Jojobobo

For anyone still interested, Dirty Fight also effects Retaliate - see below. I'm using a dagger/Larder Door, so the only source of pierce here is Retaliate. Thought I'd post again instead of making an edit so the thread didn't get lost. I guess if anyone finds anymore of these weird effects post them up, as soon a I manage to test out Deathblows I'll let you know.

EDIT: Apologies this should have been in tech support, got my tabs confused. Could a mod move it kindly? From a thread I've got in character builds with a Rogue using mace and Larder Door, referring to using Blinding Strike and it hitting multiple enemies: Normally my Bash is the first part of my full attack, then my weapon attack is my second part of my full attack. What we see here is before the bash has had chance to land I already have inflicted blind on the skeleton through Retaliate. Then my Bash lands and inflicts the Blinding Strike damage. Then before my mace attack lands Retaliate has inflicted blind on a gul, then finally the damage of Blinding Strike hits via my mace on the skeleton. I'm guessing the additional debuff effects of your per encounter abilities are somehow not tied to that weapon having landed an attack, they are just applied to the next attack which in this case was Retaliate. The debuff of the second swing is maybe only allowed to be applied after that first swing weapon has made it's attack (hence why the second blinding only comes after the Bash) but after that it's free to be attached either to Retaliate or your weapon attack as before. This is why this is all much more pronounced with dual-wielding/weapon and bash shield. Is this a feature, bug or something that you're not bothered about patching even if it is a bug? I noticed this before all the recent changes to Retaliate, so it's not a consequence of the latest patch.

It'd definitely be worth testing from someone who is a high level (so they can recruit high level inn companions) and has the equipment. Or just console it, for some reason I've not been able to get my console working so I can't test it out like that (says any command I type is unavailable). From what I can tell when this occurs, when I go for a per encounter ability my shield bash won't be applied and instead I'll Retaliate on one foe (plus the per encounter effect), then I'll turn to the other and use my weapon attack and per encounter effect. However, I'll pay close attention to the log when this happens next time to get to the bottom of it. I'm clearing out old maps currently and I'm about to finish Raedric's Hold Dungeon, the Gul gang-bang there should hopefully give me some idea. Dual wielding is good on a Rogue anyway because your second swing benefits from the sneak attack proc from the affliction you inflicted with the first. So for Blinding Strike even if you graze them with the blind effect on your first swing, your second benefits from sneak attack and the increased damage from Blinding Strike in the first place, but also the blinding effect of that second swing is now targeting reflex with is now -20 its original value because the opponent is already blind. Quite often you'll see the first swing get a blinding effect graze and the second get a blinding effect crit because of this, the crit duration being much nicer to then hit them with something else and get Deathblows proc-ing. EDIT: So here's what I got: Normally my Bash is the first part of my full attack, then my weapon attack is my second part of my full attack. What we see here is before the bash has had chance to land I already have inflicted blind on the skeleton through Retaliate. Then my Bash lands and inflicts the Blinding Strike damage. Then before my mace attack lands Retaliate has inflicted blind on a gul, then finally the damage of Blinding Strike hits via my mace on the skeleton. I'm guessing the additional debuff effects of your per encounter abilities are somehow not tied to that weapon having landed an attack, they are just applied to the next attack which in this case was Retaliate. The debuff of the second swing is maybe only allowed to be applied after that first swing weapon has made it's attack (hence why the second blinding only comes after the Bash) but after that it's free to be attached either to Retaliate or your weapon attack as before. This is why this is all much more pronounced with dual-wielding/weapon and bash shield. I'll re-post this in bugs to see whether this is how the devs want this to work, if not whether they're bothered to patch it. Currently I like it as it means more debuffs against more enemies. It's definitely the shield I had in mind. Originally I was going to go Adept Evasion over Dirty Fighting but now with the Retaliation stuff Dirty Fighting has become much more appealing again - with that and Vicious Fighting I should be firing off Thrust of Tattered Veils pretty often. I figured I'd just go Aila Braccia when I need it to compensate for lacking Adept Evasion. That monk idea certainly sounds promising, it'll be cool to hear the results.

So apparently now Retaliate is affected by sneak attacks with the new patch. While it's still only doing 6-10 damage unadjusted by Might as far as I can tell (so you're only looking at max 15 damage with the sneak attack), for a Rogue they seem to be getting more damage out of this then normal. Add in Retaliate can now crit, and if it's affected by Sneak Attack I see no reason for it not to be affected by Dirty + Vicious Fighting and Deathblows, though I haven't tested it. Look below for one of these Sneak Attacks - the damage done is definitely from Retaliate, I'm only using weapons with crush damage otherwise: Throw in dual wielding, and a Rogue's per encounter abilities, and you can applying the debuffs in an area. You go to activate Blinding Strike on an enemy, but if another enemy hits you they get blinded through Retaliate - and you hit the original intended target and blind them as well. Then both of these enemies get affected by your Retaliate sneak attacks and Deep Wounds if you have it, doing even more damage if you're using Vulnerable Attack and/or Ryona's Vambraces. Whilst this isn't meteoric damage, it's still a very nice extra effect - particularly if you are critting on any of those attacks. Thought I'd share this little tidbit as I don't think anyone knows about it yet. I'm still currently working on a solo PotD Rogue tank build with a bash shield (essentially dual wielding) - I'll post the class build when I've done something major (slain a dragon, completed the main story) to prove that it works PotD solo. Suffice to say I'm using this dirty trick frequently.

Bookmarked for future reference, thank you kindly for the hard work.

Thanks for the tip, Dulcanale was another one I had my eye on - rending is always a sweet effect especially on a gun and especially as I was intending on using penetrating shot in the first place. St. Guaram's Spark probably also works well with the pet and/or figurines that you need to use on solo, albeit you can't change the lash.

I was making a pistol build with Forgiveness (the only gun with the speed enchant), but as I was going solo I hadn't got too far with it yet (or even gotten Forgiveness yet - I wanted to play a law-bringer sheriff type so killing the Doemenels in that quest is quite tricky if you want to do it immediately in the Goose and Fox like I ideally want to). However running around with a Fine Disappointer (sounds like a nickname for someone's manhood) in Act 1 worked pretty well high dex, might and per going solo. Guns obviously have a lot higher base damage, so I'd say your DPS is going to be at least comparable to Twinned Arrows more or less (considering Swift Aim and Twinned Arrows don't stack) - and if you give your pistol a flaming lash plus take Scion of Flame I'd imagine your Powder Burns damage is going to be quite brutal. The main flaw is all those cool additional item effects you're missing out on (Wounding on Persistence, Returning Storm on hit/crit on Stormcaller, etc.), but from what I was experiencing it seems entirely workable.

I think it's useful on a tank as normally you're looking more for steady yet solid damage and not necessarily for high DPS. It's also useful when for shield bashing to make some or their normal measly damage get through. I'm currently running a Dex 4 tank on PotD solo with Larder Door and Vulnerable Attack, and with the bash and my weapon I'm still rattling off an attack every 3 seconds or so - which is plenty good enough for me.

I find the Deceptive reputation a little annoying, as it doesn't differentiate between what lies you tell. When I first started playing a Kind Wayfarer in v1 playing on Expert, during the quest A Mother's Plea I told the white lie to Aufra in letting her believe the potion would work - thinking as Ranga points out a positive outlook may help her out and that this white lie would be better for her. As such I was hoping for Benevolent rep, but instead got Deceptive. Further playing as a scoundrel type in recent playthroughs, during the Final Act Lumdala will try to get you to frame Gaderman. If you agree to this, even if you snitch on Lumdala you still get Honest rep, however this completely overlooks the fact you have lied to Lumdala by saying you would frame someone else. You're also not really given any clear benefit here for lying, you don't owe Lumdala any favours and Kurren is going to reward you either way - so even if you are trying to play as the shifty scoundrel lying comes off as a little stupid here. I think what would have been better was if the character received Deceptive rep if they told a malicious lie or they benefitted off the back of one of their lies. There's too many examples where Deceptive rep is simply rewarded for acting evasive or contrary, which most of the time in the game feels pointless.

I'd appreciate if a mod would just delete this thread. Thank you to the first poster, for shutting it down off the bat for a miss-key. I'm currently of the salted-earth mentality - if someone wants to query the same thing then go ahead but I'm already done and bored. Teach me for venturing out of the PoE threads. Literally, can a mod delete this.

So here's a thread where if you could have any say in what Obsidian's creative direction would be what would you say? This is of course not saying that Obsidian even need direction in the first place, but if you'd like to direct them where would you like them to go. Think about all their projects past and present when you post, and if you have relevant experience with any that's pertinent to what you're saying that would be great. Ultimately we can be their free think-tank, any costs we can save for our lofty service then can go on future properties or developments To give a little background of their games I've played it's Icewind Dale 2, Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity. Of their games I'd still happily play that I don't own yet - Alpha Protocol, South Park: The Stick of Truth and KoTOR 2. For Icewind Dale 2 I'll keep it short - I'd never played a DnD game before so I bloody loved it when I was young. I still haven't dipped too far into the DnD repertoire (despite having Baldur's Gate 2 and Plane of Torment available on GoG purchased and ready to play right here right now - I apologise for life getting in the way before you stone me) but having played IDW2 on Heart of Iron mode level 1 was still very damn fun. For Fallout: New Vegas - for me it's the best Fallout game hands down. As a 90's child, Fallout 3 was got me into the franchise. However FO:NV got me to first of all play it and play 1 and 2 which I loved (being an already certified Arcanum and Vampire the Masquerade ~ Bloodlines fanboy, and buying both on release). FO4 is lackluster, not to want to bash it but it fundamentally strips players of choice. If I wanted to be playing Diablo III I would be, FO4 now feels like Diablo III's and FO's unwanted love child. New Vegas was the last point where factions were meaty and bold, and had something relevant to reflect on modern society, and allowed a huge deal of player agency. It may be my favourite game of all time depending on what mood I'm in when you ask me. Dead Money has to be my favourite expansion/DLC of all time, what an incomprehensibly ballsy and yet welcome change of pace. Lastly, Pillars of Eternity by all accounts gave the company a new lease of life. But more than that, in these latest patch iterations I think it's a great game. It combines the party play of the old DnD franchises with meaty roleplaying. Considering game mechanics and more or less everything was built from the ground up, the game is a complete wonder even when you factor in the crowd-fundedness of it. Tyranny I think is solid choice and a banker, I for one will be buying it based on how polished PoE now is and that they're working with the game engine. Many other semi-hardcore gamers are going to do the same. It's a great way of re-purposing assets that are well now well established to produce the same experience for players who want it - of which there's a lot. For me now, I want them to produce some sort of AAA title to rival the big boys. They clearly have the chops given New Vegas, and whether they use Paradox's new White Wolf rights or anything else I think they have the ability to create an excellent AAA first person experience. Then, once that's in the bag, they keep on publishing those great AAA single player RPG experiences but now have money to monopolise on fantastic isometric games on the side. Thoughts and/or experiences on the existing state of the company?

I did act 1, act 2 until Cliaban Rilag, Endless Paths up to the Guardian on level 13 (too many Adragans to easily progress, and combat doesn't end when you initiate it even if you do split the group), then Cliaban Rilag and Dyrford Village, then Act 3 leaving out notable quests such as the Sky Dragon and the rescue in the ice place or whatever it is, then some of White March I but then I wanted to further optimize the character but wasn't keen on re-specing so I restarted. This was all PotD solo - places like Elmshore with level scaling I also left until later but other than that I cleared out every other area completely. Going that deep into the Endless Paths that early definitely has it's advantages. There's a lot of uncommon enemies down there so you get heaps of bestiary experience, plus having something like Drawn In Spring before you even do Cliaban Rilag is pretty damn sweet. I would have maybe done White March part I sooner, but cracking into it on solo is very hard seeing as you can't rest in Stalwart during that initial confrontation. Once you are past that however, I found much of the rest of WM I pretty easy in comparison.

As you say, the resting bonus from Caed Nua gives +2, Gloves of Manipulation give a further +2 and as omgFIREBALLS mentioned Dungeon Delver gives +1. From what I've heard you only really need 13 Mechanics to get into anything worthwhile in the game (Cragholdt Bluffs has some higher chests, but then you can just use the scrolls to break into them). So ultimately you need to hit 8 Mechanics, 10 if you don't want to back-track to Caed Nua all the time for the resting bonus (though that's an expensive choice, when you could be putting those points into the much better Survival skill. It depends whether those higher Survival levels are worth the convenience of more Mechanics). Mechanics scrolls aren't a reliable resource as finding them isn't a given - however I think it's safe to say you'll find at least one for difficult chests like Cragholdt Bluffs. Remember you have 90 skill points to spend by the end of the game so plan accordingly, I've given a little run down of how skill spending works and what you can do with 16 levels worth of points in this thread right here.

I think playing solo adds some variety. Compared to a whole party, you only have so many quick item slots so you manage your use of figurines a lot more making combat a little more varied (though sure you're using the same set of figurines, you're not using the same ones every encounter, and so it adds a little something IMO to the gameplay). Further, as you're just the one guy, you need to be managing defense boosting at times of need and also your use of scrolls. In any case, I guess one guy in Boots of Speed would be good at grouping mobs while the rest of your party is strategically positioned to handle the hoard - though I'm sure you've tried that already. It does seem quite easy to split mobs in this game when the members of that mob are at different speeds, which I guess is a pain with what you're trying to accomplish.

That might be it, seeing as it was right at the start of the game I didn't have any cause to reload.

That's normally day 20, weird I didn't get it then though in the first few pages of the thread it does talk about reloading autosaves if you didn't get the right item on a particular day which I didn't try.

Speaking of Spelltongue, does it work with Triggered Immunity (from my understanding of how it works without using it - stealing duration off enemies and using it for your own positive effects)? Seems like a pretty crazy way to use it, seeing as it the right situations it makes you completely immortal (though again really only a late game option). With Ryona's Breastplate this doesn't even need to be the sole providence of a Fighter either. Top that off with Ring of Unshackling and other elements of Boeroer's Leech Build (the scrolls, etc.) and you'd be ridiculously over-powered.

Day 20 in the Gilded Vale Inn no longer gives Rymrgand's Mantle, it gives an Amulet of Health instead. If anyone can tell me if the Eothas Temple Rymrgand's Mantle is still okay I'd appreciate it, I haven't got round to clearing it out yet but I usually use the mantle to clear the Caed Nua Throne Room PotD solo (equip it, run to a spot just left of the door so the Shadow blocks the Phantoms reaching you, use a staff - usually Durance's - to hit Phantoms behind the Shadow and a ranged weapon to get their attention if one doesn't zone in to attack after another dies behind the Shadow. Rymrgand's Mantle is the only thing that can keep me healthy for such a strategy - and means I don't have to hit Stealth 5 if I don't want to like most solo people clearing the room). I'll be sad if the mantle has now been deemed too powerful for early game and taken off the act 1 lists.

No don't worry, it was the former I was referring to, thanks for letting me know plus giving an in game logical explanation!

So the idea behind this thread is to post up workable ideal skill spreads for different archetypal character builds going solo PotD. Obviously some builds aren't going to need as high a score in a particular skill that a different build (for example a Priest or other casters don't necessarily need high Lore) which is ultimately the idea behind these spreads - providing a skill framework for a particular build archetype may want to make it easier for players to allocate their skill points. In party play multiple characters can cover your different skills, so while these builds will work in party play it's probably best to min-max with skills to a larger degree. Suggesting a background that boosts the highest skill is a given, however you can also suggest items and races or talents if either are particularly applicable to the given spread plus a desired attribute focus. Feel free to make class specific skill spreads if you want, but spreads that fit a variety of classes are nice due to their applicability. These spreads shouldn't focus much on skill boosting through scrolls as they're a finite and unreliable resource. For those of you who don't know how skills level, you get 6 points per level after the first (90 total by level 16). The first level of a skill costs 1 point, and each additional level to that skill equals the cost of the last level plus 1 point. Skill modifiers modify the where you buy in that first skill level. For example starting at zero level 1 Survival costs 1 point, level 2 Survival 2 points, etc. However if you take the Colonist background (+2 Survival), level 3 is the first level and it costs 1 point, followed by level 4 for 2 points, etc. I'm sure most of you know this already, but I thought an explanation is useful for anyone a little new. So here's the one I've been working on, based in part on the Glass Tsunami class build... Endurance Recovery Tank Spread Idea: To get Survival buffable to 14 so you can get the x1.6 healing modifier bonus, but also to hit Mechanics buffable to 13 and passive Lore 8 for easier solo play. Mechanics 13 supposedly allows you to unlock anything worth unlocking, and Lore 8 gives you access to some of the juicer scrolls like Confusion, Valor, Wall of Flame and Paralysis which can be great in times of need. Background: Colonist or Explorer work well. This spread will assume Colonist for the maths. Classes: Works with all. Required skills to hit: 7 Survival (9 with Colonist), 5 Lore, 8 Mechanics (leftover points can go into Stealth or Athletics as you desire, or to Mechanics or Lore to rely less on their specific items/resting bonuses). Cost = (7 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1) + (5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1) + (8 + 7 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1) = 79 without factoring in class specific bonuses. Necessary items: Jack of Wide Waters (gives a temp +2 Survival when equipped, you can put it on before you rest then take it off after and it won't remove the bonus), Gloves of Manipulation (+2 Mechanics as needed), Viettro's Formal Footware (+3 Lore to give you the 8 passive score). Necessary Resting Bonuses: Warden's Lodge (+2 Survival), Artificer's Hall (+2 Mechanics as needed). Necessary Talent Bonuses: Dungeon Delver (+1 Mechanics, also +1 Stealth but who cares?), Rymrgand's Boon (+1 Survival). Skaen's Boon comes too late for it to be useful. Final skill point calcs: Survival = 7 + 2 (Colonist) + 2 (Jack of Wide Waters) + 2 (Warden's Lodge) + 1 (Rymrgand's Boon) = 14 Mechanics = 8 + 2 (Artificer's Hall) + 2 (Gloves of Manipulation) + 1 (Dungeon Delver) = 13 when needed Lore = 5 + 3 (Viettro's Formal Footware) = 8 Race and talent recommendations: The point of this build is endurance recovery, so my recommendation is Moon Godlike with Veteran's Recovery, then make your character build as you like. Silver Tide gives 5 + (4 x every level past 1) endurance for each heal it does (3 heals total) - hat's 195 endurance total at level 16. Veteran's Recovery gives 3 + (1 endurance every 3 levels after 1) per 3 second tick over 45 seconds, which is a further 120 endurance at level 16. With the resting bonus, you're looking at (120 + 195) x 1.6 = 504 endurance per every encounter, definitely not to be sneezed at. Recommended attributes: Might scales that healing even higher. At 20 Might you get x 1.3 additional healing, making that 504 now 655. Intellect can extend the duration of Veteran's Recovery, which as it's healing occurs every 3 seconds also boosts the healing significantly. Additional items: Belt of Bountiful Healing makes the healing more crazy, as does Shod in Faith if you're deflection is low enough to get critted frequently. Notes: To compensate for Viettro's Formal Footware being late game, other + Lore items can be used with the Library resting bonus to get you to 8 Lore when you need it. Either that, or if you have got a plus Lore scroll you can use that in a time of need. Alternate high survival spreads: At the expense of Mechanics and Lore, you can push that Survival even higher. Any class with at least 1 in Survival can hit 20 Survival with 78 of the skill points and the bonuses I've mentioned above. Druids and Rangers hit that mark at just 66 skill points - comfortably allowing one of either Lore or Mechanics to be boosted highly. That's a x1.8 healing bonus - now earning you 567 endurance per encounter without lifting a finger using Moon Godlike and Vet's Recovery. --------------------------------------------------------------------- And there we have it! I've been using this spread to make a Rogue Tank build and it works very well - but the point is you can apply the spread to pretty much any class and make it tanky. If people have other recommended spreads to cover more bases, post them up!

So I noticed if you equip something like Jack of the Wide Waters (+2 survival) or use a + survival scroll then rest and take the max survival resting bonus you can, then you unequip Jack of the Wide Waters you still retain the same resting bonus even though you no longer have the requisite survival for that bonus. Is this considered a bug or is this how it's supposed to work? I want to do a run without re-speccing my character, so I was trying to figure out how to allocate the 90 skill points before I start play - however if there's plans to patch this out in the near future then I won't use it as obviously then that would necessitate a restart/respec for the next patch.

It's worth mentioning that you can't get any of these items on solo as they're all adventure items. Obviously you can recruit a companion to do these things for you and then just not use them, but it defeats it being a solo run somewhat (and wouldn't count for one in terms of achievements).

I'll have a look, thanks very much. I did think about the Raedric's Hold pistol, but I want to try and leave the hold until I can storm in their like a badass and wipe everyone out.

Any ideas of where to guaranteed get two bits of early game turquoise (pre-Caed Nua)? I'm looking to make a Ranger using just pistols as a bit of a challenge (building towards Durgan refined Forgiveness) however in the early game I'm stuck with the Disappointer which I'm finding a little, erm, disappointing - particularly as I want to be using Swift Aim but all those knocks to accuracy are making it unworkable right now. While I could go with the Damage 1 enchantment, it uses resources for Fine so I'd rather go for Accurate 1 instead. I've got the one guaranteed Turquoise you can find at Anslog's Compass in the dragon skull's eye - however I'm having a little trouble finding another piece and wasn't sure if there was another guaranteed anywhere? Any ideas?

Moon Godlike is obvs the best. 10 endurance + 3 for every level after the 1st - meaning 45 total and procing three times. That's 135 extra endurance regardless of class. If you buff Survival to at least the level of a 40% rest bonus (not hard to get), that's now 189 extra endurance. Then if you slap on extra Might (let's say 20 - again not a hard target to get) you're looking at 245 extra endurance. When you factor in any class can now take Veteran's Recovery (8 at level 16 extra 3 seconds for 45 seconds, 218 endurance with the aforementioned bonuses), you're looking at a crap tonne of extra endurance - making pretty much any class a decent tank if you want them like that as it's easy more than half of most high Con speced classes' endurance. I'd say the new helmets on offer (retaliation Garodh's Chorus, the Maegfolc Skull or the White Crest Helm for example) are now more tasty and make non-Moon Godlike races at least now worth considering, but that still doesn't change 245 extra endurance is hard to pass up and makes it unequivocally the easiest race to play for any class.