Jojobobo

As it's not really worth a thread, I thought I'd post this here. Thinking about Barbarians, it seems like Accurate Carnage is a little redundant now when you can just take Gallant's Focus. Gallant's Focus misses on one additional point of accuracy for Carnage, which is next to nothing, but has the added bonus of hitting your many target more accurately. What's more, as soon as you get HoF, all those full attacks will benefit from Gallant's Focus whereas they don't from Accurate Carnage (though obviously the resulting Carnage coming off those attacks does). Obviously, if you have room for an both Accurate Carnage and Gallant's Focus then great (or if you're running a Zealous Focus Paladin), however Barbarians have a lot of stiff competition for their talent slots (Vulnerable Attack if you want to up bypass more DR of your Carnage targets, Barbaric Blow, Sneak Attack if using an on crit status weapon, Two Weapon Style/Two Handed Style/One Handed Style, a Weapon Focus, Interrupting Blows, etc.). In some ways I think Gallant's Focus is a much nicer option than a Weapon Focus on a Barbarian too at least for a status abuser, because the on crit one-handers are all divided up between different Weapon Focuses - and obviously depending on enemy DR you may need to change to slash (Wē Toki), pierce (Cladhalíath) or crush (Godansthunyr - it also deals pierce but loses out as a pierce option due to the accuracy bonus of spears). Gallant's Focus reinforces flexibility in your approach.

So I was testing out Godansthunyr, and I noticed that for whatever reason it's stun duration is entirely unaffected by graze/hit/crit on the stratus roll (as in, it's always 3 sec x Int modifier). I didn't test other weapons with these on crit effects, but I presume they're all the same as it seems unlikely they would be coded any differently. I thought this seemed a little odd, as I know from testing Silver Flash its blind durations on hit/crit are affected by graze/hit/crit on the status roll. Is this intentional or not? Seems to make being a Barbarian a little easier, as with Int 20 and Dex 10 with full plate and two weapon fighting, you're able to hit again with the on crit effect weapon within that 4.5 second window (no other speed boosters necessary). A minimum Int 20 Dex 10 spread is fairly low benchmark for such a strong effect - though granted you won't get such weapons until Act 3.

I'm at level 11 solo PotD Paladin (more or less just like you) and I'm looking to get as deep as possible before WM and Act 3. I'll shortly finish level 8 (it's easy with the staircase there to rest before every encounter and then slam each encounter with all the figurines you have - I'd do this on every floor that you can). I would also strongly recommend high speed and Munarca Arret for trickier encounters like Adragans, they're fairly weedy when all their buddies are beating the life out of them - and you can target them with Sworn Enemy to facilitate Whisper of Treason crits. For Vithracks, some sort of Retaliation item normally does the job pretty well - they don't have massive endurance so while you're paralysed, so long as you can keep hitting them, you should be alright. The rather weird thing is the floors vary quite dramatically in difficulty, and so as long as you have some sort of Adragan/Vithrak strategy you shouldn't find things too problematic. In general, there's no real guide for this stuff as it's largely dependent on the class - when I was a solo tanky Rogue on PotD before I got down to level 13 before doing Cliaban Rilag or WM part I (Cliaban Rilag was a walk in the park with Drawn in Spring). As others have said, if you find it too time consuming grinding down the levels currently, then wait until Sacred Immolation lands. I think the really crappy thing about Paladins going solo is that they're really strong until about level 10, but then their lack of CC really starts to hurt you when it comes to mobs and you need to throw a lot into trash mob fights so you don't get overwhelmed - I found level 4 of the Paths particularly annoying for this reason as the groups of slimes, trolls and beetles are pretty damn large. It's ironic, because in the original Paladin description it implies the opposite is true ("When isolated, they can be vulnerable, especially against singular powerful foes") - singular powerful foes are more or less no problem with Sworn Enemy but 20+ strong mobs are a massive issue.

As an update, it's definitely something to do with getting additional move speed by survival. I triggered it again by resting with a survival +2 item to get movement speed II, then changing to Angio's Gambeson. EDIT: It's fixed by any sort of resting, followed by reloading.

I think it depends, I got bored and tried ranged options while I'm working on my "unique" paladin option. While no quick switch/coil of resourcefulness is fine adn workable (likely on a Cipher it's not so much of a problem in party play so long as you're far from the front line), with one of those options you have rapid fire alpha strikes which can certainly be more benefit to a party. It really depends on what you need, but I think Island Aumaua with an extra weapon slot would always be the way to go.

Well it happens on maps where it hasn't been summoned, unlike any other figurine, so I would wager to say the figurine itself it somewhat responsible.

I've noticed several weird features with the Delemgan, for one when it dies it doesn't disappear like other figurines do - lying there as a corpse. For two, semi regularly when it's kill it will reappear on maps - often flickering between a lying and an upright state with no animation in between, unlike killed paralysed figurine creatures however it does appear to go away with time. I thought I'd mention it as something isn't right there compared to the other figurines.

So apart from stealth and combat, my character walks everywhere. I know some people have been clamouring for a run/walk toggle - I'm certainly not one of them I'd rather they ran. No IE mod where I understand this toggle exists, and no idea what prompted it. I think I have one save from a while ago where they were running, but seeing as I've done a lot since then (soloing the Dweller bounty for one) I'm really not in a mind to reload. Is there any fix, or should I just live with it? EDIT: Problem appears to be identical to this. I was using Deleterious Alacrity of Motion from Angio's Gambeson, a speed enchanted weapon at times and I had +2 movement speed from my Survival bonus (I equipped Jack of Wide Waters to get it to this level before resting, and unequiped). Can provide saves if necessary, and yes the version is definitely 3.03. If the problem is purely cosmetic I don't mind so much, but I don't want it producing other issues. EDIT 2: So the problem just solved itself, not on reload though nor on reapplying these abilities (I tried all sorts of combos of DAoM, survival speed bonuses and my speed weapon against the solitary lion at Woodend Plains - but none of it worked). However fighting Gramrfel, again making use of these abilities, did somehow work. I've kept the before/after/during saves if a dev is interested.

That's fine, I just thought I'd make mention of it. It's easy enough to avoid if you know what you're looking for.

Yeah it sounds like more or less the same thing. I just tested it with Tall Grass, and I didn't Prone in an area, so attacks where the rolls aren't synchronised don't work with the bug (as in with the Tall Grass,the roll against Deflection goes first, then the roll to Prone). However, testing it with Knock Down (Girdle of the Driving Wave) it does work - again presumably because the two rolls are simultaneous. Given that the Black Path has a rather enormous AoE, it is bit crazy. Here's the pic:

Did not know that, that's pretty neat. But yes they're level 10. I guess that makes FoD particularly powerful at higher levels.

I could be totally wrong on this, but I think it used to be a general +8 to accuracy and then they changed it. Probably thought the alpha strikes people were getting from arquebuses were a little much.

Using Flames of Devotion, I got +30 accuracy rather than the +20 listed in the tooltip. If this is intentional, the tooltip should be updated. Below is the FoD hit and a normal hit with the same weapon:

I know that the premature cancelling of these effects was on the player character was introduced to stop time wastage if there were no other friendly targets around, but reasonably often it causes these effects to be cancelled on the opponent too. I'm not sure if this is a result of them not targeting another enemy fast enough, but it's problematic when you have a limited number of spell holdings for Charm/Dominate on an item already. If possible, it might be better to go back to the old system for enemies (full duration of these effects, regardless of whether their are other friendlies around, which as I mentioned the game often has difficulty detecting) but keep it as is for the player character. I'm not sure if this would be doable or not, but I thought I'd float it out there anyway.

As far as I'm aware, camping bonuses don't affect spells anyway - so it seems unlikely they'd affect Whisper of Treason, but it's probably worth checking. Or is that what you meant in saying, "not counting camping bonuses", I wasn't sure if that was you saying you knew they didn't work or you just hadn't picked any for the fight? I think the issue with Fighters is that they're a little dull, just having them sit there and do damage doesn't feel very rewarding. I think more unique builds could be made by combining their insane accuracy with spell holdings, but as what would be the best one to work with it's hard to say.

If you kill an enemy with the full attack component of an Envenomed Strike while using the Black Path, the poison component instead gets applied to the entire group affected by the Black Path. This is a little overpowered, as you can consistently target weak enemies close to death with an Envenomed Strike to easily exploit this. Below is an Envenomed Strike aimed at a Xaurip Priest: EDIT: In addition to this, The Black Path seems to be benefiting from the added accuracy of FoD on a FoD kill too.

Reckless Assault only affects melee accuracy (not even ranged accuracy, so it's a no go on that front. The base accuracy as you mention is higher, and they can use Sap/Withering Strike/Fearsome Strike for -Will, thereby boosting their accuracy. What I have noticed about a Paladin is you can use Sworn Enemy almost as a prebuff, as in it has a huge range and you can use it to initiate combat, and it's very fast cast. This again gives it a little bit of an edge relative to the Rogue, with attacks being on the whole slower. I guess in party play a mesmer Rogue would still do a decent job, but for solo I doubt it would cut it.

No idea, if I get round to trying the build with the aforementioned schedule (solo builds take a long long time ) I'll give it a look. If not, someone else is free to go bananas in the mean time.

It's an interesting idea, and no I haven't tested it - however from previous similar tests I doubt it would benefit form it. I think the whole match +20 accuracy for an entire fight still takes the cake, and I think Paladins are unequivocally better at tanking than Fighters (with Deep Faith +20 to each non-Deflection defence stat and equal Deflection with a single talent - which is a huge deal, great land mark heals with Lay on Hands and Greater LoH if you want it, Liberating Exhortation to eliminate Flanking, etc.). They're monsters. After my current Paladin, I have a solo Rogue I want to try, but if no one has taken up this kind of Paladin after that then I'll give it a go. I would give it a go, but back-to-back Paladins would be a little boring, and while I can console warp to areas and give myself the perks I'd rather play the game and see how it turns out.

Sorry to double post, but I was thinking more about the mesmer Paladin, and I really do think they're more or less ideally suited for the role. I was thinking about a solo mesmer Rogue, using their per encounter -20 debuffs to achieve the same effect as Sworn Enemy but also with the ability to drop invisibility and watch the enemy tear themselves apart (a classic puppet master/hand behind the throne build) - but it did have a major short-coming, vessels aren't affected by mind control effects. I suppose you could just stealth around vessels (a diplomatic puppet master likely wouldn't want to get their hands dirty anyway) but it feels a bit lame to have such a massive blind spot against an enemy type. Sanctifier may help, especially seeing as I was thinking about dumping Might (doubling down on the idea of the enemy killing itself rather than you doing damage), but still it's underwhelming. You know what Paladins are by contrast good at? Nailing vessels - between Abjuration, Scared Immolation and St. Ydwen's Redeemer they're going to be double dead (plus, you can still take Sanctifier to completely eliminate that blind spot). Sacred Immolation will have great synergy with the high Intellect needed for the mesmer effects, so it really does work well. Really all you need it decent Int and Per, some Mig if you can manage it, and you're done. Take a shield, go full tank, and have a whale of a time. If you're going for that role-playing aspect, as mentioned the Shieldbearers are a perfect fit as they're inherently diplomatic and sounds more diplomatic than convincing enemies to fight for you. Better yet, if you are going solo, most dragons aren't immune to these kind of effects - so by going Hearth Orlan full tank you should be absolutely fine, having defences reasonably far beyond their accuracy. Drawn in Spring and the Outworn Buckler would make short work of them when they're busy trying to kill their chums. I'm currently working on a different altogether more unusual Paladin build, so if anyone wants to develop it it's literally up for grabs. Even if you didn't want to go solo play, I'd think that this build may be better at mesmerising in some respects than the Cipher as you literally have all those resources at your fingertips at the start of a fight rather than having to produce Focus - and you're going to have a great deal more accuracy towards one enemy than they could ever hope for by Sworn Enemy.

No they're too similar to warrant me posting a second similar build, so go ahead and post it so long as you acknowledge me - you've put work into testing it so why not? I'm a chemistry PhD student, so not acknowledging an idea is in a fashion from someone else is almost tantamount to eating their first born child, but otherwise I don't mind. In terms of an acknowledgement, I was thinking, "I hereby declare that Jojobobo, lord and master of Pillars of Eternity, did use his preternatural insight and supreme intellect to combine innate -accuracy abilities of the Barbarian class with a Bash shield to excellent effect in order to produce a defensive debuffer upon which this build is chiefly based," followed by some sort of grovelling/worship emoji. Or whatever you think is appropriate To be honest, you've come up with so many ideas that haven't had builds yet (the Blast Envenomed Strikes Wizard for example) that's it's inevitable that people are going to want to make those builds - I think it's fine so long as credit is given where it's due. When I come to making a Wizard, I'd probably try that build unless I can come up with anything else original and interesting. In terms of the build itself, yeah I was thinking the captain's hatchet was a little too heavy on the defence compared to other weapons. If people are dead keen on it serving as a debuffer, then the hatchet is better, but otherwise it's not as good and to be honest -30 accuracy through Terrified plus Dazed is likely already enough. It's almost certainly a build that, while viable for solo play, really shines in party play as you can have spell casters take advantage of the debuffs - particularly Reflex spells given the -6 Dexterity - 2 Perception from the Terrified + Dazed combo. In real terms, it's also boosting your party's defenses by 30 for the most part, which is pretty damn exceptional. With you throwing Purgatory on top of Taste of the Hunt, it seems like a pretty legit health-draining vampire style build - or as close as you can get in the game. I know you like themes in your builds, so if you were stuck for an interesting theme (which I'm sure you wouldn't be) then there you go. It's weird that the bash bug is temperamental, I would have thought it would have procced more consistently seeing as I experienced it and Loren Tyr replicated it. Who knows? Anyway, have fun making the build

I've got a full build for a tanky barb already (with every character I make I write out the build beforehand), as I said though with bash being bugged with Carnage it feels a little like cheating. I guess if they don't bother to patch it then I guess people will just have to take it as is, but currently it seems a bit lame to play with over-powered mechanics. Does the bash bug get worse with HoF? As in, the bug as it was was triggering a second bash attack after a normal attack, is it triggering a second bash attack per each full attack or isn't it doing anything at all? Or haven't you been able to reproduce the bug in the first place, as others have mentioned?

Not relevant to the build, but I recently found out the "summoning a distraction" technique works for Raedric's Keep too. Scale the wall, agro the guard and run round the corner and summon to keep him occupied, then if you've timed it right the with the archer you can get an in to the area with Beratherite Robes. Then, either kill Nedmar for his key, or if you have high enough Mechanics you don't need to kill anyone at all - allowing you to reach Raedric. Raedric gives XP, and you can fighting him to whenever you want, and loot his sweet castle - independent of how sucky your solo build is Act 1 (for me on my latest build, pretty sucky).

I'm interesting in hearing how the high def disengagement Deep Wounds runner works out. I've got a feeling it's one of those builds that looks good on paper (Dangerous Implements Monk) but in practically doesn't work so well, but I'd love to hear I was wrong.

All the Rogues' effects (Deathblows, Dirty Fighting, etc.) work with Retaliation for sure - I don't know about Battle Forged but I'd imagine they would. As the damage coming off Battle Forged is strong late game, this might make for a pretty decent tanky Retaliation build.