Elric Galad

To be honest, priests don't break the game by themselves. Devotion + Hard CC break the game, but you need another class for this. Priest + Wizard or Priest + Druid is what really break the game. With cipher, it works well too. And if you need to raise the accuracy of 1 single character, a marker paladin can probably do the job. And Cipher and Wiz may also raise the own Acc after all... Once the above is considered, I would still miss Crown of the faithful. As a side-note, Eotas ultimate spell is incredibly powerful too. I would rank it in the top 3 major buffs while also doing damages...

I'd be tempted to say Cipher <=> 9/10 Rogue + 1/2 Wizard. Not false, but mainly because Rogue could be buffed a bit. Cipher <=> 1/2 Ranger + 1/2 Wizard would be more eloquent IMHO. Rangers are currently the most solid choice in terme of constant single target DPS.

Not I'm even more confused. Do you mean it's not the base damage? To make it simple, most damage bonus provided by Abilities, Magical items or spell buffs stack additively. When you already have +100% from various sources, an additional +20% bonus is actually a +10% increase from your current damage. Base + 100% = 200% Base Base + 100% + 20% = 220% Base Confident aim min damages change basically multiply your damage by 1.08 (+8% increase, trust my maths) whatever damage bonus you already have. Compared to various other abilities, it's actually pretty solid.

Approximately, for party roles, without debating their actual efficiencies : Paladin <=> Chanter Rogue <=> Ranger <~~> Barbarian (because Barbarian is AoE martial DPS, instead of single target martial DPS like ranger and rogue) Cipher <=> 1/2 Rogue + 1/2 Wizard Monk <=> Fighter Druid <=> 3/4 Wizard + 1/4 Priest (because Form of the Delemgan and Moonwell are excellent support spells) (Paladin + Chanter + Cipher (Mindweb) + Druid) have around the same support capability of 1 Priest (but Priest will not provide the same benefits immediately, he needs to cast at least 2-3 spells to keep up. But he wll eventually keep up.) And even in the case you already have these 4 classes, a priest will actually multiply their buff strength. So it's pretty much always a good idea to have one in your party. Side note : 3/4 Priest + 1/2 Wizard <=> Scrolls in my experience. Scrolls make anyone into a very decent versatile spellcaster for limited uses.

I don't believe that priests are absolutely necessity. Most people don't neither. My last party with 2 Dragon Trashed chanters was indeed the very definition of "Melting". However, as says Boeroer raising Acc + Crowd Control is the easiest way to win. Crown of the Faithful + The right immunities has also the ability of making you invicible. If you've never played with it (or just the few first levels when Paladins shine far more), it's hard to tell you how big is the difference. Devotion of the faithful is the ONE spell that break a game where a simple Graze from your crowd control ability can neutralize any ennemy. You may not like them. You may not use them. You may have an easy time without them. But they are the gamechanging class.

Double Post

If it is one of your objectives, I would say that a chanter could truely replace a priest if and only if he's able to cast immunity without waiting. Invocations against Hard CC (Petrify, Paralysis, etc...) are not convenient at all. Your chanter and party members might be caught before your phrases could be stacked. It's uttery unreliable, and I will never take them into account when creating a party. It would require more modifications in chanter (play)lists than you did to solve this issue... Like changing "the fox..." to add immunities from the "shackles" set. I'm not saying you have to, but this is just an idea. That said, I understand your approach. I've stop playing for too much time to check the actual values of your buffs, but a couple of them seems a bit accross the board (which is the most common modder's mistake in my experience). Currently, chanter is strong, yeah. The strongest AoE DPS with "dragon trashed" Not exactly the initial purpose of the class though...

Scale down difficulty ) Playing without a priest is basically adding a difficulty level. (After all, PotD add +15 Acc and Defenses to the ennemies, which is basically countered by a couple of priest buffs) I've created a thread about this, long ago : https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/82251-the-priest-problem/ Chanters, druids and paladins just can't do the same job. There is only one thing that can truly replace a priest : scrolls. Defense, Valor and immunities scrolls will save your bottom almost as well as a priest when really needed. Buf of course, they're a finite ressource, so the're far less convenient. Note that I don't mean priests are necessary. This is a game that can be beaten solo after all.

A barbarian with hallowed St Ydwen redeemer is basically Concelhaut kryptonite. Use Heart of Fury in the middle of the adds crowd and the fight will suddenly become far easier... For dragon... well, he is not so great.

One should never forget Scientology was created by a Sci-Fi writer, Ron Hubbard, that suddenly turned the new universe he imagined into a religion rather than into a book. We shouldn't be surprised if an imaginary world sounds like Scientology, because it has been created by someone with a similar background as Ron Hubbard.

Nerfing the only actually good soulbound weapon is a bad idea. Not being able to durganize or add a lash on Soulbound weapon is what usually makes them inferior, but this is the icing on the UP cake.

I admit I didn't except such a long term maintenance. It's good to see the devs caring about their players. I suppose it's good for Obsidian to keep a couple of people working on PoE if they want to reuse the engine and rules for a sequel.

Should be normal, I suppose. It is certainly not PotD because this is the only mode where rules are modified.

Kraken seems to have more HP than other bosses of the games to compensate for its lower DR. I think it is nice to have powerful monsters with low DR as it makes some weapons (fast low damages) more useful against them. Maybe poor kraken just lack even more hitpoints and/or really powerful attacks. And a couple of DR points against some damages could have been more realistic. Seriously, kraken, 0DR against cold and you live in a frozen lake ? By the way, kraken should be a beast, not a primordial. Primordials are supposed to be plants, mushrooms and cell colonies (slimes). A kraken is just an inverterbrate much like vermins who are beasts. (But ok, "it's magic" )

While I think it is a good balance change, I believe it is a very bad news for rogues. Rogues are already limited in what they do to single target DPS. While it could have been ok, a twin-arrows ranger plus pet are already close to equal them. Double Sabers were one of the few ways to make rogue DPS shines. +20% damages is totally unsignificant for them. Saber changes seems good but it should be compensated by a little Rogue Buff in my opinion.

Arcanum 2 ?

I suppose there is a high correlation between having finished the game more than once and posting on this forum

I think none of PoE gods is basic. Eotas is the god of hope, but when he turned to Waidwen, he became an over-zealous warmonger. Remember the lines when Eder didn't beliebe his god could have done what Waiden did ? Skaen is the god of treason. But during the Skaen priest speech, he seems to be acting for some kind of subversive morality. It is not the purest way to act, but it is still about morality. Woedica turned from god of Justice and Oaths to god of tyranny and absence of changes. Rymgard is about everything coming to an end... eventually. But he seems to despise forced destruction. Galawain seems to be about wild strength, but his motto emphasizes will over brute and savage force. They all seem to have a kind of twist . Consequently, it's hard to find them equivalent in more traditional settings.

Or Swietlny. Swietlny Mieczyslaw.

Chanters are definitely the most powerful damage dealers if specced for Dragon Trashed. They are also good tanks and have a lot of other cards in their games. They are a bit passive for main characters. So if you hesitate, you might pick a chanter henchman or Kana on your party rather than play one. Ranger's pet are very far from being weak. They do bring very relevent additional damages and tank quite well during late game. Ranger with a wolf is a great choice. Barbarian are good in 3.03. Monks have always been and should be very fun to play if you don't mind being hurt. Ranged Rogue are meh IMHO. But viable for sure.

Not being the favorite class does not mean not being loved. For example, support class like priest rarely come on top, but I think they are really appreciated. But you may select only one as favorite. Paladins have always been very popular in CRPG, maybe for role-play reasons. PoE version is quite good as well as very interesting lore-wise (not being restricted to lawful stupid is nice). PoE druids are just well done. Maybe they are tree-huggers and bee-lovers, but they will hug you with big claws and their bees do hurt a lot. Monks do have a good design, but they just don't fit my playstyle.

Double post.

Yup. And I also remark druid class is currently leading.

Now, feel the wrath of Nature !

Druid currently choose a form and ranger a pet. This could be seen as subtype. The content for different pet or form (and also deity and order) could be expanded.