Balance Polishing Mod Release 1.0

[Hoo]

I feel that it seems like a nerf to change the passive ability from being infinite while Near Death to 6 sec duration with being able to heal after getting to Near Death.

How about adding another synergized ability to Death Godlike; an ability that prevent to decrease HP below 1 for fixed 1~3 sec and remove all buffs and nerfs status when the Death Godlike receives damage that kill him/her. 

With this ability, Death Godlike can do self-damage(good for Paladin, Berserker, and so on) to activate Pallid Fate without BDD combination. The most difficult thing to utilize the Pallid Fate for me was, it's really hard to get Near Death status once intentionally and safely without BDD. 

[Elric Galad]

2 hours ago, Hoo said:

I feel that it seems like a nerf to change the passive ability from being infinite while Near Death to 6 sec duration with being able to heal after getting to Near Death.

It is not my proposal.

It would still be infinite while Near Death.

It would only persist for 6 additional seconds after the character isn't near death anymore.

[Hoo]

Oh, I misunderstood about that. It seems fine then. 

[patronkus]

Unsure if intended or not but the Sacred Immolation rework is not benefitting from any PL (fire or Paladin). Unsure if this is already known or not but figured I'd share.

[Elric Galad]

8 minutes ago, patronkus said:

Unsure if intended or not but the Sacred Immolation rework is not benefitting from any PL (fire or Paladin). Unsure if this is already known or not but figured I'd share.

That's weird. I will look into it. I don't know if it's even technically feasible. Are you using nerf package ? Because the "non pure buff reworks" are included in the nerf package.

In the buff package only remain the zeal cost reduction.

[Elric Galad]

Ok, so next proposed changes :

 

Blessing of Wael :

I might have been slightly too heavy handed with this one, resulting in a massive buff/debuff with great AoE and Duration.

Currently plan to tune it down to +8 all defenses / -8 to INT/PER/RES at random on damaged.

 

Incarnate :

I turned SC priest into top tier summoner, which might not be fully appropriate. It is great that the Summon themselves feel great (they're God Incarnate after all) but the malus should have stayed so it does not render other Tier 9 useless. Currently it is a bit too incitative to keep your Tier 9 slot for Incarnate (especially since the only other Priest Summon is Spiritual Ally which is very nice but isn't in the same power league as Incarnates).

I will add back the -5 PL for 35s as in vanilla (but I will keep it as a Hostile effect, so it can be reduced by high RES, so you can still build around).

 

Death of 1000 Cuts :

Simple suggestion to make it Target Deflection instead of Fortitude, so all Single Target Cipher DoT target a different defense (since I've set Soul Ignition to vs Will).

I often feel that Disintigrate is sufficient (and you might want it anyway to get rid of that Megablob), so using a precious Tier 9 ability point to get a similar effect isn't very attractive.

Granted that it might not need a buff but changing the defense it targets isn't a pure buff. Its main point is that it decreases its redundancy which is probably always a good idea. 

[patronkus]

6 hours ago, Elric Galad said:

Ok, so next proposed changes :

 

Blessing of Wael :

I might have been slightly too heavy handed with this one, resulting in a massive buff/debuff with great AoE and Duration.

Currently plan to tune it down to +8 all defenses / -8 to INT/PER/RES at random on damaged.

 

Incarnate :

I turned SC priest into top tier summoner, which might not be fully appropriate. It is great that the Summon themselves feel great (they're God Incarnate after all) but the malus should have stayed so it does not render other Tier 9 useless. Currently it is a bit too incitative to keep your Tier 9 slot for Incarnate (especially since the only other Priest Summon is Spiritual Ally which is very nice but isn't in the same power league as Incarnates).

I will add back the -5 PL for 35s as in vanilla (but I will keep it as a Hostile effect, so it can be reduced by high RES, so you can still build around).

 

Death of 1000 Cuts :

Simple suggestion to make it Target Deflection instead of Fortitude, so all Single Target Cipher DoT target a different defense (since I've set Soul Ignition to vs Will).

I often feel that Disintigrate is sufficient (and you might want it anyway to get rid of that Megablob), so using a precious Tier 9 ability point to get a similar effect isn't very attractive.

Granted that it might not need a buff but changing the defense it targets isn't a pure buff. Its main point is that it decreases its redundancy which is probably always a good idea. 

Agree with the Blessing of Wael change, it's very potent right now and since you can have all 3 maluses applied at once it compounds it's effect a lot. I think -5 PL is a bit extreme (I know that's what it is in vanilla but it still felt very bad), I might suggest -3 instead so is not so severe.

[Elric Galad]

9 hours ago, patronkus said:

I think -5 PL is a bit extreme (I know that's what it is in vanilla but it still felt very bad), I might suggest -3 instead so is not so severe.

Agreed. Also the PL malus applies to the summon duration, which I'm not sure was super intended. Reducing the malus reduces the gap between display summon duration and actual one.

Do go for -3 PL. Annoying but not too harsh.

 

Also I plan to add a hard -100% healing received on Writ of Mending, to bypass affliction resistance as for other Writs.

I've spread a bit too much Enfeebled Affliction so I think a Tier 9 spells should keep something unique.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Elric Galad

[Exanos]

Speaking about cipher,  i always found mind blade to be a bit disapointing, imo it rarelly do notable damage for the cost and vs others damaging spells  ciphers can acess. Very situational spell (better when few ennemy remains, and even then beams are more worth it) What are you though on it? Worth buffing ?

Edited October 24, 2022 by Exanos

[Elric Galad]

On 10/25/2022 at 12:58 AM, Exanos said:

Speaking about cipher,  i always found mind blade to be a bit disapointing, imo it rarelly do notable damage for the cost and vs others damaging spells  ciphers can acess. Very situational spell (better when few ennemy remains, and even then beams are more worth it) What are you though on it? Worth buffing ?

I don't know, it is still a low tier spell after all, with a pseudo quadratic scaling with PL. It has good PEN, fast cast, and requires absolutely no conditions (except having more than 1 target) to get its max damages (which top at ~100 plus might and PL damages bonuses). Contrary to beams which require good positioning and don't do their damages instantly.

The real question is why one would include a pure low level damages spell with no risk/no reward on a Cipher build, granted that they want to be auto attacking instead. It has good synergy with a Whale of a Wand, Death of 1000 cuts and a few other effects. It can act as a pseudo ranged attack for Soulblade since it is even cheaper for them.

[Bosmer]

Yeah, in addition it also benefits from complete self - which has been buffed by BPM. I enjoy Mind blades in deadfire a lot. Personally, I almost never use Mind Wave (imo too long casting time) or Soul Shock (no Shred spell, thus no death of 1000 cuts synergy). But even for these two abilities you could find their niches.

[L4wlight]

I could write a love letter on the Mind Blades X Death of 1000 Cuts Combo alone.

[Hoo]

I'm sorry to post this because it would not be the current topic, but I really want to discuss about this one.

There are several xx-pt Damage Shield spells/abilities in Deadfire, and as far as I know, all of those never scale with PL/Level/Whatever. 

I accidently saw a mod from Steam Workshop which mades a chant related to the shield, Her Courage Thick as Steel, to scale with PL. 

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1678414677

Since BPM has changed lots of none-scaled abilities/items/summons to be scaled, I'd like to suggest adjusting the xx-pt Damage Shield spells/abilities to be scaled if this change is technically possible and applicable. 

Edited October 28, 2022 by Hoo

[Elric Galad]

On 10/28/2022 at 11:52 AM, Hoo said:

I'm sorry to post this because it would not be the current topic, but I really want to discuss about this one.

Well this thread is a about all possible so no problem to change current topic.

On 10/28/2022 at 11:52 AM, Hoo said:

There are several xx-pt Damage Shield spells/abilities in Deadfire, and as far as I know, all of those never scale with PL/Level/Whatever. 

I accidently saw a mod from Steam Workshop which mades a chant related to the shield, Her Courage Thick as Steel, to scale with PL. 

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1678414677

Since BPM has changed lots of none-scaled abilities/items/summons to be scaled, I'd like to suggest adjusting the xx-pt Damage Shield spells/abilities to be scaled if this change is technically possible and applicable. 

This is technically possible, and I've thought about it in the past. 

The reason I've discarded it is that it would be a new scaling rule, which is already complex enough. 

The reason one would want it is that Shield is quite homologous to healing. The issue is that you won't get Might scaling anyway (adding Might scaling would be a tediousness nightmare) so the 2 will always diverge, adding a layer of confusion to what scale or not. 

Meanwhile there are several numerical effects that do not Scale at all (Such as pure attributes buff). So Shield can just be part of this category. 

 

Also I don't think there are Shield based abilities that are in need of a buff (and often their durations do scale). 

The absence of scaling is specially annoying for damaging attacks cause it gives them poor PEN and (to a lesser extant) poor accuracy that make them kind of obsolete in late game. Shielding does not have this issue, so a change isn't critical (in addition to be potentially confusing). 

Edited October 29, 2022 by Elric Galad

[Hoo]

Zandethus Draconic Fury spell is a very good spell, but I've felt that this spell has some inconsistency because its recovery time is so long, while most of self-buffing spells' recovery time is set to Instant. 

I'd like to suggest changing the spell's recovery time to Instant. If this change seems too strong, increasing cast time as a trade-off would be good adjustment imo.  

[Elric Galad]

58 minutes ago, Hoo said:

Zandethus Draconic Fury spell is a very good spell, but I've felt that this spell has some inconsistency because its recovery time is so long, while most of self-buffing spells' recovery time is set to Instant. 

I'd like to suggest changing the spell's recovery time to Instant. If this change seems too strong, increasing cast time as a trade-off would be good adjustment imo.  

I see what you mean but there isn't an absolute rule about that. Most self buff are indeed without recovery but their casting time varies (Minor Avatar being a good example). So why not recovery too ?

If the spell is very good anyway, I don't think it's necessary to change.

[Elric Galad]

14 hours ago, Hoo said:

Zandethus Draconic Fury spell is a very good spell, but I've felt that this spell has some inconsistency because its recovery time is so long, while most of self-buffing spells' recovery time is set to Instant. 

I'd like to suggest changing the spell's recovery time to Instant. If this change seems too strong, increasing cast time as a trade-off would be good adjustment imo.  

That being said, out of the "harmonizing" part that I don't believe to be necessaery, I don't think Draconic Fury compare that much favorably with Minor Avatar from the same Tier. Draconic is an unique spell so should probably be a bit better. The Terrified part is less convenient than the Tier 3 Repulsive Visage and the lash part, albeit good because lashes are great, is not as good as the bunch of stats from minor avatar.

Therefore, setting its cast/recovery to the same as Minor Avatar (4.5s/0s) is probably a good idea. 

[Elric Galad]

Hi everybody,

I released a new version 2.4.1 yesterday

Deadfire Balance Polishing Mod at Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Nexus - Mods and Community (nexusmods.com)

 

Some minor changes mostly, included some previously buffed abilities that has been tuned down.

 

To give a global picture about Enfeebled Affliction with this version :

- Forbidden Fist : no changes from vanilla. Still the best way to inflict Enfeebled for a Multiclas.

- Perishing Strike : Closer from the original than in Version 2.4. But now, Weakened is replaced by Enfeebled either when Weakened ellapses OR WHEN HEALTH DROPS BELOW 50% (immediately for target already below 50%). So contrary to before your target will get Enfeebled at some point before dying Still not ideal way to play around Hostile Effects extension, but at least systematically useful.

- Writ of Mending : added in 2.4.1 a hard -100% healing received so it affects target even if resistant to CON Affliction, in a similar fashion as other Woedica Writs. I thought it was justified as a Tier 9. Probably the easiest way to apply Enfeebled in an AoE, but accessible only to Single Class from a specific Subclass.

- Heart Seeker : BPM set its Enfeebled to Infinite Duration for a while as a way to promote SC Ranger as justify its 4 Bonds cost. Note that this is an Auto-Hit attack and has no synergy with AoE Weapons.

- Corrosive Skin : BPM upgraded Weakened to Enfeebled for a while, based on people suggestion. Still locked behind the (anyway very powerful) Tier IX Wizard Slot. Contrary to the 2 previous ones, only applies to 1 target, so does not feel overwhelmingly powerful as a way to apply Enfeebled (but is good as a spell as a whole)

Fractured Volition does not apply Enfeebled anymore in 2.4.1, but Duration is very long (30s) and recovery very low (3s). This is a similar change as Tenuous Grasp 2s recovery. I think it would be especially adapted to play as a "Mindstalker Death Mark".

 

This way, Enfeebled remain a rare and powerful effect (but you can still pick Fractured Volition from older version, I don't think it would break the game anyway).

Edited November 9, 2022 by Elric Galad

[Hoo]

There is a small bug that shows Unbroken's -10 Stride penalty as a debuff Icon on Character UI, like the previous Enchanter's passive. Could you check this?

[Hoo]

This would be probably not mandatory, but I'd like to remind you that there is an armor, Iridescent Scale, which can cast a summoning spell, Conjure Greater Blight; since the spell of Druids has been changed, the armor's ability also might need to adjust. 

[Elric Galad]

7 hours ago, Hoo said:

This would be probably not mandatory, but I'd like to remind you that there is an armor, Iridescent Scale, which can cast a summoning spell, Conjure Greater Blight; since the spell of Druids has been changed, the armor's ability also might need to adjust. 

Probably going to discard this one. Item abilities might be different from spells sometimes. "Iridescent" scales may hint toward any Blight type rather than ice one.

That being said BPM summoned blight scaling should work normally.

[Bosmer]

Hi Elric! I'm playing around with your newest updates and I wonder if Takedown Combo could receive a similar treatment as all the "from stealth" effects (assassinate, backstab), i.e. a 1 sec "lingering" of the effect? Such that full-attacks would also come to profit from this. At the same time I think that the well-known interaction with dots should remain, although probably not intended by Obsidian.. I think it's a cool little feature to play around. /// And also regarding Ranger.. I really like your changes to Hunter's Claw now providing until end of combat stacks. However, it seems that dual wielding here is by far the best option, since you can get the full stack with only 5 ability points, whereas single- or two-handed would require spending 10 ability points to see the full stack .. which would probably be achieved in almost no fight. Do you think that stacking a fixed value, similar to stunning surge, might be an nice adjustment? Maybe increasing the value to 3 acc/def/dam per hit, then? In this case dual-wielding would still be the optimal option, but not by a huge margin anymore.///As always, thank you so much for working on this! Highly enjoy it

Edited November 24, 2022 by Bosmer
For some technical issue I can't post paragraphs.. Sorry for that!

[Elric Galad]

6 hours ago, Bosmer said:

Hi Elric! I'm playing around with your newest updates and I wonder if Takedown Combo could receive a similar treatment as all the "from stealth" effects (assassinate, backstab), i.e. a 1 sec "lingering" of the effect? Such that full-attacks would also come to profit from this. At the same time I think that the well-known interaction with dots should remain, although probably not intended by Obsidian.. I think it's a cool little feature to play around. ///

The difference here is that Takedown Combo applies to all attacks to the target, not only to the one from the ability.

So Takedown Combo would enable your whole party to get +100% damages on a single attack. This is quite a big buff.

6 hours ago, Bosmer said:

 And also regarding Ranger.. I really like your changes to Hunter's Claw now providing until end of combat stacks. However, it seems that dual wielding here is by far the best option, since you can get the full stack with only 5 ability points, whereas single- or two-handed would require spending 10 ability points to see the full stack .. which would probably be achieved in almost no fight. Do you think that stacking a fixed value, similar to stunning surge, might be an nice adjustment? Maybe increasing the value to 3 acc/def/dam per hit, then? In this case dual-wielding would still be the optimal option, but not by a huge margin anymore.///As always, thank you so much for working on this! Highly enjoy it

I think the dual claw aspect comes from the Drizzt Do Urden dual wielding ranger trope. They wanted to make an ability for dual wielding melee ranger specifically.

Is this good ? Well I don't know, but the ability is still usable with two hander, I think it should even be optimal with WotEP specifically.

Also with non dual wielding weapon, you still get a +10 Acc attack with damages scaling with PL, so this part of the effect is quite equivalent independantly from the choosen weapon.

To be fair, I think it might be very tedious to change due to the number of subeffect coded separately for this one. So I think I will discard.

 

Nothing prevent you from using it with DW weapons, then to swap to a good 2 handers. There's not ton of builds that favor style swapping.  

[Bosmer]

Actually, it's optimal to use the ability from distance with melee + blunderbuss. Gives up to 4*2 stacks after one shot with driving flight. Do you think that this behaviour might be fixable? It's definitely not supposed to be a best-used-ranged ability  but thank you for your answer and I get your thoughts regarding dual-wield. 

Edited November 25, 2022 by Bosmer
Again technical issues..

[ex_wolf]

<Version 1.5.2> Can bounce several time on same target.
Also applies to scrolls, Stormspeaker's version and Auranic's Sigil Version. 
This makes the Auranic fight really tedious, since it is now able to refresh her spells.

P.S. do you think that megabosses should be fixed in order to become manageable by different party compositions without using potions of enlightment?

For example,  by modifying the resistance profile to give an alternative weapon selection to hit them (crush being the lowest defense for auranic/belranga/durudugar).

Maybe their damage is a tad bit too high so it forces to spam disposable summons to keep the aggro (I don't think there's an alternative to double dragon with durudugar other than cycle kiting). Maybe <25% hp triggers abilities should be disabled against them?