So, my Spellblade Aloth finally got to level 13, and I gave him Citzal's Lance in anticipation of using Gouging and Arterial Strike to spread afflictions in an AOE. But both of those seem only to affect the primary target, not any of the other enemies in the AOE circle. There aren't Miss rolls in the log for those; it just seems not to affect them at all. Can anyone else confirm this?

 

Normal attacks still affect the AOE.

 

 

beta branch or master branch?

I tried it just now and you are right: e.g. Toxic Strike only gets applied to the main target (game version 4.0.1).

 

Also Stunning Surge only hits the initial target.

 

This seems to be a bug because the AoE damage gets omitted completely when using an ability with the lance.

 

Meanwhile, Hand Mortars still apply all stuff in an AoE...

 

Could you file a bug report?

 

Maybe it's fixed in the beta already. There was a problem with Citzal's and Whispers otEP in this patch (also doesn't proc in AoE) and maybe that's related.

Edited January 12, 20197 yr by Boeroer

Not sure how to do that.  I'm willing, though.

 

One thing to test is whether the Rod's Blast has the same problem.

 

Edit: I just tested Blast, and that seems to be working fine.

Edited January 13, 20197 yr by TheMetaphysician

You go here: https://forums.obsidian.net/forum/130-pillars-of-eternity-ii-deadfire-technical-support-spoiler-warning/

 

And write a thread like "[bUG 4.0.1] Citzal's Spirit Lance (and Whispers otEP) suddenly don't apply afflictions in an AoE anymore" or so...

Ok, I posted a report.

 

Meanwhile, my Spellblade Aloth build is shot for this run. Any ideas how to re-build Spellblade Aloth? I'm happy to go ranged; I have enough tanks and healing in the party, and need damage or CC. I have an injury and Rekvu's Helm and Gloves with the Grimoire of Vaporous Wizardry, so I've got lots of spell casts, but I'm limited to that Grimoire and the spells I select.

 

Would using Watershaper's Rod w/Blast (and Gouging/Toxic Strikes) and blasting spells be a good dps build? (I'm doing a no-rest run, so no Empower.) Should I have another weapon I switch to after I apply the afflictions? What blasting spells are good -- I've never used a damage-oriented wizard?

 

 

Edit: poking around I found a cool idea. I'm doing a no-rest run using Captain's Banquet on all my characters, so they're all immune to Mind Afflictions. It didn't occur to me that this would make me immune to Chill Fog -- all my Chill Fogs are party-friendly like Takehu's! So I think I should take advantage of that. I'm not sure where to go from there with the build.

Edited January 13, 20197 yr by TheMetaphysician

You could go with your original idea, just use Whispers of the Endless Paths instead of Citzal's Spirit Lance.  The base damage is lower, but it has some nice upgrades and you can always switch to a different weapon with higher base damage once the afflictions have landed.  

I think maybe Whispers has the same problem where it doesn't apply afflictions on the AOE attack. Now that I've seen in on Citzal's, I seem to remember it happening earlier. I just shrugged at the time and figured I was missing something.

Well, if you are still generally fielding suggestions, then I would suggest considering building around Zandethus's Draconic Fury for a higher level Spellblade Aloth.  Throw in Combusting Wounds and Flame Shield for good measure, and things work out pretty well.  I recently did this, and I boosted Aloth's Fire keyword PL by equipping Magran's Favor and Sun and Moon to get more mileage out of Combusting Wounds and Flame Shield, and to also take advantage of the healing enchantments of those weapons.  

Edited January 13, 20197 yr by DozingDragon

Since mortars' AoE still works I guess that Kalakoth's Minor Blights also still work. The advantage is that it's one-handed and thus can either provide you with more ACC for your attacks or more speed (with an offhand weapon).