Boeroer

Against Lagufaeth you can use Aila Braccia (small shield, Celestial Sapling, monk leader). It turns 100% of ranged grazes to misses and reflects them back to the origin. Also works with targeted spells like Cleansing Flame from Broodmothers if it grazes you (targets deflection). It also works with the blowgun-darts and so on. If you use an amulet that gives you +10 to spell defense and also use Moonwell this makes some hefty encounters a lot easier.

No, the bonus from MIG works with the base damage and also Novice's Suffering's bonus damage - but EVERY other damage modifier doesn't. So things like Savage Attack or Apprentice's Sneak Attack are bad with this. Also crits only do marginal more damage. At the same time grazes do nearly the same amount of damage as hits and crits. So this has pros and cons. For a barb for example it's quite cool because the 34% damage malus for carnage doesn't matter as well as the acc malus. So, if you have tremendous MIG and want to do consistent damage even with lowish accuracy then Novice's Suffering is good. I did a monkish wizard with Citzal's Martial Power which worked quite nicely. I also did a monkish druid (boar) with high MIG and it was also good. Jojobobo did a barb and was pleased. Even a priest with Champions Boon should be viable.

That can be a problem in the early game with PotD. If your chanter is not only the main tank but also the only one. But in the early game you have to rest a lot anyways if you have two casters with you. However, on Hard this shouldn't be too much of a problem either. By the way: use the paladin for healing mostly, not Durance. Use Durance primarily for buffing.

Chanter tank is absolutely viable. Despite Gromnir's advice ( ): pick The Dragon Thrashed as only chant. Use Veteran's Recovery and also Ancient Memory and Beloved Spirits as well as Sword & Shield Style and other defensive talents. Pair this with high MIG, PER and INT and you everything will be awesome. Weapon damage will be puny of course, but who cares if you can burn & slash everything just by standing around?

Sure does. All passive enchantments on weapons stack with everything. Annihilating+Durgan Steel = +0.8 crit damage mod.

Multiple hits combined with Combusting Wounds is quite nice, yes. And it keeps working for you even if you get disabled. The terrifying part of Nature's Terror also helps with surviving. Also works great with a retaliation item plus Sura's Supper Plate plus potion of Flame Shield. You will trigger 3 Combusting Wounds on everyone who hits you in melee.

By the way: did you try to use some pulsing spells like Wicked Briars and then Nature's Terror + a ring of Searing Flames against the vessel group?

Yeah it's all-in or nothing.

In a party, spiritshift is really great. The best single target dps tool there is. More melee damage than a rogue but still able to cast. But for a solo run it's just too short.

That fight is supertouch compared to the rest that dwells in Russetwood (the Lagufaeth + Trolls are also a bit tough). They are so tough because they can be used to attack the Ogre Cave if you're getting the right dialogue options. Anyway: you can lure the Lagufaeth to the Fampyrs and let them fight - you kill the rest then. This only works if you don't talk to the Fampyrs first. You can still talk to them later if some of them survive (usually they take out the Lagufaeth). Actually you can lure any hostile being to that group - but the Lagufaeth are near and they are also the most powerful ones on that map (besides the Fampyrs).

Those are perfect stats for a Dragon-Thrashed-Chanter with great recovery. Actually his regeneration will be so good (better than a fighter's with Rapid Recovery) that you don't necessarily need to take weapon & shield. But honestly it's the tbest synergy you can have since you need no weapon attacks at all once you have The Dragon Thrashed. That stacks as well (with itself) by the way.

Both stack. So the advice is to take both. Also Beloved Spirits. Look at the Chillfog build in the pinned build list about information around regeneration stacking with a chanter. If you take both talents and also use survival bonuses and item bonuses for healing your regeneration will be pretty impressive.

Yes, sure. Some will even have alternative starting classes. Edér for example can start as fighter or rogue now. You can then multiclass with anything else if you want, but he will have to start as either rogue or fighter. Same with Xoti: she has to start as priest or monk but then it's up to you. Aloth has to start as wizard (no alternative choice like with Edér) but can then be multiclassed with anything. This is info from the backer updates and twitch streams and may change.

If you choose 2), will charming still be active after the encounter ends (like when the charmed enemy is the only enemy left)?

Once had that with rings of Searing Flames. And multiple Rebel's Call as well.

It used to be so. Can't speak for 3.06 or 3.05 though. The description was always wrong. When I take Inspiring Radiance as well I will use it at the start of the encounter anyway. Healing is completely wasted then, but on the other hand I get +10 stackable ACC for every party member's initial strike or CC spell which is much more important than this mediocre healing. That's one reason why I'd use Aggrandizing R. even if it would remove healing altogether.

Yes, you can only use attacks and attack-like abilites properly. For example as a wizard you can cast a Fireball from that special invisibility, but you cannot cast Alacrity. It seems to be a bug.

Yeah, nice. Lolz for "isPartyAnimal". Is it the usual practice in the PoE code to add messages via global method?

It's -11 endurance only. This spell is one of the best in the game. It speeds up spellcasting and also your melee attacks. Your build doesn't matter - this is always a solid choice. You can follow up with Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon if you are afraid of losing endurance - but usually I don't even notice the -11 endurance. You shouldn't open fights with a damaging spell (unless you are overleveled or the enemies have really low defenses) because you are wasting damage potential. Instead: first buff, then do CC and then deal damage. For example, casting a Chillfog (causing blind and dealing damage) and then follow up with a Fan of Flames is a lot better than casting two Fan of Flames. If half of the rolls miss or graze you are wasting a lot of potential damage. Blind reduces reflex by 20. This is huge in the beginning of the game.

1) buff up 2) do CC 3) deal damage Aloth should use Chillfog. Fan of Flames does a lot of damage, but it's not perticularly great unless you are playing a front line wizard. Chillfog on the other hand has a good range (easier to place correctly) and good base AoE, it blinds continously with every pulse (so it's not so bad if some oulses miss. Blind is a hefty debuff that also slows down movement) and deals good damage. Enemies who ran into a chillfog normaly don't rush your Aloth. And if they do they are easy prey. For me it's the best spell by far at lvl 1. It also works really well with Combusting Wounds and also with implement + Blast (mainly Kalakoth's Minor Blights). Give Sagani the hunting Bow Persistence (lvl 4 Endless Paths) and give Itumaak Predator's Sense, Vicious and Merciless Companion and also pick Stalker's Link. You will see some high dmg numbers. Don't try to tank with the fox. Use it like a rogue instead.

Eh come on. At this point of the game the setup will deal enough damage. When you reach Card Nua the superior starting values of the fighter still matter and lead to good damage. There are also not that many enemies yet so that single target damage and CC are still a good way.

Ouh - weird behaviour. Thanks for testing.

You will have to describe your party members a bit more - what role they fulfill for example. A chanter can be played in different ways for example. You have a priest and a wizard. So you're on the save side when it comes to buffs, CC and damage dealing. Three guys as frontline is also good. I mean two fighters seem to be a bit redundant, but that's not a real problem. PoTD is especially tough in Act I until you finish Caed Nua, then it all gets easier. So it's not uncommon to encounter some difficulties when you reach Caed Nua. Your party composition (concerning your classes) is definitely viable. Maybe you just need to expoit their strengths more. For example a chanter would never be my go-to CC guy. They are great for sustained support and healing and for tanking and also very, very good for AoE damage after lvl 9+ - but since their CC always comes quite late in encounters they are not my preferred CC guys. I'd always use them for support and damage instead. On the other hand, two fighters with high INT, Disciplined Barrage and Knockdown + Bonus Knockdown can be pretty great as CC team. Disabling 6 times per encounter is neat.

He can always switch to an estoc/pollaxe or a any soulbound or Firebrand, I guess. It's not that those flails are glued to his hands.

Right. +0.3 crit modifier for a high ACC monk is great. Torment's Reach cone's damage and also Battle Forge profits from this quite a bit. Especially at higher levels, when the base damage of Battle Forged is pretty high, empowered crits (through Doemenel) deal a ton of damage. If you want to go all the way with crits you can also use annihilating weapons (like Resolution, Purgatory, Shatterstar or Rumbalt or Firebrand or whatever) and also wear some gear with +0.1 (Azalin's Helmet for example) and pick Dungeon Delver with another +0.1 - you will actually have a crit damage modifier of +1.5 instead of the plain old 0.5. It's awesome. You people should try all that with Firebrand, Turning Wheel, Lightning Strikes and Scion of Flame, paired with Enervating Blows. Crits from Firebrand and also Battle Forged are so powerful with this setup. +2 DR is cool for a pure tank - but it's quite boring, too. Besides that monks can have Iron Wheel.