Favourite/Least Favourite Things About PoE?

[Odd Hermit]

 

Chanters are boring though, and very buggy too. Probably the worst class design aside from maybe Monk, but Monks are actually fun it's just that if you want to use them right you have to pause and check on their wound situation and swift strikes duration way too often.

 

I'd say that Paladins are also boring, but that's almost standard for anything pseudo-DnD. Chanters sounded interesting but you just don't get to use their abilities enough and the increased time and phrases needed pushes you into very dull sequences repeating only the most efficient combination of the same chants -> same invocation over and over again.

Chanters are a nice class design. They surely need a bit of balancing with their chants. And probably a few class talents to get some invocations a bit faster, but that's about it. They're meant to be passive.

 

Monk are great too, even if their design is really a matter of taste. Some just don't like requiring being hurt.

 

The worst class design is currently the priest. Not by itself of course, priest are extremely strong. But there are just no good alternative to priests currently. It's less about healing than buff and immunity against affliction.

 

Add more party buff to other class and pb will be fixed. Still ok for PoE1 by the way.

 

 

Agree that there are no good alternatives to priest. Crowns and Devotions for the Faithful are absurd and I'd probably still take a class that could only use those two buffs every fight.

 

Chants and Invocations take more time and are far less powerful than Priest buffs and damage. The only thing going for them is that they're per encounter, which just isn't enough.

 

I don't really care for the "well it's easy and per encounter, so it can't be strong" kind of design - especially since they're inconsistent with it anyway(Cipher...). Tedium reduction shouldn't be the reason I take a class.

 

 

I also think there's too much combat in the game to build a party around being durable and slow, plus usually the presence of particularly high damage enemies amongst a bunch of mooks favors being able to burst priority targets down.

 

Maybe I'm just impatient. /shrug. I want to like the Chanter class but just can't find a place for it. The bug where chants randomly stop automatically repeating in combat is also extremely annoying.

[Elric Galad]

2 chanters are the backbone of my current party. I can certify that are not inferior to priest.

 

It is well known how well chanters can turn into tanks. That's how I use them.

 

Dragon Trashed deals incredible damages. Really. High level chanters specced for it are among the top damage dealers. At high level, they will be able to cast a very powerful Friendly AoE spell every 4s. It is also incredibly convenient and easy to use. The fact that graze lasts almost as much as hit due to chant mechanics also makes it incredibly reliable.

 

Chants, in general, are great for action economy. You can cast fireballs from scrolls or items WHILE chanting your Dragon AoE. I doubt anything can match this.

 

So they're at the same time my main tanks and main damages dealers while having a lot of other tricks in their bag.

 

However, my party has a priest. And I know I can't replace her.

 

Basically, chanters have their own place, it is just that they are not able to properly replace a priest.

[Gender Nihilist]

Wow, thanks everybody, I'm really digging this in-depth analysis of class roles filtered via Chanter discussion, it's really helpful information!

[TWPE]

Chants, in general, are great for action economy. You can cast fireballs from scrolls or items WHILE chanting your Dragon AoE. I doubt anything can match this.

 

 

I may not be an expert on this game like some of you guys (just started playing it this month), but I agree with this. This is exactly how I utilize my chanter on PotD. They are perfect for utilizing spellbinds and scrolls without interfering with their role(s) at all. You want more micro on your chanter? Give them some spellbind items or lore and now you have a caster who is also a tank/damage dealer/healer/utility-support. They are only as boring as you make them.

 

I agree that they can't replace Priest buffs though (the further I get into PotD the more overpowered my priest seems to get).

[Loren Tyr]

Though I'm not a heavy chanter-user myself so far, I must say that I really like their design. The way I see it they are like what the D&D Bard class always should have been. I mean talk about passive, those dudes were generally just standing there playing the same damn song over and over and over and over... *yawn*. With a smattering of generic wizard spells thrown in, it's true, but still. Whereas chanters have their own unique 'spells', a customizable song selection, and the ability to multi-task. 

 

Would be nice if multiple chanters could harmonize and boost each other's chants though... (though admittedly, multi-chanter parties probably don't really need the help).

[Odd Hermit]

Though I'm not a heavy chanter-user myself so far, I must say that I really like their design. The way I see it they are like what the D&D Bard class always should have been. I mean talk about passive, those dudes were generally just standing there playing the same damn song over and over and over and over... *yawn*. With a smattering of generic wizard spells thrown in, it's true, but still. Whereas chanters have their own unique 'spells', a customizable song selection, and the ability to multi-task. 

 

Would be nice if multiple chanters could harmonize and boost each other's chants though... (though admittedly, multi-chanter parties probably don't really need the help).

 

 

DnD bard wasn't that passive really, depending on ruleset. Some of their spells were unique to the class and quite good. They were generally more active than Chanters. Also, many Chanter builds are pretty much chanting the same thing over and over and over as well.

 

NWN1/2 Bard builds > Chanters IMO. 

 

Granted they had the advantage of advanced multiclassing options and the admittedly hilariously overpowered RDD prestige class.

 

Also, sonic damage. You can't literally shout people to death in PoE, 0/10.

 

 

 

 

Chants, in general, are great for action economy. You can cast fireballs from scrolls or items WHILE chanting your Dragon AoE. I doubt anything can match this.

 

 

I may not be an expert on this game like some of you guys (just started playing it this month), but I agree with this. This is exactly how I utilize my chanter on PotD. They are perfect for utilizing spellbinds and scrolls without interfering with their role(s) at all. You want more micro on your chanter? Give them some spellbind items or lore and now you have a caster who is also a tank/damage dealer/healer/utility-support. They are only as boring as you make them.

 

I agree that they can't replace Priest buffs though (the further I get into PotD the more overpowered my priest seems to get).

 

 

 

Paladin matches this(Scion of Flame + Sacred Immolation) while actually buffing their group arguably more substantially and having higher health and defenses as well as being able to use the Outworn Buckler the whole game for +5 Defense Aura. They have 2-3 strong heals per encounter, can suppress debuffs quickly, and make fine scroll users as well.

 

A Darcozzi Paladin can give, say, a Tall Grass Barbarian behind them a whopping +26 accuracy.

 

 

The only downside is, yes, Sacred Immolation comes annoyingly 4 levels later than Chanter's Dragon Thrashed.

[Loren Tyr]

 

DnD bard wasn't that passive really, depending on ruleset. Some of their spells were unique to the class and quite good. They were generally more active than Chanters. Also, many Chanter builds are pretty much chanting the same thing over and over and over as well.

 

NWN1/2 Bard builds > Chanters IMO. 

 

Granted they had the advantage of advanced multiclassing options and the admittedly hilariously overpowered RDD prestige class.

 

Also, sonic damage. You can't literally shout people to death in PoE, 0/10.

 

 

I must admit I never played NWN, so they well may have been much more interesting there. I'm going mostly off of the old IE games, where they were rather *meh*. Though IWD2 already considerably improved them (with the inclusion of Lingering Song by itself already helped a great deal). 

[mindswayer]

Favorite

- Sound design was pretty good

- Story was good

- Edér and Durance

 

Least Favorite

- No unique loot

- Engine

- Long ass loading times every time you touch a door

- Forced Torment-moment had no impact and comes out of nowhere

- No one reacts to your actions in the world; your character's background doesn't even matter at all

- Pallegina

 

Bonus least favorite: After one year I still have no idea if "Healing" under Might means received healing or healing done.

Edited May 29, 2016 by mindswayer

[cheesyc@gmail.com]

Least favorite thing:

 

Stronghold is under attack.  

 

"Let's start the battle by taking Korgrak, your irreplaceable giant follower and throw him in the middle of six enemies.  We'll give him like 30% health at the very start of the fight.  Yes, all six mobs are already aggroed on him.  No, you can't heal him!  Good luck with that."  

[TWPE]

Paladin matches this(Scion of Flame + Sacred Immolation) while actually buffing their group arguably more substantially and having higher health and defenses as well as being able to use the Outworn Buckler the whole game for +5 Defense Aura. They have 2-3 strong heals per encounter, can suppress debuffs quickly, and make fine scroll users as well.

 

 

A Darcozzi Paladin can give, say, a Tall Grass Barbarian behind them a whopping +26 accuracy.

 

 

The only downside is, yes, Sacred Immolation comes annoyingly 4 levels later than Chanter's Dragon Thrashed.

 

 

 

I run both a Paladin and a Chanter in my group.  Funnily enough, they are both my main lore users. So, I can't really disagree with you much here.

 

But, to be fair, Dragon Thrashed stacks with itself to produce higher over-all DPS as long as you use no other chants... AND it can be maintained for the entire fight (not to mention it can still be somewhat effective against burn immune enemies).

 

Fair point with the accuracy buffs (accuracy buffs are amazing). But chanter can fulfill different roles in the party by providing disables (wide range paralyze) or crowd control via summons during longer fights.

 

Paladins can use scrolls simultaneously while DPS'ing, healing, and tanking too (though the former two roles need SI to be up... otherwise you have to choose between scrolls/spellbinds and using abilities like Lay on Hands). Fair enough. But that doesn't really negate what I said about Chanters being ideal scroll/spellbind users at all (or about them being only as passive/boring as you make them). It's not like Paladins render them obsolete in that field, and Paladins' efficiency as scroll users begins to dwindle when SI is no longer available.

Edited May 29, 2016 by TWPE

[Elric Galad]

Totally agree. Both paladins and chanters excel in this role.

 

But a chanter dedicated to dragon slashed will out-DPS paladin by far (and pretty much anyone else).

 

Chanter wins for DPS, summons, CC and versatility.

 

Paladin wins for sturdiness, martial power (not by far, both are mediocre), and healing capability.

[Kriber22]

Least favourite part: The bugs.

 

Favourite parts: Everything else.

 

I love this game with a passion, I've spent more time on this than anything else in my Steam library. It's just that the constant, never-ending stream of new bugs is killing me. Every patch fixes three bugs while introducing two new ones, and I'm terrified that Obsidian is going to just say, "OK, enough, we're done supporting this" while it's still chock full of terrible fun-murdering bugs (shield defence bonus stacking on load comes to mind).

[TWPE]

Err yeah on topic (there's a thought).

 

Favorite thing: Party building (Yeah yeah that's not exclusive to just this game, but whatever).

 

Least favorite things: Bugs, graphical clipping issues (grimoires in my game were always buried in the wizards chest like they had been surgically implanted there for some reason), ... ... ...

 

...Oh, and PATHFINDING.... GRGHGBLARGL path? finding? what path?

 

 

But, yeah... As far as buffs go... Lost my first ten hours because all 15 of my saves becoming corrupted before I ever tried to reload once and therefore I didn't discover it in time (my second attempt at a first play-through had me paranoid to the point that I would save a new save, quit the game to desktop, then start up the game again every couple maps). That bug alone would have stopped me from continuing the game, if I wasn't confident I could do everything I did during those 10 hours, in less than 1 hour the second time around.

Edited May 29, 2016 by TWPE