Boeroer

Spells for long lasting Deathblow setup in an AoE that come to mind: - Cipher: Phantom Foes - Wizard: Binding Web (wear items that make you immune to stuck like the stag helmet), Curse of Blackened Sight, Chillfog (use a Pale Elf with Crossed Patch as rogue) - Druid: Tanglefoot, Calling the World's Maw, Overwhelming Wave Phantom Foes is especially nice to also trigger the flanking damage bonus from survival and items like Glanfathan Stalking Boots and such. Also note that a rogue can do Deathblows with any spell from items or scrolls (NOT sneak attack) and Deep Wounds with any spell that does pierce, slash or crush damage, allowing him to do AoE Deathblows PLUS AoE Deep Wounds - for example with Overwhelming Wave (White Crest Armor), Twin Stones (scroll, Grey Sleeper), Bounding and Concussive Missiles (scroll), Vile Thorns (Bittercut) and more.

Yes. But those changes make a difference. It's like playing with a party which is a few levels lower than before. You feel it especially at the beginning. However - during Act II it also becomes pretty easy when your party composition is not totally messed up (like 6 rogues or stuff like that).

Thanks a lot. With autoattacks it was the first two hits after stealth lately. Don't know about special Full Attack abilities. They used to not trigger backstabs at all but maybe now they only trigger on the primary attack. I didn't test all that Backstab stuff lately (3.0+), only read about it here and there.

Actually backstab also works for the second hit when you attack out of stealth. A two hander is not bad, but sabres also work well. Tall Grass and Hours of St. Rumbalt are nice weapons to backstab, as is Tidefall. The first ones often cause prone with the backstab so you don't have to retreat all the time if the enemy was standing alone. Tall Grass has the advantage that you don't have to be very near and most of the time you are not engaged by the enemy yet because of that - allowing normal retreats without eating disengagement attacks. Hours of St. Rumbalt is annihilating, so if you crit you do more damage. Tidefall does wounding damage which is based on the damage you do before DR and also benefits from MIG. While you retreat the enemy will still get some damage from the wounding DoT. I don't know how special attacks like Blinding Strike work with bavkstab nowadays (a few patches ago they didn't trigger backstabs). If they work correctly now then with Hours oSR or Tall Grass you could set up Deathblows with one backstab: causing prone plus blind. The second hit would be Deathblows already which will likely kill most normal foes. Another nice weapon for Backstabs is Firebrand - but summoning it breaks stealth. So you would only be able to backstab with it if you summon it and then use invisibility to backstab. In general PoE punishes you when doing backstabs with fast, small weapons like daggers and stilettos. Since Backstab is a percentage based damage modifier and it's appliance is very limited and therefore doesn't profit from weapon speed, it works best with weapons which have very high base damage. It would have been better to add a flat damage bonus that scales in some way. Or give small, easy to hide weapons like daggers, stilettos and clubs a bonus or something like that. But like it is now, arquebuses and two handers and sabres seem to be your best choice. I didn't test backstabs with fists (Novice's Suffering). The damage calculation of Novice'Suffering is quite weird. It may be that only the whimpy base damage of unarmed will be taken into account instead the boosted one by Nov.Suff., so either they are the worst choice for backstabs or a good one. Loren Tyr...? Invisibility can be achieved in some ways, this enabling you to do more backstabs: - Shadowing Beyond ability - Cloak of the Master Mystic spell holding - Nightshroud's spell binding - Feign Death That's all I know of. But with this things you can do quite a lot of backstage in am encounter while also being untargetable and highly maneuverable. Since a backstab rogue usually has to get near and has a lot of damage mods, he doesn't necessarily need high MIG to do a lot of damage. But if you want to take also Deep Wounds and Envenomend Strike (which I recommend) you might want high MIG. He wants to have high INT as well because of longer invisibility, higher Deep Wounds and Env. strike damage. Also his afflictions like prone(Tall Grass and so on) blind, hobbled and stun last longer. He doesn't need too much DEX because he will not stand there and hit as fast as possible, but hit two times very hard and then vanish. But higher DEX is always good if you can afford it. It all depends what you want to do after delivering the backstab. If you want to retreat at once I would go Tall Grass, high MIG, INT, PER and normal CON, RES and DEX. If you want to kill at least that enemy and last as long as it takes to finish that job I would use quick switch, a weapon set with the backstab weapon (most likely a gun or HoSR) and one with weapon + shield plus fat armor and higher RES. Good additional abilities and talents to backstab (if they work correctly with it) could be: - Envenomed Strike: strike and retreat. With max MIG + INT + Tidefall + Deep Wounds + Envenomed Strike most normal enemies would die after you retreat. Lets time work for you. - Runner's Wounding Shot: like above, a bit weaker but same effect basically - Deep Wounds - Finishing Blow: if you already damaged the target severely but it's not dead yet and you want to make sure it does with the next strike. Usually I find the mechanics of it stupid - like Bloody Slaughter. But maybe here it works. - Shadowing Beyond: obvious - Shadow Step: but it canceles stealth I guess? - Feign Death: like a retreat, but you will get up with invisibility that lasts quite a bit and is not cancelled by you attacks. So long INT and fast hits are your friends (best thing would be quick switch + coil of resourcefulness and four weapon sets with guns - that would make four backstabs with deathblows possible in theory) - Fast Runner: not only fast movement ,but also bonus when disengaging - graceful retreat: staks with fast runner and any item with that bonus Items: - Boots of Speed - the weapons I spoke of - Nightshroud for the additional use of Shadowing beyond - Cape of Withdrawal or Night Runner: +15 defenses against disengagement attacks. With Fast Runner and Graceful Retreat you will have a bonus of +32 which will prevent crits when disengaging. With cape of the master mystic you will have +44 to deflection against diseng. attacks. That's quite awesome. If you still receive a crit you turn invisible, if not you don't get hurt a lot. And with the boots+fast runner you only will eat one diseng. attack most of the time. That's my 2.5 cents. Edit: it just came to my mind that arbalests with quick switch might also be great for backstabbing: high base damage and prone on crit while having no acc malus. Aedrin's Wrecker would even stun on crit.

Missile Barrage doesn't work that way with Marked Prey? Too bad... Imagine that damage stacking with 9 missiles!

No no, it's a good question. You don't get any good info if you meet them for the first time. You will unlock bestiary entries once you defeat enemies. When you meet them the second time you can see more infos when scouting. But for most enemies you can guess what types of damage they do, based on their appearance. All that armor and weapon switching isn't necessary if you have a full party, but it helps a lot whn you're doing solo (PotD) runs for example or when you run into encounters which are very tough and you have to reload a lot. Then just look at the combat log before reloading and change your equipment accordingly.

Well, you can always use Wounding Shot and Envenomed Strike for that. Or even a scroll of Insect Swarm.

Ring of Combusting Wounds is also good with Golden Gaze + Driving Flight, generating four hits per shot. Sadly a ranger can't have blast.

It should. It's a DoT after all. But I didn't test it. You are thinking about Curoc's Brand or Ring of Combusting Wounds? Combusting Wounds is really nice with Missile Barrage against fat foes by the way.

You forgot slaying and speed. And maybe Eyeless are especially resistant to fire - can't remember. I still think Firebrand is nice. It's worth to build a whole char around it. But in some encounters there are better choices - because it only has one damage type for examples or there are other weapons that are esp. effective against a certain type of enemy. Vessels are a good example for that.

Because it's an odd combination I'd say... You can build that wizard-ranger like my Sorcerer's Apprentice build. Just switch rogue for ranger.

What do you think: what are St. Ydwen's Redeemer and Abydon's Hammer for? After you have Durgan Steel pretty much every non soulbound weapon can compete with or even surpass Firebrand - you just have to enchant it properly.

Stunning Shots & Interrupting Blows are very nice with the Golden Gaze, too. Sadly, Wounding Shots still doesn't seem to work correctly with those two projectiles. If you use a Cloak of Missiles and Prestidigitator's Missiles as well as Missile Scrolls you profit a lot from the procs of Expose Vulnerabilities though. With Ryona's Vembraces and Penetrating Shot you'll get 13 DR bypass for the two projectiles of the implement and all the missile spells (as well as for other ranged spells like Rolling Flame and such). It's also helpful for your Interrupts because Exp. Vulnerabilities also lowers concentration.

I knew that Driving Flight works with missile spells. It also used to work with Thrust of Tattered Veils (most likely still does). However the damage of the second hit is really whimpy most of the time.

It will turn every targeted ranged graze into a miss and reflects the missile or spell onto the attacker (it basically has a 100% graze to miss conversion against ranged attacks). As a rule of thumb it works against any ranged attack that targets you directly. By directly I mean spells where you have to click on an enemy and not on the floor. So... all AoE effects like Fireball and such won't get reflected, but things like Cleansing Flame, Mind Blades, Necrotic Lance and so on will. This shield makes fights against Lagufaeth a joke if your defenses are high enough. They will all paralyze themselves with their blowpipes. Brood Mothers also use Cleaning Flame and it's really nice if they pulverize themselves with it. It also works against druids' Stag's Horn. So against Ogre Druids and also Ogre Cannoneers it's also nice to have. It's the best shield for certain encounters. In melee it's just a rel. normal small shield though.

Honestly - you're thinking too much and playing too little. What good for is a perfect playthrough anyway? A few attribute points really don't matter that much. It can be fun tp llay around with attribute points an to maximize certain aspects of a character, but it's not that importatnt for your game experience. If you like to have a lot of dialogue option then go for that. The power of the character will not suffer a lot. Level ups will give you way more power than a few attribute points will give you. It's the starting values (deflection, endurance, health and accuracy) of the classes which seperate them at the early game. You can feel those differences really well in the beginning, but the gap closes quickly while you're leveling. Even on PoTD the game is only "really" difficult in the early game. Later on it's way more easy. That counts for all builds and all classes, but certain classes have an easier time early on (e.g. monks, fighters) because they have the highest starting values which have a huge impact in the early game, but noch so much later on. Others classes can struggle more in the early game but make up for this with a lot more power later on (wizards & priest for example). So if you ask me: just roll your preferred rp-char and play. You will have fun. You can always retrain, so you won't get stuck with a misskilled char. And what's the alternative? Not playing at all because you fear the playthrough might not be optimal or so? What will you get out of that (besides more spare time)? A lot of people who prepare too much for playing a game end up with having no fun playing it or even not plaing it at all. I never understood that approach. "Having fun and learning by doing" is a much more satisfying way than "Learning by reading tons of stuff and then doing nothing at all" - at least when it comes to games and personal entertainment...

By the way: supporting the animal companion with heals, revives and buffs is a good way to prevent a lot of rests. Reinforcing Exhortation is nice on a pet, so is even more deflection from a Shieldbearer and more healing from a Kind Wayfarer. The fear from a Bleak Walker also helps. Zealous Endurance is also not bad. This all can prevent you pet from going down while it tanks a bit. Normally animal companions go down quickly when targeted - but if you spam enough healing and raise defenses and DR enough it can be a very good tank. It doesn't matter if it gets damaged as long as you can balance the damage out with healing. Because the pet has no health it can be healed forever without going down. Even the ranger has healing and reviving abilitites for the pet. Concerning Bleak Walkers: Envenomed Strike fits perfectly well for a Bleak Walker I'd say. With his corrosive FoD talent he's also the paladin with the highest direct damage per FoD. An arquebus shot that crits with high MIG, superb (or even legendary), burning lash, Cloak of the Frozen Hunt, Sworn Enemy, FoD+Intense Flames+Remember Rhakan Field+Scion of Flame is really devastating. Another approach which is fun is taking the above plus Savage Attack but using Bittercut instead of guns, duplicate with Helwax Mold and dual wield it. One with burning lash, the other with corrosive lash, then take Scion of Flame AND Spirit of Decay and skip guns altogether. The FoD full attack of a Bleak Walker with dual Bittercut and both elemental boosters is also great. No switching needed - takes away a bit of micro. But of course this means that you're less tanky.

Man, don't make me wet myself... with slobber! I already tested a ranger with Vicious Aim + Golden Gaze (procs quickly because of Driving Flight) + Dangerous Implement and Stalker's Torc plus Pen. Shot and Ryona's Vembraces and stuff and the damage was quite nice - not comparable to Twinned Arrows but def. viable. If now spells also work with V. Aim and Stalker's Torc I'll have to resume that build idea. Some spells work with Pen. Shot, too. For example all Missile Spells and also those who have not a cone but a long line like rolling flame and mind lance and so on.

You have to get hit by the damaging part of the attack first in order to trigger the roll for prone or stun. So a Coastal Aumaua will be damaged even more than a Wild Orlan because he lacks the +10 to deflection, reflex and fortitude. But he will suffer less often from prone or stun that follows. You have a point with the potions though. That can be a disadvantage. But still: the Coastal Aumua will only have +10 against stun and prone compared to the Wild Orland (and with the shield stun and prone are not that bad after all) while the Wild Orlan has +10 better defenses compared to the Aumaua (except against prone and stun). I'd say Wild Orlan wins. This is only in fights where his Defiant Resolve gets triggered all the time though. So against bounty Ogres or other enemies who stun or prone a lot without triggering Defiant Resolve a Coastal Aumaua would be better. Too bad we don't have a race shifting spell or ability. Or a shape shifting race or so. Would have been fun and easy to implement.

Oh... Vicious Aim works with spells? Never thought about that. Hmmm... *new arcane sniper build forming in swiss cheese brain*

Yes, marking, Coordinated Attacks and also Minor Threat work with the animal companion. It works like a regular character except it has no health but only endurance - which is a big advantage. What can also be a good combo: Goldpact's Enduring Flames leaves a burning DoT effect when the paladin uses FoD. This will trigger Predator's Sense of the pet. This can also be done by Wounding Shot, Envenomed Strike (which I recommend for the char with the highest MIG and INT) as well as by Persistence (hunting bow), Drawn in Spring (dagger) and Tidefall (great sword). And scolls like Insect Swarm also work. Other than that your party has no DoT effect that can trigger Predator's Sense, but I think that can be enough for most fights.

Great, thanks a lot. So my "All fire paladin" with Firebrand is still viable. The last part I knew. Kaylon did a few tests some time ago and also discovered this "glitch". It's a pity though. Durance's Staff would be so much more appealing if it did burn/crush instead of crush/burn.

Just a few ideas: They can cast Reinforcing Exhortations on each other (doesn't work on self). If you get the small shield Little Savior then also use it. It stacks with Outworn Buckler for a nice +10 bonus to all defenses. If you take two marking weapons (like Shame & Glory sword and a custom made Cladhaliath spear) and take Coordinated Attacks they can both buff a teammate's ACC by +20 just by attacking the same target as the teammate does. Of course both should use Sacred Immolation later on. It not only damages the pally a bit but also heals teammates - which means that the raw self damaging part of one Sacred Immolation is healed by the other Sacred Immolation. A Kind Wayfarer can heal when using FoD and killing stuff. When a Wayfarer takes Inspiring Triumph he can even give additional defenses (+7) on top of the healing. If you make him a Moon Godlike he can even heal the party when he gets hurt. I can't say if those deflection buffs stack if you have 2 paladins. A Shieldbearer can raise deflection by using Lay on Hands and FoD. When also using Inspiring Triumph then +7 comes on top when killing things with FoD. Again I don't know if the deflection bonuses of two Shieldbearers do stack. Another nice combination can be a Shieldbearer + a Bleak Walker: The Shieldbearer raises deflection while the Bleak Walker kills stuff and frightens enemies after every kill and uses Insp. Triumph. This is like having an additional +17 to all defenses because fear reduces enemies' ACC by 10 and Insp. Triumph will give a +7 bonus. Sworn Enemy + Coordinatied Attacks + Marking Weapon + 2 times Darcozzi Paladini's Inspiring Liberation can give your two paladins +45 ACC against a certain target (and +30 for your ranger and pet). This works extremely well with Mind Control (Enigma's Charm, Munacra Arret headgear, Ring of Chaneging Heart and so on). Most of those spells have +10 ACC anyway, letting you crit with your charm or dominate spell. Other things that are great with this is FoD (+20 ACC on top for a +65 ACC attack) or any other spell (from scrolls or items). Both should take Scion of Flame for Sacred Immolation as well as for FoD and Intense Flames. Raises FoD damage a lot. That's all that comes to my mind right now.

If the stun effect from attacks is the same as from Withdraw, then you can. When withdrawn you keep on chanting (nice trick for solo chanters with Black Sanctuary: cast Withdraw on yourself and switch to the Solace shield). When prone you also do. If it doesn't work when stunned "normally" then we'd have to look how the proportion of prone/stun is. If prone is a lot more common than stun in difficult encounters I'd still say Wild Orlan is better than Coastal Aumaua with this setup. Since you can't get hit a lot with +100 (or +70 to some because of stun) to all defenses it's no problem if you get stunned at all - even if you don't chant at that time. It only extends the fight a bit. By the way: does anybody know if chanting breaks invisibility? If not that would also be great: turning invisible with the Cape of the Master Mystic and then just run around. But I guess it does because you can't chant when stealthed...

Hm, if it doesn't apply why do those talents work for Bittercut and Stormcaller? Is it because it's a summined weapon? Then Kalakoth's Minor Blights and Cadebald's Blackbow also wouldn't work. Or was the damage type changed from burn to slash/burn or something? Maybe Loren Tyr could shed some light on it with a look into the code. The bonus from the elemental talents never showed on the character sheet (where weapon damage is listed) by the way.