Boeroer

More like Noob's Maneuver then.

Sure! I didn't recommend any abilities/talents besides 3 or 4 on purpose - because the core if he build only is to pay attention to spellbinding items and really use them a lot. Since the Sorcerer's Apprentice already used Prestidigitator's Missiles and was a ranged Rogue I just wated to try out something different. Sabre Rogue has a certain appeal and three unique sabres (Flames oFR, Buttercut and Sabre of the Sea) do have spells on them, so I thought that's also a nice approach. I tried to mostly pick talents/abilities which boost spells, that's why there are all those weird "Beast Slayer" talents there. I usually wouldn't take them for a "normal" Rogue - but in this case I thougt it should work. But you can absolutely build a spellbind Rogue in a lot of ways: ranges, with more crossclass talents/spells and so on. Enigma's Charm as third charm option in addition to Munacra Arret and Spirit Spiral is btw. what I did with my last spellbind fighter - and it's really a great way to add very high accuracy CC to a party. Makes the fighter so much more useful imo. Would also work well with a rogue or any other high ACC class (Ranger, Monk...).

Whoopsi, thanks! https://www.dict.cc/deutsch-englisch/Hallöchen!.html

Ach, I'm an idiot - of course non-reflex hits. You are immune to reflex in the first place, haha. Well, then I suspect some benefical spells besides Avenging Storm may indeed end Veteran's Recovery, too... fingers crossed that they don't.

You might want to check if stuff like Moonwell and similar benefical spells also remove Veteran's Maneuver. They trigger the Helm of the Aurochs freezing lash, too - because they get registered as "hits" - benefical (and hidden) hits, but hits nonetheless it seems. But most likely not as hits against refex, but who knows...

Nobody did until Constentine came along. It's def. not intended and pretty cheesy, yes. But the fun kind!

Yes, that's why I wrote "or whatever element you like". Corrode would fit the theme best I think. But there aren't good druid corrode spells which would profit from Spirit of Decay. So for the sake of efficiency I picked Wildstrike Shock + Heart of the Storm because it's not only the least resisted element, but also the best damage spells of the druid deal shock damage. Yes, I didn't put a recommendation tag behind the spell masteries because it highly depends on the party composition, too. This Druid, because of the high MIG, can work very well as the party's main healer. That's why I chose the above spell masteries. Those were just the spells I found myself using over and over again before. Possible, but dual spears look a bit weird imo - and more importantly: boar tusk deal pierce damage already. Good to have a third damage type besides pierce (tusks) and crush (fists) and gain the +10 deflection, too. Blaidh Golan is cool, but Wayfarer's Hide comes superb which is a big advantage for an armor you will not be using frequently because you will have a boar hide. Wayfarer's Hide def. the better pick for me here. Before getting it I wore Blaidh Golan btw.

Exactly!

Ah well, I did make a short gif. Check it out: first I cast Tanglefoot on the dummies and then Avenging Storm. Without doing anything else the Avenging Storms kill the dummies. Add more pulsing spells and especially Great Meastrom and they will die in seconds:

You must have been sleeping Hemorrhaging is universal, meaning it procs off of ALL crits - spells, weapon attacks, attack rolls from other items (Boltcatchers, Hylea's Talons, Ajamuut's Stalking Cloak, Ring of Clenched Muscle...) anything that can roll crit will trigger Hemorrhaging. So far, so good - but waht good does repeated appliance of hobble or sicken do (besides prolonging the duration of the hobble or sicken effect)? Since Homorrhaging itself is a weapon enchantment it counts as a weapon attack! This means it will trigger Avenging Storm bolts. And what do Avenging Storm bolts trigger if they crit? Right: Hemorrhaging! And what does Hemorrhaging trigger? That's right again: Avenging Storm... You can see where this is going. It helps that Hylea's Talons and Ring of Clenched Musle also get triggered by Hemorrhaging and themselves can trigger Avenging Storm (and Hemorrhaging again). Any attack roll you can produce raises the chance that a crit occurs - which has the chance to proc Hemorrhaging which in turn procs Avenging Storm and so on. Spells that do pulsing attack rolls (or even better, do multiple attack rolls per pulse) are awesome in order to trigger constant crits: Tanglefoot, Relentless Storm, Wicked Briars, Venombloom (multiple rolls per pulse) and so on. Great Maelstrom, too. There is no better weapon for a Fury (or any Druid who uses Avenging Storm). It also works for a Stormspeaker (Tekehu), the chants can trigger Avenging Storm from the invocation. And for a little bit of melee fun: Taste of the Hunt + Effort's raw DoT is also not bad for the occasional strike with the blade (can also trigger an avalanche of Avenging Storm/Hemorrage of course). @Constentin Lévine was the one who originally discovered this neat synergy. All props to him! Maybe I'll do a little animated gif for showcasing at some point. Would spare me a lot of explanation I guess.

This build was created for a collaboration with @Aestus who runs the Youtube channel Aestus_RPG. This is build 3 of 3 from that collaboration. You can find a link to that video down below. ----------------------------------------- This build is mainly meant for inspiration. You don't need to follow it in detail to have fun. If you understand the key features - the basic idea what makes this build special - you can usually deviate from non-core attribute-, skill-, gear- and ability selection and form the build to your own likings and ideas. ----------------------------------------- uvan Thanleyr was born into the aristocratic family of Thanleyr in the Aedyr Empire. From an early age, Tuvan was groomed for a life of refinement and diplomacy, but his heart was never content in the stuffy halls of power. His true fascination lay in hidden treasures: ancient artifacts, forgotten relics, and the mysterious forces that imbued them with power. As a child, Tuvan spent more time exploring the family estate’s vaults and libraries than attending banquets and galas. Over time, he became enchanted by tales of long-lost magical items and the forbidden knowledge they contained. His quiet curiosity turned into obsession, and with the aid of discreet family contacts, he began to procure such artifacts. Rather than following the traditional path of diplomacy like his forefathers, Tuvan adopted the role of an independent collector, traveling across the empire and beyond in search of rare magical items. Using his sharp intellect and quick fingers, he became an adept rogue - able to navigate both the political intrigue of the noble courts and the more dangerous, shadowy world of thieves and tomb raiders. Tuvan's deep knowledge of enchanted items and his knack for discovering spellbindings allowed him to harness the power of these artifacts. By attuning himself to those spellbound items he was able to wield powerful magic that would have otherwise been beyond his reach. However, his life was not without conflict: while his noble lineage granted him privilege, it also drew the attention of powerful rivals who sought to claim his treasures. With enemies closing in from all sides, Tuvan fled his homeland and lost all he had collected. He dicided to venture into the Dyrwood, where Engwithan ruins promised new adventures and better loot, albeit more risk. Tuvan must rely on his wits, his agility and his growing collection of magical items to navigate the dangerous waters of the nobility, the shadowy underworld and the merciless tribes of the Glanfathans protecting those ruins... =================================== The Spellbinder =================================== Difficulty: PotD -------------------------------------------------------------- Class: Rogue -------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Wood Elf (or Island Aumaua for more weapon slots) -------------------------------------------------------------- Background: Aedyr - Aristocrat (just for the vibes) -------------------------------------------------------------- Stats: MIG: 12 CON: 08 DEX: 16 PER: 16 INT: 18 RES: 08 (+1 Aedyr) -------------------------------------------------------------- Skills: Mechanics 12, Survival 6 (use a +2 Survival item before camping to get the increased ACC against certain enemies) -------------------------------------------------------------- Talents (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important) 2: Weapon Focus Ruffian 4: Vicious Fighting (r) 6: Arms Bearer (r) 8: Wilder Hunter 10: Primal Bane 12: Beast Slayer 14: Scion of Flame 16: Spirit of Decay Abilities 1: Crippling Strike 3: Dirty Fighting(r) 5: Deep Wounds 7: Coordinated Positioning 9: Escape 11: Deathblows (!) 13: Smoke Cloud 15: Shadow Step Story Talents: - Mob Justice (just because it fit the treasure hunter theme best) - Dungeon Delver - Song of the Heavens - Flick of the Wrist - Hylea's Boon --------------------------------------------------------------- Items (!=important, r=recommended): Weapon Set 1: Bittercut + Bittercut Weapon Set 2: Bleak Fang + Azureith's Stiletto Weapon Set 3: White Spire/Taluntain's Staff/Sabre of the Seas+Flames of Fair Rhian Boots: Animancer's Boots/Bilestompers/ Head: Munacra Arret/Ethereal Helm (toss away after charges are depleted) Armor: Sun-Touched Mail of Hyran Rath/White Crest Armor/Hunter's Mail Neck: Amulet of Summer Solstice/Nidhen's Finger/Cloak of Minor Missiles/Swaddling Sheet Belt: Coil of Resourcefulness Rings: Bartender's Ring/Ring or Searing Flames/Gwyn's Band of Union/Ring of Changing Heart/Sigil of the Arcane Hands: Rotfinger Gloves/Siegebreaker Gauntlets/Spirit Spiral --------------------------------------------------------------- Hallöchen, a final last build for PoE (I think) - I was invited for a second interview by @Aestus again, this time for PoE: And since I talked about some PoE build ideas in the forum but never posted them, we thought this was a good opportunity to do so. The Spellbinder is a variant of a build I posted years ago: the Sorcerer's Apprentice (see below). https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/86156-class-build-the-sorcerers-apprentice-twisted-sneaky-dps-scroll-user/ The reasons why damaging spells work well with Rogues are explaned there. In short: Deathblows works with damage from spells, too - giving your spells +100% damage. And of course the Rogue has good accuracy. But instead of using scrolls this Rogue is using spellbind gear to collect and cast a lot of per-rest spells. There are a lot of fitting items in the game, you can see a collection I mostly used above. I chose Wood Elf because of the Distant Advantage (also applies to ranged spells). And then I focused on the mobility aspect of the Rogue and left out the melee abilities - just to do something different. I also leaned into spell damage even more by using mostly abilites and talents which work with weapon AND spells (Scion of Flame, Beast Slayer, pick up the Bartender's Ring and so on - even Deep Wounds works with spells if they deal crush, pierce or slash damage). But you don't need to do that! It's also nice to build the usual melee Rogue with all sorts of Strikes and put the spellbinding on top. The core idea is using Deathblows with spells. However, I enjoyed the focus on mobility abilities of the Rogue a lot for a change. Very useful for perfect positioning for the optimal cast. I also threw some spellstriking (trigger a spell when you critically hit an enemy) and spellholding (trigger a spell when you get critically hit) into the mix. If you switch to Bleak Fang + Azureith's Stiletto or Sabre of the Seas while enemies are afflicted twice - and manage to crit one of them - the resulting AoE damage is extremely high. You have to force yourself to actually use the spells those items provide though. Don't make the mistake and try to spare them for the big encounter and then rest with lots of spell uses left untouched. At some point you'll have so many items in your inventory who have spells bound to them and are still full. If your currently equipped items are empty: just swap them with fresh ones. At some point only after lots of fights you will have to rest because of depleted spells. It's more likely that you'll have to rest because of low health than of low spells. And even then: you're still a full Rogue with great weapon damage, right? Especially with sabres like Bittercut you can always shine with great melee single target damage - even if your spells are gone. To me this way to play a Rogue is more fun than the traditonal single-target approach. And finally you get some more use out of those sepllbind items. This is may also be a nice theme build if you want to play a Spellblade in Deadfire and wondered what class to play in PoE first. This apporach also totally works with a Fighter btw. - the combination of Disciplined Barrage and high base ACC of the Fighter is great for using CC-spells from spellbinds. A Fighter lacks the Deathblow ability to turn damaging spells into real nukes, but his accuracy with Whisper of Treason etc. is unmatched. If you thought about playing a Battlemage in Deadfire, maybe a spellbind Fighter is nice to play in PoE first. I played Edér that way recently - and despite his low INT it worked very well. Cheers!

Wow, cool!

This build was created for a collaboration with @Aestus who runs the Youtube channel Aestus_RPG. This is build 2 of 3 from that collaboration. You can find a link to that video down below. ----------------------------------------- This build is mainly meant for inspiration. You don't need to follow it in detail to have fun. If you understand the key features - the basic idea what makes this build special - you can usually deviate from non-core attribute-, skill-, gear- and ability selection and form the build to your own likings and ideas. ----------------------------------------- n the Living Lands, there exists a Druid named Rhuar - a rugged, rather ugly man with a deep connection to the natural world. Born in a small, secluded village on the fringes of a vast forest, Rhuar spent his youth learning the ways of both nature and martial combat. His affinity for the land and its tasty bugs was nurtured by the village's ancient traditions, passed down through generations of Druids. Rhuar discovered his spiritshift ability early on - able to transform into a wild boar, a creature of strength and resilience, embodying the untamed power of the wilderness - aaand able to sniff all the tasty bugs! This transformation not only granted him unparalleled endurance and a welcome snack every now and then, but also the remarkable ability to regenerate, healing wounds with every blow he takes. As a boar, Rhuar is a force of (dirty) nature, charging through enemies with ferocity and amouthful of chitin. But even when not in his animal form, Rhuar remains a formidable fighter. His years of training in hand-to-hand combat have turned him into a skilled pugilist. With fists like iron, he strikes with precision, using his human form to deliver punishing blows that complement his druidic powers. Though Rhuar’s life is simple, it is not without turmoil: driven by an unyielding sense of duty to protect the natural world from encroaching dangers and the wish to dig up some squishy worms from time to time, he roams the land, seeking balance between the feral instincts of his wild boar form and the wisdom of his human heart. Whether in battle or in peace, Rhuar is a guardian of nature a warrior with the soul of a beast and a tummy full of tasty bugs. =================================== The Vigorous Warthog =================================== Difficulty: PotD -------------------------------------------------------------- Class: Druid -------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Human (or Aumaua, Dwarf, Nature Godlike) -------------------------------------------------------------- Background: The Living Lands - Colonist -------------------------------------------------------------- Stats: MIG: 20 (+1 Living Lands) CON: 14 DEX: 12 PER: 12 INT: 16 RES: 04 -------------------------------------------------------------- Skills: Survival 12, Athletics 9 -------------------------------------------------------------- Talents (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important) 2: Wildstrike Shock (!)(or whatever element you like) 4: Novice's Suffering(!) 6: Veteran's Recovery(!) 8: Weapon Focus Peasant(r) 10: Greater Wildstrike Shock(r) 12: Two-Weapon-Style(r) 14: Outlander's Frenzy 16: Heart of the Storm Abilities 9: Spell Mastery: Nature's Vigor 11: Spell Mastery: Taste of the Hunt 13: Spell Mastery: Nature's Balm 15: Spell Mastery: Form of the Delemgan Story Talents: - Second Skin - Dungeon Delver - Song of the Heavens - Galawain's Boon (+1 MIG) - Gift from the Machine (+1 MIG) - Effigy's Resentment: Maneha (+1 MIG) --------------------------------------------------------------- Items (!=important, r=recommended): Weapon Set 1: fists (!)(Novice's Suffering) Weapon Set 2: two hatchets (r) Boots: Sandals of the Forgotten Friar (r) Head: Hermit's Hat Armor: Wayfarer's Hide/Sanguine Plate Neck: Mantle of the Dying Boar (obviously )/Fulvano's Amulet Belt: Wildstrike Belt® Rings: Pensiavi mes Rèi, Ring of Thorns Hands: Mourning Gloves/Gauntlets of Swift Action --------------------------------------------------------------- Hi again! Another late build for PoE - I was invited for a second interview by @Aestus again, this time for PoE: And since I talked about some PoE build ideas in the forum but never posted them, we thought this was a good opportunity to do so. The Vigorous Warthog is a Boar Druid - obviously. The Boar form grants two very good abilities while shifted: a wounding lash on your tusk weapons and also a constant regeneration effect similar to a Fighter's Constant Recovery. Speaking of Constant Recovery: the cross-class talent "Veteran's Recovery" does stack with the boar regeneration so we'll take it, too. We can build around those things and create a Druid who is surprisingly sturdy and at the same time does great melee damage while shifted, especially against enemies with thick armor. Wounding - as you might already know - scales with Might, and the healing you do does as well - so we have a double motivation to raise our Might high. This also helps all our spells that deal damage and heal us and others. We want to deal the majority of our melee damage when shifted - but Spiritshift is not endless and often enough we will shift back before the fight is over. For that we might need some fitting backup weapons. Best to use some who don't need a lot of mony and resources to be good, they are for backup only after all. Soulbound weapons come to mind or even a summoned weapon such as Firebrand: they scale without resources. Or - just hear me out - we use our fists. Novice's Suffering works in a weird way: it leaves your fists' base damage untouched but instead adds a rahter big flat damage bonus to them. Since most damage bonuses use the weapons' base damage as... well... base, adding damage bonuses to fists doesn't do much. But on the flipside damage maluses like grazes also don't influence the damage output much. The flat bonus however doesn't get influenced by anything - except Might! Yes, again Might - another reason to pump it. This leads to a set of backup weapons that does increbibly consistent damage, even if the wearer hasn't that much accuracy (like a Druid for example). And except the talent point they cost nothing. Later we add the Sandals of the Forgotten Friar. They add a second (small) flat dmg bonus to unarmed attacks and is also influenced by Might. Now we maxize it during character creation (Dwarf, Aumaua or Human for bonus Might - or even Nature Godlike for the chance to get stackable +3 MIG when under 50% endurance) and use a nice +MIG item (I chose a ring but it doesn't really matter). Outlander's Frenzy can give us another +3 MIG. But we can also use the Sanguine Plate for that: wait until you were hit by a crit and Frenzy procs, then spiritshift: the Frenzy will stay with you - and you spared a talent point. I picked the Wayfarer's Hide however - mostly because of the looks. Use the Blighthollow Resting in Caed Nua for +3 extra Might, it lasts for 3 rests in the wilderness. Make sure to pick up the Wildstrike Belt. What it does it pretty amazing (and obscured by its vague description): it will ad 10% to your Wildstrike damage it says. But what it really does: It adds +10% to your Wildstrike lash, raising it from 30% to 40%. But it also adds 10% to your Greater Wildstrike lash! Those two are separate lashes - and the latter one is only 15% which has to overcome enemies DR/4, too. Low lashes often get eaten up by enemies DR, so raiing this 15% lash to a 25% lash is great. Now your Wildstrike does +40% elemental lash damage and +25% elemental lash damage. No it's totally worth it to pick up one of the elemental damage talents like Heart of the Storm. It will raise both lashes, too: from 40% to 48% and from 25% to 30%. Now you do almost as much lash damage as physical tusk damage. And remember: wounding, buffed up by lots of MIG, comes on top! All Rogues who witness this go home crying and decide to attend Druid Evening School... Your Boar + Veteran's Regeneration is very good, too, allowing you to hang out at the front line after some levels. And you can always increase it with a powerful healing spell of course. The best apporach is to first cast some useful spells (Avenging Storm, Form of the Delemgan, Nature's Balm etc.) and only then rush into battle, swinging tusks left and right. And should Spieitshift end before the fight ends you can punch around with your meaty fists - or cast spells of course. Against crush-immune foes you can use a set of solid hatchets: they grant some deflection and deal slash damage - and they share the same weapon focus as fists. 99% of times you won't need them though. Since Novice's Suffering fists don't profit much from damage bonuses I skipped Savage Attack, Appr. Sneak Attack etc. and instead focused on Might, speed and lash improvement. Cheers and have fun!

Hi, if I'd only read until I would have suggested Druid for PoE and Single Class Druid for Deadfire. Druids in PoE are just great (and can be great in melee fights, too) and my lastest playthrough in Deadfire was with a SC Fury using the great Sword Effort (extremely potent if you combine Avenging Storm and Effort's Hemorrhaging enchantment). Forgotten Sanctum was a breeze - I just brute-forced the Oracle into Oblivion with a thousand Avenging Storm procs on top of my Great Maelstrom. But then I read about the weapon requirements. While Abydon's Hammer can be great for a Druid (+4 MIG while casting) you won't use it in melee (but Spiritshift) - and Modwyr in Deadfire is of little use for a Druid of course. --- Kind Wayfarer is not such a bad choice I think. Don't know about Abydon's Hammer because Kind Wayfarer's FoD is best used with a two-weapon setup - but in Deadfire a Kind Wayfarer with Modwyr and maybe the Watcher's Blade can work well. If you go single class you can use Divine Retribution at Power Level 9 and a fellow Chanter who summons skeletons to gain unlimited Zeal for endless spamming of Flames of Devotion/White Flames. This is very useful in difficult encounters because you deal damage with very high accuracy (FoD: +10 ACC, Ring of Focused Flames: +10 ACC) and heal your party (and yourself) at the same time. Then it's also no problem to use Sacred Immolation: the self damage gets easily healed by your own White Flames. But you'd need one (or more) Chanters in the party who can constantly deliver weak summons (easiest way is chanting Many Lives Pass By). --- Classes which usually make it easier to really steamroll the late game with a party are Monk, Bloodmage, Priest, certain kinds of Druids (see above, but also Bloodmage/Lifegiver), SC Beckoner is bonkers with 8(!) Animated Weapons as I recently experienced (used him to support a dual pistol SC Kind Wayfarer, Beckoner stole the show but the KW was very nice, too), Tactician has the potential to break the game as well. I don't see any pure melee guy with Modwyr really walzing through encounters in the late game. Their impact can be important, but it's usually too limited to single target damage most of times. That can be useful to take down priority targets, but it doesn't feel like steamrolling. The aforementioned Kind Wayfarer has the benefit that he heals (all the time) while dishing out weapon damage (and AoE damage). Wouldn't say he steamrolls anything - but he surely makes every party a whole lot sturdier. --- I forgot that you could make a Berserker/Troubadour and use Grave Calling as main weapon. This is a game breaking setup (kill your own skeletons with Grave Calling which procs a Chillfog which kills your skeletons which procs more Chillfogs and so on) - but it's hard with a party (they usually cannot come close) and also kind of boring at some point. Also is hard on the graphics card...

This build was created for a collaboration with @Aestus who runs the Youtube channel Aestus_RPG. This is build 1 of 3 from that collaboration. You can find a link to that video down below. ----------------------------------------- This build is mainly meant for inspiration. You don't need to follow it in detail to have fun. If you understand the key features - the basic idea what makes this build special - you can usually deviate from non-core attribute-, skill-, gear- and ability selection and form the build to your own likings and ideas. ----------------------------------------- aldar G'Angreen was born amidst the wild and unpredictable landscapes of the Living Lands. Kaldar's clan, skilled hunters, had been living on some icy peaks of the Living Lands. From an early age, Kaldar was drawn to the quiet, mystical side of the world. His family, though tough and pragmatic, were also devoted followers of Berath, the god of death and the cycles of life. His mother, a revered herbalist and healer, had taught him the ways of plants, potions and scrolls. She also instilled in him a respect for the natural cycles of death and rebirth. Kaldar was always intrigued by the balance that Berath governed—how life, death, and the passing of seasons were all intertwined in the endless flow of time. In his youth, Kaldar began to serve as an acolyte in his clan’s small shrine to Berath. But while others focused on the priestly aspects of service, Kaldar felt a deep calling to combine his spirituality with the physical world. He spent time meditating on the inevitability of death and the necessity of killing for survival. While others saw death as a tragic end, Kaldar recognized that it was as much a part of nature as the birth of new life. For him, Berath was not a distant, abstract force, but an ever-present reminder of the cycles that governed his world. One fateful day, Kaldar’s life took a tragic turn when his clan's valley was struck by a massive avalanche caused by the eruption of a nearby volcano. It surged through the valley, sweeping away homes and lives. Kaldar’s family was torn apart in the disaster, and though Kaldar survived, he lost many loved ones, including his parents. In the aftermath of the disaster, he found himself standing on the edge of the ruined valley, staring into the snow that had claimed so much. His grief was immense, yet it was here that Berath’s voice first spoke clearly to him. Berath's words were not of comfort, but of purpose: "The cycle is not undone by mourning, but by accepting it." It was in this moment that Kaldar fully embraced his role as both priest and warrior. He vowed to honor the goddess by ensuring that the natural cycle of life and death continued, even in the face of chaos and destruction. His grief gave way to a profound understanding of the delicate balance of life, death, and rebirth, and he dedicated himself to both protecting his people and serving as a guide for those whose souls crossed into the afterlife. Kaldar took up his greatsword, a weapon forged by his ancestors and passed down to him on the day he took his vows. While his spiritual power could heal the dying, offer prayers and ease suffering, he knew that Berath’s will could sometimes only be carried out through action. His greatsword, capable of cleaving through the toughest of creatures, became a symbol of his devotion to the god of cycles. The sword now struck when Kaldar’s spells had done their work. After offering his prayers, he would pick up the weapon, his greatsword carving a path through enemies and ensuring that Berath’s will was done. Soon he was known as St. Gangrene. Now, Kaldar travels beyond his homeland, drawn to the Dyrwood by rumors of imbalances in the cycle of life and death. He has heard whispers of unnatural occurrences - a plague that refuses to end, souls that do not pass to the newborn and deaths that seem wrong, as if they were taken before their time. Kaldar believes that Berath is calling him to right these wrongs, and he knows that his strength and his divine connection will be crucial to restoring balance. His true purpose lies in bringing death when necessary, but also ensuring that life flourishes where it is meant to. But mostly bringing death when necessary... =================================== St. Gangrene =================================== Difficulty: PotD -------------------------------------------------------------- Class: Priest -------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Dwarf (optional) -------------------------------------------------------------- Background: The Living Lands - Colonist -------------------------------------------------------------- Stats: MIG: 21 (+1 Living Lands) CON: 10 DEX: 15 PER: 14 INT: 15 RES: 03 -------------------------------------------------------------- Skills: Survival 8, Lore 10, Athletics 8 -------------------------------------------------------------- Talents (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important) 2: Inspiring Radiance® 4: The Pallid Hand® 6: Weapon Focus Soldier® 8: Aggrandizing Radiance® 10: Runner’s Wounding Shot 12: Two Handed Style 14: Apprentice's Sneak Attack 16: Savage Attack Abilities 9: Spell Mastery: Blessing 11: Spell Mastery: Holy Power®, retrain to Instill Doubt at lvl 15 bc. of Apprentice’s Sneak Attack 13: Spell Mastery: Dire Blessing 15: Spell Mastery: Devotions for the Faithful® Story Talents: - The Merciless Hand - Dungeon Delver - Song of the Heavens - Galawain's Boon (+1 MIG) --------------------------------------------------------------- Items (!=important, r=recommended): Weapon Set 1: Tidefall (!) (for hitting foes, legendary, Corrosive Lash) Weapon Set 2: Abydon’s Hammer® (more Might for casting spells) Boots: Shod in Faith® Head: Maegfolc Skull Armor: Angio’s Gambeson, Vengiatta Rugia Neck: Cloak of Comfort Belt: Girdle of the Driving Wave® Rings: Seal of Faith, Ring of Protection Hands: Gauntlets of Puissant Melee, Celebrant's Gloves --------------------------------------------------------------- Hi! Another late build for PoE - I was invited for a second interview by @Aestus again, this time for PoE: And since I talked about some PoE build ideas in the forum but never posted them, we thought this was a good opportunity to do so. St. Gangrene is a Priest of Berath who wants to hit enemies with a great sword - once all the casting is done. To do that we combine very high Might and combine it with the unique great sword Tidefall - and of course high Might is great for healing as well as damaging spells... and Holy Radiance's damage gainst vessels, too (it actually scales extremely well with MIGH in combination with tha Priest's favored dispositions, one-shotting most vessels at some point)! Later we can even use Abydon's Hammer for some extra Might when we are casting damaging or healing spells. The reason why high Might works very well with Tidefall: its wounding enchantment is a 25% raw lash, but unlike other lashes it scales with Might. More Might means higher lash damage. Higher Might also means higher weapon damage, which in turn raises the lash damage as well: win-win. You can then add some melee dmg bonuses with Savage Attack, Two-Handed Style ad Apprentice's Sneak Attack, which raises the damage further. In order to achieve ridiculos Might we maxize it during character creation (Dwarf or Aumaua, Human also works, Living Lands) and then always use the best +MIG item we can find until we get the Maegfolc Skull (+4). If combined with Holy Power, later Champion's Boon or Minor Avatar (+8 to everything) and Aggrandizing Radiance (+2 to everything, stacks) the Might score slowly grows towards 40 points. Use the Blighthollow Resting in Caed Nua for +3 extra Might, it lasts for 3 rests in the wilderness. ~40 Might means +90% damage and healing - and it turns the 25% wounding lash into a 48% lash - so to speak. Combine with a 25% elemental lash and the melee damage is pretty impressive - outright outrageous for a Priest. The healing bonus even works for healing that affects health: Wound Binding for example (you might consider taking it, it can prevent frequent resting because of los health) but also potions of Infuse with Vital Essence. If you drink such a potion before the combat ends it can restore quite some health for you. All that Might is also benefical for the second nice enchantment the weapon has: draining. With draining you'll add a portion of the damage you deal to your endurance, healing you. Lots of great sword damage = lots of healing. A Priest of Berath (starting ACC of 20 only) can use the talent "the Pallid Hand" to get +10 accuracy with great swords, which lifts him on the level of Fighters (30 base ACC). Add Weapon Focus Soldier and the usual accuracy buffs a Priest has (Blessing, Devotions, Minor Avatar etc.) and you can see that hitting enemies will not be a problem at all. It's still a Priest so the main focus is on the spells - but often, once you are finished with your spells or want to spare spells for later, you want to do something mundane with your Priest. This one can. It's also great to be able to whack some sense into backline rushers who think they can just annoy your casters. To make the melee combat more fun and interesting I added Runner's Wounding Shot (the 80% DoT stacks with Wounding) and the Girdle of the Driving Wave (which gives you Knockdown 1/encounter which can be super useful against rushers) - so you will have two special melee attacks per encounter at least. If you want to get even more you can pick up Envenomed Strikes instead of Savage Attack or Apprentice's Sneak Attack. It's 3/rest - but very strong if you take it early - and its damage scales well with Might, too. Remember: you can always retrain... Also Gatecrasher Gloves can be fun: Clear Out with high MIG and good INT is no joke. Cheers and have fun!

Without figurines I think Rymrgand's Mantle (even better with Elemental Endurance/Pale Elf¹) and a great position in a corner is a must in order to survive. High fortitude defense (even better with Towering Physique/Coastal Aumaua²) against the stun attack (ACC 46) could be used to avoid being stunlocked. The ACC of the phantoms is 35 for the physical attack iirc - so high deflection would also help to avoid stunlocking: if the initial attack misses there will be no stun. So... classes aside I think it's either Pale Elf or Coastal Aumaua + Rymrgand's Mantle + shield and weapon & shield style which might have the best chance. Maybe Fire Godlike could be useful, too. Alternatively, if your delfection is already good, the Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer with FIrebrand can help you even if you didn't manage to unlock the Flame Shield (which would be awesome here, bonus +10 freeze DR and fire retaliation): Firebrand has 30+ fire base damage and can kill Phantoms very quickly - IF you manage to avoid the stunlock. Maybe Coastal Auamaua + Mantle + Belt + Firebrand woud be great. As for classes: Darcozzi Paladin with Fires of Darcozzi Palace might be best in this case due to the high potential fort defense in combination with the minor flame shield. --- 1: Elemental Endurance adds +10 freeze DR. Rymrgand's Mantle calculates the 20% endurance healing from freeze dmg BEFORE DR, so the Mantle + very high freeze DR can lead to: received healing > suffered damage. However, health will still get damaged and cost you the fight - but the health pool is significantly higher than the endurance pool. You can find the Mantle here: 2: Towering Physique adds +20 defense against stun (and prone) which is a huge bonus that early in the game - esp. against "only" 46 CC.

You mean Ancestor's Memory? It will cost focus to cast it on party members, sure - but you can always get new focus from stuff like Phantom Foes and being Brilliant (Tactician) yourself. As long as there are several enemies Phantom Foes (and also Secret Horrors) is a great way to flank/afflict enemies and generate quite a nice amount of focus (if there are enough enemies left). And on top you can gain a good amount of focus with Clear Out, Kitchen Stove's Thunderous Report and all other sorts of weapon attacks, too. The good thing of the Beguiler's way to get additional focus is that it's not dependent on weapon damage at all - with lowish MIG that's an advantage imo.

Awesome! I really don't know why some mechanics - such as keywords - are obscured in the first place. Deadfire is way better than PoE in that regard, but still not great.

I didn't do anything - except explain to you what the modder's problem and reasoning was. "Ah, I see. I don't agree with the decision but thanks for explaining it to me." You are welcome.

ROFL I wrote "ection economy"

Sounds like Tactician/Cipher. If you plan to cast a lot of Deception spells as CC I would recommend a Beguiler instead of Ascendant or Soulblade. Since you plan to become Brilliant anyway you don't really need Ascension. Soulblade is nice in combo with Tactician (can spam Soul Annihilation), but not so nice if you want low Might and want to cast CC and buffs. Beguiler gets focus from casting Deception spells. If the spell is cheap and can hit several enemies at once (Phantom Foes, Secret Horrors) you can gain (a lot) more focus than you spend. And sicne you want to cast Phantom Foes a lot anyways... You don't have to afflict the enemies before: the Phantom Foe spell itself already unlocks the focus gain: first the flanked affliction is added and THEN the game checks if the enemies are afflicted and you should get the focus refund. Little weird, but good for the Beguiler. But Ascendant would also be okay. You can check out the mechanics of Unbending in this post: It doesn't scale with MIG because the height of the healing tick is directly derived from the damage you received. It's the same with draining weapons, where the amount of healing is based on the damage you do and also not influenced by MIG. Keeping MIG at 10 is okay, but dumping it (below 10) is a rel. bad idea because this would mean a multiplicative malus for both damage dealt and healing done (see Constant Recovery, Second Wind/Athletics, Pain Block etc.). In general you want to avoid damage and healing maluses, because their impact is too big for the few points you spare. But as I said: 10 (no bonus, no malus) is okay. Unfortunately going from 3% to 0% bonus isn't that same degration as going from 0% to -3%. Your Resolve should only be super high if you want very high deflection and will defenses - and if you want to shorten hostile effects' duration (on you). That's most often the case if you are a tank. If you don't plan to tank a lot you don't need a lot of Resolve. If you do it's a good idea to raise it (and also use deflection gear such as a shield, bracers/cloak/ring/armor with deflection bonuses etc.). On the other hand: if you plan to become basically immortal from Unbending you don't need high deflection anymore. I guess I'd go mediocre so that it's not too bad before Unbending but also isn't "wasted" too much after Unbending becomes accessible. A caster in general profits a lot from high DEX. Good ection economy and reactivity is important for a "smooth" feeling when casting spells. The longer your casts need the higher the chance that you'll get interrupted, especially when going solo. Fighter/Cipher can achieve nice accuracy via abilities, so maxing PER isn't necessary. I would still keep it at >15, esp. solo. Else it could be annoying to not be able to find all traps and secrets. Discovery of those is governed by your final PER value. Instead of Squid's Grap you can also use Kapana Taga (club) or Gipon Prudensco (padded armor).

The problem with Dragon's Dowry (and other weapons that carry an elemental keyword but do physical damage): if you attack foes that are immune to fire damage, the game doesn't even evaluate the actual physical damage (in this case pierce) vs. armor but immediately decides that the enemy is immune to your weapon - only because it carries the fire keyword. So the keyword has an advantage (allows for bonues from Ring of Focused Flames for example but also Scion of Flame etc.) but also a disadvantage (enemies are immune to your shots who shouldn't be). And that disadvantage is totally obscured and unintuitive. This couldn't be fixed "properly" with a mod because this behaviour was hard-coded afair. So I guess the modder decided to remove the fire keyword from the Dragon-Dowry attacks alltogether. Sun & Moon (burn/frost keywords but crush dmg) should have had the same issue. I think it's a reasonable solution. Other weapons who have a n elemental lash but do physical damage also don't get the elemental keyword for all their attacks. Dragon's Dowry does incredible damage per hit compared to the Red Hand (which has better dps) - so it still has its uses. For example a Rogue with limited resources for special attacks would get more damage out of his Guile points than he would get from the Red Hand. Best would be to use Dragon's Dowry for limited attack abilities and switch to the Red Hand for auto-attacks. Too bad this issue couldn't get fixed more elegantly.

Grave Calling has no interaction with Carnage.

Then single class Bloodmage totally works. I wouldn't raise Might too high because it also increases the self damage of Blood Sacrifice. INT, DEX and PER are the most important attributes. For gear besides the helmet and +1-spells-grimoire I mentioned above you might want to look at Fleshmender (Leather Armor with a regenerative healing effect). It also gives you more Quick Slots = more grimoires. The more grimoires you can hold in your Quick Slots the more flexibility with your spell selection you can have and be able to pick more passive abilities from the ability tree instead of picking spells which you'd only use occasionally.

Hi! There is no definitive answer for your question. Both can be very good, depending on what you want to do/how you want to play your Bloodmage. In general a Bloodmage - like all Wizards - can be great as a single class character. They get fantastic spells at the highest Power Levels (which multiclassed Bloodmages won't get) - and they advance through their Power Levels/spell tiers faster than a multiclass and get better scaling for their spells. This is most advantageous if you want to play a traditional Wizard role: sling powerful spells all day long. However, if you want to play a Bloodmage a bit differently, for example play one who also can do good stuff in melee combat or who can heal party members or is good with ranged weapons and so on, then multiclassing might be better. Even when focusing on spellcasting a multiclass can be great. One example is Assassin(Rogue)/Bloodmage. Even if you don't plan on using weapons at all: the Assassin gets +25 accuracy and increased penetration as well as increased crit damage for all his offensive actions if he's stealthed or invisible. This also applies to his spells. This can be a valid reason to go that multiclass route - even if it means that you lose access to the high level spells. Livegiver(Cat form)/Bloodmage is also a popular spellcaster. You combine your healing spells with Blood Sacrifice and use the Cat form (and Cat Flurry) to cast spells incredibly fast. Then there's also some potent synergies between certain (subclass) abilities: for example Fighter's Unbending + Bloodmage's Wall of Draining makes you basically unkillable. Same as Barring Death's Door (Priest) + Wall of Draining, which makes you truly unkillable. Rogue's Escape gives you +50 deflection for a very short time. But if combined with Wall of Draining it stays for a very long time instead... So I would suggest you specify how you envision your Bloodmage to function, then we can give better advice. If you just like the classic Wizard feeling then single class Bloodmage is great. The last two spell tiers are awesome. That also depends on the specific role/how you want to play him. A backline spellcaster can relatively safely drop CON* and RES. Profits from high INT, DEX and PER. High MIG, too - if damaging spells are a priority. If the focus is on debuffing/CC then high MIG is not needed. *Don't drop CON all the way as a single class Bloodmage. You rely on your health to regain spell uses (Blood Sacrifice). It's beneficial to have a robust health pool if want to draw from it frequently and have no constant source of healing. Again depends. But a generally goodthing is to use arquebus. There's a soulbound one which can be bound to wizards. And it can give your spells a 10% corrosive lash - a multiplicative damage bonus. It also heals on hits occasionally which is nice for a Bloodmage. Essential Phantom (wizard summon spell) copies your weapons. So it's possible to have a phantom running around with your arquebus, shooting enemies. Since the phantom doesn't cast spells you might want to get the Red Hand arquebus (best arquebus for DPS) and hold it while you summon the phantom. Then the phantom will have it, too - and use it on enemies. Then you can switch to the soulbound one I mentioned before. Must-have equipment... there's too much stuff that is great for all kinds of approaches. But in general for a single class Wizard getting Rekvu's Fractured Casque (helmet) + Grimoire of Vaporous Wizardry is a top choice. You will get +1 spell uses for each spell tier. But you will get interrupted every time you take damage - which is super bad. Fortunately the helmet makes you completely immune to interrupts as long as you have an injury. It is very easy to cause yourself a harmless injury: cast Necrotic Lance on yourself out of combat until you drop, done: very minor injury, immunity against all interrupts and lots of extra spells. The rest doesn't matter too much and also changes throughout the game. A Bloodmage might profit well from +max. health gear (mostly amulet) and health regeneration gear (rings, belts and/or armor). Also bonus INT, PER and DEX items alre always welcome. If you specify how your wizard is supposed to play there can be more specific recommendations for gear I think. Cheers!