Prince of Lies

I'm not sure. If it's like Thick Grew Their Tongues, it doesn't remove a stack of concentration, it makes enemies immune to concentration- as in, they can't benefit from it. This means that while under Thick Grew Their Tongues (or similar effect) they can still get concentration from Combat Focus or whatever- but because they're immune to having concentration they get interrupted.

Spells generate focus? LOL, I didn't even know that - I thought only auto-attacks did, ROFL Yeah, but only on Beguiler. It's one of their big benefits.

Both are probably very similar in terms of how good they are at CC. Ascended gives +3 PL which is +15% Duration. So not only do you have unlimited casts for at least 15s, but you need to cast less often. Beguiler focus regen per deception spell hit is +6 at level 1, +7 at level 3, +8 at level 5, +9 at level 7, +10 at level 9, +11 at level 11, +12 at level 13, +13 at level 16, +14 at level 19. (+6 at level 1, +7 at level 4, +8 at level 7, +9 at level 10, +10 at level 13, +11 at level 16, +12 at level 19 for multiclass). In my testing it doesn't seem to matter whether the target is flanked or has an affliction for the regen on spell hit (contrary to the in-game description), but does bring the normal weapon attack focus generation back to 50% as opposed tot he beguilers usual of 25% when auto-attacking. The thing that any other cipher has over Ascendant is that they can cast spells immediately after getting enough focus to do so. With Ascendant, if you aren't using optimal focus gaining methods, you have downtime before you start casting.

Yeah, but you can get enemies to stick to you with better micromanagement and burst damage with paladin (BDD -> Sacred Immolation or Sworn Enemy -> Flames of Devotion). Not saying it's better, just saying you can achieve the same thing. Comes down to preferences. Paladin also has a lot in the way of support utility while Fighter has more in the way of melee weapon attack abilities.

If the paladin is built as a tank, they're probably about the same as fighter. Paladins get Faith & Conviction/Deep Faith, Inspired Defences, and Stoic Steel, plus a bunch of other stuff that is comparable/the same as fighter. That's not taking into account Zealous Auras or other active abilities.

I'm partial to Swashbuckler. Swashbucklers are tanky out of the gate with some decent damage dealing potential- but If you do Unbroken/Trickster, you'll get to some pretty high levels of deflection with those illusion buffs. Holy Slayers are also really fun. You could go Shieldbearer or Goldpack/Trickster. Any variation (multi or single class) of Fighter or Paladin is great for tanking. I've also done fighter/barbarian and enemies seem to stick to you like glue if you're doing a lot of damage. You could also do [Fighter/Paladin]/Streetfighter for some Blunderbuss powder burns cheese

Doesn't have to be a glass cannon. I would suggest using an old save, hiring adventurer ciphers, and testing them out to see what works best for you. That, or use Unity Console to convert a companion and test. A case could be made for literally any variation of cipher because they are a pretty flexible class. I just deleted all old saves, because I fear extra saves cause lags. (It did at one point in PoE 1, and I am a creature of habit.) But I should really live at least 1 saves each at around level 5, 10, 15, and 20 to be able to test how different builds play at different junctures of the game Alternatively, download the Unity Console mod and use that. That's what I use to test stuff. Right now it's having issues, but the solution is in the mod message board on the nexus.

Good stuff! Does this bug still exist? I've heard some AI scripts used to get repeated in an infinite loop when the activation conditions get eliminated mid-activation. Haven't done it in a while. Also had a similar experience with the:

Another would be the Chanter phrases: Thick Grew Their Tongues -> Soft Winds of Death/Dragon Thrashed. When I first fought that bounty in Sacred Stair with the golems, I was gleefully underprepared and under-leveled. Thick Grew Their Tongues -> Soft Winds of Death stopped the golems from using their spell ability, which they in turn kept on trying to use. This essentially locked them in an infinite loop of interrupting them. I Basically spent the next five minutes underpenetrating them to death.

Doesn't have to be a glass cannon. I would suggest using an old save, hiring adventurer ciphers, and testing them out to see what works best for you. That, or use Unity Console to convert a companion and test. A case could be made for literally any variation of cipher because they are a pretty flexible class.

I don't think Zealous Auras stay on Charmed/Dominated enemies in Deadfire. Melee/Ranged would depend on your own preferences, subclass/multiclass build, party composition, and gear you plan on using. Most people seem to edge towards ranged with weapons like Kitchen Stove (Thunderous Rapport) or Amira's Wing (Wilting Wind) so they can reach max focus with Ascendant.

Just so you know, you don't have to micromanage charmed/dominated enemies. They go and do their own thing. I'd highly suggest that you give Whispers of Treason/Puppet Master/Ringleader a try, you'll probably find that it's one of the best types of CC in the game. As for other abilities, all of what everyone else mentioned is good, but I'd also give honorable mentions to Antipathetic Field and Ectophsychic Echo for when you have someone flanking an enemy.

He teleports and leaves via the narrows. Try following him.

Yeah, it's 12-16 base damage, 0.5s Attack Speed, 3s Recovery Speed. All normal modifiers that apply to weapons do the same to Reaping Knives. On top of that, they get +3% Damage, Accuracy, and Penetration* per level of the character it gets casted on. Duration is 30s base, +/- 5% for each point of intellect above/below 10. Power Level from normal progression does not affect the duration, but Power Level changes from Focus Starved/Ascended/Empower do (+/- 5% for each Power Level). All in all, they are pretty decent. Another thing to note is that they aren't considered Daggers or Stilettos, just "One-Handed Weapons" that are being dual wielded. *They don't need penetration, but it still gets the tooltip for some reason

Completely depends on your build. The faster you generate focus, the more frequently you can cast Ancestor's Memory (or any cipher ability): Soul Whip generates focus at 50% of weapon damage (including weapon attack abilities) rounding down. I.E. If you graze for 7 damage, you generate 3 focus. Biting Whip increases weapon damage by 30%, and therefore 50% of that additional damage become focus. Draining Whip increases generated focus to 100% of weapon damage (including weapon attack abilities). So, the higher your weapon DPS, the higher your focus generation. Ancestor's Memory has a focus cost of 70, which means you need to deal 140 damage with an un-upgraded soul whip or 70 damage with draining whip to use it. (Biting whip would be somewhere in between). Probably the best way to do it is by using an Ascendant. They Have -1 Power Level normally, but acquire focus at an additional 33%. When Ascendants hit max focus, they get unlimited focus (unlimited cipher abilities) and +3 Power Level for 15s +/- 5% for every point of Intellect above/below 10. That way you can spam it on anything. Edit: Certain AOE weapon effects also generate focus- which is why you see people using blunderbusses and rods.

This weekend, I am going to start another PotD run with 3 Rogues, so I will definitely test soon. But yes, 3 Guile is pretty prohibitive. It has to be on the Devil of Caroc armor character. Yeah. Ancestor's Memory from a cipher fixes that problem as well. I've also heard that SSS has some items that can help, too.

Ack. I haven't used Toxic Strike since launch. Tried it today, and yeah, it's pretty beefy. Still like the blind part of Gouging Strike better than the weakened part of Toxic Strike, it's also less expensive. Man, no one likes Perishing Strike

Yeah, Magran's Blessing would be a better choice if you were to use a shield, or just an actual off-hand weapon in terms of damage/focus generation. The Soul Annihilation generating focus on the second hit is true for Sun & Moon, but only at a certain point. If you manage to grab it early game, the second hit doesn't do enough damage to generate enough focus for Soul Annihilation.

Sun & Moon hits twice per swing and has burning/cold lash. Only the first hit gets Soul Annihilation but both hits have a chance to crit. Sun & Moon also hits faster. Grave Calling has higher base damage and the stacking cold lash. Higher focus generation per hit. You can also kill summoned skellies for chill fog / imp cheese. I've used them both, and they're both fairly comparable. (Grave Calling gets.... cool points for looking awesome) Most Rogue abilities are full attack, so that takes full advantage of dual wielding, while only using the attack speed and recovery of the main hand weapon. If you put the faster weapon in the main hand, while a chunkier weapon in the offhand, you'll deal more damage, quicker. Tuotilo's Palm is just a bashing shield that has an increased riposte rate with the Outward Spikes upgrade- not sure how that helps spam Soul Annihilation considering it's primary attack only. Is there some wonky mechanic going on here?

Depends on what I'm trying to achieve. For my main character, I usually rock Modwyr + Rust's Poignard (Shank upgrade) to stack attack speed. I've also used Pukestabber + Lover's Embrace, drinking all the alcohol I could . If your tanking/off tanking, Squid's Grasp with the Attempted Parlay upgrade is nice. I've done that with Magran's Blessing for shield deflection (riposte) and Fire Shield. You could also pair Squid's Grasp with Sun and Moon for higher DPS/Focus generation.

Not quite sure what you want to say with that x). Anyways... Tactic = The means to actually achieve an objective. Strategy = Overall planning. The combat in D:OS2 focuses more on what you actually do in the combat encounter and what actions you take to succeed like using the terrain and environment against your enemies whereas POE/Deadfire focuses on more on the strategic planning like gear, attributes, party composition. I'm not saying that Deadfire doesn't have tactical elements to it's combat (In fact, it has much more than POE), just less than D:OS2. Likewise, it's not that D:OS2 doesn't have strategic elements to it's combat, it's just less than POE/Deadfire.

Wait until you see the power creep with the gear. I actually like both games equally, for different reasons. Camera angle was fine. Multiplayer was fun. The tone is a lot lighter and the humor was funny. Story was good until the last two parts (which they apparently fixed with enhanced edition). Combat is fun, but more tactical than strategic. Companions are decently written, but not as good as Deadfire. Progression/Character Advancement was good except for the aforementioned power creep with the gear.

Yeah. Base abilities, Blinding Strike > Withering Strike. (Blind [-5 Per, Flanked, +50 Recovery Time and -10 Acc] vs Weakened [-5 Con, -50% Incoming Healing Done]) If your going for damage, Gouging Strike > Toxic Strike. (3 Raw Dmg/3s for Indefinitely vs 2 Corrode Dmg/3s for 15 secs) If your going for debuff, Confounding Blind < Perishing Strike. (Blind [-5 Per, Flanked, +50 Recovery Time and -10 Acc] + Stacking Deflection Debuff for 15s vs Weakened [-5 Con, -50% Incoming Healing Done] for 15s, then Enfeebled[-5 Con, No Incoming Healing Done, and Incoming Hostile Effects duration increased by 50%] for another 15s.) Basically Perishing Strike holds a debuff longer (30s) than Confounding Blind (15s) which is useful in stacking multiple afflictions for deathblows.

It seems like most builds dismiss Withering Strike because of the cost. So is it strictly just the cost? Or is the ability not really all that either? Yeah, It's the cost. Makes it not worth it until you get access to more guile late game or have a way to apply Brilliant to regen guile.

I like rogues, but I've always found ciphers underwhelming. I've not done a soul blade though. Is it just spamming Soul Annihilation? Do you guys have an idea on a multiclass paladin survivability? What class would you bring in for a big dps boost? I like the idea of going fire or decay themed from there, but I don't have enough game knowledge to plan it out. Spamming Soul Annihilation gets a bit tedious after a while, and you have so many Powers to choose from. I wouldn't invest in too many of them like your standard caster, but stuff like Mental Binding, Mind Blades, Secret Horrors, Recall Agony, and Borrowed Instinct work well on a Soulblade. I'm rather fond of going Soulblade/Trickster for the free Sparkcrackers and bonus defense/utility. For your Paladin, I'd recommend a Bleak Walker/Monk Votary (probably Helwalker; maybe Nalpazca), which grants you fire/decay damage via Flames of Devotion along with a fire lash through Turning Wheel. I main a melee Mindstalker (Assassin/Soul Blade), and I find that it's more about micromanagement. Stealth In, Perishing Strike or Gouging Strike -> Soul Annihilation -> Devastating Strike (You could also just do Devastating Strike -> Soul Annihilation but I like applying enfeebled or blinded) I'm wearing a certain pair of slippers, so I'll usually crit and go back into stealth. If they aren't dead, repeat. If you need some CC, replace Soul Annihilation with Whispers of Treason/Puppet Master/Ring Leader. If you need more damage- on single target replace Soul Annihilation with Disintegrate, on groups of enemies, replace with Mind Blades. Use Smoke Veil or Potion of Invisibility to get invisible again. Rinse, Repeat. If you need more Focus, just use rogue abilities (Perishing Strike, Devastating Strike) to generate it. I also usually have another cipher in the party for Ancestor's Memory to regen guile. I also use the other cipher to apply afflictions/debuffs For OP: Some variation of Monk or Paladin would fit your criteria.