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Ouh - nice testing.

That all sounds a little bit too complicated for my taste. So far I would still prefer the crit-based approach of the CP. In addition I would propose that any interrupt (that's not countered by concentration of course) will also pause Soul Mind to tune it down a bit - also fits thematically imo. I don't dare to suggest anything that's solely interrupt based although it would be the "cleanest" solution from a systems standpoint (I would like the mechanics of the Grimpoire of Vaporous Wizardry to be applied to a Psion: damage causes an interrupt - but no pause to focus generation) because of the ability to circumvent that completely with the Fractured Casque or perma-courageous.

I guess the isometric and painted 2D background approach. Obsidian wanted a spiritual successor to IWD/BG and that also meant to somewhat capture the looks of the old infinity engine games (but with more contemporary quality of course) I guess. I don't know if it's the most gorgeous game I've ever played, but I def. like the aesthetics a lot and can't name another CRPG which I liked better in that regard. But yeah: matter of taste.

Presumably one will have more "idle time" (or less stress) when playing TB mode over RTwP (unless you pause every second and check the log - which would be tedious as hell I guess) which might lead to a better understanding of the underlying mechanics. Maybe also because every single decision for action will be more important - so one will make extra sure it's effective which might motivate players to study the mechanics more thorougly. But those are somewhat different mechanics. Everything that's time-based (action speed, recovery time, durations, damage/healing over time etc.) is very different from the RTwP mode. And especially the action speed/recovery time mechanics of the RTwP modus are pretty obscurely implemented so it's extra hard to understand them properly. The TB mode makes that very easy because it's all organized in... well, turns.

That is a matter of taste. I find the visuals of D:OS games to be extremely unappealing. BG3 is better but still not what I would prefer. --- The reason why they took Unity3D was most likely that they crowdfunded PoE as the last straw before going bankrupt. Unity3D is cheap and easy to use. It also allows mixing 2D and 3D content without modding the engine a ton. PoE was done as a spiritual successor of the old infinity engine games. Something like Larian's look amd feel (including rotating camera etc.) wouldn't have achieved that. Then, if you want to make a sequel that doesn't look fundamentally different from the first game you have to stick to the engine I guess. I think most players don't realize what an effort it is to develop an inhouse engine and which immense downsides such an approach has. I'll just name two for starters: - it takes a huge amount of time, know-how and money... while it per se doesn't generate any profit - if you employ new staff you have to school them for your inhouse-tech. This takes time and money again. It may also repell people who'd rather pick a job where they a) can start right with what they know and b) can improve their skills with an engine that other potential employers might be using as well. There's more of course but those two hurt the most imo. Well, having to deal with so many different platforms (Win, Mac, PS, Xbox etc.) is equally painful, bit I never released a game so I can't say for sure if this is a mess that hurts your business equally bad. I only produced "normal" software and even there it was so annoying to tailor your software to all the different platforms, browsers even until frameworks emerged which did all the work for you. I suspect games are no different in this case. The only advantage is that you can build an engine that fits your ideas 100%. But even then I'd argue that you're almost always better off modding an existing one or developing plugins/components. The only case where it might make sense is when you need a near to 100% optimized engine for a super demanding game, like most AAA+ tiles are, and you can't achieve it with existing engines. But games like PoE are not such games. I worked as a programmer, software engineer, project manager and then business owner long enough to have learned the hard way that if somebody suggests new inhouse solutions for stuff that can be done with existing frameworks you must take them to the broom closet and slap them to their senses. Maybe at the time Larian was starting with D:OS there was no engine that fit their special needs. Also they might have had a lot of legacy stuff and know-how from all the games they did, back to the original Divine Divinity - so it might be they didn't start from scratch.

I guess so. The mechanics of Soul Mind don't sound very impressive and it's difficult to deduce its usefulness from the description alone - and I suspect not many had done a whole playthrough with a Psion when the CP was created. The description of the original Soul Mind were like "on getting damaged" and CP changed that to "on receiving a critical hit". So in theory getting crit by CC/affliction wouldn't pause Soul Mind in the vanilla game because there's no damage involved - while the CP version would stop, right? If that's correct then maybe the CP version isn't really a buff but just shifts it from damage to crirital hits.

The thing in PoE that was better about shifting was that the natural weapons scaled their base damage with level which lead to really high numbers per hit at some point. In combination with Avenging Storm that lead to the highest melee damage output in the game against single targets, even higher than Rogue's. In Deadfire that's not the case anymore. Single class Druid doesn't do the amount of shifted melee dmg as in PoE. But instead you have multiclassing which can produce very good results when combining Spiritshift with some other cool abilities of other classes. One example I particularly like: Goldpact Knight + Bear Spiritshift gives you an absurd amount of armor while not slowing you down at all. Meanwhile Flames of Devotion in combination with Wild Strike and also Nature's Terror + Sacred Immolation (use Lay on Hands and Nature's Bounty on yourself to not die) are great tools for dealing damage in melee range. Very fun and rounded combo imo. Just an example though.

56 focus every 14 secs would mean you only get 4 focus per second. But Soul Mind scales with universal Power Level. That means stuff like Acute, Stone of Power, potions etc. may lift you to 5 or even more focus per second. You cannot speed up the phrase generation of Skalds with Power Levels. Another difference is that chanting stops after an invocation is cast - and as you said once you suffer hard CC and so on. Soul Mind never stops (besides the pause after getting damaged/ getting a crit). Keep in mind that Skald only has favorable invocation costs for offensive invocations while the others are more expansive. This limits his versatility. Psion doesn't have those limitations. Comparing the costs of the PL1 stuff of Skald with PL 3 stuff of Psion is not fair, is it? If we compared PL1 stuff of Skald with PL1 stuff of Psion then at higher Power Levels the Psion could dish out his spells a lot faster than the Skald - even if we included the phrases he would get on melee crits. Psion could generate the 10 focus for Soul Shock every 2 secs for example - while the Skald would be stuck at a Her Revenge every 14 secs (with a crit in between maybe halved every now an then). Her Revenge my be the stronger spell in general, but I'm just using the spells here to compare the resource generation/spell cost of the power levels. If we compared PL3 stuff of the Skald with PL3 stuff of the Psion: the Psion could cast a PL3 spell every 10 secs while the Skald could only cast an offensive PL3 invocation every 22 secs if I'm not mistaken (maybe every 16 if he gets a crit refund in between). Skald needs a lot more micromanagement/his harder to script than Psion. For a caster Psion is very easy to script - especially if you only use a few abilities (like in my case Puppet Master and Mental Binding as backup). That's no advantage for a player char of course but it's very nice for a hireling. Of course Psion has no chant aura with useful effects. But then: why handle them as opposites? The best use of a Psion so far was it to pair it with a Chanter actually. I prefer Troubadour (bc. of Brisk Recitation). Other casters also work. It's just insane to use the "action time + recovery of one class" to generate resources for the other. With Psion/Troub this works in both ways: resources will almost never be zero - while it's an incredibly versatile combination. Also lots of fun to play imo. Anyway: I was also very skeptic with the Psion at the start until I actually played one (or two now: Psion/Troub: and now lately SC Psion). There's something to it that only unlocks if you actually play it rather than theorycraft it. Maybe the game mechanics with RTwP are just too complex to relaly predict how every combo will play out in the end. It's just so that even the SC Psion* really suprised me with how effective it was. I ddidn't mean to say it was super strong - jsut that it is way, way better than I anticipated. Together with Beguiler my favorite Cipher subclass now. Maybe even better than Beguiler because I played the heck out of Beguiler in the past. )* which I only included because I did an "SC only/refreshing resources/maximum AI!"run - and I thought SC Psion would be supereasy to script

Yes, I think Time Parasite isn't as good for a SC Psion as it is for other cipher subclasses. I mean if you want to cast mainly and not use your weapon too much. Maybe it would be better if one focuses on the low level stuff (for example Soul Shock or so) because I think even with Time Parasite you will be able to gain focus faste than you can spend it with those cheap spells.

This underlined part is exactly what I didn't really grasp until I played my first Psion for a longer time: that Soul Mind even generates focus while you are spending it. Some powers take some time to cast. The longer the casting time for a normal Cipher the worse. For a Psion it's no problem because focus is just flowing in. I totally underestimated how big of an advantage this is. As I said: as long as my casting speed isn't too high I cannot spend the focus fast enough even as an SC Psion (if not using high Power Level spells all the time).

Ah now that I read this - If you could place Caedebald's Blackbow at PL7 in a single grimoire to replace an imprint spell... that would be pretty awesome for any Wizard who wants to multiclass into a ranged character (mainly Geomancer I guess, but also Spellblade and so on). I always found it sad that this spell will not get used much because it is reserved for SC Wizards who are quite hard to build into effective weapon users (no active attacks, no martial passives)

Note that Lifegivers, while getting +5 PL for rejuvenation spells while shifted, also lose that bonus after shifting and then even suffer -5 PL for those spells. It's not like Before: 5, while shifted 10, after shift 5 more like 5, 10, 0. So you have to make the right decision when to shift. The Powel Level malus will apply to all rejuvenation spell which are still running once you shift back to kith form. For example a Moonwell that is still active while you shift back will instantly lose some of its healing power (its healing ticks will be lower). Lifegivers get +2 to rejuvenation as fixed bonus to begin with though, so the -5 PL end up being "real" -3 compared to the other druid subclasses though. So it's not too bad even if you mess up the timing with your spiritshift. Maybe the assessment of the summons came over wrongly. Generally speaking summons are always very impactful. Even the bad ones often have more impact than a different spell that is considered to be great with what it is supposed to do. Summons need no stats and power level, they just scale with char level. And you are putting an additional body on the field - it is working as a "walking crowd control effect" at least, just by being there. Like adding a sixth party member that takes hits. When comparing it to other spell effects, it's a bit like casting a spell that prevents damage or getting hit by afflictions. And that's the least it can do. Some can even do good damage or CC by themselves. That's why summons are always, by design, very good compared to most other spells. You need no accuracy, no might, no nothing butbm INT to produce a long lasting effect that gives protection and sometimes even offense. You will need less healing, less countermeasures to afflictions etc. when summons are on the field. So, any summon spell you take is never wasted imo. Now, there are summon spells that are (way) better than others. Because they not only take away attention from your party but can truly deliver more to combat. Sporelings and Primordials are such summons. They are very good - compared to other summoning spells the druid has. If you don't want to use "bad" summons - while bad just means they are worse than some other summons, not that they are bad compared to all other spells - I can understand that. Summons - at least to me - are a pretty unfun concept. They add micromanagement and can make you feel that the star of the show is not your char but his critters. Also it sometimes gets pretty crowded. So I make sure that if I use summons they better be especially cool or effective summons that are more fun to use than the standard minor blight decoy. But as a rule of thumb: you will never waste a spell with a summon when it's about efficiency of spell uses imo.

1. Sounds like an Ancient. 2. Mystic doesn't necessarily imply a favourable view of the gods. 3. Some are very good (for example Call to the Primordials), others are bad (for example Aspect of Galawain). The Blights are so/so. In certain situations they can be very useful - for example when you are fighting foes who mainly deal damage which the current blight is immune to (immortal tank then as long as it lasts). But it's like roulette. I personally never use them. Ancient's Sporelings are very good, especially in the early game. Fire Stag is generally bad, but it can be abused with the help of a Priest or Shieldbearer Paladin: if you use Barring Death's Door on the Fire Stag you can "explode" it over and over again without it dying which is like casting a lot of Fireballs for free. This trick makes it useful but not overly powerful imo. 4. No. Shifters get the best bonus spell selection if you want to make a caster that's focused on "Decay". There is no drawback to your casting as long as you don't shift, so it's not dumb at all. If nothing else you can use the shifting/unshifting as healing tool. 5. In certain encounters both can be very good. In others they are of zero use. My recommendation would be to take one of them or both until the mid game and later retrain (if you have the feeling you are not using them). 6. It's worse than in PoE (where it was really good) but still okay. But not impactful enough to build a character concept around imo.

Henlo it is I, the Rotghast with the negative deflection:

Ehehehe: Too bad "Living Illusions" only works 1/rest. This stacking with phantoms works with all stackable effects on enemies by the way. Ball and Chain's "Crushing Yoke", Blade of the Endless Path's "Marking" and so on. Saru Sichr's stackable DoT, too of course.

I can get it to 7 focus per sec if I use the Lance of the Midwood Stag (and a druid for Woodskin or Form of the Delemgan) and Stone of Power. But it's not really necessary since (as you said): generates very fast anyway. So I chose a shield setup.

I was sceptic when the Psion was released because I thought the focus generation was too slow (didn't realize it scales with Power Level back then). Now - at least with the Community Patch - it honestly felt too strong, haha. I only ran out of focus when I cast Time Siphon on 4+ enemies - because then my action speed was so high that I could spam Puppet Master more quickly than focus came in. Of course I could have spammed more costly powers - but this apporach was so effective that I hardly did anything else. As Multiclass (for example Psion/Troubadour) you can even alternate between resources which would lead to even more focus to use (also did that some while ago). I don't know if the original mechanic would have felt any different though. A defensively skilled "ranged" character who dominates everything that comes too near (and then the rest) hardly takes any damage in the first place. I wouldn't say cheesy. The CP solution is maybe just a bit too good - at least with my latest character configuration.

Yes, that's also cool. Or hot... I prefer Ben Fidel's Neck though with the Howler who's already carrying Ngati's Tusk and chants Long Night's Drink + Spirit Frenzy. That all does take no action time so he can use his phrases for Ben Fidel's Neck to apply frightened and lower enemies' defenses by 10 as well without using a precious Priest spell slot which I need for my Devotions. Shining Beacon and Ben Fidel's Neck unfortunately do not stack with each other.

I didn't try/test that. I'm using the Community Patch which alters this rule so that only critical hits will stop the focus generation. Combined with a tanky setup and keeping out of melee (weapon & shield, hatchet + small shield, good RES) I never even noticed that my focus generation stopped. With the same defensive setup I guess also a non-modded Psion would have no problems. Since I was casting Whisper of Treason first and then Puppet Master non-stop the defensive weapon set didn't pull me down (no need for weapon attacks). And I could drop MIG which made room for high INT, DEX and PER. It's good to have an alternative power once you meet enemies who are immune to mind afflictions. Like Mental Binding for example.

Once you switch the weapon Wild Shot will stop working. Yes - I thought about a Forbidden Fist/Beguiler who could make great use of both the Fortitude and Will debuff. Applying enfeebled, having +10 INT, Lingering Echoes and then casting Puppet Master will give you dominated ads for a very long time, especially if a crit is almost guaranteed because of the superlow Will defense. Or more simple: I recently had a SC Psion on the party and at some point (not too high a level) my focus was flowing in so quickly that I could spam Puppet Master nonstop. She didn't do anything else usually. The duration wasn't as long as you would have with a FF/Cipher, but it was superstraightforward and the action economy was great - as well as the ability to easily script the AI for that character. So simple yet so effective. She usually could keep every normal enemy in the fight dominated (except one who got attacked by everybody else). Now with a FF/Cipher you would need more setup and micromanagement but you would also be a lot more versatile I guess.

Indeed. I was just discovering this while I tried to build around the bow and figure out some ways to make an SC Wiz bow user more effective. Because during one of my latest playthroughs I found myself using Caedebald's Blackbow (+Phantom) all the time in the late game because it was just more impactful during the longer fights (esp. SSS). With decent INT and attack speed you can perma-terrify up to four enemies. And also with Ring of the Marksman and Spirit of Decay the PEN is pretty, good, too. By the way: without any consumables and party support the Test-SC-Wizard reached 140+ ACC (with normal PER) with the Blackbow. The Phantom 120. Combined with the debuffs it's effective enough for most encounters. Also because you can add another 10 with Devotions. A bit bummed that there is no more Coordinated Attacks for Paladins anymore...

Keeper of the Flame and Ngati's Touch would be great additions, yes. I also tested if those auras will stack when you put them on a phantom, but they will not. Still great because both auras do no hit rolls but the effects just get applied to enemies. I had a party with a Draining Touch/Kapana Taga Sage, a Ngati's Tusk Howler and a Willbreaker Brute not too long ago. Didn't have Keeper of the Flame - but should have. Maybe with Endre's Flog of Obedience on an SC Stalker (Whirling Strikes = AoE Reflex debuff)?

röfl This enemy had 44 Will to start with...

löl

Hello, just a quick discovery I made 5 minutes ago: if you use The Willbreaker with a Wizard and also with the Wizard's phantom you can not only stack 5 instances of "Relentless" (-3 Will per hit) on enemies but actually 2x5 stacks - which results in -30 Will (alongside -25 Fortitude if you use Body Blows of course).* This works really well in combination with Caedebald's Blackbow (I mean if a second Wizard uses it) since it targets Fortitude (weapon dmg) and Will (terrify). The Helm of the White Void applies its bonus to both rolls. In combination with the double Willbreaker dude it's really hard to mess up the Blackbow's shots... )* the Willbreaker also can apply shaken with "Oppressive Fear" which would lower Will even further (-10, stacks with Relentless). Bewildering Blows (-25 Will) also stack with those. Aaand even further down with Miasma...