Elric Galad

Usually not but you have a couple of exceptions to take into account: - Wizard blast talent only works implements - Many ranger abilities only works with ranged weapons - Twin arrows from rangersonly works with... well... bows - Many abilities from fighters (knockdown, sundering blows...), barbarians (carnage...) and monks (torment reach...) only works with melee weapons - skills labelled full attack (blinding strike from rogues, torment reach from monks) gets 2 attacks for the price of 1 when used while dual wielding. That makes them better with 1 hander. - priest got a talent that gives them huge bonus with their deity favored weapons. For example, priest of Magran gets a bonus with arquebus and sword) Then you have lot of less direct advantages that favors certain weapon style over each other. For example paladins tends to be tanks so you'll usually prefer 1 hander and shield. If you pick Flame of Devotion ability that works only with 2 attacks, you usually prefer using it with big slow firearms... etc...

Sundering blow with blunderbuss would have been tons of fun ^^ But uou can still sunder your target and then blunderbuss it with your teamates ^^

Lay on Hand is by far the greatest single target heal of the game. It scales with level, Int and Mig. IMHO, it is far better than FoD at lvl 1. I don't know if it worthes it at later lvl.

I wonder whether flagellant path is necessary... Your monk will be so fast that it will be able to reach about any target. If engaged, you can just disengage, taking an attack is not a big pb for monk. It can still be useful in some situations, for sure, but it sounds a bit as an overkill for me ^^

Do you know if stormcaller is the same as bittercut for elemental talent ?

That sounds perfect ! Chain paralysis chanter is coming ! Mmmm. I should stay silent before it gets nerfed.

You are not in the majority with that assessment. The people in Sensuki's corner, for example, complain that by simply abusing rest spam and finding a few basic combo's, combat in PoE is repetitive; essentially claiming that the path to victory is redundant and easy to execute but unfulfilling. And then there's what you said... What both of you say is not contradictory. PoE is not so difficult, even in PotD. But for a real beginner, it might be quite hard. Even with my Old IE games knowledge, my first run in normal mode was probably as difficult as my first run in PotD. Learning curve, yeah... This is especially critical because act I is probably the most difficult...

For Eothas' sake, Obsidian, please create a scroll of protection against treachery ! Or finally make the fix to enable removing domination and charm with suppress afflication and liberating exhortations !

Well it depends also on party composition. If you have 3 casters (I will never sacrifice Durgan for caster weapon) and 2 1-hander, then you have enough Durgan. But in most case, Durgan save does matter.

On the one hand, I would say Durgan steel has an opportunity cost. You have maximum 10 Durgan steels. If you use 6 for armors, you have only 4 left for weapons. If you use 2 for Lenas Er, you sacrifice something unless playing with reduced party. I don't get why returning storm would be canceled by druid relentless'. For me it is a separate effect that deals a lot of damage. I tend to feel Stormcaller more versatile than Lenas, and slighly more powerful (6DR is huge) WITHOUT Durgan steel. With Durgan steel, Lenas is probably better. On the other hand, I would say that there is not a single reason not to be able to enchant soulbound weapons with durgan steel too...

My problem with alpine dragon was that it was changed after I made my party, and that I didn't think in using confusion against it. But I manage to defeat it (I have no clue how I did this) so now it's not a pb anymore. OP cipher ? Mmm I don't know. The 3 major fights are not against 3 dragons (the sky one is easy). The 3rd hard fight is against Lich and vessels that happens to be immune to mind spells. So I guess it helps balancing. Anyway, ciphers are made to be Crowd Controllers with lot of variety. So I suppose it's normal that they have a CC spell for every case (like wizard by the way).

Oh that's the reason why I pointed these immunities and I was answered that did not exist !

And druid one's share the same spot as relentless storm which is also extremely useful for this fight. The dragon is not immune to confusion, charm and domination by the way. So cipher or scroll of confusion could work too (I think alpine Will is not his highest defense). Lich did not seem immune to prone, stun or parlysis. I think the 3 worked when I faced it. Not sure for the rest.

I would prefer a reboot somewhere else on Eora. I like the beginning of adventure, when so you're so happy to find your first chain mail !

What ??? Immunity missing in bestiary is a french version display bug ??? Now I understand why I couldn't see them. Would a VO player be kind enough to list some of the immunities ? I can't find them anywhere... I'm especially interest in Adra Dragon, Alpine Dragon and the Lich. I managed to defeat the Alpine yesterday and it seems he was immune to paralysis, prone AND stun. My party was made before 2.03 and I had not planned this situation... I don't want to be in the same situation on next run...

Check this thread. https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/81952-range-dps-build/ The build I detailed there is now 100% tested and 100% efficient. My preferred weapon is Stormcaller. Lenas Er might be good, but you need to sacrifice Durgan Steel. Ranger does almost as much damage as monk on character sheet but character sheet does not add pet damage to the total, so... Pet damage from wolf are great with this build. Really great. Possibly as high as ranger. Maybe even higher. They doesn't die so often (in my experience) and can even offtank with a little support. A very important thing to consider is Pet Base Attack speed. Pet Attack speed is not based only on their Dexterity. They seem to have an intresic attack speed that depends on pet. Basically Antelope, Wolf, Deer, Boar have 1.5 attack speed of Bear and Lion (plus dexterity difference). Antelope>Wolf>Deer>Boar=>Lion(forgot but lion for sure isnt faster)>Bear Quoted from : Check https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/80430-ranger-class/page-2 So yeah, Wolf or Antelope seems to be the most powerful ones at the moment.

It's the contrary for me : I'm running as quick as I can before some random nerf shoots my party balance right in front of a dragon. My party was optimal for 2.0. Not sure it will stay the same with further changes. When I finish rhis run, I'll wait for 3.0.

The major change for the 2.0 ranger is the pet buff. You have to take it into account too. Taking pet damage talents and abilities now worthes it, as well as choosing a damage pet.

I agree antelope is the best choice for defense, and it deals something like 1,5 bear damages due to attack speed.

Well, this could change a bit my answer then. You have already 2 support characters. They are not in the same league as priest (they are also more tanky) but it makes a difference. With 1 less cipher, you don't have so many DPSer, so barbarian and ranger would be good too. I'd say your 3 choices are valid. My only advices would be : - for boss battle, be sure to have buff scrolls if you don't pick a priest. Fighter, paladin and chanter are good scroll user since it adds to their versatility and they start with lore point(s) - if you pick a ranger, be warned that some pets (bears and lions) have lower base attack speed independantly from dexterity. Their dps is about 1.5 time lower than other pets (even more for wolf whose special is higher base damage). My experience is that bear extra DR is not needed to keep pet alive on PotD if you pick endurance aura on the pally. I won't go bear because your party has already very high tankiness.

Priest without a doubt. Healing is indeed not needed but priest buff are crazy and makes a big difference in big fights.

I really don't know how you guys use pet in PotD. Mine is a wolf (so no special defense but resilient companion) and dies not very often unless used for suicide mission (good utility with infinite health). My hypothesis is that pet has nice synergy with paladin : endurance aura and herald shield boosts passively pet resistance. Lay on hand (and pain block by the way) may get him out of trouble. A bit of positionning and pet will be a nice offtank which can deal about 40-70 damages per attack. Yes, it has an opportunity cost, but I think it worthes it.

Ok. Thanks. Maybe a simple display bug. That's a pity because I like powergaming reason to pick unique party members haha ! Ah good old Dak'kon !

These two don't stack. It is strange because spells usually stack with weapon enchant. Do you know what Durgan Steel stack with ? Does it stacks with other weapons / armor enchants by the way ?

Devil of Caroc did get these immunities in 2.03 too. I have not tested but it does appear in her character sheet. But I think you're right. PoE has an interesting lore. Why not applying it to gameplay ?