TomReneth

So they have dps options. How about survivability? I remember Maia's hawk being a pain to keep alive, despite beinc immune to engagement.

How are the rangers and their pets in 5.0? My impression was that they were pretty bad early on, so i skipped the class. Having returned after all the DLC releases, i'm considering doing a ranger multi with Chanter. My experience with rangers back in the beginning was with Maia, whos pet i found more of a liability than help, though she was a decent ranged autoattacker with spells (geomancer). Have rangers improved since early on? Are pets worth the investment now? Or would i be better off jus going Ghost Heart and sticking to Marked Prey and Wounding Shot?

I'll give it a shot. AoE Burning Lash is definitely something I'm looking forward to; I always love having Kana around for that normally.

Hehe, no worries. In PoE2, I think a Harbinger with the Trickster subclass is a better option, since Bards are rogues in BGEE. Thematically, swords are definitely the way to go. That said, there's nothing stopping Blades from using other Bard weapons in BGEE either, so there is that. Sabres does seem like a nice option too, with Bittercut and sharing Weapon Focus with stilletos. That said, WF: Noble with Rapier and Dagger and Hyraff does seem tempting too. What about stats and talents? You mentioned a couple.

I love the Blade kit for Bards in BGEE and would love to play something similar in Pillars 1. I'm thinking the Chanter class is a good start. The general idea is a Bard that does better than normal in melee combat by dual wielding, supplemented by spells and who can do support with his song. As the Chanter can chant passively, they do this a lot better than the BGEE Blade. How would you tecommend i put my stats? Which chants and invocations are the most useful? What weapons are the best for dual wielding? Thanks!

Hei! I've been playing Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition lately and sort of fell in love with the Ranger class in the game, being a "wilderness warrior" with an Animal Companion and a bit of magic thrown in. I've decided I want to try something like that for my Watcher as I go through Pillars I and II, before taking on the Beast of Winter (Beastmaster in Pillars II). For this thread, I was hoping for some feedback on what would be a decent (doesn't need to be min/maxed) melee Ranger for Hard. I'm going to be playing as an Aedyran Human Mercenary for roleplaying reasons, so my racial and cultural modifiers are set in stone. I'd prefer 2-handed weapons over dual wielding, if possible. What I'm looking for is suggestions on: - Attributes - Talents - Class abilities - Animal Companion - Equipment

Hey, After getting a character to import (I thought I already had one, but I didn't, so: Hello, Dyrwood!) and having some fun sneaking about a castle and stuff, I found myself in a few ship-to-ship combat scenarios. The short of it is that I really, really didn't enjoy it as it seemed rather rife with RNG and, should I overcome that with some investment to my ship, far too tedious to bother with. I really don't want to be a downer, as I've enjoyed the parts of the game not related to the ship quite a bit, but I'm not inclined to deal with the ship combat. Is it something I can largely avoid? Because otherwise I'm probably going to go back to Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition for the forseeable future.

From a practicality standpoint, it would probably make their lives less of a living hell when trying to keep it balanced to not have 11 classes that can be mixed nearly without limit. That said, doing it this way is ambitious and I look forward to trying it out. And, of course, I look forward to the fireworks! I can't even begin to imagine how much this game is going to get rebalanced, since changing anything in any class is going to have ripple effects... O.o

Finally settled on a build. Thanks for the input guys Human - Aedyr, Laborer (RP reasons) Darcozzi Paladini Attributes Might = 15 Constitution = 15 Dexterity = 13 Perception = 12 Intelligence = 10 Resolve = 13 Abilities 1: Flames of Devotion 3: Zealous Focus 5: Liberating Exhortation Talents 2: Weapon Focus 4: Vulnerable Attack 6: Inspiring Liberation After level 6, I'll probably look into things like Two-Handed Style, Apprentice Sneak Attack and such things to boost the base damage more. Anyone have some suggestions regarding level 7 and onwards? Besides Sacred Immolation, I mean

Well, I also don't care about having the best possible party of character (sticking with story companions, only having an adventurer until I get a full party of them) and am more interested in making a character that "makes sense" accordoring to their backstory etc. I'm just interested in having a character that isn't laughably bad. If VA doesn't stop being good until the late-game, I might just stick with it and turn it on/off as I need it. Of course, on another note, not having optimized characters does make the game a tad more difficult, which is nice. I don't play enough to give PotD much of a chance, Hard is usually enough for me to balance having fun and a challenge.

I wasn't going to use Jusice, I just mentioned it as another Paladin weapon, since you guys brought it up From how you present it, it seems that VA has diminishing returns as accuracy and item power increases, which makes sense in my experience with it and penetrating shot doing the content available before Cad Nua, which seemed to be a substantial DPS increase at the time. Especially in Raedric's Hold, where there are a lot of armored enemies. I'll stick with VA for the time being, perhaps retrain once I get access to more powerful items. Btw, decided to use the same attributes as Eder. Should make for an interesting playthrough.

On Vulnerable Attack, how come? As far as I can tell/remember, most encounters where DPS matters typically have more than 5 armor as well as decent defenses otherwise, so it seems to me that I'll get full value of the armor penetration when I'm not fighting trash mobs that a party made up of only story companions will dispatch with ease anyway. Armor penetration also seems to be a good boost to graze damage. And unless this speed calculator ( https://naijaro.github.io/poe-speed-calculator/ ) is severely out of date, it seems to be about 8-12% attack speed decrease, not 20%. Now, maybe I'm wrong about all of this, but if I am, I'd like to know where and how. St. Rumbalt was a Priest man! but ya its kind of close I don't like low INT on a Paladin in POE because of Sacred Immolation and offensive type buffs like Liberating Exhortation (even if you are not a Darcozzi it is the best Exhoration IMO because ya its not AOE but it lasts WAY longer then the Priest AOE version even with a 10 INT. The priest AOE version even with sky high INT last like 7 seconds). It clears really crappy long lasting debuffs like blind that affect your ACC. Also your auras. Agree with everything Beor said. I love Mabecs Morningstar but its super RNG (its cool for RP its a Paladin weapon in its history) so you would have to get the Rose Salthollow which is meh and only one damage type. For two handed Paladins Great Swords imo are the best option. Two damage types and no RNG for the best weapon. I don't think you need DEX imo but maybe you are going for ALL offense ( would leave it at 10). I just see even a 2handed Paladin as an alpha striker/sturdy front liner. Your WILL be a DPSer with Sacred Immolation but DEX is irrelevant with that ability. You could also make up for attack speed with the plate that has the Frenzy spellbind and durganizing. or cross class a bit and get the lesser Frenzy ability. PS I like your Uther the Lightbringer forum pic! Go Paladins! Other Paladin weapons include Justice (Raedric's sword), which has a unique Crushing Lash enchantment, making it a weapon capable of doing all 3 types of physical damage. I was considering going the real oldschool Uther Lightbringer, as seen in the W2 manual, but decided against it

I'm going to be running a roleplay based Paladin on Hard, which I know isn't that unforgiving, with a 2-handed weapon and was looking for some feedback on the build idea I am going for. The general idea behind this build is not to min/max the character, but still useful to get feedback on general usefulness. Attributes base stats Might = 14 Constitution = 10 Dexterity = 16 Perception = 14 Intelligence = 10 (8?) Resolve = 14 (16?) Justifications: Might - My character is not meant to be the strongest there is, but the +12% damage does get a decent benefit from 2-handed weapons regardless. Dex & Per - Increased attack speed and accuracy, as well as a decent buff to reflex saves. Resolve - I've picked resolve instead of int because it generally works as a charisma stat in this game, not because it is necessarily better than int in any way. First few levels Level 1: Flames of Devotion Level 2: Weapon Focus Level 3: Zealous Focus Level 4: Vulnerable Attack Level 5: Lay on Hands or Sworn Enemy Level 6: Two-Handed Style One of the things that I figured could let me skip on might a bit is the interaction between Dexterity and Vulnerable Attack. VA seems to work better with fast attacks, though I still want to use 2-handed weapons over dual wielding as a personal preference.

I've decided I want to try to make a battlemage-ish character in PoE 1. Base class will be Fighter and I'll pick up the cross-class talents for Wizard, Druid, Cipher and Priest in the course of level 2, 4, 6 and 8 so I get a few actual spells to cast in combat. Does anyone have suggestions as to how I should allocate my attributes and what sort of equipment I should be going for?

I was thinking more in the line of staying with 10 Int. No bonus, no drawback. Until Immolation anyway. Just to have some extra points for other attributes early on. Base stats, of course. I'll probably end up wearing a +2/3 item at some point.

Just a quick question on how important Intelligence is on a damage dealing Paladin. Just looking over the abilities, it seems to not be very significant until level 13, when you get Sacred Immolation. So, how important is Intelligence for a DPS Paladin?

Maybe pick Aspirant's Mark if you have The White March part 1 installed, as it is a version of Nature's Mark. Nice debuff.

Been playing a bit on Hard with a 16/8/16/14/16/8 Str/Con/Dex/Per/Int/Res and it is working pretty well so far. The Int bonus does seem to do more to keep me alove and kicking by boosting Disciplined Barrage and Constant Recovery than higher Con did as I first tried. Having a little problem using Edér as my primary tank though. Any suggestions for what class/stat/race would make a generally good main tank?

I picked RES simply because it gives Will defense and few deflection points to help a bit with survival to make up for the loss of Faith and Conviction. Seemed more important to me than increased duration and AoE. I really am not all that concerned with "fitting" the Paladin in so far that it compromises my Fighter's ability to, well, fight.

Oh, okay. Thanks for the simple breakdown. I don't like doing a lot of math...

Something I am a bit curious about is exactly how the "action speed" benefit from Dexterity interacts with the recovery penalty for armor. Let me break down my current understanding, setting aside dual wielding and Durganized equipment for the moment, and someone tell me if I am wrong or right. I will work with a Dexterity of 20 (+30% action speed) for the sake of simplicity in deomnstration. Plate: 0.5 modifier to recovery speed. 30% of 0.5 is 0.15. 0.5 + 0.15 = 0.65. With 20 DEX, will I then recover at 65% of the rate I would with 10 DEX (+0% action speed) and no armor? If yes, how does DEX interact with a character with no armor penalty? If no, I would like to see a breakdown of how it works.

When it comes to Int, where would you recommend me taking points away from?

I get that, but I want to do a 2-handed build. I don't like dual wielding in games, largely in part because it was not a widespread way of fighting in history.

Currently my plan for the character is something like this: Attributes: Might - 16 Constitution - 8 Dexterity - 16 Perception - 14 Intelligence - 8 Resolve - 16 What I wonder about here is whether or not it is worth putting the last 2 points into dexterity and might, or if the +6% damage and/or speed can be dropped without too much loss. There is also whether or not I will suffer greatly for slightly lower intelligence. Alternatively, I've considered reducing Con and Int by 1 and Dex by 2. Talents: lvl 2 - Gallant's Focus (RP based. Also gives +4 accuracy to nearby allies instead of +6 to the Fighter only) lvl 4 - Two-handed fighting (this is intented to be a 2-handed weapon build) lvl 6 - Savage attack for more damage Level 8 and onwards is a bit uncertain for me currently. Weapon Focus and Mastery are likely, but I am a we bit paranoid about Confused, Charmed and Dominated status effects, so Mental Fortress and Bull's Will are a couple I want to pick up. Abilities: lvl 1 - Knock Down lvl 3 - Confident Aim lvl 5 - Weapon Specialization (Adventurer or Soldier) lvl 7 - Armored Grace lvl 9 - Into the Fray lvl 11 - Unbroken lvl 13 - Sundering Blow? Any criticism and suggestions here are welcome. Equipment: Open for suggestions. Angio's Gambeson with its Spellbound "Deleterious Alacrity of Motion" (+50% attack speed for 30 seconds once per rest) is appealing to me. Stuff that boosts Might and Dexterity.

I wrote an article a short time ago that I think would fit nicely on these forums, though forgive me if someone has beaten me to writing and posting something like it. Enjoy. As I was playing through a particularly interesting side-quest centered around Bleak Walker Paladin lore on my Bleak Walker Paladin (BWP), something struck me: You cannot leave your Paladin Order as a thing of the past in RPing with the Paladin class because someone, somewhere will recognize you. This is not something that would have struck me if my BWP were not rolling an “Untroubled Faith” roleplaying build, where he had turned his back on the Bleak Walkers and engaged in Benevolence and Diplomacy in addition to Aggression (but not Cruelty) just to get some of those increases in base defenses. So it got me thinking, with the addition of cross-class talents in the White March – Part 1, what could be done with other classes representing a Paladin who truly left their Order and started as a blank slate with none but himself knowing of his past? A disclaimer before getting into the meat of it: This is just my set of guidelines based on my understanding of the lore of Eora’s world. It is not a definitive set of rules and you are free to go outside of these without earning my ire in your roleplaying. Indeed, if you have other ideas (or build something from mine), I’d love to hear it. And I’d appreciate anyone pointing out any factual errors. Gallant’s FocusThis is, in a very real sense, the ability that the rest of the roleplay (RP) hinges on, in that it is the only ability that is actually a Paladin ability available to the non-Paladin classes. Specifically it is a weaker version of the Paladin’s Zealous Aura. It is not to be denied that, because of this, being a dedicated damage dealer is easier on the RP than being a tank. Tanks are usually much better off picking talents like Weapon and Shield Focus, Bull’s Will and others that improve their ability to withstand enemy attacks, whereas a damage dealer does benefit from the extra accuracy quite nicely. Both in the form of hitting more and in that accuracy the base determiner of critical strikes. This does not, however, mean you can’t do this sort of RPing with a tank build. Just my recommendation. Gallant’s Focus can, in my opinion, work well if you use it as a substitute for your Weapon Focus of choice, though some of you minmaxers might disagree with me on that. My reasoning is that, yes, it does provide only 4 instead of 6 accuracy, but it does provide those 4 accuracy to all allies nearby, which is useful prior to having a Zealous Focus Paladin in your party. In truth, I would say it is quite useful even with a Paladin (you have access to one as a story companion, in addition to Hired Adventurers), because then you can give the Paladin either Zealous Endurance or Zealous Charge, giving you 2 group benefits. Another benefit is that, in the early game when resources are more scarce, it gives you more options. Gallant’s Focus, unlike Weapon Focus, is not restricted to any set of weapons. And, of course, you can always pick up Weapon Focus as well later, if you have a spare point for it, to get a total of 10 accuracy. It is true that Gallant’s Focus is a significantly worse ability that Zealous Focus, and not only because Zealous Focus gives +6 accuracy. It has a secondary effect that converts some Grazes into Hits, which means the effective accuracy bonus is higher than +6. However, Gallant’s Focus should be compared to Weapon Focus, as it is a Talent and not class ability. As a roleplaying detail, Gallant’s Focus being weaker fit very well. It can be taken to show the Paladin’s weakened devotion to his past ideals, god, king, whatever. A vestigial part of his drive that has been damaged, but doesn’t quite die. Gallant’s Focus is first available at level 2, meaning immediately after you are cured of the disease that sparks the story to begin with. One can simply think that your sickness temporarily hampered your ability to project this ability to others. Paladin OrdersPaladins come from a variety of backgrounds, so I will summarize the ones I am aware of, playable and non-playable. Kind Wayfarer – Mostly made up of semi-organized wanderers performing good deeds and taking on jobs as cartographers and pathfinders in remote areas of Eora. Loved by commoners, but are not overly prestigious. They like Benevolent and Passionate acts, while disliking Cruelty and Deception. A former Kind Wayfarer might be a “burnt believer”, someone who got too hurt when trying to uphold the tenets of the Order. Very likely to be Stoic, Aggressive, Cruel and Deceptive. Bleak Walker – Often engages in Mercenary work during war, their beliefs center around a notion that Benevolence and Diplomacy (and mercy) only fosters further conflict because it lets people believe they can get away (or even earn something) with rebellious or aggressive actions. They do not even stop if their employees ask them to, believing that one can never compromise. Their enemies need to know that there will be no mercy, no quarters given, no negotiation. There is only to fight or unconditionally surrender and hope the Bleak Walkers were contracted to win the battle and not destroy the opposing army. Favored dispositions: Aggressive and Cruel. A former Bleak Walker could be someone who did too much and decided to spend the rest of their life trying to make up for their mistakes. Or they simply wanted away from that life. Goldpact Knight – Mercenary Paladin Order in the truest sense. While the Bleak Walkers live by a code that dictates how they should act in warfare and daily life, the Goldpact Knights care for one thing only: Money. They can be bought to save a pregnant lady, or kidnap travelers for necromantic experiments. They prefer Rational and Stoic behaviors and dislike Passion and Aggression. A former Goldpact Knight might be someone who saw the callous nature of the Order for what it truly was and decided to leave that behind. Passion also includes romance in this game, so they could be trying to get away from the cold way of life and experience love and life to the fullest. Shieldbearer of St. Elcga – The Shieldbearers were founded in the honor of St. Elcga, a Wood Elf noblewoman who was instrumental in beginning the diplomacy between the Wood Elves and Meadow Humans who now make up the Aedyran Empire. They are tied up in the Aedyran Empire in some degree (uncertain to which). True to their founding roots, the Shiedbearers emphasize Honesty and Diplomacy, while loathing Aggression and Cruelty. A former Shieldbearer might be someone who turned their back on the Aedyran Empire for whatever reason. Darcozzi Paladini – Agents and champions for the Darcozzi family, who rules Old Vailia, they are known to favor the Clever tongue and Passion for life. Used to being involved in intricate political machinations, they know they can expect to come in conflict with members of their own Order. Dislikes Cruelty and Stoicism. A former Darcozzi Paladini might be someone who turned their backs on Old Vailia or at least the Darcozzi family’s scheming. Brothers of the Five Suns – Paladin Order of the story companion, they serve the Ducs of the Vailian Republic, which sprang forth from the ashes of the Grand Vailia Empire as it was reduced to the Old Vailia. A former Five Suns Paladin might have turned their backs on the Vailian Republic for whatever reason. Not recommended, due to your Paladin companion being one of their members and the lack of dialogue works against the RP. Paladins of Berath – Their members are found in Raedric’s Hold, but their teachings are unknown. Berath is the god of life and death, and has a thing about dual natures. That one thing leads to another. Fellows of St- Waidwen Martyr – Defenders of the Godhammer Trail and devotees of Eothas, the god of redemption. The Steel Garrote – Followers of Woedica and upholding of contracts. Rymrgand Paladin Order – Shows up in Noonfrost in Twin Elms. Followers of Rymrgand, the Beast of Winter, god of death, winter, famine and the like. ClassesEach of the classes are unique in their own way, so each of them have something different to work out from if chosen to substitute the Paladin class on your character. Here is my take on each of them. First off, let’s pick out the ones I don’t see this working very well with. The Paladin is a class that, through their devotion, has achieved a certain level of magical affinity and a certain set of magical abilities. Therefor I think Wizard, Priest, Druid, Chanter, Cipher and Monk are bad picks for this roleplay, because they have a magical discipline of their own that is very much distinct from the Paladin’s. Now, I would argue that the Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger and Rogue do possess some magic of their own. Magic comes from the soul and powerful people of said classes are best explained, in my opinion, by having tapped into some of that magic. Abilities like Constant Recovery (Fighter), Unbroken (Fighter), Shadow Step (Rogue), Dragon Leap (Barbarian) and the bond between Ranger and Animal companion make much more sense if you assume there is some magic involved. This “magic”, however, seem much less ordered around teachings and codified ways of unlocking it and more a natural result of certain lifestyles. Lifestyles that are available to the Paladin, in principle. Fighter – Highest recommendation from me. The Paladin and Fighter both are auto-attack damage dealers and capable tanks. Their typical depictions also fit well with one another, as the Paladin is, essentially, presented as a Fighter with some magic powers thrown in by most of the game. Barbarian – It does fit with the Paladin’s roles as far as damage dealing goes and might be able to tank (?). It is much more ability driven than both the Paladin and Fighter though. There is, however, some interesting Terrify mechanics for the Bleak Walker and Barbarian that could be worked into the RP. And Paladins can learn a version of Frenzy as the cross-class Barbarian talent. Rogue – Pillars of Eternity allows for all classes to use all weapons and armor, so it is entirely possible, and I would say very likely as Paladins work in all manners of places and organizations, that some would have a similar approach to combat as a Rogue does. It does make for a very squishy Paladin substitute though, so be warned. Ranger – Probably the one that is the second simplest to justify. Not only Rangers can use ranged and Rangers can go melee. And no one said only Rangers can have animal friends. Like the Rogue, it is a bit squishy though. BackgroundPillars of Eternity offers various backgrounds for the player to pick from, each of which has a few additional dialogue choices for RPing during the tutorial. I’ll point out what I think are relevant info and give my recommendations. Note: You can always say “None of your business” if none of the options suit your particular RP. Aristocrat – General term for any Highborn character. Its dialogue choices include being part of the royalty, being from a family that bought their titles or generally “having clout among the elite” (meaning, “regular” nobility). This background fit very well with Paladin Orders like the Shieldbearers of St. Elcga and the Darcozzi Paladini. It also fits well with the other Orders. Artist – Noe idea how this would be related to a Paladin, sorry. Clergyman – Paladin’s and faith goes hand in hand, so why wouldn’t some religiously aligned people be Paladins? You can choose to be a congregation leader, missionary (my recommendation), jaded ex-believer (also recommended) or that you just “left it behind”. Fits well with Kind Wayfarers in particular, and the non-playable Orders like the Fellows of St. Waidwen or the Paladins of Berath you can meet in Raedric’s Hold. Colonist – Works well with any Order, as it can be taken to mean the trip to Dyrwood is your second attempt to get away from your old life. Dissident – A Paladin who couldn’t follow orders and had to flee maybe? Drifter and Explorer – Both fit the Kind Wayfarer modus operandi quite well. Hunter – Hunters can choose between living on their own in the wilderness (Kind Wayfarer fit), being a monster hunter (Goldpact Knight fit) and some other irrelevant stuff. Laborer – Builder option does not offer much, but the Cook and Blacksmith could have a place in organized Paladin Orders, as a side-duty. Mercenary – This background is a catch-all term for sellswords, war veterans and constables. Sellsword fits well with Goldpact and Bleakwalker, war veteran suits everyone and constable fits the Shieldbearer and Darcozzi Orders. Merchant – The option for being someone who transported goods and people in secret lends itself well to Goldpact Knights. Mystic – See Clergyman. Philosopher – The option for having considered right and wrong, good and evil fits well with a former Bleak Walker and Goldpact Knight. Raider – This mostly lends itself to Goldpact Knights. Seems too random for the Bleak Walker and their defined role. Scholar – The option for being a scholar of war and combat lends itself to the Bleak Walkers. Scientist – Actually means “dedicated alchemist”. Could be a thing for Kind Wayfarers, who travel a lot. Slave – Ship slave, estate slave or indentured servant. Could work for any, but Paladins are driven by devotion. Awakening from Stockholm syndrome, perhaps? CultureThere are seven cultures available for the payer to pick from. Here is my take on which race, subrace and Paladin Order would make the most sense in each of them. Note: Godlike can be of any race and their features obscure which subrace they belong to. Godlike, in this list, will be automatically included with the race recommendations. For example, if I say “Human, Occean Folk” that includes all Godlike who are human. Note 2: Due to the limited knowledge on the non-playable Paladin Orders (and that the Brotherhood of Five Suns is from somewhere the player cannot be from), I have omitted most of them from the lists. Aedyr – The Aedyr Empire is made up of human and Wood Elf kingdoms, and is the home of the Shieldbearers of St. Elcga. Race: Human, Meadow Folk. Elf, Wood Elf. Order: Kind Wayfarer, Bleak Walker, Goldpact Knight, Shieldbearer of St. Elcga. Deadfire Archipelago – A mesh of island nations. Naasitaq is only known nation, home to many boreal dwarves and Aumaua. Ranger companion is from Naasitaq. Race: Aumaua, Island. Dwarf, boreal. Order: Kind Wayfarer, Bleak Walker, Goldpact Knight. Ixamitl Plains – A large nation of savannah, mostly occupied by humans and Orlan. Race: Human, Savannah. Orlan, either. Order: Kind Wayfarer, Bleak Walker, Goldpact Knight. Old Vailia – Once the seat of the Grand Empire, Old Vailia is now renowned for their great culture, but are no longer considered an important player in international politics. Race: Human, Occean. Dwarf, either(?). Order: Darcozzi Paladini, Kind Wayfarer, Bleak Walker, Goldpact Knight. Rauatai – The kingdom of the Aumaua, known to be technologically advanced and have a powerful navy. Race: Aumaua, either (?). Order: Kind Wayfarer, Bleak Walker, Goldpact Knight. The Living Lands – Chaotic frontier in a weird world, with strong racial diversity. Dwarves are common. Race: Dwarf, any. Any. Order: Kind Wayfarer. The White that Wends – Southern expanse of ice, inhabited by elves and some dwarves. Race: Elf, Pale. Dwarf, Boreal. Order: Rymrgand Paladin, Kind Wayfarer. My Orderless PaladinAs for me, the character I decided to make is this: Human, Meadow Folk. Aedyr, Aristocrat. Chose that the family has some clout among the elite and that they are embarrassed by him. Former Bleak Walker. My thinking is that he is a “spare son”, someone not in line for inheritance. Embarrassed his family by joining the Bleak Walkers over the Shieldbearers, and kept no contact after leaving the Bleak Walkers. Came to Dyrwood to escape his old life. Fighter, damage dealer. The Orderless Paladin – Part 2: More stuff about the classesSomething I ended up skipping on was to do a more in-depth take on the classes I recommended for this roleplay. It was a combination of work, exercise and eating away at the hours I had to sleep in before work again that made me take the shortcut. So let’s do a look at some features of interest for the classes I recommended, in random order. Barbarian – The Barbarian’s automatic ability, Carnage, gives you an AoE on your normal attacks, which further emphasizes its role as a damage dealer. Frenzy – Activated self-buff well suited for damage dealing, though with risks as it hides your health and endurance for the duration. I recommend picking up this ability because of the simple reason alone that it is a version of this that is the cross-class Talent and thus a Paladin could have learned it. Savage Defiance – Self-heal. Could be taken as a redirected form of Lay on Hands. Bloodlust – A passive ability that gives you increased speed (attack and movement) after downing two enemies. Works as a variant of abilities like Inspiring Triumph and The Black Path. Thick Skinned – More defenses. Works as a variant of Faith and Conviction. Threatening Presence – AoE Sickened status effect on enemies when stationary. Could be taken as a variant on Bleak Walker ability The Black Path, which inflicts AoE Terrify on kill. Barbaric Shout – AoE Terrify ability. See above. Dragon Leap – Dragon Leap is most interesting due to its description, which mentions the Barbarian drawing upon “spiritual energy” to perform the attack. Rogue – The Rogue’s automatic ability is Sneak Attack, which allows for bonus damage against unaware enemies and against enemies suffering from a negative status effect. The Rogue cross-class talent is a version of the Sneak Attack. Shadow Step – Most Rogue abilities are centered around inflicting status effects to trigger Sneak Attack and do not lend themselves to comparison for Paladin abilities easily. Neither does Shadow Step, as it is a form of teleportation, but it does work as a form of magic. Ranger – The cross-class talent for Rangers is the Wounding Shot, so this is worth considering picking up for the sake of RPing. Marked Prey – Works similarly to Sworn Enemy, increasing damage against a target, though Marked Prey has a time limit. Heal Companion – Works as a variant of Lay on Hands. Revive Companion – Works as a variant of Reviving Exhortation. Fighter – In a sense, one could almost consider the Fighter a “selfish Paladin”. Instead of group support, they have a variety of self support abilities. The cross-class Talent for the Fighter is a version of their Constant Recovery, which is a continuous self-heal that lasts for 45 (plus or minus the Intelligence duration modifier) seconds from combat start. Constant recovery works both because it is cross-class and that it can be taken as a variant of Lay on Hands. Disciplined Barrage – Increases one’s own accuracy for a while. Could be taken as a variant on Sworn Enemy that works on a time limit, but not only against one enemy. Confident Aim – Converts some Grazes into Hits, at a slightly higher rate than Zealous Focus does, but only for the Fighter himself. Nice when coupled with Gallant’s Focus. Guardian – Works as a variant on Zealous Endurance, increasing ally Deflection rather than Damage Reduction. Vigorous Defense – Boosts the Fighters defenses for a short period of time. Can work as a variant of Faith and Conviction. Unbending – Converts some damage taken to Endurance. Works as a variant of Lay on Hands. Critical Defense – Converts some Critical Hits to Hits and Hits to Grazes, similar to what Zealous Endurance does. Unbroken – A self-revive that I think puts the case quite well for the Fighter having some magic in their repertoire. Works as a variant of Reviving Exhortation.