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Aeodred

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Everything posted by Aeodred

  1. I just wanted to ask, how does the Assassin + Wizard perform in PotD? The idea is to spam high-level burst-AoE spells from stealth but I'm not sure how it would perform much later in the game especially against tougher content. I once tried an Assassin + Soulblade combination but was a bit too tricky to use since my Guile pool got eaten up too easily and I could only hit one enemy at a time. It also felt like a win-more setup as it only worked well under perfect conditions and then began underperforming once I ran out of guile. (enemies, especially on ship battles, tended to rush the unit) So my question is: would Wizard perform better compared to this last trial unit? Just wanted to hear your thoughts. Thanks.
  2. I was wondering if anyone knew whether the Damage, Penetration and Accuracy of Shield Weapons such as Magran’s Blessing, Tuotillo’s Palm and The Best Defense increase with every upgrade tier. It would be rather a shame if it didn’t but I’m not quite sure how to check. Any advice on this matter? Much obliged.
  3. Admittedly, I'm still in the process of refining the build (got as far as lvl 14 before I took a break) so I'm thankful for the suggestion Right. So some explanation is necessary. I wish that this was more the case but I can make the argument that because majority of the build suggestions that I encounter either use Ascendant or Soulblade, there's a case to be made in saying that Beguiler is rather unpopular. Still, between the suggestions, I'd say that the build is okay with either Beguiler or Soul Blade. I'm leaning toward the idea that the Cipher half of the build be used to spread buffs (Ancestor's Memory, Echoing Shield, etc.), but I'll have to examine the build before I make any changes. Because it looks cool (aside, of course from the Deflection). Otherwise, yes, I chose it since it increases my character's overall deflection alongside Llengrath's displaced image and Tuotilo's palm. The point was to make the build viable as an off-tank and then as a riposte build although this was not the original intention. Not sure if I really need the extra damage seeing as I hit around 3.9x damage on an Auto-attack but I see your point. It's mostly there to enable a riposte build alongside its regular role as a debuffer although it was not built originally, as I said, with this in mind. Technically, Palm increases the overall chance for an automatic Riposte alongside the Rogue ability so it's not naturally a negative to DPS. https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/The_Best_Defense How could I miss this? Best suggestion. It's there in case I need engagement along with Tactical Meld. Plus its useful for those times I can't land either Eyestrike or Phantom foes. It's still a free distraction, so it's not something I'd say no to. Right. Edit time. Time to get to it.
  4. ======== Alistair ======== ~the Trickster Prince~ -------------------------- Class and Specialization -------------------------- MindStalker: Cipher (Beguiler) + Rogue (Trickster) Wood Elf: Resistance to Dexterity afflictions Origin: Old Vailia Background: Aristocrat -------------------- Stats: M/C/D/P/I/R -------------------- 16/10/15/15/17+1/04 Notes: ----- I prefer Beguiler since I'm more concerned with casting Control skills than with dishing out damage. Rogue on its own provides most of the damage needed and Arterial Strike (Crippling Strike upgrade) and then Killing Blow does most of the work damaging an opponent while the damage bonus from Trickster Sneak Attack (+20%, later Deathblows +50%) and Beguiler Soul Whip (+20%, +10% under Sneak Attack conditions) makes this unit's AA powerful enough on its own. The Rogue skill-tree exists primarily for its passives--'Persistent Distraction' is powerful in melee (-10 Deflection, +1 Engagement, no defense check) and the Trickster's class spells augment the Beguiler's power and flavor quiite nicely. I am aware that Beguiler is an unpopular pick at the moment, but I will make the distinction that, compared to the other three classes, Beguiler is useful and powerful as a function of volume rather than strength. Bear with me as I explain. For this purpose, I'd like to make a comparison between Ascended and Beguiler. Unlike Ascendant, Soulblade and especially Psion, Beguiler benefits not just from a better Soul Whip (+50% although it is locked behind a Sneak Attack condition), but also from being able to frontload its spells whereas the others have their power backloaded. Unlike Ascendant which needs to build up its focus painstakingly and with a massive disadvantage, the relative DPS of a Beguiler is much more consistent and with about 10~ focus resotred on Hit per Hit at level 15-20, it's easy to get enough Focus per cast in order to cast high-level spells consistently. The only time when Ascended does take over would be during through the Ascended buff and even then not by much. They get the full Soul Whip bonus and a +3 to power level but the amount of time to get there is much slower unless when taking advantage of AoE attacks. Trickster, on the other hand, is chosen both for the utility gained from their bonus spells and the offensive power of both the Rogue abilities and the bonus from Sneak Attack. With this last, the build gains at least (1 + 2.10)x damage to its Auto-attack from the collective benefit from Rogue's Sneak Attack + Deathblows (20% + 50% +x% from PL scaling), and the bonus from Biting Whip and the Bonus from Sneak Attack to Soul Whip (20% + 10%) not including any bonuses from items. Sadly, these bonuses only apply to auto-attacks and weapon-based attacks. I am unsure if the bonus from Soul Whip applies to the Rogue's Full attacks but it should not be too much of a problem considering the above par margin on damage these abilities gain simply from a combination of Sneak Attack and Dual Wield. On the utility side, the build gains bonuses not just from its free spells but also a plethora of other utility skills from Rogue Cipher such as Persistent Distraction, Hammering Thoughts, Gouging Strike, Cipher Afflictions, etc. These range from the extremely useful Llengrath's Displacement, to the powerful but niche Ryngrim's Visage. Alternatives: ------- Some of the better alternatives to this build involve exchanging Trickster either with (1) Assassin or (2) Debonaire, the first to take advantage of any invisibility the build might obtain through its abilities while the latter is best paired with double Blunderbusses in order to take advantage of the party-unfriendly modal available to the Blunderbusses ========= Synergies ========= The usual opener I'd suggest would be (Secret Horrors) + (Phantom Foes -or- EyeStrike) Blind is one of the most powerful afflictions in the game since it not only reduces a two defenses but reduces the enemy's max range and accuracy. Frightened does two things, the first is that it reduces the Will defense and lengthens the duration of Afflictions and similar status ailments. Since the Beguiler bonus works with Body and Mind Afflictions, Casting Secret Horrors first and then EyeStrike should net the Cipher a good bit of Focus for future casts. When going melee, the following is recommended (Llengrath's or Mirror Image) with Wael's Sceptre + (Borrowed Instinct) Based on this, https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/104896-the-big-post-of-stacking-rules/ it should be possible to stack the above for a total of +30 Deflection and +30% Hit to Graze conversion from both abilities. If one's defenses are sufficiently high, Mirror Images would be a better pick clocking in at +50 Deflection add in (Body Attunement) + (Tactical Meld) if Accuracy or Armor is insufficient. Body Attunement alone is pretty useful even when ranged while Tactical Meld is useful for engagement. That said, (Tactical Meld) + (Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage) + (Persistent Distraction) is a good way of getting free Disengagement Attacks for bonus damage if surrounded. It should be noted that I get almost no damage skills, but a few could be useful. Amplified wave should be easy to cast consistently with the Beguiler bonus and barring that, casting the lower level spells like Ectopsychic Echo and Mind Blades should be easy. There are others but these, I think are the best. ========== Equipment ========== --------- Weapons --------- Set 1: Rannig's Wrath + Tuotilo's Palm -or- The Best Defense Set 2: Watershaper's Rod -or- (Fire-in-the-Hole + Hand Mortar) -or- (Wael's Sceptre + The Best Defense) Set 3: Whispers of the Endless Paths Armor: Honor Guard Breastplate -or- Caroc's Breastplate -or- Miscreant's Leathers Notes: ----- (1) Weapon swap is recommended when using the Trickster spells--which, incidentally, is probably the most annoying aspect of this setup. The melee weapons are the main source of DPS; Hand Mortar has AoE for Focus generation and AoE distraction; Wael's Sceptre grants +2 Illusions Power Level and 10% chance to become invisible on crit (backstabs); Current's rush has y% Crit guarantee ramp and z% Crush dmg on crit. (2) The build can make for a very good off-tank since the Cipher spell 'Borrowed Instinct' (+20 ACC, +20 all defenses) and the Trickster access to Mirror Image (+30 DEF) and Llengrath's Displacement (+10 DEF +20 REF, 20% Hit to Graze) [these two spells don't stack] makes for a very durable off-tank. (3) There's an interesting interaction between Wael and Current.Current makes it so that both Sceptres trigger their on-crit effects. Try to get Backstab from Rogue to make the most of the free invisibility. Otherwise replace Hand-Mortar with Eager Blade (4) One important thing to note is that the Rogue afflictions will transfer using AoE weapons. This is where the double Blunderbusses come in. Using these Blunderbusses, you can transfer Gouging Strike to a large number of units so that they will suffer from AoE bleed. This usually helps clear out waves of enemies especially in PotD since Gouging Strike lasts until the end of battle. (5) Caroc's Breastplate would be the best armor to use on most occasions but I prefer Honor Guard just for looks. ------------- Accessories ------------- HGr: Heaven's Cacophony (+2 INT) Amt: Bauble of the Fin (+1 INT, +1 CON, +3% Damage Aura) Clk: Giftbearer's Cloth Blt: Sash of Judgment (+10% Damage above 50% Health) Bts: Footprints of Ahu Taka (+2 DEX) Glv: Aegor's Swift Touch (+1 DEX, +5% Action Speed) -or- Hylea's Talons Rn1: Chameleon's Touch (+1 INT, +1 PER) Rn2: Entonia Signet Ring -or- RIng of Clenched Muscle (random afflictions and random inspirations on hit) Notes: ----- These Accessories focus on giving additional Hit damage and utility instead of direct stats. The rest focus on improving defenses or Damage. =============== Level Progression =============== This section has a tier-system to facilitate the creation of a list of recommendations for the build. Recommendations are ranked according to priority starting from a rank of (1) onwards with (1) being the highest priority. Cipher is marked as (C) while Rogue is marked as (R). So a first priority skill from a Cipher will be indicated (C) while a second-priority skill from the same class would be indicated (C2). (1) Eyestrike (C), Crippling Strike (R) (2) Soul Shock (R) (3) Penetrating Visions (C) (4) Draining Whip (C), Two-Weapon Style (G) (5) Phantom Foes (C) (6) Blinding Strike (C) (7) Secret Horrors (C), Gouging Strike (R) (8) Hammering Thoughts (C) (9) Recall Agony (C), Weapon and Shield Style (esp. when using "Tuotilo's Palm" or "The Best Defense" as shields) (G2) (10) Body Attunement (C), Persistent Distraction (R), Riposte (R2) (11) Withering Strike (R) (12) Silent Scream (C) (13) Ringleader (C), Deep Wounds (R) (14) Borrowed Instinct (C) (15) Tactical Meld (C) (16) The Empty Soul (C), Toxic Strike (R) (17) Amplified Wave (C) (18) Improved Critical (R) (19) Ancestor's Memory (C) Deathblows (R) (20) Stasis Shell (C) Notes: ----- As can be seen from the distribution, there is an emphasis on getting important Crowd Control spells from the Cipher tree as opposed to the usual damage spells. Due to the benefits to resource-volume from Beguiler, Amplified Wave is sufficient in its role as main DPS source and combined with Sneak Attack and Deathblows by Rogue (+70% Sneak Attack damage to Spells) one would need little in the way of DPS in terms of spells. Feel free to take DPS spells along the way. Stats can always be re-specced so its no real burden on the build. One thing to look out for is the fact that this build specializes in single-target damage. AoE Damage is best delivered through weapons since these benefit from the bonus ailments and conditions made possible by Rogue. Otherwise, the build still performs well as an AA build with the combined effect of Deathblows, Biting Whip, Persistent Distraction and Borrowed Instinct. Take note that I don't take the lower level Charm spells. First, one can take them at lower levels then spec out of them upon reaching higher levels. Second, consider that Ringleader does most of the work of those spells only better and that you can opt out of any earlier build by paying the innkeep. Third, while those lower level spells are fun to spam and undoubtedly powerful (charm is powerful in general), one can easily do without them. There's the not-so-good reason that it would be a waste of a Charm spell if it stands in the way of your AoEs but by far the best reason is that there's already a higher level spell that does most of the lifting. Ringleader does for AoE what the others can only hope to achieve and with better range.
  5. Hello. May I ask, how does one go about posting builds? I'm new here but I'd like to contribute. I have a bunch of builds but I don't know where to post. Thanks
  6. So let me get this straight: the 'threatened' trigger does not activate on 'Foe AoE' skills? Would that mean that the penalty from Tactician not apply to AoE skills? Well that's marvelous! Have there been any other tests? I'll dig around but I'm not sure where to look.
  7. So I'm playing around with builds, namely Fighters and the Tactician specialization caught my eye. My question: what exactly counts as "threatening" and enemy? The Tactician class gains a penalty to Accuracy and Penetration when targeting enemies that are not threatened by an ally. The values are not given but I estimate that it's large enough for the penalty to matter. For example, will the penalty factor in when using spells to back line units and units not engaged by a tank. Is attacking a unit equivalent to threatening it? Thanks.
  8. Just tested it to be sure and yes, it is. I seem to be mistaken in thinking that it applies to Wizard as well but the idea is still pretty good. Several Chanter spells benefit greatly from power level. The best I can think of are Thrice Wronged, Singt o' Eld Nary, Seven Nights She Waited, Hyel-Hyraf, etc. Basically avoid the summon spells. PL affects duration, damage, penetration and projectile count. The spell that benefits most would be Eld Nary since it has a projectile count, penetration and damage. The spells that will benefit least would be the summon spells since they only get duration and have pretty good duration as they are. Failing Bellower, you can try a Skald. Just pick up CItzal's Lance and some Crit-conversion like Merciless Gaze. Since the attack is AoE, the chance to Crit would be much higher than normal, meaning more spells to cast in a shorter amount of time.
  9. My role is killing Difficulty PotD Can you spell out how you got those stats? I'm curious if I can match it. So far you've got +10 MGT from Helwalker and +10 INT from Duality. +1INT and +1 DEX from Chameleon's Touch while I can't place the rest. The other equips don't contribute to it so it's either you got those stats from inspirations (+5 ea.) and other bonus spells or events (If you had a Chanter, that's another +5MGT, +5CON and +5PER(?) from The Brideman Slew... Invocation) Any assistance? Much obliged. ________________________________ As for a WIzard build suggestion, you can't go wrong with the following: A "Pure" WIzard (I prefer Universalist for flavor but Blood Mage would work) Chanter (Bellower) + Wizard (Universalist or Blood Mage). Wizard (Evoker) + Druid (Fury) [Evoker + Life-giver for a more versatile experience] The main difficulty of the first build is resource management (supposing you're not going Blood Mage). Wizard builds can basically divided into three types: Casters, Summoners and Martialists (note that this is not an in-game division, I just grouped them for simplicity). You can focus on hard-hitting single-hit spells (Evocation) field-changing skills like traps, tentacles, and the like (Conjuration and Transmutation) and Weapon Summons and Self-Buffs (Enchantment and Illusions). Building your mage around each of these (admittedly artificial) "archetypes" allows you to get a good idea of what your Wizard will look like without getting lost with the sheer number of skills available to the class. You need not stick too closely to the archetypes (naturally) but they are a good basis for finding synergies with other classes. Say you want to be a Shifter (The Druid subclass that specializes in transformations). Taking all the important buff spells (mostly Enchanting and Illusions) will allow you to build a shifter that can make the most of its melee aptitude while field spells can be of great assistance in keeping enemies in place. Something like that. So, with that out of the way, I can focus on discussing the builds. I'll make this quick just so that we have an overview. Wizard (singleclassed, any subclass) - Compared to other varieties, a singleclass Wizard has more resources than most martial alternatives. 2 resources may seem dinky at first but you'll find that in almost all battles you take your Wizard to, you'll be left with 2 spells in other categories. You will always have more than you need but never enough of what you want so the best way to fight would be to find two good grimoires with spells you really like for each of the PL. For this route, the name of the game is Power Level (abreviated PL) and spell variety. Read up a guide on what PLs are if you're into it, but the most obvious sources are levelling up (the row headers on the Abilities screen tell you what PL you are at, single-class gets you to PL9, multiclass gets you to PL7), Empowering abilities (+5 PL to any Empowered spells). Bellower multiclass (Bellower + any Wizard) - Building on the idea of PLs, the Bellower's special is giving PLs based on the number of stored Phrases from the Chanter class. This makes for a very powerful wizard once you hit a maximum of 7 Phrases, giving a PL bonus of +7 upon using an Invocation. This makes for a very powerful set of endgame spells due to the bonus. Needless to say that this build only really takes off at endgame when you can get the Bellower bonus. Druid multiclass (Fury + Evoker) - If resources were a problem earlier, this will hardly be the case with this multiclass. Of all the caster combinations, this pair takes the cake for sheer casting variety, allowing you to throw around any number of spells while having almost double the resources of a singleclassed Wizard an a wide variety of stuns, holds and burns. Fury makes you give up some healing, but you get more damage instead. There are other alternatives--primarily martial alternatives--but I've listed these three because I find them fun. Hopefully you do as well.
  10. Probably a Fighter or someone who manages Engagement. I've been able to survive with just Pallegina as both tank and healer but not much else. At least one, preferrably two in some battles where the doorway is simply too large to body-block. Failing that, a Wizard. I can't count how many times the Wizard's AoE CC and Durational AoE saved me from large groups of predators in PotD. I can heal with potions but I can't live without some form of Crowd Control, really.
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