Gromnir

am very much aware that in spite of very good initial viewers for nightly show, it has dropped off precipitously. you are proving our point about comedy network's goals. HA! Good Fun!

depends on the priest, eh? HA! Good Fun!

One thing I've noticed is that a lot of companions have maxed out Perception (Aloth: 16, Grieving Mother: 17 Sagani: 19). Makes me think they were originally designed for the earlier version when Perception was a more important stat. I have no idea why Durance has 19 Resolve. because it is appropriate to his character? *shrug* the attributes don't impact gameplay near as much as some folks believe. HA! Good Fun!

s'posedley, too many other weapons had dual damage types, so to make morningstars unique, they upped the interrupt chance... but interrupt were complete changed after beta 430, so now it is interrupt duration that has increased. ... am thinking that going back to dual damage types would be better balance. HA! Good Fun!

crpgs have programed people to think that the quarterstaff is a sucky weapon for candy arsed wizards. the poe quarterstaff is a most unappreciated weapon and we look forward to playing a combat priest o' wael (too close to weal for a dyslexic like Gromnir) who takes incomprehensible revelation, peasant weapon focus and 2h weapons talents. HA! Good Fun!

Freakin' why? The monk is an already very powerful class. Actually Barb is way more powerfull than Monk, so if monk is very powerfull i wonder what Barb is atm.... I tryed a MOnk lvl 12 it does like 5-10 per hit I used mine as a tank. I didn't use him for damage. I'm not sure why you would tank with a Monk when you can Use a Paladin and a Fighter with special ability to tank... Most of Monk ability/skill are offensive one and we dont need dps for a tank. So i'm not sure what you mean by powerfull. ... a sword & board monk tank is extreme effective and it has more than a few defensive abilities that make it ideal for that role. HA! Good Fun!

he would be our best damage dealer, but with the hm resting scheme, Gromnir has our weezer doing little more than observing for half our battles. is nothing wrong with that, but it does cut into the damage totals. HA! Good Fun!

priests have fabulous potential offensive firepower with their spells. is not many such spells, but they is all excellent. unfortunately, with a single priest in the party, you is more likely using spells to buff and debuff and heal. 2 priests works surprisingly well. HA! Good Fun!

I hope we get separate bear hat and cat hat DLC at least one bear hat would need be a football helmet, and the cats should have a candy cane striped floppy top hat option. ... alternative: add a toggle so that all bears in the game should be adorned with hats... preferably berets. am always feeling a bit remorseful about killing random fauna. is kinda against our nature. even so, dress up bears to look like dirty cartoon frenchmen would largely ameliorate our regret. HA! Good Fun!

Gromnir might be the one guy who likes melee combat priests. have a priest o' berath dual-wield maces augmented by vulnerable attacks is mighty impressive, or go with the 2h approach and use greatswords. most folks have a prejudice against quarterstaves in crpgs, but in poe they are reach weapons that do identical damage as all the other 2h weapons. as a support character who can melee, a priest o' wael using a quarterstaff is potent indeed. regardless, with a melee priest, you end up with a very effective secondary support caster who also has the best possible accuracy in the game with their chosen weapon. yeah, you don't have the melee damage potential of a rogue or even a fighter, but if you got durance focused on buffs, debuffs and heals, you can then focus your efforts on offensive spells and combat, and you can actual be good in combat. in the beta, we actual played melee combat priests more than anything else. a few o' the high level priest spells is ridiculous powerful, and priests is far more versatile than paladins and chanters insofar as support casting is concerned. 2 priests is a great support combo that can dish out serious pain. heck, have two priests spamming pillars of faith is game over in most situations. divine mark targets will, does big damage and lowers deflection. shades and the like ruining your day? two priests with access to pillars of fire is making such battles a joke. with appropriate weapon feats, and a few holy radiance abilities thrown into the mix, we very much enjoyed our melee combat priest characters. they sure as hell didn't feel the least bit gimped. HA! Good Fun!

a week ago we wouldn't have been able to pick trevor noah (ironic name given some o' his tweets) outta a police lineup. had never seen or even heard o' the guy. the thing is, a few days ago we saw the various tweets articles regarding mr. noah and am admitting that we immediately pigeonholed him as that sorta comedian. dismissed from our thoughts thereafter. 'course, 'cause we is suspicious by nature and the choice o' trevor appears calculated to us. the daily show has a youngish and liberal audience; the problem amentep identifies ain't much o' an obstacle for the daily show. if we were talking about replacing johnny carson or matlock or bill o'reilly, then trevor would be a poor choice who would likely alienate his audience, but that ain't the case. trevor's tweet comments were just controversial enough that he is gonna be attacked by many w/o driving away the core daily show audience... which is perfect. one segment that the daily show does poorly with is black viewers. is more than a few viewers who will watch the new host simply 'cause he is black. is more than a few who will already be emotionally invested in trevor's success 'cause now his is a victim o' white society that doesn't "get it." am fully believing that the daily show wanted a black host that were, *sigh* black enough. is not a bad ploy. we has now channeled our inner village-idiot. throw us into the mix with the rest o' this board's blathering nutters who indulge in conspiracy theory at every opportunity. HA! Good Fun!

... in that, the game is very much like bg, iwd, bg2 and iwd2, no? part o' the pitch for the kickstarter were that the ie games were inspiration for poe, and iwd were specific referenced in regards to combat. poe don't play exact like iwd (thank goodness,) but insofar as encountering a few battles that kick your arse the first time you face such obstacles, poe is following the path set by previous games developed by both black isle and bioware. you should not be surprised that obsidian is doing combat encounters similar to how the ie games presented such. HA! Good Fun!

two observations 'bout our "gimped" damage-dealing rogues. 1) dual wielding becomes more effective as the game progresses. dr will mock your one-hand weapons (fast or large) early in the game, but thanks to enchanting and other factors, dual gets better. we like spears and maces best, but am not thinking those choices is the only route. 2) a cipher will make you look good. many cipher powhaz appear tailor made for aiding a rogue's sneak attack. sure, druids, wizards and even clerics got similar debuffs that make foes susceptible to your rogue's most important feature (i.e. sneak attack) but the cipher can spam such stuff very cheap. we add a cipher asap and then get grieving mother to replace our custom cipher. now if only we could figure out a way to recruit grieving mother a bit earlier... HA! Good Fun!

most dps is the result o' talents, abilities, and weapon choices. Gromnir has played a few different rogue builds in the beta and now in poe and we will once again state what should eventual become obvious: the attribute scores are not as important as most folks believe. our favorite rogue build has 18 perception and 16 resolve, and it ain't a defensive rogue whatsoever. our rogue does serious damage regardless o' whether we make him 2h or dual wield. am not feeling gimped at all. however, because o' the reckless assault bug, we cannot speak to the potential o' a defensive rogue. so far we ain't tried to go full defense and currently our two poe (non beta) rogue builds got -16 deflection penalty from reckless assault due to a bug, so am a bit more vulnerable than we should be. HA! Good Fun! ps we do have a cautious attack dual-wielding hatchet rogue with the +10 ring o' deflection that at level 12 has 102 deflection, riposte and the talent that converts 50% o' grazes to misses. is not as if such a character could tank, but it were not exactly a glass cannon either... still did very respectable damage. granted you don't place primacy on attribute spread, what spread do you use with the 18 perception, 16 resolve rogue.? i would assume your using the plus damage talents, reckless assault and bloody slaughter. anything else key to that build? no bloody slaughter. however, reckless assault and deflecting are essential, and it sux that reckless is broken at the moment. we take any talents that boosts crit chance... can't go wrong with dirty and vicious fighting. deep wounds gives extra raw damage. for the dual build we choose two-weapon fighting asap and at 6 or 8 add weapon focus: peasant to dual spears... because dual wielding spears is stoopid & effective. extra accuracy from spears is nice. for the 2h variety we get the 2h weapon damage boost and then eventual add weapon focus: adventurer. estoc and poleaxe covers piercing, slash and crush weapons. deathblows is a capper at upper levels, but am not seeing shadowing beyond and backstab as all that essential-- take or don't. am a big fan o' coordinated positioning, so it is mandatory for us, but that ain't a guaranteed pick. bear endurance is worth considering to make up for our 10s in might and con. build does freaky damage and gets dialogue options unavailable to more mechanical superior builds. HA! Good Fun!

most dps is the result o' talents, abilities, and weapon choices. Gromnir has played a few different rogue builds in the beta and now in poe and we will once again state what should eventual become obvious: the attribute scores are not as important as most folks believe. our favorite rogue build has 18 perception and 16 resolve, and it ain't a defensive rogue whatsoever. our rogue does serious damage regardless o' whether we make him 2h or dual wield. am not feeling gimped at all. however, because o' the reckless assault bug, we cannot speak to the potential o' a defensive rogue. so far we ain't tried to go full defense and currently our two poe (non beta) rogue builds got -16 deflection penalty from reckless assault due to a bug, so am a bit more vulnerable than we should be. HA! Good Fun! ps we do have a cautious attack dual-wielding hatchet rogue with the +10 ring o' deflection that at level 12 has 102 deflection, riposte and the talent that converts 50% o' grazes to misses. is not as if such a character could tank, but it were not exactly a glass cannon either... still did very respectable damage.

on this we agree. also, mc is, if nothing else, consistent. sure, we disagree with mc, but we got some mewling bedwetters in this thread, folks who during the beta had all kinda complaints that the poe classes didn't play enough like the bg and/or bg2 classes, and yet they is criticizing mc for his similar desire to give us more old-timey crpg imbalance and endless fighting... in tunnels. is disappointing. nevertheless, that is what we get reduced to when the only arguments being posited is feel. we prefer poe combat to bg, and we got considerable hope that future poe games (if they is ever developed) will improve poe even further. that being said, our one genuine fear is that the developers actual do listen to the fans. is a particular problem as poe is a kickstarter and rather than building the best game possible, obsidian attempts to mollify segments o' the community. is few features or concerns that have universal consensus from the fanbase. build a game on consensus results in a game that is perhaps palatable to everybody, but nobody will genuine love. we would rather have some segment o' the fanbase feel disenfranchised than have the developers retreat from their ideals. transparency is good. actual fan control is bad. we don't want mc or Gromnir generating some kinda groundswell o' fan support that manages to alter basic design philosophies. change mind o' developers 'cause o' rational and reasonable arguments? sure. change developer group-mind 'cause some large enough percentage o' fans wants changes that developers thinks is bad? am understanding why, particularly with backer funding, the developers would feel compelled to make such changes, but we mourn submission to the mob. HA! Good Fun!

You talk funny. And didn't I kill you in Throne of Bhaal? one reason you were able to kill Gromnir in tob is precisely 'cause we "talk funny." HA! Good Fun!

ever see the movie, the agony and the ecstasy? and no, it ain't a bdsm pr0n thing. is 'bout michelangelo painting the ceiling o' the sistine chapel. the pope is feeling frustrated with buonarroti's progress. Pope Julius II: When will you make an end? Michelangelo: When I am finished! in the aforementioned film, the question and reply are repeated a half dozen times with both the cleric and artist becoming increasingly ill-tempered. *shrug* HA! Good Fun!

well, that is kinda the most important factor, isn't it? abilities and talents is of greater importance than starting attribute choices. such stuff is also more significant than starting accuracy, deflection and defenses. vigorous defense, a single fighter ability, grants +20 to all defenses for 15 seconds, and most battles don't even last that long. knockdown, as others have mentioned, is invaluable as it is effectively a stun that also significantly reduces enemy defenses. the paladin abilities, on the other hand, is support based. eder, the fighter companion, does not have great tank attributes, but 'cause of talent and ability choices, he becomes well nigh unstoppable relatively early in the game... and he also does respectable damage. *shrug* the paladin is a support class. if you wanna tank as a paladin, you need be very careful in selecting talents and abilities. HA! Good Fun!

it's a bit... mindless. am not disagreeing that it is a good strategy-- we do the same thing. our rogue, with the fine arbalest we picked up early, typical gets an eye-popping sneak attack. is something not right about starting every battle the same way. we will note that there is a slight possibility that we have our wizard cast slicken immediate instead o' using a ranged weapon... 'cause we almost always use slicken. also, we sometimes have our tank run forward immediately w/o firing ranged, but only there is a potential enemy aoe scenario or something similar. regardless, begin every battle identical is unlikely what the developers were envisioning. HA! Good Fun!

I fully agree with Gromnir, except on this. Or rather, I am probably missing something. What are the advantages of the fighter, multiple engagement? late game DR boost? Wont the fighters defenses be lower anyway? As for the monk, I thought the conclusion was that the monk was an ok tank with some offensive capabilities (as opposed to the other two)? Obviously the monk can negate some (10%?) damage if that is still in the game, and will have slightly more hp/endurance, but somewhat less defense again. Reading this thread, it's like if some believe that D&D invented the name "paladin". I see paladins in PoE like templars or teutonic knights. An order of dedicated warriors/knights. Its just nostalgia, but I think you got it right according to the way poe paladins are described in the game. They have a much broader concept which basically comes down to being part of an organization dedicated to an ideal (i.e. an order). Note: I am a fan of the Paladin concept, not just the D&D one, and when I read PoE lore I thought it maybe would be awesome, specially seeing the Bleak Walkers (not the stuff I am info, but I am glad the game has it). But their gameplay is boring, and usually suck. your concept o' the paladin is not what the developers Expressly announced would be the poe concept. keep trying to jam a square peg into a round hole if you wish, but your concept ain't necessarily the correct one, and it clearly is at odds with what the obsidians told us, in no uncertain terms, would be the role o' the poe paladin. as we said already, we thinks it were a mistake to call the poe paladin a paladin, 'cause some folks simple can't let go. also, paladins don't suck unless you play them sucky. we don't like paladins 'cause we enjoy micromanagement, but their auras and abilities are powerful, and for those who find poe combat frenetic and overwhelming, the paladin is a fantastic option. couple the paladin with a cleric and you got all your support needs well and fully covered. chanters frequent take a bit too long to build up to their invocations, and at least until mid-way through the game, you likely won't have chants that genuine is useful for every situation. the paladin auras are even more general, but they is broad enough to be useful in every battles, and we don't need to wait to make use o' our per encounter abilities. paladins and clerics work very well together... as complimentary support classes. HA! Good Fun!

I fully agree with Gromnir, except on this. Or rather, I am probably missing something. What are the advantages of the fighter, multiple engagement? late game DR boost? Wont the fighters defenses be lower anyway? As for the monk, I thought the conclusion was that the monk was an ok tank with some offensive capabilities (as opposed to the other two)? Obviously the monk can negate some (10%?) damage if that is still in the game, and will have slightly more hp/endurance, but somewhat less defense again. Reading this thread, it's like if some believe that D&D invented the name "paladin". I see paladins in PoE like templars or teutonic knights. An order of dedicated warriors/knights. Its just nostalgia, but I think you got it right according to the way poe paladins are described in the game. They have a much broader concept which basically comes down to being part of an organization dedicated to an ideal (i.e. an order). engagement is underrated in our estimation, particularly in hard mode when facing mobs... but the trouble is that poe mechanics is not easily explained. we suggest looking at videos. fighter engagement o' 3 enemies is a substantial benefit, and the various tanky abilities a fighter gets access to will have him regenerating ridiculous endurance and having short-term defense boosts that exceed even the paladin's defenses. add one or two offensive weapon feats and the fighter's already dependable damage output becomes increased... particularly when coupled with engagement. the monk ad fighter got changed a bit during the beta. people complained that the fighter weren't enough like a bg/d&d fighter 'cause it were almost exclusively tankins, so the developers made the fighter better on offense. am feeling that this were a mistake as it does blur the distinction 'tween monks and fighters. fighters were s'posed to be the best defensive tanks. the monks tanks were s'posed to be able to do more damage than fighters. the lines distinguishing the classes became blurred. a sword and board monk that tanks is an alternative class/build we would recommend to folks who want to play a tank paladin. clearly "monks" is a misnomer as none o' these guys is monastic, but if you think o' them as combat friars, it works as a paladin analog. many monk abilities is functionally defensive in nature, but they is passive. have enemies damage themselves when targeting you with missile weapons? soul mirror sends half damage from missile weapons back to the monk's foe. the duality talent can boost defenses, but is also passive. rooting pain is technically not defensive, but it activates when the monk takes a wound, and it is also passive. 'course, wound management and the resultant offensive abilities also means the monk can do very reliable damage. a sword and board monk may actual be our favorite current tank both 'cause o' how effective it is, and 'cause o' how it shrugs off the typical monk role in crpgs. HA! Good Fun!

josh is visible because he posts and responds to posts, but you give him far too much credit. poe combat has cain fingerprints all over it, and we suspect there is many obsidians who who justifiably bristle at the notion that sawyer were The Guy. *shrug* bg combat sucked. is a rose-hued glasses recollection. ps:t combat mighta been worse. those were ie games too. you give folks the same low-level d&d combat experience we saw in bg and we could expect more than a few justified howls o' derision and anguish. bg2 combat were far better than bg. after numerous ie game iterations, bg2 were actually having some compelling combat, albeit broken in many ways. there were no good reason to play a vanilla thief in bg2. the number o' bg2 insta-kill exploits were excessive... and that actual worked both ways-- one failed save resulted in game over? gear fully invalidated ability scores relative early in the game. etc. poe is game 1 in a new ip. the developers might have an excuse if their combat sophistication were comparable to the woeful example o' rtwp squad-based tactical combat we saw in bg. thankfully, poe ain't having near as horrible combat and character development as we saw in bg. what choices did we make after level 1 in bg? weapon proficiencies? and heck, the proficiencies were pretty damn broad too. there is considerable rebalancing and bug fixing that need be done, but we got an isometric, squad-based, rtwp combat in a fantasy game that uses many familiar features from the ie games. is very much like bg, but not quite as bad. poe is arguably not as deep or broad as bg2 or iwd2 for combat, not yet, but again, this is the first game o' a new system. HA! Good Fun!

Yep, I found out this is... intentional :/ There is a interview that Josh said that they wanted to "Twist things a bit" and so they turned the D&D Paladin into Cleric, and the D&D Warlord into Paladin never heard the d&d paladin being turned into a poe cleric... and it sure don't play that way. however, yes, the poe paladin is inspired not so much by the d&d paladin but by the 4e warlord and the 3.5 marshal. the paladin is a low maintenance support class that is excellent in defense. there is/were some few gun builds that allow ridiculous damage 2x per encounter, but the paladin is a support class. yeah, if your paladin takes cautious attack, sword and shield and a few other talents, you can create an ok tank, but it won't be as good as a fighter or sword & board monk. that is ok, 'cause the paladin is a freaking support class in poe. the paladin gameplay can be boring. there simple is not much to do with a paladin, particularly a tanky paladin. is very little micromanagement necessary to have your paladin stay upright for the duration o' a battle, and your per encounter abilities, while mighty useful, is only situationally applicable. poe paladins is a support class that can be customized to fill other roles with varying degrees o' success. the poe paladin is Not a d&d paladin. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/63968-update-56-paladins-and-wild-orlans/?hl=paladin the nature and limitations o' the poe paladin were not a secret. that being said, we did mention, many times, that folks would continue to trip over the naming choices for poe classes. am not surprised by the confusion. folks playing poe won't be able to give up the ghost even when they is told that a poe paladin or rogue don't function same as a d&d paladin or rogue. heck, poe board regulars who read and applauded the linked announcement in 2013 were still fighting to make the paladin a front-line tank who could also dish out melee hurt as recent as beta 480. weird. HA! Good Fun!

got the reckless assault bug that has, for all intents and purposes, doubled our deflection penalty to -16. a respec would be welcome as there is no console fix and am not sure how much longer am gonna keep playing a character that is broken to this degree.