Did they fix getting Potent Robe playing Dark Urge in the last patches?

[Donald Trump]

Didnt read patchnotes, but before it was not possible coz Alfira gets disembowled as all hell Is it still impossible?

[FunkyMonkey]

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:

Well, you don't have to build a Warlock purely for damage. They can be good CC characters with AoE effect spells and Repelling blast pushing them around.

Absolutely. Just hitting things with EB is great for control. The problem is that most builds that can spam EB for control, can also spam Scorching Ray, which is more damage and better for control. There are some drawbacks, but if you lose out on the robe, you'll want to switch to that.

I hate Scorching ray, it's a 2nd level spell that only does single-target damage. I didn't even use it on a fire dragon sorcerer. It's such an underwhelming spell, even with the fire acuity hat. You are better off using fire bolt and if you want to get arcane acuity faster, just twin the fire bolt. If you get low on sorcery points you are even better off exchanging the 2nd level slots to more points than casting scorching ray, IMO.

[@%thesock10150alpha49]

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:

I hate Scorching ray

That certainly is an interesting opinion. I've never seen somebody object to it so strongly. Though, keep in mind that EBlast is just a weaker, free scorching ray. So if you have the right utility, it is still an upgrade.

Twinning Firebolt wont hit as many times, reducing the control capabilities through reverb and definitely won't stack as much damage. Two firebolts also only gets you 4 acuity stacks against SRays base 6 (10 at 4th). And firebolt is also single target, whereas SRay can spread the beams.

But the 2nd level spell slot is definitely something that you have to work around, and I can see why that would be a sticking point for a lot of people. If you're planning to spam SRay, you need to do one (or all) of these: Long Rest very frequently, Stockpile Angelic Reprieve/Slumber pots, Abuse Shield of Devotion or similar items for unlimited Sorc Points.

That's where the whole 'mandatory' thing becomes subjective. In the lower difficulties, EBlast still hits all the benchmarks it needs. Higher up, it misses a few. And people willing to torture themselves with things like Apocalypse Mods are definitely willing to nap after every conversation to use cumbersome spells like SRay.

[FunkyMonkey]

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:

I hate Scorching ray

That certainly is an interesting opinion. I've never seen somebody object to it so strongly. Though, keep in mind that EBlast is just a weaker, free scorching ray. So if you have the right utility, it is still an upgrade.

Twinning Firebolt wont hit as many times, reducing the control capabilities through reverb and definitely won't stack as much damage. Two firebolts also only gets you 4 acuity stacks against SRays base 6 (10 at 4th). And firebolt is also single target, whereas SRay can spread the beams.

But the 2nd level spell slot is definitely something that you have to work around, and I can see why that would be a sticking point for a lot of people. If you're planning to spam SRay, you need to do one (or all) of these: Long Rest very frequently, Stockpile Angelic Reprieve/Slumber pots, Abuse Shield of Devotion or similar items for unlimited Sorc Points.

That's where the whole 'mandatory' thing becomes subjective. In the lower difficulties, EBlast still hits all the benchmarks it needs. Higher up, it misses a few. And people willing to torture themselves with things like Apocalypse Mods are definitely willing to nap after every conversation to use cumbersome spells like SRay.

I'll much rather have a resource free damage option over a 2nd level spell. I know that a lot of people sing the praises of Scorching ray, but I've only had underwhelming experiences with it. Either I roll low or just flat miss. I remember when I played the fire sorc, I used fire bolt as my go-to damage option. I used the amulet that adds CHA to damage for cantrips, combined with the Sorc feature that added my CHA second time on fire spells, my fire bolt late-game did 3d10+10 damage, average of 26 or so. Scorching ray for the same character would have done 6d6+15, average of 36. More damage on paper, yes, but only if all 3 rays hit. I'll much rather take the cantrip. When twinned, that cantrip with this build outperforms Scorching ray with minimal itemization and resource-free.

Though, with Potent robe it would be even more damage for the cantrip, which is even worse for Scorching ray.

Edit. Twinning isn't resource-free, but still easier to maintain than casting 2nd level spells.

[siics]

It's bad quest/game design because the reward is linked to a special character that HAS to survive. But it's the game's 'descision' to kill her off, not the player's one (at least as Dark Urge). So, to get that robe you could either cheat (mod) or 'meta'-play. Actions have consequences, yes, but in this case the player/char doesn't 'act'.

[Raz]

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

Originally posted by KRON:

How exactly is it a bad quest design?

Because the Potent robe is so powerful that it is literally mandatory for any EBlast build. Not only is it totally unavailable to an origin, it's locked behind Alfira's survival (which ruins bad playthroughs) and successful completion of a quest-chain that can very easily fail, sometimes to a bug where Lakrissa just disappears from existence.

It, along with many of the items, should have alternate methods of acquisition to alleviate the restriction in narrative choices.

All the damage riders you can stack onto Eldritch Blast, Potent Robe is not a requirement, needed, or that big of a deal. And frankly, I get more damage outta my Ice Knight Warlock than I would get from using Eldritch Blast.

[KRON]

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

Originally posted by KRON:

How exactly is it a bad quest design?

Because the Potent robe is so powerful that it is literally mandatory for any EBlast build. Not only is it totally unavailable to an origin, it's locked behind Alfira's survival (which ruins bad playthroughs) and successful completion of a quest-chain that can very easily fail, sometimes to a bug where Lakrissa just disappears from existence.

It, along with many of the items, should have alternate methods of acquisition to alleviate the restriction in narrative choices.

There's not a single item in the game that's "mandatory". Yeah, it makes EBlast on a warlock very powerful, but that alone ain't gonna make or break your game.
Speaking of characters and other methods of getting powerful items, Dammon sells very powerful items in Act 3 and and is crucial to Karlach's personal quest, if he dies, tough ♥♥♥♥, Karlach is gonna die and the items are gone.

[Raz]

Originally posted by KRON:

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

Because the Potent robe is so powerful that it is literally mandatory for any EBlast build. Not only is it totally unavailable to an origin, it's locked behind Alfira's survival (which ruins bad playthroughs) and successful completion of a quest-chain that can very easily fail, sometimes to a bug where Lakrissa just disappears from existence.

It, along with many of the items, should have alternate methods of acquisition to alleviate the restriction in narrative choices.

There's not a single item in the game that's "mandatory". Yeah, it makes EBlast on a warlock very powerful, but that alone ain't gonna make or break your game.
Speaking of characters and other methods of getting powerful items, Dammon sells very powerful items in Act 3 and and is crucial to Karlach's personal quest, if he dies, tough ♥♥♥♥, Karlach is gonna die and the items are gone.

Dammon doesn't change crap all for Karlach beyond her being able to ♥♥♥♥ the player character. Her choices stay constant whether he is alive or not. Go to the hells, become a mindflayer, or die.

[@%thesock10150alpha49]

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:

I've only had underwhelming experiences with it. Either I roll low or just flat miss.

I *highly* recommend taking a peek at this build.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/196mpii/honor_mode_111_fire_sorlock_complete_build_guide/

Upcasted scorching Ray is a beast, and you only need 2 hits (which is doable with other gear buffs) before virtually every ray will hit thanks to fire acuity. At base, a Draconic Sorc firing a 5th level SRay that fully hits is 12D6+30, average of 72, without any of the many broken damage riders. Used correctly, it's currently one of the highest DPR strategies in the game.

That said, the ease of use is definitely understandable. If you're not going to play around it, it can get very frustrating to constantly blow all your resources in one or two combats.

Originally posted by Raz:

or that big of a deal.

That is just mathematically not true. 1D10+10 averages 16 so losing 5 from the robe is almost a 32% drop. It's a huge deal, especially over EBlast focused builds, where they're firing two or three casts of it in a turn.

Originally posted by KRON:

but that alone ain't gonna make or break your game

No, but it can make or break your build. Which is why locking it behind one singular quest that can be screwed up in many ways before you even know about it (and one that is legit just a bug) is what I would call "bad quest design". Either make it available through another quest on the evil side of things, or have a side-grade of it at another point.

[@%thesock10150alpha49]

Originally posted by KRON:

if he dies, tough ♥♥♥♥, Karlach is gonna die

Originally posted by Raz:

Dammon doesn't change crap all for Karlach

Who gives a crap about Karlach. That man's only purpose in this life is to sell me my BiS.

[FunkyMonkey]

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

I *highly* recommend taking a peek at this build.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/196mpii/honor_mode_111_fire_sorlock_complete_build_guide/

Thanks for the link, I may check it later.

Also, my experience with this spell is when I use it occasionally, I haven't done a build around it or anything. I tend not to enjoy building for high burst damage characters anyway, so I 'm sure there is plenty of ways to make Scorching ray absolute monster of a spell. It just so happens that I'm not interested in that type of gameplay.

[Raz]

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

That is just mathematically not true. 1D10+10 averages 16 so losing 5 from the robe is almost a 32% drop. It's a huge deal, especially over EBlast focused builds, where they're firing two or three casts of it in a turn.

Yeah... for an Eldritch Blast spam build... there is dozens of builds out there that can do damage higher than Eldritch Blast on a Warlock. You pigeonholing yourself into just Eldritch Blast is a you problem.

[FunkyMonkey]

Originally posted by Maron:

Underwhelming? It's my most used sorcerer spell after fireball. Did you bother to take the Elemental Adept feat? (Can never roll a 1, and resistance is ignored)?

Yeas, underwhelming. If you had bothered to read some of my later posts, you'd realize that I don't build my characters around this spell. Hence, underwhelming, IMO.

Originally posted by Maron:

Also, it scales up and gets more rays. It's also NOT single target, you can split the rays.

I know. It's still just a damage spell, I'm not overly keen on them.

Originally posted by Maron:

Sounds like you don't know what you're doing.

Sounds like you are not someone worth having a conversation with.

[Revan619]

Prime example of bad game design in bg3

[Wuorg]

Devs can't win. Players want their choices to matter, but when the dev designs a quest where that is the case, they get FOMO so bad they complain about how their choices matter. This is why Larian put in so many ways for players to have their cake and eat it too (like with this robe).

[FunkyMonkey]

Originally posted by Maron:

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:

Sounds like you are not someone worth having a conversation with.

Sounds like you don't like to be corrected, and only want to hear opinions that are the same as yours.

That link you're going to check? Guess which spell is the primary damage dealer...

I checked the link, it's a good build. Not really something I haven't seen earlier. Haven't played it, though, because I don't like burst damage builds all that much.

Guess I was right about you.