Lasci

Killing the bear at level 2 doesn't make a build "super powerful" and barely says anything about how well it does in later portions of the game.

I start with Mind Blades, because I have full focus at the start of every fight--I only have to gain focus after I've spent some. Is this not normal? My level 9 Grieving Mother starts at 55 Focus and I've seen her get as high as 110. To be fair, she has Greater Focus, but unless the tooltip is insanely wrong, that should only add +10 to the maximum.

There's a week's work of quality build information if you actually tried to searched through the forum. Ciphers don't have a lot of endurance, so you want to be ranged. You want maxed out might, along with good intelligence and dexterity. You want to start every fight off with a blunderbuss shot to gain focus before taking out a bow and keeping to the back while casting spells. Biting whip is very good.

I skimmed this thread again and it feels like there's a lot of staggering misinformation. If you want to play a paladin for roleplaying purposes, just do it. Even in PotD, you do not need an optimal build in order to survive. Paladins are a supportive class. They tank well and they do damage well, but they're by and far outclassed by others. However, they have a lot of abilities that can help your allies a great deal. They can help increase accuracy, deflection, defenses, etc. etc. depending on what abilities you choose and which aura you go with. If you want a DEFENSIVE paladin, Wayfarers, Goldpact, and Shieldbearers are both good choices. Orlan is good if you want to maximize your resolve and perception for deflection. You want constitution, resolve, and perception. You want to pick up weapon and shield style, along with Hold the Line. If you want an OFFENSIVE paladin, Bleak Walkers or Darcozzi are good choices. Aumaua, dwarves, and humans are good if you want to max your might. You want might and dexterity and enough constitution to survive. You want to pick up two-handed style and any of the offensive talents that appeal to you. Paladins generally don't want to reduce their intelligence. This legitimately isn't hard. You don't need to follow a specific build path to excel. Hybrids aren't the best at this game, but that doesn't make them bad under any circumstances. You can play a paladin who is tanky but still does damage if you mix and match your stats.

I'm thinking of going with a two-hander actually. That would work too.

A Hearth Orlan with maxed out resolve and perception and a fair amount of constitution is all you need to tank. If you're going with Shieldbearer, you absolutely need to pick up Shield of Flames, which gives everyone a deflection bonus. For tanking, you want to make sure that your paladin is the first to walk into the enemy so that they target him immediately. You may want to get Hold the Lines so that you have an easier time of it. It's also a good idea to pick up Eder so that he can help you tank on the side; with his help, it should be very difficult for your enemies to get past you and into your back line. Otherwise, make sure you pick up weapon and shield style if you're going to be using a shield. You might be able to get away with lighter armor because your deflection is going to be so damn high.

As above, the Fighter, Mage, and Priest are all available quite early. The Paladin, Druid, and Cipher are found the latest, though it's fairly reasonable to get them within the first couple hours of playing if you know where they are. That said, there is no Rogue, Monk, or Barbarian NPC -- so if you're looking for the full NPC experience, I would highly recommend making one of those.

Nice. "Frightened" status also reduces accuracy by 10 and resolve (deflection) and reflex by 2.

Are you playing on PotD? This game isn't that hard. There isn't much to "optimization," like I said above. You shouldn't need a step-by-step guide. Chants don't stack. They're unique effects. Therefore, you definitely don't want more than one chanter. Your stats are fine as long as you understand that you're going to get destroyed at any point that an enemy comes to get you. It's worth noting that Chanters also serve as good off-tanks, because they don't really need to be doing anything quickly -- chants aren't effected by speed or dexterity, so wearing a shield and heavy armor allows you to be tanky while still doing everything a chanter wants to do. That said, it's perfectly reasonable for a chanter to stick to the back lines and fire off a bow. Talent-wise, Ancient Memory is always good -- it provides a heal while chanting. Benevolent Spirits might not be worth it after the patch, but to be honest I'm not sure what else you'd take. Weapon focus isn't great, in my opinion, especially not on a Chanter. +6 accuracy is only good early, but unless you find a really good weapon that you're convinced you'd stay with, it pigeon holes you into a specific ranged weapon -- and you might find later that you don't like using that ranged weapon. Marksman, Precision Shot, and Gunner are good if you're going to be ranged. There's an argument to be made for Graceful Retreat if you find your Chanter being attacked constantly. Outside of those, it doesn't really matter what else you take. First level phrases kinda suck, but they're all fast -- meaning you can fire off your invocations quickly. In fact, most phrases are bad until might higher levels. Invocations are were Chanters shine. The endurance draining chant and the one that increases fortitude and will are both good enough, though. At second level, you absolutely need to pick up the chant that increases reload time and ranged attack speed. I would probably also pick up the frightened phrase. Level three phrases make things interesting. These take a long time to chant, but they have incredible effects. Take any of these -- they all have their uses in every situation, other than perhaps the one that protects against prone. In terms of invocations, all of the summoning ones are good early. At level one, the invocation that reduces enemy DR and the one that stuns are both good -- but they're cones, so they need to be used at close range. At level two, with an intelligence as high as your chanter's, the paralyze or charm invocation is essential. After that, pick whatever you want. A summon would do. Level three invocations are insane. It's hard to just choose one. If you don't have a paladin with Reviving Exhortation, the reviving invocation might be a good choice if you're having troubles dying in combat. But that's a bit of a waste. In long, difficult 'boss' fighters or large mobs of powerful enemies on harder difficulties, you're going to want to use fast, low-level phrases so that you can positively effect the battlefield with an invocation. For more generic 'trash mob' fights, you're going to want to stick with your longer, more powerful phrases because combat isn't going to be over fast enough for your invocations to matter when they're finally available.

Curious. It doesn't say it's versus any particular defense. Can anyone confirm if it just automatically happens?

There's a guy that commented in a Reddit thread a few days ago that claimed he had gotten to level 9 in Act 2(?) before dying because he took on soemthing he shouldn't (PotD+Ironman). Search for the thread, he laid, I believe, a complete build out. With regards to Fighter soloing, if you're on PotD, you need to get past the phantoms etc. in Stronghold then we can talk about Edge of Reason, no? Was this with a barbarian or a druid? Edge of Reason is in the stronghold? I have no idea where it is. <.<;

Paladin is a supportive hybrid, not too dissimilar to the Chanter. They aren't meant to be the best tanks or the best damage dealers, but a combination of both that can also provide some supportive auras and abilities. I think it'd do a lot of good for her abilities to naturally scale as she leveled up. Lay on Hands is very lackluster later on, especially compared to... just about any spell-based healing other classes get. It needs more uses per encounter or a higher output. Similarly, Flames of Devotion could use an accuracy boost. Paladins get a lot of good buff spells (all of which can be used before battle, I think) at later levels. I just feel like their two staples (LoH and FoD) need to scale better and the paladins will be just fine. Also, I'm not particularly excited about either of the 'when a paladin slays an enemy' abilities; I shouldn't have to micromanage my DPS to move away from a near-dead enemy so that I can use a paladin ability.

If you're going to allow your deflection to suffer, you need to wear heavier armor to reduce the damage you're taking. Otherwise you're just going to be getting hit constantly and your endurance is going to plummet in higher difficulties. Be an aumaua for higher might, or some other race for their racial ability if you so choose.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. People are talking about purely min/maxed builds. Even if you're on PotD, optimizing things isn't necessary. The way that the game is designed, however, typically favors characters that focus purely on offense or defense instead of a hybrid of both. That doesn't mean you can't build a hybrid and be effective, though.

Your attributes also never increase. They're static after character creation, save for what you get from items. Use this to look at all the chants.

I'm convinced barbarian just doesn't have enough defensive staying power to handle this game solo. I could absolutely be wrong, though. I haven't tested it enough. My issue with playing a druid solo is that I have no idea how you're going to charge your spells to do anything.

There's no 'better' -- just different. Like you said, barbarian is a lot more about AoE damage, while the fighter tends to hone in on one target and take it out. The fighter has a lot more utility-based abilities, while the barbarian as more of an 'all in' playstyle. Fighter has more capabilities for being defensive -- if you need to, you can put him in a shield with a weapon in his mastery and some heavy armor and he can tank a hard encounter. A barbarian is almost always going to be sacrificing defense for offense. It's a stylistic choice.

Like I said, there aren't many bad chants. Explore what's best for your team.

Isn't that the idea with a solo game, though? Outlive and outlast the enemy? Because of the way spellcasting works (spell buffs aren't allowed before combat, casting takes a long time for stronger spells, you can be easily interrupted, base duration is usually only ~20 seconds), I'm convinced that a priest or cipher is going to struggle pretty substantially. Fighter, Paladin, and Chanter are all classes that can strive while fighting defensively. Eder might be suboptimal, but the couple times I've come close to actually wiping in a battle, he has always pulled out and saved the day with outright tankiness combined with Oidhreacht. You could also use Gaun's Share from the temple of Eothas. Imagine if you could replace that low damage stiletto with, say, the Edge of Reason battleaxe. Or the sabre Purgatory. I can see a Chanter summoning enough to keep himself from being overwhelmed. And the Paladin has a heal, a potential accuracy buff before combat starts, and a lot of bonuses to defenses. It might be worth taking one of the defense/utility talents that increase defenses against stuns and whatever other statuses are problematic.

I keep staring at Faith and Conviction and feeling like it's significant enough to be worth it. That, along with Liberating Exhortation for debuffs and Lay on Hands for healing... I don't know, maybe it's enough?

That's neat. The Club must hold all the items that you haven't picked up on quests -- or maybe allow for duplicates? Does it allow for two of the same named item? Aru-Brekr (DR10, Preservation, Ranged Deflection Bonus) - found on the Dozen thugs while doing the quest Built to Last for the Crucible Knights. Heldrik's Coat (DR 14, Sturdy, Freeze-Proofed, Exceptional) - Crucible Keep armory Forgemaster's Gloves (Gloves, Burn DR bonus, Minor Spellbind: Firebrand) Shod-in-Faith (Boots, Spell Holding: Consecrated Grounds)

Planning characters isn't hard. Offense = might for damage, dexterity for speed, intelligence for duration and area of effect. Defense = constitution for strength, resolve and perception for deflection. A chanter can literally be or do anything as long as you understand that you need to keep in range of whatever you want your chants to effect. Scroll over the book icon for your chants to see how far their range extends. Chanters are widely accepted as good off-tanks because armor doesn't reduce how fast you chant and you're essentially waiting for that big invocation that's going to affect the combat. You're going to want some intelligence at the very least. Spread stats as you desire otherwise. Most of the chants are worthwhile to use. Summoning is also a good focus. Anything that paralyzes, stuns, knocks down, or otherwise impedes the enemy is good.

I feel like fighter, monk, and paladin are probably the best soloers. I suppose a rogue might be able to pull it off with some shenanigans, but I'm not convinced that one would be able to effectively get through the amount and power of hard mode mobs without something to help set up sneak attacks on a frequent basis. A monk can pretty seamlessly transition from tanking to doing damage based on the armor its wearing. And because you don't have to worry about companions, it should be pretty easy to have several armor sets for different needs throughout the game. Fighter and paladin both seem just as good at balancing offense and defense. What's the biggest obstacle for soloing? I assume it's being stunned by enemies rather than being killed outright while functioning fully, right? It might be good if started collecting a running list of good equipment to pick up early and where it's at. I know Oidhreacht -- the stiletto with draining -- is obtainable on the first level of Oda Nua. Does anybody know where the Spiderfingers gloves are obtained? My Eder is wearing them -- they give 3/rest of heal light endurance. I want to say they're in the ogre's cave, but I could absolutely be wrong. What about the helm, Pilgrim's Lasting Vigil? It's +1 to resolve and perception, so +2 deflection essentially. Where's the soonest you can get a +5 deflection and +5 saves ring? The soonest you can get an item with Mechanics on it? What's the fastest you can get a fine weapon, and what is it? Rushing to Defiance Bay with a thousand gold can get you Serel's ring, which is +2 resolve. Backers (Preorders?) get Gaun's Pledge, which has to be useful for healing.

Ship's sailed for me. 2cuties amirite?

What about it? It's a good, free heal 1/encounter.