Haplok

I think in 1.1... or was it 1.2?

If you like estocs, Eager Blade is really good also and available immediately in a shop.

Sadly Shattered Vengeance curse has been nerfed and does not stack, it's always just a meager 5%.

Yeah that... and effects do expire, particularly in longer PotD fights. Which is annoying. The damage per hit is also nothing to write home about... and crits to trigger attack cascades aren't a given in such a build, particularly vs tougher foes. Maybe I'll try to finish my current playtrough first. The Spirit Lance does look damn sexy though. But yeah, in case I do something like that, I'd tune my party to lower enemy Fort, like you recommend.

Yes, but I think being Threatened is enough to become Flanked?

Damn, you're tempting me to play a Sage, Boeroer. Combusting wounds (if I can land it, usually cannot on something worth bothering) + Lance multihit would be pretty sexy also. Finally made it to level 15 and I must... resist... urge... to restart... again.

Sorry if I sounded offensive. I didn't address my message at you specifically, I guess I was just getting frustrated at 4 different posters commenting about low base damage (where 8-10 was far from the truth) and low damage. While in fact I think the damage is pretty good when you consider the aoe capability and lots of crits vs enemies with low Reflex. Further, if you compare it with the like of WotEP, which has the same base damage - but with a full attack you attack twice with the mortars for each swing of the WotEP, plus you trigger Driving Flight and Powder Burns. Do you know what is the damage reduction on Driving Flight, btw? I remember being rather dissapointed with Chain Shot Fire in the Hole upgrade, which lowers weapon damage by 15% and then the bounce is at another -50%. Of course more shots are still good to proc some effects, like aoe procs of Combusting Wounds (with 7 procs per near target in aoe per salvo - 2x Powder Burns, 2x attacks, 3x bounce).

I don't know why you insist on base damage. It's not like they trigger Carnage or something. If we ignore Superb quality, we are still left with 11-15, same as warhammers, which seem to be pretty popular among some. If used on a Streetfighter with modal, they guaranteed always get additional +80-160% sneak attack damage plus Powder Burns, which can add up to another 100 damage per hand (distributed between the enemies). Plus when used against low Reflex enemies, they Crit all the time. Not to mention DoT distribution.

Perhaps better. But mortars are accessible much earlier, don't need prep/cast time and are much safer (prior to level 19). Also there's 2 of them. Oh and they have crazy synergy with a Streetfighter. Also they target Reflex rather then Deflection - which isn't always an advantage, but is fairly unique and sometimes it is pretty great.

Replace Devoted with a rogue and you'll have a much stronger striker. Leave ranger though. The accuracy is good and so is driving flight.

... or you can use dual mortars and achieve the same from level ~7. Without time needed to summon a weapon, without time limits. It even works with a monk's Stunnig Blows. Although it won't proc Swift Strikes/Heartbeat. But if you have a Ranger, it will proc Driving Flight - and not at random.

If you with Estocs, Eager Blade is better for group combat then BotEP IMO. BotEP may win in duels (although maybe not, Eager Blade has 10% chance to trigger extra attack with no Recovery and when attacking Near Death enemies does extra aoe attacks - which also hit the primary target).

Yeah, a Soulblade Trickster is pretty cool and decently tanky to be at the frontlines. Have a nice loop with Rogue full attacks providing Focus to burn on Soul Annihilation. Where Focus is an unlimited resource. That said, the nerf to dual-wielding damage will hurt their Focus generation. But in general I think Ascendants (pure or multi) are more varied and fun to play.

The temptation of using dual hand-mortars for a rogue/ monk is to strong. Highly unlikely he will stick to single target dps when he discovers these weapons and what you can do with them. Hand Mortars... they're good for AOE abilities, but that's it. They have like 8-10 base damage and they require substantial INT investment Guess again. At Superb it's twice that, 16-22 (x4 when dualled with Driving Flight). Not counting Powder Burns. Plus they crit all the time vs enemies with low Reflex (goes well with Streetfighter's +100% crit damage when Flanked and Blooded).

Well, at level 19 if multiclassed.

I guess solo might. I also sometimes rush between the enemies... but perhaps in a party they can't decide... switch targets they threat... and you loose Flanked.

You can leave the pet behind and he'll survive. I'd put it differently. If you like to lazily auto-attack and often rely on others for afflictions and DoTs, then a bow is your choice. If you prefer yo actively use rogue abilities, duals are much better.

With pistols that's 15 PEN (+abilities). You can also use Eccea's Blaster for raw damage. And with dual mortar aoe fire + Driving Flight you might not impress the dragon, but you can do short work of adds, like the magma oozes, at the same time DoT-ing the boss. I haven't really experienced trouble keeping a Scout alive, barring the first few boarding fights and concentrated firepower. He has excellent mobility. And a Streetfighter kinda likes to be blooded. Yeah, against a boss doing point blank aoe, like the Magma Dragon, the companion might have trouble staying in melee. In most regular combats that's not an issue if you're reasonably careful and don't try to use him as a tank.

Yes, though the damage seems to scale. PEN too probably, but the base is low. Anyway, sometimes I see extra 25 Fire damage on an enemy. Might not be much, but apply this several times per a full attack in an aoe and it adds up. Plus would make combusting wounds even more broken (too bad you can rarely land it on stuff actually worth landing it).

So when you face a high reflex enemy, you simply use Xefa's + Kitchen Stove or Thundercrack + Scordeo's. The build is also proficient (and deadly) with those weapons. And funny to hear about trouble with Penetration from someone who just recommended a Hunting Bow Devoted. Hunting Bows only get to 10 Penetration, same as blunderbuss (and less then pistols). Devoted gets +2, but a Sharpshooter also gets +1 vs near targets. Marksman Ring +1 Pen. Can eat the same foods for +2. Can have the Priest cast Champion's Boon for another +2. Plus Crippling strike +2 PEN and Strike the Bell +5 PEN. Of course ability spam is difficult to sustain in a boss fight, like Magma Dragon.

Interesting. In case of Wizard, I've found the prebuff annoying. For me this would also be the case here I guess. Plus once you're done, you attack fast & furious... but can die in a split second I guess (particularly with a Helwalker).

They do. Mainly the tank, if you have one. But it became progressively a smaller problem as I played the game. Probably due to the tank's defenses.

Fur rogue utility IMO dual weapons are hard to beat. Dual pistols or blunderbuss Full Attack: Apply affliction with first shot, profit from it on second (and third and fourth with Driving Flight) to get: up to +60% Sneak, +50% Streetfighter bonus, eventually +50% Deathblows. Also if you fail to apply it on the first bullet, perhaps the second will do the trick. Apply affliction/DoT to all enemies in sight in a single shot / ability use (+profit) vs waste rogue resources to have 1 chance to apply it to a single enemy.

So how does this work? Do you repeatedly apply Mortification of the Soul till you loose half health? It has 3 sec Recovery, right?

I'd not say awful. Higher then WotEP for example - while one-handed, so full attacks are x2. Plus with Driving Flight that's 4 attacks for the price of 1. Each of those attacks also causes Powder Burns, which has poor penetration, but adds up to a reasonable amount of damage at higher PL. With Powder Burns a Streetfighter is always getting +50% sneak damage and rapidly fires attacks (gear for guns makes it even better). And mortars target Reflex instead of Deflection, so suck against nimble guys (who incidentally usually aren't HP sponges), but crit all the time vs slower targets (also helping with Penetration against them).