gkathellar

Oh hey, I didn't think of that. Good times. They still lead in the secondary defenses, don't they? I think they are quite versatile with the orders and buffs, which is a nice thing as well compared to other classes. I guess they are the best counter class for casters and CC in a defensive sense. The best counter to CC is still to kill or otherwise lock down the source, and paladins aren't great at that. Could be I'm being pessimistic - I think someone did solo triple crown with a non-tanky paladin. I was just very fond of Orlan paladin ubertanks, you know? Ah, well. Well, between -8 and -15 Deflection or so on high end tanks, which is actually a pretty big reduction. But I take your point. pigeons r pretty smart tho

Yeah, I understand that, and I think in general it's a fine balance change that'll mix things up for most of the classes. I'm mostly annoyed at the effect it'll have on the paladin. Even with the buffs from 1.06, I still don't think that paladins have any real niche besides stacking defenses. With the deflection drop, that's really going to decline in efficacy, such that fighter regeneration will be a significantly preferable option. I'm not asserting that deflection tanks aren't going to function, for the record, or that paladins will be unplayable. But there won't be anything they do best, anymore. /le shrug

Anyway. Ugh. That is going to really hurt the viability of soloing with a tank.

Stop it. It's getting awkward for everyone, Strawnir. Like a drunk uncle at a BBQ. If you two don't stop flirting, I am going to throw up all over your shoes. It will be unpleasant.

It depends. Rogues can nova harder than anyone, but need a lot of help to keep their damage spike going. Rangers have better accuracy than anyone, have a lot of abilities that let them deal damage constantly, and need surprisingly little support. Ciphers have the best CC and can target defenses other than Deflection most easily, but they can end up neutered if their opening hit misses, and they can have a harder time in lengthy fights unless well-managed. Honorable mention goes to Chanter (only decent DPS, but improves the rest of your back line), and Bleak Walker Paladin (dat spike damage, yo).

It depends. Rogues can nova harder than anyone, but need a lot of help to keep their damage spike going. Rangers have better accuracy than anyone, have a lot of abilities that let them deal damage constantly, and need surprisingly little support. Ciphers have the best CC and can target defenses other than Deflection most easily, but they can end up neutered if their opening hit misses, and they can have a harder time in lengthy fights unless well-managed. Honorable mention goes to Chanter (only decent DPS, but improves the rest of your back line), and Bleak Walker Paladin (dat spike damage, yo).

Insert obligatory "I stick it in my mouth, and then chew it" troll response here.

Maybe it is just my imagination, but I am pretty sure Sagani's wolf is leaping up to bite Eder. It seemed obvious to me that Itumaak was asking to be pet in that scene. Itumaak? They were talking about Sagani's wolf, man. Itumaak is a fox.

I think I can understand why - it's a bit inelegant, and it kinda pigeonholes tanks around those two stats. But bear in mind that all of the other defenses derive from two attributes, if only to minimize the number of builds that don't get bonuses to them. And it'd keep the math in a similar location to the place it is today, so there's that.

Having had some time to ponder this, it occurs to me that moving Perception's +Deflection bonus to Constitution might help to rebalance the stats in general. Dunno. Thoughts. Wish we had more information on this, though.

Rymrgand's Mantle is a good suggestion. IIRC there is more than one of these you can get. Its easy to judge an item by its "value" and replace it quickly, never looking back. However, in this game, it seems some of the most useful items have some of the lowest prices or resell value, and/or are acquired early. Some of them are situational, granted, but very good in their niche. Rymrgands actually only appear on the random loot table. You can find them in several locations, including early in a chest in the Black Dog. I'd not recommend getting more than two, as several of its drop locations can also have other good stuff, like Rings of Overseeing or Gauntlets of Accuracy.

They're not really required at all, save for some classes when soloing. The most important thing for PotD is using your CC intelligently, developing the party's talent/ability selection wisely, abusing the hell out of figurines, abusing Rymrgand's Mantle during shadow/phantom fights, and generally being good at the game. +15% damage or whatever helps, sure, but you don't need it. For reference, my current PotD run has been with pregen companions, and a monk running 16/10/10/16/10/16. I am a wrecking ball of death and chaos.

It's all a matter of personal taste, of course. I do like this theme, but I also commend Justin Bell for having the 'courage' to have tried a different route than the usual 'epic, military' themes that most RPGs tend to go for these days. PoE's music, I think, suits the content of the game really well. It's a bit less 'in your face', and a bit more mysterious. Because of that I am finding it quite enjoyable to listen to repeatedly. Just my 2ç Oh, I quite agree with regards to literally everything other than the opening theme. Which isn't bad, mind. It's quite good. I just don't like it as an opening theme, because I hear it and think, "or I could go to sleep to this."

It bears noting - soloing the fight with a suitable offtank can actually be easier than using a party, since Charm loses its bite when you don't have friends to beat the snot out of you.

I agree with you on everything but the title screen music. It's all soft and unexciting, and makes me the opposite of stoked. Compare and contrast BG1's main title:

I think you're asking "how," rather than why - in which case Fardragon got it in one. On the other hand, if you are asking "why," then yeah, that's what I'd like to know. IIRC, they were originally one-handed, but there were animation issues. Anyway, it's lame, and they should fix it.

I wouldn't be surprised. That said, Blast really should just be a general Talent, rather than taking up the wizard multiclass.

Specifically, you need Cruel 1. If you're looking to perform the sacrifice for as many powerups as possible, you can get the requisite Cruelty without much difficulty while nabbing Gift from the Machine at Heritage Hill.

Honestly, my first instinct is to tell you, "don't run a no-armor barbarian." Your best bet is to use a reach weapon, and stay behind your tanks. There's really no way to survive taking hits without armor, and barbarians don't have the deflection to avoid attacks aimed at them, so you need to position yourself to avoid being targeted. Even with a reach weapon, you're going to have to be very careful about positioning - use the Priest spell Withdraw when necessary, and make sure to have a priest in your party. Moon Godlike will also help with survivability, as it always does.

Zealous Focus is generally better, in my experience. In a party, ZE really only helps your tanks, while ZF helps everyone. That seems like a clear win for Focus. In solo ... honestly, DR only helps you so much when your paladin's defenses make most attacks miss or graze. ZF helps you kill the enemy before the RNG murders you horribly on a whim.

Implements are one of my pet peeves in PoE. I like the idea, and there are even things I like about the implementation - but as it is, implements just aren't worth investing in, and are barely worth using. I think 2.0/White March is a good chance to fix that. Look, I know that wizards can use implements half-decently, but to be honest? Wizards have better things to do with their time than not cast spells, and better things to do with their talent slots than enhance non-spell casting offense (yes, Kalakoth's Minor Blights is pretty good, but I still feel like there are better things to do with one's time). Meanwhile, the classes that get more mileage out of attacking (see: all of them) don't have any reason to go for implements. I think a few things could be done to fix this, perhaps with slightly different approaches for each of the three implements. Implement damage or speed could be raised to make them more attractive. Maybe they could be allowed to double as weak melee weapons - certainly a scepter sounds like something you could hit a fellow with. Maybe they could be made one-handed, giving them the distinctive niche as ranged weapons you can use with a shield, or dual wield. I mean, really, two wands? Pretty pimp. With respect to talents, I think Blast and it's successors could stand to be generally accessible. If casters like wizards are supposed to use implements, they should have talents that actually connect implement use to spellcasting. Dangerous Implements might need a bit of retuning, but I think it'll probably be fine if implements in general are good. One of my favorite things about implements is that they let you play something like a D&D warlock or other pure blaster without needing to devote an entire class. There are lots of concepts that, in combination with existing classes, I think they can simulate. A rogue or monk can be a quick-drawing assassin, a chanter can be a sly necromancer, a ranger can play to more of a shamanic archetype, or a Bleak Walker paladin can be an arcane artilleryman, among others. It would be great to see more support for them in the upcoming expansion.

Snogres?

There is a difference between an expansion pack and DLC. Often the point of DLC is to monetize a niche group of customers who want something in particular that isn't supplied in the main game. Sometimes developers can only convince their publisher to let them keep working on a thing by saying they'll recoup the extra days of work with DLC costs.

I'll try to simplify further, since it seems like this is going over your head. Stronghold costs are ((total hireling prices)(n(weeks)). Stronghold gains are ((obtuse hidden taxation formula)(x(turns)). n is arbitrarily high, while x tops out with the number of quests in the game. Both formulas should use n, or both should use x.

That still doesn't explain why they haven't solved the infinite money sink problem. Taxes need to be based on passage of time, and facilities upgrades need to be based on the passage of turns. This does not require a whole ton of dev resources. that word don't mean what you think it means. It ... what? Okay, let me see if I can clarify. Hirelings at the stronghold cost money. This money is spent over the passage of in-game time. Rest an infinite number of times, and you will spend and infinite amount of money. Money and resources generated by the stronghold only result from the completion of quests. There are only so many quests in the game. My view is that all of this needs to be shuffled a bit, to remove the potential for infinite spending. I also wouldn't mind seeing stronghold upgrades keyed to quest completion (rather than time) to make it a reward for exploring the game. I like the turn system in the Stronghold, but its relationship with in-game time is whack, yo.