MaxQuest

In harder and boss fights absolutely. Buffing accuracy is the first step. In fast/easy encounters it depends. Sometimes I skip using the Radiance because the fight is over in ~10-12 seconds.

Yeap, Inspiriting Radiance is worth it. Boeroer already explained why) But still, it might be a good idea to take Inderdiction + Painful Interdiction before it. Because enemies affected by Dazed + Weakened suffer from: -28 fortitude -28 will -8 reflex -12 accuracy x0.85 recovery slow down aprox. 6% action slow down up to minus 10% total endurance up to minus 10% aoe radius plus cc and dot duration -2 movement speed (and default run speed is 4) susceptibility to sneak attacks

There must be a sweet spot somewhere Wounding Shot has a base duration of 6s. Wounding (weapon enchant) has a base duration of 5s. Consecrated Ground heal for 10.6 endurance per second for 20 base seconds. A ranger (with 19 DEX, plate, no durgan enchants, no gloves) makes one attack in 82.6 frames (2.75s). This means that 12 INT is enough to keep wounding DoT on target even if you only graze. And there is also Wounding Shot and (optional) Envenomed Strike. That's why I was thinking of 17-18 MIG and 13-12 INT. The total healing provided via Shod-in-Faith will be greater with higher INT through, as point of INT adds 5% versus 3% from MIG. For MIG + INT = 30, it would be: - 10 MIG / 20 INT => 10.6 x 30 = 318 - 12 MIG / 18 INT => 11.236 x 28 = 314.608 - 13 MIG / 17 INT => 11.554 x 27 = 311.958 - 15 MIG / 15 INT => 12.190 x 25 = 304.75 - 17 MIG / 13 INT => 12.826 x 23 = 294.998 - 18 MIG / 12 INT => 13.144 x 22 = 289.168

Hmm, afaik peddroelm has tested it, and each pellet was triggering it's own DoT. Yeah, unlike wounding it is not based on pre-DR damage, but rather post-DR, but it's gonna be fired using Lead Spitter (so at least 7 DR penetration; or up to 15 with penetrating-shot/vambraces); plus Deathblows. I would expect it to hurt... Not to mention that blunderbuss shots are mainly aimed at low-DR enemies; and after quick-switching through them, rogue switches to Persistence vs the few tough enemies remaining. Your rogue, priest and wizard seem fine to me. I would advice to increase the ranger's MIG at the cost of INT through, provided that you will be using Tidefall (wounding) and Wounding Shot. And probably the 18/13/7/7/19/14 spread for your paladin. And hey he could be a moon godlike or wild orlan as well. It would be a bit more optimal than pale elf choice because Elemental Endurance is mainly great for squishier characters which you'd like to get less damage from shades or to attract less of their attention altogether. But if you'd like one of a kind, other variants are coastal aumaua and mountain dwarf.

Something, something... Corpse eating - check; frenzy - check. Some cannibal tribes eat the meat of their enemies, in hope of getting their strength or having a vision of their plans. It would be great if these barbs would get some abilities (or passives and faster bestiary info reveal) of those fallen and eaten. P.S. I wonder if Beckoner's summons leave corpses behind, for the barbarian to use them.

Makes sense actually ^

- The reason I was asking about priest stats is: priest can buff and offtank or buff and deal damage (during bounties and boss fights). - Just noticed that you are going to use Nature Godlike for your wizard. In that case Dangerous Implements talent is indeed fine. Don't let Talons' Reach or Ooze Spit one shot you through )) - Ah, so you will have a druid) I was thinking that your party is lacking on crowd-control department. And if your rogue is low-INT you definitely want a cipher or druid.

You can do it yourself, if you'll try to edit first post using Full Editor What stat spread does your priest have? Also who are your lore guys? I am not sure that Dangerous Implements affect Blast damage. Can anyone confirm? That spreadsheet is just for ciphers because rogues have Deathblows which can greatly askew the results, plus they can make great use of Wounding, since they don't care about focus generation. I still think that Persistence is probably the best all-around ranged weapon for rogue. But you could also start the fight with 2 blunderbuss shots, specifically: v1. if your priest is slow: - start with Crippling Strike via Silver Flash (and you already have 2 SA conditions on target) - quick switch to Lead Spitter and use Runner's Wounding Shot - quick switch to Persistence v2. if your priest is faster than rogue: - Painful Interdiction - start with Crippling/Blinding Strike via Scon Mica's Roar - quick switch to Lead Spitter and use Runner's Wounding Shot - quick switch to Persistence Another late game variant could be: - main set: golden gaze vs low-DR enemies - off set: persistence vs high-DR enemies For early game, arquebuses and pistols could work quite well. You are not going to crit a lot anyway, so their -0.3 to crit is negligible. And viceversa majority of rogue strikes are full-attacks that add 0.25 to damage coefficient, so you would want to dual-wield or.. use firearms. Also, Persistence. Again Persistence You can find it very early, and afaik it has Damaging 3 (+0.45 dmg, +4 acc) from the start. Borresaine is good as well. Stunning is great if you have decent crit-rate. This warbow will result in slightly less dps compared to Persistence, but on the other hand you will take less damage. Although (iirc) you can't dump INT in this case, as you will get shorter stuns, while with Persistence - the lower INT - the better.

Yeap, CC stands for crowd-control abilities. There are generally two types of cc status effects: - soft - which reduce enemy ability to fight (i.e. their outcoming active dps is reduced), like: blind - hard - which remove enemy ability to fight (i.e. their outcoming active dps is zero), like: stunned, petrified, paralyzed. Charmed and dominated goes here too. As for Binding Web - technically it's a cc spell which provides Stuck status effect. Vs auto-attacking melee enemies it can be considered as hard, while vs other's it's just a debuff. Alpha strike - is the first volley fired by your party. Basically any coordinated attack with ranged weapons during first 2 seconds of combat. During these 2s, bonuses from Sneak Attack / Apprentice's Sneak Attack are auto-applied btw, even if conditions are not met. Stealth is lackluster. Currently it's only useful for: - A Two Story Job, to slip past the guards - Some conversation check in Copperlane Catacombs (iirc you need a value of 4) - Your melee dps glass-cannon characters, whom you would unstealth once enemies have engaged your sturdier members - Solo characters who want to skip some fight. Tbh, I would only level it to 4 on a melee dw rogue, and maybe put 1-2 points on ranged glass-cannons.

Check this thread) Your choice of companions reminds me of my first play-through. I took Eder, Pallegina, Kana, GM and last spot went to Sagani (but Aloth can suit as well), and had cipher as MC. The idea was to form an alpha-strike party: Eder - was main tank. Pallegina - provided the extra attack speed via Vielo Vidorio. She was using arbalests (specifically Aedrin's Wrecker), and after 2 FoDs + Wrath + Runner's Wounding Shot, switching to 1h + shield. Kana - was a buffing offtank. Sure-Handed + Aefyllath + scrolls. Could also open the fight using a firearm. Sagani - had Stormcaller. The extra cc was handy. While the fox was used for flanking, occasional offtanking, but mainly as target for dual-echo cast by the ciphers. And lastly the ciphers: both in cloth/robes, and using warbows. GM was using exclusively cc-powers, while my main with high MIG was also using powers from damaging repertoire. If you'd want to, you can take Aloth instead of Sagani and Durance instead of Kana, but that would change your party from the one focused on alpha-strike to cc-and-aoe. In that case substituting Eder with a barbarian would be highly advisable.

Agreed, Rumbaldt looks like a better choice overall. Plus the party has access to Painful Interdiction, so it will be easier to 'confirm' the overbearing roll. Tidefall can be carried in the second weapon set through, and used vs high-dr/high-fort enemies (mainly eyeless and animats).

Unlabored Blade might work, but not on a pure tank paladin. Because besides high MIG, you would need high DEX to increase it's proc-per-minute. Not to mention that you would need higher PER, in order to remove grazes and misses, and try to avoid hitting creatures with high deflection altogether. Pure tank paladin (with sup weapon): 18/14/6/6/18/16 (early game) or 18/16/6/10/18/10 (late game) Offtank paladin (with unlaboured blade): 18/8/18/14/12/8 Tbh, I would go for a tank route, specifically darcozzi tank-support with 8 in survival for health modifier and rest in lore, for scrolls. Wild Orlan. Depends on the weapon All 3 choices are good, but they ask for different stat distribution: - Tidefall - max MIG as high as you can. Butdump INT, because of how wounding works. Although this mean there is little incentive to learn knockdown. - Hours of Rumbaldt - to reliably proc the Overbearing and benefit from Annihilation you need high effective accuracy, and high PER + darcozzi paladin will help you at that. Plus you might want above average INT, which will benefit your prones and knockdowns. - Blade of the Endless paths - doesn't really need high PER, as critting will dilute the benefit from DR bypass. Max MIG and DEX. Keep average PER. So in the end I think the following are optimal: - Tidefall: 20/14/18/15/3/8 (without knockdown / self buffs); v2: 20/12/18/10/10/8 (with knockdown / self buffs) - Hours of Rumbaldt: 16/9/15/15/15/8 - BotEP: 18/12/18/10/12/8 For difficulties below PotD you can additionally lower RES, by 2-5 points. Edit: updated stats.

Aside from the situational St. Ydwen's Redeemer, I find using 2H on a paladin a bad idea. The optimal way is going for DW Sabres/Hammers/Battleaxes if you use FoD, or 1H + Shield if you don't. Tbh I would give-up on paladin's auto-attack dps completely and go for Outworn Buckler / Little Savior + Shame or Glory / Strike Hard / The Vile Loner's Lance / or Drawn in Spring (if you need some extra dps vs high DR enemies); and let him deal damage passively via Sacred Immolation from lvl 13 onward. 18/14/6/6/18/16 early stats (or 18/16/6/10/18/10 later in the game), and the only must have abilities (besides aura): Lay on Hands, Liberating Exhortation, Aegis of Loyalty, Righteous Soul and Coordinating Attacks. DW barbarian. 1H + shield sup/tank paladin. 2H... I would say melee cipher with BotEP focused on cc, is optimal. Fighter can work too (with both BotEP or Tidefall), but the fact that Knockback and Charge are full attacks bothers me (as full attacks are better with DW) It is. Aside from Chanter, Paladin and Vancian casters that are able do deliver solid dps via spells, while holding 1h+shield, there are also rogue and cipher. 1h + small non-bashing shield can be ok on cipher (in the late game), because once you achieve zero-recovery your attack rate is the same as when dual-wielding. Although you will probably won't be able to also use Vulnerable Attack as you will lack the extra recovery reduction provided by DW / Two-Weapon Fighting. 1h + barricade is ok rogue, because barricade proc does benefit from deathblows, plus rogue crits a lot. And because barricade is a bashing shield, your full attacks won't be crippled that much. 1h + dragon's maw in theory should be ok on barbarian. Although I haven't tested it yet. Atm I prefer dual-wielding burst barbarians. Atm you have only one candidate for it. Fighter (the dps version with lower deflection). Barbarian already has Frenzy, while paladin's auto-attack dps won't get improved enough. It would also be great on a melee cipher, if you had one (that is, until you would start using DAoM / Time Siphon).. Dual purgatory and dual bittercuts are still the best dps option. Before the nerf, barbarian could make great use of it. After the nerf, it's not worth it.

Back-to-back fighting.

Hehe, the dagger reminds me of DA:I War Table, while the map of Age of Corsairs' global view. Love it. Spent a lot of time playing both games) Some of enemies were already aggressive in PoE1, specifically: enemy barbarians, monks, to some extent shades, ogre druids (Talons' Reach) and oozes (Ooze Spit). That's a good improvement. One step closer to smarter AI

It probably means that it happened due to graze-to-miss conversion. ------- That's a nice QoL improvement indeed. Would be nice to have "show rolls", "show timestamps" and "show DoT ticks" options as well)

Roll for experience. Natural 1. You learned nothing.

Problem: when you charm an enemy, he restores a portion of endurance. Example: - screenshot 1 - before the charm dragon is badly injured - screenshot 2 - 1s later dragon becomes just injured. It looks like for a split second Alpine Dragon was out of fight, enough for out-of-combat regen to kick in.

Mysterious indeed. P.S. I triple checked for aoe healing sources. Not that there were much to check through, as I used for testing a solo, naked cipher, pale elf (not moon godlike): - screenshot 1 - screenshot 2 (made exactly 1s later as you can see by Disintegration remaining duration) My understanding is that charm stops combat for the affected target for a split second, enough for out-of-combat regen to kick in.

When trying various tactics vs Alpine Dragon, I've noticed that sometimes his endurance was slightly going up upon being charmed. For example he just dropped from barely injured to injured, got charmed, and suddenly mouseover tooltip displays barely injured again. Another experiment I made was: cast Disintegration that should deal around ~850 dmg (stats adjusted via console) and watch if dragon dies (he has 816 hp on PotD). In the first case (when no other spells were cast) dragon indeed dies. But if he is repeatedly charmed - he doesn't (4 appliances of Whispers of Treason provided enough regeneration for him to end barely injured, despite of ~850 dmg raw DoT).

Did you notice that the dragon regains a part of endurance (~10-25%) when is repeatedly charmed?

Sure, why not. Increased max DEX up to 43.

Crossbow has: 45 frames (attack duration) + 75 frames (recovery duration) + 100 frames (reload duration) Arbalest has: 45 frames (attack duration) + 75 frames (recovery duration) + 180 frames (reload duration) No, Outlander's Frenzy affects only recovery duration. No, attack duration is affected only by DEX.

Agreed. Makes a lot of sense. I am also thinking what if robes had no downgrade conversion, but some would provide a bonus to arcane or faith or spell casting speed.

1 INT would explain why Ranger keeps blinding himself via Powder Burns...)