Gromnir

no doubt am gonna be in the minority, but am thinking it would be prudent to not make any changes to the official release build based 'pon feedback o' the anticipated final beta build. last second changes and fixes, rushed through testing, lead to predictable problems. reckless assault? most folks likely do not recall, but a number o' modals were utter borked with the poe release. save and reload would result in stacking o' bonuses and penalties which were seeming permanent. took the community more than a few weeks to find a workaround, and took obsidian even longer to fix via a patch. were a problem not evident in any poe beta build as were a fix envisioned and implemented in smallish widow 'tween final beta and actual release o' poe. if obsidian is gonna make changes based 'pon feedback from final beta release, am thinking it may be too late to implement and test such changes in a single month, particular as am willing to bet every available obsidian developer man-hour is already accounted, and well and truly stretched. is the real reason josh posted images o' ydwin: he is hoping elves show up and help finish the game during the hour of the wolf. maybe not exact like the traditional fairytale, but you get the jist. regardless, obsidian should save changes made in reliance 'pon final beta for the first patch. HA! Good Fun!

this kinda thing is getting folks in trouble. with addition o' penetration, absence o' dr and changes in combat speed, it is likely a mistake to use poe as the benchmark. is also different as classes don't have disperate acc and weapon proficiency is complete different--an entire party o' arquebus users is gonna be more viable in deadfire than it were in poe during alpha strike phase as you not need an initial accuracy buff to make many characters accurate enough with the arquebus. arquebus is a great deadfire choice as one also not need consider armour reduction debuffs save for particular pierce-resistant foes. etc. deadfire is different. a party with a couple burst kinda damage dealers, such as paladin/whatever and rogue/whatever, in addition to three other arquebus users, is doing silly alpha damage. deadfire combat is slower than poe, so an alpha strike during which speed is a relative non factor, is even more potent--5 relative high damage attacks, with excessive penetration, all happening simultaneous, is 'bout as fast as is possible in deadfire. even so, as we mentioned earlier, empowered fireballs from wizards, or empowered returning storm for druids, is a tactic worth considering as a replacement for the arquebus. the bursty single class and multiclass weapon users is seeing the comical virtual guaranteed numbers from an arquebus, but frequent when fighting groups, those empowered aoe or duration spells is a superior choice for an alpha 'weapon.' HA! Good Fun!

Hmmm.... First AND Second Amendment protection.... GENIUS! as far as most religions is concerned, we s'pose a nietzschean and symbolic "worship" o' guns or weapons as a kinda statement o' individual empowerment makes sense to us and has appeal as well. (riddle of steel begins at 2:31) am technical catholic, but am suspecting you could say we worship steel... although such is a gross oversimplification. HA! Good Fun!

yeah, the one mechanical/gameplay feature we simple do not understand, insofar as balance and alpha strikes is concerned, is the deadfire arquebus modal. scripted events as we mentioned with saints and skeletons and a few o' the quasi-boss battles akin to the one "in" the adra pillar which at least prevents a stealth alpha, is the ideal fix. enoch already noted how ranged weapons max range were decreased and is unlikely one wants such reduced further. lagufaeth, in wm, were subject to alpha striking, but the developers added large numbers and made 'em so fast moving such that maybe one alpha strike would be possible, but were often not worth the effort... though am genuine not so much in favor o' more such largely mindless swarm tactics from foes to increase challenge. imbalance is rare increasing the enjoyment o' a game. will be people who advocate improvements or changes based sole on some kinda elusive and elastic and highly subjective notions. don't even get us started on immersion or fun labels... as if either mean anything sans specifics. bad balance, however, is a genuine issue for game developers. sure, there is a subjective quality to balance as the degree o' balance needed to make dh happy will likely be different than Gromnir, but put a sword in deadfire which 3x per rest auto kills any enemy on the screen. fun? immersive? balanced? even the most obtuse advocate o' abandoning balance is gonna have a hard time suggesting such a sword does anything good for the game. balance is a real concern; is simple a matter o' finding appropriate balance. if a tactic is so overwhelming useful as to become ritual, it is likely unbalanced and need be looked at with greater scrutiny. alpha strikes, which became less potent in wm 'cause o' encounter design and enemy ai, is once again extreme effective in a large % o' combat situations. am not expecting a fix for deadfire, save perhaps a reduction o' the arquebus modal accuracy. is too late to make widespread changes to encounters and ai, but am hopeful the developers is cognizant o' the issue, and once again rebalance for expansions. HA! Good Fun!

am knowing some folks don't care 'bout balance, but would caution folks who appear to be making suggestions which not only make resolve more appealing, but also empower empower and/or make the characters more powerful. should be trying to avoid such, no? find a scheme which would allow multiple empowers per encounter or numerous more powers per rest w/o serious reducing empower efficacy might just mess with game balance. HA! Good Fun!

why assume a change to max empowers per rest? HA! Good Fun!

it is indeed the path o' prudence to keep changes as simple and straightforward as possible. there will be unforeseen, but predictable, consequences for even the most well conceived fix. we recent noted elsewhere on these boards how many spells, weapons and weapon modals were balanced with the harsh deadfire build #1 in mind, and the softening o' the penetration mechanic led to the emasculation o' a number o' such features, with apparent no effort to rebalance such anytime soon. major overhauls to attributes will necessarily affect spells and consumables and gear and cutscene interactions. stuff which appeared balance before the overhaul will be broken afterwards. furthermore, bugs also is drawn to complex the same way flies is to $&%@. am thinking we need accept how most such suggestions made here and now will, even if adopted, be tempered more than a little. is more thought experiment fodder than anything else, but perhaps something resonates with a developer. can't hurt save for leaving a handful o' overinvested beta folks a bit disappointed. more important, good suggestions made now, and for the next year or so, is gonna no doubt be considered when making a poe 3. HA! Good Fun!

am not certain how to make more clear... likely do not need to. (clarification/edit: this post were not specific directed at enoch, in case such were unclear.) 'cause o' the player ability to almost invariably initiate combat encounters on their own terms, the player has a distinct advantage. enemies begin flat-footed as it were, with no combat buffs or defenses. the player may choose a single particular deadly foe to attempt and erase from the battlefield w/o needing to fend off adds while also certain of being free from afflictions. the player may choose to place traps before combat, or not. the player may choose to use explosives before combat, or not. the player may choose to cast spells which can be cast outside of combat, or not. for deadfire has increased the player's advantage for initiating combat. few non dragon foes may shrug off a fusilade o' multiple, simultaneous and empowered attacks with absolute zero chance to heal or defend 'tween such attacks. enemy options at the instant o' combat = zero. poe1 alpha strike advantages were considerable, but as enoch notes, some such advantages were curbed a bit... none more so than were traps. could kill dragons in less than a minute by using the petrification traps when poe were first released. the thing is, traps are highly efficacious again in deadfire and explosives may also add debuffs, functionally delivered/set before combat even begins. firearm ranges were indeed reduced, but with firecrackers you may lure baddie-nogoodniks into your effective range while also debilitating 'em. and the aforementioned chill fog is a spell with a significant duration which may be cast before combat, has a decent range, causes blindness over a medium area aoe, and is a level 1 wizard spell. player has all the advantages by initiating combat. empower, arquebus modal, explosives and unique multiclass synergies make a player's opening barage even more lethal than it were in poe. HA! Good Fun!

with the 2018 nfl scouting combine starting march 1, this is an appropriate time for a new thread? is two players we see, baring injury, as obvious future all-pros. saquon barkley http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000862809/Saquon-Barkley-highlights quenton nelson particular check from 2:07. ridiculous awareness and athleticism for a guard. march 2 update: both barkley and nelson have been meeting/exceeding expectations in workouts thus far. 29 bench reps for saquon is equalling best for current rbs, and 35 for nelson put him at #2 of ol this year, and significant 'bove average. converse, presumed top 10 pick, ot orlando brown, has been slow and weak. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combine/0ap3000000918824/Which-RBs-made-impressions-during-on-field-workouts march 4 update: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000919386/article/nfl-combine-day-3-winnerslosers-shaquem-griffin-shines HA! Good Fun! ps please do not blame us for music attached to highlights. am recommending mute for both.

if a simple % chance for empower refund ain't deemed sexy enough, along sorta similar lines suggested by wahmann1, am thinking resolve would become much more vital to all classes if there were an encounter delay on empower use which could effective be modified by resolve, though am not immediately seeing a simple and easily understood way to implement. reason why we hated chanters in poe so much were the largely uncontrollable delay 'tween invocations. is one reason we like the skald so much-- is a way to force a quicker inspiration opportunity. have a countdown clock for empower would be admitted maddening, but would discourage us from dumping resolve. have a built-in delay for empower would help avoid the alpha strike empower extremes as well as making resolve more desirable. such a scheme would also be less likely to require an alteration to enemy empowers than other resolve suggestions. if the standard delay for empower use were X seconds following start o' combat, with resolve affecting the rate o' the countdown clock, am seeing how resolve dumpers would be discouraged. sub ten resolve would actual slow the countdown and high resolve would quicken? folks seem to think casters is current getting the fuzzy end o' the lollipop, so such a scheme would have a tendency to favor casters in the current strength-based deadfire beta as 'posed to weapon users. resolve empower countdown + refund chance? dunno if both is necessary. and again, am not certain how to make such a resolve modified countdown work so math is easily understood by players. HA! Good Fun!

backstab and assassinate is ok... in a vacuum. if we were looking at a single vanilla rogue doing their backstabbing at the start o' combat, it wouldn't seem bad. the thing is, even though am current doing most beta runs with companion knock-off parties, am getting ridiculous alpha strike potentials. paladin multi with fod and a barbarian multi doing the barbaric blow schtick in addition to an edér clone doing a simple backstab gouging/confounding blind attack with a powerful weapon, simultaneous with enemies being affected by individual innocuous firecrackers and a trap and chill fog, and immediate followed up by an empowered fireball... *shrug* as we noted already, in poe there were a smallish number o' scripted encounters which prevented alpha strikes. in deadfire am suspecting we will get a goodly number o' such, and more. however, the beta does suggest the overwhelming majority o' encounters is gonna be subject to alpha striking. non-optimized parties such as Gromnir is current utilizing will be able to down multiple foes within the first three seconds o' combat, including s'posed tougher foes with unique names. have not had to actual fight the fishead broodmother the last half dozen times we faced her as we killed her either immediate at start of combat, or w/i the first 2 seconds o' combat. alpha striking tactics became a bit monotonous in poe. am seeing the trend continue in deadfire. empowers make alpha strikes more effective than they were in poe. multiclass synergies frequent result in impressive alpha strike potentials not available in poe. the arquebus is a high damage weapon with a modal such that if we actual miss, we find our self double checking the dice roll to see how such were possible-- give to characters am less concerned with seeing crit. am able to set traps and use explosives and even cast a few aoe damage spells pre combat. am realizing the developers is doing all kinda stuff to make encounters challenging. the saints often aren't subject to alpha strikes as they rise from their tombs after combat begins. got skeletons climbing up ladders (spawning) to get behind party. am predicting deadfire will have stuff such as skaen temple final confrontation from poe which simple will not allow a party to start combat stealthed. etc. developers is no doubt doing all kinda clever stuff. unfortunately they also created all kinds o' new toys for the player which make alpha strikes far more deadly. HA! Good Fun!

I'm brand new to this forum, so maybe i'm missing something... but is it commonplace for a "moderator" to be trolling? gifted has unique and amusing reading skills. don't let it bother you. also, is admitted difficult to troll us in the sense we tend to be equal dismissive o' shennanigans regardless o' wacky perceived social status which can develop on such boards. am gonna react same to developers as to moderators and to so-called noobs and to longtime posters. HA! Good Fun!

am thinking any attack (health damage and/or affliction causing) which functional may be started before, at, or immediate following the start o' combat, could be embraced as part o' the alpha strike descriptor. get caught up in nomenclature somewhat misses what Gromnir sees as problematic. if bob has his aloth cast an empowered fireball as quick as possible at the start o' virtual every combat, using hardtack to rest following every two or three encounters, then am thinking we need consider such as part o' an alpha attack even though it requires a few seconds to cast the fireball. if is part o' the habitual or routine opening set o' actions AND is meant to cause damage, the am comfortable calling such alpha strike. sure, poe priest casting devotions o' the faithful to start every poe combat were equal problematic, but am thinking it would be beyond reason to suggest such were part o' an alpha strike. HA! Good Fun!

Should have shortened the quote in the first place... Or the developers just tried MaxQuest's mod and realized it was more fun. am not certain how such helps you. you explain why you want the universal fix, but you sure as heck did say you wanted such. you do in fact want a fix for casting time for all summoned weapons in spite o' fact such would not actual fix the perceived firebrand problem... the firebrand being the hobgoblin you yourself inserted into the discussion. and yeah, the firebrand were a much more viable summoned weapon before the penetration 'fix.' a magical scaling greatsword which does burn/piercing damage, given the original penetration system, were a significant boon, albeit still a bit limited. with burn damage against a considerable number o' potential foes, you get the advantages o' a high piercing weapon without needing activate a modal for piercing, while being able to in fact activate greatsword modal. with the original penetration scheme for deafire, one which were so dire punishing for failed penetration, an ordinarily lower penetration weapon such as a greatsword which would be disproportionate penetrating 'gainst the considerable number o' fire weak foes (any number o' plants and vessels and ice critters) would be a summoned weapon worth at least consideration. sure, individually it weren't op, but use josh statement to then cherry pick with firebrand were disingenuous... at best. but again, this is repetitive to fatigue degree. is not new. this particular merry go round is yours as were the case previous in the summoned weapon thread. HA! Good Fun!

second question: Does Might (or Strength as rumored), Dexterity, and Perception affect melee and ranged attacks in the same way? answer: Iirc, in PoE1, Might is the determiner of magical and melee damage. Some other stats may increase the duration. still doesn't appear particular responsive. HA! Good Fun!

It seems to be more of a visual difference than a functional one. Which I get that people love to nitpick, but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of these mass shooters have been attracted to very similar looking weapons. with the idea being if the would-be mass sh00ter cannot purchase an ar-15, he will simple call off the whole plan and instead take up macrame or something similar? after all, it ain't as if 5 minutes o' internet searching could possible reveal to a prospective purveyor o' adolescent mayhem the availability o' semi-auto elk hunting rifles which is genuine far more powerful than ar-15s. not to mention we ain't yet seen a school classroom which is the kinda 400 metres which is testing the ar-15's max range, so 'course deprived o' an ar-15, the wannabee attention wh0re would never consider a backpack or duffle bag filled with handguns as a viable option b for confronting his perceived abusers in these smallish school classrooms and hallways. have said before how Gromnir actual is in favor o' any number o' gun control options. even so, am disappointed by the fixation and distraction o' assault-style and military-style weapons. shouldn't make hurl the punching bag, but has gotten to the point whereby anytime we see "assault-style" or similar nomenclature, we feel need to vent a bit. doesn't make any sense to us. HA! Good Fun!

but question were ranged, not melee, yes? weapon damage, melee and ranged, is current linked to deadfire strength... which were kinda poe1 might. ranged and melee weapons is subject to a bonus/penalty from strength. dexterity is vital important to most ranged combatants as it affects speed o' attacks. more attacks is better, no? perception, one expects, is gonna be vital important early in deadfire, but less so late. perception is the attribute linked to accuracy bonuses. more accuracy = more likely to hit. however, it appears that much as with poe, there is gonna be many obvious and arcane methods for boosting accuracy as the game progresses. if a special attack has a duration or an aoe size, then such factors will be modified by intellect. constitution continues to be a meh attribute which boosts health and affects fortitude saves, but is a kinda forgotten attribute 'cause while it might be prohibitive to disproportionate reduce constitution for most builds, few players is gonna wanna boost it either. resolve modifies deflection (likelihood you will avoid being hit) as well as magical and healing damage. "magical damage" can be a muddy concept as while a fireball does magic damage, the damage attributed to a paladin's ability to make his weapon burst into flames is linked to strength. resolve and constitution is gonna be the obvious least important attributes for a ranged weapon character, with intellect typical being o' negligible benefit... but is not always the case. the ranger class isn't necessarily the best ranged weapon class, but it has nice options as well as a dedicated ranged subclass. multiclasses have the potential to outclass any single class. you will find crazy rod and sceptre ranged builds which involve helwalker monks and barbarians and do ludicrous damage. ranger is often part o' such ranged build alchemy, but not always. HA! Good Fun!

alpha strikes were a bit problematic in poe. a player initiated combat, save for a few scripted situations. with powers and traps and pre-combat spells and weapon choices, players would get a jump on enemies, eneacting terrible mahem 'pon foes from the safety o' stealth or by inexplicable being able to see just a few meters more than any enemy. have a heavily armoured party sneak is silly, but is crpg standard so ain't worth more than a brief nod to ludicrous staple. and yeah, alpha strikes would have been less funny if the player were subject to 'em, eh? walk down a hallway and is sudden ambushed by +8 foes with firearms? ha ha? so, alpha strikes in poe were player only and were disproportionate effective. fine. as long as game is actual balanced for such, then am gonna says, "fine." however. the thing which annoyed us 'bout alpha strikes were how save for scripted encounters and 'gainst the handful o' foes immune to piercing weapons, we could/would use the exact same tactics to initiate the vast majority o' combat encounters. such monotony were bad. even if such sameness were effective, it were bad as it made a joke o' choice. even developers conceded they were considering ways to make alpha strikes a bit less potent, or at least make so alphas need be varied more frequent. so we got deadfire beta. ... with empowers, multiclass combos, traps And explosives, not to mention a significant modal upgrade o' a particular potent alpha weapon (i.e the arquebus,) alpha strikes has become even more destructive than they were in poe. after having played a bit o' beta, am finding it is not difficult to kill (or near kill) most sub-boss kinda foes with a single empowered alpha volley, leaving only mop up duty for the adds. no doubt big bosses such as dragons will be a bit tougher to one-shot, but am a bit disturbed by the seeming deadfire skew in favor o' increased alpha potency compared to poe... recognizing poe alphas were already a bit too powerful. perhaps am alone on this. am knowing many folks argue alphas is perfect reasonable in spite o' fact the player's party is never subject to such alpha strikes. even so, am recalling the developers being cognizant o' poe alpha strike powha. so one must need at least question why alphas seem to have become decided more powerful in deadfire, and whether such is a good or bad thing. am knowing am falling into same old alpha habits as poe with all combats at least starting with the same tactics, almost regardless o' party composition. feels wrong. HA! Good Fun!

If you have to mention it and call it silly and childish it can't have been too amusing.You came around the corner with your usual uppity eyerolling demeanor - you deserved some childishness. self contradictory... again. is not childish, but also is, but is okie dokie 'cause were deserved. in response to a Gromnir observation 'bout how you wan't quickened cast times for all summoned weapons, you claim, "I never said that nor did I mean it." *sigh* ... "I want faster summoning times for all summoned weapons" is some kinda star trek mirror universe. edit, in part to keep this on-topic rather than simple noting poster lunatic moments: summoned weapon silliness should be cause for concern as is repeating past. typical, when developers observe they is adding or changing in spite of their best judgement, results has been unfortunate. vancian for traditional casters were only added to poe 'cause 'o fan demands. so we get vancian and per encounter mashup which makes balance impossible, 'cause recent rested casters were far more powerful than casters temporal remote from rest. is many other such examples. developers changing their mind ain't a bad thing, but when they specific have voiced reservations 'bout such changes, it should be a cause for concern. HA! Good Fun!

am not sure 'bout "need," but when you recognize dragons and ogre matrons and similar foes is gonna now be getting empowers too, am willing to consider the desirability o' such a nerf. our helwalker builds, in particular, is gonna be facing any number o' potential insta death moments when fighting dragons who happen to get lucky with multiple empowers at +5 power levels, much less +10. as an aside, am more favoring enoch suggestion o' a random refund o' empower as such avoids the possibility o' ineffectual empowers, particular for builds which rely heavily on spells or abilities which marginalize the impact o' empowers. am knowing some folks horde empowers as they did potions and food in poe, but am personal getting much use from empowers. more we play deadfire beta, the more am using empowers free. HA! Good Fun!

don't take such powers when soloing? game has never been balanced with solo in mind. thank goodness. *shrug* keep in mind, the auras is also affecting the paladin, and there is stuff such as the goldpact armour bonus which is clear a buff affecting the paladin. if you wanna make a paladin who is able to buff self, is not difficult. also, we only got half the paladin tree. additional, if one feels a paucity o' self buffs for paladins is an issue, one is able to multiclass with chanters or priests or whatnot. some folks, when the deadfire beta were initial released, were cheesed off 'cause they couldn't choose weapon and shield style for their paladin. such a complaint were made isolated from any seeming gameplay need for such an increase in paladin tankyness. as the beta has endured, it has become clear there is in fact no actual need for making weapon and shield part o' the paladin tree. even so, absence compared to deadfire fighter and poe paladins was seen as reason enough to demand weapon and shield. have had a similar problem when addressing summoned weapon strengths and weaknesses, as if certain aspects o' such spells is so fundamental as to transcend balance concerns. *insert eye roll here* single class paladins is current playing perhaps a bit too strong as both tank, dps and hybrid, relative speaking, and their support powhaz is effective and useful. is tough to rationalize major paladin power ups at this point w/o first conceding balance is a complete non issue. am okie dokie with making paladin powhaz self target, but doing so would require a rebalance as paladins is current borderline op as single class, and is definite op as a multiclass option. HA! Good Fun!

the laying on of hands is self targetable and results in significant buffs in their upgraded state. at the very least , is not "all." even so, does seem like many paladin powers exclude the paladin herself from benefits. HA! Good Fun!

am knowing this is an extreme nerdling reference, but whenever we see "mindstalker" we can't help but think o' an old ad&d 2e kit: the caradhaker (dwarvish for mindstalker.) http://paizo.com/products/btpy72z2?Dragon-Issue-245 caradhakers adopted githzerai illithid hunting techniques. HA! Good Fun!

again, these kinda responses is nonsensical and patent unreasonable. you want faster summoning times for all summoned weapons as if summoned weapons is equal problematic and subject to universal fixes. the problems o' summoned weapons is individual. is no fundamental weaponess factor which makes 'em all subject to blanket solutions. is any number o' weapons which is powerful 'nuff and have such enduring durations that a long cast time is an obvious balance concession... no different than other casts. reasonable. "That has nothing to do with Firebrand specifically." and yet you are the guy who brought firebrand into the discussion as if it were the basis 'pon which other summoned weapon durations were to be judged. similar, repeating back to Gromnir his own observations 'bout situational usefulness o' firebrand is kinda pointless. the point were how arguing for longer durations and/or quickened casts would do nothing whatsoever to make the firebrand an attractive power choice outside o' rp considerations. agree firebrand is situational useful utter ignores what made your demands for blanket quick casts and durations for summons unreasonable. *insert eye roll* the silly and childish "crestfallen" shtick is amusing. however, we will once again admit we find our self in the unusual situation o' needing sympathize with josh on this issue. HA! Good Fun!

intuitive, deflection has no connection whatsoever with constitution. reasonable and intuitive is Not particular serious barriers in a game, but even so, is nothing remote logical or intuitive 'bout your conclusion o' deflection being an aspect of constitution. deflection, original, were split 'tween perception and resolve. perception were indeed intuitive and reasonable as being an essential factor o' deflection. battlefield/combat awareness is key in avoiding getting hit or being able to make hits glance off shields and armour. gotta know when an attack is coming to deflect. gotta know when an attack is really a feint to avoid over-extension. etc. perception were indeed intuitive... but poe perception were also linked to accuracy. have deflection and accuracy controlled by a single attribute were unbalancing. 'course deflection were split and were 1/2 perception and 1/2 resolve. *shrug* dexterity remains kinda a weird attribute as it seems to encompass speed, agility and fine motor skills all at the same time. is a frankenstein kinda attribute which we accept 'cause is a crpg standard as 'posed to having any kinda intuitive basis or reasonableness. even so, am s'posing if we had to come up with attributes which reasonable and intuitive affect deflection, we would suggest dexterity as being arguable equal important as perception. once a combatant is aware o' attacks, he needs be quick enough and agile enough to respond appropriate to deal with such attacks. oh, and strength/might would also be a factor in deflection, if less so. even the most accomplished aikido master ain't gonna be able to deflect every kinda attack w/o strength. regardless, is probable best to accept the marginalization o' intuition and reasonableness in such discussions. find a fair and balanced spread o' useful attributes is key, but pretending as if poe/deadfire is any kinda reality simulator is wasted effort. HA! Good Fun!