Boeroer

"Character builds, Strategies [...]" Waiting to even look at unique items until I get higher quality gear sounds like a strategy to make the game easier to me. At least it's a strategy this info will lead to. In the PoE and Deadfire forums this would be the subforum where I would look for stuff like this. The report on the "loot uniques" mechanic immediately leads to behavior how to play the game in order to make the character better. Essentially it's the same as discussions about random loot tables, Strand of Favor, Attack Speed, Lash mechanic, PEN vs. AR etc. in PoE and Deadfire. In addition to that it also helps that this subforum permits spoilers. Discussing these thing in the General subforum (which is supposed to be spoiler free) is therefore not ideal for users who don't want to be spoilered. If it helps I would've no objections to rename the subforum to "Character Builds, Strategies and Mechanics - as well as a lil' bit of the Unreal Engine".

Yeah, that's correct. And while clearing all (timed) effects after combat is an idea I generally welcome, doing that might not be 100% practical - because of unguents (and also drugs) which you can consume out of combat and are also intended to be useable outside of combat (for helping with skill/attribute checks).

Hey @SChin, did a little testing, loading up a bunch of threads in multiple tabs and so on and also using the phone - and now the forums work fine again for me. 👍 The reaction thing with the posts can happen from time to time, but it only happens very rarely for me - except for the last two weeks or so where it happended more frequently. But today I didn't encouter that problem yet.

Very cool, thank you! Although... maybe the title should say "[...] unreal engine [...] instead of unity engine.

I suspect there's no subforum for character builds because someone copied Avowed's forum structure from a section that has none (Pentiment for example). Outer Worlds, which is somewhat similar to Avowed gameplay-wise, does have a character builds subforum.

I did a Bow run first and am now doing a dual dagger run. And the latter is significantly more potent offensive-wise but also requires better player skills - it plays very differently. Imo a character build forum isn't just about writing about powerful builds but also about build ideas, mechanics and tricks that are enjoyabl. And there are a lot of different but fun ways to approach the combat and the game in general.

Should it? Why? Because it has been this way or because of the item's description?

Aloth: "You've been without a Character Builds subforum for weeks?" Sagani: "I've had General Discussion subforum." Aloth: "But you can't put character builds into that." Sagani: "My standards changed around week two."

I had that issue, too. What I'm also experiencing are long loading times. Sometimes it's quick, but then the next page takes over 10 seconds to load. Other websites are fine so I don't think it's a problem on my side.

Yeah well - if that's easy to do then that's even better.

Strand of Favor etc.: The easiest solution would be to just give those items +2 INT but -4 Will and -12% AoE size instead of +10% to benefical effect duration. Same effect as before basically but no cheese. Maybe the description doesn't even need to change. It's still accurate, even if the way it's achieved is obscure. Edit: I just realized that would only work for benefical effects you apply yourself. Hm. Then maybe make the bonus a bit bigger to compansate. Same with items such as Outworn Buckler (aura) and Cabalist's Gambeson: bonus RES (aura) but -Will and -Deflection would result in the same effect but no cheese. Only "problem" would be the attribute cap of 35 then.

As @Chaospread said: the more Resolve the better on a tank. I mean that's true for all attributes of course because all defenses have increasing returns and all attributes contribute to a defense value, but Deflection is the one that gets attacked the most and is only influenced by Resolve. High Will is also not bad on a tank because it's really bad if your tank gets flipped by mind control (although you should probably prevent that with a Prayer from the Priest in the first place).

PS: That only becomes available once you are out of the "probation period" that all new forums users have to go through (anti-spam/anti-bot measure). During that phase, every post of you has to be vetted by a moderator to make sure it's okay. And you cannot edit posts during that phase because a new user could write something harmless, the post gets vetted an then that user could come back and edit the harmless post, changing it in into something nasty. I believe this phase ends after 5 vetted posts. So just keep writing - then you can edit your posts soon.

I also think using guns is fun in PoE and Deadfire. Indeed. Most impactful class in PoE imo.

Hi and welcome! MIG and DEX do the same things for bows or guns: more dmg per hit or faster hits. Because DEX - unlike other general speed bonuses - also does shorten reloading time (as well as recovery time). MIG has an additive effect, DEX has a multiplicative effect on dps. Usually DEX is better BUT if you don't do enough dmg per hit you will struggle against enemies with thick(er) armor. Since reloading weapons usually have the higher base damage it's actually a bit better to invest in DEX than in MIG - and for bows it's the other way round. But on the other hand: if you concentrate on shooting the "softer" enemies in combat anyways (casters of example) then high DEX/not so high MIG on a bow is still great. Having both reasonably high is best, like you did below. Yes, that will totally work. I personally would go for a bit more DEX (17) and take those points from PER (16), but that's not making a big difference. Whisper of Treason is very impactful - but you have to get relatively close. In general Mind Control (confuse, charm, dominate) is the most impactful stuff a Cipher can do. What's also very good is Amplified Wave. Borrowed Instincts and Time Parasite are also very good. "Marksman" is good. Weapon Focus, too. Over the course of the game imo the best ranged weapon for a Cipher is the warbow. But the differences in "power" are almost negligible. It's more important imo what feels cool (and is still valid and good). You only need "Gunner" when you use a reloading weapon (obviously) - but then it's very good. Just note: Time Parasite is a really good dps tool because it allows a Cipher to shoot much faster with bows, but it doesn't do anything for reloading time, only for recovery time. If you do not plan to pick up Time Parasite but prefer to cast CC stuff instead (which is a totally valid approach) then guns/crossbow types for Ciphers are fine. A single shot grants a nice bunch of focus. Usually not recommended often, but don't dismiss arbalests: they have a feature that knocks enemies prone on crit - and that can be very helpful in addition to the damage they cause. They also share the Weapon Focus with arquebuses, so you can always switch between those (if you find let's say a better quality arquebus than your current arbalest for example). There's also a superearly unique arbalest in the game. I do not recommend blunderbusses by the way. On paper they do a lot of damage per shot - but they are really bad against foes with thick armor. And that means that your cipher will really struggle against most bosses and other tough enemies. And that can be frustrating. Other talents you might want to have: Weapon Focus (best impact if it's picked up asap in the early game) Outlander's Frenzy (instead of Time Parasite, only bows) Heart of the Storm (if you pick up the soulbound bow Stormcaller, not before) Shot on the Run (with additional recovery bonuses/speed the recovery when running is actually shorter than when standing, only bows) Arms Bearer & Quick Switch (you can cycle through 3 gun sets at the start of combat and shoot 3 times in quick succession and thus gain a ton of focus, only guns/crossbows) Apprentice's Sneak Attack (always useful for a Cipher who can apply afflictions to enemies easily himself) Cheers!

I think Dazed still doesn't trigger Sneak Attack. Same as Sickened or Distracted.

I usually rename the file so that its type is *.old_gamedatabundle

[banter voice="Kana_Rua"] Hellooo! Hello? [/banter]

I have to say it got better one I reached the later stages of the game. There were some cool enchantments on uniques I found recently.

I do think there is the danger that removing all cheesy things and balancing everything can make the game less enjoyable and more bland overall. For example I absolutely enjoyed the Hemorrhaging+Avenging Storm cheese in a recent Fury playthrough. I also enjoyed unlimited Resonant Touch stacks on a Mortar Monk. At the same time those things didn't compell me to only use them for future playthroughs - and nothing else. So I really do believe balancing too much/removing every little cheesy option can hurt the experience - as much as overly cheesy and obviously overpowered stuff can hurt it. But that's very subjective I believe. BUT: if it's optional and placed into a dedicated package (which you can simply turn off) I see absolutely no harm. Players who want all cheese removed will like it - and the others (like me) don't have to use it: perfect. 👍

I found that Showing Beyond with the first Godlike ability (Divine Thorn) is a pretty cool thing. The weapon you carry doesn't matter, so I can shoot at incoming attackers, turn invisible with Shadowing Beyond to avoid getting mauled - and if the attacker already suffered enough health loss while he was approaching me, I can deal the finishing blow from safety with the Thorn. Also Shadowing Beyond's cooldown is pretty short and the overall essence cost is low (especially at rank 3). I even retrained out of Arcane Veil because I didn't use it anymore once I got SB. What you cannot do well is power attacks straight from invisibility. The invisibility breaks as soon as you press the left mouse button unfortunately. But you can remove yourself from combat while you are invisible, so enemies are unaware of you - and then deal a power attack from range. All in all Shadowing Beyond improved my personal combat experience as an archer a lot.

Hey, I'm currently about to finish Emerald Stair and am having a lot of fun after a bumpy start with the game (motion sickness mostly 🤢). However: the more unique items I find the more disappointed I am when it comes to the enchantments of the unique items. I understand that adding a lot of fancy enchantments which would require additional visual and sound effects may have been out of the question due to cost - but I could imagine several enchantments that wouldn't even require much investment and still be more interesting than most of the stuff I currently see in the game (and the wikis etc.). It's not that the stuff I see is bad - it's just that what those enchantments do is kind of similar or not very exciting. +x% (elemental) damage here, a bonus attribute point there... hm. There are exceptions - for example the Ogre's great axe that can reflects projectiles (sweet) or the beetle shield that can summon a spirit beetle (awesome) - but they are either scarce or I didn't find them (yet?). When I look at my collection of unique items so far, I feel a bit disappointed (and I didn't even pick up the Disappointer, hohoho). Having said that: I really like that some enchantments can be used to interact with the world outside of combat, too (burning brambles with a fiery sword, powering opening mechanics with electricity-infused shots from a pistol and so on). But also that shock + water does cool things in combat and things like that. That's neat. I understand that the variety of Deadfire's enchantments is maybe out of the question, but I believe the enchantments could be more interesting and exciting than they currently are - with not that much more investment. What do you think about that?

As I said before elsewhere: A near perfect RPG for me would be Avowed's (and Skyrim's etc.) first/third person exploration, map/area design and interactions with NPCs - but with the more sophisticated and well balanced RPG and combat mechnics of Deadfire. As soon as combat starts, the game zooms out into top-down perspective and it's either turn based or rtwp (I don't mind which one). I guess the camera cannot be fixed then bc. of the area designs etc., but I think I could live with that (I usually prefer a fixed camera). I think this isn't super difficult to make (speaking from the technical perspective). Now that I think of it: the top-down combat could be an option besides the current combat style, couldn't it? I believe those two could coexist in the same game. You will stay in the same 3d environment and use the same game objects, not matter the perspective and whether you have turns, pauses or real time action. Changing the camera angles and introducing turns/pause and point+click mechanics and switch between different UI features, indicators etc. should be possible (and not too expensive given how it could expand the potential player base)? That way Obsidian could please players like me (who find the combat and also the RPG and ability options are a bit shallow) and also the action crowd. It could be the successor for Avowed and Deadfire within the same game.

I understand the motivation, but wouldn't a (far) better solution for players and the game itself be: "Offer as much gear that benefits casters/rangers as gear that benefits martial characters"?