limaxophobiacq

This makes me wonder if Deep Faith is worth taking, compared to other talents one might take instead. +2 DEFL and +3 other saves doesn't seem like such a huge benefit in the long run. You can look at it this way; its 30% of the strength of each of the three fort/ref/will talents plus 40% of the strength of Superior Deflection, essentially making it 130% of the strength of any of those talents, assuming those talents are balanced with eachother. OTOH the fort/ref/will talents are kind of weak so being good in comparison to them doesn't really say that much. I still take it plus Superior Deflection though, I don't put much resolve on my paladins so I need all the deflection I can get.

Dominion of the Sleepers can be activated out of combat, so it's certainly pretty good for tough fights and for passing attribute checks in conversation. Steps to the Wheel is actually pretty powerfull. Fast AoE paralyze with +10 accuracy, what's not to like? Crucible of the Soul and Speaker to the Restless OTOH I don't see much use for.

Are you sure? When I did a little bit of testing (though not with Sickened) it was the defense debuffs (in that case from Shining Beacon and Weakened) that stacked while the attribute (which is what I assume you mean by "stat") debuff didn't stack.

Oh, a note on Painful Interdiction for anyone who wants to use this build: it's currently bugged and has been since 3.0 beta, as are all spells with two different saves like this (though not spells with one save and then another if you fail the first, like Relentless Storm). The second save doesn't get the level bonus so at level 16, the accuracy for the Weakened effect will be 16 points lower than it should be.

Previously reported here. Still not getting the level bonus on the secondary save in 3.02, which means all abilities and spells that work like this are much weaker than they should be. Was said it would be fixed in the next beta patch which would have been 3.01 beta I guess but it's still bugged at least for me.

Durgan re-inforced Angios Gambeson is amazing on a priest to cast more buffs faster in hard fights (without having to spend time drinking a potion) while also giving better DR than robes. With durgan enhanced Unforgiven the Alacrity would also get you 0 recovery melee attacks (would need to durgan the shield as well to get 0 recovery attacks with Vulnerable Attack, maybe not worth it) so your priest would be pretty fearsome.

Adra Dragon for sure for me. At the very least Adra Dragon at level 12 in original game was much harder than any of the others at level 13+. Have never fought Adra Dragon at level 16 so its possible its quite easy if you do. Beat all the WM bosses (Llengrath, Alpine, Concelhaut, Radiant Spore, and Kraken) on the first try on PotD, while Adra Dragon killed me 2-3 times on hard first time I played the game. I think the Adra Dragon to me was more difficult because its alpha strike (the breath it opens combat with) is so strong, so unless you send in a lone tank to eat it you're just rolling the dice and hoping your whole party doesn't get screwed. The others give you time to act letting you cast buffs and CC/debuffs. Llengrath especially would probably be really hard if it wasn't for the fact that her gang starts all the way over there, so when they actually come you're already Alacritied, Crowned for the Faithful, and standing in a Moonwell.

This is a pretty basic off-tankish paladin that deals a lot of fire damage and also pretends to be a fighter with some gear found in WM 1-2. This assumes a recruited merc and not a main character (Faith and Conviction for main characters is bugged right now anyway). Race: Wood Elf, to better shoot people with Arquebuses using Flames of Devotion which is the main offence early game (an Aumaua or Dwarf would be stronger late game, but elves look better in the gear the build uses so it's what I'd go with) Background: Old Vailia Attributes: (When I played it I admittedly didn't min-max attributes quite this hard, but this would be more optimal) MIG: 18 (22 with equipment) CON: 10 DEX: 4 PER: 19 (22 with equipment) INT: 19 (22 with equipment) RES: 8 (13 with equipment) Stats are optimised for maximum Immolation AoE/duration, damage, and accuracy. Abilities: Flames of Devotion Zealous Focus Sacred Immolation Inspiring Triumph Lay on Hands (too good with max int and might to not take) Liberating Exhortation 2xWhatever Talents: Weapon Focus: Soldier Critical Focus Deep Faith Weapon and Shield Style Intense Flames Superior Deflection Veteran's Recovery (negates health loss from Immolation, could be replaced if you felt you didn't need it) Scion of Flame Equipment: Weapons Set 1: Steadfast (Superb) + Outworn Buckler (Legendary) Weapon Set 2: Pliambo per Casitàs Head: Maegfolc Skull (we want the Might and Unbending is nice for tanking) Neck: Liliths Shawl (unless mantle of the excavator isn't going on a wizard) Torso: Ryonas Breastplate (for Int and fighter defensive abilities) Hands: Siegebreaker Gauntlets Ring 2: Deflection Ring 2: Protection Boots: Boots of speed (I like them on a tankish character so you can get the best possitioning, Shod-in-Faith is better on someone who doesn't have defenses this high) Belt: Blunting Belt Weapon Accuracy (superb): 100 Immolation Accuracy: 104 (it says 88, not including the level bonus when you check it out of combat, but in the combat log it's 104) Deflection: 125 Fortitude: 120 Reflex: 137 Will: 131 DR: 14 (Slashing 19, Piercing 23, Fire 17, Cold 12) Not very good DR but defenses + fighter abilities from gear make up for it. Not very complicated. At the start of combat pick of a weak enemy with a Flames of Devotion arquebus shot to trigger Inspiring Triumph, switch to one handed + shield and activate Sacred Immolation. Watch bad guys die and your buddies get healed, use Lay on Hands + Liberating Exhortation as needed to keep yourself and buddies in the fight. Pretty low maintenance. Also gives everyone around her +6 accuracy and +5 to all defenses just for being there. <pic removed>

If you just wanted to get the most out of the Abydons Hammer I'd go for fighter with maxed Int (though that is the very opposite of Minsc). The stun AoE and duration you can get on the Ring of the Ancient Forge (which is probably the best thing about the hammer) is great and your accuracy with Disciplined Barrage (which itself benefits from high Int) is incredible. I don't really think the hammer is all that good for a barb, barbarian class abilities do nothing for Ring of the Ancient Forge. the on-hit effect only works vs. vessels, and for pure damage a barbarian would be better of dual-wielding the soulbound dagger + a speed durgan weapon. The biggest benefit a paladin gets from the hammer is +4 might, which would make Immolation do a bit more damage, but building for Immolation would again require maxed Int (not very Minsc-like) and is probably still not worth sacrificing Outworn Buckler and shield deflection.

I don't really have anything to add beyond my initial post unless I'm going to write up how I think you should build a paladin, and you could find something like that on the char-build board, but seriously.......... What's with all the dots..............?

Why no Inspiring Radiance? Seems odd to forgo for a Support/Buff build especially now that it's been buffed to +10 accuracy. IMO durgan-reinforced Angios Gambeson is unmatched for a buffing priest, the instant-activation compared to spending time drinking a potion lets you go straight to buffing and the DR is so much better than clothing.

Sorry but this still just adds to the confusion. How Faith and Conviction used to work before it was bugged was that it gave you +1 deflection and +2 to other defenses for every point of disposition in your 2 favored dispositions up to the point you had 3 levels of disposition in both of them. Starting at +5/+10 this ended you at +11/+22, and then if you took Deep Faith it would increase by +2/+5 (now nerfed to +2/+3) on top of that for a total of +13/+27 with maxed Faith and Conviction + Deep Faith. With Faith and Conviction now reduced to a base of +4/+8, and no other intended change (for main characters) having ever been mentioned, one would expect to still get +1/+2 for every point of disposition, up to level 3 in both dispositions, for a total of +10 deflection and +20 to other defenses, on top of which Deep Faith would ad another +2/+3 for a total max possible bonus for maxed Faith and Conviction + Deep Faith of +12/+23. 4th disposition point has never done anything as far as I know so wouldn't think it's a bug. Ending up with +8/+17 should simply not be possible, since +4|+8 +1*n|+2*n could never possibly result in +8/+17.

At most Paladins are maybe slightly weak mid-levels, like 7-12 or so. Early game Flames of Devotion + Arquebus is amazing as is their aura, and level 13+ Sacred Immolation is incredible and lets paladins tank, heal, buff, and kill everything all at once with one click of a button.

If you are not going for Dragon chanter, you are kind of lacking in AoE DPS so I'd say a Paladin with max Int and Might for Immolation plus a tanky Druid. In addition to damage that'll also give you lots of heals and two sources or resurrect between the paladin and the priest if one of them goes down.

Are there patch notes for beta patches? Edit: Nevermind, actually read the first post.

Does durance get Prayer against Fear + Devotions for the Faithful down? That should get your accuracy up so you get through the dragons defenses. Crowns for the Faithful early on if you can would also help, as would Shining Beacon on the dragon later on for -10 defenses. Also see this thread: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/84413-alpine-dragon/

Past level 13 and Immolation paladins with high might and intellect are so good at damage dealing, support, and tanking, basícally capable of doing everything but CC with quite low maintenance, that I'd say something like 2 paladins, 2 wizards, and 2 priests. Between the auras and the priests everyone will be buffed through the roof in any big fight, any negative afflictions can be prevented or dispelled easily, and even if someone somehow goes down four out of six characters can revive.

I'm only getting weapon focus bonus on Steadfast with Weapon Focus: Knight and only for Unlabored Blade with Weapon Focus: Noble. Screenshot of weapon focus not applying with Steadfast:

Wouldn't that still just be attacks/spells that normally target deflection though?

It's good early game when you are trading 8 deflection for 12 accuracy and you are lacking sources accuracy in general. After level 4 though I wouldn't use it. Even if one handed style was good and didn't work with a shield it would still have the problem vs. weapon and shield that its always a flat +12, while shields get better and better as the game goes on.

Depends on who wears it and what you wear it with:

I think all gauntlets of swift action are random drops though, so you wont necessarily have any to duplicate, and if you are looking up the loot tables to get them you could just do that twice.

I used it on durgan-reinforced Angio's Gambeson. Instant use Alacrity is just crazy good on any caster. Just checked and it turns out if you have 2 little saviours the effects stack, so if you also have a paladin you could duplicate little saviour and have the paladin wear outworn buckler and give everyone +15 to all defenses.

I don't feel there's even a problem, and don't want them messing with it for PoE2 and breaking things trying to fix something that isn't broken. The current mechanic gives a bit of incentive to conserve resources since going back to town to get supplies takes time, but doesn't actually ever stop you from resting which I think is fine, an actual hard limit on resting could only result in frustration and possibly having to go back and reload hours old saves to redo areas with less resting.

She got +2 resolve for me today, after convincing her not to forget.