Dr. Hieronymous Alloy

That could be the same way my character got hit with persistent effects. Both times I saw it happen it was just after fighting druids and then leaving a zone (once in level 4(?) of Od Nua, once the bounty cave vs. Nalrend the Wise).

Trivial nitpick, but there is at least one instance where enemies spawn behind you and block your exit from a dungeon . So there is actually one point in the entire game where per-rest matters.

Here are links to some savegames: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByLUM8IkX78aTWxwYllMek9zNkU/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByLUM8IkX78aTWRsSklpSFVaRzg/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByLUM8IkX78aQ1hvcVQ4V0hYaDg/view?usp=sharing

This is a small issue with Cipher AI also (though not quite as bad because most low level cipher powers are pretty useful). The AI prioritizes action over inaction so it'll fire off low level powers pretty routinely; you basically have to turn it off if you want to fire higher level powers. With Kana it's especially bad because the AI will summon skeletons even when it has 5 phrases saved up for ogres.

i don't know if it's possible but I'd love a toggle for scaling, just to reset it to my current level.

Yeah, but none of those passage-of-time mechanics are actually in the game, especially now that there's no fatigue. It's a valid roleplay tool if you want it to be, sure, but I'm just talking gameplay mechanics.

Fresh game in 3.0.

Addenda: I'll keep this just the prayer against treachery issue because I think I can verify it. Compare these two screenshots of item descriptions: this is from the Forgotten Tear: http://imgur.com/a/umJkP this is from Durance's spell listing: http://imgur.com/a/umJkP They both have the same description ("grants immunity to Dominate and Charm") but Durance's version grants actual immunity to both, whereas the Tear grants immunity to one and resistance to the other. Maybe they're both working as intended but it seems odd for the two abilities to have different mechanics but the same name and descriptions. I'll validate my files and see if that fixes it. edit: all files successfully validated, issue persists.

AI doesn't use spell mastery per-encounters I haven't been able to reproduce this issue. Do you have your AI set up? Is per rest abilities enabled? Thanks for all the work you are all still doing on this game and apologies for flooding you! I'll try to figure out how to upload a save file etc.

Well yeah, but if you don't need to rest after an encounter, then it wasn't an encounter that was challenging and therefore it isn't an encounter that needs to be considered from a balancing perspective. I mean even on PotD there are the encounters you get through with minimal suffering -- "trash" -- and the mini-boss type fights that you rest after because you have to. in the first you're not using any critical spells and in the second you're throwing everything you have anyway. It might make a difference in some unusual cases -- say, not having Prayer Against Fear available because you let Durance blow his spells on an earlier fight where it wasn't necessary -- but if that happens there's just the minor annoyance of having to find an inn or some camping supplies. It's not like you're ever on a timer. The whole rest system just seems more like a nod to nostalgia than a functional gameplay limitation to me. There's nothing wrong with that, this game is all about nostalgia, but I'm not sure per-rest vs. per-encounter is something that deserves any significant weight in balancing discussions. As you say, this change has functionally increased caster's power by giving them a set of extra per-encounter casts they didn't have before.

I think it's because the Devs actually care about this game on a personal level. It's their baby, their own IP. They want to get it right.

The next beta patch should have a lot of positive changes to cipher powers to balance things out; lots of the underpowered powers are getting buffed to compensate for the increased costs. I suspect that as the level cap got higher they had to rework ciphers to keep them from getting crazypowered.

Is it really an issue though? I mean, I find per-rest to be an artificial limitation anyway. You just. . rest. I mean maybe if you were going for the special 10-rest-only achievement but otherwise it's always seemed like per-rest was there more for the nostalgic flavor than because it made a real gameplay difference. Functionally per-rest and per-encounter are the same limitation.

A lot of things that impact attack speed only should also hit reload speed.

Right, but in 3.0, you need 10 more points more, than you needed 20 more points at release. Water is more valuable in the desert.

Honestly i find the ten pointboost valuable. At level ten its the difference between opening with a rank four power and opening with a rank three power.

No idea, I haven't used any charged items.

Yes. There are a number of really good items from the stronghold quests. Most of them have charges, oddly enough. The best two static items I've seen are 1) The Witch's Hat, +2 int, pointy, lets you transform into a menpwgra 9 times 2) Celebrant's Gloves, overseeing and spell holding: +15 will, +30 concentration whole party aura buff when wearer is critically hit.

There is encounter difficulty scaling now. I find i spend the cash on respecs anyway. That sounds interesting. Scaling for the whole game or just the Xpacs? How does it work? Does it keep the game challenging throughout with POTD + level scaling? Basically it triggers when you enter the expansion, act III, or Act IV, if you're high enough level to trigger it. It can also be set via console without triggering cheats. It makes things harder. The expansion areas are a challenge on PotD even with a higher level party. Haven't yet tried the Act III scaling.

there's optional scaling when you start each section -- the expansions, Act III, and Act IV -- if you're too high when you hit them. I still wish the scaling just happened automatically because sometimes it's a little wonky, like if you go to Act III then immediately start the expansions, but if necessary there are console commands to re-scale and it doesn't count as a cheat.

Ok, I'm just putting these all here because I'm not sure how to note them etc. First one is that Prayer against Treachery doesn't always prevent Charm (at least not when the Prayer is cast from an item -- in this case the shield). Wasn't a split-second glitch, the charm persisted long enough for Durance to take significant damage. http://i.imgur.com/Ul9A12p.jpg Sometimes enemy debuffs don't go away at the end of combat and just stay on the character (they do appear to be suppressed/have no effect). http://i.imgur.com/X3wc8KV.jpg http://i.imgur.com/8E1aUuz.jpg Sometimes there are odd missing strings. http://i.imgur.com/aOUJ2ic.jpg http://i.imgur.com/TldZ2hZ.jpg Sometimes Wall of Fire persists and recurs after the end of fights, into the next fight. "Enhanced Frenzy" doesn't enhance the frenzy from Sanguine Plate. The Drinking Horn of Moderation used to boost focus gain but now only boosts Int, by +2. Originally I had heard this was going to be a temporary change pending a bug fix to the focus issues, but that was fixed and the item never got reverted. This is a big issue because now the only item that gives +2 int, +25% focus gain is the Talisman of the Unconquerable and it's random loot and unreliable for builds. Witch's Hat has no texture. (Most rewards for stronghold quests are missing strings). Sometimes you can loot Caed Nua raiders after the fight and sometimes you can't. The justiciar in heritage hill has some quest options in the strategy guide that still aren't implemented. The AI will use Charm-type abilities on fampyrs and other characters when you know they're immune AI doesn't use spell mastery per-encounters St. Ydwen's redeemer still not gaining kills for vessels killed with the Destroy Vessels proc. Pain Link damage doesn't show in the combat log.

Personally I think the survival bonuses are about twice as strong as they should be. It's a good idea but +2 DR, / +10 accuracy, etc., is just too much.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3706905&pagenumber=721#post455731131

At the moment ciphers are painfully nerfed in the beta patch and I'm not sure I'd recommend playing them generally. That said if you do play a cipher Blunderbi are definitely the best weapon before level 13 (and maybe after that, depending). I think the recommended talent choice order now is probably greater focus, draining whip, ruffian weapon group, penetrating shot, biting whip. the value in the heavy alpha strike with Leadspitter still outweighs the downsides. At very high levels there may be some benefit of respecializing into bows with time parasite but I'm not at that level yet so I can't say.

Can you use weapon procs with stag carnage? Edit: nevermind I was confused and thinking druid spiritshift for some reason, not ranger companion