Chaospread

Aren't you a rogue? Do you wanna kill a megaboss via cheese? Do you wanna rid of Guardian of Ukaizo but you don't start combat in stealth mode? Here I am! This is a way to get Gouging Strike even if you aren't a rogue and you haven't a rogue in your party The procedure is not very difficult to reproduce but the odds it can happen are very very little, to be truth and honest. But it has happened to me just against Guardian of Ukaizo battle and I wanna let you know First of all: equip the Charm of Bones amulet. This amulet has the follow enchantment: Call the Restless which summons a random vessel. Among the random vessel it can summon, there is also this one: Risen Armsman. If you manage to summon exactly this monster, it has indeed Gouging Strike among its abilities, and it can use it against you enemy! It seems, since Rise Armsman is above all a ranged entity and that gounging strike is used particularly and mostly in melee by this monster, that it would be better summon the vessel close the foe you wanna kill in order to maximize the chances that gouging strike will be used... but these are my guess assumptions and maybe Rises Armsman can use Gouging Strike also ranged... or not using it also melee... who knows... Anyway, Charm of Bones has 10 uses and the total number of summoned vessels should be 13, so how much are the odds you can summon a Risen Arsman? If i am right, this is a typical Bernoulli Process, so with 1/13 single chance probability (about 0.0769) and 10 trials you end up with 0.383, thus almost 40%!!! But then you have to hope Risen Arsman uses Gounging Strike... not so unbelievable at the end If you manage to try this approach let us know how many times you can get a Gounging Strike without a rogue, thanks!

Yep, but you should cast IoM as the last spell

Follow Boeroer's advices, after then in act 2 with Defiance Bay, Endless Path, Dyrford Crossing encounters and mercants a world opens to you In early game you can also give some normal weapons slaying enchantments (i.e. slaying kiths); it is +5 acc and +25% base damage, it helps in some encounters and you don't waste enchantments points on unique ones

Totally agree. The others are occasionally, if you encounter resisting foe and/or you have some ranger characters (or one very strong ranged) the second choice is Sure-Handed Ila Nocked Her Arrows with Speed. Someone says Rime and Frost Followed the Footfalls of Karth can be good, but it is uncomfortable as it needs some micro etc.

Hi, I've missed many messages but you can have a BW in a whole party even if as Boeroer said other classes achieve the damage dealer role better (rogue, monk etc.). My consideration is mostly because in a party I like to play with different classes thus 2 paladins is a little boring, but a BW full equipped and well builded can deal good damage. For the druid and wizard, you can take them late game, in the last levels they are very powerful and a lot of fun! Druid build is quite "easy", pick Relentless Storm, Heart of the Storm, Wildstrike Shock and its upgrade, Outlander's Frenzy, Apprentice's Sneak Attack, Two Weapon Style and other spells you like. For mastery a good choose is Nature's Mark, Taste of the Hunt, Returning Storm and Moonwell (or Form of the Delemgan). Cast Nature's mark, the 4th level bonus spell, Rentless Storm (or Returning storm for easier encounter), spiritishift and start to kill enemies When spiritshift is over, you can use Gyrd Háewanes Sténes to regain spiritshift or you can cast AoE damage spells and/or utility/healing spells. Equip with Wildstrike Belt please! After Caed Nua, when you arrive in Defiance Bay, the game is easier also for mid level caster, so don't worry and hang in there!

It would have been a great weapon if Living Wood had been from the hit point and if it had been upgradable beyond superb. But Healing ability can be useful also late game in some situations.

Hi, PoE1 dragons is harder than boss in Deadfire but not so much. On the other side equip is stronger in Poe1, so this balance out difficulty. You can beat the game on PotD SOLO with every class, so a full party is good in any combination, more or less. I'd switch a paladin of your party with another class: maybe druid (trade of all jacks, and also a good healer if you wanna keep such role without a paladin), wizard (AoE damage and control, or a melee wizard build, and he can achieve heal with scrolls) or a damage dealer (rogue, melee or ranged, or ranger, ranged indeed). If you wish a great damage dealer a monk is actually strong, and a barb is fun and good for groups of foes. It is only to have variety in your party, you can stick to your party composition and you'll have no many troubles with a chanter, a priest and a cipher.

What I'd do if I were you: do the Hiravias quest and then sacrifice him.

Oh yeah, it is a bluff But I'm curious about statistics, I see quite only bashing shields used in posts in the forum. @Kaylon is right, but monk is only one of the possible classes, in SOLO I end using bashing shield and when I switch it is for specific enchantments (i.e. Shimmer Scale). Reversing the question, if a shield were a normal shield, with added damage, PEN and ACC of a weapon, I wonder which shield a character equip between a normal shield or a bashing shield... and also for a second weapon with same properties but without DEF and reflex improving and with a modal but with its drawback. In SOLO I'd use only bashing shields, a part of some particularly builds and/or encounters, in a party an off-tank would used almost ever a bashing shield. I agree that above all PEN of bashing shields is low, but it should scale less than a "normal" unique weapons in the case, and even so, they would far better than a "normal" unique shield.

The builds you see in forums etc. aren't all the builds players use. If you see internal game statistics, most monks use actually Tuotilo.

If a bashing shield would scale as a normal weapon, 80%/90% of equipment and build were weapon + bashing shield and two-weapons + sword and shield styles. Or you'd have to add almost one disadvantage to more PEN and more damage bashing shields.

This one. I agree. And there are some synergies, i.e. with a bashing shields its easy to generate Hunter's Claw (or its upgrades) stacks with a blunderbuss, having also a good ranged (and melee... and reflex if you have the style) defense.

It is intended. With the right enchantments, food, spells and abilities bashing shields are good enough. With no one of that, I hit successfully a megaboss with "the best defense" with a wildrhymers. Bashing shields are indeed good as two weapons style and two weapons speed bonus apply.

I think Casita Samelia's Legacy could work with a barb/trickster. You can pump intimidate very high with barb class bonus, background bonuses, infamous captain, training, this equipment: Type Item Enchantment Modifier Cloak Frostfur Mantle [BW] Ripped from the Source +3 Gauntlets Onepahua's Strength Royal Blood +2 Ring Chameleon's Touch Versatile +1 (as Barbarian) (note that the ring give bonus exactly to barbs). So you can reach +15 intimidate, it ends in +9/+10 deflection and with Ardent you can have until +20 will. Nomad Brigadine is good but IIRC has worse recovery malus than CSL. You can use Whispers of The Endless Paths with Offensive Parry: another +4 DEF bonus an another "riposte", also good AoE damage even if IIRC it doesn't work with carnage. But I run precisely with a Barb/Priest with this setup mid game, late I switch WotEP with Aretezzo's Cane, but it was very funny to me.

@thelee you are pointing in the right direction, I have tried also with Meteor Swarm and it works too. Those scrolls/spells work also if I use them hitting Hauani during the combat and then killing it with another spells or weapon or summon, but sometimes they don't work; and that's why I guess I need to kill it with a weapon/ability never used before the first use of Essential Interrupter in this fight... but I can be wrong, as @Boeroer said this should be investigated, maybe trying also with spells that trigger Least Unstable Coil multiple times... But in my attempts I used i.e. Meteor Swarm/Storm of Holy Fire than killed Hauani with wurm or Magran's Flavor and they worked, indeed. And, as in my video, they work if I kill Hauani with Meteor Swarm/Storm of Holy Fire scrolls. I don't remember if I try to kill it without using those scrolls, I think so and actually it splits into two oozes the right way...

Oh yes, as I wrote in my previous post, and it was killed instantly by storm of fire.

In the fight against H.O.W., I'm sure because maybe I never used Storm of Holy Fire (or Magran's Favor or other weapons) during the run but fore sure I killed it with summons in one attempt and I used all chanter summons before this encounter.

It seems to me that this case happened in one of my run and IIRC Korgrak appeared again in the available hirelings in the keep as well as other hirelings. But it was a long time ago, I can be wrong.

I'll try to explain with some examples. Case 1. Hit H.O.W. with whatever you like, then hit it with Essential Interrupter, damage it with others weapons and/or spells and/or ability, then kill it with an arrow of Essential Interrupter --> expected behavior, a mob spawns (cause Essential Interrupter enchant), H.O.W. splits in two oozes and the combat continue. Case 2. Hit and kill H.O.W only with Essential Interrupter --> expected behavior, a mob spawns (cause Essential Interrupter enchant), H.O.W. splits in two oozes and the combat continue. Case 3. (what happens in the video) Hit H.O.W. with whatever you like, then hit it with Essential Interrupter, damage it with others weapons and/or spells and/or ability, optionally use again Essential Interrupter then kill hit with a weapon, spells, ability or a summon NEVER used BEFORE the first hit with Essential Interrupter --> bug, a mob spawns but H.O.W. doesn't splits and die, combat is over. Case 4. Hit H.O.W. with whatever you like, then hit it with Essential Interrupter, damage it with others weapons and/or spells and/or ability, optionally use again Essential Interrupter then kill hit with a weapon, spells, ability or a summon ALREADY used BEFORE the first hit with Essential Interrupter --> expected behavior, a mob spawns (cause Essential Interrupter enchant), H.O.W. splits in two oozes and the combat continue. I experimented this case when I killed H.O.W. with a shot from a wurm, a summon who hit H.O.W. before starting hitting it with Essential Interrupter. I'm not sure 100% about that, but this is what happened in my attempts, maybe the logic / bug is more complicated, but this can be a starting point to exploit it.

Do you remember the times when you could kill Hauani O Whe with Essential Interrupter without it split? Remember the patch where devs fixed it? And now remember this moment: when I defeat Hauani O Whe with Essential Interrupter without it split AFTER the patch that fixed this! See the video, particularly from this minute: I suppose that you can hit Hauani with Essential Interrupter, than you have to kill it with a weapon/spell/ability/summon which you have never used before the FIRST hit with the bow. Sometimes the trick doesn't work, I believe beacause I killed it with a weapon/spell/ability/summon already used before starting hitting it with Essential Interrupter, but I am not sure Message for the devs: you can patch it again, I've managed to kill it also without CHEESE (and not by interrupting it ).

Yep, not tested but i think following spells can scale well. Sunbeam: good damage, long range, roll against reflex can be convenient, fire keywords (good for bonus, i.e. fire ring), fire damage, also Blind duration that scales with levels; Touch of Rot: good damage, DoT (as @Boeroer said), corrode damage; Autumn's Decay: same as Touch of Rot, but with less (anyway good) DoT damage, but greater penetration, cone AoE but good range that extends with levels; Insect Swarm: raw damage and DoT, long range, good side effects (remove concentration), Beast keyword can be convient for bonuses; Returning Storm: shock damage, more penetration, great extensible with levels side effects (stunned), many keywords = more chances for bonuses; Infestation of Maggots: raw damage and DoT, quite long range. Range isn't affected by levels IIRC, but long range is always a good thing. I suppose spells above third level don't scale so much, best scaling is obviously for the first three layers of spells. Yes, indeed. Power level scaling can do something, and if you stack many bonus it DOES good thing, but it is not always possible, thus the best things you can do (besides tenacious, and debuff foes' armor) are improving ACC and (better on hard, PotD etc...) hits to crits chances for crits (+50% PEN), eating Crusted Swordfish (+2 PEN for spells) and of course choosing the best damage type. Maybe do Ciphers' Driving Echoes work with spells?

I agree 100% with Boeroer. In PoE1 the real difference among priests is weapon bonus and for Wael the best choice is quarterstaff. After that it all a matter of spells choice and style of play. You can make the difference RPG-wise performing a Wael's priest with decisions, actions and speaking... but Wael is somenthing about kwnoledge and mystery, so you can be almost a chaotic character... With quarterstaff behinf the first line you can be a supporter/healer/buffer/debuffer, you can use your ACC bonus with weapon to deal damage and some afflictions, with mid PER/ACC you can achieve to be a good buffer/healer. Late level with Minor Avatar and so on you can begin to be a great melee charcater Anyway: works, anything works particularly in a party, but it seems to me that those 2 points over 10 in RES is a little waste, better put them in MIG for more healing and damage or in INT for buff/debuff duration.

Yeah, the sum of all that is: "let us dream"

To not be misunderstood: martial class are Fighter, Paladin, Rogue, Barb, Ranger and Monk, no way In SOLO full tanky with fighter or paladin can be a good decision, but usually in SOLO most of players (and me) tend to play offensive (i.e. dump RES and CON): it is more effective and above all, far more funny and not boring. As already said, pair a martial class with a caster make that character a different way of play, a caster (especially wiz and priest) are so powerful late game that any class can be powerful and funny with them. And early level a fighter or paladin give a little sturdiness. Monk and Barb is a mid tier level as early survival, Rogue (and maybe Ranger, but the pet helps) is more squishy. Let the ranger beyond this discusion, Rogue, Monk and Barb have an offensive way of playing, while Fighter and Barb are more "defensive". It is not so truly, because Arcane Knight can leverage great damage (you can see some of builds in this forum and over the web), and Fighter (particurarly tactician) can be a good damage dealer too. Some subclasses can deal with limited class resource (yes, always tactician, with brilliant and so on..) thus they can combine offensive and defensive damage. Rogue as you said have a similar role to the monk, single target damage, but monk can deal with numerous foes as well. Subclass for Rogue (and Fighter) can make the difference: Streetfighter is powerful, Assassin is very good (above all multiclassed) while trickster maybe is better as single class and he is quite a hybrid between a martial and a caster Also for the barb subclass can be important: berserker is top layer, Furyshaper is good, the others is a little "meh", but I played a corpse eater / priest of berath and with cheese (SoT, Brilliant, BDD) he was unbeatable I think Monk is the powerful martial class, great single class and aewsome multiclassed, and really funny to play! So, I have understood, if I am not wrong, you don't wanna play a character with support features (as Paladin), but a similar to the monk single damage dealer. Ok, Rogue can be the best choice (and maybe ranger if you wanna play ranger, even if Fighter as a tactician or Devoted...) but I think Barbarians are to large groups as monks are to single targets so the way to play (offensive) and the fun you can have is similar. Barbs are indeed funny, as a monk, but while a monk can manage many targets quite well, barbs can be in difficulty with one only strong enemy: but you have the other class to manage that, wizard by far for sure So I guess a Warlock is a good pick for you