Elric Galad

Additional question : enchanting limit was 12. Was it upgraded to 14 ?

Per is not only about accuracy. It is also interrupt. With per encounter lvl 3 spells, wizard can chain cast fast fireball while buffed by alacrity. Interrupting blow does apply to spell. So I think interrupt wizard might worth considering now, especially because it uses the same stats as Crowd Control. On another topic, Wounds giving DR seems an excellent synergy with Turning Wheel.

For Ranger pet, check "Ranger Class" topic in General discussions. (I tested it yesterday ^^. I got original info in the 7-pages Beta Topic, I think.)

Fighters goes from Arya Stark to Conan. Wizards goes from squirrels to walking gods.

Wizard are the best crowd controllers, except maybe in low level trash encounters. And crowd control is extremely powerful in this game. Saying it is "nice to have" is weird. Come one... Confusion, Call to slumber, Slicken, Gaze of the adragan.. They can chain cast all of these and stop all ennemies from acting meanwhile cipher is reloading his blunderbuss... And they even have other uses. Nothing is more powerful than a wizard in this game. And only priest may be harder to replace. They are just no more walking gods like in BG.

This is the official version that does not say anything about Defender, Spiritshift and Pet buff...

Wolfs (and their Artic Cousin Ituumak) do exactly 1 less base damage as 2-hander, with an attack speed (from my testing) close to 2-Hander with Medium armor and same Dex (13). They deal Slashing / Piercing damages, which is always nice. They have 5 DR Bypass, +15 Accuracy and (To be checked) +60% natural modifier at level 12. They additionaly can get 3 further DR Bypass and +95% (conditional) bonus damage with 1 ability and 2 talents (Predator's Sense, Vicious Companion, Mercyless Companion) Note that Wounding Shot applies conditions for both Predator's Sense and Merciless Companion, They have crappy Might 10 but who cares with such modifiers ? They have 15 Per which is good with new Per rules. At level 12, they now have 16,5 DR WITHOUT Talent and 22,5 with resilient companions. After spending the 3 talents and 1 ability listed above, Wolf can still choose 5 abilities and 3 talents for their "Ranger Pet".

Ranger pet and Druid Spiritshift did change ) So we can be confident (aim) about Fighter, Obsidian do listen to us (eventually ) ).

I've taken the info rom another Topic, and tested them with 2.0. * All animal companion weapons have 5 DR bypass. Just tested and works. * All animal companion armor gains 2 DR every 3 levels instead of 1.5 every 3 levels. Just tested and works. * They used to gain 3 Accuracy and +15% damage every 3 levels. They now gain 5 Accuracy and +20% damage every 3 levels. Tooltip seems bugged, it does not display the information now (french version at least). I can confirm for accuracy (based on roll logs), not for damages, but Ituumak apparently took some steroids so I'm pretty confident. * Faithful Companion was doubled to a +30 bonus vs. Charm/Confuse/Dominate with 5 seconds taken off the duration. Tooltip 2.0 confirms. Not tested. * Resilient Companion now adds 3 DR and an additional point of DR every 3 levels. Just tested and works. * Vicious Companion stacks an additional 3 DR bypass. Just tested and works. Here comes the Beastmaster DPS Ranger ! (and Bearmaster Tanky Ranger !)

Did anybody find full 2.0 patch notes somewhere ? The official version does not say anything about important changes like Defender, Spiritshift or Pet Buff. By the way, I would be really curious about new lvl 13-14 abilities and Multiclass talents too )

Ranger pet weapons do scale but not that well in 1.06. Ranger's pet received a lot of complaints in 1.06. They are ok at low level, but scale bad, especially for PotD. Apparently ranger's pets (and pet talents) are going to receive an important buff in 2.0. In my opinion, this should be enough to make the class attractive.

I was probably a bit excessive when I said powergaming is the point of balance. Balance is not so critical in a solo game and is conceptually different when applied to a party rather than 1 single character. I don't expect balance in PoE to make all character equal. I expect each class to have a combination of key roles in party, that no other class can combine stricly better. Basicslly, I hate having a class mechanically inferior to others for all the roles it can fullfill. I really feel that fighter could be strictly worse than monk at tank+single target DPS role... By the way, I love confident aim because it is good against ennemies with high defenses. I don't think other class have something like this (except maybe rangers stacking accuracy).

No, sorry, I don't believe in DPS fighter as they currently are. Sure they can work and extremely specific build like lady of pain could exist, but "normal fighter" is just not enough. They have +25% damage from mastery, about +10% from armoured grace (wich affects only recovery) and +10-15% from confident aim. All this is cool but never come close from barbarian or rogue level of damage. Worse, this does not come close from monk who also has defenses equal to the (nerfed) fighter. An armoured cipher casting tactical meld before fights will also out DPS fighter while providing support and/or further self buff. It is not that fighters are bad, it is that other classes are better AND more interesting. The few advantages the fighter has are not enough to justify their presence in a party after defender nerf. Being low maintenance is now enough when powergaming (powergaming being the point of class balance) If they were buffed, it would be possible.IMO the problem is that they don t really have a "style". They should be "tactical warriors" or "reliable against strong ennemies", not just plain DPS. At least "invincible tanks holding the line" was a style. Currently fighters are more or less strong pets. And as pets are getting buffed, I'd rather take a bear.

I agree. All other fighter abilities are currently meh. Not that bad, at least none are too much situational and all of them stacks with about everything... but only defender was really good. Another niche could be reliability against strong opponents: confident aim gives me a good feeling. During my last run, I ****ed up a bit against <final boss>, my party was wiped after I killed the 2 <sidekicks of the last boss>: Eder remained alone. 1 versus 1. He single handly killed him. The duel took maybe 5mn of auto-attack, I even thought I could prepare a coffee. Unbroken triggered. But he won eventually. Such an epic win ! Eder was my 5th damage dealer. It sounded like a revenge on barbarian/rogue/wizard/cipher he protected during the whole adventure without getting the kills. Maybe deflection could be slightly lowered because invincibility is a bit boring. But I hope Obsidian will keep this feeling of the stubborn warrior who never gives up. Possible suggestions : - defender could apply a speed debuff instead of accuracy or deflection. Maybe a hard -2 which also cancels speed buff. This way it will not be active all the time. - confident aim could have a related talent to improve graze to hit. - armored grace should be proportional to armor increased value. Armored grace with robe sounds stupid. - they could have an ability to reduce a percentage of enemy DR (per encounter power?). No class can do that. - apply a long lasting very small stacking malus to enemy defenses per hit. (Like -2 for 20 seconds). Fighters never gives up. - apply a long lasting very small bonus to fighters defense from 1 single ennemy each time he is attacked. Fighters win... eventually. - if all the previous are applied, wary defender could be nerfed. This talent is indeed too powerful )

Ok thx. Monk fists scale with both level and might. Let's say it is "a little bit exponential" meanwhile magical weapons are linear. In a very far future with +20 might items and/or spells, it might become more than a class gimmick...

By the way, anyone noticed some similar buff (DR Bypass like pet and spiritshift ??) to unarmed monks ? It would be the last avatar of the "I want to hit with my bare fist/claws/teeth/horns and I don't like magical weapons" recurring RPG problem.

Totally agree with this view. The problem is that Defender/Wary Defender were the real fighter defining features, far more than constant recovery (which is ok but a bit meh) Nerfing it is like cutting rogue's sneak attack or barbarian's carnage. If it happens I will sadly kick Eder out of my current parties and never take a warrior again. It is sad because with the 2.0 ranger buff, all classes seemed to be finally useful. Defender was an almost mandatory ability which is a problem. But if it is nerfed then figher needs a really game-changing base feature => constant recovery should be buffed (or completed by something else).

This thread might be a bit old, but I just tested it in-game : Unfortunately, Adpet Evasion only works on attacks that target Reflex.

Thank you for your help. About Spark the Soul of the Righteous, as the damage are indirectly done by affected allies, are all damages affected by the priest's talent, or only the priest's enchantement is affcted by the priest's talent ?

I suppose I can understand your point of view. It's probably the same for the ones who love DPS Paladin. Probably even more frustrating because Paladin is not weaker (well, not after 1.06), he/she is just more defensive. Playing a Ranger PC and being simply weaker in exchange of an extra companion does not sound very good for "role-playing self-esteem". One's personal incarnation should kick ass, at least as well as his/her teammates. And what about a talent that would make the ranger STRONGER when the pet dies ? Something like "Enraging grief", that would open the path to "almost petless" build where pets would still be a kind of "bonus meat shield". This would be quite realistic to develop without totally changing the class, and could still lower the frustration of people who just don't like pets. By the way, anyone wants to brainstorm about pet mechanics ? I'm reading a lot of thread in this forum discussing about pets, trying to determine whether they are weak or okay. IMO, Ranger are weak, or at least not rewarding enough for the risks you take. Or maybe they lack a purpose in a party (compared to Tank Fighter, DPS Rogue, Support Priest). What is your opinion ?

Great job !

Hi All, I wanted to make a list of spells affected by elemental talents for Wizards, Druids and Priests to plan my next builds. I think it could be a good idea to share it. If you see anything that isn't true or something missing, don't hesitate to correct me. ??? means that I'm not sure. I also assumed summons are not affected by Elemental talents. Wizard Spells : Fire : Fan of Flames (Lvl 1) Combusting Wounds ??? (Lvl 2) Ray of Fire (Lvl 2) Rolling Flame (Lvl 2) Fireball (Lvl 3) Flame Shield (Lvl 4) Wall of Flame (Lvl 4) Torrent of Flame (Lvl 5) Corrode : Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon (Lvl 2) Necrotic Lance (Lvl 2) Concelhaut's Draining Touch (Lvl 3) Noxious Burst (Lvl 3) Death Ring (Lvl 6) Ice : Chill Fog (Lvl 1) Kakaloth's Sunless Grasp (Lvl 1) Blast of Frost (Lvl 5) Ninagauth Bitter Mooring (Lvl 5) Ninagauth Freezing Pillar (Lvl 6) Lightning : Jolting Touch (Lvl 1) Crackling Blot (Lvl 3) Chain Lightning (Lvl 5) Special : Kakaloth's Minor Blight (Lvl 3) : summon a wand with a random element. Druid Spells : Fire : Sunbeam (Lvl 1) Burst of Summer Flame (Lvl 2) Firebrand (Lvl 2) Boiling Spray (Lvl 4) Firebug (Lvl 5) Sunlance (partial) (Lvl 6) Corrode : Autumn's decay (Lvl 2) Rot Skulls (Lvl 6) Ice : Winter Wind (Lvl 1) Blizzard (Lvl 2) Hail Storm (partial) (Lvl 4) Lightning : Dancing Bolts (Lvl 1) Returning Storm (Lvl 3) Relentless Storm (Lvl 5) Nature's Terror (Lvl 5) Priest Spells Fire : Divine Mark (Lvl 2) Searing Seal (Lvl 4) Shining Beacon (Lvl 4) Pillar of Holy Fire (Lvl 5) Cleansing Flame (Lvl 6) Lightning : Warding Seal (Lvl 3) Spark the soul of the Righteous ??? (Lvl 6) And that's all for the priest ! Apparently, PoE gods like fire. EDITED ON 30/05/15

I agree that D&Dlike Ranger with a few spells like in previous IE games could have been cool. The same is also true with Paladin. But I don't think Obsidian is going to change this now. Or maybe they could make it an ability and merge it with stuff like binding roots ? The same is true for pet removal. In PoE, Rangers are probably going to be more "Beastmaster with a bow/gun" than anything else. They will not change this in a close future (maybe one day in an expansion ?). By the way, if you just want a ranged warrior, I think a Rogue dressed in green could be OK ? They even have DoT and crippling shot for the "ranger" flavour... Honnestly, I like the "Beastmaster" way they did it, because it is quite unique. I admit I love unique features more than the flavour of the "old IE ranger" without animal companion. About pet talent they would get by levelling, I think that it would be less interesting than a way to actually "build your pet" like you do for your ranger. Being able to build them as off-tank / DPS / Utility without sacrifying completely your ranger would be cool.

So... 1.06 was "about Paladin". If we assume that Obsidian listens to its community, the next update could be the other class which received the most complaints... Yes, I look at you, Ranger ! In your opinion, what could be this patch ? For me it could be quite different from what they did with Paladin : boosting its abilities. In my opinion, many of Ranger's abilities are pretty solid and appealing : stacking accuracy abilities, stunning shots, driving flights... Some may be subpar, but any other classes has subpar abilities too. IMO, the ranger's problems are of 2 kinds : - Its defining trait, the pet, is not that great. Sure, it has its uses. The most complaints come from the fact that it keeps dying all the time, leading to a big malus to Ranger's abilities. The problem appears especially in boss fights and harder difficulties... exactly when you would like your party members to be the most effective ! - The other problem is that Rangers do not really have a critical purpose where they would excel : rogue is better at ranged damages, the pet itself is a weak melee and a poor off-tank. The requirement to have your pet in melee simply cancel the advantage of a ranged hitter. Currently, its "2 in 1" nature makes it a passable filler for a party, but it is hard to imagine why one would use a ranger to fullfill a given role. The solution should be about what makes ranger unique : their pets. Pets have indeed some cool traits : - They are infinite pools of health (something I think only melee wizard with "Infuse Vital Essence" could be ) ) - They have 2 engagements (which makes melee ranger the class with the maximum possible engagements, equalling fighters !) Pets could work as meat shields... if only it didn't trigger sadness ! (not to mention the lost abilities like staker link) And currently, nothing is more frustrating than loosing a pet in a fight, especially due to the rarity of resurrection powers... and no second chance for your pet ) So, what I would find really cool : - Pet overall buff, especially at high level (classic) - A pet resurrection ability !!!! something like 1x per encounter (with a nice buff like "Unbroken". A short duration and important buff to "revenging" pet damages would be a really cool "trap" to use.) or maybe 3x Rest (which would address the problem of boss fights. - Suppression of the sadness malus - Defensive Bond modification : I currently find it far too situational to be attractive (even if the idea was cool). Something like a boosted deflection and / or reflexes when the pet is close from its master would be more appealing, especially for melee ranger build. - Applying some Passive Talents and/or abilities to both Ranger and pet : Superior deflection, Interrupting blows, Aiming skills, etc... This would remove the need to "choose" between master and pets at each level up, and would enable a better scaling for the pet. (IMO this would be cooler than an overall buff... It would be far more interesting to build ) Not sure it would really address the "ranger purpose" problem though. But I'm pretty sure a "per encounter resurrection skills" by itself would make it far less frustrating to play. Do you have any other ideas ? PS : And one minor thing would be cool : let pet damages be counted as Ranger damages ! Currently, it is not the case, so this "heavy hitter" damages appear to be even lower than what they actually are !