Is it me or caster severely underpowered?

[Archaven]

Maybe it's just me but caster miss all the time (even with buffs). On the other hand Fighter (Eder) seems doing pretty well. Also.. creature respawn now?

Edited May 12, 2018 by Archaven

[JerekKruger]

I might be wrong, but I don't think spells have the ability to graze by default. The upgraded version of the Chanter Invocation "The Thunder Rolled Likes Waves on Black Seas" says it gives bonus Accuracy and the ability to Graze. This would go quite a long way to explaining why spell casters feel like they miss a lot more than melee classes.

 

Also in PoE spells received a hidden +1 Accuracy per level. I don't know if they still do in Deadfire, but if they don't this might also explain why they feel less Accurate than before.

[Witness41920]

Playing spellcasters in PoE2 is largely about targeting the right defenses of the enemy (targeting their weakest defenses and/or debuffing them with physical characters first) and making sure you have a decent accuracy rating on them. 

 

I apologize if this sounds like I'm telling you things you already know, I'm merely throwing it out there just in case. 

 

I find a few points in Perception and choosing my spells to suit my targets helps a lot. 

[Teacher]

I find a few points in Perception and choosing my spells to suit my targets helps a lot. 

 

I agree with this bit especially. Casting Dire Blessing on party first thing in combat helps quite a bit with accuracy.

[Boeroer]

Abilities no longer get +1 ACC per char level (or PL).

 

Also spells don't have bonus ACC like they had in PoE. At least not by default.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Boeroer

[Physh]

My wizard is an unstoppable monster that invalidates most encounters (and I love it).

 

Casters are only weak early on. Once you can cast two level four spells per encounter, they one-shot entire packs of mobs with a 'Pull of Eora' followed by an empowered 'Minoletta's Concussive Missiles'. Once you get to tier 7-9 spells, you can stealth up and one-shot entire encounters before combat begins. This is on veteran using the companion caster (who has very little might), but the overkill is so much that I'm pretty sure it would bleed over into PotD.

[Archaven]

Abilities no longer get +1 ACC per char level (or PL).

 

Also spells don't have bonus ACC like they had in PoE. At least not by default.

 

That probably explains why and i play on POTD with 10 PER . Seems a little punishing for abit of min/maxing in Deadfire. Oh and i dump RES too.

[JerekKruger]

Also spells don't have bonus ACC like they had in PoE. At least not by default.

 

I think the idea behind those was to make up for casters low base Accuracy, so that they'd be bad at using weapons but still able to hit with their spells. With everyone having the same base Accuracy in Deadfire in theory they aren't needed anymore.

 

However very often those bonuses more than made up for the caster's low base Accuracy so it definitely feels like a minor nerf.

 

The loss of the +1 Accuracy per level is a bigger deal. I think that was supposed to make up for casters losing out on weapon enchantment bonuses and Weapon Focus. The latter is gone from the game, but the former is still in. Admittedly +20 Accuracy at level 20 would be more than even a Legendary weapon gets (though not by much) but perhaps a bonus tied to Power Level instead would work.

[Sceptenar]

Casters are definitely not underpowered. Aloth currently leads my party in most enemies defeated, most damage done, highest single target damage, most crits and most hits.

[Wormerine]

Playing on Veteran (so easier targets to hit) and Aloth out DPSed my entire team without much effort. A well placed AOE or empower single target spell can be devastating, as long as you can get past defence/armor.

[master guardian]

try pull of eora, web then empowered fireballs

 

it works well

[Inflammatory]

Get somebody on the frontlines with club, flail, or morning star proficiency so they can debuff defenses. -25 to the defense of your choice is nothing to sneeze at.