MaxQuest

- yeap, it's possible to achieve zero recovery - no, you can't achieve zero reloading. I would expect that stacking all reloading decreasing stuff would decrease it by x4-x6 at most. - yeap, it's harder to achieve zero recovery (especially when using single weapon); on the other hand there will be more effect variants to achieve it as effects from other categories than AttackSpeedMult become as important. - how hard or easy is to achieve zero recovery can be adjusted by modifying recovery_factor value. Generally - yes.

You would have: [half as long] attack duration, [quarter as long] recovery and [half as long] reloading duration. Not quite) In PoE1 system: - "+x% attack speed" stuff affects only recovery duration. Plus we cannot really say if "base recovery duration" or "current recovery duration" are affected, because if target is under the influence of only one such effect then both are true, and if multiple - neither are true (because of the complicated way it is calculated, to the point when there is no longer direct proportion between effects and actual speedUp). In proposed system: - "+x% attack speed" generally yes - could be said to affect the whole action cycle, as you can see by [speedUp] column. .. - although actually it affects only recovery AND reloading. You probably have noticed the trick I do use, e.g: when I calculate the new value for recovery I calculate the duration of green phase, and than compute what the recovery should be to accommodate this result. In such a way attack duration is kept intact just like in PoE1. But the end values of action cycle are proportional to the product of current speed effects. Assuming DEX is computed as it is in PoE1, and taking your example from above, it would be: - POE1: [half as long] attack duration, [quarter as long] recovery and [half as long] reloading duration. - Prop: [half as long] attack duration, [quarter as long] recovery and [quarter as long] reloading duration. Tbh, I like that DEX does affect all phases. Still thinking how it would be better to apply it though. At the end, multiplicatively; or make it directly affect the speed modifier (as one of positive or negative effects). In any case, I think it would make sense to adjust the DEX effect when it's value is less than 10, specifically: PoE1: 20 DEX => 1/1.30 = 0.769 18 DEX => 1/1.24 = 0.806 15 DEX => 1/1.15 = 0.869 10 DEX => 1/1.00 = 1 5 DEX => 1/0.85 = 1.176 2 DEX => 1/0.76 = 1.315 0 DEX => 1/0.70 = 1.428 Proposed: 20 DEX => 1/1.30 = 0.769 18 DEX => 1/1.24 = 0.806 15 DEX => 1/1.15 = 0.869 10 DEX => 1/1.00 = 1 5 DEX => 1.15/1 = 1.15 2 DEX => 1.24/1 = 1.24 0 DEX => 1.30/1 = 1.30 In this case something like Gauntlets of Swift Action would exactly compensate for the malus from having 5 DEX in comparison to having 10.

Tehee, spirit/vessel crew + fungi quartermaster.

Looking forward)

There are also people, that don't care for historical realism, but just have played a lot of RPGs and are able to differentiate sabre - scimitar - yatagan - machete - cutlass - sabre /stopping being that guy Personally I don't care much what to swing at the enemy. I could easily use a stylish shovel if it had the right penetration stats to pay respects to the villains of Deadfire.

Yeap, it is 1. Imagine as if there were two internal variables both initiated with a value of 1: possitiveSpeedEffectsCoef negativeSpeedEffectsCoef Now you are affected by a buff that increases your recovery speed by 20%, in this case in code you multiply possitiveSpeedEffectsCoef by 1.20. And if that buff would decrease recovery speed, than negativeSpeedEffectsCoef would get multiplied by 1.20 instead. Now guess why it is better to have two variables, instead of just one I understand your confusion. Regarding DEX: - 2nd variant: you would be attacking twice as fast. I.e. your attack, recovery and reloading durations will be halved. Regarding "+X% attack speed": - stuff that states this in their PoE1 tooltip, affects only recovery phase. - 1st variant: recovery duration can be reduced to zero I will help you regain sanity km/h - is speed minutes/km - is not speed. It's pace, also sometimes called tempo.

Sounds like a nice idea for proficiency modal: ability to switch between one and two-handing a weapon (be it longsword or the proposed sabre).

I am playing with UPMod on The damage dealt by any DoT is properly registered on the character sheet for me) I have explicitly tested with: Sweet Winds, Dragon Trashed, Shining Beacon, Disintegration, Soul Ignition, Wounding. Agreed, that be neat.

Partially related to the topic: In my current playthrough I have decided to give a 18/18/04/06/20/12 moon godlike a try. With lots of passive healing + healing modifiers + Wounding Binding and plate + shield - he just doesn't die. Boeroer explains this in his Chillfog build. Also, with that high Con, chanter was never the main reason to make a forced rest, despite of being the main door/body blocker in the party. Although quite often I was thinking about trying a 2/18/8/18/20/12 wild orlan or pale elf instead. Atm my godlike chanter is level 8, and I've made a few notes for myself: - Winds of Death turned out to be weaker than I expected (even with maxed MIG, INT and enemies with debuffed reflex), this chanter had dealt x6 less damage than my barbarian by lvl 6; and x10 less damage by lvl 8. - White Worms - require extra setup; which sometimes is clunky. - Silver Tide - although super great on levels 1-5, became partially superseeded by Shod-in-Faith boots. - I was using mostly The Thunder Rolled, Killers Froze Stiff and The Lover Cried invocations (and these last two don't benefit from might). I will monitor how things will change once he gets to level 9. P.S. @Jeddite just so you know: bonus damage from Fighting Spirit does not affect DoTs.

The main reason for that is: I was enumerating the list of powers I've found most used and useful on my ranged cc/dps cipher. But I must confess that I rarely use it even on my melee ciphers. Sure +25 def would be great on a sword&board cipher, if it would increase his deflection from high to very high; such that you are never crit AND never hit. But if it is a 2H or DW cipher... I'd better use Mental Binding and avoid the damage from disabled enemy altogether. From what I know, TG has average cast speed. And WoT has 'pseudo'-fast cast speed. E.g: - Fast cast: 35 frames (base attack) + 29 frames (base recovery) - Average cast: 60 frames (base attack) + 50 frames (base recovery) - Pseudo-Fast cast: 74+10 frames (base attack) + 8 frames (base recovery) (i.e. recovery is calculated from those 10) What this means is: WoT is slower than it could be; but it is still faster than GT; and additionally it cares little for the armor penalty, meaning that a cipher in plate can cast it almost as fast as the naked one. Plus: a charmed target is a guaranteed extra body for your party, and there is a higher chance that it will get attacked by it's ex-buddies (which is great because it means less enemies to rush to your squishies). Partially because of it's lowered defences, and partially because charmed target is your "ally" for the full duration, while in case of confusion only in 1 or 2 out of 4 possible outcomes (if I am not mistaken): - Behave normally, (confused target not considered your ally) - Attack its allies, (confused target considered your ally) - Move in a random direction, or (?) - Do nothing. (?) Oh. Gonna definitely check it..

Ability to set formation was definitely useful for me. Distance to target plays a major role in target selection by enemy AI. And formation allows you to adjust this distance for the start of combat. I used only one formation though. It would be nice to have different formation grids. I.e. beside the usual one, also the brick or hex grid, for better placement of the midliners: Also it would be great, if we could hotkey different formations, and when we switch, main character would shout something like Testudo! Regroup! and the non-engaged party members would spread accordingly. P.S. And the initial placement at the start of scripted combat should use selected formation and not the order of portraits (which is not even communicated by the game).

Looking at portraits posted by Messier-31, I'd subjectively rank them in the following way: Maia Rua - 9/10 - I like the portrait, the face and the look in her eyes. Looks a bit too proud/arrogant with lips kept tight, but I can live with that. Pallegina - 6/10 - She looks a bit over avengerous/angry/spiteful. The PoE1 portrait and selected angle were better. Xoti - 4/10 - Don't like the face... She looks like a female strider / Ithilien ranger but with somewhat rascal/devious look. Eder - 7/10 - Simply put PoE1 version was perfect. Serafen - 8/10 - He's an orlan. Looks piratish and trickerish. Seems fitting. Aloth - 7/10 - He has been through some s*** (life situations). But looks too young, like a.. mindful but stubborn teenager. Tekehu - 6/10 - The face is ok. But the smile and eyes... look a bit weird. Like he looks at something and is like 'that's my fetish'.

I find the spell selections strange and was hoping you could explain. I've looked many other resources that disagree but you seem especially knowledgeable as someone giving advice on cipher for years. Why not Body Attunement (lv4)? It's fast cast and it steals DR from the target. Maybe it's more useful to me with a Blunderbuss (many low damage projectiles), but still. Why not AP Field (lv1)? It's crazy high damage and I'll still use it at level 9 if the geometry is there. Why Tenuous Grasp, Puppet Master, Silent Scream, and Wild Leech? Why is Mindweb so situational? Isn't it basically becoming invulnerable? Seems like any fight that's actually difficult, you would want to use it ASAP. There is indeed a reason behind each power selection. And first I would like to note that the quoted selection refers to the ranged cc/dps cipher (v4 as I call him). This cipher uses mostly crowd-control stuff, and starts to use damage powers mostly when everyone is already cc'ed. Reason being: this is my second cipher, taken specifically for this task (hard protect the party). While my main cipher is more dps oriented. Now I'll elaborate regarding the powers you have listed: 1. Body Attunement - is a good power, but it costs 40 focus. The +DR on ranged cipher is usually left unused (as you don't want to get hit at all, and thus already planned how to prevent the enemies from hitting your squishes). So the main point forte of this power is the -DR on an enemy which would increase your party dps against it. But you don't want to place this on a low-endurance target, as it will die fast anyway. You need a sturdy one, with a lot of hp. Now you have two options: - kill the target with phys and periodic damage. In this case -DR is great (especially if you use the v6 cipher - quick-switching blunderbusses). - kill the target with DoTs. And DoTs (in this, and majority of games) are very DPCT (Damage per Cast Time) effective. Shinning Beacon, Cleansing Flame and Disintegration are kinds here. Soul Ignition, Rot Skulls, Dragon Trashed, Insect Swarm and Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon are decent as well. Plus there is Recall Agony. Also there are few more things to take into account: - you can DoT the target, charm it, and just let it die by itself. - cipher does/should not attack high DR targets. He builds focus on enemy squishies / boss minions, and kills stuff with powers. All-in-all, I'd rather cast a Soul Ignition + WoT, instead of the Attunement - as it will result in more damage dealt, and less damage taken overall, and for the same focus cost. Or perhaps a Silent Scream. 2. Antipathetic Field - this power was of great use during my first playthrough (which I started on hard). On PotD though, I feel that geometry is often not there. In harder fights, with lots of enemies especially teleporting or rushing ones, there is a risk of their redislocation and thus killing own party. In easier fights - stuff dies fast anyway, as my parties are very dps inclined. I take AF on my dps cipher, but once past level 5 I usually use the Ectopsychic Echo over it, even if it costs 30 instead of 10. 3. Tenuous Grasp and Puppet Master are the fallback powers for this cc-cipher in case there is a target immune to charm. Also, while it's great that WoT reduces enemy defenses, in rare situations you don't want it too. For example there is sturdy enemy going to pass through a doorway. Dominate him and let him body block. Not to mention that Puppet Master has longer than WoT duration. 4. Silent Scream - is a great AoE damage + target stun combined. With level 7-8 party I usually open up with 2 WoT followed by 2 Mental Bindings. This adds 2 bodies to my party; makes two more enemies paralized, and makes it hard for the rest to rush through my frontline due to stuck. And Silent Scream is a great followup. With 2 ciphers it is stopping two threats from dealing damage to the party, while annihilating the trash. (and if not, I have barbarian + blasting wizard) 5. Wild Leech - Lowering boss stats is a great thing. Even grazes done by dragons can deal solid damage, because they have high MIG which partially compensates for the -0.5 loss on the damage coefficient. Stealing 10 MIG on such an enemy would significantly lower their graze damage and help your tanks survivability (if you use this tactic). Not to mention that extra 10 MIG would result in big increase in Soul Ignition and Desintegrate damage. Somewhat similar thing with INT (breath radius, debuffs duration), DEX and to some extent PER. Stealing 10 RES is also hefty, as the dragon gets -20 to Will. Not to meantion reducing dragon's CON. Still though, I must confess that I rarely used this power. Simply because I already had over-abundance of means to kill the existing bosses. But if dragons would get buffed, plus would get immunities to all hard-cc effects, I would use this way more. That's why I marked it with (~). I.e. a situational, just-in-case power. 6. Mindweb - I liked this power the first few times I used it. But later I've found it a bit redundant / not suiting my style. I can either spend 80 focus on this. Or hard-cc the enemies (and thus avoid the damage altogether) and follow-up with damage-dealing powers. Usually the second approach was resulting in a faster combat. And that's why it is situational. If you have enough cc and high dps, you better use those. If you don't (or enemies are cc-immune or have high defences coupled with minus accuracy effects you can't get rid of) you can play the long game and tank/mindweb them. TL.DR. A lot depends on your personal playstyle, and the niche your cipher occupies in your party.

Unfortunately there was no fix for this. You can use a partial workaround though.

It's not that bad. As Belfaldurnik mentioned, PoE has great replay-ability. Try to restore deleted save files via some recover app (example). And pray that the saves are not corrupted.

I think your suggestions for Sworn Enemy and Reviving Exhortation would suit a paladin subclass. Some kind of inquisitor or zealot. As for ideas, I've got a few: Ability: Head Slam Class: Monk (or Barbarian) Description: Slams two enemies in front of the character against each other, dealing damage and stunning both for a short duration. If there is only a single enemy, monk head-slams the target himself. He doesn't get stunned, but takes half of the damage. Ability: Linked Power Class: Cipher Description: All charmed and dominated enemies, stop attacking and start channeling their power towards the cipher. Cipher gets a 5 MIG stackable bonus per each affected target. Ability: Shadow Harvest Class: Cipher, or maybe some "Shadow Priest" subclass Description: Deal high damage over time to self and all enemies around the caster. Dealt damage to the enemies heals the caster. Spell: Razor-thin Chakram Class: Wizard Description: Deal raw damage to everyone in the line, leaving hit and crit targets exsanguinated, placing a raw DoT on them.

Hah indeed) Becoming the leader of The Companions, Dark Brotherhood, Mage and Thief guilds appealed more to me, than continuing the main quest (which I never finished) . There were exceptions) For example you can't cast Whisper of Treason and a few other non-buffing powers outside of combat.

Neketaka map somehow reminds me of Kirkwall. Plus Arkermyr's shop, improved graphics and nameplates. I like it)

Yeap. And you can check these bonuses/maluses here. P.S. I have to note though, that due to the nature of enemies you meet in PoE, robe, padded, hide and plate seem to be the most efficient (overall) armor types (aside from a few very niche character builds).

Nothing strange here Unenchanted scale armor gives: 7 general DR 9 (i.e. 125%) vs slash and freeze 5 (i.e. 75%) vs pierce Unenchanted scale armor with +3 vs Pierce gives: 7 general DR 9 (i.e. 125%) vs slash and freeze 8 (i.e. 75% from 10) vs pierce Fine scale armor gives: 9 general DR 11 (i.e. 125%) vs slash and freeze 7 (i.e. 75% from 9) vs pierce Fine scale armor with +3 vs Pierce gives: 9 general DR 11 (i.e. 125%) vs slash and freeze 9 (i.e. 75% from 12) vs pierce That's why you see pierce DR combined with others. P.S. Get a plate armor, and enchant it vs pierce as it also provides a bonus vs it

I think: both. First of all for RP. And second for deflection. 10 Def might not sound like a lot. But the benefit from defenses is subjected to increasing returns. You either invest a lot, in order to get only missed and grazed, and thus make your DR relevant. Or invest just a little, and rely on cc in order to protect your members, and some freeze DR to manipulate the shades' target preference.

The Spelltongue bonus is tricky. When you hit the enemy, you get a Spelltongue Buff, and the target is affected by Spelltongue Debuff. Spelltongue Buff belongs to AttackSpeedMult category and it stacks with everything. (and yeap, it stacks multiplicatively with Frenzy, Bloodlust and Gauntlets of Swift Action) Also since it is a buff, it basically affects both weapons (if you dual-wield), and spellcasting speed as well. There is a problem though, if you durganize your Spelltongue, it will stop applying the Buff completely; and will keep only debuffing the enemy. (see related bug report). P.S. Atm the workaround is: - keep Spelltongue non-durganized. - make few attacks with it - switch to other weapons

v1. send the frontliner forward to meet them; while the rest of the party runs back. Use sugar. v2. when the dragon says "Leave!", you agree, and attack with a ranged weapon/spell one of the oozes in order to trigger combat. Ofc after proper positioning (for example from low-left corner).

Send a solo tank forward. While the rest of the group should stand outside of the 90° cone (i.e. always watch the direction dragon is facing). You can also make dragon's minions tank him for you: for example charm/confuse a Greater Blight, which is also immune to frost damage, and thus takes no damage from breath. Or you can charm the dragon himself. Do note though - he will regenerate 25% of his endurance when you do this. You can deal with paralyze using: - Prayer Against Imprisonment scroll / priest spells - Using potions of Major Recovery - they will reduce the cc duration on you Note: shades and phantoms don't hit hard, and frost DR is very effective vs their damage. Also they won't appear until you cast/use an attack upon the dragon himself.

CC and proper positioning are the key here. And that's why you need high accuracy. Unless you tell us what's your party composition, there is little else to tell.