Boeroer

That's exactly who I clubbed down so easily.

Now how cool is that helmet?

I also don't get it why you can't loot the death guards' armor. It looks pretty neat. Perfect for a Bleak Walker. If we now could enchant headgear I would wear that and Woedica's Hood.

Thanks. That explains it all.

Yeah - that much i figured by clicking through the dialogue that follwos the battle. Funny thing is: I did a playthrough with 3.0beta and official companions for the last days and didn't encounter this. Maybe I was in a hurry...

There's a fairly easy battle (for a lvl 12 party) and you will find a nice ring that gives +5 MIG, +5 RES and immunity to charm an dominated (30 sec) once per stronghold turn. I think this stacks with Greater Frenzy and Wellspring of Life... I was just testing a Greater Frenzy + Wellspring of Life + Vengeful Defeat-build and now this. Whoohoo! edit: nooo, it get's suppressed by Frenzy.

Sadly, Aspirant's Mark gets suppressed by Nature's Mark.

Hey! I just tested a new build with the console and also used "unlockallmaps" to get to Elmshore. Suddenly a map called "Yenwood Fields" popped up. That's new. So what's this supposed to mean?

That's how I always do it (if my level is too low). Very reliable way to kill him.

I never placed the screenshots of my builds here. Since I like them to be powerful and stylish, most of them turn out to cause no eye cancer: Batsh!t Crazy: The Engineer: Zeblastian Hurtstacker: The Leech: Drake's Ambassador's work outfit: Drake's Ambassador's gala uniform: I didn't make screenshots of Fulmineo Prondroni, the Backlash Beldam and the Dull Runner - but I have savegames. Maybe I'll do some and post them later.

I would choose a spear for Galawain. Abydon = War Hammer (smith) Woedica = Battle Axe (henchman; sceptre is nice) The rest - especially the spells - is fitting I think.

Hehe, no idea. But there are some inner rulesets concerning the distance between possible targets.

But you are right: so much crit damage should lead to a huge chunk of focus. I wonder if it would be cool to quick switch two Dulcanales (cloned with that special stronghold item) with this setup and Tactical Meld + Borrowed Instincts (+40 ACC). Combine that with what I said above (remove the Brute-Force part).

The Chaotic Orb is my number one spell if there are two sturdy enemies standing side by side. Most of the time they are dead afterwards. Not only does the orb cause massive damage three times in a row - it also causes an affliction that can lead to even higher damage the next time it hits. I like this spell a lot. It's not so cool against more than three foes though.

I wonder if Nature's Mark from the Axe and Aspirant's Mark stack...? That would be sooo nice!

I will. I tested this build with the console some while ago - when it was at lvl 14 and fully equipped. It was good. The unlimited spell strikings of the shield do quite some damage with every crit. But I didn't have the time to play that build from the start. We'll see how it goes. Would be better to have a Darcozzi Commendatore around to raise the crit chance a lot. Maybe that should be my main character.

However: A good thing now is Aspirant's Mark: It lowers deflection by 8 for a fairly long time and stacks with the other things you can do as a cipher. And it's 1/encounter now. A good spell for a crit based char. You also forgot Battle Axes: they deal ok damage - and there's We Toki that also does prone on crit. What you also can add to your cipher: a Darcozzi Paladin with Zealous Focus, Coordinated Attacks, Inspiring Exhortation and a marking weapon for +30 ACC that stacks with all kinds of things. I tested around a bit some weeks ago and combined that with a hearth orlan barb and the "Mob Justice" talent from the Dozens and the Dagger Aattuuk from the Skaen Temple and "Flick of the Wrist" from playing Orlan's Head. The dagger is predatory (10% hit to crit conversion), has +5 ACC and comes exceptional. Of course you would want to enchant it to superb. It lacks annihilation - but I think you can't have it all. That way I added passive bonuses: +10 (PER), +12 (one handed) +5 (dagger) + 12 (superb) + 4 (Mob Justice) +4 (Flick of the Wrist) +6 (Zealos Focus) +10 (Coordinated Attacks) +10 (marking) for a total passive bonus of +73. Then added +10 from Lib. Exhortation as active effect (now +83). Then I went for my usual Brute Force/Threatening Presence stuff and also invited a priest to cast Painful Interdiction to lower Fort. by over 40 points. That's like having more than +120 ACC bonus against fort now with two per-encounter abilites. On top comes the hit-to crit conversion: 10% from Aattuuk, 10% from the Hearth Orlan's racial feat, +5% from Critical focus and the stuff from Heart of Fury or Barbaric Blow. The thing is - you don't need that. It feels like every direct attack is a crit. Looking back I should have used an annihilating weapon and go for the Doemenels' talent. That would have meant -13 ACC in comparison (+5 dagger, +4 Mob Justice, +4 Flick of the Wrist) but a lot more damage. And +107 ACC compared to +120 doesn't really make any difference...

Hm... that was too easy. Maybe that's why I didn't think of it.

When you reach 0 recovery DEX is quite unimportant for your weapon attacks - same with quick switching. It depends how short/long you like your casting time. However - I don't think it's gimping you if you take 10 DEX instead of 20.

Haha - good one!

The great thing about this is that it's not only more than -40 fortitude (great for all other kinds of CC - like prone on weapons, many cc spells), but also more than -30 will (your cipher loves you) and some other, minor stat debuffing. And this you can all achieve with a single, low level per-encounter ability. The rest is just passive. Very low micro, no per-rest resources, huge effect. It's great - not only for the barb's Brute Force, but for everybody in the gang who targets fort or will.

Focus generation was never a problem of this build. Retaliation is an autohit and you don't need to attack to gain focus but can simply cast away all the time as long as you get grazed. So I think it still works. Psychovampiric Shield is really good now and all the cross class talents are 1/encounter. Survival can give you +2 DR now. Looks good. I will do a playthrough for WMII with an all-official companion party with the following cast: - MC (maybe Barb - have to think about a new build idea - Ghost Hunter as a boreal dwarf with dual Whispers of Yenwood could be great. CON 30 here I come! That would be Endurance and Health * 2 ) - Grieving Mother as the Backlash Beldam (Garodh's Chorus & Sura's Supper Plate) - Durance as Support Priest (Shame & Glory & Little Saviour) - Edér as the Lady Lord of Pain - Zahua as the Juggernaut - The Devil of Caroc as Bad Greta (with Badgradr's Barricade. Weapon I don't know. Cape of the Master Mystic, Shadowing Beyond, Backstab and a gun. ) I will report afterwards if this build is still awesome. Could as well make an Island Aumaua Quickswitcher cipher with arquebuses as MC in order to compare it to this build. edit: In case you wonder why everybody is melee: I just did a PotD playthrough with: - MC as Drake's Ambassador - Kana as the Ambassador's Apprentice - Hiravias as Batsh!t Crazy (despite so simple, one of the best builds so far. Even from the beginning) - Pallegina as The Engineer (Wrath of the Five Suns, Prestidigitator's Missiles, Cloak of Minor Missiles, Ryona's Vembraces and Lead Spitter rock!) - Aloth as Hurtstacker (no problems with being rushed because large shield + hatchet in second slot) - Sagani as The Stormcaller's Bride (well - just too good to not take it) And is was way too easy. Seriously - two chanters, a druid and Combusting Wounds is just overkill.

I just wonder if two Drawn in Springs' wounding would stack? It should, but who knows...? Will dual Spelltongue make the enemy even more slow and give me two times *1.15 attack speed? If I ever get this item there will be whole nights of console-riding, hellyeah!

Ach damn! But maybe a good damage source?

Heart of Fury: Nobody ever takes Heart of Fury because it's 1/rest and nobody understands what the description really means. So nobody ever experiences what an awesome ability this is (especially with high INT and dual wielding weapons with on hit/crit effects and annihilation). You can win difficult mob fights with this alone. I it would be 1/encounter it would be too good - but maybe 2 or 3/rest would be ok. If you pair this with Combusting Wounds, an ACC buff and deflection debuff, Death's Usher and Bloody Slaughter it gets really ridiculous. Brute Force + Threatening Presence: A lot of people say "Don't take this, it's a trap!". But it isn't if you have another party member who can apply Weakened in an AoE. Suddely your barb becomes a crit machine against mobs whose fortitude is not 40 points higher that their deflection. A priest with Painful Interdiction and a barb make a great team. I play this every now and then beause it's just fun. It is great for DPS, CC and - of course - Heart of Fury. Dragon Leap: It depends what you want to do with your barb. Sometimes I build a "sticky tank": A barb with 3 RES but high MIG, INT and CON. Barbaric Yell, Threatening Presence, Shod-in-Faith, Sanguine Plate, Vengeful Defeat, One Stands Alone and the Watchful Cloak MKII (=you can only be flanked if 5 people attack you simultaniously). Since his deflection is so low everybody wants to hit him and doesn't run towards my backline. Dragon Leap is great for being the first to jump into the middle of the mob and start shouting and hitting. Because of Shod-in-Faith and his enormous endurance/health he doesn't die quickly, even if disabled. If he gets knocked out he dishes out some good damage at least. With a paladin or chanter you can revive him and start all over again. He's like a "CC bait". But I agree that this ability is very situational and should do some more "oomph". Many of the barb's abilities require to build your char around it. That makes most of them either meh or yeah - depending on your build. A barb also is no good solo character. He depends on his team mates and also items. That's why I love barbs so much. What I really dislike are the highest lvl chanter invocations. Man, those are really worthless. One of my favourite classes and see what it can do with it's top-tier invocations: the chanter may summon a... Mushroom! Whoooha! :|