Loren Tyr

Well, sure. But if you could cast them at the beginning they wouldn't be as powerful, they're obviously balanced against the fact that it takes a while for you to be able to cast them. From level 1 the Phantom invocation is very good, though I like Thunder Rolled and White Worms as well. And I'm not sure how long your battles usually last, but I've certainly found being able to Paralyze enemies in a large cone area to be very useful. And you can generally get there faster than 16s, with Brisk Recitation. Again though, I get the impression you may simply have the wrong expectations of Chanters. They're not the same kind of heavy hitter as a Wizard, that's not what they're designed for. In some respects they serve a similar role as the old-school bard, in that their chanting provides a continuous buffing/debuffing effect. Though unlike the bard songs their chants are much more varied and adaptable, and they can do other stuff as they chant. They have good base deflection so you can (off-)tank with them quite well, or you can go a bit more DPS-ish with a more offensive and/or scroll-casting build. In terms of their core abilities you can range from going with powerful Chants with an occasional Invocation to more fast chanting with short phrases to get a lot more Invocation done; with Brisk Recitation the level 1 Phrases scale down to 2 seconds at level 16, so you can build up powerful invocations quite quickly. You can basically chain-Paralyze a cone of enemies in the later stages (assuming you hit obviously), for example.

That's by design though, for DoTs the damage is never (directly) affected by crits/grazes, otherwise it would the crit/graze would effectively doubly affect it. There are actually two types of DoT: - ApplyOverTime DoT, like Wounding Shot: the damage is determined by the damage value of the primary attack (before or after DR, depending on the effect); a crit boosts the damage of the DoT indirectly, by increasing the damage of the primary attack. Since the damage is fixed by the primary attack value, duration only changes the time it takes to fully deal it (though for non-raw ApplyOverTime DoTs longer duration actually means effectively more DR reduction) - ApplyOnTock DoT, like Necrotic Lance: the damage is set per tick; a crit doesn't boost the damage per tick but does increase the duration, and therefore the total damage dealt.

What makes you say they suck before then in the first place, though? 'Cause I don't see that. Then again, I think they're a vast improvement over the 'proper' bards from BG etc., so maybe you just have very different expectations from the class.

Yeah, I have those in my list as well. The first one is not a bug, I think. It seems well-balanced anyway, it's not like BS is overpowered with it, so I hope they keep that in. The others obviously are, I certainly hope they fix at least the Invisibility + Strike = no BS one, that's the most serious one I think. It's also reasonably easy to fix, though.

Agreed. I think the Blast + modified attacks (like Envenomed Strike, but also weapon procs) area actually a manifestation of the same issue as Consecrated Ground + Knockdown, Black Path + Envenomed Strike, etc., so it would be good to fix them all in one go if possible (though knowing the internals, I recognise that that might be quite difficult in this instance). In a similar vein though: Kalakoth's Minor Blights + Blast. It may not necessarily be a bug as such, but Blast AOEs happening on every hit in the Blight AOE does seem a bit much. Might be better to get the Blast hit on just the main Blight hit.

I've been able to reproduce it with both Deleterious Alacrity and Restore Endurance spells, also on a freshly started game. It can take a while to trigger it due to the 10% trigger chance, but chain-casting Alacrity with Dexterity set to 500 and console-resting mid-combat to replenish spells gets you there fairly quickly still. I also encountered a different issue with it actually, with enemies that were attacking me (but missing due to my towering Resolve) also getting hit by the Eyestrike triggered by my own Deleterious Alacrity. This is quite similar to the Consecrated Ground + Knockdown (and similar) effect (see https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/88371-303-issue-with-knock-down-and-necrotic-lance/), though I can't be sure it's exactly the same mechanism. In any case, that's a different issue than in this thread. Anyway, the actual resolution of the effect is initiated by the ItemModComponent.HandleHealthOnDamaged() function which is itself tied to an OnDamaged event handler. The 'damaged' part of that is actually very broadly defined, it essentially gets tripped by anything that intantiates an AttackBase (or derived) object (unless they have their FakeAttack flag set). This includes for example Consecrated Ground and Restore Endurance spells as well, which use an AttackAOE to get their healing done. The ItemModComponent.HandleHealthOnDamaged() function handles three trigger ItemMod trigger types: trigger on hit/crit, trigger on crit, and stamina below a given percentage. The TargetMode can be set to either Self or Enemy, with the Elryn's Jacket effect obviously being set to Enemy. However, the function simply grabs the first GameObject from the GameEventArgs passed as argument to the function, but doesn't actually check whether this is an enemy or an ally (or self). Since many beneficial effects will trip this event handler as well, this isn't guaranteed to be the case. The most straightforward solution would be to do a faction check in this function on the alleged enemy when the TargetMode is set to Enemy, to stop it triggering on allies/self. Obviously this would affect more than just Elryn's Jacket, though likely not that many and probably all effects that are not supposed to hit allies either anyway (TargetMode is 'Enemy', after all). With access to the game database, should be easy to check what ItemMods have this combination of TriggerType and TargetMode (but a lot harder from the prefab files, can't easily search through them). A side effect of this would of course also be that these effects won't trigger on friendly fire like Fan of Flames either, but I'd say that's preferable to them triggering on buffs and such. A possible workaround for that might be to (additionally) check the IsHostile flags on for example the DamageInfo, ie. suppress the trigger for with 'Enemy' targetmode only on detecting an ally *and* the DamageInfo.AttackIsHostile() being set to false. I'm not sure how reliably the AttackIsHostile() is set at that point though, so some stuff might still end up being incorrectly flagged as hostile or not. More likely the latter though, I'd expect, so that might be better than not triggering on allied hostile effects at all; though I'd probably suppress triggering also on hostile effects originating from the character him/herself, that would get a bit weird otherwise (and Deleterious Alacrity might well be flagged as hostile, considering it damages you as well).

I have checked this just now, damage for the bow on critical hit are inside the range they are supposed to be, both with and without Durgan enchantment. One caveat here: the Durgan Refinement on weapons actually only gives +25% damage on Crit, not +30%. This is how it is encoded in the asset files, I suspect that it is shown incorrectly in the item description due to rounding (ie. for displaying On Crit multiplies bonus, the rounding is set to one decimal place rather than two; I assume it is specified by parameter type anyway, since Interrupt duration does get two decimal places, if needed).

Yeah, for stuff that's done individually by characters in the main screen (ie. outside conversation windows, scripted interactions, etc.) the stats and skills of that character are used; and indeed, for trap disarming and lockpicking, the game sends whomever has the highest mechanics skill of the currently selected characters.

Actually, in most things (eg. conversation stat checks) the characteristics (stats, skills, etc.) of your protagonist are used, not those of the NPCs. The only exception to this that comes to mind is some scripted interactions, where you can have one of your NPCs do something. You're explicitly asked to choose in those cases though; for example, in the starting dungeon if you opt to try to push through the wall, you will be asked who (of your protagonist and current party members) should try it. There are no instances that I'm aware of where the game implicitly picks the party member with the best skills/stats/whatever for something; unless otherwise specified, it always uses the protagonist.

I like the floaty party banter, if you actually get dialogue windows it's much more intrusive. It's a conversation between the NPCs after all, it's supposed to be a bit of a background thing. Not sure it would add anything either, if you want to read it back you can just switch to the conversation log.

Reflection does work on beam spells like Ray of Fire actually, though it does seem to eat up charges per hit (the Ray also remains on your mage, by the way). What it doesn't work on is indeed AOE effects, stuff like Cackling Bolt and Rolling Flame, and anything that isn't a spell (like Cipher Powers, spell-like abilities like Prestidigitator's Missiles). It does work on non-damaging spells as well, by the way (like Halt). In practice, when your wizard gets hit by a spell that qualifies, this triggers a Will attack on the originating caster. If this attack misses your Wizard gets hit as normal, if it at least grazes your Wizard doesn't get hit. Instead, the originating cast will roll to attack himself (so it can be reflected and miss). One thing to keep in mind with Skeletal Wizards is that (somewhat counterintuitively) they're not casting spells (they're spell-like abilities). I'd have to check, but presumably the same applies to Lagufaeth as well. This is also why Grimoire Imprint doesn't give you anything, the target has no spells to give you (the effect icon stays on them until it runs out regardless though; the effect is applied, it just happen to not do anything).

Could you try starting the game with your virus scanner temporarily turned off? (I assume you have one, if not self-installed then Windows Defender) I have been able to reproduce this issue by blocking the TempSave file deliberately (see also here: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/88009-save-games-not-showing-up/?p=1827931). This is also something that a virus scanner might be doing, especially since PoE is constantly deleting and replacing that file when scanning save games, which a virus scanner might find suspicious. If turning off the scanner does indeed resolve the problem, this would confirm this as the cause. Solving it should then be a straightforward matter of convincing the scanner to trust the PoE executable. If it doesn't help, could you post the output_log file, that might reveal something. See the sticky thread at the top of the Tech forum on where to find the log.

So,. you're using the word 'wacky' in a manner entirely disconnected from how it is defined in the English language? In a conversation entirely conducted in English? Yeah, what could possibly go wrong there...

Depends on the weapon/spell though, it only checks the primary damage type. So weapons like Stormcaller and Bittercut indeed gets the +20% Shock/Corrode from the elemental talents, regardless of whether they end up doing Shock/Corrode damage. But Durance's Staff or Minoletta's Missiles don't get any bonus even if they do end up doing Burn/Corrode damage, because that's not their primary damage type. Getting the latter to (always) get the bonus would be very easy to do, not sure whether them being left out was intentional or an oversight. Fixing it completely however (ie. getting the bonus iff the actual damage done is of the appropriate type) would be quite difficult given the way the code is set up.

Actually, there used to be extended engagement range on reach weapons (among other things), but it was causing a lot of problems so it was removed (in beta, I think). See eg. this thread, in particular also the two Youtube clips: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/70767-pike-and-extended-reach/

Yes, I've been seeing the same pathfinding issues you mention. It's a big distraction when I'm trying to focus on combat. It's not a consistent thing though; at least, I don't get this glitch. I may have had it once or twice, but if I did it was so infrequent that I can't recall for sure if I did. The Goldpact Knight in the Stronghold does quite consistently do this do (or something like it), after you build the Forum I think.

I'm fine with you ignoring my points, just don't pretend to be able to follow what I've said I can follow them just fine, which is also how I can discern the utter lack of anything resembling a foundation for the claims you're making. But if you don't want to back up your views, like a sad little troll, that is entirely up to you. Though it raises the question why you started the thread in the first place.

Examples, pls. I undestand what you don't want, but still have no idea what you actually want. The passage I quoted seems unrealistc a bit, like 'peace in the whole world'. What exactly you want ex-vancian wizard, priest and druid to be and not to be capable of? It is 'magic' after all, it does 'magical' stuff that is impossible to reproduce in non-magical ways. Should wizard be capable of flinging fireballs, teleporting around and creating layered magical defenses? Or should a priest be able to ask his diety to grant him power to smite the hordes of undead? Explain your vision of magic and it's place in cRPGs. I have a subtle feeling that behind your arguments about balance and mechanics hides the eternal 'magic vs mundane' dispute. Seriously, WTF? I'm not sure where you're getting that from, but it's certainly not from what I'm actually saying. Nor is there anything particularly unrealistic about it, in my view the non-Vancian classes in PoE are quite well-balanced (as are many other aspects of the game), it's mainly the Vancian casters that are a bit of a sore thumb (though even there in PoE not nearly as much as in other games). I believe the problem is inherent in the whole Vancian/per-rest system, which is why I have been arguing for changing the mechanics of the Vancian casters. How you got from there to "magic vs mundane", I have no clue.

Torment's Reach actually (Transcendent Suffering is the +X unarmed damage talent). I have that one in my list somewhere.

Whereas you represent the silent majority? You still have provided nothing to support that claim. You can try to weasel around that with an appeal to 'constructive argument', but the 'constructive' part of that generally does entail substantiating what you say. Power is relative to a level of difficulty, there is little point in powering all the other classes up if this subsequently requires all sorts of other changes to attain the desired level of difficulty. Given an existing situation, it is therefore a priori more efficient to reduce the power of the three Vancian classes, rather than increase the power of all the others and rebalance the difficulty level around that. But more fundamentally, the whole Vancian system in my view just doesn't work very well. It may work fine in the P&P setting it originates from, but lacking a DM it just doesn't translate properly to cRPGs. The power of the Vancian spells is supposed to be balanced against the fact that they can't use them as often, which is managed by the need to rest. But neither PoE nor its predecessors have really succeeded in making resting a genuine cost, and by its very nature that's unlikely to happen at all; resting is simply to binary and coarse-grained a thing to be able to do that properly. Hence the argument for changing it up more, to innovate a bit and go for a system better suited to cRPG. This would also allow for more differentiation of Wizards, Priests and Druids at a more fundamental level, rather than (mostly) just in terms of the spells they get. And by the way, nowhere am I advocating for making all classes identical, far from it. So kindly keep your straw men at bay. I want classes (and any other aspects of the game) to be varied, complex and interesting. At the same time, I want them to be balanced (against each other, against the rest of the game) and mechanically well designed as well. PoE is certainly a big improvement in this regard, but the Vancian casting system is an aspect that is still in need of being thoroughly overhauled.

I have just the thing for you! http://www.gamebanshee.com/cgi-bin/search/banshee_search.pl?_layout=Pillars_Items_Page&_cgifunction=search&Pillars_Items.id=963 It is Mythic! Which is surely better than +10! And it is the only two handed hammer in the game. If you put it on a Barb it'll even be AoE! Sure maybe you've basically beat the game by the time you get it... but what better reward could there be?! If only there was a way to make it push/prone on hit... Might be able to add that and the slow down into it, actually... It would take some fairly extensive manual asset editing (not sure there are any item modding tools, anyway), but it's possible. I already know how to get the game to accept a new asset file as an item I can Console in, so I could probably strip down Abydon's Hammer to just the parts I need and add in the rest. Though I'd still have to find the string tables to alter descriptions and edit a map to actually put the item in somewhere. Could be a fun project though

I actually do want my Splattery Hammer +10 now, though. Like, a giant two-handed (for non-Ogres) Ogre hammer; hits like a truck, Push and AOE damage on hit, +100% recovery penalty...

Focus on the bug fixing, I'd say. Some more for the list, with links to corresponding Tech forum threads for description: - Ancient Memory / Beloved Spirits breaking off when you stop chanting (I'd say strip the duration and "once per encounter" parameter, should still be balanced enough) - Stun on crit weapon effects themselves always getting crit duration (very simple fix, see thread) - Triggered AOE / pulse AOE effects getting modified by concurrent special attacks like rogue Strikes and Knockdown (eg. Consecrated Ground, Black Path) - Skeletal Wizard Necrotic Lance bug - Carnage with Bash shield triggering a second Bash hit (+ Carnage) - Invisibility bug, and particularly the adjacent bug of Backstab not working when using special attack from Invisibility - Backstab + Strike ability with dual-wielding only gets the Backstab on the second attack, not the first - Some stronger Oozes getting +10 to minimum received DR-adjusted damage (potentially increasing DR-adjusted damage beyond the pre-DR damage amount - Infestation of Maggots referencing lost Health rather than lost Endurance and consequently doing very little damage - Vital Essence giving far more Health than described, giving the Health boost permanently, and having incorrect descriptions (Potion and Spell don't match) - Trap accuracy penalties (and bonuses) are twice as large as described; Poison Dart trap has +41 ACC on top of that. - Invisible buttons, for example on exit confirmation - Iconic Projection occasionally hitting multiple times; also Torment's Reach consistently hitting multiple times (same thread, and here), though that is an unrelated bug despite somewhat similar manifestation - Charm effects ending early - Minoletta's Minor Missiles scroll does more base damage than Wizard spell - Mirrored Image spell/potion description says +25 Deflection, but gives +30 (initially) - Area of Effect bonus from Intellect is bonus to AOE radius, whereas other Area of Effect bonuses (eg. Voice of the Mountaintop) give the bonus to AOE area, which is unclear and makes the latter quite underwhelming (eg. the +20% area from Voice is worth +9.5% radius, equivalent to about 1.6 points of INT) (- Also Confident Aim and Psychic Backlash, but I believe those are already fixed)

That rather depends on how you define well-balanced, I suppose. I'd say that however fun BG2 may have been, it had considerable room for improvement in this regard. Note that I'm not arguing for the kind of mathematically exact equivalence of MMOs (not that I ever played any, but I get what you mean). Balance, in my view, doesn't entail an exactly even distribution of power and quality and whatnot, without (real) variation. By all means, you need that variation and that differential, especially in the interaction of spells and abilities and items, to give players something to explore and discover. To come up with a build that exploits some combination to get an unexpectly powerful result, or to manage to make that seemingly worthless talent actually worth something. So you need that variation, but it can't have too many outliers. If they're at the top end of the spectrum they devalue everything else and make the game too easy when you have it. If they're at the bottom end of the spectrum, they're just going to clutter up the game and lead to disappoint (since people will still tend to assume that they must be good for something). And obviously it is also a matter of accessibility and prevalence. Having one base class being much more powerful than the rest is much more problematic than having some particular very powerful build. It's going to make all other characters seem very weak in comparison, and if it's an NPC with that class (s)he going to overshadow the protagonist. Whereas a powerful build like the Kensai-Mage, that's much more a niche kind of thing, it takes a bit of effort and meta-game knowledge to get it to work well, and it's quite fulfilling if you came up with it yourself. Same with items, weapon types, etc. The MMO approach of a progression of weapons incrementally but strictly better than the one before it doesn't work, because there's essentially nothing for you to decide. But the same applies if the variations in power are too large, and especially if the variation is basically on a single axis (ie. damage range). If the Splattery Hammer +10 you have is just way better than everything else you have, there is again not really a decision for you to make. And the same for weapon types and fighting styles; as I recall for example the hammers in the IE games were significantly inferior to pretty much anything else. Which is also where it helps to have multiple axes of variation, like damage per hit, attack speed, accuracy and damage type. That way each weapon and weapon type still retains some weaknesses, and you have much less of a chance that one weapon or weapon type is strictly superior, in turn leaving the decision-making much more with the players rather than pushing them into a particular direction.

Yeah, for a Wizard the base deflection is on the low-ish side, so the Wizard Double is more vulnerable unless you're really going for the shield-mage type. But even so, it's still a reasonable protection against a couple of hits, a useful safeguard for a back row wizard to protect against surprise attacks and such. It's just a level 1 spell, after all. I tend to use it more in potion form on Fighters and such. Level 3 Fighter with Shield and Shield Style plus one of those potions, puts Deflection around 100. That early in the game, quite a few enemies can't do any better than graze you anymore (on Hard anyway, not sure about PotD). Those Forest Lurkers in Black Meadow for one, they're real easy after that. The level 2 Mirrored Image spell/potion starts out at +30 by the way, for some reason the description says 25 but that's incorrect.