Ascaloth

Awesome. Pity about the Mith Fyr gap, but otherwise my Sharpshooter/Beckoner One-Man Barrage is a go!

Okay, so this is a question that probably applies to Chanters in general, but may have synergies for Beckoners in particular. I take Gernisc Slew The Beast, But Soon Faced Its Kin. That summons 3 Wurms (6 if Beckoner), which from what I remember from the first PoE spits fire as a ranged attack. If I have this Chanter go with Sure-Handed Ila, does it affect the rate at which the summoned Wurms spit fire as well?

Okay, so this is a question that probably applies to Chanters in general, but may have synergies for Beckoners in particular. I take Gernisc Slew The Beast, But Soon Faced Its Kin. That summons 3 Wurms (6 if Beckoner), which from what I remember from the first PoE spits fire as a ranged attack. If I have this Chanter go with Sure-Handed Ila, does it affect the rate at which the summoned Wurms spit fire as well?

About the same as I did in the first PoE; two casters. One would be a pure Priest of Eothas for the buff utility. The other one I have in mind is going to be a Nature Godlike Transmuter/Lifegiver. Double the PL bonuses and synergies, some of the best CC spells in the game, some of the best healing spells in the game, two different options for melee, and a particularly synergistic nuke combo in Pull of Eora + Purge of Toxins + Noxious Burst. About the only thing this Sorcerer can't do is summons, and Chanters were always better for that anyway.

Oof. There goes my backup plan for those occasions. I guess the only alternative left is to hope for a dev tweak, or otherwise that there's a Bittercut equivalent in Deadfire.

A Devoted going Sabers would probably be less risky than most choices, because we already know of at least two unique Sabers that seem pretty good; For the early game, there's St. Drogga's Skull from the preorder bonus. And for the endgame, there's a Legendary-quality Grave Calling. Also IIRC, the Devoted proficiency applies to fists as well, so you can just go unarmed for your second weapon slot, and just switch to beating down anything that's immune to Slash. Does anyone know if a Fighter can take Unarmed Monastic Training?

For intimidation that works. But lifting up rocks and bending metals bars (and the descriptive text is specific that these feats are physical) has nothing to do with intimidation. Force Lift. Force Manipulation. That said, agreed; the descriptive text could have been better in that regard, which is why I chose to go with my own imagination in those instances.

I'd always assumed that high Might for spellcasters in Intimidate checks are basically being Darth Vader, and using the pure force of their will to pull off Force chokes. That's a simple way to reconcile it.

And now it's my turn to get snubbed!

I actually just theorycrafted a combination that seems to work... on paper at least, I don't have access to beta; Nature Godlike Transmuter/Lifegiver Sorcerer. Inherent PL bonuses for both aspects of the multiclass, further enhanced by the Nature Godlike's racial with a simple casting of Nature's Balm. Transmuter spells are some of the best magic CC in the game. Rejuvenation spells are some of the best healing spells in the game as well, especially when supercharged with the Lifegiver Spiritshift. And speaking of Spiritshift, it's almost like this Sorcerer is a super-Druid with two Spiritshifts suited for different circumstances; Lifegiver Spiritshift for supercharging heals, and Form of the Fearsome Brute for when it's clobberin' time. Last but not least, the Transmuter/Lifegiver is also capable of nuking. How? Through a very specific sequence; first, take Spirit of Decay. Next, cast Pull of Eora to suck all the enemies into a single cluster. Then, since your dumb party frontliners are more than likely to get caught up in the suckhole as well, cast Purge of Toxins to protect them from what's coming next. Finally, spam Noxious Burst into the cluster. I think this should work pretty well, but I can't test it. Thoughts, beta testers?

Okay, I'm definitely going to be using these two images from Mescalinic's image dump (thanks Mescalinic!) as portraits for a couple of Hirelings. So, anyone care to take a crack at watercolours for these? This is for my all-Hirelings playthrough, so no rush at all. Also, where do you guys find these fantasy images? I don't even know where to begin to look.

tl;dr Welcome to Boeroer Mode!

If it's a 'good', damage-dealing, healing Paladin you want, I would think that Kind Wayfarer fits the bill perfectly. IIRC the favoured dispositions of Kind Wayfarers are Benevolent/Passionate, which fits the 'good' part. And like the Bleak Walkers' Black Flames, Kind Wayfarers have White Flames as an upgrade to their FoD, so that's the 'damage-dealing' portion. True, it's not as good as Black Flames in that regard, but it also heals party members; thus the 'healing'. I'm thinking of going Kind Wayfarers/Unbroken as the Watcher for my first 'all Hirelings' playthrough, myself. She would be the main tank protecting the squishies at the back, and can do respectable damage herself, but her true role would be as combat support for the Devoted/Berserker melee DPS specialist of the party.

I kind of have one in mind, actually. A single class Sharpshooter with a Wolf Companion named "BAMF", uses a single Pistol one-handed so that the ACC bonus cancels out the malus from the Fast Reload modal, dual Pistols in the second Weapon set which can be combined with Evasive Fire for a quick roll-and-fire at approaching enemies, and raises the Explosives skill so he can throw things like Stun Bombs. Should the need arise, he can combine Marked Prey, Accurate Wounding Shot, and the Pistol modal turned off to declare that the time of day is Hiiiiiiigh Nooooon. I call this one the "Jesse McCree". Wonder if Matt Mercer would throw in a few voice lines for this one.

Does Devoted allow for a ranged weapon proficiency now? Because I'm pretty sure it does not; if that was not the case, I would already have had another Devoted/Sharpshooter build in mind myself.

I'd recommend Pale Elf myself, if only for the fact that they more closely resemble the classic vampire than a death godlike would.

Huh, rapiers having a Penetration modal was what was stated on the Gamepressure guide to weapon proficiencies. Guess I can't expect an accurate resource to exist until after the game launches. DW seems to be the way to go, but I have some concerns about this build's squishiness in the front lines. To that effect, what if I opt for a Dagger in the off-hand instead, with its Parrying Blade modal? That should still retain the DW speed bonus and rapier ACC bonus, while giving some measure of defense from the dagger modal. What sort of bonuses does the dagger modal actually give, and would it work with Riposte?

Boeroer-sempai is ignoring me. So sad.

For the Watcher of my very first playthrough (which I'm going to take the 3 returning Companions + Priestess Xoti for), I'm thinking of going with a Trickster/Skald Harbinger with a single one-handed weapon. The concept here is that with the ACC bonus from wielding a single weapon and other Rogue abilities, the Harbinger will farm crits not for damage, but for the Skald's phrases to spend on CC Invocations; basically acting as melee-range CC. The Wizard Illusion spells that Trickster learns (assuming they are what I think they will be) will be used for defense boosts + further CC, and maybe to complement Riposte. The question is; which one-handed weapon should this Harbinger use? A Dagger for the Parrying Blade modal, for improved defenses and (maybe) more Riposte chances? Rapier for the option of increased Penetration from the modal? Or Sabre just purely for the increased damage?

The natural multiclass option for the Nalpazca seems to be the Mage Slayer Barbarian subclass, IMO. The Mage Slayer cannot use scrolls or potions, and gets less healing for spells than others... but drugs are A-OK. So if you have no reason not to make your Mage Slayer a druggie, why not get additional benefits from it by multiclassing it with Nalpazca?

Does the +12 ACC apply if I equip my character with a one-handed weapon and a small shield, or does he have to have nothing in the off-hand to get that bonus? I'm thinking of making the Watcher of my first playthrough a Streetfighter Trickster/Skald, able to stand in the front line and do decent damage with lots of crits, but with a focus on crit-farming for Invocations rather than straight damage; a melee CC build, basically. I was going to give him a small shield for the Binding Block modal and a rapier (as much for the swashbuckling pirate image as anything), for extra survivability and Riposte. But if I'm reading this right, I'd have to drop the shield for the extra ACC? And more importantly, is the extra ACC worth dropping the utility of the shield for such a character?

I've been wondering the same thing as Arravin. To build onto his post, what if I want to build a ranged DPS ranger who specialises in punching through armor? I'm theorycrafting an all-mercenaries party playthrough, and the designated melee DPS in that part is a DW Sabres Berserker/Devoted. But this naturally means this Brute has no Piercing damage to speak of, and would find enemies in heavy armor a poor matchup; thus, the need for the Ranger to cover the armor-piercing role. It also means I don't really need to maximize DPS for this Ranger; speccing for single-target is fine, as long as he has the Penetration to deal with even plate armor. Any ideas? The best I can come up with was to give the Ranger proficiency in War Bows, and multiclass with a Chanter of some sort (probably Beckoner to make him double as a minion master) for Sure-Handed Ila.

It's just a pity that Darcozzi no longer have Inspiring Liberation as a thing. That really killed the Forward Observer family of builds.

I'm mulling on going with a Darcozzi/Troubadour Herald. Both subclasses have Old Vailian origins in their lore descriptions, so this multiclass has synergy even in the fluff. Then make her an Old Vailian Ocean Human for added fluff synergy. You could opt for Fire Godlike for crunch synergy instead, but personally I've always been leery of Godlikes for their 'special snowflake' reputation. Then take Scion of Flame. It's going to be the foundation for all of the coming crunch synergies I'm about to give her. Now. Take Lay on Hands + Flames of Darcozzi Palace. Whenever your enemies touch you, they will burn. Take Flames of Devotion + Shared Flames + Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr. Whenever your friends leap into battle, they will do so with fire in their hands. Take The Dragon Thrashed, The Dragon Wailed + Sacred Immolation. Wherever you walk, the very air will burn. All will burn. All will be ash.

Okay, I've been ruminating back and forth on one thing in particular recently, and now I just have to ask; what in the world is the ideal multiclass synergy for the Darcozzi Paladini? I mean, all the other Paladin orders have obvious synergies; Bleak Walkers do well as melee DPS (Black Flames), Kind Wayfarers as frontline healer (White Flames), Goldpact Knights as pure tank (Gilded Enmity), and Shieldbearers as sword-and-board engagement sponges. But the only thing Darcozzi get is Flames of Darcozzi Palace, and that weak Flame Shield really doesn't feel like it brings as much to the table as the other Paladin talents do. So with that in mind, is there any multiclass that Darcozzi can excel in to an extent that other Paladins can't match? My theorycrafting so far has come up with; 1) Darcozzi/Streetfighter Holy Slayer; acts as a Riposte/Retaliation tank with Flames of Darcozzi Palace, Riposte, and Retaliation/Flame Shield gear. Touch the pally and get burned; whiff with the attempt and get countered. But what I've read so far suggests that Riposte isn't exactly as effective as it seems, so I'm not sure how well this will work. Also, doesn't exactly have many tools to actually keep enemies from bypassing her and going for the backline instead. 2) Darcozzi/Unbroken Crusader; solves the issue of #1 with Into the Fray and Guardian Stance, but loses the counterattack of Riposte. Also, Flames of Darcozzi Palace may burn the enemy, but Goldpact and Shieldbearers probably enjoy better synergy purely in terms of tanking hits, and Wayfarers brings AoE healing to the table. So what does Darcozzi really do better than the rest in this role? 3) Darcozzi/Troubadour Herald; AoE DPS, takes Flames of Darcozzi Palace and doubles down on the fire damage with Scion of Flame + Aefyllath + Dragon Thrashed + Sacred Immolation. But every other Paladin could do the exact same thing, and it's not like Flames of Darcozzi Palace is that much of an edge over the rest. Plus this takes much time and levels until it's feature-complete, so it only reaches its potential mid- to late-game. After that, I'm out of ideas. So, do the beta testers have anything better from first-hand experience? On another note, if I want to designate another character as the melee DPS specialist (planning on DW Sabres Berserker/Devoted Brute, for the record), and make my Watcher a Paladin who focuses on melee support and tanking - being the Shield to the other guy's Sword, basically - what's the best Paladin multiclass for it? At the moment, I'm thinking Kind Wayfarer (for the White Flames heal, Zealous Focus, and Exhortation support), and either Unbroken (uses Engagement to set up targets in place for the Brute to knock down) or Troubadour (Aefyllath for offensive support and/or Silver Knights for defensive support). Would this work, or is there a better way of going about it?