Boeroer

What do you mean by "stacking"? Sworn Enemy gives you +20% additive bonus damage and Marked Prey gives you +10 accuracy. So they both will apply their effects no problem with a Paladin/Ranger. It's not really stacking though. More like complementing each other. Maybe you read an old description where both had a dmg bonus as well as an accuracy bonuses? That got "streamlined" pretty early after release or even in beta (can't remember). Because bonuses weren't stacking properly iirc. Or it was too good? Can't remember. So Obsidian went and turned one ability into "dmg only" and the other ability into "accuracy only". Problem solved and abilites nerfed at the same time.

Mechanics like that are pretty nice. Kind of a puzzle. Or like "find the key". But they can also frustrate the hell out of impatient players (who don't like to read). So I guess designers often shy away...

It's exactly the same with PoE and Deadfire. Not in a literal second, but figuratively speaking. Else we hadn't the two most frequent complaints about them: a) It is too hard b) It is too easy While the parts that are considered too hard/too easy overlap. And: Is it a boon of a RPG ruleset if sheer luck with dice rolls alone lets you win alleged tough encounters?

I did. Double tap!

Hitting with the shield to circumvent pierce-immunity: you will be disappointed. The base damage of Tuotilo's Palm is quite low. It will take forever to kill pierce-immune foes just with the Shield's bash damage. You can still go Devoted with spear though because there is Kahua Hozi. It does pierce/slash damage and can be used as backup weapon. Just be aware that there are a couple of pierce-immune enemies until you can get it. Maybe choosing Monastic Unarmed Training (works well with Tuotilo's Palm anyway) would be an option? You can easily retrain after getting that backup spear. I played an Unbroken/Trickster as main tank for two playthroughs now and it works really well. Not necessarily as great damage dealer - but as a pretty good mixture of defense, offense and debuffs. I'm using Mob Stance, Reckless Brigandine, Kapana Taga and Cadhu Scalth/Bronlar's Phalanx/Akola's Apex Ward though. So a bit less offensive. But it gives me very high attack speed when surrounded - given that I'm in fat armor and not using dual wieldig. If you don't want to dwell on engagement mechanics too much I'd say Paladin/Trickster is nice.

Yes, Ring of Focused Flame + FoD + Ranger is really great in the early game. Lots of crits where you usually don't see them that often. I did the same (ranged) with Spearcaster on an Arcane Archer/Bleak Walker - where I could also add the Eternal Devotion, the Ring bonus and the Arcana bonus (twice) to Imbue Fireballs. Crits galore! Try to get the amulet "Precognition" - it's not bad with such a high ACC Paladin/Ranger setup.

I tried to google it and look what I found: https://www.amazon.com/Blessing-for-Amira-Amirah/dp/B0073O8IQO

You just have annoy people to get things done. I learned that from my kids.

I accidentally laughed about the title of this thread. Buggers in Heafric's Nose...

You say things like that it's unintuitive that MIG determines spell damage and that PoE' stat system is not good because it does things differently from other RPGs like D&D - and at the same time you praise a system as intuitive that lets INT determine weapon damage (in some cases for whatever in-game reason) and does things differently than other RPGs. It sounds as if you are curving your arguments, not the others. Theirs were pretty straight.

One could say the same about you and D&D. I think thelee and others makes some solid points - and he has a pretty flawless chain of reasoning - while you contradicted your own arguments.

Clearly artificial. Not clearing.

It's of course not 'logical' that guns do more damage because you have a bigger biceps or a stronger soul or whatever. It's just so that making too many exceptions totally dissolves an otherwise solid ruleset. You start to add an exception for Carnage's AoE size - because "why INT"? Then you add one for reloading weapons. Then you make MIG have an effect on the attack speed of two handed weapon because it makes sense. And DEX + PER increase damage of Rapiers because that makes more sense... and suddenly your solid system is a puddle of mud. I can live with some abstractions. And if the designers bother to explain them with special "soulcraft" - even better.

Since I had me, the Phantom and the Animal Companion who would relentlessly pommel the dragon there wasn't too much "facetanking" involved. The high AR helps to not getting killed quickly, Body Blows lowers Fortitude, Willbreaker + Misasma lower Will into the ground, Draining Touch from Phantom targets Will and weakens (lowers Fortitude), ACC is generally very high - also for hard CC spells. Killing Bolt + Takedown Combo is nice. I didn't even use any consumables against Neriscyrlas... It's a ton of micro though. The phantom often gets targeted - but it's suprisingly sturdy, especially if you are wearing thick armor. And if it goes down: I have 6 of them (3 Essential, 3 Substancial - Grimore of Vaporous Wizardry), so no problem. Also a thing: Shroud of the Phantasm not only duplicates you (six times) but also your animal companion (six times)!

Realism does not apply to things that can't be real and are completely made up. Like how magic, souls, cipher powers work for example. It helps if parts of the game that originate in the real world (sword fights for example) are kept somewhat realistic. Because you as a player can immediately grasp how basic things might work. But to argue with realism when it comes to the rules of magic or soulcraft is nonsense. I mean... Chanters take lingering essence and form it into summons with the help of their songs. And while they sing their song they can totally cast a spell from a Grimoire. THey must have Mongolian Throat Singing. Say hello to my friend realism who just jumped out of the window... Nobody complained about that far-fetched explanation. And that's fine - because it's just some cool fantasy mechanic that sombody made up while she/he was brainstorming ideas for a computer game. Some things like INT influencing Carnage AoE might seem weird. But Carnage is weird itself. It gets explained with soul stuff again because physically/realistically it doesn't make any sense in the first place.

Please name CRPGs that have better ones and try to explain objectively why you think they are better. I'm not saying there aren't - I just don't know any that I would call genius or best. PoE and Deadfire did a pretty good job when it comes to impact and balance of attributes.

I guess they will continue to polish the turn based mode. I mean mechanically. Story- or campaign-wise it's done.

I'm playing on PotD. I even started Deadfire on PotD with zero meta knowledge (just because I knew PoE so well). I didn't/don't have to do that (neither with Gorecci Street nor with Talfor - but often I sneak through Gorecci Street because that's less of a hassle) I didn't/don't usually do that - Edér and Xoti are sufficient I didn't/don't do that unless I want some hirelings in the party anyway - but I skip the skeleton warriors from time to time because they can be really annoying and don't give you anything special. So it's def. not impossible. It is challenging - and that's nice. But I don't have to splitpull or to kite to do it. I do not agree. This is not supposed to be a bowl of cherries. It's totally ok if you meet foes that are too strong for you. Especially if you are playing on PotD, but also below. As long as one can solve a situation without a fight there's no real problem. One mustn't be hell-bent on getting one's way no matter what. I also think that it's totally acceptable if you would need meta knowledge to win every fight on PotD. For example it's already meta knowledge if you prefer weapons with higer PEN because you know that PotD raises AR through the board (which I personally don't like about PotD, but that's another topic).

Hi Sam, would it also work if I link the savegame here? I made a special savegame with Nomu the Marauder in the Old City (used console - bug happens with or without cheats activated). The boreal dwarf character named "Runajasko" has Essence Interrupter equipped (second weapon slot). If you crit Nomu with it (I gave him Ring of Focused Flames - use Flames of Devotion to produce a crit easily with +20 ACC) and then kill him he will spawn a creature. After it is defeated you will not get the original loot from Nomu. If you don't use the Essence Interrupter he will drop his usual stuff (unique ring etc.). For me it's 100% reproducable. Happens every time if "Experimental Souls" gets applied. Here it is: Savegame

Yes, it is.

Yes - if you want to use it most efficiently. But if you are not solo anybody in your party can profit from it - it's not necessary that the ranger executes the attack.

I'm pretty sure that that will work as well. With Exalted Endurance and Greater Lay on Hands the animal companion also won't die so easily. Especially if it's a bear who has +2 AR in the first place. Just watch out when using pulsing spells with Takedown Combo: a pulse will profit from the +100% dmg boost (which will be a very petty dmg increase in flat numbers - and remove it). So you shouldn't cast Chillfog or Wall of Flame or something likethat if you want to use Takedown Combo in that moment.

But you could teach people orthography (spelling mistakes don't have anything to do with grammar) without being douchy. Just reread your last sentence about it: where you causally connect an orthography mistake with stupidity. This is not decent. You got annoyed by his arguments and lashed out. That might happen sometimes, but it's still low and should not be justified. )*And by the way the dot would be correctly placed after the brackets. We all make spelling or grammar mistakes sometimes... No need to dwell on that. I mean unless it's a very funny mistake. Like Buttercut or Grocery Street... Most here can totally differenciate between the ability to write a correct sentence and the abililty to make a solid argument. Heck, if not then the Balthazar would by royally screwed. Sorry Balthazar!

It does NOT break Enduring Dance. Only damage that goes through attack resolution (does a hit roll against your defense and then does damage) counts. So all types of self damage (Alacrity, Berserker Frenzy, Sacred Immolation, Voidwheel etc.) are safe to use with Dance of Death.

It's ok if you don't try to tank with them. Just don't send them into the fray and they will be fine. I played an Arcane Archer/Bleak Walker with a Bear recently and the Bear seldomly went down. I used it to apporach the flanks and to apply Takedown Combo on weaklings before I shot them with Flames of Devotion (takes no penalty with Arcance Archer's passive). It's a bit like playing an assassin sniper. Of course the dmg boost is very substancial then, especially when combined with a good lash. You'll spent the 1 Bond for Takedown Combo most efficiently if you chose a weapon with high base damage. Like Arbalest (I used Spearcaster) or Arquebus. But it works with any attack. I also played a very good melee Stalker/Wizard with a Morning Star who used Takedown Combo to boost my Essential Phantom's Draining Touch attacks (highest melee base damage). Morning Star was used to lower enemy' fortitude so that Takedown Combo has a better chance to hit. With this Geomancer I could solo all Dragons on PoTD. Here I did the tanking, not the animal companion. It was a Lion by the way (it's the most flexible because it has shorter recovery). I could also cast somme nice single target spells on enemies once Takedoen Combo was applied - like Necrotic Lance and later Killing Bolt. Since spells usually have higher base dmaage than weapons this works especially well. This build was totally focused on tough single targets. And it was very good at taking down everything due to high dmg output, good tanking capability and having two additonal bodies on the field most of the time. If you are interested I could give a short comparison of the build. Atm Essential Phantom doesn'tt work too well because the level scaling of some summons is broken. I hope this gets fixed soon. So - yes. You can totally make it work. It's only 1 Bond and it also has the slight CC effect. I like it a lot.