Haplok

That's true. But autoattacks can still hurt.

Eh, it appears that for whatever reason, Strike the Bell only affects the primary target. So there goes my idea to aoe Daze enemies as a form of Defense. Well, eventually you get access to Mind Plague, but its late and I wonder about its usefullness on a Soulblade.

What is everybody's opinion, what is the better fit for a two-handed Soulblade Mindstalker, a Streetfighter or a Trickster? Or perhaps an Assassin?

Maybe both then? A Soulblade Transcendent. Although Duality doesn't stack with Smart AFAIR, so if a Mindstalker can get Acute from a friendly Priest, he wouldn't be too far off. And aoe Break the Bell Dazed effect could be a solid defense. Trickster or Streetfighter though? Trickster is kinda slow with two-handers. Going Streetfighter could solve this issue. But then so would a monk. Perhaps a Shadowdancer then? Eh. Edit: Well, apparently sneak attack bonus (and Streetfighter bonus) factor in SA calculations. So that would put the rogue (and particularly Streetfighter) ahead of the monk.

That would be them physical stats: Might, Dex and Con.

Well, so it seems similar with WotEP. SA damage decreases on each target hit. Usually with WotEP it's tricky to hit a large group. So I was seeing something like 100-80-50 (with 135 Focus). Is the total higher then a single attack? Perhaps. Is it better then dual-wielding speed? Don't think so. Ripostes are nice with Escape when surrounded though - run from a sticky situation and charge some Focus.

My understanding was that Soul Annihilation being applied in aoe was fixed? That only Spirit Lance does this now (possibly as a leftover bug)? Or am I mistaken? Patch notes for 1.1 say: "Soul Annihilation Focus -> Raw Damage ratio halved and Raw Damage only applies on first hit in an AOE."

Not as a Riposte tool, no. I did try it in melee on a Streetfighter.

Combusting Wounds is Fort save though, so it's only really great if you build (your party) around Fort lowering effects.

That still sounds like a bug.

Well, personally I'd not use the WotEP. I mean it's okay for a Trickster riposte build and that 360 deg. attack can be nice to fill Focus 1/encounter, but going for riposte is a rather slooow playstyle. And base damage of WotEP is awfully low for a two-hander. It was okay, nice even, when it used to strike the primary target twice. IMO now it's pretty meh outside of some niche applications like aoe DoT distribution (but ranged aoe weapons are still far superior for that IMO). Dual wield is probably still a superior option for a rogue. SA doesn't care, it's damage is flat. If you really want to go with a two-hander, I'd rather go with one which has some aoe capability WITHOUT sacrificing base damage. Eager Blade, Engoliero, the new Amra Axe.

Yeah, its not that melee can't build focus.. it just would require a big change of playstyle, commitment, probably build and frankly, be a lot less efficient.

For Storm, there is an easily available helm that lets you cast it once per rest.

I'm not sure you need two-weapon. Bows, x-bows, arquebuses, rods are all two-handed. Unless you like the flavour. And while Accurate empower seems reasonable (you do want that empowered Disintegrate/Death of 1000 cuts to land, Potent Empower seems like overkill for me and something that would only be slightly useful in major bossfights.

Thank you. Personally the highest I've played so far is level 15, so I tend to worry more about what I'm using getting there, rather then what I'll use at cap. But sure, playing an Ascendant, I'd have those 3 for fast fills.

I think that for a pure Ascendant other weapons like Red Hand might be superior. He can't launch full attacks with mortars and doesn't have any special afflction or DoT to apply with them and only has a modest damage boost from Whip (20%). If you decide to go with Red Hand, Maia's Garb would be a pretty goo choice of light armor, as it would make you reload quite a bit faster.

If you're decided on going ranged, you may as well dump Resolve. It's not like it's doing much for you on PotD. While 3 more points in Might would come in handy. Might and Power Level are like the only ways to increase spell damage... Empty Soul still missing btw.

Hellwax But Clear Out is a Primary Attack now, isn't it?

Might is fairly important for spell damage. It's not prioritized by many builds mainly when they have another way to increase their weapon damage. 20 Might is +30% damage, but say you're a Streetfighter and you've triggered class special Heating Up. Then you're dealing +80-160% sneak attack damage + up to 60% damage for weapon quality and maybe a few other smaller bonuses. Then this +30% from 20 Might doesn't sound that hot anymore and it might be better to strengthen your build in other areas. But what goes for weapon damage is not applicable to spell damage. Here mainly Might is important.. and Power Level. Many wizard builds focus on increasing spell Power Levels (which also affects damage, like 10% per PL, more for some special spells with multiple projectiles or target jumps). For example for fire spells with items it's possible to passively increase PL by +5, plus another +2/3 trough active effects, such as potions/items. Depending on what you aim for, an Assasin / Evoker could be fun. Dropping +25 Accuracy empowered fireballs from stealth (with +50% critical damage) and destroying whole enemy groups to vanish and strike again. Fighter / Wizard is a classic, durable combo. Above mentioned Lance would be fun to group knockdown enemies with Mule Kick or multi-hit and ragdoll them with Clear Out. Monk / Wizard is a bit more squishy, but he will make you faster AND with Duality of Mortal Presence will supercharge your Intelligence for huge aoe sizes and very long spell durations. Plus with the above mentioned lance, he can proc extra attacks on crits (and since you can hit several enemies at once, you have better chance per attack to land some crits). OR for a similar archetype you could go with a Cipher instead. Either a pure Ascendant or a multiclass, like Monk/Ascendant, Streetfighter/Ascendant or Ranger/Ascendant. If you want melee, then a Paladin/Ascendant would also work. Ciphers are fun, they are not limited by spell slots.

I think it's Fort save though, isnt it? I usually prefer the Cipher's ray, Ectopsychic Echo, which has a Reflex save. Of course raw damage is better against heavy armor.

Here we go again... Well, j/k, fascinating that you seem to be interested in similar builds as me. I do think that a pure Ascendant might be one of the most FUN builds to play. Empty Soul seems to be missing on your ability list. +10 accuracy against Will? That's like obligatory. I see you did not pick Ectopsychic Echo. If you're gonna play in a party, you should, IMO. It's really pretty good. Even better if you have some chanter or someone who can summon some mobs behind enemy lines. Like you wrote, Eyestrike would sometimes be useful as well. Abilities I'd NOT take on an Ascendant: Great Soul (MORE Empower? Why You can only use 1/encounter anyway), Keen Mind (10 Focus when you already have 200+? meh... you mostly cast when Ascended and then Focus is unlimited anyway). Kinda meh: Combat Focus (Echoing Shield seems to be a far superior pick, that'd also help the whole party; you may also have a fighter with Unbending Shield), Farcasting, Tough, Defensive Mindweb (sad, but...). Also Haunting Chains is kinda underwhelming for it's level&cost (single target). I'd probably pick Protective Soul or Prestige instead. Pain Block is very party-friendly. Another pick that may be better then people give it credit is Mind Plague (Dazed is -4 Pen, usually means medium armor like DoC protects very well) Also on weapon choice: Personally I definitely prefer firearms over bows. When Ascension goes on line, I want to start casting immediately, not wait for recovery. I really like Red Hand.

With your weapon setup, you don't exploit the damage potential of the Flames of Devotion full attack sequence. If you were using dual melee weapons and/or dual pistols/blunderbusses, you'd do A LOT more damage with FoD (which strikes with both weapons, but only triggers recovery for offhand). You'd also generate a lot more Focus this way.

Thank you for checking, Boeroer! So it's the same as Chain Shot from Fire in the Hole. Probably the second bounce then goes at 85%x50%x50% -> 21% of original damage (though not quite, that's increased by weapon quality, might, sneak, etc.). Fire in the Hole Chain shot doesn't seem to be worth it for Scouts at least. Unless you mostly care about proccing Combusting Wounds and Avenging Storm.

Well, I don't play a wizard, but I would not say it's so bad. At level 15 I'm still getting solid challenges. Of course I've rushed to end-game content to get a certain artifact early, so maybe now most of the side-content will be easy. But... I'd not say its all piss easy.

Hm, maybe I'm mistaken, sorry. I thought I've seen some info about it being nerfed, but seems I was mistaken. When I've had Eder use it, I usually just saw 5% more damage, but it might be due to only 33% affliction chance. And few enemies live very long.