Boeroer

I really hope it gets better for you console players. The game itself is too good to get trashed because all of those quirks on console.

Okay - now I assume it's our turn where we guess what you wanted to express with posting that picture? My first shot: you made a mod that contains all those new ship models. Very nice.

You mustn't follow a build in every detail. Deadfire is a well balanced game where usually it's totally fine to just follow the general direction of a build idea (here: Stunning Surge and later Whispers of the Wind + Resonant Touch with big AoE mortars) but use some personal flavor (be it from items, race, attributes etc.) I gave a rel. detailed build description and you should be able to do a mortar monk with that info that is fun. Race doesn't matter much. For example I used a Coastal Aumaua with Rauatai background because I planned to join the Rauatai faction (which I did). Don't even remember the profession background. If you want to use a helmet like Heaven's Cacophony you can't use a godlike, but generally speaking monks are good with Nature Godlikes because the +1 Power Level from Wellspring of Life is great for fists and Whispers of the Wind. You can still use Avenging Storm from scrolls then. In that case you would pick a background with more Arcana. And so on. Just grasp the general idea that makes a build fun and powerful and then make it your own. Don't follow everything me or others say about builds blindly. It's more fun to get started and then invest a bit of creativity yourself. If you really want a kind-of-min-maxed guideline then I would tell you: Race: Nature Godlike Background: some culture/profession where you get +1 INT and +1 Arcana Attributes: MIG 18, CON 03 (attention: squishy in early game), DEX 16, PER 18, INT 20, RES 03 Skills: Arcana (for Avenging Storm Scrolls) The risky glass-cannon approach is fun for me because I like the challenge to have maxed offensive output but have to look out for the guy . E.g. I would never board enemy ships until later in the game because 3 CON and low deflection and AR means you get focus-fired by gunners and die right on the spot in the early(ish) game. If that's not fun for somebody else I suggest thicker armor, more CON and less DEX and MIG. Also WotW is easily interruptible. So stay stealthed until you cast it or get an item that gives you concentration (Upright Captain's Belt for example like I posted above or even Rekvu's Fractured Casque). Bit I really advise everybody to not follow build ideas blindly but adapt them to your own needs and likings. They won't suffer much if you alter things (that are not the quintessence of the build - like taking away the mortars would be).

It is not Confuse that's broken (works as intended, but is way weaker than in PoE), it's Perplexing Sap that's not working with this sort of Confusion as it might have been intended. Too late to fix this now - no matter if two years or twenty: Obsidian stopped patching Deadfire months ago so this will stay forever in the original game. Anyways: don't use it, it's bad. The whole Sap branch is rather bad. Confusion has its merits of you fight against casters, especially ones who like to shower you with foe-only AoE spells (like Shining Beacon or so) or shower their guys with AoE healing. Then all spells turn into friendly fire (for the enemies). Besides that it's not very useful. Confused enemies don't switch targets. But secondary effects (AoE, projectile jumps etc.) will hit friends. Same as enemies' AoE healing will hit you.

Then you coul use stuff like Herald tanks (with Exalted Endurance + Ancient Memory), Fighter tank with Defender Stance to bind foes and keep them busy, healing Druid with AI set to heal on low health and stuff like that. Pallegina + Edér + Tekēhu can do this. Also ranged builds like Scouts (e.g. with arquebus, namely the Red Hand) work well with AI scripts - see Maia. Nearly all single target ranged builds do (because it's easy for AI to determine a good target based on your rules and you don't have to move them much). A buffing/anti-affliction bot also works pretty much hands-free. Like a Priest who buffs with Blessing and Devotions right at the start of combat and then uses healing and counter-buffs (to remove afflictions) once the trigger fires (e.g. companion's health is too low, companion suffers from affliction and so on). Can be done by Xoti. I never tried to build an AI-navigated "squishy-rusher" - e.g. a Rogue who teleports ("escapes") to a wizard, slays him and then teleports to the next one while avoiding getting attacked too much. Should work though. Might get knocked out every now and then. Maybe a multiclass with an auto-revive or Edér's armor (second chance) would be good on that. There are multiple ways to build chars that are good with AI or don't need much micro in general (see fighter tank). Then make one heavy micro char (usually main char) to mainly steer through the adventure. Often offensive casters are very micro-heavy because they want to place and time their spells perfectly well and AI is bad with that. This one (like most monks) requires micromanagement because you want to place the shots (with AoE) perfectly well (choose the right target to shoot). Usually AI does a poor job with those decisions ad I said above. I used it as my MC and was one of the most fun experiences so far (also because laughs and giggles from MC and Konstanten - I tell you: it's really contagious and makes you smile, if not laugh).

Nope, not solo. You can def. play a solo Helwalker, but you'll have to have higher defenses and AR, different attributes and also be good enough in melee. You'd also profit a lot from Dichotomous Soul and stuff like Rooting Pain and Crucible (if you don't want to kite all the time). This is a powerful CC/DD build for a party. It relies on some front liners to take the heat and some healing and buffing occasionally. If you let it loose it will be very effective. In boss fights you might only use Long Pain.

His defenses are not that high, especially not deflection. With interrupts you can keep the separate oozes from merging. Some abilites interrupt on graze. It should not be hard to graze 106 deflection.

This fight should also teach you that interrupts are important.

You know that the shell of fresh eggs clings the most and the older the egg the better it peels?

Mortar Monk: Single Class Helwalker MIG: ++ CON:- DEX: + PER: ++ INT: ++ RES: --- Abilities: Swift Strikes --> Lightning Strikes (more attack/reload speed and shocking lash) Dance of Death --> Enduring Dance (more ACC and auto-wounds) Two Weapon Style --> more attack/reload speed Graceful Retreat (don't need if wearing an armor with immunity to disengagement attacks) Long Stride Tumbling (don't need if wearing an armor with immunity to disengagement attacks) Stunning Blow --> Stunning Surge (every AoE hit roll has the potential to crit, giving you a refund) Duality of Mortal Presence (choose INT always for max AoE size) Thunderous Blows (you need the PEN) The Long Pain (for single targets) Flagellanth's Path (works with mortars, explodes at the target position, also skips reloading phase entirely) The Razor's Edge (more ACC) Resonant Touch (every mortar hit gives a stack) Whispers of the Wind (against packed crowds: every attack of WotW will do an AoE mortar blast. It's AoE*AoE hit rolls - combine with Resonant Touch) Prestige (more Power Levels = more jumps of Whispers of the Wind) Weapon Proficiency: Blunderbuss (I would turn on the modal as long as you are not firing at friends). Items: Head: Heaven's Cacophony (Whispers of the Wind + Avenging Storm... mayhem, also +2 INT) Neck: Stone of Power (if you get two you can stack them in the stash after each fight which resets their charge, making it +1 Power Level for every fight) Back: Ajamuut's Stalking Cloak (Whispers of the Wind makes you invisible - this cloak stuns everybody who gets hit from invisibility) Armor: Aloth's Armor (bigger AoE) or Miscreant's Leathers (higher attack/reload speed with a fitting pet like Cutthroat Cosmo) or Gipon Prudensco (immunity to disengagement attacks) or Nomad's Brigandine (immunity to disengagement attacks) or Devil of Caroc's Breastplate (+2 Mortification, nearly no slowdown with a fitting pet like Cutthroat Cosmo) Arms: Mortification Bindings Weapons: Hand Mortar (Blinding Smoke), Fire in the Hole (Chain Shot) Rings: Ring of Overseeing, Ring of the Marksman, Ring of Clenched Muscle Waist: Upright Captain's Belt Boots: Boots of Speed, Rakhan Field Boots It's powerful, rel. simple and a lot of fun. You can get Serafen's two mortars quite early. The first one you get right afte Port Maje. Until you get the first/second one just use regular blunderbusses. Early game also your fists are still great. Before you get Whispers of the Wind you'll mostly use Stunning Blows/Surge and Flagellanth's Path. I suggest taking the noble voiceset because it has a contagious laugh when you crit (which this build does often do). Best to use in tandem with Konstanten because he's got a laugh like Barry White which fits your noble voice set very well. Once they both go to town it's all deep laughs and giggles. Here's a teaser:

I don't consider builds for the ultimate challenge or Berath's challenge to be particularly fun to play, but to each their own. I just reckon that the same modus operandi would be more fun with a Beguiler than with a Psion. Except in fights with single tough foes (e.g. certain Dragons or Megabosses).

No. Never. At least not for first time players I guess. I already went totally out of my way and suggested Herald, so cut me some slack.

Let me introduce you to mortar monk...

Sixth(?) day of self-quarantine: I build a soap dish from some old takeaway-chopsticks, toothpicks and some o-rings. Turned out rather nice (imho).

Howdy and welcome. That's a rather wide field to pick from. What do you particulary like? "Powerhouse that can carry a party" sounds a lot like a Herald (Troubadour/Kind Wayfarer for example). It's a strong support combo that requires little micromanagement to be good.

Since you're casting Secret Horrors and other Deceptions on a regular basis anyway: why not use a Beguiler?

Huh? Either you are doing something wrong or its position and/or detection levels were changed.

Then quote it! If you can't that either means that you are unable to use the quotation tags (which is unlikely since you just quoted me) - or are *gasp* lying. And while you are at that also highlight the part where Merkel is comparing the current situation with WWII (little hint: saying that Y is going to be the biggest challenge since X doesn't say anything about the magnitute or quality of neither X nor Y. It just says that there was nothing of that quality or magnitude betwen the two).

Everybody should. One can never read too well. Still waiting for the quote though. Where is it?

I also thought that but "I get caught every time" did puzzle me a bit.

Point me to the passage where I took a jab at Poland or where I said that Poland is not a country - or live with the shame that you can't read properly.

Last time I checked Polish conservatives were not a country.

Try Forbidden Fist/Beguiler and deal astonishing amounts of dmg with Disintegrate (because of Psychovampiric Shield + Enfeebled +10 INT). Ascendant also works but it's kind of a bummer that Forbidden Fist (ability) doesn't generate focus. Beguiler can get full focus just from casting debuffs.

Buys them time though. And that's what it's all about I think. Time to build more ventilators, provide more hospital beds, educate personell, develop a vaccines/medicine etc.

Afaik it also works when they are attacking with ranged weapons. It's the act of clicking on an enemy (with any type of direct attack) that triggers "threatening". The ACC malus isn't that bad. The PEN doesn't matter that much if you a) take the two Cipher PEN passives and b) mostly cast debuffs. Tactician/Cipher, especially Tactician/Beguiler is a nice combo because of the huge AoE of Phantom Foes (which has the potential to flank all enemies, triggering Brilliant Tactician). Beguiler gets a lot of focus from casting Phantom Foes if he can hit enough enemies. That means you can chain-cast it until really all enemies are flanked --> Brilliant. Also using Whispers of the Endless Paths with Mule Kick is cool as a Tactician (disorients in a cone - and Disoriented contains Flanked).