Invocations have horrible accuracy

[Nemesis7884]

So the issue im having with my chanter is that either enemies are so easy that i dont need any invocations or they are still easy (on potd) but invocations such as the armor debuff or paralyze would help etc... but enemies that are on or below my level are super easy so i usually fight things 1-3 levels above - and they have such high resistances that most of the time a debuff chance on an invocation even for something so simple as an armor debuff is like 0% up to 15%....

 

I think the difficulty really needs some tweaking....

[Climhazzard]

Yeah I'm pretty sure most spells don't receive the accuracy bonus from your equipped weapon, which makes their accuracy abysmal on PoTD.  I'm pretty sure in PoE a lot of spells had bonus accuracy, but in this game I'm not seeing that.  I stopped using offensive invocations on my Herald because they often had a 0-10% chance to hit, and instead started using the armor invocation.

 

Once you get past level 10 or so, and get devotions for the faithful, it's not really an issue anymore.  But before that buffs tend to work better than debuffs or damage spells.  You'll want to max perception if you really want to use offensive spells, and leveling up alchemy to get bonus accuracy from drugs would help too.

[Ganrich]

Yeah I'm pretty sure most spells don't receive the accuracy bonus from your equipped weapon, which makes their accuracy abysmal on PoTD.  I'm pretty sure in PoE a lot of spells had bonus accuracy, but in this game I'm not seeing that.  I stopped using offensive invocations on my Herald because they often had a 0-10% chance to hit, and instead started using the armor invocation.

 

Once you get past level 10 or so, and get devotions for the faithful, it's not really an issue anymore.  But before that buffs tend to work better than debuffs or damage spells.  You'll want to max perception if you really want to use offensive spells, and leveling up alchemy to get bonus accuracy from drugs would help too.

 

Yeah, it is strange the way this scales at higher levels.  Especially on PotD.  I will say that although the damage Invocations are AoE that you can really boost their chance to hit by using Flail modal for -25 reflex saves for a single target.  This combined with adding in a hobble helps tremendously.  That is -25 from modal + -10 from hobble for a total of -35 Reflex.  Toss in a wizard with Miasma of Slow Mindedness for a -10 Perception for another -20 Reflex if you can.  It increases your chance to hit a great deal.  It is stupid that you have to debuff this much for your Invocations to land.  If you have stronger attribute debuffs than these then use them.  They help.

 

I think they need to add some inherent accuracy bonuses to power level.  At least for Invocations.  It doesn't have to be much, but enough that those Invocations don't feel like trap selections. 

[Climhazzard]

I also use nature's mark or whatever it's called to debuff reflex when I have the druid in my team.  But sometimes it can be hard to get the debuffs to hit too, plus a lot of spells target fortitude and will as well.

Edited May 21, 2018 by Climhazzard

[Ganrich]

I also use nature's mark or whatever it's called to debuff reflex when I have the druid in my team.  But sometimes it can be hard to get the debuffs to hit too, plus a lot of spells target fortitude and will as well.

 

Yup.  That is the issue.  If both the enemy's Reflex and Will are high you are kind of screwed on Chanter.  The only 2 Fortitude Invocations I can think of are Hel-Hyraf which is useless at high level, and the Tornado Invocation.  Usually you won't have these, or they are useless.  Let's not forget how Immune/resistant many enemies can be in this game either.  That makes using these Afflictions even harder. 

Edited May 21, 2018 by Ganrich

[Nemesis7884]

just a lot of work to make something work that i dont really need but would be kinda nice....

[Ganrich]

Yeah, it isn't like most the Damage Invocations are so good that they justify this type of jumping through hoops.  Small AoEs like Thrice was She Wronged and The Thunder Rolled, or has a stipulation like White Worms.  It is silly to make them so easy to whiff on PotD. 

 

I think the ONLY one that is really solid is Seven Nights, and that is only because of how many targets you can hit with it, and this is only on a build that is in the thick of it a lot.  You'd also want high Perception and maybe some accuracy buffs tossed in.  So, tank with high perception, and can buff perception.  Maybe a Fighter/Chanter would be pretty solid with it.

 

I haven't tried the Tornado or Boil Their Flesh, yet.  So, I can't speak to their usefulness. 

[Baltistan]

Yeah I'm pretty sure most spells don't receive the accuracy bonus from your equipped weapon, which makes their accuracy abysmal on PoTD.  I'm pretty sure in PoE a lot of spells had bonus accuracy, but in this game I'm not seeing that.  I stopped using offensive invocations on my Herald because they often had a 0-10% chance to hit, and instead started using the armor invocation.

 

Once you get past level 10 or so, and get devotions for the faithful, it's not really an issue anymore.  But before that buffs tend to work better than debuffs or damage spells.  You'll want to max perception if you really want to use offensive spells, and leveling up alchemy to get bonus accuracy from drugs would help too.

I've been playing on Veteran with upscaling (consensus on that working appears mixed but I agree with the idea), at about level 7 right now, and I have been having a similar issue with debuff and damage spells on my wizard.  In most engagements I have found myself looking through my spell choices for Aloth, I have all these great looking debuffs (confusion, expose vulnerabilities, the slowing one) but when I click on any of them and hover them over the enemies, they all have % to hit in the 30's and 40's.  At that point I figure the spell isn't even worth the cast time and end up having my wizard shooting that frost warbow with the multiple projectiles for the whole fight.

 

  Am I doing the wizard thing wrong or is this just the growing pains of lower levels?  I really like the idea of the wizard laying down all these debuffs and area control spells to support the physical damage characters (never been a fan of straight blaster wizards since dnd) and would like to make it work.  

[Climhazzard]

Well, I equip Aloth with the +accuracy gloves, and any perception items I find.  I consider 40% chance to hit alright, I'm pretty sure most debuffs can graze, I would have to check to make sure though.  If they can't, try using Dire blessing first.  I can't remember what tier perception inspiration Eldritch aim gives you, but if it's higher than first tier then use that first as well.

 

You also want to have a selection of spells that target various defenses, some enemies will for example have really high fortitude but low reflex or will.  Sometimes you want to use a low level debuff in preparation for using a more powerful spell.  Like on druid I will usually use nature's mark (debuffs reflex) before using returning storm (targets reflex).

Edited May 21, 2018 by Climhazzard

[GuyNice]

I noticed on my Wildrhymer (Ranger/Troubadour) that Marked Prey gives accuracy to offensive invocations (and spells in general). So that's another +10 that stacks. Haven't tested Stalker's Link yet (only level 6 in this playthrough) but if that stacks too I would be set from level 10 onwards.

 

I have pretty high Perception (18 or so with items) so I've been finding offensive invocations pretty reliable with just Zealous Aura and a Perception inspiration from Serafen or Xoti. I just target the lowest defense and debuff with some Druid spells from Tekehu. Consumables aren't necessary. If the enemy defenses are still too high for some reason I toss some skeletons at them.

 

TL;DR Ranger and high Perception helps.