AndreaColombo

I think it has improved a lot, but I wouldn't call it a "practically different game". I liked it back then, and I like it even more now. The things you mention as your main gripes with the game are mostly unchanged (reactivity, story, NPCs.)

Yeah, I think level 6 is about right for Dyrford. It should be challenging without being too hard.

What game version are you on? That's a known bug but I thought 2.01 fixed it.

Well, not quite Being a Watcher is a form of Awakening. Remember Bellasiege in the Sanitarium? She's looking for an Awakened soul on which to conduct her research and you can offer yours if you meet her prior to starting Aloth's quest, but she declines. Yours won't quite do; she needs a different kind of Awakening. Your Awakening made you a Watcher; Aloth's just brought forth a personality from a past life. Honestly, I like it better this way than if the Hollowborn had been your primary motivation from the start. Yours is a personal matter. You're not out to make the world right; you're not the herald of justice single-handedly taking the world's problems on their shoulders and fixing them because they're oh-so-much-superior to the average Joe. You're just another dude/dudette who becomes a Watcher because sh!t happens. Then, as the story unfolds, you may decide to take the Hollowborn thing at heart seeing as your predicament appears to be tied to it in some way. But had that not been the case, why should you look into the matter any harder than anyone else? You possess the same means and the same knowledge—or less, even, since you come from abroad and people need to explain the Legacy to you when you get to Dyrwood.

QA are going to ask for your output.log file too. As for 2), can it be going against 25% of the Corrode DR? If that was the case, it would be mimicking the behavior of the elemental damage lashes on weapons. Still a bug as spells aren't supposed to work that way, but I guess it would be a less convoluted behavior than what you described

Installing mods per se doesn't, that I know of. But I'm on GOG so take my words with a pinch of salt. IE Mod will let you cheat without disabling achievements.

You must have the most boring job ever

It's in Concelhaut's Grimoire but you must have obtained it after patching to 2.01.

Sounds very much like a bug to me.

Is anyone going to post a screenshot of the draining missiles?

PoE's budget wasn't large by any definition of the term, though.

I've had that too. It is the corpse of a wicht. Not sure of what causes the issue; it shows up in some maps and not in others. Are you using the soulbound estoc? It summons Vessels sometimes. My guess is that corpses of the wichts it summons don't always disappear.

It is sold by Dunstan in Crucible Keep.

"savanna" should be "savannah" according to the lore. Screenshot

And the unique spell I got from Concelhaut for the curious ones (I'm still on 2.0 so no corrosive missiles for me):

^ Agreed. Being a Watcher is, in and by itself, completely unrelated to the Leaden Key, the whole Woedica conspiracy, and the Hollowborn thing. So other Watchers might as well have spent their entire lives completely unaware of what Thaos was doing, or even of his very existence. ... and it could have been possible for you too, theoretically speaking, to become a Watcher and also be unaware or not give much of a damn. The game explicitly says that an Awakening can be caused by contexts, sounds, images, or other external stimuli that suddenly and violently remind your soul of one of its past lives. In your case, seeing Thaos perform a ritual in ceremonial robes with an Engwithan machine triggered your soul's memory of a past life in which you were a member of the Leaden Key who had discovered the truth and couldn't come to terms with it. It was a matter of being in the wrong place at wrong time. If you had not been there at that time, you could have spent your entire life without ever being Awakened—or something else could have Awakened a different memory of a different life from your soul's past. But you were Awakened by Thaos and you do not chase him because of his consipiring with Woedica, of which you are completely unaware until the end of the game. You do not chase him because of his causing the Hollowborn phenomenon, as you only learn that at the end of Act II. You chase him because you hope he can undo your Awakening so you won't go nuts in time. It's a very personal matter. When, later in the game, you find out about the cause for the Hollowborn and the whole conspiracy, you may as well decide that your character doesn't give a flying and just wants to avoid going nuts. Or you can decide that your character cares very much, but the fact that these things are intertwined still remains very much coincidental.

I usually spend some time before every play through to think about who's going to be in party, what role they'd serve, and what equipment to give them. My choices are mostly based on memory and aesthetics, but when I need a refresher I just console in a bunch of items and play dress up until I find a combination that satisfies me. That becomes my target equipment for a given character. That said, a few random pieces of advice off the top my head: Edér (DPS/Tank) - use the equipment from this build (first and last post.) Durance (Support) - Dunryd Demon helm, Raiment of Wael's Eyes robe, Seal of Faith ring, Thy Clef shield; rest is up to you. I suggest Blunting Belt, Bracers of All-Consuming Rage, Dream Dancer's Sidestep, Ring of Protection +9, and a random weapon (he likely won't fight much anyway since he's in a support role; better to invest in his durability.) For consumables, go for Potion of Deleterious Alacrity of Motion and Casità Casserole besides any healing potions. Aloth (DPS) - Gwisk Glas robe with Durgan enhancement, Ring of the Selonan, Telda's Ring; the rest doesn't exceedingly matter. Sagani (Ranged DPS) - You absolutely want the soulbound bow (Stormcaller) for her. Can't comment on the rest of the equipment as I never play ranged DPS characters.

If your mechanics score is higher than the level of the secret spot, you'll see it without scouting. What the maximum level of secret spots is, I have no idea.

There should be two but a bug in 2.01 prevents one of them from appearing. Can't recall the exact name - Ray of Something Something - but it's like a foe-only ray of fire that does raw damage instead.

Sometimes the fix doesn't apply retroactively for some reason. Give those items to yourself with the console and they'll be and stay fine.

So you're saying after experiencing 2.01 you still think one-week patches are the way to go? I envy your unwavering optimism.

Bump for visibility.

You can't. For the time being, A.I. is unable to determine whether your spells are per encounter but Josh mentioned on SA that it will, in time.

I too wondered about whether they were all still alive. Guess Concelhaut just ain't the only Lich in Eora. I greatly appreciated the unique spells in the expansion; I agree they make finding Grimoires more special. If all I can expect from looted Grimoires is stuff I can get when I level up, it's kinda meh. Then again, it is also true that it will only be special for so long as it is rare. If you start finding unique spells every other Grimoire, it will become ordinary practice to just go hunt the spells you want like Katarack21 said.

O.o It almost never hit Thaos when I cast it.