Boeroer

Further drafts on passives' icons. Constructive Feedback is highly appreciated. Phenomenum and I are also discussing over PM (and he did some nice work with the backgrounds and the overall "look and feel"), but a few more opinions won't hurt. Putting it into spoiler tags since it becomes rather big now: PS: only now realize that the icon for Armored Grace (Armor + hourglass) coincidentially turned out to be the same as that for Refreshing Defense (but with less colors).

@KP: congrats! I've been married for ten years now and it's as awesome as it was ten years ago. Sure: different - but great. My parents are still married, my wife's parents as well. My wife's siblings (3): all happily married. Doesn't look like that's going to change soon. The bottom line is: don't let them discourage you! @Topic: does US media report a lot or at all about "Fridays for Future"?

You want clarification about some minor detail he wrote a year ago? Since Sonic doesn't seem to be a big fan of word plays nor does he seem do be of German origin (where "popo" would mean "butt") I'm very sure he just meant "poorest". Mystery solved I guess. Sonic didn't post here for a month or so now - while before he was quite active poster. So I wouldn't expect a direct answer.

Also have a look here (maybe you already did): https://support.obsidian.net/article/35-frame-rate-issues-and-constant-crashing-with-nvidia-gfx-cards

You should send an email to support@obsidian.net.

That's right. But once you have a symbol for let's say "crit" it's easier to come up with an icon for stuff like "Improved Critial", "Chopping Wood", "Murderous Intent" and so on. Something to start with.

Once it scales properly (if it ever will) it's also better in combo with Combusting Wounds and other abilities that profit from many hits (Shield cracks, Confounding Blind etc.) I think.

Reaping the Whirlwind is more a joke than an honest approach. Something with a "discipline plus" or "resource plus" icon would be better. I am currently settling on some "generic" base symbols that I want to use for abilities that target reoccurring stats (defenses for example). So that you can guess what the ability is roughly about without reading the description or even the name (best case). Like: - a shield shape for defense buffs (maybe also resistances?) - that slightly twisted star shape for all Empower effects - those "stripes" for speed effects - or an hourglass? Depends I guess... erm... I maybe need icons for the generic terms of "resource", "on kill", "on KO", "crit", "graze", "miss", "conversion" and whatnot. A symbol for Power Level. Is there any? What Do you think? Makes sense? Maybe I shouldn't think too much about it - or I'll never finish.

I talked to SChin today and he told me that they are currently doing a lot of work on Deadfire (basically, with other words). It seems that they are stuffed with work and that the next patch would be pretty big. Deadfire was in an ok-ish state before TB mode was introduced. Most of the current, most annoying bugs emerged with that introduction. Even if Deadfire was a disappointment for them - they introduced a big, free feature as beta. That doesn't indicate that they abandon ship... like... at all. Why would one think that? Take the radio silence as a hint that they are drowning in work right now. Makes more sense than the assumption they suddenly dropped the potato - out of the blue.

I'll try to do mockups for all abilites on the list. Little update:

I know. Also the Bull and Bear pictures speak of something else. I think I'll just leave the symbols for Snake's Reflex and so on as they are - since "strongman", "head + brains" and "foot with wings" are the generic symbols for fortitude, will and reflex anyways - and find something else for Body Control and those other abilites which currently use the same icons.

Ha - nice idea. Never thought about that.

I can make that a 100%.

If you take Soulblade, don't use Biting Whip. It's really bad compared to Draining Whip. Biting Whip only adds a whimpy 10% additive dmg bonus. It doesn't scale. That means - for example - that a war bow would do 1.6 more damage per shot on average. And that's it. THe nice thing about single class Arcane Archer is the access to Death Ring - which is absurdly good with a ranged weapon that has its own projectile jumps (Watershaper's Focus, Fire in the Hole, Kitchen Stove) + Driving Flight: each jump triggers a Death Ring. Imbue spells also profit from Arcana's ACC bonus - it's rel. easy to crit with that spell then which does massive AoE damage - and it's even foe-only. That means the bad scaling with PEN can be somewhat circumvented. But - in my opinion that is the only real advantage for going single class (and the fact that that you advance through Power Levels more quickly of course). The time before reaching Death Ring will most likely feel more bland than playing a multiclass. Just because SC Rangers don't have that many "exciting" active abilities going on. Also the animal companion scales with class level and not Power Level. That means it's not any weaker (stat-wise) if you multiclass. If you want more inspiration about multiclassing Arcane Archer, check this out: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/109075-arcane-archer-evoker/ There's a discussion about Arcane Archer and also single class vs. multiclass (in this case Arcane Archer/Bleak Walker). May be insteresting.

Exactly. 6 uses per rest with both items. For a backup weapon the belt is enough then (3 per rest).

Yes! You'll get 6 uses per rest which usually is enough for all encounters. If you have casters in your party you will most likely rest more often than every 6 fights. Thanks for asking, I added this little passage to the build description:

I think there are no best or second best options since most items are not significantly more powerful than others, so it depends. For example a plate armor is really good in the early game, where the ratio of DR to received damage is really high. In the late game the incoming damage is so much higher that it doesn't matter that much if you wear a plate armor or a hide armor. So the "best" approach would be to start with a plate and reduce the armor further and further until you have no recovery penalty anymore while retaining enough sturdyness. In case of Fighter with Armored Grace and durgan reinforced armor that means scale armor. Sanguine Plate with durgan steel and Armored Grace is special because it gives you Frenzy which actually makes you faster than going in cloth or naked. Scale armor: The Golden Scales: comes superb, which spares you rare resources, also the +5 burn AR and the reflection are unique Pike's Pride: this is actually a very solid armor, often overlooked. Break Out is very good against anything that prones and stuns you. Combine with Fenwalker boots and you will not get hindered by most nasty afflictions and hard CC anymore. Autumn Fire: Woodskin as Spell Holding is really nice. Only problem is that you'd need to kill a friendly NPC to get it If I can spare the dragon scales I will pick Pike's Pride. If not Golden Scales. If you have multiple speed bonuses (Gauntlets of Swift Action, Durgan refinement on weapon, speed on weapon and so on) or even du dual wielding you will reach a situation where your speed bonuses will be so high that your armor penatly gets eaten up anyway. In that case you can wear up to plate and use Vulnerable Attack without slowing you down. If you reach that status then I'd go for "He Carries Many Scars". To find out about your recovery and the armor that you can carry without speed loss check this out: https://naijaro.github.io/poe-speed-calculator/

I din't think it's bad though. I just wonder: with those arguments gainst per-rest at hand, why stick to such a potentially balance-screwing mechanic? To make potential per-encounter spamfest less monotonous maybe? And what anishar said? Empower is fine to me. I kind of like the idea in general. It's rel. unique and it "only" leads to one rel. manageable power spike with one of your own abilites or to a few more uses of you overall balanced per-encounter stuff. I don't feel the same about per-rest abilites on items. Those add some powerful effects per rest that have nothing to do with your class - potentially breaking balance. Resting is even easier than in PoE, so you can easily make those items quasi per-encounter effects. If you are doing blance based on a per-encounter basis - better to give items weaker effects but per encounter instead of powerful effects per rest. I almost never use the per-rest abilites on items because they feel alien in this system. Although I like per-rest in PoE.

Lvl 8 is correct.

Tidefall's wounding doesn't give you focus (unlike other lashes). So I alsways feel it's a waste on a cipher - IF you have other party members who could use it. Justice has an additional 10% "mini" crushing lash in addition to the 25% one that gives you focus. It's not big and often gets eaten up by DR in the early game, but it's there. I think it's a good backup weapon for a melee, two-handed cipher. My recommendation would be Firebrand though. It doesn't care which weapon focus you have (works will all). Grab the Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer (it's good for a cipher anyway) and Forgemaster Gloves and swing that burning blade until you get the BotEP - or whatever you fancy. YOu will then drop the gloves but keep the belt. So you will always have a backup weapon once you meet pierce-immune foes which your estoc can't hut. Only enemy who will laugh at you: Flame Blights.

In PoE I always tried to fight as many fights as I could without resting. That was fun for me and maybe that's why I like parts of PoE better. Of course: if you rest after every fight "per-rest" makes not much sense. Wonder why Deadfire still has it then though. Empower, trinkets several enchantments, figurines - all per-rest. Why didn't they consummate the change?

Very good. It's a Devoted/Skald with an amulet of health. By the way I made sure that no healing was applied during testing (e.g. I let Constant Recovery run out before hitting).

Right. It's pretty awesome by the way.

Source: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rqa39t8eik8uday/new_ability_icons_v_0_3.png?dl=0

Would this be any better?