A question about stats.

[Heresy]

Ok so i would like some more information on these three stats and how they effect damage done.

In most conventional games they are set up like this:

Might/Strength- increases raw carry weight and physical damage.

Dex- Increases your attack speed and chance to hit.

Perception- used for chance to hit or discovering secrets.

Now i know that is not how they work in POE it is more like this:

Might= Raw damage for all attacks and spells
Dex= Attack speed
Perception= Chance to hit and Crit.

Now ideally a combination of all three would be best but that it not possible with character building so which one of these unconventional stats actually increases the most damage?

In most MMO's or single player type games Chance to Hit is the most important priority stat followed closely by crit. It doesnt really matter how fast you are attacking or how much damage you do per hit if you are not landing hits effectively. All other stats such as raw damage, attack speed and crit are secondairy to hit rating.

I dont know what the soft hit cap is for X level of monster and if it is indeed gaining benefits past a certain hard cap or not. I do know that it also effects crit however.

So when i look at these three primairy DPS stats i see Perception as the best because it offers two of the most important raw damage elements available to any game. While the others Might and Dex each offer one element of a insuperior stat.

I Also know that in past games based on DND such as Buldars Gate that there is an insane difference between 18 and 19 in any given stat. Certain classes even had threshhold between 18 and 19 that took more than 1 point for example Strength 18A, 18B, 18C 18D before you can get 19 which takes 4-5 points in that stat but is drastically more effective.

I dont see any benefit to pushing stats over max in Pillars they simply continue in the same pattern passed level 18 and dont add any specific benefit for going over 18.

Alot has changed with this game besides what i mentioned and im trying to get back into it again. I made a ranger and have been stacking purely Perception. My ranger is only lvl 4 and has 23 perception already. She crits all the time and i have not seen her miss a single shot.

At lvl 1 i had 20 perception and 1 shot the first creature i met in the wild with a crit. I then was able to clear the first whole wilderness zone alone before building a party on Hard.

Everywhere i read about this information i see nothing but arguing from 2015 threads about what is truly better. So is perception simply king for damage or is there a certain threshhold where attack speed and or raw damage compliment perception greater than more points in perception?

I see certain builds completely disregard perception as useless and i see it as the strongest dps stat possible. Am i just reading it all wrong or is this a legitimate assesment?

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Heresy:

Everywhere i read about this information i see nothing but arguing from 2015 threads about what is truly better.

That's what you get indeed. Lots of argueing. Buried beneath it the few topics in Obsidian's PoE forum where a few people have come up with formulae for various things not limited to simple hit/crit conversion and damage increase. Such as action speed, DEX based bonuses, armor penalties, recovery time. The details are not pretty, though.

The game is designed and balanced well enough as to rely on a gut feeling and on your own hands on experience. If you believe your Ranger performs well, and especially if you want to focus on landing crits, be happy. If you are open to experiments, hire two rangers, build them differently and compare them with eachother based on the builtin character damage statistics.

Originally posted by Heresy:

So is perception simply king for damage or is there a certain threshhold where attack speed and or raw damage compliment perception greater than more points in perception?

For a ranger? No. If using a two-handed ranged weapons, you are -12 Accuracy compared with anyone using one 1H weapon. For any class aiming to land crits as often as possible? No. They would try to max out PER in addition to choosing talents/abilities that add crit conversion. For other classes, yes. Quick monks, fighters and rogues, outperform slower ones by far as can be observed in the party damage stats.

Originally posted by Heresy:

I see certain builds completely disregard perception as useless and i see it as the strongest dps stat possible. Am i just reading it all wrong or is this a legitimate assesment?

Hard to comment on, since in case you refer to topics from 2015, they are invalid. The attributes have been changed at least once. Deflection defense of enemies on PotD mode is higher, so increasing Accuracy - even before using potions and support spells and other bonuses - is a plausible decision.

[psychotron666]

All depends on the class and weapons you use. For an unarmed Monk, I find Dex and perception to be much more important than might. You'll be hitting constantly, very fast, and interrupting attacks.

[Heresy]

The only reason 2015 is mentioned is because that is when most threads where made during release and peak popularity. I'm refering to the current game and looking for answers regarding these questions. Such as raw numbers and proof or if anyone has taken the time to do the math. I am very curious but inexperienced with this engine. I know there are people out there who have worked these formulas out and that is what im looking for.

I am complimenting the unnaturally high Perception with dex as prio for gear.

My initial impression is that might is insuperior to dex and perception for raw dps classes doing physical damage. I guess it is much better for casters and healers since they already have what seem to be fixed cast times (which are fast) and cant miss if buffing or dispelling.

I enjoy the unique and fresh system in POE but it doesnt really make much sense in regards to conventional standards. Not just in the older games which influenced it but in relation to all other RPG stats.

[Novia]

It honestly depends where your character fits in the group. The problem lies with targetted abilities/spells, each fight will become a gamble if your perception is lacking.

So if you're relying on AOE and doing healing a lot with the character in question, Dexterity, Might and Intelligence are your go-to shopping sprees. Anything that hits an enemy directly (Like the cleric's smite spell) will struggle with low perception, so be cautious about dump stating it.

It isn't the most elegant system by any means (Guns, Stat-Enhancing Magic Items; I'm looking at you). But hey, could be worse.

[Heresy]

Well im not really sure how other people play these games but i have full control over all my party builds and choose each stat myself so its more about synergising a group of 6 heroes with equal attention given to all rather than simply focusing on my "character"

There should be some solid numbers somewhere i guess ill have to check obsidian forums for more in depth info.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Heresy:

I know there are people out there who have worked these formulas out and that is what im looking for.

Pointing Google at Obsidian's forum would be the way to go then. Over there I've seen some guys post formulae, sometimes based on counting video frames as to analyze attack speed and trying to figure out rounding, too. There is a lot to read. There is no guarantee that every posted formula is correct. And in the end you still need to find a party combination with strategies/tactics that work for you - on whatever difficulty mode you choose.

Trying various options out yourself would be more fun.

[Heresy]

You are right this game isnt extremely intimidating on equal levels as Divinity so i should just jump in and Experiment. Which i have been. I do like how the world seems to be gated by higher leveled monsters. The world doesnt scale to you and makes exploration fun.

I tried the first round of bounties last night with a lvl 4-5 group. Got rekt hard but tried many times until i realised ill just have to come back. Same thing happened on my first playthrough when i foolishly decieded to enter the depths of cad nua with lvl 3s....