Do Not Sleep On The Hat of Storm Scion's Power in Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 6

[@thestarhopper]

something i found out was that if you use the spineshudder amulet (dealing 2 turns of reverberation when hitting an enemy with a ranged spell attack) with late-game eldritch blast, you can hit all three on one enemy which gives 6 stacks of reverberation and instantly deals the thunder damage. if you combine that with phalar aluve you could potentially get four stacks of arcane acuity per turn, and it wouldn't require any multiclassing, just a martial class companion to have phalar aluve equipped (or you could just equip it yourself if you were an elf and had proficiency).

[@CasualVeteranGamer]

Nice find, and thanks for sharing! That makes the hat even more useful than what I showed.

[@SlenterendeBeer]

I don't think you need proficiency with longswords to activate the shrieking melody!

[@lendial]

Great find, I was struggling to figure out how to use this other than the drakeglaive buff.

[@RazielTheUnborn]

There is the amulet in Sharess Caress at the bartender that makes the drunk status last 5 turns instead of 2 and it also heals for 2d4 while drunk. Karlach made good use of being sauced as a wildheart barbarian with tiger heart and reverb gear. People couldn't get off the floor from maim + prone.

[@user-wv8yk3xu4h]

Nice. The secret is finally out. Here are my favorite uses for it: - Phalar Aluve at close range, shriek activated and magic missile cast. Bonus points for having reverberation gear equipped. - Dual wielding Nyrulna on the left hand, with tavern brawler. Throw Nyrulna, and when it comes back to the left hand, close in and bonus action attack with it. Perfect build for a dual wielding druid like Jaheira. -Punch drunk bastard on a drunk build, with reverberation gear on. I haven't tested this recently, so i don't know if the pdb AoE thunder damage causes multiple instances of Arcane Acuity. Probably not, I'll have to test it.

[@CasualVeteranGamer]

Thanks for sharing! Getting more uses out of Nyrulna is always music to my ears! The Thunder damage of the AoE from the punch drunk bastard doesn't cause more than one instance of Arcane Acuity, it's something I tested while researching this video.

[@travishartzler9155]

I would enjoy more deep dives into specific items. For most builds I have favorites for each slot, and probably sleeping on a lot of good options.

[@briandhackney]

I did enjoy that deeper dive into one item!

[@user-vv1sf1ow3n]

Another funny interaction - when you use Eagleheart barbarian's Eagle Dive (or w/e its called, that cool leap plunge attack) it also counts as a jump and procs Hammarhraft.

[@brendanguymer3885]

Can you make more videos of underrated gear and weapons? Such as the Unseen Menace. I think that would be a cool series

[@CasualVeteranGamer]

If I think I can make a video out of a particular item then I will certainly do so!

[@CMiY0]

Unseen menace is not underrated. It’s pretty much the go to two handed weapon til you reach halberd of vigilance.

[@brendanguymer3885]

@@CMiY0 I’ve never seen anyone use it over the Everburn blade or Sword of justice. For people who don’t know DnD, it seems useless. A video series explaining how confusing tooltip items (for beginners) are actually really good would be cool

[@CMiY0]

@@brendanguymer3885 I guess when you put it that way it is underrated for the normal players. Usually the people who lookup builds or stuff online get recommended unseen menace over those because it’s just flat out better. I was thinking in that frame of context.

[@liberalideas8224]

There certainly has been one mechanic I have been attempting to theroy craft builds around for a while, but havent got anywhere: Heat. I does sound flavorful as it gets, but at the end of it, all I can seem to do it add a tiny bit extra damage to one attack at the expense of taking damage, possibly for several turns.

[@temperspace]

Ive been trying it on a pact of the blade sorlock and using the thermodynamo axe and arcane acuity hat but for fire damage. So far my impressions have been mixed but hurling fireballs just feels great

[@CasualVeteranGamer]

I've actually got a video ready that will come out soon about using Heat. It's not really all that useful at the end of the day since the number of stacks is limited to 7.

[@rm2569]

Also, the amulet of the drunkard increases drunk duration from 2 to 5 rounds, basically enough for almost any combat in the game. Combne that with something like gloves of belligerent skies and callows glow ring and you're both raising your save dc and lowering the enemies. Might be a better a combo on a different character than the one with the hat. One character gets reverb and mental inhibition high enough to lower enemy saving throws (might need to shuffle gear around or have two different characters do it), while a caster with flight gets high arcane acuity and i think you honestly could guarantee a sucessful spell even against enemies with legendary resistance.

[@CasualVeteranGamer]

The gloves of belligerent skies, callous glow ring and boots of stormy clamour are such great debuff items! It feels pretty good knowing that your spells are going to work pretty much no matter what.

[@jamesgaiser8509]

I would defiantly love to see more videos like this form you. Even if its not an item that I would use, I think this is a great way to learn about how the systems interact with each other in general. That is why I LOVED the sub class ranking series. I learned a lot of things apart from just what the sub classes do.

[@itme7685]

I was using this on my dark urge Githyanki pact of the blade great old one warlock. Halberd of vigilance, drakethroat glaive gave it thunder damage, and strange conduit ring. Detect thoughts gives me a free concentration spell no matter when and I had it anyway. I might have had something else too I forget. I just stumbled on it because I wasn’t sure what to give her and all the reverberation stuff looked good. So, I stacked it on. I realized if I switch my equipment it will likely change. I’ve moved on to try honor mode though and that’s my focus for now with a different character.

[@nakkila33]

I quite distinctly remember abusing Shrieking sword + Magic missile with this but it doesn't seem to work as of today, at least not in tactician. Drakethroat glaive + Arrow of many targets seems to be the way to go then. I just played a run with an archer and the arrows are cheap and plentiful enough in shops if you're actively looking for them.

[@JasonBridgman-JAB]

I just use it the same as the Helmet of Arcane Acuity. Any weapon with Thunder damage or buffed with Thunder will make it function the same, and it isn't light armour like the Helmet. Plus you can get some bonus acuity from Thunder spells which you can't get from the Helmet. So it is standard for me with reverberation builds and the Gloves of the Belligerent Skies since they will want to be doing Thunder damage anyway.

[@CasualVeteranGamer]

You make a good point that the hat doesn't require any armour proficiency to use, which is potentially a benefit.

[@lixnix2018]

That is so broken i Never used it but i will in the Future

[@CasualVeteranGamer]

It just needs a bit more thought into how to get the arcane acuity stacks compared to the other hats, but works more than well enough!

[@SirCharles12357]

You my friend are THE MAN! I've been tinkering with this knowing it had potential . . . but the Flying Hammeraft or the jumping multiclass Hammeraft Monk appears to be the solution! Thank You! I'm thinking a Valor Bard (Yes a Valor Bard!) + Monk would workout well. Valor bards can wield all weapons and have very nice control spells. Monks get Step of the Wind at level 2. So, Bard Monk combos 10/2 or 8/4 or 7/5 or 6/6 would all be viable! Hmmm . . . maybe a Monk Cleric would be better since both use Wisdom say a Tempest Cleric + Monk?

[@CasualVeteranGamer]

One problem with so few levels in monk is that you will only have a few ki points for step of the wind. On the other hand, level 10 is a great level for bards due to their magical secrets! Unless you're a four element monk then wisdom "only" affects your unarmoured defense AC for a monk. Stunning strike uses a weapon action DC, so it uses the highest out of strength or dexterity for the calculation. I think what I'm trying to say is that the spellcaster you combine monk with is really down to personal preference.

[@stephan4921]

It's cool, but using helmet of arcane & fire acuity seems way easier and when do you really need 3 different acuity users in a party? It's an interesting synergy with hamarhraft for sure, but also a bit too silly for me to actually play :D

[@basscheffener1564]

Sooo, phalar magic missle build?

[@VinhKhanhNgo-rr5vx]

Sword bard with drake glaive 🗿

[@CasualVeteranGamer]

For the purposes of showing off the hat, you're damn right I'm going to show any old class with the drakethroat glaive, which can be unequipped after using its ability!

[@Vezgod]

I sleep, not even close to being as reliable as the other 2 hats. I also dont really see the need to have more than 2 acuity focused characters If i wanted another magic user, I would use coldbrim If i really wanted another control mage, i would just slap on the hood of the weave for a constant +2 bonus Nyrulna can make almost any build outstanding, Id argue using it with arcane hat and bhaalist armor far outclasses any use it could have with storm hat Conclusion, Storm hat is underwhelming and has no reasons to be used if the goal is to make the strongest party