Boeroer

Helpful ones? How else can you summon your Long Pain without going into melee?

A freaking lot. You will get grazed a lot. But you can try this: stack Fast Runner, Graceful Retreat and a cape of Withdrawal or another item with +15 defense against disengagement attacks. This will give you +35 against disengagement attacks. Then run around the enemies and catch disengagement attacks (which will miss quite often). It's very good to blind or terrify them first. THis way you can provoke a lot of attacks/misses in very short time - meaning your riposte will happen more often in a given time. When you get knocked down your preservation comes in handy then.

I skip them. Not worth it unless you are playing a slow tank with sword & shield or a ranged monk who gets shot in the back by his friends.

Blood Thirst resets your recovery to zero after a kill. It works independently from your recovery. I tried it with Firebrand and Bloody Slaughter - it's nice if you are slow but hit very hard. Also works with scrolls and so on. So, a good way to trigger it often is to lower the endurance of enemies with an AoE spell and then send the barb with Unlabored Blade and Dragon's Maw. Since the maw's doing raw DoT with Taste of the Hunt (while also healing you) and Firebug is doing a lot of damage you should kill things in quick succession. Bloody Slaughter will make sure that enemies with low endurance will die quickly. You can combine this with on kill items (Tempered Helm, Mourning Gloves and such) and with Bloodlust (+20% speed after 2 kills) - which indeed stacks with frenzy.

I think the helm from He Carries Many Scars also has preservation. It's nice because the armor has regeneration (with endless duration - not like Constant or Veteran's Recovery) and also does +50% DR when health is below 25%.

Sword an shield for a rogue is a bit underwhelming because you can't use the full potential of all your full attack abilities. But that's only true if you don't use Badgradr's Barricade. Man that setup is so good - especially if you use Godansthunyr as main weapon. And it looks good, too. First hit of the full attack will apply the affliction (e.g. blind) and may also cause stun (this will instantly unlock deathblows) - then comes the bash which will likely crit because of the affliction(s). Then Thrust of Tattered Veils will proc twice (don't ask me why). The thrust works with deathblows and has good base damage. If that also crits (also likely) it's instagib most of the time. I will post a build in some days. It's a great mix of offense and defense. But I also didn't use Riposte. It's just too bad. I combined that with Aspirant's Mark in order to generate more crits. Great opener, that thing.

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Then use Blaidh Golan and Ilfan Byrngar's Solace (medium shield from the drake in Endless Paths lvl 5). It also has preservation and since it's a weapon it stacks with the armor's preservation enchantment. When you go prone with slicken your rogue will have +100 to all defenses. Should result in lots of misses. I wonder if you also do riposte attacks while prone...? It's a nice setup for a chanter with THe Dragon Thrashed because you keep on chanting while prone.

Hm... since Riposte is a full attack it should work with bash. I did lots of testing with a sword & shield riposte rogue and found it to be bad - even with double retaliation with Supper Plate and so on. But I never tried it with Badgradr's Barricade. This could be worthwhile. Add as many full attack abilities you can get and gimped attack speed shouldn't be a problem. I find it still stupid that Riposte only triggers 20% of all misses. OBS! Please add grazes!

Supergood. We should ask a mod to put this resumed infos into a sticky post - right under the character build index. It's so helpful!

That's without Frenzy It's a great endurance and health pool - but no competition to a barb or monk with such high CON values of course.

Just made a lvl 16 mountain dwarf hireling Kind Wayfarer paladin like I said above. Gave him the MC talents via console. Faith and Conviction is that of a hireling. Stats with above talents, without Frenzy and with Perlwood Chicken (forgot prostitude): Endurance: 606 Health: 2835 Deflection: 81 Fort: 162 Refl.: 82 Will: 94 MIG: 22 (26 with Frenzy) CON 35 (39 with Frenzy) DEX: 02 PER: 10 INT: 16 RES: 10 Did the Yenwood fight solo. No problem whatsoever. After Frenzy expires he gets slow - but not as slow as you would think with DEX2. Against casters does solid 40 to 50 damage hits, not so great against high DR foes (MIN damage most of the time). Against spirits he's great (+70% damage on top of MIG and exceptional bonus because of sword enchantment, Ghost Hunter and Bartender's Ring). And he refuses to die... Had Shod-in-Faith though. But no Veteran's Recovery.

I always try to exploit things by tanking them to he max - so I recently tried to take CON to the max with the Iron Circle (ring, +4 CON) and duplicated Whispers of Yenwood (+4 CON). As a Mountain Dwarf you can get 20 CON from the start - so you will end up with 28 CON permanent (25 very early in the game). You could add those MC talents that give you either max endurance/health (Gift from the Machine) or CON+2 (Effigy's Resentment: Durance and Rymrgand's Boon). Then rest a Caed Nua for another +3, sleep with the dwarven prostitute (+2) and eat some Pearlwood chicken for a total CON of 37. Then put on the Sanguine Plate and catch a crit for a total CON of 41. That's +155% or your original endurance and health (or *2.55 in other words). This is extremely helpful on characters who either use lower deflection but regenerate a lot (with Shod in Faith, Regeneration from Veteran's Recovery and so on). Normally those guys run into health issues - but not with those CON stats. If you also take a good amount of MIG and INT your endurance and health pool will be enormous. You can really feel the difference in combat. This guy won't go down easily, even without any healing. And of course he will have the most awesome fortitude defense. So getting paralyzed, petrified, prone and such won't be big poblems. I used a barbarian for this (for obvious reasons: he has the biggest endurance und health pool in the game, so the *2.55 will net in very, very high numbers) and made him a spirit and vessel slayer (Bartender's Ring, Spirit Bane, Sanctifier and so on - it fits with the Whispers which are also Spirit Slaying) - but I think also a paladin can profit from very high CON. He can use all the LoH for other party members - he might not need them. And FoD is a Full Attack, so the dual Whispers of Yenwood might be ok for a paladin, too. But I think it's also no problem to use a shield and a single Whispers of Yenwood. That's only 2 CON less and more defenses - especially with Outworn Buckler. With dual wielding and Sanguine Plate the dps is also good. Not "Oh my God" but good. With Gauntlets of Swift Action and Durgan Steel you can reach 0 recovery. And he's tanky enough because of all the end/health to survive without shield. I would say Strange Mercy will also work that way. And once they fix the Gridle of the Driving Wave (so it also gives you a Full Attack Knockdown) you could have another Full Attack with CC on top of your 2 FoD strikes. So you see I'm a bit of a CON fanboy at the moment... And I can tell you: a mountain dwarf with that head model with the reddish eyes plus Sanguine Plate (plus helmet) and dual Whispers of Yenwood (they glow red) just looks... EVIL!

Nowadays Mountan Dwarfs are not useless because OBS put nearly all effects that do corrode damage or cause sickened or weakened into the "Poison" or "Disease" category. Which means that mountain dwarfs now have higher defenses against a lot of very annoying spells and abilities. Think of vessels and such. In fact, I recently built a mountain dwarf wizard tank with constant 232 defense against poison and disease who also has over 30 DR against corrode damage. What for? He's just standing in the middle of the fight and casts Noxious Burst and Malignant Cloud on himself.

You could use the mold on Flames of Fair Rhian and dual wield them. Would give you 6 Fireballs per rest and comes with burning lash. Since Strange Mercy works with spells... And FoD is a Full Attack - so dual wielding is good for that. I'm pretty confident that the dps wouldn't be much lower than with Firebrand against low to mid DR targets. And maybe you even don't want to kill with FoD - because you might overheal.

Fighting Spirit triggers once per encounter - but it takes 5 seconds until it starts after you got reduced to 50% endurance. But then you can be healed and still profit from it while WoL will stop if you do that.

Yeah, Nature Godlikes are really inferior. I just wanted to build one because never had before. And if you use the Mantle of the Dying Boar you can stay a 33% endurance all the time - meaning that the stat bonuses will not expire unless you get healed above 50%. Fighting Spirit wears off after some time. But in most fights it's obviously better. Also a Wood Elf would have been better.

I think that's true. But they make up for that with a great combination of sturdyness, heals and buffs. Rogue for example has CC attacks, but they are all single target, quite short and most of them don't disable the enemy (Sap is the only exception). Their purpose is to enable Sneak Attacks and that's it mostly. However, with a decent mechanics skill he can make great use of disabling traps - which is often overlooked.

Taste of the Hunt with carnage is very good. It's totally worth it. You will gain a lot of survivability because you heal all the time and you will also do raw damage with it. You will loose a bit dps because Firebug will be triggered less often - but I think it's a good trade. Unlabored Blade + Dragon's Maw is indeed ony of the best combinations I tested on a barb. You should consider taking Blood Thirst. Once you kill an enemy (which happens often because of Firebug + Taste of the Hunt) you will have no recovery. Didn't test it myself, but it seems to be a smart way to speed you up. Edit: Oh, and Braven meant "Sword of Daenysis" from Vincent Dwellier (Club of Prestigious and Refined Gentlemen, Salty Mast, Ondra's Gift) and "March Steel Dagger" from Gordy (just don't give him the Dagger at the end of the Quest, Southwest Copperlane). Both have the speed enchantment and use the same Weapon Focus (Noble). With Dual Wielding, those Weapons and Frenzy you will have no recovery with Vulnerable Attack and Padded Armor. If you later use Durgan Steel on the weapons and armor you can even wear plate armor without recovery.

I've played them all and nearly everything is viable - even on PoTD. Melee only parties are hard. Parties without buffs are even harder. Parties without strong CC are hardest. The most gruesome playthrough I had with 6 rogues. Genreally speaking: the more casters the easier. If you can combine sturdyness, buffing and cc you will have the easiest playthrough (but not necessarily the fastest). If I take your list and add my experiences: Fighter: Solid choice - very sturdy. If build around Constant Recovery you can even have a very good single target dps guy who is still very sturdy. Just watch your health bar. Damage is good, CC is quite weak, sturdiness is awesome. Best ability (in my opiniopn): Armored Grace (lets you combine speed and DR) Monk: This class is just awesome. Best starting stats in the game. Unbelieveable AoE damage with dual wielding & Torment's Reach - or very tanky if you want. Even a great ranged char nowadays with The Long Pain. Also one of the best single target CC guy with Force of Anguish - or even AoE CC with a stunning or overbearing weapon & Torment's Reach. Damage is awesome, CC is good, sturdiness is good. Best ability: Torment's Reach (AoE Full Attack which also works with on-crit effects) Barbarian: I love them. It's all about carnage. Can be AoE dps, AoE CC (esp. interrupts), can even be a good dps/tank hybrid with the right equipment Best ability: Frenzy (*1.33 speed is awesome) Damage can be awesome, CC can be awesome, can be sturdy (it all depends on equipment though). Good against mobs, not so great against strong single foes. Chanter: Very good in "slow" parties, meaning sturdy guys, few glass cannons(=longer fights but less risks). If skilled around "The Dragon Thrashed" the best AoE dps gus there is. The usefulness of chanters raises exponentially if you have more than one (dps chants stack, AoE regeneration also). One of the most powerful classes in the late game. Dps can be awesome, CC can be great (but timing is difficult), can be sturdy Best ability: The Dragon Thrashed Druid: Absurd single target dps with Spiritshift, but also very useful CC tank with weapon & shield and focus on the storm spells. Great Class Dps can be great, CC is top, can be build very sturdy without loosing much CC capability. With Spiritshift great against single targets, as CC tanks great against mobs Best ability: (Relentless Storm) I managed to squeeze at least two great builds out of every class. But with some classes it's just easier to come up with different kinds of buils that work and are fun to play.

Empowered Interdiction: It is as I suspected. That's the reason I never take it. Thanks for testing!

Does anybody know how Holy Randiance's scaling is like when you're NOT the main character? If you are the MC and feed the correct reputations it becomes very powerful (healing and damage to vessels reaches very high numbers). Did OBS did a similar thing with it like with the paladin's FaC or how does it scale on a hireling or Durance? Edit: does Empowered Interdiction still only affects Interdiction and NOT Painful Interdiction? In the past, the +10 ACC didn't apply to the weakening attack. Still the case?

Andrea - sorry to bother you, but it's acutally mopher - half monk, half cipher. They don't morph anything - at least nothing that I know of...

The build in this forum was named "Damaging Healbot". I was just too lazy to write down all the words. I mean he has to do damage because otherwise he wouldn't heal as well. Heck - now that I read my posts again: I was even too lazy to write "Heal" and only wrote "''Bot" at some point.