Boeroer

I'd argue that Arcane Archer is the best Ranger subclass by far (if build "properly"). At least it's the Ranger subclass with the most impact on fights in my playthroughs. Double bounce leading to 3 parallel instances of Binding Web and 3 parallel Pulls of Eora with insane accuracy, done in mere seconds (if starting from stealth) is incredible CC. And the damage comes on top. Gunhawks are cool, the higher range and esp. the interrupts are nice - but it just doesn't have the same impact for me.

Uh... what would-be expert wrote those posts? Ciphers are good for PotD. Especially in a party (but also not bad solo). Ancestor's Memory alone is enough to make a Cipher very interesting for any party. A Psion with Ancestor's Memory and decent INT can keep a party member perma-brilliant. Imagine your fellow Druid to be able to spam stuff like Great Maelstrom without limit.

This is different. Sacred Immolation emits pulses of burn damage that do an attack roll with every pulse and then apply damage directly. It's not the classic damage over time where you have one initial attack roll and then some ticks without attack rolls for a duration. Dragon Thrashed is a DoT: one attack roll and then a few ticks of burn DMG. DoTs do not profit from Scion of Flame etc. (also see Soul Ignition or Shining Beacon and so on). Sacred Immolation is a Pulsing effect: every pulse does an attack roll which deals direct damage (also see Chillfog or Nature's Terror etc.). Pulsing spells like Sacred Immolation do work with Scion of Flame (and the others as long as the element fits of course).

SC Assassin with Community Patch can be bonkers with dual mortars. That is with Ajamuut's Stalking Cloak. You use Vanishing Strikes (maxed INT, all duration boosters available) and then Gambit. Best used against crowed mobs, so lure them somewhere with a trap or so. Just run right into them in order to unlock Backstabs with mortars. Stunning with the Cloak helps that they don't run around then. Hand Mortar unlocks Deathblows via Blinding Smoke, Fire in the Hole jumps around. All hits rolls in <2m range will apply the Backstab dmg. Against single targets obviously use something else. The fastest setup is nice - for example Pukestabber + Marux Amanth + Miscreant's Leather + Abraham + Blackblade's Hood and so on. Although Pukestabber prevents you from using duration+ food, so maybe do some math or tests first which approach has the better outcome (+duration food or alcohol). If you use food stacking that's a no brainer imo. You want to deal as many Backstabs during VS duration as possible. With Gambit also Sun & Moon + fast offhand weapon is great (three chances to crit and very fast recovery).

Solo runs with Assassin tend to be hit-and-run (or hit and vanish) approaches. In the vanilla game I think Assassin/Tactician with Dragon's Dowry the way to go because you'll become Brilliant as soon as you use Smoke Veil - which means you can use Smoke Veil every time after a shot to reload in peace and get back the Guile needed for the next Smoke Veil. No running needed. At least it used to work that way. No idea if invisibility triggering Brilliant was patched out but I think not. Against pierce immune foes you might want a backup weapon - e.g. Eccea's Arcane Blaster or Essence Interrupter or whatever. Ranged Assassin/Bleak Walker is very good in the beginning but I find it to lack dmg output in the later game. You won't be able to one- or two-spot most enemies rel. early which means you'll have to resort to DoTs like Gouging Strike + Brand Enemy eventually. Might as well switch to melee then and use Lover's Embrace, too. Assassin/Skaen is cool thematically but overall not overly exciting, Shadowing Beyonds of the Priest is implemented quirkily and breaks on DoTs which is meh. - Besides that it's just a Priest + Assassinate who has to vanish from combat to survive. Except if you abuse Barring Deaths Door + Salvation of Time + Brilliant of course. Then it's a bit like God mode. Or "Major Avatar"... Use a Death Godlike for thematic and PG reasons. You can then use invisibility all the time for highest DMG output. Assassin/Bloodmage with Arkemyr's Brilliant Departure can CC enemies into the stone age without getting revealed and then finish with high impact DMG spells + Shadowing Beyond or Smoke Veil. With Healing Gloves and Wall of Draining you'll have enough health for Blood Sacrifice. All in all the Assassin/Tactician way may be the most easy to play and straightforward. I didn't try it myself for long (only until mid game) but I saw an impressive video by @Kaylonwho introduced this combo some while ago.

Unless you can make them permanent I won't rise from the couch.

Yes, it said good bye a week ago or so.

I don't know if retraining will remove them. Maybe not... It's pretty cool to be able to permanently get Wizard-, Priest- and Druid spells though. A bit like supermulticlassing. And who needs Bloodmage then?

I happens if you cast an imprint spell from a grimoire, for example Major Grimoire Imprint (and didn't learn that spell) and after casting that imprint spell you switch to a grimoire without that imprint spell in it. Then the spell in the action bar that you stole (and which has unlimited uses) will stay forever. Mechanically it works exactly like the Draining Touch trick (don't learn, cast from grimoire, switch to a grimorie without Draining Touch in it). I guess the imprint spell manages not only the "stealing" but also the removal of those temporary stolen spells. When you switch grimoires that imprint spell with its management ability gets removed from your character (since you haven't learned it) - and that means said imprint ability can't manage (=remove in this case) the stolen spells anymore.

If you're not against using IRoll20s in the console you can simply remove them by typing RemoveAbility <player_name> <spell_name>

I noticed that enemies killed by Riven Gore of Amra (destroy enemies <50 health) get completely removed from the battlefield (no corpse, no fancy animation, just *plop* gone). Does anybody know if this prevents oozes from splitting like Dinsintegration does?

Shouldn't Ball and Chain work as well? It knocks down on crit which should interrupt the Oozes. Grave Calling also sounds like it should work.

It's funny that this works out of combat while you are in stealth mode - but not when you're standing still without stealth (out of combat). Anyway: it works and is a great way to start the fight with a lot of AR for the initial onslaught your character will face once combat starts. Also great for party tanks who reveal themselves first.

If you pick a Wizard (with the Phantom) you can also equip it with Effort (Great Sword) which has an enchantment that does an AoE weapon attack on Knockout. Since the weapon also has a 15% raw DoT this is quite nice. Besides the Mantle of the Seven Bolts there's also armor (Effigy's Husk for example) that causes dmg on knockout. And a few other items iirc. You can build a nice "bomb voyage" Phantom that way. Monk summons have the drawback (in this case) that they don't get your weapons - so no Effort. But but there are two of them so I guess that evens out.

Yes, with a different weapon setup it will be no problem I think. A simple non-unique battle axe would have been enough. But I wanted to do the Bronlar's Phalanx + Gladiator's Sword setup because of the looks and throw different enemies at it. It's not bad at all (one use of Gilded Enmity lasted for over 15 minutes because I got barely hit - and when I was hit it was 2 dmg or something, haha) - it's just not good enough offensively when soloing healing enemies.

Ouf... it becomes really tedious with this one once you face enemies who can heal each other without limit (e.g. Rathun Fanatics). Battle Unending indeed.

I did some testing with the console and such a MuT-Tuotilo's Palm Unbroken/Goldpact (max RES, Ring of Solitary Wanderer, Patinated Plate, Blunting Belt, Dragon Pendant and so on) and it's rel. easy to stay at 20+ AR for most of the fight (in this case Sworn Enemy and not Brand Enemy). The dmg output isn't too bad actually. I opted for Guarding Stance bc. of the damage reduction (stacks with the one from underpenetration) and added the Death's Maw as helmet to stack even more dmg reduction eventually. I did not use Pale Elf but I guess that could be nice to complement the AR coverage without having to juggle items around too much. Everything I threw at him was no problem. DMG output wasn't that bad actually. Two Weapon Style + Armored Grace + Abraham made Patinated Plate bearable. Against foes with mostly crush dmg I would switch to Nomad's Brigandine or Magnera's Chain + Ngati's Girdle or something I guess. Leap does not end Stoic Steel. I think none of those mobility abilities does. Everthing that lets you move with The Wall will also not end Stoic Steel (I didn't use the Wall in this case of course). Speaking of The Wall: I would like to try a verision with Bronlar's Phalanx and the Gladiator's Sword. I will be a lot slower offensively and better defensively - but maybe I can then get away with an optically more fitting, lighter armor. I like the vibe of those items a lot.

Maybe Brand Enemy instead of Sworn Rival would be good to give an additional offensive tool.

Yes, the self damage of Berserker Frenzy and Deleterius Alacrity cannot be shortened by RES since hostile and benefical effect are not separated it seems. Looks like one effect that has pros and cons. Iirc you also don't get a dedicated "hostile effect" entry in your list of active effects. With Sacred Immolation you do - and you can shorten it with RES without shortening your "benefical" burn dmg output. I never noticed though that Sacred Sacrifice is different (I honestly never took it). Good to know.

Yes, Torment's Reach - it has to be said - is too good.

I'm actually too lazy to create an account anyway.

I guess I will create a reddit account and downvote you because it's totally possible to apply Body Blows in an AoE: with Whispers of the Wind, Whirling Strikes, Clear Out, Clean Sweep, Clear the Path and Heart of Fury.

Just checked in game to be sure: doesn't work - as expected. Not with Gouging Strike anyway and of course not with Body Blows. I guess he used some weapon with Gouging Strike that could have applied it in an AoE. Maybe Amra's Wanton/Riven Gore does this. Checked: nope. And Body Blows just seems to have been speculation. Or... I didn' check Accurate Carnage... wait a sec... Checked: nope. Maybe a mod?