Boeroer

Solo Priest is a challenge in the early battles, similar to a solo Wizard but even more difficult - even though the Priest gets a little more deflection. The low level spells of a Priest are not as fitting and impactful for a solo playstyle as some of the Wizard are (thinking about Chillfog, Parasitic Staff etc.). Solo bear cave with a Priest is suicide at low levels, no matter the build idea or attributes. As @Chaospread said one should avoid battles at that stage and come back later.

Flanked causes "only" -10 deflection, -1 AR

I you plan to use a Berserker/Streetfighter at range then of course a more squishy build is easier to maintain because it doesn't get attacked so much. I was thinking about melee. I must say that while a Berserker/Streefighter with Essence Interrupter is very good in the early game it tends to become a bit boring later on. Melee is more interesting in this case (imo). SO I think retraining would be good later. But you cannot retrain attributes so I personally would still invest in CON - although you won't need that with a ranged early game and it will actually prevent you from becoming blooded from one Frenzy cast (because in the early game the self damage is low but the health would be quite high). Once you pick "Blooded" on the Berserker you can always see once you hit <50% health which is a rel. convenient indicator. Also your Streetfighter passive will change from "Looking for a Fight" to "Heating Up" as soon as you get bloodied. And then later there are items that activate when you get near death which would add another indicator for your health even though it's concealed. So while it's not possible to see the actual health number it's still possible to (roughly) know how much health there's left. Sure - I recommend Morning Stars: great synergy with the Morning Star modal "Body Blows" and the Berserker's Brute Force, also the 2 (cood) unique morning stars in the game don't come late. Pollaxe would also be cool. There's a nice soulbound pollaxe with a lightning/storm theme that's obtainable early and works well with Barbarians. Both Morning Star and Pollaxe have the advantage of dual damage types and good penetration.

Berath/Rogue with Spiritual Great Sword is cool imo. Also I once made a PoE Priest build with Tidefall - so for me that's a nice fusion with a dash of nostalgia. Spiritual Great Sword - fully buffed through peak disposition scaling (= picking the right dialogue options to boost stoic and rational) gains a potent lash (multiplicative damage bonus) which works very well with the Rogue's additive damage bonuses (sneak attack and so on). For a melee Rogue Streetfighter is always nice. But if you want to initially cast and then go into melee you have to keep in mind that the Streetfighter is slower (=has longer recovery) than a regular Rogue as long as he's not flanked or blooded. Both is usually not the case at the beginning of a fight. So your recovery time will be longer which will make your casting slower. Assassin sneaky dude + Berath doesn't really fit thematically imo. Although mechanically the +25 accuracy from stealth and invisibility works pretty well with some offensive Priest spells. Trickster also doesn't seem to be a great fit thematically because Berath being stoic and rational while being a "Trickster" implies all sorts of non-seriousness. But mechanically it's a good combo. The illusion spells of the Trickster help a lot with being more sturdy, the Ryngrim spell fits Berath imo - and the downside (slightly lower Sneak Attack damage) is barely noticable, especially after a few (Power) levels. Debonaire: eh no vanilla Rogue: why not? No upside but also no downside. And the nearest to a PoE1 Rogue. I personally would pick the Trickster I think - and then "justify" the weird subclass combo with some internal explanation as to why this Trickster is a rational and stoic one.

Cool, I downloaded and installed it.

Hm, I can't think of anything at the moment. Maybe: if you dump CON because you don't plan to get attacked lot you might as well completely commit to the way of the glascannon and dump RES, too.

Cool, I downloaded and installed it.

I think a crazy minmaxing approach would not be fitting when it comes to attributes. What's really frustrating with Soul Annihilation is that if you miss the attack all your focus will be consumed anyway. That's not a problem later in the game with all the buffs and gear improvement etc. - but at the begining it can hamper your experience with a Soulblade. So I suggest not to drop PER too much - or use a single weapon for the first levels. I also wouldn't drop DEX too low as you said. Being super sluggish (especially with thicker armor and no class abilities to really speed you up) isn't much fun as well. MIG doesn't need to be superhigh imo. RES gives increasing returns for your deflection (and of course also shortens hostile effects' duration on you) - and if you want to emphasize the Offensive Parry and make it a central part of the build you need every point of melee deflection you can get. That includes RES and abilities but also items such as Cape, Bracers, rings and also armor. There are some armors that grand deflection bonuses, like Casita Samelia's Legacy (requires to max the Intimidate skill which fits a Steel Garrote imo), Gipon Prudensco (also can add an immunity to getting flanked iirc which is like a +10 deflection /+1 AR advantage against mobs) and Nomad's Brigandine (like Gipon Prudensco can also have an immunity vs. disengagement attacks which can be used to force melee misses when disengaging which leads to Offensive Parties). I wouldn't drop CON because you will still be hit by ranged attacks, spells and the occasional lucky roll - and also your fortitude defense shouldn't be too low. But it doesn't need to be high either. INT is of course important for aura range, durations and cipher powers. Also for the size of the WotEP cone. If it's too small it's not as much fun in combination with Soul Annihilation. So all in all a quite balanced distribution of attribute points I would say.

See above. If you go for high CON and have a decent healer it is manageable. Do not drop CON and max MIG though. This will make you extremely squishy at higher levels. the Berserker's self dmaage scales rather steeply and it also gets influenced by your own MIG. Streetfighter/Berserker gets lots of damage bonuses, high MIG isn't even noticable with weapon damage - so you might es well leave it at 10 (will get +5 from Frenzy anyway). High CON sounds suboptimal - but it really helps in this case. Barbs have a bigger health pool from the beginning so that works well with the bonus from CON. Last time I ideed maxed CON on a Berserker/Helwalker (same problems as Berserker/Streetfighter, maybe even more so) and also used Tough (the passive ability) and a Greater Amulet of Health. It made a hell of a difference (related to babysitting) compared to low CON/high MIG. I know raising CON isn't popular (I also usually don't) but in this case I recommend it. Of course Barring Death's Door and lots of constant healing also works. Then you can make that guy a complete glascannon. But that's a lot more micromanagement.

I think the Great Sword "Effort" will be the closest thing to Tidefall in Deadfire. I will bring a pretty weird combo just for the sake of variety: Streetfighter/Skald with Deltro's Cage and Deltro's Helmet. The goal is to summon two (upgraded) Wisps (The Lights Dacned Across the Moor) and let them fire at you (it doesn't cause much damage). This will distract you but also give you a shocking lash for your attacks (from the helmet) as well as it will unlock your Streetfigher passive (-50% recovery time, way higher Sneak Attack). Apart from that little synergy you will be very versatile. The main chant would be Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr for more damage or Ancient Memory for more sturdyness. Of course very low INT wouldn't be optimal for this because the summons' duration on the field would be short and your invocations' AoE will be small - but it also doesn't cry for high INT like most chanter builds usually do. Funnily enough also low RES will be kind of benefical here - because you want the wisps' distraction to last a long time when they hit you - and low RES prolongs negative effects on you. Before getting to the wisps the character wouldn't be especially fast though and would have to make do with other sources of flanked/distracted (like getting properly flanked by enemies). Would also work with Troubadour or Bellower I think. --- When going Streetfigher/any Barbarian note that the Barbarian ability "One Stands Alone" is an anti-synergy with the Streetfighter passive if you rely on getting flanked by enemies. You will suddenly need one more flanking enemy to unlock your Streetfigher passive.

Hello and welcome! I was about to say "Soublade/Trickster" because that would be my favoire combination of the mentioned classes. Imo Paladin/Soulblade can be much more versatile than Paladin/Trickster and it has potentially unlimited resources (focus). But it takes more time to develop, the Trickster is a little bit more front-loaded - and Riposte + Offensive Parry stack which can be cool. If you ignore the rest of the Cipher powers (besides Borrowed Insticts) and only use Soul Annihilation it also might become a bit boring, too. I personally would pick the Soulblade I think. Paladin subclasses: for tanking purposes I like Goldpact Knight who can can sort-of unlimited +4 AR because Sword Rival gives you back the Zeal you paid for the Golden Enmity as soon as the Rival is killed. I also like Steel Garrote because Offensive Parry does an automatic daze and that unlocks the health-draining passive of the Steel Garrote. It's even better with Trickster+Persistent Distraction: every Riposte/Offensive Parry and other melee attacks will drain health which stacks with stuff like Exalted Endurance and so on. But most players have a problem with playing a not so kind Paladin subclass. Goldpact at least has no problem with being nice - as long as he keeps a cool head. From a role-playing perspective I think Darcozzi + Trickster fits very well. Also the Darcozzi Fireshield isn't bad for off-tanking. --- If you are open to other multiclass pairings for this Whispers of the Endless Paths Paladin I can recommend Steel Garrote/Bloodmage (Arcane Knight) which has some great tricks up its sleeves in combination with that weapon and some other items. Forbidden Fist as second class to a Goldpact or Steel Garrote with WotEP/Offensive Parry can also work well. With the Community Patch mod I'd also recommend Shattered Pillar instead of Forbidden Fist.

Frostseeker ist absolutely great with Cipher/Rager like Kaylon suggested. It also works well with a Cipher/CHanter but honestly I personally prefer reloading weapons for this class combination - just because the phrase "Sure-Handed Ila" works so well with them (speed bonus applies twice for realoading weapons instead of only once for bows and implements). So dual pistols can indeed be an option. In terms of abilities you don't need many from the Chanter's side. My phrases would be Sure-Handed Ila + Aefyllath Ues Myth Fir and not much else (because you plan to have other chanters in the party who can pick other useful phrases like Ancient Memory and whatnot). As a ranged character you cannot use short-ranged invocation much anyway, so maybe a good summon spell would be my first pick. Wurms are good at first but they don't scale well. Unfortunaltely a lot of summon spells don't scale well so you will have to retrain at some point for optimal results. The best summon later are the animated weapons. And then it depends on what you want to do most. For CC Killers Froze Stiff is good (the range is long enough to be used from the back row with decent INT) and also Hel-Hyraf and Ben Fidel's Neck (defense debuff stacks with almost everything) have similar cone length and are useful. For Ciphers I always take mind control abilities besides the passives for better focus (Draining Whip) and PEN. I personally will use Puppet Master a lot if I can. The combination of summons (chanter) + mind control (cipher) is very impactful in most encounters. I'll always take Borrowed Instincts because it's so good. And then there's a lot of room for other stuff I guess. Oh: Two-handed Style if dual pistol.

Not just you. I noticed that, too.

That explains why that works for me. Should've looked that up myself, but spontaneous lazyness got in my way. Thanks!

Maybe, but still it does have the frost keyword in my screenshot (see below) and yet the enchantment of the shield doesn't apply.

Did you also install the keyword part of the CP mod? It's weird that we both have the same mod but for me Call of Rymrgand will face the +15 defense biff from the shield - but for you it doesn't. Wild...

Uhh, maybe I'm the one with the mod that is tampering with the keywords. I know in the Community Patch (that I use) @Phenomenum added priest related keywords to certain priest spells where they were missing or faulty. Maybe he also fixed Call of Rymrgand and added the frost keyword? Maybe...

It does frost damage with its first or two attack rolls per pulse. Here is the ingame tooltip that lists the frost keyword and shows the two separate rolls, too: Sorry for the unfortunate placement of the lil "Burn" popup there, but I guess one can still read what's underneath with the freeze roll. When you look at the combat log the first crush/freeze attack won't be registered as freeze although it will cause freeze damage. Maybe it has something to do with the damage types - but the second roll with burn and shock gets both defensive boosts, so there both elements register.

here:

But as you can see in my Edit Nr 3 with screenshot where I tested Call of Rymrgand, the +15 defense buff applies properly. Do you use any mods that tamper with keywords maybe?

You mean you'll get the +15 defense bonus against fire attacks but not frost attacks? Well that's lame... Edit: I cannot confirm that. Here Aloth is casting a Chillfog on my MC who wears the (non-upgraded) Mundane Shell: Edit 2: upgraded to Nonconductive (+15 defense against shock), still works. The problem seems to be the implementation of Maelstrom, not the shield. The spell has a separate frost part with a separate attack roll and then a secondary roll with the other elements. The frost part seems to be lacking the proper "frost" keyword I guess, so the shield does nothing - while it applies BOTH defensive buffs to the second attack roll because that is keyworded with fire AND shock: Edit 3: tested Call of Rymrgand with the shield and it works: So I believe only Maelstrom's faulty keywording was the problem. Of course one could find that certain enemies' elemental abilities also might lack the proper keyword, but that's just speculation on my part.

I used a dual pistol SC Kind Wayfarer not too long ago (plan was to shoot White Flames non-stop in combination with the party's Troubadour summoning Many Lives for unlimited Zeal via Devine Retribution). I was able to make all my surrounding casters and shooters almost unkillable because of the constant healing - and I didn't really try to keep them together in a particularly tight formation. So 2.5m base radius sounds right to me. By the way: very useful party member which required almost zero attention (unless some exhortations had to be cast).

Paladins can do more than tank and heal - for example the support abilites of both classes can work together very well. But besides that an Inquisitor could for example combine the Paladin's passive defenses with the Cipher's Psychovampiric Shield and Borrowed Instincts and become super tanky - while still being able to do other impactful stuff which a more traditional tank wouldn't be able to do. So I wouldn't say that paladin and cipher don't help with the other side at all. For a CC-oriented Cipher with blunderbusses a paladin might not be the optimal choice maybe... unless you are using a Kind Wayfarer, then it's cool if you plan to use White Flames + Exalted Endurace and heal your party while shooting enemies/gaining focus for the next CC thing.

Huh? Psion and Beguiler usually don't. One of the most versatile and fun cipher multiclasses I ever played was a Psion/Troubadour. It can just do everything well (except melee fights). It doesn't need any special items and almost never has to use a weapon for anything. Besides that it can focus on summons + mind control (very impactful combo), CC (loads of options from both classes), damage (invocations + chants + cipher powers), support and even healing. It's best to keep this guy out of trouble though and not make him the party's weakest target because he doesn't generate focus when getting damaged. If you like to stick to blunderbusses Cipher/Troubadour is still a good combo, just not with Psion but either with Ascendant or Beguiler. The Troubadour can uphold a chant with "Sure Handed Ila" & "Mith Fyr" at the same time without gap - which leads to very good shooting speed (because the reload AND recovery speedup of the Ila-phrase both apply to reloading weapons such as blunderbusses) while the fire lash from the second phrase Mith Fyr adds some damage and additional focus for every hit with the blunderbuss. And of course both phrases also help your party. A Beguiler can get focus from either casting Deception spells or dealing damage (which is versatile) while the Ascendant only gains focus from dealing damage - but can ascend very quickly against either mobs with dual Serafen blunderbusses (mortars) or with the special shot "Thunderous Report" from the unique blunderbuss Kitchen Stove - or simply with regular blunderbusses against single foes. If you really like to use blunderbusses a lot then Ascendant/Streetfighter would be my pick. The modal of blunderbusses triggers the streetfighter's passive which makes him reload faster than anybody else while dealing crazy high dmg per hit bc. of higher Sneak Attack bonus (= more focus). Which makes him ascend fast which in turn lets him spit out spells on quick succession bc. of his reduced recovery time. Struggles with accuracy from time to time until he gets Borrowed Instincts. Cipher/Ranger is the multiclass with the potential highest accuracy. So if you want to shoot and cast with high accuracy then that's the way to go. Also Rangers have Driving Fligjht which lets your shots bounce once. It stacks with weapons' own bounces (see Fire in the Hole, one of Serafen's mortars he can get) which can be quite a show and also adds quite a lot of damage and focus against mobs.

If I were a smart game AI I would use Wizards with with Miasma, Enervating Terror and Draining Touch against a Furyshaper.