funkyfritter

Deflection is useful, you just can't stack enough of it to reach nigh-immortality. For the same reason riposte is fine as a minor passive bonus, but not consistent enough to build a character around.

A supporting priest is one of the better options you can build with the companion characters, so I've just kept her as that.

With how powerful dual wielding is offhand guns seem great on characters that don't use full attacks. When your mainhand weapon has a powerful unique bonus It's much better to swing it twice as much than alternate with some other weapon. If your pistol comes in handy once in a while or has a bonus of its own, even better.

Buffing two-handed style would definitely be a good starting point, increased damage is an easy stat to come by and 15% winds up being close to nothing. The increased recovery speed or crit conversion other styles offer both scale way better. One buff I'd like to see for 2-handers is some kind of accuracy bonus, particularly early game. Missing when you only swing once every 4-5 seconds feels awful, balance aside I would enjoy playing with slow weapons more if they didn't whiff as often.

I feel like you could do some really cool things with a cipher/ranger. Evasive fire allows you to reposition yourself and build up focus at the same time, so you can quickly reach the back ranks and have something potent ready to go. Ringleader and amplified wave are extremely powerful but relatively short range, so there's plenty of incentive to stay mobile and get up close. You also get to do some cool tricks with your pet, like getting the flanking bonus for beguiler or setting up a perfect ectopsychic echo.

Paladin is extremely versatile and works well with anything, but chanter and barbarian synergize particularly well.