dgray62

How exactly is the Amira's Blessing encounter triggered. In some games it triggers early, around lvl 8, but other games it never seems to trigger. Is it random, or is there a way to trigger it?

Yes, Lagufeth Broodmothers absolutely shredded my party the first time I made the mistake of waltzing around Longwatch Falls with a lvl 7 party! Learning how to deal with them was one of the biggest challenges of White March, IMO.

I like the idea of FF/boar druid. I just wish there were more stat points to boost RES. For my Helwalker/shifter I went with 15/9/20/20/20/6, with Berath's Blessings. But you wouldn't want RES so low for a FF build. How about 12/10/16/18/20/14 for a FF variant? I would want to keep INT at 20 to prolong the shift. I'd also want PER high since I play on PotD, and there aren't too many ways to boost accuracy for this build. But maybe there are better ways to optimize such a build, stat wise?

Yes, thanks for the initial observation, thelee!

Boeroer, I think you are right that Lifegiver would be best for this build. Having reached level 8 already as a shifter/helwalker, I've rarely used any form other than boar. If it expires before the battle ends, usually the battle is almost over, and shifting again doesn't make sense, since monk's fists also do respectable damage. It would be nice to be able to cast Nature's Balm in battle, as needed. And casting Moonwell first would be a great idea, so you can get the most out of your 30+ seconds of shift time. And I like the idea of Belt of Magran's Chosen and Rekvu's Scorched Cloak for this build. You could have a wizard or priest cast flame nukes over you in the midst of battle. That would be very fun.

I tried out a Helwalker/shifter ascetic, and it's incredible. The multiple lashes (corrode wildstrike, lighting flurry and the boar's raw DoT) cuts through most enemies like butter. I also just got Hylea's Talons and can confirm that they do work with spiritshift attacks, which is great. The squishiness of the Helwalker can be offset with Death's Maw helm, spending wounds when necessary, and by casting the Moon's Light or Nature's Balm before shifting. Having Abraham on you or Eder also helps. With high INT, the boar shift lasts for most battles, so taking another druid subclass would be totally viable as well. I'll probably try a SC fury druid later, but this build is so much fun I'm going to stick with it for now.

I like the idea of Elric as a Paladin/soulblade. And Moonglum, as a rogue multiclass (swashbuckler or shadow dancer maybe?) would be a great companion. If you have a companion, you'll have more freedom with the Elric build, since you won't need to feel constrained to follow one of the proven solo builds.

Thanks! I see a nice trajectory for this build, which would be strong as a caster from beginning to end.

If I try a SC fury druid I think I'd drop the cage, as I don't think the heavy armor is worth it for +2 PL for a pure caster. Does Greater Maelstrom trigger multiple procs from least unstable coil? If so, such a caster would be great for the Weyc gear.

I gather that a SC fury druid with the elemental abilities (secret of rime, etc.) and LDV for the extra +3 to storm spells and Deltros cage for the +2 electricity PLs must be pretty impressive. Do all of these PL boosts stack?

Thanks, Boeroer.

Wolf is good for the one/encounter knockdown. The increased stride is good too; I like wolf for racing across the battlefield at the start to get to the squishy caster. Would be even better (and more balanced vis-a-vis boar, cat and bear) if it had a disengagement attack defense as well. Stag would be much better if the carnage was passive, like the boar's healing and wounding, rather than an active ability. If it did, for shifters it and bear would be the natural choices when mobbed at the start of battle, while boar would be ideal for bosses or finishing off tough foes at the end of battle.

Does Hylea's talons work with spiritshift attacks? The 5% slash lash and raw damage DOT works with unarmed strikes, which are considered to be "melee weapons," but I wasn't sure about wildstrike attacks. If so, the additional 5% slash damage and the stacking raw DOT would be a very nice addition. Also a great way to get wounds for the Helwalker multiclass.

That's right, you only get one from the kraken. I think I misremembered since it would be logical to get two. You can also steal one from the inn in Port Maje, and I did find another. Maybe it was on the black isles, I can't quite recall.

I wish that shifters could cast Taste of the Hunt while in boar form! This might be a case where boar helwalker/ancient would be better than helwalker/shifter. Cast a few DoT spells, shift, then cast Taste of the Hunt once or twice as needed.

Yes, when you are sickened from the malodorous corpses in the area the game temporarily shifts to combat mode, which halts party movement through the area.

You shouldn't have PEN issues with a monk once you get thunderous blows, which gives you the tenacious inspiration, +5 STR and +2 PEN, using a renewable resource, wounds.

You can get two more if you fight the kraken near Sayuka. I think there's another one somewhere in splintered reef, if I remember correctly. There's definitely at least four in the game.

I've run parties of Gimlis for this reason. CON afflictions can be nasty.

Mountain dwarves are immune. It's one of the reason I like this race.

It's great for causing interrupts. If you fire with the interrupting shot modal active, which interrupts on hits, you'll be three times more likely to interrupt. Otherwise it's probably not that great, since the hits will have less damage and PEN. As you said, you get it very late, but it could come in handy when fighting bosses who can be interrupted. Unfortunately, several in FS can't be interrupted. I don't think it could compete with frostseeker in terms of DPS, since there's no aoe effects.

I usually go get Grave Calling and Squid's Grasp ASAP. They're not too expensive, considering that the former can be stolen easily if you have a barbarian with leap or the boots that provide the same effect.

Thanks for the detailed reply, Thelee. I was going to try your new build with a tactician/blood mage to see how the DoT madness works out. Like many players, in the past when I played mages I preferred the evoker/blaster direct damage route. This was largely do to the fact that I didn't understand how spells like Combusting Wounds worked, and hence didn't use them.

I usually end up with about 170k by level 7 or 8. But that's because I do major piracy of deadfire merchants and novice captian Valian ships between Port Maje and Neketaka. So I always grab the ring as soon as I can.

How exactly does Combusting Wounds works? The in-game description, which is clearly wrong, states that it does 4 burn damage over 6 seconds in an AOE when hit. It's effects are more modest at lower levels. Does it the scaling really ramp up as you gain levels or PLs?