dirigible

Jartan - if you have to rest more than once per map then I think maybe you need to, forgive me for saying this, get good. Why are you taking so much damage? Is your tank not doing their job? Are you not cc'ing enemies when you should? Could you be setting up ambushes to minimize your wear?

How??

So is there any known fix for this?

So yeah, this might be why I love Fan of Flames so much.... Here's my entire party sitting inside the AoE, without being in danger of taking damage...

Yeah I ran into this too. It DID kind of feel like Aloth's AoEs were too good....

Eh... Necrotic Lance has a range of 5m. Fan of Flames also has a range of 5m, but it's range also increases with Intelligence. Lance DOES deal more damage (about 7 more damage), but it takes 5 seconds for all of that damage to happen. In my book, Fan of Flames is by far the best nuke spell. Unrelated, but uh... guys... I think my Aloth might be broken.

Well, the main thing is the 50% increase in Attack Speed (which, unless I'm mistaken, also applies to casting speed). Yeah, I have to agree. Any build which forces you to rest every 5 fights is pretty bad. Still, at least Spirit Shield would help them not get interrupted. +30 Concentration.

I think they wanted to make sure low level spells continued to be useful, even later in the game. But yes, the balance is terrible, and it's not just for wizards. So far, out of the first 4 levels of wizard spells, Fan of Flames is by far the best damage spell. @CaptainMace "necrotic lance is the best lvl 1-2 single target damage burst" Well, Necrotic Lance deals 35-45 damage, and Fan of Flames deals 40-55 damage (in a huge aoe).

I don't know if you were trying to make a joke or not, but there is a rogue talent that does exactly that - the first attack 2 seconds into combat. And I like the sneak attack in this game. The 50% damage buff rogues get when the target qualifies (when it's diabled etc.) is much more rewarding then cheesing 30xstealth multiplier like in Skyrim. At least you can combo the sneak attacks in PoE with (even rogue!) abilities. Yeah, I'd forgotten it was a talent (thought it was a basic class ability), but I'd actually like if it were available to everyone. Kind of off-topic, but I think a lot of the basic talents are boring.

I think a lot of this could be solved with smarter level design. For example, travelling to your Stronghold (load screen), then running up to your house and entering (load screen), and then running to the top floor (load screen), resting (cut scene), then running back down (load screen), exiting the house (load screen), and leaving the Stronghold (load screen). Why not just put the bed on the first floor of the house? Or, when travelling to a map destination, why not let us choose to load straight into a certain location there?

I don't put heavy armor on anyone unless I plan for that person to be tanking. My ranger, priest, and wizard are all wearing robes or plain clothing, because I have them sit behind my warrior and monk. You could make a wizard-tank, and in that situation, full plate might be a good idea.

Untrue. Source: Bestiary & Combat Log. Add in the fact that different spells can reduce different stats. Mushroom monsters have very very low Deflection for example. Trolls are not an exception. For example it's far easier for my Cipher to AoE reduce reflex with Mental Binding and follow up with Fireball from Aloth than it is with Fortitude and Noxious Blast. Just picking out 5 random monsters from the Bestiary, and their defenses Black Ooze 29, 39, 29, 51 Rain Blight 40, 47, 55, 34 Specter 75, 55, 69, 78 Forest Troll 31, 66, 26, 13 Will'o'whisp 58, 17, 48, 48 So the first three are perfect examples of what I'm talking about. None of their defenses are particularly good or bad. Their highest defense is within ~20 points of their lowest defense. Not enough for me to want to switch spellbooks. The last two are kind of opposites. Forest Trolls have 1 exceptionally good defense (fort), while Whisps have one exceptionally bad defense (also fort). If I were fighting a lot of trolls, or a lot of whisps then I would alter my spellbook, but you typically only fight them intermittently. Then you can look at the creatures which are fought most often. Guls, Darguls, Skeletons (of all types), Wichts, Shades, Specters... you fight a lot of these enemies. And none of them have particularly stellar (or poor) defenses.

I'd personally like a sneak attack talent. like Element of Surprise (Offensive Talent) All attacks made in the first second of combat gain a damage and accuracy bonus equal to 3x your Stealth skill.

Trolls are an exception, in this game. They have one defense (Fortitude) which is extremely high, while all the others are low. MOST enemies in the game aren't like this. Meaning that for MOST enemies in the game, Noxious Burst is simply a much better version of Fireball. Unless I were walking into a Troll-themed dungeon, I wouldn't even bother altering my spellbook. Not to mention that Fan of Flames also targets Reflex and deals fire damage, but also deals MORE damage and over a bigger area.

Looking at the wizard self-target buffs, yes and no. Some of them (eldritch aim, deleterious alacrity) can be quite good in major fights. +15 accuracy to all your spellcasting can be a huge difference when you're throwing out AoEs. Some of them (flame shield, stone skin) seem pretty pointless unless you're using your wizard as your main tank. Which just from looking at the wizard spells actually seems pretty do-able, but it means those spells are worthless if you're using your wizard like back-lines artillery. A lot of the priest AOE buff spells seem really terrible to me, though. Prayer Against Restraint. Level 3 priest spell. +50 defense against hobbled and stuck, for 30 seconds (5m range, 2.5m radius) I haven't ever used this ^ spell, and I probably never will. Especially when I could cast Suppress Affliction Level 2 priest spell Negates all negative status effects for 15 seconds (5m range, 2.5m radius, affects Allies only)

Fireball is weirdly weak (and pointless) in this game. Fan of Flames, a level one spell, deals 40-55 base damage. Fireball, a level THREE spell, deals only 25-35 base damage. I really don't know why you would ever use Fireball when Noxious Burst exists. It's also a level three spell, but deals more damage AND sickens anyone caught in the blast.

Yea, but now you have to buff DURING combat all the while enemies are trying to chew on you. And some of them are chewing quite hard right from the start of combat. So I don't think it's better, it seems it's just different for being different sake. I also don't get why can't a rogue backstab ppl out of combat. You can only cast buffs inside combat. Result: you have to decide whether buffing is worth it, vs repositioning your party or throwing out a damaging spell. It makes buffing part of the combat mechanics. Also, you CAN backstab people "out of combat" (if your stealth is high enough to get that close before being discovered). In addition, all attacks made within the first 2 seconds of combat count as sneak attacks.

I can't say I sympathize with people who get nostalgic for BG's combat system. The combat mechanics were always the worst part of that game. They weren't great in 1998 and they still aren't today. If you think that mage spells can't make a difference in PoE, you're wrong. An AoE blind, or knockdown, or confuse, is devastating when properly placed. If you think that mage spells can't be placed properly, then STACK MORE INTELLIGENCE. Intelligence increases AoE size, and teammates are never hurt by spells if they're inside that bonus area. If you complain that combat isn't tactical, and then complain about engagement... I just don't know what to say. Have you tried using the abilities based around engagement? If you pine for the days when you could stealth in and assassinate the enemy mage, then I highly suggest you try training up stealth in PoE and setting up a coordinated attack on an enemy. 6 simultaneous attacks from your party of arquebus-weilding mofos will turn most things in the game into a fine red mist.

Seconding the requests for more stat information. So far I think the game is great, but the quality of feedback for the player is - at times - abysmal. What does "Average" speed mean, and why are there two different weapons which are both "Average" speed, and yet attack at different rates? You could solve this problem by just giving us hard numbers. If a War Bow takes 50 frames per attack and a Hunting Bow takes 40 frames, then tell us that!! At least then I'll have some definite way to compare them. If you're scared of using words like "frames", then just say Attack Speed: 40, and then on the glossary page for attack speed indicate that ASP 30 = 1 attack per second. I also have this problem with movement speed. How fast do I move? Is +2 movement speed a huge increase or nothing at all? The only way for me to test this is to get in a fight, cast a movement-altering effect, and then run around while the fight is going on trying to figure out how much faster I am. That's terrible! Please, Obsidian - I love your game but it's beyond frustrating when I can't figure out what stats actually mean.

Created an account to comment on this. While I think you guys are moving in the right direction, I think the system you use could be a bit more powerful while also being a bit more realistic. When two people are fighting each other, they are both attacking conservatively. Neither is going to wildly swing their weapon because they will probably get stabbed. So actual melee combat is a careful balance between offense and defense. In a situation where one combatant is unthreatened they are able to attack much more effectively, because they do not have to worry about being counterattacked. They don't need to worry about feinting or leaving themselves open. They just swing/thrust to kill. I would translate that same phenomenon to the game. If a combatant is not being threatened by their target, then they would get a large bonus to their attack. This means that simply trying to walk around a fighter will get you your **** slapped, since you are not threatening them. This mechanic would also allow for things like rogue backstabs (coming out of the shadows, they are not being threatened, so they get to do a powerful attack). Or flanking attacks - since most units could only threaten one enemy at a time, ganging up becomes very effective. Just a thought.