it as an ability. This is basically an equivalent of PoE1 spell masteries. This is to give Single Level Casters a sort of small gimmicky unique advantage, since they don't really need buff, except for low levels. Single Class Cipher should receive Biting Whip or Draining Whip at level 1 and should be able to pick the other at PL2. Biting Whip should be buffed to +20% damages by the way. Since Draining Whip is currently so much better, this is basically a +20% weapon damages for Single Class Ciphers. This is to reduce the gap of focus generation and weapon damages between Single and Multiclass/Martial Ciphers. A Cipher/Martial would still come out on top in most cases, but the PL difference make up for that since Ciphers are casters. This would also emphasizes that Cipher, even Single Class, should be Martial/Caster hybrids, not Poker/Caster.

Ascendant gets x2 starting focus and at least x1.25 focus generation (+150% compared to +100%). Focus starved causes -1PL and -10% weapon damage. I think Ascendant would even be a DECENT subclass even if they were totally missing the ascended part. They would still be able to spam spells better than other Ciphers. Awyway it is interesting to consider that you can start spamming if you need before Ascended without feeling that much gimped.

I think everyone stay away from Toxic Strike because its description is quite vague

I have the same question.

The key ability for Rogue is obviously Deathblows. Deathblows apply to Melee attack, ranged attack and scrolls/item spells. To maximize the rogue, you probably have to use the three of them. Even if you don't go Sorcerer's apprentice build, scroll use mostly need high lore. Which isn't very convenient because as a rogue you'd probably want to max mechanics and spare a bit of skill points for Athelic, Survival (items can help since you only need it when resting) and Stealth. As a PC Rogue, you'll get Talents (Dungeon Delver for example) that boosts skills, which help immensely. Speaking about PC talents, Merciless Hand and Dungeon Delver are awesome for Rogue who can get a lots of crit. Melee DPS is higher than ranged and I honnestly don't have much troubles at keeping my PC Rogue alive as long I use him as a flanker. Ranged weapons, on the other hand, offer very high Damage Spike by using Quickswitch and Firearms/Arbalest. I have invested in Quickswitch, Island Aumaua and Arm Bearers, even if my character is mostly a melee rogue. Runner's wounding shot can be awesome too. I think Deathblow + Runner's Wounding Shot is the strongest Alpha Strike in the game, plus you get an addition Condition inflicting attack for sneak attack. WF Ruffian gives acces to Sabers (including fireball ones for more Deathblow spells), backup melee crushing/piercing weapons and Pistols/Blunderbusses (depending on DR) as firearms. Bittercut is of course an excellent choice. Don't forget its per rest spells which gives you a bit of AoE. A lot of the above is therorycrafing so it still needs to be fully checked. For now, it is going fine for me, but I'm only level 10.

Do someone know whether the Bogged Down ingots are confirmed to be removed ? They appear to have been removed on Gamepedia too : https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Bogged_Down And did anyone found the actual rule for the Iron Flail Fort Ingot ? Taena or Owynna ? Does fighting Taena change something ? Did Obsidian secretly nerfed the number of Durgan Iron ? But why do they keep doing this kind of stuff ?

No, it is how it works. Same for Shielbearer shielding flame. And FoD Accuracy and fire bonus only applies to the caster, and only for the initial attack.

It does not help that much though, because Graze and Crit only applies to linger duration. As long as you at least Graze, the effect and damages applies to the full phrase duration. Therefore, accuracy helps a bit but not as much as %damages increase for example.

At level 1, Multi Class get twice the ressources of SIngle Class. At level 20, Pure Martial Multi Class get excactly 1.5x ressource of Single Class if Martial classes are considered. Multi Class Chanters and Ciphers get exactly the same ressources as their Single Class counter class plus whatever benefit they get from the other class. For casters, it's harder to evaluate since PL8 and PL9 casts are highly valuable. Multiclass trade 2-3 PL for roughly 1.5x-2x ressources. I think it is OK that multiclass get more ressources but I feel the gap is quite wide and discourage the use of multiple active abilities. PL are very significant for casters so it is probably not that bad overall. Maybe a couple of low PL bonus cast ? Martial single class could get a bit more ressource (something between 1-3) at Level 1 or from leveling. Cipher and Chanter single class should get some special bonus to get a bit more ressource than their single class counterpart at Level 1 or from leveling. But that's just my opinion.

How do you figure that? Because of slower reload/higher dmg? Yup. Twin Shot has a per shot cast, so it is better to have slower weapon. Twin arrows were a constant stance so it worked as well with faster weapon... and only worked with bows anyways .

Apart for the Brillant removal, it does not look SO bad overall. It won't be the last balance iteration I presume. So I think I'm going to keep on playing PoE1 a little bit. I still have to prove myself that Rogue isn't that bad

It seems that single class rangers changed from PoE1 bow rangers to PoE2 arquebus ranger (due to twin shot design change). It's called progress.

I am a bit desappointed about Chanter nerf. Tier 3 Intellect Inspiration was broken. It is bad to have an inspiration that is OP on its own. That needed fixing, fixing this Invocation is just a way to hide the problem.

The problem is that Multiclass characters basically trade less PL for more ressource (+ possibility to choose from 2 ability tree instead of higher level ones) Linking pool to ability would leed to a big balance shift toward single class cause Multiclass won't get double pool increase. That is something to take into consideration even if I agree with OP. The worst case might be Single Class Rogue : you might be tempted to pick almost no Guild-Related ability and save your pool for Gambit only... A couple of abilities with Cooldowns, other ressource pools or Per Encounter Use would help.

Maybe it is related to the fact that Rymrgand and Galawain are going to get their own DLC ?

Eder Main Tank Kana second tank (possibly with quickswitch pistols at the beginning of battle) Ituumak as side tank Sagani as ranged damage Hiravias as flanker / nuker / CC and a couple of Support spells 2 Wizz as nuker / CC It's perfect for normal or even hard. For PotD, a priest would be a good addition !

This is a good topic, but 1H Style should also do as much damages as DW and 2H (even if not necessarily against the same targets). Furthermore, I think that a part of the problem is that most class "ultimate" abilities are Full Attacks (Heart of Fury, Charge, Whirling Strike, Gambit... even FoD, Retaliations and Riposte). For Primary Attck, 2h get more benefits but these abilities aren't usually that strong. Changing Charge to Primary Attack (with a bonus) would be a good idea for example. Adding Full Attack bonuses to 2H or 1H Styles could be a solution too.

I agree with all this. The current priority is to correct Broken abilities and make the game more difficult. Nature Godlike may be too strong, but not broken. Same for cleave. Cleave from cleave from cleave is a problem, but I'm rather happy to see Fighter getting a bit of love. Then, there will be obviously many things to balance but it might come later. Having a couple of abilites a bit OP for each class (Fighter Stances, Gambit, Swift Flurry, Devotion for the Faithful) isn't a true problem. It might even help defining classes as it did in PoE1.

No I'm annoyed. I planned a ranged Single Helwalker. I thought Turning Wheel worked with Long Pain and Instrument of Pain. I was going to ask if it did. But if it works with everything, then the ability might be corrected anyway and It won't be easy to get a confirmation.

Usual issue in RPG : Balancing Scaling Unarmed Monk damages Balancing Scaling Shapeshift Damages Balancing Scaling Pet Damages Balancing Scaling Weapon Damages It was an issue in PoE1 (a bit less for monk). And for some reason, as they changed the weapon system, it seems that they have to balance these again in PoE2.

I think the main issue with Unbending is that it benefits from bonuses. 50% or 75% life restored is totally OK. It is when it scales with Might, Chant or anything else that it becomes broken. As it is a based on a ratio of damages taken, it should be based on this ratio only (it might be sligly buffed to compensate, it would still be far easier to balance than in its current form).

Thank you. It was exactly what I needed, especially because I wanted a Barbarian/Skald in my party )