Boeroer

Cool. I especially like the combo of making a supertanky Bear with the use of Griffin's Blade. Never thought of that but it makes perfect sense. By the way one could use a hand mortar or blunderbuss to trigger multiple stacks of Hunter's Claw per attack - if you had a melee weapon in the other hand. Maybe this git fixed though. It's still possible to abuse Clear Out this way so I guess tehre's a chance that it's also still possible with Hunter's Claw. Another way is to use Sun & Moon + Keeper of the Flame. By the way: do the additional attacks from Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming add stacks to Hunter's Claw as well? Never tried... Stunning the enemy via Stunning Surge not only gives you a lot more Full Attacks (because you will most likely regain enough Mortification during an encounter) - it also lowers deflection which increases the chance of chaining Swift Flurry/HBD - compared to Dazed which doesn't lower defenses. I would use it in combination with Accurate Wounding Shot (+20 ACC and -10 deflection from stunned is +30 stackable effective ACC). If one uses the Community Patch then Forbidden Fist could also be an option (since you don't want to get hit anyway): Forbidden Fist + Swift Flurry and als Takedown Combo can be nice. Also Enfeebled on an enemy prolongs the DoT of Wounding Shots and all other hostile effects on the enemy. Without the Community Patch the Forbdden Fist ability is not tagged as weapon attack and thus doesn't work with Swift Flurry/HBD and maybe not even with Hunter's Claw etc.

Just checked: Best Defense comes legendary and its bashing stats (dmg, PEN, ACC) don't scale with legendary. They stay basic (0% dmg bonus, +0 PEN, +0 ACC ). Like all other bashing shields it only scales its shield deflection from +4 to +8 with the ledendary enchantment. It does not profit from Transcendent Sufferung or Monastic UT. you can enchant the bash seperately with +2 PEN OR +25% dmg. Which is laughable. I guess this mechanic of bashing is an oversight. It seems Obsidian can't get bashing right (exept Tuotilo's Palm which is an edge case).

All bashing shields profit from quality enchantments, but usually only the defensive capabilities scale, not the bashing ones. Might be different with the Best Defense shield, but I doubt it. Tuotilo's Palm also doesn't scale its offensive capabilities with quality but only its defensive ones. It's special because it is considered an "unarmed" weapon and thus scales with Transcendent Suffering/Monastic UT.

You have to manually install the mod (aka copy the folder into the correct game folder by yourself). It's written in the mod description. Unfortunately Vortex can't handle this mod (any many others) properly.

Fyi I just loaded up a savegame in Mahiri's Metalworks and threw some Sparkcrackers into the doorway between main and back room and the guard moves just fine in order to investigate - which gives me plenty of time to sneak to both chests he was guarding:

Afaik the stealing of high quality gear from chests was made harder in some patches. The guards have better detection and the chests have a lot tougher locks now. This is to prevent low level players to obtain legendary equipment too soon which might trivialize the game (Devil of Caroc, Patinated Plate, Grave Calling etc.). You have to throw the Sparkcrackers somewhere wehre the guard can hear it. So - not too far away. Just far enough that they have to move a bit. They won't run through the whole shop. If you do it like that they should move. Note that only Spoarkcrackers will work, not noisy spells like Dazzling Lights whch would otherwise work perfectly fine to lure enemies from stealth. Neutral NPCs only react to Sparkcrackers. If the gurads don't react then it might be that they are hard-coded not to do so and you're out of luck until you get your stealth up or enough money to buy the items. Also note that you can often pickpocket the key for chests from shop owners or guards. This is often easier than picking the lock itself. You only need high stealth and no mechanics. But there are also cases where there is no key to pickpocket.

Bu when you get some some sort of lock and can't proceed (and it's the game's fault not yours) I guess it's fair game to just explain what is/was happening, kill the game process and reload. I'm pretty sure that's ok. I mean better to try it and take that chance than scrapping the run altogether.

Interrupts in general are more easy to utilize (to full effect) if you use them on enemies who are using abilities with long(ish) execution times (mostly spells). Those usually have a big impact on the encounter (think of Arcane Dampener). It's better to spare some interrupt capability for such situations when you see that an enemy starts casting stuff. Good examples: Neriscyrlas casts Llengrath's Safeguard, Concelhaut casts Arcane Cleanse and so on. Interrupting a quickly executed attack ability is usually very difficult to time and not worth the effort. If you want to prevent enemies from using their offensive abilities a frightening or terrifying effect is great. Those are pretty easy to come by (see Wizard) and they often work really well with AoE Will debuffs (Miasma of Dull-Mindedness and/or an AoE strike with clubs + modal). The enemy won't lose the ability costs though like they do with an interrupt. The good thing about Full Attack with Tuotilo's Palm is just that you have two chances to apply any effect (like afflictions). Due to the -35% dmg loss of Full Attacks and the low dmg of the bash I also guess you won't see a substantial damage increase. But stuff like Stunning Surge is better if you have two chances to apply stun or even crit with it (regaining resources). I mean better than with a normal shield. For me the best part of Tuotilo's Palm is the enhancements that boosts unarmed attacks, mostly the accuracy enhancement. It also applies to the shield itself by the way. But or course that's only a viable option if you really use your fists (primarily) and not another weapon. Great point about Primary Attacks (like Force of Anguish) + bashing shields. Often overlooked I guess.

The basic principle (triggering Blood Thirst with a heavy hitting weapon and thus rendering attack speed unimportant since you skip recovery) can be done with other weapons as well. There's just no other weapon which has that much dmg per hit until the late(ish) game when you have access to the highest quality enchantments and Durgan Steel. I would not use Tidefall with this approach. I mean if I had somebody else in the party who could use it. Tidefall is one of the best dps weapon in the game - but it is so because of the awesome wounding enchantment. Unfortunately kills that are done by the wounding DoT effect will NOT trigger Blood Thirst. It's frustrating if that happens. Better give it to a teammate (e.g. a Rogue). Alternatives are: Hours of St. Rumbalt, Abydon's Hammer, Drake's Bell, St. Ydwen's Redeemer (against vessels), Justice (has two lashes), Tall Grass and so on. Even a sabre like Bittercut works well since it hits relatively heard if you also pick Spirit of Decay. But generally there's no better option for quite some time into the game than Firebrand. Being a Godlike is not mandatory at all. I just thought it's a nice touch with the whole fire theme and all. It doesn't add a lot to the basic principle of the build besides that kills via Battle Forged retaliation also trigger Blood Thirst. You can totally use another race and wear a helmet or other headgear.

Thanks a lot. I wanted to add that the whole other stuff of the Community Patch (everything besides the icons) was initiated and done by @MaxQuest and @Phenomenum. I merely took part in the discussions. After the discussion (here in the forum) there was an open poll about the suggested changes and only changes/fixes with enough "yes" votes were included. I played with it (+ Enhanced UI mod) and can very much recommend it (both). You can easily deactivate certain certain aspects of the Community Patch. It's structured in a way that you can "turn off" changes that you don't agree with but keep the others.

Concelhaut ist probably doing the same as you guys: cheesing with Brilliant.

It works like always. If your stealth skill is too low to sneak up on them (a few points can make a huge difference) you need to use Sparkcrackers to lure them away so your thief can quickly sneak up on the chest. Note that guards will have a circle where they hear and a cone where they can see. It's a lot easier to sneak up on them (or what they are protecting) if you don't cross their vision cone. Also, when guards walk their hearing circle is smaller as when when they stand still. Most chests (not all) can be opened without a reaction from guards. So you can pick the lock in plain sight. Only when you take the items inside it will be treated as theft. You only need to manage to reach the (open) chest stealthed. If the items inside are not red you can take them without somebody noticing. Best practice is to have one char with all-in mechanics (who's opening stuff) and another with all-in stealth (who takes it).

But the two separate attacks of the individual flail heads have lower base damage - and Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming only repeats the individual hit of one single flail head, not the whole strike. So the enhanced dps percentage with Sun & Moon + Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming should be less than with a spear. I did a similar build but with Rännig's Wrath since Rapiers have +5 ACC out of the box (like spears) but Rännig's Wrath has an additional +4 and can utilize the modal which gives you additional +20 ACC. Good thing about spears though is that there's one that does pierce/slash and not only pierce damage.

Trickster malus to Sneak Attack is negligible. Sneak Attack scales with Power Level. And the -10% stays the same. 10% is not much in general. After some levels it doesn't matter at all. You get some powerful stuff in return. Note that with Turn Based mode all effects that speed you up are a lot less potent than with Real Time with Pause mode. I wouldn't use a Streetfighter then. Black Jacket is actually op in Turn Based mode. His weapon switching is a free action which means at the end of your turn you could switch to the most defensive setup (like hatchet + shield) and once it's your turn again: switch to the most offensive one and deal damage, then switch back to defense mode. The Community Patch in my signature is a collection of rather conservative "fixes". No OP stuff, just small tweakings of things that didn't seem right or unbalanced to most of the community. This also includes a few small nerfs, not only buffs of abilities. It also has unique icons for all passives that I made with @Phenomenum. In the original game they use the same 4 or 5 icons for all passives which can be a bit boring to look at. I'd also recommend the Enhanced UI mod. It doesn't alter the game mechanics but adds some nice, unobtrusive and helpful UI elements. Very good mod.

No. Mirrored Image and Llengrath's Displaced Image do not stack their deflection buffs. What does stack with buffs that raise one or two defenses (Mirrored Image, Arcane Veil, Llengrath's DI and so on) are buffs that raise ALL defenses (Vigorous Defense or Llengrath's Safeguard for example). But MI will not stack with LDI or Arcane Veil - and Llengraht's Safeguard will not stack with Vigorous Defense. Speaking only about active abilites here. Defense buffs from items and passives should always stack.

SC Forbidden Fist with Imagined Pain is great. Such a nice combo of CC, damage and staying power.

It's especially good if you a) use Transcendent Suffering or Monastic Unarmed Training (which is decent if you stack enough Power Level) b) fight unarmed (use fist) c) use a lot of Full Attacks that apply afflictions d) want to profit from both Weapon and Shield Style and Two Weapon Style (both apply). That allows for several classes and multiclasses, but I guess the most effective are single class Monk and Monk multiclasses (e.g. Monk/Rogue, Monk/Fighter and so on).

By the way I can confirm that Eternal Devotion works with Sacred Immolation: the +10% burning lash applies to the damage of SI. But SI doesn't heal you with Steel Garrote's draining ability. You have to use a ranged or melee weapon. Just because I'm testing a Steel Garrote/Streetfighter with dual mortars and Sacred Immolation atm and it's sweet. Powder Burns gets you flanked, SI gets you bloodied real quick in a plannable way and as soon as you fear you go too low on health you just fire a Full Attack at the crowd and your health climbs back up while you are dealing damage.

Just tested Clear Out with mortar/sabre: still works. Just make sure you are in melee range. You can trigger Clear Out with the mortar in the main hand and deal absurd AoE damage if the mob is crammed up (e.g. when gathered around a tank). So it wasn't patched. Cleaving Stance also works with autoattacks and mortar in the main hand since you will attack with the offhand melee weapon only if you are in melee range (unless you are using Full Attacks or Primary Attacks). But I simply put the copied weapon set in reverse order into my second weapon slot to be able to switch from sabre/mortar to morter/sabre - mostly for testing purposes.

No, it does not clear. It distracts you for exactly the duration that is displayed on you character. It doesn't matter if you switch weapons or not. Cleaving Stance with mortars requires a melee weapon in the main hand. It is indeed fun. But I guess not intended. Clear Out used to work similarly, but with a melee weapon in offhand: you could execute Clear Out with a Mortar in the main hand then which lead to ridiculous AoE dmg (because every AoE hit of Clear Out used to trigger an AoE from the mortar) but I believe this got patched iirc.

It may be that (if your teammates are too far away or you are solo) the encounter resets while you are veiled, taking invisibility away in the midst of duratuion and thus breaking backstabbing and assassinate right before you want to hit. Or it was just a hickup.

Just tested with a savegame: No problem. Smoke Veil has a rather long recovery time, so it's normal that you can't do stuff in the first few seconds after using it. But then I could backstab/assassinate just fine.

I can only say that the Streetfighter bonus "Heating Up" is pretty insane. Not only will you attack very fast, but your Sneak Attack dmg will also be enhanced a lot. And that's not including the additional bonus you get when becoming bloodied. If you like dmg output then this will be a lot of fun. A Black Jacket can switch around weapons with no penalty. So it's easy to trigger "Heating Up" with a blunderbuss should nobody flank you in melee. Also note that with a blunderbuss you usually have 4 projectiles that trigger on hit-effects 4 times - see Confounding Blind. But... if you decide for blunderbusses (I mean that's not set in stone given that you're a Black Jacket) I would highly, highly recommend using Serafen's Hand Mortar and do his quest asap to get the second mortar of his - which is named "Fire in the Hole". Both mortars deal AoE dmg. Stuff like Blinding Strike, Crippling Strike, Toxic Strike and so on will get applied over the whole area of effect! As bonus those weapons are foe-only, have two damage types (pierce/slash) and target reflex with their AoE which can be a plus when meeting enemies with high deflection. AND Fire in the Hole has an enchantment that lets the whole AoE jump one time (like Driving Flight). And they are still "official" blunderbusses which can trigger "Heating Up" with the Powder Burn modal (which has friendly fire sadly, but it's rather weak). Best weapon set for Streetfighter there is in my opinion. You can totally do Disciplined Strikes + Vigorous Defense, deal a AoE Blinding Shot into the crowd with the mortars, then close in with stilettos - since you are already heated up and the enemies will suffer big debuffs from the blind you will be nigh untouchable and mop the floor with them, stabbing left and right with great speed. Sounds fun to me.

There are ways to convince them to join your cause. But you have to do something first (can't exactly recall what, but it has to do with Aloth's quest iirc). Because when I did this quest for the first time I accidentally stumbled upon that option. The ranga then sends you to another quest (attack the slavers on Crookspur) and afterwards the tribe's cooperating.

If you pick blunderbuss instead of pistol I would recommend Streetfighter. Just because with Powder Burns (the modal of blunderbusses that comes with the weapon proficiency) you will distract yourself. Distracted contains Flanked. And frankly the bonuses of a flanked Streetfighter are hard to beat. When using pistols a Streetfighter wouldn't be my first option because then it's rather tedious to unlock the Streetfighter's bonus. In that case a Trickster would be my choice. Also fits the c0cky aspect. Swashbucklers with the Trickster subclass can be very sturdy even when build offensively because Mirrored Image and Vigorous Defense do stack their numbers. If you want to switch weapons often (which is a smart thing to do given that underpenetration is so punishing) then Black Jacket is the perfect choice. With Quick Switch a Black Jacket has zero recovery penalty when switching which is sweet. I would go for 4 weapon sets (meaning that you'll have to pick Arms Bearer or use Fleshmender or Giftbearer's Cloak) and cover pierce, crush and slash dmg in order to be able to (nearly) always pick the perfect weapon. That can make a huge difference. So for example a set with sabre(s), a set with stiletto(s) and one with club(s). It's also beneficial to combine all the modals for such weapons. For example of you combine a club with a flail in one slot and activate both proficiency modals you can lower enemies' Will and Reflex defense by 25 each with one single Full Attack (like Crippling Strike). This can be a huge help for your teammates to land spells etc. Note that when using pistols the best auto-attack option is to single-wield the pistol and switch on its proficiency modal. That way your effective accuracy is only -3 but your reload time will be halved. This is much faster than using two pistols with negligible ACC loss. For Full Attacks like Crippling Strike it is still better to use two Pistols though.