Loren Tyr

Nope, they don't. I just double-checked to be sure. But for that to be the case, they'd also have to change the stacking rules, so I don't see that happening anytime soon. To be honest I don't think they'll change it at all, though if they do my guess would be that they'd split it across the daggers (ie. -12.5% each). That's likely the easiest change to make.

With Rod Blast. Not sure when they put it back in, but it definitely works at the moment (and hopefully at least as long as my current playthrough )

It rather depends on your existing accuracy which is better, as well as a bunch of other factors. On the whole I would say +10 ACC is better, but especially as an active effect it has some downsides as well. Hit conversions all stack with each other (though not additively, so there are dimishing returns to consider there as well), whereas active +ACC sources and Perception inspirations don't. Depending on what other active buffs your character is likely to receive / can receive, that is a consideration as well. And of course Perception inspirations are easier to lose as well, in practice. In comparison to the Fighter's Disciplined Barrage, that also only gives an indirect +5 ACC; even with the Graze conversion, I'd say there the edge would definitely go to the Berserker's +30% Hit conversion.

They didn't, actually (or they unnerfed it again, but that seems unlikely). I have Aloth as Spellblade happily blasting away, applying any of the full attack ability effects to AOE (and same obviously also works with Flames of Devotion, Barbaric Blow, etc.).

Svef gives resistance to Intellect afflictions as well though, so that should prevent you getting Confused in the first place.

Depends on the narcotics, really Anyway, I vote for adding a Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment to the game.

In general, it works with spells but only if you are still in stealth when the attack happens, so it rather varies by spell. Any multicomponent attack it won't work well with, because as the first attack hits you immediately leave stealth. So not so much for the various magic missiles, also not great with stuff like Rolling Flame or Crackling Bolt (initial hit will get bonus, provided you didn't unstealth between the spell being cast and it hitting the first target; same as with explosives for example). But Fireball for example, since that is a single attack on everything in the AOE simultaneously, it gets the bonus against everything. For some spells it can be a bit unclear in advance whether they'll get full bonus though; for example many Cipher spells for example it doesn't work with the AOE effects because they're technically multi-component as well. I'd recommend using the console to spawn some dummies and test it if you're not sure; though for most Wizard spells it's fairly clear I think. With regard to other points: Backstab (and Sneak Attack and Deathblows) only work with weapons, so that doesn't add much for spells/scrolls/explosives anymore, unlike PoE1. Assassinate has no range limitation though, so you can toss in a Fireball from max. range to open combat and get a big bonus on the entire AOE. So in general, you can certainly use Assassinate to good effect with spells, but the amount of synergy between Evoker and rogue varies a bit (eg. no Sneak Attack). Can definitely be a fun build, but I would certainly recommend planning your playstyle ahead a bit to take such things into account and make the most of the combination. I would also argue that an explosives assassin is perhaps a more practical variation of the same theme since you can use that with any Assassin class combination, but ultimately I'd go with what appeals to you the most. Assassination by fireball isn't the most subtle form of covert killing, but it definitely works .

Yeah, let's ignore direct statements from Todd Howard, the head of BGS, that Fallout 76 is a spin-off and their main titles were, are, and will be focused on singleplayer. Indeed, let's instead blindly trust that the company that decides to come out with a multiplayer half a year after their "save player one" campaign isn't going to change it's mind on that. Especially if Fallout 76 turns out to make them a stupid amount of money, for what seems to be comparatively rather less work than they'd have needed for a single player game. They would hardly be the first traditionally single player gaming developer to make that switch. Besides, there is still also a difference between focused on single player and single player only; they might still end up throwing multiplayer elements into it as well, which would require compromises in the game design (eg. VATS and jet can't work as in Fallout 4 if there's potentially more than one player). I'm hardly claiming that they definitely will shift their focus towards multiplayer, but I also wouldn't be too quick to believe they won't just because Todd Howard is saying so now.

Hmm, starting to fall apart a bit now. You started saying that in your second post already, after all. And then there was that slightly jarring shift in tone the third post, suddenly much more pretentious and unexpectedly antagonistic. I'm still not 100% convinced, but I must render a verdict at some point and you've probably disrupted the thread enough at this stage. If you indeed were trolling though: good effort (on the other hand, still a troll). And if you're not: seek help. Seriously. I believe I shall leave it at this (unless you come back with something particularly hilarious perhaps). I'd suggest you do the same, for the sake of the thread. I don't think you can really lower my opinion of you any further at this stage anyway, so aside from wanting to get in the last word there'd be little point.

Nah, still not sure. Leaning towards 'troll', but it sounds just about self-important enough to actually be real. In case it indeed is real though, it is quite fascinating (the psychology of it, that is). Out of curiousity, what makes you persist in the idea that I'm offended or you're getting under my skin? I'd actually have to respect your ideas and opinions for that to happen, and that I definitely don't do. I can't imagine that you think that I do either, so it's odd to keep repeating that. And on the other hand it's not great as a trolling strategy either, which is part of what makes me think you might actually believe what you're saying (good double bluff if it is trolling though).

I shall upgrade my 'bemused' to 'amused'. Because either this is some top-notch trolling, in which case I say: good show! Not enough for me to bother with much, but certainly a valiant attempt. That, or you are actually being serious, and are a genuinely funny spectacle. It may not be intentional, but that needn't lessen the amusement. The rather patronising tone does suggest trolling though, it's a bit too on the nose. Do give us another clue though, I like a good game of "troll or clown?" every once in a while.

Oh yes, soooo horrific . Seriously though, if you're getting this worked up over nothing you probably should get that looked at. And if you're going to chastise people for making (what you perceive to be) unwarranted assumptions, maybe a good idea to not throw about your own quite so much. Just a tip. Because among other things: still feeling neither offended nor defensive. At this point, 'bemused' is probably the most apt description. That, and 'bored'; clearly you have nothing of actual interest to say.

Very much so

I only have experience with the Evoker so far, currently playing one (single class), but I certainly like it. I wouldn't mind them given them a second unique ability of some kind to each to give some more flavour to the different specialisations, but they're fair I think. I certainly wouldn't want them to remove the exclusions, that would rather defeat the point of them being specialised wizards after all. I imagine it also depends on how you play though. I'm playing with a full party, and in this case I have Aloth at hand as a Spellblade for a bit of Chillfoggin' and such while my main is running around setting everything on fire, that probably helps. I can imagine soloing it would be a real handicap though (but that certainly wouldn't be a reason to change them).

I've had this happen repeatedly as well, in the current version. It's triggered very reliably under the dig site in the room with the Brine Imps and gunpowder barrels. I'm fairly certain it is not just the amount of damage though, but rather something in the transition into combat and/or the state the imps are in before combat. I've just now tried it out a couple of times in a row, and quite reliably I can get the issue if I initiate combat by blowing up the Gunpowder barrel. In this case, by rolling a Rolling Flame over it from stealth (it is not due to the Rolling Flame itself or being prone either, it happens to imps not in the path of the Rolling Flame as well). Mostly the imps are untargetable and attacking, though a couple of times I've seen one entirely still and with it's wings still folded in etc., not doing anything. Probably they got killed before they even started 'waking up'. However, if I change the scenario, send the Flame rolling but unstealth Eder before it hits the barrel such that the Imps are active and attacking as the barrel kills them (they all have to have noticed him I think), they just die properly. The amount of damage they get doesn't really change of course, and it is highly reproducible, so it must be the transition from 'sleeping' state they are in (it also happens if combat has already started, mostly with imps further back that haven't noticed yet). I attached a screenshot of a pre-woken imp, it's to the right of Eder under the acid spit mood lighting. I also attached a (zipped) savegame to reproduce, for three different options (in all cases I'm assuming that the barrel blows immediately as it gets hit, but the Flame damage is almost always sufficient for that): 1) load and pause, have my main character send a Rolling Flame directly at the closest Gunpowder barrel, then unpause. This will first hit the nearest imp and initiate combat, and will subsequently blow the barrels and several imps with it. This is virtually guaranteed to turn some of the imps on the other side of the barrels dead but yet active and unkillable / untargetable. 2) load and pause, have my main character send a Rolling Flame directly at the closest Gunpowder barrel, select Eder and click to attack the spider, then unpause. Eder will become unstealthed before the Flame even starts rolling, all the imps will notice and start attacking, and will get blown to bits by the barrel without issue. 3) load, and wait for the imps next to the nearest set of barrels to move away, then send in the Rolling Flame. This will blow the barrels and several imps (usually at least two) in their pre-woken state as in the screenshot, with combat not starting yet. If you then initiate combat and kill the other imps and the spider, the pre-woken imps frozen in place won't interfere with combat ending. By the way, I'm on Win 8.1 with latest 1.2 patch and all the DLC, if that matters. Caden Ash (c1167493-557c-4508-b30a-46acb4843015) quicksave.zip

I wouldn't necessarily count on Bethesda's future output frankly, given their latest efforts *sigh*. But indeed Fallout 4 is a clear example that there's plenty of interest in single player games. And in general, the whole notion that single player games will die out because there would be no money in it seems deeply implausible. I can certainly see how (specific types of) multiplayer game are probably much easier to make in many respects, and have the whole microtransaction / subscription / etc. array of post-purchase monetization options going for them. That can certainly be very tempting for many developers. But the more that get tempted to do that, the less profitable that is likely to become (and/or the less reliable it will be as an investment), because there will be more games and developers competing for the same, ultimately limited, pool of players (and their limited time and money to sink into gaming). While at the same time, it would result in increasingly less competition in the single player market, in turn making that a more profitable and reliable investment. Obviously there is all sorts of developments in gaming trends over time, and an ebb and flow of popularity of different kinds of game. But for a particular genre to just die out, especially something as general as "single-player", for purely economic reasons alone I just can't see that happening. I mean, even the isometric cRPG genre once thought thoroughly dead and buried has been resurrected, and that is far more niche than 'single player'.

Well yes, if I'm saying that I have no idea what you're on about I think it's fairly safe to conclude that I missed whatever point that was supposed to make. That does not make me feel defensive however, just confused. It is still unclear to me what that is intended to be an example of, or what on earth you are doing with your barbers. And the fact that any characterisation will have a margin of interpretation and doesn't necessarily convey all the nuances of someone's meaning doesn't mean it gives no general indication of what they intend. If someone describes a voice as 'raspy', 'heavy smoker' and 'strep throat patient' I would imagine for most people that conjures up a fairly clear image of what is meant. And to me the narrator doesn't remotely sound like that, and therefore posted to the effect of "I don't hear it, what's so raspy about it?". Why that has you going off on some barely intelligeble tangent, I do not know.

Setting aside the fact that for a variety of reasons I would never say that to my barber (and she'd understandably be rather confused if I did), I have no idea what you're trying to express with that. However impractical it may be as a unit of measurement, an inch is still perfectly well-defined; there may be some margin when used colloquially, but it's not going suddenly double in size I should imagine. But maybe US barbers work on an entirely different logic. Equally, while 'raspiness' may be perceived differently by different people, when the OP describes the narrator's voice as raspy to the point of heavy smoker while I can't discern any hint of rasp to it, it doesn't seem unreasonable for me to express surprise about this.

Yeah, those basic skeletons always were 2 base AR / 0 Crush / 10 Pierce, they were never immune.

Actually, Arcane Reflection shouldn't affect Dampener at all, since it only works against targeted spells. In that sense it definitely doesn't make the caster immune to spells, Crackling Bolt to the face is still going to hit them just fine. Whether it gets suppressed by it I'm not sure though. You'd think so, clearly Arcane Reflection is beneficial, but whether it actually does will depend on how well they flagged effects as 'beneficial' in the game data. And obviously it's rather difficult to test. Mind you, I wouldn't be surprised if even if it does get suppressed stuff like the reflection bubble and mirror images remain visible, so you'd have to check the active effects list to be sure should this occur.

Slightly older thread I know, happened to come across it just now. Just wanted to point out that Rod with Blast still applies all full attacks in its AOE (assorted rogue attacks, Flames of Devotion, Barbaric Blow, Spirit Frenzy stagger, etc.). No poisons or Assassinate bonus unfortunately, but hitting a crowd with something like Gouging Strike is of course quite useful (and Sneak Attack obviously does apply as well). Running Aloth as a Spellblade Blaster to rather good effect at the moment. Edit: also works with Driving Flight by the way, for double the blast and double the attack ability. Though unfortunately it does require playing part Ranger (admittedly Blast + Driving Flight + Twinned Shot is hilarious, but not quite worth it to play single class ranger). If only Wounding Shot was actually any good, that'd help.

For me it doesn't easily get too mundane I must say; I'd certainly be (potentially) interested in similar styles of game in historical (or alternate historical) settings as well. But that is certainly quite subject to personal taste, I agree. I just enjoy getting a sense of a world, a place, which to me in many respects is more in the mundane and everyday things than in some spectacular upheaval. And it's perhaps also that it often feels that when things go epic (in most genres, superhero movies suffer from this to an even greater degree), everything just scales up with the threat. Some godlike villain threatening to destroy the world? You'll generally end up with similarly godlike protagonists to defeat him, because obviously they need to be more or less balanced in power for it to work. But if it's balanced in that sense, then in terms of plot and character development there isn't necessarily that much point in it balancing at that enormous level of power. Toning it down a couple of notches, maybe also throw in an army or two rather than concentrating all the power in a single individual, makes it feel much more plausible in many ways to me. It's like with Superman: he's stupidly powerful and nigh indestructible, so you'll pretty much just end up either having him fight something equally as powerful, or something less powerful plus a plot contrivance that depowers Superman as well (as far as I'm aware, it's hardly my genre, but it seems to follow roughly that kind of pattern). So to me it often feels like at heart the narrative wouldn't really change that much if you scaled it down to a lower level of power, aside from a couple less buildings getting punched to rubble. Whether reactions and such in PoE are believable is of course an additional point that can be argued. It feels plausible to me, insofar as denial and just plain disbelief that it's actually true (and also not exaggerated) would probably be fairly common reactions in a setting such as this. It will hardly have been the first grandiose rumour to have done the rounds, most of which will have been nonsense. And given that it would also a reasonable guise for one faction to weaken another, politics certainly seems relevant. And similar with the Watcher himself. It's a world filled with magic after all, with all sorts of (to us) unusual things. An ability to commune with souls just wouldn't be that unusual in comparison, I should think. Again, definitely a matter of individual perspective of course, though. And having said that, Pallegina definitely is quite boring, and Ydwin would have made a much better choice for a fully fleshed-out companion. Certainly, although I like a bit of good politics and intrigue in stories (wouldn't be believable without it), I'd much rather hear more about animancy and the science in this world from my companions. So in that regard I'm definitely not going to claim PoE is perfect in that sense, I certainly wouldn't have minded them turning up the focus on the less mundane a bit. But at least to me, things like that work best against a backdrop of the more mundane and down-to-earth, to provide the contrast. Also definitely not going to defend Star Wars eps 1-3, because that's just indefensible. Not that I'm such a Star Wars fan anyway mind you, it's an interesting setting spoiled by a never-ending chain of plot contrivance.

Had you actually read it, you'd have known it wasn't a rant. Though I must commend you at least for being consistent, and keeping your whinging brief.

I don't understand where you're getting 'raspy' from, let alone 'heavy smoker'. I just listened to a bit of the narration, and I can hear nothing particularly raspy about her voice. About the second point, I would imagine that is a matter of style. As a rule even words that are (roughly) synonymous don't really have the exact same meaning, tone and connotation, so they're not necessarily that easy to replace in that regard. Do you have any particular examples, though?

But the thing is, what you see as "doing more with the franchise", of embracing more "fantasy" and outlandlish elements; others (including apparantly Obsidian; or at least, that's not the way they want to go with it) would not see that as an improvement at all. Which is completely fine of course, different people like different things. But I think it does bear pointing out that certainly not everyone want it to be all that epic and over the top. Speaking for myself at least, I much prefer Gods being something more mundane, something more grounded. To me, Gods in fiction being some inexplicable force are just boring. Inexplicable in general bores me. The world being more normal and believable, the people and other entitities in it being more normal and believable, that is much more interesting to me. It gets you closer to a kind of 'what if' scenario, of some variation of our actual reality but with different rules, with magic infused into it. And same with the characters you play and encounter. I very much prefer them not to turn into virtual unstoppable demigods themselves at the end of the game (especially not over the time span a typical game takes), but to still feel like actual mortals, albeit very skilled ones perhaps. Given the way these games work mechanically that's always going to be a bit difficult of course, but PoE does approximate that much better than BG does. I definitely do enjoy more outlandish settings as well, but primarily to the extent that it provides unique and really quite different settings. Planescape Torment being a very good example, or for example the books by China Mieville. And in a way also Star Wars actually, that kind of blend of fantasy and sci-fi setting always felt like it has great promise (a pity they always manage to mess it up with horrible plot and most characters being pervasively incompetent). I certainly enjoyed the BG series mind you (though certainly not Lord of the Rings), but that's more despite the more outlandish elements of the setting than because of it. Anyway, I just thought I'd provide an opposing perspective