Boeroer

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.

I once did a Berserker/Fury with Deltro's Cage and Voulge - but it was focused on casting all kinds of shock spells before closing in. Once I got Blood Thirst (of course comes late) it was a lot of fun. Furyshaper/Fury (just focusing on casting speed) could be fun as well. I did two Warlocks with the same principle and they were nice. I actually never touched a Shifter. Edit: ha... that came out so wrong...

Oh hi! Here to confirm that devs will look into this?

This is low. And it doesn't help your reasoning.

Your post is choke full of the "gitgood" elitism that is ruining modern gaming. It was also called Path of the Damned in PoE1 where it was much better balanced. Is single-player gaming supposed to be some kind of elimination contest these days with each new installment being progressively harder until video games are unplayable for everyone but the select few? --- Now for reasonable people: the main issue with PotD in Deadfire is that too many mid-game enemies have 10 or 11 armor when in fact they all should have around 9. Again, I'm talking about regular trash fights, not about bosses. What's funny is that endgame trash rarely has more than 11 armor too and gets completely obliterated. (And before anyone mentions it, no, Grave Calling shouldn't be the "I win" item. Encouraging people to beeline to Crookspur for completely metagaming reasons because other weapons are more or less useless in certain fights is bad design.) So... you want to be able to play PotD (that's the highest difficulty there is) - but you don't think you have to be good (however beeing good is achieved). Very reasonable indeed... That's like saying: "Hey! I want to play in the NBA - I know it's the toughest league and usually you have to be really good to make it. But here's the thing: I'm not good at basketball but I want to be part of this and this elitism is crap so please will you stop blocking my shots already goddammit?!?". To cite Josh Sawyer (again)

I finished SSS some weeks ago with a mortar Monk in the party and is was easy as pie. *ratatatata* Everyone was near dead and *pouf* Resonant Touch and they were really dead. Granted I had my whole party set up for this (Aloth with Dazzling Lights + Pull of Eora and Miasma, Xoti with Sigil of Rymrgand and so on). And I repeat: What is overpowered in solo PotD upscaled in the first place?

I guess so - they said "ASAP". That has to mean something.

This can't be... Heeelllloooo!

I agree. I don't doubt that...

If you are doing PotD solo runs you should know when to use what I'd say. Your own restrictions (no rest and so on) can't be used to judge something in general. That judgement is only valid in that scope then. Anyway - the initial statement (why I posted the gifs) was that those weapon combos are so OP in a party environment that it's no fun because everything only evolves around triggering that certain effect.

I just checked and you can get +10 PL bonus with Monk (so 5 additional jumps): Wellspring + Potion of Ascension + Prestige + Empower = 10 jumps. There you go. It's silly but possible. Why is Empowerment a no-go? Keeper of the Flame cannot do what mortars do because the AoE doesn't jump like Fire in the Hole's Chain Shot, its AoE damage is lower (you have to skill Religion to make it worthwhile and even then you generate a lot fewer Resonant Touches) and it has only one damage type. And it's only one AoE weapon where dual mortars are two. The only good things are that Magran's Wrath seems to bypass AR completely despite it having a PEN value and that it triggers Avenging Storm. But... isn't it bad to have to skill Religion in order to get more AoE damage - in a solo run? At least it was with Arcana. It is the inferior weapon most of the time when dealing with mobs. Also comes pretty late. Also Blinding Smoke from Hand Mortar causes -10 Reflex. And mortars target Reflex... Blunderbusses (mortars and blunderbusses) are most likely the best weapon choice for a SC Monk at high levels. I mean if you want to pick your tools and stick to them.

Yeah that was hyperbole. But with Prestige + Power Surge Potion of Ascension + Empower you can get to 10 jumps I guess. As I said: not necessarily OP when doing a solo game (although for most encounters I would still think it's the best option even when going solo. Use Sparkcrackers and then go...). And which persuable ultimate OP options are there for solo anyway? You always have to adapt to the tough enemies when doing a solo game. Edit: you'll have to add Wellspring of Life or get another passive +1 PL bonus that I don't know of.

Ha - "Unfair" is a smart choice for a difficulty option. "Path of the Noncomplainer" would also work I guess...

Well... "Why is it still not possible?" comes with some entitlement vibes I'd say.

But it's called "Path of the Damned". What do people expect? Please don't complain it's too hard. It's not named "Path of the Pipsqueak" for a reason. And the fights you named aren't really ridiculous. And hitting a wall at lvl 8 seems to be impossible to me - you can go to so many places where you get very easy fights - or even quests without any fights in order to level up quickly. I'm usually not the one who complains about "PotD is 2 eazy LOLZ pathetic!!11!!!" - but claiming that PotD is pure luck midgame and that you will hit a wall at lvl 8 is nonsense, sorry. The fight with Talfor is a bit eh because it can hit you while being very unprepared - but in this case you don't need to fight at all. If you do and keep dying just reload and choose another option. You don't even need to lower the difficulty.

Hello Librarians, tell me how you're doin'...

Totally not OP : (watch out: rather big gif file...)

How can you die when being invisible? Usually you can spam WotW - for example as a Nalpasca + Enduring Dance - and stay invisible until it's time to trigger Resonant Touch. Also with Whispers of the Wind +blunderbuss (not speaking about mortars here, normal blunderbuss) the enemies don't need to be standing close together. As long as you have two enemies and let's say 10 jumps of WotW you will do 42 hit rolls to them. Let's say your Resonant Touch does 20 raw damage - that's 800 raw damage on top of your pierce damage on two enemies. And when meeting packed mobs just switch to mortars. THis will not kill all enemies (for example pierce immune ones) - but it will kill most enemies quickly. A LOT more quickly than fists would do. But we are not speaking about solo. In solo you need a lot of other things, first of all survivability of some form. A good solo character isn't necessarily a good party character. In a party other members can keep the enemy busy while you prepare the one-shot-cheese. And while those chars couldn't function solo because they would get killed while trying to set up their special move - they are certainly OP in a party. I played FS with a blunderbuss SC Monk with a party (as you can see in the one vid where I am in an FS map) and Librarians, Luminous Spore, everybody - they just die. Especially when also adding Avenging Storm to the mix. The other party members just stand around after initial buffing. With Grave Calling's Chillfog it's even more OP: It profits from all weapon enchantments and dmg bonuses (including Sneak Attack, Deathblows and even Backstab if you put yourself into the midst of a group while being invisible from Vanishing Strike). You will only need some skeletons and you will do more than 60 freeze dmg per pulse + paralyzing the enemy with every crit (Grave Bound - remember: all weapon enchantments). And once you meet freeze immune foes grab Hel Beckoning and do exactly the same with Will o'Whisps + Noxious Burst. If they are immune to both they will still get paralyzed with every crit. And if there are enemies you can't be beaten by it - that doesn't mean it's OP. With a SC Monk it even gets more weird: Chilling Grave/Grave Bound not only paralyzes the enemies but also adds Resonant Touches... You can't tell me that both things are not OP. They trivialize more than 90% of encounters. They don't need a nerf in my opinion though because few people will actually enjoy cheesing that much. As I said with Monk it's usually ok since you only get there at the highest levels. So the road to the cheese reward is kind of long until you can enjoy it and feel satisfied. Only thing I would remove id Blinding Smoke triggering Avenging Storm. That also can be abused superearly in the game and trivialize most encounters. Will it win you all solo challenges? Maybe not - but that's not a criteria for being OP. OP means it's a lot more powerful than the usual. And that both things are. Hell I just killed Fyrgist's crew in a boarding fight in less than 20 secs with Chilling Grave. Being Lvl 8...

They stack. In general all item enchantments in Deadfire stack (contrary to PoE).

Grocery street! I love it!

Afaik a new Bellower phrase bonus overrides an older one if still active. But for the second invocation the Weyc's bonus + Bellower PL phrase bonus should stack I guess. I would still go with Refreshing Finale. You'll get back the Empower point back and also +3 phrases. Since the Weyc's bonus lasts for 20 secs base it should be possible to use the next Invocation with maxed phrases and the Weyc's bonus. Takes all a bit longer but you won't have to rest for Empower points. If you rest frequently anyways then of course your suggestion is way better.

Avenging Storm + Hand Mortar + Fire in the Hole + No Quarter is a nice "surprise" AoE attack for every close standing mob. Since it skips reload (and stealth gives you 85% recovery bonus) you can follow up with two additonal AoE shots right away. Also not very risky since most enemies will be stunned (or dead).