Nobear

New players of this game (myself included when I started) often get caught up on the choice of their main character's class. That actually makes very little difference in PoE if you plan to play with a full party of six. The only notable exceptions are priest and paladin, who each have an ability whose power scales in proportion to how your dialogue choices align with your chosen diety/order, and this mechanic only applies if it's your main character. A paladin, for instance, can get up to +6/12/12/12 to their defenses if it's your main, as opposed to a companion or hired adventurer paladin. In addition, the companion paladin's order lacks unique talents. Each of the orders you can choose during character creation grants access to two unique talents. A popular choice for a main character, for an optimal party, is either a Darkozzi or Shieldbearer paladin tank. I'll have to say, now having a max-level party on PoTD (the hardest difficulty), that Shieldbearer has been somewhat underwhelming and I'd probably choose Darkozzi if I were going to start over. They get access to a talent that allows you to grant a party member +10 Accuracy twice per encounter, and it can stack if applied to the same character. That's pretty significant for a CC or DPS ally, the way this game's mechanics work. There is a companion you meet on your adventures for each of the caster classes, including priest, wizard, and druid. Some people feel a strong personal attachment to their main and this factors into their decision, but if you are asking what's optimal, you can certainly have all the caster classes you want whether your main is a caster or not.

In Sacrificial Bloodlines, if I choose to kill the child while Grieving Mother is not active in the party, will she still abandon me?

Cool. I haven't finished all the bounties yet, but I just found another unique robe...

Yes it's still more than viable. Blunderbuss is still a good choice, just not the unquestionably superior choice as Luckman points out. I still like it, especially since Carow Golan (a drug) still grants a flat 4 Focus per shot, and blunderbusses fire 6 lower damage shots at once instead of a single high damage shot. I use this and the other Focus-increasing drug for the really tough fights. But basically, you could make a case for any of the ranged weapons for cipher. Faster (like Hunting Bows) give you a more consistent stream of Focus, while big guns give you big bursts of Focus. Choose what you like, just adjust your talents accordingly. Take Penetrating Shot for Hunting Bows or Blunderbusses (since they both do low damage per shot and need the most help to penetrate enemy DR), take Gunner for any guns (which include crossbows and arbalests in this game). For armor, I'm currently wearing the best robes I can find for all of my ranged characters. Eventually I may even just enchant some clothing to get the highest speed possible, but I've just started Act 3 so I don't know if there are other good unique robes beside the ones I found in

This is but one example of why I'm a fan of saving frequently, alternating between three active save files, and also keeping saves at certain milestones periodically, like when I've started a new act and have enough XP to level but haven't done so yet. In a case like this, you can just go back to the autosave, which is updated when you change zones, so it would take you back to when you just entered the inn the most recent time.

This is all good info. I'd like to stress that you can still steal without being caught if your circle is beginning to turn red, just not if it's entirely red, so when it's close you are taking a risk.

Thank you as well for your active role in these things. For me personally, I am still able to enjoy the game, but would much more with the crashes gone. There may be a slight decrease in frequency of crashes when I quit programs other than the game and Safari, but it's hard to say for certain, and they still happen.

Like others on these forums, I experience recurring crashes to the desktop on Mac OS X. I'm running the latest patch of 1.0.6 on Mac OS X 10.10.4. Here are my specs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014), 2.6 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3, Intel Iris 1536 MB. My game crashes, realistically, probably 10% of all times that I load or save or switch to a new area. Sometimes these crashes also result in my desktop being graphically glitched, where it's corrupted with flickering shapes composed of straight lines at differing angles and of differing colors, across everything. These are particularly annoying, because I have to restart my computer, which is hard to do considering that my desktop interface is corrupted. Here is a log file from just after the most recent such crash, as well as the auto save that was last updated as it crashed. In this case, I simply clicked "Manual Resolve" on the stronghold fight to trigger the crash, but these crashes are unpredictable and not reproducible AFAIK. Update: Then there is the occasional complete system freeze, more rare but even less predictable. For me, the only thing not frozen is the ability to move the cursor, but nothing responds to clicking and I can't even force quit. I have no choice but to power the laptop down and back up. Here is the log file from my latest system freeze, as well as the last save before it happened. FWIW, the crash happened after I'd beaten the bounty encountered as you walk down Wooded Plains, after inspecting/equipping all my loot and literally opening the save menu but not saving yet. The game auto started again on startup, but I immediately quit without doing anything else.

You know, that sounds like a plausible explanation, and I will pay close attention from now on to make sure it is not just what you describe. It seems a corollary would be that (if working as intended), casting prone after paralyze should have no effect on the paralyzed target at all.

So far, the only two games I know that have Achievements on GOG Galaxy are The Witcher 2 and 3. The feature is still in a very early stage and achievements depends on developers willing to work them in. I hope the PoE devs are working on this with GoG if it's not too much trouble. It'd be nice to have!

All correct answers, and I personally think it would be better if the % of specific DR based on armor type didn't apply to proofing enchants. That way you could more effectively "patch up" an armor's biggest weakness. Currently it's best not to do this. As a side note, proofing enchants of the same type, like any item bonuses of the same type, do not stack. You can only choose one to enchant anyway, but there are certain items that also grant proofing. A chest and boots that both grant frost proofing won't stack, for instance, but frost and fire (for instance) will both apply, so you can improve more than one resistance this way.

Do you know how to toggle double speed on and off? I use the 'D' key to do it, but I forget if that's default or not. Another thing totally not obvious and unique to this game (and kind of strange) is that Mechanics is what affects not only which traps you can detect, but which treasures. That's right, not Perception, not Stealth, but Mechanics. When you add that to its other benefits, Mechanics is highly useful in this game. Fortunately, only one character needs to focus on it. There are no party-wide skills in this game that sum the points of all party members, it's all individual. 10 is a good endgame value for Mechanics, as well as for Lore, which is a good skill for your other characters so they can use scrolls. Other than that, it's good to have 3 Athletics for everyone. More than that has diminishing returns. One funny thing you'll find about Mechanics is that the classes and companions with a Mechanics bonus are not tanks, yet your party can easily trigger traps by the time they are detected if your mechanic is not in front. This creates a strategic dilemma: do you use a formation with tanks in front, or one with your mechanic in front? Maybe you create two custom formations, the latter to use for scouting in dungeons, which is where traps are most commonly found. Or you might find it annoying to keep switching formations and choose to save frequently instead, so you can reload when your party triggers a trap. Up to you.

I won't get a chance to until later today, but I will.

I thought this was a bug at first. Then someone explained it to me: when the character who tries to loot (generally the one closest to the items if you have multiple characters selected) has a full inventory, the game will automatically switch to the stash. Pay attention to this, and select a different character portrait when you are looting and the stash gets selected. To the devs: I think it would be nice to have an option (if there isn't already) to change this behavior to switch first to another character with inventory space. Edit: lol I was beat to it! Celliot, I'd still like to pass on the suggestion above. Thanks.

Before I go any further, is this a known bug? It seems likely that others would have noticed it if it's a widely occurring bug. Essentially, any time an enemy is already Prone (say, from Aloth's Slicken), and then I paralyze one of them (say, with Grieving Mother's Mental Binding), the enemy gets liberated to go about their business. I haven't even checked to see if they are otherwise still debuffed, but it adds an artificial constraint onto the tactics I employ in fights, which I'd prefer not to deal with since it makes no sense.

I wish I had known about the GoG version not having achievements. I got started with GoG buying some of Spiderweb Software's games there, and they have their own achievements built into their games, so I never thought about it being otherwise.

LOL I was going to say this!

Yes, speech options are an important consideration I left out of this discussion. A main point here is that only your PC's stats affect the options available in dialogue, but they can be buffed through items and certain temporary buffs. For more detailed information about this, and for other details about game mechanics I have put in one place with the new player in mind, check out this thread. It is true that other casters can be fun too, and I have both the wizard and cipher companions in my PoTD party. I can vouch that the wizard is strong if you don't mind resting left and right, and this inconvenience is partially eliminated at levels 9 and 11.

I haven't tried it, but I am going to make an educated guess at how it would be done: 1) You hire a wizard in addition to the one you intend to play. 2) Even if you retire him using the Party Management feature at an inn or the stronghold you will unlock, he will gain XP at a high % of the rate your active party does. Every so often you bring him out just to level him and have him learn different spells than the ones your main wizard takes. 3) You then give your alt wizard's grimoire to your main wizard, and have him learn the spells for a copper cost. This act of learning spells from the grimoire of another wizard (typically an enemy wizard unless you're using this cheesy technique) is what people mean to refer to here when they say "saving."

Welcome, First, let me link my advice on this thread. That player was primarily interested in ranged DPS but also wanted magic. Well, a Cipher is also the class I'd recommend for someone primarily interested in magic who wants a "fun/useful/user-friendly class." One of the reasons for this is that wizards, priests and druids start with Per Rest spells, and only their level 1 spells become Per Encounter at character level 9, and their level 2 spells become Per Encounter at character level 11. So, if you don't want to have to rest all the time, because of RP considerations or convenience (resting requires Camping Supplies and wipes your temporary buffs including Inn resting bonuses), you might feel like you're holding back a lot in the early levels with those traditional casters. Conversely, a Cipher's magic is based on Focus, a resource you always start an encounter with some of, and which you also generate in combat by shooting stuff. Pay attention to the bit in the bottom paragraph of that link, which mentions the gameplay advantage you probably wouldn't guess of having a priest or paladin be your PC, if you're planning to have one at all in your party of six. For a paladin, the advantages of it being your PC compared to the companion are up to +6/12/12/12 to your defenses, as well as having access to additional talents based on your chosen order, which the companion paladin lacks. Aside from this unusual detail, the only other difference your PC class makes is that only your PC learns certain talents and abilities by progressing the main quest, choosing a faction to align with in Act 2, and other game content. The differences won't be astronomical, but it means your PC can become slightly more powerful than anyone else. In practice, in a party of six, I can't think of how your PC class would make a huge difference with this overall. Oh, companions are definitely more interesting if you enjoy backstories, little interjections in dialogue, and occasional banter between two companions as you adventure. Some of this is quite funny! Each companion also has a quest that you have to have him/her along to complete. There are more than five companions, but you can switch one out if you want to complete its quest and then switch it back for one you normally prefer. The only downside to companions is that they have non-optimal preassigned stats that are meant to make RP sense. However, you can certainly beat the game with all companions besides your PC even on the highest difficulty. Just make sure you have the option off that auto levels companions. That way, only their level 1 abilities are preassigned and possibly "wasted," and you have complete control beyond that. As for stats, you have them mostly right, except for Perception. In some game versions, Perception is inaccurately listed as increasing accuracy instead of deflection. This was an unintended leak for planned changes to the expansion. It still raises deflection, not accuracy, but it definitely does NOT increase spell range. It increases your chance of interrupting an enemy, which is generally not considered worth building for in this game. A well-balanced party will have much more powerful CC effects than interruption. Between interrupting your enemy and avoiding interruption (which Resolve > concentration does), I consider the latter generally more valuable. And you are correct that Dexterity does affect all actions including spells. So, depending on the caster's class and role in your party, people tend to rank stats in a slightly different order, but generally it's best to max Str, Dex, and Int on a caster if you're min-maxing. Str probably ranks highest for a Cipher, since your Focus generation is a % of the damage you deal, where high Int is especially crucial if you're focused on CC. After those three stats, I'd go Res > Per > Con, where min-maxers often dump Con entirely. Note that the value of Per for casters will shoot through the roof with the expansion, but I'd personally recommend starting the game and having fun. Fortunately, I find that PoE has high replay value, especially if you're increasing the difficulty or trying out a new party composition in a later play through. Cheers!

Yeah, it's not an ability I've chosen for Eder as a tank even for PoTD. I've focused on passives that pretty much eliminate the need to ever use these Per Rest abilities. Make sure you have the Wary Defender talent too.

When I said a case could be made... I was thinking of AshenPlanet to make the case lol. He makes a pretty compelling one I think.

Hi all, I've been enjoying the game playing slow and steady on PoTD, just now in Act 3. Last night I watched a rogue TCS speed run solo video and thought this would be fun. Thing is, I have the GoG version, which doesn't currently include achievements, so I have some questions. 1) How would I replicate this achievement "legit?" Does it mean that, when I encounter companions in the game, I can't have them join me even for a moment to sell their equipment? Am I also restricted from hiring any adventurers, even if only to use them for Stronghold adventures? 2) Does this mean that I won't be able to do Stronghold adventures at all, or have anyone around to escort unsavory types so they won't affect my prestige or security? 3) Which, if any, of the companion quests can be done without them in your party? None? 4) I've read that the devs want game files from people who did TCS, to verify they were legit and study them. Does anyone know if this is true, and where/how I should do this? A link would be great. I'm not sure when I'll do this TCS run. It seems probably advisable to finish the game first, but who knows, I might get itchy fingers and at least start it before then .

You know what does make a significant difference that's very easy to be unaware of as a new player? Making your main a paladin or priest, if you're planning to have a paladin or priest in your party at all. They each get dramatic boosts to an ability based on how well your dialogue choices align with preferred dispositions, but these are only taken into account if it's your main character. As an example, if you were to make your main a paladin as opposed to picking up the paladin companion, you'd end up with as much as +6/12/12/12 higher defenses. You'd also be able to pick a paladin order with access to unique talents, which the paladin companion lacks. As I mentioned, there's a cipher companion in the game. Of course, if your personal feelings/attachments and RP considerations weigh more heavily, there's no problem making your main a cipher, just letting you know this so you can be informed.

I mostly agree with this. I will say, though, that if you're min-maxing, and Str and Dex are only two stats, that does leave freedom to (if you so desire) max another too. Currently, Res is a good candidate so that you can keep your DPS up while being hit. And the OP is having a hypothetical discussion about the expansion, so as far as we know Per could make sense to max if you highly value accuracy. In addition, some players point out that Str has the weakest effect for a rogue compared to any other class, because the rogue has so many other things that much more dramatically boost their damage (like deathblows, and the faction talent if you go Doemenel). So some players prefer to drop a few points in Str for some more Per/Res, especially for soloing. I'd probably still go for squeezing out every last drop of DPS before raising other things, but you could make an argument for something a little different, statwise. In either case, shields seem like a very bad idea (again: in the current game; who knows what surprises the expansion may bring).