Sylvanpyxie

Could it be that part of the reason for this power boost is that in Dyrford Crossing the majority of external enemies have relative vulnerability to crushing attacks? And are a Monk's fists crushing? Partly. However, considering the damage was also high on Lions, Wraiths and Cultists I would assume there is more going on. Also taking into account the comparisons with other melee classes wielding crushing weapons - Primarily Barbarian and Paladin - an unarmed Monk is out putting far more damage per hit. I understand Monks have inherent bonuses to their unarmed damage, but when a Paladin is critting 40 damage with a two handed crushing weapon on a Beetle and a Monk is hitting for 40 damage, at a much faster rate I might add, I consider something to be a little wonky. Of course, this is just me. Many others may have played Monk and not considered this to be an imbalance issue.

I was able to use them while unarmed.

Normal and Hard. Normal was obliterated. Hard required a bit of BB Fighter. Both were easy. Monk auto attack damage still OP as Funk.

So I just tried out Monk for the first time, going into it with very low expectations given so many people on the forums seem to think they are suffering as a "Front Line" class... Having played on Normal, my Monk decimated the beta. Literally obliterated it. I will agree that Monks are not as durable as Paladins, Fighters, or even Bear Druids/Ranger Companions. However, after peeling off a single mob for the Monk to tank in order to gain her Wounds, something miraculous happened. Though duration damage, namely the poisons, were often enough to knock her out, I discovered that as long as she had a steady supply of Stamina and didn't use up her wounds too often, Mia the Monk could stand there and take more physical punishment than I had originally thought. After returning to town and purchasing a Trollhide Belt(Stamina regen) from the tannery, I went back out into Dyrwood Crossing to take on the beetles and test Mia's durability. Which had definitely improved - but still was not enough because poisons are ridiculous. But fear not, fellow testers, because I discovered something far greater than the durability she needed.... I discovered - Damage. Unarmed, Mia the Monk was hitting for 40 damage, critting for up to 70, and all of this was done with Swift Strikes active which meant she was burning through mobs like lightning. With a continual source of stamina healing - The belt and beta Priest - she suffered no knock outs and with 2 stacks of Wounds bolstering her health pool for as long as she was in combat I keenly increased the pace of destroying Dyrwood Crossing. Moving from group to group, keeping up the pace for as long as I could, Mia destroyed the opening Beetles, the Wolf pack, the Spiders outside of the cave, the Wyrmling things and circled around just in time (barely) to decimate the rest of the Beetles, forming one giant loop around the Crossing. The Crossing was cleared by Mia the Monk and her BB Priest in minutes. Destroying the venomous mobs before they could afflict her with their evil damage over time and her wounds absorbing ridiculous sums of damage from direct attacks. I honestly couldn't tell you what the rest of the Monk abilities are like, Clarity of Agony will likely be useful to combat poisons and such, Stunning Blow was effective at shutting down mobs when I used it, but frankly all I used was Swift Strikes. So! Final Verdict - Monks have literally unrivaled melee damage. Their durability is situational. Mia the Monk - Might 15. Cons 18. Dex 16. Int 15. (Oh yeah - this is all personal experience so... OPINIONS.)

So I just decided to test run the Monk class and cleared the entire Dyrwood Crossing, not including the indoor areas, without resting or stopping for breath so that's something I guess.... In other news - Monk auto attack damage OP as funk.

No no, that's not how it works. Not at all. What you do is your Cipher CCs everything and then you kill them.

This is relatively off-topic in regard to the Stronghold, but I need to make it clear that this is wrong. The Backer Beta has made it clear that a Priest's chosen deity, and your class choice in general, will be recognised and it will have an affect on your interactions with people throughout the game. Considering how keen Obsidian are on allowing Players the freedom to play as they wish, the Stronghold itself will probably not take into account your chosen class. But there are likely a number of ways to build and manage your Stronghold, allowing you to prioritise what you want and when you want it. Meaning, if you think your Bleak Walker would build up the fortress defenses before fortifying any trade routes or setting up shops, that will likely be your decision to make.

Anyone tried out intellect Barb yet...? I just jumped in to check out duration increases on their abilities, didn't see any effect. It might not be as viable as the demo-vids suggested... Or maybe it's bugged.

More importantly, if there was a guy with a face made entirely of MAGMA staring you in the eye you wouldn't exactly want to piss him off.

I actually really hope there's something like this in the final build... There's a talent in the Beta to reduce the negative effect of not following the Creed of your chosen Faith/Conviction on Priests and Paladins. I would rather like one that increases the effect.

This is a design decision made with the exact purpose of preventing the mindless pre-fight buffing of the IE games. Buffs are now a tactical decision, not a 3 minute spell spam session. Personally, I consider this to be a blessing. Pre-fight buffing was always a chore to me.

Yeah, Soul Ignition is off the freaking charts. It scales incredibly well with Intellect and the base damage is moronic. It also doesn't help that it ticks per second. 40-45 damage per second for 20-25 seconds. RIP everything in the game ever. Problem is, when I put Soul Ignition aside, I didn't see my Cipher doing much damage at all. I don't know if this is just because the majority of their other damaging spells are physical, thus mob resistances are affecting them, or if the damage itself is just low. All I know is, in comparison to what the Beta Back Wizard was doing, without Soul Ignition my Cipher had very little damage output. Which wouldn't be such a problem, but the focus system doesn't exactly encourage the spamming of low damage spells and without a reasonable damage output Ciphers would just be CC bots. Soul Ignition definitely needs a Range/DPS nerf, but I think Ciphers on a whole have a couple of issues going on. As a side note: Would seriously recommend a Cipher Utility/CC build. It's pretty good.

Just ran it through, can confirm cultists still attack you on sight which makes sense since they wouldn't be able to identify a fellow worshiper anyway, but during your encounter with the Cult Leader Wymund you have unique dialogue options relating to the Quiet Slave (AKA Skaen.) Chosen dialogue options are obviously cruel, because Skaen is a bastard.

I will also never feel that unmistakable mix of irritation and revulsion caused by Anomen opening his mouth.

Hindsight is 20/20. When they mentioned "memorable companions" I can't imagine they expected so many countless people to suddenly hop on the Elven Romance Love Train Trifecta.

Ranged weapon + Int/Dex Cipher can be pretty immense. Increased duration on their CC abilities and their Damage over Time spells is off the charts insane. In fact, Ciphers are pretty much the poster boys for Intellect being OP.

Hey, at least you didn't have to put up with Anomen pretending that he cared.

Actually, Obsidian hate writing "great evil" plot lines. Can't imagine they're too fond of the speeches either.

Baldur's Gate Invisibility - Turns the target invisible. Pillars of Eternity Dimensional Shift - Trade places with an ally, creating a shockwave and stunning anybody caught between you. Baldur's Gate Magic Missile - Fires magical missiles at the target. Pillars of Eternity Gaze of Adragan - Petrifies enemies within the area of effect. Baldur's Gate Command - Puts the target to sleep. Pillars of Eternity Searing Seal - If an enemy comes into contact with the seal it explodes, dealing burn damage and blinding the enemy. You're right. This works with everything... I can't believe how boring all those Baldur's Gate spells were.

Revengeful... Man, I'm such an idiot sometimes. But yeah, having only reached this point with a Cipher, since my previous beta plays bugged out before reaching the Cultists, I'm assuming this is Cipher only. Given that the class is linked so closely to influencing the souls of others. Feel free to tell me if I'm wrong.

I think a Cipher can clear the girl's mind of the revengeful souls in Blood Legacy. I'm not 100% on that because the beta crashed as I was fighting the Cultists and as a result I couldn't finish the quest, but the option is definitely there.

Cipher. Might + Int. Soul Ignition. I no longer consider Chanters OP.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

I'm sure there's going to be more portraits in the final product, I highly doubt Obsidian are planning to leave us with the limited selection we have now. Try not to panic.

I agree with PrimeJunta. Although weapon damage clearly makes a difference in combat, it's difficult to tell how much of a difference it's currently making. I wouldn't want Obsidian to make too many big changes to the game-play itself until I've had a chance to experience it without all the bugs.