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No one has found it in game yet and devs said it may have been "cut" content but it is still in the files. Anyways consensus in terms of best melee was always dual sabers because that was kind of no brainer but in terms of the ranged weapons options it was kind of "hearsay" so I did these tests. Anyways fully upgraded Fleetbreaker Crossbow is a hell of a weapon.

Caster's Guide 101: 1.) Go Naked 2.) Pump Dex 3.) Be Frenzied / or use Dragon's Dowry (or both)

Please pin if you find this useful enough. Methodology: 1.) no test or test method is perfect, we just try to make the conditions of consistent across each tested weapon and maybe also have the test subject have appropriate stat distribution and buffs to mimic an average tough enemy we would encounter in game at the said level. 2.) The parameters of the test of ranged weapons: a.) I am level 10 currently so mid game b.) my "attack dummy" was Konstanten in Legendary Patinated Plate and some regeneration items. Full stats were 237 health, 80 deflection, 14 slash, 10 crush, 14 pierce ar, so he is no pushover considering out of combat health regeneration kicks in quite fast if the target is not damaged. his ar rating are good too so this favors higher penetration weapons as would be normal in potd. c.) all weapons tested were upgraded to legendary and taking all possible damage boost buffs with the upgrades. When dual wielding I got the talent to increase recovery and when two-handed the damage boost to two-handed weapons. d.) my toon has +1 pen from sacrificing devil of courac and another +1 pen to weapons from a cipher talent. 22 per and 20 dex e.) test were done in 1.1 patch f.) most importantly for this test dummy (konstanten) had to die under 3 minutes of auto attacking him even despite out of combat health recovery - that was sort of the measurement of "good" dps from a weapon in this test - which weapons were fast enough/ or had enough burst to puncture this health regeneration out of real combat. Naturally, I used 0% armor on myself and also have a 20 dex character doing this to increase attack rate as much as possible. g.)finally tests were done 3 times for each of 1.) pure auto-attack, 2/) with modal active, and 3.) finally with 1 burst ability thrown in every 1:30 (min) to see if a burst ability would help burst down the target and by how much. In my case it was barbaric blow. 3.) I tested all uniques except wands here are the findings: Two -Handed Weapons Hunting Bow Aamiina's Legacy no modal active - failed, failed, failed - too low penetration results in too little damage - dummy regenearated through attacks fast attack modal active - 1:23, 1:00, 1:30 - as long as you can hit with the accuracy debuff with fast modal active you get the kill in those times with burst ability in the mix with fast modal active: 1,28, 1,44, 1:30 - improves the chance of a successful kill but actual dps is rng based on crit/hit overall assessment: ok-ish but suffers from low penetration. If you have a class like devoted or use potions to increase penetration and accuracy this could be an excellent weapon, but at the same time you could be using a weapon with better base performance. War Bows (modal not used as it is not a dps increase) Frost Seeker all test - failed the three minute test is a fail, but it would consistently down the target at about 5min mark - dps is consistent but a tad slow to burst the target down with burst ability: brings a consistent kill closer down to 3 mins but still fails. dps output is better than Dragon's Dowry with Dragon's modal on. on the Arquebus the target would heal through each attack with its accuracy modal on because health regen kicks in before the next attack, on Frost-seeker, the target would surely die eventually but it is slow. Saint Omakus fail (both tests) - normal dps output less than Frost Seeker. But can have nice burst windows on crit hits (instant recovery). On crit builds could possibly pass the test but it would be a matter of rng luck still. On non crit normal builds less dps than Frost Seeker. Veilpiercer lowest dps from the 3 war bows tested so fail Crossbows and Heavy Crossbows (no modal used) Fleetbreaker normal : 0:40, 0:40s , 0:40 with burst ability: about 30sec kill - consistent and deadly, maybe the best acquirable ranged weapon in the game given the overall performance, pros and cons Spearcaster normal: 1:25, 1:25, 1:30 (longer because of slow reload time lets target regenerate health a bit too much) with burst ability mixed in: 0:13 , 0:15, 0:15 - sick burst - 1 burst ability pushed this to an extremely fast kill Rods: they are worse than Warbows unfortunately in this test Arquebus Dragon's Dowry normal: 2:55*, fail, 2:05 - decent chance to kill but can take time until hits/ crits are lined up to push health that is why the long time over 2 min to kill target. otherwise target regenerates too much accuracy modal: fail, - hits consistently every time, but too slow attack speed so "not enough dps" and target regenerates health no modal with burst ability: 0:35 , 0:15 , 0:14 - mixing in a burst ability here results in a consistent fast kill on this weapon The Red Hand (op and not acquirable) no modal : 0:30, 0:50 * , 0:30 no misses is a 30 sec kill, one miss or two is at 50sec accuracy modal : 0:47, 0:50 - consistent kill but a but longer over 50s because of slower reload with burst ability: 0:14 , 0:06, 0:15 Best ranged weapon probably but not acquirable? the 0:06 sec burst was with crits obviously- But Fleetbreaker is close except it's burst is definitely worse than this one's. Also its double attack does not work with active abilities only on auto-attacks. Dual-Wielded Weapons Pistols Scordeo's + Thundercrack normal: 1:15, 0:50s, 0:55 fast modal: fail, 1:10, 1:01 - failed once because was too inconsistent in terms of accuracy when fast with burst ability: 0.40s, 0,13, 0.21 Overall a nice combo as it has better burst thanks to ability synergy and dual wielding than Fleetbreaker but slightly lower normal dps. The reason is an active ability attack like say Barbaric Blow or any rogue ability attack would hit with both pistols when dual wielding to you have a bigger burst when using an active ability. Blunderbussi: I tested all the unique ones upgraded to Legendary but none had enough Penetration to pass this test no matter what I tried Scepters: Amoliorra + Keybreaker normal: 1.09, 0,49, 0,47 with modal active: 0,34, 1,05, 0,50 with burst ability: 0,38 0,33, 0,28 Overall assessment: another good choice, overall very balanced attack numbers on dual scepters just slightly less than on Fleetbeaker. But my target also had 4 less crush Ar so keep that in mind. Overall Ranking of single-target ranged weapons if I care to make a ranged weapon rankings list: 1.) The Red Hand (Arquebus) 2 -3 (tied or close).) Fleetbreaker (Crossbow), Scordeo's + Thundercrack (dual pistols) , Fleetbreaker has better normal dps, the dual Pistols have better burst and synergy with abilities. 4.) Amoliorra + Keybreaker (dual scepters) 5.) Spearcaster (Heavy Crossbow), or Aamiina's Legacy (Hunting Bow) *but only if you have very high natural base penetration for the Hunting Bow and Ring of the Marksman - see updated numbers bellow with that ring on. This is a pure dps list I would say heavily favoring auto attacks with a few burst abilities mixed in. If you have abilities that benefit from aoe weapon attacks you may want to look at a different list. Coolest Ranged Weapons by animation/ look in my opinion: 1.) The Red Hand (double blast shotgun) 2.) Scordeo's+Thundercrack pistols (constant smoke+lightning all around you) 3.) Veilpiercer (Warbow) - a better spirit bow than Frost Seeeker by it's look 4.) Hand Mortar+ Fire in the Hole (Blunderbi) - mini hand cannons EDIT / Update I put on the Ring of the Marksman (+4 ranged accuracy, +1 ranged pen) and got these values on some of the better performers Dual Pistols (Scoreo's + Thundercrack) no modal - 37s, 30s, 1:02 fast modal: 1:05, 25s, 29s Hunting Bow (Aamiina's Legacy) No modal - 55s, 57s, 1:05 fast modal: 30s, 30s, 49s Fleetbreaker (Crossbow) 35s, 34s, 32s The Red Hand 18s, 19s 18s Warbows They still blow and fail Ring of the marksman makes the unique Hunting Bow (Aamiina's Legacy) a tier 1 wanged weapon as well especialy because it does either pierce or crush damage.

They boosted enemy defenses a lot so it seems "penetration" is king now. also easier to get overwhelmed by a pull of enemies if one is sloppy and does not plan out the fight. I am half way through the game in potd now in beta 1.1 with the extra difficulty mod deadly deadfire and it feels kind of like wm/wm2 poe1 difficulty - have not pulled the dragons yet though just did the Poko Kohara quest at lvl 10 party. notes from run: light spoilers but not really just notes on some encounters. 1.) starting island was discussed a lot but I actually feel later in the game there are more annoying enemies (packs of undead risen with insane defenses, wraiths/sirens and their teleport bs) 2.) doing the fort deadlight dungeon at party lvl5/6 is a challenge - the fight in the secret docks is tricky there 3.)good luck taking on steele garrot/ woedica clowns in that pyramid temple bellow lvl 8? even lvl 8 you pull all of them and their bs priests are gonna buff everyone so much untill they just gank you. pretty much had to lay traps/ have Maia's pet pull them little by little there - was extremely annoying. 4. Doing Poko Kohara bellow level 10 may be a big challenge. I did it lvl 10 and some fights were "grueling" - nothing my party could not handle at that level but at several levels lower and it would be impossible with the insane defenses of some of those undead knights.

Yesterday and today I have been running 1.1beta+deadly deadfire mod with various parties. Running them through starter island and also Fort Deadlight (deadlight at about level 5-6 btw). So that is a pretty big "stress test". I fell in love this composition which actually involves the in game companions and will try to finish the game with it: Class/toon and specific build notes. 1.) MC Watcher - Witch Zerker/Ascendant in my case, but any toon focused on aoe dps and cc is good, ranged is slightly preferable because of how I use Pallegina (see bellow) 2.) Konstanten - Howler Barbarian/Skald - I build him as a my tank taking the more resilient passives and abilities from Barb and Chanter anhd also the good cc abilities. 3.) Ydwen - Pure melee rogue - dual wielding, she just does damage (and brings excellent single target debilitation to the party), but I gave her Devil of Corocs Breastplate and she is a beast 4.) Maia - Geomancer Ranger/Wizard - I multispeced into Wizard as I felt I needed the versatility of Wiz debuffs and spells here, plus I can use the soulboung rifle later this way 5.) Pallegina - Herald (Chanter/Paladin) - yep I am recreating one of my favorite Pallegina builds from PoE1 here and actually I am making her into a ranged dd/ support. Sure she can off heal but she is there for those juicy offensive ranged chants/ accuracy aura and some nice offensive openers. The party has sick firepower potentially and that is why I like it. We'll see if healing will become an issue or the chanter chants are enough. Note: also looks like I am stacking some of the stronger classes (chanters/ barbarians here, so I don;t know about "balanced")

I disagree .. maybe from a solo/ self=sufficient jack of all trade pov you are right but in terms of raw ranged dps I would but my money on -Zerker/Devoted -Zerker/Ghost heart -Zerker/ Assasin -Zerker/Cipher -Zerker/ Helwalker Of course the chants that give you support like reload speed/ fire whip are really good from chanter but I'd run them on a support toon and not on the main dps toon. Edit: also I think Hunting Bow may out-dps dual pistols but exact tests need to be made to see.

On ranged zerker you want starting Int around 20 with items etc if you are going for the casting classes (cipher/wiz/druid). If ranger/ monk I would go 15 starting int or so. Also I tested Frenzy with fast weapons / modals like Hunting Bow or dual wield pistols and it is insanely fast ... of course my toon has maxxed dex, perception and intelligence. I have a witch (cipher) so between zerker damage boosts and soul whip I can dump might to 10-12 but max int/perc/and dex.

you can apparently "distract" npcs while talking to them. don't know if it is a bug or a feature but if say character a talks to an npc, character b the mechanics/stealther has a small fraction of a second to open the chest after the conversation. at 10 stealth that worked even at Uto's (the hardest in terms of positioning for the steal).

The funny thing again is that Burglar's Gloves (Ilfran's Rainments) and Thief's Putty are the best investments at start + dumping all points into mechanics on one toon and 1 point each on all other party members. That way when you land in Nekataka you can open every lvl14 mechanics chest at the vendors and get all the best items (Devil of C Breastplate/ Attack buckler) immediately.

Problem with rogue is that you need to be within 2.5m for backstab I think. Melee is no brainer go Assassin but ranged is more tricky - I would rather always go Zerker now on ranged class for alacrity bonuses and mobility later. I would go: Zerker/ Ranger Zerker/ Cipher Zerker/ CasterX (Wiz, Druid, whatever but Wizard best) Zerker/ Monk (long pain build) Basically all you do is use the Barbarian Zerker to be perma alacrity boosted from frenzy and then use the other classes attack abilities. Later you get I think a nice mobility ability in the Barbarian tree which is nice for kiting on your ranged squishy as well.

Wizards are still sick as long as you can cast chill fog and buff yourself for days at low levels and cast meteors and fireballs later. People say they are weak at low level but all you have to do is like hast empowered chill fog at a choke point and put something like arcane veil on yourself.

Your party is good in case you want to run it without a priest (risky but may work) Now as for the game I checked out all the companions and sidekicks and here is what I found: Companions in game with good stats for their roles: -Ydwin - Rogue/Cipher can make a good rogue, cipher, or combo of the two, downside - no assassin subclass -Konstanten - Barbarian/Skald - can make for a good tank with his stats actually if you go for a barb/chanter tank, downside- not a Zerker but if you make him tank that is fine. He and Pallegina are probably the two most useful frontliners. -Maia - Ranger/(combo) - her pet is better than any other rangers, and her unique subclass as well and her stats are ok Companions with "adequate" stats for some roles but not picture perfect:, in rough order of usefulness -Xoti - Priest (pure) - a bit low on might but overall balanced well for a pure priest, but nothing special - has nice weapons. -Takehu - guy is a bit of a mystery (his resolve is a bit too high for non-tank, con is a bit low for a tank). He makes for a good support though with druid off heals and party friendly aoe spells and chanting. I guess it is him or Xoti. but given that he is "best" doing both offense and some off support/ gealing I bet his ai is very difficult to set up right. Has good potential though -Pallegina - Pali/Chanter - I don't need to say more, that is probably the strongest class combo for a tank, nevermind the stats. Ok Above are the toons I don't hesitate to bring along in a power-game party, the rest I usually bench though: Eder/ Aloth (tie) - Eder is a decent toon and same with ALoth, they won't be the best at what they do but they are very capable to get the job done. Aloth makes the best companion pure wizard obviously. So he is pretty useful, Eder is a bit misplaced as his class combo (Fighter/Rogue) is kinda obsolete. trash tier companions: -Fassina -Serefan These two are not advisable as Fassina can't fo evocation spells and Serefen is like a mediocre at everything basically. I hope this list helps, In general I personally try to mix a bit as I hate going with all premade comps in a run as then there is no npc interaction at all.

On tank end pali/chanter is still strong, that's a tier 1/A tank in terms of survivability+ team utility. Goldpact/Unbroken works too although has slightly less utility. The "black sheep" of tanks is Monk/Cipher (Transcendent) with beguiler subclass I am trying now. It is more a cc tank rather than a tank with off-heals. Not a problem if you run Xoti as a healer. That tank basically does a bit of damage but mainly debuffs enemies and does a bit of buffing on the side. Granted Monk/Chanter would also make a very strong cc tank. On dps end I find anything + Zerker really strong. And assassin + anything. Those subclasses have really strong starting bonuses for a dps. Monks are of course still good too but now behind Zerker/ Sin specs.

Man on the first island on 1.1beta on PotD+Deadly Deadfire mod you really need to take control of enemies (ie whispers) to survive. Or start at level 4, or play a tank (but at that low level that probably won't matter). Taking control of enemies for them to fight for you is the most effective strategy. Playing Ascendant/ Berserker witch currently. Frenzy->build focus->start spamming whispers of treason. The other toons in my party act as meatshields.

Rangers are very viable ^ and they will be even more after 1.1 when a bunch of op classes get nerfed. if you want pure single target dps which is scarier go melee rogue (which is squishier so that is a trade-off) Overall I like the changes except maybe the nerf to chanter's bride inspiration - should be acute at least, it is getting over-nerfed. Also, the change to time-parasite on cipher is a bit concerning - 25% is fine if it stacks with a bunch of enemies like parasite is working currently. If it does not stack anymore, it should just be a flat 50% but add a bit of duration (1.5-2s) for every enemy affected. OTHERWISE as people pointed out single-class cipher won't be worth it because all it has literally is time-parasite.

in terms of balancing changes the most egregious effects other than proper enemy scaling and stats in vet/ PotD are: -ability combos from skills/ items that produce broken infinite cascading damage effects (there are several - these are mainly in monk, chanter, but also wizard classes combined with "on hit" items) --major "boss" or sub boss fights are not as nicely fine tuned as in PoE1 - like for instance Dragons or Elder Fampyrs etc don't have signature devastating attacks that require party management. - single class vs multi-class toons are not balanced really as multi-class in most cases can result in stronger toons than a single class. Like empower of an ability(the effect) should be like +4 on a single class, +3 on multiclass. +5 global is still too much but obviously much better than +10.

fine ->excellent-> supreme -> legendary should be tied to player level I think. Stealing gear as is now is fine but don't let us sell it then if it is stolen. But make sure anything over excellent is not easily obtainable by stealing.

If you use wizards and monks and exploit empower and swift fury combos on those classes you will still likely have an easy time. In terms of companions the sidekicks .. I know Yvette (sacred stair animancer outpost) has stats that make for a better rogue or cipher or mindstalker than Serafen. And Konstantin makes for a decent Chanter as Tejehu's pure druid can be quite strong.

https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Acolyte%27s_Frostbite Acolyte's Frostbite on Neketaka Island

I think my favorite melee setup right now is this - very dynamic but a bit micro heavy because of the rogues, but melts enemies without using too much "magic" - I decided to do this after playing a run with op spellcasters so I want to try a weapon party: MC- Rogue dw assassin Pale elf sidekick companion (from sacred stairs) - generic rogue also dw Custom hire: Barb-Cipher (better than seraphan as you can make a beserker-soulblade) Eder Fighter - Rogue kind of tanky but still 'cleavin Xoti - monk (if you are suicidal if you try no healing) or Priestess / Priest-Monk if you want the reasonable safe approach with a healer in the party. This party is a blast on PotD without using any classes which are somewhat unbalanced at the moment. - well the Witch with Whispers of the Endless Past is crazy good but that's it.

if you give up going single class cipher ascendant with time parasite shenanigans etc you should be giving it up for a multi-class combo which is equally or near equally great, and at the moment the only things which are awesome in multi-class cipher is something like soulblade soul-annihilation cleave synergy with the fighter cleave stance, or aoe effect weapons like whispers of the endless paths.

Yeah single-class paladin is probably in a worse position than ranger or cleric at the moment. It's saving grace is that Paladin combined with a bunch of glasses for multi make a good toon but alone it's nothing special anymore with the nerfed abilities. Maybe you can abuse self-immolation somehow but that's about it.

Dhow is the nicest bang per buck ship so just go with that and put the money into upgrading weapons/ armor and ship parts. Later if you have more cash then you know what to do with buy the Junk.

SIngle-class ascendant for dps and support, same thing for pure cc/ support in single class- draining whip is so strong that even a cipher focused purely on cc should pick ascendant - you will end up casting more spells that way compared to any other option. for multi-class it gets trickier, if you multi for dps I think soul blade is probably better for dps "attack class" or with any warrior cleave stance because of synergy. for a multi cc tank/support other than fighter I think ascendant again is better with draining whip like say you make a "tank" paladin/cipher, or chanter/cipher or barb cipher - max out focus and then focus on buffing allies and charming and debilitating enemies when ascended. it will probably be patched but time parasite at the moment is one of those "broken" ridiculous abilities which turn a meh class into something op and broken so there is that and you only get it if you go single class.

got the best and shortest endings cause I support Rymrgand always