Boeroer

Exactly

I mean if you generally want to limit resting as much as possible it's only logical to use Wound Binding + Mercy and Kindness. By the way: Infuse with Vital Essence + Mercy and Kindness ist nice for a Wizard who doesn't need wound binding or field triage then. Also works with the potion.

Oh yes, you are right! It's only in Deadfire that Mith Fyr doesn't apply to direct spell damage anymore. Sorry, it's been a long time since I played PoE1. I even found an old post of mine that explains that it works with direct spell damage. I most often preferred Dragon Thrashed though. With a good build you can put 3 instances on enemies - and the DoT does stack. It's just nice that you can deal "passive" damage while there's buffing/casting/running around or even while party members (maybe you most potent damage dealer) might be disabled. Just a pretty big source of damage from a character who otherwise wouldn't deal much damage himself. Mith Fyr is great if you do alpha strikes and high per-hit damage numbers in general. The 25% fire lash has to overcome 1/4 of enemies' burn DR - and unfortunately lashes get no MIN damage if they cannot penetrate. So with a "death by a 1000 cuts" approach (Minor Blights+Blast, Chillfog...) and also DoTs like Combusting Wounds, Plague of Insects and so on it's not that great. Maybe that's why I often pass on it: I like to do all that stuff. With direct damage attacks that hit hard it's indeed very good. It's even better if you have some party members who picked Scion of Flame. They usually can do fire damage by spell/ability/weapon - and that gets boosted by 20%. Add the burning lash which gets boosted from 25% to 30% and uses the 20% higher fire damage as base - very nice! Where Mith Fyr is def. better: if you have a low ACC and/or low MIG Chanter. While that won't influence Mith Fyr at all it transforms the Dragon Thrashed into the Dragon's Trash a bit (although the +12 ACC quirk can help). I wouldn't bother with it then and pick a nice support chant setup (like Mith Fyr + Sure-Handed Ila and later Mercy and Kindness or so). But the cool thing is: with enough INT you can put out Mith Fyr and Dragon Thrashed with complete overlap. And with higher Brisk Recitation scaling you can even have 2 stacks of Dragon Thrashed on the enemy and still use Mith Fyr without a gap. The party's Animal Companion with Predator's Sense sure would love that: unlocking with the fire/slash DoT AND gaining +25% burn damage for the bites:

Yeah it depends on your party composition. Mith Fyr is great when you have a lot of weapon damage in the party. It isn't very useful for a caster-heavy group. Dragon Thrashed works no matter the party composition. A high-INT Chancer can also do like 2 stacks of Dragon Thrashed + 1 Mith Fyr if I remember correctly - at least with the full Brisk Recitation bonus. There's also a little quirk with offensive chants like Dragon Thrashed: those gain +12 ACC when you use a single one handed weapon in the main hand. And another cool thing is that you can withdraw a Chanter - but his chants will still work. They also keep adding phrases to your counter. When using Dragon Thrashed It's like having an undestructible AoE damage totem in the middle of the battlefield. Very nice trick for blocking chokepoints, too. That's part of the triangle (Priest+Cipher+Chanter) I talked about before: the Chanter picks a shield with Preservation (+50 to all defenses when prone or stunned) and an armor with Preservation. Since both stack (bc. shield/weapon enchantments stack with everything) the Chanter will get +100 to all defenses if he gets stunned or prone. Withdraw counts as a stun. Cipher casts Defensive Mindweb Priest withdraws the Chanter which triggers Preservation twice Chanter can still sing the Dragon Thrashed (so he's not standing around useless while withdrawn) while he is untouchable Chanter gains +100 to all defenses from 2*Preservation - which he shares with the whole party bc. of Def. Mindweb I mean you can also do that with any other class instead of Chanter - but it's the only class that can do something cool while withdrawn. I'm curious what you'll say. I liked the combo of Brutal Takedown with the other dmg abilites for the AC. But picking several abilities/talents for the AC naturally leads to a shortage of points for the Ranger - but I think that a ranged Ranger doesn't really need that many abilities/talents in the first place. I wouldn't pick Marked Prey for example. The Persistence bow is on lvl 4 of the Endless Paths iirc. I would try to get that for Sagani asap. It's the best overall single target ranged weapon in the game because of the wounding enchantment and it automatically unlocks Predator's Sense which is very convenient.

Maybe not. It may be that it's just the way they play that puts me off. Cipher may be my least favorite class for a main character in PoE - despite its many unique dialoge options and depite Mind Control which I usually see as one of the most impactful mechanics in the game. It's like removing an enemy and receiving a summon. I was very pleased by the Beguiler of Deadfire - and later the Psion - because they allow for a different playstyle. But as I said: their biggest weakness to me personally is underperformance in boss fights. To me it just feels that the Cipher is letting me down when I need it the most. That's the opposite of the per-rest casters: those can spam their whole arsenal if they have to. On the other hand: I'm pretty confident that in lower difficulties this isn't even an issue. But as I said: I could be convinced easily that they belong one tier higher on the list. What I like about Chanters is that they regain resources passively, can also passively heal while they are singing other chants (Ancient Memory is not a chant like in Deadfire) and "the Dragon Thrashed" quite frankly. With Brisk Recitation and high INT you can stack up to 3 instances on enemies iirc. Casually dealing big AoE damage that targets Reflex while loading up on phrases for some nasty animated weapons or some other invocation is just so sweet in terms of action economy. But it may be that it's just my love for their mechanics that lets me put them higher than Ciphers. But they let me loot the complete castle of Raedric in the early game with minimal effort - that has to be rewarded. Rogues are pretty cool for solo though, I'll give them that. But I don't play a lot of solo runs so that's not a very compelling argumet for me personally. It's a party-based RPG after all. For the late(ish) game priority targets I do prefer Fighters (Charge is so good for that because it does a hidden, instant Full Attack on the target on top of the crush damage) or Rangers - they don't even have to run to the target. Just Twinned Shot + Stunning Shot with Persistence (the wounding hunting bow) and usually they are toast pretty quickly. At least they are stunned most of the time. I value them over Fighters and Rogues and I think they are as good as Barbs (just very different) and Paladins. Not as fun as Barbs (obviously). Not as good as Cipher (also obviously). My reasoning is mainly that they come with an additonal body which some players just dismiss because the AC is kind of fragile in the early game and you cannot tank with it. But it's like a free summon that has no health pool (never truly dies, never gets injured). Summons in general are a very powerful mechanic - and having the AC is like having a permanent summon which can evolve and deliver very hard hits: unlike Deadfire, in PoE the Animal Companions' base(!) damage scales with level. They don't get an additive dmg bonus like fine/exceptional etc. like they do in Deadfire. Instead their base weapon damage scales - and it scales pretty steeply. That in combination with damage bonuses such as Vicious & Merciless Companion, Brutal Takedown (this is fixed dmaage which only has to penetrate 1/4th of DR for some reason, also see Iconic Projection which also does this) and most importantly Predator's Sense (unlocked automatically by wounding weapon such a Persistence) leads to some absurd damage numbers for such an unassuming animal. Sure, they attack slowly, but they sure know how to crack open even the thickest armor. Especially the Wolf (and Itumaak) is great that way because it has even higher base damage than the rest of the ACs. And then later you have Twinned Shots + Stunning Shots which is just great in combo with the high accuracy. As I said above it's great to have for taking out high priority targets such as enemy casters. I don't like Rangers too much as main character - but they make nice companions imo. If you only use the AC as bodyguard for the Ranger then you don't even need to micromanage them much. Even melee is fun due to Swift Aim and being able to flank everything with your AC. I received quite a lot of positive feedback for the "Riptide" melee ranger build - I think it just performed a lot better than players expected it would. Okay cool, unfortunately I have a nasty cold/cough at the moment and my throat is sore. I will muse a bit about what to do while I get better and then I will get back to you... once my voice isn't that of Michael Wincott anymore. I already know two three characters which I played and enjoyed but which I didn't post as builds.

Whoops, totally skipped that part, sorry. Sure! What else would I do with my new microphone?

Fair enough if you apply that "low rest" rule. But still: Priest's Inspiring Radiance is 1/encounter - and stuff like Blessing and also Devotions can get there as well (with spell mastery). With the most impactful Druid spells (imo) you cannot achieve mastery. But the Druid has Spiritshift which is awesome. Unfortunately it's rather short (for PotD anyway). I view resting a bit differently because there's no real limit to it, besides that it can be cumbersome to collect resting supplies in some areas, like the Endless Paths - and I account for that, too. But I don't try to rest as little as possible per se. It comes down to this for me: it's so much more noticable if I go without a Priest compared to going without a Druid (or Wizard or any other class). And I don't even use Barring Death's Door and Salvation of Time much. I do not need to use Prayers in every fight. But when I need to they make such a big difference. In general I was (mildly) surprised that my personal ranking doesn't differ much from yours. I've had so many discussions in the past on how awesome rogues are because they have great weapon dps. Also many players see Ciphers as being "the best" class just because they can deal weapon damage and cast spells. For me it's more like "they have to deal weapon damage" - and that's the bad part. At least for me. That's why I liked my instantly nerfed Backlash Beldam Cipher build so much... and the Psion in Deadfire.

My personal list for parties on PotD difficulty: Game Breaking Tier: Priest Overloaded Tier: Wizard, Druid, Monk, Chanter Bread'n'Butter Tier: Cipher, Barbarian, Paladin, Ranger Niche Tier: Fighter, Rogue Druid is really nice and so versatile, but imo not as impactful as a Priest - just because Inspiring Radiance + Devotions & Prayers. Unparalleled impact on every party imo. 6 Priest party: 6* Inspirig Radiance + Devotions = +80 ACC for everybody. Wizard has nice spells and great summoned weapons with enormous base and the cheesy grimoire mechanic that allows him to learn all spells without actually spending ability points. Just scribe some grimoires, retrain, learn all the spells from the grimoires before leveling up and you're done. Maximum spell selection with minimal ability picks for spells. Deleterious Alacrity of Motion is nuts in PoE. Monk has very good starting values, potentially endless resources and great AoE capability (which is important for PotD). Torment's Reach with a dual wielding setup is almost too good. There's a reason we fear enemy monks more than most other enemy types. Henlo Abbey of the Fallen Moon it is I, the guy who hates to fight you. Chanter is kind of made for PotD. The longer the fights the better the Chanter performs. Can clear Raedric's Castle with White Worms solo, later there's Dragon Thrashed: damage for nothin' (and your chicks for free), Ogres, Animated Weapons... Cipher is great in most fights but I find the struggles to get sufficient focus against tough bosses a bit frustrating. The love triangle between Cipher, Chanter and Priest with Defensive double Preservation + Withdraw + Mindweb + Dragon Thrashed is extremely strong though (+100 to all defenses for the party, wow). But still... I don't like that when it matters most the Cipher kind of falls behind in terms of spellcasting. I would put in somewhere in between Overloaded and Bread'n Butter - but since I have to make a decision I put it into the latter (don't really like to play it because of the "to and fro" with weapons and spells). WelI could be easily convinced to put him higher I guess... Barbarian is loads of fun with the funky Carnage mechanics and weapon effects. Maybe my favorite class (hard competition with Monk). But Barb also suffers from the "not great vs. boss" malaise - and it's not good in the early game due to low accuracy and low deflection (and little impact of the potentially big health pool, which only comes into play later). Limited resources - but Heart of Fury! Paladin (especially the Darcozzi) has amazing potential for ACC buffing a single ally on top of the other goodies and it can be tanky without even trying. But there's not much going on in the AoE department except Sacred Immolation. Limited resources. Ranger is a great single target damage dealer with an animal companion that can hit hard like a truck if build properly. (AoE) CC on top if you wish. Awesome CC against single enemies later on without using resources. Which makes it better than the Rogue imo. Ranger with Persistence + Predator's Sense against some high-priority targets... ouch. Fighter and Rogue suffer from no AoE and uninspired/lame/tooo expensive high level abilities and limited resources. Both nice in the early game (esp. Fighter) - but the power curve is too flat imo.

Afaik you cannot. But I simply pick one and queue up its special attacks with the shift key. Then the next. But I only do this when the fight is really hard because it's a very tedious job. Usually it's sufficient to just select them all, point to a single enemy and *pouf*. By the way: having a SC Priest with Spark the Souls of the Righteous in combination with 8 animated weapons is also wild.

Hehe yeah I know it works. The question mark outside the brackets was meant as "Chanter(xyz)?" as in "should I pick this class maybe?" Sorry... Just played around with SC Beckoner for a bit while trying to compose a fun Stalker/Chanter. Holy moly the PL9 8*ancient weapons with some party support: just crazy.

I understand - but even when it's all about survivability I'd still not pick Antelope - but Boar. Defenses comparison (incl. Antelope's +10 to all defenses bonus): Deflection Bear: +0 Boar: +5 Antelope: +9 Fortitude Bear: +14 Boar: +14 Antelope: +10 Reflex Bear: +4 Boar: -4 Antelope: +28 Will Bear: -10 Boar: +0 Antelope: -2 And now the boar has endless regeneration on top. Imo that's the better package in terms of survivability, especially in the early game. Of course the Antelope has higher combined defenses than the Boar, but it pumps it all into one crazy Reflex defense - which is not so great for overall survivability imo. I can see one case though where this focus on Reflex might be great: If I'd want to build an Animal Companion who does not need to worry about friendly fire Reflex spells too much (a Wizard's Fireballs for example), the Antelope + Defensive/Strengthened Bond might be my pick. Should add up to ~123 stackable Reflex at lvl 20 if I'm not mistaken. I don't know. I picked bears for survivability in combo with Stalkers rel. often - and it worked quite well imo. But ofc. then the Bear then starts with an additional +1 AR because of the Stalker passive. With Resiliant Companion (taken right away) he will start with very decent AR (11 believe) and he feels quite sturdy - compared to a Wolf at least (which is my second favorite AC). Hm... now I wonder if I should try to build a Stalker/something tank + Bear AC. With Shining Bulwark shield (+1 AR for the Bear), maybe Furrante's Breastplate (-10% dmg received for the Bear)... What second class? Chanter (healing + dmg shield chant - bonuses would also work for summons)? Cipher (Pain Block +2 AR)? Shieldbearer (Exalted Endurace +1 AR etc.)? Ancient (2 Sporelings+Wild Growth AND 1 Bear + Nature's Balm's +2 AR)? Beastmaster tank sounds pretty nice for a change. Shining Bulwark doesn't fit the theme though. Edit: Argh, Nature's Balm and Wild Growth are on the same spell level.

Haha! I read right over the WM1 part. Jeez... But still: the tips with fire dmg and Rymrgand's Mantle work there as well. But if you have the fitting prayers then this shoud be a walk in the park. If no prayers (from priest or scroll): Since it's well past Caed Nua you should have two situationally very cool items in your inventory that can help: Ilfan Byrngar's Solace (medium shield, Endless Paths lvl 6) and Blaidh Golan (hide armor, Brakenbury Sanatorium). They have the enchantment "Preservation" which adds +50 to all defenses when stunned or prone. And they stack because one is from a shield (weapon). So the tank (or anyone who usually struggles to stay alive in this fight) who gets attacked and gets stunned will gain +100 to all defenses while he is stunned (minus the stun debuff, but that's negligible). This makes sure that follow-up attacks from multiple spirits will miss - until the character isn't stunned anymore. This doesn't necessarily preven stun-locking, but it will reduce the amount of dps the character receives a lot. It can help to withstand the incoming damage a lot longer so the rest of the party can take care of the spirits without too much stress. This combo doesn't work against paralyze though.

This bug is an advantage for the player. You know that resistances work like immunities now and you can plan accordingly (like not casting Whispers of Treason on a sporeling anymore) - but the enemies will never know. They will try to attack you with afflictions you are virtually immune to and waste precious time and resources. Time to pick up resistance items and -abilities!

Maybe Sun & Moon flail for the +2 Frost Power Levels - but it doesn't work during the day (and not while shifted of course). Bear's bonus AR in combination with Thick Skinned and Woodskin/Form of the Delemgan is pretty decent AR without any recovery penalty. In combinaton with Frenzy and Bloodlust that's very good attack speed. Helm of the Aurochs will grant you an additonal freezing lash for your next weapon attack if you got hit. Funnily enough it also procs off of benefical "hits" like healing pulses (see Moonwell etc). Nice addition imo. Footsteps of the Beast boots are also thematicially fitting, as is the whole Beast of Winter DLC.

I use Community Patch and Enhanced UI myself (not Deadly Deadfire though). I did a quick test with my Steam version of the game and for me it works like it should: And since disabling/removing all mods doesn't help I'd say it's a probem with the game version. Somebody should check that properly I think. --- @Aarik D & @SChin: Cheers and hello my friends, this topic seems to be important for the Gamepass Version of Deadfire. I thought you might want to know. Thanks!