thelee

For OP, just some reminder text that this stacking with mirrored images only works with the escape cape. Because it’s tagged as an item ability it stacks with active abilities. You wouldn’t be able to stack with the rogues normal escape ability.

maxed resolve would be my main tip - i don't have a lot of experience with a riposte build so i'm not sure if you'd be better off with a bashing shield + weapon and shield style for full attack ripostes or whispers for the lower deflection bonus (+4) but an additional riposte. escape would actually be the best defense that a rogue has, +50 deflection unconditionally. hard to keep up though, but if mirror image isn't enough for tough fights, escape could probably fit in at a pinch.

yeah i agree. i honestly don't think it would've been too hard to make sleight of hand functional (what you talk about is pretty much it), but the history of deadfire is that sales at launch underperformed and it took a while to do well, but because of that they just couldn't give deadfire the patch-love it deserved.

you only need 1 sleight of hand for like 95% of pickpocketing. the highest i've seen is like 7, but for like literally hardtack or a fine stiletto. the difficulty isn't based (at least very heavily) on the value of the item, but some stat on the npc themselves, and most npcs have garbage for that stat. most of the value from sleight of hand anyway comes from enabling the "loaded pockets" berath's blessing so you have a chance of getting some decent ingredients or mid-tier magical items for free from pick pocketing, and for the same reason as above you only need like 1 sleight of hand. just a badly designed skill unfortunately and obs never had the time or budget to fix it.

yeah that's right. thinking more on it, it's not as bad as i make it out to be - there are sections of that DLC where you actually fight fire-immune enemies where frost would be useful. it just stands out to me for two reasons - this DLC is particularly hard compared to main game so even if main game has like element-immune sections as well, it's not as bad bc they're comparatively easier. and second, this BoW dynamic is obvious if you pick up Vatnir, since that is when you can pick him up, and it's a bad time to pick him up because half of his bonus spells as a priest are going to be of lower use in the DLC (since half of his bonus spells are frost/water spells) so the elemental immunity/toughness just feels particularly acute.

There's a very comprehensive list here:

what mods? never can necessarily rule out a mod having some stray other behavior, though this seems more deeply rooted into the game. i'd see if you can strip down to just CP/BPM and see if that fixes it. i run a limited CP (bugfixes only) and a german translation improvement mod, and no issues with this for me.

ice/water makes sense rp-wise, but there's a DLC where you'll basically run into frost-immune or extremely-high-frost-defense enemies almost non-stop. it's a strong, strong argument against picking up wildstrike frost. (similar to wildstrike fire. wildstrike shock and corrode are pretty generally useful in comparison). you can still have success picking that wildstrike - it's basically a little bit like becoming a glass cannon. you give up the ability to wreck a certain class of enemies, but you gain the ability to wreck a different class of enemies (there are also frost-vulnerable enemies, and a handful will actually become debuffed with afflictions if hit by a frost effect)

the only similar thing i've ever experienced is weapon proficiency modals persisting even though i've switched weapon slots. but they still go away if i completley unequip the item. @yorname do you have any steps to use to recreate this? because i, too, have never run across this despite looots of gameplay time.

lol sorry, i've been only using this in conjunction with a paladin and a chanter, mostly passiv ehealing from chanter (ancient memory) and occasional burst healing from paladin (lay on hands). the healing is decent, but on potd it's not enough on its own. a partial healer from another class (a priest if not paladin or chanter) is needed. edit: if you want to stick with the general theme of the build, a lifegiver instead of an animist would give it a massive boost in healing effectiveness, and you'd trade off some general utility and summons (you can replace with some debuff/buff spells instead). between all the off-tanking and party support plus lethandria's devotion and a couple of lifegiver heals you could probably carry any party on potd (lifegiver is really good) with just a bit less overall dps

A new build in the year of our lord 2024? Sure why not. Thought i'd post this build that i have for a merc in my current run, as an illustration of the fun you can have with a blackjacket, and charbuilds don't have to be OMNIPOWERFUL SOLO-CAPABLE BEASTS to be a lot of fun. This is a pure support character with lots of flexibility to slot into your party. Warden - blackjacket, animist (cat form) hearth orlan, stats: 9might, 10con, 15dex, 20perception +1 from bg, 17int, 6resolve skills: alchemy : stealth in a 2:1 ratio, prefer investing in stealth at first abilities: Disciplined Barrage, Winter Wind [get Sunbeam for free] Tanglefoot Fast Runner Fighter Stances (use Adventurer stance), Conjure Lesser Blight* [get The Moon's Light for free] Into the Fray Determination** Tactical Barrage, Spreading Plague [get Returning Storm for free] Snake Reflexes Arms Bearer Out of the Fire, Boiling Spray [get Conjure Blight for free] Quick Switch Unstoppable OR Secret of Rime if you have a source of dex resistance from gear Conquerer Stance, Cleansing Wind [get Plague of Insects for free] Rapid Casting Armored Grace Clear Out, Conjure Greater Blight [get Sunlance for free] Quick Summoning Reaping the Whirlwind Uncanny Luck, Weather the Storm [get Lashing Vine for free] Accurate Empower *: respec out of Conjure Lesser Blight once you have two castings of Conjure Blight (so level 13). Choose Determination or Woodskin, whichever one you still need considering the below point. **: respec out of Determination to Woodskin once you get Lance of the Midwood Stag enchanted with Lord of the Forest Weapon slots: I: The Red Hand, enchanted to push II: Lance of the Midwood Stag early to mid to mid-late game (enchanted with Lord of the Forest), Street Sweeper late game or for special fights, or a Morningstar III: Fire in the Hole main hand, Sungrazer or Keeper of the Flame or Sun and Moon IV: Flail or Club mainhand (depends on party), Lethandria's Devotion offhand shield Suggested gear: Helm of the White Void Swift Hunter's Garb enchanted with dex resistance, or Spider Silk Robe Playstyle: basically you fill all sorts of roles, and you are costantly switching weapon slots as the party needs it. basically impossible to AI script effectively, so you better love micromanaging . i highly recomend that you have an easy-to-remember hotkey for switching weapon sets. - You do some disruption and damage by either using Spreading Plague or Tanglefoot in combination with your various push effects (early on it's a handful of spells). Gives you some a minor amount of survivability assist by disrupting melee enemies, extremely effective if you can pair with a party member who can also hobble or immobilize (frees up your spell casts for more push). Use your Red Hand similarly so when you run out of spells. Clear Out also fills this push job in very well late game. - Use Woodskin and Lance for +2 PL uptime whenever you're casting. Make sure you have uptime on Tactical Barrage as well. With blackjacket it's extremely painless to switch out of Lance if you need to shoot someone or if you need to provide some sustain with Lethandria's Devotion or need to debuff enemies with modals, and switch back to Lance for more spellcasts. - use Out of the Fire to save party members from danger, you can also target yourself to escape enemy engagement. Generally not worth the 2 resources to try it on an enemy until your accuracy is really high vs enemy reflex (missing on this feels real bad, very expensive and you probably needed this to save someone's skin) - switch to your shield weapon slot if you need to stop an enemy from engaging a squishier party member. after you lock an enemy down you can generally switch away and they'll stay on you, i like switching to the Red Hand (when the enemy isn't about to make an attack) so I can then push them repeatedly. - The Moon's Light and Cleansing Wind are good heal spells. Make sure you have +PL (tactical barrage, probably lance). Cleansing Wind is a little ornery around altitude changes and obstacles, so be warned. Supplement by switching to your shield slot if you need more sustain. - Higher level, switch to your blunderbuss weapon slot to do Clear Out, yet another push source (make sure blunderbuss modal is on). Sometimes you'll just wreck enemies if enemy density is high enough. Easy to spam if needed. Switch away to a different eapon slot once enemy density is low. I pair with either Sungrazer or Keeper of the Falme for extra aoe impact, but an alternate is Sun and Moon for bonus PL when you get rid of Lance (see below). - Late game, I give the Lance to another caster (they can still get PL from Woodskin) and I switch to Street Sweeper because of increasing need to clear enemy buffs. Also provides nice deflection bonus you can switch in and out of easily (again, Blackjacket is fun here). Depending on party need, you can instead use a morningstar here for switching into fortitude debuffs. - With your shield prefer a flail or club depending on party need. My party makes great use of a flail because i have a cipher who loves beams, so I use a flail. - conjure blight is a bit underrated (community patch makes them more generally usable if you're up for modding). early game the lesser and normal blights are a good way to waste enemy resources and time (toss the blights next to casters or rogue archers to soak up their spells or blinding/finishing blow attacks) and can also help run interference for squishy foes. greater blight later game actually comes with some handy abilities (most of the time) - e.g. sand blights can blind, ice blights can debuff enemy action speed by -40% in a huge part-friendly area, storm blights can swift your entire party while sickening enemies. greater blights are useful enough that even when you get lashing vine, i don't recommend respeccing out of greater blights. - free druid spells work great when other stuff doesn't work, and is why i pick an animist despite lack of other bonuses. against sickness-immune, replace spreading plague w/ returning storm casts. if you don't need the healing, you can drop a plague of insects. if you already have a summon up, drop some sunlances. against frost/push-immunes or dense enemy packs drop a sunbeam. - early game cat form is a nice way to assist with dps. mid-late game i just use cat form for when i need the action speed boost, your normal weapon capability will be a lot stronger for when you need it (most of the time). - i choose stealth as an early skill because stayin stealthed while you buff up and summon blights and then open with a spell cast works real well. significant diminishing returns, hence why i don't go all the way with stealth (and you can't be stealthed for scripted or other fights). - i choose alchemy because this character doesn't need more demands on action economy and with alchemy you can shift some of the action economy needs to outside of combat. Coral drugs for bonus action speed, or Taru Taru Chew for some bonus action speed (+3 dex) but also better healing/offense (+3 might). Early on I use some other potions at the start of a fight (being stealthed makes it easier to do this), later on once alchemy score gets higher and you have conqueror stance i instead supplement drug use with poison. Poison is easier to use when you get two shots/reload from Red Hand, have +20 acc to the weapon attack from arquebus, Conqueror Stance gives you +10 acc to the poison, and Tactical Barrage gives you +1 PL to poison (ordinarily very hard to scale up). Spider Silk Robe suggested as a possible gear choice as a late game way to boost poisons. I always stock a poison that targets will and another that targets fortitude and pay attention to the defenses of whatever target i'm attacking, which is generally either a caster that no one else can effectively dps down yet, or a really bullet-spongey guy in front that will actually be around long enough to suffer the effects of poison or needs to be hit with a powerful poison effect (like stone poison, or storm toxin). having a morningstar or a club can help with poison use, just make sure you don't apply the poison to your morningstar or club. interestingly, i used to stock heal potions on this character, but it turned out i never used them. even with the blackjacket's weaker fighter recovery, by not being a melee tank or not even a full-time off tank (just an occasional one), that drip of healing tends to be wildly sufficient for most purposes, and you can always switch to your shield slot for more defense and sustain. (even without weapon and shield style, lethandria's devotion being a medium shield gives you quite a bit of resilience against especially weapon-based enemies) anyway, this build isn't going to go solo any fights, but has turned out to be a real effective glue for a party. blackjackets are an extremely fun class to try to squeeze into a party or multiclass. having no cost to switch weapon sets enables a lot of neat tricks (not mentioned here: an incredible cheese opportunity with lethandria's devotion, which i'm deliberately not using)

yes, it's true, even a slightly-optimized vanilla cipher will easily out-generate focus than a psion. however, an optimized vanilla cipher/caster multiclass will never be able to out-generate the focus gen of a psion/caster multiclass. an early psion build i did was a psion/lifegiver. that thing carried my party for similar reasons to boeroer's post. if my party needed buffs or healing, i excelled at that and did that. by the time i was done casting spells i had tons of focus for cipher powers. i would basically switch between being a psion or a support caster and i basically always had uptime with spell casting. whereas a normal, un-cheesed cipher *has* to spend time physically attacking to generate focus, a psion/caster multiclass essentially generates focus by casting spells from the other caster. also i think you're underestimating the power of being able to endlessly spam powers. it is true that objectively speaking a normal cipher can out-generate a psion, no normal cipher can indefinitely paralyze-lock an enemy - at some point they have to stop and attack for a while. a high level psion can in fact indefinitely do so, and in fact i set up some AI scripts at a certain point that would either spam burst or mental binding and it is shocking in how many fights you can get away with doing this and trivialize them. that being said, a SC psion is not nearly as powerful as a MC psion IMO. if you really want to get to tier 9 powers you can, but you only get slightly more focus generation while still having a lot of drawbacks. a caster multiclass pretty much covers the main drawback of a psion, which is well worth losing tier 8 or 9 cipher powers. edit to add: historically there was a lot of skepticism about psion when it was first released in patch 4.0. and the thing is, there's a lot to be skeptical about, if you imagine playing a psion is just like playing a normal cipher. but in truth, a psion ends up playing very differently than a normal cipher, and is very powerful at that alternate playstyle. for me it was really a "see it to believe it" kind of mental switch i had to do.

i'd also suggest that if you haven't played psion before but are interested, you really should give it a try. when you're thinking about focus generation, keep in mind that a psion continues to generate focus *while you cast powers/spells* which i feel is a bit of an unobvious interaction, or at least easy to understimate in terms of impact. this means that with the right stats/gear as you progress to higher levels you can cast tier 1 and then tier 2 powers indefinitely (you literally generate more focus passively then consume... you can nonstop interrupt [from the telekinetic burst psion power] or paralyze-lock [mental binding] enemies) and you get a substantial amount of the focus on higher powers back. add in some other spell casting from a multiclass and you'll find yourself flush with focus every time you switch back to casting powers.

the advantage is that you get a cipher w/ basically zero downtime. it's less "what does this cipher add to the caster," it's "what does this caster add to the cipher". borrowed instinct is good but is not the reason you want to do a psion/caster multiclass. more generally rather it's that you get the versatility of a multiclass caster w/out the negative action economy of having to actively generate focus, and a psion/caster multiclass mitigates the early game issues of having very slow focus generation (and late game issues where you take incidental damage or are waiting for high-level powers). you augment the cipher, not vice versa. the question is more akin to "how does adding caster to psion compare to adding fighter/ranger/monk" versus your original "how does adding psion to caster compare to adding fighter/ranger/monk"

the strange thing is that this definitely used to work, i remember chaining caltrops together and doing a decent chunk of damage. i wonder if it's one of the handful of things that got broken with the TB mode patch.

isn't there some armor that has this effect riding on a disengagement attack?

trap accuracy is a weird vestige from poe1 imo, but i think it's fine. ideally it should function like other skills and each point grant correct bonus PL to traps - i think that would fix some of the damage weirdness, but i doubt this is fixable with modding. traps should do more than priest seals imo - traps are expensive and (essentially, excluding tedious vendor resets) finite, whereas seals are repeatable for every single encounter (even more than once/encounter w/out berath's challenge and you break up a fight) i think there should be a pretty good payoff for using one of the trap effectivenss effects. since traps are one and done for a character (unlike seals can't be set in combat). if traps are upgraded to do decent damage across the board (basically not a complete rounding error), it's still good to basically give traps-oriented characters a capstone. 25% just for damage is not meaningful IMO (it'd be a whole other thing if it also boosted durations, or actually granted trap PL, that would be better since currently most of the value from traps IME are long-lived affliction durations [once you have tons of scaling] or interrupts at start for free)

w/out knowing what the actual cause of the bug is, i think those kinds of traps need much stronger up-front effects (maybe long-lived durations for afflictions) [other traps have useful other effects i think] and all traps need significantly higher damage. the effects (was it jester's boots? and the sss soulbound rapier?) that increase trap effectiveness need to easily be 2x-ed IMO

thanks! i definitely missed that post when it came up. i've been working on an update right now, i'll be sure to add it to the update as well. wow i've been doing the wrong mini-strategy for dual-wielding equipment for literally years

um Tekehu loses access to normal summons (on both the chanter and druid side). i think you might keep lashing vine at tier 7, and you get his special water whip and watery double, but you miss out on pretty much everything else (though the watery double one is meta-game-able)

please please please please please please please please please please please please fix traps before you close the book on this patch (who knows if we get another) it is probably the single biggest mechanically broken thing in the game: do this and i'll send a hand-written letter of effusive thanks to the obsidian dev team

what does that mean? i guessed it might be french but my high school french is absolutely useless these days sounds good, i almost never take the existing passive as-is my main concern is the symmetry; that mid-high level paladin-type enemies are already super annoying to kill because of how tanky they are and this would make them even more so. *thumbs up*. enemies consciously disengaging is so rare that i think the fighter disengagement attack boost (Overbearing Guard) also needs some kind of buff (if you haven't already), and that one's arguably much better than the monk disengagement.

my honest response: "there were summonable weapons in poe1??" i doubt they were as good, i stopped with the ogres and used them to solo the final boss fight. summons need to die for pallegina to get resources as an SC paladin, and sumoned weapons aren't going to die nearly as quickly as the skellies from the skeleton chant (and frankly you don't want your weapons to die, they are far more useful alive than in the form of zeal for pallegina IMO). that dragon summon is great. it's kind of a rough choice because multiclassing a chanter is very tempting, but the dragon summon is a really good payoff if you do choose to invest in an SC chanter. absolutely huge, has literally thousand+ health. i've said it before on these forums a bunch, but it's so tough i've used it to facetank megabosses (its natural immunity to corrode helps especially against the slime megaboss). and while it doesn't have a scaling weapon like the summoned weapons, it has tons of power levels so its abilities scale incredibly well: it has two uses of a fire breath attack, three uses of a knock down ability, and two uses of a cone-wide tail lash; while its sustained autoattack won't be nearly as good as the summoned weapons, it can burst out a ton of damage with those abilities since you can use them as soon as it appears, in a wide area. in easier trash fights you can probably one-hit KO a bunch of enemies with a single tail lash or fire breath.

nah, my tests were a while ago, but i'm 99% sure that i did a test where i counted and it ended way too early. if i were to guess, i'd say that every time a bounce spell is about to bounce, it checks num_bounces <= max_bounces and that max_bounce number dynamically changes. it just is very very rare (borderline impossible outside of bellower and eld nary) for this to actually matter. edit: rather than try to search my memory, i checked my guide where pretty much everything in there has been tested or verified some other way, and i did indeed a note about it not working with eld nary back in 2019 (wow the years have really gone by!)

the summoned weapons do tons of damage (they are the only chanter summons that actually scale their equipment with your level, so they get up to legendary enchantment), and each weapon comes with many uses of an ability - the important one IMO is the one that comes with knock down. you can spam up to 11 uses of knock down - give it a quick hotkey and use shift to queue up multiple uses on a tough foe and you can lock them down. the fact that they scale their equipment means they basically outclass all other summons for damage once they become available, and likely even do better than the tier 9 dragon for pure damage (but the tier 9 dragon has other advantages).