AndreaColombo

Not sure about CC immunities; my hope is that they are selective. It doesn't make sense for you to be able to knock a dragon prone but you can probably still stun or blind it. Same with other critters who might be immune to mind control but vulnerable to knock downs etc. After playing Zahua I've come to enjoy Monks quite a bunch. I still have a penchant for Fighters, though, and I too hope there is more to their revamp than Josh wrote. Clear Out could be per encounter, for example.

... to think this happened to me tonight and I overwrote my saved game shortly before seeing that Aarik would need it If nobody else posts one, I'll load an earlier save and get to that point tomorrow.

So, Josh has been tweeting some changes from the upcoming 2.03 patch. Every single one of them fills me with joy. It is known that I am a fan of damage immunities (though I do not necessarily agree with all damage immunities in PoE; but I'm in favor of them as a concept.) Affliction immunities were long called for, and will complement damage immunities nicely. I'm all for wanton massacres but that a tiny orlan Fighter could knock a fully grown dragon prone was a tad on the cheesy, non-sense-making side. It was also about time CC stopped being overpowered; I like CC as much as the next guy, but being able to stun-lock my enemies in every encounter was possibly too much. Fighters getting a boost is something many people were asking for. I was fine with Fighters already, and my Lady of Pain build will become even more powerful. "Armored Grace", "Knock Down", and "Clear Out" are abilities I take all the time and they're about to become even better. +5 Deflection is gravy. w00t! Now to hope TMW II brings even better enemy A.I. to the table

+4 Accuracy and +20% damage when dual-wielding a hammer and sickle.

As promised. https://youtu.be/rEzj9Id9HqA OP said they like "damage and destruction" as opposed to buffing/debuffing. Of course it is not possible to buff before combat in PoE (unless you make use of the relevant option in the IE Mod, which I do not) but here I offer my alternative: Open the fight with an Amplified Wave to buy enough time for a quick buff, and keep the party together (let the enemy come to you, not the other way around) so your Priest can keep buffing while you wait for enemies to come. You'll notice that my micromanagement is rather sloppy. For example, I rarely use my Cipher's powers besides my Amplified Wave alpha strike, and I don't spam Torment's Reach with my Monk as it would be sensible to do. I micro my Wizard and Rogue semi-decently, but that's about it. On easier difficulties, you could get away with a lot more sloppiness in terms of micromanagement (in fact, I could've gotten away with worse micromanagement in this fight as clearly shown in the video, since none of my men were ever down.) On a related note, opening the fight with Amplified Wave usually buys you more time than shown in this video. Enemies in Cragholdt Bluffs are all high level and have good defenses; most enemies throughout the game stay down longer.

New YouTube video link (the one above will no longer work.)

Ahah yeah, when I liked Aarik's post, I did because I like his dedication and his providing that kind of feedback. The fact Novice's Suffering doesn't apply to Spiritshift definitely is not to my liking

It took them about 6 months to release part I after the base game shipped, so I guess 6 months after part I could be a good ballpark. That would be roughly one year after the base game's release, so around March 2016. Again, ballpark based on speculation.

Unfortunately yes.

Already reported.

^ But that would make unique items a lot more mundane. A weapon with the Speed enchantment wouldn't be half as special if I could bestow Speed on any weapon I found (for example.)

Unless I'm missing something, you can get that fairly late (the fight is pretty hard.)

Nothing, really. It's fine, but not something I'd ever consider. If I want to fight with fists, I play a Monk and save that talent slot for something else.

Because a Monk doesn't have to invest a talent to get the same results

Could you attach a saved game that exhibits the issue as well as your output.log file? QA are going to ask for those.

I guess it's mostly for flavor and to make up for the lack of true multi-classing options in the game. The Monk talent would have been great for Druids but it doesn't work with their Spiritshift form by design, so there goes its only good application. Right now, the only good ones are Apprentice's Sneak Attack and Gallant Focus (the latter only if you don't already have a Paladin in your party.)

Fighters do use Sundering Blow on Aggressive, so new abilities are definitely accounted for. Not sure to what extent, though.

https://instagram.com/p/838Q27pxzl/ Looks like there will be some side quests we'll be able to get from the stronghold in pt. II. I hope all rewards are either items otherwise obtainable only through random loot, or brand new :D

Hi Adam, thanks for looking into this. Do I understand correctly that crit damage should not multiply final damage, but rather apply as another damage mod (i.e. sum to other damage mods, then multiply)? If that is the case, the description for crits in the Cyclopedia needs amending as it is currently stating that crits multiply final damage. However, I am a little lost now. What is the expected damage output from my example above?

^ you'd enjoy my current party setup, then. I'm on my smartphone now though; tomorrow after work I'll try to record a video to show you how I play.

Cheats can be found here (most of them, anyway.) That said, I find combat post 2.0 to be rather enjoyable. I think your main issue is that you have a strategy in mind that is inconvenient to execute in the context of this game's mechanics. I understand the rationale for wanting to alpha-strike with an Arquebus, but having one on all party members is unnecessary and pigeonholes you into making everyone pick the same Weapon Focus talent. This way, you miss out on several other great weapons. (Although it is also worth mentioning that Weapon Focus is not a mandatory talent; you can be effective in combat even if you miss out on the +6 Accuracy and there are people who never pick Weapon Focus at all.) My favorite build started out with an Arquebus alpha-strike in mind, but when I got around to actually playing it, I never opened any fight with an Arquebus shot. Not one. I find that sipping a potion of Deleterious Alacrity of Motion is a much better opener, as the attack speed bonus is a massive boost to your DPS. Priests have some crazy good spells in the buff department; if all you're using Durance for is tanking and Consecrated Ground + Holy Radiance, you are missing out big time. Devotions for the Faithful gives everyone within the AoE a whopping +20 Accuracy bonus that stacks with the +15 Accuracy from Scoll of Valor by design. I don't think I need to tell you how good +35 Accuracy is on everyone in your party. Crowns for the Faithful is about the best defensive spell in game; Prayer Against Treachery is fundamental against Fampyrs and Dank Spores (and so is Prayer Against Fear when fighting Dragons or Prayer Against Infirmity against Spirits); Champion's Boon can turn your DPS members into one-man slaughter houses. That's just to name my favorites but Blessing and Dire Blessing are pretty good too, for example. And of course Suppress Affliction is always handy. Scroll of Valor and Scroll of Defense are very good; Scroll of Paralysis can trivialize any fight. Wizards are probably the most powerful class in the game. Forget Rolling Flame and get cranking on Deleterious Alacrity of Motion + Llengrath's Displaced Image + Slicken/Fireball spamfest. Replace Fireball with Shadowflame as soon as you get it, then resume fireballing their asses when you run out of Shadowflames. Their CC spells are amazing: Ghost Blades, Curse of Blackened Sight, Confusion, Call to Slumber, Arkemyr's Capricious Hex, Gaze of the Adragan. The list could go on (if you want to turn your Wizard into a melee powerhouse, you can.) Minoletta's Minor Missiles only look attractive because they remind you of AD&D Magic Missiles, but it isn't as good as a spell as, say, Fan of Flames. You can use party A.I. for trash mobs but it won't alpha-strike with an Arquebus before switching to a melee weapon. BUT you could use A.I. on your frontliners while you micromanage your Wizards and Durance.

Is Springwight still aboard? He hasn't logged in since mid September :/

What 2nd-level spells do you use from your Priest apart from the ever-great Suppress Affliction? 1st-level spells actually have Armor and Blessing which aren't half bad.

It goes against 25% of the relative DR. Of course 25% of Immune is still Immune.