MalVeauX

Same. I actually enjoyed its plot more than the Baldur's Gate games. Not to mention it had one of my favorite companions in a CRPGs (Linu). It had the whole "collect four things" forumla, but so did KOTOR. I guess I'm one of those people actually like fetch quests in their RPGs. I particularly enjoyed the side quest in the mansion where the old guy killed everyone, all the kids too, in an effort to become a Lich and intended on bringing all the children back, but failed. Very best,

Heya, Priests have poor accuracy, so you'll want to stack accuracy in your favor. More average damage if you simply hit more often (ie, all the time), and more accuracy means more potential to land a crit, which further increases average damage. Here's what I would think: Priest of Berath (bonus accuracy to maces*) Athletics 3 Lore or Survival for the rest? Only use a single handed weapon (no 2 hander, no dual wield; this grants a huge accuracy bonus when you wield a single handed weapon) Holy Radiance (potential to add aggrandizing radiance for the bonuses, but this is probably not optimal) Weapon Focus: Noble (bonus to accuracy with maces*) One Handed Style (grazes to hits 30%) Lots of talents left open (quick item slots, longer potion duration, more spells, etc, your call) Get the Ravenwing mace early on in Defiance Bay Sanitarium. End game weapon frankly. Max enchant it as high as you can for accuracy and whatever element damage. The Ravenwing has really high damage that goes up as your enemy is flanked, basically. Way higher than what a typical two handed gets bonuses for even. So when it crits, it crits hard. From there, you'll need to either strip Thaos (and all enemies really) of their beneficial effects, so you want suppression (there's a ring that grants this, might be worth using?). Or you'll need to simply out-heal his damage, and wait for his spells to end their duration (his spells are crazy level 6 priest spells, so massive deflection, and he lowers your accuracy and crit chances; you'll want to do the same to him with the same spells). Everyone drinks bulwark of elemental protection potions. Drink War paint too. Having lots of quick item slots helps with this to have all your potions and consumables at hand (and scrolls). Trying to pre-buff yourself with 2~3 spells while he hits you is going to have you reaching for heals before you even get your buffs off since you'll not be overly durable if you're building to deal maximum damage. If you go for a balanced route, you'll just do less melee damage and still cast just as slow. Very best,

Right, and then you have spells like Miasma of Dull-Mindedness (mage), Painful Interdiction (priest) and Tanglefoot and Nature's Mark (druid) that all stack for some really major debuffs. On my max level mage, I usually open with the crit-boosting self buff that lasts a long time, followed by Eldritch Aim, and then my CC is going to be pretty effective, especially since my druid has been debuffing the enemy in the meantime. Oh, my cipher opens with Amplified Wave to give my mage and druid time to start shining with their CCs and AoE nukes. This game is supposed to be tactical. If you want a simpler game, there are plenty of those out there. If you want to be rewarded for thinking strategically, that's one of the things PoE was designed to do. I play dark souls/dark souls 2 +7/ bg1/2 on hard mode (pretty much always solo or with one partner) aswell as nwn2 and this and have been playing the witcher 3 on death march. Do I look like I'm looking for a simple easy game? just because I'm asking for class balance doesn't mean I want it easy, about 70-80% of people have rated wizards as underwhelming or underpowered. I just beat the drake and all his high priests in the place below the keep on hard/expert mode with 4 party memebers each at level 4-5 and I beat raedric at level 4 SOLO on hard after like 7ish tries, when people are complaining about him being impossible with a party of 6. I'm not saying u shouldn't have to debuff enemies, but you had to do that too in BG2 and spells still always hit, you SHOULDN'T have to debuff a couple of mundune wolves/lions/bandits, its just ****ing annoying and a waste of spells. We have no idea what your background gaming-cred is. So why would you even fathom that we might be able to answer "what you look like?" From what you've just stated, it's just more support towards you being a gamer who should be able to adapt to a gaming system and realize that the mechanic behind what you're complaining about is just that... a mechanic that you should have noted. You wouldn't be here complaining about it otherwise. Since you've migrated between all these games that we've all played, in hard or whatever mode you please, then it's perfectly plausible and probably expected that the idea that you have to choose a spell that targets a defense characteristic that is more reliable for you to hit for that particular encounter would be a common and understand practice for you. This isn't class balance--as you put it, you're asking for spells which target a defensive characteristic to hit more often, which is simply put: make it easier to hit the enemy with spells. This just says "I'm not going to pay attention to my spell targeting deflection and using it against something with a deflection score of 140+ and wondering why it missed." I think the comment that you're asking that trash mobs be easier to hit with spells is more what you're really looking at. But then, what's the point of having a hard mode, expert mode, path of the damned, etc, if you wanted it to be easier to take down trash mobs, let alone bosses? But you don't want it to be easier... per you. No offense meant by any of this, but we're trying to understand you. Very best,

So imagine the knock down is a chain down? Or something else that makes sense? Making something even more difficult just so it fits your box of ideas of what makes sense doesn't make sense. If that makes sense... Very best,

Hrm, I never noticed spells missing a ton. They're not auto-hit. But you'll notice spells have +accuracy bonuses, and they tell you what they're targeting (Deflection, Reflex, Will, Fortitude, etc). Pay attention to the opponent's defenses (bestiary, pause while fighting and hover the opponent). It's pretty simple, but using a spell that targets Fortitude or Deflection against something with really high Deflection & Fortitude scores, but has a low Reflex, is your fault, not the game's. Attack their lowest defense score. Very best,

Heya, Steam updates the moment the game is updated. You'll note when you load the game, look at the top right corner. It will give you news. There was news in the game (steam version) that announced 2.0 and all that. It will be as current as the game is. Steam is just another method to get the game without physical media (seems physical media was a UK only thing?). Steam gives you that simplicity, along with achievements (if you care about that stuff). When they drop White March and updates, it will be there on Steam too right away rest assured. Very best,

On that note... I wish all these games were as massive, and open to the community as the original Neverwinter Nights. Huge number of expansions for that game, along with a massive community created load of content that didn't require hacks and mods to work. Love the modular setup they took. And multiplayer to boot even with those. Very best,

Because you like the game? Because you want some new content? 30 hours is nothing to sneeze at. Most games you buy these days are completed in 4~6 hours with casual play. Buying a game that adds 30 hours to a game that is already quite capable of being a long game is pretty cool. It's one of those things that you play through again in a year or two or something and revisit later and have a 60~90 hour game. It's also slightly game changing how they're revamping things in 2.0 (allegedly). I'm not looking for PoE II here. But some more content, another area, some new quests, etc, are welcome in my book. I've played through 5 times now. Obviously I like the game. Very best,

Heya, Every character can be made to do a lot of things. Few quick tips that will help you figure out what you do or do not need. Lore = Scrolls. You make scrolls the whole game from your inventory screen by collecting stuff. Get one or two characters with a decent Lore count, and you're good. Lore 4 can carry you pretty far in the game. Lore 8 if you really want to use the later game stuff. Pretty easy to get to with bonuses from races, classes and backgrounds. Heal scrolls are easy. You also can make heal potions, unrelated to Lore. You can make almost all the buff spells too. It costs you copper to make them, but hey, it's a way to get spells without a character slot and any character can do it. Mechanics = Traps, Unlock, etc. All characters can do this, not just Rogues. Pick a character, get their athletics to 3, then put the rest into Mechanics. Pick a race/class, etc, with bonuses to mechanics to speed it up early in the game. Once you hit Mechanics 10 nothing will withstand your unlocking and detrapping. ********** Based on what you described: Paladin Druid Mage ... I'd pick a ranged character at this point, either a Rogue, Ranger or even Fighter, or Cipher, etc. You want to pick off casters (priests, wizards) and be able to manage some stuff from behind your other characters. Very best,

Heya, I've tried just fighting Thaos... not a good idea. Separating and singling out the Statues seems to work the best. Once the Statues are down, Thaos is a different fight all together. I agree they're pretty crazy on defenses, but I would expect the final fight to be really hard in PoTD, or any mode really. It all builds up to that fight. It helps loads to lock them up, drink a bunch of potions of bulwark vs elements and start increasing defenses, while debuffing the statues when/if possible. And just weather those statues down. Very best,

There are several points in the game that have dialog functions that check INT. And yes, all dialog is based on YOUR stats, not your companions. The way I see it, you either max INT if you want high INT, or you don't. There's not much point to having an INT of 13 for example, when you may need a check at 18 or 20 or something. Just remember, lots of things can be boosted later, such as getting a +2 INT from food or an item quite easily for those very specific dialog options (there's only one in the game frankly that requires really high INT, the rest do not). In PoE, INT is not just you being an idiot or not. INT has a huge purpose for even martial characters. INT is one of those stats that in PoE is near universally useful, because it increases durations of effects and increases area of effects. That's huge. It's why you see all these posts about Barbarians with max INT and Paladins with max INT, etc. Having an INT of 3 will not make you talk like you're ultra-special, it just will effect which dialog options you have at very FEW dialog points in the game. Very best, OK, thanks, but I still feel like I don't really know what to choose, but now I'll just build me a character and see how it goes. Who knows, when the 2.0 patch comes out maybe things have changed when it comes to how attributes affects. And such is the beauty of having up to 6 people in the party. So if you feel you didn't choose the right playstyle in that character, it's not like you're doomed for the whole game, it's just one character of up to 6. And diversity is good. I tend to pick a main character to set the tone, ie, lead conversations and choose how my reputations and stuff will be. This can be any class. I've played through quite a few times now and done it with "dumb" characters and the opposite, and it really didn't change much other than a few dialog options in the game. I then pick the rest of my party via hirelings (I don't like the pre-made companions) and make them how I want too. So I can have a bit of anything I want going on. So yes, pick something, play, and get some companions and make them something that interest you too. Play "all" of them and you will experience each class you have interest in. Very best,

There are several points in the game that have dialog functions that check INT. And yes, all dialog is based on YOUR stats, not your companions. The way I see it, you either max INT if you want high INT, or you don't. There's not much point to having an INT of 13 for example, when you may need a check at 18 or 20 or something. Just remember, lots of things can be boosted later, such as getting a +2 INT from food or an item quite easily for those very specific dialog options (there's only one in the game frankly that requires really high INT, the rest do not). In PoE, INT is not just you being an idiot or not. INT has a huge purpose for even martial characters. INT is one of those stats that in PoE is near universally useful, because it increases durations of effects and increases area of effects. That's huge. It's why you see all these posts about Barbarians with max INT and Paladins with max INT, etc. Having an INT of 3 will not make you talk like you're ultra-special, it just will effect which dialog options you have at very FEW dialog points in the game. Very best,

Now I got confused. Your rogue has Per 8 and Int 6, but in the character creation window those are marked with a silver star. Shouldn't they be considered to be important attributes? And, another noob, question; do I get more attributes points later in the game? Heya, The stars are "suggestions" based on the class for absolute new-to-the-concept gamers. You do not get more attributes later as you level up. You can raise attributes with quest rewards, items and buffs from spells/scrolls/food/resting bonuses. Very best,

Heya, Yea, I've toyed with a Barbarian, played one as the main character once through already. Good DPS character, not much else though, no utility other than side-speccing to mechanics for trap duty, but otherwise, just fast and heavy hitting with a reach weapon from behind the front lines. I thought about a Barbarian for this particular setup, having two front line characters with shields. But then again, could also do a reach Rogue, or a Fighter with all specs towards reach weapons of choice too, or even a Chanter to bring some more utility. A Fighter would bring more average damage to a single target, a Rogue would bring more critical chances and sneak attack options, a Chanter would bring useful phrases. I've played Chanters to death though, so I'm looking to try other things for variety. I also thought about doing a Ranger for anti-priest/caster duty from behind the two front liners, with a pet, to help single out casters and make their life miserable and short. Druids are definitely an option, good Deflection, though not so accurate, but their spells are enormously useful (especially the lighting spells, I love those). I played a Druid through my first play through and it was nice, but I always felt my Wizard was better as a caster, and other characters better as tanks. I really wish Druids could focus more on shapeshifting and melee stuff. Unfortunately it's too short even with high Int to shapeshift as a focus. Maybe in the expansion... seems like an untapped option that is just there for show, but not really useful at all. I toyed with Monks. But I guess I just never really got into Monks. I'd rather use a Paladin or Fighter frankly than a Monk. Just not for me. Perhaps: Paladin (zeal focus); off tank build for melee capability Paladin (zeal endurance); off-tank build for melee capability Rogue (max mechanics); ranged focus with warbow and reach weapon, will stack speed items, will focus on casters and traps and unlocking stuff. Priest 1 Priest 2 Priest 3 (each upkeeping essentially one powerful buff, the third priest for utility heals and debuffs and for maintaining if one falls) Very best,

So I spec'd a Fighter & a Paladin to see just how different they would be, to try and find a good balance between off-tank and melee DPS capable, so that they're not ultra specialized to tanks and do nothing but hold mobs and do zero damage (other than have a high Lore and cast some scrolls). Overall, I can't decide. I like both. Fighters: More damage synergies with weapon mastery, focus & specialization along with Unbroken for a passive revive basically. Paladin: Zeals for more DR or higher Accuracy & crits, able to be better per the situation, higher defenses, self heal, revive other, mark for per-target-dps. The Paladin seems to be the better off-tank, simply because the Paladin can have higher base damage reduction with comparable deflection scores, without wearing heavy armor. Again, assume using enchanted clothing so the recovery is 0%. Worse cast scenario, I might wear Padded or something in the 20% or less area, like a Robe. Exceptionally enchanted will generate good DR. Paladin zeal endurance with Ale/Mead/Beer and exceptional enchanted clothing or padded armor, will have good DR without the enormous -50% recovery. Max dex and you have some speed. Will not max Might. Instead, focus on high Dex, Per, and Resolve. After that, the mix is either Might and Int, with Con being the least of anyone's worries (with priests around at least). The Fighter seems to be the better armored DPS though, with higher specializations that allow for higher average base damage, and can get away with wearing slightly heavier armor with armored grace, along with max dex to maintain speed. The 20% minimum damage bump increases the average. No self heal, but has a passive revive. No passive DR other than consumables and armor. Less overall defenses. But more base damage output. Fighter has higher base accuracy too. So far, leaning towards the Paladin. The two zeals make it possible to swap between off-tank and dps needs, and sworn enemy allows high DPS potential against a foe that is actually important and not just trash mobs (so he can fight "bosses" so to speak when needed). Plus the paladin's zeal endurance DR with the priest's spells with DR equate to a very decent DR without wearing heavy armor. Very best,