MaxQuest

If you have time for both, start with Skyrim, because it may be hard to play open world RPGs after W3.Otherwise I recommend playing Witcher 2 (which is relatively short) straight into Witcher 3 + DLCs (esp. Hearts of Stone). Also there are books. Personally I have really enjoyed them. P.S. W3 has better story. Skyrim more possibilities/freedom. Mechanic wise both can be broken, although Skyrim even more so (enchanting+alchemy+smithing endless optimization is an evil too hard to resist).

You can check wiki) Thanks to CompleCCity, FurloSK and Saucellama. I see they have put an effort into it.

Does this also mean you never played Witcher 1, Witcher 2, Morrowind and Oblivion? To answer your question: yes, Skyrim is good and Witcher 3 is gorgeous. Be informed though that they take a lot of time. If your schedule is tight, I would recommend Witcher 2. You can also give DA:Inquisition a try.

Food is indeed needed if you solo bosses, especially in order to push the damage coefficient of your DoTs further. But tbh I like using it even in a 6 man party. I've found sugar and have more than 3? I will toss one on my MC. Some extra DR/MIG/INT/etc food? I'll consume it too. During the first run I was hoarding all this stuff, and in the end haven't used even 1/4 of the food stocked in my inventory. So I've taken notes. Also a note regarding drugs: imho, nowadays drugs are pretty bad, perhaps with the exception of Mind Grubs + Whiteleaf combo, if you don't mind the -10% attack speed penalty. - priest + 2 characters that have Scrolls of Revival - is almost a fool-proof guarantee vs potential wipes from spike damage - 1 character (with high INT/MIG) with moonwell scrolls - 2 characters (with high INT/PER) with scrolls of Confusion/Paralysis - (optional) a support character (with high INT) with scrolls of Valor/Defense/Protection - (optional) a character (with high MIG/INT) with scrolls of Boiling Spray - (optional) prayer scrolls - (optional) a priest with scrolls of Insect Swarm As for potions, it depends on do I have a 6-man party or solo; as well what is the concrete situation. Mostly I use: - Potion of Major Recovery, Potion of Major Endurance and ofc Potion of Deleterious Alacrity of Motion. Also there is Flask of War Paint. Also Potion of Bulwark Against The Elements/Potion of Flame Shield are quite handy vs shades and spectres; and Potion of Llengrath's Displaced Image is great for pushing tank's defenses even further.

Tbh wizard has enough to bring to the table: - per-encounter Deleterious Alacrity of Motion and Minor Blights / Citzal stuff - per-encounter Mass Confusion and other cc effects - Blast and Penetrating Blast talents - or imagine a ranger with Twinned Arrows + Driving Flight + wizard's Blackbow - Arcane Veil will greatly add up with tanks defenses, making Paladin and Fighter tanks practically unhittable. Also there are many defensive spells.

I have a bit contradictory feeling about what kind of cipher do you need. x1. Damage-oriented with high MIG: - in this party you might want to use Disintegration for easier boss fights - having an animal companion makes it easier to use Ectopsychic Echo x2. CC-oriented with low-average MIG and high DEX/INT/PER - in this party you will want to use CC (esp. WoT and Mental Binding) a lot - it will be hard sometimes to keep enemies away from your cipher (the only one who can cover him is your wizard, which has per-rest cc) and you can't afford building a glass cannon, hence not enough points to invest in MIG. Overall, I would go for a 9/10/16/16/19/8 cc-cipher: - plate armor: Sanguine plate (before lvl 13), and probably White Crest Armor + Malina Boots (past lvl 13). - belt: Blunting Belt (early-mid game) and Girdle of Mortal Protection/Girdle of Maegfolc Might (in late game) - weapons: Fine Estoc (from Kana, on low-level) -> Drakesbell (before lvl 7) -> Firebrand (awesome on cipher btw) + Tidefall (before lvl 12) -> Durganized Blade of the Endless Paths - gloves: Firebrand (before lvl 13) -> Gloves of Swift Action (from lvl 13) - if you play with knockout injuries disabled, give him some Second Chance item. Open the fight with a shot from Lead Spitter/Pliambo per Casitàs, cast a power and switch to melee. You can also get Twin Sting, it has 1 DAoM usage per rest, and start with it in harder fights, if you don't have enough potions. As for talents: Bitting Whip, Greater Focus, Two-Handed Style, Scion of Flame (if you use Firebrand), Draining Whip, Psychic Backlash (while it has no limit), Apprentice's Sneak Attack, Savage Attack. Later you can respec and take out Greater Focus, and add Quick Switch/Weapon Focus/Ghost Hunter/w/e. P.S. Shod in Faith on Barbarian is great, but you might also want someone to be able to cast Moonwell with high MIG score. Is your ranger melee?

As requested, here is the stripped version that includes only the #1 fix (i.e. fixes DoT and Direct damage (like that from Recall Agony) not being registered in Total Damage secion on character sheet) To avoid confusion, it is called DTMod. Download: link. P.S. Since UPMod incorporates this fix as well, do not use them both at the same time.

The look on Josh's face says it all

I don't know. Roughly how many percent of players are you? If you're over 25% of players then maybe we can squeeze one if for you. Joining the vithrack club... if you can bribe me with a good racial passive + ability)

It should. DoTs do not benefit from Merciless Hand. On the other hand generally DoTs do benefit from crits more than usual attacks do, because crits increase their total damage by x1.5 (i.e. is applied multiplicatively and is not diluted by other damage coefficients). For chants I am not sure though. A crit at 20 INT / lvl 13 might have (4.8 + 6 * 1.5) or (4.8 + 6) * 1.5 duration.

Hmm. That's strange... Dragon Trashed (base): 10 burn + 10 slash damage vs reflex, every 3s vs 1/4 of respective DR | base duration 8s + 4s linger Sacred Immolation (base): 20-30 burn damage vs reflex, every 3s vs full burn DR | base duration: 30s Brisk Recitation reduces base duration by: 4 - 10% 7 - 20% 10 - 30% 13 - 40% 16 - 50% So at level 13 it would be 4.8s base duration + 4s linger (at 10 INT) or 4.8s base duration + 6s linger (at 20 INT) At 20 MIG and 20 INT it would be: - Dragon Trashed: 13 burn + 13 slash every 3s; but since it stacks with itself, just consider that each 4.8s there is applied a DoT that has 10.8s duration and ticks for: 2 * (13 - DR/4) (on 0s, 3s, 6s, 9s) and 2 * (7.8 - DR/4) (on 10.8s mark). - Sacred Immolation: 26-39 damage vs full DR, every 3s for 45s So, during 45s, vs 0 DR targets (assuming there are no grazes/crits, just hits): - Sacred Immolation will deal: (26+39)/2 * (45/3+1) = 520 burn damage to each enemy - Sacred Immolation (with Scion of Flame) will deal: (30+45)/2 * (45/3 + 1) = 600 burn damage to each enemy - Dragon Trashed during 45s will get applied 9 times: 7 times (it will have time to tick fully for 10.8s) and 2 times it will be still in effect (and will manage to tick for 6.6s and 1.8s respectively). Even if we omit choped ticks and count only full ones, it will steal deal: (7 * 4 + 2) * 2 * 13 = 390 burn + 390 slash damage to each enemy During 45s, vs 10 DR targets, on average that would be: - Sacred Immolation: [(26+39)/2 - 10] * (45/3 + 1) = 360 burn damage to each enemy - Sacred Immolation (with Scion of Flame): [(30+45)/2 - 10] * (45/3 + 1) = 440 burn damage to each enemy - Dragon Trashed: 30 full ticks * 2 * (13 - 10/4) = 315 burn + 315 slash damage to each enemy During 45s, vs 20 DR targets, on average that would be: - Sacred Immolation: [(26+39)/2 - 20] * (45/3 + 1) = 200 burn damage to each enemy - Sacred Immolation (with Scion of Flame): [(30+45)/2 - 20] * (45/3 + 1) = 280 burn damage to each enemy - Dragon Trashed: 30 full ticks * 2 * (13 - 20/4) = 240 burn + 240 slash damage to each enemy - Dragon Trashed (with Scion of Flame and UPMod): 30 full ticks * (15 - 20/4 + 13 - 20/4) = 300 burn + 240 slash damage to each enemy It's a bit raw estimation, because we: - do not consider grazes and crits - assume that slash DR is same as burn DR TL.DR. Generally Dragon Trashed chant should deal more damage than Sacred Immolation in fights that last for 20s+, simply because it stacks with itself.

Boeroer nailed it with the hp pool issue. The main good thing from draining weapons, is that at least rogue will have higher % of current endurance - which is checked by quite a few enemies when they are deciding whom to attack (mainly creatures whom you could call being fighters or rangers). And thus there is hope than in certain fights such a rogue would get targeted less often. On the other hand if you have Shod-in-Faith boots in party plus some emergency potions/lay-on-hands chances are everyone has 80%+ endurance anyway, and this makes taking draining weapons kind of redundant.

Depends on what weapons do you have at your disposal, plus what armor do you wear. If it was pre-level 7,.. I would totally recommend having Persistence in main set, Lead Spitter in off set, and taking Penetrating Shot. The plan being: make a shot with LS and quickly switch to the bow. On level 10 though, you might want another bow: Cloudpiercer or even better: The Rain of Godagh Field, which comes already enchanted to superb quality (which is nice as you can't apply such enchant yourself until lvl 12). Blunderbusses and bow benefit a lot for DR bypass and extra accuracy. For pistols though... if you still keep missing / or use sabres - Ruffian; otherwise I would take Arms Bearer or even Sanctifier provided that you go to WM now) or Scion of Flame (if you have burning lash / aefyllath). Regarding Arms Bearer vs Gunner: Gunner would reduce your pistol reloading from 150 to 125 frames, i.e. saving you 0.833s on each shot (from 275f down to 250f) - provided there are no other modifiers. Arms Bearer would substitute your reloading animation (of 150 frames) with switching animation (60 frames; or 15 frames if you have Quick Switch) - i.e it would save you 3s (or 4.5s with QS) , but only once.

(-) Eder - Saint's War Armor - through I liked it during my first run, I now consider it weak. Mainly because it is a scale armor and has 50% penalty to pierce DR. Sincerely atm I now look only at plate, robe, padded and hide armors. (+) Aloth - Aloth's Leather Armor - may be decent on a ranged priest in early game; but in mid-late game leather does not provide enough DR to justify the recovery penalty. (-) Sagani - Massuk Hunting Bow - it's nice that it provides two damage types and thus can be used as an offset weapon; but if pierce DR is high, I'd rather switch to some nice Scepter (slash/crush). (+) Kana - Generic Arquebus - now we talking, as it's the best early weapon for a fire priest (until level 5 that is). Also afaik Kana has an estoc. (-) Pallegina - Pallegina's Breatplate - "+50% Armor Damage Reduction when under 25% Max Health" - no, thank you, I am above that threshold, and I want plate. (+) Durance - Durance's Staff - that's a great early-game weapon vs shades as they have very low fire DR. (+) Durance - Durance's Robe - it has huge fire DR (which is nice; but would be super good if it was freeze), and also +2 CON (and you can't enchant +2 stat until lvl 5), which makes it the best pre lvl-5 armor for any of your ranged dpsers. (+) Maneha - Maneha's Armor - great for second-line barbarians or for ranged off-dps/support whom you don't want to get focused by shades. The only items out of these I would consider for late game are: - Maneha's Armor - Durance's Staff (only if it would have burn/crush instead of crush/burn) (will probably edit it someday) - Durance's Armor (only if it had freeze DR instead of fire)

^ It's a level 13 ability.

No. Blast, Penetrating Blast and Kalakoth's Minor Blights (for harder fights) are the main auto-attack damage contributors. Sure you could take a priest, give him an arquebus (for levels 2-6) and an implement (from level onward), but his damage contribution mainly comes from DoT spells. Thus from level 7 you just take a weapon solely for it's procs, marking and defensive stats.

I remember I had decent success with a Borresaine cipher in my first playthrough. I was often 'pinging' one spellcaster until stun came off, than switching to another. Although now I find that it's better to keep attacking the targets with lowest deflection/DR, and interrupt/cc via related powers. Prayer is applied to friendly targets. Already charmed party-members are not considered allied. On another hand you can 'free' them with Liberating Exhortation, and then drop a prayer.

I remember a similar question was asked here: link

It will still count as soon as you have issued the attack order.

Yeap, Seven Nights is great. But it's damage is affected mainly by MIG. While DoT damage is increased by MIG AND INT, leading to some sweet damage coefficients) Just in case: you can hover over your character, and check the endurance color in the popup (on top-left of the window): green, yellow, red.

Exactly) It would be nice if the "accuracy malus" would not be just plain -acc, but rather something like: - you have -10 acc when dual-wielding firearms - all misses have a 25% chance to hit an adjacent target (per target)

Thanks, glad to hear that) Well, Chillfog is is a tank, who takes defensive talents and uses defensive weapon. While dual-wielder can take more offensive stuff. For example: - chillfog tank (sword + shield, plate, 4DEX) will make a swing once in 132 frames (~4.4s) - dual-wielder (sabre + sabre, plate, 10DEX, Two-Weapon style) will make a swing once in ~74 frames (~2.5s; or x1.76 faster) Not to mention that sabre deals more damage. Or you could even go for Sword of Daenysis + Azureith's Stiletto + Vulnerable Attack + TWS + Sanguine Plate; and deliver a hit every 47 frames (~1.56s; or x2.8 faster) each with 8 DR bypass. Early-mid game there can be up to x2-x3 difference (in total damage done by these two chanters). But later it will get lower, because Dragon-Trashed (and to a lesser degree Seven Nights) will contribute the most to your damage output.

Because on lvl 5, my dps'ers where getting access to the next rank of spells/powers. Also, while chanter was getting some defensive talents; others could get something like Blast/PenBlast/PenShots/BittingWhip/etc widening the gap. I mean Soft Winds were great very early, while enemies had just 40-60 endurance; but my other damage contributing members have quickly catched up. On lvl 7 when I have stopped using this chant, my damage-oriented cipher already has dealt x5 the damage my chanter-tank (with maxed MIG/INT and SoftWinds as the only chant used) did. I suppose they didn't think about the DoT spells apriori; it looks like related logic was added later, and probably in a rush. Also could be implemented by another person. I would expect that two chanters of the same MIG/INT deal somewhat close amount of damage via Dragon Trashed chant (assuming it's the only one used). Sure there might be a difference in accuracy, but a simple mass paralyze is already providing a -40 reflex malus. So it's either a sign of lack of stuns/paralyze effects; or there were damage-oriented invocations used by one chanter, but not another. Yeap. 6 fixed to be exact. And yes, you can install it in the middle of the run. Uninstalling it is safe as well; the saves are not affected.

Always? Hard to say) I am certain in the following though: - from v2.03 (when I started playing) till v3.06 DoT damage was not registered in "Total Damage" section on character's sheet. - dealing damage is handled in two different functions: one for damage that was dealt immediately after hit roll resolution; and another for direct damage application. The second one is stripped of interruption checks, and various damage modifiers (it is also essentially located in the completely different class); it also has access to less stuff, that's why it's hard to fix Bartender's Ring. As for killing/death events/listeners - I didn't inspect much. It does. And yup, it is it. A few bug fixes + 2 QoL improvements (faster potions consume animation + more reliable charm/dominate) It is. Will need free time for this though. My party is only level 8. So far I can only tell that Soft Winds of Death are only worth it on levels 1-4; while Shining Beacon indeed does a lot of damage (provided that you have maxed both MIG and INT).

Tracking kills and registering "direct" damage (which includes all DoTs and instances that do not go via attack resolution) are separate. Tbh that's was one of the reasons I've made UPMod in the first place, as I wanted to check how good Dragon Trashed and Shinning Beacons are in practice, and compare total damage done at the end of the playthrough. (my party is lvl 8 atm)