Ascaloth

Just a couple of questions. 1) For Fighter/Barbarian multiclasses, if Cleaving Stance is activated, does each hit from Cleaving Stance come with Carnage as well? 2) I've read somewhere that bare fists also counts in a Devoted's proficiency bonus. Does that mean if I equip slash/pierce weapons in one weapon set and go bare fists in the other, that means the Devoted has all physical damage types covered? 3) Has anyone tried a Nature Godlike Evoker/Lifegiver Sorcerer? Since both subclasses have PL bonuses, I figured a quick Nature's Balm might boost the PL of both classes even higher, making this a character that can both nuke and heal well above its weight. How would this character work compared to a pure Evoker or LIfegiver? 4) I'm thinking about making a Sharpshooter Ranger that specs in War Bows, with weapon modal activated for double the Penetration bonuses. Is there any point in speccing for superior Penetration? Is there anything else I can multiclass this guy with for even greater Penetration? Assassin seems to be the obvious choice, but having to start fights and take Shadowing Beyond for the invisibility seems like such a pain. 5) Are Priests better off being single-classed than multi-classed. It seems that way to me, because - with the possible exception of Wael and Skaen - Priests don't seem to have much in the way of multiclass synergy. Not to mention high-level Priest spells were pretty good back in the first game, and multiclass Priests lose access to those.

No access to the beta, which means I only know what little I can glean from the fextralife wiki. I've been trying to brainstorm some potentially complementary Priest multiclasses for when Deadfire finally launches, but here's a question I think only the beta players would know the answer to; for spells that certain Priest subclasses learn, do the multiclass's bonus also apply to them? Examples: 1) Evoker/Magran: Probably the prime example, since Magranites seem to auto-learn more spells from outside the Priest list than any other; specifically, Wizard Evocation spells. More specifically, Fan of Flames + Ray of Fire + Flame Shield + Torrent of Flame. Would the Evoker's bonus to Evocation spells also apply to the ones auto-learned by Magranites? 2) Illusionist/Wael: Same as above, except applied to Wizard Illusion spells like Llengrath's Displaced Image + Confusion + Arkemyr's Wondrous Torment. I'm not sure how effective Illusion spells at increased Power levels would be compared to Evocation, but I figured it's worth exploring the synergy at least. 3) Fury/Eothas: Slightly different from the rest, because Sunbeam seems to be the only Druid spell that Eothasians auto-learn. But since it's known to be an effective debuff spell back in PoE, I might as well ask; would Fury's increased range and Penetration to Druid Elemental spells apply to the Sunbeam auto-learned by Eothasians?

I've always thought there is one word that would be an excellent stand-in for religiously-flavoured terms such as "Holy", "Sacred" and "Divine", and better reflect the PoE Paladins' flavour of fanaticism; "Righteous" It makes sense, because every Paladin order may have its own code of conduct, but they all share the same conviction in their respective codes; thus, "righteous" in the sense of 'self-righteous'. With this, you get revised terms such as "Righteous Slayer", "Righteous Immolation" and "Righteous Purposes". Not bad at all, right?

So I realize the Companions are yet to be playable in the beta... but for those who might have looked into the code, does anyone know what sort of stacking rules apply to Vielo Vidorio? I'm asking because I'm thinking of starting my first playthrough with Pallegina as a ranged Herald; she'd be the self-buffing and ranged support of the party, with Zealous Focus for ACC, Vielo Vidorio and Sure-Handed Ila for speed, while rocking an FoD-powered arquebus for massive alpha damage. Wondering if this would actually work.

If you're looking for a 2H Fighter build, may I suggest my own Nanouk Four-Swords? It's a fairly basic 2H build, with a specific gimmick.

I'm hoping that at some point during the game, someone in the party (maybe the Watcher him/herself) gets the idea somehow that Eder is the man to ask for what time it is. I hope it becomes a running gag, with every Companion taking their turns to ask him the same question, and Eder finding all sorts of increasingly ridiculous excuses to avoid answering the question. To cap it off, I hope the gag ends with Iselmyr getting sick of the nonsense, and giving the answer in complete, glorious Hylspeak.

Any interest in a ranged version of the support Chanter? Because I just finished my latest (and probably last) PotD playthrough with a Stormcaller Chanter, and I can post the build here if you like.

Oh, forgot about this thread. Anyway, the ranged pally I said I was playing. You can now find that build here.

I don't quite know how that worked out, actually. Maybe the Blessing more than made up for the lack of Armored Grace? Not sure. Anyone here care to run the numbers? Well, hating every NPC/cat/dog/cow makes you a Misanthrope. Going out of your way to kill the whole lot just makes you a ****.

You're welcome. What did I do? The best piece advice you gave me was to drop Unbroken, instead of Charge. That was insightful; not only did this retain the UM's ability to get where he needs to be in a hurry, I've had several occasions of comedy where I aimed the UM's Charge at the rear of a group of xaurips, and he straight up splattered several on his way to his destination.

I actually knew about Spectacular Spetum from the beginning, and was thinking of getting it... but I went with the Forgotten Tear of the Beloved with Outworn Buckler instead. That's because the 'experimental' party I was running the Commissar with needed the buffs from the Buckler, as well as the early Prayer Against Treachery the Forgotten Tear offered. As for Shocking Lash on the Hazel... simple, really. The 'experimental' party included a Chanter rocking Stormcaller.

What if you could have a Fighter who hates everything and everyone? What if this Fighter specifically set out to be able to take on every last thing he meets on the road? And what if the end result is that he always has something on hand to take out any enemy he faces? Special thanks to Boeroer for his advice in building and fine-tuning this Fighter build! =================================== The Universal Misanthrope =================================== Difficulty: PotD v. 3.07 -------------------------------------------------------------- Class: Fighter -------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Boreal Dwarf -------------------------------------------------------------- Background: The Living Lands - Colonist -------------------------------------------------------------- Stats (char creation): MIG: 21 CON: 19 DEX: 17 PER: 10 INT: 8 RES: 3 -------------------------------------------------------------- Skills: Stealth 1, Athl. 8, Lore 4, Mech. 0, Surv. 13 -------------------------------------------------------------- Talents (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important) Rapid Recovery Weapon Focus: Soldier (!) Weapon Mastery: Soldier ® Two-Handed Style (!) Bonus Knock Down Arms Bearer ® Runner's Wounding Shot Savage Attack Abilities Hunter's Instincts (a) (!) Constant Recovery (a) Disciplined Barrage (!) Confident Aim (!) Weapon Specialization: Soldier ® Armored Grace ® Knock Down (!) Fearless ® Charge (!) Sundering Blow --------------------------------------------------------------- Items (*=additional echantments by me; !=important, r=recommended): Weapon set 1: Tidefall (!Wounding, *!Slaying: Beast, *Legendary) Weapon set 2: The Hours of St. Rumbalt (Annihilation, Overbearing, *!Slaying: Kith, *Superb) Weapon set 3: St. Ydwen's Redeemer (Soulbound, !Destroys Spirits) Boots: Shod-in-Faith Head: Tempered Helm Armor: Blackwarden's Breast Neck: Ycg Br Tomb Fragment OR Lost Periapt of the Winding Path Belt: Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer Rings: Bartender's Ring, the Ring of Wonder Hands: Celebrant's Gloves OR Forgemaster's Gloves Quick slots: potions ----------------------------------------------------------------- What we have here is a fairly standard offensive 2H Fighter build. The trick to this guy? He's built and geared up to possess ALL of the hater talents and/or their closest equivalents in terms of gear enchantments; thus, this is a guy who's more than capable of taking on anything he comes across in his adventure. These 'hater talents' can be accumulated as follows; Wilders and Primordials: This is why the Universal Misanthrope (or UM) has to be a Boreal Dwarf; Hunter's Instincts. That's +15 ACC to two monster types right off the bat, saving you a lot of investment on acquiring hater talents by any other means. Beasts: The Blackwarden's Breast comes with Aura of the Hunt, which gives +15 ACC against Beasts. Add the Slaying: Beast enchantment on Tidefall, and even Dragons will quail at the sight of the UM. Kith: For fighting against Kith enemies in particular, the UM has a specific sword reserved for such occasions; The Hours of St. Rumbalt, given the Slaying: Kith enchantment. I chose The Hours as the anti-Kith weapon due to its Overbearing enchantment; Kith are some of the best candidates to knock Prone, since they can be dangerous enough to warrant the status effect and are not likely to have the ridiculous Fortitude needed to withstand it. Vessels: The obvious choice here is St Ydwen's Redeemer, due to the Destroys Spirits enchantment. The Bartender's Ring also lets the UM do extra damage to Vessels, even if the Redeemer doesn't proc with an attack. Unfortunately, I've yet to find anything that gives extra ACC against Vessels, but the Redeemer more than makes up for it. Spirits: The Bartender's Ring lets the UM do extra damage to Spirits, and the Ycg Br Tomb Fragment gives extra ACC if you're lucky enough to get its Stronghold quest. Since most Spirits are vulnerable to fire damage, this is the time when you pull out the Firebrand from the Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer to burn them; the option to throw out a Torrent of Flame when surrounded by those pesky Spirits don't hurt either. Some of the other gear that the UM packs doesn't contribute 'hater talents' per se, but helps the UM do his job even better; Shod-in-Faith: Speaks for itself, really. Tempered Helm: Boosts the UM's defenses against Hobbled, Stuck, Paralyzed, and - more importantly given his abysmal Will save - Confused, Charmed, and Dominated. Prior to acquiring the Tempered Helm, the UM is best served running with a Goldpact Knight who has Bond of Duty, who can neutralize the UM's weakness to mindwhammies temporarily. Celebrant's Gloves: Thanks to his low RES, the UM also has abysmal Concentration; a problem that is easily solved with the Holy Meditation Spelldefense that Celebrant's Gloves offer. If the UM is packing the Lost Periapt, you can choose to give this up for extra Firebrand charges from Forgemaster's Gloves instead. Lost Periapt of the Winding Path: If you're not lucky enough to get the Ycg Br Tomb Fragment (which honestly is not that big a deal), this is a reasonable alternative with a RES bonus, Concentration bonus, and an extra Consecrated Ground that the UM can cast if and when he finds the (rare) breather moment to do so. The Ring of Wonder: Second Chance is always useful to get the UM back on his feet, and a chance to get to safety, whenever he gets knocked out. The UM starts out quite squishy thanks to his low defensive stats, and will have to be handled carefully in the early part of the game. But when he's got all his levels and gear, when he's feature-complete and ready to go? Turns out the guy is a real boss-killer; I've seen him kick some ass pretty much by himself, with the rest of the party pretty much only there to buff him up, and keep the mobs off his back while he goes after the big one. Dragons? Knocks the Sky Dragon down to a mere mook, makes the Adra Dragon his bitch, goes toe to toe with the Alpine Dragon and wins cleanly. No Paralyze or Petrify cheese necessary, it's all him. That's not even mentioning Gafonercos; poor thing never had a chance. Kraken? Wait for buffs, Disciplined Barrage, Charge in, Knock Down and Prone that ugly mug, hack away a few more times, done. Concelhaut? Equip the Redeemer, repeat the same strategy. Turning lich doesn't seem so smart when one proc of Destroys Vessels settles your hash, does it? Llengrath? Buff yourself all you like, doesn't matter when the UM keeps sweeping you off your feet with the anti-Kith enchanted Hours. Turisulfus is the only Dragon I haven't seen the UM take out by himself... only because he was the last one standing of his group, being slowly harassed to death by a bunch of mere kith chipping at him with auto-attacks. Woedica's Judges? Redeemer, repeat the same strategy twice. Both statues got shattered before Thaos could jump into them. I've had a lot of fun with the UM. Now here it is; take him and have fun with him.

Wealth and riches has been the main driving motivation of Cromwell Corvida since an early age, and his avaricious nature has determined the course of his life. Despite showing signs of a gift for the eldritch arts of the Glanfathan mindhunters, Cromwell ignored his potential to follow in the footsteps of his clergyman father, pursuing a career as a preacher of Woedica… with a twist. For you see, Cromwell was faithless in anything save gold, which led him into preaching that the Exiled Queen honored those who kept to their oaths with material blessings. Though this earned him a congregation of the wealthy faithful who gave the biggest tithes of any congregation in the Aedyr Empire, it also drew the consternation of the orthodox clergy wringing their hands at what is nearly tantamount to heresy. After much consultation and negotiations, it was decided that Cromwell would leave the Woedican clergy to join an organization with an ethos more in line with his personal philosophy; the paladin order of the Goldpact Knights. Although the Goldpact Knights did nothing to temper Cromwell’s avaricious nature, it did instill in him the responsibility of fulfilling obligations in return for payment in gold. His latent cipher sensitivities also made him the Knight of choice for missions involving hostile ciphers. This was what led him to cross paths with Rhiannon, a dissident who inherited Glanfathan blood from expatriate ancestors who fled the rebelling Dyrwood in the distant past, and gathered a group of activists to agitate for reform in the political structures of the Empire. The last thing either remembered of their first clash was Rhiannon attempting to cast a mindblast at the pursuing Cromwell, while he in turn prepared to counter with an exhortation. Both had to take the word of other people at the scene that they both collapsed to the ground at the same time, although Cromwell’s compatriots was able to capitalize on the opportunity to seize Rhiannon so that she may face justice. That was the point that the oddities mounted up; each had an inexplicable sense of the other’s general whereabouts, and the cipher somehow managed to break out of the most secure prisons in Aedyr no matter what, while at the same time never seeming able to avoid the paladin’s pursuit for long. Their mutual frustration mounted, until a passing Watcher informed them of the awful truth; Cromwell’s latent talents had a bad reaction with Rhiannon’s own, causing the psychic backlash from their very first altercation to entangle their souls. They have literally become the playthings of the gods themselves; as long as Cromwell walked in the outside world, no prison can hold Rhiannon for long. And while Rhiannon can stay out of the clutches of the law as long as she can manage, she can never shake the zealous pursuit of Cromwell. And should one perish, so will the other. Both paladin and cipher are tied together in a bond of mutual antipathy, one not so easily unravelled. Their only hope in getting free of each other for good lay in Defiance Bay, where the animancy research banned in the Aedyr Empire was flourishing; it alone offered any possibility for a solution to their conundrum. Grudgingly, the two agreed to work together in their goal to get free of each other; they would each make their own way to the Dyrwood, and rendezvous at a backwater town ironically named Gilded Vale for the last stretch of the journey... =================================== The Goldpact Commissar aka An Elf of Wealth and Taste =================================== Difficulty: PotD v. 3.07 -------------------------------------------------------------- Class: Paladin (Goldpact Knight) -------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Wood Elf -------------------------------------------------------------- Background: Aedyr - Clergyman -------------------------------------------------------------- Stats (char creation): MIG: 18 CON: 10 DEX: 12 PER: 10 INT: 18 RES: 10 -------------------------------------------------------------- Skills: Stealth 1, Athl. 9, Lore 8, Mech. 2, Surv. 9 -------------------------------------------------------------- Talents (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important) Enduring Flames ® Critical Focus ® Bond of Duty (!) Marksman (!) Deep Faith Intense Flames ® Scion of Flame ® Weapon Focus: Adventurer Abilities Distant Advantage (a) Faith and Conviction (a) Flames of Devotion ® Zealous Focus (!) Liberating Exhortation (!) Sworn Enemy (!) Righteous Soul ® Coordinated Attacks (!) Sacred Immolation ® Reviving Exhortation --------------------------------------------------------------- Items (*=additional echantments by me; !=important, r=recommended): Weapon set 1: Cgadob's Hazel (!Marking, Spell Striking: Jolting Touch, *Shocking Lash, *Slaying: Spirit, *Exceptional) Weapon set 2: The Blade of the Endless Paths (Speed, !Marking, *Burning Lash, Superb) Alternative: St Garam's Spark (!Marking, *Shocking Lash, *Slaying: Kith, *Exceptional) Boots: Boot of Zealous Command Head: Munacra Arret Armor: The Golden Scales Neck: Erij's Radiance Belt: Sentinel's Girdle Rings: Ring of Changing Heart, Gathbin Family Signet Hands: Spirit Spiral Quick slots: scrolls & figurines ----------------------------------------------------------------- A variant on the Counselor Ploi build which takes elements from the Darcozzi Commendatore, foregoing some Accuracy-buffing capability from the Darcozzi's Inspiring Liberation in favor of additional 'mind control' capability from the Goldpact's Bond of Duty. The Goldpact Commissar's role is to charm-crit targets of opportunity, protect his vulnerable party members from hostile mind control from a distance, and in lieu of the aforementioned duties, buff his shooting party's accuracy with a ranged Marking weapon. The Goldpact Commissar has three main duties in his party; 1. Charm/Dominate CC and Counter With Munacra Arret and Spirit Spiral equipped, the Commissar has 6 charges of Whispers of Treason, along with another 2 charge of Dominate from the Ring of Changing Heart. With Distant Advantage, Zealous Focus and Sworn Enemy, he has the ACC to make the mind control stick. And with Bond of Duty attached to his Liberating Exhortation, he can even perform 'friendly' mind control on his own party mates, to break them out of hostile mindwhammies. See the Counselor Ploi for how this works. 2. Ranged ACC Support Between Zealous Focus, Coordinated Attacks and a Marking Weapon, the Commissar offers invaluable ACC bonuses to a shooting party. See the Darcozzi Commendatore for how this works. The only piece missing would be Inspiring Liberation from the Darcozzi order, but even what the Commissar has is enough to give him something to do when there's nothing for him to mind control. The Commissar's bread and butter for most of the game would be St. Garam's Spark; it's a ranged Marking weapon that comes relatively early in the game, offers a high damage option coupled with Enduring Flames, and remains viable without Weapon Focus due to the combination of Distant Advantage and Marksman. In my game, I stuck with the pistol all the way to the maximum level of 16, which is only when I took WF Adventurer and dropped it for the Commissar's final set of weapons. As and when you decide to take an WF, Adventurer is the optimal choice for the simple fact that only this WF has Marking weapons for both ranged and melee options; Cgadob's Hazel and the Blade of the Endless Paths respectively. Although Cgadob's Hazel gives the Commissar constant ranged damage, it removes the high alpha that St Garam's Spark had; the only high-damage option left is the Blade of the Endless Paths, which means Enduring Flames is now reserved for when enemies penetrate through the frontline, and the Commissar absolutely has to pick up a melee weapon and deal with the interloper(s) before they can take out the squishies he's with. 3. Looking Absolutely Fabulous No armor suits a Goldpact Knight more, than the Golden Scales does (the fact that its Reflecting enchantment makes it suitable for a ranged specialist doesn't hurt). Add Erij's Radiance which is Paladin-only, offers an INT bonus which can only help with the mind control, but - most importantly - is a golden cloak to match the Scales. Complete the ensemble with a hoity-toity monocle (Munacra Arret), and you end up with what is truly an Elf of Wealth and Taste.

Well, this is interesting. I'm currently running a ranged Goldpact Wood Elf Paladin that's designed not to be ranged DPS, but rather takes elements from the Counselor Ploi and Darcozzi Commendatore builds to serve as ranged support and CC. I've already taken this MC and his custom party through most of my PotD run, with only several companion quests and Sun in Shadow left to go. When I complete this game in a couple of days, I'll post the class build in its own thread.

To be fair, the Black Jacket as it is now is ideal for gun-switching builds, isn't it? Extra weapon slot for four guns, extra weapon proficiency lets you use a wider variety of guns, and lack of Constant Recovery may hurt a front-liner, but isn't much of an issue for someone standing on the backline.

I mean, IMO that's still a better problem to have than leaving Ciphers without a stat they can safely dump. Besides, it can also serve as a good callback to the Glanfathan origins of Ciphers in the lore. *shrug*

An idea for Ciphers; what if the way Soul Whip worked was changed altogether? Remove the weapon damage component from it, and simply have it give a set amount of Focus for every successful hit, regardless of the damage dealt with each hit. Maybe a greater amount of Focus for successful crits, even. This would make PER and DEX the primary stats that Ciphers would want to max (which is already more or less the case), and lets them safely dump STR altogether. It doesn't matter if the bog-standard Cipher hits with nerf fists at this point, because they now behave more like tasers than anything; the bite from the leads may only sting a little, but the impending electric shock is going to damn well hurt like a bitch.

I've got green lines on the bottom and right borders of my screen, and the game doesn't scroll very well downwards or rightwards. Also, it no longer seems to register my keyboard at all.

Will do. Might take a while though, still halfway into the playthrough for my Darcozzi MC... Because without the third weapon slot, I'm going to have to constantly shuffle Tidefall, Rumbalt and Ydwen between his two slots and his inventory. Ain't nobody got time for that. Besides, it just suits the guy's lore to have anything he might need ready at hand (including the Firebrand from Forgemaster's Gloves as the "fourth blade" for killing spirits). He already has Rapid Recovery, and Bear's Fortitude is more nice-to-have than need-to-have with his maxed MGT and CON build. Apprentice's Sneak Attack is not a bad suggestion, but Boeroer already recommended Runner's Wounding Shot instead, so.

Hey Boeroer, sorry for the long delay in responding, been a busy week. But I've taken everything you said on board, and reworked the Universal Misanthrope accordingly. How does this look to you? Nanouk “the Universal Misanthrope” Race: Boreal Dwarf Class: Fighter Culture: The Living Lands Background: Colonist (+2 Survival) Attributes Abilities Talents Equipment I swapped INT and RES, and also took the Abilities and Talents you recommended. For equipment, I swapped out Serel's Ring for the Ring of Wonder; now that I dropped Unbroken, it only makes sense to substitute it with Second Chance, and I can always give the Druid a Ring of Unshackling or something. I'd thought about Girdle of the Driving Wave for the extra Knock Down too, but finally decided to keep the Belt of Chimes on him; sure I don't plan on having the guy tank mobs, but best laid plans of mice and men, and all. The thing is, since I'm stacking all the 'hater bonuses' on the Universal Misanthrope, doesn't that mean I can make do with a baseline 10 PER? There's also ACC buffs and CC from the rest of the party to make up for it as well. Besides, he's also the designated dragonslayer of the party. So by maxing MGT and CON to make full use of the Dwarf's racial Attribute bonuses, and thus kicking his Fortitude defense up as high as it can go, I'm thinking this might let him laugh off the worst of anything dragons can do to him.

Lots of thanks for the suggestions, Boeroer. Yeah, I'll swap INT and RES around like you suggested; I can further push INT back up to the 10 baseline with an Orlan's Bramble Ring and an armor enchantment, so I figure it's good there. But now I have a hard choice to make. Taking Knockdown in order to Prone dragons is a neat idea, but if I want to do that I'll have to drop something from the Fighter's current list of Abilities. Which one would you suggest? Right now I'm leaning towards Charge, because he still has Wild Sprint from Frythr's Plated Greaves to get him where he needs to go anyway.

Hmmm, pretty quiet here. Now how does that summoning chant go... ah right, Boeroer Boeroer Boeroer.

So this is my second go-round on building a PotD-capable party, and as before, I'd like your suggestions on how to make them improve them. This time around, I decided to get a bit more creative with the builds, while still making them as effective as possible. But before we get into the details, here's a couple of short stories I wrote as a lark. The Haemneg From Hell A Song for the Road Eh, I'll Eat You Tomorrow Cromwell “the Goldpact Commissar” Race: Wood Elf Class: Paladin (Goldpact Knight) Culture: Aedyr Background: Clergyman (+2 Lore) Attributes Abilities Talents Equipment A variant on the Counselor Ploi build which takes elements from the Darcozzi Commendatore, foregoing some Accuracy-buffing capability from the Darcozzi's Inspiring Liberation in favor of additional 'mind control' capability from the Goldpact's Bond of Duty. The Goldpact Commissar's role is to charm-crit targets of opportunity, protect his vulnerable party members from hostile mind control from a distance, and in lieu of the aforementioned duties, buff the Cipher's accuracy with a ranged Marking weapon. As he is not expected to be a heavy contributor to party DPS for the most part of the game, the Goldpact Commissar saves the WF talent for last, when he's most likely to be able to obtain two Marking weapons in the same WF group. Rhiannon “the Mindwitcher” Race: Meadow Folk Class: Cipher Culture: Aedyr Background: Dissident (+1 Lore, +1 Stealth) Attributes Abilities Talents Equipment Pretty much a bog-standard ranged Twin Sting Cipher, whose only defining feature is that the party is built around her; with accuracy bonuses from the Paladin's Marking and speed bonuses from the Chanter's Sure-Handed Ila, her role is to build Focus and cast Powers as quickly as possible. Since the Paladin is already specced for mind control, the Cipher will generally avoid those Powers, with the one exception being intended more as a bailout than anything else. Kallik “the Voice of the Tundra” Race: Boreal Dwarf Class: Chanter Culture: Deadfire Archipelago Background: Merchant (+1 Mechanics, +1 Lore) Attributes Abilities Talents Equipment Ranged Stormcaller Chanter, who takes as much Shock capability as she can to capitalize on the Stormcaller's Shock DR Reduction. Sure-Handed Ila is her bread and butter, allowing her buff both the Paladin and Cipher, making her an integral third member of the shooting party. She can also provide party defense buffs (Dull the Edge, Silver Knights' Shields, Courage Thick as Steel), a bailout from unwinnable fights (Fox from the Farmer, Blessed was Wengridh), and is crucial for dragon fights in the late game (With All Your Strength, Champion Braved the Horde). She's also the lucky one who gets Ryona's Breastplate, because the Dire Blessing proc helps her DPS even better than it would have for the Paladin. She didn't necessarily have to be a Boreal Dwarf... but it's good to have a reliable ranged option against Spores. And if you're wondering, yes; No Dragonsong for the Chanter. Self-imposed challenge. Carafyn “the Bride of Rymrgand” Race: Pale Elf Class: Druid Culture: Deadfire Archipelago Background: Explorer (+1 Survival, +1 Lore) Attributes Abilities Talents Equipment Pretty much the Thundercat build, except I gave her two soulbound weapons that isn't actually intended to be main weapons for the Druid. Abydon's Hammer is for caster mode (25 MGT Relentless Storm, anyone?), she can Cat Spiritshift for when melee is necessary, and the Gyrd scepter is for when she needs to play defensively, and hopefully proc the chance to Spiritshift again. With OutFrenzy, DAoM and Avenging Storm, I'm hoping I've got a good build here that would let her permanently stunlock one designated target until the end of the fight. Nanouk “the Universal Misanthrope” Race: Boreal Dwarf Class: Fighter Culture: The Living Lands Background: Colonist (+2 Survival) Attributes Abilities Talents Equipment A fairly standard 2H DPS fighter build, except I went out of my way to build and gear him such that he has bonuses against all creature types available to him, and the means to switch to the right tool for the job as quickly as possible. Below is a full list of all the bonuses I could think of to tack onto the guy. This guy is built to be a 1v1 specialist (at least, I hope he will be), but also as the recipient who would reap the most benefits from the Goldpact Knight's Bond of Duty. Merrick and Bacon Race: Hearth Orlan Class: Ranger Culture: Ixamitl Plains Background: Hunter (Survival +1, Stealth +1) Attributes Abilities Talents Equipment Despite looking ill-suited to the job, he's the designated frontline tank of the group, with a focus on stunning rather than straight Deflection. To that effect, he's a Ranger to put two bodies on the table for the price of one, a Hearth Orlan to proc Minor Threat off his own Animal Companion, so as to increase the chances that Spellstriking and Stunning procs, and Driving Flight for more fun from the Spellstriking effects. The choice of Boar as Animal Companion is because of its high RES, and their role is to be the first line of defense between the enemy and the casters. Not that they have to be absolutely perfect at their job, as almost all the ranged casters (with the possible exception of the Cipher) are able to take care of themselves in melee. So, thoughts?

I recently designed a Goldpact variant of this build, taking elements from the Darcozzi Commendatore, trading the accuracy bonus from Inspiring Liberation with more utility in 'friendly' mind control via Bond of Duty. He's pretty much done - along with the rest of the party I built around the guy - but I'm struck with an inspiration for a party background that will take me a bit more time to write out in full yet.

Guess I'm going to practice some thread animancy and revive this for another question, since it's related. Spellholding effects carry over to Spiritshift; what about Spellbindings? Could I, say, put Angio's Gambeson on a Druid, trigger DoAM, and then Spiritshift to get a superspeed werecat? Another question; is it possible for a Cipher to cast Reaping Knives on a Spiritshifted Druid?