limaxophobiacq

This isn't new to the beta patch, but I have long had problems with Carnage not always triggering when I kill weak enemies and I'm now fairly sure its gib kills that are making it happen.

Party idea to make use of this: Santa Claus bearded dwarf priest plus five hearth orlan ranger companions with stags named after santas reindeer.

I havent seen another thread on this but it's incredible now. Per encounter 40 second duration and instant activation means it might as well be constant. Best part is, the only reason it's got a small area is because stag has 5 int, base area seems to actually be the same as for a barbarian, here's a picture of what happens if you cast Crowns for the Faithful with the stag in the radius (Stag also looks pretty sweet with the crown-halo):

I don't really see how -10 non stacking would punish fast hitting builds; they would get the same defense reduction as slow-hitting ones. Rather the current way it works over-rewards stacking attack speed (which is already very strong even without disorienting). Lowering the duration would punish slow-hitting builds even more.

Noice. So you could do this with any character in Sanguine Plate as long as you can manage to get critted even though you are using a shield.

So Barbarian with a Speed weapon (+20%), Durgan Refined (+15%), Gauntlets (+15%) and Frenzy (+33%) wearing a Breastplate (-40%) that is Durgan Refined (+15%) using a Durgan Refined Shield (+15%) would get: 1.2*1.15*1.15*1.33 - (0.4 - 0.15 - 0.15) = 2.01 = no recovery? Cutting it as close as possible.

For combining fighting and magic, the options are generally Cipher, Chanter, and Paladin. Of those three, Cipher is more offensive and fragile while Chanter and Paladin are more tanky. Ciphers also require more micromanagement than the other two while Chanters require the least. Chanters are the most bard-like but the stats and equipment they want is very different than Baldurs Gate bards, they are best with high intelligence, might, and constitution, low dexterity (they gain very little from it), heavy armor and shields.

Main, otherwise I wouldnt think disposition would matter.

If they nerf it to not stack it should at least be increased to -10 (it was originally supposed to be -20 non-stacking after all). Given that another weapon property gives other people +10 accuracy to target the same enemy as you and doesnt require you to hit them leaving it at just -5 seems pretty weak in comparison.

Actually this seems to be a problem with many (all?) abilities that have a two seperate saves, only the first seems to get the level bonus. These are cipher powers, the second difficulty should be 5 points lower but they're actually 19 points lower at level 14.

I can't get faith and conviction over 8 (or 8.8 but it rounds down) deflection even with DispositionAddPoints to get 4/4 in my favored disposition, and I had to level up after raising them to get that to work. Is this a bug or a nerf? 8.8 seems a weird number to cap at so it feels like a bug. It used to cap at +11 deflection +22 fort/ref/will.

The two of them have probably the worst attributes of all companions save the Devil of Caroc. Palleginas attributes are a bit less bad but she's stuck with Flames of Devotion which isn't good at all for her. You could probably use a real tank though if you are going to have Edér go two-handed.

So to be clear, that (still in 3.0 beta) the -5 to defenses from Disorienting stacks with itself if multiple durations overlap is intended? It was just the original description text that was wrong?

Barbs dont need to be berserkers though, Frenzy is optional.

One part (the regular Daze from Interdiction) seems to get the level bonus to accuracy (+14 for level 14) while the other does not. Don't know if this is new for 3.0 or if it was always like this.

Many classes can heal (though priests are still probably the best at it) but for buffing defences you definately want a priest, the 'Prayer against' spells are lifesavers and with 3.0/white march will give you immunity to hostile effects.

Int isn''t really more crucial for barbarians than it is for Priests or Wizards though. I'd say actually a bit less than it is for Priests. As a priest most the things you do are area & duration based, while barbarian abilities are area (x)or duration based. I don't feel it's fair to say there aren't different ways to build barbarians. Going for on-hit effects or interrupts (high Dex and Perception) or damage (Might) certainly affects how you choose your attributes.

I find it a rather charming quirk of the system. I wouldn't want carnage or frenzy changed to not depend on Intelligence. I like for bonuses/penalties from attributes to consistent, if Int says it increases durations and AoEs then it should affect all durations and AoEs.

For priest I'd go: 1. Halt (I feel this doesn't get enouch love, in many fights it lets you just ignore the thoughest enemy while cleaning up the trash and it's Fast. Would be withdraw if it actually did what it says it does.) 2. Consecrated Ground (Doesn't feel wrong to just use this at the start of every fight.) 3. Dire Blessing (It's always usefull and it's Fast.) 4. Devotions for the Faithful or Shining Beacon (Depends on how many weapon-users, including weapon-summoning wizards, you have.

I'd have infinitely prefered they just make every ability and spell in the game per-encounter instead. This just means you can't go through as many trash mobs as you used to before you have to rest.

Note on Interrupting Blows if you dont have 15+ perception: You are better of buying down Might 5 points and Perception up 5 points and taking savage attack rather than taking Interrupting Blows, both give same accuracy and interrupt but savage attack gives +20% damage vs +15% for 5 might.

Deprive the Unworthy is pretty buggy, it also has no save and just 'affects' anyone you use it on like if it was a friendly effect rather than getting a hit/crit/graze/miss (http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/79617-deprive-the-unworthy-autohit/). Makes the Thaos fight kind of a joke and enemy paladins way more dangerous than they should be. This should probly be Technical support as another bug.

I haven't actually used a chanter since 1.06, when was Dragon Slashed damage (and chants in general) changed to account for Might? It always used to list modified damage when you took it on level-up but just apply the base damage if you looked at the combat log. Attributes not meaningfully affecting chants was a big part of why i completely stopped using them.

In addition to being item dependant, barbs also strongly benefit from buffs if you want them to really shine. F.ex. if you're running them with a small shield as an interrupting off-tank, Crowns for the Faithful not only gives them a defensive bonus like it does for all tanks and off-tanks, but also gives them a big bonus to their offence by increasing carnage AoE and their interrupts. Barbarian with a priest and barbarian without a priest are quite far appart in effectiveness. As a class, barbarians have pretty bad innate stats, and beyond their starting ability and savage defiance their abilities aren't all that great (compared to what say a rogue gets), but their starting ability is great and has huge synergy with items and buffs. The class is really all about carnage and finding something it synergizes well with.

Funny, on forums I'm usually on you'd have been banned for a month, others would have been warned, and the thread closed. Personally I find moderation here to be a bit to relaxed.