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Here is a longer version of my suggestion that was posted on the Grounded Discord (that received 35+ likes ^-^) [https://discord.com/channels/675491639804035089/786708112978477076/1181007520924446762] with additional ideas included: More items to craft or acquire using O.R.C. Receivers and/or more things to do with them: **Tiered Reward System:** - Collect enough O.R.C. Receivers to unlock rewards depending on how many O.R.C. receivers you collect (5, 10, 25, 50 etc., can be redeemed by an NPC such as BURG.L or new scientist mentioned below) - "One of the scientists that helped freed you, in order to hide from Ominent, is now in the backyard ready to help you (along with teaming up with Dr. Tully) by trading in your saved up O.R.C. Receivers to them." **O.R.C. Enhanced ZIP.R:** (Could work along with others' zipline upgrade ideas that suggest 2 aphids) - Trade in(?) for an upgraded zipline using O.R.C. Receivers - Aphids appear with O.R.C. Receiver on their head (default red lights changed to blue or green to show alliance) - Greatly Increase Zipline speed - Allows for transporting resources upward as well **Lil O.R.C. Receiver Helmet:** - Used in taming larger pets? - Or just cosmetic. Or both. - Different color lights? (Default red, or blue/green to show alliance) **O.R.C. Receiver Arrows:** - O.R.C. Homing Arrows: Can automatically redirect arrows to the closest enemy to your crosshair (Or: Every consecutive Homing Arrow will automatically redirect to the target you last did damage to?) - O.R.C. EMP Arrows: Inflict static shock damage - O.R.C. Mind Control Arrows: Temporarily cause a certain creature to fight on your side (default red lights changed to blue or green to show alliance) **O.R.C. Receiver Trinket:** - Automatically give arrows a slight "homing" ability (such as Homing Arrow suggestion) Or: - Small % chance to "mark" certain creatures to temporarily fight on your side when using any O.R.C. Receiver crafted arrows (default red lights changed to blue or green to show alliance) **O.R.C. Receiver Bomb:** - Inflict AoE shock damage Or: - Will automatically "mark" certain creatures within the blast's AoE range to temporarily fight on your side (default red lights changed to blue or green to show alliance) **O.R.C. Mantis Boss:** - Self explainatory - Late to End-Game - Fits lore and story progression/timeline (Broodmother -> Haze Canister -> Infected; Mantis -> Schmector Experiments -> O.R.C. Technology) **O.R.C. Armor:** - Crafted from "the broken down materials of multiple O.R.C Receivers" (description when trading in?) Or: - Crafted from a large amount of O.R.C. Receivers - Other pieces can be acquired from possibly a new "O.R.C. Mantis" boss - Full set bonus: When an enemy is hit, small % chance to "mark" certain nearby creatures to temporarily fight on your side (toggle the hat on them? Default red lights changed to blue or green to show alliance) Note: When it comes to all Mind Control features (small % chance to "mark") ideas mentioned above, an alternative can be to spawn random small creatures nearby the enemy and have them "seemingly" been mind controlled (have the blue/green O.R.C. Receiver helmet to show) Reasoning: Just fun ideas for late to end-game tech usage, courtesy of Dr. Wendell Tully's expertise on reverse-engineering his adversaries devices.

Overview: This list is based on my personal opinion and I haven't tested them all. Quite possible I haven't taken into account all possible synergies so some might be undervalued. A lot of them will be weaker if they are used with a class that doesn't synergize with their effects. All values are ingame values. The wiki is outdated since the 1.2 nerfs. Weapons are listed randomly within any Tier. Might change that at some point but it will require some work. I am also comparing weapons at max enchants. I haven't taken into account that some weapons will be very useful early on in the game if they start out with high weapon quality, forgoing the need to upgrade them. I will update it for Beast of Winter when I have the time. Channel links: Twitch Channel Youtube Channel Donate via Streamlabs Reddit Discussion Steam Guide S - Tier. Exceptionally Strong weapons with powerful effects. Whispers of the Endless Paths (Great Sword) Attacks in a cone +1 Pen (can proc Ability Effects in AoE that are normally single target (for instance knockdowns) 15% dmg as crush. Offensive Parry: +4 Deflection against Melee weapons, Counterattack enemy when Missed in Melee (inflicts Dazed). Run Through: Grants Run Through: Impale a target, knock them down, and cause bleeding (1/encounter). Especially strong on a Riposte build like my (Riposte tank) or with classes with single target stuns Wahai Poraga (Pollaxe) Standard attack is AoE that hits target +3 additional target friend or foe. -20% Melee Damage Received for 2s on launching attack. 25% damage reflected at attacker for 2 sec after attacking. Very strong AoE damage but needs good positioning to not cleave allies. Extremly strong on certain builds like my Reaper of Souls build, but not as strong on standard builds. Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff (Quarterstaff) For Melee: 1 All Acid Power Levels, +1 All Electricity Power Levels, +1 Fire Acid Power Levels, +1 Frost Acid Power Levels, Soul Storm Launches Raw Damage area of effect attack after scoring five consecutive hits on target, +5% Action Speed and Damage (scales with Metaphysics 15% at 20 metaphysics). +3% Burn, Corrode, Freeze, and Shock Damage. 15% action speed/dmg and combined 12% Lash makes it very strong for dps. The Spine of Thicket Green (Quarterstaff) +2 All Plant/Restoration/Rejuvination PL's. +10 Defense vs Poison/Disease. 20% dmg +5 acc vs vessels. Strong Stat stick for Priest/Druid The Twin Eels (Great Sword) Breath of Life: Restores 0 Health to all nearby allies on kill (scales with religion). 5% hit to crit chance with weapons (scales with religion). Grants Renewal: When knocked unconcious Revive with X Health (Scales with Religion. 10.3 Health at 0 Religion - 216 at 20 Religion). This thread discusses the weapons scaling. The Renewal and Breath of Life seems to scale quite nicely with Religion giving you a lot of sustain. If the hit to crit conversion turns out to be absolutely terrible then the weapon might be a lot weaker, but it's abit hard to know without extensive testing. Assuming the hit to crit conversion is around 0.5% per point of religion, it would mean you would get 15% hit to crit at 20 religion and a ton of sustain making it easily S - Tier. Even if the crit scaling is terrible the weapon should atleast be mid A - Tier at the bare minimum. Oathbreaker's End (2 Handed Battle Axe) Executioner's Axe: Requires 2 hands to wield, but deals increased damage.Scales of Justice: Scoring a Critical Hit on an enemy causes them to take Raw Damage over time. Whenever that enemy deals damage, the duration increases. Enemies killed under the effects of Scales of Justice deal 0 Raw damage to nearby enemies. Weapon deals equivalent damage to a Great Sword of its weapon quality, and gets the +20% bonus crit dmg battle axes get. This Thread discusses the weapons effects. The Raw dot isnt all that strong (ticks for about 5-6 dmg at legendary quality every 2 sec) but killing a target under the effect of Scales of Justice will trigger a weapon attack just like a normal weapon swing in AoE, except it deals raw damage. These attacks can again proc other on hit effects. Very powerful on builds with AoE attacks that proc on hit effects like Barbarians Heart of Fury or Fighters Clear Out. In addition it has the Battle Axes 20% bonus crit dmg making it work nicely with crit builds. It needs more testing but is possibly a S - Tier weapon. A lot weaker on builds that doesn't have access to AoE attacks. Link to wiki seems to bug out when i link it to the weapon name. Click here instead https://pillarsofeternity2.wiki.fextralife.com/Oathbreaker's+End ​ ​ A - Tier. Mostly very good dps stats but not quite as ridicoulous as some S - Tier weps. Blade of the Endless Paths (Estoc) -15% Recovery time, 15% crit dmg, +1 Melee accuracy per 6s (10 stacks) Strong dps stats. Eager Blade (Estoc) 10% chance to instantly recover on hit. +2 and acc and 5% action speed on crit (4 stacks). Kaul's Stance: Randomly chosen: +1 AR, +10% melee dmg, +8 deflection. Strong dps stats. Engoliero do Espirs (Estoc) 10% dmg as Raw. Cast Ghost Blades on kill. Ravenous Soul Hunger: -3 Mig/Con/Dex -> On kill: +3 Mig/Con/Dex https. Probably the highest potential single target dmg of any 2h but the penalty before a kill is very painful. Voidwheel (Great Sword) 10% dmg as Raw, 10% dmg as Raw to self. 25% chance to cast Necrotic Lance on crit, -3 Corrode AR. Lots of dmg but deals dmg to self. The Willbreaker (Morning Star) 25% miss to graze, 10% hit to crit. 25% chance Shaken (Rank 2 Resolve Affliction) on target on hit.-3 will on target for 30s on hit (stacks 5 times), 10% action speed). Decent to debuff Will so spells targeting Will has higher chance to hit. Weapon Modal + Barbarians Brute Force + Mig/Con affliction can give Barbarians VERY high crit chance. A-tier for Brute force Barb B - Tier for others. Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff (Quarterstaff) As stat stick: 1 All Acid Power Levels, +1 All Electricity Power Levels, +1 Fire Acid Power Levels, +1 Frost Acid Power Levels. Elemental Induction +15% Damage for 10 sec when hit with Acid, Fire, Frost, or Electricity attacks. 1% Damage reduction for 10 sec when Hit (stacks 5 times, scales with Metaphysics) Soul Charge: +5% Staff Damage (Increases with Metaphysics skill 15% at 20 metaphysics), +5% Action Speed Saru-Sichr (Morning Star) 3 Corrode dmg åer 12 sec on hit: Dot ticks have 5% chance to instantly kill enemies with <25% Health Both enchants are meh but this synergizes with on kill effects. Weapon Modal + Barbarians Brute Force + Mig/Con affliction can give Barbarians VERY high crit chance. A-tier for Brute force Barb C - Tier for others. ​ ​ B - Tier. Suboptimal stats but still good. Sanguine Great Sword (Great Sword) Blood Gift: +5 health restored per 3s for 6s on crits. 10% hit to crit. 20% of Misses converted to Grazes. Prepare the offering: -15 Deflection vs melee, -2 slash AR for 20s (1/encounter). Decent sustain and dmg buffs Lord Darryn's Voulge (Pollaxe) Bolting Strikes: 10% Chance on Hit with weapons to activate Lightning Strikes. Static Thunder: On Hit, applies a stacking effect to an enemy. On Crit, all enemies in an AoE will lose all stacks and take +10 Shock damage for every stack. Minor Spellbind: Ball Lightning: Grants Ball Lightning (Druid spell) (1 per rest). Soulbound only upgrading to Superb holds it back. Can get +3 Storm Power levels making it a very strong stat stick for Fury (Druid). C - Tier. Weak stats. Effort (Great Sword) Critical Hits can Hobble or Sicken enemies for 10 sec. Immune to Resolve afflictions while under 25% health, cannot be interrupted, Couragous(Rank 3 Resolve Inspiration). Ok debuffs and defense. Wicked Beast (Pike) 10% chance to deal pierce dmg to self or ally on attack. Hounding: Chance to inflict hobbled knockdown, raw dmg for 12s, or -25% action speed on target on crit. 5% dmg with melee wep, +4 deflection vs melee weps. Cry Havoc: Foe Aoe 20-30 dmg, 3m push, Frighten for 15s (1/rest). Decent debuffs and dmg, strong 1/rest active. Can instead be upgraded to +2 Beast PLs but that doesn't seem useful. D - Tier. Terrible stats or too conditional Queen's Rule (Great Sword) Checkmate: Swap position with enemy. Stunned for 8 sec, Full attack (2/rest). Even if Check mate was 2 per encounter it would still be meh. Street Sweeper (Quarterstaff) 15% chance to confuse on hit. -10s duration of hostile effects, -5s duration of benefitial effects on hit. Might be better then i give it credit for. Getting rid of debuffs is nice but thats about it. Distraho (Great Sword) Chance to Shaken AoE on crit. Red Tear: +35 (1/rest). Weak heal and shaken is one of the weakest afflictions in the game. Lance of the Midwood Stag (Pike) On bloodied Casts: Woodskin (+5 Pierce/Burn/Shock AR for 15s (1.5m AoE) and Lord of the Forest: +2 All PLs. Would be S - Tier stat stick if Lord of the Forest didn't require bloodied.

This is an armor tier list i threw together. It's just my opinion based on reading their ingame description. Most of them i've never worn. Some can go up or down a tier depending if you use them in a specific build. List will be updated for Beast of Winter when I have time. Channel links: Twitch Channel Youtube Channel Donate via Streamlabs Reddit Discussion Steam Guide S - tier: Best in Slot Miscreant's Leathers: Hands down the best armor for dps due to the reduced recovery time Sharpshooter's Garb: Best Armor for Arbalest/Arquebus/Crossbow users. Reduces reload time. Devil of Caroc Breastplate: Reduced Recovery time and +2 Power Pool. Especially good on Multi class since both classes benefit from the increased Power Pool Reckless Brigandine: Increased Action speed per engaged target. Best armor for tanks with a lot of engagement slots A - tier: Very strong but is probably either situational or outperformed by a similar armor The Bloody Links: Exceptionally strong on Streetfighter/Humans due to proccs on bloodied Swift Hunter's Garb: Reduced Recovery Time. Outperformed by Miscreant's Leathers. Pale Hide: Very good on dps off tank. Incoming hit to grazes conversion and low recovery time. AoE fear Hearth Defender's Scale: Bonuses if good Relations with the Watcher, Penalties if bad. Very strong on a frontline support. Casità Samelia's Legacy: Deflection scaling with Intimidate. Very strong if stacking Intimidate & Deflection Patinated Plate: Chance to Stun attackers when hit with melee weapon. +armor against melee attacks. Strong on a pure tank but makes you super slow. Very good on chanter tanks, less useful on builds that care more about recovery. Deltro's Cage: +2 All Electricity Power Levels could have been great on Fury (Druid subclass) but 55% recovery time makes it garbage. Apparently you can make some very powerful builds with this armor. 55% recovery time keeps it out of beeing S - Tier. Sidenote, outside those synergies the armor is fairly useless. B - Tier: For when all your other good armors are taken Fleshmender: Health/sec and Incoming hit to grazes conversion Very good on dps off tank. Effigy's Husk: Decent on a Ranged Streetfighter but Bloody Links is way better. Does have 0% Recovery though Furrante's Breastplate: Reduces damage taken by party memebers and increases healing. Grants Concentration. Good for frontline Casters Blackened Plate Armor - Grants damage or heal over time aura. Random Mind Inspiration when bloodied. Second Aura deals damage over time and reduces armor by 1. Gipon Prudensco: +25 defense vs disengagement attacks. +1 deflection/+2 reflex when hit in combat (stacks 10x). Immunity to Flanked. Can get Immunity to disengagement attacks instead. Good if you want to rush past frontline to get into backline with your frontliner or to retreat with your backliner. Imo best used as a defensive option for a squishy frontliner. C - Tier: Decent to wear before you get the good armors. Can be situationally good Garari Cuirass: Incoming hit to grazes conversion. Reduced damage from weapons. Cabalist's Gambeson: Very good against spellcasters. Spider Silk Robe: Immune to Dexterity afflictions and Grants Binding Web. Magnera's Chain: Increases recovery time on attacker when getting crit with melee weapons. Resistant to Might affliction. Ok for tank. Iridescent Scale: Can be enchanted to be exceptionally strong vs a specific dmg type. Conjure Greater Blight. Saint's War Armor: Revives the wearer when they get knocked unconcious 1/per combat. Decent but with correct play they shouldn't be knocked unconcious in the first place Desgraza Breastplate: Reduced Damage the lower health the wearer has. Ok for tanking Five Suns Breastplate: See above Honor Guard Breastplate: See above Humility: 20% Resist Slash/Pierce attacks. Not bad on a backliner just not very good either D - Tier: Don't waste your money on enchants Nomad's Brigandine: Can get Immunity to disengagement attacks but if you are a dedicated tank you probably dont care about that. Too much recovery for an offtank Edit: Moved Patinated Plate into tier A. More useful on chanter tanks or builds that doesn't care about recovery then i gave it credit for. Moved Humility to Tier C. Slash/Pierce attacks are rather common in the game. Moved Casita Samelia's Legacy into tier A. Moved Deltro's Cage up to Tier A based on siggestions for build synergies. Moved Gipon Prudensco to Tier B

Overview: To get the most up to date stats (Patch 2.0) i've used a mix of the Official wiki, Fexxtra's Wiki, and ingame stats. There are certain item synergies I haven't taken account for like the rangers Gunner Passive (20% faster reload), Sharpshooter's garb -20% Reload Time with Arbalest / Arquebus / Crossbow attacks or Blunderbuss weapon modal giving flanked making it must have for Ranged Streetfighter. These types of weapons will be even stronger relatively speaking with these synergies. Eccea Arcane Blaster Pistol is similar to Animancer's Energy Blade that its OP vs moderate/extreme underpenetration but terrible vs normal/overpen targets. Some of the lower rated weapons can be exceptionally strong in very rare scenarios (for instance vs spirits) but I am mostly rating them for their general usefulness. Weapons are listed randomly within any Tier. Might change that at some point but it will require some work. I am also comparing weapons at max enchants. I haven't taken into account that some weapons will be very useful early on in the game if they start out with high weapon quality, forgoing the need to upgrade them. Channel Links: Twitch Channel Youtube Channel Steam Guide Reddit Discussion Donate via Streamlabs God - Tier The Red Hand (Arquebus) - Double Barrel: Fires two shots before reloading, but has a reduced range. Guilty Conscience 2% Damage dealt and received on Kill until Rest (Stacks 20 times). Twin Slugs Knockback target within 4m on scoring Hit. Hands down the most broken item in the game right now. Double Barrel effect is almost doubling your dps by itself and Guilty Conscience stacks up to 40% dmg taken/recived. Very easy to get (12 lock difficulty chest in delvers row) Guilty Conscience buff works for other weapons, so it's possible to stack it up and then swap to another weapon (does reset on rest though). S - Tier Dragon's Dowry (Arquebus) - Runelock upgrade: 15% chance for wielder to suffer 15 Burn Damage on launching attack, +30% Damage as Burn. 1 per rest ability: +40 Action Speed for 20 sec, 5 Burn Damage for wielder per 3 sec for 25 sec. 30% Lash dmg and a very powerful active puts this solidly into tier S. Does make you deal dmg to yourself so use with care. Xefa's Empirical Explication (Blunderbuss) - Multi-Shot: Fires multiple projectiles Transmogrified Shot: +15% Damage as Raw Matter Repulsion: Target knocked back on Crit. +1 Penetration, 15% damage as Slash. -25% Range, +15% Damage. Massive dmg buffs and knockback on crit makes it one of the best ranged 1hs in the game Eccea Arcane Blaster Pistol (Pistol) - deals Raw Damage, Imbued Ammunation deals additional Crush/Corrode Damage & +35% Reload. Bullet Time: 10% chance to reload instantly for a short time. Raw dmg means it is increasingly strong against targets that you would normally underpenetrate (- 25/50/75% dmg) but weak with normal/overpenetration attacks. (Lower dps then a non-unique). Keep it as a backup vs heavily armored targets. The Eye of Wael (Scepter, Caster stat stick) - Obfuscation 10% chance to become Invisible for 8s on scoring Critical Hit. The Hundred Visions +2 all Illusions Power levels Illusive Spell: 5% chance to cast random Illusion spell on target on scoring Hit. 10% chance to cast random affliction on target on crit. Form Phantasmic: Cast random defensive illusion spell when bloodied. Really strong on Illusion Mages. Decent on Illusion Priest/Ranged Trickster Frostseeker (Warbow) - Garland's Tears: Fires multiple projectiles at slightly reduced damage +10% Damage as Freeze. Garland's Rake: Freeze/Slash Damage AoE at target location on scoring Crit. Garland's Breath Deals 15-30 Freeze damage and paralyzes enemies for 8 second in a cone area. Extremly good dps stats. The on use is abit clunky to use since it requires you to flank if you want to hit multiple enemies without hitting your own guys. Watershaper's Focus (Rod, Caster Stat stick) - +3 water PLs, +3 Frost PLs, 15% chance to cash Crush dmg AoE on hit. Very Strong of Frost/Wind Wizard or Druid. S-Tier Stat Stick if you build around it. Watershaper's Focus (Rod, Ranged auto attack) - +3 water PLs, +3 Frost PLs, 15% chance to cash Crush dmg AoE on hit. Some pretty wierd mechanics with Ondra's Wrath enchant. Can proc multiple instances of Ondra's Wrath against targets that are bunched up very close together. Combined with effects like Driving Flight and Twinned Shot from Ranger means you can get some absurd bouncing effects getting in the ballpark of 25 full weapon attacks vs 8 clustered up opponents. Seems really strong for solo play where this effect is easier to reproduce, but less useful (but still strong) for party play. Kitchen Stove (Blunderbuss) - Hurried -25% reload time. Everything and Anything +5% Damage as Slash, +5% Damage as Crush. Wild Barrage(2/rest): -20% reload time, Ranged Attacks bounce 2 times, 10% dmg for 15 sec. 10% Combined Lash, reduced reload time and a very strong active. Multi shot proccs on hit effects in AoE (for instance Stunning Surge from Monks). A - Tier Spearcaster (Arbalest) - Forceful Impact: 50% chance to Knockback and Daze target on Hit Elemental Bolts +5 Ranged Accuracy (Increases with Arcana skill, 0,5 Accuracy/point), +3% Damage as Burn, +3% Damage as Corrode, +3% Damage as Freeze, +3% Damage as Shock. Pinning 20% chance to Immobilize target on scoring Hit. Combined 12% lash effect and additional accuracy with arcana skill gives this crossbow very high dps. You have to invest heavily into arcana to make it worthwhile forgoing other useful active skills like athleticism, so if you are not planning on making the wielder a scroll user it is probably not worth picking. The Eye of Wael Obfuscation (Scepter, Martial) - 10% chance to become Invisible for 8s on scoring Critical Hit. Illusive Spell: 5% chance to cast random Illusion spell on target on scoring Hit. 10% chance to cast random affliction on target on crit. Form Phantasmic: Cast random defensive illusion spell when bloodied. A Whale of a Wand (Wand, Caster stat stick) - Beasts Imagined: Hits with this weapon have an 5% chance to cast Form of the Helpless Beast on their target Sea Stories: Spell Hits have a 5% chance to Charm targets. Fantastic Friends Summons a pair of drakes to fight for the caster. Tall Tales 5% chance to cast Arkemyr's Dazzling Lights on target. Useful stat stick for casters. Sea Stories proc is very nice with AoE spells. Ok proccs and a very strong active summon ability. Fleetbreaker (Arbalest) - +8 accuracy. 30% miss to graze. Can be enchanted with either +4 accuracy, +1 pen, 10% dmg against targets 8 or more meters away or +8 accuracy, +2 pen, 20% dmg against targets 4m or closer. The 4m or closer is probably strongest since in a lot of fights (except for some bossfights with massive aoe) you want to keep your party close to hit with AoE heals/buffs. Probably B/C-Tier if going with the 4m or further away enchant Fire in the Hole (Blunderbuss) - Basic attacks deal best of Pierce or Slash Damage in small Radius- Ranged attacks bounce +1 times, -15% damage, +15% reload time. Ranged attack bouncing is very strong but has pretty strong penalty to make up for that. Multi shot proccs on hit effects in AoE (for instance Stunning Surge from Monks). Scordeo's Trophy (Pistol) - Obliterating Crit +25% Crit damage. Opening Barrage Scoring Hits with this weapon grants a stacking -5 Recovery time for 30.0 sec. I think going for the melee/ranged synergy for the alternative enchants is too much of a hassle and not powerful enough. The reduced recovery time stacks infinitely but the stacks fall off one at a time when their 30 sec are up. I havent done much testing but its possible that you can make a very good one handed style ranged build with this weapon. Apparently you can get multiple stacks from AoE effects. This means the weapon by itself much stronger, and the synergy between the ranged/melee weapon is also stronger. Might be deserving of Tier S. Essence Interrupter (Hunting bow) - Experimental Souls: Critical Hits with this weapon transfer experimental soul energy into the target, morphing them into a sentient creature when the target dies. Soul Diplomacy Modifies Experimental Souls effect: now creatures are always allies. Charged Copper: Deals Best of Pierce/Shock. Either +5% Damage as Shock or 5% as Burn(Increases with Metaphysics). After some quick testing the proc seems very terrible. The summons lasts for about 20 seconds. It can proc pets (maybe they give you pet buffs?, but they don't do anything in combat), young boars or some lower lvl mobs. I only tried it in the tavern The Hole, so the spawns might scale with enemy levels making it stronger. The summons scales with creature level making the summon effect very powerful. B - Tier Blightheart (Arquebus) - Living Wood: 20% chance to cast Corrode Damage cone AoE from self and Hobble target on attack. Additional effects based on Class/soulbound level. Soulbound only upgrading to superb holds it back. Very useful early game because you can get it early and its easy to get max soulbound level. Aamiina's Legacy (Hunting Bow) - 15% dmg as crush, 5% dmg as slash. Grants Precision Impact (5% chance to daze, 10% if wielder is dwarf). Grants Warning of Blue Water (1/rest). AoE Resolute/Shaken(Rank 2/1 Inspiration/Affliction). 20% Lash dmg makes it a decent choice for dps. Hand Mortar - Deals best of Slash and Pierce in small AoE. Point Blank +20% Ranged Damage at ranges below 2.5. The damage is addative not multiplicative making it not that strong of an effect. Can make it work on a ranged rogue with Backstab passive but otherwise not very good. Multi Shot effect proccs on hit effect in AoE (like Stunning Surge for Monks). C - Tier Thundercrack Pistol (Pistol) - Veil Piercing (50% dmg vs spirits), 15% dmg as Shock, Paralyze target for 2s on crit, Storm Rune Shot (1/rest) Pulsing AoE shock dmg. Very strong vs spirits. 15% Lash makes it ok. Current's Rush (Scepter, Beast of Winter)- 1% hit to crit every 1s (resets on crit), 20% chance to AoE crush/Immobilize on crit. +10% crit dmg. Havent tested but unless the AoE is absolutely massive this scepter doesn't seem that useful. You even get it so late in the game (Beast of Winter) that you should have picked up multiple strong options before then. Veilpiercer (Warbow) - 10% dmg as Raw, Veil Piercing (bonus dmg vs spirits),15 accuracy vs spirits. 50% chance to recover immidietaly on crit. -10% duration of beneficial effecs on hit. Grants Purging Volley (1/rest) Removes all hostile and beneficial effects in an AoE. 10% dmg as Raw and 50% chance to recover immediately on crit is decent for dmg. Veil Piercing makes it great vs spirits. Saint Omaku's Mercy (Warbow) - -10% action speed, 5% dmg (Increases with survival skill, 0,5% per point), +1 pen. Resotre +10 health to nearby allies on Kill (Increases with Religion). 50% chance to recover immediatly on crit. Saints Grace (10m Aura). +15% action speed (increases as wielder loses health, Scales UP to 15%, starts at 0%). At 20 survival its only 15% dmg. 50% chance to recover immediately on crit is nice. Action speed as wearer loses health is pretty meh since it seems to be inversely proportional to the health you have (so 15% action speed at 0 health, 0% at max health) D - Tier Three Bells Through (Arquebus) - Unstoppable Shot: Reduced base Damage (Only 50%), Attacks in a line (mxximum 3 targets), +1 Penetration. 10% dmg. Attacks interrupt on crit. Reduced base dmg makes it terrible for single target dps and attacking 3 targets in a line is awkward. Cone is very small. Amira's Wing (Rod) - +15 defenses vs wind attacks, +1 Wind PL. 5% chance to interrupt and prone on hit. Grants Hylean Squall (1/rest,) AoE crush, -65% stride for 10s, 4m push. Grants Wilting Wind (1/rest, PL 8 Wizard spell!) AoE raw dmg, Weakend for 12s. The weapon itself is pretty terrible but beeing able to cast Wilting Wind (1/rest) is very nice. Rod of the Deep Hunter (Rod) - -1 Deflection & +3% recovery time for 45s on hit (stacks, doesnt include grazes). Grants Crashing Surf (1/rest) AoE Crush and knock prone. Requires to flank to not hit allies. The proc takes way too long to stack up and would only be useful against bosses. Amaliorra (Scepter) - +10 accuracy vs vessels. Frighten attack on Kith/Wilder on crit. Grants Claim the Husk (1/rest) Dominates a Vessel. Pretty terrible unless fighting Vessels. Keybreaker Scepter (Scepter) - +10 defenses except for deflection for 30s on scoring kill with keybreaker. Frighten Kith on crit. Misotheist (5m Aura) 20% chance to Reflect Punishment/Condemnation attacks. Pretty weak. Edit: Moved Kitchen Stove into tier S, Fire in the Hole to Tier A and Hand Mortar into Tier B after learning that Multi Shot effect proccs on hit effect in AoE (like Stunning Surge for Monks). Moved Essence Interrupter into Tier A, due to the summon effect beeing way more powerful then my initial assessment. Added Watershaper's Focus alternative usage (Ranged dps) as a different classification.

This list is based on my personal opinion and I haven't tested them all. Quite possible I haven't taken into account all possible synergies so some might be undervalued. A lot of them will be weaker if they are used with a class that doesn't synergize with their effects. All values are ingame values. The wiki is outdated since the 1.2 nerfs. Some of the lower rated weapons can be exceptionally strong in very rare scenarios (for instance vs spirits) but I am mostly rating them for their general usefulness. To clarify, Weapons are listed randomly within any Tier. Might change that at some point but it will require some work. I am also comparing weapons at max enchants. I haven't taken into account that some weapons will be very useful early on in the game if they start out with high weapon quality, forgoing the need to upgrade them. I will update this list with Beast of Winter Weapons when I have the time. Channel Links: Twitch Channel Youtube Channel Donate via Streamlabs Steam Guide Reddit Discussion S - Tier: Best in Slot. Usually has very good build/class synergies Pukestabber (Dagger) - 20% action speed and 20% dmg with dagger attacks while Drunk. Combined with the ring Drunkard's Regret which makes you immune to hangover this is an exceptionally strong dagger. (see u/teesinz Mirke guide) Does start to lose out a lot of bonuses when your party has access to "Incredible Food" over Alcohol. If you want tankiness over damage its possible to grab the Numb enchant (-10% melee dmg recvieced) and combine it with Arrack (-15% dmg recieved). Magran's Favor (Battle Axe) - 2 All Fire Power Levels and can get either heal or dmg on melee kills/attacks. Exceptionally strong as a stat stick for an Evocation Wizard or Priest of Magran. Can also make some melee builds around it with for instance Paladins (Flames of Devotion) Kapana Taga (Club) Deals best of Crush or Slash dmg. +1 Engagement slot and Melee dmg/Accuracy for each Engaged Target. Pretty bonkers in combination with Reckless Brigandine for a tank. Rannig's Wrath (Rapier) - 10% action speed, +4 melee accuracy. 10% dmg vs Flanked. +1 Penetration for 5 sec on crit. The other optional enchants are also extremly good but more situational. +20 accuracy weapon modal. Only downside is single damage type. Sasha's Singing Scimitar (Sabre) 2% stacking action speed Aura for each held chanter phrase. Empowering an Invocation fills Chanter's Phrase Count to Max. Exceptionally strong on a Devoted/Skald or melee Troubadour. Stalker's Patience (Spear) - +10% Damage to Flanked targets (increases with Stealth skill), Hits with this weapon cause 15% Damage as Raw Damage over time. 20% chance to recover immediately on Crit. Still an exceptionally strong wep after 1.2 nerfs. Modwyr (Sword) 20% damage dealt as burn when above 50% health and and +20% damage dealt as freeze when below 50% health. 2% action speed on hit (stacks 10 times) Immunity to Intellect Afflictions. Bottom's Up 1/encounter: Primary Attack. Stun, +25% dmg dealt as Crush/Shock. Can be upgraded to Legendary after beeing released from previous owner. Animancer's Energy Blade (Sabre) - Deals Raw Damage and attacks more quickly than a standard blade. Deals less damage then other sabres but raw damage doesn't get mitigated by armor. Weapon modal is useless. Did some very rough math. Against targets that has normal penetration The dps should be a tiny bit lower then a standard legendary sabre. Since it deals Raw damage it Will be God - Tier against targets who would normally be severely under penned (-75%), easily S - Tier against moderatly underpenned (-50%), A - Tier against Slight under pen (-25%), E - Tier against Normal penetration. (Gets outperformed by a non unique legendary saber), and obviously even worse against overpen (+30%). Keep it as a backup weapon for moderate/severe underpen situations. Xoti's Sickle (Hatchet) 5% dmg when scoring kill (stacks 4 times), 15% action speed for 10 sec when near slain enemy. Both effects scales with Religion. Pre 1.2 Nerfs you could probably have made a build around it but now investion max in religion is just enough to make it a viable weapon not OP. Did some testing and at 20 religion each kill increases the damage by roughtly 15% and the action speed after killing a target is 25%. Plus I didnt notice it had dual damage types. Incredible on any class that scores kills easily like Rogue with finishing blow or Barbarians with bloody slaughter. Obviously very weak if there are very few mobs in the encounter. If you like my guides subscribe to me on Youtube or Follow me on Twitch. A - Tier: Very Strong but usually lacks the little extra to bring it to S-tier Lovers Embrace (Dagger)- 8 Raw dmg per 6 sec on stealth attacks plus 33% chance to get Frenzy when critting a male target (or female but im guessing there are fewer females in the game) Really strong on a single class rogue that can access a lot of the lategame stealth abilities. Move up a tier if used with Pukestabber. Not very good if you have easy access to tier 1 Might/Con Inspiration. Sun and Moon (Flail) - +2 Fire Power level during day +2 Frost Power during Night. Would be a S - Tier stat stick if the buffs applied for the entire day. If you can bother to rest so you only fight during the day it is an S-tier stat stick on Evocation Wizard. Golden Sun (Eothas) enchant 25% Burn damage from weapon returns Health. Haven't checked but if it applies from the Burn damage from for instance Flames of Devotion then it's S-tier. Aldris Blade of Capain Crow (Sabre). 10% hit to crit. +10 shock damage on crit. +8 health on crit. 15% dmg as shock. +2 Pen weapon modal. Decent defensive option for crit based dps frontliner Kahua Hozi (Spear) - Best of Pierce/Slash damage. 10% action speed. 15% damage. +25 defense against disengagement attacks. +1 engage weapon modal. Dual damage types make this a very strong alternative for a dps frontline. Rust's Poignard (Stiletto) - Bring Low: 30% chance to knock target prone and lower defense by -10 for 6 sec on crit. 35% dmg to targets affected by Bring Low. 3 Raw dmg per 3s for 9s on hit vs flanked. 3% action speed against flanked on hit (stacks 5 times). +2 pen weapon modal. Single damage type and combat mechanics favoring slower weapons keeps it out of S-tier. Probably Low Tier A/High Tier B. Griffin's Blade (Sword) Steadfast AoE when wearer is bloodied. 50% chance to Daze target and nearby enemies on crit. +10% dmg with Spells, +5 Will makes it a very competitive stat stick for a dps caster. Alternatively go for 10% action speed, +5 Reflex if going melee. Watcher's Blade (Sword) . 15% dmg as Raw. Due to how lash and Raw mechanics work this is extremly effective against a heavy armor target that you are under penetrating. Weaker against targets you overpenetrate, so have other weapons to swap to when needed. St. Drogga's Skull (Sabre) - 20% damage as burn. 20% chance to do AoE burn damage. Not exactly sure how the damage is rolled for the AoE burn proc but after some testing it seems rather strong. This weapon might be S - Tier depending on how that proc is calculated but it is A - Tier at the very least. Scordeo's Edge (Sabre) - Bit hesitant to rate this because I don't know how good the melee/range Scordeo's Edge/trophy swapping synergy would play out. You can enchant it in to pure melee weapon making it C-tier. Possibly better when going One-handed style but doubt it. - 5% chance to ignore recovery for 5 sec on hit. Buff duration does scale with int but procc is too RNG to be consistent (statistically its 1/20 attacks). +2 Accuracy with all weapons for 30s on scoring Hit (stacks 10 times). Apparently you can get multiple stacks if used in combination with AoE effects, making it a lot easier to stack then my initial assessment. Squid's Grasp (Rapier) Cannot be Flanked. +20% Action Speed when threatened by 3 or more enemies. If defeated within 10 seconds of using Squid's Escape, revive and become Invisible. +20 Accuracy Weapon modal. Decent defensive option for dps frontliner. Very useful in solo play, bit less useful in party play. Acolyte's Frostbite (Hatchet) Concentration + AoE frost cone when crit when no allies around. 10% chance to paralyze on crit. 15% dmg as Freeze. Depending on how near the allies have to be for the buff to proc you might have to use it on sole frontliner making it very unflexible. Very useful for solo play. Less useful for party play. Glacierbane (War Hammer) Serrated: +10% Damage as Raw. +1 Pen after taking Freeze dmg (3 stacks). Quite useful during BoW content since the mobs have a lot of freeze damage, but not that useful outside of it. You can gain the stacks from friendly fire, which means you could potentially proc it yourself. It starts at Superb so you could potentially just pick up the Penetration enchant, use it for BoW content and forgo upgrading it to legendary. Frostfall (Mace, stat stick) - Forged in Ice: Deals best of Crush/Freeze. Blessed by the void: 25% chance to apply Tier 1 Affliction to a nearby target when hit by an affliction. Encroaching Frost: Critical Hits have a 10% chance to freeze the enemy for 4s. Dispersed Suffering: On kill, the duration of Hostile Status Effects on nearby enemies are increased by 20%. Weapon is discussed in this thread. This weapon is really hard to rate. Both Encroaching Frost and Dispersed suffering proccs on spells, making it a potentially powerful stat stick. Atm it seems to be bugged and Status effects are increased by 50% instead of 20% (Patch 2.0). Best used on a spellcaster with a party that applies a lot of status effects on the enemies. Needs more testing after it is bug fixed to determine its true value. ​ ​ ​ ​ B - Tier: Mostly good proccs or good stats. Not enough build/class synergy to bring it higher. Marux Amanth (Dagger) - 10% Chance to deal Burn AoE on Hit, Quick to Slaughter +2 Penetration for a duration per combat at the start of the encounter, Grants Worthy Sacrifice. I haven't tested it myself but soulbound not beeing upgraded to legendary hurts a lot. Move up a tier if used with Pukestabber. Endre's Flog of Obedience (Flail) - 10% chance to apply Frightened on hit, +2 Pen against Mind affliction targets. Decent on a melee Cipher to lower Will. Sungrazer (Flail) - 10% chance to recover instantly on Hit, 2 sec Stun on hit, 25% dmg as burn and -1 Crush Armor Rating on Critical Hit. Decent for a Crit oriented build. Bardatto's Luxury (Mace) - 10% chance to Sicken target for 10 sec on hit, 10% chance Fit for 10 sec on self on scoring hit. Immunity to Con afflictions when above 50%. -1 armor for 10 sec weapon modal- Fairly decent for a tank Beza's Toothed Blade (Sabre) - 2 Armour Rating for 30s on Critical Hit. Can help setup overpen for your entire party Min's Fortune (Sabre) Stacking +2% Crit chance on Hit (stacks 50 times and resets on Crit). +15% crit dmg. Fairly good on a high crit build. Single damage type keeps it from beeing A-tier on Devoted. Tarn's Respite (Sabre) +1 Penetration, +15% Damage as Freeze, -1 target Deflection for 60 sec on Hit (stacks 10 times). Takes too long to stack deflection debuff for it to be rated higher. Mohora Tanga (Spear) - +1 Pen, 5% melee dmg (increases with Survival Skill) 5 raw bleed per 3s for 9s on crit, plus decent 1/rest active. Was very strong pre 1.2 now just decent. Duskfall (Sword) - +1 pen when attacking same target as ally, 10% action speed, 10% crit dmg or 25% misses to grazes (high acc favors crit, low acc miss to graze). 15 acc, 10% dmg to first attack made in combat. Decent weapon for Soul Blades to try to get a crit so they can dump focus into Soul Annilation, or for Assassin's to increase their burst from stealth. Last Word - (Warhammer) +1 Enemies Engaged. 5% weapon dmg per engaged enemy. Target cannot use active abilities for 3 sec on crit. Good Synergy with Reckless Brigandine C - Tier: Decent Weapons. Usually Suboptimal stat/procs or poor synergy Shattered Vengeance (Club) 33% chance to apply a stacking curse on the target, increasing their damage received by 5%. Assuming it stacks forever It's probably decent in boss fights but for the most part pretty meh. Ball and Chain (Flail) Knockdown target on crit, 10% chance to recover immediately when crit and free self/allies from dex/ might affliction (once per encounter) Decent 1h for tanks just much better alternatives. Skullcrusher (Flail) 10% chance to Daze for 10 sec and Prone on Hit. Empowered abilities apply Injury on target. Decent on tanks. Assuming the Injury applies on bosses it can be very powerful in those instances. Gladiator Sword (Sword) - 10% melee dmg, +5 deflection when worn with a shield. +1 Pen. Ok for a 1h/shield tank but rather have increased defenses since tanks doesn't really deal much damage anyways. Good on certain 1h& shield dps builds like my Barbarian/Hellwalker. Resounding Call (Warhammer) - 50% chance to cast random mind affliction for 8 sec on crit. Bell Ringer 2/rest (upgraded version of Rogue Strike the bell) Mind affliction can be Rank 1-3 so its a pretty decent debuff. If resting between every fight this can be considered atleast A-tier at low levels when you dont have many Ability Uses since Bell Ringer is a fairly strong active ability. D - Tier: Too Conditional (only good against specific enemy types) Can be A-tier against that specific type though. Magistrate's Cudgel (Mace) - 3 sec stun on crit. Random Tier 1 inspiration when afflicted. Low lvl Kith instakilled on crits. Pretty useless if played on upscaling bump up a tier otherwise. Soulbound not getting legendary makes this fairly bad. Grave Calling (Sabre) - +2% Freeze damage for 60.0 sec on Hit (stacks 15 times). Takes way too long to stack up to be very useful. 15 accuracy against Vessles makes it good vs them. There is also some strong chanter synergy where you can summon creatures and kill them off with the weapons alternative enchant, to create infinite adds. Example build here. Azure Blade (Stiletto) - +15 Accuracy when 3 or more allies are within 2 m. Very unreliable and have to build a frontline heavy team just to make it work Hel Beckoning (Sword) - Stacking corrode dot and accuracy vs Spirits. Veil Piercing means it's extremly strong vs spirits. There is also some strong chanter synergy where you can summon creatures and kill them off with the weapons alternative enchant, to create infinite adds. Example build here. Whispers of Yenwood (Sword) - 25% miss to graze, 10% hit to crit. +20% Damage against Spirits, +15 Accuracy against Spirits. Very strong vs spirits Not very good otherwise. E - Tier: Just no. Pretty Sure Matakau/St. Drogga's Skull aren't real uniques since they are preorder bonuses. Matakau (Battle Axe) +1 Penetration against Vessel targets. Not even that great against Vessels. Vion-ceth (Hatchet) +20% Melee Damage to Plant targets and targets with Plant status effect. C-tier in combination with a Druid/Ranger to set it up for you. Useless without. ​ Edit: Moved Scordeo's Edge into Tier A. Wasn't aware that AoE abilities could give multiple stacks. Moved Squid's Grasp and Acolyte's Frostbite into Tier A to reflect that they are stronger for solo play then party play.

Introduction: The "tier" classification is from DnD Min/Max forums. Most classes are great after level 5 and gear choices from Defiance Bay, which also happens to coincide with much of Act 1. Which I think gives the first part of the game an inflated difficulty if you're not sure what you are facing or similar. Due to this, I ranked the classes for Act 1 (Hard difficulty) in the following manner. Tier 1: These classes can deal with all kinds of threats, not care about resources, or the resources they do have are game changers. Cipher, Wizard, Priest. Cipher (Use a spell every encounter, even for trash mobs and have a 40% dmg increase is amazing) -Even with reduced focus, their powers (spells) are great. They can deal decent damage with weapons when focus is out, but the start of combat where setup is key, options like Tenuous Grasp and Mental Binding give them a very effective way to turn the tide of battle. Wizard (Arcane assault spam and spells that game change) -Arcane Assault deals RAW damage which bypasses Damage Reduction completely. In Act 1, its all about the alpha strike or set up as gear choices are bad. This means among other things they have the best weapon via the 1st lvl Parasitic Staff and a max MIG wizard will deal crazy/chunky/fast damage with it from the 2nd row safely. Additionally, hitting Arcane Veil in tough fights means monsters will drop their agro right away from them due to how they target the "lowest" deflection, or they'll start to miss more. -They can also cast game changing spells like Slicken, Chill fog, and Bewildering Spectacle. They also get more synergy as they're added on. Not many monsters survive 4x (6x, or 8x) arcane assault spam done in roughly 3 seconds from proper wizards assuming you go for 2+ of them. Not to mention, the Slicken + Chill fog setup is really easy to do then. Priest (Lower end of Tier 1, they have support spells that do game change for the group but not as much damage) -I debated putting them in Tier 2 as a lot of their spells are great for setup, and buffs are always welcome. They have a nice per encounter +accuracy or even better, a per encounter weaken effect which is a super strong debuff. The only thing is, they don't get multiplicative benefits like the Cipher or Wizard above as only the highest debuff applies. Tier 2: While not as versatile as Tier 1, they do their job really well and have some cool spamming abilities or similar that can turn the tide in your favor. Moon Godlike Monk, Moon Godlike Darcozzi Paladini, Rogue, Druid. Moon Godlike Darcozzi Paladini with Fires Talent at lvl 2 (they get retaliation ridiculously early and target REFLEX with it so the act 1 shades are easy with them.). -You can get 3 to 4 ranks of your Faith/Conviction (make this your main PC to get these) during Act 1 easy enough, which equates to +8 saves. Additionally, they can use Outworn buckler which gives themselves and the party another +5. Self healing, tanky, and having retaliation that actually matters via Vulnerable attack talent means they are much stronger than any of their lvl 5 or less counterparts.... Sadly, this doesn't hold true after act 1 as other classes get better gear, or abilities. [WARNING: This class goes to Tier 3 or 4 easily unless you count solo play due to almost every other class bringing more later on]. Moon Godlike Monk (Torment's reach with Moon God-like means free healing and wounds to power them.) -People like the other races, and I won't say they're wrong but Moon felt good in the early game and as always, let's you dump CON for more points elsewhere. Triple synergy as they take damage = wounds = healing for the group = more damage they deal via Torment's reach. Rogue (alpha strike is still handy to take down one mob. They can enable their own sneak attacks if needed via crippling to take down another or two.) -Killing or whittling down a monster quickly is a good thing. Rogues do it consistently from ranged and much riskier/better in melee. Druid (spiritshift, despite the accuracy issues is a decent resource and they can game change via spells) -Still a caster, and without access to the +uses of spells later available to the wizards/priests via rings, they have spiritshift to rely on. The most annoying thing though? Melee is dangerous, and kinda clunky, which is why they're not in Tier 1 despite all the goodies they provide. Tier 3: They're good at their task, and though don't have game changing mechanics like the Tier 1 or Tier 2 classes, they're 'good' enough. Barbarian, Ranger, Fighter, Chanter Barbarian (Frenzy is amazing along with Carnage, they just take a little bit to mature and Fire God-like + retaliation isn't available early). -Fire Godlike synergy isn't really viable until 5+ because of 2 things. 1) The retaliation damage is piddling 2) Carnage accuracy is still pretty bad. Not to mention the usual gear choices. Its why the moon monk is so much better in the early game because they can provide healing, but a moon barbarian lacks that synergy from wounds to wanna tank. Ranger (They could be Tier 2 if not for the bugs, ranger's grief, and similar issues plaguing them. The bear tank does provide a great off tank for a single or 2 targets with resilient companion though, so I view them as versatile, just not 'great' until they get all their talents they want as build choices force them behind a rogue until 5+). -I'll also add that frighten available as a per encounter is pretty handy via Lion, and the increased run speed it has an animal companion can be useful for a pull/setup/tank/spank strategy. This said, with a proper front line it only prolonged battles which is a shame because on paper having a Frighten, 3 to 4 engagement slots due to pet having 2, and ranger have 1 to 2 via talents was cool...But again, engagement isn't that important in this game as some have noticed, and its more about positioning or choke points. [WARNING: This class will go to Tier 4 easily without pet micro due to the grief mechanics.] Fighter (Limited experience maining this one, from what I saw of Eder they could last forever but didn't have game changing mechanics). -While its easiest to have 1 main tank, and 1 off tank, and then 4 dps, I always debated how useful Eder was as a tank. Typically for hard fights, food or potions were available, and dps/CC was more the name of the game. The tough fights involved teleporters like shades or bad setups like being surrounded. This said, fighters just self healing when beat on is also mimicked by the Moon race, so my bias was always there that I could go 2 moon tanks of different classes and be fine. Chanter (Only placed down here due to their slow ramp up, overall, they are effective once the 18+ seconds are up.) -Sometimes, battles drag out because you're not sure of what you're doing in Act 1. Chanters are good when that happens. Of course, they're bad when you finish every fight within 21 seconds or less as 18 seconds + 2 second cast time + 1 second to actually use something/hits on screen made it kinda iffy. All this goes out the window if you use multiple chanters with Come Come Swift though as tanks... They just melt through with multiple stacking Damage unaffected by might.... though again, slow play. Tier 4: The job they have, they can be okay at with extreme optimization but most classes do it better or easier. In a bigger meta sense, why take them over the other classes? All others not mentioned. Paladins are weird, have stacking bugs, etc, so outside of the early retaliation, its hard to recommend them for me. Similarly, a non-moon Monk tends to go down a tier during the early game, but will get to the 2nd tier in the late game due to reactive healing not being as necessary (either your priest does it or you have draining items). Races and Tiers: Some races will give a tier modifier to certain classes. Wood elf is good for a ranged character of any sort. While Island Aumua is great for the quick switch ranger using guns for example in very specific builds. Moon Godlike let's you dump CON on just about any class. Pale elf is also good for the +Freeze DR vs Shade attacks, letting them tank without Bulwark or Fires as well. That said no race will bump a class up a tier in Act 1 easily, though wood elf/moon godlike comes pretty close, and Island Aumua is build specific and needs Act 2+ items. PotD and Tiers: There's actually not too much adjustment to me for PotD as things are more about previous knowledge, and where to go to get "good" for a class I noticed (or bypassing fights via stealth). Some people like the prolonged nature of the fights and inflated stats to actually need to wear armor, use food, traps, etc, but it usually became some weird corner game for tough fights so I guess its more like everyone should be a tank and make at least 3 tanks in a group or similar as effects don't land nearly as well, and fights take longer. Fighter and Chanter go up a tier because longer fights = better for them. Fighter in particularly is very handy due to constant recovery, and chanter loves the longer fights. Cipher borderlines Tier 2. They do need to drink potions and eat food like everyone else, but they do have 5 more accuracy for their spell effects landing which is nice, but CC and spell effects in general are harder to use due to duration issues I noticed, and focus gain being much tougher. Wizard doesn't fall too far behind because the Parastic staff is a +8 accuracy weapon and hits like a truck with the speed of a truck (so its like they have 28 acc vs 34 of even the best fighters with fine weapons) and lasts for a minute plus. And they still can target weak saves if needed, mostly reflex, and need to prep via potions or food just like everyone else. Priest provides nice synergy for accuracy issues as well as defense ones as usual. They can even use the seal traps with better accuracy via mechanics so don't move a tier. In fact they probably provide the most reliable CC at the beginning parts of the game due to this, but need prep and previous game knowledge to keep this status. Rangers go up a tier oddly. The bear pet is decent enough in the early game with good micro, as PotD is all about micro I noticed so can provide a good off-offtank in corridors or similar. They also have decent deflection and high accuracy via Vicious aim which is key. Rogue goes down a tier. They have to deal with deflection all the time, and despite reckless assault I just have a tough time managing them with everything else going on, or just annoyed they miss still. Again, they're effective, not game changing for Act 1. Everyone else remains the same, assuming they get a bit tankier, and similar stuff. Conclusion: After level 5 all classes get more powerful, or their game changing skills, or resources via potions and similar are readily available to anyone. Basically, the game becomes easier for any class or party setup. Finally, this is all my opinion after having played most of the classes through Act 1 without rushing through to get Defiance Bay/Dyr, etc items, so YMMV if you have previous knowledge of the game or didn't play a certain way. Hope you had a good read, and appreciate any feedback, comments or similar below.

Wondering if people are as interested/excited as I am about the possibility of a physical almanac. If it can't be included at higher tiers like 500 for free, then I am surely willing to pay a little extra in order to secure one. Up to $50 I'm willing to part with for a Physical Almanac. Interested in perspectives of all, but especially higher tiers of 500 and above and their willingness or non willingness to part with a little more cash for a Physical Almanac.