Itching for NG. Updates to refresh my knowledge

[mosspit]

Hey all, glad to see the usual veterans are still active. PoE is one of those games that I keep wanting to play again so here goes.

 

Just need some info download as I am up-to-date with the latest state of the game.

- For rangers, what are the skills/modals that work with guns? Going for powder burns as I have never tried this before

- I wanna try either a barb or a monk who kills via retaliation mechanics (Flame potion, item retaliation etc). So is barbaric retaliation effective? (Consider it is gotten pretty late)

- One Stands Alone synergy with retaliation mechanics? 

- Are soulbound weapons still benefiting from Weapon Focus Talents in a universal way?

Edited August 25, 2017 by mosspit

[Boeroer]

Ranger:

 

Talents/abilites/items for ranger using Powder Burns:

 

- Weapon Focus Ruffian (pistol/blunderbuss) or Soldier (arbalest)

- Marksman

- Penetrating Shot when using blunderbuss

- Burning Lash

- Gunner (and a lot of DEX when using a reloading approach) or Arms Bearer + Quick Switch (when using a switching approach)

- Scion of Flame

- Powder Burns (no Switft Aim, no Vicious Aim - those don't work with Powder Burns)

- The Crossed Patch (gives you immunity to blind - Powder Burns will blind you)

 

Arquebus has a long, narrow cone, blunderbuss has a wide, short cone and pistols are in between.

 

 

Monk/barb:

 

Both classes work well with retaliation. I did some solo high-level bounties with a retaliation barb as well as with a ret. monk and both are viable.

 

Barbaric retaliation is nice, it also profits from One Stands Alone and Blooded like the other retaliations (that deal damage) do. This synergizes well with Battle Forged since for that you also would have to be under 50% endurance. So One Stands Alone and Blooded wil give your Battle Forged +50% damage. Also Vengeful Defeat can be seen as a retaliation effect. If you have a paladin, chanter or priest this can work really nicely. Turn off knockout injuries though.

 

The monk has the better retaliation effects though because the lashes from Turning Wheel and also the Blood Testamant Gloves work very well with it - especially Battle Forged. And you can even pimp that burning retaliation further with Scion of Flame. He also has Iron Wheel and Rooting Pain which are nice as well.

 

At higher levels the barb has HoF which is of course no retaliation but beats most other abilites in the game.

Overall I would say that the monk is more fun because he can get good retaliation going a lot earlier in the game.

 

When using Battle Forged it's very benifical to pick Merciless Hand from Doemenel and use Dungeon Delver. At higher levels the base damage is very high and a crit with +90% will be a lot more devastating than a crit with +50%.

 

Great items are:

 

Binding Rope retaliates with stuck (stacks with Sura's Supper Plate, but not with other non-weapon-items that do retaliation like Garodh's Chorus, Vengiatta Rugia or that Lavander Headband). Because enemies will get stuck they will receive retaliation-crits instead of hits which will increase your damage way more than just another weak retalation device that does some whimpy pierce damage.

 

Ring of Searing Flames - Combusting Wounds is very good when you cause a lot of retaliatin hits. THis is especially useful with HoF or Rooting Pain: tons of hits in a short amount of time means a ton of burn DoTs from Combusting Wounds.

 

Ryona's Vambraces - obviously help to do more damage via retaliation - like Vulnerable Attack as well.

 

You could also build a barb for melee retaliation and a monk for ranged retaliation with Alia Braccia and Soul Mirror.

 

 

Soulbound Weapons: yes, like summoned weapons do (like The Long Pain and Firebrand for example). Even the priests' special weapon talent (+10 ACC) works with soulbound/summoned weapons. So for example a Priest of Magran can wield Firebrand or Grey Sleeper like it's a sword (in terms of accuracy).

Flick of the Wrist only works with daggers/stilettos though nowadays (doesn't matter if soulbound or summoned, it has to be dagger or stiletto).

Edited August 25, 2017 by Boeroer

[mosspit]

Thanks Boeroer! As usual, you're a life saver

 

Follow-up questions:

- Can you advise on Stunning Arrows and Driving Flight for guns? I am going to assume Twinned Arrows don't work. If they work, what about the interaction with blunderbuss interaction (6 pellets and all)?

- I remember that somehow Blunderbuss's 6 pellets does 6 separate DoT with Wounding Shots (provided they at least grazed). Is this still the case?

- Any interaction between retaliation effects and Carnage for a barb?

 

Excellent info on Priest's deity special weapon talents. Did not know that

Edited August 25, 2017 by mosspit

[Boeroer]

You are welcome

 

Stunning Shots works with guns and also with Driving Flight (forgot that one in my post above). So you can stun two enemies with one shot. The first target has to be attacked by your companion (that's how Stunning Shot works). I would def. use Driving Flight with guns, not only because of Stunning Shots but because gunshots have enough damage that they also hurt the second target even with the dmg malus Driving Flight has.

 

Twinned Arrows only works with bows (hunting bow and war bow).

 

Blunderbuss will give you 6 attack rolls instead of one, true. With stunning shots this is cool because there's a higher chance of getting a better hit quality with the stun.

Also works well with Envenomed Strike (if you' want to use that).

 

With Wounding Shot you will get 6 parallel wounding DoTs, yes. Also great with a Ring of Searing Flames (Combusting Wouds): 6 hits at once also means 6 burn DoTs. With a Wounding Shot it's 5 burn and 5 raw DoTs at the same time - pretty devastating. But DoT-ticks themselves don't trigger Combusting Wounds anymore.

 

If you also get Silver Flash later on (unique blunderbuss) you will notice that the spell chance is per pellet. Since you have 6 there's a good chance to proc the spell chance with every shot. Also works well with Scion of Flame, that one.

 

Retaliation doesn't have any connection to carnage nowadays. But a nice thing is Binding Rope (stuck retaliation) combined with a prone-on-crit or stun-on-crit weapon + carnage. THe enemies hit you and get stuck, you do a carnage sweep and same enemies will most likely receive a crit which disables them completely. If you also have a rogue it's Deathblow time.

Edited August 25, 2017 by Boeroer

[mosspit]

Thanks!

 

Looks like I should be using a blunderbuss ranger, a weapon which I havent touched since the nerf on blunderbuss Ciphers. And nice info on the separate spell chance, thats pretty crazy!

Edited August 25, 2017 by mosspit

[Kaylon]

Wounding Shot isn't so nice with a blunderbuss because the dot damage is calculated after the DR... Also a blunderbuss with powder burns means you have to be in the front line (powder burns damages also allies). A pistol with high int has a wide enough area at max range and allows to position yourself on a side and avoid hitting your party.

Edited August 25, 2017 by Kaylon

[mosspit]

Very true. It was more for the novelty of using a blunderbuss since my first playthrough. Maybe I can help the situation by using Leadspitter and Penetrating Shot.

 

Oh maybe alternate the use with Arquebus.

[Boeroer]

Penetrating Shot, Ryona's Vambraces and dropping Devil of Caroc into the Blood Pool will give you 13 DR bypass with any blunderbuss - 16 with Lead Spitter. If you have a Wizard then be sure to cast Expose Vulnerabilites - this is also great for the retaliation guys. Makes 18 DR bypass (21 with Lead Spitter). With this setup Wounding Shot wil deal the highest damage possible against enemies who have low to mid DR. Also the synergy between Combusting Wounds and blunderbuss is really nice as I said.

 

But it's true that the cone of blunderbuss is so short (but wide) that you'd have to flank and be really near the enemies.

 

I personally like the cone of arquebus the best. I will shoot 4 times with Quick Switch+Coil of Ressourcefulnes and Powder Burns while the enemies are approaching and then retreat behind the front line.

 

But Silver Flash is so nice...

 

If you want to use blunderbusses, but not with a ranger- do an Island Aumaua Wizard with Quick Switch, Arms Bearer, Runner's Wounding Shot and Envenomed Strike, using blunderbusses and all the DR bypass stuff I mentioned above, casting Expose Vuln. and Combusting Wounds and also the Missile Spells (basically anything that likes DR bypass and deals a lot of hits at once - Wall of Flames is also nice in this case).

It's a great single target destroyer and fun to play, too. 

Edited August 25, 2017 by Boeroer

[mosspit]

But no powder burns then

 

I am fine with the need with positioning. In all honesty, this playthough isn't very optimal. It is more trying out some of the builds and skills I havent used in my previous playthroughs At least 3 of the characters are using such builds.

[Boeroer]

I meant a blunderbuss wizard and a powder burns ranger with an arquebus.

[mosspit]

Ah I see

 

Well I am not too inclined to use a Wizard. I know that it is a very strong and effective class, I just find it boring to play.

 

In any case, I already started my playthrough and heading to Anslog Compass at lvl3. Thanks to all!

Edited August 26, 2017 by mosspit