[Perception now giving accuracy instead of deflection?]

I

The thing everyone is missing about the role of perception is that the difficulty of Pillars of Eternity as you go through the game isn't static, the beginning is FAR harder than the mid/endgame, and in the beginning literally anything related to accuracy is at a massive premium because it's flat out extremely hard to hit without the level bonuses.  

 

 

For PotD, what is realistically the only challenging difficulty for anyone attempting to powergame, you'd jack perception to the max.  I mean, shades.  'nuff said.  Surviving till you hit defiance bay is the name of the game.

I disagree. For me that was only true n my first playthrough. You don't even need to kill a single shade before DB.

 

aren't there Phantom and Shades in the Throne room in Caed Nua?

[Perception now giving accuracy instead of deflection?]

Full creature rebalance is a ton of work. And most creatures already have ridiculously high fortitude scores compared to everything else, so raising it even more would be weird. My guess that the only change that would happen if this is implemented is that all creatures that had some PER modifier (positive or negative) would get a corresponding deflection and accuracy change. To keep things in check, creatures should get like +10-15 to all saves and +15-20 deflection, but to be fair this is unlikely to happen, and the only thing it would change is that every ranged dps and spellcaster would now max PER, while tanks would now dump it and do even less damage than they did. Melee dps would be in a really weird place stat wise in this case.

 

if this happened, it would make PER a must have stat just to keep up with monster power level growth. because if all creatures got, say, 10 bonus defenses, that's the equivalent (roughly) of maxing PER on a character. so then said character would be in exactly the same place they were before 1.07; anyone who didn't max PER would then be "nerfed" by 10 accuracy.

 

of course, it's always been said the game is too easy...

[Perception now giving accuracy instead of deflection?]

However on checking the derived attributes for Accuracy and Deflection (on the left hand side of the character sheet) these are still much the same as they were previously, with Perception contributing to Deflection and not Accuracy. Checked with an actual battle in-game and the combat rolls also indicate Perception does not contribute to Accuracy. Started a fresh new game and again rechecked in a battle. Same result, Perception still only gives a Deflection bonus and no increase in Accuracy.

 

yes. after a quick test (because i really did not want to start over!), it is only the description of the attribute that has changed. Perception now says and indicates that it modifies Accuracy but it still does not on your stats page (the left side). Perception is still the same stat as before (modifies Deflection) as far as the game is concerned. the description is just wrong.

 

interestingly enough, some other folks are reporting other stealth changes on the topic here. looks like 1.07 planned (and incomplete) changes somehow made their way into the hotfix.

[Perception now giving accuracy instead of deflection?]

it's kind of really annoying because i am ~10 hours into a TCS run on a Wizard with PER dumped.

 

well, shoot...

[1.06 Hotfix Live on Steam]

I'm seeing perception add to accuracy instead of deflection on character creation sheets now. Is that new/intended?

 

ditto. the description of Perception also says as much (Deflection changed to Accuracy).

 

this is kind of annoying considering how i am ~10 hours into a TCS run and dumped PER on my Wizard

[Perception now giving accuracy instead of deflection?]

Perception has changed for me to add to Accuracy after Steam auto-updated with the hotfix.

 

even the description of Perception has changed to say it adds Accuracy.

[Bleak Fang vs Azureith's Stiletto]

In my opinion, Jolting Touch spell holding is broken at the moment. You don't need it to trigger more than once since any standard fight (no matter the level) is over pretty soon after that. In my party, my main character, a dual-wielding barbarian, was starting slowly but surely to lose the title of main damage dealer to my wizard (I had no thief or cipher in the party). Well, after I started using Azureith's Stilleto things turned around pretty decisively and continued to do so even at high levels.

 

This does not mean that you cannot find scenarios where Bleak Fang is superior.

 

Jolting Touch has very weird and probably bugged interaction with Barbarian specifically. each Jolting Touch and jump triggers Carnage which in turn triggers another round of Jolting Touch. so every target in Carnage range gets hit with a Jolting Touch + a jump JT hit + a Carnage AoE from Jolting Touch. obviously it doesn't work that way with any other class.

[Worst weapon types/specializations?]

 

 

Damn, that's a nasty thing to do to your enemies, Omicron!  A double whammy of Jolting Touch!!!

 

I wonder if using draining weapons during a carnage attack drain from all of the enemies your carnage hits.  If so, that could be one really powerful way to heal your barbarian!

 

Carnage applies to all "on-hit" effects of weapons: Wounding, Disorienting, DR Bypass, Draining, Overbearing, Stunning, Convert Graze to Hit, et cetera. for the on-crit effects, i believe the Carnage attack has to crit, not the parent attack.

 

it's a wildly powerful skill.

 

as for proc, it depends on who you talk to or where you are reading as to its etymology. some say its shorthand for Programmed Random OCurrence (eg, x has a y% chance to activate z's effect). others will tell you its short for procedure. with relation to gaming, it's just a synonym for trigger, activate, et cetera.

 

 

This makes sense, since it's not uncommon for words, slang or otherwise, to have unknown origins and multiple theories as to those origins. 

 

I prefer "trigger" myself, though.  It seems much more accurate and descriptive. 

 

Looking at the list of effects that Carnage might be able to apply, there are some good ones there.  But I'm tempted to think that Draining could be among the best simply because Barbarians (from my understanding of the class) tend to take a fair amount of damage, and a carnage AoE drain on multiple enemies could heal a LOT of END in a short time!  Particularly since it's not an on-crit only effect.

 

 

 

it works wonderfully. Barbarian can stack good DR with Thick Skinned and Crucible Knight affiliation (if PC) for decent tanking. Retaliation also works with Carnage, so Fire Godlike for more DR + Retaliate + Coat of Ill Payment (not sure if Retaliation stacks). and to top it off, Tidefall has Draining and Wounding for Carnage shenanigans. this on top of the (questionable) Jolting Touch interaction makes Barbarian probably the best DPS class in the game. still not as good as Wiz or Druid cause no CC but pure damage wise, it's hard to argue.

 

it's why i prefer Weapon Focus: Soldier. Tidefall is incredibly powerful and you can swap in Pike (Tall Grass) for Barbarian.

[Worst weapon types/specializations?]

Damn, that's a nasty thing to do to your enemies, Omicron!  A double whammy of Jolting Touch!!!

 

I wonder if using draining weapons during a carnage attack drain from all of the enemies your carnage hits.  If so, that could be one really powerful way to heal your barbarian!

 

Carnage applies to all "on-hit" effects of weapons: Wounding, Disorienting, DR Bypass, Draining, Overbearing, Stunning, Convert Graze to Hit, et cetera. for the on-crit effects, i believe the Carnage attack has to crit, not the parent attack.

 

it's a wildly powerful skill.

 

as for proc, it depends on who you talk to or where you are reading as to its etymology. some say its shorthand for Programmed Random OCurrence (eg, x has a y% chance to activate z's effect). others will tell you its short for procedure. with relation to gaming, it's just a synonym for trigger, activate, et cetera.

[Brigandine and Plate Armor Discrepancy]

Coat of Ill Payment is reason enough to use Brigandine now that Sanguine Plate doesn't have Retaliation.

[Undead Raedric fight seems impossible? (possible spoilers)]

just did the fight on PoTD @ level 9. i don't think i was "supposed" to, given that i got something like 5000 EXP reward per character after i won.

 

PC Barb

Chanter

Cipher

Eder

Durance

Aloth

 

the real key to the fight was the Ring of Unshackling, as Suppress Affliction stops all of that negativity from the Frightening Auras and Charms (right?). at least, it did for me. i had to recast it 3 times in the fight but it worked out. Fampyrs kept pouring through to kill Durance and Aloth. finally got it when i got slightly more aggressive with Eder/Barb/Chanter in getting them to engage people (along with summons plugging holes that the Famps couldn't slip through). from there, it was just a matter of letting my Barb do his thing while Durance buffed and Aloth flung spells. killing Raedric himself after all the Famps were dead was kind of a chore, though. 100+ Defenses in every category (185 Fort lol) meant i whiffed on 3/4 of my attacks and debuffs. luckily he liked to nuke himself with the Fireball.

 

easily the toughest fight i've had in the game.