MaxQuest

Just finished my first playthrough. I think there are two ways to weight the difficulty of fights. One on the 'absolute' scale, were probably Llengrath, Alpine and Radiant Spore would take the prize. And another related to the perceived difficulty upon first stumbling. For example I still remember that bear in the cave. On level 1, it took me 6 attempts to realize that it is nigh-impossible to beat him. For me it was as follows (from hardest to easiest): 1. Bear in the cave (lvl 1) 2. Warchief Iklak (stumbled upon on lvl 4; gave up after 7 attempts; only on level 5 could finally kill him) 3. Zolla + ogre + ogre druid (lvl 4; it took 4 attempts) 4. Adra Dragon on lvl 11 (lvl 11; took 3 attempts) (it feels like both breath and wing slam range is way bigger than that of other dragons) 5. Felisa and her gang (lvl 8; 3 attempts) 6. Llengrath (lvl 16, 2 attempts) 7. Final battle at white forge (with dwarf spirits and guardians) (lvl 10; 2 attempts) (the first Shadowflame hit all party, and was spammed again and again) 8. Radiant Spore (lvl 14, 2 attempts) 9. Alpine Dragon (lvl 15, 2 attempts) 10. Eyeless ambush (lvl 12, from first attempt, but my frontliners ran out of health) 11. Ondrite monks (that fight at Reliquary) (lvl 14, from first attempt, but it was brutal) 12. Colcelhaut (lvl 15, first attempt) The first try on Llengrath was quite hilarious tbh. I summoned all figurines and I suppose that's what triggered both the dragons to start the fight with dual Breath attack, annihilating my backline. And the second breath followed instantly after the Second Chance kicked in. While the next try (without figurines) sealed the deal.

Exactly! Playing with extended AI options from DA:O was great fun, and it let you pass through regular encounters like a knife through butter, without pausing at all. And it wasn't like AI is playing instead of you. The feeling was closer to being a leader of a good team; and the pleasure you could get was similar to what a powerbuilder feels when he finally comes up with a good idea.

Damn, and I always thought that wounding deals 25% from the final, post-DR damage...Just checked ingame, and the results show that it takes x0.25 of pre-DR damage, and moreover, it also multiplies that value again with your might modifier. (as for int, it only increases duration without affecting total damage) If only it would generate bonus focus...

^ Hehe, indeed. He has higher defenses than Alpine Dragon. Although no Deathblows, lower DR and Intellect (hence breath cone distance) make him still easier. (Updated stats for reference here)

I've got a question regarding content scaling, dragon stats and bestiary entries: Playing with unscaled WM1, scaled Act3 and scaled WM2 I have noticed that: - Adra Dragon real stats match those in the bestiary - Alpine Dragon real stats match those in bestiary too - Sky Dragon real stats do NOT match those in bestiary. Defenses are higher (by 17-31), and I though that it is due to the content scaling. - But Llengrath dragons didn't have higher stats than those from bestiary, like I expected. So: do the dragons scale-up or not?

Weapon accuracy doesn't affect spells. Shields' malus does through.

Sure, why not? Six apprentice party, each having a unique style sounds quite fun. Something like: Llengrath tank, Citzal melee dps, Ryngrim melee offtank, Kalakoth ranged wand/frost specialist, Minnoleta (max might / avg int) ranged piercer and your MC. The amount of CC is insane, although it might take some time to optimize the damage/resting thing.

Hehe, the most amusing was suddenly realizing that Turisulfus has 51 pierce DR and immunity to corrode damage; while I had two warbow ciphers with corrode lash enchants Min ftw! Tbh I wasn't bothering with reducing enemy DR. On simple high-DR enemies like Adra Animats usually crits+Penetrating Shots was more than enough. While on Dragons, raw damage works wonders. (e.g. build focus on adds, charm the dragon, kill the adds, and before charm expires and fortitude is still reduced by 25, cast two disintegrates; also there is Envenomed Strike talent) P.S. To add to Rosveen's list there is also fighter's Sundering Blow.

Is that about Cladhalíath? (if so.. in 3.0 it was working fine, although have spent 15 minute to finally figure out that I needed two party members to be standing on some runes first)

This is from 3.02 update notes: "Acuan Giamas Spells/Abilities no longer stolen indefinitely.". It puzzled me a bit, since we both remember that the stealing was done for a finite amount of time. (iirc 30-40s on hit, with 10 int) --------------------- On topic: Hey Elric, tbh I like most of the proposed suggestions. Especially: - Escape refresh on kill - Riposte on graze as well - Fearsome Strike made either per-encounter (or make it hit all adjacent enemies) - Shadow Step (although 4s of uncancellable invisibility instead of 5) - Wild Sprint (+20% dmg during duration, or immune to Stuck) - Barbaric Shout (fast-cast, no-recovery) - Dragon Leap (prone instead of dazed) - Heart of Fury (1 per-encounter or.. leave it at 1 per-rest but passively increase Barbaric Blow to 2 per-encounter)

Thanks for posting this. Many interesting points made there. And yeah, it's indeed harder to come up with a completely non-viable build (e.g. maxDex/minInt chanter, minMight/minInt priest) Although I wouldn't compare Might from PoE with Strength from DnD. Because there is DR in this game. Also when you try to figure out the final dps, you do stumble upon wonderful damage coefficients and attack speed stacking formulas

1. At level 7 if unscaled. Or level 9-10 if scaled. 2. Act 2 was indeed to easy after WM1. But scaled-up Act 3 was just perfect (at lvl 10) 3. Iirc, Od Nua levels 10-14 were easier than 8 and 9. So if you have passed those, sure go all the way to lvl 14. As for the last one... Adra Dragon might be unforgiving when faced at lvl 9. 4. Answered by Messier.

^ This game has many strong points, but unfortunately documentation ain't one. I remember testing it in 2.0 and it was working one way (and it looked that it did like intended) Although I could explore all location with ranger's pet and no one would aggro if the ranger himself was too far away. I remember re-checking stealth later into the game (just after 3.0 has happened) and iirc sometimes it worked, while sometimes there was zero difference. The thing is, that with current value of lore, survival and athletics there is little motivation to run tests for stealth, which would be accurate and comprehensive enough for a bug report.

Imho, there are several ways to deal with those effects: - v1. High will defense. But! don't expect this alone to save you. The main point is to shift the resolution from crits to grazes, and accompany it with scrolls of Protection and Potions of Major Recovery. So even if you are affected by these effects, they would wear of in 0-2s. - v2. Paladin with Liberating Exhortation and Aegis of Loyalty. This thread explains how to make the most of it. - v3. Proactive prevention. You can either focus-damage enemy cc-casters in the first order. Or if that is not an option cc them yourself. And there is always something that can affect them, be it prone, paralyze or charm. (tip treasoning Addragans that accompany Adra Dragon works like a charm) - v4. Scroll of Prayer against Bewilderment and Scroll of Prayer against Treachery. Although the later becomes available pretty late into the game, when you already don't need it...and is the only scroll that requires 12 lore. - v5. Priest. Mass prayers and single target litanies.

Same. On next playthrough I will probably leave stealth at zero for everyone. And for the "Heart of the White Marsh" quest, will just take a temp member. (current run was started on 2.0, and iirc stealth detection was working for those guards)

^ Riposte proc is an instant Full Attack. So yeah, you should hit with both weapon and the shield (if it has bash property; and Barricade does have it).

My preferences are: For main dps: Wood Elf or Hearth Orlan For main tank and cc-specialist: Wild Orlan For high-might/low-per support off-tank: Moon Godlike Human could be an ok option for barbarian (provided there is a priest with Salvation of Time, to prolong Fighting Spirit proc) Other races are situational and dependent on concrete builds. Basically any race has it's ups and downs, except for probably Nature Goodlike and Mountain Dwarf, who seem a bit subpar.

I haven't played with these classes yet. Did they feel being close to mvp during the dragon fights?

Most used is probably deleterious potion. But I also run with lots of scrolls (just-in-case). Main dps: del.potion, major endurance, scrolls of paralysis, scrolls of revival. CC dps: del.potion, major endurance, scrolls of paralysis, scrolls of confusion. Off dps: del.potion, major endurance, two figurines (no lore on this one) Sup dps: scrolls of valor, scrolls of revival, scrolls of paralysis, major endurance Main Tank: figurine, major endurance, llengrath displaced image, scrolls of defense. Off tank: figurine, major endurance, scrolls of protection, scrolls of revival As for food/drugs I use them before combat, and than free the slots.

Eder (he ran out of health only once, on Radiant Spore) Btw, I am running Kana as 2nd tank. He's good in 95% of encounters. But still... it's just 10 base res and 12 con (similar to Ambassador) I can't for example leave him alone 1x4. And of course not letting him even come close to the dragons.

^ Hmm, I dunno, there are at least 3 melee chanter builds... - CC-Tank (wild-orlan): it's the one presented by dam in the first post (although I'd take 19 int/19 res). Small but sturdy. With small/medium shield. It is focused around buffing/debuffing chants (besides those mentioned there is also the very-useful fire lash), cc scrolls and invocations. - Fort-Tank (moon godlike): 19/15/4/3/19/18. Heavy tank with a heavy shield. Buffing chants, buffing scrolls, summoning invocations. Can potentially hold enemies engaged better than low-might tank, if AI does indeed have a check for disengagement cost (i.e. damage they would receive). Also, unlike previous, this build will allow you to use the White Worms invocation, provided you have also a wizard in party. Paralyze would drastically reduce enemies' reflex so chanter's low per won't be an issue. And petrify into worms would be even better for the x2 damage. - Boeror's Drake Ambassador (aumaua or fire-godlike): 21/10/3/16/18/10. This is a front-line dps build, based on Dragon chant. It can offtank a little, but it is mostly a sup-dps. More info here. ---- On topic: cc-tank is okay, as long as you pack him with few paralyze and confuse scrolls. Someone (with high int and per) has to cast them anyway I was considering this build too. Although I am not sure how well he will keep enemies engaged.

1). As you do feel comfortable. It is arguable better to spend your last money on buying a build-related weapon (e.g. Tall Grass, Borresaine), and use only your surplus gold on the hold upgrades. 2). Higher security. Although it will still be random. 3). The only one that is must-have for me is Warden's Lodge, because of the bounties. Ah and Barbicans as you need them for further map passage. Botanical gardens and Curio shop can also be useful for the plants and creature parts they generate. Also I like building Craft Hall and Towers, as DEX and PER are my favorite resting bonuses. 4). I upgrade it fully. You need high prestige for the chance of getting high-level adventures.

Iirc I have seen both (Sneak Attack) and (Deathblows) in combat log when attacking with regular attacks (provided the requirements are met). Also there is a related thread about them stacking here. The reason you don't see (Sneak Attack) in the screenshot with scrolls is because, unlike Deathblows, it doesn't affect them. (at least not those tested) In the previous post I have specifically highlighted that: - Sneak Attack: adds +50% melee damage; +50% ranged damage - Deathblows: adds +100% damage; +100% ranged damage I.e. Deathblows description misses the "melee" part. --------- P.S. So to resume, good weapon combinations for a rogue are: - dual sabres (due to higher base damage) - dual battle axes for crit rogue (due to +0.5 dmg.mod on crit) (sabres with annihilation could make it too, but I wouldn't pass We Toki) - Tall Grass (for a mid-line rogue) - Blunderbuss (esp. Silver Flash) because each shot triggers 6 x Deep Wounds. And with Deathblows modifier can easily bypass enemy DR. Plus a slow weapon makes the most out of rogue's strike abilities (plus +0.25 modifier on most of them) - Persistence if can reliably maintain Deathblows and 0 recovery. - Bittercut + Badgradr's Barricade (because bash adds to Full-Attacks; it procs Deep Wounds; together with Thrust proc, which also benefits from Deathblows) (Bittercut is almost guaranteed to deal high damage due to slash/corrode; and Vile Thorns can apply Deep Wounds to everyone hit plus is benefiting from Deathblows too) Or is there anything else?

Heh, just faced him yesterday evening. I agree, the encounter is way too easy (potd, scaled up). Kraken dies tree times faster than it takes to deal with those Eyeless. Actually Kyoto encounter feels twice as a boss fight than Kraken himself.

When I saw the title have thought it's about max-per monk with stunning weapons -- The amount of afflictions this build can inflict is indeed great. But.. it would require taking away the Binding Rope from the main tank... Btw, another option for the head piece would be Executioner's Hood (unless you already gave it to a Loyalty Paladin)