Boeroer

They are working on that. It's not supposed to be this way.

Yes. I think TB mode adjustments will be the biggest slice of the patch. Hopefully followed by a lot of happy bug fixes. TB mode currently is in beta status and Obsidian asked for feedback when they released the beta. So it is very unlikely that we won't see some solid changes to TB mode.

Besides the "basic" abilities that all had their own icons (which didn't fit the style of the other passives though) I also redid Unbreakable and Unrelenting since those also had their own "flashy" icon which looked out of place now. Will have to do the same with Wildstrike I guess? Any feedback on the icons above (e.g. the simpler B/W versions of Constant Recovery, Sneak Attack and so on)?

Action and recovery speed translate to initiative in TB mode. So with more DEX etc. you will be further up and can act sooner (but not more often).

I agree that SC druids lack martial capabilities. Especially shifters who can't even use Taste of the Hunt. A few more dedicated passives would have been nice, maybe an active melee ability or two which are not spells. But you can of course use spells to lower enemies' health and then finish them with a melee strike. One thing with my testing though: I didn't make sure that it wasn't DoT ticks that killed the enemies. Maybe that prevented Wikdstrike Frenzy from triggering. I doubt it but to be extra sure I will run another test later today.

I just tested Wildstrike Frenzy. Only kills with your wildstrike-infused claws/tusks/horns/etc. will trigger the effect. Not kills from spells.

Back from Sicily, did some rework on the existing icons (no additional ones yet except a few of the PL-0 abilites). I rearranged them all and sorted them by class:

I think the base dmg of Delayed Fireball is quite ok. I use the delay (which of course is a downside in general) for: - moving party members out of the AoE. I don't have to wait with the cast. - I can cast Delayed Fireball first and Pull of Eora after (instead of the other way round) which gives me a somewhat longer use of PoE. - timing attack rolls from one wizard so that the rolls happen at the same time (or close). What I mean is: if I fight some enemies with healing it's better to have attack rolls with not too much pause in between. So I can cast a delayed and a normal fireball and they go off at the same time, making healing in between impossible (and possibly killing the targets). - what I didn't test but which might be a good use of the delay: if not the casting but instead the explosion breaks stealth (?) you maybe could first cast two delayed fireballs and another dmg spell right from stealth (remember the 85% recover bonus you get from stealth).

I also found that if you can curcumvent the recovery malus of bleeding cuts (eg. with Full Attacks while holding the axe in the main hand, Barbaric Retaliation, Riposte, Blood Thirst etc) there's not much else which is better. Barbaric Retialiation is best with Battle Axes even if you use non-unique ones. That's how good Bleeding Cut are.

What do you mean by "class suggestion"?

Optimal... depends. There are many ways to build a ranged cipher. Going Ranger/Cipher will give you more ACC and Driving Flight (and I didn't even test if Arcane Archer's Imbue spells generate focus), Black Jacket/Cipher can mean a big focus spike through switching, a Helwalker will give you additional dmg and duration and PEN, a Beguiler means you don't need to use a weapon that much anyway and so on. Streetfighter with Blunderbuss means very high dps but it also has rel. low ACC and low range. And it's not very sturdy. If you can overcome or accept those disadvantages it is a very powerful combo for an Ascendant. Because as I said the recovery bonus also applies to casting and you want to cast as many spells as possible while ascended. For Ascended I think Streetfighter/Blunderbuss or Helwalker are some of the potentially most powerful combos (if you are not going single class which is also very good due to great abilities at higher PL8+ levels).

Too bad. But don't let that demotivate you. 👍

You shouldn't forget that you not only get Power Level scaling from additional (item) bonuses but also from your own level progression. Fireball is a tier 3 spell with 7 PEN. At the time you can cast it 7 base PEN isn't the end of the world. The you'll add PEN with every additional PL over 3 AND the bonuses you accumulate. A PL 7 char already gets a bonus on Fireball of +4. And I think to compensate for all that burn resistance in the game Obsidian put all those burn bonus hear into the game: +4 PL from weapons, Scorched Cloak (heal yourself with fire), Otto Starcat (+2 PL) and Ring of Focused Flame (+10 ACC - crits do help with PEN)... If then also can add Scion of Flame and get the Tenacious Inspiration then PEN is not a big deal. Also because you will always have backup spells to fireball. If you specialize in fire damage that will give you plenty power with those - but that doesn't mean at all that you suddenly can't cast a frost spell as backup option.

Yes.

No news while I sit on a playground in Catania, waiting for my last day of vacation to end?

He chose Streetfighter because a bunderbuss + modal will distract you with each shot. Distracted contains flanked. That means you always suffer the penalty of distracted but get the Streetfighter's "Heating Up" bonus which lets you reload with a 50% recovery bonus and deal a lot more Sneak Attack dmg. If you also become bloodied: even more dmg, but it's not necessary to be a top notch damage dealer. The recovery bonus also applies to your spell casting. Since ciphers have some spells with short casting time but long recovery the synergy is a very nice one.

Yeah, yes. Elemental Bolts is usually the better enchantment since lashes are a multiplicative dmg modifier while Missiles are just additive dmg. Also those missiles won't scale with Power Level afaik since they originate from a weapon and not you. They might scale with weapon quality though. Usually I also value random dmg bonuses (proc chances) lower than lashes since they are unreliable. Example: even if the average dmg is the same on paper, the proc chance means that the dmg roll has to be high in order to balance out the randomness. High dmg rolls have a tendency to overkill. That means you have damage on paper but a lot is actually wasted. Stuff like Combusting Wounds, Confounding Bling and The Shield Cracks might nugde you towards missiles, but in general I think Elemental Bolts is the much better enchantment.

Exactly. Novice's flat bonus is higher, but usually the higher base dmg of Transcendent is the better deal. Lashes work best if you can combine them with additive dmg bonuses and also an elemental talent (like Scion of Flame and Heart of the Storm). Additive bonuses like Apprentice's Sneak Attack and Savage Attack will get multiplied by the lash and Scion of Flame etc. boost elemental lashes directly and increase them by 20% (e.g. from a 25% lash to a 30% lash which is an increase of 20%). The game will not tell you that though.

You mustn't confuse base dmg and total dmg. Base dmg is the damage roll your fist will do. Total damage ist that rolled damage plus all damage bonuses. There are two kinds of dmg bonuses: additive ones (basically all those percentage based dmg bonuses like weapon quality like Fine/Exceptional/etc., Sneak Attack, Savage Attack, Two Handed Style etc. but also MIG bonus and crit bonus.) and multiplicative ones (mostly lashes but also Confident Aim). Like crits, grazes are an additive effect (-50%). Additive means the following: You have the base dmg roll of your weapon (e.g normal fists: 5 - 8 crush = average of 6.5). Every additive dmg bonus is calculated with that base and then added together. Example: MIG 18 (+24%) and Savage Attack (+20%). 24% of 6.5 is 1.56 and 20% of 6.5 is 1.3. So your base damage of 6.5 plus 1.56 bonus plus 1.3 bonus is your total damage of 9.36. If you have a lash this total dmg of 9.36 is taken and multiplied by the lash's percentage, usually 25%: 9.36 * 0.25 = 2.34. You can see how this is multiplicative: not only the base dmg but all of the additive damage bonuses we had added so far get multiplied with the lash. So in general: lashes are more potent than the usual additive dmg bonus. BUT: they have to overcome 1/4th of the respective DR. A burning lash has to overcome 1/4th of the enemies burn DR (shocking lash 1/4th of shock DR, crushing lash 1/4th of crush DR and do on). Now... Novices Suffering is a bit weird. Because it doesn't change the fists' base damage as Transcendent Suffering does. It only adds a very high flat dmg bonus to the fists' damage. Like a fixed additive number. Since fists' dmg is very whimpy but all additive dmg bonuses operate with that base damage... It means that dmg bonuses with Novice's Suffering don't work very well. Those dmg bonuses work best with high base dmg, not low ones. BUT that also means that additive dmg maluses (grazes but also stuff like Carnage which also has a dmg maluses) don't hurt fists' damage much. The flat dmg bonus from Novice's Suffering doesn't get influenced by it and the whimpy base dmg of fists don't care much if they get reduced by 50% or not - because compared to the big flat bonus the base damage is not important. Now here's the really weird thing: that flat bonus doesn't get influenced by dmg bonuses as I said. But there one exception: it scales with MIG! So what you want to do with Novice's Suffering: pump your MIG as high as you can.. pump your DEX and generally your attack speed as high as you can (Two Weapon Style etc). You don't need much PER since crits or grazes don't influence dmg much in this case. Skip dmg bonuses like Savage Attack and Weapon Specialisation and do on: they will be a waste. Exception: Confident Aim since its dmg bonus actually raises your base minimal dmg! In case of fists it raises it from 5-8 to 6-8 which is great. Stack lashes since they will multiply the total damage (flat bonus included). Find the Sandals of the Forgotten Friar which add +2 to the flat bonus (also scale with MIG). Monk's fists DO NOT work with this logic. They get high base dmg and thus operate like any other weapon. No special treatment required. Treat them like every other weapon. Usually a Barbarian is the best pick for a Novice's Suffering Build, but also Priest and Wizard work well, even Fighter. Worst pick would be a Rogue since Sneak Attack and Deathblows would be a total waste. Your questions: 1. Yes! Total dmg. 2. Yes! TR is always worthwhile even without ACC bonus. It's best with fast, accurate weapons though (Dagger, Rapier etc.) with a dual wielding setup. 3. Yes, if the lash dmg can overcome the corresponding DR (1/4th). The most potent lash is wounding (see great sword Tidefall) : it scales with MIG and does raw damage (no DR involved).

Superplease!

Testing BBcode with the code tag: var test = "what" test += " the..." Also: I can't prevent that annoying huge linebreak with shift+enter when I'm on a smartphone, can I? Edit: right... you can't enter the code area when editing anymore. This is... bad.

Am I stupid or can't I use BBcode mode anymore? It was the editor mode I used 90% of times...

Can't say anything about the desktop version (am on vacation) but the mobile version is worse than the old one: harder to read, too many little things all over the place like icons, links... and also small font size. The old mobile version had a bright background and dark text which was easier to read in bright sunlight than the new white on black.

Then you should edit your thread title and add something like [bUG <version number] in front of it.

Maybe. Usually Accurate Carnage is a passive ability and those stack with everything. Maybe your mod doesn't flag it correctly or even the original has this bug.