Boeroer

Nice. Does the killing blow have to be done with Frostfall itself or does any kill (DoTs, spells, Carnage etc.) count?

It's written here. I would have gone for Ajamuut's Stalking Cloak + Whispers of the Wind as well instead of multiclassing (and use Edér's armor with the immunity to reflex, Keeper of the Flame and Imagined Pain to be flooded with wounds during Whispers of the Wind and deal crazy amounts of Resonant Touches and get additional wounds with Hand Mortar/Blinding Smoke + Powder Burns) - but the higher ACC of a Wanderer, Driving Flight, Concussive Shot and also the summon have their uses, too. You can beat Huani with an SC FF using Stunning Surge and Stalking Cloak with WotW - but I guess Wanderer is safer.

There's a potion that removes injuries. An amulet, too. Both are not automatically reviving though. The Ring of Reset does what you want. But it has fixed charges (meaning you can only use it a few times and then it's empty). If you are not against a little cheese you can still use the Ring of Reset for what you want: Get the Ring of Reset (Deck of Many Things). Export a naked character with only the Ring of Reset (from an uncheated game - if the exported char is from a cheated game it will taint all games you are importing that chair into). Then import that character as lvl-1 hireling into your party (opt for "with items"). You can use the same savegame for export/import. It will cost some money (about as much as the Ring costs to buy iirc). Now you have two Rings of Reset. This will not mark your game as cheated and is officially "legit". The thing with two identical items with charges is: if you stack them in the stash - one empty and one full - the empty one will get refilled. That way you can use Ring of Reset three times during an encounter (then it's empty). After the encounter is over stack the empty one with the full one in the stash (character inventory doesn't work) and put it back on: voilà - full again for the next encounter. So you can get auto-revival with 0 injury 3/encounter. Have fun with Vengeful Defeat or so. You can do the same with charged items and all per-rest items, too. Some don't even require exporting/importing because there are multiple versions in one playthrough (e.g. Necklace of Fireballs, Stone of Power or Missile Gloves).

Very Nice --- Hello @Amentep, this is a Deadfire build. Could you move the topic to the "Deadfire/Character Builds" forum? Thanks!

As FF you don't need many additional attack abilities (except as SC Monk you should always go for Whispers of the Wind. I would either take Enervating Blows or Stunning Surge (because you can use it with Mortification even if at 0 wounds). Enervating Blows seems like a waste because FF already enfeebled - but the weakening auto-hit lowers fortitude before FF rolls against fortitude to enfeeble, making it more likely to actually land the enfeeblement. Stunning Surge stuns (surprise ;)) which is a hard CC, enfeebled is not. But enfeebled prolongs the stunning effect on the enemy by 50% which stacks with Duality (+10 INT, also 50%), giving you enormously long stuns. Also the stun + enfeeble effects lower enemies' Fortitude by 20 points. I personally would pick Stunning Surge I guess.

Shieldbearer is good. Besides the healing of Lay in Hands you also prevent k.o. - that's nice. +1 Engagement is good if you want to tank - especially if you don't multiclass with Fighter, Stalker or Barbarian who could bring more engagement. Paladin's don't have engagement abilities so the auto+1 of Shieldbearer is nice. Besides the "don't leave or I'll hit you" effect engagement also automatically stops movement and clears the original command where to move. Against enemies than run on AI this often means they abandon reaching the backline because their movement command was cleared and they had to stop. You can turn that off in the game options but I wouldn't recommend that.

I read that repeatedly but it's not correct. The amount of engagment slots you have doesn't change how many enemies are needed to flank you. Maybe it was different in PoE, I don't really remember - but two enemies at (mostly) opposing sites are always enough to flank anybody (unless there's One Stands Alone or Slippers of the Assassin or something like that involved that specifially changes how many enemies are needed). Look here at my dude Edér who has 8 engagement slots in this situation (Kapana Taga +2, Shield +1, Guardian Stance +3, Blackened Plate Helmet +1 and Reckless Brigandine +1) but still gets flanked from two dummies (who don't even have engagement):

Yes, it is. It's basically Barring Death's Door with another name. Say hello Monk/Shieldbearer with +10 INT, eh? It can also be prolonged with Salvation of Time and Wall of Draining (by the guy who gets the effect).

Don't remember what your exact setup is, but Stunning Surge is a great pick in most cases. If you are using any AoE weapon or Sun & Moon I would absolutely recommend Stunning Surge. If you are dual wieding anything I'd also pick it. With a two hander it depends a bit on how often you crit to determine if Stunning Surge is worth the ability point. You took Torment's Reach before - why not take Raised Torment? Enervating Blows is pretty great, too because the weakening effect does no separate attack roll: if you crit with the weapon attack the target will get auto-hit with weakened. Weakened lowers enemies Fortitude by 10 points and stacks with stunned (also -10 points) which makes hitting with Force of Anguish which targets fortitude (you have that as well) a lot easier. Blade Turning's 3 sec is only the base duration. With Duality of Mortal Presence (INT) and some more Power Levels (adds base duration) as well as maybe some items which prolong benefical effects you can get a decent duration out of it. I personally would take Stunning Surge first - but as I said: I don't know how your character performs.

Yes, Clear the Path is pretty cool. Sundering Blow also isn't bad (but maybe a bit too weak or PL9). The rest of the lot is way too expensive. Especially because you can't get Discipline back easily (except Tactician maybe). I tried to make Take the Hit (with Furrante's Breastplate, Voidward, Cadhu Scalth, Death's Maw and all shenanigans) and Toughened Fury (with deliberately lowered deflection via low RED, Cap of the Laughingstock, Sandals of the Water Lily etc.) work though - and still they are not worth going SC imo. If Toughened Fury gave you Discipline for every - or every second - crit you receive: maybe. Take the Hit: if the damage received would be a bit lower than which is done to allies it would be worth it maybe. And the AoE needs to be way bigger to be useful. I understand that it sounds a bit weird to "take a hit" for somebody who's meters away from you - but hey: it's some sort of essence-induced fighter magic so let's just roll with it. For Chopping Wood to be good it needed a duration or a counter. For example: after empowering an ability your attacks will have the effects for the next 15 secs or whatnot.

Jeez... I read "my wife did pass yesterday" at first and freaked out for a second or two. Man man... good work on the portraits though.

Imo Helwalker is the best pick for such a Monk.

The Devoted's ACC malus doesn't affect spells, it only affects the attacks with weapons (without proficiency). Using the Chromoprismatic Staff to boost your spells doesn't turn tose spells into quarterstaff attacks.

Using a one handed weapon can be benefical in the early game - but in most situations it's inferior to dual wielding or a two handed weapon later on. An imo very nice and underrated thing is miss to graze conversion. Some weapons have it (the Willbreaker and the Sanguine Great Sword for example) and there's also Gauntlets of Greater Reliability. Both sources stack (as conversions do - not additively, but still nice). You can even eat some food for more miss to graze conversion. Miss to graze lets you apply debuffs and CC to enemies you wouldn't even be able to hit otherwise and then open a door for more reliable hitting. Example: you have Brute Force and are wielding a Morning Star + Body Blows. The enemy has 120 deflection and 120 fortitude and your ACC is too low to even graze under normal circumstances. But you have a cumulated ~50% miss to graze conversion with your melee attacks. Now with ever second swing of the Morning Star you will apply Body Blows which lowers fortitude by 25 points. Now you are attacking 95 fortitude instead of 120 deflection. Stuff like that. After all miss to graze means that you turn nothing into something no matter how bad your acc is compared to the enemies' defenses. Of course it doesn't to much if your ACC is great compared to enemies' defenses. But those fights you'll win anyway...

Yes, it can be a very spectacular chain reaction. But it doesn't occur too frequently so it's a bit unreliable. Ranger with Whirling Strikes and Driving Flight has the best chances of triggerng it. Twinned Shot also works well.

Yes, it needs quite some investmet in Arcana though to be able to cast it from scroll.

Subclass: Imo Steel Garrote is better than Bleak Walker in this case. With Spirit Frenzy you'll stagger automatically and thus the life drain of the Steel Garrote is always active basically, countering the self damage of the Berserker "on the fly" without the need to stop hitting. Even Kind Wayfarer would be better in my book (also heals himself with Flames of Devotion). The bit of extra damage for Flames and Devotion is not that important in a triple crown run imo, especially since Zeal is rather limited. --- Self Damage/damage mitigation: Voidward and other sources of dmg reduction (e.g. Death's Maw) are a good idea. A Paladin/Berserker can reach pretty great AR with the several passives and inspirations (Thick Skinned, Stoic Steel, Inspired Defenses, Hardy...) - Zealous Endurance won't stack with Hardy - but the self heal from Exalted Endurance might still be worth it (never tried though). And he can always counter self damage with Lay on Hands - which is neat. Fanatic also usually reaches very high Fortitude (+20 from Tenacious/Hardy and more from the Paladin's Faith and Devotion and whatnot) besides having access to good defense passives in the first place. Inspiring Triumph (+12 to all defenses) also applies to the Fanatic himself by the way. A Fanatic with the Berserker can achieve near immunity to most afflictions because the Paladin has several resistance passives and the Berserker has Unflinching which - in combnation with self damage and healing, can remove afflictions entirely. This can be important in TC runs because often it's the hard CC that will screw you. --- Friendly Fire: Confusion is bad with AoE dmg or debuffs if you are near party members (Carnage, Sacred Immolation, Inpired Beacon etc.). And auras (e.g. Exalted Endurance) and other kind of passive effects (Inspired Defenses) are especially bad because they will also apply to enemies. You could circumvent that with really low INT - but... meh. It is easy for a Fanatic to eliminate Berserker confusion though - because the Paladin can get a resistance against INT afflictions as passive ability. That will remove confusion from your character altogether at all times. You can also spare the point (or avoid confusion early) and either use Svef (drug), Luminous Lobster (food) or wear Devil of Caroc Breastplate (nice anyway) with the "Mechanical Mind" enchantment. You could also use swords and get Modwyr . It makes you not only resistant but completely immune to INT afflictions. If you want to be more free with your consumables and items just pick the passive then. You can always counter confusion with any INT inspiration. So for example a Priest can cast Prayer for the Spirit on the confused Fanatic to remove the confusion.

No, a single class Monk. Avenging Storm is from the helmet "Heaven's Cacophony" or from scrolls. But it's also OP without it. That's just icing on the cake.

It's a mortar monk. Whispers of the Wind (Full Attack on everybody in range) combined with mortars (3 AoE blast with every Full Attack). Then add Avenging Storm... Blinding Smoke (Hand Mortar enchantment) also triggers Avenging Storm although it doesn't do damage. And if there's still enemies alive they will have dozens of Resonant Touches and will insta-die if you activate Resonant Touch. It's best with maxed INT and when the enemies stand near each other - but it's also very good if the enemies are more scattered. Against single targets you can switch to normal blunderbusses or summon the Long Pain fists. It's one of the most potent combinations (for party play) I know. Works against mobs and bosses alike (with the help of Belt of Magran's Chosen which adds a few more weak enemies which in this case is very benefical). Resonant Touch + AoE * AoE is just very, very effective.

Beckoner has the highest damage output (via summons) of all chanter's because his summons are not weaker offensively but only have less health (and size). Also the durations are shorter and he pays +1 phrases (which is stupid tbh). That means he has a harder time to keep summons on the field at all times. But when they are there they dish out twice the damage and engage or block twice the enemies/space. Ancient Brittle Bones for example can become a total wall of engaging skeletons that are not tanky but stop all enemies through engagement (if you didn't opt out of that in the game options or brought the pet "Grog"). I personally would pick Troubadour because the versatility is just awesome and there are no other subclasses that can have such an easy time to keep summons on the field without a gap. Bellower is also nice because the summons get longer durations through PL bonuses - but I always feel the PL bonus is a bit wasted (better for damaging invocations imo). And the reduced chant AoE makes it harder to passively buff your summons and party members. Wurms and Drakes are okay when you get access to them (actually Wurms are quite awesome at first) but they don't scale well offensively so you will need to pick the dragon later on (and maybe retrain then to use the ability points for something else than the now weak summons you formerly used). The second Drake that follows the death if the first one scales better and is good. So - both summon types are viable at the times you get them. No problem with a "Dragon Master" or something like that. JIst make sure you can somehow harm fire-immune or -resistant enemies, too.

I wouldn't say "never". If you have some means of regaining Discipline (for example by being a Tactician or having a Cipher or whatever) then Clear the Path with Cleaving Stance can be very potent (especially with weapons that have or can trigger a AoE component) while its broad + very long AoE is not reliant on INT (unlike Clear Out). But getting there is harder as a SC Fighter - and quite frankly it's also rel. boring to get there. The fighter tree has it's most exiting active and pasive abilites pre PL 8 imo and works better as MC than as SC. But being able to use Clear the Path often is def. decent damage potential (and also impactful CC on top). Cean Sweep, too (needs high INT to be great though). I just wish it could be combined with some other cool PL8/9 stuff from the Fighter tree. Like... Chopping Wood doesn't even work properly with Clear Out + upgrades. Compare that with a combo of Barb or Monk with Fighter and how fun it can be to combine all those passives and actives. *sigh*

Yes, this is the key to maximize the impact of a tank (+engagement) imo. If you then deploy lots of hard CC (from stealth) onto the enemies who surround your tank you'll also prevent most escapes into the backline and such. My go-to strategy with a party mostly is: stealth, send tank in, unstealth tank, buff the party (mostly ACC, buffing doesn't break stealth), use hard CC and debuffs (breaks stealth), finally deal damage. Enemies who don't gt affected by CC will still be bound by engagement. Fortunately those who resist CC are often not the ones who tend to rush your backline.

Monks are the strongest martial class imo, they are great as multiclass as well as single class in all sorts of roles and combos (not even in martial ones). Overall it's just a very well rounded and effective set of subclasses. I mean...

The Dragon does great anti-mob damage if you use its active abilities. The dragons auto-attacks are very weak, but the abilities get scaled up tremendously because of the creature's (power) level. Animated weapons only do (great) single target damage. So... the dragon's not only a meatwall imo. A Beckoner with two dragons (which are less tanky of course and don't last as long) can wipe serious mob encounters away while still having reasonable tanking abilities (also because there's two of them). If you want to be more flexible with single targets/mobs you can also pick 4 Ancient Weapons (or 8 with a Beckoner) which is better than 3 (6). Also last longer bc of Power Level (unless you are a Chanter/Monk with Duality oMP's +10 INT). The (small) problem with a multiclass summoner is that most Chanter's summons don't scale very well (unless you use @Elric Galad's mod). At least offensively they don't. So at some point they become too weak. Fortunately Animated Weapons do scale well overall so it's correct that you can do well with them as MC. However - the "road of summoning" will be harder because the MC summoner will pick/upgrade better summon abilites a lot later than a single class summoner can. There's not much "self-contained" multiclass synergy with summons imo. It's more advantageous to get the better summons asap. Summoning supprt is best done by somebody else then (party member). Another appeal might be that you can get Eld Nary's Curse which is so much better than the non-upgraded version. Of course then you couldn't concentrate on summoning only but would need to be a summoner/damage dealer hybrid (who needs PER and MIG, too).

The summoning animation itself has a pretty log duration in general (6 secs etc.). Imo DEX is important to have as a summoner because of that. You really don't want to get interrupted while summoning and the smaller the window the better. What you don't need at all when focusing on summons are MIG and PER (and to a lesser extend also CON and RES). For summoning the key stats are INT (summons' duration) and DEX (summoning speed). This is also true for buffing support which also only needs INT and DEX. So a summoner/buffer can in max out INT and DEX and distrubute the rest how feels best. If you also want to do healing (MIG), CC (PER), deal damage (PER & MIG) or even be in the frontline (CON & RES) that's a different story of course.