Elric Galad

Well I got similar issue with Geomancer Maia's INT, so I sympathize. +1 INT and PER aren't going to save the day but this cannot hurt either. I'll go with that.

Please find below the list of changes I plan. I feel they are pretty reasonable according to their fluff, but don't hesitate if you find something out of place. Aloth : +2 PER Eder : +1 MIG, +1 DEX Maia : +1 MIG, +1 INT Pallegina : +1 PER, +1 RES Serafen : +1 CON, +1 DEX Tekehu : +1 MIG, +1 CON Xoti : +1 PER, +1 DEX Fassina : +1 PER, +1 INT Konstanten : +1 MIG, +1 DEX Edit : +1 PER and +1 INT instead as suggested Rekke : + 1 INT, +1 CON Edit : +1 PER (to distinguish more from Mirke who has similar class choice but is more on the tank side) Mirke : +1 MIG, +1 CON Ydwin : +2 DEX Vatnir : +1 PER, +1 RES

Yeah, basically I count Eder (stat boost and pet), Maia (unique subclass without drawback), Tekehau (sweet druidic friendly Chill Fog and other goodies) and Vatnir (arguably the best priest nuker with varied damages types) as the superior companions. Then, there is a long list of companions of sidekicks with either normal subclass or unique ones but not so impressive as Xoti. Yeah, Serafen is bad but BPM already changed it. Pallegina is horrible too. Yeah, Herald is good but basically any hired Herald will be better (even considering that I nerfed troubadour). But both CP and BPM boosted her (I boosted WotFS, maybe even too much, and CP resurrected her PoE1 unique FoD). Well I agree with what you said, unique subclasses or abilities would have been perfect, but it will require deeper changes than what I intend. Also fixing all sidekicks would be difficult too. +2 stats is kind of first aid fix but I think it would work. It doesn't change much I presume. The main issue with +2 to 1 stat is that it could change a character fluff a bit too much. You're not the same person with 12 or 14 Int. But magical items do the same anyway. I'll check all of them individually. Good question. I guess the major impact is in the psychology of a min maxer. You know your character isn't going to have an optimal distribution but you get something in return. +2 stats is +4 to some secondary defense and a bit of something elsewhere. Worth at least a talent. Technically your character will be a bit stronger if your build is vaguely decent.

Hi guys, What would you think about giving all companions and sidekicks a minor stat buff (something like +2 to total stats) in order to compensate for being less flexible than hirelings ? From a minmax point of view, they feel a bit suboptimal. I know some of them have unique benefits (special subclasses, Eder being pet-compatible and getting his own small stat boost after his quest...), but I think it would be more clear to give it to all of them.

Anyway you can pick monastic Training with a devoted to have a backup weapon. It even benefits from devoted PEN and crit bonuses !

There are 2 problems with Crossbows : there are no real good unique one and pierce damages will indeed be a problem later. It's not even that much later, there are pierce immune foes as soon as Port Maje.

Frostseeker is also nice for its 3 rolls, independantly from its AoEs (which is nice for Rogues, by the way, but it is a bit Off-Topic) 3 rolls means 3 chances of getting a crit and refund Stunning Surge. Also I haven't tested it but maybe the AoE can apply Stunning Surge. I wouldn't be surprised because I vaguely remember it works with Focus generation and is classified "weapon". Getting Crit with a Fighter is quite easy given Tier 3 PER inspiration. Fighter Modal and Enduring Dance won't stack for accuracy though.

Citzal Lance + Assassin's various Strike is also a pretty good reason to Go Spellblade.

Yep, that's 10% on Crit. That isn't much but is meant to synergize with Gambit and Assassin + Vanishing Strike. Of course it should work well with Multi Hit weapons such as Blunderbuss or Frost Seeker. BPM makes SoT cheese unavailable by the way. But Brilliant should still work on its own. And Potion of Enlightenment helps a tiny bit too by giving 1 ressource every 30s.

As a Skald, you want to get a lot of crits. Ranger is unparalled to get accuracy buff. Ranger / Skald is a really good combo. Rogue only provides 10% Hit to crit. Apart for this, Concussive Tranquilizer provides buff dispell, pet provides an extra body (if you fear to have it knockdowned, you can go with Ghostheart instead), Takedown Combo can be really good depending on your party and I even like Binding Root (very long duration semi-hard CC effect).

Maybe SC Ranger with Whirling Strikes, since you can use it with Melee & Ranged pair (and the Ranged Weapon will even been able to proc Driving Flight for each initial target) Scordeo's Edge will hit first and will build accuracy for Melee and Ranged weapons quickly with multiple hits. You will even have a decent chance to proc Blade Cascade. Scordeo's Trophy may hit twice per initial Target due to Driving Flight. With the right upgrade, it will add -10% Recovery with melee weapon per Hit. That means that after the initial Whirling Strikes, your attack speed and accuracy will be high even if you don't proc Blade Cascade. With Ranger perks and following Scordeo's Edge Hit, your accuracy will be even higher. This is an ideal setup for chain Interrupting on Crit from Stunning Shot. Not to mention the bleeding effect from Whirling Strikes will add up some noticeable damages. But Scordeo's Edge and one of the Mortar might be overall better for this setup. Anyway you can still switch when facing a really dense crowd.

Still sounds better than Fiona in French

Don't forget Ooblit pet. It comes late and is only available to MC (or Eder, but Eder can't be an assassin) but it is the most effiient for Vanishing Strikes.

The only thing that is too OP for me is that you will still be able to have normal conversations while being under the effect of 7 different drugs.

OK Version 1.4.3 is live. Bye bye Strand of Favor. Tweaks to invincibility stuff (BDD, Unbending) Buffs to SC Paladins and SC Fighters.

Yeah, I basically agree with this.

Yep, but for other fights, including Megabosses, summon can contribute significantly. I remember sending my Nalzpaca tanking one of Hauni first split while the rest of my party took out the other half. My Nalzpaca stayed in a corner and summoned the Twins. When the party had finished the first pack of ooze, I realied that the repeated cast of the twins took half of the HP of the Gigantic Ooze by themselves. I wouldn't say that's super good but that was fairly significant, especially for an ability used mainly for tanking. Dorudugan is a special case because it's only weak vs Crush and Shock damages and I think all summons with these types of damages don't have scaling weapons. I think a Wizard's clone with Essence Interrupter can still add up a significant percentage to damages done.

Yeah that's their main problem indeed. Some of them have redeeming features (Wisp's AoE interrupt, Ogre Sweaping attack that they can use an infinite number of time and scale independantly from their weapons, Dragons' AoEs or Spiritual Ally infinite cast of healing ability) but their auto-attacks are super bad. And most Chanter and Druid summons have this problem. On the other hand Ancient Weapons are among the best ability of the game, Druid's Primordial are top tier damage sponge (one can even cast "free" insect Plague) and Wizard and Monk summons are pretty good. I was just reacting to a previous statement that declared that all summons are weak. Difference is that Summons last longer and a great number of foes are immune to Charm. Also a charmed foe which hits a single friendly fire attack gets un-charmed. But yeah, when everything goes well, you're right.

Yep, but that's a bit the same point : you consider summons weak, not because you compare them to the cheesiest strat of the game, but because you compare them to the second cheesiest strat of the game. Granted that these strats are totally ok for (solo) play, but not to evaluate the power of a given ability. That said, we have different Impression about BG summon Vs PoE summon but that's another story.

In this case, I'm the worst category of extremist. I don't use it myself and in addition I've disabled it for the upcoming version of my mod (SoF & Oooblit & Gambeson won't apply anymore their extension effect to already active buff). More seriously, I don't play Solo and my mod isn't balanced for it, granted that solo play is a lot about using cheese and the mod is basically hunting down the cheese. I'm not even sure one can complete Solo without cheesing (SoT...) or without using the most broken subclasses (Bloodmage and Tactician, I'm looking at you). I would presume Solo is much harder with the nerf component of my mod (even with Potion of Enlightment https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/501 which was designed to allow long fight for non-infinite ressources classes). I don't like cheese, because they are not as epic as regular synergies. But Solo play is special in that one has basically to survive in order to get the levels/equipement that allows to break the game just enough to move to the next step of the run. It sounds like a survival where meta is paramount (especially of one want to go with some of the God Challenge). Not my cup of tea but I see why cheesing could be "legit" in this context. That's why it's normal to tell other about it (and @Raven Darkholmedescribed it as a cheese in the thread). My only grip about SoF is maybe when @Raven Darkholme tells me that summons are weak. Huh ? Compared to what ? Brilliant + SoT + BDD + Blade Cascade ? SoF abuse ? Then for sure, but I don't consider these legit (and I've modded out all of these). So when evaluating the power of a specific build, SoF should probably not be used as a metric.

I think it's hard not to mention it, especially for Solo Play. Strand of favor is the new BDD + SoT + Brilliant. It's really the mother of all cheese, nowadays.

I finally went with Courageous until end of combat when Providence kicks in. Note that it is more intended as a SC Paladin buff than a Providence buff (which wasn't strictly necessary). I wanted the class to have some sort of long lasting ressource outside of Divine Retribution "abuse". Also Courageous, even as a Tier 3 inspiration isn't so strong for a Paladin who doesn't have long casting ability. But it is rare, and fluff-y for a Paladin. I've eventually changed significantly the whole Sacred Immolation line. The main issue with this ability for me isn't the self-damages (you can work around) but the Zeal cost compared to the benefit you get from it. I compared Sacred Immolation to Symbols which are only a Tier above (and certainly good spells) : Symbols have 2 less PEN but deals significantly higher damages, with longer duration and secondary effects (which only upgraded Sacred Immolation get). And obviously they come without self-damages. Symbols aren't strictly Point Blank but have a cast time (which is a big plus for Sacred Immolation). I tend to consider Tier 8 spells as around 3 martial ressources. Sacred immolation is in the same range but inferior. Sacred Immolation would worth around 2,5 martial ressources as a spell if they didn't have self damages. With it I think it's reasonable to put it at 2 zeal. Sacred Immolation "cost" is basicaly whatever zeals it takes plus self-damages, which advocate for a reasonable zeal cost. (I cancelled the reduction of self damages that I implemented in 1.0 though). Basically you want to use it as soon as you have health to spare (which happens as a tank). Upgrades would worth a bit more, but they are Tier IX (and Tier IX ability point are precious) and restricted to SC Paladins which I want to promote. Also Sacred Immolation can't be recast while still active, which prevent some level of spamming, even with a reduced cost. Finally, I specifcally rised Sacred Sacrifice damages AND self damages to 1,25 the value of the unupgraded version so it has some use even when not used for self rez. Divine Immolation should still be the go to upgrade since the benefit are easier to get. With these changes and the previous one to Hastening Exhortations, I think SC paladins will worth a try, even when not used as a Beckoner's best friend.

It is quite easy to fix anyway. Just did it for Sacred Sacrifice (this one is mandatory for consistency with unupgraded version). I don't think I'm going to change for Frenzy or DoAM, but it's technically feasible.

Sacred Sacrifice self damages duration isn't reduced by Resolve, contrary to Divine Immolation and unupgraded Sacred Immolation. The Gamedata file parameters seem correct so it is probably a hard coded bug when an ability mix beneficial and hostile effect to self in addition to its main attack. For example, I do not record Berserker self damages to be reduced by Resolve either. But in this case, it is applied to the whole line of ability rather than to a poor innocent upgrade...

[–]ElricGalad 2 points il y a 7 heures Yep, only way to do that is through AoE special attack such as Clear Out, Heart of Fury or Whirling Strikes As you can see on the reddit thread, you don't have too. Except if you want to upvote the post