Boeroer

@thelee: good point! That might be. Tricky though and hard to test as you said. Also a bit of an oversight on Obsidian's part. We had morethan Blightheart's lash in the past which could add lashes to spells (Turning Wheel for example) - and that would mean the Bolt wouldn't spawn a spectre and you wouldn't know why. I mean it's a very minor thing but still... @DiabloStorm: For the Blightheart upgrade it doesn't matter which entity (Blightheart itself, Killing Bolt, other spell etc.) delivers the killing blow as long as it originates from you.

I do not agree once we speak about soloing on PoTD - which OP is doing.

Correct. Inventory and stash are not accessible during combat in PoE.

I don't know if they already showed up as offers, but it was announced that TOW would be released on Steam several times in teasers and interviews. The impression of dickishness may not only result from that but also from the fact that the Epic Store has a bad reputation. Now people who were super hyped to learn about that game feel forced to buy the game on a platform they are totally not hyped about. The frustration is understandable, even if I don't feel it myself. Was the same with the "physical copies" of Deadfire not long ago: even if you are not affected personally you should be able to understand why people might be frustrated or disappointed.

Even if that was true (which I seriously doubt) it would be a bad move towards a business partner. Even if that partner didn't consult you before (which I don't believe for one second). You don't want to point with fingers at each others and go like "It wasn't me!". That would be very unprofessional. If Obsidian and PD thought this deal is worth the backlash (which they most likely knew would happen) then it must have been a really good deal. I'm not grumpy that they chose something that is good for them. But it's not very good for me, so I guess I can express that opinion without looking too silly.

Eh, it's nothing new after a point. Amusing to hear you label it as 'constructive criticism', even if that is the usual fallback point for grousing. Also, your point 3 means you're just beholden to Steam ? When I say constructive I mean constructive. Not whining and ranting. You should be able to accept different opinions even if you don't agree with them as long as they are brought forward decently and are somewhat well-founded. I'm beholden to Steam and GOG since they are the only ones that support Linux games - and I'm on Linux. Sometimes Humble Bundle or direct purchased from the developer will work as well. But since Steam offers the most convenience and was the first one to support Linux titles and are trying to bring more games to Linux via Proton I usually stick to Steam. I change computers rather often and that means having my games in one place to download and install from is convenient. Also Cloud Saves are convenient. I'm not emotional at all about TOW and Epic Store. It wasn't a game I was longing for. I was interested though. I think dismissing criticism entirely is as ignorant as ranting like a five year old about this situation is silly.

I edited my post with further info.

I think it's not unreachable once you complete the Shadowed Vale? We together als "Black Isle Bastards" collected the 5000$ in this forum in oder to get a pirate crew (the one with Captain Fyrgist). We added a unique item as well (Kapana Taga). You ae welcome. Then Obsidian decided to create the "Black Isle" as kind of a gift. It was not part of our pledge.

Are you any better, commenting on every post that criticises the decision, even if it's constructive criticism? You are fine with this decision - fine. Others are not - also fine. Let them express their concerns and take them seriously as long as they can explain (in a somewhat decent way) why they don't like it. I personally are not fine with it because I don't have access to the Epic Store nor the Microsoft Store because I think it's the inferior platform I don't want to spread my games all over the place Sure I can wait for a year, but that's nothing that makes me go "hooray". I don't whine and cry - but I don't like it. I'm sure even people who don't agree can follow the reasoning.

Again: if you utilize Deflection buffs then a malus is more severe than if you wouldn't use buffs. The only time when you don't need to care about a deflection malus is when you always receive crits anyways. I agree that the raw dmaage per attack makes not much sense - it's like you had thorns on your grip or something. Increased damage would be a possibility. This would reduce effects from armor (underpenetration) a bit. Your raw damage thing currently is even worse than hitting yourself with Deep Wounds (! - I guess it's multiplicative 20% instant raw damage?). If you think the deflection penalty is not severe enough - maybe just give it a bigger one? +20% additive damage is not huge. It's just 4.2 dmg per swing with a great sword (highest melee base dmg). Would be huge if you added it as a lash. A perfectly balanced apporach (since its a modal) would be +8 ACC, + 20% additive dmg while receiving a malus of -8 deflection and receiving +20% dmg: What you do to the enemy the enemy will do to you. If I had access to the ability in its current form (raw multiplicative dmg) I would never use it. 4.2 dmg increase while I would murder myself with a multiplicative raw dmg of maybe 12 or 15 or even higher (depends on dmg boosts and PL scaling)? Naaa...

Best thing might be to not say anything after I made that glorious comparison.

A shame. Well or not. I reported this some time ago and it seems it got patched. Not that you can use it with ranged weapons, but the multiple stacks per ability use (dpending on number of attack rolls per ability use). You could also get 2 stacks from Sun & Moon and multiple ones with Keeper of the Flame. That's also not working anymore I presume?

Somehow I'm happy that the Epic Store doesn't (and doesn't plan to) support Linux.

That background remover is pretty awesome. Thanks for that!

Malus to deflection surely is a tradeoff - except if you play a ranged rogue mostly. You will become squishier in melee no matter what. So it's a tradeoff. "Nope" is not correct. Maybe it's not enough of a tradeoff for the benefits - but as I argued the benefits my not be that big in the first place. It's only a "turn ON and forget" option if you are lazy or don't care that you die more often because you like glass cannons. But the tradeoff is still there, causing more damage to you. Malus to deflection is never negligible - especially if you start with higher deflection. Since deflection has increasing returns it's even worse if you suffer a malus when starting with a higher value. If you had such bad deflection that you always get a crit to begin with - then sure, negligile. But that's not the case. @ACC stacking - ok. That makes it more potent of course. But it also means it's not exploitable by ranged chars who wouldn't care for deflection maluses.

I don't know. Those exclusive deals do indeed come over as rather dickish moves. I don't bother that much but I also do not want to use the Epic Store. First of all I can't (am on Linux - and Steam/ GOG are the only ones that support Linux at least a bit) and secondly I don't like to spread my game collection over several services. I mean of course this doesn't justify to downvote PoE or Deadfire which have nothing to do with the quality of TOW. That's just silly and stupid. But it's not that Obsidian had no part in creating the wrath that now rains down on them.

But the reduced deflection already is a tradeoff, isn't it? If the modal is considered an active ability (like all other modals are) then the ACC bonus won't stack with other actives and the +10% additive dmg isn't that powerful. Thus I think the raw dmg is not needed. +8 ACC (not stackable with actives like Warrior Stance etc.) and +20% dmg with -8 deflection (stacks) sounds reasonable enough. Rogue doesn't have +ACC actives so it's a nice addition while emphasizing more the "squishy but deadly" rogue that Poe's version was compared to Deadfire's. Upgrade "Deflecting Asault": +8 ACC, +20% dmg but only -3 deflection (in order to keep it most PoE-ish). By the way: the +20% dmg didn't stack with Savage Attack's +20% in PoE.

Blightheart will register all actions you are doing when it comes to its upgrades. Like "apply x afflictions" will also work with spells, not only the weapon itself (very convenient). Don't know if that's intended - but that's nothing special to Killing Bolt - it works like that with all spells/abilites from other classes (Binding Roots e.g.) etc. I don't know if this is the cause for Killing Bolt not summoning a spirit - but ususally it will summon one on kill. So yes - seems like a little bug (wherever it originates from). Would be easier to determine without using Blightheart I guess. If one would really want to investigate...

I will be one of the first to contradict pointless and overemotional whining about something in a game. But in this case it's def. not pointless: why did they remove the feature? Possibly because in PoE using consumables during combat was so unbelievably finnicky and buggy that they had to overhaul the whole thing - and during that overhaul maybe they realized that allowing the use from inventory directly (via drag & drop) was causing issues? No idea. But possible. Else I don't know why they want to take away qol features that don't affect game balance at all. Whatever - what I also wanted to say: if somebody complains about a mechanic (no matter in which form) and you go like "Well that's no a problem - because I don't use it" - that really isn't the best way to address the complaint let alone the problem itself. That's ab bit like "Hey why did Mercedes Benz remove the rear mirrors from all their new cars?" and you like "Dolt what are you complaining about? I ride a bike!" One might want to know that DiableStorm only plays PotD solo and thus is way more likely to use consumables (and more likely to discover certain bugs or changes) than somebody who uses a full party. I personally never use any consumables with a party (except when playing a Nalpasca). Game would be way too easy. But it's a different story when soloing the game. ROFL at thelee for not noticing PoE drap & drop feature and others for not knowing how to copy weapon into sets. Benevolent ROFL mind you!

Mule Kick I'd say. Or only Knockdown without Mule Kick. Reasons: Interrupt on graze +10 ACC targets a different defense (Fortitude) so you'll have an easier time against anybody who has Fortitude+10 < Deflection synergizes with Enervating Blows (-10 Fortitude) and Stunning Surge (-10 Fortitude) --> makes it supereasy to crit with a Knockdown/Mule Kick which will have the equivalent of +30 ACC then. Knockdown: higher Power Level Scaling with Knockdown compared to Penetrating Strike (most notably +10% multiplicative dmg vs. +20% additive) Mule Kick: 5% additive dmg advantage over Penetrating Strike (no PL scaling advantage), longer hard CC (1.5 sec), soft CC (Disoriented) You already can achieve very high PEN with Thunderous Blows + Devoted and thus maybe don't need Penetrating Strike that often. The advatange of Full Attacks don't apply in this case (on handed). All speaks for Knockdown/Mule Kick. Since you are solo and won't have supercrazy recovery speed (e.g. like a DW Streetfighter) the Knockup-part which renders the target untargetable doesn't gimp you either. BUT! I didn't test the interactions between Mule Kick's Knockup (= untargetable for a short time while flying) and Swift Flurry/Hearbeat Drumming. Maybe you will not get additional attacks triggering because Knockup prevents that. You would have to test this (or wait for somebody to confirm or falsify). IF additional crits get prevented you should just pick Knockdonw and skip Mule Kick. The interrupt and defense targeting is the most important part and Knockdown already has this (and the better PL scaling).

@thelee: You have to start the full attack from range and not from melee distance. Then the melee weapon gets ignored. With a blunderbuss you still get 8 stacks per shot which is better than 2 with melee. Ooor they patched it. @DiabloStorm: Only hits with Hunter's Flaw add stacks, no spells. But yes, once you have stacks they will add +ACC (and the upgrade +dmg) to everything including spells. Of course Hand Mortars (Hand Mortar and Fire in the Hole). It may even be that Blinding Smoke counts as hit. Can't remember. Fire in the Hole has an additional jump that helps to generate more hits (=stacks) per shot. Other AoE ranged weapons are two handed except Minor Blights and Rot Skulls and thus won't work since you need(ed?) a melee weapon to trick the game since Hunter's Flaw is melee only.

That's a weird oversight. I thought they learned how to handle that summoning stuff after the permanent Draining Touch/Citzal's Armory bug.

Yes, it applies to every offensive action. You can also use blunderbusses or mortars + Driving Flight to stack more quickly. You only need one melee weapon to unlock the use.

Like in PoE, draining is not influenced by healing modifiers in Deadfire (I guess because it's already influenced by dmg modifiers). A "corrosive" spell should have the acid keyword.

Lover's Embrace doesn't work from invisibility. Mask of the Grotto Deep might do. Battle axe + Bleeding Cuts + Rust's Poignard with Full Attack while vanished might be cool. Omit the first recovery but stack the Bleeding Cuts. My best guy with Vanishing Strikes is Streetfighter + blunderbusses though: get yourself bloodied, then use Vanishing Strike: +100% crit dmg and increased sneak attack and short recovery while being absolutely save...