yorname

Tekehu has many CC options but his PER is meh, automatically putting all of his offensive options a step behind. And his AOE damage comes from Greater Maelstrom, which he can only use once per encounter unless you use empower/brilliant. However it can be easily accessed through reading scrolls only limited by your quick item slots so it's not even exclusive. So I wouldn't go pure druid on him, he has chanter version of Weather the Storm at PL7 meaning you can sustain it for the whole encounter, it trivialized many boss fights for me.

Then it's very different from what this build is - high int means you can't use FF nearly as frequently, which means significantly less self healing and damage. And low might means low overall healing to anyone. I struggle to see what you want to do with this character tbh

harbinger's problem is ACC imo, especially trickster/skald, both subclass require a high ACC to be good but barely provide any on their own. Cipher/skald will have enough ACC to proc phrases and will make great use of Helm of the White Void, both sides have lots of afflictions. But that would be more like a front line caster rather than actual weapon wielder. And Forbidden Fist + anything doesn't need INT is a monster. Although it might be too boring to play after properly set up.

What about making the character able to actually shoot on the run? Like drastically reduce attack animation for ranged weapons and make recovery normal. Interrupt immunity while moving might be a small but useful addition. Or is it technically possible to make automatic shots without a real "attack" action? Although this is also more problematic in terms of balance I guess.

I never used it before because I thought the Imbued Ammunition was as it's displayed: 8-12 dmg plus some bonuses, however it seems that's more like an ability and gets all kinds of bonus to acc, pen and damage (from MIG a second time, and even from being Legendary). On PL8 I got +2.25PEN and +18ACC, totally cancelling out -15ACC from pistol modal. Total damage is comparable to a normal pistol but damage type is vastly superior, and with higher PEN. Benefiting from MIG twice and multiplicatively means it would be crazy for Helwalkers?

not knowing it existed I set the whole no rest buffs on the +2 spell PEN food so in this playthrough it will only be relevant on crit, but yeah I can see it become monstrous when built properly

I like the greater one because it can cancel CON afflictions and heal at the same time. And burst healing being less in total than content healing of the same cost is natural. But it's all about playstyle and composition, I personally don't find chain interrupts too much of a problem for a party so never picked HoL

I knew the Draining Touch + Phantom trick existed, but just found out the weapon becomes persistant when I tried to cast the 2 spells from different grimoires. Luckily it expires when combat ends so it's neither too op nor too tricky to use.

I can't remember but does keywords make summoned weapons cancelled by opposite keywords?

Would you consider make it consistant about what should and shouldn't have keywords? Some weapons have elemental lash but only a handful of them have keywords and it does seem a bit random. After a quick search I found these ones: Sun and Moon, Thundercrack Pistol, Dragons Dowry and Hel Beckoning. They only have lash instead of double type damage, but are still given keywords. I'm not sure about Grave Calling, but Magran's Blessing certainly doesn't have Fire kw. I can only guess that those weapons have "unique" enchantments that act like a lash, whereas Magran's Blessing/Acolyte's Frostbite literally have enchantments called Buring/Freezing Lash. But that's a very far-fetched explanation and only adds confusion to the problem.

paladins are not good damage dealers, and summons suffer from penetration issues so not much damage either. The aura doesn't stack with other accuracy buffs so you really want to stick with Exalted Endurance, they don't have offensive passives either. if healing is what you need, consider replacing xoti with tekehu/pallegina. Priests are more like cheese specialists rather than healers.

monks is good, helwalker's +50% damage taken is not a big deal because you'll have tons of CC that most enemies won't be doing anything, and you can simply give the tougher enemies someone else to play with. +10 might is also great for your healing from ancient memory. rogue's only crit boost is Dirty Fighting and is essentially just a worse version of +5 accuracy most of the time, Dance of Death/Enduring Dance is better, just make other party members better suited for AI and spend more time on yourself. if you still worry about being hit, pick a fighter with Conquerer Stance and Disciplined Strikes. Peak perfomance is not as good as a helwalker but requires less attention.

I'm OK if it's limited to things like Firebrand and Sun and Moon (if damage type changed to crush/elemental). Currently without kw mod, besides Dragon's Dowry you don't get a good damage dealer solely for using it: if I want more weapon damage, flails is not where I'd look. Instead it's used for reliably applying -25 REF or generating phrases for skalds and that's legit for me. Agreed, since even Magran's Favor and Keeper of the Flame that just look fiery and have some burn damage don't benefit from it, Dragon's Dowry shouldn't.

Ah Concelhaut's Crushing Doom is a good example, I didn't realize enemies having unique spells was not that unusual, maybe I got tunnel vision since I only had access to minor imprint

I don't know why, but I just had 2 mages both get the unique Ninagauth's Death Ray from Ikorno (bounty), who obviously shouldn't and doesn't have that spell. I think I also stole some spell that wasn't in the grimoire from low level enemies, notably that guy who attacks you after you trade with Dunnage's tavern owner. Can somebody explain it technically? also if a mage steals a spell he knows/has in grimoire, after save/load the spell will be hidden, only the normal version can be cast. A workaround is to assign a hotkey to the stolen spell before any s/l, while it's still next to other unlimited ones, then after s/l the unlimited version will be in the hotkeys row. Useful to allow Aloth to cast minor missles,since it's not bad but Aloth has it at lv1.

BPM changed Fractured Volition to Hobbled and Enfeebled (from Weakened). The original was so bad I totally forgot it's changed.

Edit: I was clearly out of my mind when I used words like impossible, there's one thing really great about Enfeebled affliction: it adds 50% to the total duration of hostile effects, not remaining time, and weirdly the game allows it to apply itself mutiple times to the same effect. For example I hit an enemy with a 40s Disintegration, when there's 10s left if I apply enfeebled to it, the remaining duration is extended to 30s instead of 15s, and it grows exponentially. For the Guardian I only have to be lucky enough to extend both Borrowed Instinct and Disintegration a couple of times in a row to get sufficient time to do other stuff before having to prolong them again, the relatively safe phase 1 is the perfect time to set things up. Without having to desperately waste all of the focus I can now have both statues dominated to keep the guardian busy.

Update: Oracle of Wael was suprisingly easy, only took a handful of attempts to figure out, embarrasingly I'm stuck at Guardian of Ukaizo. This is my first time facing it with all 4 megaboss buffs, and I don't think it's possible to fight without any cheese for an inquisitor? It's will is acceptable but that fortitude is insane, I must get lucky to land club hit - borrowed instinct - fractured volition - morning star hit so that disintegration or body attunement can barely graze it. It has low DEF but I don't think I have enough healing to go full martial without those buffs

I chose soul blade for the concentration. With casters I can't stand the slow recovery if I give up DEX, especially when lay on hands and borrowed instinct both have long recovery, unlike some other defensive abilities from fighters, wizards etc. Since I'm not using shields with this one even if I max RES there will still be constant hits in DLC areas, and cipher multi have so much bonus will from passives it can dump RES for more fortitude.

There's nothing new about the build so I'd rather not waste everyone's time, though there're things I didn't quite expect before actually started. The Steel Garrote was an awful pick for me. More than half of the time I was casting or waiting for spell recovery, the healing from attacks is negligible while loosing an ability point to Garrote is huge, it's so replaceable by cipher spells. Survivability was better than I thought. I still got destroyed in a couple seconds in the first fight in The Bridge Ablaze several times, but after figuring out what to do with the starting focus and one gunshot I haven't used any consumable or empowerment for combat, which is one of the benchmarks needed for me to consider it at least legit for solo. I actually didn't need a strong melee weapon. In most cases I never had to switch out of Scordeo's Trophy + Kapana Taga combination, 2 hit for a Disintegration was good enough. Performance for boss fights are very polarized. Against "normal" bosses the inquisitor is extremely strong, always having an afflication for anyone that's not immune to everything and unlimited access to one of the best single target nuke trivialized every boss I fought so far. However megabosses have some extreme defenses, making the whole damage - focus - debuff circulation failing easily. Many legit martial builds can at least face-tank Auranic, however even trying Borrowed Instinct on phantom or bodyguards it was still too risky and difficult to keep a healthy hp. That said, paladin + cipher might be the best combo to cheese the megabosses. It's just a little bit disappointing. When facing the DLC enemies I still had to use Rekvu's Fractured Casque for some rogue heavy encounters, partly because I dumped RES again for smoother casting with high DEX. Hands of Light was another option, though having a long recovery and the limitation of Zeal made me give up the idea. I can't say it's totally unexpected but having the same problem as that awful melee mindstalker I played almost made me ragequit. At least the helmet did made those encounters very easy. In the end I also allowed myself to use Ringleader so I could continue to not use consumables.

I'm on the grindy leveling up stage of a Steel Garrote/cipher, and finding it hard to decide what weapon to use for best damage. I feel Kapana Taga is a must for modal and defensive enchantments, but offensively it's not very impressive, I'm considering Scordeo's Trophy for "main" weapon, since the reduced recovery can help with cipher spells, and range allows the character to better sustain stoic steel. Maybe another hard hitting weapon for inevitable melee situations? Also how does the CP biting whip fare against draining whip? Draining whip gives another 0.5 * weapon damage to focus gain, if convert the extra focus to Soul Annihilation, considering might and PL it would be close to biting whip's 20% raw lash, but I guess the lash can contribute to SG's heal so it might be worth taking?

I was worried about abilities that interrupt on graze, which pretty much work 100% on this one, while those won't neccessarily be lethal, trash fights can take forever without immunity. I thought about that clown hat if no using Fractured Casque. Dumping RES was more about balancing fortitude and will, since high INT was a must, high RES would lead to average MIG and CON at best, even though I already had body affliction immunity I still found effects that target fortitude more deadly than will ones. I guess I was just determined to not take them rather than reducing the durations.

thanks for your work! so many stuff went from meh to actually worth trying

@Elric Galad's Balance Polishing Mod buffed many meme abilities in the game, making more classes viable for solo. Fighter's Toughened Fury now trigger on most damage rolls instead of crits, suddenly SC fighters have near infinite resources. With the help of multiple defense buffs and Unbending Trunk, a fighter can protect themselves from most negative effects and regen any amount of damage thrown at them. Class: Devoted (Fighter), Sabre proficiency Race: anything except Godlike Attributes: max MIG, PER & INT, dump RES and average DEX CON PotD solo: only with CP & BPM. Skipping content is also needed because the build doesn't work before lv16. Active abilities: Knock Down, Conquerer Stance, Refreshing Defense, Unbending Trunk, Inspired Discipline Passive abilities: Arms Bearer, Monastic Unarmed Training, Determination, Two Weapon Style, Rapid Recovery, Bear's Fortitude, Bull's Will, Hold the Line, Weapon Mastery, Tough, Uncanny Luck, Armored Grace, Spell Resistance, Improved Critical, Reaping the Whirlwind, Toughened Fury, Critical Defense, Great Soul, Prestige No Rest Buffs: Konstanten's Boon (+2 CON, +1 PER & INT), Shark Soup (+2 MIG, +1PL, Body Afflictions Immunity) & everything else Gear: Scordeo's Edge - the go-to sabre in most cases Aldris Blade of Captain Crow (heal on crit) - when additional healing is needed, and the enemies' DEF is not super high Animancer's Energy Blade (Raw damage) - when sabres and fists both can't penetrate Grave Calling - anti-vessel Any good scepter - for sigils, also very useful to attack with one sabre all the time but at dual-wielding speed. Rekvu's Fractured Casque - combined with Wrenched Knee injury (-25% Stride, can be repeatedly acquired in Poko Kohara ruins), we can take every hit without being interrupted to death, a must for this build. Charm of Bones (+2 INT) Magnera's Chain (+10 Fortitude & Will, +2 Piece & Crushing AR) Ring of Minor Protection * 2, keep Ring of Greater Regeneration Boots of Stability (+5 Fortitude), Boots of Speed is useful in a certain situation The Giftbearer's Cloth with max History Woedica's Strangling Grasp (+2 MIG, +2 Burn AR), Gauntlet of Discipline (+2 max Discipline) Girdle of Eoten Constitution (+3 CON), some belts that give AR to certain types of damge can be useful too Pet: Hemp (+1 CON, +5 Fortitude), Kathrynn (+1 INT, +5 Will). Eviee (+2 RES, resistance to RES afflictions) when boss level enemies have Terrify The general idea is to have reasonably low DEF so most damage rolls can hit us, triggering Toughened Fury, giving Discipline. Fortitude and Will should be around 200 thanks to gear, Refreshing Defense and Inspired Discipline (all tier 1 inspirations, equals +5 DEF and +20 other defenses). Unbending Trunk combined with Dawnstar's Blessing and MIG bonus (I'm not sure about this) will heal more than the original damage taken, so in 99% cases we are literally unkillable. There're exceptions though. The first one is DoT. They don't trigger Toughened Fury (unsure) and don't count towards Unbending Trunk, so they're real damage for us. In most cases Rapid Recovery and the healing from Aldris Blade of Captain Crow is enough, but there're encounters where DoT can be a real threat: Young Porokoa's in SSS. They have a DoT attack that target Fortitude. That doesn't sound like a problem but in that fight every enemy attacks really slowly, so there's not enough Discipline to sustain every buff, resulting in occasional hits. 1 stack is acceptable, 2 is a reload. luckily the big Porokoa is not super tanky, and with 16 + 8 Discipline (empowerment) I was able to beat it without the use of Potion of Enlightenment. Frightened Child. The encounter is very tricky for most martial classes, but for us it can almost be automated if only for the child's Disintegration. I don't know how she had so much focus, constantly dishing out high level spells without even attacking me. Even with all the attacks on me I still couldn't afford Knock Downs on every Disintegration, costing me several potions and an empowerment Some random polarbears in BoW. I forgot which defense they target, but they attack pretty slowly and has good accuracy. I guess it's not impossible but after a few attempts I skipped them. An SSS fight where you need to protect some research. I imagine with many potions it's doable, I just skipped it. Another one is a single slow-hitting boss, namely Neriscyrlas. There's no other enemy, its attacks are extremely slow, and without interrupt on our side it's constantly at 21 AR, forcing me to use the Animancer's Energy Blade. It also has Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon targeting Fortitude, means we either take DoT that heals the dragon or we spend precious Discipline to defend against it. I think if I planned every buff more precisely, it can be killed with a lot of consumables and an empowerment. But in the end I just took a Potion of Enlightenment, the only use in the run. And of course there're dispels. High Will performed better than I thought, the only Arcane Dampener I took in the entire run was from Auranic, only once. The obelisk cleanses all the buff on us, but IIRC the healing part of Unbending Trunk can't be dispelled, we only lose the buff that applies healing. I only needed to make sure every time the obelisk activated, I was at full health and had some additional healing on. After punching it down the rest was a free win. I didn't notice it in previous runs, but there's a "dispel" that target DEF in the game - Luminescent Sporelings in FS has a Noxious Injection that target DEF, dealing huge corrode damge and applies -1000s to all beneficial effects, a perfect counter to the very basic of this build. Those in the Quarantined Section can either be blocked by others or lured to a choke point then killed one by one, but there're 3 in the Upper Bowels that I couldn't find a place to fight comfortably. In the end -50 damage from poison on Blackened Plate Armor (I was not sure it worked), Knock Down and a bit of luck saved the day. They're the toughest possible fights imo. The impossible fights are Hauani O Whe and Dorudugan. I couldn't outheal the DoT from the ooze and obviously don't have an answer for the splits. When trying Dorudugan I found that it's possible to sustain Unbending Trunk with Potion of Enlightenment, but it also has an attack that reduces max HP, so inevitably one-hitting me. I also coudn't deal enough damage to cover its self healing. And there's The Changling's Dance, since most defenses are active abilities. Overall it was pretty fun. Dual wielding is often risky in solo, the melee+ranged trick is even harder to pull off. With the changes in BPM finally I could take some liberty in weapon choices. Slowly chopping everything down while surrounded by a dozen enemies without even blinking is hilarious, more so if you do it with a broken knee.

the modded Toughened Fury is changed to "when receiving damage" though, that's why I don't know for sure.