Jojobobo

Cool, thank you. I'd be interested to hear how you get on with the other bosses too.

Clear Out, and the Lance Knockdown you're talking about. I guess Slicken is an easier way to produce Prone, but being able to do damage while you're at it is quite a benefit.

Nope, Clear Out was the other one I was thinking of - but I guess that's already AoE. Still, two Prone AoEs sound pretty cool.

The Sky and Bog Dragons are all corrode immune, so I'm not too sure Bittercut would be such a good choice, particularly with the sabre nerf also inbound.

Drawn in Spring is always going to be your best bet I think, the raw lash bypasses DR so as long as you can stay healthy enough you will eventually kill them. Plus, it's not too bad with Carnage as the entire group will get wounded too (and if you graze them, from what I've seen with Tidefall that just makes the DoT higher for a shorter duration). Lastly, it's very easy to get the accuracy sky high with the inherent dagger bonus, Flick of the Wrist and the appropriate Weapon Focus. If that doesn't float your boat, I would just go for a standard Stun on crit weapon (though the Alpine Dragon is stun immune, so something with Overbearing like We Toki would work better there). It's extremely easy to get insane accuracy against Beasts (Blackwarden's Breast and the resting bonuses - which are easy enough to get to the +20 level if you focus on survival - stack, possibly the Chanter bonus does too) so it should be easy enough to Stun/Prone lock them even with their meaty fortitude scores, which you can debuff in the standard Barbarian way with Threatening Presence (no dragon is immune to Sickened). Stun weapons are currently bugged on the on crit weapons in that the Stun effect always crits, but this is a planned fix for 3.04 and the Stun weapons only come later in the game so could get the character started now. With the on crit status weapons, it's better to test them beforehand to find out what combo of Dex and Int will allow you to chain the Stun on hit of the Stun effect. That way you know where to pitch your attributes for your given armour.

Sounds like another case where effects can be applied buggily in an AoE, but compared to say the Black Path this doesn't feel buggy - especially seeing as the prone effects are limited in scope to a couple of items (plus it's one of the things the devs have said their definitely not patching, so to me that sounds like an official endorsement to abuse with wild abandon ). I'd bet a Rogue with Acuan Giamas in the same situation would have had a field day with all their Strikes.

You should do a class build, solo-ing with a two weapon Rogue sounds like quite a feat given their extremely shoddy defences. I think by soloing such a boss without incredibly cheesy tactics (my Gunslinger build was worse, because I couldn't wait until later for the weapon) is certainly a legit build already - I'd be interested to hear about it.

I'd still think the hatchet is a better end game choice, as the fatigue accuracy debuff stacks with the Dazed or Frightened/Terrified accuracy debuffs you can create - the flail doesn't do this. The fatigue accuracy debuff is also on any kind of hit, so graze/hit/crit - which sets the benchmark bottom of the barrel for getting a proc. I would say that I'd consider it extremely late game due to the difficulty of the encounter, but there's a lot of weapons you can use on the way like Cladhaliath or the Vile Loner's Lance that benefit from WF Peasant. On the flip side, the whole graze to hit conversion as you point out means you get a nice number of hits for the effect to proc, and again as you say getting hits in general is a lot less hard than the on-crit status weapons. I'd probably steer away from full tankiness for such a build (because I would say it can be done better by other means) and make a two weapon DPS build with Guan's Share or Starcaller as you say - the (hopefully) constant Daze will make up a little for the lack of Deflection, or you could always aim for relatively good Deflection (calculating in the debuffs) for a two weapon MC, with a Barbarian's huge health I think this would be a good way to go. With Starcaller in particular, for those you don't crit and get the Stun proc on, you have a good chance of getting the Daze if you hit fast enough - so it would be an interesting pairing. Just my two cents, it's quite a departure from a tank I know

Is the -5 defence part still true? I know when I first pitched this idea, I was going off the wiki - which we all know is the ultimate source of all truthful and accurate information. However, after getting fatigue in the game, I notice that the -5 defence part is now missing. However however, that doesn't mean to say that the game still doesn't use an outdated form of fatigue for applying it to enemies on that weapon - so it might still also cause the defence debuff? It should be easy to spot when using any other weapon, as their Deflection should shift by +5. Also, was using Captain Vicollo's Anger the best weapon you found to be paired with Dragon's Maw? I know it's the one I originally suggested for the build, but at some stage you recommended Purgatory for the endurance drain - which I thought was pretty neat. I guess with the sabre change coming into effect in 3.04 maybe it's now not worth it, and the 5 deflection shift for the Barbarian coupled to the 10 accuracy debuff for himself and every else in the party (more with the fear effects) is pretty sweet - but I still didn't know if you'd come up with anything else in terms of outlandish weapons?

I have it pre-ordered, so I should be on there. I want to complete at least one more build before I start a new game however, after having a few on the back burner.

Boeroer showed me the light on 3 Res Barbarians a while ago, solo PotD currently I'm running (with resting bonuses, etc.): Might 24 Con 15 Dex 10 Per 17 Int 18 Res 3 I'm aiming for: MIG: 26 CON: 19 DEX: 10 PER: 15 INT: 22 RES: 5 (Sorry for the change in capitalisation, but I've already written up most of the class build and I'm far too lazy to make the change). I've just started Act III, I'm going to get Rymyrgand's Boon, Dungeon Delver and Song of the Heavens then probably do WM part I and II, the bounties then finish off the third act. There's really no problem with low Resolve on Barbarian, early game they will have a lot of trouble hitting Wichtes because of the interrupt, but other than that it's fine because if you get a hit or two in Carnage will do the work for you. I tested recently the maximum Res you'll need on a level 16 character to not get interrupted, and 13 is more or less the goal if you're really concerned about it. Upscaled PotD Ondrite Tidal Fists at the Abbey of the Fallen Moon (late game, and very tough) hit 34 interrupt on a crit, and 13 Res gives 84 concentration at level 16. This means only 50% on the time, on a crit, they will interrupt you - and even with lowish Deflection they're still not going to be critting you that often at level 16, so you're fine (or run the Lost Periapt of the Winding Path like I'm intending too - even though it's late game I'm still not really hurting from the low Res). Ultimately a spread like I've suggested works well, Dex isn't really so important if you take Frenzy, Bloodlust and Thirst - particularly when considering Two Handed (which I'm also currently using).

Save some War Paint and Potion of Merciless Gaze for when they show up? Tbh, the Hammers never showed up when I killed it solo, could be that I killed it too fast? Kana with some summons, so long as he's tanky enough, should do the trick. Keep one summon to the side, then when the first one dies send the other in. Rinse, and repeat - use a fast Chant if you need to.

This thread really has taken a turn.

Maybe mention it into the 3.04 wishlist thread too?

Fenwalkers are good for paralysis, as is the Orlan Bramble Ring. Blaidh Golan is best to reduce Stun duration and protect while stunned (particularly when you use a Preservation shield too as the effects stack). To actually ward against Stun in the first place the only thing you can use is Looped Rope (or play a Coastal Aumaua). Equipping these and buffing your physical attributes as high as possible (Lyrinia's Boon, +3 Might or Con resting bonus, Goldrot Chew and Pearlwood Chicken, any physical boosting items you can get your hands on like Bracers of All-Consuming Rage) as well as using Scrolls of Defence is the best way to try and ward against these effects.

From what I've seen the Tidefall Wounding does apply exactly as it should, you'll get one tic from the HoF main attack on target then additional tics per enemy surrounding you (from the Carnage from the main attacks on each of them). Having a closer look deaths by Wounding only trigger Blood Thirst very rarely, so what I mentioned was mostly correct (I think it'll often say it has triggered in the log, but when you go to hit an enemy you won't actually have zero recovery).

I'll have a look and see what I can see about the DoT tics, all I noticed was there was a lot of them - I wasn't really looking for specifics. I still haven't seen an enemy trigger my Blood Thirst by Wounding death, I'll have a look out for it but if it does happen it much be incredibly inconsistent.

Someone somewhere (MaxQuest or Kaylon I think, EDIT: found it here) mentioned that Dual Wielding actually provides two separate 0.5 duration recoveries instead of the standard 1.0. So with Durganized Sanguine Plate and weapons, Two Weapon Style and Frenzy you have (1.15*1.2*1.33) - 1 = 83.5% recovery reduction vs. 0.5 + 0.35 = 85% recovery, so very nearly zero recovery I think. What is worth mentioning is that Frenzy rarely activates twice with Sanguine Plate as I always find the second proc occurs when I'm already Frenzied (because of the Deflection debuff), so I think it's only dependable for achieving one additional Frenzy. In this way, Bloodlust is still likely worth it on a dual wielding character, Blood Thirst as you mentioned previously not so much because your recovery is already reasonably minimal. Yeah it's a bit of a bummer with Tidefall as you want Blood Thirst to be triggering as often as possible. Still, your largest damage is still from your attack so you usually do kill more enemies through attack damage and get Blood Thirst procs. I suppose it's a trade off between being able to easily take out enemies regardless of DR because of Wounding or just going for a different two hander where you always kill through attack damage like the Hours of St. Rumbalt.

I still can't believe there were people claiming this bug wasn't at all significant and that I should stop whining about it and be grateful. To put it in relatable terms: Taking the average damage in that range to be 21, then (36 / 21) = 1.71. Then (1.71 - 1.0) / 0.03 = 23.8, meaning that this bug is like having an extra 23 (almost 24) Might. Makes me glad myself and others was such a pain in the arse about it that they decided to put 3.04 into production (or that at least seemed to be the effect, given that they mentioned 3.03 was a final patch and then quickly reneged that statement). It also seems likes many, many more bugs have come out of the woodwork since 3.03 - which if that have had stopped then would have left the game pretty lacklustre to me. With 3.04 it looks like there shouldn't really be anything very bothersome left, so it's great the devs decided to press on and get these things ironed out just before Tyranny.

As far as I can tell using Tidefall, Wounding gets applied multiple times through HoF, causing huge DoT to anyone remaining alive. If someone managed to Helwax Mold Drawn in Spring and dual wield them, I'd say pretty much any group will die as the Wounding itself would rack up probably a coupled of hundred damage itself. I'd say this is worth it in some ways than just dealing everyone a bit more damage with the initial attack, however it's worth mentioning that DoT effects don't trigger Blood Thirst when they down an enemy.

I think Tidefall is one of the best weapons in the game, easily. In terms of two damage types on weapons, all one-handed swords are naff, but some war hammers are good - but none of them have anywhere near as good enchantments. Bittercut is great, but again the big nerf is coming, so it will be not near as good as it was before. Tidefall is (a) high damage to bust through DR, unlike dual wielding, (b) wounding so even if the dual wield isn't good enough, consistently damaging © drains and restores endurance, (d) has the two damage types to consistently deal damage and (e) is both legendary-izable and additional lash-able at the same time. In terms of what a weapon offers, it's perfect. The Hours of St. Rumbalt is also one of my favourite weapons in terms of design. I picked it up before Defiance Bay and yet it has accuracy equal to a Superb enchantment meaning more crits, and those crits deliver higher damage due to Annihilation and also make people Prone which is extremely easy to chain. I did better damage with St. Rumbalt than with Tidefall, but Tidefall still edges because of Wounding more than anything. I think people playing this game are way too much obsessed with DPS from playing the likes aRPGS such as the Diablo franchise to get the system is much more nuanced and weapons which can punch through DR are also worth consideration over high rates of attack. I also think the main trouble is very few two handers are worth it other than great swords, which I think is the main issue with two handers going into 3.04. To say, at least for great swords, two handers going into 3.04 aren't worthy I don't think is true. PS You can get Tidefall with Mechanics two. I got Gloves of Manipulation from Raedric's Hold day 4 from the lists (which I know some people have trouble replicating some of the time, but from my many playthroughs that got through Act I I don't), you get +2 from the Artificer's Hall, you get +1 from Gfeja's Boon and I think you can get a guaranteed scroll of +3 Mechanics from the Vailian Embassy (either that, or I'm very lucky). So long as you have 4 Lore for the scroll, getting it is extremely easy, with literally no optimisation. I know, I'm a filthy meta-gamer, but in any case you're welcome

Based on the J E Sawyer mod from New Vegas, I'd wager the difficultly that his canonical difficulty would be PotD. However, naturally, there won't ever be a "canonical difficulty" (as in, one actively espoused by the devs) for any game as it is too prohibitive in terms of developing a general audience. I like expert mode (which essentially hides helper functions) and PotD myself. I think expert mode encourages acting naturally without every bit of information being provided to you, but as AndreaColombo mentioned the vast majority of options can be toggled on and off in the core game anyway. Expert mode just catches them all, so it's helpful to people who may toggle between choices during the course of their game and then regret it and want to replay the character without the help. But it's really up to you, anything that can be done in PotD can technically be done in Expert PotD ToI as well.

No problem, I just thought the build should get some recognition I was thinking, do we need a catchall thread for untested builds (as in, builds that are completely planned out, but writer lacks the time to play) or should people just post these as class builds - mentioning the caveat that they're untested (and perhaps pointing to any anticipated tricky areas or styles of encounter for the build)? I have three builds entirely planned out now designed for solo, however the trouble is that play-testing all of those in a completionist way will probably take several months if not longer with my current schedule (the final year of my PhD). With party play it's much easier to test builds out, as then you can test up to six simultaneously if you want making it much more efficient. Besides, this would allow for someone else to actually test the build - at which point it could be updated. I guess I could just try them against specific bosses, but I'd rather just play them fully when I get the time (it takes a bit of the fun out of it to just warp straight to a boss and take them out, part of the enjoyment of the game is building up to those difficult moments). As I say, that will take a long time to get to that stage. Any thoughts? EDIT: Never mind, I'll be good and just release them fully tested. My hangover patience is not good.

I gave advice about a tanky Rogue in this post, all of which should work fine for PotD. I do have my own ideas for a solo Rogue that are quite unique and have worked through testing, but I want to keep them under wraps so I can do a class build. I'm currently trying to finish off a Barbarian build, so it'll probably be my next build after that.

As you say, it doesn't stack - it's the advantage of having at least two frenzies per encounter (though Sanguine Plate has two per encounter uses, I think the second normally procs while I'm already frenzied and so suppresses the first). As limaxophobiacq mentioned Bloodlust is probably better than Thirst if you're looking to have zero recovery, but Thirst is the bomb with a slow but damaging weapon (or if you want the heaviest armor, etc.).