Boeroer

I am here. The other ones you mentioned: not so much. At least not in these PoE/Deadfire parts of the form.

Hi, Heralds are not supercrazy OP, but they are pretty good and hard to mess up. Most of the time players of Heralds combine Exalted Endurance (Paladin aura) with Ancient Memory (chant) and thus give their party (and themselves) constant passive healing which is quite potent. One reason why they are popular. They can also be very tanky and also versatile. Anyway, Paladin/Fury is not bad because the Fury cannot heal, but the Paladin can. So combining both makes some sense. Also the Paladin's Eternal Devotion (gaining a burning lash for some time) also applies to spells, which is nice. Put on Deltro's Cage + Helmet, grab Lord Darryn's Voulge and you have a cool and shocking Liberator. Race doesn't really matter, but I wouldn't use a godlike - because then no Deltro's helmet. I guess Coastal Aumaua can be nice because you can color the skin blueish with zickzacks - Lightning in your face... literally. I personally really like Arcane Knights (Paladin/Wizards). They can buff themselves to be very sturdy, they are versatile and fun to play imo. One of my most liked combos is Steel Garrote/Bloodmage with the weapon "Whispers of the Endless Paths", using its echantment "Offensive Parry". It allows you to counterattack on enemies' melee misses, dazes the enemy then which unlocks the Steel Garrote's live stealing passive which stacks with your Exalted Endurance, making it easy to pay for Bloodmage's "Blood Sacrifice" with your own health.

Nope.

In general the FF attack is its own weapon and doesn't care what you wear in your hand. It's like using a third arm with the FF-"fist". If the effect the weapon has only gets applied when that weapon is actually used, then the FF-attack will not profit from it. However, there are some weapons who have effects that apply to all your attacks, no matter if you used that weapon or something else (like FF or a spell or so). An example is Ball and Chain (a unique flail). Its enchantment that lowers enemies' crush AR ("Blunt Rock") would also work with your FF attack (and also spells and whatnot). Those effects are often called "universal" because they apply to all your attacks universaly. Here ist a list of weapons that behave like so and could be useful even if you mainly use your FF attack: As I said before (I believe it was in this thread, but I may misremember) something like a simple Dagger + modal would give you +10 melee deflection while it would not harm your FF attack's damage. Lover's Embrace could be a nice choice because not only does its modal benefit you but also its enchantment that gives you Frenzy would trigger on FF attacks.

Fortitude doesn't have to be lower from the start. For me, the difference of Fortitude - Deflection only has to be lower than 45 in order for Brute Force to be useful. And there are very few enemies with Deflection+45 <= Fortitude. Brute Force in PoE1 was less useful than in Deadfire imo because there was no Body Blows and the afflictions weren't as systemically ordered and based on attribute malus. In Deadfire, the synergy between Body Blows, MIG and CON affliction and Brute Force is the main reason I almost always use a Morning Star on a Barbarian. Hehe, most definitely I guess so - but I didn't try that out myself so I can't say for sure. Vela is an ally but not a party member iirc? Sometimes that's a tricky destinction. I tried it just now on an Essential Phantom and also on a Many-Lives Skeleton (also allies but not party members) and it indeed works on them - so the chances are high that it works with Vela, too I would say. *fingers crossed*

That would be unfortunate - but it is possible. I'm playing with the Community Patch for so long that I may have misremembered. In that case Swift Strikes will suffice I guess.

Sadly that shouldn't be the case. Indeed does Energized work with all sources of crits, including spells and spell-like abilities. Carnage does work like a spell and not like a weapon attack mechanically (that's why it doesn't generate focus and why it doesn't transport any weapon effects). It's like a spell-like ability that uses 33% of your weapon's base dmg as its own base damage (which is pretty bad in the early game) - and it scales that dmg with Power Level (which is nice). So far it could work with Energized. But that "spell" has the unfortunate restriction that even attack rolls over 100 are counted as hits, never crits. Therefore it should never be able to interrupt via the Energized inspiration. But: Amra's "Carnage" is different - because it can crit. --- As a Barbarian/Cipher I personally prefer Spirit Frenzy over Blood Storm (I don't even upgrade to Spirit Tornado), because Spirit Frenzy's stagger affliction works on hits instead of crits - and it can help to land Cipher spells vs. Fortitude (since the -5 MIG from stagger leads -10 Fortitude defense, too). It also helps with weapon dmg if you picked Brute Force (I always do). Brute Force also works with Cipher spells that target deflection (see Mind Blades and Amplified Thrust). In combination with Secret Horrors (Sicken, also -10 Fortitude) you can lower enemies' Fortitude by 20 points with one single spell use, which is cool imo. That can often make a big difference for hit quality, especially if you have Brute Force. Of course I like to combine those effects with a Morning Star - modal (for another -25 Fortitude debuff on top of staggered and sickened). --- Speaking of Witches: a Berserker/Cipher can use his confusion to cast several cipher spells on enemies that usually need an ally (Amplified Thrust, Amplified Wave, Ectopsychic Echo...) or to cast spells that need an enemy on allies (like Antipathetic Field for example). In case of Amplified Thrust it makes the spell hit the target twice and push it back. Usually I consider that spell pretty meh, but with that variant you get twice the damage output and can target Fortitude via Brute Force - which is pretty good in some cases. Do not try to combine confusion with Mind Blades though. Your party members will hate you.

If you don't have the Community Patch mod installed (I guess not because iirc you play on console?) then no need to test: FF attack will not work with Swift Flurry and Heartbeat Drumming. So if you plan to use the FF attack mainly: better pick Lightning Strikes instead of Swift Flurry and skip Heartbeat Drumming entirely.

Sometimes, when an inspiration-like effect is coded weirdly, it might also stack with the actual inspiration. Also maybe after a save & reload. Only a slight chance imo but maybe worth a try.

The FF attack doesn't really use your fists. It has its own base damage and accuracy and all the base values which match those of monks' fists - and it also scales with Transcendent Suffering and other unarmed bonuses. But mechanically fists and FF attack are two seperate things. That's why it's possible that in the vanilla game it isn't treated as weapon - and unlike your fists it won't work with Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming and so on (because that "weapon" keyword was forgotten in the game object's description). That's maybe splitting hairs though. For the majority of the game this fine distinction might be quite meaningless. It is a very good hint that the main weapon doesn't matter if you mostly attack with the Forbidden fist. Unless - like Shai Hulud said - that weapon gives you some universal bonus. Some uniques are really cool that way (see what Shai Hulud said). For the early game you can even use this with the most generic weapons: a Hatchet gives you more passive deflection, a Dagger+modal can give you an active melee deflection bonus of +10 (the damage malus only applies to dagger attacks so your FF attack is safe), a spear+modal would give you +1 engagement and so on - even though you wouldn't really use that weapon to strike with it, it would still help you.

That last statement is not generally true and depends on many factors (actual build, party composition, difficulty setting and so on). But yes, Serafen's Wild Mind subclass is usually considered the worst one of all the unique subclasses the official companions have, although on paper it is balanced. But it is absolutely unpredictible and that's a bad thing for any well-planned approach. Also one tends to remember the times Wild Mind bit you in the rear much better than the times it helped you.

Hehe, getting that and then trying to permanently glue it to your char with an immunity sounds like a fun little side project for the next run.

Just some hints tow. Debonaire: Engagement: A Debonaire cannot engage enemies (ever). Therefore abilities which rely on/work with your engagement like "Persistent Distraction" (Rogue) or "Parting Sorrow" (Monk) are trap choices: they will not get disabled during level-up, so best to watch out and not accidentially pick them. This also means you cannot stop movement of enemies by engaging them (engaging cancels movement commands of enemies and makes them stop) or deal any disengagement attacks vs. those enemies who decide to give you a pass in melee. This can lead to you missing your enemy because the moment you strike the enemy might take a step back out of the 0.8m melee range (you can see a "out of reach" message in the combat log). This will not happen too often - but if it does you will know where it came from. This is all moot if you use ranged weapons like mortarts of course - because then you cannot engage anyway and you cannot miss because of "out of range". The Debonaire herself can still get engaged by enemies who are able to engage (most beasts cannot, some kith and wilders can... and so on). --- Charm/crit conversion: Also note that only charmed enemies will give you the 100% crit conversion. Dominated enemies (for example turned via Puppet Master) will not give you that. Charmed enemies immediately flip back to hostile as soon as they get hit by you or your allies. This means you can only apply one 100%-crit-strike to a charmed enemy who will then turn hostile again. With hefty crit-punches this might not be an issue though because the enemy might die from the crit - I just want to point that out lest it is not known. --- Alternative source for charms: If you want an additional source of charm then a Chanter is a good one: the invocation doesn't last long (so hitting charmed enemies doesn't feel like a waste of CC) but can target several enemies at once with enough INT/big enough AoE size bonus. Maybe that's something to keep in mind to support the synergy with the FF/Debonaire further? Konstanten, Fassina, Pallegina, Tekehu and Vatnir could use this. Konstanten is a Skald so it's an even cheaper invocation for him to cast (only 3 phrases instead of 4), but his INT is low (10) - so the cone will be pretty small (2.5m length only) and it's difficult to hit several enemies around your main char with that microcone I reckon.

Ah, too bad for Shimmer Scale. But great that you took the time to test it again.

Very unreliable visitor indeed. I have countless hours of gametime but only saw him a couple of times. You cannot rely on anything he potentially sells.

Yes, they perfectly stack. With enough INT and Brisk Recitation you can stack more than 2 instances of the Dragon Thrashed on an enemy. It's absolutely brutal to do so - especially with multiple chanters in the party who will all stack their Dragon Thrashed DoTs on the poor enemies. You can def. put different phrases in between (for example to speed up phrase point generation with Come Soft Winds bc. it's shorter) - but you will lose damage output via chant then. Funny thing: if you use a single one-handed weapon setup (like for example a single sword) then some of the offensive chants will get +12 Accuracy - like your weapon attacks. Dragon Thrashed is one of them. It is some minor oversight that never got patched out I guess - but it can be very helpful in fights against enemies with very high reflex. +12 accuracy with chants is nothing to sneeze on and one of the few cases where single weapon usage is good. However, the single weapon talent (crit conversion) does have no effect on the chants.

Ouh... nice! It didn't cross my mind that some of her abilities are gazes. That lil' shield didn't get much love before - maybe that should change. Once again I wonder if it would work to use the enchantment "immunity to gazes" of Shimmer Scale and the Monk's Soul Mirror in combination. Then you'd have 50% relfection and be 100% safe. It would be a nice alternative shield setup for a Monk. Always Tuotilo's Palm gets kind of boring.

When combining items, abilities and the right food (Mohora Wraps for example) you can max INT and use Turning Wheel on top - and then with a bit slower recovery (if in doubt: Patinated Plate with Bronze Juggernaut ;)) you can still spam the FF attack without stacking the curse. Especially if you alternate FF attack and Soul Annihilation. I that case you can also do with a much ligher armor (see Cabalist's Gambeson for shorter hostile effects). I love high INT on almost all builds, it's so convenient to have big AoEs with big foe-only parts and long durations. But in the early game it's fiddly to get there and you might have to wait with strikes in order to not kill yourself and that's no fun. It's probably an easier entry into the subclass if you don't max INT.

That's why I like a Beguiler better for the unmodded game - a Beguiler can gain lot of focus from just casting one or two of the cheaper AoE deceptions (like Phantom Foes and Secret Horrors) on enough enemies. And also spells like Whisper of Treason etc. are considerably cheaper. Also do not pick Swift Flurry and Heartbeat Drumming if you want to use the Forbidden Fist attack a lot (I guess everybody does ;)) and if the game has no Community Patch mod. They won't work. Lightning Strikes (+15% shocking lash) does work though. By the way: Inner Death (Monk PL9) has the same problem (also fixed with Community Patch) - but that's only an issue with single class monks of course. If you do install the Community Patch mod (not possible on consoles, otherwise it's easy - but don't know about Steam Deck) then both of my objections are moot and FF/Soulblade and also Swift Flurry/Heartbeat Drumming are cool options.

But it is - because lashes are multiplicative damage bonuses instead of the additive ones (for example the forbidden curse bonus - which is pretty high but still only additive). A lash takes all the damage that gets rolled into consideration (all additonal dmg bonuses, crits, overpenetration, forbidden fist curse etc.) and calculates the 15% based on that. While the additional damage bonuses only use the base dmg of the weapon (or ability, PL scaling counts as base dmg). A persistent 15% lash for rel. little investment is actually pretty awesome to have. If you can't use the Lightning Lash of Lightning Strikes then you should stick to Swift Strikes - but I assume that's what you meant in the first place. And yes, +5 DEX and an additional action speed bonus is a very good thing to have for only 1 point of Mortification. --- I would absolutely recommend the Community Patch. It's free and easy to "install" (aka copy a folder into the game folder). It's a mod that doesn't go crazy with wild and fantastical "improvements" but focuses to address some hickups and oversights of the original game and does that well imo. See the Forbidden FIst punch which doesn't generate focus in the original game and also doesn't work with some of the Monk's own abilities (clearly an oversight by the devs). The mod also has unique icons for every passive ability - which the vanilla game doesn't have due to time restrictions during development. The original game uses the same icons for a lot of totally different passive abilites. That can be confusing if you ask me. Me advertising that stuff has obviously nothing to do with the fact that I created those CP icons, ehehe... You can also individually trigger every change the CP does to the vanilla game by deleting or renaming some files in the mod folder. They are named in a way that it's easy to guess which file contains which individual modification. In addition to that the mod is even split in two parts (basic and extended). Edit: now I read the part with the PS5 - rofl sorry. :super-embarrased-emoji

I always liked FF/Beguiler in order to extend the duration of Mind Control via DualityOMP(INT), Enfeebled and Lingering Echoes. You can charm or dominate an enemy for a really long time with that combination. Also I think Beguiler and Old Vaillian fits somehow - also with the portrait options. Also nice that you can hit a charmed enemy with Soul Ignition and/or Disintegrate and that enemy won't flip back to hostile but will keep fighting for you while dying. --- Not on your list, but FF/Berserker has its appeal with the Confusion/Clarity of Agony & Crucible of Suffering combo. Don't pick Rooting Pain because you will interrupt yourself (while confused). With the shouts and Spirit Tornado there's als some afflictions to prolong, but mainly it's about using the self-inflicted confusion to your advantage. --- Also not on your list, but ever thought about FF/Druid? Like FF/Ancient for example? Touch of Rot and Taste of the Hunt are brutal with enfeeble + INT bonus. And stuff like Insect Swarm and Plague of Insects profit a lot from +10 INT. But the shock spells such as Relentless Storm and Nature's Terror, too (maybe better with pick Fury then). Embrace of the Earth Talon is also a good spell candidate. And if you would pick Hold Beasts you can paralyze beasts (except immune/resistant ones) for a really, really long time because the base duration is a whopping 20secs. With Tanglefoot you can create your own source of short-lived and rel. harmless afflictions (hobbled) that can give you wounds and healing all the time (because it does friendly fire). Also, one of the most hilarious findings in my Deadfire time so far was that some spells work with Instruments of Pain (because they are labeled "melee" internally) - among them is Sunlance. It already has very long range (20m) and goes to 120m range via Instruments of Pain. You can stay at the other side of the map and throw a Sunlance towards an enemy (as long as you have a party member in place to actually see them - can be invisible or in stealth mode). Just a tidbit but it's fun. --- FF/Wizard can be nice too. I mean Sage in general is a nice multiclass and with FF there's no exception. May I lead your attention to the spell Fetid Caress? It is often overlooked because its paralyze is single target only (as is your FF attack with the Enfeeble though) - but it delivers a pretty long paralyze effect for such a low level spell (PL or tier 2). Combined with +10INT from DualityOMP(INT) and +50% from Enfeeblement - and also the generous Power Level scaling (because it is of low starting Power Level) - you can get a very long paralyze time out of it. Also targets fortitude which should be a fair bit lower after you struck an enemy with enfeeblement. It has a range of 5m which is roughly in line with your melee range+Instruments of Pain (4.8m). Even an Illusionist can cast it. The most interesting spells might be Ryngrim's I think. --- FF/Chanter is also appealing. The cone shaped invocations gain the most impressive AoE increase from all the INT the Monk has to offer. And stuff like Killers Froze Stiff turns into a very good tool with that much size and also additional duration from the INT bonus alone. Picking out some individuals and giving them even longer downtime is fun, too. Also check out "Ben Fidel's neck was exposed" - because its "-10 to all defenses" debuff stacks with all debuffs from afflictions and also other debuffs of individual defenses (like with a Miasma for example). And it causes frighten, too (helpful to cast it before Killers Froze stiff for example). So - it can be a nice addition to the debuff cycle - or just an alternative if enemies are resistant or even immune to DEX afflictions (see Killers FS). There is no immunity to Ben Fidel's defense debuff (only the frighten part). --- I personally think the first and the last options would be the most enjoyable (at least they would be for me, for now) because resources would be limitless and the abilities are still impactful and fun to use.

Yes, it wasn't a crit build by any means. It was more about fast shooting speeds/short reloading time while still delivering hits reliably - so that White Flames do actually trigger (won't on misses). That way I could dish out the AoE healing while doing ranged damage on top. And with ranged weapons it's a lot easier to target the enemies with the lowest deflection - if you want to make sure to get the healing procs.

Counterintuitively my most useful pistolero was a single class Kind Wayfarer. The main reason is that you can achieve inexhaustible Zeal which you can spend at very high speeds for damage and party support and healing. In detail: Reasons: If it's not the main character it requires almost no micromanagement and can function vey well with simple AI settings. As main char you can use nice decision making to pick certain enemies apart and which party member to support mist effectively. With pistols you can stay near the rest of the party all times to make the best use of White Flames (AoE healing) and Shared Flames (AoE burning lash buff). With Ring of Focused Flame you will have +20 ACC for your FoD pistol shots which outbalances rushed reload (pistol modal) should you want to use it. In combination with Scordeo's Trophy (its stacking recovery bonus) and two weapon style+dual wielding you will be reloading incredibly fast - while your accuracy is still okay. Against tough enemies you can turn off the modal to hit more reliably. In a second weapon slot you can carry a single pistol for even more accuracy against really tough nuts. Add Acina's Tricorn for even shorter reloading time and more accuracy. Also add the Ring of the Marksman for even more ACC (and +1 PEN which is useless for Eccea's main attack but nice for the elemental additions and of course for Scordeo's Trophy). Staying in the back line makes most of the self-defensive passives of the Paladin class rather pointless - so you can skip those which frees up a lot of points for the support- and offensive abilities. Even without most of the defensive passives a Paladin is still most likely not the weakest link in the backline, so you don't have to worry too much about getting targeted by shock troops/skirmishers and that sort of ranged- or high mobility enemies that try to disrupt your backline. It is possible to take almost all exhortations (they have instant casting time und no recovery) to cover tier-2 inspirations for all attributes. Normally spreading your actiuve abilites like that would also spread your Zeal thin and I wouldn't recommend it - but your high level goal is to get infinite Zeal. So it's useful to have a big portfolio of active abilites in order to be very versatile. The trick to gain unlimited Zeal is to have a Chanter buddy in the party and to take "Devine Retribution" at PL9. Devine Retribution gives you 2 Zeal once an ally goes down. This includes party summons(!). Which means that when the party chanter sings "Many Lives Pass By" and also summons "Ancient Brittle Bones" there will be a ton of potential Zeal on the field - especially because all of those summons, while being great bait and distraction, die pretty fast if enemies even look at them sharply. Before that you can gain a bi Zeal back if you constantly snipe enemies near death and trigger Virtuous Triumph. Doing that also triggers Inspiring Triumph for your party members so it's a nice strategy anyway. Having so much (endless) Zeal lets you shoot FoD with While Flame and Shared Flames (or Eternal Devotion if you prefer the damage for yourself) at all times at very high speed and good ACC. This means good dps - and more importantly constant AoE healing for your party. It's pretty difficult to go down if your Pal is shooting healing into the air every few secs. Once you get to the "unlimited Zeal" part you can cast exhortations on all party members in no time (remember: instant casts, no recovery) and become a super-supporter. You an also put Brand Enemy on every enemy in no time. "Burn in hell y'all!" If you have a Ranger in the party you will be his best friend - because you can revive his pet instantly and without limits. You can also use a different sublcass of course. Bleak Walker would be more about damage, Steel Garrote can paralyze lots of foes with the Garrote ability, Shieldbearer can use Lay on Hands to barr Death's Door all the time and so on... I found Kind Wayfarer to make the most use of this pistol/FoD combo. I played this as an hired adventurer from start to finish. Originally only hired that guy in Port Maje just to test out the concept, but it went so well I stuck to it until the credits rolled.

Iirc it has an enchantment upgrade that takes away the reflection but makes you completely immune to gazes (100% miss). Would a Monk's Soul Mirror reflect those rays then? Never tried...

After the ACC-buffing via Priest and the usual starting routine (casting Frenzy for example) I will start the fight with Phantom Foes + Secret Horrors. This will give you a lot of focus that you can use later and it drops the Will and Fortitude of the enemies already - while preventing them from using offensive abilities which in turn makes the whole party more safe. Note that a Wizard with Miasma of Dull-Mimdedness does help immensely with this Witch because that spell debuffs Will into the ground like nothing else. Ideally you can use the Wizard's Phantom with Concelhaut's Draining Touch as weapon. It targets Will and causes Weakened (also Fortitude debuff). It's a nice party synergy. Then my Witch will summon the fear ward somewhere into the bulk of the enemies and let my Priest withdraw it immediately (not only when it's under attack - just always; one less thing to worry about). I want my Priest to have more than two spell uses (via items and resting bonuses of possible). Then I will jump into said bulk (first with the Bounding Boots trick which doesn't use up the per-rest resource of the boots, then later with Leap), do a Barbaric Shout to maybe shake those enemies up which I missed before, but mainly to get +3 engagement. Then I start swinging. When I manage to body-blow an opponent I can use Disintegrate easily. Or I just keep swinging. That's why I prefer the miss-to-graze enchantment on the Willbreaker, combined with Greater Gauntlets of Reliability. That way I can even graze the most defensive enemies with Body Blows. Because Will is profoundly debuffed already the enemies will get affected by the Fear Ward often - which lets then disengage from me (remember the:+3 engagement from the shout). This will trigger disengagement attacks eventually which adds significant numbers to my dmg output. If things go sideways I have plenty of options with Charm, Dominate (cheap because Beguiler) and other spells to my liking. Once Blood Thirst is available the terrify/disengagement combination becomes pretty devastating and allows for either very fast weapon strikes - or very fast casting (focus on the damaging spells that have short casting time but longer recovery). I think it's versatile and very fun - also because the whole "walking terror" theme is so coherent. Imo it's best to use a different char for the club+modal. For me it's almost always Edér as Swashbuckler main tank. That way he not only contributes with tanking but also debuffing (in combination to Persistent Distraction for up to 6 engaged enemies later on). But yes, early on it's a good alternative to a Morning Star. I think using another char for the club+modal action frees up considerable action time for the Witch and improves the action economy overall. In a party it's often better to use division of work because of better action economy. Speaking of Priest + Withdraw earlier: When looking for a fitting Priest for a Witch one might be interested in a Berserker/Priest (I used Wael to counter the low deflection bc of Frenzy - and because crazy Priest of Wael somehow fits). The reason is that a confused Berserker/Priest can cast Withdraw on anything and anyone, giving you the opportunity to take several (remember empower points for additional casts) of the enemies out of the battle without any "saving throw". Withdraw is an auto-hit (because usually a beneficial spell for friends). When confused you can simply cast it on one or more dangerous enemies who get sidelined for a minute or so, deal with the rest and when they come back into the fight their comrades are already gone. Just an idea though. I played Witch + Berserker/Priest as if they were brothers Of course Xoti or Vatnir are perfectly fine Priest picks as well.