Boeroer

If you use Wild Growth on them they can stay for over 100 secs at lvl 20 and won't go down easily because of endless Robust. They also grow their circles then which makes it easier to block whole paths with them. Maneuver them somewhere when they are still small (it's easier that way) and then let them grow which often blocks the path to you. It's not foolproof and not as reliable as engagement but it helps imo. Also check out the circle of an Aspect of Galawain with Wild Growth, haha ("only" lasts a minute though). The durations are with high INT and with most convenient PL buffs (Wellspring, Spine of Thicket Green).

Mortars do pierce/slash dmg - so pierce immune enemies are not that much of a problem as if you used classic blunderbusses. On the other hand pierce immune enemies are often the ones who are most vulnerable to crush damage, so picking The Long Pain is still a good idea. It's also better against lonely targets. Stunning Surge with a Helwalker/Streetfighter and mortars is very effective. It's combined AoE CC & dps deluxe. Blinding Smoke (you should always pick that enchantment with Hand Mortar) unlocks Deathblows very reliably. No need to first use Debilitaing Strike or Blinding Strike. Just fire away with Stunning Surge. Check out Arkemyr's Brilliant Departure which is an additional source of invisibility on top of Smoke Veil. Its invisibility does NOT break on CC hits, only damage. That means you can cast debuffs/CC from invisibility with +25 ACC and then follow up with a +25 ACC/+4 PEN (and potentially +50% crit dmg) nuke.

If you want to make Edér a SC Fighter I would suggest picking up Clear the Path instead of Clean Sweep later on - because (Edér's lowish) INT has no effect on the AoE size of Clear the Path. Clear the Path is very good imo. Especially when used with a Morning Star + Body Blows. It targets Fortitude so the Morning Star will apply -25 fortitude to all in the AoE which makes it a lot easier for follow-ups with additional Clear the Path uses (or Mule Kicks). And alternative can be a mace + modal - for example bind Magistrate's Cudgel to Edér. You can lower enemies' AR in the AoE and also with the cudgel you will instakill all lower-level kith on the spot with every crit-roll in the AoE. The AoE of Clear the Path is pretty broad and also very long. I used to have a party with SC Barb Serafen and SC Fighter Edér. In the later game Serafen with Driving Roar and Edér with Clear the Path were like two cannons. Most enemies never got back up once they both started "firing".

He didn't talk to him at Ashen Maw though but only saw him in the background (at least that's what I understood) so everything should be in order...?

Grimoire mechanic is extremely useful - at least for multiclasses but also for non-Bloodmage single class wizards - because once you realize that you don't have to invest ability points to cast spells you can spend them all on passives and/or active non-wizard abilities. SC Wizard can pick all the empowerment abilities and have fun with the Least Unstable Cool and Weyc stuff in the endgame for example. 7 Grimoires (1 trinket slot, 4 quick slots + 2 more via Deep Pockets or Fleshmender/Giftbearer's Cloth) means you don't have to use a single ability point and still can have a huge portfolio of spells. Massive versatility - that's what grimoires give you - not more spell uses. Spell uses are part of the balancing process. If a grimoire would allow you to cast the spells it contains in addition to the ones you learned the balance would break. That would mean you'd need to nerf all wizard spells to make up for that. Now versatility is also part of the balancing process, but more versatility won't break the game balance as easily as more spell uses. There's a reason why Blood Mage and Grimoire of Vaporous Wizardry are so popular despite their disadvantages. I think it's a good system, too good compared to other casters like Priest and Druid even who "only" get some fixed bonus spells which feel like predefined, very thin and tiny "grimoire light".

As a Spellblade you can have 7 grimoires at the ready. The versatility is enormous compared to all other casters. Why use ability points for spells in the first place? By the way: the passive ability Aloth can get from his quest and which lowers the grimoire switching time by 1 second should have been a Wizard passive ability besides Rapid Casting, Spellshaping and so on. Too bad it's not...

No, you just skipped some conversations you were supposed to do first while following his footsteps (so to speak). But as far as I know nothing you did/see breaks the game/main quest line. You can go back and do something else and later return and he will still be there waiting for you (and then it all will make more sense). Obsidian should have made sure that you can't enter Ashen Maw accidentally before the time is right - with a hard lock and not a soft one (Rathûn patrolling around). That's not too cool but I think nothing is kaputt.

Yes, it stopped working for some reason. It's quite annoying when you for example have Caedebald's Blackbow and meet a foe who's immune to corrosion - but you can't switch/get rid of the weapon.

Summoned weapons are/were supposed to go away once you switch weapon sets - but somehow they messed up the implementation (or forgot to implement that in the first place).

Myeah, but that's because you don't actually use Spiritshift for what it is intended but simply as a "haste" effect. If I had designed the Cat form then the "flurry" would end as soon as you shift back. It doesn't make much sense to have the speed of a cat when you are no longer a cat. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't switch back prematurely if you couldn't abuse cat's flurry. Extremely relevant? Which ones?

I find Assassin/Bloodmage very good with A's Brilliant Departure - because you can cast several CC/debuff spells with +25 ACC from Assasinate and then finally start with the damaging stuff as soon as all the nasty debuffs/disables landed successfully.

The game started to make profit a while after release. It wasn't a huge success but it also isn't a financial failure anymore. Every additional copy sold is motivation to do another sequel - so please go ahead!

Shadowing Beyond (Rogue), Smoke Veil, Shadowed Hunters and invisibility potion break on all attack rolls (DoT ticks are no attack rolls). Shadowing Beyond (Priest of Skaen) breaks on everything including DoT ticks. Arkemyr's Brilliant Departure only breaks on dealing damage (except from Wall spells). That means it doesn't break on pure CC attacks. DoTs will break it. Wall of Flame, Wall of Many Colors etc. do not break it. Vanishing Strikes doesn't break at all. You can do what you like during its duration: you will stay invisible.

The moment when you realize the forum censored what you thought you wrote down as "shift"... By the way: Deadfire druids lack some serious Bullshift... I agree. Also I don't like that they used a modal in the first place (which in this game is used exclusively for effects you can switch on and off again - except Spiritshift). Is breaks the systemic coherence. One time a modal can be switched on/off and another time it cannot? Ach... I mean why not just use a normal ability button for the normal Spiritshift. One that triggers the transformation and has a duration - like with Form of the Fearsome Brute (which basically is a Wizard's Spiritshift)? Has anybody ever wanted to shift back prematurely before the spiritshift duration was over? Why would you? There's no downside to being shifted (except maybe that you don't have access to weapons' and armors' special effects). I never shifted back before the duration of that "fake" modal was up. Not once. Then for Shifter you could have chosen a fixed Spiritshift form but make it a "real" modal. Maybe don't call it Shifter then (the name "shifter" actually fits a druid subclass that can change into multiple forms quite well imo) but maybe Therian(thrope)* - a Druid that specializes on this one very form he chose an is able to change as often as he/she wants. But the transformation into a man-beast is so profound that the ability to cast spells is lost during the shift. But yeah whatever don't mind me babbling... )* Therianthropy is the umbrella term for lycanthropy (wolf), ailuranthropy (cat) and whatever animal+man form.

But with a Ancient or Shifter using raw dmg DoTs mostly - why pick a Berserker then? The +2 PEN from Tenacious are wasted when you cast raw dmg stuff but you'll have to deal with the concealed health and self dmg. It's another thing of course if you want to combine casting with melee (like casting Plague of Insects first and then shift an go into melee and profit from "kills far away" the Plague does for you). When using an Ancient Warlock for casting raw dmg spells mostly I think I would try a Corpse Eater. Not only because it's thematically fitting but also because 2 Rage for Frenzy isn't that bad once you can pick Blood Storm. What's really bad about Corpse Eater is that Barbaric Smash costs 3 but only refunds 2 on kill (should be modded to a refund of 3). So I guess I wouldn't use that much unless I fight kith/wilder but concentrate on passives mostly. Furyshaper would be cool if Sporelings and Wards weren't mutually exclusive. But maybe first one could use Sporelings (they are way better than the Frenzy ward in the early game imo) and later switch to Fear Ward (when Sporelings lost most of their appeal)? By the way I never tried to cast Wild Growth on a Ward... I mean I don't suspect that it's working but you never know...

- Wounding Shot with AoE weapons: nope - the only ability that doesn't apply its effects to the AoE of such weapons. But seriously - if I started to post all the stuff that I tested and which didn't work out the forum would probably overflow.

Stormspeaker + Watershaper = Stormshaper... or maybe...

If it has to be a summon then instead of the Vine I would pick the Oozes (Call to the Primordials). The collection of Oozes is random, but one of them can cast Plague of Insects without limit. But I think for your character Rusted Armor is the best pick.

Ah right - sorry. I somehow didn't think about that. If Tekehu is healing you up nicely and you stack some regeneration gear I guess you won't need Savage Defiance that much. I think it's safe to not take it. No problem, you took Barbarian's "Blooded" which works as an health indicator just as well. In general that is true. But in synergy with Blood Thirst it can make a difference if a spell like Relentless Storm kills an enemy on the fourth strike or already on the third. It also has an impact if you get the refund from Barbaric Smash or not. And even against tough nuts it can be good: some of them have still a lot of health left when they are near death. More crit conversion and higher damage can't hurt then. It's not gamechanging though so it wouldn't matter much if you wouldn't take it. To me it's just a passive that adds a bit of fun (bc. bigger numbers on crits can be fun ;)). I wouldn't drop Barbaric Smash. It's an awseome "finishing move", especially for a dual weapon setup. You can do the same cancel-trick with Bounding Boots. That would spare you an ability point. You can cancel that Leap from the boots, too. The 2 per-rest uses will not get lowered if you time it right (pause/unpause/pause etc. quickly while the char is in the air and do that until the green character circle appears at the target location - before landing. Then hit the x-button. THe combat log will say that you canceled Leap but your char will still land there but the Daze effect etc. will not get triggered - you will still be stealthed if you were before by the way).

I wouldn't take it if ability points are streched thin already. The problem is that Berserker/Fury has no means of healing besides Savage/Stalwart Defiance. So you'd have to rely solely on party members and/or consumables and/or items (you already have Devil of Caroc which can heal a bit on crits - also check out pets like Abraham who give health on kill). You'll have up to +4 PEN for elemental spells - do you really think you need Rusted Armor? I personally would pick Stalwart Defiance over Rusted Armor. Infestation of Maggots does raw damage. Raw damage goes right through armor, it doesn't need PEN. Spirit of Decay will show in the combat log and will add +1 PEN to zero PEN - but it won't do anything because PEN/AR don't get checked with raw damage. Rusted Armor does no damage - hence it has no PEN value that could be boosted. PEN is only applied to damaging attacks (unless they do raw damage). Taste of the Hunt: yes, it works with Spirit of Decay - no matter which type of weapon you have equipped Spirit of Decay will always add +1 PEN to it. If you use Taste of the Hunt with Firebrand and have Scion of Flame as well you will even get +2 PEN. Not +3 because the Fury passive for +1 PEN to elemental spells doesn't work with Firebrand (the weapon lacks the "elemental" keyword). The only Druid spells that Spirit of Decay is good for: Touch of Rot (very good spell, scales so nicely with Power Level), Taste of the Hunt, Autum's Decay, Rot Skulls (only the AoE corrode damage, not the initial crush damage) - I think it's not worth taking. You could think of Scion of Flame (bc. you'll have some "auto-pick" fire spells). But I personally would skip it. Heart of the Storm is good if your preferred spells are shocking spells. --- Unflinching is very good, especially for a Berserker who constantly drops below 50% health an gets healed back up. Once you drop below 50% health the resistances of Unflinching will get removed - and if you regain health over 50% they get added again - removing one layer of affliction. Drop under 50% again and heal back up: next layer removed. And so on. --- I would check out Bloody Slaughter - it also works with spells and is quite good in combination with Blood Thirst and Barbaric Smash (to make it much more likely to kill with it which gives you the Rage refund). --- Leap is an excellent ability because a) you can use it out of combat which makes it essentially free to use as long as you don't trigger combat with it - and out of combat it makes some tasks (avoiding traps, stealing, sneaking, reaching certain spaces that otherwise would be unaccessible etc.) so much easier and b) you can cancel it mid-air. Then it will not cost anything - but you will still land where you aimed. Thus you can move with no Rage cost (but you need to have at least 2 Rage - or the ability button will be greyed out). --- You could think about Spirit Frenzy (NOT Spirit Tornado) : it works with all your spells that do an attack roll on enemies and will stagger them - also Carnage (Spirit Tornado only works with your weapon hits - it's maybe a bug). You will spare an ability point by not upgrading further in comparison to Blood Storm. Staggered enemies will have -10 Fortitude defense - which will synergize with Brute Force and spells that target Fortitude in the first place (which are some). If you add a sickening or weakening spell then the enemies' fortitude will be lowered by 20 points already - again: good synergy with Brute Force. Blood Storm is also good though since it spares you Rage (bc. it prolongs Frenzy on kill) and the raw DoT also works on spell-crits (which is nice).

I don't remember the exact wording - but I'm 100% sure that a price like that above is obvious enough.

Mule Kick, used with Whispers of the Endless Paths or Citzal's Spirit Lance* will knock up all enemies in the AoE. Which is fun. But there will be no crazy AoE x AoE hit roll fest like with Clear Out (and upgrades). Other abilities who work similarly would be Heart of Fury (Barbarian), Whirling Strikes (Ranger) and Whispers of the Wind (Monk). All only accessible for single class characters. Clear Out is the only "intrinsic" AoE weapon ability** that is accessible to multiclasses. )* with Mule Kick you can only use melee weapons. Clear Out can be tricked into using a one handed ranged weapon if you use a melee weapon in the offhand. )** meaning that it's an attack which has its own AoE but uses your weapon - which can also have an AoE, leading to those crazy behaviors with dozens to hundreds of attack rolls. Edit: maybe the post you were referring to is this: it was used for @thelee's great game faq guide that was linked above by @Not So Clever Hound.

Lol - not even I am using that.

In Germany a deal is void if there is an obvious mistake. There will be no contract from a legal perspective because one of the parties is ripping off the other. So... there is no "lawful" deal. Trying to enforce that deal would be unlawful (as far as I understand the meaning of that word). See § 871 ABGB (if you dare ;)). I think that is a good piece of law. I guess most countries have something similar. I had to learn that when I became a banker 25 years ago and I still remember.

Yes, there is a bit more INT gear. Splitting 15-15 or 14-16 or whatever feels right is also okay.