I just got POE of the steam sale this week and have been having a lot of fun so far. I tried my first playthrough up to ACT 2 with my main character as a melee wizard and the story companions. In the end it was a wash as I didn't have the support I needed and our group didin't really mesh. I went ahead and restarted with a fully custom party of 2 paladin tanks, 2 melee wizards and 2 arbalest chanters. It's gone really well so far and I am about to finish ACT 1 but I keep running into two problems.
1. I really wanted to use flails and since I have 75% conversion of grazes to hits I haven't invest in accaracy at all. It's worked well so far and when I run into really huge DR for blunt I just switch to stilettos. I'm not sure if this will hurt me later on however. Outside of savage attack I am not sure what else I can do to keep my flail damage up. I think i will also have to take a weapon focus for stilletos but I'm not sure if that will be enough with the paladins +6 accuracy aura to keep my secondary set useful. Is a low accuracy build with a focus on sustained quick hits instead of criticals going to hurt me overall?
2. I don't understand Aggro in this game. After I thought the monsters attention was locked in after an engagement occurs or amount of damage, but now I am unsure. I use my wizards for a large portion of the fight laying down aoe damage or debuffs. Then If I really need it I'll use melee spells to buff with. The problem is no matter how long my paladins have engaged an enemy my wizards seem to draw aggro when they moe in to clean up. Now I could use the deflection spells but my spells uses are already being taken up by aoe and melee buffs. If I have to spend even more on defense then my time in melee is even more limited than it is already. I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong here.
The scenario so far is:
Diffulty: Hard
Party
2 melee wizards
15 might
10 con
18 dex
10 per
15 int
10 res
Weapons : 2 flails, 2 stilettos
Armor: Robes/ Padded armor ( whichever is better quality)
Talents: Two weapon style, savage attack
Dps with access to various damage types, aoe, and debuffs.
2 paladins
10 might
18 con
10 dex
12 per
10 int
18 res
Weapons: Mace/Shield, Sword/Shield
Armor: Plate
Talents: Deep Faith
Tanks with good aruas and they heal themselves.
2 Chanters
10 Might
10 Con
18 Dex
18 Per
12 Int
10 Res
Weapons: Arbalest
Armor: Padded or Hide armor( whatever is higher quality)
Talents: Ancient memory ( doesn't seem to do anything especially with them in the back)
They contribute goo range damage and a permanent + 10 saves / slash and pierce reduction. They can also shred DR back to back or stun groups.
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I was thinking of giving the party interrupting blows at some point. The arbalest focus has been able to knockdown enemies and deliver some serious interruption* with a unique enchant). I think with my wizards fast attacks we could work that into some mini stun tactics.
