Boeroer

Maybe, depends on the party. I played a Soulblade/Shattered Pillar (with Community Patch tough to raise the max wound counter back to 10) and I really liked that you will both get wounds and focus with auto-attacks. But I used Whispers of the Endless Paths with Offensive Parry (and high deflection - as well as Nomad's Brigandine for the guaranteed misses on Disengagement Attacks against me). Hits from Offensive Parry both generate wounds/focus as well as trigger Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming procs. I could spam Soul Annihilation a lot because enemy misses against me (in melee) would give me focus and wounds. But I guess the combo could also be fun with Rapiers or whatever. I also guess that Forbidden Fist/Soulblade could be good (only with Community Patch again because else Forbidden Fist attacks won't generate focus). The Seeker's Fang DoT would not only be prolonged by +10 INT/+50% (at max wounds) but also by Enfeelbled (+50%) - also no healing for enemies then. Generally speaking a great weapon for Soulblade is Sun & Moon (dual heads = two chances to hit with SA and if both hit the second one already generates focus again). And it's also the best weapon choice for a Monk with Swift Flurry (way easier to proc crit-chains). So the Monk/Soulblade combo kind of yearns for that weapon - at least as backup weapon... or maybe on the main hand while Seeker's Fang goes into the offhand (because Swift Fkurry procs from the offhand get executed with the main hand weapon and SA also gets executed with the main hand weapon. Also Stunning Surge is great with Sun & Moon and another accurate offhand weapon. Weapon Set 1: Seeker's Fang + Tuotilo's Palm / WS2: Sun & Moon + Tuotilo's Palm That would be my pick with a Forbidden Fist I think (only with Community Patch). I would go with Sun & Moon + Seeker's Fang dual wielding setup on a Shattered Pillar (only with Community Patch). Nalpasca is always an option imo. Unless you get hit by Arcane Dampener the added wound generation is very nice. With Helwalker I might try to use a reach weapon first and later use Instruments of Pain with Seeker's Fang in order to not get hit too much in melee. I think Soul Storm from Chromoprismatic Staff generates focus if I'm not mistaken. And Swift Flurry could lead to 5 consecutive crits (which trigger Soul Storm) quite quickly...? A fantastic ranged opener for gaining massive amounts of focus is Kitchen Stove with Thunderous Report by the way. A Stunning Surge with Mortars into a group of enemies is also a fantastic opener imo. Same is a shot from Watershaper's Focus + Blast from stealth (longer range than mortars or blunderbusses - although the cone of Thunderous Report can get ridiculously big/long with some bonus INT).

Soul Blade will increase his max focus on kill though. With Seeker's Fang in mind I think I would go Monk/Soulblade.

Heh, besides Wizards there aren't that many summoned weapons. Priest of Woedica has nice summoned claws with a raw lash. But you'll have to roleplay according to Woedica's dispositions to make the lash strong (as is the case with all "Spiritual Weapons" of Priests). I can imagine a "Wolverine" like build in combination with a Berserker maybe? Or a Streetfighter? Using Barring Death's Door + Salvation of Time to stay flanked and bloodied etc. I haven't checked if Wael's Spiritual Rod also applies its lash to the blast (should be). That could be nice with Berserker's Barbaric Smash + Bloody Slaughter + Blood Thirst (circumventing the long recovery of Blast). Still mad that Priest of Eothas gets flails and not a Morning Star. Rot Skulls is not bad either. Should be cool with a Ranger because of Driving Flight and the accuracy. Firebrand can be used with Ring of Focused Flames. It profits from the +10 Accuracy at all times. I did a Bleak Walker/Druid once (don't remember the subclass) with Scion of Flame and Spirit of Decay for +2 PEN (and +20 ACC) on Flames of Devotion. You could use Firebrand with the Great Sword modal then and still hit reliably or without the modal to hit high defenses enemies. Reaping Knives are cool. But they are a bit special because you can't give them to yourself and you have to be a SC Cipher. I tried an SC Psion who would cast Reaping Knives onto several party members from stealth before going into battle and the focus flow was pretty incredible then. Combined with Time Siphon I could spam CC spells non-stop. Would also work with other cipher subclasses of course. Imagine a Soulblade who gets fueled up by several Reaping Knives and constantly dumps his focus into Soul Annihilation. Unfortunately no summoned weapon for him then. But one can also build the other party members around Reaping Knives use then (e.g. make them all speedy dual wielders or something). Reaping Knives always transfers +5 focus per hit. The damage is not important. But they do raw damage which is awesome for damage dealing, too.

What do you mean? You cannot obtain Hardy and Tenacious with a Nature Godlike. Berserker gets Hardy + Tenacious while other Barbs get Fit + Strong. Wellspring of Life (from Nature Godlike) does not change that. You can become Energized (which is one tier better than Tenacious) with "The Champion Braved the Horde Alone" invocation later. Or you equip Slayer's Claw (Battle Axe) before casting Frenzy. It upgrades all Might inspirations by one tier when they get applied. But that's a late game item. Berserker is tricky at first because your chants will affect enemies and friendly alike once you are confused (meaning once you use Frenzy). You want to get rid of confusion as soon as possible (e.g. with a Priest who casts Prayer for the Spirit, Svef, Luminous Lobster, Devil of Caroc Breastplate etc.). Besides that Berserker/Skald is a great combo for more crits = more phrases. Furyshaper leans more into the debuffing/CC aspect. The Fear Ward is really strong when used right. But you need some levels until you get it. Berserker's bonuses will be there right from the start. I'd use the following abilities with such a character: Spirit Frenzy (don't upgrade to Spirit Tornado*), The Long Night's Drink, Ben Fidel's Neck, Brute Force, Bloodlust, Blood Thirst, Bloody Slaughter, Her Revenge, Weapon Proficiency Morning Star (Body Blows). I would use Barbaric Smash a certain finisher because it would cost no Rage then and the chance for a crit will be higher (= higher chance for a phrase). I would wield the Willbreaker Morning Star, wear the Devil of Caroc's Breastplate and the Helm of the Falcon. Gauntlets of Greater Reliability (combined with Willbreaker's "Make them Flinch" enchantment and Miss-to-Graze food most of times), Ring of Prosperity once you have lots of gold. Don't forget to pick an "expensive" invocation at some point. Your max phrase pool/counter is determined by your most expensive invocation. If you only pick invocation that cost 2 phrases your max phrase counter will be 2. If you pick a non-offensive invocation that would normally cost 4 (5 for Skalds) your max phrase counter will be 5. It can make sense to pick one very expensive invocation because of that even if you don't plan to use it much (although stuff like Animated Weapons is always great to have). * Spirit Frenzy staggers with every hit, including offensive phrases like The Long Night's Drink or stuff like Barbaric Shout, Her Revenge, even Carnage etc. Once you upgrade to Spirit Tornado it will lose that property and only stagger with weapon attacks. So keep Spirit Frenzy. Then there's an extremely potent Howler we haven't talked about yet: Berserker/Beckoner with Grave Calling (sabre). Killing your own skeletons for many, many Chillfog procs, paralyzing and killing enemies "on the fly". This is a different beast though and it can really crash your game because of too many visual effects. I have not found an easy way to let the game run smoothly with this. Maybe a mod that takes away the VFX from Chilling Grave could do this.

I just took Great Swords to get the highest melee dmg numbers per hit. Any melee weapon setup might work well. Great Sword is not a bad pick for Devoted though because it has two damage types and good uniques and the +2 PEN helps with the Great Sword's rather lousy base PEN. Morning Star and Pollaxe would be good, too. I personally love Morning Stars - especially with Mule Kick and Clear Out. Both target Fortitude and the Morning Star lowers that defense considerably. But a dual weapon setup might also be nice. Didn't try though.

You could tag some devs with the help of the "@". Then they'll get notified and may see your post. This is a community forum mostly. Devs don't read every post.

I also thought Xoti's Monk subclass is meh in the past - but if you really lean into it and use a good melee build who does the bulk of your party's killing and combine it with Rooting Pain it becomes pretty good. Also Xoti's Lantern (+1 Wound, +1 Mortification per any kill) makes Inner Death worthwhile imo. What I would improve is to give her wounds with any kill (as the Landern does), not only melee weapon kills. Then it would be a great subclass.

Such abilites are especially useful when you use a reloading weapon - you don't need to wait for reloading to finish in order to move away. You just cancel the reload and go. With other weapons you'd have to wait for recovery to end and than can already be too late. With those weapons I prefer immunity to engagement (or immunity to disengagement attacks) and Boots of Speed because you can always walk away at any time.

I wrote in some other thread that you can also build a damage-oriented Crusader who does good damage (iirc I did some 170+ dmg hits with a Devoted/Bleak Walker with great sword bc. of the combination of lashes and Inspired Beacon - not to mention Sacred Immolation) and is still very sturdy (not main tank level of sturdy but very sturdy for a damage dealer). That's not boring at all imo. Sure, if you put everything into defenses it becomes a very passive character - but still very useful imo.

Yeah, good point. Maybe next time combine with Blightheart (+Sure Handed Ila +Mith Fyr)? Single target damage will be good then (-20% reloading speed twice and a lash) and you'll get +1 phrases for any kill (weapon or spell). Sure, the Skald's "phrase-on-50%crit" passive won't trigger, but I think it doesn't need to. Tried this weapon setup with a Berserker/Skald and it's fun. Brilliant + phrase on kill might be really nice for spamming stuff like Her Revenge...?

Bit unusual, but why not. Mirrored Images/Displaced Image could counter Frenzy's -10 deflection. You'd still need some external healing source bc of Frenzy - at least until you get Savage Defiance. Or use potions.

Bellower can do that on their own. The additional Power Level from Brilliant is negligible and the phrase generation from Brilliant isn't that good - at least that's what I "theorize". Imo Brilliant isn't very attractive for Chanters because they regain resources anyway. I think the best synergy with Tacticians are classes that normally wouldn't regain resources. But on the other hand I never tried a Tactician/Bellower, so maybe my thinking is wrong and it is good synergy. Maybe the Tactician can not only deliver phrases and Power Level but also fill the gap between invocations with useful actions from his refilling Discipline (like Clear Out or something). Whispers of the Endless Paths with Mule Kick could be a good tool, too. It causes flanked and interrupts which might regain you Discipline and also might trigger Brilliant. And it's cone-shaped like your invocations, to targeting is the same with both classes' actions sort of. But what first comes to (my) mind when thinking about a powerful Bellower combo is Helwalker/Bellower. High MIG for more invocation damage, high Accuracy from Enduring Dance, high INT for better linger time, bigger AoEs and longer durations. And refilling Wounds. For Tactician imo the best multiclass partner is Wizard. Can flank a lot of enemies on its own from level 1 on (Chillfog) and the regaining spell uses are very valuable.

I guess it depends how you like to play. Some players like slow encounters and some like it fast. Crusader tanks cater to the first group.

Rangers also have an Escape-like ability named Evasive Roll. It comes a bit later though. It not only lets you move over the battlefield but also makes you quick (+5 DEX) which directly translates to attack and reloading speed. So a Ranger/Chanter can shoot even faster (not only because of Evasive Roll's DEX bonus but also due to the "Gunner" passive Rangers can access) and the accuracy will be higher, but the dmg per shot will be lower than Rogue's. With Driving Flight you can hit two enemies instead of just one with one shot. Actually I'm playing a Ranger/Chanter right now (Arcane Archer/Troubadour).

Berserker/Skald or Furyshaper/Skald are great imo. Very nice "on the fly" fortitude debuffing with The Long Night's Drink + Spirit Frenzy (substituted with Morning Star + modal - Willbreaker is great). Together with Ben Fidel's Neck (stacks with all individual defense debuffs) you can lower enemies Fortitude by 55 points which is not only good for your party but also for your crits because you will pick Brute Force. Nice complementing weapon: Pike for the deflection debuff (Ngati's Tusk with max Survival is a supergood debuffing tool, too). You can always attack the lower of the two defenses, deflection or fortitude which leads to a lot more crits.

I wouldn't say that. Once you reach SSS you will most likely be happy about your Crusader who can endure very long fights.

Most are not ranged passives, but some (Shot on the Run, Gunner, Marksman...). But there are enough passives that don't care about ranged or melee (all Animal Companion passives, Stalker's Link, Defensive Bond etc...). Some actives are melee only (Hunter's Claw, Whirling Strikes) although both can be tricked to work with one handed ranged weapons (as long as you carry another melee weapon or bashing shield). Melee SC Ranger can be very potent due to Hunter's Claw + Whirling Strikes. The latter is better than Heart of Fury (Barb): more dmg, less resource cost. It's especially devastating with any kind of AoE weapon (Keeper of the Flame, offhand mortar etc.). However: where the SC Barb or SC Rogue might be able to regain some resources (Blood Surge, Gambit) the SC Ranger has no integral means to regain Bond.

Every SC Rogue subclass with Gambit is very good. You just need more than 10 Guile and decent accuracy so you don't miss or graze (too much). That's very straightforward. You will be at 100% crit conversion and can spam Gambit quasi-endlessly. Streetfighter is better than Assassin with a party imo because no invisibility is needed (no "park and fight" ). Works with melee or ranged weapons, but of course dual blunderbusses/mortars is best imo (first of all bc of Streetfighter passive and then it's very difficult to land only misses or grazes with those multihit shots). I also find SC Trickster worthwhile. Wall of Flashing Steel (passive +10 deflection when scoring a crit, stacks with Mirrored Images etc.) + Gambit is very nice. Crits galore as usual but quasi-permanent +10 deflection because of that. Combine with deflection gear and you'll deal lots of damage while being able to "dodge" lots of attacks. Debonaire is only nice for the additional tier-3 body inspiration for your charmed kith enemies I guess? Althoug iirc that's bound to char level, not Power Level? Don't remember. Anyway - if you charm the "right" enemy this can really mess up enemies' order. Suddenly the best of them comes at them with up to 3 body inspiration, charmed for nearly a minute... Not enough to justify SC alone though (even if it's unlockes by PL) - but you also get Gambit which would be the real motivation to go SC I think. What I really don't know is why anyone would pick vanilla Rogue though - SC or MC. Imo there's not much (maybe zero?) motivation for that (Barbarian, Monk, Ranger and Fighter, too - but most of all I feel like that for Rogue). Anyway - I think SC Rogue is on another level as SC Fighter or Paladin for example (niche builds aside of course - I mean who doesn't love endless Zeal from sacrificed Skeletons etc. )

Generally speaking a Harbinger (Chanter/Rogue) has greater effect if you are using reloading weapons (except Pistols). That is if you run Sure Handed Ila (if not forget what I'm saying). Reason is that Sure Handed Ila grants -20% ranged recovery bonus and -20% reloading bonus. One would think the recovery bonus applies to bows and rods/wands/scepters and the reloading bonus applies to crossbows/arbalests/firearms - but for whatever reason reloading weapons get both(!) bonuses. So with any reloading weapon you'll get -20% twice. Pistols + Rushed Reload (modal from weapon proficiency) won't stack with it. Also Hunting Bow's modal doesn't stack. Both will suppress Sure Handed Ila. So best to use something else (be it another chant or another weapon). If you had a Streetfighter (?) then I would highly recommend dual blunderbusses/hand mortars + modal. They would keep you distracted (which entails flanked) which would trigger the Streetfighter passive "Heating Up" at all times, granting you a stacking -50% recover bonus which also applies to reloading. That would stack with dual wielding, two weapon style and Sure Handed Ila, giving you insane reload speeds. Also two weapons are better for all the Rogue's "strikes" which are nearly all Full Attacks, meaning both weapons will be used. With any other Rogue subclass you could use arbalest or arquebus to great effect (rod as backup). The Red Hand arquebus is one of the best ranged weapons in the game when it comes to single target dmg output (because ii is double barreled an only has to reload after every second shot). If you skill Arcana then Spearcaster (arbalest) is also a great pick. Both can be obtained rel. early. A good rod is Watershaper's Focus for pierce immune enemies. What else you might want: If you pick arbalest or arquebus look at Maia's Padded Armor (Sharpshooter's Garb). It has an enchantment named Gunnery which gives another stacking -20% reloading bonus. Just take Maia into your party and unequip the armor. You could also kill her to get it... Ring of the Marksman you also want to have. A good pet would be Harley (dog). You can buy it in Serpent's Crown in the upper left corner from a vendor. Cutthroat Cosmo also isn't bad (should be in your stash from the start). For amulet etc. I would prefer +INT stuff (Charm of Bones for example). As Chanter you can never have enough INT imo. Boots of Speed would be my pick. Always good to be able to outrun melee enemies.

ROFL

You said dual melee weapons, hm... How about a "Huana Mataru" Unbroken/Wizard with a spear (Stalker's Patience) and a club (Kapana Taga) plus Reckless Brigandine plus Whitch Mask (later Champion's Helmet)? Sounds weird? Let me explain: Unbroken have a nice passive that grants them a big bonus with Engagement/Disengagement Attacks: +1 Engagement and +10 PEN on diseng. attacks. Paid for with -10% Stride (nobody cares once DAoM is active) and -15 Reflex (counter with a self buff like Llengrath's Displaced Image if you must). Kapana Taga has the will reducing modal (-25 Will), dual damage (crush/slash) and neat enchantments - one that gives you +2 engagement. You are at 3 engagement slots. Stalker's Patience has a modal that gives you +1 engagement at the cost of lesser stride (again: DAoM), it does awesome damage due to the wounding enchantment and you can skip recovery on crit 20% of times (cool, especially with disengagement attack which have high ACC bonuses, also with Overbearing Guard). You are at 4 engagement slots. Reckless Brigandine gives you more dmg, AR and action speed based on health and/or on how many enemies you engage. That stacks with Mob Stance(!). You are at 5 engagement slots. If you take Hold the Line you'll get 6 engagement slots (not really needed but maybe good to gap the bridge until you get all the items). With Reckless Brigandine, Armored Grace, the Pet Abraham, dual wielding, Two Weapon Style, DAoM and Mob Stance you will be pretty fast, especially once you engage a lot of enemies. Now... White Witch Mask, why? It gives you +1 to all Illusions (and looks good with Kapana Taga/Reckless Brigandine and thus completes the "Hauna Mataru" look quite well). Illusions include stuff like Dazzling Lights, Miasma of Dull-Mindedness and the two terrifying Ryngrim spells. Now the Unbroken and Wizard parts come together: You gather enemies around you and engage them. You hit them a bit with the club+modal (-25 Will). You cast Miasma of Dull Mindedness onto the enemies (-40 Will -> now at -65 Will). You cast Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage. Now the enemies get terrified and try to disengage. Often they trigger hefty disengagement attacks which will be executed with Stalker's Patience (chance of skipping recovery). If they die you will get an additional Full Attack from Mob Stance. And so on... Disciplined Strikes + Merciless Gaze lead to a good amount of crit conversion. You can really mess up enemies that way, do CC and damage at the same time. And against fear immune enemies? Well you are still a proper Battlemage so you'll think of something. The most fun part imo is that if you summon an Essential Phantom it will also have +3 engagement from the Brigandine and the club. So you can both deliver disengement attacks. It won't have your modals and passives but it's still a nice addition. If you want you can even summon Concelhaut's Draining Touch and use it als main weapon instead of the spear - but in order to keep it you need to use a game glitch. But even if you don't want to use that glitch: on a phantom the Draining Touch weapon stays after hits and will not dissolve like if would on your own character. And the neat thing is that it has not only huge base damage but it targets Will instead of Deflection (and you reduced enemies' Will substancially before). Icing on the cake is Zandethu's Draconic Fury (spell from a unique Grimoire) at Power Level 7. It lets you terrify on hit and getting hit (and adds two potent lashes). Too bad it's on the same tier as Wall of Draining - so I'd recommend Bloodmage in order to gain that spell use back so you can cast both spells in one encounter. I didn't play this for a whole playthrough though so I can't say if it's fun all the way. I only verified the concept with a hireling during a normal playhtough and with the console + some random encounters. But I always wanted to play that concept.

Affecting party members with Come Sweet Winds if Death isn't too bad though. You'll have more chances to hit which is mandatory for the healing effect and some party members might even profit from the little predictable damage they receive (e.g. Monks, Streetfighter, Barbarian...). The Phrase "Many Lives Pass By" doesn't care at all whether you're confused or not, so that would be safe. But in general it's best to get rid of confusion right away as @Not So Clever Houndsaid.

Miasma of Dull-Mindedness does not cause a "proper" affliction but direct attribute debuffs. Maybe try Arkemyr's Dazzling Lights (Dazed) or Curse of the Blackened Sight (Blind) or something like that.

I think I'd do Bloodmage (besides Berserker/Devoted which is great). There are really nice synergies with Fighter/Wizard later on. Chanter is also nice. Most invocations target will instead of fortitude but Willbreaker lowers will, too. But instead of Troubadour I would pick Skald. The -1 phrase cost is pretty great with offensive invocations and with Mule Kick or Clear Out + Body Blows and Disciplined Strikes you'll see phrases from crits frequently.

Does it have to be strictly melee? Because Streetfighter/Wizard with dual mortars (Serafen's blunderbusses with AoE effect) is very potent. The modal Powder Burns triggers the Streetfighter passive at all times (no need for bloodied or getting actively flanked). You'll have two damage types (mortars deal pierce/slash) and the AoE targets Reflex instead of Deflection (Wizard has lots of debuffs for that). Also Expose Vulnerabilities and Combusting Wounds is great with dual mortars. On top of that the mortars' AoE apply all effects from Rogue strikes - e.g. Arterial Strike's or Gouging Strike's raw dmg components. The recovery bonus is also great for casting spells faster. And the mortars - like all blunderbusses - are rel. short ranged so it's not a super-ranged build either. Summoning an Essential Phantom with your two mortars equipped can be fun, too.