Luckmann

And the fact that those are the exact things one wants behind Accuracy is actually exactly why I don't want it on the same Attribute. I pulled it straight from the character creation screen. That said, unless I see a developer comment on it, I'll assume that that is the intended bonus and the fact that it's +2 in-game (I haven't checked) is the error, because I really think that the reason they now list the bonus to Will/Reflex/Fortitude at all is because it was changed.

Yes, and I realize that for you (Sensuki) it's all about the balance and the combat aspects, but it'd be nice if there was some semblance of relevance between the mechanics and the narrative. I personally want to play a high-Resolve/Dexterity character for the roleplaying aspect, and I would prefer it if the mechanical bonuses garnered from that would at least revolve around their narrative/immersive aspect and not be completely and utterly useless for me, mechanically.

I do have access to BBv392 and BBv435 (and backed up, just in case ). That's because that's how they're listed. I'm inclined to agree with you that they should play by the same rules, but I deliberately mirrored the format of the game because I do not actually know of what relevance these modifiers are in the context of integer vs. modifier. Maybe it's an oversight by the developers, forgetting the "%", maybe it's of profound importance; I don't know, so I deferred to the default format. I actually don't see why that'd be a problem. Although Interrupt and Concentration have a dichotomous (dichotomic?) relationship, there's really no reason (that I can see) as to why they'd offer the same bonus. From a player perspective, Interrupt is much more important than Deflection. I'm surprised you'd not agree, since you often espouse the virtues of offence compared to defence. The fact of the game - even as we know Interrupt will be fixed - is that it's always better with a strong offence than a strong defence. Because of this, I think it's appropriate that the defensive bonuses would be somewhat stronger than the offensive ones. In a straight comparison, if they are completely analogous, otherwise, the offensive option (Interrupt) will always be better than the defensive (Concentration). I'm not convinced, but I will concede that it requires playtesting. At the end of the day, my suggestion is very much knee-jerk, because it is impossible to test anything relevant in 435 when it comes to the attributes, and therefore it is also hard to come up with hard suggestions that are guaranteed to be good. Maybe. One possibility would be to remove the range bonus and up the Interrupt to +5 (from +3) but I don't really want to do that, because I like the range modifier conceptually, and it may end up overvaluing Perception again. Default ranges always need tweaking, and should always be tweaked as if the modifier is 0% anyway.

I only noticed yesterday, as I was double-checking when making this list. It had completely passed me by, and I was just assuming that it was +2. I didn't check it in-game, so it could be a display error, but I doubt it. In fact, I think the reason they even display the +Will/Reflex/Fortitude now is because it's not consistent, Intellect being the one exception. And no, it makes no sense. Aside from the issue of consistency that has already been raised, the reason I wouldn't want to change the +Will/Reflex/Fort is because it's fundamentally boring. They don't actively do anything that feels relevant to my character concepts, unless I for some reason want to build a completely passive defender. The defence stats in PoE are very much like the Saving Throws (so much so that I don't understand why they didn't just call them "Saves") which are good, maybe even important, but also so very, very boring. It's a stat that gently plinks upward good, downwards bad and you pay no attention to it other than for resolution on those Save or X-tests. It's much better to just say that all Attributes gives a +2 to a thematically appropriate defence stat and then promptly forget about it. I'm also inclined to think that the developers agree on this, since they apparently felt it was so "behind the curtain"-boring that they didn't even display the modifiers the defences got from attributes until they started mucking about with it. Honestly I think they're so boring, so thematically meaningless and add so little when fleshing out a character concept that they should be hidden again. This, of course, necessitates that they are also equal; +2 from each, bing, bam, boom.

The biggest problem with that build would actually be weapon focus talents. In PoE, each Weapon Focus talent covers a range of weapons, which makes sense, given that you only get very, very few Talents. And no Talent (currently) grants you a focus in Rapier, Stiletto and Pistols at the same time. ...there really should be more Weapon Focus Talents, with different combinations. There's absolutely no overlap, and there really should be. There should be a Weapon Focus (Swashbuckler) that gives you Rapier, Stiletto and Pistols...

Hopefully 16 new CNPC:s that are all well-integrated into the game, such as much as the base CNPC:s.

Unfortunately, non-Priests do not even choose a deity to venerate in particular (and indeed, this may often make the most sense, seeing as how people tend to venerate a pantheon rather than a single god, unless you are actually a priest). That said, in my head, my Deathlike Paladin will naturally venerate Rymrgand, for giving him the breath of life, but also revere Berath, Skaen, and Wael, in descending order of importance.

At some point, they have to, come hell or high water. There's a finite amount of resources available.

*Grateful That being said, while I share the overall sentiment, saying that there's no "big bugs" in the current BB is.. less than correct. There's currently a metric ton of bugs of varying severity, but even if we only count the "big" bugs, Dexterity currently works backwards (literally; instead of 3% faster, you become 3% slower) and Interrupt is completely broken (you can easily "stunlock" opponents with Interrupt). However, it's still a little over a month until the game ships, so if they can iron out most of the kinks and address some of the bigger issues (lopsided Attributes, etc) I have no doubt that PoE is going to become a game to play for years to come, especially if they externalize most of the assets, modders are going to have a field day.

The easiest solution would probably be to simply give her a couple of potions to sell.

Thank god for no species crossbreeding in PoE.

What works? Let me guess: switching weapons to get around reload speed? Or is it just powerful, not broken?

Dear god, the difference is enormous.

Just for reference, this was the Attribute Bonuses in v392: Attributes in v392: MGT: +3% Damage & Healing, +2 Fortitude. CON: +2% Endurance & Health, +2 Fortitude. DEX: +3% Action Spd, +2 Reflex. PER: +2 Accuracy, +5% Range, +2 Reflex. INT: +6% AoE, +2 Deflection, +2 Will. RES: +3% Concentration, +5% Duration, +2 Will. This had some clear issues, the foremost one being that Perception was incredibly valuable, due to the +2 Accuracy per point. Accuracy was, however, broken, due to the game's damage calculations at the time. This has since been fixed. These are the current v435 Attribute Bonuses: Attributes in v435: MGT: +3% Damage & Healing, +2 Fortitude. CON: +3% Endurance & Health, +2 Fortitude. DEX: +3% Action Spd, +2 Reflex. PER: +6 Interrupt, +1 Deflection, +2 Reflex. INT: +6% AoE, +5% Duration, +1 Will. RES: +6% Concentration, +1 Deflection, +2 Will. Interestingly, one developer (or was it QA?) said that this was the most balanced yet, even though Interrupt calculations are currently broken and Dexterity works in reverse, and it's got some big issues I'd like to raise (that has mostly been raised elsewhere, but I thought I'd make a single post to discuss it, even though I'm somewhat hampered due to the ongoing lack of an edit function, so if I end up double-posting like mad, bear with me). These are obviously arguably quite subjective, at least in part, the subject being me. C'est la vie. Resolve is greatly undervalued in comparison to most other attributes, this is particularly grating with the Paladin in mind, who you'd think would do well with Resolve, conceptually and roleplaying-wise. It is a clear "pump or dump"-stat, where the only ones that will have reason to pump it are those that are going for a tanking role and nothing else. Intellect is overvalued for casters. It has consolidated two primary modifiers for most caster builds, whether Wizard or Priest, which is AoE and Duration. Hilariously enough, Intellect is now also a prime attribute for the Barbarian, which is as conceptually unsound and roleplayingly odd as Paladins doing bad with Resolve. Accuracy was completely removed, even though the cause for doing so may not be relevant any longer. Likewise, the +Range modifier was removed; whilst only applicable to ranged combatants and therefore arguably presenting a overvaluing/undervaluing issue depending on build and class, isn't that an issue inherent to the attribute system, and indeed, largely the point of it? Intellect now only gives +1 Will, instead of 2; this was likely to prevent the overvaluing of Intellect after endowing it with the consolidation of caster modifiers, but honestly it does nothing to curtail it. This is likely the reason Fortitude, Reflex and Will modifiers are now also listed, as previously they were not, when they did not differ from eachother, it was +2 across the board (afaik). I'd like to suggest the following: Suggested Modifiers: MGT: +3% Damage & Healing, +3 Interrupt +2 Fortitude. CON: +3% Endurance & Health, +3% Concentration, +2 Fortitude. DEX: +3% Action Speed, +2 Deflection +2 Reflex. PER: +1 Accuracy, +3 Interrupt, +3% Range +2 Reflex. INT: +6% Duration, +2 Deflection, +2 Will. RES: +6% AoE, +6% Concentration, +2 Will. There would be a greater synergy between some of the Attributes, for focused builds, such as a interrupter (Interrupt) that hits hard (MGT) and precise (PER) with every blow, the intelligent (INT) and nimble (DEX) warrior playing on his defensive strengths (Deflection), or a focused (RES) and athletic (CON) man that pushes through no matter how hard he's hit (Concentration). Intellect would now be an option for the intelligent, defensive warrior. Intellect would no longer be the one-stop-shop for casters. Resolve reaffirms it's position as the Attribute that represents a character's power (or wish) to influence the world or not be influenced by it. Constitution is no longer largely meaningless, and slightly less of a dump stat. A small but significant boost, but mostly conceptually. Perception may appear overvalued again, but do note that the bonus to interrupt has been cut in half. It is slightly more valuable to ranged combatants than to melee combatants, which is entirely intended. I had more points, I swear, but I seem to be exhibiting a bit of an aneurysm at the moment, I would edit in more, but I can't, so just live with it. Anyway, those are my thoughts on how the Attributes should look and what modifiers they should have.

They did? [citation needed]

It's funny that Minor Threat is probably closer to what I'd like to see in all racials, and it's wildly overpowered compared to all other racials.

It's not a problem unique to the rogue, since anyone can put points into Stealth, but yes, the lack of individual stealth is a pretty huge issue. A developer said that it's an issue they really wanted to fix, but they had to prioritize bug-hunting and -fixing. Which isn't really an excuse, but at least an acceptable explanation. Party Stealth/Forced Combat Unstealthing is pretty horrific, and actually, when I think of it, it does actually affect rogues specifically, since they are the ones that lose out on their backstabbing application/tactical combat introduction. I'm not saying I entirely disagree, but by that logic, most classes should just be "fighting styles" and "anyone can learn how to x, y, z".

Que? Mage Armour is awesome.. until you get those nifty AC Bracers that make no sense in BG2. As for Arcane Veil, it more than doubles your Deflection. That's pretty big.

I'm completely with Stun, but I want to raise the point of Vhailor's Helmet, capable of casting Simulacrum, which is currently allowing my Assassin to clone himself, apply Improved Haste, Stealth, and pull off double-sextuple backstabs. That is all. Anyway, yeah, the CE/SE vendor(s) in BG2 were certainly not DLC. I hate them with the same vehemence I dislike all other in-game pre-order exclusivist fare, but they were in there from the beginning and easily unlocked, if memory serves.

Talk about a strawman if there ever was one.

Care to elaborate?

And that's exactly the same reason people hate "Combat Only" abilities. I realize you want to home in on your pet ability, but it's a problem for a lot of abilities, and what one specifically has a problem with the most varies depending on what you prefer to play and how. I hadn't even noticed this issue, and instead have a personal seething hatred for the "Combat Only" modals (auras, in particular) some would have the gall to call "buffs". It's a pretty wide issue, not just for you.

While I agree with you that Resolve should not be a dump stat for paladins, I believe many people are misinterpreting Josh's stated intentions with regards to the attribute system. IIRC, he never meant for all stats to be equally good for all classes—rather, he wanted to avoid a situation where a class built around certain attributes would result in a completely hopeless character. E.g. if you build a barbarian with high INT and low STR in any IE games, you'll soon find that you're screwed and your character ain't but a deadweight. If you do the same in PoE, your character will still be viable and able do something in and outside combat, albeit suboptimal versus other builds. (this is just an example; I know a barbarian with low MIG makes no sense in PoE too). Not saying that this is the best possible way to build an attribute system and/or everyone should be happy with the status quo and agree with Josh. It is perfectly fine to advocate that all stats should be equally viable for all classes. All I'm saying is that, to the best of my recollection, that was not Josh's goal when designing PoE's attribute system. Of course, you are entirely correct and I apologize if something lead you to misinterpret what I said. All attributes shouldn't be equally good for all classes, but the goal should be for all attrbutes to be somewhat equally viable in some capacity for each class, and it'd be nice if the attributes matched up somewhat with the overall class concepts. Right now, there is nothing suboptimal with a PoE Barbarian doing High-INT Low-MIG, though. Intelligence shouldn't be useless for Barbarians by any means, but it shouldn't be their primary stat for a min/max build, and ultimately, no stat should be a clear dump stat for any class (but might be for certain specialized builds or character concepts). The reason I raise specifically Intelligence for Barbarians as a pump stat and Resolve for Paladins as a dump stat is because those are the most glaring oddities that I've noticed so far. That poor boar. D:

VIP Companions?

I don't see it as a problem that you are at a slight disadvantage as you zig-zag or run around like crazy. Most people don't turn in a penny. Something that might be fun would be to actually tie it to the Athletics Skill. The higher Athletics, the lower this already extremely minute hiccup would be, and since it's unlikely that two persons would have the exact same Athletics (bar Adventurer's Hall clones with 0 or something) you'd avoid the army of clones visual. Really, in the IE games, you never really were at a disadvantage due to this really, really, really minor thing. It's hardly noticeable, yet the visual effect is invaluable.