MaxQuest

Hirelings are irrelevant I was looking if any scenario will make a difference regarding Emery. For some reason killing her just doesn't feel right for me. - update - Managed to keep her alive. This idiosyncrasy of mine, can take a rest now.

Hmm, not quite. Since dex also reduces the attack phase. In theory going from 10 dex to 20, would net the same x1.3 benefit, regardless of your recovery. Because action time = (attack_time + recovery_time) / (1 + dex_bonus) In practice... between actions there is also a small delay. Nevertheless, here are the frame results (recorded a few minutes ago) for full action times (i.e. between two consecutive hits) of a warbow: (checked, and re-checked over a long sequence of shots) 10 dex, no speed buffs: 126 frames 20 dex, no speed buffs: 98 frames (/1.28) 10 dex, no recovery: 52 frames 20 dex, no recovery: 42 frames (/1.23) P.S. Too bad, can't test frames with at least decimal accuracy.

Eyeless Hammer stats (on PotD): Probably the easiest way, would be to make them Stuck. For example with ranger's Binding Roots (which target reflex) or priest's Halt (against will) and just shoot them from range. Or you could level up to level 13. And test the St. Ydwen's Redeemer.

Confirming. Also during the battle slides, you have an option to send your allies after: a). enemy mages b). enemy berserkers c). enemy bleak-walkers. Or charge straight ahead. P.S. I am doing this battle right now, and have tried a few scenarios so far, for the sake of seeing what will happen. So. If you charge straight away, you will have the following situation: - enemies: Gathbin, Emery, 2 battlemages, 1 berserker, 1 bleak-walker, 8 mercenaries, 7 archers, 1 beguiler, 1 shieldwarden, 2 priests, 2 dogs - allies: your party + your hirelings + 7 skirmishers + 5 archers + 1 veteran (ye, awesome help for 10k gold) Now, if you send your allies after one of the aforementioned groups. It will eliminate: a). 1 battlemage; b). 1 berserker; c). 1 bleak-walker. So having allies is not a big deal at all. P.P.S. Is it even possible to recruit Captain Emery? I have re-loaded few times, until I managed such that Emery is the last one alive. Once the last enemy soldier but her, had fallen, slides appeared. Congratulations from Marshal. Quest completed. And then bam! she still dies to an auto-attack... http://i.imgur.com/3Pr5E6E.jpg

Uhm, after you have defeated the guards, did you try to 'activate' that Green Adra Crystal in front of the Dragon Head (you were placing the orbs intto)? I was waiting for something to trigger too, until I accidentally mouseover'ed it and noticed a different interaction icon. (so just right click it, and there a dialog will appear)

It works only with firearms. It doesn't s stack with: Swift Aim, Vicious Aim and Twin Arrows. With it's on, you basically hit a single target with pierce damage and then unleash burning damage in a cone. Friendly fires. With proper positioning theoretically can vastly outperform Twin Arrows. Problem is: your ranger is not the one to stand in front line. Could be funny with ranger standing in midline, just behind two pale-elf tanks with huge reflex.

Hmm, so Time Parasite will override the speed bonus from Otlander's Frenzy? That's something to test... P.S. Also I have a strange feeling regarding speed enchants (i suspect them speeding up only the hand they are used on). So 1h + durgan-refined shield might be short from dual-wielding not by 20%, but only by 5%. Although not tested yet.

Well, different speed increases do stack. With the only exception of swift aim and Sure-Handed chant's reloading (swift-aim's 50% overrides those 20% from the chant). Probably multiple time parasites casted on different targets will stack too. But not sure if it is worth it, since you can reduce recovery only to zero, not below it. (I mean it won't start reducing attack phase time)

Sounds like... you had the idea to slow those dragons via multiple time parasites and try to interrupt them to death

Ugh, the dex was never useless. Going from 10 dex to 20, increases by 30% the speed of your shooting, casting, pretty much everything except instant casts. And (with the sake of example all other stats being the same) this translates into 30% dps increase. The cons of dex are: - it's benefits are subject to slight diminishing returns. Let's say you want to perform an action of 104 frames duration. By going from 10 dex to 20, that action time will be reduced to 80 frames (104/1.3). That's a x1.3 increase for 10 dex. But if you will increase dex by 10 furthermore, action time will become 65 (104/1.6). That's x1.23 relative increase for the new 10 dex. (80/65). (Btw might suffers from diminishing returns too) - this game has enemies with DR. Might helps overcome it. Dex doesn't. - doesn't play nicely with limited spells and abilities. Although this doesn't affect cipher. - can be of less use if you use quick-switching and the battle goes for longer time; because initial burst get's less of relative value. Faster. The pros of dex: - on hits and especially on crits against low DR enemies, provides way higher damage increase, than might would. Mainly because might's quota in damage increase is diluted by other damage increasing coeficients. While dex's isn't. So to resume: - mig and per, take precedence over dex, if you use very low-dmg hitting weapons, like hunter bows, blunderbusses, etc. (esp. blunderbuss with quick switch) - dex takes precedence over (or is at least on par with) mig, if you use arquebuses and pistols.

There is also a related thread on reddit. If of any use...

Well, I can imagine stilettos being useful against an enemy with low DR and huuuge deflection, such that you mostly hit and graze him. This is when DR bypass is most useful. But usually a large one-handed weapon is a better bet. The extra base damage helps you overcome DR too, but unlike static DR reduction it also scales with crits. And sabres are especially good at it. So to resume: - you have maxed dex, and now have low per/mig? Stilletos - you have high mig and maxed per? Sabres - you have average mig and maxed per? Battle Axes (but Resolution sabre will make it too) Cipher and rogue are probably the only classes that can be ok with 10 mig, while being played as pure dps. For example cipher has to thank his soul and biting whips. They add +0.4 to your damage coefficient. Having 14 mig instead of 10 would add 0.12 to your dmg.coef. And with a superb weapon it's not a big deal if you hit for x1.85 or x1.97. The difference is only 6.4%. And with a crit-inclided build it would be even less

In a way,.. that's what it does if your acc is by 50 higher than enemy deflection. Even better if you have less acc. But yeah, pure 1H with nothing in offhand is underwhelming, and quite anti-synergic with One-Handed Style talent. I can imagine the idea was: to have a [1h+shield] setup as main, but when not being engaged/hit to switch to just [1h] (at least it's useful for situations when one big, tough enemy remains). But inability to have the same weapon in two different weapon sets, coupled with recovery from switch, kind of kills it.

I know that soulbound weapons benefit from focus talents even if it doesn't match the weapon category. What about priest talents? Can a priest of Skaen still get +10 acc when using Steadfast?

Yeah there are rings with such Spell Binding. But, this is.. "Spell Holding". I doubt anyone would like to automatically transfer his endurance after being critically hit, to the one who hit them. It would be quite the show

In meantime you can ease your pain by using hotkeys. I have ctrl-a for select all. And then just "B", to exit from stealth. Or you could create control groups (ctrl-1, ctrl-2, etc)

100% agree. I also wanted to have full control over companions builds and attributes. But without losing their banter and quests. In v2 I simply used console to redistribute their stats. But in v3, they reset back to default values on save load. Heh, before I noticed that, I've got quite puzzled why the hell did Kana start to go low so fast.

I suppose there is no ideal party composition. Because different encounters require different approach. For example:

Interesting, what does this do.. And what items do have it on?

Awesome! Bashing shields might become worth it on ciphers and barbs now. P.S. It would be interesting to check the interaction with Taste of the Hunt, when it goes live. You can use console command HelmetVisibility False(although it hides helmets on all your characters) What if you fighter is dual-wielding? Will both hand attacks target will instead of deflection? Or only those dealt with Steadfast explicitly?

Aaaand no Figurines! To make it the most sadistic playthough ever

Bash 1: 6-9 (ex: Badgradr's Barricade) Bash 2: 8-12 (ex: Larder Door) Bash 3: 10-15 (ex: Dragon's Maw Shield) P.S. Have tested a few more things in regards to shields with bash property: (tested with Badgradr's Barricade shield which has bashing 1 and grants Thrust of Tattered Veils on critical hit) - damage from bash does not generate focus, nor procs carnage hits. - enchants on these shields that "grant a <spell> on hit/critical hits", trigger only when bash hits/crits. Weapon hits/crits do not proc them. - spells triggered this way, do not generate focus, nor proc carnage hits.

Not sure if it will help. But try to substitute Durance with some other companion, while at an inn. Then rest. And take him back.

Damage % bonuses - yes, all are applied additively. Reloading speed % bonuses - are applied multiplicatively. And attack/recovery bonuses go beyond that. Yes, but iirc it goes against 1/4 of corresponding (to lash damage type) DR. --------- Thrown with the rest. Example: soul whip with 20 might graze coef: 1 + 0.2 + 0.3 - 0.5 Until you asked I was pretty sure that it is "20% of net pre-DR damage". Like you hit for 30 damage against 40 DR, and 6 dmg still go through. Iirc it works that way, and I had no doubts yet, which would motivate me to explicitly test it. New reloading time will be 80 frames. And if you would also have Gunner talent, it would be: 120/1.5/1.2 = 66.7 frames. Note: recovery time is calculated differently. Full action cycle = 4 frames delay + action cycle; Action cycle = attack time + recovery time + reloading time. Dexterity applies to all those phases (but seems it doesn't affect delay). Each phase time equals base_phase_time / (1 + dex_bonus) No idea. But guess so. Isn't this the most rational approach afterall?

Isn't dragon chant damage also being influenced by might?