Dumb questions thread

[Horrigan]

Thanks for the answer. Does that mean that Arcane Power will eventually become virtually useless? because if so, there go 5 of my class points, wasted.

[lukep]

I always found it useful. It has as much effect on (almost) everything as investing 20 points into magic, at the cost of as much mana as you get from 10 points of willpower. Plus, you can toggle it on and off.

[noxnoctum]

How do you fight Dreads? Do you have to kill the Dread Master or they keep spawning infinitely? I was moving forward pretty easily in Dreadfell (minus one dumb death due to not yet having an infusion for mental) till I came to these guys . I've died twice now and only have one life left... I'm on level 4 and I really want to make it to the boss to unlock an undead race. Playing a pure archer (more or less) TW.

[noxnoctum]

Playing a solispist now, is there any point at all in putting points into constitution since psi is basically my HP pool?

[Frumple]

Only if you're not going full 5/5 (and probably a cat point) into the first solipsist tree talent. It's possibly advantageous to not aim for 100% conversion, in order to keep your psi pool from tanking to zero (and leaving you with jack all as a means of response) at an inopportune moment.

For solipsists that do that, additional con doesn't hurt -- it doesn't help as much as it would for many classes, but it doesn't hurt. What are you going to invest in once willpower and cunning are maxed, anyway?

Also thick skin, maybe the conditioning tree. Investment in order to get thick skin may be a good idea.

[grayswandir]

You have to kill the dreadmaster or he'll keep spawning more forever. Dreads operate on stealth, so sun infusions make them visible. Also, withering orbs helps tremendously if you find it.

[noxnoctum]

Ok so I'm in the dark crypt or whatever with the elf cultists... is it possible to rod of recall out of there and then come back later? I was on my way to get one of the alchemist potions after finally getting all the ingredients.

[Grey]

You can recall out but there's no returning.

[Suslik]

Dumb question. I have two options: to play guild wars 2 for a few days, wait for a b43 and then take up a new freshly created character which I can happily play till the very tome release. Or I can create a new char right now in b42, play it for some time and then create another one in b43 when it's out.

Question is: is b43 going in a week or so or not? Should I wait for it or start a new char right now?

[Grey]

I don't think it'll be that soon. Screw GW2 ;)

[Suslik]

Ok, I think I'll then grab a nightly b43 build and start a new char asap ; )

[Fohat]

I have a dumb question. I play a pyromancer archmage. Why don't all the fire spells light up the surroundings? Last time I checked, fire was a fine source of light.
I don't think it would break the game, not all classes use fire spells. Revealed squares could be seen only directly, not behind a corner. Fire beams could light up just a square on both sides, larger bursts or explosions a whole room. It would be a nice comfortable feature, you know how archmages rely on scouting ahead, this would help to spot dangers a little better. And anyway it's weird if one half of the room is all burning and the other remains dark.

[bricks]

I don't think there is a particularly vital reason. The lighting mechanics are (thankfully) just not very complex. Personally I would find it odd if a single fire spell lit up a room permanently, and I don't think there is a lot of support for complicated lighting effects. Edge ran into these sorts of issues when developing a darkness-based Celestial class, if I recall correctly.

[Fohat]

OK, if it's about vital reasons...
I suppose the lighting or map revealing is done by a kind of a simple 2D array of map_revealed[x,y] = 0,1 or 2. I suppose things like line of sight or visible square calculations would probably require some crazy calculation method I can't even imagine, but once figured out they would be simple and fast.
But it probably would not be easy to incorporate with temporary effects like fire that burns out. It does seem somewhat weird with the darkness areas that some demons produce, it doesn't light up again no matter what I do.

[Dwindlehop]

Accuracy
Determines your chance to hit your target as well as knock your target off-balance when measured against the target's Defense.
When you use Accuracy to inflict temporary physical effects on an enemy, every point your opponent's relevant saving throw exceeds your accuracy will reduce the duration of the effect by 5%.
Physical power
Measures your ability to deal physical damage in combat.
When you use Physical Power to inflict temporary physical effects on an enemy, every point your opponent's relevant saving throw exceeds your physical power will reduce the duration of the effect by 5%.

Which effects are inflicted by Accuracy? Which are inflicted by Physical Power? Is there a way to distinguish them in game? Some examples: lightning daze or slime slow?

How does one evaluate tradeoffs between more damage versus more physical power? For example, how do I decide if my Arcane Blade should invest his next class talent point into Arcane Destruction (increasing physical power) or Fiery Hands (increasing damage)? Should I wield a sword with a lower base damage but a bonus to Strength/physical power or a higher base damage but no bonus to physical power? Or, more difficult yet, should I wield a sword with a magical bonus to damage on hit but keep a weapon with a magical bonus to physical power for when my Strength is higher?
I have read the wiki pages on the damage formula and the character sheet I am not going to pick up a calculator every time I find new loot or level up. I understand the character sheet lets you compare for two different sets of equipment/talents. Does one always need to apply/equip the change and check the character sheet, every time one is unsure?

Smart question: For the 1.0 release, can we get all the potential changes to the character sheet summarized on the level up screen? That would be a huge UI improvement.