hansvedic

For the Spellbind build, I have a quick question. Does Dominate still proc on the blast hits? If not, would this build be viable for a priest? What are your thoughts?

Does anyone know if the Fire Godlike's burn retaliation still scales with level in Deadfire? I'm thinking about important a Fire Godlike.

Mosspit, Thanks for this interesting build concept. I'm currently on a playthrough with a similar build, except it's a dwarf druid with 20 in constitution to make up for the lower health of the druid. So far, it's pretty fun to be able tank and cast whether shifted or not. I'm looking forward to getting Steadfast on this character. EDIT: I really appreciate your insight into Steadfast's Restore Endurance spelldefense.

Perhaps they should include one in Deadfire, and you have to be really strong (Might 18) and/or a certain disposition (Benevolent 3?) to pick it up and wield it.

What about a Chanter human tank? A Moon Godlike does better in the beginning, but once you get the Maegfolc Skull... Or you could stick Munacra Arret on him. Another plus is that humans don't have +1 to dex like the Wood Elf, allowing you to drop dex even lower on a Chanter. Of course, a Boreal Dwarf is better against Wilders and Primordials, but what about other enemies?

Perhaps a low-int Tidefall human rogue, then, would work wonders. Maybe even Acuan Giamas late-game.

I suppose that the Zeblastian Hurtstacker build could be done on a human (dangerous implement to self-activate Fighting Spirit), but a Wood Elf wizard like that is arguably at least as good at it with the constant +5 accuracy & deflection at range. Perhaps a Counselor Ploi build that does more melee than ranged could be considered, I suppose. A Thundercat Druid build could also be done with a Human, but a Moon Godlike is arguably at least as good due to extra durability from Silver Tide, and a Death Godlike Thundercat Druid gets a constant x1.2 damage to low endurance enemies. Human is arguably better than Death Godlike for offense, given that Fighting Spirit will likely last the whole fight once it activates. Humans do have an advantage over the Godlikes in that they can wear the Maegfolc Skull (among other headgear), and their accuracy bonus is good at any range. Thus, I would say that an offensive, aggressive melee build generally benefits more from a human than most races. Still, I concur that the advantages of the Wood Elf, Moon Godlike, and Fire Godlike (at high level) are substantial enough to make the Human's temporary (even though it is 20 seconds base) bonus seem lesser in comparison.

Greetings, I am theorycrafting a wizard that will utilize Ray of Fire, Ninaguath's Death Ray, and Ninaguath's Bitter Mooring, potentially together during boss fights. I am considering a more frontline or off-tank wizard that might even use Citzal's Martial Power and Infuse w/ Vital Essence after the beam spells to provide staying power and damage. I have a couple questions I am working on, and I wanted some input from the forum community. First off, can you have multiple beam spells active on the same foe target? If so, would I be correct in assuming the beam spells must be different (e.g. can't have two Rays of Fire active on the same target)? Second, does Combusting Wounds trigger from Beam damage? Third, I am debating what the ideal stat spread for such a wizard would be. I know that high might and intellect will be good for damage and making the beams last, but what I am mainly debating is how low to drop Resolve and Constitution and how high to raise dexterity. High dexterity is good for quicker casting, but I know that having DAoM handy will mitigate casting recovery significantly. Any thoughts?

What about Spellbind items during shifted form? For example, could you cast DAoM from Angio's Gambeson after shifting? I suspect the answer is no, but I thought I'd check here.

Hey there, L4wlight. Thanks for this great guide to the Thundercat Druid. Have you tried this build at all with a human? I'm thinking about using a human for the extra might and the passive. I might also go with Munacra Arret for the headgear, as it is one of the only, if not the only, spell-granting headgear. (Pun Alert) I'm thinking of calling this variant of your build "The Aristocat" (Aristocrat background not included in the Pretender Edition). On another note, have you considered getting Survival to 14 in order to, with an item like Sanguine Plate or Jack of Wide Waters, get 16 Survival for Accuracy Bonus Level 3? I'm thinking that this, combined with the human's Fighting Spirit accuracy bonus and Champion's Boon from a priest could turn this build into a crit machine. Thoughts?

Would a Mountain Dwarf with this build pair well with the Bilestomper build, perhaps? That could be a fun combo.

Boeroer, could you please clarify as to why single target interrupts with fists are overrated? Is it not possible to interrupt-lock powerful enemies with fists if you have high perception like a buffed priest would?

Perhaps it can be a Wild Orlan who, when he says the magic words, turns into a fist-flinging, magic-using superhero? Also, can the magic words be "Shazam!"? EDIT: Perhaps, in the case of your Eothasian priest, the magic word should be "Eothas" instead. Also, do you think that boosting perception some would be good for such a Monk-Priest, for the purpose of interrupts? If so, how much would you boost it at Character Creation?

Boeroer, did you ever end up making that unarmed priest build? If so, could you please tell me how it went?

Aggrandizing Radiance stacks with other buffs to stats, right? If so, couldn't one use it (and Salvation of Time to extend duration) in order to buff defenses even further? That would be 8 more to the fortitude, reflex, and will saves, as well as 2 more to deflection save. Finally, with how high a priest's defense can get, would it be worthwhile to consider using the Potion of Wizard's Double as opposed to Shields for the Faithful for the toughest fights?

Hrmm... does anyone know what the highest accuracy an enemy in the game has is? EDIT: I'm asking to check how practical this theorycrafting may be.

It may be an overcommitment for only +10 to all defenses... unless of course that +10 puts you into the unhittable range. Still, you're probably right, Dr <3, and I appreciate that you like the theorycrafting, even if it serves no practical useage. Also, Braven, I found your post funny. Thanks for the laugh!

Interesting idea, Mosspit. One of the reasons I was thinking about a wizard, in particular, has to do with their deflection-raising spells and Llengrath's Safeguard. Still, a cipher is worth investigating further. Thanks for the info. EDIT: I just remembered that the wiki says that ciphers cannot target themselves. Is this true? EDIT2: If it is possible for ciphers to target their allies with Mind Wave, then having a cipher partner could be very beneficial. Also, later on in the game, Defensive Mindweb + buffed-up Wild Orlan wizard should be an excellent combo. Thanks again, Mosspit.

Thanks for the suggestions, Boeroer. According to the wiki, Divine Terror is a Foe AOE, so that's probably out. As for Halt, I'll give it a try. It is quite a bit of prep work, to be sure, mosspit. That being said, the items do seem to fit with the idea of a defensively-oriented wizard. I suppose that, in a party, a priest could cast Devotions or Crowns for the Faithful to make up for the added accuracy per level to abilities benefit, or Holy Power at lower levels. Perhaps a scroll of Protection, or a priest casting the similar spell could work as well? EDIT: Just realized that scroll of protection probably doesn't stack with Llengrath's Safeguard. EDIT: Just realized a potential problem - does Cloak of Protection stack with Ring of Protection? If not, might use Cape of the Cheat instead. Cape of the Cheat is probably better, anyways, given its Deceptive enchantment.

So, I was thinking about how one might activate the Wild Orlan's Defiant Resolve, which led me to look for spells that target will. Lo and behold, the wizard spell "Miasma of Dull-Mindedness" targets will and is not a Foe AOE, allowing it to be used to activate Defiant Resolve. There's just one problem, of course; that spell comes with a fairly hefty toll to perception, intellect, and resolve. Thus, I decided to see if there was a way to make my will defenses high enough to ensure that the spell misses me. If my theorycrafting is correct, there is. Please see my calculations below: Base Wizard Accuracy -- -20 (negative to account for effect on defenses) Base Will Defense -- 20 Base Resolve (20) -- 20 Base Intellect (18) -- 16 Llengrath's Safeguard -- 20 Bull's Will -- 10 Ring of Protection -- 9 Cloak of Protection -- 10 Level Defense Bonus (cancelled out by Level Accuracy Bonus) Altogether, this comes out to 85 defense, allowing a maximum of 15 on any will attack roll from the player character to itself. Given that any roll whose total comes to 15 or less results in a miss, with these items, and the Llengrath's Safeguard spell, a solo Wild Orlan can activate Defiant Resolve at will. Of course, this is a whole lot easier to manage with a party, especially if there is a priest. With this in mind, one could create, I suspect, a defensively oriented Wild Orlan wizard that can, especially with high defense gained through items, nuke the ground it is standing on with spells without a worry of being hit, especially with the addition of other items, such as Little Savior with its Herald enchantment. So, what are your thoughts regarding this?

Another great build, Boeroer! I'm curious about one thing, however: does Two-Handed Style buff retaliation/Battle-Forged damage if you are holding a 2-handed weapon? EDIT: I ask because I am considering a two-handed variant of this build or a similar one on a barbarian, and I can't seem to find this information confirmed or denied even though I've looked.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. After some thinking and calculations, I decided to go with a Human Witch Doctor for Fighting Spirit (if it has its duration boosted by INT, then that makes it even better). I also dropped constitution down two points and put those into dexterity for a little extra speed. Maybe a mistake to do this, but we'll see. So far I'm enjoying my playthrough with him, however. Thanks again!

Boeroer, First off, thank you so much for this great guide, one among many! I have a quick question for you: do you think the Witch Doctor could work as a Hearth Orlan? If so, would you change his stats at all to accomodate the loss of accuracy vs. certain enemies? Or do you think the hit to might (-9%) is too large a tradeoff for the extra crits?