Kaylon

Armor and also shields degrade when you get hit and thus have to be repaired. However weapons degrade only when using normal attacks, not when using abilities. Soulblades (with Soul Annihilation) and monks (with Stunning Surge or Whispers of the Wind) can use weapons without degrading them. Natural/summoned weapons and armors don't degrade - thus a shape shifter can be great choice for melee. Using potions of the Fearsome Brute is also a good way to avoid weapon/armor breaking during long fights. Besides that, using summons to do the tanking for you and spamming hard CCs are other great options to avoid armor degrading. To deal damage you should try to spam mostly abilities/spells or use summoned/natural weapons (Firebrand is another good option).

Scordeo's Edge has better synergy and can trigger Blade Cascade and flurries like crazy. Grave Calling is also a good choice because once you start freezing enemies they become flanked and you get another 25% hit to crit for even more crits.

The most reliable way to obtain Adra Ban is probably farming Belranga's spiderlings with a specialized team. A berseker/priest can use Withdraw on Belranga (and keep her alive) after she summons her spiderlings, while the rest of the team kills them over and over again. I think there's 1-2% chance for a spiderling to drop Adra Ban, but in theory you can kill as many as you want...

Not really, these buffs have pretty short durations and you will have a hard time to keep them up (also casting can be easily be interrupted in melee). Melee builds, in general, are simple to play and maybe don't have much variety, but they also require tactics and careful planning to overcome harder battles. If you look for more melee variety you should play a Forbidden Fist - many different play styles and unlimited resources.

I don't see much synergy for this combo and I doubt you will go very far solo, especially on potd. Melees and casters are opposites and you can't play both well. Without very high AR and some sort of healing you won't be able to tank effectively, neither you or your pet. For solo melee I would consider to pair the stalker with a paladin (kind wayfarer or steel garrote) or a monk (FF or nalpazka). If you want to play a cipher ranger solo it's better to consider a ranged dps version using the pet as a distraction and lots of CC and kiting.

Yes, trickster/unbroken with Guardian Stance and equipped with One Dozen Stood, Magran's Blessing (with modal), Magran's Favor (with modal) can be very effective. The modal of a medium shield ensures at least 30% misses vs any enemy, your ripostes/disengagement attacks will be full attacks and the damage shield hits get all the rogue bonuses. Another nice one is forbidden fist/trickster who can spam FF while getting free ripostes, disengagement attacks, damage shield hits which can trigger further flurry/heartbeat drumming attacks (however you need Champion's Boon/Tactical meld if you want to deal with multiple targets). Devoted works best with monk for a crit build triggering many cleaving/flurry attacks (with fists as a very strong back up weapon). Later you can add the Left Hand of the Obscured for free disengagement attacks too. Fair Favor + Scordeo's Edge + Grave Calling / Tarn's Respite / St. Drogga's Skull / Aldris Blade of Captain Crow are all great combos.

Yes, ascendant/ghostheart or ascendant/arcane archer with Frostseeker are both very fun and strong combos. Very effective to use either as archer/cipher, dpending on what you need.

Picking Shot on the run in Deadfire makes a huge difference if you move between shots. However I doubt it affects reloading (that's why we have Gunner) - for me reloading works only if you stand still.

Soul Annihilation is one of the best damage abilities in the game for multiple reasons: has huge single target damage potential can be spammed targets deflection (the lowest defense and the easiest to debuff) does raw damage interrupts on crits it's a PL1 ability (gets a big dmg bonus from PL at high levels) From the way its damage scales it's obvious the rogues are the most suited for a MC soul blade. The streetfighter has the best dps potential but, without a priest with BB/SoT, it's difficult to play one. Besides dmg bonuses and speed the third way to increase the dps of a SB is by generating free focus. The trickster, besides better survivability, can trigger more easily ripostes and also disengagement attacks (when using Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage). Regarding the weapons there are many interesting options: Voidwheel - the champ of single target damage (best suited for a streetfighter under BDD) Whispers of the Endless Paths - the champ of AoE damage (having high deflection ensures also some free focus from Offensive Parry) Sun and Moon - the second head replenishes focus allowing continuous use of SA (can be used with a bashing shield for increased defense, speed and focus - Tuotilo's Palm can generate more Focus with Outward Spikes, Magran's Blessing can generate focus with the Fire Shield) Grave Calling - the damage from Chillfog proc generates focus too Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff - next best thing after Voidwheel and best dps option if you don't have BDD Engoliero do Espirs - the AoE proc is great (triggers often, generates focus and heals)

Maia is better as a scout using the Red Hand. If you want to use Blightheart for your MC I would bind it to chanter instead because the ability of the ranger is pretty meh. However I would use Dragon's Dowry instead because it does better damage and coupled with the Ring of Focused Flame you have free +10acc. (However Maia will still out DPS you by a large margin)

For the neck: Bone Setter's Torc - if you feel you need more (self)healing Claim and Refusal - if you're comfortable with your health and want more damage Strand of Favor - helps the duration of your buffs (especially Unbending Trunk later) Charm of Bones - helps with duration/radius For the feet: Footprints of Ahu Taka - +2dex and more (self)healing is always good Rakhan Field Boots - are always nice (however they could be more useful for Eder for easy backstabs at the begining of the fights) Boots of the Stone - +1dex and resistance to might afflictions Boots of the White - resistance to dex afflictions For belts: Belt of Magran's Chosen/Sash of Judgment - for more damage The Undying Burden - more health/fortitude are good and the insta heal for emergencies (but not very useful for a no rest run) The Maker's Own Power - +1might/+1 crush AR is always good to have and the death healing works as a safety net (but not very useful for a no rest run) Girdle of Eoten Constitution - more health/fortitude For rings I would consider Voidward and Ring of Greater Regeneration/Ring of Prosperity's Fortune/Ring of Clenched Muscle. The KWF/troubadour is best played as a melee tank/support (Exalted Endurance + Ancient Memory + Aefyllath.../Old Siec...) and my optimal equipment for that would be: Magnera's Chain, Lethandria's Devotion, Sasha's Singing Scimitar, Blackened Plate Helm/Champion's Helm, Charm of Bones, Hylea's Talons, Chameleon's Touch, Ring of Minor Protection, Cloak of Greater Deflection, Boots of the Stone, Belt of Magran's Chosen. If you want to stand in the back you can replace your items with Dragon's Dowry + Ring of the Marksman + Ring of Focused Flame + Acina's Tricorn and use Sure-Handed Ila chant for steady ranged dps.

I never had such a problem. You can't be interrupted if you don't get hit and a FF/steel garrote has one of the highest passive defenses in the game (behind a helwalker/paladin). Also there's no doubt in my mind that a votary is more durable because better armor, defense and passive healing (arguably the best) with no weakness against Arcane Dampener/Cleanse. The fighter has probably better dps due to the higher attack speed, but not by a large margin considering the dmg buff of the paladin.

The conservative approach is to dump completely resolve, keep constitution and dex at 10 and spread the rest of points between might, intellect and perception. A more aggressive approach (especially if you play with +2 all stats from Berath and stack resting bonuses) is to dump also constitution and pick later Tough ability.

Bind it to the barb without any hesitation - Disoriented means -10deflection, -1AR, -5per, +50% recovery which helps the entire party, not just you. Pick also Spirit Frenzy for more AoE debuffs. Lord Darryn's Voulge is a great weapon overall with just one drawback - it can't be enchanted over superb. However the berserker/devoted bonuses to penetration, the disoriented debuff and the dual damage ensure you will never ever need to switch weapons. Now the good things: LDD can be obtained basically as soon as you leave Port Maje the static charges are applied with every hit (carnage included) and are triggered on crit (which you will do very often) - that's basically like +10shock AoE damage on top of your carnage the Bolting Strikes proc is great - it triggers very easily and gives you +15% spd (stacks with all your spd buffs) and +15% shock dmg the shock damage and the fact you will crit a lot will help you overpenetrate very often The berserker/devoted is a crit build (crit bonus from Frenzy and from Disciplined Strikes stack) and it's a good thing to use items with procs triggering on crits (like Boltcatchers, Left Hand of the Obscured, etc). PS. The berserker has a pretty harsh self damage - especially at higher levels. To make things go smoothly there are a few key items which can help you completely negate the self damage (coupled with the Rapid Recovery of the fighter) - Devil of Caroc's Breatplate (removes confusion and regenerates health on crits), Three Trolls Stiched, Voidward, Ring of Greater Regeneration, Bone Setter's Torc/Footprints of Ahu Taka... Also a nice and easy helmet to get for this build is the Helm of the Falcon.

The trickster has access to Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage which is great because enemies affected by it stop attacking or run away (triggering potential disengagement attacks). You have also other defensive spells to help your survivability. You can also try fighter/rogue, but you already have Eder. The rogue is pretty much mandatory if you want great single target damage. If you want more AoE damage you can also try the classical berserker/devoted with Lord Darryn's Voulge - great AoE dps and solid single target dps. This build gives you Cleave, lots of crits and also Clear Out which works a bit like Heart of Fury.

Dance of Death adds +3acc every 3s for a max of +12acc.

Here are a some speedy dps builds: trickster/monk using Scordeo's Edge+Grave Calling+Fair Favor -> crit build with lots of free attacks from flurry -> high chance of Blade Cascade with long duration trickster/barbarian using Modwyr+Watcher's Blade -> reliable high speed + AoE dmg + free attacks from disengagement (use Barbaric Shout to increase the number of targets engaged and Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage) Devil of Caroc's breastplate and Abraham pet can help your survivability while keeping your attack speed high. The rogue ensures high steady dps even if you crit less often or when you fight single targets.

For a rogue using fire arms as main attack I consider the troubadour to be the best choice as second class. You can have all the time Sure-Handed Ila... (for increased attack speed) and Aefyllath... (for increased damage), while buffing yourself with Their Companion... (for increased penetration and interrupts). You have also at your disposal other chants for self healing, draining, removing afflictions, etc... The next option would be the monk - less speed, but more accuracy. The third would be the ranger for his increased speed, accuracy and Driving Flight. In fourth I would place the barbarian for his great speed bonuses, might inspiration (which can be upgraded later) and the ability to stagger on hit (with Spirit Frenzy) for easy sneak attacks.

Personally I like to build characters strong enough to do every quest and play without skipping anything. I try to obtain core items first, but at the same time I follow the normal path. I don't feel the need to PL because I try to do the quests in the order of their difficulty and I gain xp fast enough, while also keeping fights challenging.

If the enemies are not scaled up in your game you should be able to destroy him with two shots from the Red Hand (enchanted with Double-Tap).

The best mobility abilities are Escape (rogue) and Evasive Roll (ranger) - both have minimal cost and have no recovery. Leap, Charge and Flagellant's Path are IMO too costly for what they do. However you can simply do a very speedy character immune to engagement. A monk/rogue can stack Fast Runner and Long Stride while also adding Boots of Speed and Ruata's Walking Cloak. Then you give him Nomad's Brigandine (enchanted with Tactical Withdraw) and he can move freely on the field while also triggering some free Ripostes (not sure if Hearbeat Drumming/Swift Flurry works from Riposte).

Agree, there's also a helmet (without counting the Cap of the Laughing Stock), a chant, foods, potion. Also resolve afflictions are a problem mostly vs some bosses with auras.

IMO the best mage slayer is a ranger/monk using Frostseeker. You can spam Stunning Surge and later you can upgrade Thunderous Blows to Energized and interrupt with every crit. The fact that you hit 3-6 times chews easily through any concentration if the enemies are resistant/immune to might afflictions.

Personally, with Pallegina and Eder (with Fair Favor ) as frontliners, I would play a ghost heart/ascendant or an arcane archer/ascendant with Frostseeker. I would also pick Aloth for more AoE nukes. For the last spot Ydwin cipher/rogue with firearms could work, but I consider her just average. You could also pick Konstanten as a support/debuffer (with LDV, Spirit Frenzy and The Long Night's Drink...), but in fact anything works at this point.

A well built darcozzi/troubadour is basically immortal and can also rez fallen companions if needed. I would add to your party a forbidden fist monk who is also nearly immortal and by the end can beat any encounter by himself. An ascendant/ghostheart with Frostseeker is also great and can clear the field very fast with his bow/spells and later can provide Brilliant to the entire party. An assassin/bloodmage is also very powerful and once he obtains the invisibility spell can also solve encounter by himself. A devoted/trickster with sabres is a very solid damage dealer and can trigger disengagement attacks with Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage. Another alternative is a soulblade/trickster who can deal high single target dps with Sun and Moon + Tuotilo's Palm and also great AoE damage from the back of your tanks with Whispers of the Endless Paths (and he can also buff your other cipher). Anyway all these characters, if well built, don't require end game items to be strong and can roll over most encounters just on AI. The only one who requires more micro is the bloodmage/assassin.