Elric Galad

I think it might be nice, indeed. But I overbuffed WotFS a bit because of the upgrade restriction. Fearly easy to tweak down if needed. Got it. Somehow I thought that the self buff was applied to the ranger, which was interesting to get bond back. Anyway, the idea is nice. I'm not a big fan of the Distracted Part because it is close to Rogue's Persistant Distraction and stack poorly with various stuff. But I have never checked if Distraction Training itself stacks (it's a passive, so maybe). Of course, it goes well with the name. Melee Resistance is nice, for the reason you say. It doesn't have to be very high as long as it guarantees to walways provide a chance of distraction. Be cautious with the Debuff Duration because it uses the Pet's Intellect. Do you plan to include it on a Mod ? CP Update ? I was considering adding a Passive to ranger to recover some bond. One easy option would have been a very slow bond recovery (Something like 1 bond every 30s - 60s) called "Survivor Bond". This goes well mechanically with Shadowed Hunters and the "Survivor Aspect" from SSS DLC. It's not much but could be nice for boss fights. But if anyone has a better idea. Or maybe Rangers are fine without Bond regen... ?

Oh, nice ! How is it done ? Wrath of the five suns upgrades can't be picked in-game, even if they exist in the gamedata files (which is another reason why WotFS is Bad). It doesn't hurt to update them anyway, just in case someone want to mod this too.

Well, I've tried to implement this a few times and I ran into some problems : What you describe is a Pet passive that would, under certain circonstance, "auto-target the ranger" to restore 1 bond. The problem is that "auto-targeting" a particular target isn't easy to implement. There are a few ranger abilities, that auto-target the pet (so there is a way to auto-target the pet with a ranger ability), but the contrary isn't true. I also tried to implement a % chance of bond restored on ranger Crit if sharing the same target as the pet (based on Stalker's Link code). This didn't work either. Not sure why, but maybe combining the "share target" condition with the "% Chance on Crit" wasn't suppose to work. I would like to provide a way for ranger to get Bond back with a passive, but I don't want to competely change the Distraction Training icon (made by Boeroer) or its link with the pet. Unless I create a new ability ? What should it be ? Problem is that I would have to reuse an Icon for this, which would be meh. EDIT : I can use the old "Ranger generic icon" for a new passive, as it isn't use for any ability after CP icons have been installed. Feel free to suggest !

This thing is unfortunately hard-coded...

I'm not sure Party Assist works for all rolls (even if it works most of the time)

Yes, I agree, good idea. EDIT : It has to be noted that Heartseeker doesn't benefit from AoE Weapons and Bouncing weapons (even Driving Flight). This is a big limitation to potential gamebraking combo. That's why I think 3 Bounds and Foe only is still balnced.

Hi, I wanted to lower the PL required to get an ability, but I wasn't sure how to do. Adding an ability using Game.GameData.BaseProgressionTableAppendGameData and Game.GameData.BaseProgressionTableAppendComponent does not seem too complex, but I have no idea how to remove the old ones (except by replacing completely the Game.GameData.ClassProgressionTableGameData). Did someone succeed ? Is it complicated to do ?

Okay, Bond on Miss pet seems indeed a popular idea. Not the first time it is discussed on this forum by the way. I think I'm going to implement 25% chance of restored bond on Hit (similar rate as toughened fury after Community Patch) and set it to Tier VIII (to avoid a Tier IX crowd). Does not feel OP. Shadowed Hunters will probably stay at 3 bonds, but I will add my "backstab over time" idea (8 raw damages on next attack per 3s while invisible for both pet and ranger). If ranger has acess to bond restoration, 3 bonds cost is probably not that critical. I will have to test it a bit in game.

OK, Liberating Exhortation set to 15s for 1 zeal on my local version. Totally agree with that. Action speed increase was not a good idea for the reason you mentionned. 25s Hastening Exhortation is fine (and easy to code ) but I'll be much more comfortable if it had its own effect. That's why I'm suggestion Nimble for 15s (1 zeal). Nimble provides something that will never fully obverlap with Liberating Exhortation (and fitting to ability theme). Of course Zealous Exhortation would have to be changed to Swift. Swift is nice to save your backrow glasscannon when engaged. Nimble and Swift also feel like the tactical tools a "battle commander" would like.

Gambit can only recover its own guile. The only thing it provides is hope. Hope to cast it for free. The average cost of Gambit spam is probably somewhere between 1-2 Guile with reasonably favorable circumstance, unless I'm missing something. You can probably do better (very high Acc and Aware inspiration), at least versus weak ennemies, but saying it is a free ability is probably an overstatement. Setting Twinned Shot to 1 Bond is IMHO a much more reliable way of increasing Ranger DPS Sustainability.

She must have learnt from psychomantis that the gamer and his computer behind the 4th wall are more vulnerable than the armoured avatar.

Indeed, this ability is so bad on paper that no one even sees it was even worse in reality (due to applying pet Intellect) If only weak ennemy miss the pet, a simple solution would be to also apply it on Graze. A slide of 25 dice roll threshold would help. I thought about the Bond restoration too, but I saw a few (non blocking) issues : - Getting bond back when facing weak ennemy would also feel like an overkill. - Would make Rogue the only single class martial without ressource restoration. Either it would feel bad for Rogue, or I will have to add a Guile Restoration effect. In the later case, all martial single class would feel a bit too similar for my taste... - Bond Restoration is so precious that it would feel sort of mandatory. Given that you only get 3 Tier IX ability point and you probably want Prestige, it may reduce Single Class Ranger build diversity (that's why I'm also considering lowering Blood Surge to Tier VIII). Totally agree. For the moment, what I'm thinking about is a 8 raw damages stacking per 3 seconds (applied on next attack), for both pet and ranger, to mirror the healing effect. Using Takedown Combo on top of that would still be an option. Reducing defense based on Invibility time would work but it would be a debuff within a buff with multiple effects. A bit too complex to describe and use, sort of "abilityception". What I'm wondering is : - Should it cost 2 or 3 Bonds ? 3 Bonds would feel expensive if only used for repositionning, but 2 bonds would feel cheap if used for longer. Also 2 Bonds would make it almost strictly superior to Deadly Surprise. - Would it be OP for Solo (or full single class rangers party) ?

For sure. Or maybe I can add a small AoE to soul ignition ? (and balance stats accordingly)

Yeah, you're right I probably got confused with what I remind of PoE1 Suspension effect. Thank you for pointing it. I really really want Commands to cost 1 zeal (except reviving) for maximum flexibility. The fact that they are nearly instant cast makes casting twice a command with half duration and cost not so significant, but it requires more micromanagement and that the Paladin is available to cast again when the first command ellapse. So, in short I agree with you that 20s/2 Zeal -> 10s/1 Zeal sounds like a small nerf. I can put it back to 20s or maybe 15s, but then it would compared too favorably to Hastening Command for Multiclassed Paladin. So should I set back Hastening command to 30s too, but then 30s Nimble, or even 30s Strong+Quick for 1 Zeal would feel slightly too strong. So maybe 15s for Liberating Command & Upgrade ? (1 Zeal) And also 15s for Hastening command & Upgrade, but adding an extra +15% action speed to Hastening Command too ? (1 Zeal) EDIT : Or just give Nimble for 15s to Hastening command, Nimble + Strong to 1st upgrade Swift to 2nd upgrade Nimble is just fun tactically that I think it would fit Paladin perfectly. Very polite way to tell me that I'm not working fast enough, thx More seriously, I always try to state if I change something, but not being able to state it in the original post. it's a bit annoying that it is not possible to edit old posts, that would be very convenient for this kind of thread.

Sure sure, but I don't want to make it work exactly the same way. That's why I'm suggesting a bonus that grows while ranger/pet is waiting in shadows, preparing themselves and regenerating. Assassins are fast killers, Rangers should be... careful killers ? Yes, but is it that bad ? Brand enemy has an Auto-Hit and inifinite duration that I won't give to Soul Ignition, but Soul Ignition would deal more damages per tick. The 2 won't be abilities from the same class anyway. It's hard to make 100% original abilities from a simple DoT (and it's not really my purpose either : just want to make them "different enough" within a given class)

Well, rangers only get 2 DoT... But it's true that it is the 2 main attack abilities of melee rangers so... I don't specifically want to remove heal and purge effects. It is justthat I am suspicious about abilities that try to do too many things at the same time and ends up too unfocused to be good. So if I end up with something convincing, I might consider removing them. For now, I just got a new Idea : what about an attack bonus (which one is debattable. EDIT : raw damages, as for backstab ?) that increases while invisible, so the attacks from stealth would be more efficient if ranger/pet stayed in the shadows longer. In my opinion, it would fit the "prepared hunters" theme and is quite original. It goes well with the healing over Time effect, so I could keep it.

Yeah, I wondered about Shadowed Hunters too, but I went the lazy way. I think 2 Bonds is enough to make the ability "balanced" as a Deluxe panic button that purge everything over time, but it doesn't make it interesting. It also feels quite redundant with play dead, which is basically an untargetable + full heal, even if it applies only to the pet. A brainstorm on this one is needed. My opinions : What shall be kept from current design : - Appllied to both ranger & Pet - Invisibility Everything else can be removed if necessary to balance the ability. If going a more offensive route, I don't mind removing the heal and hostile effects reduction. What shall be avoided : - Making it too similar to a Rogue ability. This is vague, but basically it means that it shouldn't be another backstab. What could be done (open list) : - Add somehow a bleeding effect, which goes well with Ranger thematic and with the "hunters that follow your blood from the dark while you're getting weaker". But I'm not sure of the details. - Add a "combo" effect, if ranger and pet Attack the same target from invisibility.

D) Rangers The main direction of change to Ranger Class were the following : - Improve their pet support abilities (which doesn't prevent them from feeling slightly redundant, but at least each one is viable on its own) - Improve Single Class Rangers. Many changes are about reducing the ressource cost of their high Tier ability, but I also wanted to guarantee that pet would always be more an asset than a burden for them. That's why I buffed Bonded Fury for when one wanst a strong pet, and Vengeful Grief for when one doesn't want to care. I also buffed Sharpshooter : +20% Range with all ranged weapons I always found that Sharpshooter does get heavy disavantages compared to their specialization, so I wanted to give them some distinctive advantage which isn't merely raw power Hobbling Shot : Hobbled for 10s->15s (aligned with comparable Rogue Debuff) Heal Companion & Upgrade : 2 Bonds -> 1 Bond Cast time : 3s/4s -> 0,5s/4,5s Range 4m -> 10m Tailored to be comparable to Lay on Hands (slightly longer, can only target pet but has more range and an upgrade that doesn't increase the casting cost) Note : I didn't follow Community Patch change for this one, because I thought Heal Companion should be more spammable than Revive Companion or Play Dead so it should costs 1 Bond. Revive Companion & Upgrade : Revive with 50 health -> 100 health Vengeful Revival : +20% damage -> +30% (so the upgrade worth it) Deadly Surprise : +100% damage -> +300% (so the upgrade worth it. It's only 1 attack with low base damages after a 10s of incapacitation so it isn't that much) Bonded Fury : 3 Bonds -> 2 Bonds Cast time : 0,5s/4s -> 0,5s/0s (aligned with my version of Inspired Discipline : the buff is stronger, but affect the pet instead of a "full-time" character) Twinned Shot : 2 Bonds -> 1 Bond (The reason for this is that Accurate Wounding Shot already does similar damages due to lash mechanics and PL scaling plus super high Accuracy. Not to mention it is a full attack. Twinned Shot has an edge with weapons with on-hit effects, but that doesn't deserve 2 Bonds IMHO. Even in this case, it's normal that a Single Class Ranger gets some slightly stronger ability compared to Multi Class) Vengeful Grief : Duration 15s -> Infinite (note that DEX and MIG affliction still dispell the Inspirations you get) (Just to be sure that pet is always an asset. This basically makes Single Class Ranger Immune to Bonded Grief) Heart Seeker : 4 Bonds -> 3 Bonds Shadowed Hunters : 3 Bonds -> 2 Bonds Distracting Training : 6s -> 15s (I initially planned to make it 10s, then I realized the Pet's Intellect is used to determine the actual duration. Base 15s actually results in a ~10s debuff) Feel free to comment anything that feels missing or overpowered. Updated files : BalancePolishingModBuffs.zip BalancePolishingModNerfs.zip

Yeah, I agree with that. And they also had to be careful about overpowered multiclass combos. PoE1 class balance was weird and revolved around a couple of incredibly powerful class abilities (namely Twinned Arrows, Sacred Immolation, Dragon Trashed, Carnage...). But what was unexpected is that some abilities which were "on the top of the pile" suddenly found themselves on the bottom and some never recovered. What doesn't help is that High Tier Abilities ressource cost scales too much IMHO. Even Twinned Shots feels overcosted compared to Accurate Wounding Shots (Power Level scaling of the later make their damages dealt comparable, and Accurate Wounding Shot is even a full Attack). What saves Twinned Shots is obviously that it has very powerful interactions with a couple of weapons and can be used to get many procs. But if you don't meta, it's meh for such a high Tier. I think it could have been 1 Bond and still be balanced (would still be a downgrade compared to its gamebreaking modal ancestor). In the case you're using Twin Shots in optimal condition with Frostseeker, the fact it costs 1 or 2 Bonds wouldn't change that much to the resulting slaughter anyway.

You were right. The DoT part doesn't work on AoE, and seems coded in a such tricky way that makes it complicated to change (if not impossible at all).

Owww tested the Hobbled effect from Hobbling Shot. I thought it was about the whole effect. Maybe I should test again to be sure. Tranquilizer dispel works, on this one I'm sure.

Not according to my testing, they get exactly the same accuracy as other imbued effects, and the pulsing effect has the imbued keyword in the gamedata files. That, Web has a secret -5 Accuracy malus (I've spotted it in Game data file), applied both to wizard's and Arcane Archer's versions of the spell, which may explain. By the way, I remember we discussed about Wounding Shot and Concussive Tranquilizer not applied in an AoE, but it seems OK after testing.

To be more specific : They nerfed it because they nerfed everything. They didn't buff it because it was not a priority, and they didn't think twice before nerfing for the same reasons. I think they didn't change any of the companion subclass from the initial version. Some are good (as you said It's good if official companions have one thing that's a little bit better), some are bad, some are okayish, but it was set it stone from the beginning.

They turned a lot of stuff into meh or just okay soup : Twinned Arrows, Sacred Immolation, Dragon Trashed, Carnage (Not close to its former Glory). Wrath of the five suns is even buggy (PR don't scale with PL). But hey, feel free to use my modded version (or to criticize it if you think it's OP).

The Lord of the Gliding Dale ? Who comes back to life as a Dread Blight and cast Direballs on your party ? On the main Topic : I hate Pallegina. Umbearable temper in PoE2, a worse version of her PoE1's self. AND SHE BETRAYED MY PARTY ON MY FIRST RUN. Her race is super meh, and subclass is the worst Paladin one. She can be Herald, which is a plus, but it's sad because she will be worse than a herald hireling.