pi2repsion

My Ninagauth's Black Pages grimoire also somehow lost all its level 5-7 spells sometime during my adventuring as I discovered to my regret when I hit level 10 and had the funds to learn the spells. Good advice, though the grimoire, despite being in the expansion, is inconsistently not named PX1. (God knows why) For those who want to add the grimorie, the command is: additem grimoire_high_lvl_ninagauth 1

With the notable exception of wizards under the effect of Deleterious Alacrity of Motion casting Fast spells, of course. And they should be under the effect of that spell in every important battle after character level 5. With the addition of the new level 4 frost version* of the fireball spell which apart from doing more damage also paralyzes, which like the level 3 fireball is a fast cast AOE with huge radius, the number of spammable AOE spells that a rested mid-level wizard with high dexterity and the Ring of Selonen (for two extra L3 slots) can cast in the same time that a druid or priest would cast two or three spells is verging on the absurd. Deleterious Alacrity of Motion isn't Amulet of Power+Robe of Vecna level of abuse of spell haste, but it is the next best thing. * acquire early from the White Marsh treasure map.

I'd say wizard or cipher sounds like the best options. Not that the other classes aren't fun, but your desire to change with the flow in combat, have a lot of options, and having many conversations strongly suggest one of the spellcasters, and of druid, priest, wizard, and cipher, the druid is "mostly damage but also healing and shapeshifting", the priest is "mostly healing and buffing", while the wizard is "damage and battlefield control and strong self-buffs and very powerful ranged option alternative to spellslinging if you combo buffspells and talents and powerful melee option alternative if you combo other buffspells and a self-haste buff tha hastes spellcasting (and the above ranged and melee options... Yes, it is just as absurdly powerful as it sounds)", and the Cipher is just plain weird.

By which I guess that you have your watcher in the #1 (leftmost) character slot since the log reports "Hidden Object Found (name of first character in active selection)"/"(name of first character in active selection) has found something" when you have an active selection of characters, regardless of which character it is that finds something. As an example, if you have all characters selected and moving around scouting, #1 will always be mentioned regardless of who finds it, while if e.g. you are sending somebody out scouting a place where you know something will be found, let's say that it is #2 from the left you send out, and then before #2 arrives to find it select #3, #5, and #6, then the game will report that #3 found it when #2 finds it, because #3 is first in the 3, 5, 6 selection. This is a minor bug that has been present since 1.0.

Thanks, srlapo; I'm amazed I'd managed not to find that one, as I had cleared the room. Sloppy, sloppy, of me. With the 3 from Archmage and 1 from Alpine Dragon mentioned by mpr, that makes a total of 21 with known locations.

With help from srlapo and mpr, we've reached 21 so far. Longfalls: 1 (Secret) just west below the fortification with Lagufeth in the middle of the map. 1 (Secret) in Alpine Cave according to mph (Haven't beaten that dragon yet so cannot confirm it). Durgan's Battery: 1 Great Hall NW room with part of 3-part helmet (Garondh's chorus). 1 Mines Workshop 2 Mines secret area reached by using mine chart, looking around, and grabbing lever (dex check). 8 (Secret) Mines, mining cart in room in SW corner - thanks to srlapo for this one, which I had overlooked. 1 Foundry NW, room NW of Treasury 1 Foundry S, room at S end of corridor. 2 Foundry W, bench N at the forge itself. Crägholdt 3 (Secret) spot in the room with floating weapons in the Archmage's tower according to mph.

I have not tried Hours of St. Rumbalt or other crit-focused weapons before; How often does the "crits can inflict prone" overbearing effect fire on crits?

Because it is miniscule, doesn't scale with hitpoint pool size, and there are much better talents to pick. Fighter regeneration isn't all that important to fighter survival in the first place, even if you use the unique fighter cloak to enhance it, being dwarfed by healing from other sources in any tough fight, and the baby version is even less impressive. It is useful, of course - any regeneration is useful - but given that it is doubtful that fighter regeneration is worth a talent point when compared to the generic defensive talents, the baby version certainly isn't. If you want a defensive talent, you are better off picking any of the passive +10 to this or that defense you are weak in or +5 deflection.

One thing that works well with the expansion is to use the Devil of Caroc as a 2H rogue wielding the Grey Sleeper for massive sneak attack damage and a 10% chance on hit and crit to paralyze. (As well as the 5% chance to cast Twin Stones and the 5% chance to summon three random undead minions on hit and crit, which are also pretty darn nice side effects of this superb 2H Estoc). I wonder how using a PC rogue with optimized stats and not forced to wear a -40% recovery speed armour (as the Devil is) in the same role would perform compared to traditional DW melee builds.

It is a design decision to make strong buffs a tactical choice carrying a significant opportunity cost rather than a strategic choice without it.

I noticed a Might 20 check in one conversation branch with the Alpine Dragon. There might be others.

They are bloody nasty foes, those Lagufaeths, if one doesn't manage to kill them quickly or crowd control them and they just seem impossible on whatever difficulty level one is playing at, waiting until level 9 is always an option. At level 9, the level 5 priest Prayer Against Imprisonment works perfectly well and it is easy to cast it as the first spell of combat affecting one's entire group for a very long duration with +50 defense vs. paralyzation attacks and -10 sec duration for any paralyzation attacks that don't miss. Level 9 furthermore grants Call to Slumber for wizards, taking CC to a new and nastier level, so anybody unable to beat the nasty Lagufaeth groups with access to level 5 spells need their CRPG credentials revoked. Of course, that's of little help for those wanting to clear out the White Marsh at lower character levels, but it is an option, and just because one can access the White Marsh at level 5-6 doesn't mean it is a good idea (just like some of the areas of the main game one has free access to in act 2 are much harder than others), and the higher the difficulty level the worse the idea it is. For what it is worth, given the quality of equipment loot drops in White Marsh compared to enchantment levels, I'd guess that most of it is balanced for level ~8.

Don't forget the Heart of the Storm talent for +20% lightning damage against enemies with lower shock than pierce resistance.

Good point. Might even be worth taking the Interrupting Blows talent for +15 interrupt since the effect doesn't mention only applying to attacks; I assume it also works for spells despite the name of the talent. (This needs to be tested). EDIT: Nope, doesn't seem to work. Are you sure about interrupting blow not applying to spells ? I tested it once with a druid and it seemed to work. No, I am not sure. I only had time for a few short tests with a wizard and was at the time unsure how to interpret the results where grazes and crits were concerned; My tentative conclusion at the time was that it didn't seem to work, but I didn't feel confident enough to state so categorically. I haven't taken the time to investigate it more closely since then, mainly because I got 4th level spells after which setting up continuous interruption of enemy casters via Wall of Fire became trivial for my Per 18 (16+Torc) wizard. OK, so I tested it again this morning with Hiravias. I tested 3 spells : Dancing Bolt, Firebug and Insect Swarm to cover 3 out of 4 defenses. My Hiravias has 15 Interruption base value, 30 with the talent. I tested by checking the Interruption values in the Battle Log. Without the talent, Hiravias got consistently 15 Interrupt in the log for all 3 spells, and 40 for critical hits. With the talent, Hiravias got consistently 29 Interrput in the log for all 3 spells, and 55 for critical hits. Therefore, I can say that Interrupt blows add consistently 14 Interrupt to Hit and 15 Interrupt to Critical Hits. I have no clue about the +14 instead of +15 for regular hits but I had the same problem with Durance so it's probably true. In conclusion, I think Interrupt Blows do work with spells (except of course spells without Interrupt duration indicated in the tooltip). Thank you for taking the time to test this. It is much appreciated.

While there are might conversation options that read exactly like physical strength tests would in D&D games, that doesn't automatically imply that the person is physically strong, since in POE the force with which you lift/hit/impact the world depends on a mixture of physical and spiritual strength; In other words, it is only because we are used to such actions depending solely on physical strength that we read them that way, whereas if we truly accepted the game's universe, we'd acknowledge that lifting a heavy weight or throwing a mighty punch was a combination of physical and spiritual strength rather than merely depending on physical strength. And then there are the other might conversation options that don't go that far. As an example, the two latest might conversation options I had were both [might x] [intimidate] and didn't - to my eyes - read like tests of physical strength at all, but rather like overawing and scaring the target into submission - i.e. intimidating.

Good point. Might even be worth taking the Interrupting Blows talent for +15 interrupt since the effect doesn't mention only applying to attacks; I assume it also works for spells despite the name of the talent. (This needs to be tested). EDIT: Nope, doesn't seem to work. Are you sure about interrupting blow not applying to spells ? I tested it once with a druid and it seemed to work. No, I am not sure. I only had time for a few short tests with a wizard and was at the time unsure how to interpret the results where grazes and crits were concerned; My tentative conclusion at the time was that it didn't seem to work, but I didn't feel confident enough to state so categorically. I haven't taken the time to investigate it more closely since then, mainly because I got 4th level spells after which setting up continuous interruption of enemy casters via Wall of Fire became trivial for my Per 18 (16+Torc) wizard.

It gives +10% radius to all area of effect abilities, which is an increase equivalent to 1 2/3 Intelligence. So it isn't a big deal for anybody who already has high Intelligence, but on the other hand, every bit helps and gaining better rings for everybody who uses AOE effects is something that likely isn't going to happen until act 3.

You've got half a soulbound weapon if you've done Russetwood. Anyhow: The greatsword (Barbarian/Fighter/Paladin) is held by bandits north of Galvino's house outside Durgan's Battery. The mace (Rogue/Priest) is inside Durgan's battery. The hunting bow (Cipher/Chanter/Ranger) is split in two - a silver arrow in Russetwood in a wounded wolf, the bow itself on top of a small dwarven tower. The quarterstaff (Monk/Druid/Wizard) is in Longfalls fairly close to the entrance and before you fight Ulmar and his monks The estoc (any class) is at the falls in Longfalls.

Killyox, the post you are responding to is many months old, recently unearthed by a necromancer, it is not somebody new rediscovering your ancient secrets. Your old post is from the 7th of April, the post you are responding to is from the 9th of April. But much more interesting than whether you discovered it two days before Gullintani nearly half a year ago is whether it still works now, in September. I haven't tried a 2.0 Barbarian, but I was under the impression that one of the later patches prior to 2.0 reduced the carnage effect from spells. Is this not the case and does the game still allow that absurd Jolting Touch abuse?

One is an upgrade mechanic for a weapon that is entirely optional to use in the game. The other is an optional achievement mechanic that tracks how you play the game. You desire to complete two contradictory optional goals, and as there is no logical reason for the developers to take the achievement mechanic into account when designing the upgrade mechanic since both are optional and unrelated concepts, it is definitely not an oversight (as that would imply that it should be possible to achieve all optional goals in a single game). Whether they even spared this special case a thought or whether it is completely unintentional - who knows? -------- That being said, like just about everybody else I also felt this was a silly upgrade mechanic, though it was an exceptionally simple one to complete using Eder's old second chance armour.

1. Nope; too situational. I prefer throwing AOE spells around with a chance of interrupting everybody damaged. 2. Yes. It is great if you have good accuracy. See notes below. 3. Yes. It takes 8 damage off the next 10 attacks that hit you, effectively working as an 80 point damage shield against moderate sized attacks. 4. Yes. A really nice spell for the DR early in the game and concentration later in the game. 5. No. I haven't found any use for the Arcane Dampener; To be fair, sharing as it does the same spell slot as some of my favourite spells: Deleterious Alacrity of Motion, Fireball, and K. Minor Blights, it would have to be pretty awesome for me to even think of using it. 6. No. The same problem as 5. 7. Not really. The most use I've got out of it is its repeated interruption, but the level 4 Wall of Fire is already splendid for setting up a repeated interruption of a bunch of stationary ranged caster/archer enemies. I like playing with a blaster/controller wizard main with min-maxed stats, and for 2.0 that is an elf with 18 mig, 3 con, 19 dex, 16 per, 18 int, 3 res. Good precision, swift and powerful casting, and decent chances to interrupt... but poor concentration. Talents are Blast, Penetrating Blast, Dangerous Implements, and then the elemental booster talents (or Arcane Veil). Body armour is the Berathian Priest robes from Raedric's Hold that have DR2 but only 5% recovery penalty. Once I get access to 3rd level spells, the awesome Deleterious Alacrity of Motion becomes available and many of the buff spells that otherwise seems too situational suddenly become very viable indeed. My normal opener in harder fights (where I turn autopause when ability used on) is thus Deleterious Alactrity of Motion, Infused Vitality, Merciless Gaze. If things look especially dangerous, Spiritual Shield and, once 4th level spells are available, Iron Skin, are cast as needed. All these spells have a very long duration, protecting the wizard from the attention he gets when he blasts away with his spells and - once spells are running low - casts K. Minor Blights and starts throwing blights at any enemies that are close to each other taking full advantage of the funny Blight/Blast synergy so beloved by wizard players. This sort of damageoutput, which no other class can even approach*, tends to make the wizard a prime target, and while Spiritual Shield may only be 3 DR, it really helps against interruption. (If your wizard chooses Resolve over Perception, i.e. high concentration at the cost of low accuracy and interruption, Spiritual Shield is worth less, obviously. But playing a wizard with low precision is only an option on lower difficulty levels). Note that you might run Dire Blessing from a Priest rather than Merciless Gaze, but I usually have much higher priority spells for the priest to cast early in important fights, and when opening with DaOM I can run through the entire wizard buffing list before a priest has completed casting two out of Circle of Protection, Devotions of the Faithful, and Concecrated Ground, all three of which I am likely to want before even thinking of casting Dire Blessing. And a Dire Blessing that is only cast several seconds into the fight when the wizard has already thrown the first five-plus heavy blasting and control spells, while certainly valuable for the rest of the fight, doesn't apply the up-front power that Merciless Gaze does. Which is why my wizard buffs up with Merciless Gaze and I am quite fine with that later being trumped by a Dire Blessing. * I am not dissing Druids here. Their AOE is awesome... as in having a great damage/spell slot ratio and many varied options for inflicting pain. And they have shapeshifting and healing, so they certainly aren't second rate in general - only when it comes to damagedealing over time. Lacking access to swift casting, Druids' AOE are a joke compared to wizards when looking at the damage/time ratio, and that is what matters in hard fights. (Of course, if Wizard's didn't have K. Minor Blights using DaOM and blasting away would risk them running out of steam before a huge fight was over, but they do have that spell to cast so long as they reserve a 3rd level slot for that purpose.)

It is relevant, because in our game same gun deals a different damage in hands of different characters. That is just nonsense. Whole point of a handgun is that a weak person as dangerous with it as a strong person. In OUR world that appears to be governed by relationships that are commonly described as the rules of physics, hand guns do the same damage in the hands of the weak as in the hands of the strong, and it would be nonsense - in our world - to claim that guns wielded by the strong do more damage, since it could easily be empirically disproven. That, however, is completely irrelevant to how guns work in Pillars of Eternity, because the game does not take place in our world, nor does it pretend that the game's world/universe runs by the same rules as ours. Specifically, the world of Pillars of Eternity is not governed by the rules of physics, or at least not by the same rules of physics as we are used to. While there are similarities, there are also huge and obvious differences, the largest of which is the active role souls play in magic, faith, and interacting with the world. In the world of Pillars of Eternity, the person whose might - the measure of his physical and spiritual strength - is great will do more damage with a handgun than one who is weak of body and poor of spirit, just like he will do more damage with any weapon and heal more with any healing if he is strong of body and spirit, and the fact that it doesn't work like that in our world doesn't make it nonsense in the game - it is merely an example of how this fantasy world works differently.

The guy shows up during a quest in the fishery later on.

It is not designed for level 10 upwards. Happy now? As for what level it is intended for, I would guess that it was designed for "around level 8 or so on normal difficulty but with a bit tougher encounters to give a bit of Ice Wind Dale feeling" on the grounds that many enemies in White March drop Exceptional items, there are exceptional soulbound weapons, and Exceptional is only available as an enchant at level 8. If one compares with Defiance Bay, almost all item drops there are Fine with Exceptional primarily available from merchants at high cost. For what it is worth, I entered it at level 6 playing Path of the Damned, and I found it too damned hard to be enjoyable, but returned at level 7 and found it to be around the same level of difficulty as what I'd faced the first 2-3 levels in PoTD while gathering companions; In other words, still much tougher than anything left in Defiance Bay, but definitely doable though it required resting after nearly every group defeated in the wild after securing Stalwart, and I occasionally lose a battle and have to reload. Stalwart itself was much easier the second time around, not only because of slightly higher stats or gear, but because I chose to fight my way west along the southern border of the map until I could attack the warboss, thus skipping most of the ogre encounters in the village and preserving almost all my spells for the important battle. I guess it depends a lot upon your group composition and the difficulty level you have chosen. In my case, my main is a pale elf blaster/control wizard with 18 mig, 3 con, 19 dex, 16 per, 18 int, 3 res, with Blast, Penetrating Blast, Dangerous Implements (and picking up the elemental talents afterwards), and blaster wizards are incredibly frontloaded in damageoutput once they gain third level spells (if you know what you are doing), so battles to a large degree rely on my three melee front line (Eder 2H, Pallegina, Durance S&S) holding back the horde while Durance casts defensive and offensive buffs and Kana shoots and summons meatshields (items and chants; open up with the Obsidian Lamps' 3 shades in any dangerous battle; give the enemy something to divert it while you get all the priest and wizard buffs up), while my main character casts Deleterious Alacrity of Motion, Infused Vitality, and Merciless Gaze, and uses the 2nd level AOE corruption/siphon spell to regain life, Fireballs for fun and profit, Slicken to knock down concentration of enemies, and K. Minor Blights when low on spells to bombard the enemy into submission, with my 6th party member varying depending on situation. (Aloth only rarely - a two wizard group at level 5+ is way too strong regardless of difficulty level.) I picked up the Devil of Caroc at level 7, close to level 8. I am certain that if I'd played on either a lesser difficulty setting it would be doable starting at level 6, but for PoTD I'd say level 7 is the minimum for it to be fun as that's when you get access to level 4 priest spells and the wonderful +20 accuracy blessing.

This remains current as of 2.0.1, making the Ancient Memory talent completely useless. It is the result of things working as designed in the 2.0 revamp of systems and can be seen in any game using a Chanter with Ancient Memory, though it is certainly not working as intended at the moment, being an innocent victim of an oversight of unintended consequences, no doubt, The talent is supposed to: "Invokes a primal energy, causing allies within range to benefit from constant endurance regeneration while the Chanter is chanting." but that's not how the 2.0 implementation does it. Ancient Memory is currently: Once per encounter, activated by chanting, and Stopped whenever you stop chanting, such as when you use an invocation. It should take less than a second to realize the logical consequences thereof, and, indeed, the game is working exactly as it should given those premises. To make it somewhat worthwhile having* and return to 1.0 functionality, it needs to either: Be unlimited in number of activations, or Not stop when you stop chanting. * Well, not really; It is an exceptionally weak talent. But at least in 1.0 it did what its flavour text said.