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You don't even need to "Land". You just need to graze with it and the next one gets a guaranteed hits. TBH, PoE CC war was more tedious than hard. "Oh hey this one has a fampyr Ima use my Anti-Dominate and laugh". "Oh wait, I'm out of casts! time to rest and laugh at them for the next 4 encounters." Perma CC war is some of the most boring and cheap illusion of difficulty you can find in a turn-ish game. If anything, I prefer the game has careful comp that can break the standard "1-2 Front, 1-2 Mid, 1-2 Back" comp. Back to the day of Ragnarok Online in its prime. You have skills that create a defensive zone that block all melee attack. You have defensive zone that negate range attack. They can't stack and you can push enemies out of them., You also have curse zone that silence all casters in that area. The game already has sigil and silence debuff. Utitlize them and design hard critical encounter with them. Paralyze is against will and only debuffs deflection, so it's not guaranteed to land after graze by any means. It wasn't too difficult to counter with priest, but at least it added an extra layer of complexity, and it was also harder to deal with or land solo. Again, not saying it was perfect, but it was better than it is now. But it still suffers from the same case of "We can counter it but enemies don't" which is the same issue we're facing. We have the tool. Enemies don't have the answer. This is the core of everything wrong with PoE II beside the "lolinstakill". I wouldn't mind if they rework Druid Maelstorm into a DoT-heavy not burst heavy while still keeping the damage potential. At least give the enemy priests a chance to heal and enemy fighter to turn on unbending. Well, at least some enemies had high enough saves to not get perma CCd unless you min/max and buff like hell. Even then, let's say fort save of Thaos buddies wasn't easy to breach although you could confuse them. Plus they added some perma immunities later. Again, not saying this is perfect, but you couldn't really perma CC every fight, especially solo when you don't have access to all the acc buffs in the world. Overall I think having diminishing returns on CC would be the best course of action. I'm skeptical about enemies having "anti CC" abilities in every fight, doesn't sound realistic in terms of encounter design. CC durations should also not be as long as PoE1 for the most part, but they shouldn't have cast times of PoE2. It's silly when single target CC has identical duration and cast time. And yeah, I'm not sure about the best changes to let's say maelstorm yet but making it more of a DoT is an option. but even that is a difficulty spike because in the time you have to buff your alpha striker to disable the main enemy, the enemy+his sidekicks can inflict serious damage to you and your party - if a fight is smartly designed around the need to cc. so you have to multitask/position your tank, deal with adds and mitigate damage while to prep to take out the main baddy. in PoE2 you never have this because no major enemy has a devastating attack that you absolutely have to disable or avoid.

hearth orlan rogue combinations are sick

1.) someone mentioned that in a beta there was an actual good hard version of PotD, good just roll it back to that - or a variation of that, that also means the devs probably already have pre-made parameters to increase the difficulty on PotD and all they have to do is a pass-through test or two - so maybe it will come soon 2.) speaking of tests they should then take a fight like say Cancelhout (genereic midgame boss fight at fairly high level) and test all the empowered abilities and their results on say that fight - and then determine if something is too strong for their liking. I think they will find a bit too many empowered abilities one-shotting the whole screen - or nearly so, and I don't think that is "intended" from a balancing point of view. 3.) basically at the moment the main offender is how empower works and not really the abilities of the classes - although granted some few abilities are really overtuned or bugged to be exploitable. 4.) set piece "boss fights" in PoE2 are at the moment for me the biggest disappointment compared to some encounters in PoE1, none of the dragon etc bosses in PoE2 have a dangerous alpha-attack strike that can wipe you immediately if you don't follow certain mechanics, tactics, and preparations unlike in the first game PoE1

Can you progress to get your ship if you kill the governor and every npc on the first island?

what lvl is the machine dino actually? At lvl 16 party when I did it on PotD without much optimization prior it was a fairly nice fight - though once I figured I had to actually use healing abilities there and not steamroll it became manageable, just longer than the other fights. (compared to all the others in the game). but still it feels less strong than the dragons in PoE1 the drake fire dragon at magran's teeth was a joke though

Yeah I almost wish that after balancing PotD devs would just do something like "double" the monsters on those little maps for something like PotD+ difficulty.

Ideally, I would like to make such a toon my main tank, is it possible or sub-optimal not going chanter/paladin/fighter as the tank? If say I would want to go with an aoe interrupter + controller and leave the healing to a different toon rather than my main tank. What stats/ talents and weapons would be best? Thanks for thoughts. I know this combo makes a great dd build (glass) but is it possible to make it "tanky" somehow? Point is to engage multiple enemies/not die easily/ do a fair amount of dd to build focus and use cipher cc spells to control the battlefield. Combo Berserker/Soulblade is what I would be going for. All I know in the current state is I'd go with Draining Whip to build focus faster - dps not priority, but focus to use cc abilities is.

lol @ hearth orlan assassin 17/9/21/21/13/9 stats (with +2 all stats unlock), lvl 2 and highest single target hit is already 65dmg with normal white sabers. dual sabres so far because those swords in a previous post look sweet.

he makes for a better druid/chanter than MC with those perks, enough said, pretty disgusting. *well at least due to the druid his chanter can't summon. now the serafan companion on the other hand is trash because of funky stat distribution and meh subclass. also Maia makes a better pure ranger at least than the MC because of her unique subclass and pet.

I think if you want to the fastest focus you want some form of dual pistols or "blunderbi" to open a fight and immediately switch to Frostseeker as to not reload during the fight. I did not bother as it seems as long as you upgrade Frostyseeker (explore areas on Neketaka island to get it) and have high dex and no armor penalty you can just use that warbow to pewpew away. Ironically as someone pointed out in other threads that weapon in itself is probably not balanced and is really good on any number of ranged classes. Like also late game under time-parasite for single-target dps at least you are better off just auto attacking with that bow with the speed boost iand borrowed instinct n ascendant rather than bothering with spells unless you have good chance to hit the boss with a disintegrate or something. kind of a funky design for a caster class if you ask me.

they should give enemies the same abilities your toons have and improve their ai to to take advantage of them. also smart enemy combinations and formations. but that is a lot of work. I can say that certain areas in white march 1 and 2 where fun like the whole map before cancelhout fo example.

Mind lance is good if you are in the front lines it is fast cast does decent damage to a bunch of enemies if they are lines up (stack them at doors/ bottlenecks) and interrupts as well.

I can only comment on ciphers as that what I explored so far but it looks like the most sensible thing to do is grant 2 charges or 1 even for every cipher ability level spell in that ascended state so you don't end up firing off like 12x amp wave or whatever in those 30 sec. in itself that subclass also mainly becomes broken with the time parasite spell and not in itself when compared to the ridiculous things other classes can do. like 1 empowered high level ability out of stealth, instant high level summons etc.

Ok list of abilities/ talents for a pure dd spellcasting cipher by level I consider taking some are absolute no brainers some are optional but good: Level 1 - Soul Shock, Whispers of Treason* , Penetrating Visions - Soul shock is the bread and butter early game dd spell, but Whispers of Treason is the more useful spell in the long run - so choose accordingly as this is the first ability you take and can not be changed later. 2 - Mental Binding, Amplified Thrust*, Draining Whip, Two-handed Weapon style* - Mental Binding is set, so is draining whip. Amplified Thrust is nice, and lastly the dps boost to your choice of wielded weapons - in my case bows so I choose Tw0-handed style. 3 - Secret Horrors, Ectoplasmic Echo*, Hammering Thoughts - Secret horrors is the best debuff this class has imo and is a key to mass debuff fortitude before amp wave/ disintegrate - it takes advantage of a later perk to accuracy on will attacks which you take because it targets enemy will save. Echto Echo is still a very nice spell but I could see it swapped on certain builds for Fractured Volition. Hammering Thoughts you simply take as it makes your spell attacks better, to an overall good buff. 4 - Mind Lance*, Silent Scream, Pain Block - Only Mind lance is situational but it is still a very good fast to cast dd spell until you get the level 6 heavy hitters. Pain Block is too good a buff for your tank to pass up, and silent scream is very nice. 5 - Borrowed Instinct, Rapid Casting, Farcasting - the choice comes down to Farcasting vs Uncanny Luck vs Ringleader I guess for the third slot here. Borrowed Instinct is a must to buff yourself up before targeting a boss with an empowered disintegrate or something. As you see I did not take ringleader here but that is a great spell as well I just don't like the range on it. I prefer whispers honestly. 6 - Amplified Wave, Disintegrate, The Empty Soul - yeah the empty soul + 10 accuracy on will attacks, debuff targets fortitude with a will attack then hit amp wave/ disintegrate gg 7 - Screaming Souls*, Accurate Empower, Potent Empower, Echoing Horror - On this level I prefer the passives, If I would take Screaming souls in a rogue heavy party I would give up Echoing Horror. 8- Defensive Mindweb*, Reaping Knives, Timeparasite, Great Soul - only mindweb is optional and only if you have another cipher in the party with it otherwise just take it. There is nothing in the game currently in PotD that requires it but otherwise is a great defensive ability nonetheless. 9 - Death by 1000 cuts, Shared Nightmare, Prestige* cheers!

there is an amulet that gives you +1 power level and other items. but honestly once you are ascended the penalty is gone and that happens pretty fast.

What do you want to do? If you want "pure spellcaster" go single class cipher ascandant. No reason not to. The "massive damage part" though comes a bit later though on single-class that is the trade off you need to hit lvl11. Once you get amplified wave and disintegrate at level 11 it is gg. empowered disintegrate kills bosses, empowered amplified wave wipes the whole screen of mobs. From there it just gets progressively more op into the high levels. Mutli you can go more dps early I guess with monk combo. There is also no npc with that subclass. go high perception/ dex/ int/ and lastly might and use the fastest or best ranged weapon you can find. It is item dependent in the weapon end. But similar effective "spellcasters" can be made with wizards or druids as well who are less item dependant I guess. For utility/cc cipher I would also choose acsendant because the extra focus pool from ascendant and ease of getting focus with draining whip currently. vs chanters well it is like comparing a "rouge-esque spellcaster" (cipher) with a more tankish frontline spellcaster. chanters have abilities which make them good frontliners because of the range of their abilities. With rogue you get greater single target dps and control and less splash aoe. and lastly no.

Blackjack/Paladin goldpact - open with arquebas then switch, you have good heals and utility in addition to dps but no pet Blackjack/ Assassin - same as above but from stealth, best burst damage Blackjack/ cipher ascendant - cycle firearms to build focus, use speels when maxed, good overall damage Blackjack/ Helwalker monk - use the self damaging dual wield scepter ability to generate wounds and a ranged monk build. Not sure this will work but can be a fun and very effective build. - very good damage in addition to possible constant cc

Well Frostseeker is a very good weapon it is basically a blunderbuss in the way it attacks with speed and range of a warbow because it is a warbow. Maxing focus is again no problem with it in 2-3 shots! And once you have it spam mind lance (currently the fast dps spell that shreds everything-will be replaced by amp wave etc later). If Frostseeker could be upgraded to legendary it would be amazing, currently only looks like it can only be upped to superior. Edit: Lvl9 2 shots from Frostseeker = max focus on Engwithian titan

After playing this longer now I have 2 additions: 1.) part of me now strongly believes single class cipher ascendant is the "go-to" cc/debuff spec and not necessarily the best for dps (see point 2). if built right of course. the reason is you have extra focus at the start of combat but slightly nerfed soul whip power level. with draining whip + greater focus you can make a cipher that constantly ccs/ debuffs from the get go. also when you hit ascended you can pretty much do ridiculous things like mass debuff all the enemies and put stuff like put pain block on your tanks and melee barb/monk/rogue dds and make them into killing machines. you don't need super might but with dec/perc that is very potent. 2.) dd is still fine though there are many situations where I delay ascended for a more constant stream of abilities. oh and lastly getting a really good warbow (frostseeker on nakataka island) means that is kind of the go to weapon now and not hunting bow. I compared frostseeker to superior warbow and think I prefer frostseeker.

thanks I use it on my rangers and ciphers now. may also find a place on a ranged rogue.

Yes that is true but with Eder if you make him a tank I think you go would have to go pure fighter as it is just "better" for a tank, if he is a striker you go fighter-rogue with him. I guess you can make him to be a fighter-rogue tank but in that case Pallagina can be made into a tank with better natural utility. The problem stems from choosing offense vs defense and it depends on the overall difficulty what you can get away with. I am saying it could work as long as Eder does not melt while drawing engagement from like 3 enemies go for it. Rogue skills tend to lend themselves to being a dps and not a tank that is why I was confused by the original post.

This may become more relevant once PoTD gets a bit buffed but I would like thought and input for part compositions that are efficient. Granted that will really be reliant on the class and tole of the MC but I think roles will be "interchangeable" based on aoe dd/ melee/ single target etc. In my case I am thinking this will be pretty efficient: Frontline: Pallageni - Palla-Chanter/ about even - main tank greatsword + scimitar N shield Xoti - Priest0Monk (heavier in monk) - off tank and frontline dd Backline Tekstar- DruidzChanter - support/ buffs jack of all trades - Crossbows/ + weapon shield or shapeshift, kind of like Kana was in PoE1 Maia - Ranger - single target dd pewpew specialist - Crossbows MC - Cipherette - Aoe and cc - Bows and Firearms Does rangers pet + 2x3x drakes = too many allies on screen? Tekstar will be ranged buffing reload speeds while Pallageni will be chanting more "front-line" chants. And finally, do you use Xoti's toon normal weapons or do something else when building here as a monk? This is for my case, in general, I can break down any part comp to this: 1.)Main tank (pref with nice utilities- so they don't just "tank and soak damage") - any strong tanking build with utility 2.)Off tank with more focus on dealing dps than the main tank but who can still hold engagement 3.)single-target dd specialist - usually rogue or ranger 4.)aoe dps specialist (sometimes combined with good cc) - usually berserker or spellcasters 5.)Backline support/ generalist - usually buffs support the backline, can dish out cc and take on a flexible role in a pinch

It is fine but as above poster pointed our Xoti would fit the party slightly better than Eder if you play Walker/Berserker. You can spec Xoti as Priest/ Monk or Priest and she would provode more of heals/ buffs and some dps via monk. If you insist on running Eder make sure you spec Pallegina to extra healing abilities both in Paladin and Chanter. But overall I think point still stands that this party would be more "versatile" with Xoti. Eder is pretty much doubling the role of the MC here and is not doing anything unique for the party. Because your single-target dps specialist will be Maia and not Eder.

it should be over 10 but priorities now are accuracy (Perc), aoe/durations (Int), speed (Dex) and finally bonus damage (Might) in that order

Yeah in PoE1 I always "power ran" party with 2 ciphers for this reason. MC and mother. MC being the nuker and mother being more cc attuned. Add a rogue or ranger + heal pali tank and you have a great 4 man party in the original. I expect it to be similar in PoE2, it's just for single-class toons come to really shine in the late game when they get their uber tier powers while multi-class toon get more cool stuff and combos early and mid game.