Party composition and build feedback.

[Boeroer]

I meant: which formulas did you use? Or were you running some ingame-tests and averaging the results?

[DecayWolf]

4 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

I meant: which formulas did you use? Or were you running some ingame-tests and averaging the results?

I'll give one script from one weapon that I am running on excel

 

BotEP
Base Damage	14	20
Modifiers
Superb	0,45	0,45
Bitting Whip	0,2	0,2
Savage Attack	0,2	0,2
2 Hand Style	0,15	0,15
Sneak Attack	0,15	0,15
MIGHT 27	0,85	0,85
Modified Bonus	3	3
Modified Damage before DR	42	60
Modified Damage 10 DR	37	55
Modified Damage 20 DR	27	45
Modified Damage 30 DR	17	35
Burning Lash (0,25)	10,5	15
Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr (0,25)	10,5	15
0 DR	21	30
10 DR	16	27,5
20 DR	13,5	22,5
30 DR	8,5	17,5
Scion of Flame (0,2) 0 DR (Lash)	25,2	36
Scion of Flame (0,2) 10 DR (Lash)	19,2	33
Scion of Flame (0,2) 20 DR (Lash)	16,2	27
Scion of Flame (0,2) 30 DR (Lash)	10,2	21
Final Damage no DR	67,2	96
Final Damage 10 DR	56,2	88
Final Damage 20 DR	43,2	72
Final Damage 30 DR	27,2	56
Final Focus no DR	69,2	98,9
Final Focus 10 DR	57,9	90,6
Final Focus 20 DR	44,5	74,2
Final Focus 30 DR	28,0	57,7
Focus per second 0 DR  / 15 DEX	67,2	96,0
Focus per second 10 DR / 15 DEX	56,2	88,0
Focus per second 20 DR / 15 DEX	43,2	72,0
Focus per second 30 DR / 15 DEX	27,2	56,0

 

I'll upload it somewhere and link the achieve. I am still messing around. 

Basically, step 1 = base damage + modifiers. 

Step 2 = adds lash damage, with the proper correction from dr.

step 3 = adds utility elemental talent damage boost to lash, (or jump this step, also for Firebrand I am also adding this mod for it's base damage)

step 4 = adds base damage after modifers + lash damage after modifiers from dr and stuff for total damage

step 5 = divide total damage per s, so I get my real dps.

step 6 = get my dps and covert into focus per second.

 

more or less that's the idea. I'll upload somewhere, sec.

[DecayWolf]

https://filebin.net/gcothczk3jj2q8vj see if that works.

[Boeroer]

Nice - looks good.

One thing:  you seem to have forgotten Soul Whip's 20% dmg bonus. Biting Whip will add another 20% - so that you'll have +40% overall. 

You can enchant weapons (and armor) up to legendary quality which would mean +55% dmg (you can't do it with many though and the stuff you need for that comes pretty late). The max enchantment points for all enchantable items was raised by 2 points because of that possibility (which came with the White March expansion).

I wouldn't leave out crit damage and Annihilation. It's difficult to guess how many crits you will land because it heavily depends on the enemy, but you could do a variable which you can adjust and see how numbers turn out. For example you could assume that 20% of all hit rolls will turn out to be crits - or 10% or whatever.
Weapons with high base damage like Firebrand work especially well with every additional dmg bonus - and crit dmg (+Annihilation) is one of them - even if it it's not reliable.  

In case you didn't know: Scion of Flame works with Firebrand, giving it a 20% dmg bonus. Spirit of Decay works with Bittercut and Heart of the Storm works with Stormcaller. As long as the primary dmg type of a weapon is burn, freeze, corrode or shock Scion of Flame/Secrets of Rime/Spirit of Decay/Heart of the Storm will work. Durance's Staff will not work with Scion of Flame because it does "crush/burn" damage - and not "burn/crush".  

Edited February 19, 2021 by Boeroer

[DecayWolf]

Hehe. I completely forgot about "Soul Whip's 20%" Gonna fix that in a sec. 

I forgot to fix HoSR, still it's pretty safe to assume it's not a competitor of Firebrand/BotEP (I mean without crit). I think BotEP cannot go legendary. marking = 2, speed = 3, legendary = 8, lash = 2. lash + superb > legendary without lash. only If I could remove the marking...

Yes, I've added the scion of flame to firebrand base damage, as well to burning lash. 

My firebrand formula is 

Firebrand
Base Damage	20	30
Modifiers
Firebrand	0,45	0,45
Bitting Whip	0,2	0,2
Savage Attack	0,2	0,2
2 Hand Style	0,15	0,15
Sneak Attack	0,15	0,15
MIGHT 26	0,8	0,8
Modified Bonus	2,95	2,95
Modified Damage before DR	59	88,5
Modified Damage 10 DR	49	78,5
Modified Damage 20 DR	39	68,5
Modified Damage 30 DR	29	58,5
Scion of Flame (0,2) 0 DR (Base)	70,8	106,2
Scion of Flame (0,2) 10 DR (Base)	58,8	94,2
Scion of Flame (0,2) 20 DR (Base)	46,8	82,2
Scion of Flame (0,2) 30 DR (Base)	34,8	70,2
Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr (0,25)	17,7	26,6
0 DR	17,7	26,6
10 DR	15,2	24,1
20 DR	12,7	21,6
30 DR	10,2	19,1
Scion of Flame (0,2) 0 DR (Lash)	21,2	31,9
Scion of Flame (0,2) 10 DR (Lash)	18,2	28,9
Scion of Flame (0,2) 20 DR (Lash)	15,2	25,9
Scion of Flame (0,2) 30 DR (Lash)	12,2	22,9
Final Damage no DR	80,2	120,4
Final Damage 10 DR	67,2	107,4
Final Damage 20 DR	54,2	94,4
Final Damage 30 DR	41,2	81,4
Final Focus no DR	82,6	124,0
Final Focus 10 DR	69,3	110,6
Final Focus 20 DR	55,9	97,2
Final Focus 30 DR	42,5	83,8
Focus per second 0 DR  / 15 DEX	42,6	63,9
Focus per second 10 DR / 15 DEX	35,7	57,0
Focus per second 20 DR / 15 DEX	28,8	50,1
Focus per second 30 DR / 15 DEX	21,9	43,2

 

I'll see about crits later, I want to finish my builds first, then if I see a crit could turn better, than I just need to switch one weapon, in worse case scenario a little talent adjustment as well.

[DecayWolf]

Hmm... By the way... Does annihilation stacks? I've already chose purgatory to make rogue, annihilation + drain, kidding me? 

It's my first rogue ever, I am going to build him crit focused with spell striking and a few utility spell biding. 

Stats: 

Might 20

Constitution 13

Dexterity 16

Perception 18

Inteligence 8

Resolve 3

 

Is that good? Haven't looked on talents nor abilities yet.

[Boeroer]

If i interpret that correctly then you are using Scion of Flame as a multiplicative dmg bonus: (59-88.5) * 1.2 
But it only works additively - like Savage Attack for example. Like so:

Firebrand          
average base damage: 25

• Damaging III: 0.45
• Soul Whip: 0.20
• Biting Whip: 0.20
• Savage Attack: 0.2
• Two-Handed Style: 0.15
• Appr. Sneak Attack: 0.15
• Scion of Flame: 0.2
• MIGHT 26: 0.48

and so on...

I now see that your might bonus is too high. You'll only get 3% dmg per point of MIG above 10. So MIG 26 means 16 * 0.03 = 0.48.

 

 

 

Edited February 19, 2021 by Boeroer

[DecayWolf]

1 minute ago, Boeroer said:

If i interpret that correctly then you are using Scion of Flame as a multiplicative dmg bonus: (59-88.5) * 1.2 
But it only works additively - like Savage Attack for example. Like so:

Firebrand          
average base damage: 25

• Damaging III: 0.45
• Soul Whip: 0.20
• Biting Whip: 0.20
• Savage Attack: 0.2
• Two-Handed Style: 0.15
• Appr. Sneak Attack: 0.15
• Scion of Flame: 0.2
• MIGHT 26: 0.48

and so on...

I know see that your might bonus is too high. You'll only get 3% dmg per point of MIG above 10. So MIG 26 means 16 * 0.03 = 4.8.

 

 

 

 

Nice I'll fix that. I though it was 0.05 and it was multiplicative after total. 

So, firebrand will have a lower dps.

 

 

[Boeroer]

13 minutes ago, DecayWolf said:

Hmm... By the way... Does annihilation stacks? I've already chose purgatory to make rogue, annihilation + drain, kidding me? 

What do you mean with stacking? Stacking with what? It only applies to the attacks with the weapon it's attached to - it's not a buff for your whole character (if you meant that).

Stats are ok - but I personally would use max DEX (3% multiplicative dps boost). High MIG isn't that important on a Rogue (only additive dmg bonus and Rogue already has plenty of those).

I personally value INT a lot - even on Rogues. But that also depends on the weapon and after all that's more a matter of taste I guess. 

Edited February 19, 2021 by Boeroer

[DecayWolf]

2 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

What do you mean with stacking? Stacking with what? It only applies to the weapon attacks it's attached to, it's not a buff for your whole character (if you meant that).

Stats are ok - but I personally would use max DEX (multiplicative dps boost). High MIG isn't that important on a Rogue (only additive dmg bonus and Rogue already has plenty of those).

Indeed.

[Boeroer]

By the way: Purgatory is nice (and a good partner for Resolution) - but Bittercut is better imo. It doesn't have Annihilation bus works with Spirit of Decay - but more importantly it has two damage types (corrode/slash) instead of slash only. Single dmg types can be really annoying if you meet very resistant or even immue foes. Bittercut also comes earlier (usually - if you don't make a beeline to Purgatory).

[DecayWolf]

23 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

By the way: Purgatory is nice (and a good partner for Resolution) - but Bittercut is better imo. It doesn't have Annihilation bus works with Spirit of Decay - but more importantly it has two damage types (corrode/slash) instead of slash only. Single dmg types can be really annoying if you meet very resistant or even immue foes. Bittercut also comes earlier (usually - if you don't make a beeline to Purgatory).

I was thinking about saving such weapon for specific encounters where the enemy is either immune or has a very high slash DR. Because going bittercut I'll lose the bonus from Scion of Flame. I mean, I already have a chanter giving a free burning lash, so was thinking about spec all my melee into that. 

 

Well, after last fixes.

BotEP (Plate): Focus per second 0 DR  / 15 DEX 64,06 91,52 Focus per second 10 DR / 15 DEX 56,06 83,52 Focus per second 20 DR / 15 DEX 40,06 67,52 Focus per second 30 DR / 15 DEX 24,06 51,52 Firebrand (Plate) Focus per second 0 DR  / 15 DEX 60,53 90,79 Focus per second 10 DR / 15 DEX 50,54 80,80 Focus per second 20 DR / 15 DEX 40,55 70,81 Focus per second 30 DR / 15 DEX 30,56 60,83

Firebrand (Naked) Focus per second 0 DR  / 15 DEX 87,60 131,41 Focus per second 10 DR / 15 DEX 73,15 116,95 Focus per second 20 DR / 15 DEX 58,69 102,49 Focus per second 30 DR / 15 DEX 44,24 88,04

 

The focus has a multiplier of only 1,03. So one can consider this as dps. With all offensive talents, might, dex, time parasite, etc.

Edited February 20, 2021 by DecayWolf

[DecayWolf]

/\ the above is wrong. There some sort of glitch on that calculator. When you mentioned 0,7f it was giving me that with plate. When I did the above, the Firebrand was giving me 1,65s with plate, and 0 recovery naked. Tried again, nope.

Was looking into dual sabres, one end result was 51f, another gave me 41f. Basically I need to refresh once or twice every time I want to check something, in order to avoid issues. Also the above even has burning lash, forgot to take out. 

 

____

 

Melee Cipher.

Human.

 

First and foremost, while BotEP is my main end goal, I'll be using Tidefall before getting that a lot, and may not choose BotEP. 

I'll be using Firebrand early game, I'll rush the gloves and belt to my cipher, until I get Tidefall. That's why Scion of Flames is so high on the list of talents. After Tidefall, I'll give it away to my paladin, both items.

 

Attributes (I am planning 1 or 2 respecs)

1. MIG 20, CON 8, DEX 16, PER 10, INT 14, RES 10. 

2. MIG 20, CON 8, DEX 12, PER 10, INT 18, RES 10. 

3. MIG 20, CON 9, DEX 18, PER 10, INT 18, RES 3. 

 

1. Is the initial build out of the gate. 

2. Is after acquiring 0 recovery, may be ignored if I acquire the item from below. Reason, dex has diminish return the faster the character is, while longer buffs become more relevant.

3. After acquiring Belt of Chimes. The only reason why I didn't dumped res was because of concentration, this item solves that. Since this gives 7 free stat points, I had to put somewhere. If I get this item before 0 recovery then I skip respec n2.  (Even with diminishing returns, DEX does increase DPS...)

Note: I am still unsure how my final CON and PER will look like, I may do just a final respec to tweak that. 

 

Talents
Greater Focus
Biting Whip
Draining Whip
Scion of Flame
Outlander's Frenzy
Savage Attack
Two-Handed Style
Apprentice's Sneak Attack
 

Gear:
Maegfolc Skull
Brîshalgwin Mindmarker / TotU
He Carries Many Scars
Belt of Chimes
Ring of Deflection
Ring of Thorns
Gauntlets of Swift Action
Malina's Boots
Blade of the Endless Paths

Stormcaller or Tidefall
 

I know Stormcaller is kinda ****y to build focus, but it's a ranged weapon with two damage types, plus it deals good damage from spells active spells. 

This build should be able to build focus extremely fast, so why not? 

 

My intention for the build. 

A 22 to 33 DR Cipher, aided by Psychovampiric Shield, Borrowed Instinct, Going Between (ally cipher), Unbiding (if needed) a tons of healing from the team (if needed), while having the best DPS and focus generation as possible. 

Edited February 21, 2021 by DecayWolf

[DecayWolf]

Chanter
Kana Rua
Island aumaua

Attributes
MIG 16 (+3)
CON 12 (+4)
DEX 9
PER 14
INT 17 (+3)
RES 10 (+4)

Talents
Ancient Memory
Beloved Spirits 
Weapon and Shield Style
Brisk Recitation
Veteran's Recovery
Bear's Fortitude
Body Control
Superior Deflection
 

Gear:

White Crest's Helm
Voice of the Mountaintop
White Crest Armor
Sentinel's Girdle
Gathbin Family Signet
Iron Circle
Siegebreaker Gauntlets
Frythr's Plated Greaves
Blesca's Labor
The Last Tower
Spectacular Spetum

Cloudpiercer

 

My tanker. Did both of the fortitude saves to avoid Paralyse like the plague, so I believe it simply won't die. (hopefully) 

He can also work as a maker with his pole axe, or a ranged unit. Very versatile. Plus chants ofc.

 

Paladin
Pallegina
Avian godlike

Attributes
MIG 12 (+3)
CON 13 (+3)
DEX 11 (+3)
PER 14
INT 13 (+3)
RES 15

Talents
Vielo Vidòrio 
Critical Focus
Wrath of Five Suns
Scion of Flame
Two-Handed Style
Intense Flames
Greater Lay on Hands
Deep Faith

Paladin's abilities
Flames of Devotion
Zealous Focus
Sworn Enemy
Coordinated Attacks
Hastening Exhortation
Lay on Hands
Sacred Immolation
Healing Chain

 

Gear:

Nîdhen's Finger
Ryona's Breastplate
Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer
Ring of Deflection
Ring of Protection
Forgemaster's Gloves
Bilestompers
Abydon's Hammer
Old Gerun's Wall
Cladhalíath
Shame or Glory
Firebrand

 

Very versatile build. It can tank, can mark targets and can deal tons of damage with Firebrand. 

The idea from talents/abllities is to aid the team, especially the ciphers to get the first focus going really fast, until they can cast Time Parasite. 

Versatility could be a problem, I'll see how it works. The idea is to switch to marking only against very high defense and dangerous enemies, otherwise she can wreck stuff on her own. Or to captalize when a enemy is say paralyzed, or to hold the line when most needed.

 

Rogue
Cemoc
Death godlike

Attributes
MIG 18 (+2)
CON 14 (+2)
DEX 20 (+3)
PER 18
INT 5
RES 3 (+2)

Talents
Weapon Focus Ruffian
Two Weapon Style
Vicious Fighting
Devastating Blow
Shadowing Beyond
Backstab 
Savage Attack
Bloody Slaughter

Rogue's abilities
Blinding Strike
Reckless Assault
Dirty Fighting
Finishing Blow
Withering Strike
Deathblows
Fearsome Strike
Sap

Gear:

Finreah's Grace
Vengiatta Rugia
Broad Belt of Power
Ring of Deflection
Snerf's Folly
Rabbit Fur Gloves
Glanfathan Stalking Boots
Purgatory
Resolution
Borresaine

 

That's my first rogue, hopefully it ended alright. Yes, by over killing damage over the top is intentional. He'll be using Reaping Knives as end game, which is also raw. 

The more damage it does, the more focus my ranged cipher will get. Besides, she'll be able to cast it from the start of the battle, from how I built her, so it's a win-win.

Since my CC and debuffer will be my cipher who will constantly be casting things that trigger sneak attack, I believe I can dump int freely. 

[DecayWolf]

Priest
Durance
Meadow human

Attributes
MIGHT 14 (+3)
CON 13 (+2)
DEX 9 (+4)
PER 9 (+4)
INT 15 (+4)
RES 18 (+3)

Talents
Inspiring Radiance
Inspired Flame
Arms Bearer
Quick Switch
Scion of Flame
Aggrandizing Radiance
Gunner
Weapon Focus Soldier

 

Gear:
Company Captain's Cap 
Cape of the Master Mystic
Starlit Garb
Girdle of Maegfolc Might
Seal of Faith
Gwyn's Band of Union
Gauntlets of Swift Action
Viettro's Formal Footwear
Pliambo per Casitàs

Arquebus

Arquebus

 

I had two possible builds for him. The above ranger, or a hybrid with interdiction + weakness. Weakness is very handy for Ciphers, they love it. But hybrids doesn't excel at anything so... in the end that was my build for him.

Looking foward to cast Avatar + Aggravating Radiance + Salvation of Time.

As a side note, he's immune to charm/domination with this gear, so if anyone catch one of my party members prayer against bewilderment. 

 

Cipher
Grieving Mother
Human

Attributes
MIG 11 (+3)
CON 12
DEX 16 (+2)
PER 12
INT 17 (+2)
RES 10

Talents
Quick Switch
Biting Whip
Draining Whip
Marksman
Penetrating Shot
Spirit of Decay
Apprentice's Sneak Attack
Bloody Slaughter

Crossed Patch
Talisman of the Unconquerable
Angio's Gambeson
Belt of the Stelgaer
Bartender's Ring
Pensiavi mes Rèi
Gauntlets of Swift Action
Glanfathan Stalking Boots
The Rain of Godagh Field

Long-Feller

 

She'll initiate with the Arquebus (which has grazes to hits), then switch to the bow for the remaining of the combat. After casting Reaping Knives that is. Then CC for the heart content. 

If that doesn't fix the poor focus generation, then nothing will.

[Boeroer]

Giving away Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer: it is a soulbound item. You have to bind it to a specific character and then level it up through certain actions. If you want to use it with another character you have to unbind it, it will then fall back to its basic level and you'd have to level it up again with the new character. Firebrand is only the first level. The belt has some more useful levels of enchantments. I would keep it and use Firebrand as backup against enemies who have a weakness against fire dmg.

Edited February 21, 2021 by Boeroer

[DecayWolf]

There is a few problems with that.

1. I'll dumping 3 MIG away, because of +4 headgear, or would have to give it to someone else, means -1 MIG and removal of unbiding from my Cipher.

1,2. Likewise dump of 3 DEX or give away Ring of Thorns to someone else. Dumping 3 DEX is actually a pretty big deal, since the game does lack +3 DEX gear.

 

2. There's the DPS itself. 

 

I've made a math of BotEP vs tHoSR vs Firebrand. 

With plate, 1st place is BotEP, by a very long margin, due 5 DR bypass + speed mod. 

2nd place it's tHoSR, 3rd Firebrand. 

tHoSR has +10% from legendary, burning lashes and +1 MIG (headgear stays). Plus it has annihilation, while I am not accounting or calculating critical, I do know it's present and will add up.

 

The second run was a naked/0 recovery. 

I didn't made any change to BotEP because it had achieved 0 recovery already. 

Then I had the following result. 

1st, tHoSR. (critical not accounted), 2nd BotEP (barely behind), 3rd Firebrand about 10 DPS behind tHoSR.

Then if we include Annihilation to the equation... 

Against 0 DR.

Against 10+ DR BotEP still on the lead.

Firebrand takes the 2nd place against 20+DR, loses to tHoSR against 0 to 10DR enemies. 

 

3. Problem. 

If I remove Firebrand from my paladin, he'll become rather weak and unflexible. I mean I'll either have to chose to completely dump and sacrifice his DPS, consequentely gimp his offensive abilities and items/skills trigger on kill, or have to either remove his marking role or tanker role, in favor of a 2H weapon set.

 

4. Since I did not include criticals, Tidefall should have the exact same DPS with Plate/Naked as tHoSR, thus it would also beat Firebrand, but give me drain and additional DPS from wounding lash.

 

With all being said, I do believe Firebrand on my paladin is the correct choice. 

 

Edit: Early game however, it's a completely different beast and story. I'll be using Firebrand early game, till Tidefall.

Edited February 21, 2021 by DecayWolf

[Christopher Davis]

My rant on pillars of eternity
(1) why the hell am I being bombarded with enemies on a low level having no way of knowing what level thereon
(2) learn how to make a combat training room to level up no one goes into combat in real life with no real basic training
(3) If someone is attacking the Base, please have a got dam alarm system or a beep letting the player know if the Base is under attack

Edited June 25, 2021 by Christopher Davis

[Boeroer]

1) Which situation? Which difficulty? I know of no situation on the low levels on normal difficulty where you get "bombarded" with enemies. 

2) No one goes into combat training "in real life" except soldiers. If I embark to a tour into the Kirghiz mountains to have a little adventure I don't attend combat training before. You can play PoE in a mostly pacifistic way, you can avoid almost all fights by dialogue and/or sneaking. Also there' not much XP to be gained from killing enemies. Fulfilling quests is the most potent source of XP. So why would a Scientist Wizard from the Vaillian Republics go into combat training before travelling to the Dyrwood for exmple? Not very realistic... if realism is what's important in a fantady game in the first place... Anyway there's the tutorial map right at the beginning with some easy enemies in Cilant Lis where you get to learn some basic rules, even with tutorial popups if you didn't tun them off in the game options - so where's the problem?

3) You will get a warning as soon as enemies are planning an attack on your stronghold. Somehing like "your scouts report that a group of <xyz> is advancing..." and so on. Usually there's plenty of time to travel back to your stronghold and help with the fighting. Maybe you missed the message(s)? If you don't want attacks to happen at all you should lower your Prestige (e.g. by enlisting henchmen with the barracks for protection that have bad reputation - and not building stuff that raises Prestige) and at the same time raise your Security (enlisting henchmen with high sec. values and building stuff that raises Security). That prevents most of those attacks. Prestige attracts the good as well as the bad visitors, including attackers. Security prevents attacks. 

All in all it sounds as if you chose a difficulty setting that is too harsh for you (yet). You can chance that at any time in the game options - unless you chose the highest one named "Path of the Damned".

PS: Why not put your criticism into a fitting thread - instead of using a random one which is about something competely different? It will not get seen much here.

Edited June 26, 2021 by Boeroer

[DecayWolf]

So, I played a little bit, and stopped in 80% of ACT2. Going to return to the game, got a few doubts.

1. Party composition:

At start, I though the core of my party to be my main Cipher, an Priest, an Paladin and Rogue. For I believe all those classes have a very strong synergy together.

Paladin can tank, dps, heal, buff accuracy and attack speed, which will make my cipher build more focus. Priest almost same thing, they also had debuffs, their dps is a little lower on auto attacks.

Rogue could assassin bosses and otherwise dangerous foes, also I though they would be the best users of Reaping Knives, due their natural bonuses to damage modifiers and criticals. And they kinda are, except for their attack speed. I just noticed that in auto attack, another Cipher can build more focus per second than a Rogue, purely due attack speed modifier alone. (Time Parasite)

However, Rogues absolutely can do more DPS with either with his active abillities, or with any attack speed buff (out lander's frenzy, potion of alacrity motion, vielo vidori, hastening) Any of these would make the rogue's auto attack to give a better DPS. They can reach about 100 raw damage per second in auto attack alone. Which is pretty crazy is you think about it. 

I mean, he could kill bosses petrified in 3 seconds or less, faster with criticals.

 

But then, another Cipher would add another entire new layer of CC, of which I believe it would make the party much stronger. 

Another problem is, I need someone great with mechanics. A chanter needs high lore to compensate for his lack of abilities, A Cipher needs high survival for extra damage. I could use a wizard for that, but I think it's a little bit weird. Rogues are the best mechanics.

 

If I am to bring 2 cipher, then another rogue feels less important, because I could cast Reaping Knives on each other, so I feel the rogue has lost his otherwise unique role and major synergy.

 

The last pieces I am thinking are: Wizard for CC, and Chanter/Rogue as the last piece. Chanter would enhance my cipher's DPS, Rogue still are the best RK user and mechanic.

 

2. Firebrand.

So, I was thinking about giving it to Durance, it would be cool with all his fire lore stuff. Also, Holy Radiance, Divine Mark, Searing Seal, Shining Beacon, Storm of Holy Fire, Hand of Weal, Symbol of Magran and Burst of Summer Flame. Very strong choice of Scion of Flame and Firebrand. 

The thing is, priest spend a lot of time casting buffs/debuffs spells and not auto attacking. I think a Firebrand would be a little bit wasted on him due that?

 

My original choice was my Paladin, with Firebrand becomes completely awesome, very high defenses, attack speed and accuracy buffs, healing, and very good DPS. 

Besides, Flames of Devotion, Intense Flame, Sacred Immolation and Sun Beam (Armor), with the dead fire's belt he also would get an Firebrand, Fire Shield and Flame Torrent. Also making him into a solid Scion of Flame.

I could give the gloves to Durance and the belt to Pallegina though, so both would have Firebrand. That's what I am thinking. That also would allow me to give her the gloves with overseeing.

 

3. How are criticals calculated? 

I mean, does it applies it's modifier BEFORE DR? Or does it first take the base damage with all modifiers, minus DR, then make an additional mod from the value after the DR reduction?

 

4. 

Attributes: MIG 18,  CON 15, DEX 20,  PER 10,  INT 12, RES 3, for a damage specialized Cipher, almost no CC spells. or Should I get Int 18 at the cost of Per 4?

Well, the highest monster deflection (no boss) is about 70ish. 

Natural cipher accuracy at level 16 = 70.

Priest can net an additional 30 (10 being 1 cast only, short duration)

Pallegina can net another additional 30. 

Legendary weapon 15 / Spells 5 to 10.

That's already 145 for Weapon and 135/140 for spells. 

Durgan steel should give another 15 to hit to critical, and priest buff another 20 hit to critical. That would make I critical on every single auto attack, no exception. Against no bosses.

 

Then, we still have Flank for -10 Deflection, and Petrified/Paralzed for -40, or Stunned for -30 or Blinded for -25. I really don't need accuracy for auto attacks. 

Which also would give me 100% critical even with the hit to critical modifier.

 

Spells are another story though, for resistances are much higher and debuffs defenses much weaker (weakened only -20 Will/Fortitude).

Also I believe it completely ignores the modifiers from weapon and talents. In the other hand, Desintegration is stronger with lower int.  

 

Anyhow... 

 

[DecayWolf]

I could also bring a Cipher instead the Wizard. But the cipher's blind is much weaker. Their AoE CCs aren't that great in comparison. 

[Faraleth]

is there a way to replace Durance with another healer except creating adventurer priest?

[Boeroer]

If you are looking for healing then Druids are the better option anyways imo - so Hiravias would do.

[Desmodeus]

18 hours ago, Faraleth said:

is there a way to replace Durance with another healer except creating adventurer priest?

 

6 hours ago, Boeroer said:

If you are looking for healing then Druids are the better option anyways imo - so Hiravias would do.

Also Pellagina is pretty decent support healer. Greater Lay of hands + Healing chain. Also IIRC Kana with benevolent spirits isn't that bad of heal over time char, though lacking "emergency heal" options

Edited August 14, 2021 by Desmodeus

[Faraleth]

9 hours ago, Boeroer said:

If you are looking for healing then Druids are the better option anyways imo - so Hiravias would do.

never used a non-thundercat melee druid in poe1, but does he have the same support/buffing abilities like priest? cause I found myself that withdraw/barring deaths door/protection from X things is what I used on Durance, not the straight healing spells