Boeroer

The shifted form has the same defenses as the druid minus bonuses from weapon and/or shield. If you go for deflection items and other deflection buffs then investing in Resolve can be worth it. If not I would focus on AR and healing. Armored Grace does nothing while shifted. For a shifter who can be shifted way longer than a normal druid I consider it a waste of an ability point indeed. At least in a party. May be different when going solo (never played a shifter solo besides doing controlled test fights with it). Raising engagement on a Paladin/Shifter is indeed difficult since you can't use special weapons or armor which have engagement bonuses. If you initiate combat with the shifter it's often not a problem because enemies will first swarm the tank and not let go too soon (plenty of time to use CC) , but in fights which start without you being able to be stealthed it can be a problem (e.g. boarding fights or fights after scripted interactions).

Or you are not very good at it (yet).

A quite sturdy melee char with good dmg output can also be a Paladin/Rogue, especially Paladin/Streetfighter. I would prefer Steel Garrote/Streetfighter but it's not everybody's cup of tea with the kind of evil dispositions. Kind Wayfarer or Goldpact Knight also work nicely. As Streetfighter you profit a lot from being flanked and bloodied and the Paladin side makes sure you can stay at lower health long enough and heal up once you don't feel safe anymore (Lay on Hands). Devoted/Streetfighter with a dual weapon setup and Monastic Unarmed Training is also nice. If you play PotD then classes with refreshing resources (like the Monk) have an advantage in the late game though because fights can become quite long with all the additional and tougher enemies thrown at you. I personally like Monks a lot so I think you can't go wrong with them. Attribute distribution for monks depends on the subclass. Helwalkers don't need high MIG (bit are squishy). In general I prefer high DEX over high MIG, good PER and good INT. CON and RES can be lower. I wouldn't dump CON but RES can be brought down unless you play a Forbidden Fist Monk. I like Nalpasca because the wound generation is great. But you have to consume drugs in most fights. There are enough of them - I never had to buy or craft them because you can find and steal so many - but even if: they are cheap to buy and make.

Nobody has the buffing power of a Priest. That's where they are best. They can also heal, but Druids are even better healers. Druids have some buffs, too - but nothing as good as Priests have.

Troubadour is never bad. It's def. the most versatile Chanter subclass.

There are many good melee setups. One that I like is a Barbarian/Streetfighter (no need to pick Berserker) with dual daggers (dual stilettos or clubs or flails as backup) can be an extremely fast and good melee damage dealer. Use Pukestabber + Marux Amanth and Devil of Caroc Breastplate and use Frenzy (upgrade to Blood Storm, then Escape or Leap into a cluster of enemies to get flanked and do some very fast attacks with passive Damage over Time effects (Deep Wounds, Blood Frenzy), jump elsewhere and do the same, then return later to finish up with Barbaric Smash (for free if it kills). Tough foes like Steelclads can be brought down with a combo of Blood Storm DoT, Gouging Strike and Ring the Bell DoTs. This will eat up your Guile quickly but it makes short work of high AR enemies in no time.

I fried my PC's power supply unit today while I was trying out the Berserker with the high heels... (don't think it was really the game's fault but it happened while playing). The new one will be here on Monday. No Deadfire until then.

In the beginning the self damage part isn't that punishing imo because encounters are quite short and the self dmg ticks quite low. He fell over a few times but not that often. I mean I knew what I build there so I took extra care. Of course it helps immensely to have Lay on Hands in the party.

If you are looking for healing then Druids are the better option anyways imo - so Hiravias would do.

I played a Berserker/Helwalker (even with Hylea's Talons) and he was actually very good. As soon as you have decent healing options in the party there's no other Monk combo that has such fast wound generation. Spend your wounds all the time and pick Rooting Pain. Just make sure you are not confused anymore because else your own Rooting Pain procs will interrupt you. Jack has Savage or even Stalwart Defiance though which works well enough for a Berserker/Helwalker if you have Voidward, too. A bad combo is maybe Unbroken/Debonaire? Psion/Monk could also be... suboptimal. Yes, it's great. The best part about Unflinching is imo that you can get rid of any affliction - no matter the tier - completely by alternating between >50% and <50%. If you are paralyzed and then drop below 50%, then get healed back up to over 50% you will only be immobilized. Drop below 50% again and get healed up and you're only hobbled and so on. It happens from time to time just with the natural flow of battle, especially if you are a Berserker who has to get healed every now and then. It's like the chanter phrases that apply resistance periodically and will remove afflictions gradually. Note that the Corpse Eater food only raises Barbarian PLs. Unfortunaly it wouldn't do anything for your Monk abilities (unless Elric changed that).

I find SC Trickster lacks sturdyness in the later game. His Deflection and Reflex can be good but the rest... Also the engagement is low unless you get special gear and then pick Persistant Distraction. So far I want to bring those: - SC Kind Wayfarer pistolero (Shared White Flames) - SC mortar Streetfighter (Gambit) - SC Beckoner or Troubadour (skeletons) A Berserker with Grave Calling could be helpful as "tank"? If he's the main char I could give him Abraham. The healing from White Flames + Chilling Grave skeleton kills (Abraham's healing for 10 points per kill) would keep him alive easily. It's just so that a) my poor, poor graphics card and b) too good in a one-trick-pony way to be fun? Maybe if I let him operate on AI completely and make him a Pale Elf with all the freeze-AR and fortitude I can get? I will get freeze-paralyzed by Grave Calling eventually... But with DEX and PER resistances and the Chanter's chants it might get might removed periodically though... Or just not take the paralyze effect? Or wear Sandals of the Water Lily maybe? Don't have to care about the defenses too much if everything is paralyzed except you? Hm... Berserker with Water Lily sandals. I like it. I already played a solo SC Furyshaper - so while that's cool I wouldn't like the repetition I guess. I tried a SC Black Jacket once but it was a bit too boring yet required so much micro due to being build around switchig weapon sets all the time. Although doing a Clean Sweep with Morning Star and then Ngati's Tusk seems to be a good way to lower all defenses in an AoE pretty quickly without too much fuss. The good thing about Barb and Fighter is that they can both get a good number of engagement slots easily (Defender Stance/Barbaric Shout). And they don't need a ton of attention. I haven't thought about SC Cipher yet. With Borrowed Instincts and stuff... could he be sturdy enough to survive an initial onslaught and also get off some spells? Maybe Beguiler who doesn't need the dmg output? Just cast Deceptions? Get some engagement gear? I wouldn't want to operate with Mind Control too much because it messes up AI (which is supposed to run at least the Paladin). Also it would be cool to let the "tank" get run by AI, too. Doesn't sound like caster to me then... What could be a AI friedly caster is Wizard. Just setup a selfbuffing routine I think and then cast whatever debuffs/CC. I could also see the SC Beckoner or Troubadour being that "tank". The engagment can be substituted with summons and I wouldn't need offensive attributes at all. So everything could go into defense. After all his main purpose is to give fuel to the Paladin. If he's also tanking a bit... Also the AI setup is fairly easy then...? On the otehr hand I wanted to run Sure Handed Ila in the backline. Argh...

Yes, maybe... My "tank" doesn't need to deal a lot of damage. He's just there to bind foes initially while the rest of the party unleashes their stuff. Would be cool to debuff the enemies on the fly as well. I was thinking about Cap of the Laughingstock + Ngati's Tusk with max Survival for late game - so all defenses get -10 or more without any hit roll...?

A Harbinger can distract himself with the upgraded Wisps summon. I mean if not using blunderbusses. You can also wear Deltro's Cage Helmet then and get a little shocking lash because the Wisps do shock dmg. Their dmg is pretty pathetic so you don't need to fear the shots. I view them as my personal essence batteries that power me up in order to get over the little cheesyness of letting my own summons attack me.

Yeah, given that you already "pay" with a lot of health it's def. too expensive. I did a few test runs with Kind Pistolfarer and he can heal himself up good enough with (White) Shared Flames while running Sacred Immolation. I plan on upgrading to the healing part so that I'd only activate it once enemies reach may backline (where I'll be standing). It will then damage enemies while potentially healing my allies and I think that's a good failsafe. I want good(not necessarily maxed) INT, MIG, DEX and PER - the classic damage dealer attributes. But I won't drop CON too low. RES on the other hand can go down I think. Thinking about doing a Single Class only playthrough... What should the tank (or the one guy who engages and draws all the attention first) be? SC Fighter? They are a bit lame but I found a fun combo with a SC Wizard who would cast a biiig Pull of Eora on the Fighter (who is immune to pull effects) who then does Clean Sweep with Body Blows. It's push-pull-push-pull-push-pull and pretty hilarious against numerous weaker enemies - but I fear it's not good against tough nuts...? Other ideas for a SC tank (non-Paladin and non-Chanter because I already have those)? Stalker with Whirling Strikes? Forbidden Fist? Berserker (keep in mind the White Flames and stuff) who could kill my skellies for unlimited Zeal right away? SC Wizard (maybe horrible against Arcane Dampener)? Furyshaper with Blood Ward? Woukd be cool to bring official companions and Sidekicks...

Eh, yes, I meant Scordeo's Trophy, sorry.

I think I'll settle for Scordeo's Edge Trophy + Eccea's Arcane Blaster for my SC Kind Wayfarer. The shooting speed is awesome with Rushed Reload + Opening Barrage and OB also speeds up the rest of my recovery (for everything else - reactivity is important). With RIng of Focused Flame, Ring of the Marksman and Acina's Tricorn + the build-in +10 ACC from FoD I can afford to use Rushed Reload + dual wielding + Two Weapon Style instead of single pistol. I know by using pistols I'll miss the PLs from stuff like Magran's Favor etc. - but I don't really care that much because I will be shooting so fast and Zeal will be endless (chanter in party, don't know yet whether Beckoner or Troubadour). For Shared Flames to be good I need to stand amidst my comrades, too. Also for AI ranged combat is easier to manage since little movement is involved. And I never really leaned into a proper pistol build, so yay... At the highest levels this guy will just shoot until his barrels melt. As backup I have scepters (modal always on bc. self damage gets healed immediately). They are a little slower but have higher ACC and of course the sweet crush damage. If I shoot the non-pierce immune enemies first I'll have some stacks of Opening Barrage that can be used for the scepters, too. Sorry for derailing the thread.

Wait a sec... did I just see two procs of White Flames from one shot because of a bounce? I used Fire in the Hole... Would a Kind Wayfarer/Ranger with Driving Flight and Fire in the Hole + another weapon do 5 procs? Is that known/confirmed? Because if it is I think I found my preferred weapon(s) on this SC Kind Wayfarer... because with Powder Burns it's also very easy to kill the non-scaling skellies of Many Lives Pass By - even if they get healed by my own actions. Edit: nope. There's just two entries in the log that are based on the same healing action.

Yes, some alternative would have been nice. But you don't have to use Flames of Devotion, Sacred Immolation or Brand Enemy. You'll still have auto attacks and Lay on Hands and all the other non-fire stuff. I do like Inspired Beacon. With a SC Paladin you'll have enough Zeal at the highest levels (with the proper party) that its cost doesn't matter much and +40% dmg and blinded foes is pretty nice if you don't have to manage Zeal a lot. Combine with 20% dmg from Sworn Enemy and your dmg output isn't bad even against fire immune enemies. And at least against Vessels, Spirits and all summoned creatures the SC Paladin has an alternative. By the way: can a confused Paladin cast Exortations on himself? Edit: tested it quickly - no, the Paladin cannot.

There's no Power Level cap. Speaking of FoD... I think in my next run I want to try a SC Kind Wayfarer with a Chanter in the party (for unlimited Zeal). I could just trigger SI and then spam FoD endlessly for healing and damage - which should be really easy to setup in AI as a "hands-off" type of character. I find that I forget my fifth party members more and more often so maybe it's time for a bot. Don't know yet whether ranged or melee weapons... but dual wielding I think.

Hahaha... Don't know how to help you with that.

I actually never imported any items with a character myself. I mean for testing purposes, yes - but nor for a real playthrough.

Yes, I kinda assumed 2 as average value. All that with 0 recovery malus from armor which is often overlooked when talking about dmg output.

? Helwalker/Ascendant works well right off the shelf bc. of the +10 MIG for more damage and soon with +10 INT fpr longer Ascension. If you don't want to come too close in the beginning you can also use a ranged weapon. For example Essence Interrupter + modal. It will ascend you very quickly. But Ghost Heart/Cipher with Frostseeker is also very good. But the high(est) ACC also comes a bit later via Borrowed Instincts + Tactical Meld. By the way Helwalker/Ascendant can also be played with Frostseeker. But Instruments of Pain + melee stuff has more impact at the highest levels, it's true.

The only invisibility effects that break on DoT nowadays are Shadowing Beyond from the Priest of Skaen (not the Rogue one) and Arkemyr's Brilliant Departure. Even the potion works with DoTs. I'm not 100% sure about Slippers of the Assassin but iirc that invisibility also doesn't break on DoT.

A good Shifter combo is Goldpact/Shifter imo. Bear armor (+2) + Paladin AR passives (+2) + Exalted Endurance (+1) and the "refilling" Gilded Enmity (+4 - doesn't stack with Exalted Endurance though) make him very sturdy. On top you can use Lay on Hands whenever you want. On top can come stuff like Blunting Belt etc. I would choose Bear form at the start of the fight because that's usually the part where you get attacked the most. Eternal Devotion stacks with Wildstrike and Inspired Beacon adds an additive dmg bonus that works for everything (even if it's rel. short). Eternal Devotion even works with all direct dmg/pulsing spells like Nature's Terror and Sacred Immolation. Stack Nature's Terror + Sacred Immolation (cast some proper healing spell like Moonwell or Nature's first though) and go to town. Overall damage is actually pretty good. Use Lay on Hands if you must to prevent KO by immolation. Taste of the Hunt would be superawesome for this build, but alas...