thundercleese

You need to manipulate the water a couple times, use the time dial a couple times and convince a spirit to raise a bridge.

Yep, despite what the ending dialogue implies the realm is still accessible.

Frostfall. Cant remember where I got it but that's likely what you're missing. Think it was on the main platform which leads off to all the subrealms. You'll need all 3 interactive trinkets

Pretty sure it just means all the new ice themed items - shield, helmet, mace. I got it without realizing, but I'd already collected all that gear well before completing the affliction upgrade.

You are correct re: Taste of the Hunt, which means it is just the summons. I'm pretty sure I was able to use Taste of the Hunt on Tekehu, so must be summoning too?

I was getting around this deflection on my Unbroken/Trickster (Def. 169) and I still couldn't solo tank the Famypr cave (they were hitting me enough to get thru, especially if I got flanked). Even chugging potions and castin a few Moonwells (where the Deflection was supressed for some reason) didn't allow me to kill them all before they killed me. Nemnok cave facetanking was slightly better but still not easy. I could really use some help finding a better build that won't get hit - it seems on PoTD they crank up enemy to-hits so much .... also Mirrored goes away after even 1 hit gets thru . Most active buffs that provide bonuses to the same stats don't stack. See this thread here. IIRC PotD provides all enemies with +15 to all defenses and accuracy, +2 armour and penetration, and presumably bonus health (no easy way to see this in game however). I don't solo (this is a party game after all) so someone else will have to chime in there.

Does the Lifegiver penalty prevent all spells with the "Beasts" keyword, or just ones that actually summon?

Bleak Walker FoD should also get +10 accuracy from the new helm (forget the name - the ice themed one). According to patch 1.2 (maybe 1.1?) patch notes, this is no longer supposed to happen. Spoiler: It still does.

You can prone lock it with Scordeo's Edge and Rust's Poignard - if you get a Blade Cascade proc. Cast Salvation of Time for bonus points. Wall of draining is another way to strip away the Safeguard. Will be difficult to land as IIRC it has a high fort, but Xoti's lvl1 spell can remove a good chunk of HP when you get it bloodied/near death.

Posted a new build last night. The Queen's Executioner Heavy AoE alpha strike with Oathbreaker's End with respectable single target to mop up. Subclasses: Fighter/Assassin Author: thundercleese Game Version: 2.0 Difficulty: PotD Solo: No Companion: -

I may be wrong, but I believe that Kitchen Stove is mainly/only for the Thunderous Rapport opener.

I strongly disagree. The strongest character I've played was a Berzerker/Helwalker. All you need is a few consistent healing items and the Voidward ring and you're set. If I have to use BDD on him it means I've done something dumb in the fight.

TBH it sounds like it bugged out in your game. It should have more deflection than that, it has a bunch of spells as well as its own special abilities it uses, and it starts using them right away. Also it has a lot of concentration stacks which keep replenishing/building through the fight, meaning it should be hard (though not impossible) to chain interrupt.

I had the same issue with the shield; ended up using a mod to force the first unlock. The next one progresses as normal.

Check the other ingredient merchants like Fassina next door and the store in Dunnage. I've gotten talons from a store before (can't recall which exactly though).

------------------------------- The Queen's Executioner ------------------------------- Difficulty = PotD v. 2.0 ------------------------------- Solo: No ------------------------------- Class: Swashbuckler (Assassin/Fighter) ------------------------------- Race: Hearth Orlan ------------------------------- Background: Old Vailia/The White that Wends ------------------------------- Introduction: I've been a little obsessed with the Oathbreaker's End axe ever since I started testing the new DLC weapons, as anyone who has read my thread about them will have noticed. So amid all the various tests on the other weapons I've been narrowing down what I feel will be the best build to maximize it's AoE burst potential, while not being useless for single target. What I've learned is that to get the most out of the axe you need three things; high crit chance, high damage modifiers, and an attack that can hit multiple targets at once. For single class Barbarian was the most standout, however the single target didn't feel very good. For multiclass, Swashbuckler was the best fit; Clear Out is the only multitarget melee skill available under PL8, and all of rogues passive damage works great for both AoE and ST. Assassin was the obvious choice for Rogue subclass, and while Devoted would do more damage, there is only one other unique battle axe in the game and it's not really attainable early, so no subclass (I have tested both and honestly it's not that noticeable). So finally, here are the fruits of my labour. Base stats (Blessings) MIG: 17 (19) CON: 3 (5) DEX: 18 (20) PER: 20 (22) INT: 18 (20) RES: 4 (6) Effigy's Resentment: Sagani is best - but not required. The secondary (+2 ACC) will apply to Found Guilty procs if they are far enough away. Devil of Caroc next best for the PEN. Skills: You want high stealth, otherwise doesn't really matter. As usual I like to have at least 1-2 points in athletics - it won't heal you much but could save your life. You could get this from a background/Granis' Training if you'd rather pump everything into stealth. Getting arcana to 5 is a decent idea too, so you can use Pull of Eora. Again, this can be augmented by background/trainer. Abilities: ! = Important Lvl 1: Disciplined Barrage (!)/Crippling Strike (!) Lvl 2: Escape (!) Lvl 3: Knockdown OR Backstab Lvl 4: Stances (!)/Dirty Fighting (!) Lvl 5: Two Handed Style (!) Lvl 6: Confident Aim (!) Lvl 7: Disciplined Strikes (!)/Arterial Strike Lvl 8: Finishing Blow Lvl 9: Backstab (!) OR Knockdown Lvl 10: Weapon Specialisation (!)/Smoke Veil (!) Lvl 11: Persistent Distraction (!) Lvl 12: Hold the Line* Lvl 13: Armoured Grace/Deep Wounds (!) Lvl 14: Devastating Blow Lvl 15: Mob Stance (!) Lvl 16: Clear Out (!)/Improved Critical (!) Lvl 17: Mule Kick Lvl 18: Unbending Lvl 19: Deathblows (!)/Weapon Mastery (!) Lvl 20: Anything I recommend starting out using ranged weapons until you get Oathbreaker's End. Arquebus from stealth with the modal on, then immediately switch to something faster. I would take hunting bow since you can pick up the Essence Interrupter right away, and the modal makes you really fast. Frostseeker will probably be your next choice after leaving Port Maje. This is why my recommended progression picks up many melee abilities later (though some are unavoidable). You could always just go all in on ranged skills then retrain once you get the axe, though I prefer not to retrain if I can avoid it. Smoke Veil can be taken earlier, and I recommend doing so if you want to forego ranged in the early-mid game. **Hold the Line is not mandatory, however it will help ensure that Found Guilty and/or Mob Stance will always get Sneak/DBlows against an adjacent target toward the end of combat. You can see an example of why this is important near the end of the Queen fight posted below. Gear: Weapon 1: Oathbreaker's End (Legendary, Found Guilty) Weapon 2: The Red Hand (Guilty Conscience) Head: Horns of the Aurochs, Helm of the White Void, Whitewitch Mask, or anything that increases INT/PER Neck: Precognition, Bone Setter's Torc, Strand of Favour, or anything with +INT/PER Armour: Aloth's Leather Armour (Structurally Stable) Rings: 2x Overseeing Boots: Slippers of the Assassin Cloak: Ajamuut's Stalking Cloak Gloves: Woedica's Strangling Grasp Belt: Magrans Chosen, Upright Captain, Undying Burden, Mortal Protection Pet: Peter, Loki - Oathbreaker's End, the centrepiece of the build. I recommend using ranged weapons before it; Frostseeker is a decent choice as you will have a large AoE and good crit chance. Watershaper's Focus could be good too with the modal. - The Red Hand - you don't need to keep this equipped, just need to get 20 kills for the damage buff. (This is not required but is essentially +40% damage for free) - For the head slot there's a few good options. Horns of the Aurochs will apply a frost lash to every other attack, so will probably be best from a pure damage perspective. It also has immunity to push/pull which is nice if you want to get into Pull of Eora shenanigans. Helm of the White Void for single target fights (+10 accuracy on your 1 cost attacks). Whitewitch Mask activates one of the most powerful hard cc spells if you start getting pounded. Or just something that increases INT/PER. Cowl of the Piercing Gaze for thematics (and +1 PER). - Neck is also fairly flexible; Precognition for maximizing your alpha strike; Bone Setter's for a slight increase to crit rate (usually not worth it tbh); Strand of Favor for +1 INT and 10% increased durations (longer invisibility is nice); or stats again - eg Charm of Bones for +2 INT. - Aloth's Armour and Overseeing Rings for max AoE - though these aren't necessary until you get the axe. Prior to this you can use Miscreants, DoC BP or just robes. For rings Ring of the Marksman and Chameleon's Touch would be best. - Slippers of the Assassin will allow your first Found Guilty proc of every fight to gain the Assassinate and Backstab bonuses, though Backstab will only apply to mobs that are close to you. This should usually happen on your first Clear Out, unless you are unlucky. If this doesn't interest you (or on single target fights) then I'd probably take one of the affliction resist boots, or Boots of Speed. - Ajamuut's for the stealth bonuses (mainly +5 accuracy). Anything else will also be fine though. - Woedica's for max damage and Garrote - also, we are her executioner. - Magran's Chosen (3% fire lash) if you want to squeeze every last bit of damage. Upright Captain if not using Horns of the Aurochs and are worried about push/pull (Pull of Eora can be a lot of fun). Others for pure defense. - Pets: Peter and Loki both provide increased AoE. Loki's increase is bigger, however Peter also increases AoE damage. For ST bosses (there aren't many), pick your favourite. For gameplay it's fairly simple. You want your tank to go in and start grouping things up. You then want to cast an AoE debuff on them. Some good options are any source of blind, Phantom Foes from a Witch with Spirit Frenzy (flanked + staggered), Ryngrim's Enervating Terror (terrified is very powerful, however it can mess with your grouping). Preferably anything that will activate deathblows (not as important before lvl 19 though obviously). You then sneak in with your executioner and use Clear Out on the most densely clumped section of mobs. Your AoE should be big enough to hit all the mobs surrounding your tank, many of which will be crits. If anyone that was crit dies, they will explode. Before they explode you will go invisible again thanks to Slippers of the Assassin (only for the first kill), which will grant the explosion extra accuracy/crit damage/pen/backstab bonus if they are close enough. This will also trigger a cleaving stance attack (with extended range thanks to our AoE). Both of these combined will usually kill at least one more mob, and if that mob has been crit by your axe, it will explode, cleave will proc, etc. etc. If you are having trouble keeping them grouped, or just want to see how big a massacre you can cause, throw a Pull of Eora on top of your tank (make sure you both have push/pull immunity though). Use Smoke Veil to go invisible again and repeat after they have grouped back up on your tank. You do want to be careful when you use this however, as if you go invisible right before a foe dies from one of your DoTs, it will trigger an attack (Found Guilty/Cleave/both) which will break your stealth. This can be either good or bad depending on positioning of both you and the enemy. You really want to be as close as possible to other enemies when they start dieing to capitalise on your procs. An alternative for opening - if you'd prefer not to use a party member for debuffing - is to use a ranged AoE weapon (rod (Watershaper's Focus) with modal, Hand Mortar/Fire in the Hole), take Debilitating Strike instead of Arterial, and fire into the grouped mobs from stealth. You then immediately use Smoke Veil, swap to Oathbreaker and continue as normal. As an added benefit you will soften up the targets at the same time, all but guaranteeing a kill on the first Clear Out and thus kicking off the chain reaction. This will be especially helpful before you pick up Deathblows. Videos: Fampyrs and friends at Sea-Lashed Crypt. Right when I thought I'd finished, a lone Fampyr up on the top deck decided to show himself. He took some time to finish off (Piercing Sigil is a real bitch). https://youtu.be/2-50MqXJFeY Queen Onekaza and guards. Screwed up the opener, as I got revealed during my attack animation and didn't react in time. https://youtu.be/6ioRGWszF3A

Scordeo's Edge is the sabre with the stacking accuracy buff - Scordeo's Trophy is the pistol with the stacking recovery buff. Scordeo's Edge is very easy to stack the accuracy, which makes it synergize very well with on crit effects (like Rust's as I mentioned). Abilities that hit multiple times/multiple foes at once will grant one stack per hit, which makes it devastating in the hands of a monk with Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming (again, as I already stated). Even if you don't use a crit weapon, more accuracy = more hits and crits = more dps. It applies to both weapons if you DW too. The problem we have is that you are rating some very powerful weapons very lowly, because you obviously haven't tested them sufficiently. Easy fix is to remove anything you haven't properly tested from all the lists.

There are some enemies with low fort, though they usually also have low hp and/or deflection which means they are best handled by hacking/shooting to bits.

I would suggest that the items you haven't thoroughly tested be removed from the lists, because some of it is just blatantly wrong.

The only ingredients that aren't currently purchasable anywhere IIRC are adra ban and sapphires. Possibly rubies too. Check this thread for some known locations. Not sure when it was last updated, however if you read through the pages you should find some more.

Yep. Don't know the exact numbers off hand but it's something like 5% less xp per character in the party (other than the Watcher ofc.)

Yeah, my mistake. Has to be a DoT. I guess Touch of Rot was doing its first DoT tick immediately, which is why it was insta spawning them? Definitely a bug then. But I still think it may be intended that kills not directly attributed to the weapon are supposed to summon the Imps, as that is the behaviour of other weapons with on kill effects. In which case the bug would be that fireballs etc. aren't proccing it. As well as the any creature thing ofc.

Honestly the best tactic would be to have a player created Beckoner summoning the imps, then Tekehu casting Ngati's Power Struck the Shore Again. Both cost 4 phrases, both use an infinite resource, Tekehu's spell is friendly fire capable and deals 32-41 base damage. And while it is bugged you may as well DW with Hel Beckoning once you get it for double the Imps. Disregard, proven wrong below.

So I just nuked a bunch of my own skellies with a Touch of Rot; swapned 4 Grave Imps and 4 Hel Imps. Do with this as you will, I have added it to my bug report so it will be fixed eventually. Edit: Actually, having just re-read the description, I'm not entirely sure the kills from spells etc. is unintended - it says "Summon Grave Imp on killing a Vessel", which is the same wording as such items like Esperis and Frostfall. What definitely IS a bug is that you can summon the Imps from any creature type if the kill is not a direct blow from the weapon itself.

So this also works with spell DoTs, as demonstrated in the below video. Also did a second test dual wielding Grave Calling and Hel Beckoning - was getting 2 imps per kill. Edit: Looks like direct spell damage works too. Or maybe this was because DoTs do their first tick immediately?