U41.4 Preview 2: Inquisitive Universal Enhancement Tree

[Cocomajobo]

Disclaimer

Everything seen on the preview server, Lamannia, is not final and is subject to change or removal before live release. Specific extra disclaimer on the current visual appearance of Tiefling and Tiefling Scoundrel.

First, if you haven't already been there please check out the U41.4 Preview 1 Main thread.

How to Access
You can access the Inquisitive Universal Enhancement Tree on the Preview server by speaking to Lord Poincelot in the center of the Test Dojo and then purchasing it in the Lamannia DDO Store.

Description
The Inquisitive Universal Enhancement Tree is a new Universal Enhancement Tree coming soon. Based on the Master Inquisitive prestige class in the 3.5e Eberron Campaign Setting, Inquisitives are investigators who specialize in solving mysteries and shedding light on the darkest secrets. In DDO, those who use the Inquisitive Universal Enhancement tree will gain skills that focus on Diplomacy, Law/Chaos damage, finding hidden things, and a new Dual-Crossbow combat style.

In the same way that Vistani Knife Fighter has a Tier 1 enhancement that changes your combat style, Inquisitive has a Tier 1 enhancement that changes the way Light and Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbows are used. With this enhancement, any Light or Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbow you equip splits into two smaller hand-crossbows in your hands, each firing a shot every time you attack. Both of these shots use the stats of your single (equipped) Crossbow. You'll notice there's one such new crossbow in this year's Anniversary event; this might be a good time to stock up!

With a fairly versatile set of options, the Inquisitive Universal Enhancement Tree ought to open interesting new builds for most of DDO's classes; get ready to hit the streets of Sharn and solve some mysteries!

This tree involves many new animations for all of DDO's various races; please let us know where things don't look right.

Enhancement Tree

• Cores
  
  1. Inquisitive +1 to Attack with all weapons. +1 to Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Bluff.
  2. Hit the Streets You gain an additional copy of Diplomacy on a separate cooldown timer. This timer is shared with Half-Elven Social Grace's Diplomacy. 1 Minute Cooldown. Passive: +2% Dodge. +3 Diplomacy skill, if you are a Half-Elf, this bonus is instead +10.
  3. Mind like Iron +3 to Will Saving Throws. You no longer automatically fail Saving Throws for Fear, Enchantment, or Illusion effects on a Natural 1. You will automatically perform a Search check to locate traps and secret doors when you are in range to Spot them, although this Search check occurs at a -4 penalty. In addition, you gain +2 Damage dice with Law on your Side.
  4. True Seeing You permanently gain the effects of the True Seeing spell. You gain +1 Competence Bonus to Critical Threat Range and Multiplier with Light and Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbows. In addition, you gain +2 Damage dice with Law on your Side.
  5. Undaunted +10 Ranged Power, +3 to all Saving Throws, +4 to the Max Dex Bonus of equipped armor. You gain the Slippery Mind feat (You can wriggle free from magical effects that would otherwise control or compel you. You gain a second saving throw versus enchantments.). In addition, you gain +2 Damage dice with Law on your Side.
  6. Master Inquisitive +2 to all Ability Scores. +10 Ranged Power. While wielding a Light or Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbow, your Vorpal hits will knock down targets hit on a natural 20 + confirmation for 6 seconds without a saving throw, as a Great Crossbow. In addition, you gain +3 Damage dice with Law on your Side.
  Tier 1
  • Dual Shooter While you have a Light or Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbow equipped, you instead fight with a Hand Crossbow in each hand, with each mimicking the damage and effects of your equipped Crossbow. +1 to Attack and Damage with Light and Heavy (non-repeating) crossbows.
  • Eye for Accuracy 1/2/3 to Attack with weapons.
  • Conjure Bolts SLA: Conjures a stack of 1000 bolts for use with a crossbow. These bolts have a +1 enhancement bonus. These bolts dissolve into nothingness after logout. 30/20/10 SP.
  • Law on your Side Toggle: Your Light and Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbow attacks deal 1d8 Law damage on hit to non-Lawful creatures, scaling with 200% Ranged Power. Lawful creatures take 1d4 Law damage, scaling with 200% Ranged Power.
  • Inquisitive Skills +1/2/3 to Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Bluff. Rank 3: +1 to Will Sav
  Tier 2
  • Crossbow Adept +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage with Light and Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbows
  • Wand & Scroll Mastery +25%/50%/75% damage and healing of your wands, scrolls, and other items that cast spells. Adds +1/2/3 to the save DC's of your offensive wands.
  • Observation When you use Diplomacy on a enemy, you gain one stack of Observation (+2 to Armor Class, +2 to PRR, +2 to MRR). Each stack lasts for 20 seconds before being removed. This stacks up to 5 times.
  • Improved Law +2 Damage dice with Law on your Side
  • Action Boost: Skills Activate to gain a +2/4/6 Action Boost bonus to all skills for 20 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds.
  Tier 3
  • Crossbow Adept +1 to Attack and +1 to Damage with Light and Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbows
  • First Things First Multiselector. Choose one of:
    
    • Shoot First: Bow or Crossbow Attack: +3[W] damage. On successful damage, this causes your opponent to take "Shot Wound". (Cooldown: 6 seconds) Note: Shot Wound deals 1d6 damage per Character Level every 2 seconds for 12 seconds. This damage scales with 200% Ranged Power.
    • Ask Questions First: Activate this skill to gain +20 to Diplomacy and a 10% reduction in the cooldown time of Social Skills for 60 seconds. When you use Diplomacy on a enemy while this is active, you gain a stack of Preparation (+2% Dodge that ignores Dodge Cap). Each stack of Preparation lasts 12 seconds, and acquiring a new stack resets the duration. Preparation can stack up to 5 times. (Cooldown: 2 minutes).
  • Improved Observation Each stack of Observation now also grants you 5% Fortification Bypass.
  • Stop in the Name Active: Targeted enemy must save (DC Diplomacy+d20 vs. Will) or be Dazed for 10 seconds. Daze is removed on hit. Bosses are immune to Daze. 18 second cooldown.
  • Ability Score Choose an ability to improve:
    
    • +1 Strength
    • +1 Dexterity
    • +1 Constitution
    • +1 Intelligence
    • +1 Wisdom
    • +1 Charisma
  Tier 4
  • Crossbow Adept +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage with Light and Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbows
  • Later Things Later Multiselector. Choose one of:
    
    • Ask Questions Later: Requires Shoot First. When you use Diplomacy on enemies who have at least one stack of Shot Wound, they take a Crushing Despair effect for 30 seconds.
    • Shoot Later: Requires Ask Questions First. Bow or Crossbow Attack: +5[w]. This attack has +2 Critical Threat Range and Multiplier. Cooldown: 15 seconds.
  • Inquisition Multiselector. Choose one of:
    
    • Divine Inquisition: You count Light and Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbows as Favored Weapons, regardless of your Deity.
    • Arcane Inquisition: You gain +15 Universal Spell Power while holding a Light or Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbow.
    • Martial Inquisition: +5% Doubleshot with Light and Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbows.
    • Dashing Inquisition: You can Swashbuckle while wielding a Light (non-repeating) Crossbow.
  • Greater Law +2 Damage dice with Law on your Side.
  • Ability Score Choose an ability to improve:
    
    • +1 Strength
    • +1 Dexterity
    • +1 Constitution
    • +1 Intelligence
    • +1 Wisdom
    • +1 Charisma
  Tier 5
  • No Holds Barred Action Boost: You may activate this ability to enchant your Light or Heavy (non-repeating) crossbow to instantly reload itself for 18 seconds. (Cooldown: 30 seconds. ) This shares charges and a cooldown with Endless Fusilade. If you also have Endless Fusilade, you gain +10 Ranged Power while No Holds Barred is active. Passive: +5 Ranged Power, +10% Doubleshot.
  • Arresting Assault All nearby enemies take -10 Melee, Ranged, and Spell Power for 20 seconds and 5 stacks of Vulnerability. In addition, nearby enemies must save (DC Diplomacy+d20 vs. Will) or be subjected to a 10-second Daze. (Bosses are immune to the Daze, but not the Power reduction or Vulnerability). Daze is removed on hit. 1 minute cooldown."
  • Improved Uncanny Dodge: Grants the Improved Uncanny Dodge feat. Activate that ability to gain a temporary 50% Ddge bonus and a +6 Reflex Save bonus. That feat also grants you a 1% passive bonus to Dodge at levels 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20.
  • Inquisitor's Path Multiselector. Choose one of:
    
    • Optimistic: +2 Damage Dice with Law on your Side. +10 Ranged Power, +30% Alacrity with non-Repeating Crossbows.
    • Jaded: Your damage dice with Law on your Side are now d8s for all enemies, regardless of alignment. +10 Ranged Power, +30% Alacrity with non-Repeating Crossbows.
    • Vigalante: +1 Damage Dice with Law on your Side. Damage from Law on your Side is now Chaos damage, with non-Chaotic creatures taking d8s of damage, and Chaotic creatures taking d4s of damage. +10 Ranged Power, +30% Alacrity with non-Repeating Crossbows.
  • Diplomatic Immunity Toggle: While active, your attacks with Light and Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbows have a chance to automatically trigger Diplomacy around you.

Currently Known Bugs

• There are some work in progress animation issues scattered amongst the various races and genders. If you find them, please let us know.
• "Shoot First" tooltip still makes mention of stacks even though it now can only apply a single stack.
• Arresting Assault hits party members

Bugs fixed since Preview 1

• Numerous unfinished/polished animations
• Glamering does not currently affect Dual-Crossbow appearances.
• "Shoot First" tooltip is a string table error.
• "Shoot Later" tooltip is a string table error.
• Dual Crossbows do not appear on login is you already were in that style when last logged out.
• "No Holds Barred" (Tier 5) does not grant +10 Ranged Power while active if you also have Endless Fusilade.
• Various missing icons have been added
• Tier 4 - Ability is Listed a Strength
• Tier 3/4 - Icon is Not all selectable Stats
• Activating any of "No Holds Barred", "Arresting Assault", "Hit the Streets" causes your Crossbows to disappear
• Ask First's icon buff is placeholder
• Dashing Inquisition does not allow you to swashbuckle while wielding Light (non-repeating) Crossbows.

[AbyssalMage]

Shoot First

Does it cause "bleed" effect on non-living creatures? If so, wow...

[droid327]

Why would I put any points in diplomacy for this tree? Nothing actually scales on your diplo score except dazes, the most pointless of cc, and all the diplo procs are "on use", but it doesn't need to actually succeed. This doesn't really make diplo any more useful to actually gear for.

[Chacka_DDO]

I tested this enhancement tree today a bit and everything works so far as expected.
Just only I notice often a quite noticeable "break" when I constantly fire, I see the fire animation but no damage (no hit or miss) at all and this seems to be not lag related, there are simple a lot shots left out.

[Maelodic]

This tree is excessively fun - I'm really loving it- even moreso than playing battle engineer as far as crossbows go

I really love the added defenses, the capstone, and using two different diplo cooldowns to bolster both defense and offense is suppper nice.

Arresting assault is fantastic for soloing, and I'm imagining it is also fantastic for saving parties in coordinated groups - which I'm assuming will happen a lot since you'll almost never have agro. I think I might actually roll a half elf on my inquisitor life to make abso-freakin-lutely sure it lands reliably (that or make up for going with pure Arti and only getting half diplo ranks...)

While arti is an obvious choice - you can stack T4 BE 10% doubleshot and T5 Inq 10% doubleshot, +10 more RP when you have Endless, the only thing you miss out on from going 41 inquisitor vs arti is +2 INT, Thundershock, .5W, 10% extra movespeed, and universal spell power - I also feel like Mechanic would be good, but also like adding spellsword to Wizzy or Sorc for some decent supplementary, or even primary, damage.


I dunno, this tree is just really fun to play. I found it quite smooth and feels really nice - the damage and defenses are pretty great. It is a compelling alternative and/or compliment to both battle engineer and mechanic, and should provide a great ranged option to just about any class.

Really well done!

[Calonderial]

I love this tree, but there are some issues from my point of view
1. Diplomacy effects dont do much solo (maybe better in a group, but hard to test on Lama land) this isnt a big concern for me just throwing it out there
2 Arresting Assault, cooldown is way too long and you have to get really close to the mobs for it to actually work, and the daze effect is useless, except if you are in the middle of a oh **** moment and need to disengage

I suggest increasing the range of Arresting assault, dropping the daze effect and decreasing the cooldown a little bit, the 5 stacking vulnerability seems to be fine. As it is now I would probably only use this at the boss for a little bit of increased damage together with archers focus

I was playing a pure wizard so daze is a waste, mass hold and fire away, or for that oh **** moment mass charm and mass hold and the kitchen sink for good measure

[DrawingGuy]

Why would I put any points in diplomacy for this tree? Nothing actually scales on your diplo score except dazes, the most pointless of cc, and all the diplo procs are "on use", but it doesn't need to actually succeed. This doesn't really make diplo any more useful to actually gear for.

Daze isn't a pointless CC as it can interrupt targets from hitting/chasing you, but as it is indeed the weakest of all CC options, the implementation is indeed far too weak... and compared to other implementations, laughable. Color Spray is an AOE daze on an 8s CD (which also blinds and silences and is available at T2), Guardbreaking dazes on crit with no save, Solipsism is a per attack chance as well. Yet Inquisitor's version is a single target on an 18s CD and an AOE on a full minute CD. Daze is NOT good enough to deserve such severe limitations. Sure, it may have been fun when it worked on player characters in the initial roll-out, but it needs to change to not be a waste of space. As I suggested in the previous thread for Inquisitive:

- Make Stop in the Name AOE and on a shorter CD. A Shout Effect would work perfectly for this, and even an 8s CD would still leave this move as weaker than Color Spray and almost 3x the CD of Shouts. But at least in this state this would be worth the investment of the AP and Diplomacy for.

- Arresting Assault I would like the debuff to be made maintainable. I also had the thought of having it be called "Interrogation" and work off your Diplomacy. This would create a direct tie in to the use of Diplomacy and the need of an effective DC, though would limit the target types the debuff would work on unless you have the debuff coded to work still on successful check. A separate move that uses a diplo check would still add additional use to effective diplomacy, though not as direct.

- Ask Questions Later I still think should change. Mixing something that needs attacks to be able to debuff for Dazes is counter intuitive. Changing this into a Fear effect that uses the Diplo DC check would still make total sense and be more effective. Causing something to run away from you on a ranged toon is perfect.

All three of those changes would make Diplo worth investing in, with the second keeping Diplo useful against bosses.


Back to the original post:

I appreciate the changes, particularly buffing Observation duration to 20s so that it is stackable outside of T5 Inquisitive. I do think Ask Questions First should also have a duration increase to 20s as well.

My statements from the first thread still apply as well. What I consider most important (other than fixing animation hitches of course) really is addressed in my reply to Droid: Buff the Daze moves to take into consideration the weakness of the ability and how they compare to other sources, and to make Diplomacy truly useful. I like the fact that this tree is looking to bring not only ignored weapons in a new cool way to game relevance, but I want to be sure Diplo is as well.

[cru121]

Probably not an ideal spot, but here's a suggestion for tweaks of the Swashbuckler tree for few more synergies with Inquisitive.

Tier 2: Reduce the cost of Action Boost: Doubleshot (and doublestrike) to 1 AP per rank
Tier 3: Make Different Tack work with Inquisitive somehow
Tier 4: Wind at my back: Make it apply to non-repeating crossbows as well.

[zachmandude]

I am extremely excited to get my hands dirty with this enhancement tree and the Tiefling race. I'm a tiny bit disappointed that the Shoot First ability doesn't stack AT ALL (I agree having it stack five times was a bit much; I would have liked to see it stack two or three times though at least), but overall it doesn't bother me too much. I think the largest thing that bothers me is -- and I think someone else has mentioned this before -- is that Vigilante, under the T5 Inquisitor's Path enhancement only grants +1 Weapon Die (as opposed to two) and changes the damage type to Chaos.

Personally I'd much rather have a Chaos damage type, and I suppose losing one damage die isn't that bad, though I am curious as to why Vigilante only grants +1 dice instead of +2.

In any case, none of the changes or current features are deal-breakers for me, and I've been waiting on this update every day since the beginning of March I hope things are moving smoothly for you all and that you are able to deploy it next week!

As a side note, the Tier 5 ability "Diplomatic Immunity" states that attacks with Light and Heavy (non-repeating) crossbows have a chance to automatically trigger Diplomacy around you...

Do enemies affected by this ability (when it triggers) make a Diplomacy check, or is it a guaranteed successful Diplomacy effect on nearby enemies?

[Hjarki]

This tree is excessively fun - I'm really loving it- even moreso than playing battle engineer as far as crossbows go

I think the tree is 'well-designed' from the standpoint of being a reasonably effective fighting style. However, I'd question the wisdom of implementing the tree at all. It just doesn't add anything to the game. We already had machine-gun Crossbow builds (which are themselves thematically silly).

Personally, I think it would have been a lot more interesting to allow the use of an off-hand Light Crossbow with a main-hand (melee or non-repeating Crossbow) weapon and give it a number of somewhat intermittent control/damage effects (more like shield bash than TWF).

[Hobgoblin]

silly question, but what does it mean "+3damage with law on your side"

[zachmandude]

silly question, but what does it mean "+3damage with law on your side"

So, you'll notice in Tier 1 that there is an enhancement called Law on your Side, and it states: "Law on your Side Toggle: Your Light and Heavy (non-repeating) Crossbow attacks deal 1d8 Law damage on hit to non-Lawful creatures, scaling with 200% Ranged Power. Lawful creatures take 1d4 Law damage, scaling with 200% Ranged Power."

Essentially this is just like Arcane Archer's elemental arrow damage. The more dice and spell power you have, the more damage you will do.

In this case, we build the Law on your Side dice through core enhancements and throughout the enhancement tree, and the damage is further enhanced by 200% of our ranged power!


So TL;DR: +3 Damage Dice with Law on your Side is giving three 1d8's in damage towards that enhancement!

[Kancho]

Any chance we'll see a ki weapon option in the Inquisition Multiselector?

Something like:
Zen Inquisition: You treat light or heavy crossbows as ki-weapons.

[Stoner81]

silly question, but what does it mean "+3damage with law on your side"

Rough guess would be +3 damage and Lawful DR bypass.

Stoner81.

[Tilomere]

So I have played an inquisitor a bunch, and looked at different builds I could make. My conclusion is that Inquisitor fails to perform on a high end because of its inability to apply debuffs to mobs enabling it to deal high levels of damage.

First, inquisitor attacks slower with a worse crit profile. TWF hits up to 7x a second, with knights training longswords or khopesh starting at 19-20x3, while hand crossbows attack 5-6x a second, with 19-20x2, causing inquisitor to deal inherently less damage, which is fine because inquisitor is ranged.

When I look at how a high level twf melee like a tempest or assassin deals damage, they first dire charge in which doubles damage due to helpless. Pin and Whistler twist gives some of this back, but cause ranged to drop further behind.

Then the melee applies vulnerability from aasimar if their weapon doesn't have it, dust from offhand, and sometimes melted/LGS ooze main hand like pain and suffering, doubling damage again from PRR debuffs and vulnerability. Inquisitor has no weapons that apply this that allow sentience, and deal half damage of melee due to a lack of debuffs here.

The net result in the inequality in applying debuffs means that ranged, and to a lesser extent THF which at least get Aasimar vulnerability will never be competitive for dps. You will never allow them double dps without these debuffs, or else they would faceroll 1-25 content where these debuffs don't exist.

The only conclusion I can draw would be to move damage % debuffs off of weapons where TWF will dominate with them and to give them to support classes like bard, cleric, or favored soul. For high level play, inquisitive like all other ranged is dead on arrival.

I tried to do high damage on an inquisitor, and was swapping between LGS Dust and Volley for debuffs, but it wasn't good gameplay, and just made me realize I should be playing a twf melee instead of jumping through hoops.

[Bunker]

So I have played an inquisitor a bunch, and looked at different builds I could make. My conclusion is that Inquisitor fails to perform on a high end because of its inability to apply debuffs to mobs enabling it to deal high levels of damage.

First, inquisitor attacks slower with a worse crit profile. TWF hits up to 7x a second, with knights training longswords or khopesh starting at 19-20x3, while hand crossbows attack 5-6x a second, with 19-20x2, causing inquisitor to deal inherently less damage, which is fine because inquisitor is ranged.

When I look at how a high level twf melee like a tempest or assassin deals damage, they first dire charge in which doubles damage due to helpless. Pin and Whistler twist gives some of this back, but cause ranged to drop further behind.

Then the melee applies vulnerability from aasimar if their weapon doesn't have it, dust from offhand, and sometimes melted/LGS ooze main hand like pain and suffering, doubling damage again from PRR debuffs and vulnerability. Inquisitor has no weapons that apply this that allow sentience, and deal half damage of melee due to a lack of debuffs here.

The net result in the inequality in applying debuffs means that ranged, and to a lesser extent THF which at least get Aasimar vulnerability will never be competitive for dps. You will never allow them double dps without these debuffs, or else they would faceroll 1-25 content where these debuffs don't exist.

The only conclusion I can draw would be to move damage % debuffs off of weapons where TWF will dominate with them and to give them to support classes like bard, cleric, or favored soul. For high level play, inquisitive like all other ranged is dead on arrival.

I tried to do high damage on an inquisitor, and was swapping between LGS Dust and Volley for debuffs, but it wasn't good gameplay, and just made me realize I should be playing a twf melee instead of jumping through hoops.

Your conclusion you wrote up does not appear to be about Inquisitive. It is a write-up comparing ranged vs. melee.

[Ziindarax]

This tree is excessively fun - I'm really loving it- even moreso than playing battle engineer as far as crossbows go

I really love the added defenses, the capstone, and using two different diplo cooldowns to bolster both defense and offense is suppper nice.

Arresting assault is fantastic for soloing, and I'm imagining it is also fantastic for saving parties in coordinated groups - which I'm assuming will happen a lot since you'll almost never have agro. I think I might actually roll a half elf on my inquisitor life to make abso-freakin-lutely sure it lands reliably (that or make up for going with pure Arti and only getting half diplo ranks...)

While arti is an obvious choice - you can stack T4 BE 10% doubleshot and T5 Inq 10% doubleshot, +10 more RP when you have Endless, the only thing you miss out on from going 41 inquisitor vs arti is +2 INT, Thundershock, .5W, 10% extra movespeed, and universal spell power - I also feel like Mechanic would be good, but also like adding spellsword to Wizzy or Sorc for some decent supplementary, or even primary, damage.


I dunno, this tree is just really fun to play. I found it quite smooth and feels really nice - the damage and defenses are pretty great. It is a compelling alternative and/or compliment to both battle engineer and mechanic, and should provide a great ranged option to just about any class.

Really well done!

This tree is amazingly potent, especially with Spellsword from Wizard. The reason I say wizard is because they use intelligence for their spells, and with harper... it's a nice synergy...

I could use sorc with my build since I use intelligence for hit/damage, spellsight, and traps. 15 wizard, 3 fighter, 2 artificer Warforged - the build (with full-on optimal gearing by end-game) is able to find and disarm traps reliably even on Legendary Elite, and he deals a ton of damage with both rune arm and crossbows... Furthermore, with the build being spec'ed into using scrolls/wands to maximum effect (as well as having high umd), the character is able to use all scrolls without fail - in short, I've finally found a sweet "omni-build".