BlackHat

I'm finding that the starting distance between two boats is becoming really irritating. The fact that it's fixed at around 300 yards or so really invalidates the purpose of having long range weapons. I didn't notice/care so much when I was rollin around in a sloop, as I had no options but to rush toward the enemy to close distance before they could fire. But now that I've paid for this vastly more expensive boat, it seems like I threw away all my money. You'd think with a spyglass your captain could spot boats at farther than 600 yards, and start turning for a broadside with long guns way before some little voyager or (for example) a Dyrwoodian sloop could close the entire distance and board. Either the time to turn larger boats needs to come down or there should be some mechanic to control how far you want a combat to start - perhaps a "captain skill" roll or something, immediately preceding the combat when you elect for a a ship battle. Anyone else feel this should be a thing, or am I just getting fixated on something insignificant?

Loving the community patch. So, I have this idea about keywords etc. but I just don't know how hard it is to add this in (or I'd do it myself - and all my experience trying tells me that one of these days my hard drive will explode and gremlins will come out). I think it'd be incredible if there were some passive abilities, like heart of the storm for example, that grant +power level to keywords instead of just penetration. I mean on the one hand it might get out of control if you stack it with items like magran's axe or deltro's cage, but on the other hand I really hate stickin' an axe on a magey character (for example) who's built around wands or staves. It'd be nice to boost Decay spells (for another example) without having to use specific items (of which, in this case there are none anyway). Anyway, since the current topic is leaning into trinkets, it got me thinking Anyway, so the question(s) is, how hard would it be to put +keyword PL passive abilities in (or alter existing ones, such as heart of storm), and if not that, to create item abilities that cover some of the keywords (such as trinkets with +rejuvenation or +decay). I suppose the more relevant question should be "does anybody else think this is a good idea?"

Ah, thx tho. Trying to figure out how to do it myself, as I've been wanting to stick stormcaller on a wizard (arcane archer style elf :D). Just not sure how the item procs would work

how?

does the durgan reinforced weapon enchant stack with vicious/dirty fighting? Wasn't sure that it did

Anybody confirm that the Molina's Flinger is slower to reload rather than faster? I tried a makeshift combat test on a fully leveled flinger and aedrins wrecker - couldn't really notice a difference from shot to shot. That's telling enough as it is, you'd think a 50% speed bonus would be noticable.

Yeah, that last bit sounds juicy. I just did 23 attempts on the alpine dragon, and while I think it mught be possible, *maybe* I have to stop myself now, or I will lose what tiny fragments of my minds are left, lol. SO ! Monksterlash, here I come. Until I can get at purgatory, I may need to grab up oidrecht/azureth's instead i think. Thank you for feeding my mania Purgatory is from that archdruid - but why do I keep thinking there's another in the game? I think I'm just trippin...

Yeah, Con is a pretty serious issue. I've spent an inordinate amount on potions, and I've had to dance around a lot of fights because I'm afeared of one/two-shots. I underestimated how much damage I was going to take on my own (GM seemed pretty monster-like on my last playthrough, but now I see that was mostly because dead things don't hit back, and a party makes things dead a lot faster). I've yet to take on the alpine dragon because of the short health concerns however, and I nearly coudln't get past that wm 1 boss fight (took me about 8 tries, and 3 charges of the chimes). There's only so much figurines can help to draw aggro - they melt pretty fast. Mostly I rely heavy on the damage output combo and domination, but since that doesn't always work, I'm starting to think this playthrough is coming to a close. I have a modified 12 con, and its just not enough to avoid peril from an unexpected crit or to survive a lengthy cc. Well, it's still fun anyway, I'm kinda a glutton for punishment. I die, and with obsessive furor, I think "Ok, what if I use ironskin at the outset...do I still have that stupid spiderling figurine?" (or whatever other mad scheme pops into my head the next minute). But I can't deny that I think from all the pain i'm getting I'd have gotten a lot more mileage out of a monk like you first suggested. I also would be able to slap on Ryona's BP, which has some interesting capacities for monks, as while less reliable than valor scrolls/defense it's a free chance every time I get hit (which is a lot). As a first time POTD solo run I've still learned a lot - namely that Dominate feels OP until they're immune, lol - but that cipher has some pretty severe limitations on solo: I keep wishing that I could use pain block on myself. SO, I'm gonna try out stormcaller, as my current ranged option (leadspitter) is purely a one-shot wonder. I think I'll be able to survive, but I think the retaliation cipher build is kinda pushing the rock uphill compared to if I'd just started toward a lashier build in the first place. I spend more time in hit n' runs than standing n' banging (or standing and getting banged while casting, more accurately). If I do start fresh with this build, gonna reverse might and Con, give or take a couple points. Focus generation isn't as much a problem as concentration and hps, so I might throw some spares into Res. Not sure how much of those points should come out of Int tho. BTW I do use vuln. attacks, but with the heavier armor I'm really feeling like I'm wading in mud most of the time - but again, with the low health pool, I can't really go much lighter on the armor. Circling back to the same issues... Then again, I'm dying to try a monksterlash solo run so who knows. The expirement's half the fun so if I can't beat the bounties I'm on come tomorrow, then I'll start experiment B. Thanks for all the input, guys, Boeroer. Always learning something new here Oh and p.s, knew I shoulda gone Fire godlike >.< but I f*ing hate the portraits hahaha

Lol'd at psychic backlash. Had no idea how crazy that ability could be. Just to update you; went with a 18 mig/int human meadowfolk cipher, 15 per with middling everything else. Thus far I've got: Sura's supper plate garodh's Helm Ring of Protection Talisman of the Unconquerable Shod-in-Faith Looped Rope Celebrant's Gloves (still trying to find something else, but this works for now) Ring of Searing Flames Sanguine Plate Bittercut So I was wondering if might (or any stat really) affects retaliation damage effects - I've got decent might but even after adding +3(helm) i notice little if any difference in retaliation damage(when I do proc frenzy, the same goes, hardly notice a difference). Went straight for white march area as soon as I could, and while I like bittercut I was considering swapping into Steadfast sos I can keep my high will, and occasionally proc that Champion's Boon +10 might/perception, and then using dual sabres as my off pair to mop up teh weakling survivors of my initial combustingwounds/aoes of doom. Love watching what happens when I drop body attunement on the enemy and they melt from cumbusting wounds. Has anyone come up with a use for that sword anyway? It seems like - if not garbage - then a lacking primary, and I always end up throwing it on durance as a secondary weapon that never gets used. Now that I'm soloing, that potential buff makes me drool a little, especially if it does increase retaliation effects like brutal backlash and the like. p.s. I know some of the items are suboptimal given my other choices, but I like the way it looks. Red Bull gives you wings. p.p.s I am planning on swapping out of sanguine plate as soon as I get time parasite, just wondering if anyone has suggestions for armor (and for that matter whatever other suggestions you might share) on this guy. I have aru brekr, but other than the 1 speed it's unremarkable. Was considering murdering Raedric a second time for his armor (defiant is looking more and more appealing as I've come very close to death on multiple occasions - and a few times, well past that point) but unfortunately its not red, and thus I'll have to lose the loving moniker of Red Bull. I can live without it tho lol

Thanks a lot, as always the Boeroer database > +10 lore ring. Gonna try a few levels of cipher out (the versatility of spells really appeals to me for a solo run) but I gotta say, the more I look at it, the more I want to try something like a monksterlash build. For now, gonna try to make that cipher work. I hear those first few levels on a potd solo run can be brutal until you start collecting the pieces of your gearset and get a few levels, but at least it'll be interesting. Anyway thanks again, i'll keep it posted if/when I find the right concoction.

So I was trying to make a solo run retaliation cipher tank, but as I read up a bit closer, I realized a lot of the posts about it were made before the most recent updates; much of the information seems conflicting, and having recently played a melee ranger with Garodh's Helm, Sura's Supper Plate, and the Coat of ill Payment, I realized that I'm not sure all of those effects were actually functioning (perhaps some were suppressed, but with all the summons I had out the combat log was an absolute mess, and I didn't think to check the character page because - well hey, everything was dying around me anyway). Anyway, I'm trying to build this fire godlike cipher tank, and my plan was to build around "on character hit" effects. Sura's, Hiro's Mantle, binding rope, flame shield potions, Garodh's helm, coat of illiness, etc. I'm wondering which, if any of the following are true: 1)Only sura's supper plate will stack retaliation with 1 armor effect of the same type 2) multiple "get hit" effects won't stack with retaliate (flameshield, battle forged, binding rope, pain link won't work with retaliate) 3)Combusting wounds no longer works on DOTs per tick 4)retaliation effects don't net any focus anymore 5) on that note, do spells from scrolls/items that do damage to enemies net any focus gain? and also one more, since I'm considering a rogue instead of cipher for deep wounds/sneakattack, 6) does deep wounds no longer work on spells/retaliation/ damage shields(like flameshield/battleforged) I know this topic seems to have dozens of older threads, so forgive me for necroing this topic yet again; I came back to/been playing POE for a few weeks now, and I hadn't played it since before white march 1 came out. Back then, you could have more than half a dozen retaliate/on char hit effects active at the same time, and deep wounds worked on spells too. Anyway, I'm open to any other advice here on a solo cipher tank; If even half of the things on that list are accurate, it's not nearly as viable as it used to be, but I'm still looking to make it work. Not as worried about other talents/class abilities, so long as I can generate enough focus to remain versatile/to keep casting. I realize a lot of good buffs/spells require other party members (pain block comes to mind) but there are still plenty of useful cipher spells without them.

Closest they got is Godansthunyr (1h hammer, stuns on crit, +1 might that stacks with other might buffs) or Abydon's Hammer (white march 2, so late game, also it's 2hand. Not much like Mjolnir but its godlike and powerful if you use Soldier weapons. Souldbound tho, so you can't enchant it with durgan steel. p.s. naw, Hansvedic: need to have Honest/Benevolent dispositions maxed out lol. If hulk can't lift it with his 50 might, you ain't liftin it with your piddly 20

Not sure what you want to accomplish, as there are different methods of tanking and different stats/talent groupings that can help you to achieve it. Not trying to sound indecisive - quite the opposite. The more we know about your character/s the better ppl can help you. However, if your tank build is the generic "max out defenses and do little or no damage" type, then I'd say Hearth Harvest. If you're playing a fast attacking DW or 1h/smallshield tank like a barbarian or monk, oidreacht (and enchant it so that you can actually hit and do damage: draining is only good at all if you can do damage.). The other two are crap if not for the fact that they are the only mace/sword you'll find for a while, so if you took a weapon focus of some kind (knight or noble in this case) then no to both because there are better weapons for any role just around the corner. However something else worth noting: If you're building a tank whose only purpose is to stand in the way of your enemies and get slapped around while not dying, you should have a look at some of the builds in the build thread: there are a lot of ways to tank that are more effective or - and this is a big plus for me - more fun. Anyway, without knowing what you want to accomplish with your tank there's not much more I can offer. Do you want to make him draw aggro and in so doing damage as many enemies as possible? Or debuff everyone around him so badly that they can't hit the side of a barn with a blunderbuss? Hope all of - or any of - this helps.

yes, a Heavy summon party feels invincible against all but the most powerful enemy AOE (dragons come to mind). I can vouch for this build. Figurines are really easy to come by - I had 2 adra beetle figurines, the spiderling figurine, wood beetles and the wurms, all on different characters so that they could all summon- had Kana, Sagani (ranged build) OR Pallegina (auras, baby, for all dem pets), Hiravias (yes, I used Blight summons/on him too), Aloth, Durpance, my MC melee ranger with heavy retaliation build, his pet (wolf) and copious aoe damage, and 2 of those characters had blunderbusses. Throw combusting wounds out a few times (by ring or by Aloth, though I prefer his first spell to be expose vulnerabilities) and you'll be shocked, shocked I say, at how much those tiny hits add up. More importantly, you can clog up a map so bad that the enemy can't really move anywhere, and they all get flanked. Of course, so will your team, so give them all guns or fast ranged weapons and keep them behind the wall of summons, except for your MC who should rush the enemy asap to draw aggro around himself (out in front of the summons line). Let the buffs and foe aoes fly as soon as the wall of summons come out. Never had such an impossibly OP party till I went with this Instant Army build

Boeroer - do you know if durgan's refined enchant works at all on clothing? I was under the impression it was a waste of ingots to put on clothing, but I noticed OP had it in the primary post *edit nvm speed calculator asnwered my query, assuming its accurate. On a side note Im not sure if its a bug but I noticed Durgan's enchant doesn't seem to affect some armors (non souldbound, obviously). Even after saves/loads, retries etc, for example, on saint's war armor durgan's does change the recovery rate for Eder; But on Zahua with Argwes Adra Plate, it still reads at -50% recovery in the description, and appears not to affect his recovery in any way. There's probably a post about this somewhere on the boards, but hey, since attack speed is the topic of the day...