SaruNi

The new overland map apparently has the location selections in boxes at the bottom of it; but they're mostly off screen, with just the tops of the boxes visible. Exiting full screen doesn't help. This is on pc, Windows 10.... [Edit] Maybe this is just the map for leaving the village? I can't see what's in the rectangles. Once I leave the village it does take me to the old overland map which works fine.

Apparently because it's stored as "Hammering Thoughts" rather than "Hammering_Thoughts" or "HammeringThoughts". The console command can only take one parameter so the space messes it up.

Hammering Thoughts doesn't require weapon proficiency and works with unarmed attacks (even though the description specifies "weapon" unarmed counts as a weapon).

You know they added Smoke Veil (2 guile, invisible for base 5 seconds) right? Even multi-class (in the current beta) can have two uses of that per encounter. And Shadowing Beyond (3 guile) can also be used multiple times (by single-class in the beta). There are potions of Invisibility too, and probably items which grant it. Tremendous improvements over PoE 1 rogue in these respects. Riposte build seems much better too. Goes well with Trickster's multiple casts of Mirrored Image (though Escape grants +50 deflection for a few seconds and they don't stack).

Obviously the Ranger pet also goes well with many of the Cipher abilities (super-pet... someone mentioned using Ectopsychic Echo effectively with the fast pet). But Stalker's Link is tier 4, so technically you can't get it in the multiclass levels covered by the beta (without using the console). It's also nice that you can get the boost from Stalker's Link for spells cast before combat starts. Assassin Cipher gets a +25 accuracy boost, though I haven't checked whether smoke veil ranged/spell assassinate is still bugged. Now that the Dominate powers can be cast to initiate combat it seems potentially very good (and fun)....

Pillar of Holy Fire, level 6 scroll---65-78 base damage, 1.5m AoE... not bad for power level 6 Priest (or level 6 scroll at least). Chain lightning---30 to 50 base, but foe-only.... L7 Scroll of Cleansing Flame description is partly bugged, but "accelerates all effects on target, including damage over time" is interesting. Scroll of Rusted Armor---description also bugged, but could be great, wonder what class it corresponds to?... Priest of Berath automatically learns it at power level 7 so it's either Priest or Druid. Incidentally, they've also added console access to high-level potions. Including Potion of the Fearsome Brute, Potion of Invisibility....

Duality of mortal presence adds points to constitution based on number of wounds, starting when combat starts. However, unlike spells like Nature's Vigor (Fit Inspiration, +5 constitution) this constitution bonus does not increase health, only max health. If Nature's Vigor adds health, Duality of Mortal Presence should too... or the descriptions should be clarified.

The additional Constitution doesn't get added until combat starts, which means your starting health is unchanged. (Just tested it. Max health goes up, but starting health doesn't.) So you'd also need to heal your monk after combat starts to make use of it.

And bonus from consumables doesn't stack with abilities either. With the exception of Bloodlust, which stacks with other abilities and consumables. So Potion of Deftness is as good as or better than the barbarian and monk +action speed abilities even without points in alchemy, and with points in alchemy it's much better than cat druid speed as well. However the bonus from +5 dexterity (from Swift Strikes or Wild Sprint or Evasive Roll or Fleet Feet/Deleterious Alacrity et cetera) does stack.

Are you saying that Carnage works with ranged weapons now?

Maybe they thought it was confusing when you want to move an item from one character's inventory to another---the item replaced the cursor, and you had to click on the second character's icon with the item to switch to their inventory. A much better solution would be to keep the cursor in its usual position and have the item hover at a slight distance from the cursor. The current version is just disorienting.

On armor: firearms (pistols, blunderbuss, etc.) are unaffected by heavy armor, because they have reload speed rather than recovery speed, and armor only affects recovery speed. Currently rangers are the only class which has a passive self-only buff to firearm reload speed, though that seems likely to change (and chanters still have Sure-Handed Illa). Sharpshooter's malus is a penalty to recovery speed, but since firearms don't have recovery speed, the malus is completely negated. The spiritual weapon has a corrode lash which does +50% damage and as a rod it has the blast AoE modal. You can dual wield two sets of firearms (four with Black Jacket multiclass) which means 4 pistol shots (or 8 ) before needing to reload, then you could summon the spiritual weapon (however, it takes 5 seconds to summon...). For shaman (Priest/Barbarian) you get so much deflection from Arcane Veil (except against guns and other "veil-piercing" attacks, but then you can use Mirrored Image) that you'll probably be fine with light or no armor (Barbarian gets +1 armor from Thick-Skinned too, and Consecrated Ground gives good healing). You're more likely to get hit by spells and abilities that target Reflex or Will (assuming you have high strength and haven't dumped con). Llengrath's Displaced Image at higher levels will give you good Reflex defense though. But a lot of Barbarian abilities are melee-only so they won't work with Wael's spiritual weapon.

So Wizard summons should be working now. Really like the change to Puppet Master and Ring Leader and the increased damage for long casting spells. Most of the balance nerfs seem good (FoD, lightning strikes, dual wielding...). Tactical Meld is missing now, at least in the character creation ability list....

Assassin/offensive caster was good and had surprisingly good survivability even as glass cannon on PotD, but the new patch's increase to spell recovery time may have nerfed their survivability.

The change to cast/recovery times actually makes most of those spells less usable, except in very long fights. (The exception being those with 0 recovery, which were spared from getting the +1s recovery to "balance" -1s action speed.) They still take so long to cast that they're only good if you cast them before combat starts or while you're debuffing/buffing. For pre-casts which initiate combat, the extra second of recovery makes it more difficult to put up defenses (or smoke veil) before enemies counterattack. For spells cast while debuffing (for example, having your melee characters run around whacking enemies with the corresponding -25 defense modal) and buffing, 5 seconds gives you less time to debuff groups of enemies, while the 2 seconds of recovery leaves DPS basically unchanged. Since you don't leave stealth until the spell is cast, it makes casters more vulnerable for their first cast.

Yeah this is interesting One wizard + 4 corpse eater hohoho! Hmm, they changed the status effect of Call to Slumber from Unconscious to Asleep, and rewrote Corpse Eater to replace Unconscious enemies with "deceased" enemy "corpse"... so it probably just means they clarified the wording. Haven't tested it yet though....

Spiritual Weapon was hitting for ridiculous damage because corrosive damage (spiritual weapons have a corrode lash) in general was bugged. They've fixed that so Spiritual Weapon should be fine now: "(FIXED) Corrosive damage is calculating incorrectly."

"(FIXED) Corpse Eater cannot be used on Call to Slumber Kith targets." So now it can? Wow. That is beautiful. "(FIXED) Ascendant's Soul Whip does less damage when not at max focus." Thought the class description said ascendant's soul whip was supposed to do less damage when not at max focus, but ascendant was underpowered anyway, so I like this change.

Before iirc you linked to a quote from Josh which suggested that armor will eventually affect reload duration. Did they change their minds, or have they just not implemented it yet?.... Wonder how available potions or crafting materials will be in the game, at various stages. Will probably be able to farm consistently by some point in the game. It's a bit of a let down that potion use renders most class +action speed abilities irrelevant, since potions are better and the effects almost never stack. Would like it more if base potion +action speed (at least without significant points in alchemy) was lower but stacked with class abilities.

Assassin/Evoker: A+ except against enemies with fire resistance (assassinate from invisibility seems to be bugged so it only works with the first hit from stealth and any DoT which tick while invisible---so you can open with fireball, but without Transmutation or Conjuration you're left with invisible assassinate-fueled Ray of Fire); maybe C against fire resistance Assassin/Fury: A (less DPS than evoker but better CC with assassinate Returning Storm; better range of damage types too) Wizard/Trickster riposte tank: C+ (made before I realized the deflection bonuses don't stack at all, did okay but got hit occasionally, also only has Infuse with Vital Essence to deal will/fortitude attacks) Berserker/Fury: C (Berserk makes the jump on the spiritshift's auto-attack hit allies; tested before spell damage was shifted to Resolve and bonus penetration from Tenacious was nerfed, spell damage was underwhelming even then) Berserker/Sharpshooter: B (okay but requires more micromanagement than expected, maybe A- if you really like to kite)

From the thread, they want the shifter to never cast any spells, so the small number of non-spell ability picks irritates them. And while the ability to shift forms and automatically heal is powerful, they'd rather have a smaller selection of forms and/or more of a progression of abilities that the form gets with new levels. Of course the Storm spells, Barkskin, Form of the Delemgan et cetera can be cast before or between shifts, as well as the AoE heal spells.

So "****ty" in the sense of not liking the mechanics... not that it's not powerful.

That could be an interesting variation on Firebrand for multiclass....

For the single-class DPS fighter example---in the beta, single-class fighter gets access to Armored Grace (-120% to recovery penalty from wearing armor), Weapon Specialization (+15% damage with proficient weapons), Quick Switch, Mob stance (-5% recovery per nearby enemy), and upgraded Into the Fray (which gives enemies -10 armor---penetrating armor is extremely important, because under-penetration can cause a 70% damage penalty and overpenetration can give a 30% damage bonus). And single-class fighter can get resistance to Strength, Dexterity, and Resolve afflictions---which downgrades the corresponding CC/debuffs and makes them immune to Stunned, Paralyzed, and Terrified. [Edit: forgot to mention Guardian Stance---fighter's disengagement attacks now cause Prone.]

Maybe in the very early levels. But by level 6 (where the beta starts) Wizards have great defense against weapon attacks---not so much from switching spell damage to resolve (which increases deflection), but from fast cast spells like Arcane Veil (+50 deflection for a long time), Wizard's Double (+40), Mirrored Image (+30)... and most attacks can't interrupt casting. There's also a 4th level teleport spell that stuns enemies in its path. And Deleterious Alacrity of Motion makes Wizards immune to engagement. OTOH, a Wizard/Druid using spiritshift for melee damage is going to need Strength. Spell accuracy is very low against most enemies, and most spells have long casting times, so Dexterity and Perception are very important. Any spells with AoE or duration need Intelligence. So if you want to do good spell damage *and* good melee damage, you may have to dump Constitution... making your character much less survivable, even with the Bear's armor or the Stag's defensive bonus. Whereas a pure caster Wizard can dump Strength and max Resolve. Cheers for the response. I was also wondering though, the main point people make is ''single class characters gets 8th and 9th level abilities, multiclass characters dont'' That is true, but people are missing the point that single class characters wont reach these 8th and 9th level abilities till 75% into the game. Then when you finally get your first 8th level ability point to spend when you are 75% into the game, you then have to wait until you are around 79% into the game to get your next point and so on and so forth. By the time you reach your 9th level abilities and can spend that first point in that section of abilities you will be like 90% into the game? I mean sure this is all conjecture but you can surely see what im getting at right? If the bonus for being a single class character is the 8th and 9th level abilities, lets not act like we see this bonus from the start of the game. For the majority of the game single class and multi class have the same thing in common, no access to 8th and 9th level abilities. Also on a side note, what level 8th and 9th abilities of a single class fighter can compare with going multiclass fighter/cipher and getting soul whip 20% dmg from the start, and then a level or so later getting biting whip for another 20% dmg, plus all the nice abilities you will get to pick and choose from from the cipher ability tree? Sure i havent played the beta but i just cant see level 8th and 9th abilities of a single class fighter being worth it when you have the option of multiclass fighter/cipher. But single-class characters have access to higher level abilities than multiclass characters throughout the game. For example, at level 9 single class gets access to 4th tier and 5th tier, while multiclass only gets access to 3rd tier. Presumably at lower levels single-class cipher gets biting whip and the bonus weapon penetration passive earlier than multi-class cipher does. (Cipher isn't necessarily a great example though, because a cipher that actually uses powers is terrible right now and the class needs major changes.) In general, single-class gets better CC / ways to deal with CC, buffs/debuffs, as well as more of their class resource (so a single-class paladin would get many more uses of Flames of Devotion, which is very strong). Single-class +2 power level is also significant for some classes like Monk (unarmed damage and penetration) and Wizard using projectile spells (gets extra projectiles).