Skaddix

Wasnt that one of the main Chanter playing styles? I mean sure you technically carried a sword and board but actually landing hits with your sword was hardly the point. So it really should be supported with a lute.

How would that affect summons?

Depends on the combo? I mean most ranged classes have melee options.

The bear was the tankiest in PoE1...

Might be fine if you are going solo melee tank, teammates wont miss the buffs course that depends on the strength of the shield.

Unbroken Fighter seems rather obvious.

The point is more most Western RPGs have their roots in D&D for better or for worse which makes it useful for comparison. However, the shift of spellcasters from Per Rest to Per Encounter does move us quite a distance away from D&D.

To be fair PoE does mean you have to work harder to get Over leveled. Since the monsters don't respawn you cant just stand in the same field.

Max Level is 20, Max Party Size in 5. And as for maxing level or overleveling hopefully they tighten up the higher levels and make them more useful. They kinda have to make single class compete with mutliclass cause if PoE II is like PoE I, well everyone should mutlticlass cause past level 12 or so the options werent great

I agree we have drifted off topic. I mean PoE II is not going to let you cast spells outside of combat so it doesnt matter.

So your saying that PoE went so far overboard focusing on balancing stats mechanic wise that they forgot about the thematic and flavor? As for DEX its the God Stat for a reason. Works on light weapons, ranged weapons, armor class, reflex saves and initiative. Things a Wizard would want since you can't just dump all your points into INT at the start so usually the rest goes into WIS and DEX. Maybe CHA if you care about being the Face. Whereas strength only helps the heavier weapons and heavy armor.

That and there is no reload button. Plus the buffs last a long time at least in DnD 3.5 and Pathfinder...you wake up toss on your buffs and your good to go for the rest of the day combat wise.

Isnt that standard RPG though if you dont know anything about the boss fight you are unlikely to beat them straight up the first time. And if you do you try to extrapolate what the dragon would be weak against based on what you played before and what spells it casting. If I am fighting the Dragon and it breathes fire well I am probably not going to cast fire spells against them.

If I lost in PoE, I usually ate some food and found a door to blockade with Eder and/or an Offtank while Aloth and the rest lit them up from behind the door.

Divination is always hard in a CRPG, it shines when you can solve problems without violence or by skipping straight to the Boss. It doesn't really have much pure offensive potential.

Well the stated goal in PoE from the developers was to make it so there was no dump stat and they failed at it since every version had at least one dump stat for every class.

Isnt that the problem though its easier to create reasons for the Fighter to get mot INT then it is for the Spellcaster to spring for more Strength. ​Wizard is hardly the worst offender either...Driuids tend to be even worse cause they can shapeshift and pick up the physical stats of whatever they became.

Prebuffing works for table tops because its turned based and no one wants to spend the first half a fight buffing when you might have to wait 3-5 players and however many monsters to get back to your turn. So get the buffing done and enjoy the fight.

Well makes sense Wizard put the Fighter and Paladin out of Business in PoEI Plus Divination works better for Table Tops then it does CRPGs. But yes the Wizard has too many penalties lose 40% of your schools, take 20% Recover Penalty on another 40% of your Schools for a Power Level Buff and a Special Ability in the last 20%...that deal seems lacking if you ask me. I mean are your really going to have 2 good spells every spell level so as not to cast outside? I sure hope the Special Ability doesn't cost a spell slot, is highly tuned and scales as you level if you only get it late game well that is terrible. Plus a buffed primary school is dubious if your evocation and you get 20% more damage and 20% bigger AoEs well that is great. But if I am Illusion and the only buff I get is Arcane Veil last longer well that is not great cause if already giving me 40 Deflection and I get 8 more well I was probably basically unhittable already. And the combat might not last long enough to exploit a duration buff.

Its the pair listing Abj gives up Alt...I think it fits pretty well. Illusions are about affecting minds....Necromancy is about affecting bodies. It certainly fits better then what we got plus you know they hade more schools overall and still only had to give up 1.

I am not sure you suck but I probably go Unbroken Fighter and just build a pure tank.

Yeah certain debuffs allow for sneak attacks...granted I suppose in this case the numbers really matter. How much healing reduction? How much less zeal? How much less damage dealt? How strong is the shield? The shieldbearer is probably in the best position cant really go wrong with knockout prevention.

Certainly its a selfish option but is it just me or do the Goldpact and Darcozzi seem awfully similiar. They both essentially put up a shield. Although presumably the Darcozzi shield retaliates. I think they both suck. Unless the Flame Shield gets a huge buff. And the Goldpact armor buff well if you are in a door way where you can funnel enemies im sure it can be good but in a game with no aggro in an open area more DR will make the AI just ignore you. I would hope these abilities get special properties that you can upgrade...ie being able to Nova your flame shield into flame strike or something. Your giving up Zeal a limited resource for it so it needs to be worth it. But yeah I am concerned about the Paladin options. Still I wouldn't play a Kind Wayfarer but turning Eder or Pallegina into one on a melee focused team would probably pay dividends.

Certainly its a selfish option but is it just me or do the Goldpact and Darcozzi seem awfully similiar. They both essentially put up a shield. Although presumably the Darcozzi shield retaliates.

How so grimoire is still restricted by your restricted schools? And yes if any schools go together it be Enchantment and Illusion since they are both screwing with other people's minds.