SaruNi

A few fast-cast 1st level summoned weapons could be scattered across early game grimoires... keeping it to one per grimoire would make it less like the Black Jacket's special subclass bonus (even though it's still an extra weapon set and an extra weapon option per summon). Identical to ordinary (level scaled) weapons but with elemental damage replacing one of their damage types. Maybe more powerful weapons later, with either limited uses or longer casting time....

What if there were different tiers of summoned weapons? I like the idea of taking longer to summon a more powerful weapon (Priest's 60% lash, Citzal's special ability). Fast cast with a minor bonus (like dealing elemental damage), medium casting time with a moderate bonus (Concelhaut's Parasitic Staff), long casting time with larger bonus (Priest).... Summoned weapons also effectively give you an extra weapon slot. That can be extremely useful with 2 to 4 firearms and/or weapons with spellbindings (as well as having an extra ranged set in Kakaloth's Minor Blights). With grimoires it's not that hard to add Wizard spells (and with craftable scrolls and item spell-bindings, spells more generally...). Some spells---like Concelhaut's Draining Touch---are already implemented as a summoned weapon with one use. There could be variants on that....

AoE spells with duration can be cast before combat. You can stack Malignant Cloud, Chill Fog, Binding Web, Wall of Fire, Pull of Eora... and lead the enemies into it with your ranger companion (who gets no injuries after being knocked out). That's the whole point of the new "loudness" variable. You precast from stealth to lead enemies into ambushes, magical traps, and strategic arrangements.... Casting time and duration are balanced so you can only stack a limited number of spells (depending on intelligence) per caster. Anyway, haven't they said there will be equippable items which reduce casting time? They should add those in the next major beta update. (Maybe they wanted to encourage us to experiment with the stealth and loudness system?)

The problem there is probably low penetration and low accuracy relative to reflex. Assassin/Evoker fireball does much more damage (full penetration, doubled damage, critical hit). Think I'll try a death godlike St Elga (or St Elga / Helwalker) scroll user as "tank"---so the multiple assassin AoE spells hit him to induce Near Death and +3 power level, while lay on hands prevents death. Concussive missiles scroll should launch 7 missiles (6 if multiclassing) and the 20% bonus for near death enemies is recalculated for each missile, so if the first 5 achieve near-death, the last two will get the bonus.... Alternately you could have had your melee characters hitting them with the flail modal for -25 reflex, using speed boosts like Wild Sprint to hit as many enemies as possible or Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage to land disengagement attacks... the Mace modal only helps penetration a little (-1 AR) and upgraded Into the Fray (-10 AR) is single-target but the Skald's -5 AR invocation can be used right away and hit multiple enemies. (Meanwhile, your Nature Godlike Evoker self-buffs with Deleterious Alacrity for faster casting and +2 power levels Eldritch Aim for +5 accuracy, and a Priest with high dexterity can give her +5 Resolve and +2 Penetration. If you do all this you could easily average 120 damage per enemy = 600 total damage.) This is more interesting than just "waiting waiting waiting".... So what you are saying is the pure wizard that the game gave me at the beginning is essentially a worthless wizard and that to have a viable wizard I have to multiclass into assassin to take advantage of stealth mechanics from the multiclass, or I could use my whole team to buff my mage/debuff the enemies just so the one blast actually does some damage. Once again I might as well just take all melee and use all that time I would have spent casting buffs/debuffs and the spell to instead just slaughter the other team. Also, how do you propose I hit the ranged characters with the flail modal with my melee characters? If I go to do that I might as well just kill them with my melee characters because it will be faster anyway. If you want to cast a BAMF massive fireball that causes massive damage to multiple enemies with a single shot, yes. Or you could just use your per-rest empower point. Or invest in Alchemy to get better effects from potions and buy or craft (you can "craft" with the console now, but crafting will be implemented in the game) potions or scrolls. Ranged weapon users have: Upgraded Wounding Shot---causes Hobbled (-5 dex = -10 reflex) Crippling Shot (Hobbled) Blinding Shot (Blinded, -5 perception = -10 reflex, stacks with hobbled) Withering Shot (Weakened, -5 strength = -10 fortitude) Bleak Walker Flames of Devotion (Sickened, -5 constitution = -10 fortitude, stacks with weakened) You can use the hunting bow modal to shoot more quickly, especially if you already have high accuracy from Ranger or Paladin abilities. For reaching enemies quickly, melee Barbarians have Dragon Leap and Wild Sprint, melee thieves and rangers can use escape (escape *into* combat with +50 deflection) and evasive roll (Nimble inspiration, +5 dex = +15% action speed).

Agree that spells should be buffed, but Empower does make some spells very powerful. In PoE 1 most of the Vancian caster spells, especially the powerful higher level spells, were generally only used in difficult encounters, or if you wanted to rest a lot. Per-rest empower, +50% action speed potions, and fast-casting scroll versions of spells can partially recreate that dynamic. Ciphers definitely need much shorter casting times. And once the accuracy buff from Tactical Meld (0.5 second cast) works (bugged when last I checked) they'll be a bit better (if it's powerful enough)....

The problem there is probably low penetration and low accuracy relative to reflex. Assassin/Evoker fireball does much more damage (full penetration, doubled damage, critical hit). Think I'll try a death godlike St Elga (or St Elga / Helwalker) scroll user as "tank"---so the multiple assassin AoE spells hit him to induce Near Death and +3 power level, while lay on hands prevents death. Concussive missiles scroll should launch 7 missiles (6 if multiclassing) and the 20% bonus for near death enemies is recalculated for each missile, so if the first 5 achieve near-death, the last two will get the bonus.... Alternately you could have had your melee characters hitting them with the flail modal for -25 reflex, using speed boosts like Wild Sprint to hit as many enemies as possible or Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage to land disengagement attacks... the Mace modal only helps penetration a little (-1 AR) and upgraded Into the Fray (-10 AR) is single-target but the Skald's -5 AR invocation can be used right away and hit multiple enemies. (Meanwhile, your Nature Godlike Evoker self-buffs with Deleterious Alacrity for faster casting and +2 power levels Eldritch Aim for +5 accuracy, and a Priest with high dexterity can give her +5 Resolve and +2 Penetration. If you do all this you could easily average 120 damage per enemy = 600 total damage.) This is more interesting than just "waiting waiting waiting"....

Deflection bonuses from spells and abilities don't stack, and escape gives +50 deflection for 3 seconds (with 0 recovery and brief casting time)... which is just enough time to get in a weapon attack if you have dex a bit > 10 and no armor. You can also "escape" to the same location you were at before. So a Rogue using that strategy doesn't gain deflection from multiclassing Wizard or using Trickster's mirrored image (however, since you can't be engaged under the effects of escape, you can't force disengagement attacks to mass riposte, and streetfighters can't be flanked by enemies... and you'll eventually run out of guile to keep escaping). Arcane Veil also gives +50 deflection (except against "veil piercing" attacks").... Deflection bonuses do stack with +all defenses from Paladin et cetera, with paladin having the largest +all defenses by far (and +all defenses seem to always stack with each other?). On large shield: you can use Escape or Evasive Roll to move even when the modal is active.

+12 (or +14 if Exceptional). (The modal gives -50% ranged damage and -50% damage for attacks that target reflection in exchange for not being able to move.)

One caveat, multiclass characters get -2 power level for using scrolls. So scroll power level isn't just based on character level.

No, all the scrolls have short casting times. And you can get not only 4th but 5th level scrolls of Wizard (Torrent of Flames, Form of the Hapless Beast), Priest (Revival), and Druid scrolls (Embrace of the Death Talon). (Scroll of Pull of Eora has 1.6 second cast time and 1 second recovery.) So if you want to experiment with what casters would be like with short casting times you could just console in as many scrolls as you want (set a macro to automate it). Or use that mod that lets you buy any item in the game and buy them in bulk. (Actually it would be much easier to just set your dexterity to give you +50 or +70% action speed.) (Also bear in mind that we'll be able to craft scrolls, so we might end up having an unlimited supply, at least of some scrolls.) What’s the difference between a wizard fireball and a scroll fireball, do they have different power level and what is the gap? Scrolls seem to use the level of the caster as their power level. (In the UI "level" is substituted for "power level" but the bonuses seem to be the same. The Acute inspiration and Godlike bonuses to power level increase this "level" and make the scroll of Minoletta's Concussive Missiles scroll produce additional missiles.) Arcana is supposed to "increase the power level of scrolls" (leveling tooltip) but seems to have no effect on power level---at least increasing it from 7 to 9 or 20 has no effect on power level.

No, all the scrolls have short casting times. And you can get not only 4th but 5th level scrolls of Wizard (Torrent of Flames, Form of the Hapless Beast), Priest (Revival), and Druid scrolls (Embrace of the Death Talon). (Scroll of Pull of Eora has 1.6 second cast time and 1 second recovery.) So if you want to experiment with what casters would be like with short casting times you could just console in as many scrolls as you want (set a macro to automate it). Or use that mod that lets you buy any item in the game and buy them in bulk. (Actually it would be much easier to just set your dexterity to give you +50 or +70% action speed.) (Also bear in mind that we'll be able to craft scrolls, so we might end up having an unlimited supply, at least of some scrolls.)

When leveling up, the Arcana tooltip says "in combat it can be used to increase the power level of scrolls". It doesn't seem to increase the power level of scrolls (unless there's some mechanism I didn't notice). What it does do is increase the level of spell that can be cast.

When you cast Returning Storm and then use Smoke Veil, Assassinate applies to the lightning strikes and their attack rolls won't cause you to leave invisibility.

This also applies to spells. Spells cast from stealth get the Assassinate bonus, and the tooltip for each spell's penetration value indicates that Assassinate should apply when invisible from Smoke Veil, but the bonus doesn't apply to spells cast from invisibility (at least, using smoke veil). From the animation it looks like the character emerges from invisibility a moment before casting the spell.

Looks like it only works when casting from stealth or for spells already cast when you're in invisibility (if you cast the spell, then become invisible for subsequent attack ticks---tested on Ray of Fire)... if you try to cast a spell from invisibility you emerge from invisibility before casting it and lose the bonus. Possibly related to the bug that prevents Assassinate from working with Ranged weapons from invisibility.

I like having some Druid/Wizard spells with long (or very long) casting times but shorter recovery. This game is adding an interesting stealth / invisibility system that PoE 1 was sorely lacking in, and long casting/short recovery goes well with stealth/smoke veil (not to mention Assassinate...). Also makes it easier to buff accuracy/damage/penetration between the casting of the spell and its attack rolls. And it's good for other playstyles as well (for example, open with powerful spell then spiritshift / self-buff). The "no casting-time opening cast" vs "needing buffs and/or debuffs (like weapon modals) for long casting time spells to actually hit consistently / penetrate" dynamic should lead to an interesting tactical battle with the interrupt system (though long casting spell effects should be improved for this and/or buffs should be made better). Haven't tested a party of Assassin/Evokers and Assassin/Furies yet but they should be able to clear encounters quickly (Assassinate solves the accuracy / penetration / damage issue... the Fury teleport also lets you avoid AoE attacks while invisible, and smoke veil with decently high int / dex gives you just enough time to teleport or self-buff a bit and cast a 6 second spell). (Assassinate doesn't work as well with multiple projectile spells or jump spells though, as it only applies to the initial hit. However AoE spells that hit multiple enemies simultaneously do apply it to the attack roll for each enemy.)

One issue with casting before combat starts is that you can't self-buff (aside from using drugs---did the devs assume drugs and other consumables that increase action speed would be more popular?). However, spells with duration that involve multiple attack rolls---for example, Chill Fog---rely on the caster's accuracy and penetration at the time of each attack roll, *not* when the spell was cast. So if you cast Chill Fog and then use Frenzy (Tenacious +2 penetration still applies to spells) or +accuracy abilities (Dance of Death, Sworn Enemy, etc.) subsequent attack rolls will apply the bonuses. In the case of Assassinate, the bonuses will apply if you're in stealth or invisible at the time of each attack---but if you've already cast the spell, the spell's automatic attack tick won't remove you from invisibility. For example you can cast Ray of Fire then use Smoke Veil---fire will continue to pour out of invisible hands and each attack roll will apply Assassinate bonuses.

Tested with -50% recovery from dual wielding and -20% recovery from Streetfighter's Heating Up. Additive stacking would predict -70% recovery therefore 0.3*2 = 0.6 second recovery. Multiplicative would be .5*.8*2 = 0.8 recovery. But the number it's returning is 0.9 recovery. There were no action speed bonuses or maluses, just -% recovery speed. The difference between expected and actual becomes larger (and worse for the player) when you add in the expected -% recovery from +action speed. Edit: 0.9 would be about the right result if -% recovery speed were stacked by first converting it into +action speed, adding up all the +action speed bonuses, and then re-converting it into -% recovery speed. z = x/(1+x) z + zx = x (1-z)x = z x = z/(1-z) .5/.5 = 1 .2/.8 = .25 1.25/2.25 = 0.555 (1-0.555...)*2 = about 0.8889 But that is a ridiculously counterintuitive and complicated way of doing it.

Actually, 0 recovery is not attainable by the dual-wielding. It provides a multiplier, not a straight bonus. It can easily put you low and it can negate lots of the other negatives, but it can't get you in that zero zone and, actually, the more action discounts you're getting, the worse it becomes. I.e., if you have full 100% recovery, dual-wielding cuts 50% from that. But if you already have 50 only, you're getting nothing but 25. So actual speedsters (if they'll be present) won't bother with dualing as much. The UI lists 0 recovery if you dual wield with 1300 dexterity (1250 isn't enough...). That said, combining > -50% recovery from +action speed bonuses (calculated as x/(1+x)) with dual wielding doesn't give you 0 recovery, so that's not additive. But it doesn't seem to be multiplicative either, since it's giving less of a total reduction in recovery than would be expected.

With stacking action speed bonuses, the duration ("casting time", "recovery speed", etc.) tooltip displays them as multiple -% recovery speed factors (for example "-19% Dexterity, -17% Bloodlust, -20% Frenzy"). But they're actually calculated by adding the action speed bonuses and then computing the reduction in recovery speed, which is significantly smaller than what adding together the individual "-X%" entries implies.

Hmm, what it actually says is "per kill (on kill) +20%". If it's not intended to be 20% per kill then the description should be clarified.

I suppose it's UI problem coupled with the fact that there should be a special case for speed-related tooltip generation. If an effect gives +25% action speed, than it's obvious that it's tooltip should write: [+25% action speed] or [-20% action duration]. P.S. Cross-linking a related thread. That makes sense. So in general the % reduction in action duration should be x/(1+x). Instead of using +action speed, they could just switch it back to an additively stacking -action duration and change the UI description to something like "actions take X% less time". That would actually be less confusing.

If you don't want to cast spells outside of combat, a party of casters multiclassed with Skald would have extremely good hard CC (one targeting will, one targeting reflex) and debuffs with 0.5 casting time... and chanters start with a bunch of phrases so they can be cast at the start of combat. Hard CC invocation, spell from multiclass, then when you're done casting the spell you should be ready to use another invocation. And while you're casting the effects of chants will be being applied, so it's not dead time....

Great news: Bloodlust works with spells and can be triggered by killing your own summons (just tested). Recruit a 1st level Ghost Heart or Beckoner / Monk (for speed) and (if your spells actually hit) you can easily kill all six skeletons at once with fast cast AoE (or kill a summoned pet, summon it again, kill it again, kill it and the Ghost Heart)... this *should* stack with itself at +20% action speed per kill. Unfortunately Bloodlust is bugged and doesn't stack with itself. (And all class action speed bonuses have been nerfed in the new patch: 20% becomes 17%, 25% becomes 20%, 33% becomes 20%... really solving that casting speed issue aren't they.) As I've mentioned many times before you can cast CC outside of combat, combat won't start until the spell is cast and actually hits (or more likely misses) an enemy. Stealth is helpful but so long as the enemy hasn't noticed you you can do it.

According to the description, bloodlust is supposed to stack with itself. It doesn't. Killing more than one creature only results in a flat +17% action speed (instead of the stacking +20% per each it's supposed to give).