KDubya

A monk in heavy plate with a 15+ base constitution is not going to take that much damage and will have a huge health pool. Combine 25+ DR with the Paladin hit>graze aura and some Durgan enchanted armor for additional hit>graze and you can withstand an awful lot of damage. The monk is not going to force you to rest too much. If you have melee heavy party just hold back whomever starts to accrue too much damage for a few seconds at the start of a fight so that the damage gets spread around between several guys. You can even make good use out of field triage with a high con high health character as it is percentage based. A Monk, 2 Paladins, 1-2 Rangers, 1-2 Chanters, and 0-1 Ciphers will make a durable team that will not need to rest except for health and can handle what ever comes in PotD. It is even fairly low micro except for the Cipher.

If you think Fighters are useful you really need to try out a Monk. Pretty much anything is better with a Monk. Same base accuracy, and endurance, 6x instead of 5x health and 5 less deflection. An easily maintained +25% speed buff and a +25% damage lash, spammable knockdown that lasts 3x longer than a fighter, spammable AoE full attacks with +50% crush lash. Getting hit happens all on its own at PotD, you don't need to do anything special The disengagement and movement abilities all get made obsolete by Flagellent's Path at level 11. Heavy armor on a monk works fine. As an added bonus a Monk's fists self upgrade, saving you crafting materials at the cost of not being able to durgan or add a lash. At level 13 Fighters get an attack that debuffs DR and adds +20% damage to one attack - it'd be great at level one but at level 13 it is terrible. At level 13 Monks get too summon two kick ass twins that are great. Some of the hardest fights in the game are against Monks - the drunken Orlan, the bounty in White March. NPC Fighters just take longer to kill but you are never in danger of losing to them.

I'm going to run in PotD the following: Zahua - Juggernaut build Devil of Caroc - sword and board durable rogue build Kana - two handed melee, maybe Thayn's Reach pike for the debuff Pellagina - take her new power, probably two handers and not sure for the PC or the last spot. Was thinking of: 1.) Dual wielding Gold Pact Paladin, Island Aumaua sabres/stillettos/arquebus or Boreal Dwarf two hander with Estocs- this would get me two paladins and all the goodness that comes from that. 2.)Chanter - Drake's Ambassador but work in Stormcaller into the mix maybe - this would get me two chanters and all the goodness that comes from that 3.) Cipher - melee based maybe sword and retaliation shield like Backlash Bedlam or maybe with reach weapon like quarterstaff (the speed one from Endless level 3)

Sking, What are the level break points for being able to upgrade? Before it was level nine entering White March you got the option to upgrade.

Since Deep Wounds resets every time you hit the target what use is a high intellect that merely extends the duration of the DoT? Might controls the damage per tick and Intellect controls the number of ticks. Or is this wrong?

What level do you need to be to upscale Act III? Before I'd go to White March at level nine so that I could upscale the expansion. The first time I stayed Act II until ninth level and that was hard to level that high without starting Act III, had to do a bunch of Od Nua. The second time I started Act III and avoided Od Nua to save it for the soulbound weapon unlocking. Just trying to plot out where and what levels to hit so that I can upscale as much as possible.

Don't forget Mongo - a barbarian that needs to consume vast quantities of beans to power his carnage AoE.

"Watchers? .... We don't need no stinking Watchers" Rodriguez

I'd balance your intellect and resolve so that your Will defense does not decrease. As in go with a 4 intellect and a 16 resolve. Helps for dialogue as well. Rogues do fine with a 4 intellect. With a casita casserole and a +2 item you can chain prone with tall grass. I'd lower Might, you get so many bonuses to damage that might can easily be lowered a few points. Bring con up to 10. Maybe even bring resolve up to 18 I personally really dislike moon godlikes for the cheese, prefer Island Aumaua for the extra weapon set. A set of sabres, a pistol/blunderbuss, and either another pistol or a set of stillettos. You can even have a weapon and shield on switch incase you get in trouble. For the shades I'd go with a single sabre, huge accuracy helps kill the bastards.

You need to be level 9 to upscale White March Part I You can then bounce back and forth between the main quest and White March. Just watchout on doing bounties as they have massive exp and can out level you but they have some sweet loot.

What you might want to do is wait 15 days for WM2 and 3.0 when they'll have "story mode" for a combat-lite type of playthrough. That would allow you to handle whatever you encounter, maybe even learn some tactics to allow future playthoughs to bump up the difficulty.

On hard you can make what you have work. One suggestion is to go with Warbows and then use Stormcaller which is a universal weapon. Warbows have more punch to get through DR. Another is to get Penetrating Shot, your bow's damage will be sucked up by enemy DR. I'd also go with a different race then wood elf. Trying to stay 4 meters away from targets while still keeping them in range is going to be a pain in the ass. Boreal Dwarfs do well with the big +15 accuracy to two of the more common enemy types. This would free up your positioning a lot. Since you will be ranged you can dump Resolve to 3 and use the points elsewhere, a few more in Con to get to 10 might not be bad.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it will be the end game before you get your Durgan steel weapons and armor needed to get to your 100% recovery. Without doing the math I believe that dual wielding fists while wearing plate on PotD that Vulnerable Attack adds to my damage output. Dual wielding Sabres might have different results.

I never tested with lashes active, from looking at your math they appear to make a difference. When I tested I made two identical hired mercs to use as punching bags. I then made two monks and set them to each attack one of the targets, one with vulnerable activated and one without. I'd adjust the targets deflection via abilities and shields until it was right about at accuracy so that critical hits were not part of the test. The combat was all performed out of combat and continued until health loss dropped the target, this took a fair amount of hits to get down so averages would balance out. What I found was that even against 5 DR, vulnerable attack dropped the target faster than not using vulnerable attack. This held true for dual wielding, two handed and even with estocs, more DR penetration always was faster. Since I ran these I always take vulnerable attack on every melee. I was not using any durgan enchanted armor or weapons and for monk testing I used fists.

Blinkicide is right in that the mastery slot will go for a buff type spell. Level one - Eldritch Aim for the perma +15 accuracy or maybe the quarterstaff Level two - The one that gets you the +50 endurance Level three - Either Alacrity for perma haste or maybe the Displaced Image for a perma deflection boost, maybe Blights Level four - Confusion would be powerful as an opening move in every fight The change slightly reduces the power of casters from the current system. They are still way better off than the new crippled Cipher.

Rogues can start with level three Mechanics which saves a huge amount of skill points. Any class can get to level 10 or 11 in Mechanics but to get to 13 or above you need a Rogue. With White March II having a higher level cap the need for a Rogue will increase. I prefer Rogues over Barbarians on PotD. Killing large groups of trash mobs are great for a Barbarian with Carnage but I don't find large groups of trash mobs overly threatening. A rogue, on the other hand, excels with killing one tough mob at a time. Using Tall Grass a Rogue will have +18 accuracy over a Barbarian (base value & Reckless Assault) and a +20% hit to crit rate. A Rogue can and will prone most enemies one at a time while a Barbarian needs some debuffs and/or accuracy buffs to have a chance of getting Carnage prones. Another advantage that Rogues have is more flexible stats. With all of their bonuses to damage a Rogue can easily drop. or at least not have to add, to Might. Also a Rogue can get by fine with only a four intellect (four is the lowest at which you can chain-prone someone with Tall Grass). This frees up a lot of stat points for Dexterity and Perception. A Barbarian wants high Might, Intellect, Perception and Dexterity. With their bonuses to endurance and health a good Con score really adds up but you are starved for points. Dumping Resolve makes a squishy class even squishier and exposes you to being frequently interrupted. You can make a tanky rogue by dumping intellect and adding those points into a maxed Resolve. Add in weapon and shield style, Reckless Assault, and you have a deflection score around 70 - 80. Get a Reinforcing Exhortation and you are over a 100 and can stand in melee pretty well while you flank and spank. Getting engaged does not require you to activate Escape and run away. Devil of Caroc works well with this style.

For me the best healer for the team is a Paladin, even better when you have two Paladins. Add in a Chanter with the AoE revive invocation and you have everything you need. Best of all everything is per encounter so you can use as often as you want. Two Paladins and a Chanter gets me a solid melee frontline, two auras, four LoH, four FoD alpha strikes, four reinforcing exhortations, four liberating exhortations, two AoE Sacred Immolations, Chanter buffs and debuffs such as frighten the enemy, +25% damage lash, AoE fire and slash attack, AoE revive, useful summons. To me a Priest is limited by spells per rest. I tend to hold off on using them and end up with lots of spells left over and a team suffering from health attrition. With Paladins and Chanters being entirely per encounter I have no need to hold back at all and can use every ability every fight.

My advice is to: 1.) Read over the different Paladin Orders, specifically their preferred and prohibited behaviors. These will have a huge effect on your defenses as you either conform or ignore them. Choose an order that you can roleplay. If you can not be cruel and aggressive do not take Bleak Walker, by the same token if you need to steal and lie to get "more stuff" do not choose to be a Kind Wayfarer. 2.) For greater immersion turn off the dialogue descriptions so it does not show you what are aggressive, honest and so forth. You'll need to read and make your own choices. 3.) Pick a race and culture that you like for roleplaying. Stats are not that critical that you need to min max to the extreme, This is true for PotD. Solo play has different requirements. 4.) I'd keep all stats a minimum of ten. That gives you 18 additional points to spread. You can pick three and make them 15, the last three points can be used to make one of the tens a thirteen or one of the fifteens an eighteen.. Might, Perception, Intellect and Resolve are all key abilities. What is more important is what role you want your Paladin to cover. 5.) Choose a weapon style that you like, dual wield for damage, weapon and shield for tanking or two hander for damage and DR penetration. All can be successful, best to go with what fits your image of your Paladin. 6.) Choose a weapon group that appeals to you. The game is well balanced in that most every weapon group is about as powerful as another. If in doubt look at Soldier, Ruffian, Knight or Adventurer. Its a role playing game, better to pick a concept and build for that than try for some sort of munchkin min max. Abilities to get: 1.) Lay on Hands - the best single target heal in the game. It scales with Might, Intellect and level. It even has a talent that will increase it by 50%. 2.) Sacred Immolation - level 13 but it is worth the wait. An AoE heal for your team and an AoE fire attack that burns your foes. Scales with Might and Intellect. 3.) Aura of your choice. All are good. I like to have two paladins on the team and run the DR boost and the accuracy boost at the same time. 4.) Flames of Devotion - great alpha strike ability. Works really well with slow firing heavy hitting ranged weapons like arquebus, since you will only fire once the big damage is what you want. 5.) The rest of the abilities are all good, the choice depends on what you want your Paladin to do Talents to get: 1.) Weapon Focus - choose one you like. +6 accuracy is nice 2.) Paladin class talents are all pretty nice and can enhance what you've already taken as an ability 3.) weapon style - choose one. Also single weapon style works with weapon and shield style. 4.) Scion of Flame - works with Flames of Devotion as well as Sacred Immolation. Paladins are a great class and can do most anything that you want them to, you just need to build for the purpose.

With 3.0 bringing injuries after being KO'd a Barbarian who ends up face down like a drunk chick on prom night every battle is going to require really frequent resting. That to me lends itself to going with reach weapons such as the quarterstaff or pike; have the Barbarian wear a dress (robes) and hide in the second row and attack from safety. Go with Tall Grass and you can carnage prone the crowd.

How deep into Od Nua did you go? You can outlevel the game if you go too deep too soon. In general the game gets easier as you gain levels. Bump it up to hard and then next game go for PotD.

For Defiance Bay I'd go with either the Crucible Knights for the +DR or the Doemenals (not sure on the spelling) for the crit damage. I always avoid the Dozens as their bonus is terrible and they are a bunch of yahoos.

175 defense I think you have the stacking defense bug. I did PotD Galvino's a few times upscaled at like level 10 or 11 and did not encounter any defenses like that. Now I was with a full team but that would not change defenses. I'd make sure you have the latest patch, reload a save from before you went into the cellar and try again making sure not to save or reload.

Here you go: The Angry Greedy Midgets - Show me the money. You are a band of mercs who expect to get paid, nothing personal its just business. Race - Boreal Dwarves #1 - Gold Pact Paladin - balanced stats, extra Might, Per and Res. - Dual wield Sabres (or axes or warhammers for added style points), Heavy armor, LoH, FoD, FoD DoT, zealous endurance, Reinforcing Exhortation, Sacred Immolation, Scion of Flames. This guy is the leader, has good resolve and perception for talking, good alpha strikes, durable. If using Sabres can get dual stillettos with on crit spell effects for added FoD massive accuracy alpha strikes. #2 Darcozzi Paladin - high intellect, balanced stats adjusted as you like. Sword and board using marking weapon and shield that buffs team defenses. This guy is a solid defender and team enhancer. Look at The Forward Observer Build for ideas. Give him the accuracy buffing aura as his area is larger than the first guy's. #3 Juggernaut Monk - Heavy armor, dual fists. Solid defenses and good AoE damage from Torment's and Flagellants. #4 Improved Fighter - otherwise known as a Monk - go with swift strikes, FoA for the big knockdowns 10+ seconds, use TideFall or Blade of the Endless Paths, as light of armor as you can get by with. Balanced stats but favor dexterity for speed. Use as a flanker. #5A Tanky Rogue - dump intellect, max resolve, high dex and perception - one handed weapon and shield - you want durable that can be further buffed with reinforcing exhortation from the Paladin - Or you can go more squishy and use a pike from safety like Tall Grass. #5B Tanky Chanter - main purpose is the +25% fire damage lash chant to make the rest of the team stronger. Again you want durable. If summons aren't your thing go with the big paralyze cone #5C Stormcaller Ranger with a Boar (dwarves don't have pet dogs they have war pigs) - Just so good you want to have on the team. The only squishy but still no per rest abilities. #5 D Cipher - I like reach weapon melee ciphers who are relatively safe in the second row but do big melee damage faster than ranged. Again no per rest spells. Choose two from #5A, B, C and D. Everyone is a boreal dwarf so everyone will get the +15 vs wilders and primordial. They make up a large portion of the enemies and your team will facestomp them. Your team will have two paladin auras, four lay on hands, chanter buffs and two monks, all supported by either a ranger or a cipher. You'll only rest when your health gets too low.

You can upscale White march at level 9, no need to wait for 12. This is my preferred course of action on PotD - adventure until level nine, go to White March and upscale, then do whatever as everything is now as hard as it can get. This way I can bounce back and forth doing whatever quests I want without worrying about out leveling anything.

On PotD you can make paladin's that will be durable and lead the team in damage output. As Boeroer showed you can make a dual wielding axe barbarian that will be effective. You can do both of these while using the story companions who are not min maxed. The key is to learn the mechanics of the game, have your team synergize such that the whole is greater than the parts and if in doubt favor survivability and durability over glass cannons. At the end of the day PoE is a role playing fantasy game, build the character that appeals to you and have fun.