Gromnir

"favorite" is actual kinda a sticky identifier. class we is most likely to play, or would favor, is different from the classes we think is best designed. class we is most likely to have in a party is a different kinda showing o' favor... we s'pose. initial observation-- a few o' the classes has changed since the beta, so our opinions have also had to change. cipher seems particular difficult for the developers to strike good balance. what amounts to the cipher's mana generation through combat damage is a nifty mechanic, but has been extreme difficult to keep from becoming overpowered. the cipher "problem" is frequent tangential related to the class as folks has found ways to exploit various weapons and talents to create powerful alpha strikes, regardless o' class. a bit different is our concerns regarding the fighter. the poe fighter were presented as a low-maintenance and durable melee combatant who would be ideal as a front-line party member. unfortunately tanks from multiple classes were functional indestructible at launch. so obsidian tunes down tankability o' the fighter while responding to the (misguided) demand for more dps. so we end up with the fighter filling the same role as the monk, although absent the wounds mechanic. the paladin, as mentioned in other threads, has undergone many changes, not the least o' which were the addition o' fod during beta. that being said, while we found paladins boring-but-useful in beta and at release, we now actual enjoy the class... though am admitted annoyed that pellagina is fundamental better in a striker role than any main character paladin build. point is that our opinions has evolved as has the classes. for pure practical reasons, Gromnir tends to favor playing priests and paladins. faith and convictions has been nerfed more than a little, but even so, a main character paladin is gonna have defense advantages over a hireling paladin. a priest will similarly get a significant boost to their per-encounter holy radiance if the priest is a mc with maxed dispositions. makes some sense to play as a priest or (tanky) paladin if we were planning to have one o' those classes in our party anyways. monks is the class that has most impressed us from a design perspective. sure, monks has had more than a few balance issues, but am genuine appreciating how well the wounds mechanic has translated from concept to actual gameplay. 'course nothing 'bout the monk strikes us as particular monastic-- stoopid name. monk adventurer is an oxymoron. even so, from the start, the obsidians sold us the concept o' the monk as a front-line melee combatant who could absorb damage while being able to dish-out considerable hurt. the class lives up to the sales pitch. the bare-chested monk inspired by kung-fu movies is viable, powerful and can support numerous different unique builds that alternatively focus on pure damage, debuffing and/or interruptions. alternatively, the class is flexible enough so that one can embrace an armoured or western "monk" who wades into combat with a weapon and shield. therefore, even though we is less likely to play a monk than a priest or paladin, the monk is the class that most impressed us. honest, the only class we is genuine disappointed with is the barbarian. is not that the barbarian sucks-- quite the contrary. a well-built barbarian is capable o' doing ridiculous amounts o' damage. we actual like what the barbarian adds to poe. however, the class is far too limited and its actual implementation runs counter to espoused goals o' the obsidian developers. the barbarian is far too dependent on carnage, and as those who listened to developers during the beta, or even to josh's recent gdc presentation, you is no doubt aware that the developers were attempting to avoid class defining abilities. carnage is particular flawed as it is so inextricable linked to intellect. tell us how neato it is to be able to play a genius barbarian in poe ignores that a dumb barbarian who relies almost complete on brawn over brains is kinda crippled in poe. for most classes, we can find success with almost any attribute spread. good. some folks hate that no-bad builds were a goal for poe, but it were an oft repeated goal. the stoopid barbarian who ignores carnage is a bad barbarian. bad barbarian is bad design. however, bottom line is that priest is our favorite class. as a player, we want our character to be able to do a bit o' everything. channeling our inner gordon gekko, we inevitable gravitate towards a character that can do... more. a priest is the most flexible support caster in poe. in terms o' force multiplication for a wide range of scenarios, priests is best. with an enormous catalog o' buffs available, the priest can counter most any foe's greatest weapon while at the same time providing a major power-up to his/her own party. the priest also enjoys very potent damage producing spells, particular for those who like to play with fire. want accuracy on par with a fighter? can do that with a priest. sure, you are gonna be limited to one or two weapons if you wanna be able to hit anything, but that is hardly an onerous handicap. vessels, o' which there is many in the game, disintegrate beneath your power. heck, you can even cast some o' the most efficacious spells in the game without initiating combat... works as a free contingency. rogues do far better melee damage than priests. druids have better damage spells than does priests. paladins is far better in the tanky role than is priests. etc. priests aren't best at everything. however an intelligent played priest o' wael with a quarterstaff or a priest o' skaen armed with stilettos is gonna pretty good at just about everything. depending on how the priest is built, you can maximize support or melee combat efficacy or offensive spell damage output. am greedy. we like priests. HA! Good Fun! ps am thinking that the reason so few people appreciate priests the way does Gromnir is 'cause people tend to have a single priest in their party. a single priest is almost indispensable as a party buffer. if you got a priest, chances are he/she is doing little more than buffing and healing. boring. two priests changes the dynamic considerable.

2-7 days o' "slight" fever, aching joints, headache and a bit o' rash. ... sounds like a typical business trip to asia or south america for Gromnir. w/o zika, we wouldn't even consider going to a doctor for such symptoms. no doubt such mild symptoms for adults is one reason the disease will be harder to contain. HA! Good Fun!

I volunteer am seeing the appeal. an artist getting a chance to wield the proverbial stick for a change? "ok brian, let's talk about deadlines." HA! Good Fun!

Zika got him. you concerned that the disease has affected his pregnancy? HA! Good Fun!

the real question is who will be the unfortunate obsidian who is gonna be stuck with the unfortunate tyrant moniker? singh? heins? is almost inevitable that there will be drama surrounding the development. there will be somebody who gets stuck being the tyrant and is all too likely that obsidian developers and/or game "journalists" seize 'pon the obvious label for the development's bad guy. HA! Good Fun!

history has been, for the most part, unkind to those who trade up or into the first round in pursuit o' a qb: rg iii, mark sanchez, jason campbell, ryan leaf, tim tebow, blaine gabbert, etc. 'course, is always the same proviso that if the qb selected (wentz or goff) becomes a franchise qb, then the trade is at least looking less foolish. regardless, am feeling bad for the new rams qb. rams needs include wr and ol. with fewer picks, the chances that rams upgrade the rest o' the offense through this draft is diminished. the trade looks to us like a desperation move by rams coaching and management 'cause those guys is in danger o' being fired and the rams do Need a qb. HA! Good Fun!

opine: chanters feel undervalued during many encounters, particularly if you do not play potd. during boss battles that can drag a bit, a chanter shines and will get multiple uses o' their invocations. unfortunately, for the majority o' encounters, and at early levels before you get access to more nifty chants, you may feel a bit gimped by the chanter's limitations. other folks get different mileage from the chanter than does Gromnir, but we cannot help but feel that we purposeful prolong a battle just to get some use outta our invocations. am lucky if we get two invocations outta most poe potd encounters, and chances are the second opportunity is nothing more than cleanup. folks in this thread is likely gonna be giving you hardcore potd advice, so keep that in mind. if you play hard or easier, the chanter is gonna be even less impressive as battles will end that much quicker. poe allows a great deal o' flexibility regarding attribute spreads. far more significant is your talent and ability choices. our potd priest(s)/rogue/cipher/paladins all have had approximate the same attribute spread for the same reason you stated. make sure per/int/res are all 15 and you should be golden for the more cerebral dialogue checks. want more tanky? is few builds, even tank builds, that require impressive con. given what you want, a front-line chanter with good cerebral stats, you are gonna be working towards your strengths... but don't sacrifice might too far as enemies will ignore your frontliner if you aren't doing consistent damage. am not a chanter fan our self. when we do play, we has always played s&s tanky and they are highly effective in such a role. am personal a fan o' peasant weapons, particular for the chanter. your starting class accuracy ain't great, and the spear bonus is nice. there is also a few unique spears available early in the game. folks always wanna talk endgame best weapons w/o considering that +80% o' the game is gonna be spent w/o the uber weapon in each category. peasant has hatchets for extra tankiness and fantastic early spears... and if you wanna switch to 2-handed, durance's staff is one o' the more underrated weapons in the game as it is reach capable and has the unique crush/burn quality... and switch to forgemaster's gloves when applicable. even so, s&s is still more obvious and simple for a tank. most o' the advice about chants and invocations in the thread looks good. but again, go at least 15 in per/int/resolve and your gear and rest bonuses should keep you happy with dialogue checks. push int and resolve a bit higher? it is difficult to build a bad chanter tank unless you are trying to do so, and with the respec option, if you don't like how your chants and invocations synergize with your eventual party dynamic, you may always change. HA! Good Fun!

what goes on between the ears is just another measurable for many teams. wonderlic scores is more important to some organizations than others. a few teams deemed cam newton undraftable 'cause o' his history o' off-field issues as well as his terrible (for a qb) wonderlic. for wonderlic, cam is bottom two o' all nfl qbs who had at least 3 starts last year. do a search o' the off-the field nonsense surrounding cam before he were drafted and any reasonable person woulda' questioned what were going on 'tween his ears. 'course dan marino and jim kelly had even worse wonderlic scores than cam newton, and dan weren't exact a model citizen either. you not need to be smarty to play football. even a qb don't need be smart. unfortunately, all those qb intangibles that can propel a qb to collegiate stardom is as often as not wasted if a player don't have the requisite physical tools to succeed. wanna list o' heisman qbs that busted in the nfl? intelligence, resolve, awareness, leadership, and possible dozens o' other qualities is essential for nfl qb success. teams watch hundreds o' hours o' film on potential first round draft picks. teams interview players and ask 'em football questions and personal questions. "if you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" teams subject players to tests meant to gauge a player's football abilities. vast sums o' money is spent scouting nfl draft prospects. even so, wanna review the first round qbs from the past decade who has busted... guys who Every team in the nfl woulda' risked a first or second round pick 'pon? come up with the perfect formula for predicting nfl success, and you could be a rich man. so, how many teams passed MULTIPLE times on tom brady? cam newton would not have been drafted very high if between ears were o' prime importance. HA! Good Fun!

Overall, that's not possible. At least for a few decades. It already has busted for a lot of people, myself included (for me, the series ended with dancing Ewoks, and Luke looking over to a smiling Obi-Wan, Yoda, and an old Anakin on Endor). But there's no shortage of fanbois and gals out there who will slobber up anything and everything Star Wars. It's a franchise that arguably has the largest fan base in the world. Busting the franchise for all those people would be hard to do even if you tried. The profit margin may go down (I'd wager a lot it will) from J.J. Abrams movie, but it will still be there for a very long time to come. I don't know what it is that makes people so enamored with Star Wars thirty years after its release. Granted they were fun films, but for a grown man to be a "fan", wear a shirt with a stormtrooper on it etc. in 2016 is downright embarrassing. Its like someone saying their favorite films are Snow White and their favorite film character is Grumpy. Sure, everyone can admire a nice fairy tale... but they're made for children, not adults. Hell, even George Lucas said so, many times, and you can see on his face that even he doesn't understand the idiotic fan obsession with the films (or regard them as highly as they do) - but the show just keeps on lurching on 20+ years past its prime. am not sure o' the point being made. beowulf & gilgamesh is stories 'bout heroes killing monsters and btw, snow white and the seven dwarves is top ten all-time for box office receipts. (insert the same old Gromnir rant 'bout art o' the narrative... include ye' olde' standbys wherein we draw parallels 'tween tdkr and beowulf, lament how underappreciated is great young fiction such as , the phantom tollbooth, a swiftly tilting planet, and multiple gaiman and pullman works. observe that youth fiction often gets at core storytelling w/o pretension, and observe that popularity o' myth has been a true constant likely going back before written history.) am gonna posit that the actual peculiarity is that writers and directors is in a constant cycle o' denial regarding the origins o' storytelling. yeah, Gromnir's favorite movies is not star wars, but lament or disparage the storytelling that went into lucas' mythology is a mistake. the most popular stories, the stories that touch the most folks, will always be star wars, and beowulf and... whatever. HA! Good Fun! I never said Lucas's storytelling was poor, merely that the story was made for children and that the franchise is 30 years past its prime. *chuckle* you did indeed lament the childish story that lucas told and that folks continue to cling to it thirty years removed from the Original movie. beowulf and gilgamesh is far older than star wars. tolkien's lotr, and hobbit (the hobbit were specific written for children) have maintained their popularity even longer than star wars. the lion, the witch and the wardrobe has had a long run as well. stories o' hercules and thor has endured as favorites o' children and adults for more than a thousand years. etc. dismiss as childish is exact the misapprehension we identified. if de complains 'bout how close the New star wars followed the script o' the original will get little resistance from Gromnir, but you identify part o' the reason fans were little concerned with that detail: the original is 30 years removed. oldie fans can feel nostalgic while complaining o' lack o' originality, yes? even so, is a far different complaint than childishness. you are preaching to the choir if you got specific complaints 'bout force awakens and the frequen inartful rehash o' the original movie. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/83631-movies-youve-seen-recently-thread/?p=1766774 but again, complain o' force awakens shortcomings complete ignores why and how star wars has endured and will continue to endure. well crafted myth appeals to all regardless o' age, and it endures. people need myth. people need heroes and monsters. dismiss myth as childish is foolishness. HA! Good Fun!

Overall, that's not possible. At least for a few decades. It already has busted for a lot of people, myself included (for me, the series ended with dancing Ewoks, and Luke looking over to a smiling Obi-Wan, Yoda, and an old Anakin on Endor). But there's no shortage of fanbois and gals out there who will slobber up anything and everything Star Wars. It's a franchise that arguably has the largest fan base in the world. Busting the franchise for all those people would be hard to do even if you tried. The profit margin may go down (I'd wager a lot it will) from J.J. Abrams movie, but it will still be there for a very long time to come. I don't know what it is that makes people so enamored with Star Wars thirty years after its release. Granted they were fun films, but for a grown man to be a "fan", wear a shirt with a stormtrooper on it etc. in 2016 is downright embarrassing. Its like someone saying their favorite films are Snow White and their favorite film character is Grumpy. Sure, everyone can admire a nice fairy tale... but they're made for children, not adults. Hell, even George Lucas said so, many times, and you can see on his face that even he doesn't understand the idiotic fan obsession with the films (or regard them as highly as they do) - but the show just keeps on lurching on 20+ years past its prime. am not sure o' the point being made. beowulf & gilgamesh is stories 'bout heroes killing monsters and btw, snow white and the seven dwarves is top ten all-time for box office receipts. (insert the same old Gromnir rant 'bout art o' the narrative... include ye' olde' standbys wherein we draw parallels 'tween tdkr and beowulf, lament how underappreciated is great young fiction such as , the phantom tollbooth, a swiftly tilting planet, and multiple gaiman and pullman works. observe that youth fiction often gets at core storytelling w/o pretension, and observe that popularity o' myth has been a true constant likely going back before written history.) am gonna posit that the actual peculiarity is that writers and directors is in a constant cycle o' denial regarding the origins o' storytelling. yeah, Gromnir's favorite movies is not star wars, but lament or disparage the storytelling that went into lucas' mythology is a mistake. the most popular stories, the stories that touch the most folks, will always be star wars, and beowulf and... whatever. HA! Good Fun!

Genghis Khan was a rapist and encouraged his men to rape. He'll get no respect from me. Well, since 1 out of 200 people in the world are his direct descendants, many of us should feel #blessed to be alive. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2010/08/1-in-200-men-direct-descendants-of-genghis-khan/ one o' the best movie scenes evar is a bastardization o' a genghis khan quote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEpsVSdtfcc w/o gk we got not the above scene. now that would be a tragedy. HA! Good Fun!

we were expecting **** cheney portraits. HA! Good Fun!

The guys at Obsidian probably deserve it tbh the more chrisA posts such stuff, the more he yields whatever moral high ground he mighta' once held a claim to. the twitter and interview sniping that chrisA indulges in, knowing full well that obsidian has not and will not respond, is getting extreme old. am actual curious why, given the 'mount o' time that has elapsed since his obsidian departure, some folks keep posting chrisA's one-sided slappy fight with his former colleagues. HA! Good Fun!

we got one reply: j.j. abrams. the actual explanation is that there likely were no explanation. an abrams vehicle that actual makes any kinda sense is the exception rather than the rule. a plot chart for an abrams film is gonna look like a jackson pollock painting. most likely theory: snoke is actual milo rambaldi whose master plan were never to rule the galaxy with his third death-to-science-star terror weapon-- classic misdirection. instead, the deathtrapstar from episode vii were actually a breeding ground for an army o' intelligent, force-wielding and invisible polar bears... thus all the snow. the invisible polar bears were part o' snoke/sloane/jacob's endgame... that would also involve a downed 747, a white guy named khan an enormous red water balloon, and quantum teleportation. don't overthink anything from abrams. whatever he intended is no doubt complete nonsense and his successors is gonna need retrofix the whole mess. HA! Good Fun!

am using "optimal" nomenclature as put forth by josh sawyer in his recent gdc presentation... not 'cause we think josh is an authority, but 'cause his definition is, at the very least, adequate, and it is convenient to use a 3rd party definition that is a known quantity. am not seeing a point in starting a definitions debate when a perfect viable option is already available. am a frequent critic o' josh, but we had no complaint with his use o' optimal and viable. for sake o' simplicity and clarity, we will use optimal as did josh in his gdc presentation. http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1023481/Gods-and-Dumps-Attribute-Tuning as a complete aside, every time we heard josh describe that "genius barbarian" as some kinda alternative character build, we wanted to cry foul. tell us that poe seeks to avoid class defining abilities while using a barbarian to illustrate is perhaps some kinda tongue-in-cheek self deprecation that went unnoticed? have a clear class defining ability such as carnage that is inextricably linked to one or two attributes is what poe were trying to avoid yes? to then use genius barbarians to illustrate how poe is different were mighty perplexing to Gromnir. HA! Good Fun!

Where would we be if people always did what wisebutts tell them they are supposed to do? is not a matter o' following what we is told to do. lord knows we wouldn't be such a poe priest fan if we listened to "supposed to." that being said, the abilities o' the paladin, particularly in the early beta, made OBJECTIVELY clear that the paladin were not ideal suited to damage output. the class has evolved, with the most notable dps addition being fod, and now one can frankenstein a very capable melee combatant outta the paladin, but is silly to ignore the class inherent strengths and weaknesses. *shrug* Gromnir is typical the guy fighting 'gainst the dominant paradyme, so is not a matter o' following "supposed to" advice, but it not take a william j. sidis to figure out that paladins is a poor fit for optimizing the melee dps role. fine. we not need optimal. can still be fun (more fun) to play non optimal, but am thinking one does a disservice to self if they ain't at least aware o' the class limitations. HA! Good Fun!

I think it's simply a matter of wanting to make a class do something it's not naturally designed to do. It's probably similar to people who want to make Rogue tanks I imagine. is the same reason why some people teach dogs to walk on their hind legs. the results is awkward and embarrassing, but nevertheless, people frequent applaud the mildly disturbing displays o' canine obedience. the game has been released for a over a year now and those o' us who remain has all seen fido roll-over and fetch. HA! Good Fun!

... in our head, we read your post as sarcastic, but knowing manifested, we is +90% certain that you is genuine. curious. HA! Good Fun!

the firebrand itself does critworthy damage w/o needing to crit and the universal weapon currently counts as fine, so you do get +4 accuracy. that being said, with 2 fod attacks (why would you Not use fod with your firebrand active?) AND sworn enemy, your melee paladin, played intelligent, is gonna be having boosted accuracy for a fair portion o' your 30 seconds o' firebrand. by midway through the game there is gonna be few battles where your main melee damage dealer ain't benefiting from at least a couple accuracy buffs regardless, yes? as many people have noted elsewhere, zealous focus becomes relative less useful as the game progresses precisely because it becomes increasingly easy to boost accuracy. becoming overly concerned with a shortfall in accuracy given the enormous damage benefits o' firebrand is, in our opinion, a mistake. pallegina is, of course, a better option than any main character paladin for a melee paladin, but it doesn't take much experimentation to see how ridiculous overpowered is forgemaster gloves. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/85343-post-30-paladins/?p=1792507 we never have bothered with a main paladin melee damage character, but the potential o' such a character, armed with forgemaster's gloves is considerable. you are stacking multiple burn effects that is all being boosted by scion o' flame. is overkill. HA! Good Fun!

step 1: replace all your rangers with priests. no need for a step 2. we kid. that being said, midway thru the beta, the ranger became our least intriguing class. in spite o' considerable improvements having been made to poe rangers, we have never surrendered our ranger revulsion. am aware that it is possible to build effective melee and ranged rangers in poe, but we loathe the animal companions. for Gromnir, poe ranger animal companions went from overpowered to underpowered to eye-roll annoying. the signature feature o' the ranger has the same appeal as does gargling broken glass. we will follow this thread with some (albeit limited) interest as we realize that our dislike o' the poe ranger is largely legacy-based. the current ranger, on paper, is not only viable but powerful. even so, the only ranger we ever have in our party is sagani... and we only have her in our party long enough to complete her companion quest. ocd is a cruel mistress. HA! Good Fun!

it's the same reason why james bond villains have easily accessible self-destruct devices in their bases and lairs. such readily apparent design flaws exist to be exploited in visually stunning ways. HA! Good Fun!

Don't get me wrong. A character who burns through a ton of Health because he's getting constantly healed could possibly end up knocked out otherwise. It may just be the cost of doing business, so to speak. And yeah, Consecrated Ground seems like a far better healing spell than any of the Restore END spells. The only advantage that the Restore spells have over CG is that they can be cast up to 5m from the priest whereas CG is a 0 range spell (with a 2.5m AoE radius). Also, a downside of the Firebrand flamesword from the gloves is that, IIRC, it doesn't have any accuracy bonus. As you start using exceptional or better weapons, the loss of this accuracy bonus when using the Firebrand would seem to be a bit of a downer to me. forgemaster's gloves is one o' the more ridiculous overpowered items in the game, particularly for a fire focused paladin or a carnage barbarian. the melee damage paladin who is gonna be using sworn enemy and flames of devotion to bolster accuracy while firebrand is active will laugh at accuracy. play darcozzi paladini and the +10 accuracy you can give yourself every encounter will see you consistent criting from mid-levels onward. 3 per rest and 30 second duration o' a fire weapon for a paladin with scion o' flame is overkill. watch the world burn... even when facing fire resistant enemies. HA! Good Fun!

forgemaster's gloves. if you wanna build a melee damage dealing paladin, forgemaster's gloves is the item you build your character 'round. take any ability/talent that boosts fire damage, and take talents that enhance your 2-handed weapon damage output. simple. as such, tidefall is a nifty backup weapon. HA! Good Fun!

studio 60 were sports night redux... but less. sorkin did the meta-show shtick with sports night too, and while it were critical praised, it never found a niche with viewers. am not sure why anybody thought that redoing the same show but making it snl rather than sports center would sell it, particular with a less likeable cast than the one aaron sorkin assembled in 1998-2000. HA! Good Fun!

Gromnir can legally protect most o' our American dollars in nevada, delaware and the virgin islands. why use panama? if am a criminal who can't use legal options? is, we s'pose, other reasons, but am doubting such folks is gonna be identifiable w/o a team o' forensic accountants doing searches. HA! Good Fun!