Boeroer

By the way: does FoD also apply a burning lash to the Powder Burn's AoE?

Some people here will know I'm kind of addicted to PoE - so I never could quit, heh! There are lots of things I love about it. But I can understand Jojobo's frustration a bit. Although I never encountered severe bugs like crashing or game-stopping with PoE (besides the early one where you couldn't get out of Readrc's cellar) there were a lot of smaller game breakers in the beginning and also later on (think of Jolting Touch + Carnage = triple shocking Heart of Fury, stacking defenses of enemies after reload in WM I and so on). While that alone wasn't really upsetting for me, what really p***ed me off a bit (besides the really bad documentation/explanation of game mechanics) was how even more bugs were introduced with patches that were supposed to fix things. That felt like one step forward, two steps back. Only recently I did an ultimate run with a Fire Godlike Barbarian and was in ACT III when I encountered this: when Battle Forged was active and I used Second Whing then my own fire retaliation would hit me. Since the damage of Battle Forged starts lower than the healing of Second Whind but scales more steeply I couldn't notice until I was of high level where Battle Forged does a lot of damage while Second Whind only heals a bit (compared to said damage). That lead to my unexpected death and removal of my ToI save game. Others would have rage-quitted - but to be honest it was ok for me to be able to cancle that tedious run prematurely without just "giving up". Since I'm a professional software developer myself (with business clients only) I consider this... I don't know... it just seems that the software development part and the testing is done in a messy way. I couldn't afford to do that... Good thing is that PoE (like most games) is more a piece of art (than my prosaic business software stuff) and consists of a lot more than just the mechanics - and overall the game still provides a great experience for me. But still I can understand the frustration.

https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/76717-how-to-change-experience-per-level-requirement/?hl=%20experience%20%20gain But lvl 10 is a good value for entering White March. Because Act III will be ridicilously easy after the xp gain of WM I and II you can upscale it then, which makes it considerably tougher.

I tried a Black Jacket/Sharpshooter in the first beta version and it was indeed the case that you could fire 8 shots from dual pistol (or blunderbuss) before reloading. Of course you had to switch manually after every second shot - which is a pain in the back in terms of micromanagement. Sadly, there is no AI scripting option yet that lets your char switch weapon sets automatically. I would usually attack the nearest enemies with the first 8 shots, then switch on the modal for rapid reloading and shoot at the enemies that are farther away in order to balance out the horrible ACC malus. But the reloading with the modal is really fast, so... depends I guess.

There's a very easy way for an inexperienced player to prevent the slaughter of his backline: don't use glass cannons. As soon as you slap on some hide or leather armor and don't give them all 3 RES and 3 CON the problem is greatly reduced. "But my precious dps!" Well, dead party members do pretty low dps numbers... Add to this that your backline should stay hidden until the front liners engage and the problem of melee rushers disappears nearly completely. Those are things even beginners should be able to understand and do. The more experienced players can then play around with glass cannons, using hard cc, charming, scape-goats to prevent their death. You can combine hard-cc and hefty alpha-strikes to take out "squishy killers" before they can do their job and combine this with "behind the lines" actions where a melee char rushes to the squishies of the enemy and takes them out before they take out your squishies. This all adds to a nice combat experience. You can even combine it all. I like this a lot more than those taunting mechanics which I personally find quite annoying and also a bit stupid. Why should an archer attack me in my fine plate armor + frog helmet, frenetically slamming my large shield - while my naked friend with the war bow stands not far behind me? Also, there is something like taunting: just walk in front and unstealth while the rest stays hidden, preferably with two or even three front liners. Enemies who are engaged by your frontliners are less likely to attack your back line. Since one single tank can't engage all melee enemies (at least on PotD diff) you simply need more frontliners. Just doing *taunt-taunt-chuck-chuck-chuck* and everything is glued to your tank seems so dull and boring. It's like having a Pull of Eora on your frontline all the time.

I guess PoE1 gives a big hint.

I have few doubts that the game as a whole will be good. It already looks amazing, the characters will be well written and so on. I just believe it can be made better by improving the combat experience - at least for the "hardcore players" of PoE. May not be no. 1 priority though...

Why that? In my experience it doesn't matter at all if you use Aloth or a hireling. In the early game he's even better because of his higher lvl and in the late game it doesn't really matter that his stats are not 100% fitting - because everything is so easy anyways and a few stat points don't matter at all with all those bonuses and buffs. If I'd want to do a playthrough with less resting and therefore no "per-rest" casters I would use: tanky marker Paladin/tanky Dragon Thrashed Chanter/tanky Monk dps Barbarian/dps Fighter ranged Cipher Items: Paladin: marking weapon like "Shame or Glory" or marking Cladhaliath + Outworn Buckler Chanter: hatchet + small shield (later Little Savior) Monk: sabre (Bittercut) + bashing shield (first Larder Door, later Badgradr's Barricade) Barbarian: either great sword (Tidefall or Hours of St. Rumbalt), dw hammers (Shatterstar + Godansthunyr) or pike (Tall Grass) or Firebrand with whatever two hander as backup Fighter: dw Rapier + dagger (Sword of Daenysis + March Steel Dagger, later Drawn in Spring) or great sword (Tidefall) Cipher: war bow (Borresaine, Cloudpiercer the Rain of Godagh Field) Alternative: make the monk a Long Pain user (hybrid melee/ranged) and put the cipher into second row as melee with Firebrand (even better, bit more micro). The Paladin (Darcozzi) can deliver lots of single ACC boost (Zealous Focus + marking + Coordinated Attacks + Liberating Exhortation = +46 ACC), the Chanter will burn and slash everything to pieces whike he heals the party with Ancient Memory/Beloved Spirits and requires zero micro, the Monk (Fire Godlike) can profit from multiretaliation +lashes and deliver Full-Attack-Torment's Reach uses, the Barb is self explanatory and the fighter can rush behind enemy lines and take out casters with Knockdown + really fast attacks while being sturdy enough to survive. The cipher will shoot stuff and deliver CC. Give him Borrowed Instinct, Tactical Meld and Disintegrate for the dragons, too. Every one of them except the cipher should take (Veteran's) Recovery and skill survival a bit (like for the healing bonus or even 10 for the ACC bonus. The healing of V. Recovery stacks with Ancient Memory. The defensive bonuses of Outworn Buckler and Little Saviour stack with each other, too. If the cipher uses Firebrand he should skill survival for max flanked dmg bonus, get Appr. Sneak, Savage Attack and Two Handed Style and an item like Glanfathan Stalking Boots. Then use Phantom Foes to put flanked on all targets he will hit with that sword. But first hard-cc them. He gets pretty nasty dmg bonuses together with Biting Whip and Scion of Flame that way. A monk with Long Pain will take out single targets in no time. Every one of those can be done with the official companions on PotD. Did several non-caster playthrough a on PotD so far. To be clear: nothing's better than a priest, followed by druid and wizard, but it also works pretty fine without them. A little bit more challenging during the big fights (dragons,bounties).

The right one could be Archdruid Erona of the Golden Grove. See the quest "a Servant of Death".

But negative prestige is a feature at some point. If you didn't do your favorite Minor Adventure yet you can make sure that your defenses go up but the prestige stays down so that more Minor Adventures will pop up instead major ones.

But understandable.

Good idea. What about single handed weapon use? That would totally fall behind if there would be no special Full Attack bonus. Maybe additional (stackable) ACC and additional hit-to-crit conversion?

Please no taunting and stuff like that. It's so MMORPGish. A lot of non-kith foes in PoE should be immune to insulting, taunting and threatening anyways. And Tyranny's combat system with cooldowns and stuff was horrible in my opinion.

I agree. Some of the cruel options could be labeled "psychopath without survival instinct" instead.

By the way: one of the "not really companions but in the game files" in the wiki (named Brita or so?) looks like a troll to me. Could also be an ogre matron or something. But the pointy nose and the pointy ears look more trollish to me - not really PoE-style trollish though.

I'm socializing with diplomatic circles every day. That also entails high ranking business contacts. Therefore I know the etiquette inside out. How to lay the cloth properly, that you never serve chives on a reception, that you can't wear brown shoes in the evening, that you never wear short sleeved shirts, that Americans don't put their napkin back on the table... that you let diplomats from foreign countries steal your sterling cutlery without saying anything because some people just want a souvenir... All that stuff and hundreds more. I even attended a class in order to learn all that stuff. But in my 9 years as a diplomat's husband I never met a diplomat yet who was stuffy (outside of formal events) when it comes to anybody's clothing style (as long as it's not breaking protocol during an important event). That is PAX, not some gala dinner. The quality of the interviews may be debatable, but criticising the wardrobe of a guy who asks some random questions during a gaming event? Running down those people (who most likely get watched by a juvenile audience) because of their clothes? In a gaming forum? What does your 15-year old rebel you might think of you now?

Generic stilettos have an advantage over generic daggers: there are stilettos in the game that do slah damage instead of pierce damage. If you want to stay true to stilettos (and don't like sabres or clubs) but need a backup for pierce-immune foes, grab some stilettos from the Lagufaeth. Those do slash damage.

You also get two Backstab attacks (if you didn't notice): the first hit AND the second hit will receive the backstab bonus. Recovery time doesn't matter and it also doesn't matter if you carry a two hander or a single weapon or if you are dual wielding. You will always do TWO backstabs - as long as those are auto attacks. When using an active ability you only get the backstab bonus for the first hit (also when doing a Full Attack). You don't even need to be stealthed when striking. It's only important that you commend the attack from stealth. If you don't "recommand" while the rogue is running towards the target you get the bonus. This makes it possible to deliver backstab even with 0 stealth points. But it's way easier to pump stelath and just stand in the first or secoond row and let the enemy approach while you remain unseen - and then just simply attack once they are near. Also: Backstabs from the second row with a reach weapon are very comfy. So... Backstab is worth it in my opinion. Especially if you also use Shadowing Beyond and the Cape of the Master Mystic. That was me (amongst others). I really love PoE - but that was and still is my no. 1 criticism. Bad, really bad explanation of game mechanics.

The cloak's escape is also superbuggy. I tried it on a rogue who already hd escape (so I could use escape twice per encounter) and it toally messes up both escape usages. The good thing about escape is the +25 deflection though.

That's the problem with nearly all description that wants to cover the combat mechanics: they are inaccurate or even flat out wrong. The mechanics are poorly explained. We had to dig into the code and to do millions of tests in order to find out all that stuff that's now shared knowledge here in the forum. As I said in the other thread: clearly some people (designers, writers) don't seem to know how the mechanics "really" work. Or they just can't be bothered with explaining them properly. I hope it's the first reason...

It also happens when Azureith's Stiletto triggers a Jolting Touch and you used Knockdown or Force of Anguish: all three enemies that get hit will also lay down. There are other examples where CC effects seem to piggyback on an attack that hits multiple enemies if the attack roles are calculated at the same time (so, if the hit occurs at the same time). It also used to be like that with pulsing auras like Harbinger (from Redfield) or the fear Aura of Executioner's Hood or even Threatening Presence. If you timed it right you could prone everybody who also got hit by the aura at the same time. Another example: If you use an arbalest with Pallegina and do Wrath of the Five Sun immediately followed by FoD with the arbalest (and get the timing right so that the balls and the arbalest hit the target at the same time) you will have 6 prone chances on crit - because somehow the overbearing effect of the arbalest gets transferred to the attack resolution of the burning balls as well. I guess under the hood it's all the same problem. Lots of it got patched (auras for example) but some of those remain. They don't occur too frequently so I guess it's just not worth it to patch.

I always said that rogues are not the top notch single target damage dealers that they are advertised as. They get easily trumped by druids (spiritshift boar or cat with Avenging Storm) and also by monks. I'd also argue that a ranger can do more single target damage via bow over the course of an encounter while his dps "on paper" is a little lower - just because he doesn't have to move around that much and he auto-stunlocks. A wizard skilled for Spirit Lance does so much melee damage - he doesn't even need offensive spells to put the rogue into a corner when it comes to dps (not single target here of course, but still great single target damage while every foe around dies as well). Even a druid with Rot Skulls or an Arcane Archer (Wizard skilled for the Blackbow) deal better weapon damage than a high lvl rogue. The thing that rogues do very well though is to quickly rush in and kill prioritiy targets. If he manages that then he's very useful and it doesn't matter that much if he drops down afterwards. And of course a stealth based rogue is great fun in a solo run. Sometimes I think OBS designers don't really know how their combat mechanics work.

I don't even use them that much when doing a solo run - except for the hard fights (which I have to admit are a lot of fights in the early game ). Don't ask me why, it's kinda stupid.

Great! I highly appreciate your work. P.S.: You could also add a subsection for the Sidekicks (because they are not "real" companions). Their names and pictures are already floating around in the wiki somewhere.

I'm surpsrised you didn't know that dmg from MIG is only an additive bonus (and beause of that it's not that important for rogues who have a lot of other dmg mods). In Deadfire it is multiplicative by the way, making it a lot more important for any dps build - which I don't like too much I must say. Anyways: it's the weapons with high base damage that make you go "AWWW" with a rouge - like a Deathblow-Backstab with Firebrand for example (using invisibilty after summoning). Or same thing with an arquebus. Also a Full Attack with dual sabres before the sabre nerf was pretty awesome. A rogue is still great for taking out high priority targets asap - if you can manage to keep him alive. One of my most favorite is a rogue with Tidefall with maxed MIG and 1 INT (Ultimate Hat of Alluring Perfection) with Runner's Wounding Shot and rogue's usual strikes like Binding Strike, later Sap and so on. I'll backstab one of the rushing enemies, then I'll "escape" to the enemy's backrow and aually with one or two strikes a squishy falls. Wounding DoT gets applied pretty fast with 1 INT and the combo of high dmg mods, high crit damage and high MIG make wouding superpowerful. The only other class I like even better for this role is a dw Fighter with Charge. But Charge comes sooo late. It's a shame. For me rogue is not so much about sustained high dps throughout an encounter. Here I think barbs and monks are much better. He's a great "behind the lines" striker in my book. He also has the right tools for that (Escape and such). But taking out casters and the like very quickly can be so benefical and completely change the course of the battle... much more important than to lead the party's damage highscore list. Still: people saying that rogues are the best dps class (and stuff like that) are wrong in my opinion. For me, they are still the weakest in PoE - at least on PotD diff. Not in the early game, where they are very useful, but over the course of a whole playthrough.