Nobear

I put a ? next to the spells I haven't tried either. Wizard Thrust of Tattered Veils - ? Merciless Gaze - I use it on my high level ranged Wizard in a full PoTD party (once it becomes Per Encounter), before Eldritch Aim at the start of the fight, when I'm buffing while I wait for the enemy to come. Are spells like Iron Skin any good? I used Iron Skin on the solo melee PoTD Wizard I started. 8 DR for several hits seems good, and it did help against certain tough enemies like the bears in the Valewood cave. I haven't played this Wizard since 2.0, but I imagine it may be useful in even more situations now with the Deflection nerf. Spirit Shield - I mostly just use whatever potions of this I come across. I can take it or leave it. The concentration buff is nice, but the DR buff doesn't do much, especially if you've already prebuffed with Ale or a similar food/drink that grants +2 DR. I generally don't consider it worth a spell slot, but YMMV for certain tough solo fights. Arcane Dampner - I've found this useful for my party Wizard in fights vs packs of xaurips that buff their whole group including a drake. IDK if the expansion has added any more good uses for it, but in the base game its uses were rare. However, if you're otherwise underpowered vs something like a xaurip pack with champions/drakes, it could make the difference. Arduous Delay of Motion - ? Wall of Force - ? Gaze of the Adragan Just kidding Druid Autumn's Decay - ? Blizzard - In my high level PoTD party (once it becomes Per Encounter) I definitely use this with Hiravias, generally after Tanglefoot and Nature's Mark. Next I sometimes do the blinding fire one (I forget the name) if there are many and/or powerful enemies within its small radius, and then spam either the level 1 lightning one or Burst of Summer Flame, depending on enemy weaknesses and battlefield positioning. But yes, I find Blizzard useful for its combination of damage and debuff. Druids are good because they can stack on multiple debuffs as I mentioned above, and some like Blizzard also nuke at the same time. Insect Swarm - I occasionally use this to wear down tough enemies over time (as it's certainly annoying when enemy druids cast it on your party lol!), but if I had to pick one spell for this purpose, it would be Relentless Storm. Though its damage is low each time it ticks, those ticks also have a chance to knock enemies Prone, and the range is great. Taste of the Hunt - ? Beetle Shell - The one time I found this useful (and keep in mind 2.0 and the expansion may have opened up more situations due to both nerfs and new content) was fighting Adra Dragon. I used it on the tank, and it's great for this since your tank doesn't have to do anything at this point other than sit there and absorb massive hits. Infestation of Maggots - ? Wicked Briars - ? Cleansing Wind - ? Plague of Insects - ? ... or am I getting this confused with Insect Swarm? lol it's been a little while. Wall of Thorns - ? Rot Skulls - I haven't personally used this, but I've read that it's the highest DPS ranged weapon in the game. Ofc it's a high level spell, so you can't use it on every fight unless you rest a lot. You also will probably still do more DPS spamming low level AoE spells (once they become Per Encounter). I'd find the Wizard's Minor Blights to be more interesting now, since it becomes Per Encounter at level 3. Priest Holy Meditation - I like this especially at low levels when my party is fighting spirits and things that mind control, and I don't yet have the specific spell to counter that type of CC. Then it becomes potentially useful again at high level (once it becomes Per Encounter), but is fairly low in my priority of buffs/debuffs. Generally I do any specific CC counter spells first, then Holy (Inspiring) Radiance, (Painful and Empowered) Interdiction, Armor of Faith, and maybe even Blessing before I'd get around to Holy Meditation. At this point it may just not be worth it. Priests do eventually get that spell to extend the duration of beneficial effects though, if you feel like just being a buffbot for most/all of the fight lol. Iconic Projection - Ohhh you need to try this one if you haven't. In some fights, spamming this is better than buffing. Even when it's not, I'll generally be spamming it once I get out all the buffs I'm aiming for. Warding Seal - I just tend to stick to Repulsing Seal personally, so I haven't given this one a fair shot either. Watchful Presence - By the time I realized, from what I read from others, that this spell may have some effect after all, I didn't get many chances to use it. One person said they believed it only triggered on the first ally in your party to dip below that endurance threshold. Even so, it may still have its uses, but I'll defer to others to elaborate. Searing Seal - Again, Repulsing Seal is just so good. This one looks good too, but I have a Cipher, Wizard, and Druid who can all blind too. Shining Beacon - I haven't given it a fair chance personally, but I've seen a video of a pre-2.0 solo PoTD Adra Dragon priest kill that made heavy use of powerful self buffs, I think Divine Mark, Shining Beacon, and then Cleansing Flame to make those DoTs really hurt. At this point, the dragon was basically left to die on her own, and the player started taking down her adds. Triumph of the Crusaders - ? Spark the Souls of the Righteous - Again, I haven't used it personally, but I'm pretty sure the same Adra Dragon solo kill video I saw finished off her adds in part with this spell's help.

Ok, so for a ranged druid on Normal difficulty you can definitely safely drop Res to put more points into Might/Dex/Per/Int. All difficulty settings affect the number of enemies (PoTD additionally affects their stats). To be fair, I've played the game extensively before 2.0, but hardly at all since. The enemy AI has improved, and more enemies now will attempt to break past your tanks to target your ranged than before, but I still see players generally giving their ranged characters 10 Res at most, often less. My reasoning is that Res only helps when you're being hit (which will still probably only be a minority of the time in 2.0), whereas Might/Dex/Int improve all spell casting, and Per helps all attacks and spells that target enemies.

I would also be very hesitant to dump both Dex and Per because of how low Reflex would be even with Sword and Shield Style. But about discouraging enemies from disengaging, do we actually know which factors the enemy AI looks at, specifically, and which ones it might not factor in?

Welcome! First, you don't need to start over as long as you're playing version 2.0, since it added a feature to let you respec at any inn for just a gold cost (that scales with level I believe). To help you with any specifics, I'd want to know a few things: 1) What difficulty are you playing? 2) Are you planning to play a full party of six, solo, or something inbetween? 3) Do you prefer your druid to be ranged or melee? Even though 2.0 made a druid's animal form stronger (and actually viable, where it wasn't generally considered viable before), the consensus is still that a ranged spell casting druid tends to be more powerful and versatile. As Animaillusionaria said, unless you're trying some unusual build like having your druid offtank in animal form, you can safely move most or even all of your Res to other stats. I would even say Dex and Per should be higher, for any viable way to play your druid that I can think of.

Sanguine Plate was changed a while back from Retaliation to Frenzy (up to 2X/encounter) when receiving a crit. That still makes it an interesting option for a melee cipher I'd think. You can still wear Sura's Supper Plate (small retaliation shield) and Hiro's Mantle (if the rare goods vendor happens to offer it on your play through). These effects stack because bonuses from weapons and shields are an exception and won't suppress bonuses from other items you wear.

This part is inaccurate. Dex affects Action Speed, not Attack Speed. That means any action, whether it's a melee or ranged auto attack, a spell or power, or even using a consumable item like a potion or scroll. A cipher does have some good Fast powers that seem to be fast enough even if you lower your Dex to 10 or below, but this will very significantly slow down any Average or Slow powers. I am also under the strong impression that Action Speed (and, by extension, Dex), applies to all phases of a gunner's shooting as well. Maybe someone very knowledgeable, like Pedroelm, could confirm or refute this. Dulcanale is definitely a great gun. I chose the Ruffian focus for my cipher so she could use Dulcanale against high-DR targets, and Scon Mica's Roar (a great blunderbuss) against low-DR targets. You should know that the wiki is painfully outdated (and was long before the expansion came out). It is not a reliable source for seeing the current stats on weapons, powers, or really anything. I also have not yet played the expansion, so IDK what sexy new weapons might be good for a cipher from that content. In any case, you can always respec. I'm a fan of Ruffian because it includes two types of guns, but you could always try Soldier for arquebuses to compare. You are right that Penetrating Shot is much more needed for a Blunderbuss than for any other type of gun. In some cases it may be a DPS loss for other guns (especially vs low-DR targets), but I have not done the math to be more specific in where this breakpoint would lie. There are a few stat checks as high as 19 pre-expansion. IDK if there are any higher than that now, but I'd like to know this. No stat checks are below 11, though, so having a dumped stat vs having 10 in that stat will make zero difference in checks, whether for dialogue or scripted events. If you really want to have a stat as low as possible and still pass checks (even though you could alternately respec to pass that check and then respec back), there are four buff source types that apply out of combat: items, food, inn resting bonuses, and one more which I won't reveal because you might consider it a spoiler, but it'll be available for most (but not all) of the game starting early in Act 2. Multiple instances of each source type will suppress each other and, if some are higher or lower, only the highest will be active (e.g. if you eat the same food twice, or wear two items that boost the same stat). However, all four source types will stack with each other. Each will grant about 2 to a stat, give or take a point, so that can boost you roughly 8 to the stat whose check you want to pass. There are also a few talents you can learn throughout your adventures that give you a point in a particular stat permanently (usually along with another bonus), but these are rare and you won't be able to boost all of your stats this way. Edit: I almost forgot. If you'd like my thoughts on balancing survivability on a ranged cipher, here is a post with a summary of these thoughts. My more detailed explanations on page one may be a bit long and tedious to read, and they include a bit of speculation about the expansion which is now public knowledge. But I would still be inclined to dump Res before Con. For survivability, check out the priest spell Suppress Affliction, also granted by a ring you might find randomly on your adventures, which is immensely helpful to counter some of the worst ongoing partywide debuffs and damage over time effects.

I don't see why solo would be any different from party. Of course you probably can't get the drop on all enemies even with high stealth and move speed, but it ought to work with a high % of them. Edit: I think I misread, and you were referring not to the ability to do two backstabs per fight, but the ability to combine Backstab with Deathblows (and Sneak Attack ofc). I bought the expansion pass last night and started a 2.0 solo rogue and just checked out some of the 2.0 changes, but I'm really digging this school semester and it's kind of funny, but I'm not feeling a huge draw to play the expansion content right away. I'm sure it'll come back. That's the way things tend to be with me and computer games — their big draw comes and goes in waves. Anyway, when I get around to it (before or after I play the expansion content with a party), my thought with a solo rogue is to try opening with a Backstab, then Blinding Strike, and dropping as many foes as I can quickly before using Shadowing Beyond to escape, rinse repeat. I could always respec out of Backstab at higher levels when I get Deathblows, and open fights instead with Rotfinger Gloves. Or I could keep Backstab and follow Blinding Strike with Crippling Strike to trigger Deathblows all the same, although most if not all enemies would probably be dead by this point, meaning Deathblows would see little use. So most likely I'd spec out of Backstab when I got Deathblows and do the Rotfinger Gloves thing.

Wow, somehow that linked to a disk image that contained a working game, whereas going through my account page (also from GoG's website) linked to a disk image that contained a slightly different game file that did not work. They looked like they'd be identical. They were advertised as such, by the same company. How can this be most effectively passed on? Anyway, bottom line is, thanks! I fired up the game and saw several new features indicating that it is indeed 2.0. Now, whenever I find the time, I can confidently buy the expansion .

I clicked on Mac OS X installer, English, and it gave me the same file as before: a DMG file which, when opened, mounted a disk image containing just the game application and a background window image indicating that I should drag-and-drop into my Applications folder.

No, just downloading straight from the website.

An "install" from GoG is just the game's application file which I can move to any folder on my SSD. Do you mean that I should delete other files that the game uses? If so, which ones? I do want to make sure that my saves are kept if at all possible. I don't mind as much if my preferences are reset.

I just downloaded the base game 2.0 from GoG, moved my old game to the trash (didn't empty it yet), moved the new game to the folder where the old one used to be, and tried opening it three times. Now it shows a progress bar with the system security icon that says "Verifying," and nothing happens after this bar is complete. Could it be that the system requirements changed, and my MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014) with Intel Iris graphics is no longer supported? Could it be that I need to empty the trash (which I wanted to postpone until I verified that the new game works), or perhaps rename the old game that's in the trash? Could it be because some part of the game expects it to be at the root level of the Applications folder, rather than in a subfolder called Games?

If you add 50% (Sneak Attack) + 25% (Blinding Strike) + anything from Str that's over 25%, that equals over 100%. Edit: Wait, did you say you crit? That's another 50%. Even after DR, in certain cases that could more than double the max hit value. Is the 33 you quoted the max damage listed as base, or after Str? To keep the calculation simple, start with the base value and add all damage bonus sources together for your final % increased damage. Update: I also forgot about weapon quality (another 15% to 45%), but I forget if that's factored into base damage or not.

Adra is immune to acid and Alpine to corrode? Aren't acid effects classified as either corrode or raw? About Crushing Doom, does it always "land," as in, even if the starting accuracy is too low for it to hit with the early hits, will it always successfully cast and keep attempting to hit over its duration?

I thought they were adding some CC immunities. Dragons would seem to be a prime candidate for this, seeing how big and mighty they are and all that, but IDK which enemies actually have them and which don't.

I'd forgotten about that, and didn't think of it when the multiclass talent came. Pedroelm did this kind of testing with Combusting Wounds with a blunderbuss a while back, but I forget whether he also threw Wounding Shot into the mix. My memory is fuzzy, but IIRC there seemed to be some DPS-boosting synergy, even though the engine wasn't perfect and maybe dropped some ticks.

I find that, for fights where you can line of sight pull around a corner with a trap set in place right on that corner, I can get a couple of buffs off before the enemies are fully in place around my tanks and it's time to start unloading. With my level 12 PoTD party, Aloth usually has time for Merciless Gaze + Eldritch Aim, and Durance for two buffs as my mechanic, Grieving Mother, is running back after unstealthing to start combat, and Hiravias to place a Tanglefoot and get ready for a Nature's Mark before spamming massive AoE with his preferred elements and/or debuff secondary effects.

People used to really rag on Backstab, and some still do. I made a thread about a week ago about using Backstab for a stealth assassin solo run, and some people added some ideas, but I also like the idea of using it in a party with individual stealth. There's a thrill of assassinating someone from the shadows that is, in part, amplified by any difficulty involved in setting it up. I get bored in games like Skyrim where it becomes too easy to pull it off as you level and your stealth skill maxes. It's more satisfying if there is at least some tradeoff with maybe not being able to pull it off successfully 100% of the time.

Now that is an awesome idea: spells only learnable through unique grimoires. Sounds like a cool spell, too. IDK how it would compare to a druid's Relentless Storm, though. Maybe better for single target but worse for AoE?

Which passive?

IDK but it looks good. Shoot, I've been using a liquid crossbow this whole time. That's why this game is so hard!

I'd forgotten that the aura-expanding item was a pair of boots and not a necklace, since there are several class-specific neck items. I've been saying it wrong lol! From everything I've read, yes. People have been planning caster builds around high Per for a while now, especially CC-heavy builds. Also, Ymarkasar, the Moon Godlike power has such a huge range it will be pretty much guaranteed to hit everyone even if you dumped Int. The visual effect triggered by it is deceptive. You are right, though, about there being an advantage to people not being too spread out for spells like Consecrated Ground, and most priest buff/healing spells really. But then, you also want any wood elves to be more than 5m back. I just find there is not enough of a buffer zone of leeway when my paladin tank's Int isn't maxed or close to maxed (without range-increasing items, that is). For some fights, like the ones with Shadows that you mentioned, the natural trend will be for your party to get more bunched up. For other fights, your party might tend to naturally spread out, or it might be more advantageous to do so based on specifics of a particular fight that affect preferred tactics.

And if it combines with the Ranger's other thing that makes their shots able to pierce through and hit someone behind (I forget what it's called), you could be doing four shots at once in some cases. That almost makes me want to play Sagani LOL, but everyone else is looking good too, probably still more powerful than Rangers overall. I guess time and more experience will tell, though.

I think if you could set six traps on a solo game, traps would become too powerful again even though they were nerfed. Soloing is supposed to be hard, where every little thing can easily make the difference between life and death. People have argued that soloing sometimes depends on scrolls and figurines more than the class, and letting you set six traps solo would further reduce your class's relative impact on your success. Also, are you sure that seal spells still count toward the limit? Because they did get changed to function like hazard effects instead of traps, meaning Mechanics no longer affects their accuracy. Maybe they still count toward the trap limit though, I'm just not sure. BTW, I do think that, despite the nerf, traps are still fun and sometimes useful if they are well placed, e.g. right on the corner which the enemy will round if you position your party against a wall out of line of sight, set a trap, unstealth, and make your trap-setter run back and wait for the enemy.

I'm running Mac OS X 10.10.5. I previously had the latest GoG hotfix to 1.0.6 installed. I just downloaded the 2.0 patch from GoG's website, ran the installer, and got this message: This patch will not work with your game version! The funny thing is, I checked my game version using Get Info, and it listed the same version as I'd expect to have if the patch worked: 2.7.0.15 (2.0). Then I launched it, and found it was still 1.0.6.whatever. I even loaded a game and looked for some 2.0 features. Perception was still granting Deflection, and I saw no sign of 2.0 features. So... what gives?