Does the in-game damage record count auras, DoTs, etc.?

[Lampros]

Oh, MaxQuest, could you also please post a video of how to do the exploding Constructs in Galvino's Workshop? That is the other fight I've been postponing. It was one of the few fights that gave me trouble in Normal; and I cannot imagine what they'd be like in PotD!

[Boeroer]

Run towards them, hit them or wait until they start with their detonating process and then run away quickly. Preferably with Boots of Speed. They will explode after a while once they start making that "Ohhhh - I will explode soon!" noise. and you will be far away. Alternatively cause prone or other hard CC.

[Lampros]

Run towards them, hit them or wait until they start with their detonating process and then run away quickly. Preferably with Boots of Speed. They will explode after a while once they start making that "Ohhhh - I will explode soon!" noise. and you will be far away. Alternatively cause prone or other hard CC.

 

Since I know that my Fighter can achieve 70 percent crit rate even on PotD, maybe I should give him Tall Grass. I am swearing off Slicken to practice for TC

[MaxQuest]

1. The most striking thing I noticed was that you did not use consumables or summons - at least in the videos I saw. Given that they are the only thing that is keeping me afloat in my first PotD run, I was curious: Do you not use them at all - or was it simply a matter of these being easy fights that did not require them? In particular, I am quaffing so many Vital Essence potion and using 3-4 summon trinkets every hard fight. (In fact, I am afraid I will soon be stuck, since I can progressively see these being less impactful - Vital Essence potion is healing far less percentage of my Endurance/Health per damage taken as I level; and nothing but Adra Beetle is surviving all that long once you hit harder mobs in WM, I notice.)

Regarding consumables: I do use food, potions and scrolls during boss fights. I also occasionally throw some non tier-1 mig/con food and sugar on my characters (esp. chanter and ciphers) when I just happened to open the inventory.

 

Regarding figurines: I do have 4 or 5 of them in the quick items spread among the party members. I use them when I need someone to sponge a bit of damage, and especially if they can eat a hard cc. But quite often enemies are somewhat grouped-up so I can cover all of them with aoe cc, and continue chain-disabling them. In these cases figurines feel like an overkill. But yes, that was a good call, as I probably should summon few weak ones during the spores fight as they could take few dominates instead of actual characters.

 

2. May I ask why the Gyrd is on the Priest? I would imagine it would work better for the Wizard? Or are you planning on giving the Golden Gaze to the Wizard? In my case, the Priest has very little opportunity to auto-attack, as she is constantly casting.

I like the Gyrd's spellholding effect on priest. Couple it with the Raiment of Wael Eyes, and you get Llengrath's Displaced Image + Mirrored Image on priest every time he draws attention.

 

Yes, I do miss the Gref's Authority stun which I would get if Gyrd would go to wizard, but I have enough cc so can live with that. Also I indeed gave Golden Gaze to wizard. Plus was thinking about using Minor Blights wand in longer battles.

 

Btw, even on priest, Gyrd dominates enemies often enough (~1 in every 2nd fight). On wizard it would probably trigger twice per fight due to blast. And I have not yet settled my mind on if I want to unexpectedly dominate on random. Because they would no longer take damage from my AoEs.

 

3. I could be blind, but I thought I saw someone "chant Dragon Roar." What in the world is that? I could not even find it in Wikia. Is that a custom talent or ability?

You can give names to your chanting sequences

Dragon Roar is the name for my: Blessed Was Wengridh -> Dragon Trashed x8

 

Why do I start with Blessed? Because when combat starts, chanter is still far from the enemies, and DT would not catch them all, so I've just added a rank 1 chant.

 

---

Pre-level 9:

 

Paladin MC (1st line/main tank) (Shame & Glory/Outworn Buckler): 22,511

Fighter (1st line/off-tank) (Shatterstar & Sura's Supper Plate): 32,561

Chanter (2nd line/DPS) (Tall Grass) 28,143

Rogue (3rd line/DPS/CC?) (Borresaine) 34,978

Wizard (3rd line/DPS/CC) (Gyrd) 33, 320

Priest (3rd line/buff/DPS) (Grudge Keeper) 15,983

 

Pre-level 10:

 

Paladin (1st line/DPS) (Tidefall): 33,485

Fighter (1st line/DPS) (Shatterstar/Hearth Harvest): 43,631

Chanter (2nd line/DPS) (Tall Grass) 56,880

Rogue (3rd line/DPS/CC?) (Borresaine) 41,581

Wizard (3rd line/DPS/CC) (Gyrd)  42,291

Priest (3rd line/buff/DPS) (Grudge Keeper) 19,915

The ranged rogue's damage contribution is even worse than I thought.

With Sneak Attack and +0.25 bonuses on their abilities I would expect him to do at least double damage compared to the chanter on pre-lvl 9.

 

Also I am bit amazed to see the 1h+shield fighter come that close to him.

In a way you could sub the rogue with a 2nd fighter, keep the same dps, but make your party even sturdier.

(Fighter could take that Tall Grass from chanter; while chanter could use Durance Staff).

 

P.S. Another update:

 

Barbarian - with the help of HoF + Dragon Leap has finally exceeded my MC in terms of damage.

And the chanter is just 1 step far from it as well.

 

Also adding the crits/hits stat. Do note though:

- hit: is when a plain hit occurred, it is not the total number of swings/shots.

 

 

 

---

Oh, MaxQuest, could you also please post a video of how to do the exploding Constructs in Galvino's Workshop? That is the other fight I've been postponing. It was one of the few fights that gave me trouble in Normal; and I cannot imagine what they'd be like in PotD!

I didn't make a dedicated save for that area \

But: their Explode ability is an active one. I.e. I was just paralyzing them (via Mental Binding) without the fear for explosion.

 

The main thing that was giving me problems were the local traps. I've accidentally game my mech guy the colonist background instead of the merchant, and was struggling with 10 mechanics vs Galvino's upscaled traps.

Edited September 28, 2017 by MaxQuest

[Lampros]

MaxQuest,

 

As usual, you are a marvel of thoroughness. I don't know how to break up quotes, so I will reply item-by-item without quotes.

 

On consumables and figurines: So it seems like a case where what looks difficult (and impossible without consumables and figurines) are not THAT difficult for you!

 

Incidentally, I am worried that at the higher levels they will no longer be effective, because the content will out-level them. In particular, I have been relying a lot on the Vital Essence Potion and the Adra Beetle figurine. But the Vital Essence Potion keeps healing less and less percentage of my health; and the Adra Beetle is level 8, so he will really be obsolete by WM 2 at the latest. Are there upper tier replacements for these two items?

 

On the Priest equipment: I did not consider the combined effect of the Gyrd and the Wael's Robe. Thanks for suggesting it! I also totally agree that sometimes you do not want random Dominates or Charms on the enemies. In addition to the unintended consequences you out-lined, I have also had problems with them wandering off to the next enemy group and triggering them.

 

Do you ever use 1H/shield mode on the Priest perchance? I am exploring this option to make my Priest sturdier and get them in better position to cast AoE buffs.

 

On "Dragon Roar": That explains it. I knew I was not imagining things!

 

I also thought about opening with a Phrase other than Dragon Thrashed, but my Chanters are usually melee, so it seems to affect enough enemies anyways. I have also never used Wendgridh; I tend to combine Dragon Thrashed with the Phrase that increase Fortitude and Will. Yes, I am paranoid about Spores and Fampyrs, etc.!

 

On the ranged Rogue DPS: I did expect the DPS to be awful, since I had a previous experience with it in Normal. But what stunned be is the 25 percent crit rate. It's stunning to the point where I am wondering if there is a bug involved. (My games have been buggy, with saves frequently being lost, and sometimes there are display bugs with hand slots where the weapon or the shield does not show up graphically, etc.)

 

I may move the front-line Fighter to the Tall Grass and add another Paladin to the front-line (to make 2 Paladin front-line), but I am not sure if I want to add another Fighter, because then I'd have two Fighters. Fighters are nice, but I don't want 2 of a single class unless that class does massive AoE or have tremendous support possibilities (e.g. Chanter or Paladin).

 

On Galvino's Workshop: What level then do you think is "safe" for a newb to tackle the area in PotD? I want to be able to do it at level 10, because I want Durgan stuff relatively soon. But I guess I could just do a bit of Act 3 and come back at level 11-12 (forgot when my Wizard gets Gaze of Adra - or do I have another reliable long-term CC at my disposal?)?

[Boeroer]

Before entering Galvino's workshop, go and get the Redeemer! (left of the hut, top of the map).

[Lampros]

Before entering Galvino's workshop, go and get the Redeemer! (left of the hut, top of the map).

 

Good idea! Why didn't I think of this - and thanks!

[MaxQuest]

Do you ever use 1H/shield mode on the Priest perchance? I am exploring this option to make my Priest sturdier and get them in better position to cast AoE buffs.

Nope. 

My priest is squishy, plus is a moon-godlike built to attract attention over other squishies.

Additionally giving her a shield, would make me disable her AI auto-attacking, and I liked her damage contribution at least in the early game (with Kana's arquebus).

 

But yes, technically it be best  to continue using Raiment of Wael + Gyrd, and switch to 1h+shield when Gyrd has already procc'ed. But I am too lazy, plus there are tons of hard-cc at my disposal anyway.

As for late game I opt to giving her Abydon's Hammer (for that per-encounter AoE stun and the +4 MIG passive).

 

Btw, if you don't want your priest to deal damage, and it's not a moon-godlike, you can take a look at Andrea's "How I buffed the others" build.

Also such a priest could be taken to the extreme, i.e. reduce his damage even further but make him a completely viable offtank. 

I am thinking of something like 5/18/18/3/19/15 coastal aumaua with heavy (!) shield + marking 1h or Forgotten Tear of the Beloved. (and 1h&shield style + other defensive talentes)

And if you think there is still not enough health: Wound Binding + 25% healing item + 60% healing from survival will fix that. Now add there Minor Avatar and Aggrandizing Radiance for the extra +0.3 coefficient to restored health/endurance and you get a character who can restore 80+% of his health once per rest.

 

On Galvino's Workshop: What level then do you think is "safe" for a newb to tackle the area in PotD? I want to be able to do it at level 10, because I want Durgan stuff relatively soon. But I guess I could just do a bit of Act 3 and come back at level 11-12 (forgot when my Wizard gets Gaze of Adra - or do I have another reliable long-term CC at my disposal?)?

If you upscale the WM1, then you might want to wait till level 11 for the GW.

And buff your mechanics, via gloves or scrolls.

I like running in fast mode, and half of my knockdowns happened in that area)

Edited September 29, 2017 by MaxQuest

[Lampros]

MaxQuest,

 

Yes, Boerer already referred me to AndreaColombo's build in terms of trying to create a tankier, "sword& board" Priest. But the problem is that what I really need is a "hybrid" combination of that and your Fire Priest. While I am drawn by the greater staying power provided by AndreaColombo's build, I also need some nuke contribution from the Priest, because I have 4 melees, and hence I am a bit starved for ranged DPS. In that context, what compromise Attribute distribution would you look for?

 

On Galvino's Workshop, I guess I will hit some Od Nua then. Between 10 and 11 is a bit awkward, difficult stage for me, because to level traditionally I have to either go through Cliaban Rilag and those dreaded Spore formations and get to Act 3 - or go through Galvino's Workshop and progress through the Durgan's line. And both happen to be my most dreaded areas in the game

Edited September 29, 2017 by Lampros

[Torm51]

I just crush the bounties before the WM.  So I always start it at level 11. 

[Lampros]

I just crush the bounties before the WM.  So I always start it at level 11. 

 

Hmm, I thought the PotD Bounties are really hard? I was intentionally avoiding them, too. Or do people mean just WM 2 Bounties are hard in PotD? I accidentally "ran" into a Durgan's Battery Bounty, and it was super-easy.

[Torm51]

The bounties in the Dyrwood can be done at 9 and if you are really good 6 or 7.  They are not SUPER easy but it isn't hard as long as you don't make bad mistakes.  The WM1 ones are tougher but still can be done as you have seen.  I like playing with full builds in the game so I try to hit max level as soon as I can.

Edited September 29, 2017 by Torm51

[Lampros]

The bounties in the Dyrwood can be done at 9 and if you are really good 6 or 7.  They are not SUPER easy but it isn't hard as long as you don't make bad mistakes.  The WM1 ones are tougher but still can be done as you have seen.  I like playing with full builds in the game so I try to hit max level as soon as I can.

 

Ah, ok. I guess I was letting good XP go to waste. I was playing super-cautious, because I want to practice for TC (hence, no friendly-fire possible AoEs either...)!

[Torm51]

Nothing wrong with that.  I am just giving my experiences and yes I play less cautiously cause I have done a lot of playthroughs.  But I say if you aren't playing TC and are ok with deaths this time around then practice them now.  There is nothing wrong with Meta Knowledge for a TC run.  The AI cheats so knowing whats coming is good

 

PS

 

Speaking of meta knowledge I am undefeated in first time fights on Iron man runs.  I never lost to the Sky (really easy anyway) , Adra, Apline, Conelhaut, and Llengrath on my first times.  And I purposefully did not look up the fights.  That being SAID I have lost to them on play throughs after that knowing what is coming. odd? lol

 

Edited September 29, 2017 by Torm51

[Lampros]

Nothing wrong with that.  I am just giving my experiences and yes I play less cautiously cause I have done a lot of playthroughs.  But I say if you aren't playing TC and are ok with deaths this time around then practice them now.  There is nothing wrong with Meta Knowledge for a TC run.  The AI cheats so knowing whats coming is good

 

PS

 

Speaking of meta knowledge I am undefeated in first time fights on Iron man runs.  I never lost to the Sky (really easy anyway) , Adra, Apline, Conelhaut, and Llengrath on my first times.  And I purposefully did not look up the fights.  That being SAID I have lost to them on play throughs after that knowing what is coming. odd? lol

 

Yeah, I don't think I will wait too long to fight the Sky Dragon. He seems quite a bit weaker than the other bosses; and I really want Superb weapons fast! I've not done the major non-Dragon bosses even on Normal. So I will definitely do them very late...

[MaxQuest]

Yes, Boerer already referred me to AndreaColombo's build in terms of trying to create a tankier, "sword& board" Priest. But the problem is that what I really need is a "hybrid" combination of that and your Fire Priest. While I am drawn by the greater staying power provided by AndreaColombo's build, I also need some nuke contribution from the Priest, because I have 4 melees, and hence I am a bit starved for ranged DPS. In that context, what compromise Attribute distribution would you look for?

Hmm, personally I like specialization. 

I mean if you want to deal damage, you need high MIG and decent PER. PER is also important if you want to land Painful Interdiction.

At the same time every time you cast a buff, points invested in this attributes are wasted... 

 

A somewhat compromise could be a 12/10/17/10/19/10 pale elf or 15/10/17/7/19/10 boreal dwarf.

 

On Galvino's Workshop, I guess I will hit some Od Nua then. Between 10 and 11 is a bit awkward, difficult stage for me, because to level traditionally I have to either go through Cliaban Rilag and those dreaded Spore formations and get to Act 3 - or go through Galvino's Workshop and progress through the Durgan's line. And both happen to be my most dreaded areas in the game

I think finishing act 2 will be easier. Doing that plus a few bounties will net you 1-2 levels.

As for Durgan's line... those upscaled Battery Sirens are annoying...

[Torm51]

 

Yes, Boerer already referred me to AndreaColombo's build in terms of trying to create a tankier, "sword& board" Priest. But the problem is that what I really need is a "hybrid" combination of that and your Fire Priest. While I am drawn by the greater staying power provided by AndreaColombo's build, I also need some nuke contribution from the Priest, because I have 4 melees, and hence I am a bit starved for ranged DPS. In that context, what compromise Attribute distribution would you look for?

Hmm, personally I like specialization.

I mean if you want to deal damage, you need high MIG and decent PER. PER is also important if you want to land Painful Interdiction.

At the same time every time you cast a buff, points invested in this attributes are wasted...

 

A somewhat compromise could be a 12/10/17/10/19/10 pale elf or 15/10/17/7/19/10 boreal dwarf.

 

On Galvino's Workshop, I guess I will hit some Od Nua then. Between 10 and 11 is a bit awkward, difficult stage for me, because to level traditionally I have to either go through Cliaban Rilag and those dreaded Spore formations and get to Act 3 - or go through Galvino's Workshop and progress through the Durgan's line. And both happen to be my most dreaded areas in the game

I think finishing act 2 will be easier. Doing that plus a few bounties will net you 1-2 levels.

As for Durgan's line... those upscaled Battery Sirens are annoying...

Unless you have a good shooter or two. He's got a paladin with FoD and Sworn Enemy with an Arbalest will put a hurting on them and you don't need high PER. Sworn Enemy ACC bonus + FoD 20 ACC and its inherent +1 every level is more than enough for an Alpha Strike Paladin with 10 PER.  If he/she is a Wood Elf its even better as at anything past 4m you essentially have 5 PER.

Edited September 29, 2017 by Torm51

[Lampros]

 

Yes, Boerer already referred me to AndreaColombo's build in terms of trying to create a tankier, "sword& board" Priest. But the problem is that what I really need is a "hybrid" combination of that and your Fire Priest. While I am drawn by the greater staying power provided by AndreaColombo's build, I also need some nuke contribution from the Priest, because I have 4 melees, and hence I am a bit starved for ranged DPS. In that context, what compromise Attribute distribution would you look for?

Hmm, personally I like specialization. 

I mean if you want to deal damage, you need high MIG and decent PER. PER is also important if you want to land Painful Interdiction.

At the same time every time you cast a buff, points invested in this attributes are wasted... 

 

A somewhat compromise could be a 12/10/17/10/19/10 pale elf or 15/10/17/7/19/10 boreal dwarf.

 

On Galvino's Workshop, I guess I will hit some Od Nua then. Between 10 and 11 is a bit awkward, difficult stage for me, because to level traditionally I have to either go through Cliaban Rilag and those dreaded Spore formations and get to Act 3 - or go through Galvino's Workshop and progress through the Durgan's line. And both happen to be my most dreaded areas in the game

I think finishing act 2 will be easier. Doing that plus a few bounties will net you 1-2 levels.

As for Durgan's line... those upscaled Battery Sirens are annoying...

 

 

Got it. So max Intelligence and Perception but go easier on boosting Might. Damn, I am so bad at designing casters; I see them as tools to make melees shine!

 

As for Battery Sirens, I do not even remember them on easier modes. The only ones that really troubled me were the Spores and the exploding Constructs in non-PotD. But I will definitely look out for them.

[Lampros]

 

 

Yes, Boerer already referred me to AndreaColombo's build in terms of trying to create a tankier, "sword& board" Priest. But the problem is that what I really need is a "hybrid" combination of that and your Fire Priest. While I am drawn by the greater staying power provided by AndreaColombo's build, I also need some nuke contribution from the Priest, because I have 4 melees, and hence I am a bit starved for ranged DPS. In that context, what compromise Attribute distribution would you look for?

Hmm, personally I like specialization.

I mean if you want to deal damage, you need high MIG and decent PER. PER is also important if you want to land Painful Interdiction.

At the same time every time you cast a buff, points invested in this attributes are wasted...

 

A somewhat compromise could be a 12/10/17/10/19/10 pale elf or 15/10/17/7/19/10 boreal dwarf.

 

On Galvino's Workshop, I guess I will hit some Od Nua then. Between 10 and 11 is a bit awkward, difficult stage for me, because to level traditionally I have to either go through Cliaban Rilag and those dreaded Spore formations and get to Act 3 - or go through Galvino's Workshop and progress through the Durgan's line. And both happen to be my most dreaded areas in the game

I think finishing act 2 will be easier. Doing that plus a few bounties will net you 1-2 levels.

As for Durgan's line... those upscaled Battery Sirens are annoying...

Unless you have a good shooter or two. He's got a paladin with FoD and Sworn Enemy with an Arbalest will put a hurting on them and you don't need high PER. Sworn Enemy ACC bonus + FoD 20 ACC and its inherent +1 every level is more than enough for an Alpha Strike Paladin with 10 PER.  If he/she is a Wood Elf its even better as at anything past 4m you essentially have 5 PER.

 

 

I was not considering doing a gun switch Paladin, but now I am indeed considering, given that 1) I am running two Paladins and thus specialize them more; and 2) I am running four melees, and I have a serious ranged DPS shortage.

[MaxQuest]

Got it. So max Intelligence and Perception but go easier on boosting Might. Damn, I am so bad at designing casters; I see them as tools to make melees shine!

The idea was to increase INT and DEX (not PER) - for better and faster buff delivery.

PER - is mostly needed for Painful Interdiction, or occasional Shining Beacons - in the fights were you didn't buff your party accuracy.

 

As for Battery Sirens, I do not even remember them on easier modes. The only ones that really troubled me were the Spores and the exploding Constructs in non-PotD. But I will definitely look out for them.

On PotD enemies spawn in greater numbers/quality. You will sure have some fun when meeting 3 Sirens at once in the Battery

[Lampros]

 

Got it. So max Intelligence and Perception but go easier on boosting Might. Damn, I am so bad at designing casters; I see them as tools to make melees shine!

The idea was to increase INT and DEX (not PER) - for better and faster buff delivery.

PER - is mostly needed for Painful Interdiction, or occasional Shining Beacons - in the fights were you didn't buff your party accuracy.

 

As for Battery Sirens, I do not even remember them on easier modes. The only ones that really troubled me were the Spores and the exploding Constructs in non-PotD. But I will definitely look out for them.

On PotD enemies spawn in greater numbers/quality. You will sure have some fun when meeting 3 Sirens at once in the Battery

 

 

All right; I am going to finish Act 3 before I go, LOL!

[Lampros]

MaxQuest,

 

Does your mod record the pet DPS when computing Ranger DPS or just the Ranger's contribution?

[MaxQuest]

Nope. Neither my mod, nor the original code, do check for animal companion's damage.

I had a hope to somehow add it as a separate entry... but tbh don't see how I can do it.

 

P.S. But yes, I could try adding ranger's pet dmg output to ranger's total damage.

[Boeroer]

You could? But you can't see how? Hehe :D

[MaxQuest]

 

- I want, but don't know how to make pet's damage get display'ed as separate entry on ranger's character sheet.

- I know (like 90% sure) how to add pet's damage to ranger's damage (so you will see their combined damage, but won't be able to tell their separate contribution)

Edited October 2, 2017 by MaxQuest