Kaylon

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.

The blood mage has unlimited access to invisibility and spells and all that combined with assassin's bonuses (acc, pen and crit dmg) allows you to be a very powerful caster, like @Boeroer explained. However you can't spam spells without serious healing and for that you have to mix draining spells or use draining weapons. The melee part is self sustainable much more easily. You summon a draining weapon, attack from invisibility and finish your target before the other enemies can react which will replenish your lost health at the same time, then become invisible again, recover your spells, etc. You can switch easily between the two modes without any drawback and have a purely offensive build. However, until you obtain Arkhemir's Brilliant Departure you have to use a more conservative way of playing. Use wizard's buffs to increase your survivability and go melee and when you draw the aggro use Smoke Veil to escape and launch a few spells, etc...

The cipher has many buffs that can make his pet pretty effective and les squishy, but of course not enough to replace a tank.

If you want to play ascendant then arcane archer is the best option. Grab Essence Interrupter (with modal activated) and Frostseeker vs multiple targets and forget about firearms - focus will fill very fast. Xoti is better with mortars spamming Stunning Surge until she gets WotW and destroys everything. Maia scout with the Red Hand is probably the companion with the highest single dps and has the best ranger pet. There's no better companion tank than Pallegina herald and her support is huge. Tekehu has some unique spells with great utility both as druid and chanter. However you can keep only one of them if you decide to pick a faction at the end. (and without faction the ending sucks) You need 2 tanks in the party to be safe and Xoti is not a tank. If the MC is not a tank I would say Pallegina and Eder are almost mandatory. Xoti monk can be later a very strong dps/CC. You can use the last spot to switch companions/sidekicks. If you want to keep Tekehu you can replace Pallegina with Aloth fighter/mage. The strongest end game party (with companions) you can build would include Eder (fighter/thief), Pallegina (paladin/chanter), Xoti (monk) and Aloth (fighter/mage).

The monk is very dependent on crits for his dps and is more sturdy (especially the FF). The rogue delivers high dps against all enemies, but is a little more squishy (however the trickster has a few tools to increase his survivability). Both are good, but the monk helps more the caster part of the cipher (speed, might, penetration, intellect). If you want to use lighter armor then a solution is to use 2h weapons with increased range and stay behind your tanks. Another strong melee/caster combo is assassin/blood mage, but it's a different style of play.

Another weapon that works well with a monk/soulblade is WotEP. You can alternate easily between Stunning Surge and Soul Annihilation. With your high accuracy and deflection debuffs (Cap of the Laughingstock, Phantom Foes) you can easily crit and trigger other AoE attacks with Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming.

It depends if you play with Community Patch or not. If you play an unmodded game those combos don't work that well because the Forbidden Fist attack doesn't generate focus. Also the Ascendant is mostly a caster and in general you want light armor and high dex to be able to spam spells rapidly while ascended and without being interrupted. As a melee you need more protection, the FF can't have high dex either and you can be interrupted often. That's why you don't see melee Ascendants builds, they are better as ranged characters. The Soulblade is meant for melee and works better with the FF (only with CP) - you can alternate between two strong melee attacks and can also cast spells.

The berserker/skald can also use the Grave Calling trick (I found killing a skelly every 6s is optimal for your frame rate). He can use Blightheart trick too... And of course he can just mix melee and invocations.

Yes, the Ring of Focused Flame helps greatly the Powder Burns attack. DoCB helps with survivability, but if you're fine then keep Miscreant's Leathers. Heaven's Cacophony is of course great if you rest often (personally I like to stack the resting bonuses).

Do you play a plain monk/rogue or nalpazca/streetfighter? And of course the equipment makes a big difference for the build. Ring of the Marksman, Ring of the Focused Flame, Acina's Tricorn, Devil of Caroc Breastlpate (with Devil's Due) can greatly increase your effectiveness. Also when you run out of resources it's better to switch to mortar + Toutilo's Palm (you attack just as fast but with increased defenses).

Yes, monk/streetfighter with mortars has great synergy and doesn't require any particular micro - you just activate Powder Burns and enjoy the increased attack speed and damage.

I would say the monk is almost mandatory to a mortar build because Stunning Surge increases greatly your survivability. As a ranged character you have poor defenses and you're also close to the enemies - without a hard CC you'll be attacked very often. Also mortars/blunderbusses scream streetfighter... A ranger doesn't add much besides Driving Flight to a mortars build. Also without Avenging Storm the damage is solid, but not spectacular (Frostseeker, Citzal's Spirit Lance or Lord Darryn's Voulge builds can do more AoE dps). PS. Maia has increased range only with arquebuses, arbalests and crossbows.