Ophiuchus

It might not be as weird as you think: Onekaza is a Cipher, after all. Focus generation is bleh early on but shines once you gain access to multi-hit stuff like the unique blunderbusses.

Serafen shows up near the Ft. Deadlight dungeon entrance.

Ravager seems a bit...overlooked compared to a lot of the other martial multi options. Excellent information there.

The real kicker is that there's seemingly no way to mod it back in since the components that (seem to) govern that effect aren't working properly.

I'm going to have to wait for the Steam release as well. I'm not installing a whole new platform for one title.

I finally got around to playing Deus Ex: I spent roughly two hours on the first mission to get a feel for the mechanics and interactivity. I can't give it enough praise.

A spinoff dating sim prequel exploring our favourite characters' first teenage crushes. Released exclusively on the OUYA Shame. It would be a best seller on N-GAGE.

It's been happening to enemies as well: hit a Mountain Dwarf with Weakness and it gets perma-Sickened.

I'm not sure what angering Berath does there but it's often been reported that zone is wonky with enemy levels. Are you playing with scaling?

afflictions are not properly being dispelled anymore, i don't know about you, but for my play style on potd+challenges+upscaling, this is pretty bad. I've noticed that too when using T2 afflictions on enemies with the proper Resistance: the downgraded affliction sticks.

IIRC, Psion's Focus regeneration works like Dance of Death in that it cancels on a graze/hit/crit roll so DAOM and the like should work with it. Late Edit: I meant to type more earlier but had to put out a fire. I agree with thelee that Psion would help bridge the action economy gap; and its downsides could be negated with proper positioning and Wizard buffs. However, I think Beguiler should still be considered with its superb on-demand Focus generation through Afflictions and Deception powers: you can quickly generate Focus from Stealth using a cheap AoE Power like Phantom Foes, Mental Binding, or Secret Horrors; Mind Plague bounces, which means it generates Focus during its own Recovery. As a result, I feel Beguiler would be able to access higher level Powers faster. (Also, I think Draining Whip modifies the Beguiler Focus gain while Psion doesn't have access to it.) However, Beguiler's Focus generation is contingent on the number of enemies and being able to regularly land Afflictions, which can be challenging against bosses, FS encounters, and situations where you can't set up Stealth. Since a Beguiler relies on Deceptions, its locked into using them whereas a Psion could utilize a wider range of Powers. When it comes to multiclassing with Blood Mage, Beguiler could be a utility king with Afflictions on the Cipher side and non-Affliction stuff from the Wizard (Miasma, Slicken, Expose Vulnerabilities, etc.). I think Psion would be well suited for a character that wants more "tricks" (Combusting Wounds and Mind Blades; Pull of Eora and Silent Scream; Echoing Shield followed by Slicken). Most of this is on paper of course, but this thread is intriguing. Awkward name aside, I'd like to give Hierophant a whirl.

You may want to consider going Beguiler instead of Psion for such a build: a semi-recent update gave it ludicrous Focus generation and its drawbacks, imho, are easier to manage than not getting hit.

IMHO, the game's itemization does suffer from too many "below X percent health" effects but not enough for it to be a deal breaker.

Nice. I'd co-sign/test this if a kind modder wanted to make it a reality.

The idea of a Bounty Hunter subclass sounds cool, if for the name only. But I'm not so sure about a subclass that centers around Traps. Oh, if traps only "captured" the target, it might fit the concept. But all these damaging traps make a Trapster seem more like a mine layer. Honestly, if I was going to consider a subclass based on consumable explosives, it'd probably be more like a Grenadier. After all, you can load up your quick slots with quite a few grenades and have some good AoE fun. There's no pretending that a Grenadier is going to be doing anything other than lobbing little balls of death, seeking to blow up stuff. Back to Bounty Hunters... The idea/name sounds cool, but what would a bounty hunter do that works within the context of the game where you're usually trying to kill your enemies, not capture them to return to the local jail. With my idea, the Bounty Hunter would get a 1/encounter pull ability similar to a Lurker's snare so you could lasso a foe into a line filled with traps.

I need to get back to work here in a few but here's some AR-lowering abilities: -1 AR: Flanked (positioning or PER Affliction or Phantom Foes (Cipher)) Rending Smash (Mace Modal) -2 AR: Hel-Hyraf/The Shield Cracks (Chanter; AoE) Expose Vulnerabilities (Wizard; AoE) Body Attunement (Cipher; single target) -4 AR: Rusted Armor (Druid; single target) As for combat engagement, you can begin encounters with your party in Stealth to take advantage of the recovery bonus. Have your tanky character creep forward and toss a Sparkcracker a bit off to the side to clump enemies and keep their vision cones away from your backline. Dismiss Stealth on the tank to initiate combat and cluster enemies into a ball. From there, your Stealthed characters can cast buffs with minimal recovery time: I generally like to have Xoti cast Minor Avatar followed by Dire Blessing and other buffs depending on the situation (Holy Meditation to counter RES afflictions, for example); it's not a bad idea to have hard CC at the ready to keep the enemy group locked in that position. Mind that this won't work in every encounter since some are scripted with spawning enemies and the like.

Cool. That's one reason why I suggested giving another character an AR reducing ability. Using an ability from Stealth (but not Invisibility) shaves 85 percent of the recovery: so you can load up on buffs, have Tekehu use The Shield Cracks, and follow it up with a Fireball boosted by Assassinate, then quickly lead into your next action.

Only the first pulse will benefit from the Assassinate bonus (Sneak Attack only works with weapons). Shadowing Beyond is more costly but it's significantly smoother than Smoke Veil since it doesn't have recovery.

Interesting setup on your MC. Keep in mind that pulsing spells (Chill Fog, Slicken) will break your invisibility.

With that comp, you'll cover most of the bases. I'm a bit concerned about PEN since you're playing on PoTD: you'll probably want to spec Tekehu as a Druid/Chanter for the Hel Hyraf's Invocation (-2 AR) and give Xoti Champion's Boon (+5 MIG, +2 PEN). Later on, when money and resources aren't a big deal, you can also eat Hot Razor Skewers or Crusted Swordfish for PEN bonuses to physical attacks and spells, respectively. On that note, you might get better mileage as an Assassin/Evoker for the +2 PL bonus to Evocation spells. Blood Mages generally have low MIG (for less sacrifice damage) and focus on CC and Afflictions. an assassin/blood mage can learn expose vulnerabilities for -2 AR or any perception affliction for -1 AR. Not quite as good as Hel-Hyraf's upgrade (The Shield Breaks basically has no expiration in any decent fight), but does mean that they don't *need* it enough to roll a theurge. (also a blood mage can keep spamming expose vulnerabilities until it connects) remember that a blood mage with blood sacrifice will almost constnatly have a +1 PL bonus, which is half way to a subclass bonus, except you also have no excluded schools or recovery time penalties. (no echo chance, but i'll take spell regen over random evocation echo) True. I'm curious how OP is running his Spellblade: figured it would be damage-oriented so they might not have the action economy to juggle invisibility, damage, and support stuff.

With that comp, you'll cover most of the bases. I'm a bit concerned about PEN since you're playing on PoTD: you'll probably want to spec Tekehu as a Druid/Chanter for the Hel Hyraf's Invocation (-2 AR) and give Xoti Champion's Boon (+5 MIG, +2 PEN). Later on, when money and resources aren't a big deal, you can also eat Hot Razor Skewers or Crusted Swordfish for PEN bonuses to physical attacks and spells, respectively. On that note, you might get better mileage as an Assassin/Evoker for the +2 PL bonus to Evocation spells. Blood Mages generally have low MIG (for less sacrifice damage) and focus on CC and Afflictions.

With that in mind should I look at dropping xoti potentially? I'm bouncing between various stuff atm but here's some general thoughts: Xoti's Priest subclass is a bit borked (imho, it's one reason why Priests get a bad rep in this game) with few traditional/general purpose spells compared to other kits. The class (in general) starts to shine around PL4 with Shining Beacon, Devotions for the Faithful, and Triumph of The Crusaders - Crusaders grants +5 MIG and 80hp base on kill, which is pretty spicy. At PL8 you'll gain access to Hand of Weal and Woe, which offers superb healing (25hp base per second for 10 seconds). All things considered, I would use a Priest in tandem with a supplementary healer - like Herald - since you'll want some breathing room for buffs (Dire Blessing, Minor Avatar) and solid damage spells (Storm of Holy Fire, Spark the Souls of the Righteous). Pallegina's kit is more offensive-oriented than other Paladin subclasses, which puts her at a slight disadvantage as a tank compared to a hireling or MC. Even then, her variant of Sworn Rival takes forever and a day to cast, and its damage isn't anything to write home about. Unfortunately she's also a base Chanter, which is objectively worse than a Troubadour. This isn't to say she won't work as a tank - her racial ability grants Resistance to PER and INT afflictions, which can be useful. All in all, I think your party setup would work well with Herald Pallegina and SC Priest Xoti. If you're not against modding, I'd recommend checking out the Pillars 2 Nexus for mods that add subclasses to companions. They're super useful if you want better optimization and party banter/RP at the same time.

I would go Herald since it offers a lot of support. Swashbuckler Eder has plenty of defense and self-sustainability - adding another X/Fighter to your composition might make it too defensive and devalue the use of a dedicated healer.

I agree with Omeganova's thoughts on replacing Rot Skulls with Enervating Terror or a variant like Secret Horrors. It's a fun flavor spell but like they mentioned, it clashes with the summoned Greatsword and feels clunky. It's also been devalued since affliction attacks don't work with the AoE, and a mid/backline Priest would probably benefit more from a stat stick. The only small qualm I would have with Enervating Terror is the Weakened effect slightly devaluing Berath's Quickening by overriding Sickness but it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I should've mentioned this in my last post but I dislike non-Chanter summons so I'm impartial to the Incarnate(s) and Call of The Grave. Edit: I'm also glad you replaced Spreading Plague with Infestation of Maggots: you can raise a family in the time it takes for it to bounce.

(I hope you don't mind me copying and pasting this from the Nexus.) ---------------------------- The god(dess) of death, cycles and doors, I thought that spells that overwhelmingly emphasise the cycle of life and decay as well as bit of rebirth would be most appropriate. The priest’s new holy power is called Berath’s Quickening and inflicts DOT Corrode damage as well as the Sicken affliction. The priest of Berath’s passive grants him +2 Power Levels with Corrode/Decay spells and a once per encounter ability Slow the Wheel which is a more powerful version of Arduous Delay. The priest is penalised by making him receive 15% more damage from all sources. Significantly buffed Incarnate(s) under party control. Holy Power: Berath’s Quickening Passive: Berath’s Touch Spells by PL: Touch of Rot Autumn's Decay Infestation of Maggots Their Putrid Stench Wafts Across Rot Skulls Rusted Armor Call of the Grave (Calls forth a powerful skeletal vessel to join the party) Symbol of Berath (Affliction type changed to Enfeebled, making it much more powerful), Delay the Wheel (An AOE greater duration version of Barring Death'S Door) Hand of Berath (has small AOE and reduces enemy Power Levels by -10), Chosen of Berath (Constitution Affliction Immunity, +3 Penetration with Decay/Acid Spells) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- In your early version of Priest of Berath, I combined it with a Greatsword Devoted and completed a whole run (including DLC). I'm grateful for these changes since I've wanted to make such a build since beta but it was always too slow and clunky to get off the ground. Your new version feels better balanced and more interesting for single class, though I'll probably do a second Berath/Greatsword run since I dig that Death Knight style. I haven't been able to test this stuff but I've got some good experience with Priest of Berath so here's some thoughts: I'm glad you removed the Enfeebled affliction from Berath's Quickening. It was ludicrously overpowered, especially for a baseline ability. Sickened still fits the theme well, though it'll be a bit annoying versus enemies resistant to CON afflictions. Slow the Wheel is a nifty ability. I like such effects and will definitely fit this into ability chains. Their Putrid Stench Wafts Across and Call of the Grave: The former is like Deadfire's version of Corpse Explosion so I like how you incorporated it; I doubt I'll use Call of the Grave as a melee multiclass but I like it more than Garden of Life. Symbol of Berath, Delay the Wheel, Hand of Berath: Dammit, Stardusk. I'm going to start a third run to use these spicy abilities. I like them all. Chosen of Berath: Looks good and it's more interesting than vanilla upper level single class passives. More bonuses to Acid/Decay are always appreciated.