Boeroer

Fortnite can't be the reason for Deadfire to sell badly - because D:OS II (which was released after Fortnite) sold over 5 million copies right before Deadfire came out. Granted: it has an online multiplayer mode as well, so...

It reduces the duration of the self damage of SI significantly, yes. Last time I tried this with Berserker Frenzy and also Alacrity it didn't work at all. It seems that Sacred Immolation's self damage is not tied to the duration of the burn damage - while Berserker Frenzy's and Alacrity's self damage are both tied directly to the buff duration (tnd that doesn't get reduced by RES or Clarity of Agony of course). Maybe because Sacred Immolation isn't implemented like a buff on the character it can't get tied to the self damage directly. Just a guess. And it was right after release when I tried, so things may have changed. But I believe it's still like that.

I used it with a Chanter and Furyshaper with Bloodward. It seems Blood Ward doesn't have this limitation that Old Siec seems to have (which I didn't even notice in the first place). With both you can def. heal it out (I used it in combo with Inspiring Beacon, that might help as well). Yes, all the "normal" passive stuff is not enough to outheal it. At some point you have to use Lay on Hands, especially because you also receive damage from other sources as well. However, if you pile up a lot of RES and +x% hostile effects the self damage is rather short (if your INT is not superhigh). And of course you can use Barring Death's Door from a fellow Priest. All in all it's a missed opportunity that the devs didn't introduce a PL8 or 9 ability that removes the self damage or turns it into burn damage rather than raw (which would roll against DR and also could be used with the Scorched Cloak).

Ah yes, sorry, I misunderstood. Pollen Patch does trigger Lord of the Forest. Everything with the plant keyword does. Even "hostile" effects from enemies or friendly fire will trigger it (like Binding Roots, Tanglefoot, Venombloom, Wicked Briars etc.). I didn't test if a resistance to dexterity affliction (e.g. Wood Elf) + Tanglefoot would still apply the plant keyword that would trigger Lord of the Forest. Maybe not since Tanglefoot's affliction gets canceled by resistance - but may be worth a try. I didn't necessarily mean that the weapon types I listed are bad - just that I don't see them used a lot (when reading about builds and ideas and stuff). I think it's a problem with underwhelming (or very late) uniques indeed. The weapon types you see mentioned a lot either have very good or very cool uniques and/or come with very early uniques. Arbalest is a bit of an outlier because there's is Spearcaster which is great in my opinion, comes early and has a good modal. But as I said it has to compete with stuff like the Red Hand. I mean... yeah... that's hard.

Yes, it does stack with everything because it's coming from a weapon. Yes, it does work with Pollen Patch. However, Spine of Thicket Green would be even better for that. For a Druid it's easy to unlock Lord of the Forest because Form of the Delemgan and Woodskin will both trigger it. Form of the Delemgan lasts a really long time. For me Lance of the Midwood Stag is the only good option when going for a dedicated Decay Druid. But then it doesn't really fit thematically. Oh well... But still: I almost never see people talk about pikes here. I mean except Spirit Lance.

Debonaire + Cipher (especially Beguiler) is a good combo. You can almost guarantee a crit with Soul Ignition or Disintegrate on a charmed target. Best thing is that charmed targets don't flip back if you hit them with Disintegrate (or Soul Ignition). And should you run out of focus for whatever reason (like only few enemies left to hit with Deceptions): a Debonaire can still dish out high dmg Sneak Attacks like every other Rogue. Cipher combos I like: Furyshaper/Beguiler (the Horror): White Witch Make, Willbreaker Morning Star (modal always on), Fear Ward, Phantom Foes, Secret Horrors, Spirit Frenzy, Brute Force, Blood Thirst (among others). Lowers Fortitude and Will on single targets and in an AoE, builds up focus real fast due to Beguiler mechanics, disables lots of foes completely with the Fear Ward (Will debuff of Furyshaper gets balances out by Cipher's high Will). Morning Star and other debuffs make landing stuff like Disintegrate really easy - and once the Blood Thirst gets rolling... Also works well with Ascendant - especially Blood Thirst during Ascension. I just like Beguiler better - also because of thematical reasons. Main focus is debuffing Focus and Will. Forbidden Fist/Beguiler (the Dissolver): Forbidden Fist ability doesn't generate focus, so you need another source, hence Beguiler. With Community Patch (which "fixes" the ability so it generates focus) Forbidden Fist/Ascendant may be even better. Anyway: Forbidden Fist applies Enfeebled which not only lowers Fortitude by 10 (combine with Stunning Surge for another debuff of 10) but also prolongs hostile effects by 50%. Disintegrate is such a hostile effect. If you also crit your Disintegration will have a +100% duration. Ouch. You can make crits with Disintegrate more likely with a Morning Star + modal. But I like fists better in this case. Works with all other afflcitions, too. So if you hit a guy and then cast Whispers of Treason he's charmed for +50% time. Combine with Lingering Echoes and high INT (Turning Wheel) for absolutely absurd durations. Dominated Enemies will fight for you forever (kind of). Also dominating enemies doesn't cost much because Beguiler. I play it with highest RES possible, Tuotilo's Palm and add food and items that shorten hostile durations. Stalker/Soulblade: Takedown Combo + Soul Annihilation or Soul Ignition and Disintegrate. Unlike with direct damage, Disintegrate and Soul Ignition apply "pure" DoTs that don't cancel Takedown Combo. Still Takedown Combo applies its dmg boost to all the ticks of the DoTs, meaning those spells get +100% damage. Which is very good. Disintegrate and also Takedown Combo do target fortitude, so it's good to debuff that first (by party or yourself). I used a Morning Star myself again. Soul Annihilation + Takedown Combo is Overkill in most cases but really packs a punch against the big ones. This should also work very well with a Rapier since you can use it single handed + modal in the early game wich makes not missing with Soul Annihilation really easy. Later maybe add a Dagger or Stiletto for faster focus gain. You can get the Spider's Fang Rapier that is very good with Ciphers. I hear it's also very good on Monk/Ciohers. Hunter's Claw gives you plenty of ACC and more deflection, it's great. Helwalker/Ascendant: self explanatory it seems. Huge AoE, big damage, long Ascension, increased PEN through Thunderous Blows etc. Works brilliantly with mortars as well. Soulblade/Trickster: Offensive Parry from Whispers of the Endless Paths, Riposte Mirrored Images + Borrowed Instincts, max RES, pile up deflection via items and buffs. Blind enemies for reduced Accuracy and to unlock Deathblows. Offensive Parry and Riposte will fill up your focus quickly while you can strike normally, building up focus really fast. Then dump all the focus into a cone with WotEP+Soul Annihilation - Sneak Attack, Deathblows all apply. Rinse and repeat. You can spam Soul Annihilation all the time when fighting lots of weaker enemies who miss you in melee. Against single foes you can always switch to something with better single target damage - like Voidwheel or so. That class combo is also nice with Sun and Moon + shield instead of WotEP. Less parrying, bit the dual heads work very well with Soul Annihilation: first of all you get two chances to hit - and if both hit the first one applies the raw damage while the second already refills focus. Recently I have come to like the Psion more. A Troubadour/Psion for example can cast invocations/cipher spells nonstop. While phrase counter is refilling you can cast from focus and vice versa. Also Wizard/Psion ist pretty hilarious at some point: you make yourself invisible with Arkemyr's Brilliant Departure and prolong it with Wall of Draining, then cast Cipher-CC powers from invisibility which don't break it (as long as no damage). A Priest/Psion can even cast Withdraw on himself; he can then emerge with full focus and health from the Withdraw. Not always useful, but a nice little synergy. Tactician/Psion could be nice because Phantom Foes will flank all enemies and the Psion's interrupt ability will restore Discipline if used wisely. Not so good in melee though since that will stop the focus generation. Go ranged with Penetrating Strikes I guess. Haven tried that one out yet though.

Crossbows indeed. Due to the the lack of them. I also think Arbalests don't get much love - although they are pretty cool in general and have nice unique. Well one nice unique anyway. I guess most players still don't fathom the power of interrupts (on highest difficulties). That being said: Arquebus is kind of the competitor to Arbalest - and there are so many ones (and the+29 ACC modal is also great) that it is kind of hard to pick an Arbalest over them. Especially if you are a Rogue or Ranger who can interrupt with abilities anyway. Pikes are also underused I think. Lance of the Midwood Stag is good but very... special - and Ngati's Tusk comes so late. Well if you count Spirit Lance in then maybe they are not underused at all. Most implements (Wand, Scepter, Rod) don't seem to get much love since Aloth's was nerfed (why???). Watershaper's Focus is great (really good - even after the nerf of Ondra's Wave) - but they still don't seem to appeal to that many players. Small Shields (besides Tuotilo's Palm) I almost never see used.

The self damage is pretty bad. From the top of my head is 35 (or was it 32?) raw dmg per 3 secs - which scales with Power Level and MIG. If unmanaged it will knock you out. Except maybe if you had high CON and low MIG and INT - but then the damage to enemies would also be bad and you would still be on the brink of K.O. Things that you can do: Exalted Endurance, Lay on Hands (on yourself), Voidward Ring, raise RES into the sky (shortens the duration of the self damage), use items and food with -x% to hostile effects duration. I believe even damage reduction from Cadhu Scalth and Death's Maw and such will help. You can pair that then with regenerating effects like Ring of Regeneration, Three Trolls Stiched or whatever. That way you can make it work. What also works beautifully (you won't need much else then) is if you have a Furyshaper with Blood Ward and/or a Chanter with Old Siec in the party. Every pulse of SI will then drain life from the enemies. If there's enough enemies SI will net-heal you even.

Rofl, you are really something else...

Entropy: It's 100% hit to crit which is cool and abusable - but 3 hits on a single trget in combination with the rather long casting and recovery time make it meh. I agree it's too weak for a PL8 spell which means you can't even achieve some sort of self-contained multiclass synergy with it (e.g. with Skald or with Swift Flurry, Stunning Surge etc). Wicked Briars? It's strong if you ask me. It's basically a piercing Chillfog with hobbling instead of blinding. About the same base damage (considering PL scaling) but more PEN (also considerung PL scaling) and it lasts longer. The Hobbled effect is weaker than Chillfog's Blind - but honestly I think that Chillfog is too good anyways. Can gain +3 PLs from Spine of Thicket Green, +4 if you're an Ancient. I also "stacks" with spells like Plague of Insects + Insect Swarm + Infestation of Maggots + Venombloom and it also works well with Combusting Wounds. Wall of Thorns: better than Wall of Flame imo? Blights and Aspect of Galawain: true. Especially Aspect of Galawain is ridiculously bad compared to some other summons. Fire Stag: you can abuse it with Darring Death's Door (or Lay on Hands of Shieldbearer), giving it unlimited uses of its pretty potent self-destruct. Maybe there is a solution to that where one could buff it while taking away that cheese. Nature's Bounty: potential party-wide buff of +2 MIG, +2 PER and +20% action speed for 30 secs (Alchemy works) - multiple times if multiple quick slots - is very good. But you are right that it's weird. I actually never use it because I simply don't like and use consumables. Maybe just giving every party member in the AoE the buff directly (but longer) would have been better. Bypassing that additional hassle of having to drink a potion. Sun Lance has dual damage which is quite unique. A tad more damage would be cool or more PEN (I mean it's a "lance"). Its range of 20 meter is rather ridiculous. Last time I checked it worked with Instruments of Pain, giving it an absurd range of 120 meters. So I suspect it's somehow tagged as melee which might lead to some obcure synergy effects. Maybe one could hint that in the tooltip or so if one doesn't want to remove that weirdness. While I'm against blanket buffs for druid spells I have other "problems" with certain ones: Taste of the Hunt: should be allowed for Shifters while shifted. It's a weapon-attack and not a classical spell. It also fits thematically with Shifter. No idea if that's possible but I guess you just have to remove the "spell" tagging. Wildstrike Frenzy: not enough reason to go single class when using Spiritshift. Would add higher lash or additive passive dmg bonus to be able to compete with multiclass synergies. Nature's Terror: the effect is cool, but the overall effect is weaker than Relentless Storm (mainly due to the rel. small AoE) - it is a tool for melee druids. Still it has the same casting time and recovery. If I had to choose if I cast a big Relentless Storm that stuns (even though it doesn't last as long) or a small Nature's Terror with frighten effect (which both take the same time to cast) I personally would always pick the Storm. It needs to be cast faster (have shorter recovery) to be a real competition to Relentless Storm. Touch of Death: the idea is nice but very narrow use case for PL 9. I would add raw damage if the target is not near death. Basically like Abjuration (if enemy has higher level: gets raw damage, else: destroyed). Would be ok for me if the raw damage is high enough to outright kill weaker enemies that are not near death. It's PL9 single target spell. It should be good to justify to give up Maelstrom which is effing ridiculous (-ly good) compared to Finger of Death. That way you could kill weaker targets that are not near death while it's still a great spell against bosses. I personally would also make it melee range (0.8 meters) and not 1.5. It's a "touch" spell for me, not a really long finger. I would also reduce casting time to instant like a fist attack. I would also add the auto-hit-feature like for Minor Missiles or Thurst of Tattered Veils. It's really hard to miss when simply trying to touch an enemy. Maybe somebody now says that's too strong, but you have to go into melee against a boss a single class Druid and you already whittled him down to near death. You could have cast a Maelstrom instead which is more useful in 90% of cases anyway. Tornado: compared to Maelstrom this is way too weak. Why ever take it? It needs something additional, something more unique that fits the Tornado theme that sets it apart from Maelstrom which is simply about dealing (massive) damage. Knock Up is not enough. Maybe pulling the enemies tightly together lilke Pull of Eora or something - or throwing them all over the place like an AoE-Force-of-Anguish or a Clean Sweep. Messing up their movements patterns pretty nicely. And shorter casting time! 6 seconds is ok for Maelstrom given the huge effects, but Tornado: should be faster. Sounds like power creep, but I think (SC) Druids deserve it.

It's okay if stated by an Orlan.

Jeez. He said he liked her accent. You responded to something nobody said or even indicated. Besides that: you are entiteld to your own opinion about Pallegina, but your characterisation is shallow and lacks empathy. Pallegina is like an exemplary mobbing victim. Abused by society, not wanted by her father, injured her mother at birth so she can't bear more children, can't have children herself. Of course she carries some loathing and has problems. I worked in a children's home for abused kids for 13 months when I was young. Couldn't sleep well until I became inured enough to not constantly think about their fate and what they went through. If those kiddos all turned out to be like Pallegina then that would be a great thing.

Huh? Stacking in Deadfire is even more unregulated than it was in PoE. In PoE you could only stack passives with actives and one item (except weapon). In Deadfire you can stack all item effects - like Bracers + Cloak of Greater Protection with Casita Samelia's Legacy, +2 RES pet and Entonia Signet Ring and whatnot. For the common player it's way easier to achieve high defenses values in Deadfire. On the other hand the afflictions are a lot milder in Deadfire, also due to resistances and inspirations countering them. As Elric said: with a Priest's Prayers it's a cakewalk in PoE, but for parties without priests (and scrolls) even a graze of an Adragan's gaze, a Xaurip Skirmisher's spear or a Lagufaeth Blowdart could mean the end. In every stage of the game. I mean holy moly did we get rants about Xaurip Skirmishers here...

I think wood elf is totally fine. Resistance against DEX afflictions means hobbled is out, immobilized turns to hobbled and paralyzed to immobilized. Those are afflictions that annoy a mobile monk the most (besides other hard CC). Wild Orlan is also good because becoming frightened or even terrified is annoying as well. But the look is not everyone's taste. Human is also good because you will get bloodied no question. It doesn't really matter that much though.

Oops! I didn't even notice.

I agree that I mostly use it in combination with Offensive Parry (not only does it increase dmg but it also unlocks Deathblows - if Paladin/Rogue - and lowers enemies' ACC). It has indeed long casting time and also longish recovery for such a short effect. Maybe that should have been addressed in the Community Patch (make it cast faster or give it longer duration). Exhortations as well.

Inspired Beacon can be nice with some caster multiclasses or with Offensive Parry. So that's not too bad. Bit short maybe. But yes, the exhortations are all pretty lame. Abjuration too circumstancial, as is the vessel destroyer Light of Pure Zeal at PL 9 (although the healing is nice but not needed most of times).

Many Lives also works, but the Beckoner Skeletons have the advantage that 6 of them can split into 12 additional ones which makes for a instant zeal refill if for example a confused Berserker kills only one of them (because the Chillfogs will kill the rest until the Berserker removes his confusion). So you can get up to 36 zeal with one single Crave Calling strike. If you want to get zeal from Many Lives you have to attack those skeletons all the time and thus your Barbadian is occupied with that instead of doing other things. I think occupying a character just for refilling Zeal is a lot less efficient than doing it quickly. That's why I think Beckoner is the better solution when it comes to SC Paladin+Grave Calling shenanigans. But I still wouldn't want to build a SC Paladin because of that. The whole stuff is gimmicky and is not much fun in my opinion. And all that for a bit more Zeal. Also multiple Chillfogs tend to slow down the game considerably, even on my rather high-endish PC. I tried the whole thing in a playthrough and dropped it pretty quickly. SC Paladin is just not good (overall experience is not good) in my opinion. If PL8/9 had an upgrade of Sacred Immolation that would take away the self damage or turned it into even higher burn damage instead of raw: that would be a reason to pick one. Magran's Favor, Sun & Moon, Sacred Immolation, Eternal Devotion, Inspired Beacon: nice.

They really dropped the ball with Paladin's PL 8 and 9.

I would always include Serafen as SC Barb at first and try to get Fire in the Hole asap, because that thing is just too good to let it pass in my opinion. Then either drop him (quest is finished anyway) or let him go up to PL 9 with Driving Roar and Blood Surge which is a game changer for any party. But the way to PL 9 can be a bit rocky. If going for RDC: Maia is pretty great with the Red Hand arquebus as a Scout. Single target sniper like few else. The is immune to engagement so you can fly in, apply Takedown Combo and flee whenever it's necessary, while Maia fires some Debilitating Strike with Sneak Attack from afar with deadly accuracy and can follow up with an immediate Deathblow. Super mobile with Escape and Evasive Roll. If you have the Precognition amulet: ouf. Edér (with Berath's Blessing: Can I pet him anyway?) is nearly always the Swashbuckler tank with Cadhu Scalth, Reckless Brigandine, Kapana Taga, White Witch Mask, Mob Stance, Persistent Distraction and Adept Evasion. Riposte, too. He's pretty fast that way and does good melee dmg although he's tanking. I even leave on the club modal for massive Will debuffs via Riposte. Persistent Distraction debuffs most enemies around him (use Defender Stance until Reckless Brigandine and Kapana Taga become available). You can cast all kinds of AoE spells on him while he's holding off mobs. The Wall modal and Cadhu Scalth make sure he takes very little damage - if he's ever got hit because of Adept Evasion in the first place. He would be superb as Trickster but you can't have that. He always was good enough for me though. And the additional pet slot is really nice! Aloth as SC Wizard: I'd put into Rekvu's Fractured Casque and cast Necrotic Lance on him outside of combat. Once he's got the Acute Rash he's immune to interrupts which includes those from Grimoire of Vaporous Wizardry (3 spell uses instead of 2 per tier is huge). Then cast his stuff. I stack him up on Power Levels (Stone of Power, Firethrower Gloves and so on) and later focus on empowered spells. For Huana: I love Tekehu as SC Stormspeaker with Sure Handed Ila and dual mortars, Deltro's Cage, shock spells such as Returning and Relentless and later Avenging Storm (PL 8). Blinding Smoke from hand mortar will not damage anything, but it will trigger a big cone attack that hits a lot of enemies several times. You always get a lot of hit rolls. And those all trigger Avenging Storm (!). Fire in the Hole has an integrated jump with Chain Shot which includes the AoE which also leads to a lot of hit rolls, all triggering Avenging Storm. It's absolutely devastating for all kinds of mobs. Best thing is basically that you have an unlimited amount of Avenging Storms. But also the "Her Revenge" and his Crackling Bolt and Chain Lightning are nice. Too bad he can't wear the Deltro's Cage helmet: it would be easy to hit yourself with one of the bolts or chain lightning and then profit from a big shocking lash. I also give him the mantle of the seven bolts as emergency cast option. Vaillians: Pallegina as Herald with Exalted Endurance and Ancient Memory. That's everything you need as a Herald. That's always really good. Rest can be done as you like (two handed, dual wielding, whatever). Xoti: SC Priest. No special sauce. The lantern is a nice stat stick. Add sandals and ring and she's piling up power leveks nicely. The monk subclass is pretty underpowered in a normal party. However: there's a nice companion build in the list that focuses on Xoti as a Priest/Monk and it sounds pretty fun. That monk subclass is best if it's played as a kill stealer. Don't want to dwell on the sidekicks. Lots of options there. Just wanted to say that Mirke as dual mortar Shadowdancer is just hilarious. Powder Burns grants buffed up Sneak Attack and recovery all the time (see "Heating Up"), Stunning Surge crits with might Force in an AoE for nearly endless supply of Mortification, for single targets there's the Long Pain or a regular blunderbuss. And all that kaboom with the Stance of a drunken lunatic. Also nice with Pukestabber - I mean obviously.

If you have low CON and don't time it right a Blood Sacrifice can kill you though. Getting Wounds as a Wizard/Monk is easy anyway due to Alacrity - which grants a constant stream of wounds without any surprises and doesn't even mess with Dance of Death. And it scales its damage with PL as well so at higher levels the wound stream is really good. Once had a Nalpasca/Wizard Sage and the incoming wounds were too many to handle basically. I'd still use Bloodmage though - also because you can use Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon unlimited times and that helps a lot. Also draining weapons with Swift Flurry can be cool when doing Bloodmage. Most players who are fiddling with Sage think about Spirit Lance. But Draining Touch + club with modal in offhand + Miasma + Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming is a lot of fun and really powerful. It needs some casts and one grimoire switching before going melee though. If one doesn't like that micro but rather wants to rush into battle asap then it's not good. But once you get Stunning Surge... man. It's difficult not to crit with Draining Touch if your opponent's Will is suffering from a -65 debuff... and multihits with SF/HBD all drain life. Also thematically it's cool: A monastic Bloodmage, draining life with a nasty "unarmed" attack. By the way: if you use dual fists and then summon Draining Touch you will not be dual wielding anymore but instead the DT will be interpreted as a single weapon in the main hand.

Brynlod is the toughest bounty in my opinion.

Critter Cleaver

No, that's just an option. If you enter WM very late it's way too easy and thus Obsidian gave the option to scale it up a bit to make it interesting again. I did that bounty with a Barbarian, yes. But that main part is over in seconds if you time it right (Combusting Wounds + Drago Leap + HoF) - if you don't you're screwed. Kaylon made a video with a similar barb vs. that bounty once (edit: was Magran's Faithful, but still nice example) :

Correct me if I'm wrong, but neither Tuotilo's Palm nor Woedica's Spiritual Weapon use "hand damage" afaik. They use their own base damage like any other weapon - only that they scale(d) with Transcendent Suffering (or Monastic Unarmed Training). Or don't they?