[Scroll of Great Abjuration, Arcana and Accuracy]

do you happen to have a screenshot from when you tried?

it's possible it might be coded wrong and doesn't have a 0 innate power level.

[Whats better, deadfire or Baldurs gate?]

12 hours ago, yorname said:

I've seen people arguing that the Larian style of terrain utilizing and verticality are hard to adapt for RT or RTwP, but I don't know, isn't using Z-axis already in modern ACT or general RPGs? Maybe it's something technical, rather than a design problem?

i dunno what "ACT" stands for here. but i think the two big problems is that 1) it would be too chaotic, and 2) a lot of the more interesting tactical plays really only work as an artifice of turn-based mode.

as an example of the 2): you can shove enemies off cliffs because they're just patiently waiting for their turn. in RTwP they would be running towards you, the window of time to do a fatal shove is like a fraction of a second. another example (with a direct analogue to deadfire): blowing up barrels or creating surfaces near/on enemies. in deadfire, there are actually those essence batteries and barrels stuff that you can try to blow up, but they are mostly practically impossible to use in the intended manner. you have to basically tank an enemy right next to one of them, in such a way where your tanker is out of range but the enemy is not, because otherwise you have like 1 second to blow up the battery/barrel before the enemy gets out of range. in BG3, if an enemy is standing next to an explosive hazard, that enemy will politely wait for their turn while you explode it.

as for the chaos in 1), as it stands a lot of people already struggle with RTwP. my honest take on this is that it's a skill issue - people aren't pausing nearly as aggressively as they "should." but ultimately the gamer is right because the gamer is the customer. if you add a bunch of environmental interactions and effects, you start to demand an awful lot from the player.

[Terms of Trade not triggering]

i think if you resolve Storms of Poko Kohara, you can resolve Terms of Trae later w/out having explicitly gotten it yet since it's tied up with the resolution of the adra crystal. 

[[CLASS BUILD] LORATH - Death Godlike Shaman (Corpse Eater / Priest of Berath), The "Ultimate Herald of Berath"]

i continue to find it frankly baffling that some folks can actually play the game fair (even for just the earlier parts of the game) when solo. neat build

[What makes a build/playthrough boring in your opinion?]

On 4/27/2024 at 7:48 AM, yorname said:

my problem is that combat becomes really uninteractive and repetitive. It's always queueing up a few buffs from Xoti, then blindly throw whatever spells I have and it's over. It's one of the few runs that I almost never needed support from the paladin.

this. i've definitely had some builds that were objectively good but just mind-numbingly boring to play because they were so uninteractive. i had no problem abandoning them. the biggest one was a barbarian+fury that was geared up with PLs and every fight would just go frenzy -> all relentless storm -> all returning storm and then just dump out any the other spells. there just wasn't much to it at all, not even much movement, and there wasn't much enemies could specifically do to require decision-making on my part other than being lightning immune.

one of my early builds i posted around was the streetfighter+priest of wael combo ("umezawa" build i called it) and that stands out in contrast to the above of not only being a good build but also a blast to play because of how interactive it was.

[Can't choose between Monk, Priest or Druid for full series playthrough]

7 hours ago, Chaospread said:

But, the initial question was "why poe2 durid are less powerful of poe1?" and so, we have to exclude tier 9 cause it doesn't exist in poe1, and as we are saying, tier 6, 7 and 8 are better in poe1, aren't they?

well, the question can't be answered by directly comparing abilities and tiers between games, the question really has to be answered by how the classes actually perform within the context of their games. relative to poe1, i don't think druids had anything remotely like tier 9 spells in terms of overall impact in poe1, which makes them better in poe2. same thing with their heals - in poe1 their heals had problems with not stacking with each other or with vaguely similar abilities (barbarian regen and even fighter recovery iirc), whereas in deadfire they stack with everything if they're not just robust inspirations, which makes them much better as healers in deadfire.

 

7 hours ago, Chaospread said:

wasn't Rot Skull patched? i'm running a Priest of Berath and it seems to me that penetration now is 6. Maybe priest spell isn't bugged and druid's is? See my sreenshot, its PEN also scales:

maybe it's different? i definitely ended up installing the BPM (bugfixes only) as a fix, and it's listed as one of the things that it fixes. it could be that the priest of berath spell always worked correctly.

[Can't choose between Monk, Priest or Druid for full series playthrough]

3 hours ago, Chaospread said:

In the meanwhile I keep thinking 6 tier wiz and priest is better than druid, 8 you have only avenging storm in practice (despite it is almost cheese) and 9 tornado is too slow, and if you have great maelstrom you ended to cast only it. I don't like "trail" spell like pollen patch and I play solo, does revive effect of Pollen Patch work in/for solo? If so I can say level 9 spells are good indeed.

tier 6 priest is better than anything because that's where they Salvation of Time which unlocks so much cheese . if you play fairly, I think tier 6 druid is still very very good. venombloom and garden of life are primo. rot skulls is great if you install the deadfire BPM (bugfixes at least) so it doesn't have 0 PEN. the other spells are still decent (i made a lot of use of blights in one of my last runs, they come with repeating abilities that can be very handy; sunlance isn't as good as in poe1 (no lash) but still can do a great amount of single-target damage).

you're right that tier 8 you pretty much only have avenging storm in practice, but even if you play it "fairly" it's very very good IMO.

the reason why pollen patch is so good is because if you empower it while wearing least unstable coil, each heal tick procs another inspiration (and you can proc extra heal ticks through some interactions with movement), eventually netting you brilliant. and the way empower on buffs works, if you re-cast pollen patch normally, the game still "remembers" the original empowered status, so you have a built-in perpetual resource regeneration. great for solo, extremely great in parties (since the entire time you're proccing inspirations you're also healing your party). if you play fairly, not too useful solo, but still very very good for parties, it's an immense amount of total healing that also revives, great for longer fights (where greater maelstrom might not finish off the fight).

tornado is still a great level 9 spell, it's just that it gets utterly demolished by greater maelstrom (as does pretty much any other spell IMO in terms of ending fights). if you want to do something "different" it's still a great alternative choice.

i think the only real loser is the shapeshifting one at tier 9.

[Can't choose between Monk, Priest or Druid for full series playthrough]

On 4/27/2024 at 9:03 AM, Chaospread said:

they have bad tier 6, 7, 8 and 9 spells, only exceptions are Great Maelstrom and Avenging Storm (but this one is maybe better in poe1). So single class is near a non-sense powerful-wise for a druid, they can skip tier 8 and 9 for a multiclass optrion.

i have strong disagreements with this. Great Maelstrom, Tornado, Pollen Patch are absolutely abusively powerful tier 9 spells. A single-class druid can carry a party in the way a single-class monk can. They're so powerful they honestly make the game boring, even on PotD with challenges. Avenging Storm is obviously very cheesy. The only tier I think there are gaps is tier 7.

[Seals damage wrong or seals tooltip wrong?]

1 hour ago, Chaospread said:

Anyway, or the spell is bugged, or the tooltip is wrong, isn't it?

either/or.

this unfortunately has been an issue since 1.0, believe me i've personally reported it multiple times. even without modifiers, the damage that seals do in practice is under what the base tooltip is.

i think the root cause is that seals create hazard effects, and hazards are handled really really really weird in the game. Walls are also hazards and behave weirdly (like they get partial assassinate bonuses from assassin and don't break stealth), but seals in particular are very weird because walls at least do their stated damage. The biggest thing is that yes, they do a fraction of the tooltip damage, and I don't know why. For this reason they are mostly useful for their secondary effects (prone for repulsing, interrupt for warding, and blind for searing) and the ability to cast them from stealth outside of combat (which lets you refresh a spell slot).

[Start with berath or without?]

hi, i don't think your question makes sense? You have to go through Berath in order to start Deadfire.

[Whats better, deadfire or Baldurs gate?]

slight thread necro, but

  

On 3/3/2024 at 2:46 AM, SenSx said:

Then you have Pathfinder games, but with hard accessibility reputation I haven't tried it yet.

Also it is one of those RPG that forces the tabletop adaptation, imo it's not always for the best...

Kingmaker and especially Wrath of the Righteous are extremely inaccessible IMO. Very relentless curve to learn the extremely complicated mechanics quickly and very punishing for suboptimal builds. Some people are really into that aspect, though. I ended up having to watch a ton of youtube build videos (despite being familiar with 3/3.5e, the PF1e ancestors) because I was getting extremely overwhelmed by the mechanics and decision points.

 

On 3/3/2024 at 2:46 AM, SenSx said:

BG3, I hope it's as good as people say it is...

Tabletop adaptation worries me, I hope combats are still good.

i only played a couple of casual 5e sessions, but imo BG3 is better thought of as an immersive sim RPG (immersive sim = think like the Prey remake which had very open mechanics and world exploration) that just happens to have a D&D 5e flavor, than a D&D 5e game. Lots of very important mechanics that are Larian specials and not D&D rules (the massive interactions with surfaces of various types, extreme verticality, interesting itemization [I don't think stuff like Lightning Charges or Arcane Acuity are D&D]). Even when they are D&D rules, Larian adapts them in a way that make them pretty special or distinct (jumping is a lot easier, the extreme verticality makes athletics a very valuable skill, etc). Combat in BG3 is legit great and is a great argument for turn-based, i don't think it could possibly work as well in RTwP. edit: put another way, if I spend an hour in a single battle in pathfinder crpgs, or classic BG, it's extremely annoying or something has gone really badly. Spending an hour in combat in Deadfire or BG3: very satisfying.

[[BUG]? Scroll of Chain Lighting doesn't consider level bonus damage, damage malus of bounces and number of bounces]

2 hours ago, Chaospread said:

The last doubt I keep is for bounces, I'm not sure to see always 10 bounces, maybe I'll retry and then report my logs

as i mentioned chain lightning will not bounce back to enemies you've already hit. So if there are three enemies:

A, B, C

and you target A, chain lightning will bounce to B and then to C and then be unable to find another target it hasn't already hit, and give up.

 

some abilities will bounce repeatedly. If you cast firebug, then what will happen is: you target A, firebug will bounce to B, and then to C, and then bounce again randomly to A or B and then again, and then again, etc until all bounces are exhausted.

 

So the number of bounces you see on the tooltip for Chain Lightning is not what you'll see in practice, unless there are lots of enemies. Some abilities bounce to enemies they've already hit, some don't, there's no real pattern, and there's no way to really know without just manually testing.

[DoT Build Help]

if you're playing assassin, i might actually suggest might instead of perception (or skip both and just do dexterity). Sneak attack doesn't boost druid DoT damage, and the assassinate bonus will make up for deficiencies in accuracy, just make sure you hit enemies from stealth and only use smoke veil or potions of invisibility (don't use shadowing beyond in combination with spells, it's very flaky, see here: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/227477-pillars-of-eternity-ii-deadfire/faqs/76599/invisibility-vs-stealth or the assassin section here: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/227477-pillars-of-eternity-ii-deadfire/faqs/76599/rogue)

 

but intellect is definitely highest priority.

 

i've actually been thinking of doing a similar build myself, and personally i think i'd move away from the lance or the spine despite the overall druid benefits. there are some other stat sticks to use that might be more in sync with a rogue's martial capabilities, like griffin's blade (enchanted to offer +10% spell damage) or azure blade (ancient's mushroom summons will help keep the accuracy bonus procced, and the interrupt chance works with spells: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/126748-list-of-weapons-whose-properties-are-not-limited-to-themselves-ii/)

 

though if you do stick with druid's reliable quarterstaff or pike weapons, they might make for good backstab candidates

 

[[BUG]? Scroll of Chain Lighting doesn't consider level bonus damage, damage malus of bounces and number of bounces]

it's very possible that the PL adjustment is applied directly to the roll. This happens with martial abilities most obviously (the ones that say "full attack" or "primary attack"), if you empower them there's no evidence of a damage boost in the combat log calculations but you'll definitely be rolling numbers well outside what should be possible. i haven't tested scrolls extensively, but ISTR that they should be getting all the correct PL bonuses and it might be that they just get the damage adjustments directly to their rolls.

2 hours ago, Chaospread said:

Another thing, the bounce: in the tooltip there a -10% malus for the bounce, but in the log the second bounce have -19% malus... so does the bounce have a cumulative -10% maluce each hit?

it's cumulative with inversions, which is similar (but not as strong as) to combining multiplicatively. So the last bounce will be really weak. (This hurts the druid's Firebug a lot, which has a -25% malus, so after just a few bounces you're doing piddling damage.)

2 hours ago, Chaospread said:

Ad, finally, in tooltip I read of 10 bounces, but if a bounce doesn't it are the successive bounces stopped from propagation?

IIRC, all bounce effects in Deadfire continue to bounce even if one bounce misses. This is different from PoE1 where a miss would stop all bouncing (very annoying). However, abilities in Deadfire vary on whether or not they are allowed to re-affect an enemy they already hit. Chain Lightning will not bounce back to an enemy it already hit, so very often you'll get way fewer hits than you expect. (By contrast, the aforementioned Firebug will happily bounce back to foes it already hit, which helps make up for its massive malus.) If I had to hazard a guess, I would say most bounce effects re-affect an enemy, Chain Lightning is just among a handful of exceptions, probably for balance reasons (I would guess Cleansing Flame also doesn't re-affect enemies).

[Whats better, deadfire or Baldurs gate?]

3 hours ago, De_jesus said:

From a production standpoint, it is hard to even compare them. Far and away Baldur's Gate wins in that regard. Combat also offers more "versatility"; not necessarily better, but the ability to leverage your terrain, shove, fly, etc. is a big plus. I would LOVE to see Deadfire with the same production value.

note - OP is asking about BG1 and 2, not BG3.

[Heaviest trick with weapons switch]

2 hours ago, Elric Galad said:

Out of all the ways I've read on how to cheese Dorudugan, this one is arguably the most elegant. 

no kidding.

dorudugan has just collapsed from being a tough puzzle to crack for any given party, to being the easiest megaboss, that literally any setup can take on (with enough time). no needing to worry about resource management or generation, or stacking on defenses or accuracy bonuses, or timing knock ups, dodging fireballs, etc

[Heaviest trick with weapons switch]

2 hours ago, Chaospread said:

Hi, how can the chanter summon skellies if she/he is locked switching weapons?

"many lives" is a chant that automatically plays, bypassing normal action economy and recovery. so you'll be creating skeletons even if you're busy weapon switching (albeit weak skeletons).

[Whats better, deadfire or Baldurs gate?]

To me, it's very very hard to compare the games. They're basically separated by decades. BG1 & 2 are great games, but even the enhanced editions really show their age. BG1's writing is pretty torturous (a lot of faux-middle-ages dialogue), and you'll do tons of aimless wandering through identical-looking and vast, empty wilderness (i basically keep a walkthrough open so i know where to go on any map for the interesting stuff). BG2 has much better writing and better area design, but the system is just creakingly dated compared to more modern CRPGs.

 

to the actual meat of the question, you should just go for Deadfire for now. Then if you're still hankering for more party-based iso-style CRPGs, I would do Wrath of the Righteous or Kingmaker. And if you're still trying to scratch the itch, then go for Baldur's Gate 1 & 2. like xzar_monty said, even if you play a lot of these games to death, there's only a handful of them with no time horizon for more, so you'll probably eventually find your way to Baldur's Gate 1 or 2 in the end. though personally I would skip straight to 3 unless you really want the isometric experience.

[[5.0 class build] fighter/druid - let's have fun doing support!]

2 hours ago, Constentin Lévine said:

Edit : I take a pic showing Dorudugan stunned by his own recovery time after his first hit, at the mercy of my level 13 party. But i cant add a pic (i have already so much content in My Attachement section).

wow awesome. this might be the easiest dorudugan tech yet.

you don't even need blackjacket for this, am i right? because unlike the recovery reduction stuff, you don't care whether or not your blackjacket (or whomever) ever gets a turn again, you're just dedicating whomever has this weapon to just perma-extending the recovery of the enemy, even if they're forever stuck trying to recover from weapon switching.

[[5.0 class build] fighter/druid - let's have fun doing support!]

8 hours ago, Constentin Lévine said:

Riposte dont interrupt the permanent switch, so a chanter - rogue can be potent to buff the party at melee range !

Some weapons that can be nice to try on the second (or third if you write a script that include 3 weapons's slots of course) :

Shattered Vengeance (early game) : since the engagement bonus will stop enemies at range, like a CC effect.

Acolyte's Frostbite : for the riposte and the concentration (I guess the layer should be refreshed on weapon switch) when there is no ally around,

 

i don't understand these. what do you mean "riposte"? and what do you mean "engagement bonus will stop enemies at range?"

[[5.0 class build] fighter/druid - let's have fun doing support!]

8 hours ago, Constentin Lévine said:

Edit : as suspected, Charged Field aura from Thundercrack pistol extend at the infinity the action time for everyone with a shield or a heavy armor in the aura (self excepted). I try in the tavern and Harami, Birta, the xaurip etc was charging at the infinity their actions. During this time I took a cup of cofee. I will write a topic about that tomorrow, with your credit @tackthumb for the seed that give the idea!

 

did this end up working with dorudugan???

[[5.0 class build] fighter/druid - let's have fun doing support!]

14 minutes ago, tackthumb said:

However, Sasha's Singing Scimitar does work like this. Not only that, but the Companion's Prelude upgrade works on the whole party like you speculated! So a Black Jacket / Chanter with this weapon can infinitely reduce recovery for your entire team by pausing and repeatedly weapon swapping. That's a pretty insane feature for that particular multiclass!

omg that sounds zany. would be insanely micromanagement heavy, but for those up for the task...

i actually had a build in poe1 bc there was a unique item that reduced weapon switch times, but combined with poe1's quick switch you actually had less than 0s weapon switch recovery time, which meant it reduced whatever recovery you had active. even though it was a lot of micromanagement, i definitely did do that to have a caster who could basically empty their spellbook at the start of a fight. glad to see that it turns out that the idea is alive and well today

[[5.0 class build] fighter/druid - let's have fun doing support!]

2 hours ago, Constentin Lévine said:

Do you mean, when you recover to a spell and pause the game, if you click on the weapon set (to switch quickly between them), are you able to reduce nearby 0s your recovery time ? Yes it is cheese but it is just a question to think about an reovery alternative to Outworn Burckler trick.

i think they just mean when you recover you can switch to the squid weapon slot and your recovery will go faster because you now have an active +20% action speed bonus.

what's the outworn buckler trick?

[[5.0 Sidekick Build] Fassina, The Venomous Vailian (Sorcerer)]

On 2/20/2024 at 7:34 AM, yorname said:

Currently playing a sorcerer and it changed my view on conjurer. Their spells aren't ideal on their own but at least they have access to wall of flame, chill fog, freezing pillar etc.

yeah, on paper just looking at spells conjurer looks kinda lame, but they still keep a bunch of good spells (slicken, combusting wounds, and walls) and the +1 PL from familiar goes a long way to smoothing out the higher recovery time on the non-conjuration spells. i probably put it tied up there with enchantment for second place wizard subclass in terms of what I like to use (evocation is GOAT-ed i think).

[[5.0 class build] fighter/druid - let's have fun doing support!]

those are really great suggestions! In particulary, I didn't know that about Squid's Grasp. No micromanagement is too small! I was switching to the medium shield weapon slot in between attacks just for the slight health gen and defense boost.

and yeah, it's funny what having 0s weapon switch can do. For me, for other characters, it's a stretch to even pick up Arms Bearer for a third weapon slot, but with my blackjacket I found myself wanting more than 4, just because of how effortlessly you can switch around to take advantage of the smallest boosts. (I wanted to do Bronlar's as well but that went to a companion. Similar thing with the cudgel and also (not mentioned here) SSS axe - those also went to a different party member though would've been great here)