Tommy1984

Don't you get -1 phrase cost from beckoner? it is already calculated in ... the current progression in the beta is: PL 1 + 2 = 3 Phrases (2 on Beckoner, 4 on Troubadour) = Skeletons / Ghost / Wurms PL 3 + 4 = 4 Phrases (3 on Beckoner, 5 on Troubadour) = Wisp / Ogres PL 5 = 5 Phrases (4 on Beckoner, 6 on Troubadour) = Drake based on this the higher power levels should look like this: PL 6 = 5 Phrases (4 on Beckoner, 6 on Troubadour) PL 7 + 8 = 6 Phrases (5 on Beckoner, 7 on Troubadour) = Ancient Weapons PL 9 = 7 Phrases (6 on Beckoner, 8 on Troubadour) = Dragon so I think I need to correct my assumption for the dragon: - Beckoner: 6x6 = 36 seconds for summoning a dragon (PL9), summon base duration = 18 seconds - Troubadour: 8x3 = 24 seconds for summoning a dragon (PL9), summon base duration = 25 seconds So a Troubadour can keep up his dragon relatively easy (just a bit INT to offset the casting time). But for a Beckoner this should be really difficult.

Sorry, I confused this. On a Beckoner the summons have -50% health, and around -33% duration (skeletons: 12 seconds >> 8 seconds, ogres: 25 seconds >> 18 seconds). Duration is increased by INT (+5% per point over 10) and Power Level (+5% per level over unlock level). For example: - Ogres are Power level 4 - multi can get to Power level 7 = 15% duration bonus - with 20 INT at max level you get: 18 x 1.15 (PL) x 1.5 (INT) = 31 seconds Also casting time can be reduced by: - faster casting passive: -10% - faster summon casting passive: -15% - dexterity: -3% per point above 10

Shields are still nice on support characters that don't rely on weapon damage or on tanks. With Weapon and Shield Style your shield bonus is still added to your Reflex defense. Also there are good modals if you take shields as weapon proficiency. The best I think is the medium shield modal - it blocks 30% of all weapon attacks. The large shield modal reduces damage from ranged attacks and attacks that target reflex by 50% and Immobilized the character ... good for blocking doorways. The small shield modal increases your accuracy by 15 if the last attack has missed you ... not that great - if you want accuracy just go single weapon style.

The reason I want to multi a Beckoner is because of 2 things: 1) Summons scale of character level not power level so outside of getting access to new summons pure Beckoner's summons are not any stronger then a multi's. 2) The later summons have a base duration of 25 seconds. So basically outside of summons what are you going to do all you will do is use phrases and auto attacks. Thanks, I forgot about the duration. Summoning a dragon should need 8 phrases on a beckoner - thats 8x6 = 48 seconds chanting ... a long time. As beckoner your base duration is halved .. so its more like 12 seconds. Because the dragon is on the 9th power level you do not get much extra duration from power levels. I think even with high INT this should not be really long. I think the dragon summon works better on a single class troubadour, because he only needs 9x3 = 27 seconds. With some INT he can have his dragon out constantly. But I like the new chants - on 6th power level you get the leech chant, where your guys leech 12% of damage done as healing and on 7th power level is a chant that increases healing by +100%. I think these work good with a paladin with Exalted Endurance. To bad that paladins no longer have the talent "Coordinated Attacks" ... it would qualify them as No 1 multi class choice for me. Now I need the check all classes if paladin is still the best choice for me or if another class feels better. For example a Livegiver druid should also synergize really good with the new +100% healing chant. edit: I overlooked that there is a chant that summons skeletons ... that makes it interessting to compare beckoner and troubadour again 1) beckoner: per 12 seconds (2 phrases) = 2 skeletons (from chant) and 6 minor skeletons (from invocation) = 8 skeletons 2) troubadour: per 12 seconds (4 phrases) = 4 skeletons (from chant) and 3 skeletons (from invocation) = 7 skeletons That brings them closer together ... to bad the duration for the skeletons from the chant is not explained. It would also be interesting to know if a beckoner can get 2 skeletons from the chant.

Hmm, they nerfed "Her Courage Thick as Steel" really hard (now only 10pt damage shield instead of 30pt). So now I'm sure I will play a Beckoner instead of a Troubadour. But I don't know yet if I really want to go single class. By going multi class I miss the dragon summon (or 2 dragons for beckonner ) and the upgrade for the summoned weapons (so multi beckoner gets only 6 instead of 8 summons from it). A multi also doesn't get the anti beast chant and some other stuff. I really have to rewatch the other classes to see how good these synergize with a dedicated summoner. I also need to think about if these are really neccessary on the main character or if these can be provided by the party instead.

Where can you see high level abilities (or full skill trees)? edit: okay, found the video in another thread: see here

Are you sure about this? Last time I checked the damage scores in the beta the bonus from might was a full multiplier. So your formula should look like this: (100 [damage] * 1.3 [might] * (1 + 0.25 [crit] + 0.25 [devoted])) * 1.3 [overpenetration]) = 253,5 damage Not sure if multiple crit damage multipliers are additive (as shown in the formula) or also multiplicative with each over. I need to test this more. (edit: sorry ... I confused overpenetration bonus and might bonus in your formula) I'm also interested in the question: Are battle axes (+20% crit damage) or sabres (+10% damage) better for classes that often do crits?

The video has good examples of how sometimes game designers can be wrong in judging what "fun" means for players.

For info: in the beta on the Watcher the highest bonus from Faith and Conviction + Deep Faith I got was +20 to all defenses (got this as Goldpact Knight and Kind Wayfarer). But I don't know if this is the maximum or if it can get even higher.

I hope they change that starting skills are based on the base class. It just doesn't make sense that a Bleak Walker starts with +2 Diplomacy skill (as all paladins) while he disfavors diplomatic responses. Giving starting skills based on the sub class would be better ... I think +2 Intimidate skill instead would be a better match for Bleak Walkers.

This is a great question, I'd be really interested to find out the answer to this. My guess would be that the healing stacks, but the lash damage from mith fyr and armor from the exalted endurance don't. I tested this today. I used 2 paladins and 2 chanters with different might scores to identify the source of the healing. Here the results: - Exalted Endurance does NOT STACK - Ancient Memory does NOT STACK - Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr does NOT STACK - Her Courage Thick as Steel does NOT STACK - Come, Come Soft Winds of Death does NOT STACK - The Silver Knights' Shields Broke Both Arrow and Blade does NOT STACK - The Dragon Thrashed, The Dragon Wailed does STACK For Exalted Endurance the stronger form is used, so the aura of the paladin with higher might overwrites the aura of the paladin with lower might. The same is true for Ancient Memory, in the combat log you can only see the healing from the chant of the chanter with higher might, which heals for 2 points of health instead of only 1 point of health from the chanter with lower might. Also Mith Fyr and all other self buff chants don't stack. The only chant that stacks is Dragon Thrashed, where you can get multiple stacks on enemies. Dont know why Come Come Soft Winds does not stack (on enemies) like Dragon Trashed ... maybe because it also has a self buff part (that is bugged in the current beta). I also tested the following: - Inspiring Triump is NOT triggered by summon kills on a herald ( ... at least I hoped it would do this ) no ... the paladin do not have to kill the enemy himself, you also get your zeal back if summons or companions kill the enemy

I did a POTD solo run in the beta with a beckoner / goldpact knight multi class ... it was really easy. Details: - Woodelf (for the paralyze immunity) - maxed INT (for summon/chant duration) - summon: Skeletons + Upgrade - chant: Come, Come Soft Winds of Death - equipment: full plate, medium shield + modal (damage reduction), dagger + modal (melee deflection), switched to pistol + shield for the titan - talents: Deep Faith, Weapon+Shield Style, Inspired Defenses, Divine Purpose, Zealous Aura, Combat Focus, Shared Flames You basically just summon skeletons all the time. I created an AI behaviour for this (Condition: At least 2 phrases). Don't know how easy this is in the release version, because Come Come Soft Winds heals in the beta for more than it should.

Wait what?! I played through the beta multiple times and have never rested so far - only once to get a resting bonus from the inn in the starting village. Until now I didn't know that you can use food on rests in the wilderness ... I thought the food is only for your ship crew Because the health/endurance system was replaced by a health system I think I will not rest very often ... only if I couldn't avoid an injury or I want a specific bonus (food or resting bonus).

I'm missing such a behaviour too ... I hope they work on this. I also don't like that summons take over the auto-attack behaviour of the caster. If you set your chanter to Defend-self his summons just stand there until they are attacked.

The health regen can be really strong (for a passive bonus), because everything is multiplied. In the beta you can double the healed amount: With higher power level and possible item bonuses it should get even higher. Do you know how Shared Flames works (or should work)? It is not explained in the description how long it should last. The bonus is also not shown on companions, but according to the combat log (where you see the damage rolls) the bonus on my companions lasted the whole fight. So it seems to have a relatively long duration or its infinite until the combat ends.

As a Woodelf Fighter with the talent "Unstoppable" (2x Dexterity Resistance) you could completly negate this - so you would get no downsides. But I think you are right and it is not intended to be a "real" affliction.

The shield proficiency modal "The Wall" should give the Affliction "Immobilized" (see screenshot) In the current state: - the character can't move (as intended) - but the character doesn't get -5 Dex - also the afflication can not be downgraded to "Hobbled" (Woodelf with Dexterity Resistance) Don't know if this is a bug or just bad naming.

A Troubadour summoner feels much more tanky. Just use "Her Courage Thick as Steel" with "Brisk Recitation" to get a new damage shield for you and your summons every 3 seconds and they never die. Your 3 skeletons can tank much more than the 6 mini skeletons on a Beckoner. I'm curious to see what kind of changes the release version has and how the higher power level summons look like (and maybe even justify a singleclass chanter instead).

My Level 9 Bleakwalker/Devoted with dual battle axes already does relatively consistent ~100 damage per hit on a crit with FoD ... if you add up both hits you are already sitting on 200 damage with FoD in the PoE 2 beta. I think there are other class combinations that can even beat this result.

I really like the summoner builds and now tried the Troubadour (and Shieldbearer/Troubadour): - when using "Brisk Recitation" he can pump out lower tier summons at the same rate and higher tier summons faster than the Beckoner (drake: 4x6=24sec as Beckoner, 6x3=18sec as Troubadour) - because "Brisk Recitation" disables the linger and the summon duration is longer compared to a Beckoner you can lower INT (maybe even dump it ... depends on desired chant radius) - another approch with high INT is to use "Brisk Recitation" first, to get your summons out fast and then switch it off for double chants (or keep it on for more invocations) - as a Troubadour you can keep up 2 chants all the time with 20 INT (duration = 6 seconds, linger = 6 seconds) - as a Troubadour you get only half amount of summons per cast compared to a Beckoner, but they have doubled health (although defenses/damage seem to be the same) - so you get: less DPS, but sturdier summons with longer duration => they seem to work better as "meat shields" or vs. enemies with AoE damage

There is only one way to play Bloodlines ... the Malkavian way! :biggrin:

Yeah my combat log shows, that I was healed for 7 Health and then several times for 3 Health ... so I think the first tick is doubled. For fun I tried a Shieldbearer/Beckoner solo on POTD. - stats: maximum MIG/INT/RES, dumped DEX - talents: Deep Faith, Zealous Endurance, Inspired Defenses, Combat Focus, ... - equipment: dagger (modal gives +10 melee deflection), medium shield (modal gives 30% damage resist), plate armor - chants: "Come, Come Soft Winds of Death" - invocation: "Ancient Brittle Bones" Then I set my AI-Script to: - Condition = "Self: At Least 2 Phrases" - Action = "Ancient Brittle Bones" - Target = "Enemy" / "Nearest Target" Then just watch after starting a combat ... this kills everything without lifting a finger (even the Engwithan Titan) (nice fact I found, that I didn't noticed before: pets in PoE2 now give passive bonuses)

Combat Focus is on power level 3, so its character level 7 for a multi class I also forgot the Will'o'Wisp (x4) summon: but the Will'o'Wisp is really weak, almost no damage Next I need to test the chants ... but for now I can say that "Come, Come Soft Winds of Death" is really overpowered. It seems to heal you for every enemy affected. I aggroed the whole village and can just stand there soloing with always full health. edit: The arch enemy of the Beckoner is an enemy chanter with "Come, Come Soft Winds of Death" ... one of the Mataru Warriors in the Beta Village is one of them ... when he is almost dead he heals to full health on the next tick, because he is surrounded by 6-12 Skeletons on which he can leech.

I tested the Beckoner a little (but only single class to get all summons). Here are the stats of the upgraded summons from a level 9 single class Beckoner: Results: - summons scale with character level (see skeleton on a level 6 and a level 9 beckoner) - summons don't scale with power level (tested with Nature godlike by triggering "Wellspring Of Life" with "The Bride Caught their Ruse and Set to Make them Pay") Summons: - Skeletons (x6): are squishy but they do good damage and each splits in 2 new skeletons on death (that are actually larger than the orignal one) - Phantoms (x2): are a bit underwhelming - Wurms (x6): are really good - the enemy that is targeted by all upgraded Wurms sometimes gets oneshotted - Ogre (x4): are also good, they have a self buff (see picture), but they have movement issues in the beta and sometimes do nothing - Drakes (x2): they have 2 abilities, but these don't work in the beta Resolve doesn't give you Concentration like in PoE 1. You get concentration from spells and talents. For example each class can take the talent "Combat Focus" to get concentration on the start of the battle: No, you keep your engagements

I know, but in PoE 2 Beta you do not have dispositions (or they are hidden). So I tought, that instead of choosing "Diplomatic" dialog choices for gaining Ranks in "Diplomatic" disposition you increase the skill "Diplomacy" directly on levelup. But I haven't figured out how this all exactly works. I think we have to wait for the release version, to get more information on this.