Torm51

I always found strange the Darcozzi, from a RP point of view.Because, well, I understand their roles as House protectors, sworn swords, etc; I can even relate them to some orders in other fantasy worlds. But... well, you know nothing about the Darcozzi Family (at least in the beggining); two lines in your order description. So it's really hard to picture your motivation, goals, etc; because you're not following some ideal, like the other orders; you're basically a thug for a family you don't know. It would be nice if they told more about them, like... if you create a Darkozzi Paladin, you start the game with a book in your inventory explaining the history of the family. I hear you. Like you said though they are Guards of that house and the Old Valian Culture (An empire that is no more). The other orders also are a bit fague other then Kind Wayfarers or Goldpact Knights. What would a Shieldbearer be doing in the Dyrwood? from their description they sound like a Military/Diplomatic arm of the Aedyr government like the Jedi are for the Republic in Star Wars. The lore has not been hashed out as much yet (I think its a good thing) so I usually make up some type of mission I was suppose to be on for my order in the Dyrwood. I happened to be on that Caravan and now well I have to save my own soul. I am useless to my order if I am going through some type of soul issue and I go crazy. So for Darcozzi the family that they are sworn to seem a bit like The Doemenals but since their Favored Disposition is Clever and Aggressive and their Disfavored is Cruel and Stoic..I would say that the family they fight for although likely value monitory gain (like the Domenels ) they still value life and culture and would not have you slice the throats of innocents for their gain. That's just what I think lol A rogueish attitude type Paladin if that makes any sense.

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Dude I literally laughed out loud and really really like your ideas for the Exhortations although I doubt they will implement them. Being a high Int Paladin with short duration no suppress 100% debuffs would be ridiculously good and would make Int a "Highly Recommended" at character creation lol. I would always grab ZF or ZE depending on the build but this time around I went with Zealous Charge. I know its not useful in every scenario but since I am running double Paladin and have ZF I think charge gives me flexibility as I can disengage and run with my party should things go south. I have also dodged large one hit abilities with it as I go out of range...my defense is high so I laugh of disengagement from even the biggest bad guys. Also clear rooms with a Cipher using "Mind Lazors" zealous charge helps with that.

It is definitely not the ONLY way to play a Wizard but one that I really like. On top of that if you use the Essential Phantom after you have alacrity, and blights the phantom will mimic you and contribute to the auto attack madness.

As for Righteous Soul that's like saying having a nuclear arsenal isn't useful because no one targets you with nukes. Having that defense in itself is useful even if the deterrent is the effect. My Paladin is a front liner and I need him to be engaged. Not getting targeted by a Will spell because of my high defense to those attacks is useful. I can also lead the attack with him and force mind control mobs to use it on him. Also Terror Auras from Dragons REALLY SUCK having those graze me or miss me outright is very useful. Lastly, poison can be annoying and it helps a lot against it. Damn spiders. I swear by Righteous Soul lol I have heard the priest argument A LOT and I see what you are saying but cant totally agree. It sounds good on paper what you are saying but when playing its a different story. The priest has to actually cast those spells. Not a huge problem but he has other game changing buffs (Circle of Protection, Crowns of the Faithful , Devotions of the Faithful) he could be casting while the Paladin starts with those buffs as a Modal and the intial attacks (which can be huge) have the buff like Zealous Focus and Zealous Endurance...the first attack against the hardest bosses in the game can be huge if its a CC etc. Lastly, the Paladin auras hav the secondary effect of turning some grazes into hits (useful) and some enemy hits into grazes (useful). Lastly, what do you guys think of Deprive the Unworthy. Its limited I know and ya turns Thaos into a Xaurip (no will save against it...bug? they know about it so it might be intended) and now that mobs use a lot more abilities...I see its a bit more useful. I hear you on the haste but like you said I don't have a druid that being said I might use one so maybe haste is out. Narrowed down to what Dubya said maybe mor Deflection for tanks, Liberating Ehort (might be overkill as Pallegina and has it and Durance is in the group)..or I might just take Sworn Enemy I have good Alphas strikes with FoD and a high damage weapon could be the difference in burning down a Dragon boss while she is in that 8 second CC.

They remind me of Jedi Consulars in Kotor where its recommended for "expert" players as they are weak and limited in the early game but crushers of souls in the late game. Like I love martial classes (Paladin and Fighter are my favorite) but in a group fight Wizards are just way more powerful late game.

the Blasts come from using Implements (Rod, Scepter or Wand) it hits an enemy with the projectile and anything in a small aoe radius takes splash damage with a -5DR. The only class that is really good with implements is a Wizard. And its only REALLY good if you spec into Kalkoth's Blights (level 3 spell) which summons a WAND as your weapon that randomly throws different elements as damage instead of crush/pierce. Since Kalkoth's Blights is a WAND spec Weapon Focus Adventurer on top of Marksman (which applies to wands) with the level 3 Alacrity spell will grant you an auto attack machine that hits extremely hard with wands on top of all the CC Wizards get. Late game Wizards are monsters.

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agreed

Funny Goldpact Knight is my usual order as well. But I am doing my first Kind Wayfarer. Second most used order are the Shieldbearers.

So my 2 main damage dealers are a ranger with Vicous Aim and a Warbow, and Eder specced for damage with Estocs and Pollaxe's..both of them hit hard but don't have fast attack speed because of their modals and heavy armor respectively (although the -15% recovery in heavy armor talent helps Eder a lot). Aloth is my CC/Debuff guy..he does have a damage gromiore but that's his main job. Then I have Durance for buffs, My self and Paleginna as sturdy frontliners with ok DPS and great survivability. Could probably sub Pallegina for a better damage dealer like a Barbarian but I like the 2 auras and 2 LoH. Anyway this party doesn't seem like it would really benefit Hastening Exhort to the Max because of the Heavy Armor and Vicous Aim modal. Aloth also has the speed buff spell so it wont stack What do you think? at 11 I am taking Righteous Soul so I am trying to see what to get at 9 that benefits my party. I have LoH, FoD, Zealous Charge (I know unorthodox but I really like the flexibility it gives my frontline with movement and disengagement at will. Pallegina covers ZF. I also kite mobs that have poison hate the raw damage they do this helps me limit it), Reviving Exhortation, level 9?? , Righteous Soul and at 13 I am not sure either Immolation or the Healing chain. I was thinking of grabbing Sworn Enemy at 9. Helps my average accuracy Frontline Paladin and bumps his damage quite a bit. Can really help the party by burning an enemy that needs to go down fast. or once big bosses are CCed helping kill them off. I could also take Reinforcing Exhortation to help Pallegina have extra Deflection..Although she has cautious attack. prior to 2.0 an ally with cautious attack that had reinforcing exhortation only netted +15 Def not +25. If you didn't have the modal on it gave you the full +25. Still +15 for your other tank against bosses is significant. Lastly, I could take Liberating Exhortation but Pallegina has it and I have Durance for when we really need to stop those really bad dots like Plague of Insects and Blind/Paralyze/Deep Wounds (its not working 100% on prone/petrify as it takes a few seconds to kick in confirmed bug and they acknowledged it on the support forums). I am also not a Darcozzi so I cant spec it for +10 ACC... Sorry for the spam bud but I like your ideas so I wanted to collaborate! hah

So FoD is giving my Paladins +20 accuracy but to their BASE accuracy not their accuracy when it is buffed by Zealous Focus and Holy Radiance is this intended? if so it should be on the tool tip. Pics here 68 accuracy https://www.dropbox.com/s/k2maxdqe5u8tsc5/Screenshot%202015-09-14%2018.31.31.png?dl=0 My buffed accuracy is 54: pics below https://www.dropbox.com/s/gd63bu9vo7qnqp3/Screenshot%202015-09-14%2018.31.26.png?dl=0 My tanks base accuracy is 48 so 68 makes sense. Saved game https://www.dropbox.com/s/9ou32kuqat9mpp6/636d2b0de18d44ae8f478bd6f1860a37%2010803397%20DracogenInn.savegame?dl=0

Looks like my Goldpact Knight hired guard is buffing the enemy with Inspiring Triumph after he kills someone! What a traitor! https://www.dropbox.com/s/kgsirazhz74jdk0/Screenshot%202015-09-15%2008.40.39.png?dl=0 The buff also buffs the allied guards just not the players party. Its a small bug you probably spend less then 1% of the time fighting there if ever. I always defend my keep personally!

Exactly. So at a base of 5 deflection and 10 fort, will and reflex a Shieldbearer would gain +1 deflection for each point of honesty (max 3) and +2 to Fort, will and reflex since Honest is a favored disposition. Since Cruel is disfavored for a Shieldbearer and hes got 1 point he would also have a -1 Deflection and -2 fort will and reflex (max 3) for a total of +2 Deflection and +4 to Fort, will and Reflex. Since your base is 5 /10/10/10 your total defense bonus from faith and conviction will be +7 Deflection and + 14 to Fort, Reflex and Will

Also Frenzy works after you are Hit once, are adjacent to an enemy or if Party AI is turned on and you tell it to use it. It sucks but there are work arounds.

Faith and Conviction does not give a bonus to Accuracy. If you click on it in game in your character sheet it will tell you what it does. It is a DEFENSIVE bonus to your Deflection, Fortitude, Reflex and Will. Like Tennis said the more Dispositions you get in conversations with your CHOSEN ORDER the better these defenses get. The highest you can attain is SIX ranks for the 2 favored disposition with your chosen order. If you get ranks in the DISFAVORED dispositions of your order you will get a NEGATIVE in all four defenses UNLESS you take the talent UNTROUBLED FAITH. Also at character creation and in your character sheet it tells you what your orders favored and disfavored dispositions are. Lastly, The faith and conviction bonuses are combat only so they will buff you with the proper defenses as soon as combat starts. The highest total you can get with 3/3 in each favored disposition is 11 Deflections and +22 to Fort, Reflex and Will. If you spec into Deep Faith you can further increase these defenses by +2 Def and +5 Fort, Reflex and Will for a total of (if 3/3 in favored disposition) +13 deflection and +27 Fort, Reflex and Will. This is why Paladins either make great tanks or good tanks if they are offensively specced.

correct

That's a good balance tennis. Personally I like the int for a support paladin that tanks. Big Auras and Long last LoH and Exhortations so I usually do a 14 Con, 16 Int, 16 Res and a 12 Might but I lose out on 3 Deflection. I have one piece of gear with Resolve gets me to 18 for Diologue. I bet if we specced them exactly the same the results would be similar. Its fine. One could argue that obsidian has really balanced the stats for a paladin well and building a better paladin then that isnt possible. Id probably prefer less in intellect and more in constitution to make the best tank possible but the difference is really small tbh and something has to be sacrificed. My favorite current stats are Mig 11 Con 18 Dex 10 Per 10 Int 10 Res 19 I also really like changing MIG and Con for eachother if i want more offense and healing. I say high resolve for a tank paladin and best race is moon. The rest is all fluff. I wouldnt lower two stats of the same defense though (low per and dex) And even maxing resolve for a tank i mean a high resolve is nice but 15 or 18 at level 14 doesnt mean that much. I kind off like having 2 high stats for rp reasons aswell. For example the mighty paladin with iron resolve. Fits nice

I appreciate the help guys!

I'm not sure what other people do, but I just use a max ranged ranger to pull using wounded shot, works relatively work. For larger groups, the chill fog and hobble aoes are pre cast between enemy and the ranger out of line of sight. The wizard's rolling fire and lightning is also great at pulling, because it'll keep on going past the line of sight. Sometimes way too far and hit something it wasn't intended to hit. Early on when the casters had few per rest abilities, I had everyone do the ranged run and gun strategy. They would run the mobs around in a big circle or wait until they de aggroed due to los/range, and then keep hitting them with ranged dps. It's also nice for pulling the faster casters forward while the slower big enemies got delayed. It's much easier to pull now in 2.0 at level 9-11 though, because of more classes and powers to choose from. Ranger was pretty broken back when I first tried kiting tricks, and that didn't help. I try to keep the ranger's pet out of the first line because I need that one alive to get the ranger to do the extra damage with the pet thing. Now that Itumaak has something like 20-24 DR at higher levels, he can absorb quite some damage, if paladin or aoe heals are available. Which they will be. But if your party has no speed buffs, I think itumaak has a natural move speed buff on so that might be useful. The move speed and move speed debuff spells are very important because in 2.0 I think enemies will never pull out of aggro range if they see you or if they see an enemy (ally) you are shooting. So the only way to stop them from catching up and de aggro is to run faster than they do. Not a problem in open field fights that you've explored, but might be a problem in those dungeons. I don't rely on any single strategy, so that's why my party is more balanced and not 1 chanter + 5 rangers, which is the orthodox run and gun strategy. "Is that decent or should i maybe not put RES so high at the start and put a few more points in CON or MIG? Maybe a smatter in DEX or something? Is DEX worth anything to a pally? I'm also wondering if this is like KOTOR and some other games where it takes more points to raise your stats once they get higher ... i.e. i would have to spend like 2 or 3 points to get it to 19 once in game. " If you don't want to min max, then having 10-12 stats around looks good. I prefer the perception dialogue options over the resolve for most of the Pillars crit/sub quest paths though. So that's why I picked a cipher, because perception was supposed to give 1 accuracy per point, then they changed it to deflection... and so on. Dex is useful to everyone but less so to slow moving plates of armor with a big gun on top. And normally for dex builds, you want a lot of dex, like +5 points of difference to see a noticeable change in 30s battles. Might is more important to a paladin because of damage+heals. And no, they don't use the DnD point distribution system like in KOTOR. This is a pure point for point attribute system. With disposition role play for a main paladin, you can get 3/3 points of disposition for your two favored. Which ends up being... 6 deflection and 12 defenses to the rest? I think. So 18 resolve gives 1 deflection per point above 10, but the concentration bonus is really good if you are say, trying to cast exhortations or lay on hands on somebody and you're still getting hit. The concentration reduces the chances that you'll be setback in your action for .25 or .5 or 1.0 seconds depending on the enemy attack strength. Resolve is also probably very paladin like in its role playing dialogue too. More so than passionate and aggressive I thought. Full faith and conviction buffs 3/3 is a total of 11 deflection and +22 Fort, Dex and Will. If you get Deep Faith its +13 Deflection and +27 Fort, Reflex and Will,

Agreed. I still think its an RPG players or RPG. there are most definitely screw ups that need fixing like this one but "as bad as EA" is a bit harsh. Keeping the bread bumped this should be fixed.

Ya I agree that Paladin will never be the best damage dealer but why would the class be? Its too good defensively and support wise. If it did damage like a monk or barb there would be ZERO reason to play those classes. They do not have the support or defense of a Paladin. Monk has good defense but not quite a Paladins. I am talking about COMPETENT Alpha strikes to help the team and not be totally useless offensively. Thanks for the help guys. On top of the fact that I have had Paladins that are pure damage oriented and don't out dps heavy hitters but they are not far behind and they do not fold like a stack of cards when enemy looks at them. Looking at you rogues.

Well I just mean they are working on a lot so it might take time. Trying to be realistic. And yes although the game has had bugs (like every RPG I can think of) it has not been terribly bad at all...other then 2.01. That's my opinion of course. Anyway just keep the thread bumped and they will come by. Bump